@Markala: To be fair with the rapid romance between Markus and North, they are robots. I just chalked it up as them going through the whole emotional bonding thing in a condensed time. After all, if someone knows your life story completely and doesn't hate you, good sign they like you.
Fair point, I actually like all the ships with the Jericrew Council, even Polycho (let the robots do how they do, they've suffered enough). But I suppose it's more my craving for more dialogue and character interaction we didn't get in the game, and that of which was also sorely lacking in Markus' part of the story especially. And with everything moving too quickly it was harder for me to get invested emotionally I guess, because it was always rushing off to the next Big Plot Point at the expense of character development and everything else.
Speaking of Alice, I feel like the closest we get to confirmation of her actually being Deviated, is the storypath where she shoots Todd like a boss, but otherwise it's frustratingly up in the air canonically. Also literally my favorite part of Kara's story is the Thief Simulator (but why did the Little Robot Girl care that I stole a thing??) and I wish there was more of it, staying at the squat longer with Ralph (convince him to leave with you, shoplift an eyepatch and some gauze+medical tape to hide his face) would've been interesting, and was a waste of unexplored potential I feel, as we could've had maybe a month timeskip, or a series of smaller vignettes that could've developed all three more. Also we could've gotten the opportunity for Alice and Kara to yanno, ACTUALLY speak to one another in more than, 'I'll protect you, protect me, stockcutehelplessgirl.exe noises.'
So a few months back I watched and watched the same chapter over and over and made up a floorplan while criticizing the home design of the rooms for the Phillips' apartment. Then I added a Master Bathroom because it looked necessary. I almost forgot I did this one, figured I'd share.
A/N: WHY THE FUCK'S MY ROOM FULL OF MOSQUITOES!? ;_;
[X] Where's your arm? Mom's gonna be sooooo mad if she finds out that you broke it again.
Sink 0.03
You think about talking to Mister Cody, but then realize that you absolutely need to find your arm. Because mom had a fit when she found out that you broke it last time, how mad would she be if she heard you lost it?
Scary mad, probably.
The arm wasn't super fancy apart from the not-quite-right faux-skin covering it, wearing it made you seem like you were born with two whole arms instead, from a distance. You've had to wear ever since you got back from the weird hospital, and mom gets unhappy whenever she catches you going without it. You don't really like your new arm much though, and miss your old one.
Still, you're holding out hope for a pretty robot arm in the future, maybe one with a laser! Or a secret compartment to hide stickers in! Also a painless robot arm! You'd like one that doesn't make your shoulders and brain pinch.
Mom really doesn't seem to be budging on the idea though, so for now you're stuck with a heavy pros-the-sis that makes it harder to run and your head feeling like an overripe melon on the worst days. Perhaps you could get dad to vouch for the idea, if he was in a good mood when he comes home in a few days.
You could ask Nanny Byne to order his favorite next week.
The light in the natatorium is pretty much nonexistent, so you carefully shuffle your way to one of the walls, and unfortunately away from the illuminating light of Mister Cody's robot clothes. There should be a light switch somewhere…
Aha!
Flick.
The lights are on, and you regret.
So now you're sitting on the tiled floor again, trying to squash the burnt feeling out of your working retina with the heel of your palm. All the while your head throbs viciously as you try hard not to cry. You've got to find your arm, you can't sit here being useless all day, or is it night now?
You sit for a bit, occasionally trying to let the light filter in between your fingers to let your vision adjust. Eventually, you're able to take your hand away and at least squint at everything but, everything still looks blurry and too-bright despite the adjustment. Then you look over the large room quickly, passing over the pool quickly like it burned to look at, but you see no sign of your arm anywhere on the floor in the open.
'Did he take it?' You think with a frown, but then-
…
No, you don't want to think about that now. So you start practically crawling on the bleachers, wincing as your skin felt like it was burning at all points of contact with the cold metal benches and your wet uniform making everything feel all the colder. Your progress is painfully slow as you're forced to squint for any sign the flesh-colored blur that could be your prosthetic, but no dice.
The last place you can think of to check is the trashcans, ugh, and you hope it doesn't have anything gross gunked inside it.
The arm is in the second trashcan, and your heart immediately plummets into your shoes because it has seen better days. Lots of the wires are all broken and exposed, the faux-skin is mostly torn from the forearm down, and the hand is kind of crushed; also three of the fingers were missing, probably smashed off?
Your throat tightens, and you give a hard swallow. At least you found it, a broken arm is better than no arm right?
+Pluck
Your stifled giggle quickly turns into a harsh wheeze and you decide to cool it with the jokes for now. Then you heft up your broken prosthesis to carry with you, it's cumbersome though
You sit to catch your breath, shivering and dripping onto the bleachers under the harsh natatorium lights, and see that it's dark outside through the high windows. Still, your search has left you pretty winded, and your body feels like you just went to six gym classes in a row though.
-Fettle
well that was disappointing, but you found your arm, now what?
[] Go to the 'Lost & Found' since your search didn't turn up with your bag, maybe it got put there? You think the 'Lost & Found's near the cafeteria.
[] Apparently Mister Cody's been quietly mopping up the trail of puddles you left throughout the natatorium during your search and now you feel guilty; maybe you should talk to him?
[] You not so sure about going home right away anymore, so explore? You've never seen the school at night. (--Fettle, +???)
-[] Where? Write-in (places that would be found in a private school only) [] Go… Home? Yeah, home sounds nice… Wait, how? And you need your bag first, your phone should be in there so you can call somebody.
Fettle: Dim (-) Pluck: Brittle (+) Erg: ???
Outfit:
Edgewood Academy uniform – smells like chlorine, drenched, and stained with some blood and vomit. You hope mom doesn't see it.
Bag:-Missing-
Hands (1 - FULL):
Your prosthetic arm, very broken, maybe you could hide or fix the damage before mom sees?
Money: $0
A/N: I AM THE MOSQUITO SLAYER! FEAR ME! But seriously, I rediscovered Gaia and Ragnarok Online today and their item symbols are a fracking livesaver and I hope you like the new Inventory thing as much as I do. Also I did my best to make Emma's internal monologue come off as an intelligent-but-still-a-five-nearly-six-year-old girl full of smarts and opinions but who also just nearly(?) fucking died, so, opinions? Lol. Wow, this is fun, I haven't written like this in a while and I'm just... Ecstatically enthused!
[X] Go to the 'Lost & Found' since your search didn't turn up with your bag, maybe it got put there? You think the 'Lost & Found's near the cafeteria.
Okay, at first, I just thought she fell into the pool. Real simple, like an accident or bullying. Yet the fact her prosthesis is so mangled, and was even in the trash? Yeah, there's definitely something we're missing...
[] You not so sure about going home right away anymore, so explore? You've never seen the school at night. (--Fettle, +???)
Hmm... Maybe the mystery option will reveal what is going on? What does everyone else think?
A/N: Is this what it's like to go to sleep and wake up at a semi-decent hour?
[X] Go to the 'Lost & Found' since your search didn't turn up with your bag, maybe it got put there? You think the 'Lost & Found's near the cafeteria.
Sink 0.04
goal added
- Find Your Bag
-- Get into the cafeteria (how?)
Maybe your bag got tossed into the 'Lost & Found?' You hope so, because you really don't want to have to go through every trashcan in the school to find it, otherwise.
"Buh-" Ugh, how can your tongue feel swollen and like sandpaper at the same time? "Byyyeee Mis-ter Codyyy!"
You offer the robo-man an awkward little wave in his direction as you go, with the way your mouth and voice aren't really cooperating right now, you don't think you'd be up for much of a conversation anyways.
The far-off blur of his head moves, so you think he heard you? Maybe.
The cafeteria was located on the other side of the old building, and near the classrooms for the middle schoolers. But most of the interior hallways were dark, so you had to avoid some of them entirely. Some hallways around the exterior of the building were dimly lit by moonlight shining through the windows, so you walk through those. It takes longer, but you eventually see the cafeteria doors up ahead.
You lumber slowly all the way to the double-doors, and turn at the knobs before discovering that they are unfortunately locked and need a keycard for the reader on the knobs. So you wander down the hallway in hopes of discovering another way in or barring that, finding a keycard on the floor or something; and as you keep going, you think your blurry vision is starting to clear up a bit at least.
...
As it turns out, the classrooms are locked at night too, go figure. You sigh with a mounting frustration, and all too aware that you're also feeling just… Really, really tired.
-Fettle
You come upon another stupid dark hallway you're too scared to traverse, so you turn to move on and-
The end of the spooky hallway suddenly goes lit, as softly pulsing light illuminates the row of oft-unused lockers lining the wall, and a single locker door seems to have been left swung open. Which is all pretty weird, is it Mister Cody who's somehow gotten ahead of you or someone else?
The air seems a bit cooler now, which combined with you, your damp uniform, and your oversensitive skin, feels utterly frigid.
you're tired
[] There's a bench next to a classroom door in the hallway you need to cross, sit and take a break there? It might take a bit though, since you might actually be feeling a little worse than before. (+Fettle)(+Risk) -[] Remember? (--Pluck, +???)(++Risk) -[] Don't think too hard, just rest. (+Fettle)(+Risk) --[] Check under the bench while you're at it, since why not?
[] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
locker?
[] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf. [] You don't feel like checking out the weird locker, and like, you don't want to risk getting up close and personal with some strange kid's smelly socks or something; that would be gross.
um, okay?
[] Cross the dark hall to go down newly-lit hallway, should be fine.
[] Um, no? Looks creepy, keep looking for another way, maybe the Principal's Office which you think is down the hall you're still in. Which is strangely one of the few doors that you know doesn't have a card-reader-lock thingy for it; hopefully it's unlocked?
[] Maybe just take a little peek around the corner? (+???)
You're feeling really worn out.
Fettle: Dim (--) Pluck: Brittle (+) Erg: ???
Outfit:
Edgewood Academy uniform – smells like chlorine, damp, and stained with some blood and vomit. You hope mom doesn't see it.
Bag:-Missing-
Hands (1 - FULL):
Your prosthetic arm, very broken, maybe you could hide or fix the damage before mom sees?
Money: $0
goal/s added
- Find Your Bag
-- Get through the cafeteria (how?)
A/N: Shorter but here we go. Good morning, but also nani the fuck is this morning shit.
[X] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
[X] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf.
[X] Um, no? Looks creepy, keep looking for another way, maybe the Principal's Office which you think is down the hall you're still in. Which is strangely one of the few doors that you know doesn't have a card-reader-lock thingy for it; hopefully it's unlocked?
[X] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
[X] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf.
[X] Maybe just take a little peek around the corner? (+???)
I'm rather concerned that we've apparently managed to vanish without anyone taking notice - a little kid disappearing generally triggers a DEFCON 1 freakout from everyone involved with said child and the community as a whole. Shouldn't Cody have had a standing Amber Alert telling him to report in if he finds any leads on our location?
My best guess is that we snuck out after dark, came to our school, and then something happened to get us where we are now; nobody's panicking over us because nobody's figured out that we're not still sleeping in our bed at home.
Gosh this is so creepy. Thanks @Markala. I see the obvious horror trope of "resting", which is just a euphemism for "die lol"!
Hope 'lil Emma doesn't collapse from tiredness though.
[X] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
[X] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf.
[X] Um, no? Looks creepy, keep looking for another way, maybe the Principal's Office which you think is down the hall you're still in. Which is strangely one of the few doors that you know doesn't have a card-reader-lock thingy for it; hopefully it's unlocked?
[X] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
[X] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf.
[X] Maybe just take a little peek around the corner? (+???)
Would of preferred ticking off all the mystery boxes, since that'll probably reveal what is going on. Still, three Risk + makes that way too dangerous.
[X] No, you don't want to wait; have to keep moving.
[X] One of the lockers halfway down the hall is wide open (you've never seen anybody really use them since you started school, whose is it?), maybe there's something useful inside? You spy a small, red strap peeking out from its bottom shelf.
[X] Um, no? Looks creepy, keep looking for another way, maybe the Principal's Office which you think is down the hall you're still in. Which is strangely one of the few doors that you know doesn't have a card-reader-lock thingy for it; hopefully it's unlocked?
Okay, save for the first update, we've consistently had Mystery Options. There's clearly something weird going on, so I think getting the Mystery Options will actually tell us what's going on.
Oh, and given how low Fettle is, we actually should be increasing that... we're just one stage off from Extinguished, so either we get attacked by something or the adorable cyborg/gynoid(?) girl dies anyways.
I'm rather concerned that we've apparently managed to vanish without anyone taking notice - a little kid disappearing generally triggers a DEFCON 1 freakout from everyone involved with said child and the community as a whole. Shouldn't Cody have had a standing Amber Alert telling him to report in if he finds any leads on our location?
My best guess is that we snuck out after dark, came to our school, and then something happened to get us where we are now; nobody's panicking over us because nobody's figured out that we're not still sleeping in our bed at home.
Oh, and given how low Fettle is, we actually should be increasing that... we're just one stage off from Extinguished, so either we get attacked by something or the adorable cyborg/gynoid(?) girl dies anyways.
Also each level has 3 +/- in either direction before raising or dropping a level, the bottom level of each, in this case, Fettle (Extinguished), can drop three points before dying (if one really wants to take that chance lol).
Example: Fettle Extng--- (1 Pt loss after this state = Death) < Extng-- < Extng- < Extng < Dim--- < Dim-- < Dim- < Dim
And so forth, if that clears anything up, Extinguished is your Red HP Zone, basically, and I start rolling more maluses. (I've updated the Mechanics page).
Yeah... except we're already at Dim (--) so we're two points shy from Extinguished. I'm honestly getting the impression that, unless we pick Mystery Options or pass a certain number of updates, we'll be wandering around for a while. Given how late it is and Emma's overall poor condition... Should we really be dragging this out?
Okay so I actually do have a couple timeline documents lying around for this; so here's a heavily edited version (as in, I removed the most spoilery stuff lol) for your perusal. As you can see I've spread out the timeline more and moved around some (see: all) of the birth dates of several important characters to make everything fit properly. Also note that just because I don't mention somebody or something doesn't mean they aren't present or born or it didn't/doesn't happen or whatever, it just means I felt that mentioning them here would be irrelevant or some other more spoilery reasons. X3
Arnold Brook (that dude with a statue in DBH's Detroit, MI)
1917 – Andronikov family (Zlatko's ancestors) flees the revolution in Russia to the USA
1950s
1953 –
Founding of DPA (Department of Paranormal Activities)by the USA Federal government
Closely liaised with & funded by the US Military & CIA
1960s
1961 –
Astronomer Ethan A. Ramaker first spots a new Asteroid, then named it Ramaker's Asteroid
1970s
1972 –
(Jan 2 - May 17)Unpredicted scattered Meteor Showers occur worldwide
2 large pieces (each the size of a 20story building) of the Ramaker's Asteroidbroke off and broke up into 77 known meteorites of varying sizes that fell across the USA, and even more worldwide.
Largest Meteorite was the size of a double-decker bus, weighing in at almost 18 tons, fell just inside the city limits south of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City was devastated by the impact and never recovered, with an estimated death toll of over 200,000+ both immediate and long-term.
Countless undeclared/undiscovered Ramaker- derived meteorites hypothesized to have fallen worldwide
1978 –
Birth of:
Amanda Stern (May 14)
1979 –
Birth of:
Carl Manfred (July 13)
1990s
1990 –
Birth of:
Jodie Holmes [+ Aiden] (May 10)
1998 –
Arnold Brook dies at 83yo
1999 –
Birth of:
Jeffrey Fowler (August 8)
2000s
2001 –
Birth of:
Elijah Kamski (July 17) [Founder of CyberLife, Father of Androids; 48yo by 2049]
Ben Collins (September 12) [DPD Senior CSI Technician in 2055]
2008 –
Birth of:
Zlatko Andronikov (September 21)
2010s
2010 –
Birth of:
Rose Chapman née Brannigan (March 31)
2012 –
Birth of:
Richard "The Jackal" Perkins (July 13) [FBI Special Agent in 2055; aka "Rick the Dick"]
Todd Williams (September 21)
Fergus Allen (December 2) [DPD SWAT Captain in 2055; 43yo]
2014 –
"The 'Black Sun' Incident," heavily redacted & news thereof is heavily monitored
2015 –
Birth of:
John Phillips (October 11) [adopted father of Emma Phillips; 34yo by 2049]
[Jan - Sept] 14yo Elijah Kamski's first semester at the University of Colbridge
2016 –
Birth of:
Caroline Phillips née Astor (May 23) [adopted mother of Emma Phillips; from Old Money; 33yo by 2049)
The DPA (Department of Paranormal Activities) is downsized & has a lot of their assets sold out to a rising pharmaceutical star looking to diversify its assets, 'Parasol Incorporated'
2018 –
Elijah Kamski (September 22) [16yo] founds the CyberLife company
2019 –
Birth of:
Gavin Reed (October 7)
2020s
2020 – Elijah Kamski makes a breakthrough & creates 1st android to pass the Turing Test, Chloe (RT100, later RT600)
2022 –
[Jan-Dec]CyberLife Biz' Dev Period
EK gets more investors
CyberLife Ad Campaign
Production Logistics setup (transport, manufacture, sale locations, etc.)
(August 12) CyberLife begins commercial production of androids
2023 –
(February 2) Limited Edition Android Model RT100 "Chloe" is released as Co. Flagship model
(April 25) KNC's Interview with Chloe (OG RT100 >> RT600)
Birth of:
Carlos Ortiz (October 27)
2025 –
(June) New street drug, "Red Ice," hits the streets of USA
2026 –
Birth of:
Chris Miller (September 30) [DPD Officer in 2055)
2027 –
(Feb 22) Cyberlife sells its one millionth android
(Feb 23) Amanda Stern dies of breast cancer
Birth of:
Leo Manfred (March 21)
2028 –
(Feb 3) DPD Red Ice Task Force reports the dismantling of a major Red Ice network based in Detroit, MI
(April 17) Elijah Kamski (26yo) is voted Century Magazine's 'Man of the Century'
(June 14) Elijah Kamski resigns from his position as CyberLife CEO
(June 18) Elijah Kamski withdraws from the public eye after split from CyberLife
2030s:
2030 –
Birth of:
Adam Chapman (August 5) [son of Patrick Chapman & Rose Chapman née Brannigan) was born]
2040s:
2043 –
Birth of:
-No surname-Yang [洋 "ocean"] (September 2)
Later renamed Emmaline "Emma" June Phillips by John & Caroline Phillips
Multiple congenital defects, including a missing left arm 2in above where elbow would've been, and a lack of vision in her left eye
(Nov 4) John & Caroline Phillips adopt & receive Emma from an overseas adoption agency
2045 –
(Sept 2) Emma's 2nd Birthday
Birth of:
(Sept 23) Cole Anderson (son of Henry "Hank" Anderson & Lorelei Wallace)
2049 –
(Mar 4~ ???) Sink 0.01 ~ <<<YOU ARE ALL SOMEWHERE HERE
Note: Emma is still 5yo, as her birthday is on September 2
I see a few oddities there... The massive meteor that crashed and broke a fair portion of the US, the DPA, a government agency dedicated to the paranormal, and Parasol Incorporated, a pharmaceutical company who bought a lot of DPA assets after they downsized. So... An obvious Umbrella analog, and a government funded paranormal agency. As well as an odd meteor.
So, the world is around 16 years "behind" canon, along with anomalous events being present. Currently, we're five years before "canon", going off of an adjusted timeline, based off the differences between canon and AU Cole Anderson's birth.
Also each level has 3 +/- in either direction before raising or dropping a level, the bottom level of each, in this case, Fettle (Extinguished), can drop three points before dying (if one really wants to take that chance lol).
