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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2.6 - The Sound of the Police
  • Threadmarks
    • Whatever he was thinking, if he could be said to think, he couldn't back down from a challenge. He came in claws out, in a blind fury, and you drove the tip of the blade for his chest to try and create some room. He slapped the blade aside, and you used the momentum to bring it around in a circle, slashing up for his hip. His hand dipped to meet it, and there were sparks as the blade deflected off his fingertips and cut across his leg.

    With a roar of pain, he swung for your face, battering your blade aside as you brought it up, only barely avoiding each strike. You threw up your sword to deflect a claw heading for your throat and he grabbed the blade, wrenching it from your hand with an impossible strength. You just blocked the elbow to the side of your head when his other hand came in driving for your throat.

    At no point did you think what I am about to do is impossible. You don't remember thinking at all. There was just the absolute certainty that he couldn't touch you, because you wouldn't let him, as you let yourself fall away from his reaching fingers. The passed within an inch of your throat as you leaned back, well past your centre of gravity, well past the point that you would have fallen, if this was real.

    None of this was real. You just about felt the back of your head brush the floorboards, and then you were backed up, snapped back to a standing posture like a rubber band being released, putting the energy of it into shove against his chest. It picked him up off the ground and threw him most of the way across the room, crashing down onto the boards.

    He stared at you, wild-eyed. Then both of you stopped, and he looked out of the window with a sudden alertness. You followed his gaze.

    You could hear it too. Sirens.

    When you turned back, he was gone, disappearing out the shattered window in a tear. Then, you heard the door slam at the back of the building. When you glanced into the aisle the woman had been lying in, there was nothing now but a trail of blood against the floor and smeared onto the walls where she'd leaned for support.

    Two contradictory thoughts arrived at once: A strange relief you hadn't killed anyone, even a fake somebody, and a reminder to yourself to bring a silver sword next time.

    There was a clatter upstairs, and a thump against the floorboards. The sound of glass shattering. You turned to Lexi, who was curled up on herself in the corner, her face stained with tears. She flinched at your gaze.

    "Do you have a safe place to go?" you asked, and she shook her head. "Okay. I'm going upstairs. Stay close, it's safer than staying here on your own."

    "Why would-?" she asked, her voice breaking. "I'm just a program. I'm not real. I'm not real."

    You didn't have time for this, to think through any of the ramifications of it, if you even cared. Those contradictory thoughts blared louder: She was just a program. You're scaring her. She isn't real. Her pain sounded real.

    You understood the sunglasses now. There was no hesitancy behind them.

    "Okay. Stay down," was what you said. Then you turned and headed upstairs as fast as you could.

    The first thing you saw as you entered the small space above, what looked like living room of decaying 70s decor, was Enigma leaning against the wall, bleeding from his side, a smoking pistol in his hand. You could see nothing of his expression behind his gas mask and glasses. The Librarian emerged from a room to the side, looking cautious.

    You stepped forward and almost tripped over Sprite, who had a hideous cut across their face. They were cradling an enormous machine gun like a toy and breathing raggedly.

    "What happened?" you asked.

    "He ran when the sirens started," Enigma said, his voice strained behind the gas mask. He paused, a long time, as if thinking what to say. "It was bad."

    "We have to get out of here," you said. "Do you have a safe place you can go that isn't here?"

    "I-I never go anywhere," the Librarian replied. "This is all I have. Where is Lexi… my assistant?"

    "She's alright, but we have to go," you said. You reached for your cell phone before you realized it was downstairs, having fallen from your pouch. Without missing a beat, Enigma drew and threw you his phone.

    "There will be agents," he explained.

    "You have to go. I'll be fine. I can talk to agents, and the Exiles won't dare try anything with them present," the Librarian said. "... can you take Lexi?"

    "What?" you asked.

    "Can you get Lexi somewhere safe, for a few hours at least," he said. "She… she isn't supposed to be here. They might ask questions today. I understand if not, it will probably be fine..."

    Unsure what to say, you jammed the call button and raised the phone to your ear.

    "Operator," Vector responded. "The exiles are gone, they're off my screens. What do you need?"

    ---

    [ ] An exit. The Librarian is safe.​
    [ ] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low.​
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low.

    Bitch please. Like we were ever going to do anything else.
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    Just thinking if we can stick Lexi on a USB equivalent and stuff her back in the Matrix later that would probably be safest for everyone. There probably won't be such an option, but as you say, I gotta ask.
    This update is great, I could practically feel the slow-mo
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?
     
    Tetra said:
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    Just thinking if we can stick Lexi on a USB equivalent and stuff her back in the Matrix later that would probably be safest for everyone. There probably won't be such an option, but as you say, I gotta ask.
    This update is great, I could practically feel the slow-mo
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    You know what? Sure! This is great.
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    Because you know I'm down for good depictions of the obvious approach. And the questions it raises.
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    oh no Lexis' running on our wetware oh no haha, we have a headmate what an accident, oops
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    Obviously the Resistance works with unlicensed freeware, some of them are their best friends!
     
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    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?

    "by any chance is there a pond nearby where we could rent a boat, maybe find an exasperated crab and his friends for some musical accompaniment?"
     
    [X] An exit for Enigma and Sprite, and a safe place to lay low... unless there's some way to pull a Program out of the simulation without everything going to shit?
     
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