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Fandom [Homestuck] The Mobius Strip

Reader mode
> Be Mari

You’re now Mari.

You’ve heard a few things moving around outside of your room, heavy things. You decided to not check it out, it was probably Kiyo messing with stuff and you don’t want to get in his way! And sure enough, after waiting a minute you get a message from Kiyo.​

-- congruentGregarious [CG] started pestering gregariousAeon [GA] –

CG: Okay so,
CG: I’ve put some of these weird machine things down around your house.
CG: I think that’s the point of this game, some kind of building thing?
CG: You’ve got that needle thing on your balcony too, and moved some of the stuff downstairs for this massive platform thing.
GA: platform thing?
GA: ill have to check it out!!
GA: what all did you move around tho… you didnt get rid of anything did u?
CG: I made sure not to, no worries!
CG: I just made some space by pushing stuff up against walls as gently as possible
CG: As gently as these janky controls will allow I guess
GA: ok!
GA: yeah the controls seem a little
GA: sensitive
GA: ill see if i cant figure out what these machines do, one second!

> Mari: Check out the machines

Moving to your balcony, you see two machines, one pressed up against the wall and the other against the railing. The machine against the wall seems like you’re supposed to put something in between those two spots… but you don’t think you have what you need yet.

Instead, you pick up the card laying near the railing before heading downstairs.

As you turn into the living room, you see the platform Kiyo was talking about. Again, it seems to require stuff you don’t have yet.

Then, the last machine… hmmm, you don’t see much on it. As you climb partially on it to see what's on top, you notice that the top has a lid. However, you’re too weak to lift it yourself.

> Mari: Get some help​

GA: hey kiyo?
GA: little help here?
CG: Sorry, what’s wrong
CG: Got distracted
CG: Oh, this pipe thing? I’m not really sure how to open it
CG: Looks like you can’t do it yourself…
CG: Got anything heavy we could use as a lever?
GA: not sure… there might be a broom or something?
GA: although this thing is really really heavy
GA: i tried to get it open myself and no luck
GA: can you grab ummmm
GA: maybe something like the table?
GA: we might be able to angle it
CG: Okay hold, I’ll try and leverage this table on an angle
CG: Step back…
CG: Heaving!

You move back as Kiyo instructs, almost outside of the living room. Just to be safe!

Unsurprisingly, the game's shitty controls leads to Kiyo dropping the table directly on top of the CRUXTRUDER. Luckily, the impact was enough to open the device. A KERNELSPRITE appears from the tube, a LIGHT GREY, tries to spew out words, but is instead garbled nonsense. Best to ignore it. You pick up the grey CRUXITE DOWEL​

CG: Oops, sorry, dropped it
CG: Okay so
CG: Shit
CG: Did I break the game? Wtf
CG: Did I do something wrong, what is that?
GA: owww my eyes :(
GA: its so bright and flashy
GA: i cant look at it long, its like looking at the sun
GA: at least the lid is open…?
GA: i found a weird totem cylinder type thingy on the ground too
GA: its heavy but thank the stars for captchalogues!
GA: ill see if i cant find what to do with this, brb

As you ponder the totem, you look back over to the big platform thingy.

> Mari: Put totem in alchemiter

Placing the totem in the machine, you press a button and it comes to life! Creating…… a green cube? Looks pretty generic. You decide to grab it, just in case! Upon putting it into your sylladex, you see that it’s called a ‘perfectly generic object’. Huh. You don’t really know what to do with this yet, so you grab another totem to see if you can make something else happen with another machine!

Going upstairs again, the lightning of your home doesn’t seem to change with the placements of the windows like it normally does.

You look behind you- oh god the blinding orb is following you. ​

GA: why is this thing following me??
GA: its so bright ;;
CG: uh
CG: Maybe it’s helpful?
CG: Maybe don’t touch it or anything
CG: Is it saying anything to you?
GA: no not really
GA: i mean
GA: i hope its helpful but
GA: its slightly distracting me haha
GA: can you interact with it at all? :O
CG: Doesn’t look like it, at least not right now
CG: Hey…
CG: What’s that thing on the bottom of the machine’s screen?
GA: looks like some sort of countdown!
GA: oh shoot is this timed?
CG: Oh, maybe?
CG: Guess we should hurry
CG: Did you grab that card thing I dropped in your room?
GA: yep!
GA: i was gonna try and put the totem in the thingy on my balcony
CG: That sounds like a plan
CG: I think I saw some slots in the needle machine as well?
CG: Guess we should hurry before it gets too dark outside
GA: aye aye captain!
 
> Saul: Beg for your life

As you see Bria's house and self barely evade from the meteors, your friend of some time stare dumbfounded as a meteor was just a couple yards from making impact, you feel a deep dread grow inside of you. You look over, just now noticing the heat after you were so concerned with trying to help Bria. The city looks as though it's sunset, but you know it can't be much later than noon from where you are. The city....it's on fire, and just as you expected the meteors are starting to rain everywhere.

Oh god. Oh no. You.....your friends.....you're all in terrible danger.

> Saul: Desperately fight against a panic attack

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.....you feel yourself start to convulse and jitter. This isn't good. The rational part of your brain is starting to tell you what you know needs to happen but your body is refusing to cooperate. You take a second. You're hearing the fire, the blaze, the impact. People.....dying. You feel yourself starting to cry, to freak the FUCK OUT. What would Ito do? She would help people.....she would be strong. Okay. Okay. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19.....

23, 29, 31, 37......

41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71......

> Saul: Message your server

​
GC: RUDY THIS IS SERIOUS PLEASE RESPOND
CT: Responding now!
CT: Sup
GC: RUDY THIS IS AN EMERGENCY
GC: IM SORRY FOR TEXTING IN ALL CAPS BUT THERE ARE METEORS
GC: METEORS ARE FALLING FROM THE SKY AND HITTING PEOPLE AND BRIA ALMOST DIED
GC: I don't know whats going on but i do know playing the game, it transported her somewhere?
GC: And now meteors are coming for me? the city is getting hot.....
CT: Oh shit das bad.
CT: like worse than...
CT: Wait.
CT: Yea I see em too.
CT: Well golly gee.
CT: Right pickle...
CT: Playing the game... hey, you got someone tossing stuff around in your place? I had Lucy.
GC: No....
GC: I'm trying to get ahold of bria but she's busy staring off into space looking at this crazy new swamp world.....
GC: So I can't get ahold of her, i was the one 'tossing stuff around' for bria.....
CT:...Yo.. I haven't gone to my comp in a hot minute I think I'm doing yours.
CT: Brb, gotta jam and do the thing. Progression yea? probably something i gotta do.. uhh....
GC: Yes! d-do the thing! please!
CT: DOIN THE THING!
GC: I think you won't survive if you won't
GC: I'm.....scared!
GC: Please survive and help me! i don't want to die

You do not die. You proceed to spend the next five minutes watching as Rudy tears through your house. You feel your heartbeat quicken, your pupils dilate and your body tenses as it accepts it needs to shut down most other processes to make way for the important ones. It's like a computer trying to reduce the number of applications taking up ram. You just keep cycling, climbing. Higher and higher as you roll to grab various porcelain and precious family artifacts that go flying as Rudy runs a catastrophe around your home putting down the necessary items. First the Alchemiter in the garden, then the Totem Lathe in the kitchen, then finally the Cruxtruder......in the bathroom. Great taste Rudy.

73, 79, 83, 89, 97....

Rudy gives you an assist by smashing the remnants of your toilet onto the top of the cruxtruder. And out pops a ROWDY YELLOW SEIZURE KERNEL. Jesus this thing is even worse up close as opposed to over a computer screen. You take no time for yourself, quickly tossing your only SURVIVING TEA POT into the kernel and letting it synthesize. Your DECANTER SHELF now lies in absolute ruin. Trailing behind you now is a seizure ball with a tea pot in the center, a rather STRANGE LOOKING THING to be sure. You carry forward, and proceed to perform your first IN PERSON ALCHEMY. What your labor bears is CRUXITE SNOWMAN, which lasts for just a moment before disappearing, leaving behind only it's CRUXITE CARROT NOSE.

> Saul: Eat

You take a look forward. Watching as it melts almost instantaneously. You stand, amidst muddled vegetation that's been trampled upon either by you or by Rudy's well intentioned mucking about. Your hydrangeas are in ruin, your pumpkins squashed, your squashes squished. You shiver, and you feel yourself freeze as you.....you....you see it. It's huge....a meteor the size of some large principality that bears a terror inducing connotation.

101 103 107........fuck......you.....you need to break out of this. Why won't you move??? Eat the carrot! Eat it! You're going to die but you're so frozen, so still.....your mind needs to move.....move faster than the meteor.....faster than the world. Faster than anything.

1129.....

Closer. You can feel the heat.

5197.....

It feels like it's burning.....

95,676,260,903,887,607.........you can feel your nose bleed, and you bring the carrot to your mouth.

> Saul: Chomp

Eidolon Astronaut Eidolon Astronaut ​
 
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>Rudy: Do the thing

So the thing is required, and sure as hell you gotta help Saul. who is, by msot accounts on of your bets buddies. best palerino. Outside of your buns but... hey.. they seem to be running into the house? Wierd.

Anyways, with great gusto you look up to the house wall, your window still open. You could rush in the house but Dog was blocking the door. so, back up you go.

>:3

With a great LAD LEAP you head for the skies, ish, you pick a spear into the wall and with the downward bend of the spear launch yourself up once more, stabbing the second in the wall nearby your window for a foothold, you wriggle your booty inside and begin the great work of...

Holy shit who the hell designed this?

Right.

Sorry Saul, you didn't need a garden with a meteor on you yea?

Man those veggies squish good.

Oh shoot, is that suppoused to be in the wall abit?

aaaaah screw it just slap it there he'll find it.

Ah shoot there goes the toilet.

Indoor plumbing was so Roman.

Right.

And the card thing? yea just slap that there.

Okay!

You watched saul do his thing, but you couldn't wait, somebody else was talking to you. huh it's Lucy.. err.. lacy?

​
CC: Rudy, check your backyard.
CC: Um, the area with your rabbits.
CC: Do you see any… strange looking machines?
CT: I mean, kinda hard to miss, down here anyways yea know? They sort BORUMPHF Down.
CT: Or maybe a brumpt?
CT: Ye either wya i see those suckers, jsut spoke to Saul they the thingie magigs?
CT: Apparently theres meteors or something coming?
CT: I can… Oh.. Thats rather big.
CC: … What.
CC: Okay, okay, okay.
CC: Let’s just… clean up a bit first, yeah?
CC: Ooh.
CT: You ever hear of the term.
CT: pro gamer move?
CT: Watch me speedrun this shiz.
CT: Tryyeanotttodie thannnnz >;3
CC: Well the timer’s certainly started.
CC: Allez!
CC: Rudy.
CC: Would you like to… have a taste of this thing?
CT: Gimmie the lick
CC: Wow.

​


In a few seconds you were able to get back down to the back yard as lacy...? Suggested. you grabbed your stabby bois on the way down like a good Stabby stick user and land with a quick superhero landing moment. yep, that whole one hand on the ground crouching landing that was, always, so cool.

Oh, is that the thing Lucy mentioned? it does look kinda tastey-

It pangs right into your head, spinning in the air as swiftly as it had come, luckily, your head is equally as dense, the dowel plunking off and only leaving you abit bloody for being smacked in the forehead by a.... thing?

You didn't ACTUALLY bother to read what you were putting down for saul, reading is for nerds of whom you hold great respect for as they had a MUCH LONG ATTENTION SPAN THAN YOU!!!

>take a moment in your moments close to death to answer your phone.

​
CC: Right, Rudy!
CC: Here.
CC: Put it in the… thinnest looking… thing.
CC: It’s called a totem lathe.
CT: Yeyeyeyyeyeyeyeyeyeyey
CT: Splish splash here comes the meteor mash.
CT: Card, slam dunk time.
CT: That blue light show thing giving me the jeebes
​


it was to be honest, hard to look at really, it was all BLUE and... Actually.. at the same time you can't tear your eyes away... man... it looked kinda like it wants something. maybe you should.. toss something at it?

...? what was that creaking noise?

Sounds like when the floorboards of your upstairs room kinda give out.

>Floorboards: Give out.

infront of the doorway to Rudy's room, lay Dog. Dog had been dormant for some time, givin he was dead and all, but in truth, he was waiting for the day he could once again be useful in more ways that just a gigantic big memory of what once was. Today was that day, as your heavy body slumping over and along with the utter mess of crap happening today, caused Dog's body to break through the floor.

The noneuclidian nature of the house had it's way for a time, but eventually, Dog managed to smash out of a window. Was that window always there? or perhaps it simply was to be there at this very moment to facilitate the next following scene in the insane Rube gold-burg machine that all of this surely was.

All things coincidentally coming together and ending up causing a horrible mess that leads to a massive corpse of a maybe Dog into a thing that will be ever so helpful to Rudy's future.

>Rudy: ignore the sounds and speedrun.

You have a tendency to ignore things when focusing, like the bloody spot on your face, the iron in your mouth as it trickled down upon your lips, the fact the world is getting hotter and hotter by the second. You knew the steps, they were as they always were, and you are as you always were to be.

You do not give death a passing glance as you place the finished totem upon the scanner. It bares down upon you and all you do is give it the cold shoulder it deserves.

Theres no backing down, theres no wiffling and waffleing, theres no pacing back and forth wondering how you'll do it.

There is only one way forward.

And nothing shall stand in your way.


The ALCHEMITER produces a blue CRUXITE JENGA TOWER, but it seems that every playable move has ALREADY BEEN MADE! What are you supposed to do with a perfect game of Jenga? Playing another move is out, so...

What else do Jenga towers do?

>Rudy: Knock that sucker down.​
 
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> Mari: Put the totem into the Totem Lathe

You slap the extra totem into the totem lathe! Along with the card. As you do so, the machine comes to life! The big needle on the machine carves the totem, shaping it into… something. Looks wavy…? Ah well. You take the now carved totem?

Looking at the newly carved totem, pondering if it would give you a different object that isn’t perfectly generic. After all, you DID put that card in there with it.

But as you head back inside, that flashing orb practically blinds you, not to mention your eyes trying (and failing) to adjust to the inside already. In your attempt to navigate to the hallway from your room, you trip over something and fall right on your face. Ouch.

You hear a crash behind you. Glancing over your shoulder, its as if in slow motion, you see one of your beloved SEWING MANNEQUINS with a WORK IN PROGRESS on it falling towards the seizure orb. And it… eats it. NOOOOO!!!

And now it taunts you, blinding you further and reminding you of the lost mannequin. How cruel :(

> Mari: Get up

You get up off of your ass and dust yourself off. Ugh. You’re gonna have to start all over on that jacket! Ah well… there were a few things you wanted to change anyways. No point in focusing on the negatives, you guess.

And so, you head back downstairs and give the ALCHEMITER the CARVED TOTEM.

A large CRUXITE SHELF appears filled with many strange VIALS and DECANTERS. A single round BOTTLE filled with a mysterious CYAN LIQUID rolls off the structure, and the shelf un-appears from existence.

The CRUXITE BOTTLE rolls and stops at your feet.

You pick it up.

You take a drink.​
 
> Saul, Rudy, Mari: Enter.

With a bite, topple, and sip, the three of you are transported just before impact and/or burning.

> Be adventurous.

You are now RUDY, and your surroundings (after having dimmed from the bright light) have DRAMATICALLY CHANGED.

The FOREST in which you were raised is gone, all around you is a WHITE FLUFFY SCENE and a BRIGHT BLUE SKY. Your house has been transported on top of a CLOUD. Off in the distance, you see another structure on another cloud, a PITCH BLACK TOWER reaching high skyward. You cannot reach it, you can't really reach ANYTHING from up here.

The KERNELSPRITE divides, leaving you with the spectral, ghost-flavored DOG. Several BLUE GATES appear above your home.

> Be energetic.

You are now MARI, and the windows have gone DARK. You open the front door to check your new environment.

The moment you do, a bright, multi-colored EXPLOSION off in the distant sky illuminates your surroundings. Your house is now atop a dangerously tall PAGODA, and the surrounding area below is a semi-luminous BRIGHT GREEN FLUID. Just as the light from the explosion fades, another one in a different set of colors rockets from the horizon and explodes: it's FIREWORKS! Off in the distance, rising from the same green sea is a PITCH BLACK TOWER stretching higher than your home.

The KERNELSPRITE splits, leaving you with a rather unsettling BLANK-FACED GENIE-LOOKING THING. Several GREY GATES appear above your home.

> Be dreamlike.

Finally, you are now SAUL. Upside, it is no longer HOT where you are. Downside, it is now FREEZING COLD.

Taking a look around, you notice that it is SNOWING, and that your home is now in a DEEP PIT with BLUE CRYSTALLINE WALLS. The pale sky above is filled with wispy, AURORA-LIKE RIBBONS OF GASSES, each a different color. Out of the corner of the pit's hole, you see a BLUE CRYSTAL TOWER stretch into the sky.

The KERNELSPRITE fractures, leaving you with an ephemeral TEA POT. Several YELLOW GATES appear above your home.​
 
> Saul: Still alive?

Still.....alive. You stare blankly upward, taking in your cold surroundings as you give out a brief, relieved shiver. You've had winters before in your city, but never something as beautiful as this. You wonder what gasses could be creating that DREAMLIKE TECHNICOLOR EFFECT. And gently falling upon your open palm is a snowflake, which quickly melts. You smile, just now realizing you have a lot of blood streaking down your lips and chin. Jeez, you should get that patched up....

> Saul: Prepare

With a quick trip to the remnants of your once pristine bathroom and your thankfully still in tact closet, you arrive back outside where the floating Tea Pot headed ghost seems to be idling. Now you are now wearing a number of extra layers from your winter garb, and some paper towels are shoved up your nose to let the blood clot before you pass out. You approach the sprite cautiously.

​
SAUL: Uh........hello?
KETTLESPRITE:🫖💨
SAUL: Ah! that's incredibly loud!
SAUL: Do you have an off button or something? are you even meant to talk?
SAUL: It just sounds like a kettle screaming!
SAUL: God! just.....please, calm down......where do I.....

You cover your ears, regretting not having bought EAR MUFFS when you were on earth. What can you use? There's no real source of heat and if you wanted to cool it down it's not like there's anywhere colder than here that you can think of. You walk back inside, still hearing it scream to tell you your tea is ready. You look around....ah! Your Sun Witch ♪ Esper Ito figurines remain in tact! You have collected all six, from Ito herself all the way to Moon Witch ☾ Esper Junketsu. The two were good friends in their brigade. In the CLOUD ALLICIZATION arc where there was a fight high up in the sky, Junketsu was hit and fell to the ground, it was a fake-out death to pull at the heartstrings. Later in the arc, she sprouted wings and destroyed the alien force that was attacking. Good times.

You walk back, and hand the sprite the figurine of Ito. You find that it's always calming to hold and think about her, and maybe this sentient tea pot is of a similar mind! As you do though, a rather shocking transformation takes hold as your sprite is DOUBLY PROTOTYPED before your eyes. Before you now, the porcelain accentuating the stiff joints of the figurine, is a Sun Witch who radiates a kind of yellow, and smells like freshly brewed tea!

​
ITOSPRITE: Hi there!
SAUL: .......
SAUL: Are....are you.....
SAUL: Oh my god you're Sun Witch ♪ Esper Ito.....
SAUL: You're like.....ACTUALLY her.....if she was.....made of porcelain....
SAUL: And smelled like jasmine.....
SAUL: H-hi! m-m-m-m-my name's saul! i'm a HUGE fan
ITOSPRITE: D'aww shucks!
ITOSPRITE: Thanks!
ITOSPRITE: But you don't really have to do that, I'm not actually real!
SAUL: W-well.....i figured that you're just a simulation of her based on a copying of her image onto some kind of highly advanced a.i capable of synthesizing an intelligence and personality for itself based on a fundamental understanding of the objects placed there
SAUL: But that's neither here nor there, i just wanted to give you that thanks, even if you are fake
SAUL: Kind of like a little kid meeting a disney princess at a theme park even though they aren't actually that fictional character.....
SAUL: Especially when you consider that really no one is 'real' by any metric
SAUL: Haha.....i'm talking a lot
SAUL: Anyway! uh, what the fuck? w-where am i? why were there meteors? where are my friends?
SAUL: What are you???
ITOSPRITE: Language!
ITOSPRITE: This is The Medium!
ITOSPRITE: The magical realm where you'll go on adventures of friendship and action!
ITOSPRITE: And don't worry about that, your friends are safe from the meteors here in The Medium.
ITOSPRITE: I am a Sprite, a mystical guide to get you started on your journey through The Seven Gates.
SAUL: S-sorry!
SAUL: Wait how are you doing that with your words???
SAUL: Okay.....medium.....
SAUL: So i'm assuming this is a part of that game we all installed and are playing....right, now....
SAUL: Huh, save you from near death for only 1.27......quite a deal there, snitch
SAUL: So you're like a tutorial NPC that helps me figure out the basics before i start going through the rpg and the quests and stuff
SAUL: Seven Gates?
ITOSPRITE: Yep!
ITOSPRITE: Above your house is The First Gate, beyond that your adventure truly begins!
ITOSPRITE: Once you pass through all seven, you doorway to the heart of Skaia will be open to you!
SAUL: .....see the problem is your answering my questions with more lead on answers
SAUL: Which is just gonna make every response I have end in a one phrased question as i inquire further about your magical realm
SAUL: Skaia?
ITOSPRITE: Skaia!
ITOSPRITE: Above The Medium, beyond The Seven Gates, at the very center of this realm is a place known as Skaia.
ITOSPRITE: A dormant crucible of ███████ that holds the key to winning the game! It is where you must gather to defeat the forces of ████████!
ITOSPRITE: You and your friends have to work together and let Skaia's light shine down!
SAUL: ......yeah that's an even weirder thing that you're somehow verbally communicating to me
SAUL: U-uh.....okay.....
SAUL: Climb the gates, build the house, do it in pairs so we can work together, get to skaia....
SAUL: what's that big blue tower over there? and where am i.....specifically
SAUL: I know bria got sent to a swamp and obviously that's a different place in the 'medium'
ITOSPRITE: You have to figure that all out for yourself!
ITOSPRITE: Wouldn't be much a a mystical journey if you had all the answers dropped down in your lap!
SAUL: I uh.....guess you're right
SAUL: The first gate's a little high though to start
SAUL: And bria didn't have that much grist.....
SAUL: How do i get more?

> Saul: Get interrupted

You get interrupted by a rustling sound coming from your kitchen. Oh, maybe Rudy's still messing around with your controls? You hope not if he hasn't entered yet. Those meteors looked imposing as all hell. You mosey back inside to find nothing floating around or crashing into things, which ironically has become the normal to which you're accustomed. You take a few cautious steps forward, and call into your abode with great unease. Hello? Rudy? .....anyone?

AH! And you are ambushed by a strange SKELETAL CREATURE, vacant sockets and boney visage. A name display above it's head reads SKELETAL IMP. It leaps towards you with a hollow menace. You quickly ABJURE with your TRUSTY GARDEN SHOVEL as you are forced into action. The imp's bony claws try to tear into you to no avail. You take a step back, what the fuck is this thing? Is this a low level enemy from the game? If so, you can't accost it! You're a math nerd, not exactly a fighter! It goes for another claw as you're backed against a wall. You look over to Itosprite.....a little help? No, she simply gives you a TASTEFUL THUMBS UP in encouragement. M....maybe Rudy can drop a fridge on this thing? Nope......he's probably too busy getting his own spiel with his own sprite....you squeak in terror, and the things claws REND up your forearm, causing you to bleed profusely in three giant slash marks. OW! That.....that really hurt! You look around as the imp doesn't seem to back down.

You wait for a second, and see that the imp seems to follow basic video game enemy logic. It cycle through a number of stances and attacks. Which means it has a pattern. You see it claw, and ABJURE once more. Its claws scratch deeper into the wood of the shovel, and then as it does its idle sprite movement animation, you dig your shovel under its chin, and AGGRIEVE. You charge forward, and pin it against the refrigerator. Like digging a hole in freshly potted garden soil, you then decapitate it with one clean, well executed PUSH. Its head topples, it DESPAWNS and DROPS SOME BUILD GRIST and SHALE. Just enough to deploy that missing contraption!

> Saul: Level up!

You claw your way up your ECHELADDER from the lowly bottom rung of NET NEUTRAL PIPSQUEAK to the wonderous SOLITARY NOVICE. The fridge also levels up to ASHAMED CO-CONSPIRATOR for its involvement in your assassination. You get yourself a few non noteworthy BOONDOLLARS, and a funny little hat color for your efforts.

Jeez. That was scary!​
 
> Be worried

You are now KIYO once again, and you've just realized that you may have the only hope of salvation for your six friends on your PC desktop.

Watching as a group of meteors split apart and just barely hit the side of Mari's property before being sent to... wherever she is, was a very new experience that you had never felt before. She had very nearly almost died, and that was certainly not something a video game like this should be doing.

Yet, it did not stop.

After double checking Mari's safety, you quickly jump onto various news sources on Jollibrowse. Yes, it's true. Inexplicable meteors have begun to fall upon the earth, most hitting residences, though several just causing general carnage, as they seemingly just appear from the sky without any warning. From all over the world, the heat of these otherworldly rocks is injuring and maiming people to a point of non-recognition, and what, all because you played this weird game on sale?

You perk up when you hear your front door downstairs open and close. It seems your mother just got home from her daily walk, and she hasn't heard about the news yet since it hasn't really affected your area just yet.

You contact Mari as soon as you know she's safe, wherever she is.​

-- congruentGregarious [CG] started pestering gregariousAeon [GA] –

CG: Mari
CG: Listen, I’m glad you’re safe
CG: But what do I do to not get vaporized when the meteors fall here
CG: I need to know most of what you did
GA: oh shit uhh
GA: ummm after you got the lid on that thingy open, i got one of the totems from it and put it in the needle machine with the card
GA: which carved it
GA: and then i put that into the big platform thingy
GA: please be safe!!!
CG: Shit
CG: I need a server player then
CG: Thanks for the help, Mari
 
> Get on with it.

You are doing that, but first, you have to get everything together in one place. As one of the live broadcasts discusses a much larger meteor aiming for the heart of Kyoto, you feel the heat of the situation, metaphorically more than literally.

You quickly get up and log onto Pesterchum with your MOBILE PHONE and contact someone you hope is alright.​

-- congruentGregarious [CG] began pestering tenaciousAbberation [TA] --

CG: Bria, hey
CG: Sorry if this is out of the blue
CG: But are you okay, right now?
CG: Safe, at least.
CG: I’ve been playing the game with Mari and I can safely say we’re all in danger.
TA: I am aware
TA: Saul just aided me in... doing whatever completing the beginning segment does
TA: Transporting me?
TA: Sorry off topic
TA: Give me a quick minute to get back to my computer
CG: Okay, when you get back, I need your help
CG: The world is under fire, and I’m worried I won’t make it out in time
CG: Mari is okay, and it’s good that you made it to… somewhere
CG: I think I need you to be my server
TA: I assumed that’s why you messaged me
TA: Okay, I connected to you.

After a few minutes of you moving things around in both your room and the second floor, you come into contact with your mother, a worried expression on her face having just heard the news. As she tells you that you should leave, you stop her, telling her that you have a plan, and things are moving forward. She's nervous, but so are you. After a moment of deliberation, she nods, and quickly heads downstairs to barricade the doors and windows as much as she can to prevent any damage from impact.​

TA: That’s all of the machines
TA: And a card..?
TA: Are there any pieces of furniture in your house that hold no emotional value to you?
CG: Hm
CG: Our building *is* pretty small
CG: On the second floor, we’ve got that bar separating the kitchen from the small hallway between rooms and the stairs
CG: That should make enough room for the alchemiter thing
CG: Oh, you mean like
CG: Hm
CG: I guess that folding table in the kitchen could work
TA: Wonderful. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t destroy anything important
TA: ... on purpose at least, I cannot guarantee the safety of anything in your house
TA: These controls are not very good
CG: Tell me about it
CG: Okay Bria, I think I’ve got everything I need
CG: I probably need to hurry because the news says that one of the nearby shrines just got decimated.
CG: Hopefully, I’ll see you on the other side
TA: Good luck
TA: Please don’t die

Please don't die. Those words hang in the air for a second, but quickly fade away as the heat obscures them. With a scroll, Bria's cursor drops the folding table on the pipe of the cruxtruder, and like Mari's the lid pops right off, revealing the SOFT PINK KERNELSPRITE. You take note of it, but hurry on your way, checking the list that Mari told you beforehand. You scoop up the card from the attic floor and race back to the second floor, taking a moment to turn the wheel and get one of those crystal cylinder things.

Climbing vigorously, you place the card in the slot of the needle machine, and the cylinder on the needle itself. As the machine begins to turn and carve, you take a second to look out the window, beyond the telescope and the glass separating you from the world beyond.

It was like sunset, almost. If you weren't about to die, you might call it beautiful, the light refracting off of the flying rocks and the sky itself, creating a sort of rainbow effect on and off. The reflection glimmers in your glasses as a few shards break off and fall to the ground elsewhere, the colors dancing across the hot air like practiced ballerinas.

The click of the machine next to you wakes you back up, but you stop for a moment more. Earlier, when Mari had been doing the same thing, the ball thing had... eaten(?) the mannequin, which seemed to be important in some form or other. Maybe that was a requirement Mari wasn't aware of, and it just kind of happened? Placing the cylindrical item down, you once again dunk into your trunk, reaching around before coming back up with one of your wooden Kokeshi dolls. Whether the sprite thing ate it, absorbed it, or maybe like, liked it, you're not sure, but this should cover all of those areas. Tentatively, you toss the wooden figurine into the creature, before resuming your journey.

Sliding down the ladder, the timer on the cruxtruder ticks down. The gleaming lights of both doom and salvation glanced off of the kitchen tiles as you managed to squeeze past the cruxtruder, and reach the platform of the alchemiter. With barely half a minute left, you allow the scanner to reach down and flip back up, as a pink CRUXITE STARTING PISTOL. You don't use PISTOLKIND, but it seems this one waives the normally required KIND ABSTRAUS.

You pick it up as the countdown reaches it's final stages, turning to the kitchen window and raising your item to the sky. As the flash of colors swirl into place right outside your home, you pull the trigger.​
 
> Lacy: Answer GA
​
gregariousAeon [GA] began pestering cherieChevalier [CC].
GA: uhhhh lacy??
GA: have you started playing the game yet?
GA: because umm
GA: its a lot? Lol
GA: basically has someone become your server player?
CC: Not to my knowledge.
CC: Is it my turn to enter, now?
GA: yeah we should get u in asap
GA: i can be ur server player!!
GA: i know what to do and how to get you to safety :)
GA: let me get my server application set up!!
CC: Uh-huh.
CC: Pray tell, Mari, what’s it like on the other side?
GA: its soooo weird!
GA: there were so many colorful fireworks outside! although i dont really know where i am :(
GA: at least my house is with me!
GA: hopefully my nan too
GA: ok so where would be best for me to put these machines?
CC: Hm. Wherever.
CC: There should be plenty of big rooms around the house.
GA: kk!
GA: ill put them as close together as i can
GA: we are under a bit of a time limit but dont worry!!! ill help you!
GA: i put a card youll want to pick up on your bed!
GA: oh and just a warning
GA: theres gonna be a bright flashing orb where i put the cruxtruder once i open it :(
CC: How considerate!


You hear a series of thunks coming from the room below yours, you scamper along downstairs to the piano room. You take a peek inside to find your grandfather's piano completely in tact and the room untouched save for the bigass doodads that'll save you from armageddon. Once confirming this you come back upstairs to your room.
​
CC: Ah, there should be an empty shelf on the second floor.
CC: Third door to your left from the main staircase.
CC: To open the cruxtruder.
GA: oh sweet!
GA: one sec!
GA: ok, i got it open! do you know what to do from here?
GA: ill keep an eye on you until youre safe though, dont worry!!


> Lacy: Captchalogue Pre-punched Card

Sure.

> Lacy: And don't forget to prototype your sprite

You open one of the drawers of your desk to find a music box with a porcelain figure of the fairy queen Titania on it, your last birthday gift from your grandmother. She's a pretty little thing, like your grandma when she was younger, according to Opa.
​
CC: Ah, is that the meteor?
CC: I guess it’s no time to dawdle.
CC: See you on the other side.

cherieChevalier [CC] ceased pestering gregariousAeon [GA].


As you descend the stairs, you wind up her key and watch her spin to her little tune one last time before chucking her headfirst into your KERNELSPRITE.

​
 
monke
  • Index
    • > Lacy: Perform alchemy.

    Prototyped Kernelsprite beside you, you perform the steps of the INITIAL ALCHEMY, because we've seen it five times already, we get the gist. No more describing it.

    Upon it's completion, a CRUXITE IDOL appears, a crystalline MONKEY statue on a cruxite pedestal. It looks so...

    Fragile.    ​
     
  • Index
    • >Rudy: be amazed

    You can say that again.

    LOOK AT THIS PLACE!!!

    You were on a cloud! So high up! man you love it here! So high.... You take a few pictures of your surroundings and then of your... Oh...

    Oh hey Dog was back.

    He looks kinda spooky.

    Looks like he got ate by the... Glowy thing and now is the thing. neat.

    Aww man, could this day get any better? Right wierd glob thing?

    ....

    ...........

    the imp looks at Rudy with a somewhat droopy stare, the eye was.. well.. it kinda Looks... Like... A dude..? the Pitch Imp wiggled and wobbeled and schlorped it's way forwards, being generally unpleasant in Rudy's allmighty roost atop of the clouds. The young man watched in... Well... Silent uncertainty as the imp sauntered up and... Slapped him!

    Ouch.

    Right in the gel!

    Rudy was slapped back, one foot away from the edge of the cloud when he withdrew his weaposn and began Strife proper!

    Now Rudy! Go forth and-

    Ah.

    You got him, theres an order to these things Rudy surely you know the whole strife thing needs to be said at first, you can't go skewering Imps like no one's business the game has to do it a certain way.

    With two spear shaped protuisions coming out of the imp from Rudy's rather immedate stabbings, it burst into a plentiful array of nicely shaped and colored.... Fruit gushers...?

    You hazard a taste, but they disappear before you can lay your hands on them proper...

    ..vexing...

    You instead look upon your ghostly doggy friend.

    You give it a small wave, as you consider your next move.​
     
    > Lacy: Go on, pick him up

    You examine the crystalline monkey in your hand carefully, he looks like something you'd find in your grandfather's study. The ghost of Titania looms behind you. She takes the monkey.

    Is Mari still watching?

    The two of you salute vaguely to the ceiling from where you stand.

    > Lacy: Enter

    Even without limbs TITANIASPRITE dances like a swan. Swans don't dance, you might say, and you'd be right, because that's exactly what she looked like. But even so, the grace in her head movements is enough to intimidate the uninitiated. She is menacing, but you won't falter. A frappé, and you approach.

    As the meteors fall closer so do you to each other, movements getting more and more violent, grabbing at the figurine while you can. You can't let her see you're getting desperate, that'd be your loss.

    You two are in your final ten seconds, it's make or break- break or break, really. The monkey finds itself in your hand en l'air but shattered en le floor.

    You two bow as the screen goes white.​
     
    > Kiyo and Lacy: Enter.

    Emerging on the other side from the flash of light, KIYO and LACY are transported into The Medium, along with their homes.

    > Kiyo: Look out window.

    You stare through the window you just shot through, and see BASICALLY NOTHING. You have been dropped down on a tall RED ROCK FORMATION in the middle of a BARREN DESERT, the only thing you can see are the shrubs and cacti of the area... and of course the ominous BLACK TOWER off in the distance. The sky is more lively, CLOUDS stir fitfully, and a dark STORM looms on the horizon, threatening to claim the territory but never approaching.

    The KERNELSPRITE has also shattered open, shifting into a larger, more ghostly wooden form. Several PINK GATES appear above your home.

    > Lacy: Look out opulent window.

    You gaze out the fenestration nearby and see BASICALLY NOTHING. You can't see anything out the window, something is blocking the view from the window entirely... something GREEN. In fact, almost ALL the windows are blocked, and from what little you can see out of the less obstructed ones are nothing but dense VEGETATION entangling your house. There is so much plant-matter you can't even see the GROUND.

    The KERNELSPRITE has also cracked open, transforming into a more sizable, less corporeal porcelain state. Several LIME GATES appear above your home.    ​
     
    > Be Saul Again

    You are now Saul again! After your little chat with ItoSprite and your murder of the IMP you pick up some handy SHALE. As a new type of grist you recognize it's usable to deploy the yet undeployed final mechanism in the alchemy process. With some spare time you figure you should pester your serve about helping you build upward since that seems to be your main objective.

    ===> Saul: Pester Rudy

    ​
    GC: Rudy are you still alive?
    GC: And uh, are you seeing this?
    CT: Luvun' la vida loca. Or however it's spelled
    CT: Livin
    GC: *livin'
    GC: Yeah, you got it
    GC: Are you in this snow world? or the swamp world or....
    CT: I'm in the clouds
    CT: Like legit
    CT: Insert a picture of a drop into the abyss
    CT: Kinda rad
    GC: Wow!
    GC: Also you should really try and substitute your phone camera for a digital one with optical zoom
    GC: It's just the resolution is a bit buggy
    GC: Anyway, not the point
    GC: Yeah! i'm in a snow world
    GC: did you know the sprites can talk?
    CT: Really? Dog can talk I gotta check that out!
    CT: Also Dog is back!
    GC: Only works when you toss another thing in, just so you know
    GC: Really?
    GC: That's great! you know it's a shame i don't have any dead relatives or dearly departed pet snake ashes lying around
    GC: It would've been nice to be reunited
    CT: Oh shiit I toss another thing okay uhh...
    CT: Uhhhh
    CT: Okay got it!
    GC: What'd you choose?
    CT: I got another spear i'mma throw it to him
    GC: Huh, lemme know how that work out
    GC: Anyways I spoke to mine! she said that we're basically in some kind of RPG situation
    GC: See the floating circles above your house? they're called gates
    CT: Right, so, progress be upwards yea?
    CT: That means I gotta build yea up then yea? I got stuff to do that
    GC: Basically yeah
    GC: There are also low level monsters that are spawning around
    GC: Basically this games version of slimes, imps
    GC: You're much more sturdily built than i am, so i'm sure it's no sweat
    GC: Just don't uh.....go biting off more than you can chew, alright?
    CT: Oh yea I stabbed one
    CT: dude looked all gloopy.
    CT: Like made outta runny jello
    CT: Thing said he was a Pitch imp
    CT: Popped into liqorice.
    GC: Weird, I had one made of bones
    GC: Anyway
    GC: I think i'm gonna have to kill some more if i'm gonna get enough of this building material stuff to keep climbing
    GC: Which is.....daunting, unlike you or lacy i'm not exactly well built for combat
    CT: You got this bruh
    CT: brb yeeting stick to Dog.
    GC: Hehe, frosty
    GC: Because snow!
    GC: Maybe he'll fetch it back to you!
    GC: See you rudy, and same to you! don't go fighting crazy strong enemies and just rush into things without thinking!
    GC: I don't think there are extra lives in this game
    CT: Big monster big exp
    GC: Big monster big death!
    CT: Go big or go home unfortunatrly i'm already home!
    CT: Yeet!

    You can hope Rudy won't get himself killed, but as his client you can only interfere so much, especially since it seems like he's setting off his own things to deal with for the time being. He helps you deploy the PUNCH DESIGNIX as well as builds some shitty STAIRS and a new platform onto your ROOF after a little bit of imp killing. However, the tide begins to lessen and you begin to feel exhausted. You choose to quarantine yourself a bit from the ones that are spawning less and less frequently OUTSIDE. Your shovel really isn't cutting it at this rate.

    ===> Saul: Inspect machines

    What does this punch thingy even do? You take note to realize that the machine is perfectly slotted to punch SYLLADEX CARDS, but how you're only certain whereupon inspecting the keypad adjacent to the monitor. Ah, you see. You flip the sylladex card over and recognize a CAPTCHA CODE that all items are sort of scanned with to denote a sort of ordinal numbering system. You played a little with this in the past conceptually, but it all got a bit too THEORETICAL and ABSTRACT, even for you. But now that you have more GAMING ABSTRACTIONS to foster your thinking, what better time!

    You take a few beats and re-create a simple EMPTY DECANTER BOTTLE for a measly two build grist, and repeat the process you did before with the PRE-PUNCHED card for your entry item. You understand now that this really is some kind of ALCHEMY. You have no idea how this all works scientifically, but the laws of nature also dictate fairly clearly that skeletons can't move without any muscle tissue. So you opt to suspend your disbelief a little further for the sake of your own progress. You realize punching the cards makes them completely unusable, and shortens the amount of objects you can carry, which, while already NEBULOUS AND ACTIVELY NONDESCRIPT, is still an issue for your own private minutiae.

    You re-create several new BLANK SYLLADEX CARDS to serve as blank captcha holders so you don't burn both an inventory slot and the item you just worked hard to produce. Hm, that's interesting. There are two slots in the designix, and you quickly figure out that you can lay atop two punch cards to synthesize their punched holes to make a new pattern by combining or re-arranging their punched designs in some way. You cross reference the codes for EMPTY DECANTER BOTTLE && LIGHTER and make the DECANT-LIGHTER, and incredibly dangerous tool for drinking AND smoking destined to start a fire. It seems the object takes on properties and functions of both objects when &&d and is moreso aesthetically modified with ||. You look at the punch holes and recognize this as a sort of form of binary coding, where essentially the code is written out in full 8 bit stacks, similar to standard punch card computer programming. Your understanding of the assortment is limited, but mathematically speaking by both the code numbers and the punch holes implies as such: For each digit there are 64 possibilities: 26 lowercase letters; 26 uppercase letters; 10 numbers; and 2 special characters (! and ?). This means that the number of possible cards is 64^8 (or represented as a binary code punched onto a card, 2^48) which is equal to 281474976710656. This may be a big number, but it is not infinite. Which implies that alchemy cannot inherently make everything. There must be some objects which escape the breadth of the alchemical process, perhaps for the benefit of the game, since some items only need to be made to service you along your journey. After all, what use would a yo-yo have in helping you stop a giant monster or something like that?

    As for items you don't have that you could only imagine creating, you try a few times to mash random codes into the machine to see what you get. But it's all blacked out. If the key scrambling would create a FUCKED UP OBJECT that would be a gross mash of objects as created through lousy alchemy, you could possible reverse the process and create something COOL. It would only take a logarithmic analysis of several couple hundred codes, which you can do pretty easily with enough time. But time isn't the problem, resources are. You see a few more WHACKY additions to the process that would maybe help this line of thinking, but you'd need MUCH more grist than you have available now. Better focus on the immediate.

    ===> Saul: Alchemize

    With some time and some major decision making on your part to stay economical, you || your WINTER CLOTHES with your SUN WITCH POSTER, && your SHOVEL with the LIGHTER and || it for flavor with some VINES for aesthetics, and finally && your phone with your GLASSES for easier convenience.​
     
    > Mari: Examine Sprite

    That sure is unsettling. Hmm… it could use a face. Maybe you could draw a face for it? Since it ate your mannequin, maybe it will absorb something else too! Maybe Kiyo has some ideas?    ​


    -- gregariousAeon [GA] started pestering congruentGregarious [CG] –

    GA: kiyooo
    GA: this sprite thingy is kinda creeping me out
    GA: :( maybe i can feed it something else to give it a face???
    GA: is yours as creepy as mine?
    CG: I don’t really know
    CG: I think that’s really subjective.
    CG: It’s got a real hard stare though, and I haven’t spoken to it yet.
    GA: i think the lack of face on mine is uh
    GA: not helping hehe
    GA: how would i even give it a face though??
    GA: should i draw one up?? Or get a picture of someone???
    GA: any ideas?
    CG: I would only suggest getting a picture of someone if you want it to be them
    CG: I think it’s come kind of conceptual absorption
    CG: So maybe drawing a face might let you customize it?
    GA: ooh!! Really?
    GA: oh no now im almost overwhelmed with options hehe
    GA: the possibilities are
    GA: ✨endless✨
    CG: Good luck, I hope that you get something desirable
    GA: ty!!!




    > Mari: Draw a face!

    You run to your drawing supplies, setting them down on your bed. Hmmm but what kind of face?? Well, you should draw a happy one, at least. You don’t want to make this potential friend sad or angry! And what else? Hmmm…

    But after several attempts, you can’t quite seem to get it right.

    As you sit there, brainstorming as to what you could do to make it less creepy, you look over to your sewing desk. A small photo frame rests on it, displaying a photo you took of your now deceased pet cat.

    His name was Tomboy and he was the best kitty in the world! Sure, he pretty much hated everyone else aside from you, but he was still the sweetest thing and you loved him lots. He had only just grown to tolerate Nan before he left, which was huge progress for him… but he was still wary of her.

    In fact… you really miss him.

    > Mari: Put Tomboy’s photo into the sprite    ​
     
    > Contact your cohorts

    The most obvious thing to do, obviously. Communication leads to ideas from everyone, and you really need that at the moment. The tower, the storm, everything about your new location worries you quite a bit. You take out your MOBILE PHONE and start a memo with everyone to get a good grasp of the situation.​

    – congruentGregarious [CG] AT 13:03 opened memo on board SIXSPACE –

    CG: Okay everyone, I think it’s time we talk
    CG: What’s everyone up to right now?
    GA: i was going to explore around and try and figure out where i am!!
    GA: since im obviously not home
    GA: well
    GA: my home isnt in its correct spot i should say hehe
    TA: Currently I am just trying to get my bearings
    TA: My house is similarly misplaced
    TA: Though I’m not sure if we are in the same locations, is anyone else in a swap?
    CG: Hm. It seems like we’ve each landed somewhere different
    CG: I’m certainly not wherever Mari is, in festival land or something
    CG: Perhaps we were moved somewhere else on Earth?
    CG: I’m personally in some mesa-esque desert.
    GA: maybe we’re in different levels?
    GA: like how mario would have an ice world and a water one!
    GA: although idk why we wouldnt start together?
    TA: That’s most likely part of the challenge
    TA: Having to explore our separate areas to find each other again
    CG: Maybe this is because we had to do it in a chain?
    CG: We each take a level starting from the first person?
    CG: Depends on who traveled to their plane first, then

    You have to agree that the level idea is pretty sound. A swamp, a snowy plains area, and some kinds of desert do seem like levels in a Zelda or Mario game. But if that's the case, then what happened to your home? Maybe when you started the game, you entered the game abstraction, and that was some kind of 'Level 0', to get the player into the swing of things.

    You pull your eyes from the window, and they meet the thrall of Kokeshisprite. You attempt to converse with it. Maybe it has something useful to say?    ​

    KIYO: Can you talk?
    KOKESHISPRITE: 🧑‍🤝‍🧑🫂💃👨🕴️
    KIYO: ...
    KIYO: Huh.

    So, you suppose not. At least, not in any language you know. Maybe you'll get to learn the language of these spoken pictograms later on? Now that'd be a cool puzzle. You'll have to write that down for later.

    However, you begin making your way back up to your room. If this is a Mario IRL thing, then there will be enemies. If there are enemies, you need to arm yourself. Already with your trusty Kodak at your side, you climb up the ladder to your bedroom, and pick up your archery case, removing the STURDY BOW and QUIVER, as well as several DENSE ARROWS. Now fully equipped, you adjust your belt, when you hear something.

    Realizing you hadn't closed your window from earlier, you lean over the side of your bed, and...

    Ah!

    Some kind of ooey-gooey creature lunges from the other side of the room, presumably having tried to get you when you weren't looking. Luckily, it's small enough that ducking causes it to momentarily splat against the opposite window, some of the tar-stuff dripping onto your disc rack, as you race over to the end of your room and slide down to the second floor.

    You run to the end of the hall facing the ladder, and pull an arrow, knocking it in the bow and waiting. There's only one way down from there, after all.

    ...

    A minute passes.

    You nearly put down your weapon. Perhaps the creature had opened another window. But, in merely two more second, a loud splat occurs with the thing hitting the floor, not knowing how to use ladders, apparently. As it gets its bearings, you're able to see the nameplate over: PITCH IMP. Must be some kind of enemy variant? Imps must the low-level grunts if they all are of this size and stature. of course, you don't have enough time to think about this now.

    The Imp rears back and launches itself down the hall arms outstretched. You steady yourself, take a breath as the thing gets closer, and...

    WHAM!

    The arrow flies through the Imp's forehead, momentarily pinning it to the back wall before it disintegrates into... candy? Walking over, you realize it looks like one of those American sweets Rudy is always talking about eating during lunch break at school. What were they called? ...Gooshers? Whatever the case, they seem to be some kind of currency for the game, absorbing into your legs when you walk near them.

    What now? You think about what the immediate threat might be. More of those Imp things? You'll need to get some of more small but chunky items in case you need to throw them at closer ranges due to your STRIFE SPECIBUS. Ascending once more, you decide to use your MANEKI NEKO, or BECKONING CAT. It's made of porcelain after all, so even if it shatters, it's hard and would make a great semi-glitterbomb of sorts. Reaching on your tiptoes, you move your hand around on the top of your WARDROBE, hoping to snag the hand when it flaps down. Of course, you trip on your own feet and headbutt the piece of furniture, causing it to slightly tip over, and your DARUMA to quickly slide off the edge.

    Before you can grab it, Kokeshisprite zips over, and a flash of light momentarily blinds you.

    Blinking away stars, you look down at the unharmed Beckoning Cat at your hands. You then look up at something new.

    DARUMASPRITE looks down at you. No longer is the Kokeshi doll's innocent face and flowery details seen. The round head is inked with animal patterns similar to a human's tattoos. One of the wooden thing's pupils is filled in, that being the left one. It wears a red-ish hood around it neck, currently pulled down, and looks as if it's staring at you, now with a certain hardness you were unaware of earlier. ​

    KIYO: Can…can you talk now?
    DARUMASPRITE: AHHHHH!
    KIYO: …are you okay?
    DARUMASPRITE: YES.
    DARUMASPRITE: I AM FINE.
    DARUMASPRITE: IT IS NOT EVERY DAY YOU BECOME ALIVE.
    KIYO: I suppose that makes sense.
    KIYO: So I assume that means that you are the Daruma I’ve had for about a year at this point.
    KIYO: So uh, do you know what you’ve become? You were absorbed by the other pink thing.
    DARUMASPRITE: OF COURSE I DO.
    DARUMASPRITE: I AM A SPRITE.
    DARUMASPRITE: A MYSTICAL BEING OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM.
    KIYO: A sprite. Hm.
    KIYO: You’re part of the tutorial-stuff of this game we’re playing, so I’m assuming you’re some sort of guide?
    DARUMASPRITE: YES.
    DARUMASPRITE: I WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT.
    KIYO: Enlightenment.
    KIYO: Is that the point of this game? To be ‘enlightened’?
    DARUMASPRITE: IN A SENSE.
    DARUMASPRITE: IT IS MANY THINGS.
    DARUMASPRITE: THE ULTIMATE RIDDLE IS ANOTHER.
    KIYO: So I’m assuming when you do that with your words (however you are doing that), that’s important information.
    KIYO: I do like puzzle games at the best of times. What’s the Riddle?
    DARUMASPRITE: THAT IS SOMETHING YOU MUST KNOW YOURSELF.
    DARUMASPRITE: KNOWLEDGE GAINED BY PASSING THROUGH THE SEVEN GATES.
    DARUMASPRITE: AND REACHING THE MOUNTAIN OF ENLIGHTENMENT THAT IS SKAIA.
    KIYO: So that’s the goal, then. Got it.
    KIYO: In the meantime, maybe you could explain what happened to the six of us?
    KIYO: Where are we, and what these machines are for?
    DARUMASPRITE: YOU ARE IN THE MEDIUM, A REALM BETWEEN THE BOUNDARIES OF LIGHT AND DARK.
    DARUMASPRITE: ALL OF THESE THINGS TOGETHER: THE MEDIUM, LIGHT, DARK, SKAIA.
    DARUMASPRITE: THESE ARE WHAT FORM THE INCIPISPHERE.
    DARUMASPRITE: THE MACHINES ARE THE TOOLS OF CREATIVITY AND KNOWLEDGE YOU WILL USE TO TRAVERSE THIS PLACE AND ASCEND.
    KIYO: So it sounds like I’ve got most of it.
    KIYO: This is a game. Enemies will spawn like that Imp thing, we have to ‘level-up’ with the Gates, and then ‘ascend’ or whatever to reach the Mountain.
    KIYO: What do you suggest I do first?
    DARUMASPRITE: CLIMB.
    DARUMASPRITE: THE FIRST GATE BECKONS.
    KIYO: I’ll probably have to ask Bria about that, then. Thanks for the tips, Darumasprite.
    KIYO: So, what will you be doing in the meanwhile?
    DARUMASPRITE: I WILL ASSIST YOU UNTIL YOU LEAVE THIS CRADLE OF IGNORANCE.
    DARUMASPRITE: BEYOND THE GATE YOU MUST BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY ON YOUR OWN.
    KIYO: Rude.
    KIYO: But I understand. Thank you    .

    This is useful. You know where you're going and know how to get there. At least, sort of. You'll have to contact Bria to get your house closer to the things above it, but you'll need to get a clear vantage point first. Getting on your bed, you jump and pull down the hatch that open to the roof, the dusty ladder sliding down with it. You thought you'd never have to use this after you first moved in, but here you are now. Climbing tentatively (and kicking another one of those Pitch Imps off of the roof, you enter the outside, and look around where your home is now located. It's mesmerizing in an odd way, especially the brewing storm in the sky.

    Looking straight up, several pink patterns hypnotically spin and pulse in a column. This will certainly take a while.    ​
     
    > Bria: Panic

    You will not! After all, you are not simply Bria. You are Princess Briallen! And a demon princess does not simply panic in the face of the unknown. She takes charge! She takes account of the damages and sets to putting things right. She does not have time to panic. You do not have time to panic.

    > Re-enter your house

    You will get your bearings in a moment. The game is very obviously connected to the calamity befalling earth, so your friends are in danger! You simply cannot let anything happen to them! A notification from Kiyo quickly informs you of who you will be aiding. You type out a quick reply, grab a towel and lass scamper down the hallway trying to dry yourself as quickly as possible. Then the door to your Dad’s study opens.

    DAD: Bria, is everything okay? I heard some crashing from out there
    BRIA: Everything’s just fine dad!
    DAD: Are you sure? I heard you yelling about something
    BRIA: Just knocked over a couple things, but it’s no big deal
    DAD: … If you’re sure.
    BRIA: I’m sure!
    DAD: Okay. Just remember, you don’t need to hide anything sweetie. I’ll always be here for you.

    You look back at the mess of your house. Of the papers scattered, and the snake ghost floating behind you. You look out the window to the alien world around you.

    BRIA: I know dad.

    The door creaks closed.

    > Abscond

    You rush over to your computer, and quickly connect to Kiyo. Eugh, you know peering within the home of another is essential to this game, but that does not mean you have to be comfortable with it. Within a minute or two, everything is set. You wish him luck and turn back to your messy room. Okay. Now you can figure out what’s happening here.

    > Converse with your new companion

    You look at the ghostly form of Mr. Slithers.

    BRIA: Mr. Slithers, my dear familiar! It’s seem that you’ve been resurrected into a rather ghostly form
    SLITHERSPRITE: Hisss
    BRIA: But it does not seem to have granted you speech
    BRIA: Somewhat disappointing
    SLITHERSSPRITE: Hisssssssss
    BRIA: I mean that as no insult
    BRIA: I just assume you are supposed to be aiding me in this game
    BRIA: And unfortunately I cannot decipher your hisses
    BRIA: Perhaps we can use morse code?
    SLITHERSSPRITE: 🐍 hissss!
    BRIA: You have a point, the time it would take is not worth it
    BRIA: This game obviously not one where one can simply dawdle
    SLITHERSSPRITE: Hiss
    BRIA: Okay, how about something simple. Two hisses if I should throw something else at you
    SLITHERSSPRITE: Hiss hiss

    > Find an appropriate item to prototype

    It is a very important mission, finding an item to help your familiar evolve. It is evident that the seizure orb took on the attributes of whatever was thrown in it, so you must take care not to choose something too strong willed. Or two chaotic.

    On your way out of the room you step on one of the fallen binders. You look down and immediately freak out because you’ve soiled your home by walking into it with shoes! After ripping off your shoes you check the cursive scrawled across the binder. It is the COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF PRINCESS BRIALLEN. As interesting an idea that is, you aren’t sure if the world could handle two Princesses of Eternal Night.

    You wander out into the living room and your eyes immediately land on the small portrait. You stare at it. And then you turn away. Never in a million years.

    Finally your eyes land on the GIRAFFE STATUE. You pick up the misshapen head. It is heavy in your hands, molded out of clay and painted with a patchy glaze. It’s not a character or an effigy of a person so it should leave Mr. Slither’s spirit intact. And as weird and badly made as it is… it’s kind of cute? In a derpy way? It will work well enough. You stare really hard at your familiar… You’ll prototype it in a moment

    > Look Outside

    Huh. As much as you call yourself Princess of Eternal Night, you’re actually a fan of sunlight. And you cannot see a single sliver of the sky… assuming that the normal sky exists in this location. Which might not be an assumption you can reasonably make.

    It’s still surprisingly pretty. Seems like something out of a storybook. Drifting on a giant lily pad through a fauna filled swamp… You also wish it wasn’t raining. How does it even rain if the sky is completely covered? Does the rain just slide through every layer of leaves and still manage to pour down on your house? Oh no, you’re going to have to go out there again, won’t you.

    > Check Memo

    – congruentGregarious [CG] AT 13:03 opened memo on board SIXSPACE –

    CG: Okay everyone, I think it’s time we talk
    CG: What’s everyone up to right now?
    GA: i was going to explore around and try and figure out where i am!!
    GA: since im obviously not home
    GA: well
    GA: my home isnt in its correct spot i should say hehe
    TA: Currently I am just trying to get my bearings
    TA: My house is similarly misplaced
    TA: Though I’m not sure if we are in the same locations, is anyone else in a swamp?
    CG: Hm. It seems like we’ve each landed somewhere different
    CG: I’m certainly not wherever Mari is, in festival land or something
    CG: Perhaps we were moved somewhere else on Earth?
    CG: I’m personally in some mesa-esque desert.
    GA: maybe we’re in different levels?
    GA: like how mario would have an ice world and a water one!
    GA: although idk why we wouldnt start together?
    TA: That’s most likely part of the challenge
    TA: Having to explore our separate areas to find each other again
    CG: Maybe this is because we had to do it in a chain?
    CG: We each take a level starting from the first person?
    CG: Depends on who traveled to their plane first, then

    Well then, you have no time to waste! The less time you all spend isolated from each other the better. Especially is this is a combat oriented game.

    Speaking of combat, you check your PENKIND strife deck. At the time you had no need for combat, so most of the items there aren’t the best weapons. Your strife deck currently contains a METAL DIP PEN, a simple metal fountain pen with changeable nibs, an EYELINER PEN, which you are not going to fight with (what if you can’t get more? This is your favorite brand) and PEN OF SHAME (x3), which are a bunch of cheap ballpoint pens (that aren’t even in your color). The Metal Dip Pen would probably work best as a weapon, but you suppose the Pens of Shame could come in handy. Mostly because they are very badly made and will probably burst if you throw them hard enough.

    > Prototype Sprite

    Yes, enough stalling. You call over SLITHESSPRITE and apologize in advance for any side effects. Then you chuck the GIRAFFE STATUE HEAD at your red ghost snake.
     
    > be Rudy


    You come back to Rudy, standing admist a collection of fruit gushers that become schlorped into the metaphysical bank that stands to be somewhere you have no perception of. Which is good, givein he would have eaten one by now and that would be a comeplete waste. You were just talking to your buddy Saul and generally been quite good at this whole "Suddenly spawning enemies possibly ambushing you at any moment" thing. They could be annoying and they schlorp all over the place but their nice enough not to leave the pitch around.

    That said. Your big ol boofy buddy is back!

    Rudy: Dog! Your back buddy!
    Dogsprite: BORF
    Rudy: Whos a good boy? Whos a good ghost Dog!?
    Dogsprite: BORF BORF BORF

    Ah, the love of a young boy and his currently undeceased-ish Dog.

    it would be heart touching if he wasn't half finished. You half attentively finish up your texts with Saul and then toss your spear towards him, he always loved fetch! You aim your toss and then with a mighty heave your... Good buddy catches it!

    What a good Dog!

    Wait no he was supposed to absorb it.

    Ah shoot, phones going off, yes you want another throw but give me a second okay buddy?

    ...Ah who are you kidding you can throw and text.

    '
    CT: KICKIN ASS AND TOSSING TRASH!!!
    CT: HEAD IN THE CLOUDS!
    CT: WOOOOOOOOOOOO!
    GA: … huh?
    CT: I’m in the clouds! So high up i can’t see the stuff below!
    CT: If there is anything there?
    CT: Idk but man this place is wiiiicked.
    GA: oh!!
    GA: that sounds super pretty!!
    CG: Everyone, I’ve got some updates from my Sprite
    CG: That’s what those ghostly spirit things are that are with you
    CG: And I think I know what the game is about, or at least the goal.
    CG: We’re in some place called the Medium, which is where I assume all of our different ‘levels’ are located.
    CG: We’re supposed to fight, level-up (or something like that), and reach some cool mountain of enlightenment called Skaia.
    CT: Gottchyea CG, reap those execution points and grow that love.
    CG: Haha, very funny, Rowdy.
    CT: hey it’s not like this is in any way connected to that game, so, uhh, we’re good. Plus i’d be screwed already i think I’m up to five. Not lvl yet, but still, oh shoot I gotta build for Saul.
    CT: Also Dog is back and wont absorb a spear hes just playing fetch.
    CT: Such a good boy.
    CT: He’s as BOOFY as I remember.

    ​


    You go up the same way as last time, all but ignoring the holy rules of Strife on the way, you make your way up to your room in record time, the new entry way made by Dog's descent that had a trap door to just under your bed was, for all intents and purposes, neat and really handy!

    Dog follows, surprisingly, but also not quite as much as he lost quite abit of weight being a ghost. But hes still as Boofy, yes he is, your big ol' Boofy baby boy! As you walked towards your computer, an OCCURRENCE! it seemed the issues happening all around ended up moving that Ouija board you had on the floor, well, maybe it did, or maybe the hidden motors in it were acting up? Anyways with an errant footfall your foot steps upon it, causing you to slip and fall face first into the wood floor of your room and sending the board high into the air, impacting your loyal friend!!

    ​
     
    > Mari: Put Tomboy’s photo into the sprite.

    The MANNEQUINSPRITE evolves, it's faceless head shifting and morphing into...!

    A faceless head with a picture stuck onto it with a pin. Great.    ​

    TOMBOYSPRITE: Meow.

    The CAT IN THE PHOTOGRAPH moves as it "speaks" like an animated SHADOWBOX.

    > Bria: Prototype sprite.

    SLITHERSSPRITE metamorphizes, gaining the SPOTS and OSSICONES of the ungulate, taking on a somewhat COMICAL APPEARANCE between it's liminal states.    ​

    SLITHERSSPRITE: Hiss!

    > Rudy: Uh-oh.

    DOGSPRITE mutates, eyes going blank and small flame-like wisps floating around him as your BELOVED PET becomes a channeler of the DEPARTED.    ​

    DOGSPRITE: BORF (spooky)
     
    ===> Saul: Stop spacing out

    Oh. Dag. You were typing in one of your word documents, talking about statistical probability and the idea of a possible formula you could craft for determining what certain captcha codes indicated about objects if you cross referenced a couple thousand captcha codes in an excel sheet. But you realize that you really don't have that kind of time. Then again, last you saw the earth it was was being pelted by apocalyptic meteors. The world was ablaze, and death was very certain for everyone but the people who could get away with the game. You, your best friends and your br-cough. You all got away with your lives as far as you're aware.

    ​
    GC: Oh god i missed a lot of your messages
    GC: Haha, sorry, i sorta...spaced out
    GC: Uh, yes, medium, gates, sprites, i figured it out a little while ago from mine
    GC: Also did you all know we can do alchemy with our build grist we collect and not just build up our houses?
    GC: I figured out how to do it by punching cards using the ‘punch designix’
    GC: There are numerous kinds of build grist, and variously differently quantified arrays of grist are used to make different items which you can combine to create new things
    GC: I wrote a whole doc on it for ease of access, it has some theoretical ‘appendices’ regarding how far it can go and some of my theories of what we could do with it across our session by using codes
    GC: But yes, I have to recommend you upgrade weapons, or the imps are gonna be the hardest thing you can kill
    GC: Oh! and i’m in a snowy area! ice levels are the best!

    So you guess you kind of have all the time in the world. Until you die that is. But, some things have to be prioritized. You need to explore this strange world. You synthesize your FLAME SHOVEL, ITO JAMA WINTER WEAR and EYETOP SPECS. The lattermost object is much more cumbersome and harmful than you were anticipating. Yeah, no, you don't know what you were thinking imagining it would be a good idea to strain your eyes for the sake of communicating hands free when a bluetooth option would be much better.

    ===> Saul: Ascend, but not really

    You ascend! But not really. You climb atop Rudy's annoying ass MC Esher stairs for a few grappling minutes, feeling rather slick in your low tier creamcicle winter outfit and with a little upgrade to your shovel, you feel confident with a dozen or so imp kills under your belt. Until you see a giant SKELETAL OGRE blocking your path to the first gate. This is not good. That thing is.....way too big for you to behead. You run a few simulations through your head, and each of them wind up with you dead. You could get some edge on it with a surprise attack, but the damage would be tremendous, you wouldn't be able to get enough hits in without getting smashed clear into next week.

    Hm. You scurry down the shitty stairs and to your BATHROOM. Christ you hope you don't have to go to the bathroom anytime soon with that crushed toilet. You reach down and pull out BARBASOL SHAVING CREAM (Aloe). Your broth-nevermind. You alchemize it a few times to recreate it, now totaling 10 CANISTERS. You ceran wrap tape them together, cracking the lids off of each so their aerosol is less regulated. You then grab some GASOLINE out of the utility closet, and take down the CURTAINS from your living room, ripping them up and soaking them in the canister for a little while. You tie the curtains to the barbasol assortment, and rise up to the top floor of the SHITTY MC ESHER STAIRS.

    You wait for the ogre to move for a while, and study his pattern. How long it takes to react to stimuli you test by tossing a paper plane at its feet. You measured how long it took him to pick up and try to eat the paper plane. 8.67 seconds. Very slow. It stares in each cardinal direction with a sort of stock inactive animation for intervals of 4.43 seconds. Leaving you a 13.29 second window to enact your plan. As it immediately turns to face away from your side of the house, you roll the BARBABOMB over to its feet, still tethered by the cloth gasoline soaked rope. You duck quietly behind your wall, clutching the end tightly enough that gasoline drips onto your shoe. You count, very meticulously, and then, without hearing it sniff but KNOWING it to sniff the gas on the barbabomb, you STRIKE your shovel and light it ablaze.

    KABOOM.

    Who knew shaving cream could be so flammable?

    You did.

    Because of him.

    ===> Saul: Enter gate​
     
    > Mari: Converse with Tomboysprite!​

    MARI: tomboy??? :O
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Purr purr purr.
    MARI: :O :O :O
    MARI: youre sorta here! which works for me hehe
    MARI: although im assuming you're still just a cat so... you cant really talk haha
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Purrrrrrrrrr.
    MARI: hehe figures
    MARI: well its nice to have you back :)
    MARI: alright, well wanna help me figure out this game?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: :3
    MARI: sweet! lets go!!!
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Meow.

    > Mari: Strife!

    Wait, what? Oh shit there’s a Pitch Imp there. When did that get in here??? That must be an enemy considering the health bar above it. Alright, well you guess it’s time to strife!

    Twirling your scissors around your finger for a moment, you brandish your weapon and leap off of your bed and into action! Wasting no time, you strike the Imp with a quick stab. It quickly retaliates, clawing at you! While it hurt, it didn’t draw blood.

    Back and forth, you trade blows with the creature, finding yourself cornered… but you won’t back down now. You push your scissors forward for another stab, opening the blades as the Imp falls into a pile of GRIST… you’re gonna need better scissors.

    > Mari: Alchemize!

    Hmmm, maybe you can make some better stuff with those machines? You made the generic object earlier… so maybe if you just… aha!

    After some messing around, you come up with a few upgrades and new items!

    You create a handful of new OVERALL SKIRTS like the one you have but with different patterns and some DRESSES. This thing sure is nifty… not as fun as actually sewing, but it certainly speeds up the process!
    You also upgrade your SCISSORS! You alchemize them with one of your drawing pages of constellations to create STAR SCISSORS! They definitely seem stronger and are much bigger.

    Let’s check in with someone else while Mari tests her new weapon out and works her way up to the gate, yeah?    ​
     
    > It's a bird, it's a plane

    No, it's an arrow flying through the air and impaling two Pitch Imps at once. You watch the glint of steel appear as the slimy black creatures on the porch pop into grist and begin making your way off of the roof.

    It's been a few hours since you spoke to Darumasprite and looked up at the Gates spiraling above your home. The storm doesn't seem to have changed at all, but the climate isn't anything too cumbersome, even wearing your school uniform. You stop for a second in your bedroom, building a few extra rooms and balconies for Mari with what she has as she re-invents fast fashion in her own room.

    You make your way down past the second floor, and arrive at the first, noticing the absence of anyone else not involved with SBURB. Your mother... where has she gone? You're starting to get a bit concerned, but you don't know if that's part of the game or not. Maybe she was sent somewhere else? For all you know, she's playing a game of her own elsewhere. With these thoughts in mind, you open the door into the first-floor store space, passing by the register and exiting the glass front.

    You pick up the arrow you had used, and slid it back into your quiver, tapping some of the pitch off onto the red rocks below. Absorbing the materials below, you wonder if you've got enough to try that alchemy thing that Saul mentioned on that memo. You feel content about it, so you might give it a whack.

    A few minutes later, you're back in your room, having gotten an inventory of some items you'll try and alchemize.

    You first try out combing your main weapon, that being your Sturdy Bow and some of your Steel Practice Arrows, with some things. First, you utilize that Purple Wondermaker Yo-Yo. You get the VIOLET WONDERPALER BOW and the SPIRALSTRING ARROWS. Neat, but not completely useful since it's just a color and material change for the bow, and less strength on the arrows. Looking down at your neck, you remove your camera, and try that. You get the KODAK TACTICAL SNAP-SHOT, as well as FLASH ARROWS which appear to be made of tempered glass. Now this is useful. You equip it right away.

    Next, you feel a bit inspired by Mari and decide to work on some new clothing with your cool tool. Opening your wardrobe, you look at your odd assortment of clothes that you have over the years, as well as your pinboard with several enamel pins you've collected. You decide instead of combing your whole outfit with a few things, to do in separately for a more balanced set-up. Despite the oddity of the weapon, you do like the design of that plastic bow you made, so you combine the yo-yo and your black tie to make the WONDERCLIPPER GENTLEMAN, which is the same tie but with a stylish white and purple design that matches the yin-yang pin on your blazer. Combining your ALL JAPAN ARCHER'S FEDERATION poster and your sweater vest, you get the SHARPEYE COMFORT, a mix between the vest and a long-sleeved shirt with dense material on the sleeves like official archery uniforms.

    You haven't used that much grist with the few items you've made, so you try a few more combinations before getting back to business. Combining your mobile phone and glasses gets you the PURPLEVISION SPECS, which surprisingly don't hurt your eyes as much as you thought they would. Wondering how food reacts with alchemy, you combine a box of POCKY with your MAC TONIGHT figurine to create the MOONLIGHT CREME flavor, complete with Mac on the box wearing a summer yukata. Finally, you want to see if you can make your tech more accessible. Combing your Nintendo Wii with your phone makes the NINTEDO HANDII, which is a tablet-sized console and cellular device that can fold into a smaller screen if needed. This is good, but not the best. You next combine your DESKTOP COMPUTER set-up with the Nintendo Handii, and create the DOUBLE TOPHAND, a dual-screened modular handheld device that can be pulled to the size of an average tablet, but has the programs of both your phone, desktop computer, and Wii. You think you probably combine your game discs with USBs or something to play them in this device, but now is not the time.

    You stand on the second floor of your home, holding your new weapon, wearing your new gear, and reading to take more of those viscous monstrosities to the ground.     ​
     
    > What dah Rudy doin'?

    Unsuprisingly, hes at his computer, building up his friends house. It is, my most intents and purposes, abit of a haywire event, given the fact he had to also avoid Saul. You don't wana squish your bro, but it also kinda made the house look like that one art piece that has stairs going... Everywhere?

    You're learning, and Saul is making alotta headway. Wait, you should probably get moving yourself. Maybe? Eeeeeh.

    Now whats he doing? Oh neat, hes fiddling around woth the machines. Look at him goo!

    ....

    Oh shit thats how its done?

    Duuuuude you can mix stuff like that? Okay, you gotta get that shit goin!

    > Get your mixology degree

    The trouble was findung things, but it didn't take much time, it just took alot of imp splatterings. You should watch out too you saw a few big bois in Saul's world is comes to think they would be around for you. You give your spear to a nearby imp to hold point first as you collect up a mounted deer head, grab your, very much unused, Totally not a cultist Robe. Oh hey, Mom's knife.

    Wonder where she went, the knife seems bloodier than normal today.

    For good measure, you get a grab bag of several things and set off to the machines....

    You fail for sometime.

    It was actually abit painful to watch as you stack similar totems up and forget often if you did a combo already. The dowels stack up, but you manage to get DUAL ANTLER MANGLERS for spears, they are abit heavy but also abit cool, having deer heads atop of sticks is kinda par for the course around here but hey, the stats don't lie.

    you mix the deer head with the robes to get THE ROBES OF THE DEER KING which sound cooler than they are statswise.

    But man they're cool. Robes, deer skull, general drsire for bloodshed.

    Why not more deer stuff?

    Buck Knife.

    Deer thermos.

    Sharpthermos.

    Spooky Knife, ouija boards and mom's knife sounded cooler than it came out. It just whispers ominously, you still can't find the speaker on it.

    You found the stuff headless bear statue in your living room from that time Mom's trap blew one up and mixed it together to get the comeplete CHIMERADEER statue!

    lots of fun!

    Look at you, you look like a proper hero now! It was time to do hero stuff and go on up!

    > Rudy: Ascend

    It was a tough climb to be certain, but your new gear makes short work of most things. What doesn't is BORFed at by Dog who never left you alone. Best friends.

    Till death do you part ain't got shit on you and him.

    But, with the gate so close by... One big thing stands betwren you and the gate.

    A big boi.

    An ogre. Made of Asphault. It looks... Still kinda goopey. Kinda stone, but also not, the gigantic beast stands far and above Rudy, the lumbering beast a testament to the trials he had passed thusfar. The trial befote the first gate, if he will sink or swim, is all decided now.

    The holy words descend from above, and the battle begins proper, Rudy in his shadowed garb, the Ogre with home field advantage.

    The words hit their resting place and battle begins.

    > Strife!

    Rudy rushed forth in his usual manner, attempting to score a first blow upon the creature who rears up a fist and-

    Connects directly into the antlered visage of the young man, puntung him straight back and into a flat wall that ha been raised to continue skyward ascent, the young man plaped against the flat surface and fell to the ground, where he unfortunately began to fall further down the stairs. He made the sounds of flop and slapping all the way down until he reached the floor beneath, having bounced off a supporting pillar to stop his final roll.

    There he lay upon the ground in a crumpled mess.

    A small bloody mess. Wimpering lightly, a pitiable sound, but one of life nonetheless.​
     
    > Mari: Better Call Saul

    And by that, you mean message him! You can’t help but wonder how he’s doing and where he is. Everyone seems to be in such different places, you wanna know more!! Plus, snow sounds so fun and peaceful!!     ​

    GA: saul!!
    GA: how has the game been going for you?
    GC: Crazy!
    GC: I uh, have been having a rough time
    GC: And then a great time, actually
    GA: see? i knew you could do it!!
    GA: what did you put into YOUR sprite?
    GC: Oh, a teapot and a ito figurine
    GC: how about you?
    GA: ooo
    GA: well the first thing was a complete accident to be honest
    GA: i tripped and knocked over one of my sewing standees and it fell into the sprite
    GA: so it had a... creepy lifeless face hehe
    GC: That is very creepy
    GC: The teapot was an accident too, sadly
    GC: But she does make a mean cup of earl gray now though, so, tomatoe tomato
    GA: oh! happy accident then!
    GA: and then i put a picture of my old cat into the sprite and
    GA: the polaroid was just stuck onto the faceless mannequin head with like... tape
    GA: but he was moving in it and meowed! so i guess it worked :)
    GC: That sounds....just as creepy as before
    GC: Actually maybe a little more creepy
    GC: Oh, and i blew an ogre up
    GA: aw noo its not creepy at all! hes really sweet!!
    GA: and better than no face imo
    GA: and
    GA: you what
    GC: I dunno, i'd find it disturbing
    GC: Then again i never really had any pets as a kid
    GC: Oh, and yeah
    GC: I taped some shaving cream cans together and lit them on fire and threw it at it
    GC: No big deal
    GA: WHJAT
    GA: WA/????
    GC: Yeah!
    GC: I learned how to make them from
    GC: Well, from my brother
    GC: He's.....mh, well, he's himself, and he's difficult to get along with a lot of the time
    GC: We don't even really speak much nowadays
    GC: But he showed me a long time ago
    GA: thats
    GA: wild
    GA: i uh
    GA: upgraded my scissors? not as intense but
    GC: I do love your strife specibus
    GC: It's so much cooler than mine
    GC: I don't exactly like shovels so much as I just like having an extra inventory slot when i'm gardening
    GC: But now i guess i'm stuck with em, haha
    GA: hehe, thank you! but hey, yours works for what it needs to!!
    GA: and i think working is better than being 'cool' :P
    GC: Aw, well
    GC: I kinda missed the mark on being 'cool' a while ago
    GC: Not that that's really a bad thing, i'm pretty fine with being a dork
    GC: So, what's your world like?
    GA: well if it means anything to you, i think youre pretty cool! :) just not in a stereotypical way
    GA: its super super dark, but theres fireworks all the time! its very pretty tbh :O
    GA: i wanna see where the fireworks are coming from
    GC: It's cold here
    GC: It's snowing, and there are aurora like gas clouds above me, so there's beuatiful iridescent lights like all teh time
    GA: :OOOOO
    GA: that sounds beautiful!!!
    GA: i wish i could see it
    GC: Well, maybe sometime soon you can!
    GC: I have no idea how these gates work, but maybe we can eplore each other's worlds like stages in a video game?
    GC: Who knows
    GA: hopefully!!
    GA: OOOH if we can that means we'll get to meet everyone in PERSON!
    GA: oooh im excited now!!
    GC: I mean this game can warp space in real time so
    GC: What can't it do, you know?
    GA: good point LOL
    GA: Oooh you could show me your garden!!!
    GC: It'sa little smashed, sadly
    GC: Thanks to rudy's hasty but well appreciated controls
    GA: aw no :(
    GA: maybe once we get a break you can build it back up better than ever!
    GC: Maybe....but for right now i'm pretty determined to keep exploring
    GC: After all, this game is pretty strange but also really enticing
    GA: true!! but we'll have to a break eventually. you cant press forward indefinitely!
    GC: Yeah, yeah
    GC: Trust me if i feel burnt out i wont keep going
    GC: You don't have to be so worried about me all the time
    GC: Besides, what are you planning on doing?
    GA: sorry, sorry! this has just been so exciting and so nerve-racking! for as fun as its been, its also put me a little bit on edge
    GA: well, i was gonna try out my new scissors. theyre a bit bigger than before!
    GA: oh, and climb upwards! kiyo has built a lot up for me, so ill have to check out what he's done!
    GC: Ahhh! exciting
    GC: Im cautiously optimistic about this whole game
    GC: It seems dangerous but also like its exactly what i need right now
    GC: Be careful, Mari
    GA: I will!! :)

    > Mari: Ponder next move

    Saul mentioned orges… and some of the enemies ahead seem very strong. Did you upgrade enough? Definitely not too much, considering that you only altered your scissors once. You turn to Tomboysprite, brow furrowed as you think out loud.     ​

    MARI: hmmmm
    MARI: hmmmmmm
    MARI: hmmmmmmmmm
    MARI: these new scissors are definitely stronger than the last pair, but looking up I can see some real big baddies towards the gate thingy...
    MARI: should I keep upgrading...? Or am I worrying about it too much??
    MARI: hmmmm
    MARI: what do you think tomboy?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: :3
    MARI: you raise a good point there
    MARI: I guess I can keep going and if it gets too tough I can upgrade my stuff again!
    MARI: ooh I can't wait to see what's through the portal!
    MARI: the fireworks are soooo pretty
    MARI: although I guess they're pretty loud for you, huh?
    MARI: or maybe not. because of the mannequin head hehe
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Meow.
    MARI: meow meow?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: No just meow.
    MARI: wh
    MARI: did you just talk
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Yes!
    TOMBOYSPRITE: I did!
    MARI:
    MARI:
    MARI: EEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
    MARI: hi tomboy!!!!! why didn't you tell me you could talk earlier??
    TOMBOYSPRITE: You didn't ask.
    MARI: I mean
    MARI: I guess I didn't directly!
    MARI: ah well, who cares???? You!! Can talk!!!!!
    MARI: I missed you so much tomboy!!!!
    MARI: ummm regarding what I was talking about before with potentially not being strong enough
    MARI: do you have any advice on that?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Meow.
    MARI: it's ok take your time
    TOMBOYSPRITE: :3
    MARI:
    MARI: so no advice?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: My opinion?
    TOMBOYSPRITE: Make tuna!
    MARI: hmmmm
    MARI: do you know if there's tuna through the portal? :)
    TOMBOYSPRITE: No idea!
    MARI: darn!
    MARI: well, stick with me for now! nan will have a fit if you get into the pantry hehe
    MARI: or I guess I should say... nyan? Hehehehe
    TOMBOYSPRITE: :3
    MARI: oh! but first

    You make sure that the area is clear of imps before pulling out your laptop. Sitting on the cold ground, the warmth of the laptop is a welcome comfort. You tab over to SBURB and get to work on building Lacy’s home up!

    You’re very careful with your building, ensuring that you don’t break any of her family’s possessions or generally destroy anything. With each platform up, you try to make it look nice. Which is a bit of a lost cause considering the simple tools currently at your disposal, but you certainly try!

    Once you finish building up to the first gate, you smile and hum, pleased with your work. Quickly packing your laptop back up, you get ready for more combat.

    While you’re learning to fight the imps, you’re slowly growing more confident in battle. It isn’t natural to you, but you’re learning! And the new scissors ARE helping. But as you climb higher and higher, the enemies get stronger. And the orge… you haven’t seen it yet, but you can’t help that you’re intimidated by it.

    You continue your ascension, keeping an eye out for the orge.    ​
     
    > Kiyo: Engage in jolly confrontation.

    After dispatching a few PITCH IMPS, you have managed to climb higher and higher through your home's newly-added levels with the assistance of DARUMASPRITE. You reach the current HIGHEST POINT, located just below the FIRST GATE. You are about to ASCEND when you hear a rumpus behind you. You turn around and... uh-oh.

    A large ASPHALT OGRE looms over you, ready to THROW DOWN.

    > Rudy: ...?

    Well, THAT hurt.

    Luckily for you, it's like your Mom always says: Nothing has a higher tensile strength than BONES OF CHILDREN. Okay, maybe she never said that, but the point still stands, you are surprisingly MOSTLY FINE.

    > Mari: Climb to the highest point of the house.

    You climb higher, dealing with the IMPS along the way, aided by your BELOVED PET. You've gotten pretty HIGH UP at this point, there is a little bit of a BREEZE here as you clear to the open platform atop your home. As you poke your head up the staircase, you see guarding the gate is an ASPHALT OGRE, standing mindlessly and goopily below your goal.

    TOMBOYSPRITE hisses.

    > Saul: Enter first gate.

    After collecting the GRIST from your strife, you jump into the FIRST GATE. Leaving your CRADLE OF IGNORANCE, the gate sends you away, further into the WINTER WONDERLAND you find yourself in.

    You are standing in a VAST TUNDRA, jagged mountains of BLUE CRYSTAL emerge for the fields of snow, frozen RIVERS and LAKES crisscross the landscape. LARGE BITE MARKS cover the CANDY CANE TREES while GINGERBREAD CABINS lie in half-eaten ruin. The CLOUDS OF LUMINOUS GASSES above swirl and shift, taking on PURPLE and YELLOW hues. You swear you could almost see shapes in them. Almost. Far off in the distance, you can see a plume of SMOKE coming from behind some of the MOUNTAINS. A strange PURPLE LIFE-FORM walks on it's small hind legs and massive GORILLA-LIKE arms at the frozen river nearby.

    A string of TEXT appears at the top of your vision, informing you of the name of this place.

    You have entered the LAND OF DREAMS, SAPPHIRE, AND SNOW.    ​
     
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