Fandom [Homestuck] Hadron Kaleido

[Eidolon Astronaut]

Six youngster stands in their respective domiciles, though the room in question is up for debate. It just so happens that today, the 13th of October, 2023, is the day that these rambunctious ragamuffins play a game named Sburb (2009) that they found in a decrepit forum of forgotten computer games. This game will bring about the end of not just their world, but countless others throughout the totality of existence.

They, of course, do not know this yet.
​

Who are you?
> Be the arsonist. SerbianMounted
> Be the apiarist. SpectrumCrow
> Be the scholar. GamerKitty205
> Be the farmer. Squad141
> Be the taxidermist. ngeibheann
> Be the enthusiast. phoenixsaur

 

[Squad141]

> Be the farmer.​

A stray gust of wind blows through the small crack in your window, slightly dusting off the sill. The sound of the windchime by your porch twinkling mixes well with the sound of some birds chirping in the distance, and the crinkling of leaves across the farm.

You open your eyes, sitting up from your freshly-made bed. It was the one chore you had forgotten to complete until much later in the day, even past dinner, but you wonder deep down if that was on purpose. After all, it was one of the days where Nan let you rest for a little while, as you would help pick up the pace around the early evening instead of closer to noon. You push back your lacy curtains and try and pull the window open, but the old hinges and rusted bits always take some elbow grease. Sighing, you give it one last haul, and the dim daylight shines into your bedroom.

Your name is DANI TEMPEST, and you would characterize today as 'shaded in tones of gray'. Looking up past the roof, as you lean further out the window, you see that some clouds have covered up the sun. Another batch of wind whips your hair, and you slide back inside. Peering back out for a moment, you see Nan getting up from the pumpkin patch. She's also looking up, and you wonder if there was a rare moment where both of you had the exact same thoughts, a moment you haven't shared in some time.

You decide to take stock of your bedroom.

The room itself isn't very grand; none of the rooms in your house are. You are currently standing on the wall opposite the bedroom door, which just consists of the window and a bookshelf. If you were to look through the contents of the shelf, you'd be in here all day! You smile at the prospect, since you can't help but think about doing such a thing. You own books like the original Grimm's Fairy Tales, Peter Pan, all the Mary Poppins novels, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Frog and Toad, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and All About Madeline, just to name a few.

The wall to your left has no windows, but is instead occupied by your desk, an old oak thing that you commonly sit at for all manner of crafts and activities. The most important of these hobbies is of course your writings, which you write using the typewriter you saved up for only a few years back. Your friends made mention of writing on digital and such, but you grew up largely without the influence of computers, so it only comes natural to you. Plus, you've gotten used to the typewriter, so much so that you can easily re-furbish and re-new parts of it, like paper and ink, without messing up any of the machinery. You're very proud of this fact.

The wall to your left has your bed, complete with two layers and a quilt Nan made when you were a baby, and two more windows on either side. Then, just above your headboard...
You pause, and close the window you were leaning out of, walking over to the foot of your bed. Just above the headboard is a family portrait: a young you in a white frock, around 11, Nan in a soft-colored dress and sun-hat... and Uncle Hugo. A great man, despite his lanky and sturdy build, one with worn boots and a trimmed gray beard to match his personable and fun personality. He knew how to make anything a learning experience or incredibly fun, especially the bi-monthly picnics the three of you would take out on the lake a few miles away; you would boat to the middle of the lake with an umbrella, and he would make up stories to entertain both you and Nan until the sun began to set.

The only wall left is the one with your bedroom door. To the right of the door, is one of your most precious objects: a large, wooden wardrobe, intricately carved with rounded edges and various figures and symbols adorning it's exterior. It had been one Uncle Hugo's birthday presents. He always had a knack for carving and had decided that a gift with a function would be better than any game console. So, he left early in morning one day with his silver-headed axe and returned with the lumber of the biggest apple tree on the farm, the one that had stopped producing from a few months earlier.

Pressing your hands against the knob, it almost feels warm to the touch. You open the wardrobe, and find all of the usual suspects, those being your clothes and shoes. There are other things of course; old trinkets and dusty toys that you haven't trifled with in a while: an old rocking horse, a hand-carved Nutcracker soldier, a Christmas tree topper angel that's bent at angle, a toy barrel of plastic red monkeys, and a phone book. You take a peek at where you left off. You had been using it to peruse for a personal tutor, something you had been considering for a while. Nan always got a little distant when the anniversary of Uncle Hugo's passing came around (which was in around three weeks), and you always console her as much as you can, but you've started to feel like you could be doing so much more, especially with your newfound talent in writing.

You close the wardrobe and wipe some dust from your pinafore. You'll need to start getting ready for that game everyone was excited for, which was also the reason for staying behind from yardwork today. You take out your fliphone from your Picnic Basket Modus, ready if anyone tries to get in contact with you.

 

[SerbianMounted]

> Be the arsonist.

Let's cut the Anne of Green Gables schtick, time to thrash.

Metal. Literally. A crow bar lands in several quick successions against a beaten up girder placed on a mat. The heavy sound of metal on metal, over and over again. You huff, sighing softly. The girder is barely bent, and it lacks much of the beauty of....well, a blowtorch. You pocket the crow bar in case it comes in handy later, your freshly applied crowbarkind specibus now placed in your strife portfolio. You usually prefer your MITTs for thrashing baddies anyways.

Your name is FINN CALABAS, and yes, you love fire. Yet recently you've found yourself sorely without it these past few weeks on account of the fact that you're GROUNDED. But that's getting a bit ahead of yourself. You delight in PSYCHIC PHENOMENA, but none of the silly FORTUNE TELLING shit. You like the idea of BENDING SHIT WITH YOUR MIND, particularly lighting it on....well, you guessed as much. Hence the posters of several famous telekinetic from the silver screen: Shigeyo Kageyama, Carrie White and weirdly enough Matilda, but you kind of needed a third one. You one day want nothing more than to be able to bend shit with your mind and become an awesome wizard, whirling shit around. Rather than rely on your STUPID GLOVES that your brother makes you wear because you're 'horribly irresponsible' and 'will burn your hands off you moron'. You are NEVER allowed to take your gloves off.

Eugh. Your stupid brother, and his STUPID rules. You turn to a photo of you and him when you were a young SIX YEAR OLD. You stand on a little crate with an OVERSIZED FIREFIGHTER HAT on your head, obscuring your eyes while your brother leans in with a peace sign, his FIREMAN COVERALLS undone so they drape at the waist while he holds the base of a hose whose head your child hands held once as well. He MEANS WELL but is....very cautious. Overly cautious you think. He's always been afraid of things BURNING DOWN for some reason.

That leads you to talking about the VARIOUS LARGE METAL SCULPTURES you carved with a BLOWTORCH in your studio. You decorate your room with them, some are small as hood ornaments, others the size of ottomans! Your favorite is a replica of a TINY BIRD you've placed on your desk. It's your favorite by far.

Finally, decorating your wall is your BEETLE TERRARIUM. You have SEVERAL beetles, rare and common, on full display. Your brother helped you make this case. With several lovely tree stalks throughout, the terrarium displays a number of beetles, some common, some rare. You have your Stags and Scarabs, of course, but you have an Angelwing, a Five Horned and even a FLOWER Beetles you're especially proud of that you've named Esmerelda. You love beetles, a lot.

Hm? Oh, you look to your PC. Looks like your friend DANI is online. Haha, you like messing with her sometimes. Let's take a look.

> Message Dani
​

CT: yo
CT: are we playing this game or whatever today?
CT: i literally can't wait any longer

 

[GamerKitty205]

> Be the scholar​

That’s more than enough excitement for now. Your turn.

The room is small. Only a few paces across, a side effect of transforming a large closet into a living space. The walls are plastered with a tacky peeling wallpaper that just manages not to give you headaches when you stare at it too long. A calender is carefully placed next to your bed, the notes scribbled on it almost identical to the notes on the calender tacked to the door.

In the corner, covered by a sheet is what you would call a vision board, but is probably more akin to a conspiracy board. Pinned upon it is a mess of blurry photos, half finished sketches and carefully clipped out text. All you’d need is a bit of red string, and it would go from the ravings of a madman to the ravings of a committed madman. You are neither and so your textile crafts will remain banished in one of the many boxes around your house.

At the moment, you, HYDI GLASSE, are sitting on your bed having recently woken up from a nap you would consider regrettable. All the fixings of your bed tossed to the floor and needing to check the date trice is not exactly the results of a successful rest after all. Unfortunately it’s not an atypical one.

Due to an unfortunate trend in your family, you often find yourself confused on the details of your life and current reality. Names, numbers, events, times, they are all things that evade you unless careful precautions are taken in every moment of your days. Things like the list of unfinished projects pasted to the door and the marking of every important event in triplicate— one each calender and, of course, on your phone.

Speaking of projects, you are quite the artist. Your expertise lies in Ceramics specifically, but you find any 3d medium pleasant. That particular inclination is the reason for your placement in your home, the bedroom being the closest to the garage you’ve commandeered for your art. Honestly, if not for the health risks of inhaling clay dust day in and out you would probably just live in your studio. After all, being able to stick your hands into cool cold clay first thing in the morning seems like a dream— or at least a rather pleasant idea.

Your current project is a big one, a functional plaster sculpture. A chair that focuses on the same theme as the rest of your portfolio, writhing limbs, unearned eyes and human forms twisted into something viscerally unpleasant. You honestly can’t wait to finish covering the bare wire and shaping it into the manifestation of your unease. Though that will have to wait a bit.

Other than sculpture, one of your main pastimes is poetry— A activity encouraged by your... eclectic sibling. By far your favorite kinds of poetry are transformative, blacking out words, slicing stanzas into pieces and gluing things together to derive new meaning. It had originally meant to be a kind of protest to your Bro’s suggestions, but lo and behold, he found the very action charming.

Your hear a sharp and distant whistle from the direction of your kitchen. Undoubtedly the song of a kettle needing to be checked on. The work of your aforementioned brother. You make a reminder to run to the kitchen if it doesn’t stop in the next minute, scribbling in the margins of your Notepad Modus. After all, you’d rather the kitchen not be on fire... again.

 

[SpectrumCrow]

> Be the apiarist ​

While Hydi handles their tea, let’s check in with someone else. Namely, CAIT APIENA.

You sit in your GAMER CHAIR in your room, blankly staring at your desktop wallpaper. You were playing on your heavily modded Sundrop Valley file, but it had just crashed… and you hadn't saved yet. Ugh. That's the risk with modded games, isn't it? Glancing in the bottom corner, you notice the time… ah. Shit. Another accidental sleepless night.

You can practically feel the exhaustion run through your body. Ugh. But you don't plan on sleeping! Your friends were actually going to get together and play a game together, which wasn't a common occurrence. Sleep could easily wait. But from the lack of notifications from anyone on Pesterchum, they probably aren’t ready yet. You shouldn’t start another game up, but you need to do something in the meantime… It’s not too hard to pick something else to do while you wait.

BEES.

You’ve kept bees for a year or two now, having been fascinated with them ever since you were a kid. You’ll never forget when you first got everything set up, the pure excitement in your chest as a dream came true. While not quite as intense, you’re still very happy when taking care of them. The way that they work together to accomplish their goals never ceases to amaze you.

For the time being, you decide to water the various plants and flowers on your balcony, as well as making sure the hive’s water supply is doing okay…

This might take a bit. How about we check in with someone else in the meantime?

 

[ngeibheann]

> Be the taxidermist​

Things were a little too lively, it seems. Or, maybe they were too alive.

A needle meets a felt manikin that isn’t much bigger than your average raccoon, stitching a pelt with all the precision of a drunk lobster. The eyes aren’t really set right, the statuesque critter looks in two directions at once. One eye is ogling your CRAZY PERSON WALL, and the other is googling straight back at you.

You are now BEAU LEBLANC and you’re not quite sure where to put this RACCOON ABOMINATION. You aren’t even mad about the state of the thing. You like bad taxidermy more than good taxidermy, which is great when you don’t really want to put in the effort to get better. Which you often don’t. Effort’s sort of boring, like that. If you’re supposed to get better, it’ll come to you.

You decide that this raccoon abomination is better suited to a name and a rather dignified spot in your room. So MASTER BEBETTE gets a spot on your bookshelf that is absolutely littered with books on CONSPIRACY THEORIES and GHOST STORIES. Most of these books are dog-eared, spine-cracked, and paper-clipped to all hell. Some real old ones that have simply fallen apart are pinned up on your wall with pushpins and tape.

You’ve got some STURDY RED STRING between pictures and news cutouts and old book pages. A couple of state park maps are up, too. If anyone knew any better, they’d say you’re some kind of crazy person with a wall to prove it. The shelf of old "wack-job" books doesn’t help much, either. But anyone who doesn’t get down with the idea that The Casket Girls were a bunch of VAMPIRE MAIDENS is just as crazy as you are. Who the hell carries a casket around, anyways?

You could go outside. Except outside is hotter than a witch’s tit. Which is bad news for the merry month of October. You could go to the kitchen and fix up some leftovers, but then you’d have to pass the gauntlet of PAW’S ROOM. He’s snoring up a storm, so best not wake the bear. Because when that bear wakes up, he’s gonna get you to pick up your HATCHET and start hacking up wood for the stove. And, again, it’s hot outside. And why the hell do you still have a wood burning stove?

You’ve got a game to play, anyways. Might as well hop online and bug the first fool your cursor happens to curse.

> Message Cait

AT: hey.
AT: you know if this game is long, long?
AT: think i can use it as an excuse to get out of some chores?

 

[phoenixsaur]

>Be the enthusiast.
​

Somewhere else, you sit cross-legged in a black wing chair. You are now ADAM SKIMBLE, and you are rocking back and forth with a smile on your face. Today you are going to PLAY GAMES with your friends, and there is nothing you enjoy more than PLAYING GAMES.

This is evidenced by your expansive, brightly colored room full of indoor playground pieces, painted tile floor sections, broken machinery, props, and Halloween decorations. Most of these items are incorporated into your HOMEGROWN MAZES, which are your greatest creations and take up the majority of the square footage. Your room's ridiculously massive size is due to the fact that it is within a SLIGHTLY REFURBISHED ABANDONED CANDY FACTORY.

You leap from the chair and return to your desk, trimmed with birthday party streamers. Your BAT leans against its leg, ready for you to practice your SWING when you get bored while waiting for a message back. You're really excited to play something new.

You hear laughter from downstairs, presumably from what was once the LOLLIPOP DECORATION ZONE in a time long past. It seems that your older SIS, your sole guardian, has discovered your deviously silly THWACK IN A BOX.

You have to tell Beau.

>Message Beau

GA: she found it xD
GA: btw
GA: whens the game start?

 

[Squad141]

> Dani: Begin a quite dangerous series of events​

Oh, it looks like one of your friends noticed you barely blinking internet signal. It's Finn, one of your more actively expressive friends. It seems he's interested in that game the six of you were interested in...

Spoiler: Chumlog

coleopteranTorch [CT] began pestering gustyCuckoo [GC]

CT: yo
CT: are we playing this game or whatever today?
CT: i literally cannot wait any longer
GC: o h y
GC: hold On
GC: Sorry, it’s always hard typing on a fliphone
GC: Anyway, this game
GC: Yeah, I think we’re playing it soon
GC: I’m off chores for a while for it and everything
CT: cool
CT: because adam has been hyping this shit up like a pest for the past, like, i dunno
CT: week?
CT: real fucking drag it takes us forever to coordinate since we have a billion people in server
CT: you got the game files right?
GC: I’m mostly sure
GC: I’ll have to double check, though
GC: Remember that the only computer we have is my aunt’s desktop
GC: That’s from the early two-thousands
GC: I think I managed to save it onto a disc or file, but I’m unsure
GC: You?
CT: yeah, got the zipfiles on my pc right now
CT: downloaded them from the website cait said she found
CT: dude this shit looks like geocities it’s so cringe
CT: do you wanna be the ‘client’ or ‘server’?
GC: I’ll be the Client
GC: I want to try and get back to my aunt before too long, so I think
GC: I think that’d be the easiest way to go
GC: Hold on
GC: I’ll head for the study and get what I have running
GC: You should do the same and inform anyone else that we’re starting

You flip your phone closed, and place in your aforementioned Picnic Basket Modus, a hand-made inventory system that your late Uncle curated, mentioning that it was similar his own Wallet Modus (except it appears physically as a basket).

You open two of your bedroom windows to let the room cool down while you're gone, and exit into a small hallway. From here, you can access the only two rooms on the second floor of your home: your own, and Nan and Uncle Hugo's. While Nan used to keep the only computer in the household in her own bedroom, it was too much of a hassle attempting to get a connection in that area, so it was moved down into the small office space. You adjust your shirt as you walk down the nicely-chilled hall, but pause halfway to the stairs. A large grandfather clock sits, ticking back and forth. When you were a child long ago, it once frightened you to sleep on the same floor as the fine beast, but only a year later did you begin to correlate the hands on the face to a funny mustache, or the pendulum to a mechanical tie. Despite being one of the antiques that doesn't get much attention due to only being wound once a week or so, it's of your favorite family possessions.

You descend the carpeted stairs, and enter the hallway on the ground floor. While it opens into the dining room near the end, you don't need to go quite as far. Skipping the restroom, you arrive at the office, a small room with a single tiny window that always felt a little stuffy. Inside, you find most of the tech that anyone in your family ever uses, including the dated desktop computer. You had to have your cousin Zeb install it, since he's more into that kind of stuff, but even then it lags half the time. Dusting off the old plastic chair, you sit down and begin waking the desktop up. After a few minutes of staring at yourself in the black mirror of the monitor, the screen lights up.

It takes a few clicks and quite a few waits, but eventually you get to the folder you titled 'Games with Friends', which only has one occupant: the files for an outdated beta of a program known as SBURB from the early two-thousands. Cait told you that the full version was never even released, intriguing your small merry band evermore.

You click on the icon denoted as 'Client', and begin the connection process. As this happens, you flip your phone back open and inform Finn.

 

[SerbianMounted]

==>
​

CT: works for me, i'll gather up the rest of the freaks while i connect to you with the server file
CT: just don't take too long, loser

You get up from your PC while you download the Server. Looks like it'll take a second, and you don't feel emotionally prepared to talk to the rest of the teeth gnashing shitheads you call good company on weekend nights. You take stock of your room before taking a beat to walk out of your room. Your Bro said you weren't allowed to leave the house under any circumstances unless he said it was cool. Fucking safety doofus. You walk down the hallway LITTERED WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHERS and FIRE BLANKETS until you reach the kitchen. You have no idea how many fire detectors you have in this house, but it is DEFINITELY over a dozen. Your life is a nightmare.

You pass by your STUDIO which is LOCKED TIGHTLY with a chain and bolt. You give it a few pathetic tugs in resigned defeat to the fact that even if you did break the chain your brother would have your ass. When he grounds you he means it. You make yourself a quick snack, and return to see the Server's downloaded. What's with all these spirographs?

==> Finn: Message other teethe gnashing shitheads
​

CT: hyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyydi
CT: we're doing the game now
CT: if you're interested
CT: remember? game that cait found on that lame site i said looked like geocities?
CT: i was probably gonna @ everyone in chat but me and dani are setting up a connection rn already
CT: figured i'd do it as we went along, especially since i have no fucking idea what ungodly thing adam is up to right now

 

[SpectrumCrow]

> Cait: Check messages

Looks like one of your friends tried contacting you while you were caring for your beehive. Hooray for laptops.​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

AT: hey.
AT: you know if this game is long, long?
AT: think i can use it as an excuse to get out of some chores?
AA: i dunno
AA: probably
AA: ill be honest i dont know a lot about the game
AA: there wasnt a lot of information on it or anything
AA: what are you trying to get out of this time
AT: probably’s basically a yes!
AT: i’ll take a little bit of mystery, means more fun for us.
AT: and me, my chores? firewood duty. not in this heat, no.
AA: ew
AA: yeah i wouldnt want to do that either
AA: we can drag it out if needed
AA: the mystery is cool and all but it is pretty weird
AA: youd think that there would be at least something more than whats there but
AA: nope
AA: guess well get to put that info out ourselves
AA: havent heard from the others yet so i dont know if theyre ready yet but ill drag them by their ears to get them to play if i have to
AT: can’t wait to break some news. and maybe the game, too.
AT: sounds like we’ll need all hands on deck for this plan.
AT: i can always grab finn, but it looks like hes online already.
AT: any big plans once we get started?
AA: kind of hard to make plans for a game we know nothing about
AA: can tell you that whenever we're done im gonna be passing out for the next 24 hours
AA: but other than that my only plan is to just enjoy myself i guess
AA: did you have something in mind
AT: touché. half the adventure of a mystery is not knowing, no?
AT: me, i have not a thought in my head
AT: except, maybe to find some sort of weirdness.
AT: some lost game’s gotta be at least a little cursed, yeah?
AA: sure
AA: dunno if i believe in actual cursed but id definitely believe cursed in the 'fucking weird' sense.
AA: im gonna be really pissed if this ends up being boring
AA: id take an actual cursed game over that to be honest
AT: ah, boring. the biggest curse of them all.
AT: if it ends up boring, i'll be hacking at firewood for weeks.
AT: just to get that disappointment out of my system.
AT: if it's cursed, i'm hoping for a scorned ghost. my money's on the ghost.
AA: lets hope for your sake its the ghost
AA: if its boring maybe we can at least try and break it
AA: chopping firewood sounds like hell though
AA: if you ever catch me doing that the world must have come to an end
AA: it sounds like youd get a lot of splinters
AT: i’d be down to break it. i even know a guy who’d love to break it.
AT: it is hell! especially in this heat.
AT: you only get splinters if you do it wrong. which is real easy to do.
AT: sort of like keeping bees, i’d guess!
AA: makes sense
AA: ill see about nudging the others shortly
AA: need to finish taking care of my beehive
AT: perfect!
AT: good luck with the bees, i’m gonna try and brave the kitchen.
AA: thanks

You quickly (but still carefully) finish up your bee care and go back inside to your computer and see a message from your friend Hydi.​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

concentricConfusion[CC] began pestering astralApiary[AA]

CC: Today is the day we’re playing the game.
CC: The sketchy game we found on a forum that is for some reason still around
CC: How sure are you that this isn’t a virus?
CC: If touhou or something bricks my PC, I will be really upset
AA: its not the touhou virus
AA: im pretty sure its fine
AA: like i cant be 100% sure but
AA: i wouldnt have sent it if i wasnt fairly confident though
CC: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
CC: okay
CC: in that case, do you want to start?
CC: no point in waiting around
CC: right
AA: yeah
AA: if your computer explodes ill give you my laptop
AA: theres a server option and a client
AA: do you have a preference on which one you want to be
CC: If my computer explodes I’m not just taking your laptop
CC: Hmmmmmm
CC: Client I guess?
CC: We’re going to all do both so
CC: It doesn’t really matter
AA: fair enough
AA: alright give me a second
AA: i was just finishing something
AA: okay im connected
AA: huh
AA: are you seeing anything on your end
CC: No.
CC: Like, there isn’t really anything
CC: Says I’m connected, but that’s it
CC: What do you see?
AA: you
CC: ... they had ar back in 2009?

Hmmm… Interesting. You pause for a second, taking in the UI and Hydi’s surroundings. After a moment, your cursor hovers over Hydi… You wonder what would happen if you just

click​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

CC: Also did you click on me
AA: yeah
AA: are you able to tell
CC: dejfnwsdkfk thank god I wasn’t just imagining things
CC: Kinda?
CC: It’s strange
CC: Don’t do it.
CC: Can you interact with anything else?
AA: okay
AA: just know that im going to be resisting the urge to click on you because its funny
AA: i wont do it but
AA: know that i am having a mental battle with myself over it
AA: uh lets see

You click on the lamp in Hydi’s room and drag it over to the bed. It turns off from the cord being unplugged and falls over on its side. ​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

CC: Yep
CC: Very little delay too
CC: Huh
CC: Okay well what el
CC: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
CC: Uh, feel free to mess about
CC: I’m gonna go make sure my house doesn’t burn down
CC: brb
AA: uh okay

Hydi walks out of their room, leaving you staring at their bedroom. Feels a bit weird to just be… looking in there. But they said you can mess around so you suppose it’s fine. You try and put the lamp you moved back in its proper place, and as you do so, something hits you. Whoever connects to you will be able to mess with your bees. Oh fuck. You. Desperately need to make sure you get someone you trust with your bees as your server player.

Dani is clearly the correct choice here. Beau and Adam are great friends but you don’t trust them with your bees. You would trust Finn with them, but you don’t trust him with the rest of your room. ​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

astralApiary [AA] has begun pestering gustyCuckoo [GC]
AA: dani
AA: were starting the game
AA: can you be my server player
AA: theres some ar nonsense and i trust you the most to not fuck with my bees

 

[Squad141]

Right as you connect from whatever 'Client' to 'Server' is with Finn's computer, you hear a small dong. Pulling out your fliphone and managing to scroll down, someone else has messaged you. Looks like it's all hands on deck with the game now, which is great, since you weren't sure how long Nan would let you play. Better to get it over with and have fun before you're back outside until suppertime.

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

astralApiary [AA] has begun pestering gustyCuckoo [GC]
AA: dani
AA: were starting the game
AA: can you be my server player
AA: theres some ar nonsense and i trust you the most to not fuck with my bees
GC: It’s funny you should mention that
GC: I just got my own ‘client’ file running with Finn
GC: Can you do both at the same time ?
AA: not sure but
AA: its worth a try
GC: Well then, you got it
GC: I’ll get that open as soon as I can !
GC: You mentioned ‘we’
GC: Who else is ready ? Everyone else ?
AA: hydi and i connected
AA: im their server player and i was able to move stuff in their room around
AA: apparently clicking on a person feels weird
GC: Strange
GC: But I’m on top of it ! It looks like I’m ‘connecting’ right now …
AA: alright
AA: got mine set up now
AA: hey
GC: :
GC: : )
GC: Sorry I couldn’t wave back, I can only use the symbol faces
GC: Is this your room ?
AA: you could do like o/ or something
AA: but yeah
AA: bees are on the balcony
AA: thanks by the way
GC: Oh they're so cute !
GC: I wish we had bees, but chickens and cows are good enough
GC: Alright, what should I be doing ?
AA: chickens and cows are cute too
AA: youll have to send me some pictures of them sometime
AA: not sure about what to do though
AA: maybe just mess around?
AA: you may be able to look into the rest of the house?
AA: ada is home though so just dont look in her room i guess
GC: I’ll definitely have to send pictures of Eureka some time, yeah !
GC: And let’s see …

What a strange program! You scroll around a while, passing the time when the screen lags by checking out the array at the top of the display, each with a number of options and obscure words. After going through a few of the tabs, you stumble on one called the 'Phernalia Registry', which has a list of interesting devices, each of which seems to be able to interact with the 'game world' of Cait's home. You click the one that looks the most stable, something called a 'Cruxtruder', and place it on the newly-made section of Cait's balcony which you revised.

You're certainly surprised by how large the machines are, compared to their size in the preview tab, but if you can place them without warning they must have a function to the game. Using the revise feature sparingly, and looking for little nooks and crannies, you manage to place the rest of these post-modern devices. Just as you go to reply to Cait and let her know what you've done, you hear a distant thud in your own home, and realize that Finn must have started doing the same thing that you just completed, but without notifying you.

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

GC: Okay, I just set a number of devices in your home
GC: I’m not sure of their functions, but I didn’t get any warnings not to
GC: So they must have a purpose, right ?
AA: oh
AA: where did you put them
GC: Around, mostly
GC: There’s one called a ‘cruxtruder’ on your balcony
GC: I tried to place them in convenient areas in your home close to your room
GC: Oh
GC: Hold on, I think Finn just did the same for me

Getting up and leaving the office, you find the cruxtruder standing awkwardly in the middle of your living room. Looking outside, you recognize a few of the other machines scattered in the field just beyond the farmhouse, barely touching the perimeter of the chicken coop. Before you go and investigate though, you might as well figure out what this one does.

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

GC: adsasdsaf fwvfewavfewa
AA: are you ok
GC: What ?
GC: Oh sorry, I didn’t close my phone
GC: One of the machines in your house, the one with the tube
GC: It’s in my sitting room
GC: Since you’re one that likes games, where do you think we should go from here ?
AA: before we get carried away with moving stuff around and all that we should probably investigate the machines
AA: i can look at one of them while you look at a different one and we could tell each other what we figure out
GC: I’ll take a look at this tube thing
GC: I put the large platform device in the kitchen, since you had a little more space there without getting in the way

As you get closer, you think you hear something... inside? What was that? You put an ear to the tube of the 'cruxtruder', but don't hear it again. Knocking against the metal though, it sounds hollow, like there's a chamber inside. Maybe you can get it open. Looking around, you dash over to the area where the sitting room becomes the kitchen, and open the small closet: inside are your recreation supplies. You grab your CROQUET MALLET, and walk back over to the imposing device. Crawling up the behemoth, and position your feet so you won't slip, you aim the mallet and...

* BANG! *​

Something emerges from within...

 

[GamerKitty205]

> Hydi: Acknowledge Pre-Planned events​

You check your phone and see a message from Finn. Right, right. Today is game day. Or, err. Today is the day you will play that ancient failed video game Cait found. Speaking of which, you want to confer with her before you actually launch the accursed program.

Spoiler: pesterlog

concentricConfusion[CC] began pestering astralApiary[AA]
CC: Today is the day we’re playing the game.
CC: The sketchy game we found on a forum that is for some reason still around
CC: How sure are you that this isn’t a virus?
CC: If touhou or something bricks my PC, I will be really upset
AA: its not the touhou virus
AA: im pretty sure its fine
AA: like i cant be 100% sure but
AA: i wouldnt have sent it if i wasnt fairly confident though

Well, that doesn’t make you anymore confident about the program, but you already decided a while back you were going to play. A little bit of your hard drive dying is worth some fun with your friends... just not when you phrase it like that. You open up the game and click away from the flashing spirograph to continue talking to Cait.

Spoiler: pesterlog

CC: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
CC: okay
CC: in that case, do you want to start?
CC: no point in waiting around
CC: right
AA: yeah
AA: if your computer explodes ill give you my laptop
AA: theres a server option and a client
AA: do you have a preference on which one you want to be
CC: If my computer explodes I’m not just taking your laptop
CC: Hmmmmmm
CC: Client I guess?
CC: We’re going to all do both so
CC: It doesn’t really matter
AA: fair enough
AA: alright give me a second
AA: i was just finishing something
AA: okay im connected
AA: huh
AA: are you seeing anything on your end
CC: No.
CC: Like, there isn’t really anything
CC: Says I’m connected, but that’s it
CC: What do you see?
AA: you
CC: ... they had ar back in 2009?

You flinch as a... okay, you have no idea how to begin to describe it. At least without devolving into flowery rambling, and it’s too early for that... You think. What time is it anyway? Nope, not important right now.

Spoiler: pesterlog

CC: Also did you click on me
AA: yeah
AA: are you able to tell
CC: dejfnwsdkfk thank god I wasn’t just imagining things
CC: Kinda?
CC: It’s strange
CC: Don’t do it.
CC: Can you interact with anything else?
AA: okay
AA: just know that im going to be resisting the urge to click on you because its funny
AA: i wont do it but
AA: know that i am having a mental battle with myself over it
AA: uh lets see
CC: Yep
CC: Very little delay too
CC: Huh
CC: Okay well what el

> Hear Odd Sound​

Ugh, you’ve been listening to it for the last few minutes. The whistling in the background is so annoying. Is your bro playing music really loud or— Your eyes flick down to your notepad modus. You— How? It hasn’t been even— You let out a long breath.

Spoiler: pesterlog

CC: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
CC: Uh, feel free to mess about
CC: I’m gonna go make sure my house doesn’t burn down
CC: brb
concentricConfusion[CC] ceased pestering astralApiary[AA]

> Avoid Catastrophe​

You rush out of your room and over to the kitchen. It’s a typical kitchen in your eyes, so cluttered to death. The dishes are pretty clean, but there isn’t a single spot of counter space not taken up by some forgotten utensil, ingredient or plate.

You grab a potholder to move the kettle off the fire and flick off the gas stove with panicked emotions. You peer into the kettle. Well, if nothing else all the water didn’t boil off. That would just be insult to injury.

You go down the hallways to your Bro’s room, hands trailing across the layers of pictures, stickers and posters plastered to the wall that grew denser as you approached. You knock on the door and your sibling cheerily greets you.

You inform him that his water is ready, and replies with happy surprise. Seems he had completely forgotten that he was going to make tea and when he had heard the whistle he had assumed you had put the kettle on.

It was an interpretation of events you would on any day where you weren’t asleep at the time the kettle was put on. You tell him such. He apologizes and thanks you in the same breath, and you just sigh.

He tells you to help yourself to the boiled water, and you mumble out a thanks. It’s a good suggestion, but you don’t even know if you have tea. You swear he went out to buy some more a week ago... or maybe yesterday? Ugh, you decide to return to the kitchen to simply check. [/font]

 

[SerbianMounted]

==>
Emerging from the CRUXTRUDER is a GRAY KERNELSPRITE, for the purposes of readers well familiar with such an entity's properties and purpose, we will skip the formalities: you react shocked, your client does the same. Moving forward though, you nudge at the thing. Doesn't seem like you can interact with it even though it's a game artifact. You realize that in your futzing about with this sluggish as hell u.i, you've landed several furniture items through several new holes in Dani's bedroom walls. Not exactly a great first showing. You realize all to late that you've been WAY TOO RECKLESS with this poor girl's furniture after landing a pile of her books on the floor of her bedroom to make way for her TOTEM LATHE.
So you just toss all this stupid shit outside.
You wonder to yourself if the sprite can't be interacted with by the u.i, maybe an object would bear more fruit? You kind of click around, looking for anything that could really NUDGE this thing around. You're unable to really hold anything long by EITHER END so the KERNEL easily ducks and dodges most of your advances. You're gonna need to chuck something at this stupid seizureball.

==> Finn: Nudge with typewriter
You grab Dani's HEAVY ASS typewriter to try and WHACK this thing into next week, only for the kernel to undergo a MASSIVE TRANSFORMATION before your very eyes.
Meanwhile, you get onto Pesterchum with your friend Beau. ​

Spoiler: Pesterlog

coleopteranTorch [CT] began pestering abrasiveTaxidermist [AT]

Spoiler: Pesterlog

CT: ‘sup loser
CT: you doing this lame game thing yet or what?
CT: hydi’s being a total space cadet and in the meanwhile i’m babysitting sarah plain and tall’s client, so i’m sol for a server
AT: me, doing anything before anyone else?
AT: surely you got the wrong guy.
AT: i’ve got adam on the horn, mostly trying to figure out who’s serving who. who’s client-ing who.
AT: how’s babysitting?
CT: you won’t believe it but
CT: well, i guess it’s easier to show you than explain
CT: this is uh…yeah, for some corny shit cait unearthed from the bowels of gamefaq, this shit is wild
CT: just hook up with me now, i’ll run my client so we can connect
AT: you’re the boss.
AT: pardon me while i try to figure out where the hell i saved this file.
AT: if you had your money on “a folder called suspicious malware” you’d be correct.
AT: if i turn this server on and my computer explodes, i’m writing a book.
CT: what’re you gonna write the book on?
CT: being like, a total...lame...guy?
CT: fuck i didn’t really think that one out
CT: you and cait are always on about ‘suspcious malware’ this or ‘dangerous virus’ that
CT: where’s your sense of adventure???
AT: yeah, it’s my book on being a lame guy who blew up his computer with the power of a super-cursed game.
AT: if i was better at ascii art i’d post it to gamefaq.
AT: but you’re asking me, my sense of adventure?
AT: my sense of adventure is firmly logging into this server right now.
CT: im gonna take your silence as your jaw hitting the fucking floor
CT: since im guessing youre able to see me now, yeah?
CT: im flipping you off! can you see????
CT: also curses are stupid and totally fake
AT: quit flipping me off! unless.
AT: can you see me flipping you off? or is this some cctv shit we’re working with here?
AT: either way, i can see you. is this a peep show? or am i now a malevolent spirit inside your house?
AT: please tell me i’m a malevolent spirit who can do things like lock your doors.
CT: peep show?
CT: are you a world war two veteran?
CT: stop the presses Jimmy! they bombed nagasaki! show’s over since they atomized like a trillion kids
CT: anyway
CT: yeah, a malevolent spirit in a figurative sense
CT: dude i put so many holes through dani’s walls just now i might as well be the kool aid man
AT: i’m at least a korean war veteran. give me some credit.
AT: so you’re telling me that i can mess with your place a bit
AT: god, the possibilities are endless, endless.
AT: what the hell are these machines in this little toolbar?
CT: the gadgets in the phernalia registry are…..???
CT: i have no clue, but the fat square factory looking thing horked up a big hairball of light for dani?
CT: i thought it was an enemy but it just….absorbed the thing i tried to hit it with?
CT: put it down and try slamming it open
AT: sounds like a plan.
AT: well, give me two seconds because it won’t let me just slam it on your bed. and here i thought i could be funny.
AT: there. nice and square and in the middle of your room, taking up all that space.
CT: dude
CT: i sleep there!!!
CT: im gonna fucking punch you in the face next time i see you
CT: and wait, where the fuck is my bed????
CT: hahaha, duuuuude, im gonna get you back like, times a million for this
CT: the karma, i have it
AT: huh, just felt a cold chill down my spine when that message came through.
AT: didn’t think a world war two vet could do that, did you?
AT: though to be frank, neither did the world war two vet.
AT: where the hell?

The two of you continue to faff about aimlessly for a bit, laughing and giggling with each other like a couple of idiots. You like Beau! He's always willing to do stupid shit with you. ​

Spoiler: Pesterlog

AT: fuck it, what’s the square do?

Spoiler: Pesterlog

CT: woooah, it’s like YOURE the atom bomb
CT: thats like, a theme or something
CT: and that cold chill? thats the work of a real malevolent spirit, the ghost of my fucking restfulness you war machine
CT: uhhhh, let’s find out?
CT: fuck i can’t open the stupid thing
CT: im biting and everything!!!!
AT: yeah, “i’m the atom bomb” the new hit single by some doofus with a trumpet.
AT: it’s not opening?
AT: okay, i’m gonna click on it. like click, click on it.
AT: if this doesn’t open, do we have any debug codes that we could use?
AT: some backdoor, half-button-press shit?
CT: nah, were gonna have to do it the old fashioned way
CT: hence me just punching it now
CT: and kicking
CT: just wail on it with a piece of furniture
AT: i hope you aren’t too attached to your desk chair.
AT: unless you wanna offer something else to your new malevolent ghost friend?
AT: you think i can rip the door off it’s hinges and use that?
CT: honestly i kinda wanna see if you can
CT: how strong ARE those contr
CT: oh wow pretty strong that thing came clean off
AT: you know what they say, when god opens a server, he rips a door off it’s hinges.
AT: now to give it a little bit of the leblanc magic.
AT: just a little smasharoony, aaaaaand.
AT: is that a bingo?
CT: uhhh, yeah
CT: that sure is a bingo
CT: i just wasn’t expecting my seizure ball to be so….pink??
CT: toss something in!!!
AT: alright, how about this little sculpture?
AT: it seems like that should make some sparks fly, right?
AT: well, something’s flying.
AT: what the hell is this?

Oh god...this thing is so gawdy, and PINK! You take a step back as Beau chucks in your BIRD SCULPTURE.
​

 

[Squad141]

Your... your things! Your room! You hastily message the new man upstairs.

Spoiler: Open Fliplog

GC: Finn
GC: How dare you !
GC: What was that for ?
CT: what was what for?
GC: All of my things !
GC: The hole in my house ! !
GC: You could have moved everything around much gentler
GC: > : |
CT: ah well
CT: in my defense…
CT: i kinda didn’t think to do that???
CT: ha...ha
CT: sorry
GC: Well
GC: I’m still peeved at you
GC: Just be more careful, alright ?
GC: But regardless, this apparition that’s taken my typewriter
GC: Do you understand what it’s saying ?
CT: dude i have no idea
CT: you know i can’t hear you, right?
CT: i can only see you
CT: and uh, wait
CT: it TALKS???
GC: Yep !
GC: It’s making these weird click-clacking noises
GC: Reminds me of a chicken !
GC: Wait, the chickens !
GC: Some of those machines are outside, I better check on the farm !
GC: We’ll speak later !

You forgot that now, Nan might know something's up. On top of that, who knows how strong the game tools are. You need to make sure that none of the crops or livestock were damaged or injured in Finn's caustic indoor thrash-about. You turn from the strange glowing ball that now bears the image of your blessed typewriter (which seems to be attempting communication in varying clicks and clacks), and begin marching towards the front door, but only after grabbing the strange gray tube that came with your new friend (?). Passing through sitting room and kitchen, you gather yourself and hop off the covered porch out in the autumn air. You hardly notice that the luminescent machine has followed as you worry about the size of the hole in your bedroom. At least your books landed on a soft pile of dry leaves, all without folding any pages.

You decide to quickly take stock of the farm. There's your FARMHOUSE, where you and your family live, which sits at the center of the farm. If you were looking from above, the front door of the farmhouse faces south, where the chicken coop, barn, and cows are. Your bedroom window, the one now disappeared by the hole, faces west; that's where the corn fields start. They extend to the back end of the farmhouse which faces north, where there's your small apple orchard that extends into the woods circling the farm (where Uncle Hugo got the large tree for your wardrobe), and a single peach tree that hasn't grown a single fruit since Uncle Hugo passed. Finally, on the east side, there are a number of vegetables; sweet potatoes, cabbages, squash, and especially the pumpkin patch, in which Nan is probably still working. Phew, you imagine. She must not have heard all the ruckus.

You walk over the chicken coop, where unlike your aunt, the birds have begun panicking. It takes a few minutes but you barely manage to corral them, until one plucky chicken clucks loudly, quieting the rest down. As the coop settles, your pet chicken and close confidant EUREKA struts over to you (proudly, you imagine). You smile. Nan and Uncle Hugo would hardly let you have pets on the farm, for fear that they might get injured or run off. So instead, as a joke, Uncle Hugo let you choose one of the chickens. Yet the one you named Eureka remained a sort of leader amongst the hens, proving that Uncle Hugo's good humor once again prevailed. You give Eureka a good pet as she idles at your ghostly orb-y companion, but you pick her up and carry her in your basket. You like having company when things get worrying, and Nan sadly can't provide that at the moment.

For your final stop, you go back over to the hole on the second floor, before realizing that one of the machines was placed further than the reach of the farmhouse yard. You gently weave through the cornfield, finding the large platform you remember is called the 'alchemiter' in a clearing by the lone scarecrow Nan put up. You take a second to investigate the machine, realizing there's a small circular area that might fit that plastic-like object that came with the floating ball. You take it out and begin to place it, but said ball suddenly goes berserk, attempting to block you from doing so.

After a few seconds of trying, you get tired of blocking an entity you can't outrun and begin thinking of other ways to use the object. Cait's better at games than you, are only more sophisticated video games. You play yard and board games all the time, so you have the basic idea. You have a piece of the puzzle. Maybe this alchemiter is a later one? But where do you go in between? You turn absentmindedly and notice the needle device is what knocked your books outside. Bingo.

Minutes later, and you've got a cylinder that's been carved in a very strange fashion; you assumed that it would be much like a potter's wheel, and you were correct, just not in the correct orientation. The oddly shaped object reminds you of those fancy vases that Nan used to ogle at when you were younger at antique sales.

Otherwise stumped, you return to the cornfield. The wind has started to pick up a bit, beyond that of a lovely afternoon chill, and you're slightly worried about the weather. The scarecrows grounding stick shakes slightly, giving it the appearance of waving at you. Ignoring the omen, you place the carved totem on the alchemiter.

 

[SpectrumCrow]

> Cait: Place and investigate machines

You hear some noises from your balcony, turning to see that Dani placed a strange machine there. Looks like your balcony got a bit larger, too. Sweet. The machine itself has a wheel and a lid… maybe you can try turning it? You try to turn it, to no avail. You try to pry the lid off with your hands, to no avail. Hmm. You’ll come back to this in a bit, since you should probably get these machines down for Hydi so they can actually play the game.​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

astralApiary[AA] has begun pestering concentricConfusion[CC]
AA: hey
AA: hydi
AA: wheres the best place to put some stuff
CC: Workshop
CC: Or living room
CC: Both I guess
CC: Just don’t crush anything
AA: i wont
AA: i may shift stuff around a little but only if i have to

You place all of the machines down for Hydi, careful to not damage anything in their home. Luckily, you were able to get most things placed without moving other stuff. ​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

AA: there
AA: havent figured out what to do with these yet but dani put them in my place so i figured i should do the same for you
CC: Thanks.
CC: have you checked for an objectives list?
CC: a quest menu?
CC: might help
AA: dont see anything like that
AA: seems like with how things are set up right now were going to go in a circle of server client pairs
AA: so youll be able to see it wheneve r you connect to one of the others
AA: if you havent already
CC: I have not
CC: Guess I’ll be connecting to Adam? Or Beau
CC: Either way I’m glad I’m servering them
CC: Can’t imagine the chaos
CC: Maybe the game initially died cause you have to really trust whoever you play with
AA: thatd make sense
AA: i realized that i really dont want either of them as my server so i immediately reached out to dani
AA: it was a good choice
AA: shes placed stuff carefully
AA: not sure how to open this cruxtruder thing though
AA: i put that in your workshop since its pretty large
AA: i tried the wheel on it but that didnt work
AA: let me know if you figure anything out with it
CC: Have you tried popping it off?
CC: And push comes to shove, I’d say just smack it
CC: Worth a try
AA: oh maybe
AA: here let me try something

You grab something random and drop it on top of the machine.​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

CC: Huh.
CC: Worked perfect
CC: You should probably ask dani to do the same
CC: Unless you plan on throwing a chair at it
CC: I’m going to try to figure out what the...
CC: Crystal and seizure orb do
AA: yeah
AA: not looking forward to looking at that thing
AA: whyd they make it so bright jesus
AA: let me know if you need me to do anything
CC: Got it.

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

astralApiary [AA] has begun pestering gustyCuckoo [GC]
AA: dani
AA: can you drop something on the cruxtruder
AA: not sure how to open it but i hit hydis and that seemed to work so
GC: Uhm …
GC: Maybe !
GC: I’m in the middle of a cornfield waiting for one these devices to do something
GC: Maybe I can dash back to the desktop in time, though !
GC: Give me a beat
GC: Okay I’m here !
GC: I should hurry though
GC: Is there anything heavy that you don’t care gets a little scratched ?
AA: hopefully the machine is done when youre back
AA: uh maybe the nightstand?
AA: hold on let me move my shit off of it
AA: okay there
GC: Here we go …

Dani drops your nightstand onto the machine, barely catching it with her cursor before it hits the ground. The lid opens and an orange flashing orb emerges from the top. Ow. ​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

GC: Bingo !
AA: nice
AA: good catch
AA: thanks
AA: whos your server player by the way
AA: just curious
GC: Finn
GC: He’s why I was so careful
GC: I currently have a hole in my bedroom and a number of my books outside on the ground
GC: ~ : |
AA: im sorry
AA: i had a feeling he might cause something like that to happen
AA: you should have him pick up all of those books
AA: its the least he can do
GC: I don’t think he will even if I asked
GC: He calls us all ‘losers’ enough as it is
GC: But he did seem a little guilty, which was nice
GC: Anyways, now that things off, you should
GC: Oh, there it is !
AA: ow
AA: my eyes
AA: im gonna find whoever made this game just so i can hit them for making this thing so bright and painful to look at
AA: whys it orange
AA: hydis was different
GC: Mine was gray, so I don’t think it’s too big a deal
GC: Maybe it’s random ?
GC: Is that common in these kinds of games ?
AA: dunno
AA: havent played many games like this
AA: its probably not important just not the color i would have picked
GC: Well, I think now we have to touch it with something ?
GC: Mine was sort of idle until Finn touched it with my prized typewriter
GC: Then it sort of
GC: Tried to speak to me ? But in clicks and clacks
AA: weird
AA: ill be sure to do that for hydi then
AA: do whatever you want with mine i dont really care
AA: wait did it eat the typewriter
GC: Yeah …
GC: I’m pretty sure it did, haven’t been able to get it back since
AA: demand financial compensation
GC: Haha !
GC: But I wonder if they sort of
GC: Change how the sprite looks ?
GC: *spirit
AA: probably
AA: hopefully the game will reset everything to how it was when were done
AA: otherwise this will be a pain in the ass to clean up
AA: and hard to explain to ada
GC: So
GC: I guess I’ll choose something for the ball ?
GC: That seems useful at least, since the thing didn’t start speaking to me until I did
GC: Any preferences ?
AA: not really
AA: go crazy

You see one of your flowers get picked and float into the air, carried by a not so mysterious, invisible force. Dani drags it into the sprite, causing it to brighten and OW.​

Spoiler: Show Pesterlog

AA: one of my flowers?
AA: interesting
AA: what sounds will it even make
GC: Mine was weird typewriter noises
GC: Maybe like rustling or scratching ?
AA: i guess
AA: anyways thanks
AA: ill let you know if i need anything else or find something out
GC: Got it !
GC: I have to run anyway
GC: Good luck !
AA: you too

You set your laptop down and go to look at the now open cruxtruder, maybe now the wheel will do something? You turn the wheel and an cruxite pops up, the same color as the sprite. Putting the cruxite into your fetch modus, you take the time to also collect the pre-punched card. Blah blah blah, Cait figures out what to do with the totem lathe and alchemiter. Let's go check in with someone else while she does so!​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

> Dani: Perform alchemy.

Appearing on the alchemiter platform is a CRUXITE CANDLESTICK, gray and unlit. An effigy awaiting warmth to guide you on your journey. There is no source of fire nearby to light it, however.​

> Cait: Perform alchemy.

An orange CRUXITE CANOE manifests on the strange machine. In the center lies a small hole, corked with another piece of cruxite. Despite being on dry land, a small amount of WATER is pouring through the gap.​

 

[GamerKitty205]

> Hydi: Resume Gaming​

You leave some tea to steep and respond to Cait.

Spoiler: pesterlog

astralApiary[AA] has begun pestering concentricConfusion[CC]
AA: hey
AA: hydi
AA: wheres the best place to put some stuff
CC: Workshop
CC: Or living room
CC: Both I guess
CC: Just don’t crush anything
AA: i wont
AA: i may shift stuff around a little but only if i have to
AA: there
AA: havent figured out what to do with these yet but dani put them in my place so i figured i should do the same for you
CC: Thanks.
CC: have you checked for an objectives list?
CC: a quest menu?
CC: might help
AA: dont see anything like that
AA: seems like with how things are set up right now were going to go in a circle of server client pairs
AA: so youll be able to see it wheneve r you connect to one of the others
AA: if you havent already
CC: I have not
CC: Guess I’ll be connecting to Adam? Or Beau
CC: Either way I’m glad I’m servering them
CC: Can’t imagine the chaos
CC: Maybe the game initially died cause you have to really trust whoever you play with
AA: thatd make sense
AA: i realized that i really dont want either of them as my server so i immediately reached out to dani
AA: it was a good choice
AA: shes placed stuff carefully
AA: not sure how to open this cruxtruder thing though
AA: i put that in your workshop since its pretty large

You hear a thump as machines are placed down. One of the larger machines, some weird platform, is the only one you can spot in the living room. Undoubtedly because nothing else would fit... You can’t imagine the purpose of such a giant machine with what... looks like a needle for a record player??? You poke around a bit, but it seems like you can do anything with it on its own.

You go to your workshop where everything has been neatly displaced to make way for two still large, but smaller machines. The tube one is what you assume is the cruxtruder Cait mentioned.

Spoiler: pesterlog

AA: i tried the wheel on it but that didnt work
AA: let me know if you figure anything out with it
CC: Have you tried popping it off?
CC: And push comes to shove, I’d say just smack it
CC: Worth a try
AA: oh maybe
AA: here let me try something
CC: Huh.
CC: Worked perfect
CC: You should probably ask dani to do the same
CC: Unless you plan on throwing a chair at it
CC: I’m going to try to figure out what the...
CC: Crystal and seizure orb do
AA: yeah
AA: not looking forward to looking at that thing
AA: whyd they make it so bright jesus
AA: let me know if you need me to do anything
CC: Got it.

You watch as one of your stools floats through the air to smack the cruxtruder and the lid pops off surprisingly easily. Which you assume is a game thing, because you are almost certain that is not how physics works. A flashing mint orb pops out of the weird machine, and you add another theory to the list of reasons why this game failed.

You grab the weird crystalline cylinder that popped out, and quickly captchalogue it. Hmmm. It’s nearly the same size as that pad in the living room. You go over to the alchemiter and place the Cruxite Dowel down. The machine reads the dowel and....

A bunch of green cubes. Baby block like green cubes.

You head back to the workshop, and after a few minutes of finagling you manage to carve the dowel into a quite odd shape. Kind of reminds you of something turned on a wheel, the smooth symmetrical curves. This obviously goes on the alchemiter, but there’s still one more thing you need to figure out.

Spoiler: pesterlog

CC: What do I do with the eyesore
AA: uhh one second
AA: dani did something with mine so i guess ill do that for yours
AA: are you particularly attached to that teddy bear

Your eyes dart over to the plushy sitting in the corner of your workshop. Stitches was initially going to be its name but.. By the time you were done with it, the object no longer deserved the title. The amount of legs and arms, the stitched on pointy teeth and several beady eyes haunted you. Not because you didn’t like the actual design. But you made it so badly. The stitches were so uneven, stuffing beginning to fall out, embroidery mismatched. The bear along with the stupid lopsided embroidery on your sweater managed to completely sink any chance of you doing any textile crafts.

Spoiler: pesterlog

CC: That
CC: No not at all
CC: I keep forgetting to burn it
AA: perfect
CC: Why do I feel an overwhelming sense of dread
CC: Thank you
AA: youre welcome

You watch as your least favorite work of all time disappears into the physical embodiment of a seizure warning. Which for some reason just makes it flash even brighter for a moment. When you server someone, you’re going to check if there are graphic settings.

You return to the alchemiter and captchalogue the single Perfectly Generic Object you created anywhere. You place down the totem and watch as the arm reads the shape.

 

[Squad141]

> Dani: Finally look up.​

Up...? Your hair gets tousled as the winds begins to blow at an almost unbearable degree. Was there a storm coming earlier? You try and recall, but you're much too busy holding on to the smooth gray candle the needle device just created. As the clouds get darker above your home, you clutch onto Eureka and begin making your way back through the cornfield. You pass the scarecrow, it's limbs flailing about wildly, before exiting the stalks, and you look up.

The dark storm clouds break, if only for a moment, and as if an angel descending from heaven, what can only be described as a flaming rock hurtles towards your home. There's no time to truly do anything else; You run as fast as your body will allow as drops of rain stumble onto the ground around you, your vision partially blocked by soil kicked up from the weather. You rush past the porch and over to where Nan was working, only to find the crops barely staying in the ground. You run over to the twister Cellar, and kick at the door, but you fear Nan won't be able to hear you from outside. The rock has fully punched its way into the storm, and for a moment it appears as if the storm is twisting around the meteor, the two becoming one major force of destruction. You cry out. You haven't been this scared any other time in your life.

You back up, and your foot brushes something. You glance down, realizing that you've run into the old tree stump that Uncle Hugo used to work at. The one that holds his dusty, unused silver axe. In a moment of surprising clarity, you set a squawking Eureka down, and pull out your flip-phone along with the candle; You hold both close to the axe and begin swiping the phone against the edge of the blade.

Once. The winds pick up bundles of corn.

Twice. You can feel the rain getting warmer on your skin, mixing with your already persistent sweat.

On the third swipe, a spark appears from the interactions between the two metals and wood, lighting the gray candle as the meteor is only tens of feet away from your home. With what time you have left, you grab Eureka and run inside the porch, shutting your eyes and bracing for impact.

 

[SpectrumCrow]

> Cait: Enter

You examine the strange, orange canoe. A canoe? Of all of the things it could have made, why that exactly? As you approach it, you feel a sense of dread build in your stomach. But why? A cruxite cork sits in the middle, seems important. You want to take a minute to ponder the strange addition to your home, but you hear an impossibly loud sound from outside. You want to investigate, but something is yelling at you to just
take
the
cork
out​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

===>

But the impact never came.
​

> Dani: Enter.

A swell of light surrounds you, your home, and a small portion of the surrounding farmland, glowing ever brighter as the meteor grows near before suddenly you VANISH. Good thing you kept your eyes closed. You are still on the porch when the light fades, but the exact location of the porch (and surround home as well) has changed. For instance, you did not used to live in the center of a PERFECTLY CIRCULAR ICE CAVE, the only entrance of which being a circular hole directly about your house, several dozen yards up.

Speaking of up, a WHITE KERNEL containing the ghostly image of a typewriter shoots up into the sky though the aforementioned hole, leaving behind a series of GRAY SPIROGRAPHIC SYMBOLS in it's skyward path. A similar BLACK KERNEL descends into a tiny crack in the ice below you, disappearing from view. This leaves behind...
​

Spoiler: Show Spritelog

TYPEWRITERSPRITE: clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack clack

> Cait: Enter.

You pull the cork out of the boat, and from the newly reopened hole a veritable FIRE HOSE of water shoots up with so much spread and force that it surrounds you and your home in a column of water, the world outside of which glows brightly for a moment as a meteor just narrowly misses you along the time axis. When the boat disappears and the reverse waterfall with it, you are somewhere very high up. Your house now rests precariously upon a thin PILLAR OF ROCK, standing dangerously over an endless TROPICAL OCEAN, complete with cawing SEABIRDS that have decided to perch on your roof.

Similar to your friend above, the KERNELSPRITE divides, it's pieces flying off into the distance and leaving behind your new "companion," along with a series of ORANGE RINGS.
​

Spoiler: Show Spritelog

FLOWERSPRITE: ❀✿⚘✿❀⚘❀✿❀✿⚘✿⚘✿❀✿❀⚘✿❀⚘❀✿⚘✿❀

 

[SerbianMounted]

===>

Let's get back to Finn.

Coordinating further with Beau, you manage to slam down several other LARGE MACHINES across the entirety of your home. Though they're all inconveniently placed-the totem lathe in the bathroom was a fun comeback per your usual banter-the machines being all put down with a small PRE-PUNCHED CARD to add makes your first alchemy a cinch. While you trot from machine to machine getting cards punched and totems carved, you do have to wonder where the fuck your bro is...

You take a peek outside to look at the driveway where your brother's parked his FIRE ENGINE. Sometimes he brings the older models in to your house to take care of them when they'd otherwise take up too much space at the station. You squint a bit, trying to see if he's still polishing BIG RED, his favorite.

You are pushed back by the sheer force of a METEOR colliding with the earth not forty paces up your long driveway. Smoke and debris flies into the air as you hit the wall, back making an indent in the drywall. You cough, standing up and trying desperately to wipe dust out of your eyes. You peer, desperate to see through the smoke of the impact cloud. Surely your brother is okay, right? You see that BIG RED is now on her side, windows cracked. Oh shit!!! Where the fuck did he-

You feel, rather embarrassingly, a big BIKE HELMET squash itself over your cranium as your brother FORCES A SAFETY HELMET ON YOU. Could've died kid, jeez. Safety first. How the hell did he move so fast? He gives a thumbs up, and descends to your BASEMENT.

You immediately take off the helmet and kick it away. God you hope Beau didn't see that EMBARRASSING interaction. Your bro is so lame.

You alchemize your item, still twitching with adrenaline from seeing that meteor. What the fuck is going on anyways? ​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

> Hydi: Engage in alchemy.

Manifesting from mint-colored cruxite, a BOW AND ARROW appears in front of you, arrow-tip engulfed in flame. Some distance away out of your window, a pile of cruxite pieces arranged in an UNLIT PYRE is summoned as well.

Up above, a meteor follows a trajectory that is heading right towards your home.​

> Finn: Engage in alchemy.

Summoned forth from salmon-colored cruxite, a SARCOPHAGUS appears on the alchemiter platform. It is already open, but it is EMPTY. Looks roomy.

The fire from the nearby meteor impact has started spreading around your building, you can feel the heat.​

 

[GamerKitty205]

> Hydi: Assess Situation​

You take a deep breath. You check the clocks and calendars placed around the living room. All regular. You peer out through the window, and yep. That is a very very realistic meteor. Oh, and you can even see your neighbors running around and panicking in the distance. You can’t quite tell if you’re imagining the slight heat on your skin, or if it’s just the sun blaring down, but everything seems quite cohesive.

> Come to a conclusion​

So there’s an actual meteor about to kill everyone. Which, from the look of things, you don’t have time to think about! You scramble over to the bow and arrow, grabbing it and trying to notch it as best as you can.

It takes a couple of tries to finally draw the bow, but soon you’re pointing the flaming projectile at the pile of kindling. You let loose the arrow, but the shaking of your hands causes it to clatter to the ground. It didn’t even fly a foot, how are you supposed to?

You run over to retrieve the monotone weapon and spot your Bro standing on the stairs. Just, staring at the meteor, the cup in his hand seemingly forgotten. There’s a kind of fervor in his eyes you haven’t seen... ever honestly. But the smile he gives you as he hands you the arrow is just as soft as ever. He gives you a little pat on the head that you’re almost certain flattened your hair before disappearing up the stairs.

Arrow in hand, you head back to the window. Another shaking attempt almost makes you drop the arrow out the window. Goddamnit! You don’t... You’ve never done archery before! The thought that your life would rely on it was not something you had thought of! A meteor was not anything you had ever planned for! What are you...

> Change plans. ​

You lean out the window, watching as the warm glow of the meteor begins to overtake the light of the sun. Blotting out the sky to replace it with fire. The bow lies discarded at your feet, and the arrow remains clutched in your hand. You take a shaky, uncertain breath

And chuck the arrow towards the pyre.

It spins through the air, spiraling around and around.

Until it lands on its target.

 

[SerbianMounted]

===>

You immediately grimace at the coffin. You don't like being cramped, and you certainly don't like the....the dark. You shudder a bit, and look over, seeing the flames growing brighter, and hotter. You slink in, your bro no where in sight. You clench every single muscle in your entire body, laying down inside of the coffin, and sliding it over. You hate the dark you hate the dark you hate the dark you hate the dark. You cover your body, and you whimper, just a bit.

You hate being restrained.
​

 

[Eidolon Astronaut]

> Hydi: Enter.

The PYRE ignites and burns so bright it is blinding, your vision goes white. When the light fades, the bow and pyre are gone, and your home is meteorologically safe, though it is somewhere very different than a moment before. All you can see out of your window is LEAVES AND BRANCHES, as if a tree has been transplanted directly outside, so close they poke in through the open window.

Additionally, your KERNELSPRITE has undergone a metamorphosis, shedding it's kernels which fly out the window, leaving behind your new SPRITE. Presumably, a series of MINT SPIROGRAPHS have also appeared above your house.​

Spoiler: Show Spritelog

TEDDYSPRITE:

> Finn: Enter.

As the lid closes, you are met with darkness and heat, there is a sound outside that you cannot see. When the heat fades and the room stops shaking, the SARCOPHAGUS opens and disappears as you exit. Shockingly, your home is STILL ON FIRE, but instead of actual flame, it is merely the slow-moving ghostly afterimage of one. It provides no warmth or danger. Out of your window you see your home is looming above a lake of this GHOSTLY FLAME surrounded by grey-brown mountains.

Above your home lies a newly formed series of RINGED SALMON LIGHTS, spawned by the upward motion of the WHITE KERNEL, the BLACK KERNEL descending below. You can hear the SPRITE they left behind beside you.​

Spoiler: Show Spritelog

BIRDSPRITE: