Your name is
NILESK CROCAT. You are currently SIX SWEEPS old. Despite the fact that your BLOOD CASTE has been marked for total extermination by the Alternian Empire, you have been allowed to live due to the experimental PSYCHIC INHIBITOR CHIP placed inside the deepest depths of your think pan. You have a fondness for GARDENING and COOKING, but are NOT VERY GOOD at either. You have little hope for a good life when you mature due to your unusual blood type, but in the past that hasn't kept you from looking down on yourself. For the most part. It didn't help that most people you knew didn't hesitate to belittle you every chance they got.
...And just minutes ago, your hive and the hives of all your subgrub associates were obliterated by a giant meteor. You were in your greyhouse when it happened, weren't you?
Now, you're stuck in an empty void, with nothing but yourself, a floating orb and a strange alien you don't entirely trust.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mifdwh7w9fA
The alien standing in front of you looked less like a real person and more like a crude drawing one of your more murdermaking-inclined friends would scrawl on their respiteblock wall. His limbs and torso were almost pencil-thin, and if it wasn't for the grime on his mostly black clothing you wouldn't be able to make out anything besides his big, disturbingly spherical nugbone. Small strands of his matted black hair shot down to drape themselves over his pupil-less glance nuggets, glance nuggets which were surrounded by significant, scratchy bags. A similarly crude drawing of
a funny white cat with black and red clothing was plastered on his t-shirt, captioned with several rows of a script you couldn't recognize.
It was a bit of a shock, then, when the boy finally spoke.
"Are you trying to read my shirt?"
You almost jumped out of your skin then and there. "What? ...No. No, I can't read... your shirt. I can't read your shirt."
"Okay, whatever. Just... I don't like it when people try to read it. Gets me real agitated."
The two of you stood in silence for a moment which was stretched into an eternity. A great, big awkward mohawk of eternity.
"My name's Nilesk, if, uh... if you want to know."
"Damien. My name is Damien, and I still can't remember my last name." His face scrunched up in contemplation. "Wait a minute. What do I remember about myself? Let's see... I was born in '87, my parents divorced when I was... how old was I again? I can't remember. I really can't remember..."
At this point you just tuned his mumblings out, an impressive feat considering that it was the only noise in the lightless, abstract space besides the low hum of the spherical device. You really wanted to know what that thing was for. Was it your ticket out of here? You push the thought to the back of your think pan while Damien begins to raise his voice once more.
"Like when... when I..." At first it was hard for you to tell due to his lack of pupils, but when his fist curled up you knew he was pissed about something. "...oh my zag. It's gone. It's all gone. Everything I ever knew and loved. It's all BURNING!" He kicked a leg into the air, looking momentarily surprised when his foot didn't connect with a wall. Like the flip of a switch, he went back to ranting and raving, turning himself towards you with a stance that spoke of unfiltered fury. "You did this, didn't you? Why did you kill everything?"
Pulling out a machete caked with dry blood, he ran up to you at a pace too quick for you to react, before holding up the knife to your squeal pipette. "I'm gonna make you suffer! I'm gonna make you suffer like you made me suffer, you hear that? I'll tear you apart like the insignificant little worm you are!"
Yeah, now isn't quite the time for inaction. Reaching out your arm without turning your eyes or head, you take out the tip of your finger and press it upon the silver sphere which makes the centerpiece of the grim void. Within an instant, the void is showered with an immense, blinding light for the briefest of moments before the two of you are transported out of there.
- - -
The device gives the two of you a wide range of times and places to insert yourselves in. A span of five years (a unit of time you still don't fully understand) is available to you and Damien for viewing, albeit in a vague and abbreviated format. Based on the look on his face, it's possible that he understands all this information about as much as you do, if not even more so.
Regardless, it's time to choose.
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Time:
-[]
Early 2020
On December 13, 2019, Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was shot and killed by a member of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen during a rally in Los Angeles, California. The following months would be an unending torrent of chaotic events: the US was dragged into a war with Iran, the Virginia State Capitol was burned by a group of pro-gun terrorists directed by the mysterious Patriot Zero, a citywide blackout occurred in San Diego due to an Iranian cyberattack, rent strikes took place throughout most major US cities, the federal government scrambled to make an adequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the death of one George Floyd sparked mass protests and eventual riots within cities throughout the entire country.
This was only the beginning, however.
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Late 2020
Joe Biden resigned as Democratic nominee on June 17, prompting the selection of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as a replacement. Groups like the Sacramento Yellow Vests, the Revolutionary Right Army, and numerous smaller militias rise up and begin fighting for what they believe in. A bedridden Donald Trump loses the re-election on November 3, only to die of COVID less than a month later. With each passing day, the United States seems to inch ever closer towards those terrible two words: civil war.
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Early 2021
On January 6th, a mob of Trump supporters break into the US Capitol Building, prompting one Representative Majorie Taylor Greene to fire shots at the podium in the House chamber, killing Speaker Nancy Pelosi and almost hitting outgoing President Mike Pence. The following two months feature a torrent of anti-war sentiment from both the left and right towards the US government, culminating in the announced succession of Texas, the release of the RRA's so-called "Black Drive", and the attempted suicide of President Cuomo. Over the following months Pete Buttigieg, fourth in line during the Year of the Five Presidents, struggles to maintain law and order over a country that is rapidly rejecting any semblance of those ideals.
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Late 2021
Things continue to get worse. Events such as the New York Bridge Attack, the Opossum Farms massacre, the White Liberation Front Walmart hostage crisis, and the Janice mutiny only served to continue the USA on the path to destabilization and civil war. Kamala Harris assumed the presidency in a move that many described as an outright coup, while towards the end of the year both the left and right-wing population in the United States begin to fracture in on themselves.
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2022
The Democratic Party splinters into the moderates and the more extreme Democratic Socialist Alliance, while the Republicans do the same with the outright nationalist America First Party. If any event could have been said to single-handedly guarantee the Second American Civil War, then this would be it.
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2023
Surprisingly little happens during this year, at least when compared to the others listed. Still pretty dangerous, though.
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2024
The last election of the old United States. A four-way race between Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nikki Haley and Tom Cotton goes nowhere when no one candidate manages to achieve the necessary 270 electoral votes. Everyone sees the writing on the wall at this point; it's only a matter of how it all goes down.
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Early 2025
On January 6th a great deal of law enforcement and National Guard members in DC defect to the Qist cause and, in a far worse repeat of four years ago, stage an armed coup against the federal government, killing President Karris and a number of Supreme Court justices in the process. The two main factions in this early stage of the war consist of the National Unity Government led by an unholy alliance between Tammy Duckworth and Nikki Haley, along with the Cotton-led Constitutionalist Government with control of the vast majority of the inland US. Of course there are plenty of other players, such as the DSA government headed by AOC, the Qists under the nominal leadership of Taylor Greene, and a great number of other militias which have pledged themselves to one side or the other.
Past the assassination of DSA Virginia Governor Lee Carter on June 14, this timeline becomes far too muddled for you and (presumably) Damien to perceive in a meaningful way. Just about every single person, place and thing you've witnessed during this brief flash of events remains totally foreign to you, and you can only hope that Damien will be in a stable enough mental state to tell you if he knows anything about these semi-cool aliens.
- - -
Place is as important as time when choosing a new beginning, if not even more so. The broad geographical strokes of a "nation" called the United States of America are laid out in your mind, and within seconds you lock onto a specific location.
(Note:
If desired, you can name a specific state or locality in your vote in addition to the base region.)
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Place:
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New England
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
One of the oldest interstate locales in the United States, having been inhabited by Europeans for almost four centuries. Very much left-leaning.
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Middle Atlantic
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania
Contains New York City, one of the most important metropolises in the entire world, as well as the densely populated and left-wing New Jersey, plus eastern Pennsylvania. Upstate New York and western Pennsylvania are rural right-leaning places, however.
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South Atlantic
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia
Most of the Deep South, plus small portions of the Mid-Atlantic in the form of Virgnia and Washington, DC. Much like the larger US, this region is deeply divided between
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East South Central
Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee
All within the Deep South. Right-wing ideology is dominant here.
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East North Central
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin
Also called the Great Lakes region, due to its close proximity to an inland water feature of the same name. Indian in particular is notable for becoming an unholy bastion of Qist forces during the opening months of the Second American Civil War. You'd best avoid those psychotic crazies; a single, non-ideologically motivated one is more than enough.
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West North Central
Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota
The Great Plains, Mount Rushmore, and a small slice of neighboring Canada in the form of northern Minnesota. Right-wing for the most part, although the cities are still what you'd expect.
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West South Central
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
Also known as "Greater Texas". Sees a lot of full-scale conflict, even well before the Second Civil War breaks out.
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Mountain
Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
By far the least densely populated region of the USA. The northern part of this region, also known as the "Flyover States", becomes an infamous haven for white supremacy as the timeline progresses.
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Pacific
Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington
The West Coast of the United States. All of these states except Alaska have a left-wing bent, and much of their territory was given over to left-wing factions when the SACW begins.
- - -
The universe itself seems as if it is forcing you apart in order to transport you to your destination at an unthinkable speed. You do not know where Damien is in all of this, or if he was even picked up in the first place. Within a matter of seconds you are mashed back together in your new world,
Upon arriving at your destination, you look down at the ground and notice a rectangular, brick-like device resembling your old Trollassist communication device. Picking it up, you are greeted with a Trollian-esque interface and an unread message from one "xXXbLoOdYmAnIaCXXx". Looks like the two of you were separated, and if that handle isn't Damien then you're the Condense herself. He may be a huge psycho, but what's that to stop you from trying to help him out?
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Typing Quirk (write-in)
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Chathandle (write-in)
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A/N: Yeah, so "friend" is a bit of a loose term when talking about the cringe characters in this quest.
