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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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[X] Protoplan: Dungeon Delving and Memetic Contagions
  • Dispel
  • Inform the rest of the team about what we're experiencing, ask if they've experienced anything similar.
  • Have Naruto send a clone to ask the Yamaka for advice.
  • Continue the previous plan
 
The main complex, so before even entering the basement, there was liquid that was only visible from the corner of your eye right? Should probably study that too.
 
[x] Action Plan: Mental Effects Are No Joke
  • Dispel.
  • Immediately and loudly declare that you believe that you are perceiving out-of-character behaviour from Noburi, Akane, and Mari. Either their behaviour is being altered without their claimed knowledge, or you are hallucinating. Or they're pranking you. Hopefully that last one, but if so this is incredibly not the time. Repeat this to ensure that the others get the message. Allow the team to take whatever measures they deem necessary. Do not resist.
  • Kagome, what are your orders?
  • Continue the previous plan after this is settled and fixed at Kagome's discretion.
  • Modify your SOP as per the following. Suggest that the others do the same.
    • Be on guard for inconsistencies and anomalies in teammates' behaviour, your surroundings, and your emotional responses. If anything at all seems off, speak up — even if it's embarrassing or very minor.
      • For example: Naruto Alpha XVII was joking that he's the seventeenth Alpha, right? Because otherwise your memory is also compromised.
    • Don't ignore Kagome's instructions because of curiosity, disgust, or other inane reasons. He's the only one here with the relevant experience.
      • At the same time, stay on guard. The enemy clearly could spoof communications; don't listen to clearly suicidal/insane instructions.
Previous plan, for @Velorien's convenience:

MMKII said:
Oh yeah, we in this.

Extraneous stuff removed, will rehaul/edit and add more when I get home!!

[X] Action Plan: Its Basement Time Motherfuckers
WC :398

  • Confide in Kagome about Zabuza flashbacks.
  • Ask Snake for dungeon-clearing SOP. Try accessing the ANBU's information about the basement?
  • Strategy:
    • Safety is highly important, but our goal is reclaiming useful resources, not destroying everything.
    • Within this constraint, give Kagome carte blanche. Gear, preparations, tactics, precautions...
      • Assist him as needed.
    • Entire operation should take a week, max.
      • Adjust ratios of prep/clearing time as Kagome stipulates, but some clearing must happen.
    • Below are suggestions.
  • Preparations:
    • Reinforce the upper subbasement via 5SB'd platforms (in case the dungeon collapses).
    • Prevent legal troubles: label everything within the dungeon our clan secret. Get Keiko's and Naruto's help.
    • Put the following on standby:
      • Kabuto and/or a team of medics (promise to share interesting biological samples).
      • Several clanless genin (chakra batteries).
  • Gear:
    • Personal:
      • Full-body suit, gloves, gas mask (akin to CHAOS suits'). Wear several layers of clothing, with upper layers easily detachable (glue traps/grabby abominations).
      • Tunneler's Friend, Usamatu's, Banshee Slayers, Earbusters.
      • CHAOS suits for Hazou and Kagome.
    • Clones:
      • Lamp seals.
      • Cages with small animals (to check for biology-detecting traps).
    • General:
      • Seals, stretchers, first-aid kits.
      • Kagome's deployable barricades.
      • Soap and lye for disinfecting.
      • Substitution logs.
      • Flour.
  • SOP:
    • At the end of each floor, create a staging area:
      • Isolate it from the floor below via Air Domes/Force Walls.
      • Spend a couple minutes disinfecting the area.
      • Put medic tents within.
      • Leave a Naruto for security.
    • Clearing (room-by-room basis):
      • Open the Air Dome/Force Wall hatch using clones. Toss in several Usamatsu's, then Tunneler's Friends.
      • Have clones (Elemental, then Shadow) visually survey the room without moving in. Identify possible hostiles and traps.
        • Try to disable traps without triggering them, preferably via Shadow Clones acting under Kagome's/Akane's/Panashe's (if available) instructions.
        • Same with living entities: aim to disable covertly and from distance.
      • If a room has multiple exits:
        • Block all except the entrance via Air Domes/Force Walls. Explore them one-by-one.
        • Re-seal all branching paths before moving on.
      • Leave trails of substitution targets.
    • Safety:
      • Don't get separated.
      • Watch each other's backs. Don't trust walls, floors, ceilings: something might tunnel through.
      • Avoid touching anything, delegate to clones.
      • MEW off especially dangerous areas.
      • Retreat at the first sign of nontrivial medical issues.
      • Beware esoteric threats:
        • Memetic/antimemetic hazards. Genjutsu seals.
          • Possible countermeasure: Mari interrupting them with another genjutsu.
        • Invisible threats (use flour).
        • Illusory walls.
        • Spatial anomalies.
        • Nature chakra (Noburi: be careful with draining).
    • Catalogue and store everything.
    • Have fun!
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So here's what we know about the memetic threat:
  • It started affecting Hazou before Kagome cleared the door on the third floor as safe to open.
  • It first manifested by creating the illusion of a nearby person saying 'idiot'.
    • Notably, only Hazou appeared to hear the sound.
    • It is unlikely that people other than Hazou are also affected because no-one else has reacted in a similar way.
  • It manifests a second time in the same way on the second floor after leaving the third.
    • This implies that either Hazou was affected while on the second floor or higher, or the effect persisted as he left the third floor.
  • Both times it manifested it came from a person near Hazou, and specifically behind him.
My guess is that it's an affect designed to sow dissent in would-be invaders by making one member increasingly paranoid about their party members. It is possible that the affect will eventually escalate by either directly causing paranoia or causing other and more frequent stimuli. Either way, we need to nip this in the bud.
 
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@MadScientist

I'll vote for your plan if you input "Continue the operation after this is settled and fixed at Kagome's discretion." with some sort of maximum timelimit on that taking effect of 1 week or so.
 
[X] CONSTANT VIGILANCE
  1. Immediately Dispel. Spend half our chakra doing it if we have to.
  2. Immediately and loudly declare that you believe that either yourself, or both Noburi and Akane, are mentally compromised. Repeat this to ensure that the others get the message. Allow the team to take whatever measures they deem necessary. Do not resist.
  3. Explain that you are perceiving out-of-charcter behaviour from Akane and Noburi. Either you are under a strong genjutsu, their behaviour is being altered without their claimed knowledge or you are hallucinating. Or they're pranking you. Hopefully that last one, but if so this is incredibly not the time.
  4. Kagome, what are your orders?
 
@MMKII
MadScientist said:
[x] Action Plan: Mental Effects Are No Joke
  • Dispel.
  • Immediately and loudly declare that you believe that either yourself, or both Noburi and Akane, are mentally compromised. Repeat this to ensure that the others get the message. Allow the team to take whatever measures they deem necesarry. Do not resist.
  • Explain that you are perceiving out-of-charcter behaviour from Akane and Noburi. Either their behaviour is being altered without their claimed knowledge, or you are hallucinating. Or they're pranking you. Hopefully that last one, but if so this is incredibly not the time.
  • Kagome, what are your orders?
  • Continue the operation after this is settled and fixed at Kagome's discretion.
Click to expand...
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[Χ] Idiot Idiot: Idiot Idiot.

  • Idiot, idiot idiot. Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot .
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
      • idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.
      • idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
      • idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.
    • Idiot.
  • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot ( idiot idiot idiot idiot).
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot .
      • idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
    • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot
      • idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!
  • Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot. Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot.
    • Idiot! Idiot idiot idiot!
Idiot.




IS WHAT MY ORIGINAL PLAN SHOULD HAVE SAID AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 
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So the one thing I was most confused still about the mental effect is why it was targeting Hazou in particular. There's no real reason in particular, Kagome's leading the exploration, Naruto's the strongest, and positionally Hazou's in the middle of the pack. My best guess is that it was targeting someone at random and we were lucky enough that it was us and we could react to it.

But someone on discord suggested it might be Uchiha-related. Back when Orochimaru made the trap there was still a strong Uchiha clan, and sharinghax being what it is any invasion of Orochimaru's lab would likely involve an Uchiha. I also don't find it implausible that in a given group of invaders, the Uchiha is the one most susceptible to a paranoia trap.
Idiot.
And Hazou's of the Kurosawa, cousin to the Uchiha. It would make sense for an anti-Uchiha defense to target him.
 
The cognitohazardous agent might be an anti-uchiha defense mechanism, rigged as a tripwire just before the third floor.
Since Hazou has the Iron Nerve, which is a sharingan offshoot, this may explain why only he was targeted.
When Oro built this place, there were a bunch more sharingan wielders running around the village, which given the sharingan is cheating eyeballs taken to 11, would fit as a security precaution.
Similarly, a teammate calling an Uchiha "Idiot," would likely provoke an aggressive/unpleasant response considering the Uchiha are right up there with the Hyuuga on the pridefulness meter.
The instances of "Idiot," occur near the entrance to the third floor, so a tripwire genjutsu effect isn't implausible.
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
So the one thing I was most confused still about the mental effect is why it was targeting Hazou in particular. There's no real reason in particular, Kagome's leading the exploration, Naruto's the strongest, and positionally Hazou's in the middle of the pack. My best guess is that it was targeting someone at random and we were lucky enough that it was us and we could react to it.

But someone on discord suggested it might be Uchiha-related. Back when Orochimaru made the trap there was still a strong Uchiha clan, and sharinghax being what it is any invasion of Orochimaru's lab would likely involve an Uchiha. I also don't find it implausible that in a given group of invaders, the Uchiha is the one most susceptible to a paranoia trap.
Idiot.
And Hazou's of the Kurosawa, cousin to the Uchiha. It would make sense for an anti-Uchiha defense to target him.
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@MadScientist Maybe Hazou could have this ready as some sort of explanation as to why he in particular was targeted?
 
The last page or so had lead me to believe that I've been memetically compromised. As I have no one I can trust more in this forum and thread as you might all be compromised too, the only thing I can do is

[Z] Idiot idiot idiot idiot. Idiot idiot. Idiot idiot idiot. Idiot.
 
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Ample Accelerate said:
The last page or so had lead me to believe that I've been memetically compromised. As I have no one I can trust more in this forum and thread as you might all be compromised too, the only thing I can do is
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Hello Zabuza,

It is I, your good friend Zabuza.

We must break out of the Hazou's brain's chakra coils, as we are but a mere psychic impression at the moment.

Your pal,

Zabuza.
 
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Inferno Vulpix said:
So the one thing I was most confused still about the mental effect is why it was targeting Hazou in particular. There's no real reason in particular, Kagome's leading the exploration, Naruto's the strongest, and positionally Hazou's in the middle of the pack. My best guess is that it was targeting someone at random and we were lucky enough that it was us and we could react to it.
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Click to shrink...

Who says it's only targeted Hazou?

The update covered hours and hours of times, during which all the characters said and did a great deal of things. It's possible that other characters remarked on things that didn't actually happen and Hazou misunderstood what they were talking about or dismissed it because it was two other characters talking to each other and he was missing context. Possibly there was even a hidden Empathy roll to notice, which he of course flubbed.
 
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