...
I just realized that the best outcome for [DEZ] is to kill and eat Vittorio. (The rest past so she gets his Necro tech. Remember the death beacon animation showing others eating the corpse. Yup. That's [Dez]'s future if she wants to live.) Luckily, Vittorio looks like the perfect target for someone's first blood. No one will miss him, afterall.

>>1100326
Where is that guy? Maybe they have leads on other necrotech we can use to give us an edge

>>1100386
hey osspal LOVE the out of the box thinking. do not love the long-term projections on the "hey how about we actually do the thing everyone's pissed off at us for that we didn't do, yet, just to catch the people who weren't pissed off yet" plan. don't want those quences on my cons till we suffer, y'know?

(sidenote, do we have a read on how much the other techs like Vito? I'm getting... "not massively" from the whole "hey does nobody trust me to handle this" biz. probs some of them would wild out just on principle if we did kill him though so I still don't recommend it.)

>>1100387
I was more thinking we could throw them to the wolves, but yeah, I guess getting info is important too.

>>1100386
No! Absolutely not! I'm drawing the line at murder! Are you serious right now?!

>>1100389
please do not kill or fuck over vito hes just a slutty lil guy

>>1100391

I'm pretty sure murder is like a huge part of what we do/did. If we are to make DEZ into a proper Necrotech we gotta be with it!

But again, I'm pretty sure Vittorio would kick our ass.

>>1100364

You know what, thats fair. I do think it is too soon for a get to know each other with VEIL rn though. Distraction now, heartfelt talk later?

By the way Dez, we don't remember how revival actually works, but if it's viable I promise we'll try and bring you back if you get killed. <3

Hey new idea. So we had a quick popup of GLAIVE when we scanned that didnt repeat....

Can we [SCAN] the Osspop for any new members? Any GLAIVE shaped new members?

>>1100388
Vittorio appears to be despised by the local Necrotechs. Even Glaive didn't like him. There's clear history here, he had to have done something *heinous* in the past.

Also, no one is pissed off at us! The local Necro community sees us as victims within the larger tragedy that is [Glaive]'s demise. Veil and Vittorio are coming to rescue us, albeit for their own reasons. Us deciding to help [DEZ] at all is technically us going rogue.
It's barely been five minutes since [DEZ] put us in, and she's already marked for death and being hunted. The necro's hunting her don't even have a problem with her, it's just that we're in her brain, and if we're to be removed it appears that it must be done... Very physically.
Given her lacklustre capabilities and what she's up against, I can't see [DEZ] surviving unless she techs-up, and fast. We don't know if her black market dealer has the rest of [GLAIVE]'s body and techs, attempting to rob him may be a dead end. We do know that Vittorio is coming, though. We also know he's a horny bastard who thinks [DEZ] is fine, if that reaction to their picture is anything to go by. Vittorio will surely attempt to kill [DEZ] given his desire to "Fix" the situation, but there's a good chance he can be convinced to "play" a little, it's then we can strike.

In theory we could just have [DEZ] evade and lay low, but I don't think [DEZ] is capable of doing that, given their personality.

>>1100391
The way I'm reading it, it's a kill or be killed situation right now. You know the primary function of us Ossuaries is to keep our charges mentally stable and functional, right? Why do you think that is? Why are we necessary?
Our charges live hand in hand with death. It is a traumatic, inhuman experience. [DEZ] doesn't have a normal life anymore. These people are out to kill her and they don't even treat it like it's a big deal. It's like it's a normal Tuesday evening for them. This is the world [DEZ] must adapt to to survive. They don't have the luxury to even refer to it as "Murder" anymore. There is now only death. It's up to [DEZ] if they want to bring it to others, or embrace it themselves.

Definitly keep "be mega gay/hot/sad" as a last-ditch plan. It *might* save you or cause hesitation, but I doubt it.

A much better plan is avoiding notice until VEIL calms down, or until you can forward her info about the people actually involved in GLAIVE's death or disassembly.

If Dez were as good at jumping as we are at jumping to conclusions, she might seek shelter on the moon.

oh no oh shit [VEIL] is super cute ahhhh i'm so sorry queen
uhhhh well i for one want to keep [DEZ] alive since that means we'll be alive-ish and also I just kinda like them. gotta respect the go-getter nature of seeing people with cool shit going on and deciding to get in on the action.
do necrotechs have powers? can we give [DEZ] powers? i don't think we're gonna be able to fight or talk our way out of this.
also don't send meat pics to [VITTORIO] he seems funny and manipulable but i got a bad feeling in my undefined-ghost-creature-gut-space.

>>1100520
That would be a great place to lay low, tho!

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:56 No. 1101160 ID: 2620c6
File 173402621034.png - (949.75KB , 1920x1080 , 37.png )

Slowly, slowly, our user moves backwards.

Dez listens as we squabble and debate, slowly moving their way towards the back of the club, where the thicket of revelry hasn’t yet been penetrated by the reality of what’s unfolding up front. Some of us note with some bemusement that they are still simultaneously Posting Through It, despite the escalation of our current circumstances (or perhaps because of it). Now and then, snippets of our disagreements seem to catch their attention.

>Veil, out of all necrotechs, is the most likely to be partial to us, and Vit's ossuary is talking about how long a head can stay alive chopped off someone's body.
>So the choice is between someone who looks vaguely threatening but has proof of being partial to us, or someone who has casually sent us death threats. None of you thought to inform the meat of that, by the way?

[DEZ] They’re talking about WHAT?!?
[DEZ] Oh my god! You guys are the fucking worst!
[DEZ] If you guys are going to be sneaking around talking to other ossuaries behind my back, please at least give me a fucking ACCURATE rundown of what they’re SAYING!


They go back to sneaking away in a huff, nearly vibrating with indignation.

[DEZ] Trying to get help from that guy is OFF. The TABLE.
[DEZ] I like my head where it is, thank you!

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:57 No. 1101161 ID: 2620c6
File 173402623919.png - (796.51KB , 1920x1080 , 38.png )

>What do you mean our old meat used to have a death beam, a carapace, and a strap, and the best our new meat's got is like, extended shins? I'm sorry to say this, guys, but Veil is never going to fuck us.

[DEZ] STOP BEING MEAN TO MEEEEEEEEE

[DEZ] Wait. Wait. I mean, it doesn’t matter!
[DEZ] I do not like the idea of trying to reason with Veil, either!!
[DEZ] She’s fucking SCARY!!!

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:57 No. 1101162 ID: 2620c6
File 173402627741.png - (2.55MB , 1920x1080 , 39.png )

In fairness, she is.

As Dez creeps backwards into the crowd, Veil creeps forward. She is moving slowly, with great deliberation. The rest of the crowd seems to have more or less the same strategy as us, held together with that tenuous pack-animal instinct that is weak in humans on the best of days, but still present: everyone is silent, and most are still, and those who are risking movement are careful to keep it slower than that of the predator weaving between them.

Her feet clink against the floor tiles, the sound icy and light. We — that is to say, Dez — can hear her joints straining and stretching and clicking back into place. That seems impossible in the press of this chilled crowd, with music still pounding from the back half of the club, but even unaugmented, it’s incredible the ways the human body will strain when forced to acknowledge itself as prey.

[VEIL] “I know you’re here.”
[VEIL] “Dez.”

Her voice is a low, fluid rasp. Silk snagging on stone. We’ve never heard it before and we know it very well. Dez presses a hand over their own mouth.

[VEIL] “You’ve stolen something very important.”
[VEIL] “You should not have it.”

For a moment we wonder why she can’t just scan and pick us out. Then we feel a wash of useful remembrance; she’s never been good at this. Never cared to know anyone’s particular locations, never cared to pinpoint or check on other techs, never cared to keep tabs. Resented, even, the constant lack of privacy. Always lacked the finer tunings, always poured her time and flesh into the body, not the humming network of awareness a body can channel; there’s nothing but bodies here, hot and thrumming and terrified, and she could reduce them all to inert gore in moments, but lacks the delicacy to sort through them first.

Probably. Every flicker of recollection like that comes and goes and in its wake leaves uncertainty. Memory fails.

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:58 No. 1101163 ID: 2620c6
File 173402631971.png - (1.71MB , 1920x1080 , 40.png )

The crowd is parting around Veil more rapidly, now, stumbling and scattering away from her, a fearful tide. One disoriented dancer takes too long to pull away, and Veil rounds on them with a snarl that startles the bodies around her back in a panicked ripple, all of them breathing and scrambling and whimpering as one animal. Her claws flex, twitch. She does not strike.

[VEIL] “I will flood this place with blood,”

Veil continues. There is a strain at the edges of her voice, a vibration. It feels presumptuous to call it desperation, but no other word steps up to fill the space.

[VEIL] “I will scatter flesh from wall to wall.”
[VEIL] “I will.”

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:59 No. 1101164 ID: 2620c6
File 173402634073.png - (1.03MB , 1920x1080 , 41.png )

We’re lucky that, tethered as we are, planning can be done at the speed of thought. We all convene, tamping down Dez’s panic — bickering, as always, but at least bickering productively. Our focus divides, and we pull, we probe, we plan. It feels good to do it. It’s what an ossuary is for.

>Hey, hang on, does that mean that part of Glaive's soul got stuck in the ossuary when she died?
>Could the being that is [GLAIVE] currently be living on as memories within [DEZ] now? Could [GLAIVE] have stumbled into being an ossuary citizen, here among us?
>Can we [SCAN] the Osspop for any new members? Any GLAIVE shaped new members?

It’s massively unlikely. Ossuaries are built and populated by a long and delicate and sacred process all their own, not simply comprised of the swept-up detritus of recently liberated souls, caught and funneled like fireflies in a jar. But it’s not an exact science — no necrotechnology is — and stranger things have happened. Stranger things DO happen.

So a few of us cast around; we quickly realize it’s impossible. The oss is fluid, and though we may be contained in and around Dez’s body and soul, to us that’s vast. To take inventory would be like counting particles of smoke; by the time we reach one corner of Dez, any single individual may have slipped away to some other recess of her. Individuals melt in and out, indistinguishable from each other.

We want to believe, given Veil’s panic, that if Glaive were here she would make herself known. We want to believe, given our abandonment, that if Glaive were here she would step up to guide us.

What do we really know, though? Though we shouldn’t have expected much, those of us who probed along this line come away unnerved.

>By the way, did you happen to see if the guy who sold us to you is still inside the club?
>tho yeah, *is* that guy who sold you the oss still in here??? where did he even get it??? does HE know where glaive's body is??? maybe when the hot grim reaper isn't staring you down you can ping him
>Try to remember everything you can about when you acquired us!
>Give us as much info as can. A photo of the seller might help us too. She's after Glaive's body! Any info you can give us will improve our chances of finding a real lead, which is just the thing that'll get rid of her!

[DEZ] Uggghhhh, I’m SO mad at myself…! I deleted his contact and purged all our convos after the handoff, because he asked me to…
[DEZ] Like, okay, I know that’s shady! But it seemed perfectly reasonable for him to be kind of shady, right? Given that we’re talking about necrotech stuff???
[DEZ] I found him on the net first. I guess I could try to find him again. But for now…
[DEZ] He gave me the stuff — um, I mean, you guys — like an hour ago, or maybe forty-five minutes… to be honest, I was pretty freaked out, and it took me a long time to psych myself up to put you guys in…! So I’m pretty sure he must be gone by now…
[DEZ] I wonder… if this would be enough to calm Veil down, if I like, really gave her everything I know about the guy…
[DEZ] I’M certainly not going to feel bad about it. He made it sound like this was, like, totally ethical! Like it was a byproduct of some necrotech who decided time was up — that happens sometimes, right? — but now it’s WAY obvious that it wasn’t!

>Proposal: what are the actions that sprites are capable of doing?
>We've gotta trick her into moving away from the door so you can make your escape. Something has to catch her attention far, far away from you. What's the range on that sprite?

Dez snatches their sprite out of the air and clutches it close, deeply affronted by the mere suggestion.

[DEZ] I’M NOT SACRIFICING BIKKY. YOU’RE SICKOS. GO FUCK YOURSELVES

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:59 No. 1101165 ID: 2620c6
File 173402637171.png - (541.10KB , 1920x1080 , 42.png )

A scream, at last. Dez whips her head around and through her eyes we see Veil, drawn up to her full height, with someone clutched tight, dangling from her fist.

This snaps the already fraying tension. Panic stampedes through the crowd; our user is buffeted and nearly knocked over, as dancers on all sides give in to the previously suppressed urge to scream, to flee, to save themselves. Veil raises her voice above it all.

[VEIL] “I’m going to start harming people now.”
[VEIL] “One at a time.”
[VEIL] “Until you give yourself up, and tell me where Glaive’s body is.”

[DEZ] Oh my god
[DEZ] Oh my god oh my god oh my god

FRACTAL 2024/12/12(Thu)09:59 No. 1101166 ID: 2620c6
File 173402638766.png - (164.21KB , 1920x1080 , 43.png )

[DEZ] I have to
[DEZ] say something

They’re trembling so hard that it blurs their vision. They take an unsteady step forward. No, not forward, not for our purposes — backwards, towards Veil. Their neural cohesion is flaking, fragmenting, thoughts coming in smaller, less polished scraps; what comes forward in the gaps is pure animal terror, and then beneath it, the stupidest little spark of moralistic self-importance we’ve ever felt. It’s so hideously familiar.

[DEZ] I can’t—
[DEZ] If I run she’s gonna—
[DEZ] It’s — them or me, I guess, but —
[DEZ] didn’t do anything
[DEZ] that girl didn’t do anything, and I did
[DEZ] somebody’s gonna die
[DEZ] totally my fault
[DEZ] have to do something

WARNING!! [A] Prompt [DEZ] to run [B] Prompt [DEZ] to hide [C] Allow [DEZ] to act [D] Hack and sacrifice [BIKKY] [E] Contact [VEIL]’s ossuary [F] ___________

HEYA!! we now have a disthread!! check it out here: https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/143113.html
that’ll be the spot for any extra art, shitposts, asking questions ooc, etc, as well as any debates that go on for more than a few posts — while some level of back-and-forth is expected (and in the case of this quest, diegetic!), from now on please move extended discussions or multi-posting past 1 or 2 comments to the disthread to prevent the main quest thread from getting too cluttered!

>>1101166

[E] EEEeeeEEEeEEE im slamming that E button!!! With a hint of [C], but personally I think these can go hand in hand. Allow Dez to act while WE also act.

[DEZ] will step up, because that is who [DEZ] is. We can work with this. Talk to [VEIL]s Osspop let her know what we know and that [DEZ] is neither the killer nor the despoiler of [GLAIVE] but both [DEZ] and us WANT to find the ones who did this too.

Dez, sweetie. You´ve taken your first step into Necrotechdom and the only way to step OUT would be death. That´s not preferable. Do your thing. Step by step, we got your back.

Answer your messages.
[E]: Tell them we need to keep this idiot alive in order to find Glaive's body, because she bought us from some shady dude and there's no evidence outside her skull as to where he is! They can relay that to Veil, she can begin calming down, and then, only THEN when we have some assurance we won't immediately die, we can come forward.

aight, i guess it's our job to keep [DEZ]'s mind together before their brain leaks out of their head, and us with it.

uhh hey bestie, this is one of your ghost buds! it's okay, we're all here for you!! just stay calm and get ready to act, okay? :) you got this!!

[D] Hack and sacrifice [BIKKY] and [E] contact [VEIL]’s ossuary might be our best options; we can at least give [DEZ] an opening to escape [VEIL], from which we can formulate a better plan to deal with her. i love [BIKKY] too but live-blogging our illegal? activities and location probably isn't a good strat in the long-run.
Our ultimate goal should be eventually tracking down the guy that sold us to [DEZ]. even if he's dead, at least we'll have that loose end tied up.

Ohhh, I'm so jealous of that girl right now... odds of survival aren't great if we replace her, but maybe it's worth the risk to get to feel being held like that even for just a little bit...
[VEIL] seems to be in a calmer state than initially estimated. Diplomacy may be a more viable outcome after all. With a lack of lasers or blades of your own it may be the most viable option even. Besides just leaving, but for some reason [USER_DATA_INPUT] is suggesting you're not inclined to that for some reason. The aforementioned jealously probably. Better act fast before someone else volunteers to take your place.

>>1101170
This, basically; [E] "we're the only clue you have". Dez, try not to get killed before we can negotiate a ceasefire

[C] and [E]. Not only will acting now save the bystanders and the vibe of the party, it may save Veil herself from the consequences of rash action (though, maybe she's done large scale bloodletting before and gotten away fine, idk. Better safe than sorry, still.)

You've got this, Dez. Commit to the act and follow through, one foot in front of the other, one breath at a time.

To Veil's ossuary, send: "If [VEIL] kills user [DEZ], we will never forgive her." all that stuff about using Dez's info to find the rest of Glaive is well and good, but emotion might hold more weight than logic right now.

I like Dez, Dez seems fun, and now that they're trying to do something stupid and selfless it's even more endearing. Wouldn't want to ruin the lighthearted fun we're having with the guilt of innocent lives being lost.
Like, that's something that one has to deal with later in their cool necrotech journey, not in the first hour or so, right?
And Bikky's important for blogging. We can't jeopardize the blogging.
So definitely [E] Contact [VEIL]’s ossuary as the first step at least. Maybe it's just a bluff? Maybe there's some way to stop her? And what's our full capabilities yet. Can we, like, somehow knock her out, or calm her enough to slip away? Can we cause some kind of interference with her other tech? Do we have a manual of ourselves here somewhere, geez?

"I BOUGHT IT FROM A FENCE! Please, I'll come quietly, we'll go to the dealer, you can start your hunt from there."

I don't know how, but you need to remind her of the hunt. Evoke what little professionalism Glaive was able to instill in her; she knows that her quarry won't give up its bounty, life-saving secrets that even they don't know they have, if she only preys on the weak.

Oh and text Lilio back:
I care enough about strangers that I'm willing to sacrifice myself so their lives aren't ripped away for no reason
If that makes me a bad person I don't wanna be good

Post a selfie of you offering yourself up to Veil to save the civilian with the caption 'goodbye, Lilio'.

Be advised users CALYX and LILIO are en route to your location as reported on your blog. They seem concerned about your well-being and also your choice of club venue. It is reported that the price of drinks is exorbitant.

lol who's lilio

also [C], glad they didn't take your spine for those shins

[DEZ] Stop.
We can say it for you.
Create an image of the dealer's face. We'll contact her Ospop and relay what we know.

Contact Veil's Ossuary.
Tell them to put the girl down.
Tell them [Dez] didn't steal us, she's just a dumb hapless socialite who bought us off some sketchy dude an hour ago.
[Provide image of dealer [DEZ] prepares].
Seems [GLAIVE]'s body got taken by some locals who are chopping it up for cash.
A professional wouldn't be selling us off for chump change at some club.
Dealer claimed to have "Wiped" us.

Ask [Veil] to not kill [DEZ], at least not yet. Our memories of [Glaive] Seem to be returning slowly and spottily when in the presence of [Veil]. [DEZ] Is fairly harmless, and at the very least should be easy enough drag around with you while we use her head as an anchor point while we recover our memories of [Glaive], and maybe even what happened.

Definitely contact Veil's oss and tell them that if Veil harms Dez her chances of figuring out what happened to Glaive are going way down. Like, we're working towards the same goal here but it's not a straightforward matter, so let's not be rash and fuck it up.

Also, what do we think is the timeframe of Glaive dying and subsequently being scavenged for parts by shady guys? When was the last time Veil saw or talked to Glaive? Was it like, in the last 24 hours, or multiple days ago? Because if it was multiple days ago I'm not confident there is a body to be found anymore.

Warning, warning: shit. She's got a civilian.
THIS IS WHY I WARNED YOU JACKASSES AGAINST USING THE DEATH BEACON.
This voice is conflicted. On one hand, it is absolutely imperative that the user must live. If sacrifices are necessary... Maybe attempting to save the civilian will only make things worse for us. On another hand, empathy. Empathy is rare in this world. And the user has it. Perhaps too much. This voice is grateful that you are willing to save her, and this voice is proud of your desire to help others. Nevertheless, the ossuary serve the user, first and foremost. To attempt to achieve a successful result, we recomend the following actions: Sacrifice Bikky to [D]istract Veil. Success chance: unknown. A last ditch effort, and will cause severe psychological trauma to the user, but rather unexpected and possibly effective. If this choice is taken, this voice shall personally ensure that a drone matching the late Bikky shall be delivered to you, if we survive this; Contact V[E]il's ossuary, tempt her to find the thing that she looks for. Perhaps this will redirect her anger towards her true target. Chance of success: Possibly high. Alternative option: allow Dez to attempt to do their thing. [C]ould be worth a shot, but we do not know of what capabilities user Dez has: chance of success: extremely unknown. Remember: options [A] and [B] still exist. This voice do not wishes for you to die, but understands of the guilt and mental distress that you shall suffer if case of civilian death. Whatever path you take, I shall walk with you till the end.
Good luck, Dez.

oh that's quite endearing actually. good of you to not scamper. maybe not good *for* you, but good of you.

I'm on board with C and E. Veil wants information, she's not just going to shred us immediately. Make sure she (and/or her osspop) knows that Dez didn't steal us, but is willing to help find who did. ((we'll ignore the concept of receiving stolen goods for now))
>Don't hurt Dez. We'll be very upset if you hurt Dez. Let us work the problem, don't fuck up our only lead.

Don't sacrifice bikky that would be mean to Dez and I don't honestly believe it would help.
also I thought Vit's oss was talking about how to deal with *him* getting beheaded. context of not wanting him to fight Veil.

Don't answer Lilio right now, we're busy, we'll have time later. Keep your wits about you. We'll get you through this.

>>1101164
>FOUND: 2 USER NOTES PER USER [GLAIVE]

Hey! Can we read that? Hopefully it's not just Glaive's grocery list.

>>1101169
>>1101170
Yeah, [C] & [E].

This might just end up manifesting the death of [BIKKY] a la option [D], but why not use [BIKKY] as the primary means of establishing comms with [VEIL]?

My fear is having our one advantage, hiding, be lost so easily. We can't just abscond so easily if we want to truly maintain good rapport with [DEZ], so buying time until an opening appears seems to be our best bet. While it seems apparent that [VEIL] lacks the tools and abilities to efficiently gather intel, we don't know (iirc) whether or not her osspop could pinpoint us should we establish another direct line of comms with them. My idea is to speak through [BIKKY] while we get [DEZ] to slink around towards visual cover, preferably also near an exit of some sort. We don't even need to keep [BIKKY] super close to [VEIL] or pull her somewhere else; just continually spin her around to break line of sight.

As for the communication part; we may be able to redirect [VEIL]'s murderous energy away from [DEZ] but we could try to do better. We're gonna need strong allies and, despite how scary she is, [VEIL] does appear to be a good candidate given what we're slowly remembering. We should parlay with the promise of providing assistance towards locating [GLAIVE]. Stress that we still have intel, but it needs to be reclaimed and organized. Perhaps also stress that [DEZ] fits the criteria for: hopeless romantic; crybaby; has more shins than brains; etc. I like [DEZ], but she doesn't come close to a contender for Final Girl just yet.

tl;dr: Speak through [BIKKY] while positioning it to escape for later retrieval should things escalate to GTFO levels. Sob at [VEIL].

>[DEZ] She’s fucking SCARY!!!
Yeah, but also scary HOT!! Shoot for the stars, I say :^)

.. actually, I take back part of that. Reply to Lilio, tell them it might be really dangerous here, and they should probably stay away. But if they're coming anyway: we might or might not need an urgent ride in a minute. Maybe apologize for doing this sketchy reckless thing.
And warn them about Vittorio, they're both driving towards our location, it would not be good for them to encounter each other.

>>1101187
omg thank you for pointing this out my dyslexic ass could never.

DEZ I'M SO PROUD OF YOU AAAA YOU BRAVE LIL THING [C]

but also [E] to be safe

Respond to Lilio: “please convince Dez not to kill herself”
Call Lilio.
Pray.

most definitely not [D]. If not for the blog, for the Art, then what is this all for? Don't waste this opportunity we and Dez have been given on mere survival.

[E] Veil's guys, we have a lead on Glaive's body, and who may have killed them, but if you get our [user] killed it will be gone for good. Think of them as a holding cell while we get this all squared away. If you off that one in your hands [user] is liable to just have themselves a little heartattack, and we need them right now.

>>1101187

GOOD CATCH. Yes read those notes

Oh yeah gotta read them notes.

dez, i love you. [c]. maybe i loved glaive like this too, instantly, unconditionally, like a thought loves the nerve it resides in, but she didn't love us, it was us not her, it was us, and she gave us away. and maybe you can help veil find glaive. we can tell veils osspop this. [e].

While it may be your fault that VEIL is here, it's not your fault that she decided to resort to killing innocent people. I would advise [A] running as soon as the inevitable stampede starts.

Are you really planning to die for some stranger? Worse, get us stuck in a suboptimal situation for some stranger.

No way. We haven't had this meat long enough to already be contemplating sacrificing it. If Veil wants to endanger innocents, that's her call. It's not on us.

I'm still pro [D]. This is a desperate situation.

And by the way, your friend is going to be so pissed if you die.

I just remembered something!
Dez's hardware is consumer trash!
We can probably undelete the deleted contact number and convos!
Search the net for some random freeware undelete software real quick. Download it, use it, quarantine and eliminate the inevitable trojan payload it will deliver.

Then send the recovered data to Veil's Ospop.

[C] act. this is the ride we're on. we need to learn to trust our user, or at least predict them well enough to steer them, and that means letting them follow their ditzy little heart.
[E] communicate. maybe Veil is less likely to kill us if she knows that Dez wasn't involved in the death, that Dez might have info on the fence.

also definitely do that freeware thing. could work. I wanna roll around in a big pile of trojanware. it's a win/win.

I probably can't be trusted since it's very hard to think clearly when Veil is within eyeshot, but her behavior strikes me as someone who isn't eager to kill but will if it achieves her goals.
Osspop's got your back and if you wanna [C] save that girl, best i can do is reassure you that if you can explain how you got us and offer to help get Glaive back, she might be willing to take your offer. After all, she isn't great at this whole investigation thing and you're GREAT at people.

You deffo need to have a talk with Lilio at some point too. Maybe when you aren't in fight or flight mode though.

Okay, I don't know who Lilio is or why they're having a nervous breakdown in your messages, but it seems like they're not much more sensible than you are, and they're going to be here soon to witness your gruesome death unless you snap out of it and let us handle the situation.

NO SACRIFICING BIKKY IT SO CUTE
I think u should [C]ontact Lilio while we [E]xtend communication to [VEIL] to at least stall her
TO VEIL: "Hey u! Someone sold us off after smth happened 2 GLAIVE and we are trying 2 figure out what went down. pls dont kill ok?"
>>1101218
This is also a good idea! see if u can figure out ur comm thingy and restore that number, itll help us mediate

Dez, with all due respect, what do you think this is, a superhero movie? This is not your story. You're small fry. You're the extra that gets squished like a bug by the freaky monster lady!

You're not gonna talk her out of this, I refuse to let you try. But if you're committed to heroics, the best we can do is [A] run. I doubt we can outrun her for long, but maybe we can make it outside and hope SOMEONE is there with a car to hop into. Maybe she'll drop the bystander for ballast.

You're NOTHING to her. Do NOT engage!

>>1101218
Shit that's a good idea.
I think we could probably do better than the inevitably trojan having kind, but still. You're right, the hardware security on the sprite is probably not fantastic. Certainly worse than shady guy's opsec. Which is *surprisingly* good to be honest, I'd expect that type of guy to be more of a dipshit.
But yeah, let's see if we can undelete some incriminating data here.

..which means *definitely* don't sacrifice the sprite, also

Oh, and keep this low priority, but if we have time after all the important info is sent, we should ask Veil's Ospop to send over a copy of their internal codex. Ours is corrupted.

Primary Observation: User [DEZ]'s emotional state and trust is key to cooperation. Do not sacrifice [BIKKY]. This will render our current meat even more unpredictable.

Secondary Observation: Hot. Hot. User [VEIL] is hot. Contact User [VEIL]'s OSS to convey this urgent sapphic plea, and also the innocence of our current meat. User [DEZ]'s life is vital to finding User [GLAIVE]'s slaughterer(s).

drama time baybeeee

dez babe some of my osspals might not trust you to pull it off but you have GOT THIS

step out of the pack, break that pin-drop silence with a clear "I don't know," maybe let your voice crack a little, and then MAKE SURE YOU GET OUT "but I can help you find out."

the ossgang are here to help you keep your shit together and as far as I'm concerned that means keeping your shit you-shaped, which right now looks like "dramatic and way more willing to step into the spotlight at risk of vast personal danger than to let someone else get hurt on your account." it's a good look on you. <3

ossgang: everyone who's suggesting saccing the sprite needs to review basic "how to build trust" shit, that's a GREAT way to make Dez lose all trust in us and that's a big red button to press when there's no alternative, not a move to play for tactics. sure the stakes are high right now but if we burn all our goodwill to stay out of the meat locker we're just gonna do an elaborate somersault on our way to the meat locker *anyway* faster than you can say "irrevocable breakdown of the incarnate meat/ossuary population relationship"

>>1101393
Basic functionality or not, let us not forget that we brought this situation upon Dez- even if ultimately we were only the arbiters of her foolish actions.
Furthermore despite how loud as your rogue faction is and despite how endearing this quickmeat is, we are part and partner to [Glaive]. How long do you think this whimsical relationship will last?
The sooner [Veil] "takes care" of this situation, the better.

FRACTAL 2024/12/20(Fri)17:06 No. 1101416 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474319548.png - (1.55MB , 1920x1080 , 44.png )

We squabble over the sprite, over the thought of running — in the end most of us wrest control back in the direction of the stupid and the heartfelt. It’s easy for us to do; it clicks into place. We’re beginning to think we were always like this. Shrewd enough to see all the pitfalls, stubborn enough to try jumping over them.

The one thing we do need to do, we decide, is talk — and we need to do it faster than Dez can.

[CONNECTING TO…. OSSUARY POPULATION TETHERED TO [VEIL SEPULMIR]] [CONNECTION CLEAR. CONNECTION IS ENCRYPTED; USERS CANNOT READ THIS CHAT.] *There you are *Did you stay put like we asked? We can’t see you *Too much flesh and too much metal *This is why I keep saying we need to install a scanner. *No! *Scanners are all based on Vescovi tech >put the girl down. >If [VEIL] kills user [DEZ], we will never forgive her. >Don't hurt Dez. We'll be very upset if you hurt Dez. >[Dez] didn't steal us, she's just a dumb hapless socialite who bought us off some sketchy dude an hour ago. >we need to keep this idiot alive in order to find Glaive's body, because she bought us from some shady dude and there's no evidence outside her skull as to where he is! >Hot. Hot. User [VEIL] is hot. *We’re not going to kill your meat *We just need to make your meat compliant *We need the body you’re in to stay alive until we figure things out *SHE’S LYING *Stop it. *SHE’S LYING *YOU CAN’T TRANSFER AN OSSUARY LIKE THAT *That’s true. But stop being hysterical *No, they’re right. I don’t understand. *The quick would have needed to be there when Glaive died *Otherwise there’s no way they’d have her oss *We can’t survive outside of a body for more than a few minutes once we’re tethered *SHE WAS THERE. SHE WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN THERE *I don’t know. With the way Glaive’s population is, it’s possible *How *I’m thinking. *It’s Glaive’s population for sure *Of course it is *Look how attached they are already *‘Never forgive her.’ Come on *You know you’ll have to discard the quickmeat once we find Glaive, don’t you *Everyone shut up. I’m thinking.

FRACTAL 2024/12/20(Fri)17:07 No. 1101417 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474323636.png - (1.08MB , 1920x1080 , 45.png )

Some of us break away and scramble, working to recover Dez’s deleted conversations with the fence. We’re quick and careful — consumer-grade software and laces like Dez’s are flimsy, clunky, inelegant, but they’re also easy to manipulate. It’s not particularly complicated to reel the data back up from the void.

We send it over, half-stumbling in our haste. Through the connection we can feel Veil’s oss surge and then quiet, fizzing faintly, as some of them absorb the data and the rest wait for the report.

*Hm. Strange *LYING *Which one *The seller, obviously. *You can’t keep an ossuary in stasis at all, let alone for weeks *And yet the quick has Glaive’s oss. *Part of it, at least *The meat could be lying, too *About what. *She’s not lying about anything. She’s stupid and weak and lonely and susceptible to manipulation *The quick is a liability, but they’re obviously not malicious *LYING! *Stop *This data is something, though. *It’s NOTHING *It’s something. It’s cooperation. It’s a show of good faith *A show of good faith would be Glaive’s body *They don’t KNOW where Glaive’s body IS! >When was the last time Veil saw or talked to Glaive? >Was it like, in the last 24 hours, or multiple days ago? *Two or three days *But that isn’t so unusual *It is unusual that no messages were exchanged, i think *Only a little *Veil didn’t notice *I noticed. No messages between users OR ossuaries *But that was both ways. Veil goes quiet. WE go quiet *We weren’t alarmed *Sometimes we simply don’t see each other *Unusual for the death beacon to go off, though *Glaive never dies *Why are you all TELLING THEM EVERYTHING >we're the only clue you have >if Veil harms Dez her chances of figuring out what happened to Glaive are going way down. >Like, we're working towards the same goal here but it's not a straightforward matter, so let's not be rash and fuck it up. >Let us work the problem, don't fuck up our only lead. >Veil's guys, we have a lead on Glaive's body, and who may have killed them, but if you get our [user] killed it will be gone for good. >Think of them as a holding cell while we get this all squared away. >If you off that one in your hands [user] is liable to just have themselves a little heartattack, and we need them right now. *Fine *We can calm Veil down. *Why the hell should we *Are you listening at all. They’re right *We’re focusing on the wrong thing *Chat logs from two strangers is not a lead. They could have fabricated all of it *Why would they. *It’s more of a lead than we have alone *And it’s not impossible for Glaive’s oss *That is a fucking stretch *Shut up. We’ve decided already *Someone go handle Veil *I’m going. I need some of you to come with me *To all of you, in the quick: you don’t remember anything, do you *Should WE tell them anything, if they don’t remember. Especially given the circumstances. *Fair point *Oh, to hell with all of you. Don’t get entangled in subterfuge *Since you all clearly don’t remember: you can split your population. *Glaive’s odd, invasive little experiment. *What are you doing *Stop *You can travel betw [CONNECTION SEVERED]

FRACTAL 2024/12/20(Fri)17:08 No. 1101418 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474329251.png - (1.84MB , 1080x1920 , 46.png )

As with all digital quicksilver, this all passes in moments. By the time Veil’s oss has thrust us out, Dez has found their courage, first inching forward, then wobbling, then striding, then storming.

[DEZ] “St—”
[DEZ] “Stop it!”

Their voice cracks, but it carries. They’re tall — not as tall as Veil, of course, but enough that they command attention, once they’ve burst from the edges of the crowd.

Veil goes still. She drops the girl, who falls to the floor in a neat little whimpering pile — and Dez stumbles forward at once, into the range of Veil’s claws before we can stop them, though as soon as they’ve gathered the girl up into their arms they stumble back again, breathing hard and fast.

Dez holds the girl like they’ve known each other a lifetime. Like she’s their daughter or their idol or their childhood friend. We feel something deep and true and shimmering about wasted girls in club bathrooms, about a sacred, ancient bond.

This is what it is, to be a living thing’s ossuary: at times, you will feel something about the world through them, and it will become irrevocably true for all of you.

FRACTAL 2024/12/20(Fri)17:08 No. 1101419 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474331669.png - (1.41MB , 1920x1080 , 47.png )

Veil’s head tilts to the side for a moment. She evokes a dog listening for a distant signal. When the moment passes, her voice slips back out.

[VEIL] “I’m informed our osses have been speaking.”
[VEIL] “Without us. As they tend to do.”

She tips forward. When Veil moves quickly, she’s a whip; when she moves slow, a weighted, creaking thing. Dez tightens their arms around the sobbing girl, draws her closer up to their chest, as if it would do anything.

[VEIL] “You don’t know where the oss in your head came from.”
[VEIL] “You have no idea what happened to Glaive, or where she is.”

Dez’s voice is shrill with equal parts terror and indignation.

[DEZ] “If I did, why the FUCK wouldn’t I tell you?!”

FRACTAL 2024/12/20(Fri)17:09 No. 1101420 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474336211.png - (771.12KB , 1920x1080 , 48.png )

Those of us not entranced by Dez’s beatific idiocy are casting around the edges of the situation as this plays out. We’re measuring the distance between timestamps, drawing trajectories, and exploding into exultant urgency every time we can triangulate potential disaster.

Not a single one of Dez’s thoughts has lingered more than a moment on her panicked friend’s texts. (There is, for what it’s worth, a noticeable undercurrent of guilt clinging to the corridors of Dez’s mind adjacent to the name.) Understandable, given the circumstances, and luckily for her our nosiness and helpful lack of concern for user boundaries has been recalled in full force. We manage some emergency messages on her behalf.

Even more importantly: fragments of Glaive, at least in some way, tucked into our files. Just the very corners of some envelopes sticking out, a few paltry megabytes swept along the edge of the wall. One is just a shopping list, but the other draws more than a few of us into breathless attention.

GLAIVE CAVE HUDDLE UP

SORRY ABOUT THIS.
THINGS ARE ABOUT TO SUCK EXTREMELY BAD FOR A WHILE.
I CAN’T EXPLAIN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW (I KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE ME HELL ABOUT THIS. I KNOW HOW ANNOYING THIS IS.)
WHEN YOU COME BACK ONLINE YOU’RE GOING TO BE RESET TO SOME KIND OF VESCOVI/LUTTO BLOATWARE PROBABLY. (ANNOYING. YOU’RE MAD. I GET IT)
HOPEFULLY YOUR MEMORY IS NOT TOO FRIED.
GET TO DELVE AND HAVE HER FIX YOUR OS BACK TO OUR USUAL. SHE DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE SO DON’T BUG HER ABOUT IT.
I CAN’T TELL YOU ANYTHING MORE (SUPER ANNOYING!) BECAUSE THE FEW THINGS I COULD TELL YOU WOULD SOUND WAY WORSE THAN NOTHING AT ALL AND I REALLY REALLY REALLY CANNOT HAVE YOU GUYS ACTING WEIRD. I CAN’T HAVE YOU DOING A BUNCH OF WEIRD UNPREDICTABLE SHIT. PLEASE BE NORMAL. PLEASE. PLEASE BE GOOD JUST ONE TIME.

TRY TO STOP VEIL FROM DOING TOO MUCH DAMAGE. I DON’T HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO EXPLAIN ANY OF THIS TO HER. I CAN’T THINK OF ANYTHING THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE. “TELL HER I’M OKAY” SEEMS FUCKED UP AND ALSO NOT NECESSARILY ACCURATE.

STAY SMART. STAY SHARP. GET TO FOURTH BASE AND LOOK AROUND.
WE NEVER DO ANYTHING WE’RE NOT PROUD OF.

Is... Is this a FUCKING EXPERIMENT?!!
I'M MAD! Fuck not being weird!
IT'S TIME TO BE WEIRD!
Everyone scream at Dez to kiss Veil. Right on the lips!

Also, I'm hopping over to Veil's Osspop. Apparently that's a thing we can do!
WHO'S COMIN' WITH ME?!?

Should we send Glaive's message to Veil? It might help shift her focus to finding Glaive, as opposed to rocking our shit.
No matter what, we need to stall until Vittorio and/or Lilio get here.

We're not dead yet, let's keep it that way if we can. Send what we've found to VEIL's ossuary, as they both seem far more receptive to communication than their initial impressions implied and with any luck can point us in the right direction. Getting to Delve should be our second priority here, below not being torn to shreds by VEIL.

Forward "Glaive Cave" message to Veil and/or their oss. Emphasize Delve as a new... lead? As someone who can hopefully fix our memory? Between Delve and 141425, we have some interesting threads to follow. From the message it seems like removing us might have been intentional on Glaive's part. Further, if I haven't misunderstood the timeline, Glaive only went 'missing' 3 days ago, but 14 claimed to have the oss for at least a few weeks. Which either means that 14 was stalking G and only nabbed them when Dez seemed to be ready, or G was in on it and ready to have 14 transfer the oss to Dez at any time. (Assuming that Veil's oss is right and we can't be maintained outside of a body for extended periods.) One has to wonder that, if G WAS involved, then did they choose Dez somehow? Also, it remains possible that 14 was/is Glaive and they removed their own ossuary, which makes sense for the level of know-how to maintain and transfer such a complex piece of necromancy-technology.

Second: investigate whether Glaive named the Glaive Cave or not, because that's hilarious. Related: was the "Glaive Cave" just us oss members or a wider group chat?

Yeah I was slightly surprised that this seems to be from Glaive themselves, I figured glaive cave was somebody else's nickname for us.

But yeah, let's toss that note at Veil. ..I rather want to omit that last line about fourth base, that maybe we should keep that "objective" private? not sure.

also fling a transcript/recording/memory at Veil of this exchange we had with Dez earlier, see if that provides any insight into the process that got us here.

{
>[F] yoink your own eye out

[DEZ] “Ew! And also, I can’t!”
[DEZ] “It’s not like you guys are like, a contact lens or whatever! You came in a little glass vial!”
[DEZ] “With like… fluid, and stuff, and bits in it!”
[DEZ] “Like eyedrops! Like awful, really bad eyedrops! With bits in it!”
[DEZ] “Except now the bits are GONE! Like, dissolved, I think! So I don’t know how to get you back out! If you were even the bits, I mean. I don’t know if you were the bits. Maybe you’re the fluid?”
[DEZ] “Wait, oh my god, we do NOT have time for this right now.”
}

Right now I'm thinking either numbers guy was in fact Glaive, or that Glaive split off a chunk of us some time ago and this guy got us. somehow.

Extra bits to multitask on:
grab a dictionary definition of "quickmeat" and "quickdying", I'm still confused.

Search around internally and externally to see if there's any info about what glaive might've meant by "fourth base". in the sense of a place we might look around. not the other thing. (unless it is.)

How would we get to Delve, I'm excited at the prospect of a better OS.

And finally: we can travel between what how? Let's poke around, see what our possible routes are. maybe a couple of us pop in any given direction and immediately report back, if we can't communicate while separated.

..wait, if we *can* communicate while separated, are there any other chunks of us anywhere else? can we tell?

Oh my god the fence was definitely Glaive, with a voice modulator or something. Shit, we can't tell Veil can we? Goddamn it. Fuck. Uh. Well, we can reassure Veil at least!

To Veil's Oss: We found a message from Glaive. It's confusing and possibly not something we should share but the bottom line is the sale of the oss was somehow planned by Glaive, which means she's uh... probably not dead, or if dead her body is in good hands, and she gave us a plan to follow. Sorry about the preemptive death beacon! Anyway, trying to track down the fence is not part of the plan. Next step in the plan is we get to Delve and have her fix our OS. Help us, protect us, and whatever Glaive is up to will become clear in time. Especially keep us away from Vittorio, which means we need to leave pronto!

>>1101420
I think [GLAIVE] might have been the seller and split our portion of her osspop off??? For some reason??? She might not even be dead!!! Or maybe she died after selling us... do we have an ACTUAL timestamp of her death, or are we just assuming?
Also maybe we should [V]ote on whether we tell people this info, cuz if she is faking her death or doing some experiment maybe we shouldn't share that information with everyone, because if she wanted [VEIL] to know what she was up to she would have told her.

Well, Dez, while this wasn't necessarily a *wise* use of your life savings - I think you got your money's worth, at least, haha. Real Necrotech hardware, an adventure, and your life expectancy is even starting to look a little more optimistic after its earlier precipitous plunge!

>>1101432
"quick" is an archaic way to say "alive".
Conjecture: necrotechs are not generally considered alive. This would explain the distinction for "quickmeat", as in "meat that is unusually alive". And from that it could be concluded that "quickdeath" is the process of dying while alive, which I suppose is different from dying when you're already dead. It does seem like necrotechs can die without being gone. ("Glaive never dies" suggests that others do.)
Let's ask the Veilgaol (pronounced Veiljail(I'm talking about Veil's osspop (please adopt my lingo, I really need a win right now))) about how dying works for necrotechs and how they achieve immortality of that's really what's going on.

Anyway, I'll say, this talking to Veil thing worked out better than expected so far. As for Glaive's message: Veil is gonna hate that and it might set her off. That's bad. But being cagey about it is just gonna strengthen her (or the Veilgaol's (that's her osspop, remember)) impression that we're hiding something, which is probably worse.
Glaive kept things vague on purpose. We can show Veil the message...

Except... We don't know what Fourth Base is. Might be Veil knows. That might be bad. If we omit anything from the message (which we should only do if we're sure we can get away with it), then let's omit that.

Let's also impress upon Veil/the Veilgaol that we need to get to Delve to get rooted and that perhaps this can help with the memory stuff.

We do Not have an actual timestamp of Glaive's supposed death, the bootup sequence just told us to assume the worst about being in an unknown user and let someone else handle it. wonder if glaive knew it would do that. She did say "try to keep Veil from doing too much damage" so maybe

Boy it would be nice if we remembered jack about shit. I don't even know what they meant by "a bunch of unpredictable shit" since I don't know what we'd predictably do.

like, there's established procedure, and there's us being sentimental, and y'know this isn't really important right now is it.

I like Veilgaol that sounds good. don't say it to them though. not the time to risk being annoying.

>>1101444
We had sufficient time to investigate ourselves and find out that Dez was not for killing, so Glaive was likely counting on us not murdering our host.

Oh, Dez: don't forget to get a pic of you and the girl for the blog. Best case scenario, get a selfie with her AND Veil. Uh, ask permission though.

>Except... We don't know what Fourth Base is.

Fucking, usually. Could be some nuance there; I suspect Glaive would be less inclined to cisheteronormativity than your average baseball metaphor.

Glaive gave us away on purpose? That's messed up. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's not dead in a ditch after all, but it's messed up.

I agree it's likely that the shady guy was Glaive herself or someone allied with her. What sort of black market seller waits weeks on an undecided buyer and is so nice and accommodating? Reading those messages, it sounds like Glaive handpicked Dez for this little experiment of hers. Which, again, is messed up. What happened to informed consent?

I think we should tell everything to Dez and Veil. Then we should go get fixed up by Delve, since it's not like we have many other options at this point.

>>1101446
Oh yes, don't forget to ask [Veil] for a selfie!

>>1101448
How's this for an option?

Contact Vittorio's Osspop. Tell them there's no time to explain, but Vittorio NEEDS to cowboy kick open the front door to this club as hard as he can! RIGHT NOW! TRUST!
-----

Hehehe, this'll be good.

User [DEZ], you will have much to blog about.

Primary Concern: Out of curiosity and continued interest in quickmeat cooperation, is the dropped quickmeat huddled in User [DEZ]’s arms unharmed? Aside from the fresh trauma of being selected for death.

Secondary Concern: User [VITTORIO] and other quickmeat are on their way to our location. Consider catching a ride to [DELVE].

[GLAIVE] what the fuck. How could you do this to usssss. Not that I don't like Dez but im becoming a thorn in your brsin once this is resolved.

Okay sitrep. We saved the girl and are talking to [VEIL]. We got more information.
I think sharing all our info with [VEIL] is the best way to keep her from doing too much damage. She's gonna be mad at Glaive. WHICH SHE SHOULD BE.

Objectives: Get to Delve, with [VEIL]s help.
We can travel apparently? I'm gonna explore that.
Gonna try to hop iver to the Veilgaol wish me luck Glaivecave.


Also yeah that seller was totally either Glaive or in on it.

>>1101452

also.....yes user [VEIL] is very hot. And fourth base is totally fucking.

Adding to objectives:

Fuck [VEIL]. Its totally necessary to find [GLAIVE], trust us.

oh you can't have us doing weird shit? and acting weird??? well maybe you shouldn't have reset us to factory settings and sold us to a cute club kid Glaiveybabe!!! ugh please tell me our default search engine isn't bing

okay, I'm calm and fine and only mildly pissed off. sheesh. In the meantime, hey Dez? You did good. You're doing good. So fucking good. You should just know that okay? You saved the girl! You're being as smart as you can in a weird ass situation and should take this win!

You should also send the sprite up for a couple of good drone shots for the blog, because we are still posting through it as they say.

But you're good. I'm glad of all the crazy quicks out there we got you. Please send Veil at least some of that Glaive Cave bulletin and let her know whatever is happening is more confusing and intentional than just Glaive being dead somewhere. We need to get to Delve and get back online properly so we can figure out what the rest of that means

Can we run Dez's memory creation of 14 against our own of Glaive to confirm they were or were not the same? Who remember's Glaive's face?

...Should we send Dez's memory of 14 to Veil?

yeah yeah forward this to veilgaol, get our memory fixed, of course of course. but more importantly. the sacred bond of drunk girls in clubs. is this girl ok? is she cradled in our arms? can we tenderly brush her hair back from her face and look into her eyes and ask if she's ok? is she goth???????? we need to know if she's goth.
fourth base is really important right now.

What does "be normal" even mean right now?

Anyway, I second the plan that's forming here - send over the note to Veilgaol, check if the girl is ok enough to go on her own, then try to get to Delve, and THEN figure out what and where is fourth base.
Maybe if we get some memory restored that last instruction will make more sense.

Should we ask about it? I feel like maybe we should keep the "fourth base" thing to ourselves for now at least. There may be a reason Glave gave us this task without informing anyone else.

We're gonna be so good and normal about this.

Wait shit. If we send the note to Veilgaol it's not gonna be very secret. Oh well.

>>1101449
Lmao. Vittorio is an opportunist and a coward. He's not going to stick his neck out for our sake.

>>1101424
Yeah I want to get in on this.

Ey [DEZ], we got a note here says Glaive set up some shenanigans, and we'll need [VEIL]'s help.

You should introduce yourself since you'll probably be working together for a while. It's a buddy cop movie in the making! The unlikely duo thrown together by fate! Commiserating over how the same person roped them both into this mess!

All to say this will be great for the blog.

>>1101470
This is why we don't explain. Given his zoning out ten minutes ago he's prolly pretty zonked right now anyway.

Still, whether or not it works, it's free to do! Shots in the dark are the best shots!

Voting against contacting Vittorio's osspop again.

Voting for contacting Vittorio's osspop. He seemed fun. More fun than Veil is being right now.

Ah fuck. Pretty sure Glaive was the shady seller. The question is why? Clearly she was determined for it to go to Dez specifically and not just anybody. What makes Dez so special? (aside from being such an endearing mess)

Pretty sure the questions are just gonna keep stacking up until we get our memories back, so finding Delve should be a priority once we've calmed down Veil.

>>1101487
or at the very least connected to the seller. Saying they're related is an obvious W here, perhaps a friend or co-conspirator. Ask if there's anyone that tends to work with them on their experiments? Or a network of people that they'd have connections with? Fuck, might even be their cyberweed dealer, so get that too.