Persona: HEAVEN (Persona/Sword Art Online/Isekai Multicross)
- Location
- The Z-Cave
But it didn't give us a point of STRESS now which is what really matters.
It says 'when the walls of the world come crumbling down', so I think this will only come into effect during the third arc.
- Location
- The Z-Cave
Shiroe's sheet had the same thing and he was able to invoke it after ALO crashed. I think it'll only be usable whenever we crash a HEAVEN and have to fight the Chosen in the empty void.
Bullet of Bullets -Tripartite God-
- Location
- The Sea of Souls
"ROSSA—!"
You lurch forward, the world slamming back into sharp focus in one sudden snap. A gnawing pit eats away at your chest, and the sudden recollection of the phantom bullet slamming its way into your torso causes your heart to race. You gingerly bring your hand up to your torso and breathe a sigh of relief when you find nothing more than torn clothes.
It was a sudden movement, one you scarcely even recall consciously making. The crack of the Seventh Bullet and then you were there, placing your own soul between the bullet and its intended target.
"K-kuro? Y-you're..."
You are...? You slowly bring your hand up to your eye, and note the faintest hints of moisture at the edges of your right eye. The one inexplicably colored a light red. The memories remain faint, but you remember stopping Sinon's final bullet. You remember... her...
No. Not now. You still have a mission to finish. "Nevermind that! Are you alright!?"
"I... I have a bayonet sticking out of my chest. So no, I am not alright."
You wince. Sinon was kinda, maybe... half dead because of you. "Sorry! I had to get a little rough. You were, you know... going crazy?" You sincerely hope she isn't still crazy. She seems calm so you'll mark it as a sign of improvement. The red is gone from her eyes, and her brow is furrowed in a strange mix of confusion and disappointment. More importantly, you no longer feel that oppressive pressure in the distance. The fog in the mountains thins and the specter of Aimopotis has faded in its entirety.
"I don't understand." The sniper finally speaks, though the words come out in a faint rasp. "Why did you have to stop me? I..."
"Because you're my friend, you idiot. I don't want to lose you to... the monster you aren't."
Sinon sighs. "I wasn't— no, nevermind. From your perspective, I'm sure it looks that way. I just... I'm not sure how I can even explain it..."
"Like waking up from a two-year-long nightmare?"
"...Maybe more like waking from a daydream." Sinon turns towards you, visibly concerned. "W-who was that girl? The one with flowers in her hair?"
You seize up. Out of everything that might have just happened, Sinon can recall her?
"Who was she?"
...
"She's... a busybody. A pest who never learned to mind her own business. Someone who'll move mountains just to help someone who doesn't even want to be helped." Someone who will die, again and again, for your sake.
Sinon snorts, "Sounds like you."
The droning voice of Death Gun's recording interrupts your conversation. The words are looping, Death Gun's message constantly repeating as if wanting to imprint them in your skull forever. You think the devs would've done something about this blatant hack, but it appears the BoB was still going strong. Right now the entire audience, likely the world at large, was watching the same broadcast you were. The deaths of Usujio and David were certain to be front-page news, and you don't envy the position Kikuoka must now be in. Not that your situation was much better.
Sinon reaches over, groaning as she slowly dislodges her torso from the bayonet. "Kuro. I... heard your voice. I-I don't know if you're right. I don't think I can just be someone better. I've tried to do that for years and... it hasn't exactly gone well."
You lean down and help Shino off the blade, trying not to think about who stabbed her in the first place. "You're more than the worst day of your life."
Sinon frowns. "It's a bit late for that. I don't even remember what it was like before... before I became a killer. That girl died a long time ago."
There's more you want to say to her, more that you feel the burning need to vocalize, but the words stick in your throat. There's still a mountain of problems lying ahead for her. But you can settle on one question. "Then don't focus on the past. What about the future? Who do you want to be?"
"I..." Sinon begins, but she still hesitates. "I... I wanted to be ready to do what's necessary, anytime, anywhere. I wanted to be proud of what I did. But now I... I have no idea. This power was supposed to cut through the hesitation, let me be who I felt I needed to be." Sinon sits up and immediately goes rigid as the blade falls out of her stomach. The wound left by your bayonet gushing out a spray of pixels.
"SINON! Dammit!" You reach forward, calling forth a wisp of healing magic, Helena already primed from your earlier attempt to raise a shield.
"You were holding healing in reserve too? Can you just do whatever you want? How do you even fight that... god, this has been a complete disaster," complains Sinon with a long-suffering sigh. "So? You seem to have half a clue, care to tell me exactly what happened to me?"
"It's complicated. I'm not sure of the details, but all SEED games can mess with your mind. Make you see their world as more real than the waking world."
"That so called VR Psychosis? I remember everything else clearly. I don't feel like I was mind controlled..." Sinon eyes shine with a sudden skepticism. "Was I mind controlled? And considering all the nonsense you've been pulling, are you mind controlling me right now?"
"N-no!" You sputter. "I didn't even use that ability!"
Your response fails to fill Sinon with any semblance of confidence. "Wait, you can mind control people!?"
"Yes—I mean no, urgh, it's complicated alright!? Just like everything else has been lately!" You sigh. "But I didn't mind control you! Uh... promise?" You finish lamely, unsure of what else to say to convince one who thought they were being mind controlled into believing they weren't.
Sinon sighs, but that gaze of ice returns. "Later you're going to sit down and explain everything to me. But I suppose we've got bigger game to hunt right now. I can still hear that annoying voice blabbering on. This... Death Gun, is he really going around killing people in real life?"
"It's complicated—"
"Stop saying that," Sinon interrupts, not giving you even an ounce of leeway to respond. "So uncomplicate it. This guy needs to be stopped, or people will die, correct? Then I'm helping."
"H-hold on! It's dangerous—"
"Today I fought a girl who controls floods, goes into random demon rages, summons fireworks, has healing powers, mind control powers and can turn into a cat. I am well past the point of caring." Sinon's gaze flits over your form and narrows. "So unless you can transform into a dragon and fly away, I. Am. Not. Being left behind." She grits out, each word coming out like the squeeze of a trigger.
You could try to talk her down, but the scowl Sinon gives you the moment you open your mouth tells you the discussion is as good as over. "...Fine. Stick close to me and be careful, okay?"
"I'd rather be watching over you from a nice, safe distance." Sinon rises to her feet and brushes off her jacket, reloading her Mini Hecate, her main weapon still lost somewhere in the mountains. "Give me the basic sitrep."
"This Death Gun person, the one broadcasting right now. I... I think he's trying to recreate SAO, rather the death game part of it. Turn GGO into a game where if you die in the game you die in real life. And he's using this gun to accomplish it."
You pull it out of your holster, inspecting the gun Itsuki gave you. That asshole just rocketed from casual annoyance to the top of your suspect list. The one weapon he just happens to gift to you under the most tenuous and unlikely of circumstances, ends up being the signature weapon of Death Gun? There's coincidence and then there's conspiracy.
But the power of this weapon, it's indescribable. You feel your skeletal Persona, long since numb to earth pleasures, practically shudder the moment your hands wrap around it. There's a change in this gun, no, a change in the world surrounding this gun. A promise, an incarnation, of slaughter under the auspices of the Black Star.
Realization hits Sinon like a lightning bolt. Shock, horror, and soul-crushing fear flash across her expression the moment she sees your weapon. Her hands fumble towards her sidearm, pulling out an identical copy of the Black Star which she promptly drops on the floor like some kind of radioactive waste.
"I've been... carrying this thing for days. I used it, I shot... t-this..." Sinon visibly shudders. "No. It's just a tool. Just... a weapon..."
The same pistol. What's the story with this weapon? It was a powerful weapon when you first used it against XeXeeD, and it's something important to Death Gun. But Itsuki was right, there wasn't anything remarkable about the pistol in its performance or reputation. This wasn't some world-famous model, from what little you've picked up talking to Lugh the gun was just a replica of a Soviet pistol.
If Death Gun's purpose was to trick the players of GGO into believing a virtual gun has the power to kill in real life, he could've picked any gun. Why this pistol?
And why was Sinon afraid of it?
"Crap. Someone's coming!" Calls out Sinon in a sudden panic, her eyes dancing across the horizon towards the east, quickly dismissing the pistol back into her inventory. Something in your peripheral vision catches your attention. A cloud of dust growing in the distance, approaching your position at speeds too fast to be realistically feasible for a normal human. Sinon curses under her breath and quickly applies a healing spray to her many wounds, but you can tell she'll keel over at the next stiff breeze.
"Sinon. Hide."
"W-wait, I can still figh—"
"Just do it!"
Your fight was the exact opposite of covert, between the river swells, the fireworks, and whatever the hell that final attack was. Whoever it is could be coming to finish off the stragglers, or worse it could be someone just like Sinon, twisted by Death Gun's declaration.
Or even XaXa himself.
Or... it could be a car?
The cloud of dust resolves itself to a faded yellow dune buggy. It's an old ugly thing, all the more notable for the sheer speed the thing is hurtling forwards at. Metal creaks and with every rock the buggy slams through said poor machine bounces up and down like a trampoline.
It's also about to hit the river.
What you think is meant to be a fancy breaking maneuver turns into a rollover disaster. The buggy screeches when the driver makes a sharp left-hand turn, intending on skidding it to a stop at the river's edge. Instead, the buggy flips over a boulder jutting out of the mud, and slams into the river with such force it begins to skip its way across the surface. It keeps going like that for what feels like forever, the entire chassis going up in the air like it's trying to fly off the surface of a pond. Eventually, the force of the buggy's failed drifting runs out and it stops with a hard thump clear on the other side... resting on four wheels like it meant to do that all along.
The driver's side door clatters to the ground in a puff of smoke. You wait for the driver to make themselves known, only there's... no driver.
Or rather, no driver that you can see.
"Wassup losers? Get in the car!"
"HEY KURO! NICE BOOB WINDOW!"
"I WAS SHOT! AND CAN YOU SLOW DOWN!?"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"
The buggy kicks up clumps of dust as it speeds madly across the landscape. Despite its poor suspension and lack of both a roof and doors, the scariest part of the ride isn't the speed or the near misses, it's the reckless driver behind the wheels.
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!?" you scream out, gripping the plastic seats so tightly they're liable to crack.
"I'M FIGURING IT OUT AS I GO!" shouts Gwen, clearly having the time of her life as the three of you speed through the landscape towards XeXeeD's last position.
"Who are you!? What the hell is going on here!?" asks Sinon, poking her head out of the backseat with another healing syringe dangling off of her arm.
"So, uh... is she in the know?" Gwen asks over the roar of the engine. "We talking like... Sigurd levels of in the know? Or like actually in the know?"
"I'm not in any know!"
Things are moving decidedly too quickly for you to comprehend, doubly so with Gwen's driving. "I haven't had a chance to explain things fully to her."
"Cool, but like, you're past the point where you kick her ass and make up, right? And she's sane? Sooo... can I take a crack at explaining!?"
You're simultaneously too tired and too scared of biting your tongue off to put a stop to this madness. "Whatever!"
Gwen clears her throat, taking her eyes off the road for the hundredth time. "Pay attention sniper girl, this will be on the test. First off Kayaba Akihiko's alive and is using VR games to create some kind of apocalypse—"
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, we're like, acquaintances. He's funky. Anyways VR games can trap your souls or something if you get addicted them, and if it happens to too many people at once the world ends. Or something like that. The details are hazy. I'm Gwen, the brains of this operation, and Kuro here's the brawn. We also got this chill guy named Lugh who I'm 90% certain is going to betray us all at the worst possible moment but for now he's super useful. Kuro's here's investigating rumors of this Death Gun guy at the urging of Japan's shadow government and that's more or less everything in a nutshell. Oh, right. Me and Kuro can do magic. Not sure if you can too, but I'm optimistic!"
"T-that doesn't explain anything!"
"Hold on," you interrupt. "Where is Lugh? What's XeXeeD's situation?" If you know XaXa he would've made a beeline to XeXeeD. If you want to stop this madness you need to be where XaXa is, and the longer he has to dig his tendrils into GGO the stronger his hold will become.
"Well for starters..." Gwen clarifies while Sinon stares in open confusion, "I got to XeXeeD first. He immediately shot me with a chaff grenade and then I learned the hard way what counters invisibility. I had to waste like five minutes convincing him I work with you. You were right by the way, the guy's a complete asshole. Anyways, Lugh showed up with this buggy a bit later, then told me to use it to grab you."
"But what about XaXa!?"
Gwen pauses, the buggy even slows down for a moment as she looks at you incredulously. "XaXa? Wait, you think the old guard are involved?"
"Didn't you see the speech!? That's XaXa through and through!" you gesticulate towards the repeating announcement, XaXa's final statement echoing through the air, the broadcast already entering its third loop.
"It sounds like XaXa, but this ain't his style. I'd sooner believe it was PoH up there than XaXa." Gwen says as she drives over a relatively flat patch of land.
"Look I saw him! In the lobby! He was wearing an invisibility cloak. He was staring at XeXeeD, he had Red-Eyes. And all this talk about the «Real Deal», that's XaXa! He'd never shut up about it! XaXa's going to target XeXeeD!"
"XAXA!?" Sinon screams from behind you. "WHO'S XAXA!?"
"He's the guy not fighting XeXeeD." Gwen pronounces to your growing confusion. This whole thing feels off, Gwen is shockingly calm even with things playing out exactly as you feared. "Not unless he started stealing JB's schtick."
Gwen takes one hand off the wheels to pull out her Satellite Scan terminal, tossing it into your lap. Your eyes glance over the map, several dots slashed through the grid, most of them marking the locations of players.
Your cats were still wandering around the ruins.
XeXeeD and Lugh were in the woods.
You, Sinon and Gwen were clustered together.
And the three candidates for Death Gun...
Jack Reacher, wandering towards the northern border.
Sterben, still lingering in the City, practically in the same position he spawned in.
And...
Blackwood. Smack dab in the forest alongside XeXeeD.
Found you. Blackwood, the username of XaXa and your target. You look towards the sky, watching the burning sun slowly begin to descend over the horizon. Lugh hasn't fired any flares yet, so at least XeXeeD is not in any danger. XeXeeD was still alive, and if things truly went astray you have one final card to play.
"So... Blackwood is Death Gun?" You ask Gwen for affirmation. You should've felt more confident saying that, but there's a... worry you can't shake off in your gut.
"Unless the scan is being tricked, the guy in the gas mask and the cloak is Blackwood," Gwen confirms. "I know you think he's XaXa but this Blackwood guy doesn't fight like XaXa. He's all hit and run with gas grenades and tranquilizer rifles. I... I think we might be overlooking something fundamental..."
You force yourself to focus on the information at hand, to follow the path of logic from one statement to the other.
The bizarre deaths mocked up to feel like NerveGear activations. Could XaXa do all that alone?
The moving parts, the complexity, the sheer theatricality of it all.
The intensity, that obsession with being the «Real Deal».
This Blackwood, fighting XeXeeD with... gas and chemicals.
For... for all that Laughing Coffin was a band of murderers, for all the insanity, all the death and destruction they left in their wake, Laughing Coffin was also something far simpler.
It was a...
Guild.
And Guilds don't work alone.
"XeXeeD! We still have to protect XeXeeD!" You have no idea what's going on anymore. Who Death Gun is, who XeXeeD is fighting, everything is falling before a curtain of fog. The very idea that it could be more than one Laughing Coffin member, perhaps even the entirety of the inner circle, makes your head spin. But for now, your suspicions are meaningless. The only thing you know is that you need to get to XeXeeD and make sure he isn't killed.
Even if everything in front of you makes no sense. Even if you can barely think straight.
"XeXeeD's a veteran. Why are you so worried about him?" Sinon asks, only following half the conversation.
"Sniper girl's right. You got nothing to worry about. Lugh's just sitting there twiddling his fingers." Gwen cocks her head, wondering why you're so anxious. "Cause right now? XeXeeD? He's kicking ass!"
XaXa's speech cuts off in the monitors floating across the BoB arena. The droning taunts of Death Gun vaporize into silence.
But the broadcast continues. The visage of a red-eyed man in a gas mask is broadcast to the world, live from the Bullet of Bullets.
The man you thought was XaXa lies in the haze of the setting sun. Smoke wafts out of his mask, but more than that you can see the thousand marks of a lost battle. From his cracked visor to the tatters in his pitch-black cloak, to the bullet wounds bleeding pixels into the soil. This is... Death Gun.
Defeated. Broken. Kneeling.
With that gun pressed to his head.
<What a chump. No game, no skills, did Usujio lose to a fuckin' scrub like you?>
The kneeling figure laughs. It's not the cold, clinical laughter of a man awaiting execution. It's the shrill shrieking of an asylum patient.
<Hehehehe... hahahaha.... KEHEHEHE! He screamed! Begged for his momma! You should've been there to see it!>
The Black Star quivers, the man holding the gun just off-screen shaking in abject fury.
<Usujio didn't deserve to DIE! Not even fuckin' David deserves it! But you don't care do you!? You sick fuckin' little shitstain thinks it's all fun and games!?>
<KAHAHAHA! So scwarry~! Big words from a small man who can't even pull the trigger!>
<Shut your filthy mouth! You fuck with my world!? You mess with the champ!? You think this is over? You think you get to just walk away after all you've done!?>
"Gwen, drive faster!" You scream, urging the buggy forward with the power of sheer desperation. "Sinon, do you see them!?"
She mounts her sniper rifle against the bouncing frame of Gwen's buggy, arms shaking with every single bump of the car. Her finger hovers over the trigger, and you see the brilliant red bullet line highlight the distant figure of XeXeeD and Death Gun, only now barely visible off in the distance. Lugh's standing silently by the side, unmoving, just watching the show play out.
"Take the shot!" You scream. Was Lugh just letting this play out!? You didn't explicitly instruct him to protect Death Gun, but was he just gonna stand there and watch someone die? Was this the plan the whole time!? Did Death Gun not care who died, so long as someone did!?
<DEATH CAME FOR THOSE WEAKLINGS! IT COMES FOR YOU TOO MR. CHAMPION!!>
<Newflash motherfucker! I'm the chosen, the King! I'm not the one kneeling on the fuckin' ground! You watching Usujio!? Look at this scrub, this clown who ended your life! Save a spot in hell for him, cause I'm sending him your way!>
"On who!? Who am I shooting!?" Sinon screams, her rifle wavering between the two targets in her scope. Nothing makes sense right now. Do you even want to stop this? What would you accomplish? And what the fuck is Lugh doing!?
<DEATH COMES FOR ME! IT COMES FOR EVERYONE! LOOK CLOSELY WORLD! KHEHEHEHEHEHE.... KHAHAHAHAHA! CAUSE IT'S—>
<DIE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!>
<—SHOWTIME!>
[ ] Do nothing.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot XeXeeD.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot Lugh.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Turn off the lights. [1 STRESS]
[ ] Write-In
You have line of sight to Lugh, XeXeeD and Death Gun.
XeXeeD has a gun pressed to Death Gun's head.
Lugh is standing there, out in the open, watching the proceedings.
You are considered to be in EXTREME range. You have no weapons capable of firing into EXTREME range.
Release Recollection abilities affect the world directly and thus do not have a 'range'.
You lurch forward, the world slamming back into sharp focus in one sudden snap. A gnawing pit eats away at your chest, and the sudden recollection of the phantom bullet slamming its way into your torso causes your heart to race. You gingerly bring your hand up to your torso and breathe a sigh of relief when you find nothing more than torn clothes.
It was a sudden movement, one you scarcely even recall consciously making. The crack of the Seventh Bullet and then you were there, placing your own soul between the bullet and its intended target.
"K-kuro? Y-you're..."
You are...? You slowly bring your hand up to your eye, and note the faintest hints of moisture at the edges of your right eye. The one inexplicably colored a light red. The memories remain faint, but you remember stopping Sinon's final bullet. You remember... her...
No. Not now. You still have a mission to finish. "Nevermind that! Are you alright!?"
"I... I have a bayonet sticking out of my chest. So no, I am not alright."
You wince. Sinon was kinda, maybe... half dead because of you. "Sorry! I had to get a little rough. You were, you know... going crazy?" You sincerely hope she isn't still crazy. She seems calm so you'll mark it as a sign of improvement. The red is gone from her eyes, and her brow is furrowed in a strange mix of confusion and disappointment. More importantly, you no longer feel that oppressive pressure in the distance. The fog in the mountains thins and the specter of Aimopotis has faded in its entirety.
"I don't understand." The sniper finally speaks, though the words come out in a faint rasp. "Why did you have to stop me? I..."
"Because you're my friend, you idiot. I don't want to lose you to... the monster you aren't."
Sinon sighs. "I wasn't— no, nevermind. From your perspective, I'm sure it looks that way. I just... I'm not sure how I can even explain it..."
"Like waking up from a two-year-long nightmare?"
"...Maybe more like waking from a daydream." Sinon turns towards you, visibly concerned. "W-who was that girl? The one with flowers in her hair?"
You seize up. Out of everything that might have just happened, Sinon can recall her?
"Who was she?"
...
"She's... a busybody. A pest who never learned to mind her own business. Someone who'll move mountains just to help someone who doesn't even want to be helped." Someone who will die, again and again, for your sake.
Sinon snorts, "Sounds like you."
The droning voice of Death Gun's recording interrupts your conversation. The words are looping, Death Gun's message constantly repeating as if wanting to imprint them in your skull forever. You think the devs would've done something about this blatant hack, but it appears the BoB was still going strong. Right now the entire audience, likely the world at large, was watching the same broadcast you were. The deaths of Usujio and David were certain to be front-page news, and you don't envy the position Kikuoka must now be in. Not that your situation was much better.
Sinon reaches over, groaning as she slowly dislodges her torso from the bayonet. "Kuro. I... heard your voice. I-I don't know if you're right. I don't think I can just be someone better. I've tried to do that for years and... it hasn't exactly gone well."
You lean down and help Shino off the blade, trying not to think about who stabbed her in the first place. "You're more than the worst day of your life."
Sinon frowns. "It's a bit late for that. I don't even remember what it was like before... before I became a killer. That girl died a long time ago."
There's more you want to say to her, more that you feel the burning need to vocalize, but the words stick in your throat. There's still a mountain of problems lying ahead for her. But you can settle on one question. "Then don't focus on the past. What about the future? Who do you want to be?"
"I..." Sinon begins, but she still hesitates. "I... I wanted to be ready to do what's necessary, anytime, anywhere. I wanted to be proud of what I did. But now I... I have no idea. This power was supposed to cut through the hesitation, let me be who I felt I needed to be." Sinon sits up and immediately goes rigid as the blade falls out of her stomach. The wound left by your bayonet gushing out a spray of pixels.
"SINON! Dammit!" You reach forward, calling forth a wisp of healing magic, Helena already primed from your earlier attempt to raise a shield.
"You were holding healing in reserve too? Can you just do whatever you want? How do you even fight that... god, this has been a complete disaster," complains Sinon with a long-suffering sigh. "So? You seem to have half a clue, care to tell me exactly what happened to me?"
"It's complicated. I'm not sure of the details, but all SEED games can mess with your mind. Make you see their world as more real than the waking world."
"That so called VR Psychosis? I remember everything else clearly. I don't feel like I was mind controlled..." Sinon eyes shine with a sudden skepticism. "Was I mind controlled? And considering all the nonsense you've been pulling, are you mind controlling me right now?"
"N-no!" You sputter. "I didn't even use that ability!"
Your response fails to fill Sinon with any semblance of confidence. "Wait, you can mind control people!?"
"Yes—I mean no, urgh, it's complicated alright!? Just like everything else has been lately!" You sigh. "But I didn't mind control you! Uh... promise?" You finish lamely, unsure of what else to say to convince one who thought they were being mind controlled into believing they weren't.
Sinon sighs, but that gaze of ice returns. "Later you're going to sit down and explain everything to me. But I suppose we've got bigger game to hunt right now. I can still hear that annoying voice blabbering on. This... Death Gun, is he really going around killing people in real life?"
"It's complicated—"
"Stop saying that," Sinon interrupts, not giving you even an ounce of leeway to respond. "So uncomplicate it. This guy needs to be stopped, or people will die, correct? Then I'm helping."
"H-hold on! It's dangerous—"
"Today I fought a girl who controls floods, goes into random demon rages, summons fireworks, has healing powers, mind control powers and can turn into a cat. I am well past the point of caring." Sinon's gaze flits over your form and narrows. "So unless you can transform into a dragon and fly away, I. Am. Not. Being left behind." She grits out, each word coming out like the squeeze of a trigger.
You could try to talk her down, but the scowl Sinon gives you the moment you open your mouth tells you the discussion is as good as over. "...Fine. Stick close to me and be careful, okay?"
"I'd rather be watching over you from a nice, safe distance." Sinon rises to her feet and brushes off her jacket, reloading her Mini Hecate, her main weapon still lost somewhere in the mountains. "Give me the basic sitrep."
"This Death Gun person, the one broadcasting right now. I... I think he's trying to recreate SAO, rather the death game part of it. Turn GGO into a game where if you die in the game you die in real life. And he's using this gun to accomplish it."
You pull it out of your holster, inspecting the gun Itsuki gave you. That asshole just rocketed from casual annoyance to the top of your suspect list. The one weapon he just happens to gift to you under the most tenuous and unlikely of circumstances, ends up being the signature weapon of Death Gun? There's coincidence and then there's conspiracy.
But the power of this weapon, it's indescribable. You feel your skeletal Persona, long since numb to earth pleasures, practically shudder the moment your hands wrap around it. There's a change in this gun, no, a change in the world surrounding this gun. A promise, an incarnation, of slaughter under the auspices of the Black Star.
Realization hits Sinon like a lightning bolt. Shock, horror, and soul-crushing fear flash across her expression the moment she sees your weapon. Her hands fumble towards her sidearm, pulling out an identical copy of the Black Star which she promptly drops on the floor like some kind of radioactive waste.
"I've been... carrying this thing for days. I used it, I shot... t-this..." Sinon visibly shudders. "No. It's just a tool. Just... a weapon..."
The same pistol. What's the story with this weapon? It was a powerful weapon when you first used it against XeXeeD, and it's something important to Death Gun. But Itsuki was right, there wasn't anything remarkable about the pistol in its performance or reputation. This wasn't some world-famous model, from what little you've picked up talking to Lugh the gun was just a replica of a Soviet pistol.
If Death Gun's purpose was to trick the players of GGO into believing a virtual gun has the power to kill in real life, he could've picked any gun. Why this pistol?
And why was Sinon afraid of it?
"Crap. Someone's coming!" Calls out Sinon in a sudden panic, her eyes dancing across the horizon towards the east, quickly dismissing the pistol back into her inventory. Something in your peripheral vision catches your attention. A cloud of dust growing in the distance, approaching your position at speeds too fast to be realistically feasible for a normal human. Sinon curses under her breath and quickly applies a healing spray to her many wounds, but you can tell she'll keel over at the next stiff breeze.
"Sinon. Hide."
"W-wait, I can still figh—"
"Just do it!"
Your fight was the exact opposite of covert, between the river swells, the fireworks, and whatever the hell that final attack was. Whoever it is could be coming to finish off the stragglers, or worse it could be someone just like Sinon, twisted by Death Gun's declaration.
Or even XaXa himself.
Or... it could be a car?
The cloud of dust resolves itself to a faded yellow dune buggy. It's an old ugly thing, all the more notable for the sheer speed the thing is hurtling forwards at. Metal creaks and with every rock the buggy slams through said poor machine bounces up and down like a trampoline.
It's also about to hit the river.
What you think is meant to be a fancy breaking maneuver turns into a rollover disaster. The buggy screeches when the driver makes a sharp left-hand turn, intending on skidding it to a stop at the river's edge. Instead, the buggy flips over a boulder jutting out of the mud, and slams into the river with such force it begins to skip its way across the surface. It keeps going like that for what feels like forever, the entire chassis going up in the air like it's trying to fly off the surface of a pond. Eventually, the force of the buggy's failed drifting runs out and it stops with a hard thump clear on the other side... resting on four wheels like it meant to do that all along.
The driver's side door clatters to the ground in a puff of smoke. You wait for the driver to make themselves known, only there's... no driver.
Or rather, no driver that you can see.
"Wassup losers? Get in the car!"
"HEY KURO! NICE BOOB WINDOW!"
"I WAS SHOT! AND CAN YOU SLOW DOWN!?"
"I DON'T KNOW HOW!"
The buggy kicks up clumps of dust as it speeds madly across the landscape. Despite its poor suspension and lack of both a roof and doors, the scariest part of the ride isn't the speed or the near misses, it's the reckless driver behind the wheels.
"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!?" you scream out, gripping the plastic seats so tightly they're liable to crack.
"I'M FIGURING IT OUT AS I GO!" shouts Gwen, clearly having the time of her life as the three of you speed through the landscape towards XeXeeD's last position.
"Who are you!? What the hell is going on here!?" asks Sinon, poking her head out of the backseat with another healing syringe dangling off of her arm.
"So, uh... is she in the know?" Gwen asks over the roar of the engine. "We talking like... Sigurd levels of in the know? Or like actually in the know?"
"I'm not in any know!"
Things are moving decidedly too quickly for you to comprehend, doubly so with Gwen's driving. "I haven't had a chance to explain things fully to her."
"Cool, but like, you're past the point where you kick her ass and make up, right? And she's sane? Sooo... can I take a crack at explaining!?"
You're simultaneously too tired and too scared of biting your tongue off to put a stop to this madness. "Whatever!"
Gwen clears her throat, taking her eyes off the road for the hundredth time. "Pay attention sniper girl, this will be on the test. First off Kayaba Akihiko's alive and is using VR games to create some kind of apocalypse—"
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, we're like, acquaintances. He's funky. Anyways VR games can trap your souls or something if you get addicted them, and if it happens to too many people at once the world ends. Or something like that. The details are hazy. I'm Gwen, the brains of this operation, and Kuro here's the brawn. We also got this chill guy named Lugh who I'm 90% certain is going to betray us all at the worst possible moment but for now he's super useful. Kuro's here's investigating rumors of this Death Gun guy at the urging of Japan's shadow government and that's more or less everything in a nutshell. Oh, right. Me and Kuro can do magic. Not sure if you can too, but I'm optimistic!"
"T-that doesn't explain anything!"
"Hold on," you interrupt. "Where is Lugh? What's XeXeeD's situation?" If you know XaXa he would've made a beeline to XeXeeD. If you want to stop this madness you need to be where XaXa is, and the longer he has to dig his tendrils into GGO the stronger his hold will become.
"Well for starters..." Gwen clarifies while Sinon stares in open confusion, "I got to XeXeeD first. He immediately shot me with a chaff grenade and then I learned the hard way what counters invisibility. I had to waste like five minutes convincing him I work with you. You were right by the way, the guy's a complete asshole. Anyways, Lugh showed up with this buggy a bit later, then told me to use it to grab you."
"But what about XaXa!?"
Gwen pauses, the buggy even slows down for a moment as she looks at you incredulously. "XaXa? Wait, you think the old guard are involved?"
"Didn't you see the speech!? That's XaXa through and through!" you gesticulate towards the repeating announcement, XaXa's final statement echoing through the air, the broadcast already entering its third loop.
"It sounds like XaXa, but this ain't his style. I'd sooner believe it was PoH up there than XaXa." Gwen says as she drives over a relatively flat patch of land.
"Look I saw him! In the lobby! He was wearing an invisibility cloak. He was staring at XeXeeD, he had Red-Eyes. And all this talk about the «Real Deal», that's XaXa! He'd never shut up about it! XaXa's going to target XeXeeD!"
"XAXA!?" Sinon screams from behind you. "WHO'S XAXA!?"
"He's the guy not fighting XeXeeD." Gwen pronounces to your growing confusion. This whole thing feels off, Gwen is shockingly calm even with things playing out exactly as you feared. "Not unless he started stealing JB's schtick."
Gwen takes one hand off the wheels to pull out her Satellite Scan terminal, tossing it into your lap. Your eyes glance over the map, several dots slashed through the grid, most of them marking the locations of players.
Your cats were still wandering around the ruins.
XeXeeD and Lugh were in the woods.
You, Sinon and Gwen were clustered together.
And the three candidates for Death Gun...
Jack Reacher, wandering towards the northern border.
Sterben, still lingering in the City, practically in the same position he spawned in.
And...
Blackwood. Smack dab in the forest alongside XeXeeD.
Found you. Blackwood, the username of XaXa and your target. You look towards the sky, watching the burning sun slowly begin to descend over the horizon. Lugh hasn't fired any flares yet, so at least XeXeeD is not in any danger. XeXeeD was still alive, and if things truly went astray you have one final card to play.
"So... Blackwood is Death Gun?" You ask Gwen for affirmation. You should've felt more confident saying that, but there's a... worry you can't shake off in your gut.
"Unless the scan is being tricked, the guy in the gas mask and the cloak is Blackwood," Gwen confirms. "I know you think he's XaXa but this Blackwood guy doesn't fight like XaXa. He's all hit and run with gas grenades and tranquilizer rifles. I... I think we might be overlooking something fundamental..."
You force yourself to focus on the information at hand, to follow the path of logic from one statement to the other.
The bizarre deaths mocked up to feel like NerveGear activations. Could XaXa do all that alone?
The moving parts, the complexity, the sheer theatricality of it all.
The intensity, that obsession with being the «Real Deal».
This Blackwood, fighting XeXeeD with... gas and chemicals.
For... for all that Laughing Coffin was a band of murderers, for all the insanity, all the death and destruction they left in their wake, Laughing Coffin was also something far simpler.
It was a...
Guild.
And Guilds don't work alone.
"XeXeeD! We still have to protect XeXeeD!" You have no idea what's going on anymore. Who Death Gun is, who XeXeeD is fighting, everything is falling before a curtain of fog. The very idea that it could be more than one Laughing Coffin member, perhaps even the entirety of the inner circle, makes your head spin. But for now, your suspicions are meaningless. The only thing you know is that you need to get to XeXeeD and make sure he isn't killed.
Even if everything in front of you makes no sense. Even if you can barely think straight.
"XeXeeD's a veteran. Why are you so worried about him?" Sinon asks, only following half the conversation.
"Sniper girl's right. You got nothing to worry about. Lugh's just sitting there twiddling his fingers." Gwen cocks her head, wondering why you're so anxious. "Cause right now? XeXeeD? He's kicking ass!"
XaXa's speech cuts off in the monitors floating across the BoB arena. The droning taunts of Death Gun vaporize into silence.
But the broadcast continues. The visage of a red-eyed man in a gas mask is broadcast to the world, live from the Bullet of Bullets.
The man you thought was XaXa lies in the haze of the setting sun. Smoke wafts out of his mask, but more than that you can see the thousand marks of a lost battle. From his cracked visor to the tatters in his pitch-black cloak, to the bullet wounds bleeding pixels into the soil. This is... Death Gun.
Defeated. Broken. Kneeling.
With that gun pressed to his head.
<What a chump. No game, no skills, did Usujio lose to a fuckin' scrub like you?>
The kneeling figure laughs. It's not the cold, clinical laughter of a man awaiting execution. It's the shrill shrieking of an asylum patient.
<Hehehehe... hahahaha.... KEHEHEHE! He screamed! Begged for his momma! You should've been there to see it!>
The Black Star quivers, the man holding the gun just off-screen shaking in abject fury.
<Usujio didn't deserve to DIE! Not even fuckin' David deserves it! But you don't care do you!? You sick fuckin' little shitstain thinks it's all fun and games!?>
<KAHAHAHA! So scwarry~! Big words from a small man who can't even pull the trigger!>
<Shut your filthy mouth! You fuck with my world!? You mess with the champ!? You think this is over? You think you get to just walk away after all you've done!?>
"Gwen, drive faster!" You scream, urging the buggy forward with the power of sheer desperation. "Sinon, do you see them!?"
She mounts her sniper rifle against the bouncing frame of Gwen's buggy, arms shaking with every single bump of the car. Her finger hovers over the trigger, and you see the brilliant red bullet line highlight the distant figure of XeXeeD and Death Gun, only now barely visible off in the distance. Lugh's standing silently by the side, unmoving, just watching the show play out.
"Take the shot!" You scream. Was Lugh just letting this play out!? You didn't explicitly instruct him to protect Death Gun, but was he just gonna stand there and watch someone die? Was this the plan the whole time!? Did Death Gun not care who died, so long as someone did!?
<DEATH CAME FOR THOSE WEAKLINGS! IT COMES FOR YOU TOO MR. CHAMPION!!>
<Newflash motherfucker! I'm the chosen, the King! I'm not the one kneeling on the fuckin' ground! You watching Usujio!? Look at this scrub, this clown who ended your life! Save a spot in hell for him, cause I'm sending him your way!>
"On who!? Who am I shooting!?" Sinon screams, her rifle wavering between the two targets in her scope. Nothing makes sense right now. Do you even want to stop this? What would you accomplish? And what the fuck is Lugh doing!?
<DEATH COMES FOR ME! IT COMES FOR EVERYONE! LOOK CLOSELY WORLD! KHEHEHEHEHEHE.... KHAHAHAHAHA! CAUSE IT'S—>
<DIE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!>
<—SHOWTIME!>
[ ] Do nothing.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot XeXeeD.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Tell Sinon to shoot Lugh.
Sinon will not miss.
[ ] Turn off the lights. [1 STRESS]
[ ] Write-In
You have line of sight to Lugh, XeXeeD and Death Gun.
XeXeeD has a gun pressed to Death Gun's head.
Lugh is standing there, out in the open, watching the proceedings.
You are considered to be in EXTREME range. You have no weapons capable of firing into EXTREME range.
Release Recollection abilities affect the world directly and thus do not have a 'range'.
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- Location
- The Z-Cave
We've refined the process by also being decisive and brutal against our enemies.
Well, this is Persona so everything Death Gun brought out was real, but most likely exaggerated.
Just be greatful we didn't choose Slenderman.
Black Star was the robber's gun and in canon Kyoji had Death Gun use it as his calling card as twisted show of affection to Sinon. A point to Kyoji falling off the wagon.
Hey, we're the brains you're the murder gremlin! Hiyori's the one always pulling deductions out of her ass.
Once again a simple solution to a simple problem. The Death Gun conspiracy is most likely just using multiple rigs and avatars instead of just putting everything into Sterben like in canon.
Why are these lunatics so good at planning?
Yeah, this is definitely Johnny Black and he is definitely willing to die for the cause of bloodshed.
Besides a write-in I think having Sinon snipe Death Gun is the best option here. Miller's group's current objective is to mostly observe so I don't think Lugh will interfere here, Death Gun is nuts and definitely won't crack unless we win a CHT role with Marin Karin, and sparing him involves backstabbing XeXeeD and leaving him even more of an X-factor in the future. We log out Death Gun and if XeXeeD gets pissy and pulls out a Death Gun Persona we have him outnumbered three to one and now we know because of the Sinon Fight we have to target the Persona now if it comes to that. So we beat him up and detox him finally bringing everyone properly on the same page uniting the group.
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Having Sinon shoot Death Gun might have the same effect as letting XeXeed kill him given that he's probably using a Nerve Gear. After all, as seen with Sinon earlier, if someone is wearing a Nerve Gear and believes in it hard enough, they'll die when they die in VR.
I was originally going to go with using Lightless Crypt, but that by itself might not be enough.
Ah hell, we might as well go all in if we're doing this...
[X] Write-in: Psuedo-Nonviolence
-[X] Have Sinon aim at XeXeed's Black Star and shoot it
-[X] Use Tamatebako, trying to catch XeXeed, Death Gun, and Lugh in its area of effect
-[X] Use Prayer of Menes and teleport cats in between XeXeed and Death Gun
-[X] If neither XeXeed nor Death Gun are deterred by any of the above, use Lightless Crypt
Essentially, this write-in operates under the assumption that Lugh can no longer be trusted, and aims to disrupt things as much as possible, or at least confuse everybody.
I was originally going to go with using Lightless Crypt, but that by itself might not be enough.
Ah hell, we might as well go all in if we're doing this...
[X] Write-in: Psuedo-Nonviolence
-[X] Have Sinon aim at XeXeed's Black Star and shoot it
-[X] Use Tamatebako, trying to catch XeXeed, Death Gun, and Lugh in its area of effect
-[X] Use Prayer of Menes and teleport cats in between XeXeed and Death Gun
-[X] If neither XeXeed nor Death Gun are deterred by any of the above, use Lightless Crypt
Essentially, this write-in operates under the assumption that Lugh can no longer be trusted, and aims to disrupt things as much as possible, or at least confuse everybody.
Following orders to the letter.
If I were absolutely sure Sinon's shot would OHKO XeXeeD I might be tempted to take that and then see what happens when we roll up to confront probably-JB but I am not. (It probably would, but it isn't completely unprecedented for a player to tank a sniper headshot and live based on Pitohui managing it in SJ2. Sinon surely has way better stats than Shirley did but the same can be said for XeXeeD.) Meanwhile, Blackwood is seemingly nearly dead so it should be a sure kill. Sinon's headspace seems to be better and she wouldn't be using the Black Star.
What gives me pause here is... fake edit: what theguynamedwafer stated about the NerveGear. I think it's plausible to believe that both XeXeeD and Death Gun are wearing NerveGears and at the very least Death Gun expects and is even hoping to die IRL so I think a death here - even from a non-Black Star weapon might trigger it - much like how Hiyori's Shadow had to pull her back from finishing off Sinon just before. For XeXeeD I think getting sniped might be such a surprise it might not register to him to trigger the NerveGear in time but also given all the death talk and the fact that he's going off the deep end I don't know.
I think the safest option is Lightless Crypt and hope that someone else at ZASKAR pulls the plug and gets us all out but I also don't think such a plan would prevail in a vote.
Personally I don't have any great ideas and would probably default to wafer's plan but looking at the compendium page I want to float an idea here, and maybe a question:
Magdalene's Release Recollection "Silence the Aeon." It does scratch damage but disables passives for 2 scenes. Based on both Lugh and Sinon, <<Real Deal>> appears to fall under a passive. Do we think that means that would temporarily knock out the "it kills you in IRL" power? Do we think regardless of whether it knocks out <<Real Deal>> the NerveGear belief overpowers that and might still cause a kill? Because if we think we can create a 2-scene window where we can safely kill a player we can use it right now and let Sinon's sniper shot be "safe." But I'm extremely scared to try it because I do not want to accidentally traumatize Sinon further by having her cause an IRL death.
- Location
- The Z-Cave
The thing is this is what our sheet says about the Black Star.
I don't think Sinon was at risk of death only because of her NerveGear I think it was because she called upon a Death Gun Persona the cost being that you have to put your life on the line to summon the Persona. Here she's aiming at him with her sniper rifle and Death Gun doesn't seem to have invoked his own Black Star and just threw the match so I think logging him out would be safe.
Maybe, but remember what happened in ALO when we lost to Yuuki in the tournament? Hiyori's Shadow had to intervene. I was thinking more along those lines.
Yeah, I have a bad feeling that if we snipe Death Gun without doing anything else we'll still end up killing him. I can probably be talked into it if there's some general agreement that we can guard against that - whether that be because you think my Silence the Aeon idea might work or some other plan - but just sniping Death Gun with nothing else I don't feel good about it.
XeXeeD I think might be someone we can snipe more safely, I just don't know if it's a for-sure kill. And if it's not... it's possible that Death Gun turns the tables and finishes him off lethally defeating the point.
Lugh... I think Lugh is just being extremely literal here and because XeXeeD is in no danger he's not seeing a reason to act. Heck, he sent Gwen to go get us so it may even be he realizes things are playing out differently than we planned for and wants us here to give new orders. I don't think he is acting (or not acting as it may be) with malice or anything. Not familiar with his source material though so I may have the wrong read on him.
XeXeeD I think might be someone we can snipe more safely, I just don't know if it's a for-sure kill. And if it's not... it's possible that Death Gun turns the tables and finishes him off lethally defeating the point.
Lugh... I think Lugh is just being extremely literal here and because XeXeeD is in no danger he's not seeing a reason to act. Heck, he sent Gwen to go get us so it may even be he realizes things are playing out differently than we planned for and wants us here to give new orders. I don't think he is acting (or not acting as it may be) with malice or anything. Not familiar with his source material though so I may have the wrong read on him.
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- Location
- The Sea of Souls
A few general clarifications.
Currently, killing a NerveGear wearing player with the Black Star will lead to death, full stop. Clean kill.
Currently, killing a NerveGear wearing player with a non-Black Star weapon or ability will just be an in-game death (respawn back in town) unless they believe very strongly they will die or want to die.
QM promises that Death Gun here is not suicidal just for the sake of it. In fact I'd say DG's goal here isn't to 'die spectacularly', they are here to accomplish a goal, though they are willing to die in the service of that goal. DG here is trying to accomplish something very specific, or rather it's more fair to say he's trying to spread a very specific belief. DG is pushing a 'rumor', essentially. So DG is interested in keeping things 'consistent'. Keep this in mind when considering what will happen if DG is killed by a non Black Star weapon.
Also DG is willing to act in meat space too. Again, consider that they are pushing to spread a specific 'rumor' when deciding on what to do.
There won't be another combat scene. One way or another the BoB ends next chapter.
A few vetos here.
If you want the gun out of his hand, she's gonna roll. I'd put it at moderately difficult. Sinon's not THAT good.
And conditionals are fine, but after the first action, XeXeeD and DG will begin to act. So if you're using Lightless Crypt as a backup, the other party will get to act and do stuff before the lights go off.
Tamatebako is an EA and you are out of range. It also manifests as a puff of gas, so you'll just drive into it and do nothing.
Prayer of Menes... I forgot about again. But it's legal. Go ahead and teleport in cats. Might work, might not, but please clarify what the goal is for the action.
This is legal too. Will disable all passives. DG won't die from a single hit from this. All passives means all passives.
Keep in mind DG can still act in meatspace.
Currently, killing a NerveGear wearing player with the Black Star will lead to death, full stop. Clean kill.
Currently, killing a NerveGear wearing player with a non-Black Star weapon or ability will just be an in-game death (respawn back in town) unless they believe very strongly they will die or want to die.
QM promises that Death Gun here is not suicidal just for the sake of it. In fact I'd say DG's goal here isn't to 'die spectacularly', they are here to accomplish a goal, though they are willing to die in the service of that goal. DG here is trying to accomplish something very specific, or rather it's more fair to say he's trying to spread a very specific belief. DG is pushing a 'rumor', essentially. So DG is interested in keeping things 'consistent'. Keep this in mind when considering what will happen if DG is killed by a non Black Star weapon.
Also DG is willing to act in meat space too. Again, consider that they are pushing to spread a specific 'rumor' when deciding on what to do.
There won't be another combat scene. One way or another the BoB ends next chapter.
A few vetos here.
If you want the gun out of his hand, she's gonna roll. I'd put it at moderately difficult. Sinon's not THAT good.
And conditionals are fine, but after the first action, XeXeeD and DG will begin to act. So if you're using Lightless Crypt as a backup, the other party will get to act and do stuff before the lights go off.
Tamatebako is an EA and you are out of range. It also manifests as a puff of gas, so you'll just drive into it and do nothing.
Prayer of Menes... I forgot about again. But it's legal. Go ahead and teleport in cats. Might work, might not, but please clarify what the goal is for the action.
This is legal too. Will disable all passives. DG won't die from a single hit from this. All passives means all passives.
Keep in mind DG can still act in meatspace.
- Location
- New Carollton, Maryland
Okay, clarification helps a lot...
Maybe it's best to keep things simple, although the tidbit about Death Gun acting in meatspace makes me worry.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
I was originally going to try and use Prayer of Menes to either confuse XeXeed or make Death Gun lose his composure so that things would look ridiculous and not be taken seriously, but simply not having Death Gun die to the Black Star (and therefore not reinforce its rumor) may be the ticket here.
I also thought of using Lightless Crypt to obfuscate things after shooting either Death Gun or XeXeed, but that might just make the rumor mill swing in Death Gun's favor, so that's out.
Maybe it's best to keep things simple, although the tidbit about Death Gun acting in meatspace makes me worry.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
I was originally going to try and use Prayer of Menes to either confuse XeXeed or make Death Gun lose his composure so that things would look ridiculous and not be taken seriously, but simply not having Death Gun die to the Black Star (and therefore not reinforce its rumor) may be the ticket here.
I also thought of using Lightless Crypt to obfuscate things after shooting either Death Gun or XeXeed, but that might just make the rumor mill swing in Death Gun's favor, so that's out.
Redsoff
[DETACHMENT]
- Location
- By [your] side
Are they camping XeXeed's apartment right now?
From what I gather if DG is killed by any weapon in a manner he considers fitting, it will kill him and serve his agenda.
If he is killed in any manner not considered appropriate it would be fine. So any weapon that's exotic enough that can't be reproduced. Dying by a sword or knife is believable. Dying by magical fire/ice/cats not so much. Maybe death by accident/comedy, like a misfire? Circumstances matter.
If their goal is to spread a rumor, then foiling the shot or just blinding everyone could work. Maybe even if someone dies in the darkness it might muddle the narrative enough.
Or it just gives Death Gun darkness powers.
Don't know what to do about meatspace other than warning XeXeed that someone's going to break in his door.
XeXeed doesn't want to die, so shooting him should just knock him out of the game. But then Death Gun would just kill him in meatspace.
...If we do just kill DG in game, would he just commit suicide to feed the rumor?
Starting to think the key is to do something flashy and ridiculous that it ruins the narrative they're weaving. Going subtle means they just kill in real life, either their targets or even themselves.
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How fast is the buggy going and how long would it take for it to reach XeXeeD and Death Gun?
Could we distract them with Prayer of Menes to teleport cats to try to claw their faces off and then hit them with the buggy? The rumor and Death Gun are expecting death by gun, definitely not a random car out of nowhere.
...So something like this?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jnbuExjpdM
Edit: I didn't plan for my post to coincide with BreadBattalion, but I rolling with it.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jnbuExjpdM
Edit: I didn't plan for my post to coincide with BreadBattalion, but I rolling with it.
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Wait. Waitwaitwait.
Let's step back and analyze the facts we've got here. (or maybe everyone else is already here and i'm just late to the party lol)
Kikuoka regarding the murders of Usujio and David:
XeXeeD's PoV from the Interlude:
Even if XeXeeD elects not to wear it (because it's crazy) it may still be present at the home and allow an IRL Death Gun to stage the murder scene if it goes that way so it works in that sense as well.
Lugh's PoV, same interlude.
Sinon's PoV, same interlude.
But here he has the opportunity through the Real Deal plan to have Sinon turned into that ideal version of her he wants. She wasn't able to at the time of the interlude, but rather than kill her like Usujio or David, because he's obsessed with her he wouldn't want her killed when instead they could just keep working on pushing her over that edge. And indeed, she finally did when we fought her. If everything had gone to Kyouji's liking, Sinon's manifestation of Death Gun's Seventh Bullet would have killed the "weak Asada Shino" and left the "strong Sinon" that he was obsessed with (and that Shino herself thought she wanted.) We've ruined that but that would have been well outside expectation, I think she's safe - but because Kyouji's nuts I'll admit you couldn't be sure. Still I'd dismiss risk towards her right this very moment as a concern.
So where does that leave us right now? Let me paint the picture I'm seeing right now.
Itsuki is a sociopath, but would be intrigued by GGO becoming "more than just a game" like he was in the game continuity. He also has access to Taipan, a GM, who we can basically say at this point is responsible for the Death Gun GM Announcement laundered through Zeliska. While I won't conclusively say he's working with the Death Gun faction he 100% knows exactly what they're doing and I do believe he's, at least for now, a collaborator in seeing the rumor of "GGO as a game where you can become the Real Deal" actualized.
I think the fact that we're in BoB is a key detail. Blank was invited to a tournament that led to them dropping out of BoB, so in a way I think BoB is acting as a qualifiers and Blank already passed and so didn't need to attend in the mind of the tournament holder (which I think is also most likely to be Itsuki but not 100%)
This being the case, I think we have to assume that despite Itsuki priming up XeXeeD to enter BoB he couldn't be sure of the mentality he'd enter with. Indeed, prior to our encounter with XeXeeD and telling him what we did, I think it's likely he wouldn't take this nearly as seriously. That is, I think Itsuki would expect that XeXeeD would not be able to "pull the trigger." Granted, since Itsuki inserted himself into all this he may be aware it could now be different and that XeXeeD can. But would he put all his eggs in that basket?
What I'm saying is that I think it's entirely plausible that Itsuki/Death Gun has planned for both outcomes when it comes to XeXeeD - who is in fact their primary target here.
If XeXeeD can "pull the trigger" and manifest the Real Deal then it will be broadcast and by the power of the Black Star (which Death Gun's announcement has hyped up) then Death Gun/JB will die in service of actualizing the rumor.
If XeXeeD can not then the plan would be to have Death Gun execute him (in-game as Sterben probably?) as he did Usujio and David with a real life member at XeXeeD's location. (Although, the interlude notes that upon receiving the NerveGear XeXeeD went all-in on physical security so it would add some element of how they bypassed all this) and inject him. He's wearing the NerveGear so it would still fit the pattern Death Gun otherwise established in broadcasting the deaths of Usujio and David.
So I think we have to seriously grapple with the idea that there is someone at/near XeXeeD's location - perhaps Sterben not moving is acting a spotter to relay orders based on how things play out? In which case, based on pete's statement that Death Gun is trying to sell a specific narrative... I do think we may be able to short circuit it by sniping him and interrupting the drama - in a way it reminds me of Alternative GGO SJ2 ending anti-climactically when after all the high drama of LLENN and Pito's fight, the actual winner of the tournament is that team who just mows down the near-death LLENN and Fuka after they win - prompting massive boos from the audience. If we shoot XeXeeD I think Death Gun can still spin it by injecting XeXeeD IRL and showing him dead with a NerveGear. Similarly, if he use Lightless Crypt I think they can try to spin the blackout to stage the death (but maybe not depending on how it plays out, it's a risk.) But if we snipe Death Gun I think we're probably good. I think even canon Kirito was pretty confident that Death Gun followed rules and would not still carry out a kill in spite if thwarted this way. And IRL Death Gun dying wouldn't really fit the narrative they're selling. It's not a given... but...
As for Lugh, I think he's sitting this out because PoH even suggests that if Death Gun gets their plan off the ground maybe they (Subtilizer's group) can leverage it in their plan to get to the SEED. But also because our orders wouldn't compel him to act here so he has plausible deniability.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
Let's step back and analyze the facts we've got here. (or maybe everyone else is already here and i'm just late to the party lol)
Kikuoka regarding the murders of Usujio and David:
While Death Gun is selling the idea of the NerveGear being the cause of death here to the public - I think he's using it because the NerveGear is already something that would exist in the collective unconsciousness as a tool of death/murder. Kikuoka's examination of David's corpse suggests that the actual cause of death remains Death Gun's use of drugs to cause heart failure as it was in canon. I think we're still dealing with Death Gun having an IRL component who injects the target player with a lethal drug.
XeXeeD's PoV from the Interlude:
Okay, have to dive a bit into speculation here but I think the clearest reading here is that we have multiple plans colliding here. From the dialogue there I think it's likely that Itsuki was the one who provided the NerveGear and it still seems most likely that it's Itsuki through Taipan who is allowing Death Gun to broadcast to the BoB.
Even if XeXeeD elects not to wear it (because it's crazy) it may still be present at the home and allow an IRL Death Gun to stage the murder scene if it goes that way so it works in that sense as well.
Lugh's PoV, same interlude.
Rather than PoH convincing XaXa to ditch the poison idea, I think the divergent point is that he planted the idea of escalating it from "just" serial killing to serial killing that SEED would start actualizing so that copycats could and would arise backed by the rumor system.
Sinon's PoV, same interlude.
Okay, so here I think we have another ripple effect from the above divergence. Now that Death Gun is trying to institute a system where The Real Deal Ideal overwrites people's personalities and twists them into that mentality... I think we have to consider this encounter an ask by Kyouji to see if Sinon's could be actualized. The Real Deal is the part of Sinon that he's obsessed with after all. In canon, Sinon never slipped into that so he eventually went crazy and yandere and tried a murder-suicide when she wouldn't become the "Sinon" he wanted.
But here he has the opportunity through the Real Deal plan to have Sinon turned into that ideal version of her he wants. She wasn't able to at the time of the interlude, but rather than kill her like Usujio or David, because he's obsessed with her he wouldn't want her killed when instead they could just keep working on pushing her over that edge. And indeed, she finally did when we fought her. If everything had gone to Kyouji's liking, Sinon's manifestation of Death Gun's Seventh Bullet would have killed the "weak Asada Shino" and left the "strong Sinon" that he was obsessed with (and that Shino herself thought she wanted.) We've ruined that but that would have been well outside expectation, I think she's safe - but because Kyouji's nuts I'll admit you couldn't be sure. Still I'd dismiss risk towards her right this very moment as a concern.
So where does that leave us right now? Let me paint the picture I'm seeing right now.
Itsuki is a sociopath, but would be intrigued by GGO becoming "more than just a game" like he was in the game continuity. He also has access to Taipan, a GM, who we can basically say at this point is responsible for the Death Gun GM Announcement laundered through Zeliska. While I won't conclusively say he's working with the Death Gun faction he 100% knows exactly what they're doing and I do believe he's, at least for now, a collaborator in seeing the rumor of "GGO as a game where you can become the Real Deal" actualized.
I think the fact that we're in BoB is a key detail. Blank was invited to a tournament that led to them dropping out of BoB, so in a way I think BoB is acting as a qualifiers and Blank already passed and so didn't need to attend in the mind of the tournament holder (which I think is also most likely to be Itsuki but not 100%)
This being the case, I think we have to assume that despite Itsuki priming up XeXeeD to enter BoB he couldn't be sure of the mentality he'd enter with. Indeed, prior to our encounter with XeXeeD and telling him what we did, I think it's likely he wouldn't take this nearly as seriously. That is, I think Itsuki would expect that XeXeeD would not be able to "pull the trigger." Granted, since Itsuki inserted himself into all this he may be aware it could now be different and that XeXeeD can. But would he put all his eggs in that basket?
What I'm saying is that I think it's entirely plausible that Itsuki/Death Gun has planned for both outcomes when it comes to XeXeeD - who is in fact their primary target here.
If XeXeeD can "pull the trigger" and manifest the Real Deal then it will be broadcast and by the power of the Black Star (which Death Gun's announcement has hyped up) then Death Gun/JB will die in service of actualizing the rumor.
If XeXeeD can not then the plan would be to have Death Gun execute him (in-game as Sterben probably?) as he did Usujio and David with a real life member at XeXeeD's location. (Although, the interlude notes that upon receiving the NerveGear XeXeeD went all-in on physical security so it would add some element of how they bypassed all this) and inject him. He's wearing the NerveGear so it would still fit the pattern Death Gun otherwise established in broadcasting the deaths of Usujio and David.
So I think we have to seriously grapple with the idea that there is someone at/near XeXeeD's location - perhaps Sterben not moving is acting a spotter to relay orders based on how things play out? In which case, based on pete's statement that Death Gun is trying to sell a specific narrative... I do think we may be able to short circuit it by sniping him and interrupting the drama - in a way it reminds me of Alternative GGO SJ2 ending anti-climactically when after all the high drama of LLENN and Pito's fight, the actual winner of the tournament is that team who just mows down the near-death LLENN and Fuka after they win - prompting massive boos from the audience. If we shoot XeXeeD I think Death Gun can still spin it by injecting XeXeeD IRL and showing him dead with a NerveGear. Similarly, if he use Lightless Crypt I think they can try to spin the blackout to stage the death (but maybe not depending on how it plays out, it's a risk.) But if we snipe Death Gun I think we're probably good. I think even canon Kirito was pretty confident that Death Gun followed rules and would not still carry out a kill in spite if thwarted this way. And IRL Death Gun dying wouldn't really fit the narrative they're selling. It's not a given... but...
As for Lugh, I think he's sitting this out because PoH even suggests that if Death Gun gets their plan off the ground maybe they (Subtilizer's group) can leverage it in their plan to get to the SEED. But also because our orders wouldn't compel him to act here so he has plausible deniability.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
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- Location
- The Sea of Souls
The buggy is going super fast but not fast enough that you can reasonably hit a person who sees it coming. No amount of cats is going to hide the buggy. But yes, the cats will distract XeXeeD and DG, so you can try for it. I'd probably roll dice.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
- Location
- New Carollton, Maryland
That'd probably do something. Maybe not a good thing, but something.
...I wanna see it.
To paraphrase :
1. Killing someone who is wearing a NerveGear with a Black Star kills them, full stop.
2. DG victims in the past were killed via drugs, *not* by brain frying. In canon, this typically meant targeting those with weak security in meat-space, and injecting them with stolen heart medications.
3.The abodes of DG victims are arranged to look like they were killed by NervGears instead of drugs. These abodes also have poor physical security.
4.XeXeed, Sinon, and Lux are all currently wearing NervGears. Johnny Black may or may not be wearing one as well.
5. XeXeed's meat-space home has had its security upgraded as best it can after we warned him about DG. Death via drugs very unlikely.
6. DG is attempting to spread a very specific rumor, and are willing to die to do so.
7. There are more than two people involved with setting up DG, unlike canon.
8. DG is giving out Black Stars like candy.
9. DG is currently attempting to set up the SEED so that they do not have to do so much legwork.
10. Sinon's meat-space apartment is not secure, and DG knows where she lives in canon.
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In Conclusion:
A. All murders & attempted murders have had a Black Star as the murder weapon on public display, even if it is not the true murder weapon.
B. Therefore, we can conclude that DG wishes to sell the rumor that *any* death to Black Stars results in IRL death. This is the MO and they are sticking to it like glue.
C. This is accomplished by two methods.
1. Victim is wearing a NervGear and is killed with a Black Star. This method has not yet succeeded.
2. Victim is NOT wearing a NervGear and is pumped full of drugs. This method has succeeded twice.
D. Johnny Black is goading XeXeed into executing him with a Black Star, so that DG can grow the legacy. If he is wearing a NervGear and shot with a Black Star, Johnny's brain will fry. If he is not wearing one and gets shot with a Black Star, Johnny will be given an overdose by the other members of DG in meat-space.
E. DG wants to make *everyone* a potential DG, so that people get killed without DG themselves having to put in the legwork or risk getting caught. This is why Black Stars are being given out - to make other Real Deal players into killers.
F. In order to prevent DG's MO, we must prevent Black Star deaths. This means killing anyone about to be smoked with a Black Star, with a non-Black Star weapon.
[X] Tell Sinon to shoot Death Gun.
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Yeah, more or less.
One correction though - it wasn't Lugh who gave us the Black Star, but Itsuki.
Redsoff
[DETACHMENT]
- Location
- By [your] side
Wouldn't this part kill him via brain-frying?
He's not suicidal but is willing to die, so it might trigger the criteria.