Hyperdimension Rising
Feng Lengshun
Z-Program Researcher
- Location
- Indonesia
Because we made another vote... you should count up until the prologue post, then made another separate count there, and then check again for doubles.
Or just manual count it.
Or just manual count it.
Alastor Mobius Toth
***** ***
- Location
- Neon Ghetto
Since character votes are still open, I'm going to piiiiick:
[X] A girl with braids and a gentle smile. [The Lancer]
Waifu represent and all that. Plus, who doesn't want the Lancer to run things for a change?
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
Hail Vers
For Prologue:
- [X] Head to a Tech Vault. Histoire, young as she is, can probably hack through everything in no time at all. You can leave her there, and grab whatever prototype superweaponry your best and brightest have cooked up and take the fight to the Walking Wunderwaffe on something resembling even ground. [x1.3]
While I'm not exactly thrilled about "taking the fight back", we need guns and we need them now.
[X] A girl with braids and a gentle smile. [The Lancer]
Waifu represent and all that. Plus, who doesn't want the Lancer to run things for a change?
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
For Prologue:
- [X] Head to a Tech Vault. Histoire, young as she is, can probably hack through everything in no time at all. You can leave her there, and grab whatever prototype superweaponry your best and brightest have cooked up and take the fight to the Walking Wunderwaffe on something resembling even ground. [x1.3]
While I'm not exactly thrilled about "taking the fight back", we need guns and we need them now.
Fuuya
The ⑨ returns! The Epic of Cirno is a go!
- Location
- The United States of Japan
Same for me, though the reason is our newer single votes to mitigate Namco's downfall. Either calculate things by hand in this case, or people need to re-vote.
Speaking of, I'll re-vote myself...
[x] A girl with a hairclip who always worried.[The Tinker]
[X] The Eastern Continent of Mercia is amiable to human life, with fertile soils and plentiful ores deep within the earth. But in Gamindustri, all it means is that the monsters are fat and their carapaces are steel. The village of Satomi has survived the Fall relatively intact, but in spite of the technology it retains and the power of its militia, the peace it enjoys is a result of seclusion. Hiding has won them time, but that peace will not last.
-[X] Head to the frontier settlements, Rei can nuke everything but she gets tired easily, and she doesn't have homing effects. Get to the wilds, ASAP. And maybe help with their monster problem while you're there. [x1.2]
Noire hath fallen, so I shall vote for Ge-Ge instead. :3
Alright, just went through everything by hand and I THINK I got everyone. Tell me if I missed someone, or your vote's in the wrong spot. Or I got duplicates.
Vote Tally : Hyperdimension Rising | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.0.7
Hero
[X] A girl with two hairclips and a friendly grin. [The Hero]
No. of Votes: 17
[x] A girl with a hairclip who always worried. [The Tinker]
No. of Votes: 12
[X] A girl with braids and a gentle smile. [The Lancer]
No. of Votes: 4
[X] A girl who was too sleepy to do her hair. [The Scary One]
No. of Votes: 2
[X] A girl who floats like a butterfly. [The Kid]
No. of Votes: 2
[X] A girl that wore twin-tails with pride. [The Perfectionist]
No. of Votes: 1
[X] A strong girl who was never afraid to speak up. [The Bard]
No. of Votes: 1
[X] A girl with a hat and a book. [The Hammer]
No. of Votes: 1
Places
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
No. of Votes: 20
[X] The Eastern Continent of Mercia is amiable to human life, with fertile soils and plentiful ores deep within the earth. But in Gamindustri, all it means is that the monsters are fat and their carapaces are steel. The village of Satomi has survived the Fall relatively intact, but in spite of the technology it retains and the power of its militia, the peace it enjoys is a result of seclusion. Hiding has won them time, but that peace will not last.
No. of Votes: 14
[x] The Northern Continent of Niihon is frozen half the year and pouring the other half - by the standards of the rest of the world, at least. While alternatively freezing cold and completely drenched, this environment has forced evolutionary pressures on the monsters within, vulnerabilities to fire and lightning chief amongst them. By exploiting these weaknesses and its location, the sleepy semi-subterranean village of Yamauchi has managed to eke survival amongst the wastes. But the monsters are adapting, and they will not hold forever.
No. of Votes: 3
[X] The Southern Continent of Saia is a mountainous region, composed largely of grassland and plains. The monsters here are capable plainsrunners, but the true danger are the roving clans of raiders, who prey on what villages struggle to eke out a living along the Sillicon Valley. The village of Gates has struggled on regardless, but it cannot last, whether against monster attacks or barbarian raids.
No. of Votes: 1
Vote Tally : Hyperdimension Rising | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.0.7
Hero
[X] A girl with two hairclips and a friendly grin. [The Hero]
No. of Votes: 17
No. of Votes: 12
No. of Votes: 4
[X] A girl who was too sleepy to do her hair. [The Scary One]
No. of Votes: 2
[X] A girl who floats like a butterfly. [The Kid]
No. of Votes: 2
[X] A girl that wore twin-tails with pride. [The Perfectionist]
No. of Votes: 1
[X] A strong girl who was never afraid to speak up. [The Bard]
No. of Votes: 1
[X] A girl with a hat and a book. [The Hammer]
No. of Votes: 1
Places
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
No. of Votes: 20
No. of Votes: 14
No. of Votes: 3
[X] The Southern Continent of Saia is a mountainous region, composed largely of grassland and plains. The monsters here are capable plainsrunners, but the true danger are the roving clans of raiders, who prey on what villages struggle to eke out a living along the Sillicon Valley. The village of Gates has struggled on regardless, but it cannot last, whether against monster attacks or barbarian raids.
No. of Votes: 1
Last edited:
Soulful100
ARchivist of Fate
- Location
- Beyond the 4th Wall
*facepalm*
Ughh I just realized the puns...
Saia = Asia
Niihon = Japan
Mercia = America
Eopra = Europe
Ughh I just realized the puns...
Saia = Asia
Niihon = Japan
Mercia = America
Eopra = Europe
- Location
- Singapore
Much appreciated. I was going to do a manual count when the time for manual votes came in, but this saves me a lot of trouble. Thanks again!
I decided to name each continent after a corruption of a real world continent, because calling them 'Planeptune', 'Leanbox', 'Lastation' and 'Lowee' would be too obvious and doesn't actually make sense. There hasn't been a Goddess for... a couple thousand years.
Soulful100
ARchivist of Fate
- Location
- Beyond the 4th Wall
Much appreciated. I was going to do a manual count when the time for manual votes came in, but this saves me a lot of trouble. Thanks again!
I decided to name each continent after a corruption of a real world continent, because calling them 'Planeptune', 'Leanbox', 'Lastation' and 'Lowee' would be too obvious and doesn't actually make sense. There hasn't been a Goddess for... a couple thousand years.
Damm... We fell pretty fucking hard didn't we :/
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the game crash of 83 almost ended video gaming as a medium as a whole... At least, that's what I've heard.
Kanata.EXE
Programmer
- Location
- Indonesia
Much appreciated. I was going to do a manual count when the time for manual votes came in, but this saves me a lot of trouble. Thanks again!
So I assume it's locked now?
It'll lock at the end of the prologue, so it's still open.
- Location
- Massholistan
It basically annihilated video games in North America yes, the effects weren't felt quite as harshly in Japan. Hence why Japan was really the place that basically recolonized the blighted apocalyptic wasteland that was the NA market after '83.
- Location
- Singapore
And votes locked. Now for CPU Power Armor. 
Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
[X] A girl with two hairclips and a friendly grin. [The Hero]
[X] The Eastern Continent of Mercia is amiable to human life, with fertile soils and plentiful ores deep within the earth. But in Gamindustri, all it means is that the monsters are fat and their carapaces are steel. The village of Satomi has survived the Fall relatively intact, but in spite of the technology it retains and the power of its militia, the peace it enjoys is a result of seclusion. Hiding has won them time, but that peace will not last.
Edit:
[X] The Eastern Continent of Mercia is amiable to human life, with fertile soils and plentiful ores deep within the earth. But in Gamindustri, all it means is that the monsters are fat and their carapaces are steel. The village of Satomi has survived the Fall relatively intact, but in spite of the technology it retains and the power of its militia, the peace it enjoys is a result of seclusion. Hiding has won them time, but that peace will not last.
Edit:
Nevermind then.And votes locked. Now for CPU Power Armor.
- Location
- Singapore
To clarify: The Prelude vote is locked. Character and location votes still apply.
Kanata.EXE
Programmer
- Location
- Indonesia
Speaking of which... If we use neptune, which form she will use?
Her child form or her adult form from Victory?
Her child form or her adult form from Victory?
- Location
- Singapore
That's for me to know and you to argue over.
Neptune will be more mature than her canonical portrayals, if nothing else. Mostly because canon generally takes place in times of peace (Even mk2/Re;Birth 2 is more peaceful/orderly than Hyperdimension Rising) and general amenities aren't a problem, as are monster attacks. Here, though, there is no set power grid, no easy water supply, no regular supply of food, and many many killer robots. Neptune will get off her ass, if only so that the people around her don't die.
UrsaTempest
Don't Panic!
So, Neptune personality is halfway between Canon and Purple Heart?
She'll switch to goofy-mode when things actually peaceful?
She'll switch to goofy-mode when things actually peaceful?
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
I get the feeling that she'd still be pretty goofy, she'd just be less of a layabout and goes out and does actual work and stuff.
- Location
- Singapore
The Purple Heart persona has to come from somewhere
Neptune will be Neptune, but she'll be less of a lazy slacker and more of an actual hero.
In before Neptune becomes Emiya Shirou and Counter Guardian NEPTUNE comes from the future to kill her.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
And votes locked. Now for CPU Power Armor.
So wait, they're actually wearing something halfway reasonable?.
Finally!
- Location
- North Carolina, United Prefectures of Japanada
[X] A girl with a hairclip who always worried. [The Tinker]
Nepgear, an excellent budding engineer and physicist. Lacks confidence, but she has her sister to rely on. Without her sister, though, she just falls apart without someone to build her up. Has a soft spot for tinkering with archeotech - robots especially.
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
BEEP BOOP ROBOTS COMING THROUGH.
Nepgear, an excellent budding engineer and physicist. Lacks confidence, but she has her sister to rely on. Without her sister, though, she just falls apart without someone to build her up. Has a soft spot for tinkering with archeotech - robots especially.
[X] The Western Continent of Eopra was once the manufacturing center of the First Era, a leading pioneer in industry and engineering. The miraculous technologies of the First Era prevented environmental collapse, but the Fall has undone all that work. The skies above Eopra are smoggy and foreboding, and the monsters either robotic contraptions manufactured by faulty production lines or pollution-tainted beasts. The village of Hirai has come by with a combination of engineering know-how and weapon technologies salvaged from the ruins of the old world - but this will not last.
BEEP BOOP ROBOTS COMING THROUGH.
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
Whaddya mean halfway reasonable, they're video ga,e character goddesses, those CPU outfits are quite reasonable!
Though I prefer Black Heart's outfit. Dat back. But a Purple Heart is also good.
Prelude 0.4 (Arc Finale)
- Location
- Singapore
You look at Histoire, the little AI that could. No doubt that the book she's sitting on is her Core. If that thing's damaged, Histoire will be damaged long-term. This young, any personality damage should be repairable by virtue of the fact that she doesn't have much of a personality right now. Small mercies. Not helpful now, though, because that just means she's too young to be as powerful as a Class-VII AI can be, and thus can't hack reality to emulate Magic with pure computation.
But she's still an AI. And in the realm of zeroes and ones, an AI is a CPU in their own right.
You feel your Divine Self wrap around the eight flashbangs on your belt.
You have two seconds to act.
You pull the pins.
One second to act.
Histoire looks at you, and her shaking subsides.
Half a second left.
"Goodbye, Lu--"
The flashbangs detonate.
Rei screams.
You kick the ground at Mach 20, wrap your arms around Histoire, and punch through hyperalloy-reinforced rock with your face.
It feels like a rocket-propelled hammer launched into your face, but you keep going. There is no time for pain, no time for bleeding. You bury Histoire into your chest, taking care to not let her see your face. Time is of the essence.
The air burns.
You sense it coming, and move to dodge. You just barely succeed.
A pillar of burning blue hate streaks past you, and punches a hole through the distant mountain.
Fucking hell Rei what the fuck.
You reach into your memory, digging through the archives of your consciousness. Records. Codes. Locations.
You locate it. Bunker 42.
Fifteen seconds away, you smash into the ground like a cruise missile, throwing up clouds of debris. You have no time to let it settle, and walk through it, shielding Histoire from the coming rain of concrete and steel rebar. Finally you release her from your chest, and let her float while you set up. "You alright?"
"Just fine, but--" She looks at you in shock. "Y-Your face! (・へ・)"
"I'm still pretty!" You continue moving even amidst the chat, and find the main door immediately. Right now, you really wish you kept your scissor blades. Oh well, that's what code-casts are for.
3 83 + 5 Shares + 30 Processor Unit = 118
Great Success
Giant scissors form above you, and rip apart hardened alloy plate. They carry on, and on, and on. It seems that you've performed beyond expectations, and have quite literally cut a path straight through the forward defenses and straight into the vault proper.
Fuck yeah scissors.
"Come on." You take Histoire close once more and cross the distance, coming onto the vault door itself. This one you can't tear open, because you need to keep Histoire safe. For all you know she's the only Tari AI that hasn't been subverted by what made Rei crazy. "Open the vault."
"B-But I'm a Tari P.I.X.I.E., an-and I don't have the authorisation codes to access a Nacma installation! (>_<)"
"Well I'm the CPU of Nacma, so I say you have authorisation!"
"O-Okay!" Histoire points her hands at the closest terminal, and begins speaking in binary at speeds that even you struggle to keep up with. You were never fluent in the Lingua-Technis, but you can follow it a bit. A consequence of spending time with Mart.
Wonder if she realises what's going on right now.
Histoire cracks open the vault doors in two minutes, faster than it would take even if everything was performing optimally, but those two minutes stretch out into an eternity. No doubt Rei is getting closer by the minute.
"There! It's open! ∩(・ω・)∩" Histoire does a little cheer to celebrate this small victory, and you allow yourself a small smile while you take her and slide in through the hatch. Young as she is, this is probably the first time she's actually subverted an installation.
But then you take a look around, and find replicas of your scissors, prototype weapons that aren't powered by Shares... and a conspicuous lack of Power Armor of any kind. Not even the human ones. "Hey, Histoire, could you look up the inventory for this vault?"
"Analysing! (^_^)v" She floats up to a terminal, and places her hand into an interface port. You would mention how dangerous that is, but frankly its adorable. "Looking for references to 'Exoskeleton' or 'Armor' or 'CPU'.. Uh oh. (・へ・)"
You sigh. A shame. You've seen what your scientists have proposed - general strength and speed augmentation, full-spectrum vision, hyperalloy and ceramic plating, integrated share-weaponry, even a cloaking field. Hell, it has an untransformed mode and an auxiliary fusion reactor, so you could kick ass without transforming. So cool. "It isn't here, is it?"
"Sorry. (*￣m￣) I found the blueprints for the Armor, but they've cited problems with the transformation mode! Actual prototyping is two months away! (~_~; )"
Well shit. "Anything you can do about it?"
"I could try fabricating the base blueprints, though! Many functions will be offline, but you'll have speed augmentation in three-dimensional movement and added armor on top of your Processor Unit! (≧∇≦)/"
You cross your arms. "And how long?"
"Analysing..." Her excited mood falls. "...Thirty hours. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"
You have no comment.
"Alright, Histoire, listen to me." You go over to one of the replica-blades, and take as many as you can stick onto your belt. "You stay here and go into stasis - I know they have some isolation pods in here."
"What?! （ ﾟ Дﾟ） Ms. Yellow Heart--"
"Close the hatch behind me." You twirl a pair of blades in your hands, and formulate a plan. Mostly attack. "I'll go deal with Rei, but you'll definitely be safe here. The Vault's proofed against even her attacks."
"Then stay here! (／ロ゜)／ The other CPUs will find out soon--"
"And by then the rest of my nation will be dead. I'll be a CPU without a Nation." You take one of the rifles, knowing full well it'll probably not do anything to her. "I'm not letting that happen. If all goes well--" - Like hell that will happen - "--I'll come back for you. Okay?"
She looks at you like you're crazy, and to be fair you think this is crazy - looking at it from the viewpoint of someone who doesn't want to die. You? Well, you have more important things to do than worry about mortality.
Finally though, she sees the logic of it. AIs will be AIs, however young they are, and one of the first Class-VIIs ever made is an asset to valuable not to protect. And she's adorable, which adds to the protective instinct. Tari is frightening like that. "Don't die! I don't... don't leave me alone! Everyone else died to get me here, so please live! ( > _ < )"
You pity the poor girl. A few days old and her entire family dead. Hopefully she doesn't hate you for this. For lying. "Close the door, okay?"
She nods, tears in her eyes. She probably reads you as truthful, but then that's only because you're that smooth.
You exit in a flash, wielding enough weaponry to invade Hell.
Hopefully that will suffice.
----
You take to the clouds in an attempt to obfuscate your point of origin, and then dart from fluffy cover to fluffy cover in a desperate hunt for the Rogue CPU. Which just so happened to be the most powerful one. Bloody Mages. Get them powerful enough and the squishiness doesn't matter, because they're fast enough to always be out of range. Always.
Finally, you find her, high above Shelter 33, her staff glowing - no, blazing. It's too bright to be merely glowing at this point.
"Lu? I-I need you to do something for me, for whenever we go out." you remember her mentioning, a long time ago, when you still adventured together. She was quiet and cute then, not tyrannical and insane. "P-Please don't let the monsters hit me when I'm charging up my spells! They'll backfire catastrophically andthenIwillprobablydie! ESPECIALLY right before I cast!"
Well, she's obviously gearing up a big spell right now, and this looks about the apex. A better chance you will never get. Ever.
You throw six pairs of scissor-blades at her from her top, bottom, front, back, and sides. You charge in, wielding a pair of your own, and move for the kill--
"Oh Lu. Did you honestly think I forgot?"
She turns around abruptly, slapping aside scissor-blades with her sword and staff, and points the forked blazing head straight at you, with what appears to be a small newborn star between the points.
She saw you coming. Of course Rei would see you coming. The clouds? Fuck, that was her thing. And she would be smart enough to use that spell trick against you, knowing full well you probably wouldn't have a weapon powerful enough to set it off.
Fuck a du--
----
In the bunker, Histoire feels the ground shake.
"Luteus...
"You liar. （；へ；）"
----
For half a second, a new star blooms over Nacma.
And when it dies, so too do the hopes and dreams of her people.
----
The nation of Nacma collapses over two days. Its frontier settlements die to monster incursions after six hours of relentless assault, their pleas for aid unanswered. Its core nations collapse in blazing sunfire, without time to even scream. Those fortunate few who ventured underground in time hoped that their seclusion would mean safety - but it was not meant to be. Four in five shelters died, some of them screaming, some of them not, when the explosives detonated and the overpressure punctured their walls, or their filters burned out and they died of asphyxiation, or a hundred other awful ways to die. And the blessed few who survived, who continued to cry out to their Goddess, would never know that CPU Yellow Heart died fifteen minutes before the first shelter did.
The other nations would soon follow, one by one, day after day. People would die, and their CPUs would not answer. Some whispered that they killed themselves, others hint that they were assassinated. Others still suggest that they live still, imprisoned in a prison of their own making. Eventually even the great nation of Tari fell, and it fell further than all the rest. The land was consumed by darkness, its cities crumpled in upon themselves. The very people turned to cruelty and debauchery, until they were no different from the beasts on the edge of the world. It would become the very center of evil in the entire world, the Graveyard of Gamindustri. A promise to the rest of the world, the depths to which that they could fall.
Years would pass. Decades would pass. Centuries would pass. Mankind would emerge from their shelters, or return from the wilds, or find themselves fortunately isolated from civilisation for the duration of the fall. They would retreat, they would recede, they would see the world fall to monsterkind. Their dominion was long gone, vanished with the CPUs. Technology became lost. Culture was forgotten. Life went on...
But could it truly be called living?
Milestones:
Did Not Rescue Frontier
Did Not Save The Mall
Beat The Shit Out Of Hell
- Achievement Unlocked: Try Better, Doomguy
Did Not Evacuate Lanca
Did Not Save Clyde
Did Not Punch A Motherfucker In The Face
Did Not Use The Power Of Friendship
- Achievement Unlocked: Forever Alone
Did Not Lose A Limb
- Achievement Unlocked: Should've Used A Scope
Went Through The Doors: In Style
- Achievement Unlocked: Dungeon Bypass
Did Not (Successfully) Attack Rei Ryghts
Put Histoire Inside A Tech Vault
- Achievement Unlocked: Teach Yourself, Histy!
But she's still an AI. And in the realm of zeroes and ones, an AI is a CPU in their own right.
You feel your Divine Self wrap around the eight flashbangs on your belt.
You have two seconds to act.
You pull the pins.
One second to act.
Histoire looks at you, and her shaking subsides.
Half a second left.
"Goodbye, Lu--"
The flashbangs detonate.
Rei screams.
You kick the ground at Mach 20, wrap your arms around Histoire, and punch through hyperalloy-reinforced rock with your face.
It feels like a rocket-propelled hammer launched into your face, but you keep going. There is no time for pain, no time for bleeding. You bury Histoire into your chest, taking care to not let her see your face. Time is of the essence.
The air burns.
Yellow Heart: (17 70 + 87 65) + 46 + 5 Shares + 30 Processor Unit - 10 Face Full of Wall = 228
Blue Heart: (23 77 + 48 18) + 40 + 10 Shares + 30 Processor Unit + 20 Archmage = 225
Bare Success
Blue Heart: (
Bare Success
You sense it coming, and move to dodge. You just barely succeed.
A pillar of burning blue hate streaks past you, and punches a hole through the distant mountain.
Fucking hell Rei what the fuck.
You reach into your memory, digging through the archives of your consciousness. Records. Codes. Locations.
You locate it. Bunker 42.
Fifteen seconds away, you smash into the ground like a cruise missile, throwing up clouds of debris. You have no time to let it settle, and walk through it, shielding Histoire from the coming rain of concrete and steel rebar. Finally you release her from your chest, and let her float while you set up. "You alright?"
"Just fine, but--" She looks at you in shock. "Y-Your face! (・へ・)"
"I'm still pretty!" You continue moving even amidst the chat, and find the main door immediately. Right now, you really wish you kept your scissor blades. Oh well, that's what code-casts are for.
Great Success
Giant scissors form above you, and rip apart hardened alloy plate. They carry on, and on, and on. It seems that you've performed beyond expectations, and have quite literally cut a path straight through the forward defenses and straight into the vault proper.
Fuck yeah scissors.
"Come on." You take Histoire close once more and cross the distance, coming onto the vault door itself. This one you can't tear open, because you need to keep Histoire safe. For all you know she's the only Tari AI that hasn't been subverted by what made Rei crazy. "Open the vault."
"B-But I'm a Tari P.I.X.I.E., an-and I don't have the authorisation codes to access a Nacma installation! (>_<)"
"Well I'm the CPU of Nacma, so I say you have authorisation!"
45 + 40 Class-VII AI - 20 Newborn AI = 65
Success: Opened in 2 Minutes
Success: Opened in 2 Minutes
Rolled 41
Nope, But Getting Warmer
Nope, But Getting Warmer
"O-Okay!" Histoire points her hands at the closest terminal, and begins speaking in binary at speeds that even you struggle to keep up with. You were never fluent in the Lingua-Technis, but you can follow it a bit. A consequence of spending time with Mart.
Wonder if she realises what's going on right now.
Histoire cracks open the vault doors in two minutes, faster than it would take even if everything was performing optimally, but those two minutes stretch out into an eternity. No doubt Rei is getting closer by the minute.
"There! It's open! ∩(・ω・)∩" Histoire does a little cheer to celebrate this small victory, and you allow yourself a small smile while you take her and slide in through the hatch. Young as she is, this is probably the first time she's actually subverted an installation.
Rolled 24
Not Nearly Enough
Not Nearly Enough
But then you take a look around, and find replicas of your scissors, prototype weapons that aren't powered by Shares... and a conspicuous lack of Power Armor of any kind. Not even the human ones. "Hey, Histoire, could you look up the inventory for this vault?"
"Analysing! (^_^)v" She floats up to a terminal, and places her hand into an interface port. You would mention how dangerous that is, but frankly its adorable. "Looking for references to 'Exoskeleton' or 'Armor' or 'CPU'.. Uh oh. (・へ・)"
You sigh. A shame. You've seen what your scientists have proposed - general strength and speed augmentation, full-spectrum vision, hyperalloy and ceramic plating, integrated share-weaponry, even a cloaking field. Hell, it has an untransformed mode and an auxiliary fusion reactor, so you could kick ass without transforming. So cool. "It isn't here, is it?"
"Sorry. (*￣m￣) I found the blueprints for the Armor, but they've cited problems with the transformation mode! Actual prototyping is two months away! (~_~; )"
Well shit. "Anything you can do about it?"
"I could try fabricating the base blueprints, though! Many functions will be offline, but you'll have speed augmentation in three-dimensional movement and added armor on top of your Processor Unit! (≧∇≦)/"
You cross your arms. "And how long?"
"Analysing..." Her excited mood falls. "...Thirty hours. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻"
You have no comment.
"Alright, Histoire, listen to me." You go over to one of the replica-blades, and take as many as you can stick onto your belt. "You stay here and go into stasis - I know they have some isolation pods in here."
"What?! （ ﾟ Дﾟ） Ms. Yellow Heart--"
"Close the hatch behind me." You twirl a pair of blades in your hands, and formulate a plan. Mostly attack. "I'll go deal with Rei, but you'll definitely be safe here. The Vault's proofed against even her attacks."
"Then stay here! (／ロ゜)／ The other CPUs will find out soon--"
"And by then the rest of my nation will be dead. I'll be a CPU without a Nation." You take one of the rifles, knowing full well it'll probably not do anything to her. "I'm not letting that happen. If all goes well--" - Like hell that will happen - "--I'll come back for you. Okay?"
She looks at you like you're crazy, and to be fair you think this is crazy - looking at it from the viewpoint of someone who doesn't want to die. You? Well, you have more important things to do than worry about mortality.
Finally though, she sees the logic of it. AIs will be AIs, however young they are, and one of the first Class-VIIs ever made is an asset to valuable not to protect. And she's adorable, which adds to the protective instinct. Tari is frightening like that. "Don't die! I don't... don't leave me alone! Everyone else died to get me here, so please live! ( > _ < )"
You pity the poor girl. A few days old and her entire family dead. Hopefully she doesn't hate you for this. For lying. "Close the door, okay?"
She nods, tears in her eyes. She probably reads you as truthful, but then that's only because you're that smooth.
You exit in a flash, wielding enough weaponry to invade Hell.
Hopefully that will suffice.
----
Yellow Heart: 30 2 + 23 + 5 Shares = 58
Blue Heart:80 98 + 28 + 10 Shares = 136
Great Failure
Blue Heart:
Great Failure
You take to the clouds in an attempt to obfuscate your point of origin, and then dart from fluffy cover to fluffy cover in a desperate hunt for the Rogue CPU. Which just so happened to be the most powerful one. Bloody Mages. Get them powerful enough and the squishiness doesn't matter, because they're fast enough to always be out of range. Always.
Finally, you find her, high above Shelter 33, her staff glowing - no, blazing. It's too bright to be merely glowing at this point.
"Lu? I-I need you to do something for me, for whenever we go out." you remember her mentioning, a long time ago, when you still adventured together. She was quiet and cute then, not tyrannical and insane. "P-Please don't let the monsters hit me when I'm charging up my spells! They'll backfire catastrophically andthenIwillprobablydie! ESPECIALLY right before I cast!"
Well, she's obviously gearing up a big spell right now, and this looks about the apex. A better chance you will never get. Ever.
You throw six pairs of scissor-blades at her from her top, bottom, front, back, and sides. You charge in, wielding a pair of your own, and move for the kill--
"Oh Lu. Did you honestly think I forgot?"
She turns around abruptly, slapping aside scissor-blades with her sword and staff, and points the forked blazing head straight at you, with what appears to be a small newborn star between the points.
She saw you coming. Of course Rei would see you coming. The clouds? Fuck, that was her thing. And she would be smart enough to use that spell trick against you, knowing full well you probably wouldn't have a weapon powerful enough to set it off.
Fuck a du--
----
In the bunker, Histoire feels the ground shake.
"Luteus...
"You liar. （；へ；）"
----
For half a second, a new star blooms over Nacma.
And when it dies, so too do the hopes and dreams of her people.
----
The nation of Nacma collapses over two days. Its frontier settlements die to monster incursions after six hours of relentless assault, their pleas for aid unanswered. Its core nations collapse in blazing sunfire, without time to even scream. Those fortunate few who ventured underground in time hoped that their seclusion would mean safety - but it was not meant to be. Four in five shelters died, some of them screaming, some of them not, when the explosives detonated and the overpressure punctured their walls, or their filters burned out and they died of asphyxiation, or a hundred other awful ways to die. And the blessed few who survived, who continued to cry out to their Goddess, would never know that CPU Yellow Heart died fifteen minutes before the first shelter did.
The other nations would soon follow, one by one, day after day. People would die, and their CPUs would not answer. Some whispered that they killed themselves, others hint that they were assassinated. Others still suggest that they live still, imprisoned in a prison of their own making. Eventually even the great nation of Tari fell, and it fell further than all the rest. The land was consumed by darkness, its cities crumpled in upon themselves. The very people turned to cruelty and debauchery, until they were no different from the beasts on the edge of the world. It would become the very center of evil in the entire world, the Graveyard of Gamindustri. A promise to the rest of the world, the depths to which that they could fall.
Years would pass. Decades would pass. Centuries would pass. Mankind would emerge from their shelters, or return from the wilds, or find themselves fortunately isolated from civilisation for the duration of the fall. They would retreat, they would recede, they would see the world fall to monsterkind. Their dominion was long gone, vanished with the CPUs. Technology became lost. Culture was forgotten. Life went on...
But could it truly be called living?
PRELUDE - END
Milestones:
Did Not Rescue Frontier
Did Not Save The Mall
Beat The Shit Out Of Hell
- Achievement Unlocked: Try Better, Doomguy
Did Not Evacuate Lanca
Did Not Save Clyde
Did Not Punch A Motherfucker In The Face
Did Not Use The Power Of Friendship
- Achievement Unlocked: Forever Alone
Did Not Lose A Limb
- Achievement Unlocked: Should've Used A Scope
Went Through The Doors: In Style
- Achievement Unlocked: Dungeon Bypass
Did Not (Successfully) Attack Rei Ryghts
Put Histoire Inside A Tech Vault
- Achievement Unlocked: Teach Yourself, Histy!
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