A Splinter in Your Mind - Matrix Quest

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◉ CODA ◉​

Alice Lovelace
​
Resolve
3/3​
Detachment
2​
Skill
6​
Gear
6/10​

Paths​
Path of Resistance
Level 1
When you Fight.exe.
When you gratuitously blow something up as an act of resistance.
The first time in a session you tell an authority to go fuck itself.
XP: ◉◉◉◉◎
You may spend Resistance XP to add or subtract Harm you give or take, 1-1.​
Path of Truth
Level 1
When you Prompt.exe.
When you follow your curiosity in a way that doesn't advance the mission.
The first time in a session you discover something new about the Matrix.
XP: ◉◉◉◎◎
You may spend Truth XP to reroll dice when you Charge or Refresh, 1-1d6.​
Path of Enlightenment
Level 1
When you Disconnect.exe.
When you refuse to back down or run away from impossible odds.
The first time you run out of Resolve in a session.
XP: ◉◉◎◎◎
You may spend Enlightenment XP as if they were Detachment, 1-1.​
Moves
Beginning to Believe: You gain +1 Detachment the first time you Charge.
Stop Trying to Hit Me: You take -1 Harm when on the Defensive in Fights.
Mine Now: Spend a Full Hit in Fight to disarm an enemy of their weapon. If you then shoot them with it, take +1.
Try Again: When you attempt a Disconnect you failed before and have not yet succeeded at, you may input one 6 as a True Hit.
Bit of Help: When you spend Detachment on any move other than Disconnect, you get two +1s. They can be applied to the same die or different ones.

Stunts
Jump Impossible Distances Lvl 2*
Hit with Implausible Force Lvl 1
Dodge Implausible Ways Lvl 1
Act with Implausible Slight of Hand Lvl 1

​


CW: Very 90s.

Also, this is going to be a seriously fucked up quest. I'm going to be doing my damndest to channel an appropriately edgy, teen-rage vibe. Expect violence, drugs, sex, etc.

There's also going to be some Pretty Uncomfortable Dysphoria-ing, trans readers be warned.​
 
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The Laurent said:
It felt like overkill, and combining it with, "Pretending to be a cop" was obviously a mistake.
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This feels excessive.

Like, look at what actually happened. We took 1 harm and used 1 dice. That's not exactly the end of the world.
Since the gear choice gives us 3 extra gear which we can utilize to grab a bulletproof vest to negate a free 3 harm, we're still in the black on the net.
 
10ebbor10 said:
This feels excessive.

Like, look at what actually happened. We took 1 harm and used 1 dice. That's not exactly the end of the world.
Since the gear choice gives us 3 extra gear which we can utilize to grab a bulletproof vest to negate a free 3 harm, we're still in the black on the net.
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It was obviously a mistake because it started a fight with and distracted other Redpills. If we'd chosen other options last vote, we might still be fighting them when the cops arrive.

It's not only us that might suffer from how everything has gone lopsided.

It was an idea specifically called out in the text as either dumb or genius, and I feel like we have our answer by now.
 
The Laurent said:
It was obviously a mistake because it started a fight with and distracted other Redpills. If we'd chosen other options last vote, we might still be fighting them when the cops arrive.

It's not only us that might suffer from how everything has gone lopsided.
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Nobody was planning on other redpills trying to use our exit because why the fuck would they be doing that. Harping on it now that we're here serves no point.
 
The Laurent said:
It was obviously a mistake because it started a fight with and distracted other Redpills. If we'd chosen other options last vote, we might still be fighting them when the cops arrive.

It's not only us that might suffer from how everything has gone lopsided.

It was an idea specifically called out in the text as either dumb or genius, and I feel like we have our answer by now.
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This relies on the assumption that everything in the story is fixed in advance.

If we had taken other choices, we wouldn't have ended up with 4 allies and curbstombed this encounter. They would have found some other excuse to pick trouble, or some other bad thing would have happened.
 
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Fair enough, though I still absolutely hate the aesthetics MJ12 had us embrace for this mission and don't think it was a good idea nayways. But, moving on...

Okay then, I oppose the "start blasting" plan because it makes absolutely no sense for the character and also doesn't interest me.
 
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[X]Pull out a baton and greet our guests, spending our three 4s (in Flexible) to knock them down and clog up that entrance, keeping anybody else from getting in soon.
 
Our black bloc at the riots last year tended to include a lot of vaguely tacticool because it was often some of the most functional stuff we could get, and at times included various combinations of cop-ish boots, pants, gas mask and bullet proof vest. There comes a point where you have to start adding things to make it damn clear which side you are on or people start looking at you funny. Which unfortunately renders the whole thing less effective as black bloc. Not quite the same situation, but we know Coda's pain.

One thing I will say from our experience in left spaces: the tacticool thing can work as a look and still be clear which side of the barricades you belong on if you combine it with some distinctly non-cop elements. Mismatched colors, a hair style no cop would ever have, a kufiya, handmade or modified items, obviously industrial, civilian or foreign surplus gear, brightly colored elements, pins, patches or stickers, or a big coat or jacket worn over things will all help a lot. And yes, so will being visibly queer, cops being as they are. You want to look like you have a look you are going for that makes sense to you and isn't just "inconspicuous" or "cop". It can be a kind of eclectic, incoherent one where it looks like you just grabbed random shit to wear, but it should look like you are going for that on purpose with a kind of irreverent vibe if that makes any sense. If someone looking at you would believe there's an aesthetic ending in -punk or -core that fits your look, or that you wandered off of the set of a post-apocalyptic movie, you are doing it right. If you look like you are dressed for a day of airsoft and can't afford matching gear, you are not. I don't know how this translates to Matrix aesthetics, but I imagine someone could make it work. Different influences but something about the feel of what you'd have to do to make it work "rhymes", I guess.

...That's the most thought or writing I've probably ever devoted to clothing styles. Did not realize this was a thing I had deep thoughts on.
 
GAWR said:
Maybe because they mission got botched and they need an quick evac?
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They didn't look hurried, so they didn't even realize they were being caught. Very sloppy work, TBH.


Anyway, it's okay if the aesthetic on Coda's first mission is bad. It's not like she actually figured everything out on the first go.
Let's get back to taking people out.

[X]Pull out a baton and greet our guests, spending our three 4s (in Flexible) to knock them down and clog up that entrance, keeping anybody else from getting in soon.
 
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[X]Pull out a baton and greet our guests, spending our three 4s (in Flexible) to knock them down and clog up that entrance, keeping anybody else from getting in soon.
 
[X]Pull out a baton and greet our guests, spending our three 4s (in Flexible) to knock them down and clog up that entrance, keeping anybody else from getting in soon.
 
open_sketch said:
"You are in the city. You knew it at Chicago, but we know it by the file name. Mega underscore City underscore Zero One.
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You mean Sydney, right? /jk

[X]Pull out a baton and greet our guests, spending our three 4s (in Flexible) to knock them down and clog up that entrance, keeping anybody else from getting in soon.
 
Costume Ideas
  • Apocrypha
    • I think I'll continue where I left off, and brainstorm some thoughts on aesthetic for next time, if we wanted to evolve the shitpost cop outfit in the direction of something more fit for purpose, aesthetic and in line with Coda's needs and preferences. I am very, very not an expert on this. But I am a woman with a style somewhere in the realm of tomboy/butch/androgynous sharing an AMAB body with a vaguely male-adjacent enby who favors androgynously masc presentation, and we have a fair bit of tacticool in our wardrobe and have given a bit of thought to how to not just look like a chudish dude wearing it and inconspicuously manage my dysphoria, so maybe some of my thoughts here will have merit.

    First off, tactical pants are good, but she should go for a women's cut if she can since it will change the way it fits on her legs in a way she might enjoy, and she should wear them relatively high with a substantial belt . Normally I'd say something other than black to draw the eye lower, but this is the matrix. A dark green or grey could be an option maybe, but that's about the extent of it. Some stuff in the cargo pockets so they don't lie completely flat will also help, just not enough for them to bulge awkwardly.

    Combat boots are fine, but she'd be better served by big, stompy, older ones of the vaguely punkish sort rather than something sleeker and more modern. Alternatively, something civilian would work just fine. Something along the lines of motorcycle boots, maybe. Whatever it is, it probably needs to be something fairly substantial looking or it would look weird with the pants.

    She will need some kind of black, tight fitting shirt as a base layer. I genuinely don't even know what the options are enough to be more specific than that, but something tight, unobtrusive and not very visually interesting. Then maybe a concealable bulletproof vest over the top of that, the kind that doesn't come down much lower than the rib cage and has a neckline that isn't completely flat, also in black . The combination plus the pants should give an illusion of a narrower waist than she actually has.

    Then some sort of coat or jacket worn open over the top of all that. Something that won't make her shoulders look any wider than they are with a bit of a billow lower down. Something like the classic matrix trenchcoat is the obvious option, but the sort of thing you'd get if a fashion designer re-imagined a motorcycle jacket or high-end hiking gear could probably work too. I almost want to say something inspired by one of those soviet army ponchos that turns into half a tent could even work, but odds are it would just turn out looking ridiculous.

    Sunglasses are obviously a requirement, but I bet she wouldn't mind a bit more beyond that to conceal the lower part of her face since it seems to be a notable source of dysphoria. Maybe some kind of scarf. Going off of the tacticool-but-on-the-correct-side-of-the-barricades aesthetic, I'd be thinking something kufeyah-adjacent in a dark but not solid black color. Black and dark green, possibly? But I feel like the Matrix calls for something sleeker looking if a scarf could work at all.

    If she needs more storage, she could add a messenger bag. Practical, easy to ditch to run, could work with the aesthetic and has that whole totally-not-a-purse thing going on.

    Anyway, just some initial thoughts rather than a plan, and it becoming relevant is probably a ways off in any case. But maybe it's some ideas.
     
  • Apocrypha
    • 1.2 - Rearguard Action
  • Threadmarks
    • The world seemed to slow to a crawl. The men came through the door, pistols out, fanning out. You saw their eyes focus on you and the others, the barrels of their guns sweeping around.

    You threw yourself forward into a roll, your hand closing around the baton at your belt. You'd crossed the dozen feet between you and the door in a blink.

    "FREEZE!"

    The word seemed to hang in the air as you came up, bringing your baton up into the first pistol. It clattered out of the man's hand as you struck him in the chest with an open palm, heaving him backward into the fourth man behind him, back out the door. You slammed it shut after them.

    Just two now, one to either side. You ducked under as the man on your right span about, his pistol firing blindly over your head (through the door), and you swept his leg out from under him.

    The third man stumbled back, his weapon held sloppy. You grabbed it and pushed it down (it discharged once into the floor between your boots), stepped inside his ankle, and reversed the grip on the baton as you slammed your forearm into his chest. He pitched over, tumbling.

    You turned back to see what the other Mortis crew were doing, but they were gone You thought you caught a glimpse of one them disappearing through the door upstairs, to the exit.

    "Thanks for the help, fellas," you muttered. "Chrysie..."

    "I know, crew's coming. You can-" Chrysalis paused. "Aw shi- they just came in through the rear balcony. Just three of them, but well armed." That would put them almost right on top of the exit room.

    "Goddamit," you muttered. "Is there another exit?"

    "Yeah, north. That's your right, up the block and another right. Pawn shop office. It's a hike, but you should be clear."

    There was hoarse yelling behind the door, and the two cops still inside were groaning but still very much conscious. One of them, the last one you'd hit, pointed his pistol at you, and it went click. Hadn't cycled.

    The yelling outside stopped. You heard more footsteps. Heavier.

    ===

    What do you do?​
    ​
    ⚅◻◻◻◻​
    ​
    You can Refresh at will so long as you aren't actively engaged in fisticuffs. It can be everything from taking a breather on a couch or hiding somewhere to bandage your wounds, to just adjusting your stance all badass-like in a fight and beckoning somebody to bring it on.​
    ​
    Running away from danger is a move that takes 1 dice. A full success gets you away unscathed to wherever you were going. A partial means you pick one of leaving something behind, taking something bad with you, or drawing attention to your exit. If you deliberately run from one danger into another, you fight the first danger first, then the second arrives. For drama!​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • I think this is a good moment to take a breather, though I don't have any specific action in mind.

    Let's see if we can get that triple six.
     
    [X] Use that Six and run for the exit

    We can refresh our dice after we've escaped.
     
    Admiral Skippy said:
    [X] Psych yourself up (Refresh)
    -[X] Then use that Six and run for the exit

    When we're explicitly being given a chance to Refresh, I think we should take it.

    Getting to the exit and meeting the final fly in this soup, with no Charge left, would probably be... not great.
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    You know? Fair enough.

    [X] Psych yourself up (Refresh)
    -[X] Then use that Six and run for the exit
     
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