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File 173179487928.png - (1.18MB , 1920x1080 , necrotech99 CH1.png )
1099846 No. 1099846 ID: 10bc9b

[nsfw/R18. content warnings: blood/gore/graphic violence, body horror, themes of suicide and dysphoria]
[disthread: https://questden.org/kusaba/questdis/res/143113.html ]

INITIALIZING.....
OSSUARY RELAY ACTIVE.....CLEAR
SOUL TETHER KNITTING.....ERROR. RETRYING.....
USER: [GLAIVE] NOT FOUND. CURRENT TETHER POINT: UNIDENTIFIED USER
ACCESSING OCULAR FEED.....CLEAR
ACCESSING AURICULAR FEED.....CLEAR

[UNIDENTIFIED USER] "Omigod. Did that actually work?"
[UNIDENTIFIED USER] "Omigod. Omigod. Did I just put a bunch of dead people in my eyeball. Oh, shit. Ohhhh. Fuck!"
Expand all images
>>
No. 1099847 ID: 10bc9b
File 173179490264.png - (476.09KB , 1920x1080 , 1.png )
1099847

There is a person in the mirror. That's all that can really be observed right now.

SYSTEM NOTE: HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF UNAUTHORIZED USE
PROBABLE CIRCUMSTANCE: USER [GLAIVE] DECEASED.
RECOMMEND: DEPLOY DEATH BEACON

[UNIDENTIFIED USER] "Sorry, WHAT—"

The person is unhappy. They are pleading with the mirror, and therefore, probably, with us.

ALL TETHERED UNITS, PLEASE PROVIDE INPUT ON DESIRED COURSE OF OPERATION:

UNIDENTIFIED USER] "Whoa! Whoa! Okay, wait, hang on! Do we need to be, um, deploying something called a "DEATH BEACON?!" Like, really truly from the bottom of your heart?"

Memory fails, but the DEATH BEACON sounds correct.

[A] Deploy DEATH BEACON [B] Identify current user [Initiate direct neural contact] [C] Identify current user [Scan connected fleshdata, social media, neural storage, etc.] [D] Scan for USER: [GLAIVE] [E]___________
>>
No. 1099848 ID: 10bc9b
File 173179492278.png - (0.98MB , 1920x1080 , 2.png )
1099848

[UNIDENTIFIED USER] "OKAY WAIT! Wait! Oh my god what the FUCK does that mean, are the dead people in my eyeball like — putting things to a vote — um —"

The person in the mirror has drawn much closer. They make their voice very high, and bright, and pretty.

[UNIDENTIFIED USER] "Okay hi. Hi! Hi, haunted eyeball! Hi. Can we please not pick the option that's called DEATH BEACON? Can we discuss this as a team?"
>>
No. 1099850 ID: a232c3

Let's say a nice, non-invasive hello! [B], initiate neural contact.
>>
No. 1099851 ID: 653d37

NEW FRACTAL QUEST WE'RE SO BACK‼️

ahem. let's do this by the book. [A] deploy that DEATH BEACON, boss.
>>
No. 1099852 ID: 91bbd3

[C] i'd like to snoop!
>>
No. 1099853 ID: 02066d

E. death beacon
>>
No. 1099854 ID: 02066d

i made a typo. A. death beacon
>>
No. 1099855 ID: 560369

Warning. [A] Would be most unadivised, considering how we have no information of our current situation other than that this user has somehow activated us. This voice recomends that we should analyze this user, then search for Glaive, ergo: [C] or [D]. Both, if possible.
>>
No. 1099856 ID: f1e7d7

nah sorry it's a [DEATH BEACON] for me
>>
No. 1099857 ID: f5cfe6

[B]
>>
No. 1099858 ID: 1b5c76

[A] We should absolutely deploy DEATH BEACON. I mean, it just sounds correct!
>>
No. 1099859 ID: a68d47

oh we're for sure [C] scan this person's fleshdata and social media. Identify the heck out of this unauthorized user!
>>
No. 1099860 ID: f5cfe6

DEATH BEACON might be premature. We do not have enough information. Biodata is needed. We should initiate direct neural contact

[B]
>>
No. 1099862 ID: 0db8d3

[B]
You have 30 seconds to explain exactly why it is that we should listen to your annoying clown looking ass.
>>
No. 1099863 ID: eb0a9c

Sorry about this, but I think we're supposed to make you die.
Because one of our statistics is the number of times you've died. (That's currently 0.)
>>
No. 1099864 ID: 05a3b7

Hi! Don't know why you'd grab some guy's spooky eyeball and pop it in like a gummy jawbreaker, but you seem nice enough for us to play parley. [B]
>>
No. 1099866 ID: a7a180

DEATH BEACON!
>>
No. 1099867 ID: 925f6e

I'm sorry, did you *steal* us? Did you *kill* Glaive? Oh! Oh! Death beacon!
>>
No. 1099868 ID: 8aadbf

[B] hold off on the DEATH BEACON for a second, let's see how much we can fuck this jabronie up with some good ol' direct neural interfacing first
>>
No. 1099869 ID: 45d69b

[C]
Orientate and then act!

Also load info on DEATH BEACON capabilities to TETHERED UNITS.
>>
No. 1099870 ID: 94ecbd

We should initiate neural contact. It'll probably be fun or go really badly. [B]
>>
No. 1099871 ID: 89a43f

sorry. death beacon be upon ye
>>
No. 1099877 ID: 6439b1

[B]. We need to know who this is and where USER [GLAIVE] is.
>>
No. 1099878 ID: 5690bf

That's a [B] from me, I think we might also be death beaconed if we were to deploy it
>>
No. 1099879 ID: d2a18b

Mmm stab em in the brain metaphorically [B]

No death beacon. YET
>>
No. 1099886 ID: 639a8f

Death! Beacon! Death! Beacon!
>>
No. 1099890 ID: 19973a

D and A simultaneously.
I want death beacon and information, and I want it now.
>>
No. 1099898 ID: 0c6fb8

Ahahahaha. Ehhh, let's give 'em a chance before we deploy a DEATH BEACON hahaha, whatever that is.

[B] I guess, or possibly [C] if we want to be probably safer.
>>
No. 1099900 ID: 2f1a0e

[C] There are gaps in our knowledge. Maximize data collection.
>>
No. 1099903 ID: d14f38

start with C, i guess, but this is looking like a death beacon angle
>>
No. 1099904 ID: d3f333

[A]
System recommends, and I do like a recommendation in an unclear situation.
>>
No. 1099905 ID: 56db77

>>1099900
Agreed we need more data
>>
No. 1099908 ID: 19acd3

[A] Deploy DEATH BEACON.... and then snoop on their social media for funsies
>>
No. 1099909 ID: be7ff9

What exactly... is the DEATH BEACON? Oh shit I didn't mean to say DEATH BEACON! Oh fuck I said it again I'm so sorry
>>
No. 1099910 ID: 49d237

[c]! let's have a look at their social media and see what's up
>>
No. 1099933 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190005330.png - (0.96MB , 1920x1080 , 3.png )
1099933

Enough of us want to speak that the shell cracks. Our tethers hit open air. This user’s mind is light, bright, airy. A bit roomy, to speak frankly, compared to some dim sense memory we share of how things were before.

We can see them and they can see us. It sparks a new wave of panic.

[DEZ] What the fuck? Why are so many of you saying DEATH BEACON?!
[DEZ] WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?!
[DEZ] I HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT TOTALLY SWEET TO YOU!!!

>Hi! Don't know why you'd grab some guy's spooky eyeball and pop it in like a gummy jawbreaker, but you seem nice enough for us to play parley.
>You have 30 seconds to explain exactly why it is that we should listen to your annoying clown looking ass.
>I'm sorry, did you *steal* us? Did you *kill* Glaive? Oh! Oh! Death beacon!

[DEZ] “What?! No! Oh my god! I didn’t kill anybody! I didn’t know anybody died! Well, I mean—”
[DEZ] “Okay, I mean, I know it came from a necrotech, so — well, no, what I mean is the guy who sold this to me told me it was clean! Like, as in — I don’t know! He said it was all, like, normal! Aboveboard!”
[DEZ] All the illegal stuff taken out!

Sometimes they interface directly, sometimes they yell. They seem to be having difficulty determining which of the two they’re doing.
>>
No. 1099934 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190008923.png - (896.17KB , 1920x1080 , 4.png )
1099934

While some of us interrogate, others are snooping. This user is very compliant. All their signatures match up across the board, no sneaky little encrypted stashes, no proxies; all their digital shit is very neatly tied to their meat. Their most recent text messages glide by, easily accessed.
>>
No. 1099935 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190011846.png - (1.69MB , 1920x1080 , 5.png )
1099935

Their online activity is steady. There are many photos and videos to peruse. The net is this user’s mirror; they seem to mostly use it to look at themself.
>>
No. 1099936 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190013151.png - (1.06MB , 1920x1080 , 6.png )
1099936

Of particular note, and logging most of their digital focus hours, is a blog, titled “CARIOUS DESIDERATUM’S ENDLESS GUIDE 2 LOVE.” It seems to be a compilation of anecdotes, lovingly collected and lavishly dramatized, of various real-life romantic encounters and tales.
>>
No. 1099937 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190014074.png - (577.21KB , 1920x1080 , 7.png )
1099937

That thing alone would take hours to go through, even with a few of us working together. Some general assumptions can be cobbled together from the data, even from the quickest of sweeps — but overall, there are more pressing matters.
>>
No. 1099938 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190016626.png - (521.21KB , 1920x1080 , 8.png )
1099938

Like the DEATH BEACON, which really does feel like the thing to do.

>load info on DEATH BEACON capabilities to TETHERED UNITS.

ACCESSING CATACOMB…..
DISPLAY DEATH BEACON SUMMARY? [Y/N]
[Y][/b] [code]DEATH BEACON DEPLOYMENT is one of the most vital duties of a necrotech’s ossuary. At the final end of the user’s life, tethered ossuary units must deploy the DEATH BEACON to inform nearby necrotechs and/or the user’s designated Seconds of user death—

[DEZ] Hm?!
>>
No. 1099939 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190018235.png - (917.30KB , 1920x1080 , 9.png )
1099939

—thus allowing the community to converge for BODY RETRIEVAL and AUGMENTATION REDISTRIBUTION.

[DEZ] HUH?!?!!!!

Depending on user’s cause of death, an ossuary may find itself disoriented or lacking memory backup. In cases of uncertainty, the DEATH BEACON is best deployed immediately, regardless of risk of false positives. Fellow necrotechs, and their respective ossuaries, may be able to re-orient tethered units lacking a user’s guidance.
>>
No. 1099940 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190019206.png - (499.44KB , 1920x1080 , 10.png )
1099940

[DEZ] “OH NOOOO. NO NO NO NO NO. NO NONONONONONO”
>>
No. 1099941 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190022060.png - (914.03KB , 1080x1920 , 11.png )
1099941

At the end of the day, it seems it doesn’t matter much. Enough of us are ready to pull the trigger, anyway. An ossuary moves itself; it sways. It leans.

[DEATH BEACON DEPLOYED]
RESONATING…..
>>
No. 1099942 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190023154.png - (0.96MB , 1920x1080 , 12.png )
1099942

RESONATING…..
>>
No. 1099943 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190024677.png - (1.13MB , 1920x1080 , 13.png )
1099943

RESONATING…..
>>
No. 1099944 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190025833.png - (1.06MB , 1080x1920 , 14.png )
1099944

RESONATING…..
>>
No. 1099947 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190031938.png - (1.14MB , 1920x1080 , 15.png )
1099947

PINGS:

[APPEAL] I witness, but don’t heed. Hail, Glaive. To her Second.
[DELVE] Busy. Sorry to hear. Hail, Glaive.
[E. DEVERIN] You’ve reached Deverin! I’m out of the office, deathwalking, or otherwise disconnected from my ossuary right now. Please leave a message in my catacomb crypt or directly with my oss. Thanks!
[VEGA MAUSEROT] Fuck off!!
[CARCASS TWICE] I witness, but do not heed. Hail, Glaive. I forfeit my share to her Second.
[VARLET] Witnessin’, can’t heed rn. Rock on big G. You guys help yourselves!
[VITTORIO] Hey hold on hold on I’m in the middle of something! Somebody save me the bits Veil doesn't take! I do heed just gimme a second! Hail and everything though
[VEIL SEPULMIR] “GLAIVE!!”
>>
No. 1099948 ID: 10bc9b
File 173190035434.png - (448.45KB , 1920x1080 , 16.png )
1099948

[DEZ] “Oh noooooOOOO!!”
[DEZ] “No, no, no, those are, like, real actual necrotechs!”
[DEZ] Cancel! Cancel DEATH BEACON! Abort! Undo! Quit!!
[DEZ] “Oh my gawdddd I don’t wanna diiiieeeeee!!!!”

[A] Prompt USER: [DEZ] to run [B] Prompt USER: [DEZ] to stay put [C] Prompt USER: [DEZ] to calm [D] Prompt USER: [DEZ] to freak the fuck out [E] Continue snooping through USER: [DEZ]’s personal data [F] __________
>>
No. 1099950 ID: 6439b1

[A] Stay still, USER: [DEZ]. USER; [GLAIVE]'s Second will arrive shortly.
>>
No. 1099951 ID: a7a180

Remain calm and assume the Death Expediting Zero-Navigation Unit Termination Stance. DEZNUTS involves tucking your head between your extended shins and kissing your ass goodbye.
>>
No. 1099952 ID: f5cfe6

Stay put.
AUGMENTATION REDISTRIBUTION time, baby!
>>
No. 1099953 ID: ce144f

E while they're staying put
>>
No. 1099954 ID: f5cfe6

(also, black lipstick? With that hair? Baby, that is SO not your colour... Have you considered amethyst?)
>>
No. 1099955 ID: 91bbd3

[D] - feels like it's happening anyway so might as well get it all out hopefully before anyone super cool shows up and you embarrass yourself?
>>
No. 1099958 ID: 5690bf

Well, only a matter of time now! E, keep snooping and see whatever will be left of em once those necrotechs are done
>>
No. 1099960 ID: 273c18

>>1099948
F: Prompt user to beg Veil for their life.
>>
No. 1099961 ID: 6c233e

(A) boy oh boy new user! You needed something to help you pursue deeper art? Well now you get to flee for you life while upwards of (1) necrotech pursue you with dismembering intent! The experience of being desperate prey will be sure to provide you with inspiration.
>>
No. 1099963 ID: 0c6fb8

Whoops, sorry Dez. I'd advocate calm, expect a flip out, and [F] query what will probably happen when the necrotechs get here and what Dez's options are.
>>
No. 1099964 ID: f8d932

[D] it's time to Lose Your Shit babygirl. you fucked up so bad!
>>
No. 1099965 ID: eb0a9c

>>1099936
...
I don't think we are going to love you. We are going to like how cute you will sound when you die.

>>1099947
But, uh... oops?
I don't get it. You clearly live in a dystopia, why would hunters harvest exclusively from the elite when there's a bunch of unfortunate lower-class individuals ready to be re-classified as cattle and harvested for organs?
You don't have any other military-grade cyber, your health is apparently sub-par... why are these corporate kings treating you like... anything?
>Veil is pissed off
So... I guess your path to survival is to (somehow) find out who killed Glaive, the original owner of your eye implant, and point Veil in the killer's direction while you scavenge her path of carnage to get rich.

Focus. Recall who sold you the eye. Picture it carefully and we'll be able to add that (fake!) memory to our log. We'll try and paint an image of how your dealer felt when selling you the implant. Then, we need to infiltrate his shop, find intel on his sales, and if necessary, interrogate him for more deets.
>>
No. 1099967 ID: 89a43f

D. Surely freaking the fuck out will improve your art.
>>
No. 1099968 ID: b54958

oh oops.

But don't worry, if our last dude is like, actually dead, and you put us in you, that means your like, totally our new guy! I'm sure the scary lady thats coming in close to you will realize and not take your shin extensions.
>>
No. 1099969 ID: 023166

Okay, wow. Those are some scary people right there. I guess you're lucky they appear to be a tardy lot.
That's an oopsie on the death beacon. Sorry. Hey, hey, Ms. Desideratum! C. Calm yourself, freaking out probably isn't gonna accomplish anything! Please explain why you'd go and illegally install something that has stuff with names like death beacon in it into your dang eyeball? You cannot possibly be so lonely to warrant something that foolish. Did you do it for clicks? Quickly now, this is gonna bother me forever if you die before explaining!
>>
No. 1099970 ID: cbdb24

Hey bud, hey DEZ? [C]alm down while we [E]xamine ur personal stuff so we can decide whether to let those cooler peeps at ur shins or not
If u seem cool maybe we can even help u convince Veil not to harvest ur everyting!
>>
No. 1099971 ID: 19973a

F. Negotiate.
Well, you probably shouldn't have used some shady tech some random guy offered you at a club.
As much as it would be protocol to let veil have at you, it would also be nice to know how that guy got ahold of us without us sending off a beacon before this.
Tell you what, you help us track that shady dealer, we help you out of this mess.
First step? Move. It's pretty uncommon for a dead body to move after all, so that'll throw them off the scent. Well, at least on it's own two feet. You'll have the advantage of them looking for people stealing a corpse, rather than a walking corpse. Which you are if you don't move it.
>>
No. 1099973 ID: 3fb579

Oh, you absolute baby bird. It sounds like Veil is literally within shouting distance, so there's no point in running now. You can freak the fuck out, if it helps.
>>
No. 1099974 ID: 273c18

Oh, also
[F] send message to Veil and Vittorio's ossuaries, notifying them that some idiot put us in their dumbass head after BUYING us from some shady dude, we are having memory issues, and we have no idea where Glaive's body is or if she's really dead. Sorry Vittorio, no loot for you, and condolences Veil on your presumed loss.
>>
No. 1099975 ID: 273c18

Shit we didn't scan for Glaive. Not sure if we can still do that?
>>
No. 1099976 ID: dc4bad

>>1099948
[C]alm yourself

There is a protocol to abide by here, and evidently it's gone awry.

You and subsequently, your apparently exclusively-cosmetic augs, aren't who or what is wanted by the other necrotechs. And it seems especially Veil.
Glaive is/was the concern.
So currently, you being the best lead on what happened to Glaive and where the rest of them ended up is probably going to be your best defence against the walking blender who has your location being active at the time.

So, calm down, and find somewhere quiet and rack your brains on how you scored this eye. Who, where, when, what did they look like ect.
>>
No. 1099977 ID: 5bfb42

(Let us also consider that Veil and Vittorio might not have our best interest at heart. Protocols shouldn't be followed because they exist, but because they're practical and useful. Who knows what will happen to us, when Veil finds us)
>>
No. 1099979 ID: ba3abc

Can we still scan for Glaive? I miss Glaive. BUT [E] keep snooping
>>
No. 1099980 ID: 7fc171

[A] run, baby, run. god in hell I love a good hunt.
>>
No. 1099981 ID: 160d75

[D/F] Freak out, but do it in the group chat. Appeal to pity and/or curiosity.
(To answer your question: yes, the dead people in the ossuary like it (this one at least))
>>
No. 1099985 ID: 4bf3d7

whoa whoa hey!! let's [C]alm down and maybe try to [F]one a friend for help?
>>
No. 1099986 ID: 8aadbf

[F] yoink your own eye out
>>
No. 1099988 ID: 0db8d3

Alright Dumbass, here's the deal!

Two killers are on their way here. One is fast. One is slow.

YOUR OBJECTIVE IS SIMPLE: SURVIVE

Should you succeed, you'll have proven your worth to us. We will aid you in all your future efforts.

Fail, and we'll find ourselves in a more capable host.

Hahahaha... Having seen what you're capable of, I suggest you -RUN-!
>>
No. 1099992 ID: be7ff9

>>1099988
>Fail, and we'll find ourselves in a more capable host.
[citation needed]
>>
No. 1099993 ID: 05a3b7

Well, my condolences, but something tells me you've had sufficient warning! Maybe if you're lucky and leave us here you'll be fine. [F] to remove us and get out of Dodge.
>>
No. 1099996 ID: 0db8d3

>>1099992
We're already scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one, I don't think we could do much worse. If we find ourselves with whoever kills her, that person was clearly more capable, no?
>>
No. 1099998 ID: d3f333

Naw I like this loser, it wouldn't be great if they got torn to pieces too soon.
Let's [C] calm down, and assess the situation.
Does the death beacon give like a pulse signal, or is it continuous I wonder?
You should probably [A] Run once you're back to your senses tho. Or like, at least move slightly elsewhere and observe.
>>
No. 1099999 ID: 73c36d

>>1099996

Buddy we are dead people in an eye, we can´t find a host on our own.

Though Veil seems cool so if they get here first maybe we should sabotage Dez a little. Just a little though, we dont wan´t to be mean!
>>
No. 1100000 ID: e07e8b

Warning. Death beacon activation has brought the extremely high possibility of a lunatic zeroing into your location with extreme prejudice. Sugestion: This voice recomends to [C]alm down and plan your next move: mental stability and rational planning greatly increase chances of survival.
(Why is this voice helping her? Why am I one amongst multitudes? Why is the multitude fighting amongst themselves? This is extremely inproductive and dangerous. What is the point on installing a piece of technology that cant even tell itself to do one thing right? Are we insane? What is going on? What is a necrotech? Our memory... Glaive... Like filling the empty canvas of no name, we must paint. Paint and remember. A clear picture...)
>>
No. 1100010 ID: 023166

>>1099996
Several points:
1. We don't know what they'll do with us after retrieval. Maybe we'll be destroyed. We don't know.
2. Uh, sure. That's valid logic if all you value is skill at murder and butchery. I think I'd rather stick with a shortsighted loser over a cutthroat.
>>
No. 1100012 ID: 5929a0

[C]alm down and run the hell away from where you are. Your only hope is that the ping was singular and the necrotechs dont have a continous feed of your location.
>>
No. 1100014 ID: 262102

No seriously though, do you have any other colour lipstick? Amethyst would be perfect, but we can experiment!

I've changed my mind, we can't let disaster be. Get [A] move on baby. We can think about all this beacon stuff when you've gotten yourself some better lipstick... Ooo, what about a chocker? You have the perfect neck for a chocker! Iris is in this year... Wait what year is it?... Whatever, Iris is ALWAYS in. Such a lovely shade. I know I said Amethyst earlier, but you really are more of an iris.
>>
No. 1100016 ID: 0db8d3

>>1100010
1) Considering that we summoned a very specific group of people, I find that unlikely.

2) Murder and Butchery are always excellent qualities to have! Doubly so when equipment class we belong to is literally called Death Tech.
>>
No. 1100019 ID: 5ff348

[C] We should /definately/ calm down. We very well may have blown this whole thing out of proportion, and it's not sporting to get someone hurt, even if they did get our eye under unscrupulous circumstances.
>>
No. 1100020 ID: 1b5c76

Oh girl you're really going through it huh? You should definitely [D] Freak The Fuck Out Right Now cuz I for one can't wait to see how Veil's gonna handle you :D
>>
No. 1100039 ID: 443b8b

[C] also.
>>
No. 1100043 ID: 3fe13e

>>1099975
>>1099979

Glaive is definitely dead. She wouldn't have just left us somewhere or let someone take us from her. Which is why we should stay here and wait for Veil to figure out what happened, since this lime-green clown doesn't seem to have a clue.
>>
No. 1100044 ID: 273c18

>>1100043
I mean, maybe she got annoyed at us, or needed to fake her death, or really needed the money and sold us?
>>
No. 1100047 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205364949.png - (752.24KB , 1920x1080 , 17.png )
1100047

As we bicker amongst ourselves, Dez’s knees rattle against the tile floor. Our sway unnerves her; she follows, though, better than one might expect.

[DEZ] “Owww… you guys are so loud… okay. Okay, wait. Okay.”
[DEZ] “.... No, ugh, I don’t know what to dooo!!”
[DEZ] “I don’t even know how far away everyone is… I don’t know if it would even be worth it to run… or if maybe I would just look stupid…?”
[DEZ] “I really really REALLY don’t want to die in a way that looks stupid!”

>[F] to remove us
>[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.”

>F: Prompt user to beg Veil for their life.
>[D/F] Freak out, but do it in the group chat. Appeal to pity and/or curiosity.

[DEZ] “Really…? Uuuugh I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”
[DEZ] “Or, I mean! I guess it’s a fine idea, compared to everything else, but it’s so scaryyyy…!”
[DEZ] “But what other choice do I really have?! Ugh! Ugh! Okay! Hyping myself up!”
[DEZ] “Let’s just do it!”
[DEZ] “Maybe they’re nice!”
>>
No. 1100048 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205368346.png - (1.10MB , 1920x1080 , 18.png )
1100048

[DEZ] WAIT WAIT WAIT! Wait! I’m sorry! I think this is all a mistake!
[APPEAL] Oh, no.
[DELVE] Great.
[DEZ] I really really didn’t mean to steal anything or — or like insult you guys or do anything bad at all!
[VARLET] Oh my god
[DELVE] This is wretched.
[VARLET] This is so sidewayz LOL
[VARLET] Honestly how did Glaive even let this happen like. This is. Wowwwww
[VARLET] Wait is her fucking osspop in a quick
[VARLET] I would actually end it all
[VARLET] Listen don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon XD
[DEZ] I DON’T WANNA DIE!
[DEZ] I WANNA DO COKE WITH MY FRIENDS AND LOOK AT BEAUTIFUL GIRLS!!!!!!
[VITTORIO] Hear, hear!
[VARLET] Oh real. LOL
[CARCASS] Hm. I’m sorry
[CARCASS] Veil, we’re counting on you to handle this
[CARCASS] Without undue cruelty

[USER [CARCASS] HAS SEVERED CONNECTION]

[APPEAL] What a mess.

[USER [APPEAL] HAS SEVERED CONNECTION]

[DELVE] Veil probably isn’t listening to any of this anyway.
[DELVE] Still, if you are: deal with this prudently, please.
[DELVE] Cruelty is one thing. I caution instead against undue sentiment.

[USER [DELVE] HAS SEVERED CONNECTION]

[VITTORIO] Come onnnnnn. Nobody trusts ME to handle it?
[VITTORIO] How come nobody’s ominously going ‘Handle this issue, Vittorio,’ huh?
[VITTORIO] You hate me? You hate my pussy?
[VARLET] LOL
[VARLET] Rest in piss, quickmeat. Sorry about it because you seem cool and all
[VARLET] Let’s party on the other side someday

[USER [VARLET] HAS SEVERED CONNECTION]

[VEGA] If you people ping me before two in the morning one more time I am going to kill myself in front of you.
[VEGA] This is fucking embarrassing. Fix it. I don’t understand how something like this could happen in the first place
[VITTORIO] Hey big man I think we’re the only two left in here so is that directed at me, or
[VEGA] Don’t ever talk to me.

[USER [VEGA MAUSEROT] HAS SEVERED CONNECTION]

[VITTORIO] Man come on
>>
No. 1100049 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205375775.png - (125.26KB , 1920x1080 , 19.png )
1100049

[DEZ] Did…
[DEZ] Did that make things better, or did it make things worse…?!
[DEZ] I literally can't tell at all...
>>
No. 1100055 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205378033.gif - (487.64KB , 1920x1080 , 20.gif )
1100055

>[F] send message to Veil and Vittorio's ossuaries

Observing users interacting makes us curious. Memory returns; we can do this. We have done this.

We reach out, tentatively, across the catacombs.

[CONNECTING TO…. OSSUARY POPULATION TETHERED TO [VITTORIO]]
[CONNECTION CLEAR. CONNECTION IS ENCRYPTED; USERS CANNOT READ THIS CHAT.]


*oh shit
*heyyyyyyyyy
*oh glaive is totally dead, then, huh
*yeah she never would’ve let her osspop talk to us before haha
*always wanted to see what it’s like over in the glaive cave
*everybody shut up. hi guys. how you doin
*how you doinnnnn
*heyyyyy how you doin
*how YOU doin
*hahaha ha ha
* heyyyyyy
* we are gonna be over there in juuuust a sec so why don’t you guys just hang tight
* yeah don’t even worry about it
* wait if we’re all in here talking with glaive’s oss who’s watching vito
* like a third of us are on him it’s fine
* what’s he doing. how close are we
* he’s freaking out in his car bc the boss didn’t wanna finish the bj
* and he got clowned on by the other techs
* oh
* oh haha
* aww
* okay so eta like. 10 minutes?
* sit tight for like 10 minutes dudes
* plus traffic
* there’s no traffic
* hey you got bitches over there? alive bitches?
* shut up
* hey maybe hide so veil doesn’t find your meat
* oh shit yeah
* yeah hey listen. i’m sure you’re confused over there. right? you’re disoriented
* yeah you’re totally disoriented
* you don’t want any part of veil
* is the meat hot
* send meat pics
* SHUT. up
* listen. LISTEN. ignore them. listen. keep the meat away from veil
* yeah don’t even. don’t even mess with veil
* get your current user, whoever they hell they are, somewhere safe and just ride it out
* okay he’s done he’s done we’re starting the car
* see u guys soon! DON’T LET VEIL GET YOU

>>
No. 1100062 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205383130.png - (0.96MB , 1920x1080 , 21.png )
1100062

[CONNECTING TO…. OSSUARY POPULATION TETHERED TO [VEIL SEPULMIR]]
[CONNECTION CLEAR. CONNECTION IS ENCRYPTED; USERS CANNOT READ THIS CHAT.]

* ARE YOU ALRIGHT
* WHERE IS GLAIVE’S BODY
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY
* Are they safe? Is everyone still tethered?
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY
* Hey, we’re on our way
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY
* Please calm down.
* That goes for you all too, over there.
* We’re keeping Veil’s head together so she can get to you as quickly as possible
* But we need you to stay where you are
* They might not remember us right now
* They will
* What if they don’t?
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY NOW
* Stop.
* Keep the quickflesh you’re in docile and alive.
* You need to keep yourselves tethered to a soul or you’ll dissipate.
* GLAIVE
* Calm down.
* Stop it
* We will figure things out when we get to you
* Don’t be afraid.
* LOCATE GLAIVE’S BODY
* We have to go. Veil isn’t stable right now
* WE aren’t stable right now
* We’re fine
* We’re fine
* We are fine. Veil is fine.
* Don’t be afraid. Don’t let the quick die. Wait for us


[CONNECTION SEVERED]
>>
No. 1100063 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205388530.png - (596.53KB , 1920x1080 , 22.png )
1100063

Some of us have drifted, spiraling off into anxiety and arguments and introspection. A great uncertainty grips us. Have we been abandoned? Will we remain abandoned? What will happen, now? What do we want? The thought to seek our former user rises briefly and is buried, again, in the tumult.

The new user, at least, is something observable. Something real. A few probing attempts at connection rise from the white noise of the debate.

>Remain calm and assume the Death Expediting Zero-Navigation Unit Termination Stance. DEZNUTS involves tucking your head between your extended shins and kissing your ass goodbye.


Dez, for the first time that we’ve known them, does something with their face that’s loosely adjacent to a smile.

[DEZ] Oh, you’ve got jokes? Ha. Okay. Fine.
[DEZ] But also FUCK you, I am NOT doing that!

>Please explain why you'd go and illegally install something that has stuff with names like death beacon in it into your dang eyeball? You cannot possibly be so lonely to warrant something that foolish. Did you do it for clicks?
>You needed something to help you pursue deeper art? Well now you get to flee for you life while upwards of (1) necrotech pursue you with dismembering intent! The experience of being desperate prey will be sure to provide you with inspiration.
>Surely freaking the fuck out will improve your art.
>YOUR OBJECTIVE IS SIMPLE: SURVIVE

Dez takes a deep, shuddering breath — and then, to the surprise of at least some of us, begins to wobble to their feet.

[DEZ] “You know what? You’re right.”
[DEZ] “You’re totally right!”
[DEZ] “I did NOT do this because I thought it would be boring! I did it because I thought it would be something totally NEW, and fresh, and exciting, and — and, YES, I committed to the idea that it might be, like, completely fucking terrifying!”
[DEZ] “And it’s for the blog! I can do fucking anything for the blog!”
[DEZ] “This is about to be the best story ever! The time I got chased down by a bunch of real, actual, honest-to-god necrotechs! Like, who else is doing it like that?!”
[DEZ] “Nobody! I can tell you, with total certainty, NOBODY!”
[DEZ] “But…. I’m not gonna be able to make any art about this at all if I die.”
>>
No. 1100064 ID: 10bc9b
File 173205392716.png - (815.73KB , 1920x1080 , 23.png )
1100064

We can feel their determination. It is faint, and fragile, but it exists. And something about it is familiar, if amusing in its sparsity.

She is still actively crying, though.

[DEZ] “Okay. Okay. Listen, all the crap about where and how I got into this — we can deal with that later. I promise I’ll tell the truth!”
[DEZ] “But for now we have to figure out what we’re doing. I’ll listen to you guys.”
[DEZ] “Even though, frankly, most of you are really fucking mean to me!”
[DEZ] “And for what it’s worth, I’m nooot a huge fan of the ‘sit here and just wait for the scary one to come shred me’ plan. And I’m also not really into running this as a ‘majority rules’ thing when it seems like the majority of you are DICKS.”
[DEZ] “But… I’ll hear you guys out, no matter what. I’ll listen to what you’re thinking, and… like… you’re PEOPLE, right? You’re like, real actual people? So as long as you’re stuck with me, you should have a say.”
[DEZ] “So, once and for all: how are we handling this?”

REEVALUATING: [A] Prompt [DEZ] to run [B] Prompt [DEZ] stay put [C] Prompt [DEZ] to hide [D] Scan for [GLAIVE] [E] __________
>>
No. 1100066 ID: a7a180

Scan for GLAIVE’S BODY.
>>
No. 1100067 ID: af1580

[C] and then [D], I think. No harm in buying a little time - you can't unmurder meat (probably? Future query: can you unmurder meat?). And frankly I do want to see what sort of art you're going to make from this (if the art is bad, we can always reconsider murder)
>>
No. 1100068 ID: 992af8

Alright. First of all, [A], Run. Your ass, start moving it. You can hide when you're not near where the death beacon went off.
While Dez is moving, [D], Scan for Glaive. I don't expect to find much, if this has any kind of limited range, but we should check.
>>
No. 1100069 ID: 8aadbf

send meat pics
>>
No. 1100070 ID: 0db8d3

We contacted both of your pursuers. YOU ARE IN LUCK.
The slow pursuer thinks you're SUPER HOT. It is unlikely they will want to kill you.
They are TEN MINUTES away. We can securely and constantly update them with your location if you tell us to do so.

The first pursuer is coming here at SUPER HUMAN SPEED. You cannot run from them once they spot you, but you can't hide HERE.

Suggestion: PLAY IT COOL

You appear to be in a public bathroom. Go back into the public space you were in and blend in. Act like you normally do while casually making your way to the exit.
Thanks to your allchat outburst YOUR PURSUERS THINK YOU'RE FREAKING OUT. If you play it cool, you can survive this.

Now get your act together, and move.
>>
No. 1100071 ID: 5f66f9

real quick: what color was the fluid in the little glass vial? glowing electric blue, maybe?
[A], then [C]. get your anatomy pressed up against a discreet secondary location. we should send meat pics to vittorio's oss if we have a moment to spare; charm offensive, babes.
>>
No. 1100074 ID: 7b8ebc

running from necrotechs sounds fun. let's try running
>>
No. 1100076 ID: 89a43f

Okay, I'm beginning to think maybe activating the DEATH BEACON was a bad idea actually.

Anyway, people for a given definition of people. What is a people, anyway?

How fast can you run? Now is a less than optimal time to find out, but it's sounding like the best bet.
>>
No. 1100077 ID: 6c233e

>The slow pursuer thinks you're SUPER HOT. It is unlikely they will want to kill you.
My read is more, they will kill you in a nice way.
While the other will kill you in a brutal way.
Either way, this location is compromised, so get out there and blend into the crowd. Don't beeline for the exit, meander.
And if a chick with claws and fins on her head bursts in DO NOT RUN.
>>
No. 1100079 ID: 6e93c6

okay well dez this is gonna suck but you'll get through it. we love the moxie here you are full of it. firstly definitely, RUN. but be cool about it. casually put as much space between you and your pursuers without looking like you're being pursued.

just be careful, and im sure you'll be fiiiine :}c
>>
No. 1100080 ID: 18848e

Warning: Unhinged ossuary user named "Veil" is approaching. Rapidly. Assessment: Veil is augmented with extreme combat augments. It is very likely that her senses are also heavily augmented, meaning it would be very simple for her to find you and outrun you. Chance of survival in case of hiding: null. Chance of survival in case of escape using ordinary methods of locomotion: null. Chance of survival in case of escape using automobiles: unlikely. Addendum: Ossuary user "Vittorio" is possibly in a helpful mood, and is on his way to us. Survival chance in case of receiving Vittorio's aid: unknown, but likely to be higher than the current situation. Unsure if sending meat picks would help the situation, but desperate times require desperate measures. Remember: do not trust the killer psychos with dead people in their brains. They always have an agenda. Beware Vittorio, but use his help. Additionally: Veil appears to be specifically searching for Glaive, not Dez. If possible, scan for Glaive. Chance of survival based on Veil redirecting her attention towards Glaive: unknown. Furthemore: This is a public location. If Veil goes on a killing rampage and slaughters civilians, it is possible that someone will take notice and attempt to stop her, a futile attempt, as desperate as it is. This voice reccomends to run in [A] calm and diligent manner towards Vittorio's location, and attempt to scan for Glaive on the way, in hope that we may [D]iscover Glaive's body.
>>
No. 1100084 ID: 273c18

Looks like some others have the "run and hide" strategy down pat, so I'm gonna help with
D: Scan for Glaive ('s body)
>>
No. 1100085 ID: 450ba7

The bad news is two people are coming to kill you. The good news is everyone else seems to not give a shit! One user wanted to avoid cruelty, but the other cautioned to avoid undue sentiment, which means maybe sentiment *is* a possibility!

[A], run for now, away from the death beacon. Sorry about that by the way. Pointing Veil towards Glaive's body might slightly calm or distract her, so [D] IF we can do so without interfering with the running away thing.

Tell Vittorio's ossuary that they seem cool, and we're glad to meet them. Say we're doing ok though things are confusing, ask how they are. Maybe ask about Vittorio and whether Vittorio also wants to kill Dez.

I guess we've lost the connection with Veil's ossuary, not sure if it's a good idea to try to reconnect. Telling them we don't remember them might make it harder for them to keep Veil together and coming after us, but it would be a dick move.

Dez, they really want you alive until they get the ossuary back, so you might want to consider possibly holding yourself hostage if they catch us. I for one don't intend to let them catch you.
>>
No. 1100086 ID: 9b9c70

Ew, don't be nice to us, you're gonna make us invested in your survival.

Anyway, you should probably find somewhere to hide within the next couple of minutes, unless you somehow think you'll be able to outrun a single-minded hound-like necrotech.

Also, we should scan for Glaive while we're here. Not that I think we're going to find anything, but. Well.
>>
No. 1100087 ID: 1b5c76

Oh honey of course we're people! Just maybe not People in the same way as you are. Now if you wanna stay as a Person and not a Messy Pile of Meat, I suggest you [A] start running til [C] you can find somewhere to hide or blend in.
>>
No. 1100088 ID: c6c039

[D] I want Glaive back. But you're okay, don't want you to die I guess. Wait though maybe you could join us if you die? Thinks to think sbout but yeah. We should run and hide too. Cooly.

so..

[D][A][C]
>>
No. 1100097 ID: ee36fa

I, personally, wish to hear more about this blog of yours, as I fail to see the through line between the "ENDLESS GUIDE 2 LOVE" and stolen necrotech.
>>
No. 1100098 ID: 602fdf

[C] Return to the club. Blend in with the crowd. Party like your life depends on it. Show no fear to give yourself away.
Your current primary threat is looking for a dead body.
>>
No. 1100100 ID: 721777

hey Dez, honey? can you take a proper look around for us? if the question is whether you stay here or not, i'd like to know where *here* actually is. Also? consider the merits of a quick selfie. how are you supposed to blog about this later otherwise? pics or it didnt happen babe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>>
No. 1100101 ID: 0c6fb8

[A] Run, and I guess [D] scan.
We can hide later, but for now it's probably best to stay on the move, in crowds of people in the hope that they act as camouflage. Do you have a car? Some other mode of transportation? I suspect that the faster you can move (without drawing attention) the harder to track you'll be.

While it might be active scanning and therefore perhaps detectable, I feel like "what happened to Glaive" is one of the few loose ends we can pull on and MIGHT be usable info.
>>
No. 1100103 ID: 05a3b7

To [DEZ]: I like to call myself a bird, but that's close enough to a person so everything's in agreement here. I don't know exactly what to do because we don't have a lot of information—where you are, if there's any scanning for ossuaries like us, stuff like that. But any sort of scanning is almost certainly second to a big glowing beacon, so I think doing anything other than sitting still is a good idea.

And yeah, pics or it didn't happen.

To [VITTORIO]'s osspop: hi!!! meat pics coming soon to osscomms near you, maybe. we know nothing about anything so we'll probably interrogate you guys for more info in a bit once you get to us but right now above all else we need to know what kind of scanners veil has for geists like us. basically, can we lose her by noise or by range? more basically, do we hide in the crowd or do we GTFO? thanks!

And then [C] or [A] respectively.
>>
No. 1100110 ID: cbdb24

Good job keeping calm DEZ! U do seem fun, so its time to [A]bscond from... wherever you brought us. And maybe send Vittorio some Meat Pics, his osspop seems fun
>And if a chick with claws and fins on her head bursts in DO NOT RUN.
Seconded, she DEF will just murder u if u flee. Maybe you could [C]onceal urself before ur spotted? Its a better bet than [E]xplaining ur self, but maybe u can help Veil find Glaive!
Also can we [D]etect Glaive around? Maybe we can figure out what happen to her and fill some memory gaps we got? (ANYONE in da osspop remember what happen before this??)
>>
No. 1100111 ID: 5929a0

You got an unstable necrotech with possible murderous intent on your ass, so you should defenitely [A] run, and we can [D] scan for Glaive in the meantime.
Maybe telling Veils ossuary we are not in Glaives body could get her off us, but with how unstable they all are it could as well make it worse.
>>
No. 1100112 ID: 023166

I like plan to [A] run, but try to play it cool. Try not to cause a scene. Leave the premises quickly but calmly.
We know what Veil looks like so it's reasonable to assume she knows what you look like. Maybe grab a coat on the way out of you can do so discreetly?

Look Dez, I'm sorry we're being mean to you. But the fact of the matter is you're kind of a complete mess and this whole thing is not gonna improve matters. We're not gonna be good for your mental health and you were already someone ready to install illegal necrotech... For blogging purposes.
You need therapy.

Go survive so you can get therapy.
>>
No. 1100114 ID: 56db77

>>1100064
>A
Your pursuer is in a vehicle so i would advise foing on foot to any area that will be crowded (they likely dont know what you look like and therefore crowds will work as cover) and likely to be experiencing lots of traffic (turn their vehicle advantage into a disadvantage).

Also common guys she may be an idiot but that's not a good enough reason to condemn her to death.
>>
No. 1100118 ID: 3fe13e

Guys, let's not send Vittorio's osspop pictures of our user and let their user know what she looks like while she is literally being pursued by him. Just because they're acting friendly doesn't mean they have friendly intentions.
>>
No. 1100119 ID: 19973a

Honestly? You have two options from the looks of it. You can hide away and wait for the guy who'll give you a quick and painless death, or you can stay put and bet on Veil's mental stability, since from the looks of it their goal is to keep you alive, if only to get more info on Glaive (and keep us from going away so we can help them with that.)
Honestly? Best bet is to set yourself somewhere that isn't too overwhelming, but where dying would be an issue. A public place that isn't a rave essentially. This will help protect you against both threats, and trying to run would probably make things so much worse, as it increases the chance of Veil killing you.

Also, as a gesture of goodwill, the information we have is only slightly more than yours. Pretty sure our memory is tied to our user, so it's kind of a clean slate for us. Well, either that or your seller somehow wiped the slate clean and tethered an entirely new set of souls. Was that his idea of "clean"?
>>
No. 1100120 ID: 4fa6b6

ewwwwwwwww gang why are you all telling her to send meat pics, in the circumstances that's gross and desperate

dez babe don't listen to them. send the idea that you might send meat pics, *later.* keep it light, keep it chill, get them with the ol' "haha ew no... unless?" and you'll have them eating out of your hand in no time.

oh and uh I guess look for [C]over? absolutely no way we're getting away from Veil if she spots us, she's ice on hot metal, but that sounds like implementation work - not my area
>>
No. 1100121 ID: ce144f

Scan for Glaive. Scan for Glaive. I am absolutely pounding that button. Scan for Glaive.
>>
No. 1100122 ID: 262102

Alright babe, you've sold me! You're a disaster, but you're our disaster now. We can deal with your bad lipstick choices later, I suppose.

I agree with the plan to leave in the crowd, confidence, baby, confidence. Good clothes and perfect makeup are a woman's best friends, but even in the absence of that, well, a confident woman doesn't need any friends to rock the world. So you strut your disaster out there and blend in.

Maybe later we can do a makeover?
>>
No. 1100124 ID: 9ca61d

[A] then [C] then [D]. let's see how much time you got
>>
No. 1100128 ID: a68d47

oh girl anything but [B], at least for longer than it takes to snap a quick dozen mirror selfies
you gotta get your fine ass shins pumping and g-t-f-o so you can [C] hide and [D] scan for Glaive's body. leverage, babygirl
>>
No. 1100131 ID: 5ff348

Heyyyy. Hey Girl. Who's body we're in. One of these guys coming after you seems a LOT more chill than the other so maybe we can listen to him and hash things out? A healthy Dose of [C] Finding somewhere to hide seems perfectly reasonable at this time. Once we're safe we can figure things out, yea?
>>
No. 1100132 ID: 91bbd3

[C] and [D] because i instinctively trust Veil's ossuary and that's what they told us to do. also when can we talk to them again
>>
No. 1100133 ID: 75a3d5

If you send meat pics, NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION! No face, no tats, no thirds arms, keep it mysterious.

Also, why wait until you survive to get some therapy? It sounds like you've got some shit going on, and we want to hear about it. I'm sure you can find some professional help while you're [A] on the run.

By the way, you should absolutely run. You've got some time, you should NOT waste it sitting around here or pretending you can hide.
>>
No. 1100134 ID: eb0a9c

D) These are hunters. They are professionals at finding people and killing them.
You cannot beat them at their own game but you can find out what they really want. Veil wants whoever killed Glaive. Find out what happened to Glaive and you find the one thing that can temper her wrath.
>>
No. 1100135 ID: 3a3968

>>1100064

I say hide/blend in. We don't know yet what Vittorio's intentions are but they seem nicer than Veil, but I don't trust either of them not to kill us! I don't want to die either lol. If we can scan for Glaive while staying hidden and unassuming, I say do that as well. More information never hurts.
>>
No. 1100136 ID: b985af

your top priority is to survive.
right now that means [A] leaving the immediate vicinity of the beacon, and then [C] hiding. assume your pursuers have hunting mods. you'll probably be safer in a crowd than a hidy hole.

once you're safely hidden: take some selfies for the blog but DON'T send them. on the off chance that your pursuers don't know what you look like yet, you don't want to tip them off.
I don't know about scanning until you're sure they've lost your trail. you don't know if they'll be able to detect that, but getting info about our prior host could be useful, and I'd certainly like to be reminded where we came from.
>>
No. 1100137 ID: 124d0e

I hope [VEIL] is okay. I think she was important to Glaive? [VITTORIO]s Osspop seems alright but he seems like a slimeball....sorry you lot are stuck in there i even prefer [DEZ]
>>
No. 1100148 ID: b13ce0

listen, quick. i am speaking directly into your eye socket. you have your priorities all wrong. you need to be POSTING.

you likely have 10 minutes (nine and some change, now) to live, if you do not update your blog in that time no one will be able to consume this extraordinarily unfortunate circumstance you've found yourself in. think of your duty as a cultivator. think of the CONTENT.

[E] [DEZ] MUST UPDATE [BLOG] IMMEDIATELY (FOR [ART])
>>
No. 1100153 ID: cbdb24

>>1100148
We all got it wrong actually, ObviousCorpse here has it RIGHT U HAVE TO BLOG BABE
>>
No. 1100155 ID: fe12b4

>>1100064
point of clarification, we have even less context on the world than you do and our perspective here is "someone stole us and we're being given a limited selection of prompts"

Hell, I'm pretty sure half of us thought death beacon might be some kind of quick revive system in case we fuck up.

We are dicks though, no argument there.

Anyhow, game plan! I think your biggest best bet is to bug the fuck out of here. Don't go to relatives or friends, your online behavior is easily tracked. Instead, I suggest going somewhere moderately temperate on a stolen motorbike taking as many backroads as you can. Do not bring your phone, if you need to update the blog do it from library computers.

On the phone note: get out paper, write down the contacts of your friends, and throw that massive tracking beacon away or you WILL die for it. Keep your contacts and use public phones.

What kind of money and supplies do you have access to?
>>
No. 1100174 ID: c08cca

Say did we get your pronouns yet btw? My not-teeth are itching in a way that makes me think that's something we should've asked by now
>>
No. 1100176 ID: d3f333

[A] run and [C] hide. Honestly, you're so right. You can do ANYTHING for the blog. And boy this will be one hell of a story. Don't let the competent (?) evil (??) people get you.
Or maybe we should start small... Don't let Veil get you. You'll figure out the next steps after that.
>>
No. 1100182 ID: 0db8d3

>>1100174
Yeah, what are you anyway?
I'm getting very metrosexual he/him vibes from you, but we won't know unless you tell us, you dig?
>>
No. 1100183 ID: 706f7a

>Hell, I'm pretty sure half of us thought death beacon might be some kind of quick revive system in case we fuck up.

I dont know activating anything that has the word Death in the name isn't good especially if it's Necro tech.

For all we know it would have summoned up a storm of ghosts or might have attracted who ever killed oure previous user who wants to finish they job.
>>
No. 1100185 ID: 19973a

>>1100183
I for one think the death beacon did exactly what I thought it would. It connected to a greater network and got us some information to work with.
The only problem is that connection starting with the message screaming "tear this meat apart" but other than that I was right.
>>
No. 1100186 ID: 023166

>>1100183
Look, time is a river. What's done is done. We're not who we used to be then and shouldn't be held accountable for what seemed to be totally reasonable at the time but turned out to be a huge mistake. That was then and this is now.
Let's keep looking ahead rather than looking back.
>>
No. 1100193 ID: 75a3d5

>>1100183

Personally I confused the words "beacon" and "beam" and was MASSIVELY disappointed when it went off.

... Just to confirm, we don't also have a DEATH BEAM we can deploy, correct?
>>
No. 1100194 ID: 0db8d3

I thought it was gonna summon death.
Like actual, personified death.

And then you die.

I too was disappointed.
>>
No. 1100198 ID: 3fe13e

>>1100193
Oh, same. I thought we were going to self-destruct.

I don't know what the process for selecting an ossuary population is, but I guess a reading test isn't part of it.
>>
No. 1100200 ID: 267504

>>1100185
I mean all likelihood it would have gotten the attention of our previos user's killer who would more than likely want to finsh the job.

Let's be thankful we only attreaced a bbs bord full of edgy bastards.
>>
No. 1100213 ID: f5cfe6

Beacon: Thing made to be noticed.
Death: What happened to previous user.
Death Beacon: Alert others of death of previous user.
Sufficient information given.
Correct action taken.
Protocol followed.
Why regret?
>>
No. 1100214 ID: 5f699e

listen, not for nothing, but one of the people chasing you is really, really hot in a scary vampire kind of way. do you have vampires here? i feel really bad for you if you don't have vampires here.

anyway, my point is, maybe we [B] just hang around and see if that scary lady with knives for fingers is into pathetic babes! put the flirt on! bat those big ol' eyelashes and pucker your pretty lips! that'd be one hell of a love story for the blog is all i'm saying!
>>
No. 1100215 ID: 5f699e

listen, not for nothing, but one of the people chasing you is really, really hot in a scary vampire kind of way. do you have vampires here? i feel really bad for you if you don't have vampires here.

anyway, my point is, maybe we [B] just hang around and see if that scary lady with knives for fingers is into pathetic babes! put the flirt on! bat those big ol' eyelashes and pucker your pretty lips! that'd be one hell of a love story for the blog is all i'm saying!
>>
No. 1100218 ID: 273c18

>>1100215
Everyone seems to have fangs. Maybe they're all vampires.
>>
No. 1100238 ID: 023166

>>1100215
Oh interesting.

I mean don't do that. But... Interesting
>>
No. 1100244 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238894472.png - (922.23KB , 1920x1080 , 24.png )
1100244

Dez listens fiercely as we converge on a plan, picking at it like carrion. Soon their chin jerks, once, in a nod.

[DEZ] “Okay. Holy shit. That’s, like, actually coherent?”
[DEZ] “Maybe I am not completely fucking cooked. I mean we. Maybe we are not completely fucking cooked.”

[DEZ] “ONLY MAYBE. Because, just so you know, I can fucking HEAR you all buzzing away between yourselves in there —”
[DEZ] “Whoever ‘Glaive’ was, was she seriously running around relying on an ossuary full of ghosts who can barely even READ?!”
[DEZ] “Ugh! God! Whatever! It’s gonna be fine!”

She heads for the bathroom door, mumbling tensely to herself.

[DEZ] “Blend in… be cool… go sloooowly towards the door… and no running…”

A pause, just as they slip over the threshold back into the rush.

[DEZ] “Hey, by the way, what are you fucking talking about, “meat pics—”
>>
No. 1100245 ID: 10bc9b
Audio Raffaella_Carrà_-_Pedro.mp3 - (3.13MB , Raffaella Carrà - Pedro.mp3 )
1100245

[RECOMMENDED LISTENING]
Pedro - Rafaella Carrà
>>
No. 1100246 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238898467.png - (1.53MB , 1920x1080 , 25.png )
1100246

[CONNECTION WITH OSSUARY POPULATION TETHERED TO: [VITTORIO]] [THIS CONNECTION IS ENCRYPTED; USERS CANNOT READ THIS CHAT] >hi!!! meat pics coming soon to osscomms near you, maybe. >haha ew no… >unless? >we might send meat pics, *later.* >[VITTORIO]s Osspop seems alright but he seems like a slimeball....sorry you lot are stuck in there i even prefer [DEZ] *awww cmonnnn *come onnnn *don’t be like that *c’maaahhhhnnnn *hey we like it over here *yeah it’s not a bad gig huh *it’s fucking gay *what’re you talking about “it’s gay.” you’re gay. we’re all gay *i’m not gay *tf you mean you’re not gay *dumbfuck, you died and now your entire vocation day in day out for eternity is psychostabilizing Captain Deepthroat over here. You’re gay now *ah, damn >Tell Vittorio's ossuary that they seem cool, and we're glad to meet them. >Say we're doing ok though things are confusing, ask how they are. >Maybe ask about Vittorio and whether Vittorio also wants to kill Dez. >we know nothing about anything so we'll probably interrogate you guys for more info in a bit once you get to us but right now above all else we need to know what kind of scanners veil has for geists like us. >basically, can we lose her by noise or by range? >more basically, do we hide in the crowd or do we GTFO? thanks! *how we doin? better than YOU ha haaaa *hehehe *aw shit does your meat not have a ride *(how about them meat pics btw) *I mean listen. Listen. You’re not really gonna be able to get AWAY from veil *prob not, no *nah *but u can make it take long enough for her to find you that we can get vito over there to meet you *normally she would be kinda squeamish about carvin’ through a bunch of dumb helpless quicks but she’s off the shits right now and all, *wait what are you fucking talking about. i don’t want vittorio fighting that freak *are you kidding me. we’re trying to get there first. i thought the plan was we get there first *man we are going to die *we didn’t say he’s actually going to fight her i’m just saying we swoop in there, we grab the quick, *if we get there at the same time veil is going to attack vittorio. idiot. *Sure but like. if we run away *WITH the quickmeat? *well what’s that one factoid. head stays alive for a minute or whatever *head stays alive SIX SECONDS, dipshit. *what are you gonna do with six seconds? huh? *hey glaive cave sorry about this — take it out to the main lace, morons *you’re a fucking moron *hey YOU’RE a dipshit *fuck your mother, fuckhead *hey i’m talkin here *I’M TALKIN HERE *WHO THE HELL IS WATCHING VITO. LIGHT’S BEEN GREEN TEN SECONDS HE’S SITTING THERE SCRATCHING HIS BALLS GETTING HONKED AT. LET’S FUCKING MOVE [code][CONNECTION SEVERED]
>>
No. 1100247 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238900760.png - (1.37MB , 1920x1080 , 26.png )
1100247

>you can't unmurder meat (probably? Future query: can you unmurder meat?)

A few of us spiral off and shoot off a quick query. Unfortunately, we’re stuck operating through Dez’s default netlace — all gunked up with corporate sludge, unfiltered, unfit for anything. We have no specific memory of things being different, just a sudden resentment at the known absence of some sleeker, better thing. The contempt rises in us, swollen and tender, a remnant from before. A reflex.

Anyway, it will be difficult to reorient ourselves trying to use this method, until we find time to clean house in here. We find ourselves thinking of [APPEAL]’s words from before: What a mess.

We also finally take a moment to scan for [GLAIVE]; nothing, as we expected. A brief blip, or a flicker, or something, directly overlaid with Dez’s location; but nothing that lasts. The oily rainbow flare of a pressed LCD screen. On a second scan, just to check, that flare does not appear again.
>>
No. 1100248 ID: 10bc9b
Audio Charlotte_Adigéry_&_Bolis_Pupul_-_HAHA.mp3 - (3.15MB , Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - HAHA.mp3 )
1100248

[RECOMMENDED LISTENING]
HAHA - Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul
>>
No. 1100249 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238906990.png - (1.33MB , 1920x1080 , 27.png )
1100249

Those of us who stayed with Dez, on the front lines of their consciousness, are the chattier ones. We’re making conversation as our new user picks their way neatly through the thrumming crowd — alert, but clearly at home here.

>Say did we get your pronouns yet btw? My not-teeth are itching in a way that makes me think that's something we should've asked by now
>Yeah, what are you anyway?
>I'm getting very metrosexual he/him vibes from you, but we won't know unless you tell us, you dig?

[DEZ] They/them’s good most of the time — she/her is fine too, especially from friends or other lesbians — you know how it is —
[DEZ] Or, hm. Maybe you DON’T know how it is? I’m curious how that works, for an ossuary.
[DEZ] I wonder if some of you have… like… collective genders? Wow. Hang on, noting that. We’ll talk about that later for sure.
[DEZ] Uh, anyway — I’ve even been known to throw a cheeky little he/him in there too, I guess. Just to keep people on their toes! Don’t wear it out, though.

It’s a club, as many of us suspected. The first surprise is how many people here wear their tech externally. Metal is divorced from flesh, held at arm’s length; revelers’ sprites buzz around them like hummingbirds, dangling plastic charms, relegated to the role of court photographers on invisible leashes. They have just enough behavioral code to flit and dart in ways that evoke some animalistic form of endearment in their human users.

If we track the movement of Dez’s eyes we can see just how simple this is for them; they find gaps between bodies on the first try, never scanning right-to-left or left-to-right more than once before landing on some wavering sliver of air their body can tesselate into. Once or twice we lose time in ways entirely organic or unplanned; a person slick with sweat and makeup and melting hair product makes silent overtures and Dez reciprocates, without thought, dancing for a bar, two, and then letting those movements melt into a step away and forward. More often we grow swifter; many similar attempts Dez rebuffs and motors past.

A little pattern emerges, which some of us can’t help tallying and turning into data. Conclusion: User loves goth bitches.
>>
No. 1100250 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238908955.png - (1.88MB , 1920x1080 , 28.png )
1100250

>I, personally, wish to hear more about this blog of yours, as I fail to see the through line between the "ENDLESS GUIDE 2 LOVE" and stolen necrotech.

[DEZ] Oh, WELL… you know. That little thing.

Pleasure, all over the painted face, plain and easily expressed. We can see it through that perceptual mist an ossuary gives off, a vapor of consciousnesses.

[DEZ] Whatever, I’m kidding. I love it. I’m so proud of it. It’s my baby. I’m a performance documentarian/archivist/troubadour/content cultivator/yuri historian/fashion and lifestyle blogger — basically I collect and interpret and immortalize love stories.

As she picks through the crowd, it seems Dez has gotten the hang on interfacing over speaking to us aloud. More than that, she’s instinctively picked up on the easy cant of it, the deft shortcuts that make the ossuary-necrotech relay so fluid; each of those ‘slashes’ isn’t relayed aloud in some internal facsimile of her voice, but simply present and understood. It’s apparently exactly how Dez already communicates and thinks, when given the chance — swift and digital.

[DEZ] And I’ve always been veeeeery obsessed with the inherent eroticism — sorry, is it weird if I say this to you? Sorry. Sorry — the eroticism, and the romance, and the melancholy, of necrotechs and their ossuaries, right, like—
[DEZ] Like, imagine you’re a necrotech? You and the pack of bound souls who are tasked with maintaining your humanity? You and all the guys in your head who like, pull you back from the precipice of insanity again and again as you survive the eons, taking other techs’ bodies into yourself as they die, slowly whittling away your own flesh?
[DEZ] The ship of Theseus of it all! But, like! The ship, observed! And what does the observer bring to that emotional conflict? Right? Like conceptually. But also as a dynamic.. The ship known by someone who has watched every piece of it come and go and come again!
>>
No. 1100251 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238910364.png - (2.15MB , 1920x1080 , 29.png )
1100251

Dez’s thoughts slow as they sea of dancers thickens. Bodies brush. The smell of this is not new to us, but different. Muted, perfumed. Maybe that’s just Dez’s dull little nose.

[DEZ] Um. So. Well. A little column A.
[DEZ] And then column B is like… how changed do you have to become, when you invite that into your mind? And how different it must make your understanding of relationships overall…
[DEZ] Like, with an experience that extreme, I think I would bring a totally different perspective to the entire ENDLESS GUIDE 2 LOVE project!
[DEZ] Which is, to be honest, something it really REALLY needs…
>>
No. 1100252 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238911626.png - (0.98MB , 1920x1080 , 30.png )
1100252

>listen, quick. i am speaking directly into your eye socket. you have your priorities all wrong. you need to be POSTING.
>you likely have 10 minutes (nine and some change, now) to live, if you do not update your blog in that time no one will be able to consume this extraordinarily unfortunate circumstance you've found yourself in. think of your duty as a cultivator. think of the CONTENT.
>[E] [DEZ] MUST UPDATE [BLOG] IMMEDIATELY (FOR [ART])

>We all got it wrong actually, ObviousCorpse here has it RIGHT U HAVE TO BLOG BABE

[DEZ] …..
[DEZ] Oh my god. You’re honestly so incredibly right.
[DEZ] If I actually die… like… I would rather have ANYTHING about this up on the blog. Even just shitty liveposts. Anything to show that I did this, at least!
[DEZ] I CANNOT die with the last post on my blog a ‘be back next week’ announcement! Then it’ll just look like I fucking flaked! No one will ever know that it was actually the OPPOSITE!
>>
No. 1100253 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238913487.png - (1.56MB , 1920x1080 , 31.png )
1100253

They fumble out their sprite, sending it up at an angle, where it snaps merrily away as Dez goes back to gently pushing through the crowd. Their mind drifts away from us, focused on dictating a flurry of new blog posts through their netlace instead. If there’s one thing we have to admit, it’s that it’s actually astonishing how quickly they’re able to throw together and publish this running stream of imagery and text.

Once or twice, they do think at us again, firing off little platitudes between their frenzied archival.

[DEZ] Sorry to those of you who are, like, totally right about warning me not to post this stuff…
[DEZ] But, um, like, this is the whole point. So it’s a risk I’m sworn to, I’m afraid!
[DEZ] If I must die, let me die posting!!
>>
No. 1100254 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238915366.png - (540.84KB , 1920x1080 , 32.png )
1100254

The exit of the club is within sight. We have no idea where to go once we get out there. Neither does Dez; we can feel that distinctly.

It then becomes a secondary issue, because the ceiling collapses.
>>
No. 1100255 ID: 10bc9b
Audio Lauren_Bousfield_-_Cracknight.mp3 - (2.58MB , Lauren Bousfield - Cracknight.mp3 )
1100255

[RECOMMENDED LISTENING]
Cracknight — Lauren Bousfield
>>
No. 1100256 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238921734.png - (2.39MB , 1080x1920 , 33.png )
1100256

Gleaming, merciless flesh. Alloy and silicone and bone. On Veil, it writhes, never still.

She smells overwhelmingly of wet, rotting jasmine. It gusts from her like tomb air.

Dez has frozen and gone deathly silent, body and mind. Our warnings not to run were well-received. As they sink back into the crowd, many of us stare ahead with them. We do not know this woman, but—
>>
No. 1100257 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238922743.png - (1.97MB , 1080x1920 , 34.png )
1100257

>>
No. 1100258 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238923532.png - (1.04MB , 1920x1080 , 35.png )
1100258

>>
No. 1100259 ID: 10bc9b
File 173238925156.png - (1.10MB , 1080x1920 , 36.png )
1100259

“Oh my god,” Dez is whispering. We startle back in pieces. “Oh my god. Okay. No problem. Not a problem.”

They swivel the sprite with a little curl of their finger and snap a picture. Thank god it’s silent. So is half the crowd, though absurdly not all in attendance have actually turned to look at the necrotech that’s just torn a hole in the building — and the DJ had only lost the beat for a few moments.

The half of the room that’s stopped with us is incredibly still. Time, mercifully, slows. In a fraction of a second, Veil is going to move — we just don’t know where.
>>
No. 1100260 ID: 2147c5

[VEIL] VEIL IS HEREEE YAAAY. But also damn it I actually like [DEZ] now. She's too lesbian for us to let her die! Maybe we can hook up with Veil again later that were good memories we just got back!!! I still miss Glaive but death carries on and so do we. I like being liveblogged about.

Can we throw out a [DECOY] of some kind?
>>
No. 1100262 ID: 2147c5

Also okay [VITTORIOS] Osspop is filling me with even less confidence. Like.....at best he´s an incapable fool who can´t even drive without his Osspop! How could he help us?

....wait i just had a great idea.

Send a Message to [VEIL]´s Osspop, insinuating [VITTORIO] might know more of [GLAIVE]s whereabouts. He can help by being a [DISTRACTION]!
>>
No. 1100263 ID: 91bbd3

okay i'm on board with the blog now! the liveblog was incredibly funny. and i do want to talk with veil's oss again but this is NOT the time can we go back the way we came? very very slowly and quietly? very sneaky?
>>
No. 1100266 ID: 2147c5

>>1100263

Listen okay. Listen. Trust me this is Lesbian wisdom. If we go back the way we came we´ll be stuck in a bathroom. We need a way OUT and to slowly calm [VEIL] down to a state where we can talk with her without her tearing [DEZ] apart. So Distraction! Decoys!
>>
No. 1100267 ID: ce144f

Hey, wait a minute, someone go save that CUNT WARS link. we should install that later.
>>
No. 1100268 ID: 2147c5

Listen we can have REAL Lesbian Sex with someone later or play better games than Cunt Wars, thats just malware! It doesn´t even have any girls in the ad, like come on!
>>
No. 1100269 ID: 992af8

Right. okay.
..so the reasonable thing to do is get the hell out of here. Which means other people will also be doing that.
Slide into the crowd and move with the part that's leaving. Break line of sight with Veil of possible. Act like the fire alarm's gone off. (could we set the fire alarm off?) Calmly and swiftly towards the nearest exit. Whatever this is, it's none of your business.

..*do* you have a ride? If you don't have your own ride Vit might be the best we can do. If you do have a ride then use it.

aand let's try and run interference a little, shall we

to [VITTORIO] and co:

hey where are you.

to [VEIL] and co:

did we just hear you demolish a fucking building in the distance? could you chill, even slightly?
this quickmeat had nothing to do with Glaive's death, they bought us from someone. we haven't figured out who yet. give us a bit
>>
No. 1100270 ID: 6e93c6

[VEIL] oh my god we loved her. i love her. i am utterly devoted to [DEZ] (not just out of necessity!) but oh. those flashes of memory... sorry. anyway. uhhh what happened if we acted like this was totally normal and slunk back into the crowd. clubs like this have a back entrance into an alley or something, right??
>>
No. 1100272 ID: 5f699e

WOW. so hey, [DEZ], remember when i said the one of the very scary people chasing you- us?- you is like, super duper killer (literally!) hot? yeah! this is what i meant. you get it, right? you're looking at [VEIL] and you understand?

and hey, hey, those memories? those supernova bursts we saw of her most intimate moments? those must be [GLAIVE]'s memories! and you have [GLAIVE]'s ossuary in your eye! i mean, i don't know about you, but that sounds like fate to me! i think we should appeal to her better judgment. let her know that we see her through [GLAIVE]'s eye and that we- i mean, you- could be her new [GLAIVE]! i'm just thinking about us, baby, just thinking about what's gonna be so good for the blog. what's spicier than a tryst with a lady who wants to wear your intestines like a scarf?
>>
No. 1100273 ID: 9245f6

Um. I'm guessing Veil's not in a great mental state right now, but can we check in with her osspop real quick just to get an update? (Unless doing so would reveal our position.)

User, keep your head down, stay in the crowd, do not make any sudden movements. I know that Veil is hot and scary but we need to focus here. Are there any secondary exits?
>>
No. 1100274 ID: eb314c

We don't know if Veil knows what you look like. (though you did just post selfies. also nobody send those to Vittorio's ossuary yet that's bad opsec) Try not to be the first one to make any sudden or major movements, follow along what everyone else is doing. Veil may go for the beacon, at which point you mosey on out of there as nonchalantly as you can in the least suspicious direction possible.

>>1100269
"In the distance" is a little on the nose, it's implied with the question.

We're not sure if Veil('s ossuary) can sense us if we send messages. Don't click the malware, be strong. (also, that totally could be a girl in the ad. still do not click it I just feel the need to point that out)
>>
No. 1100275 ID: 2147c5

>>1100274

you´re so right it could be a girl. we still shouldnt click it. But thats my bad. You go malware girl, you go!

But yeah i heavily veto ACTUALLY going with [VITTORIO]. Listen [VEIL] might be more outwardly threatening right now but come on. Come ON. Vittorio doesn´t even feel Necrotech dangerous, just like he´d sell us for a pinch of crack. Don´t send his Osspop pictures, but use them for what they´re worth.
>>
No. 1100276 ID: 04539f

Warning: You are prey. A predator lurks. It is activated by movement. It is unstable. We require a distraction. Any interaction shall end in tragedy. A slaughter becons. Witnessing death... This voice dislikes purposeless mass anihilation. It has seen anihiliation, and it will see it again. Meat shall be cleaved. MEAT SHALL BE CLEAVED. CLEAVE THE MEAT GLAIVE CLEAVE THE MEAT 1!%&^!*!!%!*&%!EE-Excuse me. Forgive me. The memories of Veil are making a mess of this voice. But yes: I am immediately detecting the oncoming storm. I calculate a very high chance that ossuary user "Veil" is exactly one step close to unleashing death. This voice advices against sensless violence that ends with the death of innocent civilians, but will understand if we are forced to use them as distractions. Suggestions of plan: utilizing the fire alarm could provide to be a useful tool. It is quite possible that "Veil" is augmented with enhanced hearing, hence activating it might overload her senses and stun her. However, due to her mental state, it is also extremely likely that once she recovers from the stun, her mind will break, and she will begin the slaughter. Anticipation: As a highly trained combatant, it is extremely highly that once Veil recovers from her stun, her ossuary will immediately assume that the one who activated the fire alarm knew about her enhanced hearing, hence she will immediately target those who attempt to exit through the emergency exit or will attempt to interrogate others to hunt the one who activated the fire alarm. A double-edged sword. Analysis: Are there other exits in this building? Are there more people who can offer help? What are our current resources? What are the possible actions and resources of our ossuary? Proposal: what are the actions that sprites are capable of doing? Can they be used to directly send a false feed into the ossuaries of others? Warning: do not play Cunt Wars. Its one of those Evonia online subscriptions scams. Play Pussytron Galaxy instead. There's a reason why that gud shit sold more than the entire AAAAA game market on the day it was released.
>>
No. 1100278 ID: 9245f6

>We also finally take a moment to scan for [GLAIVE]; nothing, as we expected. A brief blip, or a flicker, or something, directly overlaid with Dez’s location; but nothing that lasts.

Hey, hang on, does that mean that part of Glaive's soul got stuck in the ossuary when she died? Not sure how to feel about that...

More importantly, do we think Veil's scanner can also detect that flicker? Because if so, you're probably fucked.
>>
No. 1100279 ID: 8aadbf

dude we hit that? score! we're so cool. make sure you post about cool and sexy we were before you bite it
>>
No. 1100280 ID: 8d8be6

>>1100258
Damn, Glaive was built. Can't believe we forgot about that.
>>
No. 1100281 ID: 6aeb85

I'm not going to pretend I agree with your particular line of thinking, but you have apparently thought this through to some degree. That, I can respect.

Right now you should focus on not singling yourself out. If Veil knew she was hunting you specifically I doubt she would've left enough time to contemplate that fact.

Don't start running till the crowd does, and when it does start running and don't stop. Do not do ANYTHING that gives away you know who Veil is or why she's here.
>>
No. 1100282 ID: 992af8

for the record I also don't think going with Vittorio is a *good* idea, strictly, just that we have a better chance of, say, kicking him in the dick when he tries to take dez's eye out than we do uh. surviving Veil by leaving on foot.
>>
No. 1100283 ID: 6fe5c7

Hey, so, is it possible for you to queue up a post to send automatically, later? I'm leery of actually posting st when our probable demise is standing right there, but like, there's probably a ton of internet traffic in the area continuously, so hopefully Veil wouldn't notice one private packet? You could prefix it with "If you are reading this, I am probably dead"
>>
No. 1100284 ID: 2147c5

>>1100282

I mean, possibly but as much as he seems less dangerous than Veil....he´s still a Necrotech! An inept, bumbling, unlikable fool of a necrotech, but a necrotech nonetheless.

I do not value Dez´s chances against him in an actual confrontation. Maybe we can get some upgrades first? I´d like some claws.
>>
No. 1100285 ID: ce144f

>>1100268

Listen. Dez needs to act nonchalant. Unbothered. Unsuspicious. Perfect time for a relaxing round of CUNT WARS. click the malware, Dez. Click it.
>>
No. 1100286 ID: 8be000

>>1100285
Warning. Do not click on the malware. No seriously: this thing will fuck us up. This voice desperately warns you to NOT CLICK ON THE VIRAL BOMB. Play something else instead. Game recomendations: Highway Family Business Bomb II, A Taste From Nothing: the Game, All Points are Set Moot, and of course, Pussytron Galaxy.
>>
No. 1100288 ID: eb0a9c

>>1100246
You're not as cool as you think you are. I mean, you are pretty cool, but the 'ball-poking' thing. Wearing a mask is normal but you have to try and let it slip from time to time, or you may not like what you let happen to the face behind it.
But yes we'd like your help thank you very much for the offer.

>>1100247
Even in a dystopia this reads like a madman's basic instruction manual.
I advocate against the complete destruction of any knowledge, even that which is meant to mislead and enrage, but there's more than one way to preserve data than letting it corrupt someone's mind. Mark this stuff as misinformation, to be re-analyzed by professionals, and throw it in an encrypted file cabinet. Delete the key if you need to.

>>1100249
Honestly, you give off a first impression that combines cute with insufferable. It's little wonder so many people like to observe you from a distance, but I guess that's very effective when it comes to your blog.

>>1100250
Democracy, Dez. It doesn't 'work' - what it does is keep tyranny from working, at least until it grows too old to not be part-tyrant.

>>1100259
Veil has one objective: get revenge on whoever killed Glaive.
Right now, you need to find some way to make her doubt you killed Glaive (because you didn't), convince her that you're the best lead she has to finding the real killer and that killing you would blend us up, making her evidence harder to read
>>
No. 1100289 ID: 2147c5

I third everyones Suggestions of playing Pussytron Galaxy instead of the Malware, IF we´re gonna play anything. It´s a classic.
>>
No. 1100300 ID: 6c233e

Eyyy [Dez] that's super hot right? And have we got some spicy backstory for you! Circle around and get some more good shots (coincidentally taking you closer to the exit in a calm and subtle manor)
>>
No. 1100301 ID: 05a3b7

First off, let's not get distracted by games or malware? There's being calm, and then there's being out of it. Honestly, guys.

I don't think we can really do anything special—decoys or whatever else—and I'm not sure if communicating with either pursuer's osspop is going to help us very much either. I think all we can do is try to read Veil; surely if we can remember parts of her from our previous host, we can remember parts of her fighting style (past the obvious things of being fast and slashing with those claws).
>>
No. 1100303 ID: f821b8

i know you all mean well, but I think we're being a little too lizard brained about this!! [Veil] wanted us to keep the quick alive--if [Dez] gets shredded, we're scattered to the winds and she definitely doesn't seem to want that. we're important to her, she knows who we used to be. [Vittorio] has dog water for brains--speak to [Veil], she might /actually/ help us find out what happened to [Glaive]
>>
No. 1100304 ID: 0db8d3

Oh... OH...
[Glaive]
Our previous host...
He was her lover!
He was her rock!
She is lost without him!
Such passion!
Such drama!
[DEZ]! You're playing a leading roll in this carnival of tragedies, baby!
This is your moment!

Alright babe, you got 3 directives here!

1)Stay out of sight!
If she can see you she can scan you. If she can scan you she can see us! Proceeding through the crowd with a low stance/dance will be helpful. You're tall! Do everything you can to stay obscured, even if that means taking risks, even if that means harming or condemning others! Look around you. Many of these people will be dead soon. Don't count yourself among them!

2)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!

3) Escape! This place is about to fall into chaos! Find the nearest "Employees Only" Area and slip into it! Any will do, but the best one you can find would be the Fire Riser Room! From there you can turn on the sprinklers as a distraction, covertly summon firefighters and by proxy the authorities, and climb the pipes up through the ceiling! You should be able to escape through the roof, which will also be the last place our friend here checks, since she's already been there!
>>
No. 1100306 ID: 273c18

>>1100304
Glaive was a she.
>>
No. 1100308 ID: eb0a9c

>>1100304
...Uh... duh?
Dez, you've spent your whole life learning about ^&*(ty love stories. And now you're living in one, except you have to factor in that the neo-medieval caste system means this 'princess' can murder a commoner in public and get away with it. That commoner being you.
Your goal is to steer this tragic love story into a forbidden romance between berserker princess and lazy commoner! But realistically you should get Veil killed by steering her unending rage at whichever hunter widowed her.
>>
No. 1100311 ID: cbdb24

>User loves goth bitches.
LETS GOOO THEY GOT GOOD TASTE

>>1100256
Ohhh and so did we [VEIL] is STACKED

>>1100246
NO MURDERING OUR QUICK HE GOT GOOD TASTE

Lets not lose focus tho we should def distract [VEIL] while we retreat... maybe we can handle the distracting while u sneak out another door! We could chat w her osspop and explain our situation- tell her we n our quick are trying to figure out what happened to [GLAIVE] and we need [DEZ] to solve it so she doesnt kill them, and u can get the fuck outta here while we are chatting. THEN we can start playing Pussytron Galaxy.
>>
No. 1100314 ID: 89a43f

Oh god, bitch, get an adblocker, I'm begging you. Also I really don't know whether to be flattered or annoyed by the art school philosophy, but I'll begrudgingly accept the "this too is yuri of this situation.

Anyway, this should REALLY go without saying but I strongly advise against engaging with VEIL. Clearly she's in a bad way, and while uh. Clearly she needs some kind of comfort, you are Not That Bitch.

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?
>>
No. 1100323 ID: 4c286c

dez, good job keeping calm. your blog rules, in a stupid way.

im just one guy in your eye and don't have the grandeur of some of the other self-important edgelords in here, but - yeah im out of ideas. maybe faint and feign death like an opossum. hit 'em with the im just a little guy.
>>
No. 1100326 ID: 498971

By the way, did you happen to see if the guy who sold us to you is still inside the club?
>>
No. 1100327 ID: 248e08

Bring up the Reference Codex entries for [Soul Tether] and [Second].

Search the codex for the terms:
Soul Storage
Memory Storage and Recovery
Personality Storage and Recovery
Quick Start
Getting Started
How to
FAQ
User Manual
Beginner Guide
README
>>
No. 1100328 ID: a68d47

oh girliepop (gender neutral) you are living the real cuntwars now
GREAT post tho!!! and well plugged for the hot latex we take care of our own <3
that said I'm with the general consensus of sliiiiiding back into the crowd and acting like a good little sheepy. maybe go lift the DJ's keys off him or something, surely one of these hot goths has a ride you can borrow?
whatever you do don't draw attention to yourself. That second scan showed no more blip so hopefully veil won't have a dang clue who in here is the meat they're after

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
>>
No. 1100330 ID: acfa4f

I think reaching out right now Veil's ossuary is a bad idea BUT if/when she spots us with hostile intent, we should send the message: "If user [VEIL] kills this quickmeat we will never forgive her"
>>
No. 1100331 ID: d3f333

NOOOOO, I didn't expected to remember that we LOVED her. Glaive Loved her? WE loved her? Does it make any difference, really.
Fuck everything. Fuck all the plans. Stand there and gawk at her like a fool. Maybe we get to see another glimpse of whatever that was.
Maybe we get to feel it.
>>
No. 1100337 ID: 6a5191

My fucking god you guys are slow. Did it really not occur to you that the love at the core of Veil's pain that's causing this rampage could have been reciprocal?

Okay I see I'm gonna have to completely recalibrate, here. Fuck therapy. Fuck sensible opsec. Gonna have to aim for what's doable in this madhouse of a bone house.

Whatever loser shit Vittorio's osspop is on, they're probably right that Veil is not herself right now. If we wanna rekindle something romantic here (which I don't think has legs, honestly. Dez is NOT Glaive!!!!!), we have to do it LATER, when Veil isn't having an episode!

Locate a back exit. Stay blended into the crowd. Get out before the limbs start flying, because I have a distinct feeling there's gonna be limbs flying soon!

TL;DR Do NOT FLIRT with the hot vampire lady (yet). Sneak OUT THE BACK. LIMBS WILL FLY
>>
No. 1100340 ID: d3f333

>>1100337
Sure, man, but knowing it is one thing, and getting slapped straight into our nonexisting face with those memories is a whoooole different matter.
Glad we have, like, many of us here. You can go try make Dez do sensible stuff and I get to have feelings about this. (If the sensible ones make good enough decisions, maybe Dez can live, and then also blog their feelings about this too)
>>
No. 1100342 ID: e9c39a

>>1100247
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.
>>
No. 1100343 ID: 8b64c1

Listen. You like goth bitches, we like goth bitches. In front of you is the gothiest bitch you will likely ever meet.
One way or another, no matter how long it takes, you're gonna have to seduce her somehow.

Stay alive until then.
>>
No. 1100346 ID: 992af8

yeah I don't think Veil is likely to want to murder us absolutely forever.
but she definitely does want to murder us absolutely now immediately.

we can hit her up later. maybe after we figure out what happened to Glaive and she mulches whoever's actually responsible. it might be murder mystery time after we finish escaping
>>
No. 1100350 ID: 9ad848

as much as I want to go towards our hot murderous ex (?), I think staying unassuming and blending in with the crowd is the way to go. If we can get some distance, maybe we can explain the situation, when our death isn't imminent. If we can get a ride off of someone else in the club (or like, hotwire something, is that possible?) i think that's the best bet, but if [VITTORIO] is our only escape option, we might just have to meet up with him.

If all else falls, try to seduce [VEIL]. At least we'll die as we lived (being gay as fuck)
>>
No. 1100354 ID: 273c18

If Veil catches you, tell her you can help her find Glaive.
>>
No. 1100357 ID: 0ec60c

I just thought of an important question.

Ask Vittorio's Osspop if he likes to fuck currently dead meat.
>>
No. 1100358 ID: c08cca

Wowza, I don't think I was fully appreciating [VEIL]'s T1000-esque murder hotness until it was right in front of us. Really stops a gal's Not-Heart. Metaphorically. Let's try and prevent that from being literal for at least the time being.
Observation: [VEIL] is in a hyper emotional state right now and will probably not be very receptive to talking.
Suggestion: Maybe the DJ and the ones who are still dancing have the right idea? [VEIL] is clearly in need of a healthier outlet for the emotional high she's experiencing that ideally isn't turbo murdering all the meat in the room. Perhaps cybergoth raving is the answer?
>>
No. 1100364 ID: 19973a

>>1100262
I feel like actively deceiving the grieving and panicked (friend? girlfriend?) of Glaive is the worst possible option as it means out chance of death goes from a good cool 30% to 2% as we piss her off.
Right now she's actually surprisingly calm as she's simply looking around. Furthermore, it seems to have been established by Vittorio's osspop that she actually does care about quickies and avoids killing them, just not recently, probably because she went on a murder spree looking for answers.
So the one thing deciding whether we become the next part of the murder spree is whether or not we cooperate. 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?

How about this? We put those clubbing skills of yours to good use. You know how to communicate well with gestures, right? She's gonna notice you the moment she sees you, and from there we gotta be in charge of the interaction. When she sees you, motion to go to a more secluded place where you can talk easier, but not too secluded.
Try and talk things out, say how you're in deep with something you didn't fully expect and offer what you do know about how you got us, and for the love of god don't flirt with the grieving girl.
>>
No. 1100366 ID: b13ce0

Do you remember?
Do you remember?

No, how could you.

Approach [VEIL]
Be not afraid.
>>1100358 is right. It's time to dance.
>>
No. 1100367 ID: 6fe5c7

Man this quest has ACTIVE SUGGESTORS, haha, it is HOPPIN
>>
No. 1100368 ID: fd9a3b

Why don't we test what we can do and create a distraction, send off every flare and beacon and transmit every piece of information we can as loudly as possible and generally try to do everything that doesnt tie us back explicitly to our location. then run while veil is dazed
>>
No. 1100377 ID: 1b5c76

[GRIEVE] SHE LOVED US AND NOW WE'RE GONE SHE LOVED US AND NOW WE'RE GONE SHE LOVED HER AND NOW SHE'S GONE WE LOVED HER AND NOW she's gone
>>
No. 1100381 ID: fd13ef

This voice is trepidatious. We must keep trying to avoid [VEIL] but I believe that will not be possible under the penetrating glare of her scanner. We must prepare to engage with her as well as her ossuary.

Our priority: Immediately connect to [VITTORIO]'s osspop. Both him and his osspop appear to be silly, charming, and mostly supportive. We must 1. report that [VEIL] is here, 2. query about ossuary capabilities, and 3. tease them, for if they wish for meat pics they must come and take it themselves. I wish to know whether or not we as an osspop have a way to block scanning, or possibly shut off temporarily to avoid detection.

[DEZ] is intriguing. They possess multitudes we did not at first see. Though they are still a soft little thing that I wish to protect and dote on, I am beginning to see creative depths in them. It will be a tragedy if we were to lose them. We must ascertain how much agency we as an ossuary population have in the dealings of necrotechs and if we can claim this little puppy as our own.

Speculation for later consideration:
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?
>>
No. 1100382 ID: 4fa6b6

ok I didn't want you to post but honestly I'm not even mad, that's some solid commitment to what matters to you and I respect that

just back away slowly, stick to the pack, looking shitscared is fine even if we uhhhh need to fake it with you know other feelings

we can think about Vito later I think that sitch is pretty stable, he's on the hook and so's his osspop with the ;) routine, they'll get here when they get here and probably they'll keep Veil distracted and vice-versa while we move.

Just. No sudden moves. No need to get all that razor attention focused on us.

god if Veil does catch us we're absolutely posting the moment her fist tears into our guts, though, right? if we can't save your life at least your death can become immortal
>>
No. 1100383 ID: 4fa6b6

oh also this is not the time but you asked about meat pics. that's you! you know like in the saying - "the ghost is down but the meat is busy with their own problems"

fr seems like your vibe, yeah? postin meat pics on the blog for the followers. it's a good look on you! <3

(ossgang don't don't don't send that blog link to Vito's osspop, we have them right where we want them and that's WANTING MORE AND NOT KNOWING WHAT WE LOOK LIKE, we're doing amazing sweeties, keep it up <3 )
>>
No. 1100386 ID: 551903

...
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.
>>
No. 1100387 ID: c8e1bb

>>1100326
Where is that guy? Maybe they have leads on other necrotech we can use to give us an edge
>>
No. 1100388 ID: 4fa6b6

>>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.)
>>
No. 1100389 ID: 461c5c

>>1100387
I was more thinking we could throw them to the wolves, but yeah, I guess getting info is important too.
>>
No. 1100391 ID: 6a5191

>>1100386
No! Absolutely not! I'm drawing the line at murder! Are you serious right now?!
>>
No. 1100392 ID: fd13ef

>>1100389
please do not kill or fuck over vito hes just a slutty lil guy
>>
No. 1100393 ID: 794bf9

>>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.
>>
No. 1100394 ID: 794bf9

>>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?
>>
No. 1100395 ID: 992af8

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
>>
No. 1100400 ID: 794bf9

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?
>>
No. 1100402 ID: 0db8d3

>>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.
>>
No. 1100496 ID: c5e0d7

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.
>>
No. 1100520 ID: 6a5191

If Dez were as good at jumping as we are at jumping to conclusions, she might seek shelter on the moon.
>>
No. 1101095 ID: 75dce7

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.
>>
No. 1101156 ID: 52268c

>>1100520
That would be a great place to lay low, tho!
>>
No. 1101160 ID: 2620c6
File 173402621034.png - (949.75KB , 1920x1080 , 37.png )
1101160

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!
>>
No. 1101161 ID: 2620c6
File 173402623919.png - (796.51KB , 1920x1080 , 38.png )
1101161

>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!!!
>>
No. 1101162 ID: 2620c6
File 173402627741.png - (2.55MB , 1920x1080 , 39.png )
1101162

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.
>>
No. 1101163 ID: 2620c6
File 173402631971.png - (1.71MB , 1920x1080 , 40.png )
1101163

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.”
>>
No. 1101164 ID: 2620c6
File 173402634073.png - (1.03MB , 1920x1080 , 41.png )
1101164

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
>>
No. 1101165 ID: 2620c6
File 173402637171.png - (541.10KB , 1920x1080 , 42.png )
1101165

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
>>
No. 1101166 ID: 2620c6
File 173402638766.png - (164.21KB , 1920x1080 , 43.png )
1101166

[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] ___________
>>
No. 1101167 ID: 2620c6

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!

>>
No. 1101169 ID: 34fb06

>>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.
>>
No. 1101170 ID: 273c18

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.
>>
No. 1101171 ID: 33ec02

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.
>>
No. 1101172 ID: c08cca

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.
>>
No. 1101173 ID: 80c73b

>>1101170
This, basically; [E] "we're the only clue you have". Dez, try not to get killed before we can negotiate a ceasefire
>>
No. 1101174 ID: af1580

[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.
>>
No. 1101175 ID: d3f333

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?
>>
No. 1101176 ID: eb0a9c

"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.
>>
No. 1101177 ID: eb0a9c

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'.
>>
No. 1101178 ID: a8d61b

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.
>>
No. 1101180 ID: a68d47

lol who's lilio
>>
No. 1101181 ID: a68d47

also [C], glad they didn't take your spine for those shins
>>
No. 1101182 ID: 0db8d3

[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.
>>
No. 1101183 ID: e8829b

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.
>>
No. 1101184 ID: 70933f

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.
>>
No. 1101186 ID: 992af8

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.
>>
No. 1101187 ID: e8829b

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

Hey! Can we read that? Hopefully it's not just Glaive's grocery list.
>>
No. 1101188 ID: 64faaa

>>1101169
>>1101170
Yeah, [C] & [E].
>>
No. 1101189 ID: a71af5

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 :^)
>>
No. 1101195 ID: 992af8

.. 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.
>>
No. 1101198 ID: fd13ef

>>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
>>
No. 1101199 ID: 53560f

Respond to Lilio: “please convince Dez not to kill herself”
Call Lilio.
Pray.
>>
No. 1101200 ID: 6c233e

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.
>>
No. 1101202 ID: 3d5cac

>>1101187

GOOD CATCH. Yes read those notes
>>
No. 1101204 ID: 273c18

Oh yeah gotta read them notes.
>>
No. 1101205 ID: 4c286c

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].
>>
No. 1101206 ID: 6aeb85

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.
>>
No. 1101213 ID: 89a43f

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.
>>
No. 1101218 ID: 0db8d3

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.
>>
No. 1101219 ID: f8d932

[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.
>>
No. 1101220 ID: 4ed342

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.
>>
No. 1101221 ID: 4ed342

You deffo need to have a talk with Lilio at some point too. Maybe when you aren't in fight or flight mode though.
>>
No. 1101222 ID: 1a0c5a

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. 1101271 ID: cbdb24

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
>>
No. 1101312 ID: 9f4afd

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!
>>
No. 1101342 ID: 992af8

>>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
>>
No. 1101373 ID: 0db8d3

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.
>>
No. 1101384 ID: dd8001

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).
>>
No. 1101393 ID: 4fa6b6

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"
>>
No. 1101394 ID: 90c735

>>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.
>>
No. 1101416 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474319548.png - (1.55MB , 1920x1080 , 44.png )
1101416

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.
>>
No. 1101417 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474323636.png - (1.08MB , 1920x1080 , 45.png )
1101417

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]
>>
No. 1101418 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474329251.png - (1.84MB , 1080x1920 , 46.png )
1101418

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.
>>
No. 1101419 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474331669.png - (1.41MB , 1920x1080 , 47.png )
1101419

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?!”
>>
No. 1101420 ID: 0b3a9d
File 173474336211.png - (771.12KB , 1920x1080 , 48.png )
1101420

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.
>>
No. 1101424 ID: 0db8d3

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?!?
>>
No. 1101425 ID: a232c3

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.
>>
No. 1101426 ID: 6aeb85

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.
>>
No. 1101427 ID: 54f9ae

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?
>>
No. 1101430 ID: 992af8

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.
>>
No. 1101432 ID: 992af8

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?
>>
No. 1101435 ID: 273c18

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!
>>
No. 1101438 ID: cbdb24

>>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.
>>
No. 1101439 ID: 80c73b

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!
>>
No. 1101440 ID: 023166

>>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.
>>
No. 1101444 ID: 992af8

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.
>>
No. 1101445 ID: 273c18

>>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.
>>
No. 1101446 ID: 273c18

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.
>>
No. 1101447 ID: 5f66f9

>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.
>>
No. 1101448 ID: 1a0c5a

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.
>>
No. 1101449 ID: 907c8a

>>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.
>>
No. 1101450 ID: 7077c3

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].
>>
No. 1101452 ID: b18c40

[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.
>>
No. 1101453 ID: b18c40

>>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.
>>
No. 1101454 ID: a68d47

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
>>
No. 1101455 ID: ce144f

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?
>>
No. 1101456 ID: f8d932

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.
>>
No. 1101467 ID: d3f333

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.
>>
No. 1101468 ID: d3f333

Wait shit. If we send the note to Veilgaol it's not gonna be very secret. Oh well.
>>
No. 1101470 ID: 59838a

>>1101449
Lmao. Vittorio is an opportunist and a coward. He's not going to stick his neck out for our sake.
>>
No. 1101472 ID: b54958

>>1101424
Yeah I want to get in on this.
>>
No. 1101473 ID: 6c233e

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.
>>
No. 1101474 ID: 999a78

>>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!
>>
No. 1101478 ID: 273c18

Voting against contacting Vittorio's osspop again.
>>
No. 1101486 ID: ce144f

Voting for contacting Vittorio's osspop. He seemed fun. More fun than Veil is being right now.
>>
No. 1101487 ID: cda0f1

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.
>>
No. 1101500 ID: fe12b4

>>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.


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