Palace of Greed, El Dorado (Library of Ruina)
- Thread starter SoothingCoffee
- Start date
- Location
- Nowhere
Do you mean something like Edgar's robotic dog? For the reference Edgar is a Zwei section 1 fixer from a Distortion Detective. He can combine with his robo doggo in order to turn into a power armored machine of death with doggo being said powerarmor.
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DimensionalGuy
Lazy Bastard
- Location
- Sweden
Probably means a real dog, since a robodog would be so out of our price range. You know, like Pop? Either way, should probably wait until we are more stable, monetarily speaking, before considering such things.
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Had a quick go at drawing Lily as one of the LoR sprites.
That is awesome. You are awesome.
With my renewed vigor for drawing I think I am inspired to try something myself, we will see how it goes.
Agreed, not yet. Funnily enough, I have been imaging some of the scenes as LOR-style battles. The battle against Kayu and Rayu could have been the combat tutorial for Repression for example, afterwards the player could switch between Melee and Repression styles like the Purple Tear's stances.
On a further tangent, I can see Lily being an interesting fight in LOR depending on when exactly she is fought. For simplicity's sake I am going to assume stronger than Lily is now but I am going to try to stick by the themes she has now (Melee/Repression, High HP/Low SP, Tanky/block foucsed, no ranged, etc.)
The immediate thought is that she would be absolute pain to kill. High Hp, lots of good block dice, HP regen on kill, are we talking about Lily or a Sweeper at this point? She might have something like Grit or gaining Protection and Endurance to further help reduce damage. Could have something that just increases her block power. Hell, I can see her having block counter dice. However, if we consider SP to be stagger resist then the gameplan would be to stagger her and take her down while the player has the chance. Staggering her would not be the worst thing in the world since she would have low stagger resist and she would not have many opportunities to recover it since she is focused on blocking rather than dodging.
Offensive-wise, I can see her having strong rolls but nothing exceptional especially in extra damage. I can see her heavily clash oriented and have a few curve balls. The first curve ball would be the Knockbar, which would probably translate into causing paralysis on hit and paralysis is nasty. The other curve ball is how one would translate Repression in LOR. I think it is obvious that it would focus on stagger damage but the implementation is the big question. It could be just part of her normal cards. It also could be a card that changes her damage into stagger damage for the scene, possibly with tremendous damage on a staggered target. I think the most interesting design choice would have it be similar to the Purple Tear's stance system to choose how she is fighting against her opponents, whether she would have separate decks is up for debate.
None of this is in consideration of the fact Lily would most likely be fighting with Kai at her side, who would be a nightmare in her own right to players, and possibly some of the other Scarecrows.
- Location
- Ninja Island
If we're speaking LOR gameplay-wise, then Lily could have something akin to a taunt that makes everyone focuses on her a turn but buffs her protection/block massively. Hell, depending on Kai's stats, she might focus on some stealth which gameplay-wise could make a die unable to be targeted for a turn. Also, they both now have increased coordination which we'll see in the upcoming Rat's mission as to what it actually means. There's also the perk of taking a fatal hit for each other which could translate into a high counter die (block for Lily, attack for Kai) that becomes usable only once if the other goes under 25% HP.
But this is all in the future and subject to change depending on what perks and stats both Lily and Kai get.
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
I mean, at the moment, better to compare us to urban myth / legend encounters given our grade and the work we can handle.
I'd put kai as a fragile 2 dice page, bind and speed difference as her main ones. Dodge / pierce focus on dice, glass cannon.
Lily as a durable 1 dice page with a bit of para, Block / Blunt mostly, a Block Block Bonk and a 1 dice bigbonk as her signature cards.
I'd put kai as a fragile 2 dice page, bind and speed difference as her main ones. Dodge / pierce focus on dice, glass cannon.
Lily as a durable 1 dice page with a bit of para, Block / Blunt mostly, a Block Block Bonk and a 1 dice bigbonk as her signature cards.
DimensionalGuy
Lazy Bastard
- Location
- Sweden
You kidding? We should be compared to Canaard. I'm unsure if we can even beat Yun or Eri, although the difference can't be big.
Kai's page I can see having 2 Speed Dice, but also full of weak and fragile, maybe a passive that give haste and fragile like Bayard. Her pages would use chill, and maybe bonus damage if her speed is higher.
Lily is tougher, but I can see a taunt. A passive that gives you lowest speed dice the ability to intercept higher speed values. Even though she'd only have one. Her page would probably also have some early resist, maybe. As for combat pages, have some "on clash win: reduce the max roll of opponents next die by 3" along with some defensive pages that can inflict disarm, maybe.
The pages could work together well with Lily always managing to redirect so tha Kai can go in for a one-sided attack, doind some great damaging, and maybe inflict enough chill to immobolize.
I've also had some idea for a "Scarecrow Office" passive, more intended for SotC ranks. Something alobg the lines of "At the start of the act, give the ally with the least health 'Scarecrow's Protection'. At the start of combat, give allies with 'Scarecrow's Protection' a block counter die." Something like that for a generic office passive.
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
Aren't you saying 2 different things at once then?
If you're saying our pages should be compared to the literal game opening stuff, then why would we have access to big unique effects like "ignore fundamentals of speed clash" or "inflict stun on enemies"
If you're basing what we can do off that much, "Reduce next dice max roll by 1" is about the best we could get that isn't generic "roll dice, no effect"
If you're saying our pages should be compared to the literal game opening stuff, then why would we have access to big unique effects like "ignore fundamentals of speed clash" or "inflict stun on enemies"
If you're basing what we can do off that much, "Reduce next dice max roll by 1" is about the best we could get that isn't generic "roll dice, no effect"
DimensionalGuy
Lazy Bastard
- Location
- Sweden
I'm saying that our strength is at Canard level, but I don't see why that means that our effects should be boring? If it was the actual game, and not playing around for fun, then for tutorial purposes I could see it. But even then, the effects are slightly unique, not necessarily that great. While the interception effect can be good, it isn't that useful in the early game, and since it's only one dice even when attributed, it remains inferior to the Abnormality Page. Inflict stun is tougher, since it uses Chill that doesn't really appear on any combat page in the game. Because of that, it's hard to balance, but in my opinion, Kai should still have access to this effect.
As for the reduce max roll by 3, that's just weaken, IIRC. Well, Weaken and Strengthen doesn't really exist anymore, but the effects is certainly not too much. I mean, paralysis, Yun and Eri's passives, they all "Strengthen"/"Weaken" max rolls by 3.
Sightedjt
Everlasting Flames
I just figure that if we're going to translate things over and use the existing levels as a reference, complexity needs to be matched as well, and it's completely un-fitting to start giving grade 9 people completely unique mechanical effects, let alone ones that are either seen as "actual boss mechanics or a drawback to a stupid powered attack" in immobilise, or "an effect functionally equivalent to the red mist" with the speed dice redirect shenanigans.
Complexity is a strength all on it's own, and we aint good enough for that just yet. Mars and Lulu is about the our equivalent in terms of effect complexity, maybe up to "generic zwei mooks" on the high end if we're being generous. We can start getting fancier effects once we start hitting high-plague tiers.
See, I am a mixture of those two trains of thought. I believe that we are a Canard level threat and thus choose a point in the future to work with, more freedom to work with either more mechanics together or add unusual ones. Upon review, I am not sure we are at Canard level though. Mao said most fixers only start taking Myth level jobs until their third month and there seems to be a fair amount of expectation for them to fail those jobs, that might just be Mao's tone though. Lily did one on her first week and did it well. She did it with Kai's help but it seems to me that it is quite common for fixers to jobs in groups, those that do fight by themselves seems to be rarer.
My overall point is that Lily, and Kai, are not normal. They are stronger than what a new Grade 9 fixer would be and it might stay that way as they go up in Grade. Of course, it might be that most new fixers do not or can not work with someone else. I have a new appreciation for Kai.
I will say that the Fixer Grade to Hazard Grade is fuzzy to say the least. Grade 8-7 are Urban Legends but the Dawn office is an Urban Plague and Phillip himself was a new Grade 5 fixer himself.
"...You have a death wish kid?"
"I work best up front, you aren't getting to them that easily."
"Heh, keep your guard up then."
That just seems like something Lily would do even as she hating every moment that lead up to fighting a Color.
That and Kai's Chill would keep them relevant in some capacity even into late game due to not having access or replacements at that stage, good for cheesing or memes.
My overall point is that Lily, and Kai, are not normal. They are stronger than what a new Grade 9 fixer would be and it might stay that way as they go up in Grade. Of course, it might be that most new fixers do not or can not work with someone else. I have a new appreciation for Kai.
I will say that the Fixer Grade to Hazard Grade is fuzzy to say the least. Grade 8-7 are Urban Legends but the Dawn office is an Urban Plague and Phillip himself was a new Grade 5 fixer himself.
I like the ideas everyone came up with but I absolutely adore this if only for the mental image of this interacting with Gebura's infinity die.
"...You have a death wish kid?"
"I work best up front, you aren't getting to them that easily."
"Heh, keep your guard up then."
That just seems like something Lily would do even as she hating every moment that lead up to fighting a Color.
That and Kai's Chill would keep them relevant in some capacity even into late game due to not having access or replacements at that stage, good for cheesing or memes.
3.2 Gougères
SoothingCoffee
Umumumu
- Location
- The Library
[] Get her speaking. She said something before, about how she expected more. Ask her about that. Make her talk, to ask you stuffs – get the ball rolling. It ain't gonna be the most comfortable ball-roll, on the account that she's gonna ask you shit, and you gotta answer, but whatever makes her less scared.
Goddamnit. How are you supposed to deal with this now? Biting the inside of your cheeks, you hunch over, burying your hands deeper into your pockets. Think, think, think! What would Kai – wait, no, that's a stupid question. Not to insult Kai, or anything, but you got the feeling that she got it worse than you. Who else? Sun? Yeah, what would Sun do? She'd… apologize, probably. Like hell you're gonna do that – there's only so much blame you're willing to take, okay? Sure, you scared her, but it's not your fault that the kid got raised into a wuss. She can only blame her parents for that, alright? Sun would also probably bake her cookies, and shit – your eyes flick to the side, to the kitchen. Mhm. Maybe. What would Mao do, then? She'd also start with an apology, and then –
[Empathy Check: Medium Check: Pass.]
You, in that bar, and sitting opposite of you, Mao.
[Negotiation Check: Medium Check: Pass]
That might work.
"Look –" you say, after a moment. The kid's back shoots up straight, flinching. You stand slightly behind her left, leaning against the wall, and you could see her eyes straining. You roll your eyes. See? Wuss. "You expected more, didn't cha – whaddaya mean?"
Finally, she turns her head around, her eyes bug-eyed.
Uuugghhh. Seriously, this is such bullshit. She really got no fucking excuse – like sure, yeah, you scared her. That's on you. Even you'd be sca – worried too, in her position, but the audacity of this bitch. Can't believe you're saying this, but even your previous clients were better than this, assholes as they are. At least, all you had to do was lay off them for a bit, and they bounce right back up. But not this kid, noooooo! Goddamn rich fucking kids, and their rich fucking wallets, and their rich fucking fucking fuck – just how the fuck are they still alive, when you were out there, barely surviving? Money. Well, duh, no shit. Even you know that. Still. Shit's fucking unfair. Pisses you the fuck off how they can just look down on ya one moment, and then start pissing and shitting their pants off the next – heh. Make it more satisfying when you beat the shit out of them, you bet.
"Uh – uhm," Tori begins to tremble, starts hiccuping – she looks like she's gonna cry. "Uh."
Well. Like the rest of your clients, you can't really beat the shit out of her. Not just because she's your client, but also because…
Well. Y'know.
You double your glare. "Just answer the goddamn question."
"Uh – I – it's – " she starts to stammer, shifting to and fro in her seat. Her eyes flick away from you, but they immediately refocus back. You growl under your breath. Tori squeaks. "Itsbecauseyourenotliketheothers!" she blurts out.
You blink, before raising an eyebrow. Fuck does that mean? "Not like the others, huh."
"Y-yeah," she nods, stuttering. "L-like, the Fixers at school, they're old, and tough-looking –" so you're not tough looking, is that it "—a-and there's the Zwei Fixers, y'know? They wear those blue overcoats, and they look huge, and strong-looking, and they all look experienced, and know what they're doing so um," she cuts herself off, looking away awkwardly. "Yeah."
Wow. So not only you're not tough-looking, and strong-looking – you also don't look experienced, and know what you're doing? Well, she's not wrong-wrong. You're pretty new at this, you gotta admit that, but man. What a way to piss you the fuck off. "It ain't all about looks, y'know," you drawl out, and the girl turns her head back to you. Kai pops to mind. "I mean, sure, looks factor into it. They got to look tough, and strong, else people would mess 'em up," you nod, grumbling. You've been there, after all, scurrying through the streets, eyeing a Zwei Fixer eyeing you; a huge-ass sword on their back. You shiver at the memory. "But it's all about skills, y'know – walk the talk, and that shit. And I'm pretty sure I can beat some of those assholes up."
Not that you're, you know, gonna. You don't know about School Fixers. They're probably decent-ish. But Zwei Fixers are bad news – well, now that you're on the 'right' side of the fence, you suppose they're good news instead. They're an Associate, after all, and you shouldn't mess with an Associate. Especially one as big as the Zwei. They do Protection, so you suppose they're in your wheelhouse, but their scale is a thousand-fold larger than the Scarecrows. Peacekeeping – that's what they specialize in, keeping the wealthy streets of the Backstreets clean of trash like Rats, and Syndicates. To do that, you gotta have tons of firepower – and they got those in spades. Seriously. You heard that lots of them got wiped during the Pianist Incident, but now they're back doing business as usual. Going against them – as you are now – is practically suicide. And you don't feel particularly suicidal.
You're also not, you know, some violent Syndicate prick who got their rocks off on this kind of shit.
Tori eyes you dubiously. "… Really?"
Got her.
"Really."
This is what Mao would do – you watched her do this before, and she's done this on you too, the bitch: distract, pull at loose ends, and get the ball rolling.
"… So, um," the girl turns around in her seat, facing you, her arms dangling over the sofa's back. Resting her chin on the rest, her blue eyes refuse to meet yours, flicking back and forth, but all the same, brimming with something. Curiosity, you think. Compared to Kai, this is nothing. "How long… you've been a Fixer for how long?"
You're starting to feel regret. "One month," you say, straight-faced. Technically, less than that, but she doesn't need to know.
Tori blinks, before scrunching her face up. "… One month?"
Glaring, you let out a growl. "So?"
"N-nothing," she squeaks, glancing away from you. "It's just. Y'know. One month's pretty, um," she squeezes her eyes tight. "Short."
"Thirty days seem long to me," you grumble under your breath. A lotta things can happen in thirty days, 'specially when your work involves lookin' for troubles. It's in the fucking name. You could die. "Good thing this is a Canard job, then."
"A Canard – oh," Tori frowns, before quickly pouting. "That means 'rumor', isn't it? Guess that probably means the lowest rank…" she trails off, eyeing you dubiously. "You're 9th Grade."
"Again," you drawl out, resting a hand atop your crowbar: "So?"
"So!" she jumps up to her feet, wobbling slightly over the cushion. Pointing a finger at you, she grins in triumphant, bright blue eyes looking down on you. "So I was right – you aren't strong, and I should have expected more! I bet you actually can't kick those other Fixers' butts!"
You stare at her, low. Hard. "I can still crush your skull in, kid."
She falters, hand lowering; a quiver in her lips, and in her legs – a tension in her shoulders before she lets it go with a snort. "Hah! Your threats won't work on me, Fixer – you're all bark, but no bite. I bet – "
She ain't wrong, 'course. Still. "Bet what?" you cut her off, pushing yourself off the wall. Tori freezes, the smile turning into a rictus of horror. "C'mon. What is it? Y'know, I haven't actually failed a mission," you say that with some degree of… not pride, but close to it. A sense of achievement. It means something, you like to think. You smile. "Yet. I could start making an exception. So, c'mon, say it."
You won't, 'course. You also can't. Both, really. But Tori's paling face, her smile turning downwards, she doesn't know that. "Um, nothing," she squeaks out, suddenly very quiet, as she falls back down to her knees, her head once again back on the backrest of the sofa. Her eyes flicker away. She sniffs, blinking, before burying her mouth into the cushion. "It's nothing. Sorry. Yeah. Um."
This time, you don't feel all that awful about it, weirdly enough. You nod, smirking, as you lean back to the wall. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Tori grumbles. And then, silence. It stretches for quite a while: "So how it's like? Bein' a Fixer, and all, I mean," the girl breaks the silence, hesitant and quiet, eyes peering at you curiously.
It takes you less than a second to answer that: "It's great."
The girl blinks. "Heeh," she mumbles, stretching her voice out. "Seriously?"
You raise an eyebrow. "I'm the Fixer here, ain't I?"
"Well, I mean," she purses her lips, pouting. "I asked the Fixers guarding the school, y'know – they said it's not all it's cracked out to be."
You scoff. "Fuck do they know?"
"… They're Fixers, aren't they?"
"Shut up," you growl, rolling your eyes. Snorting, you cross your arms together. "Listen: bein' a Fixer's great. You get the beat the shit out of people, and get paid for it – sure, the clients get annoying as fuck," the girl twitches at that, her mumbling muffled by the couch. You smirk. "But compared to before, my wallet's never been fuller. I got fed, and people don't look down on me."
Not as much, you add bitterly. You're still looked down. Bein' a Fixer lets you be a step above what you were before – as well as the good majority of the Backstreets, but you're still Ninth Grade; still the on the lowest of that particular totem pole. If you want people to not look down on ya – to respect ya, and to look up on ya:
[Melee Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Ya gotta be mass destruction personified.
[Endurance Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Ya gotta be the indestructible fortress.
[Instinct Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Become The City's Beloved.
[Vision Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
You must become a Color.
"But yeah," you continue, scoffing. "Those assholes you asked are probably a buncha pussies."
Tori tilts her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "… I guess they always just kinda stand around there around the gate," she mutters. "When I asked 'em stories, they just shoo me away too."
"See?" you snort. "Fucking pussies."
"Then! Then!" her eyes sparkle as she shoots up from her slouch, a triumphant grin on her mug. "That mean you got stories to tell!?"
Shit. She got you there.
Afternoon eventually turns into evening – the matter of dinner is solved easily by heating up some premade dishes left by the clients. Some kinda thick noodles swimming in red meat sauce – spaghetti, you think they're called; some kinda fancy food. They're only going to last for the night – you'd have to find another way to feed the kid the next day. You'll figure it out. But before you know it, it's already time for Tori's bedtime. You don't particularly care about it, but it's written there on the paper left to you by the client. Thankfully, dinner made the now-annoyingly-talkative girl sleepy. You wait outside her bedroom, sitting beside the door, and staring at the wall.
In the night silence of the corridor – of the house, you could hear the faint echo of tick-tick-tick in the edge of your hearing. Here, on a small table, watching you, there, down the living room, on the wall. Somewhere else, inside these rooms. You count them down, blinking, and nodding with the beat. And then –
The Night of the Backstreets.
[Instinct Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
In dark alleyways, of the narrows, and crevices of the Backstreets, creatures in dark leather suits climb out from the shadows – in their hands, rusty hooks, and in their eyes, a red hunger. They chitter, and chatter amongst themselves; a language that only few understands. Sweepers. They speak of change. Of foes they couldn't overwhelm, and of their dying brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, and children.
Up, in the Nest, in their lofty high-rise apartments, upon their windows, men and women watch in glee – a grin, and a smile, and a frown in their lips as they observe, glasses of wine, cans of beer, and bottles of hard liquor in their hands. Ants, they can't help but think, as they bet, and jeer, and laugh amongst themselves. In the smallest smalls of their heart, they feel terror.
And then, down here, in the Backstreets. People lock themselves up inside their homes, hands pressed against their ears. You close your eyes, and sleep. Outside, a bloodbath ensues.
As long as you're inside, that's when the Backstreet is the safest.
When you open your eyes again, it's morning.
Next on the schedule – you look down to the list of instructions your clients left you: school.
School. School. Rich kidshits. You've never seen one with your own eyes, but you know there's a few handfuls of them, positioned in the few well-off, and safe neighborhoods in the Backstreets. From what you understand them, half-remembered from one of Landlord Lin's lecture, it's the quickest way to get into the Nest – one that you'll never get into, on the account of being too old, too poor, and too dumb. Wings are always on the lookout for new recruits, basically. Not even always Wings, but also other companies inside the Nest. Researchers, and scientists, and engineers. Workers. Expendables. 'Course, they tend to scoop them up from their own Nest, but once in a while, something catches their eye. Some kid gets lucky, gets noticed, or just simply brainy enough to have it their way. Those Wings give out scholarships: opportunities, and internships, and the shits. A once-in-a-lifetime pass into the Nest.
Your mind leaps back to Mai, that hostage-kid you and Kai rescued a few days ago – and quietly, resting a hand under your chin, you wonder.
"Hey," Tori calls out – whispers, really, her voice shaky as she glances at you, before breaking away to look around herself. "This isn't the way to school."
You roll your eyes. "It is," through the narrow-crooked alleyways that no lone rich girl like Tori would ever walk alone – Zwei-protected neighborhood or not. "We're taking a shortcut – because you didn't fucking wake up on time."
Hunching over her shoulders, Tori pouts. "You didn't wake me up," she mumbles.
"What am I, your alarm clock?" you retort, snorting.
"… Who the fuck cares, anyway," she grumbles back, clenching at the straps of her backpack, pressing into herself. "Shouldn't have woken me up."
You eye her for a bit, before going back to the road. Eventually, you cross into the main 'path'. People converge here, forming a beeline – Fixers like you, escorting kids like Tori, dressed in school uniforms reminiscent of that Mai girl – or like Tori, you could say. Zwei Fixers standing at the corners, their eyes jumping as you emerge from the alley before they turn elsewhere – the familiar sensation of being watched sticking at the back of your neck. Dozens of them. Measuring, and comparing, and then dismissing. Eventually, there it is – Geld See Academy. Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, High School, to even College all combined into one gigantic institution.
It's also goddamn fucking crown, you realize immediately. Golden-hued concrete walls; segmented highs, and lows, with five spires forming a circle – gem-like clocks, and eye-searing windows. Leading up from the gate and to seeming-distant entry, students walk with a certain carefreeness, as though disconnected from all of this – all of that sealed away by a huge fuck-off wall three times your height, as well as a gate lined with dozens of fuck-off Fixers. Security. They're dressed in a much uniformed… uniform than your Office. White-grey shirts covered in badges, and patches, and symbols: golden setting suns on their right breasts, and sparkling crowns on their left; a band around their shoulders. A cable runs around them, connected to the earpiece on their ear. They stand with their back straight, arms behind their back. Stiff. One Fixer stands before the others, scanning some sort of card by a student, before nodding, and letting them in – their escort leaving, or waiting by the wall.
You glance down to your side. "Well?"
"Um," Tori glances at you, hesitating. "… Can we just…" she trails off, shivering. Quivering. "Go?" she whispers out.
"Ya sure?" you ask back, cocking a brow. "Your parents told me you gotta go – wrote it, actually," and you gaze off into the school building, frowning. This can't be cheap. "I'll be waiting here," you nod to the wall.
She flinches at that. Color drains from her face as she stares at the school. She gulps audibly, and the straps of her backpack strains under her grip. She looks, you realize, like someone about to walk into their execution – there's fear, but not like the fear of yesterday. This is fear laced with resignation. Or resignation laced with fear. Both. Either or. This is the look of someone who closes their eyes, knowing that the finishing blow is about to come. You've seen it in person several times already in the past few weeks.
She looks like –
[Repression Check: Medium Check. Pass.]
You take a deep, deep breath, and cut that thought before it finishes.
But you've been here before, in her spot. Not actually and exactly in her spot, but you've been here, forced to do something that you don't wanna, but gotta – left with ain't an option other than keel over, and die.
Taking another shivering breath, Tori take a step forward.
You eye her.
[Endurance Check: Easy. Pass.]
It would be a good learning experience – she'd grow from it, like you have. And you grew up fine, didn't you?
[Ego Check: Hard. Pass.]
Did you?
[Empathy Check: Medium. Pass.]
Landlord Lin would be so proud of you.
You bite your tongue. Blood rushes in, snapping you up. What the fuck do you care anyway? The kid's none of your responsibility – you're not here to raise her, you're just here to protect her, babysit her, keep her from accidentally stab herself by running with scissors – that type of shit. None of this matters to you. Not really. In a couple days, this'll be over and done with – you'd move on, carry on with another job request, working with people you should actually care about, and dealing with people you really couldn't care less with.
[Instinct Check: Easy. Pass.]
And even then, even if you want to involve yourself into this… bullshit, it's not gonna be a simple grab-and-go. It'd be one thing if you gave up in the first place, but it's another thing to back down while you're right in front of the gate. Tori's wearing the school uniform – that golden setting sun clashing against her dark-navy-blue dress uniform – and if she just suddenly goes away, the Fixers there at the gate won't stand still. And the Zwei Fixers waiting here won't also just stand still.
Things could turn ugly.
And even if it won't turn into that, there's still the real clients you gotta deal with later.
But...
…
Goddamnit. How are you supposed to deal with this now? Biting the inside of your cheeks, you hunch over, burying your hands deeper into your pockets. Think, think, think! What would Kai – wait, no, that's a stupid question. Not to insult Kai, or anything, but you got the feeling that she got it worse than you. Who else? Sun? Yeah, what would Sun do? She'd… apologize, probably. Like hell you're gonna do that – there's only so much blame you're willing to take, okay? Sure, you scared her, but it's not your fault that the kid got raised into a wuss. She can only blame her parents for that, alright? Sun would also probably bake her cookies, and shit – your eyes flick to the side, to the kitchen. Mhm. Maybe. What would Mao do, then? She'd also start with an apology, and then –
[Empathy Check: Medium Check: Pass.]
You, in that bar, and sitting opposite of you, Mao.
[Negotiation Check: Medium Check: Pass]
That might work.
"Look –" you say, after a moment. The kid's back shoots up straight, flinching. You stand slightly behind her left, leaning against the wall, and you could see her eyes straining. You roll your eyes. See? Wuss. "You expected more, didn't cha – whaddaya mean?"
Finally, she turns her head around, her eyes bug-eyed.
Uuugghhh. Seriously, this is such bullshit. She really got no fucking excuse – like sure, yeah, you scared her. That's on you. Even you'd be sca – worried too, in her position, but the audacity of this bitch. Can't believe you're saying this, but even your previous clients were better than this, assholes as they are. At least, all you had to do was lay off them for a bit, and they bounce right back up. But not this kid, noooooo! Goddamn rich fucking kids, and their rich fucking wallets, and their rich fucking fucking fuck – just how the fuck are they still alive, when you were out there, barely surviving? Money. Well, duh, no shit. Even you know that. Still. Shit's fucking unfair. Pisses you the fuck off how they can just look down on ya one moment, and then start pissing and shitting their pants off the next – heh. Make it more satisfying when you beat the shit out of them, you bet.
"Uh – uhm," Tori begins to tremble, starts hiccuping – she looks like she's gonna cry. "Uh."
Well. Like the rest of your clients, you can't really beat the shit out of her. Not just because she's your client, but also because…
Well. Y'know.
You double your glare. "Just answer the goddamn question."
"Uh – I – it's – " she starts to stammer, shifting to and fro in her seat. Her eyes flick away from you, but they immediately refocus back. You growl under your breath. Tori squeaks. "Itsbecauseyourenotliketheothers!" she blurts out.
You blink, before raising an eyebrow. Fuck does that mean? "Not like the others, huh."
"Y-yeah," she nods, stuttering. "L-like, the Fixers at school, they're old, and tough-looking –" so you're not tough looking, is that it "—a-and there's the Zwei Fixers, y'know? They wear those blue overcoats, and they look huge, and strong-looking, and they all look experienced, and know what they're doing so um," she cuts herself off, looking away awkwardly. "Yeah."
Wow. So not only you're not tough-looking, and strong-looking – you also don't look experienced, and know what you're doing? Well, she's not wrong-wrong. You're pretty new at this, you gotta admit that, but man. What a way to piss you the fuck off. "It ain't all about looks, y'know," you drawl out, and the girl turns her head back to you. Kai pops to mind. "I mean, sure, looks factor into it. They got to look tough, and strong, else people would mess 'em up," you nod, grumbling. You've been there, after all, scurrying through the streets, eyeing a Zwei Fixer eyeing you; a huge-ass sword on their back. You shiver at the memory. "But it's all about skills, y'know – walk the talk, and that shit. And I'm pretty sure I can beat some of those assholes up."
Not that you're, you know, gonna. You don't know about School Fixers. They're probably decent-ish. But Zwei Fixers are bad news – well, now that you're on the 'right' side of the fence, you suppose they're good news instead. They're an Associate, after all, and you shouldn't mess with an Associate. Especially one as big as the Zwei. They do Protection, so you suppose they're in your wheelhouse, but their scale is a thousand-fold larger than the Scarecrows. Peacekeeping – that's what they specialize in, keeping the wealthy streets of the Backstreets clean of trash like Rats, and Syndicates. To do that, you gotta have tons of firepower – and they got those in spades. Seriously. You heard that lots of them got wiped during the Pianist Incident, but now they're back doing business as usual. Going against them – as you are now – is practically suicide. And you don't feel particularly suicidal.
You're also not, you know, some violent Syndicate prick who got their rocks off on this kind of shit.
Tori eyes you dubiously. "… Really?"
Got her.
"Really."
This is what Mao would do – you watched her do this before, and she's done this on you too, the bitch: distract, pull at loose ends, and get the ball rolling.
"… So, um," the girl turns around in her seat, facing you, her arms dangling over the sofa's back. Resting her chin on the rest, her blue eyes refuse to meet yours, flicking back and forth, but all the same, brimming with something. Curiosity, you think. Compared to Kai, this is nothing. "How long… you've been a Fixer for how long?"
You're starting to feel regret. "One month," you say, straight-faced. Technically, less than that, but she doesn't need to know.
Tori blinks, before scrunching her face up. "… One month?"
Glaring, you let out a growl. "So?"
"N-nothing," she squeaks, glancing away from you. "It's just. Y'know. One month's pretty, um," she squeezes her eyes tight. "Short."
"Thirty days seem long to me," you grumble under your breath. A lotta things can happen in thirty days, 'specially when your work involves lookin' for troubles. It's in the fucking name. You could die. "Good thing this is a Canard job, then."
"A Canard – oh," Tori frowns, before quickly pouting. "That means 'rumor', isn't it? Guess that probably means the lowest rank…" she trails off, eyeing you dubiously. "You're 9th Grade."
"Again," you drawl out, resting a hand atop your crowbar: "So?"
"So!" she jumps up to her feet, wobbling slightly over the cushion. Pointing a finger at you, she grins in triumphant, bright blue eyes looking down on you. "So I was right – you aren't strong, and I should have expected more! I bet you actually can't kick those other Fixers' butts!"
You stare at her, low. Hard. "I can still crush your skull in, kid."
She falters, hand lowering; a quiver in her lips, and in her legs – a tension in her shoulders before she lets it go with a snort. "Hah! Your threats won't work on me, Fixer – you're all bark, but no bite. I bet – "
She ain't wrong, 'course. Still. "Bet what?" you cut her off, pushing yourself off the wall. Tori freezes, the smile turning into a rictus of horror. "C'mon. What is it? Y'know, I haven't actually failed a mission," you say that with some degree of… not pride, but close to it. A sense of achievement. It means something, you like to think. You smile. "Yet. I could start making an exception. So, c'mon, say it."
You won't, 'course. You also can't. Both, really. But Tori's paling face, her smile turning downwards, she doesn't know that. "Um, nothing," she squeaks out, suddenly very quiet, as she falls back down to her knees, her head once again back on the backrest of the sofa. Her eyes flicker away. She sniffs, blinking, before burying her mouth into the cushion. "It's nothing. Sorry. Yeah. Um."
This time, you don't feel all that awful about it, weirdly enough. You nod, smirking, as you lean back to the wall. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Tori grumbles. And then, silence. It stretches for quite a while: "So how it's like? Bein' a Fixer, and all, I mean," the girl breaks the silence, hesitant and quiet, eyes peering at you curiously.
It takes you less than a second to answer that: "It's great."
The girl blinks. "Heeh," she mumbles, stretching her voice out. "Seriously?"
You raise an eyebrow. "I'm the Fixer here, ain't I?"
"Well, I mean," she purses her lips, pouting. "I asked the Fixers guarding the school, y'know – they said it's not all it's cracked out to be."
You scoff. "Fuck do they know?"
"… They're Fixers, aren't they?"
"Shut up," you growl, rolling your eyes. Snorting, you cross your arms together. "Listen: bein' a Fixer's great. You get the beat the shit out of people, and get paid for it – sure, the clients get annoying as fuck," the girl twitches at that, her mumbling muffled by the couch. You smirk. "But compared to before, my wallet's never been fuller. I got fed, and people don't look down on me."
Not as much, you add bitterly. You're still looked down. Bein' a Fixer lets you be a step above what you were before – as well as the good majority of the Backstreets, but you're still Ninth Grade; still the on the lowest of that particular totem pole. If you want people to not look down on ya – to respect ya, and to look up on ya:
[Melee Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Ya gotta be mass destruction personified.
[Endurance Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Ya gotta be the indestructible fortress.
[Instinct Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
Become The City's Beloved.
[Vision Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
You must become a Color.
"But yeah," you continue, scoffing. "Those assholes you asked are probably a buncha pussies."
Tori tilts her head, a thoughtful look on her face. "… I guess they always just kinda stand around there around the gate," she mutters. "When I asked 'em stories, they just shoo me away too."
"See?" you snort. "Fucking pussies."
"Then! Then!" her eyes sparkle as she shoots up from her slouch, a triumphant grin on her mug. "That mean you got stories to tell!?"
Shit. She got you there.
...
Afternoon eventually turns into evening – the matter of dinner is solved easily by heating up some premade dishes left by the clients. Some kinda thick noodles swimming in red meat sauce – spaghetti, you think they're called; some kinda fancy food. They're only going to last for the night – you'd have to find another way to feed the kid the next day. You'll figure it out. But before you know it, it's already time for Tori's bedtime. You don't particularly care about it, but it's written there on the paper left to you by the client. Thankfully, dinner made the now-annoyingly-talkative girl sleepy. You wait outside her bedroom, sitting beside the door, and staring at the wall.
In the night silence of the corridor – of the house, you could hear the faint echo of tick-tick-tick in the edge of your hearing. Here, on a small table, watching you, there, down the living room, on the wall. Somewhere else, inside these rooms. You count them down, blinking, and nodding with the beat. And then –
The Night of the Backstreets.
[Instinct Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]
In dark alleyways, of the narrows, and crevices of the Backstreets, creatures in dark leather suits climb out from the shadows – in their hands, rusty hooks, and in their eyes, a red hunger. They chitter, and chatter amongst themselves; a language that only few understands. Sweepers. They speak of change. Of foes they couldn't overwhelm, and of their dying brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, and children.
Up, in the Nest, in their lofty high-rise apartments, upon their windows, men and women watch in glee – a grin, and a smile, and a frown in their lips as they observe, glasses of wine, cans of beer, and bottles of hard liquor in their hands. Ants, they can't help but think, as they bet, and jeer, and laugh amongst themselves. In the smallest smalls of their heart, they feel terror.
And then, down here, in the Backstreets. People lock themselves up inside their homes, hands pressed against their ears. You close your eyes, and sleep. Outside, a bloodbath ensues.
As long as you're inside, that's when the Backstreet is the safest.
When you open your eyes again, it's morning.
Next on the schedule – you look down to the list of instructions your clients left you: school.
School. School. Rich kidshits. You've never seen one with your own eyes, but you know there's a few handfuls of them, positioned in the few well-off, and safe neighborhoods in the Backstreets. From what you understand them, half-remembered from one of Landlord Lin's lecture, it's the quickest way to get into the Nest – one that you'll never get into, on the account of being too old, too poor, and too dumb. Wings are always on the lookout for new recruits, basically. Not even always Wings, but also other companies inside the Nest. Researchers, and scientists, and engineers. Workers. Expendables. 'Course, they tend to scoop them up from their own Nest, but once in a while, something catches their eye. Some kid gets lucky, gets noticed, or just simply brainy enough to have it their way. Those Wings give out scholarships: opportunities, and internships, and the shits. A once-in-a-lifetime pass into the Nest.
Your mind leaps back to Mai, that hostage-kid you and Kai rescued a few days ago – and quietly, resting a hand under your chin, you wonder.
"Hey," Tori calls out – whispers, really, her voice shaky as she glances at you, before breaking away to look around herself. "This isn't the way to school."
You roll your eyes. "It is," through the narrow-crooked alleyways that no lone rich girl like Tori would ever walk alone – Zwei-protected neighborhood or not. "We're taking a shortcut – because you didn't fucking wake up on time."
Hunching over her shoulders, Tori pouts. "You didn't wake me up," she mumbles.
"What am I, your alarm clock?" you retort, snorting.
"… Who the fuck cares, anyway," she grumbles back, clenching at the straps of her backpack, pressing into herself. "Shouldn't have woken me up."
You eye her for a bit, before going back to the road. Eventually, you cross into the main 'path'. People converge here, forming a beeline – Fixers like you, escorting kids like Tori, dressed in school uniforms reminiscent of that Mai girl – or like Tori, you could say. Zwei Fixers standing at the corners, their eyes jumping as you emerge from the alley before they turn elsewhere – the familiar sensation of being watched sticking at the back of your neck. Dozens of them. Measuring, and comparing, and then dismissing. Eventually, there it is – Geld See Academy. Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, High School, to even College all combined into one gigantic institution.
It's also goddamn fucking crown, you realize immediately. Golden-hued concrete walls; segmented highs, and lows, with five spires forming a circle – gem-like clocks, and eye-searing windows. Leading up from the gate and to seeming-distant entry, students walk with a certain carefreeness, as though disconnected from all of this – all of that sealed away by a huge fuck-off wall three times your height, as well as a gate lined with dozens of fuck-off Fixers. Security. They're dressed in a much uniformed… uniform than your Office. White-grey shirts covered in badges, and patches, and symbols: golden setting suns on their right breasts, and sparkling crowns on their left; a band around their shoulders. A cable runs around them, connected to the earpiece on their ear. They stand with their back straight, arms behind their back. Stiff. One Fixer stands before the others, scanning some sort of card by a student, before nodding, and letting them in – their escort leaving, or waiting by the wall.
You glance down to your side. "Well?"
"Um," Tori glances at you, hesitating. "… Can we just…" she trails off, shivering. Quivering. "Go?" she whispers out.
"Ya sure?" you ask back, cocking a brow. "Your parents told me you gotta go – wrote it, actually," and you gaze off into the school building, frowning. This can't be cheap. "I'll be waiting here," you nod to the wall.
She flinches at that. Color drains from her face as she stares at the school. She gulps audibly, and the straps of her backpack strains under her grip. She looks, you realize, like someone about to walk into their execution – there's fear, but not like the fear of yesterday. This is fear laced with resignation. Or resignation laced with fear. Both. Either or. This is the look of someone who closes their eyes, knowing that the finishing blow is about to come. You've seen it in person several times already in the past few weeks.
She looks like –
[Repression Check: Medium Check. Pass.]
You take a deep, deep breath, and cut that thought before it finishes.
But you've been here before, in her spot. Not actually and exactly in her spot, but you've been here, forced to do something that you don't wanna, but gotta – left with ain't an option other than keel over, and die.
Taking another shivering breath, Tori take a step forward.
You eye her.
[Endurance Check: Easy. Pass.]
It would be a good learning experience – she'd grow from it, like you have. And you grew up fine, didn't you?
[Ego Check: Hard. Pass.]
Did you?
[Empathy Check: Medium. Pass.]
Landlord Lin would be so proud of you.
You bite your tongue. Blood rushes in, snapping you up. What the fuck do you care anyway? The kid's none of your responsibility – you're not here to raise her, you're just here to protect her, babysit her, keep her from accidentally stab herself by running with scissors – that type of shit. None of this matters to you. Not really. In a couple days, this'll be over and done with – you'd move on, carry on with another job request, working with people you should actually care about, and dealing with people you really couldn't care less with.
[Instinct Check: Easy. Pass.]
And even then, even if you want to involve yourself into this… bullshit, it's not gonna be a simple grab-and-go. It'd be one thing if you gave up in the first place, but it's another thing to back down while you're right in front of the gate. Tori's wearing the school uniform – that golden setting sun clashing against her dark-navy-blue dress uniform – and if she just suddenly goes away, the Fixers there at the gate won't stand still. And the Zwei Fixers waiting here won't also just stand still.
Things could turn ugly.
And even if it won't turn into that, there's still the real clients you gotta deal with later.
But...
Article: What to do, what to do? (Choose 1)
[] Just Let Her Be. Again, it's really, really none of your business. In a couple days, you'll finish this job, and get paid. In another day, you're gonna have a new job request to concern yourself with. In a week, her name will barely pop at the back of your head. In a month, you'd barely remember her. You just don't need this baggage.
[] Weasel Her Out. Ah. Goddamnit. Fine. Fuck it. Fuck this. Fuck her. Fuck everything. Why can't anything, for once, go simple? Canard Jobs are supposed to be simple, you thought, but nooo – you just have to make it fucking complicated. Tell her that you're leaving, that she won't have to go if she doesn't want to go – haul her over your shoulders, and haul ass. Up a certain point, those Fixers just can't do shit about shit. [Best of 3 Stealth Checks: Very Hard Difficulty. Best of 3 Instinct Checks: Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Confrontational. I.e. Failure may degrade into a fuckfest.]
[] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.]
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- Location
- Earth
[X] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.
I don't want to force her to go to school, and I don't wanna start a fight, so...
I don't want to force her to go to school, and I don't wanna start a fight, so...
- Location
- Who Knows Where
[X] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.]
They have the numbers, and if we have to fight our way out, our Office is going to hear about this.
So we can try to be normal about it, while not putting Lily's neck on the line for this.
Edit: I also feel Just Letting Her Be is a Landlord Lin move. I don't want Lily to be Landlord Lin.
They have the numbers, and if we have to fight our way out, our Office is going to hear about this.
So we can try to be normal about it, while not putting Lily's neck on the line for this.
Edit: I also feel Just Letting Her Be is a Landlord Lin move. I don't want Lily to be Landlord Lin.
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- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.
I want to see where this goes.
I want Lily to have the experience of having a little sister.
I want to avoid fights that don't end well even if you win them.
I want to see where this goes.
I want Lily to have the experience of having a little sister.
I want to avoid fights that don't end well even if you win them.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
What, specifically, did our job posting say about guarding Tori while her parents were gone?
Because I kind of want to take a fourth option if it's possible: we were hired to stick around with Tori and nothing in our contract says that stops at the gate. Go in with her and see what has her looking at this place like she's walking to her own execution.
Because I kind of want to take a fourth option if it's possible: we were hired to stick around with Tori and nothing in our contract says that stops at the gate. Go in with her and see what has her looking at this place like she's walking to her own execution.
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
[X] Just Let Her Be. Again, it's really, really none of your business. In a couple days, you'll finish this job, and get paid. In another day, you're gonna have a new job request to concern yourself with. In a week, her name will barely pop at the back of your head. In a month, you'd barely remember her. You just don't need this baggage.
Don't suppose there's a heart to heart option here is there? Not yet at least.
If we can't do it later I'll swap my vote.
Going to just run her through because right now I'm worried any measures that draw attention will only make her situation worse longer term.
Also as always I'm going to read too much into the glimpses of the wider city. Sweepers could easily be discussing The Black Silence who wouldn't be deterred by something like a hoard of affable monsters. Then again there's probably always a few things or people hanging about who would ruin a sweeper's day. LobCorp certainly made a habit of it. Probably just a wider symptom of pieces falling into place and the light proliferation causing distortions.
Don't suppose there's a heart to heart option here is there? Not yet at least.
If we can't do it later I'll swap my vote.
Going to just run her through because right now I'm worried any measures that draw attention will only make her situation worse longer term.
Also as always I'm going to read too much into the glimpses of the wider city. Sweepers could easily be discussing The Black Silence who wouldn't be deterred by something like a hoard of affable monsters. Then again there's probably always a few things or people hanging about who would ruin a sweeper's day. LobCorp certainly made a habit of it. Probably just a wider symptom of pieces falling into place and the light proliferation causing distortions.
[X] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.]
So Lily has consciously decided on her long-term goal: Become a Color. Makes sense.
So Lily has consciously decided on her long-term goal: Become a Color. Makes sense.
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SoothingCoffee
Umumumu
- Location
- The Library
They're not going to let you in -- and if you force your way in, that's going to be a definite fight breaking out, no two ways about it.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[] Call In a Sick Day. Same complaint as the above, really. But you'll just walk away. Calmly. Slowly. And if they ask, just tell them that your charge ain't feeling so great. Look at how pale she is. Yep. [Best of 3 Negotiation Checks. Hard Difficulty. Requires a Pass from either Checks to Succeed. Non-Confrontational. I.e. Failure won't degrade into a fuckfest.]
We are seriously, seriously outnumbered and a fight would be a bad choice. This makes sense, and I think we can probably handle it? Not to mention that if we fail...well, things will be bad, but no one's going to get killed (probably).
We are seriously, seriously outnumbered and a fight would be a bad choice. This makes sense, and I think we can probably handle it? Not to mention that if we fail...well, things will be bad, but no one's going to get killed (probably).
SoothingCoffee
Umumumu
- Location
- The Library
You can do that later once school's over, yeap.
- Location
- Elsewhere
[X] Just Let Her Be. Again, it's really, really none of your business. In a couple days, you'll finish this job, and get paid. In another day, you're gonna have a new job request to concern yourself with. In a week, her name will barely pop at the back of your head. In a month, you'd barely remember her. You just don't need this baggage.
School is good for you.
School is good for you.
Dream Logic
An offseason swallow
- Location
- In transit
Then I'm sticking by.
I really like the idea of Lily being both empathetic enough to notice and care before and after but hard headed enough to think pushing through raw is still the answer anyways.