Let's deck into the BLOODNET (Undead Version)

[KickAss]

awesome stuff as usual!

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Yes! Looks like another quality LP.

 

[Lemon]

Looks like a great LP. Following with interest.

 

[ghostdog]

-=[IV]-HACKING.AT.THE.EDGES-[IV]=-







OK if you didn't get the memo let me say it one more time. Stark has had better days. He is turning into a vampire and the only thing that helps him retain his humanity is his shozzy neural implant. Time is running out, shit is coming in, and we must do something. Let's go talk to some of our old pals. maybe they can help us out.


Their tech-gang is called :

Yeah. That's it.

Let's talk to this bulky/funky guy, Penn Martinez.

I love this constant cyberpunk drivel. The game is full of it.

You need it, you got it. But, Damn, you look casters up, like you're dying or something.

Actually, I'm dying. That's the reason I'm here. I'm taking stock. You're one of my few friends in this town, Smiley. I need to know if I can count on you.

There's a guy here called HAKIM MAGHSOUDI that looks like a merc , but he doesn't want to help us. We can enroll him later if we want, but for now what matters here is that PATCH CORD that's down on the floor. We can use that to deck with another guy into cyberspace. Co-op and stuff.

Say hello to our old friend Reflex Symptoms. Somehow he thinks our blood-red war-paint looks ridiculous. No fucking way.

Wasting time with a dbase I clipped from human service. Includes source code documentation for several models of memory chips.

I'm involved in something. Might need your help.

Ram it, Stark. I got stuff to debug.



Thanks a lot, pal. Let's see if Rags Trammell is more helpful.

I mean the boards talk about this guy like he's Beelzebub himself. Been with the company forever and no one seems to know his story. So things must be out of hand for Witte and Yatchisin to challenge him like this.

What's this Van Helsing doing ?

I don't know, but from what I gather , we're talking massive expenditures over a long term, real estate purchases, hardware... Fat cats are paranoid by nature. Witte and Yatchisin probably figure Van Helsing's out to bugger them.

You're probably right. Any idea how I can contact Witte or Yatchisin ?

We're talking about TreansTech Star Chamber execs, Stark. They're about as accessible as the President, and more powerful. Drop it. You're gonna end up lying in some alley with your chest kicked in.



Yeah, well it's not like we have much choice. We better find a way to contact these suits, if we want to have some decent allies in our fight against this ancient cabal of Vampire Lords.

On another note, let's say hi to Larry. At least he looks like a pleasant fellow.

Well, I was facing with an angel who hacks for the company. Sorta dwells on both sides. Couple weeks ago she told me about a guy named Goldfarb who worked in marketing.

Yeah, that's him, Timmy Goldfarb.


Our snitch. We actually have some info stored about Timmy in our computer :

Hmm, I guess it's time to find out what happened to him.

Turns out old Timmy was doing his own unauthorized decking. Got into a National Labs data cluster and started experimenting with morph codes that are stored there. Know what a morph code is ?

I've heard things , but nothing I'd trust.


Morph codes are the new shit. Pay attention brothers and sisters.


[

Sweet Jesus. I could use a cigarette, I think. I'm no philosopher, and I'm happy about that, because I don't want to think the implications of what you just told me.

So your friend Timmy finds a cache of this stuff and starts messing with it, except this stuff is for pros only, right ? He botched the program merge between the Morph code and his soul box. Ended up with severe brain damage.

Institutionalized ?

He's running crazy on Wall Street with a loose-knit gang of psychos called the Autonomy Dogs. Calls himself Wild Child now.

Where can I find them ?

Great. So our friends are either lazy nerd bums, ungrateful bastards, or brain damaged psychos running amok. I guess we'll pay the Autonomy Dogs a visit later. But right now our next stop is the artsy Cafe Voltaire :

Let's talk to the owner. His real name is probably something like Duchebag Python, but he changed it to Duchamp Pynchon because it sounds more artsy and avant garde and shit.

There is none like it, sir. None ! It is people, mon ami, who grant life and personality to a cafe. And it is the people --who drink cocktails, write poetry, experiment with technology, seduce one another-- who give this place spark.

I've always been suspicious of wordy intellectuals. They think they can justify anything if they cover it over in enough bullshit.

You said it , Stark !

Instantaneous poetry must be something like spontaneous combustion. This could be interesting, in a masochistic kind of way.

Choices and consequences, mon amis.

(NO MORE PLEASE !) Uh, I just remembered I've got a soul box to morph with a decker and a pair of negatronic pliers ready for cybernetic discharging. I must hurry, see ya !



We just created some Instantaneous poetry there. So let's quietly slip to the back area :

There's a strange guy here, Cyril Thorpe. He is decked into the net and he blabbers constantly , speaking in fragmented thought, seemingly having conversations with several people at once...

This guy is seriously fuck up man. Maybe that hippie girl, Wendy, knows something about him.

Be more interesting if he had any concept of politics and any facility of recognizing the enemy and fighting it.

Who's the enemy ?

You gotta ask, you are the enemy. Companies run the net and the net runs the world. They extend their control a little further every day.

You're preaching to the converted, sister. I've been a disgrunt for years, but TransTech is all over the city, all over the world. Hard to fight an enemy with that kind of scope. Believe me , I know.

HE could. Cyril could do it. He has that kind of power. But hell, the most important conflict in human history's being won by the bad guys, and a potentially powerful weapon for freedom wastes his time playing boy scout.

Why ? What's so special about this guy ?

He's the psionic ombudsman of cyberspace. People have problems, they jack into the net and let C.T. go to work for them. It's child's play for him to modify a human mind when it's rendered as a cyberspace data structure.

So this C.T. guy is some kind of virtual guru genius that can manipulate your soulbox while you're decked in cyberspace. But we can't talk to him right now. Let's talk to that guy over there with the Hispanic accent :

You're a real live wire, then ? Hmm, there are some in the Conspiracy who don't shy away from the more... aggressive tactics. If you are a man of the gun, I know some in the KAFKA Conspiracy who would like to meet you. Interested ?

I might be.

I can arrange a meeting. Be at W.23rd and 9th street. Someone will be there.



Kafka Conspiracy, huh ? Another crazy bunch to check out. Jane has some info on them...

I agree. That's just hacking at the edges. You don't get TransTech's attention by costing them money. They just generate more of it. Only colors they stop for are red. Blood red.

Sing it brother ! A bullet square in the eyes of one of the suits in the Star Chamber will get their attention. Punch a few holes in those bastards and people will have the courage to demand their freedom.



Wow, Jane is x-treme. So the Kafka Conspiracy is some kind of anarchist/revolutionist organization that works against the company, good to know. Let's talk to that Asian guy. I swear all the patrons of this cafe are total wackos.

You weren't meant to be. I said you are a curious one. You seem to be interested in our friend C.T. You should talk to him yourself. I've written the address to his WELL on this paper.

He gives us a note.

Cute. It's in three different languages. Real cute. Maybe I'll just tear that deck off his head.

He'll hardly be your friend if you do that. If you have difficulty with languages you should talk to Benny Puzzle. He can help, you translate my note. He speaks in crossword puzzle clues.



Fucking great. We need help from a guy that speaks in crossword puzzles. From one crazy bastard, to another !

Gerry Soo said you can help me translate this message into English.

What the... What's wrong with you people ? What's with this obsession with languages and puzzles ?

Let's give it a go.

1. Zulu, Latin, German : are my = Languages ?
2. medicine or law : and my = Science ?
3. A day in the _ _ _ _ of = ??
4. done in the job : for a = WUT
5. i.e.,TransTechnicals; that = Company ?
6. interior _ _ _ _ _ _ _ = what the fucking HELL ?
7. Written or spoken = Word ? Sentence ? Phrase ?
8. Semaphore, Mosrse = Code ?
9. Peyton _ _ _ _ _ = Gary Payton ??? (hoho)





AHHHH FUCK THIS. We'll find another way to decode the note later, and even if we knew C.T.'s well address, I don't think we have a good enough soulbox to access it yet. If we examine the note we see :

It's German. Babbelfish says it means "to eat mysterious friend". Whatever the hell that means, it doesn't help. As I said we can find another way to translate it later.



I think our next stop will be the :

Yep, we're gonna check on our old street-gang. Original cyba-gangsta





PS: If anyone wants to try and decode the crossword puzzle, he's welcome to do so. Internetic cheating is punished with a shot from Starks' diarrhea gun.

 

[thesheeep]

"geheimnisvollen freund zu fressen"?

Ahahahahaha...... it's like a bad google translation form English to German.
Doesn't matter how you look at it, it's just wrong.
Also, no idea if that helps you, but "fressen" is more like the wild form of "eat".
Translator brings up words like gall, gorge, devour,...

 

[Unradscorpion]

Ghostdog, you are a true patriot.

 

[abstract]

languages are my science and my life. I work for a company that designs language code?

 

[lightbane]

Good done, keep updating as soon as you can.

PS: No-one has noticed the irony of having a fucking vampire lord being called Van Helsing, the goddamn vampire hunter for excellence?

 

[Martin]

Somehow I get the feeling that some people will dislike the ending.

 

[Lord Rocket]

HOLY SHIT YOU DON'T SAY?>???????!?!?!!!?!?!?

Man stop fu cking around, get to the Abyss and get your crew together. You're wasting your own time here.

 

[ghostdog]

Next time we'll visit the abyss after we visit our old gang. If the traveling between places makes me waste too much time and come back to bite be in the ass, we can't do shit. I'm too far further into the game, right now...

I'm ready to embrace my fate. :singletear:

 

[Brother None]

I hate it when games have bad grammar.

...

Just sayin'

Awesome stuff. Keep it coming. Reminds me of the Ripper with all the decking mind-altering mumbo-jumbo

 

[Derper]

Hmm, is the INCUBUS a legend, or does it actually exist ? Incubus rhymes with succubus, doesn't it ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubus

 

[ghostdog]

Hmm, is the INCUBUS a legend, or does it actually exist ? Incubus rhymes with succubus, doesn't it ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incubus

Heh, nice find. I just hope that if we find him, he doesn't greet us with his "unnaturally large or cold sexual organ".

 

[Fowyr]

Heh, nice find. I just hope that if we find him, he doesn't greet us with his "unnaturally large or cold sexual organ".

I remember how looks Incubus in this game and start laughing.

 

[Angthoron]

I hate it when games have bad grammar.

...

Just sayin'

Awesome stuff. Keep it coming. Reminds me of the Ripper with all the decking mind-altering mumbo-jumbo

Ick, Greengrocer's Apostrophe.

Looks great otherwise. The map looks impressive - was it a multi-screen stitched together?

 

[ghostdog]

I hate it when games have bad grammar.

Grammar ? Isn't it more like spelling mistakes ?

The map looks impressive - was it a multi-screen stitched together?

Indeed, it was. I was aiming for that cool effect.

 

[Brother None]

Indeed, it was. I was aiming for that cool effect.

You succeeded. I nearly JaMarcussed myself out of sheer awesome.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

I hope the game doesn't have you delve into a monster infested sewer later on.

 

[SCO]

I hope the game doesn't have you delve into a monster infested sewer later on.

It does. Only they are not monsters.

Bikers!

I had a flamethrower i think

:twisted:

 

[Martin]

There is one way to trigger random battles in the game that involves pissing off a certain biker you can hire. This is actually usefull for increasing party skills since every other fight in the game is preset ( if you choose to fight, in some cases you may just avoid it).

 

[wjw]

Where is my daily dose of super duper Stark.

 

[ghostdog]

-=[V]-INTO.THE.ABYSS-[V]=-





So. We've learned that Van Helsing (aka count dracula reversed) is preparing for something big. So big that other top executives at TransTechnicals are getting nervous. So big that he wanted a guy as awesome as Stark under his command. Could it be related to the "Morph code", a code that's rumored to be able to alter genetic structures ? And what about this "Incubus" , the allegedly , ultimate icebreaker ? We'll see. For now we desperately need some help. That's why we'll stop by our old gang, the Flux riders.

Ahh, sweet teenage memories of loitering. Hondo seems to be the current leader of the gang.

Well, the place is a dump but at least it seems they have sattelite tv.

I know what you got and that's an over-the-edge 'too on your face. Hope that's not permanent.

It'll come off. I just wear it to impress the women. Look I came here for a reason. When I was a rider, we helped our own. Are you new breed still loyal ?

Still stands. What do you need ?

I know some of you spread your wings in the net. I'm into something heavy and I need to know what the buzz is these days about c-space.

Belong to the Company ?

Who else ? Cages are proliffing like rats, ICE systems are taking heavy payment... You ask my advice, I'd keep my brain in this plane.




I'd expected something more than half-assed advice. Bah, Let's talk to that girl and see if the sexy paint tattoo is doing the trick. It seems Stark already knows her.

Stark. You told me at the club that you'd be seeing me soon, but I thought you were lying. Yikes! You do look different... Anyway, you were scoping for c-space whispers ?

Stark, you dirty old man !

I'm out of touch with the underground. I'd appreciate an update.

Hmm, more rumors about this INCUBUS. And we also got the the location of the Black Aggotts. I hope that they don't turn out to be a band of black faggotts. Let's talk to the other members.

Really? I think he's more like a dead ringer of Rick Roll.

Flavio and I used to hang as Riders. That jack could rig. When we were kids we managed to patch together a motherboard from scrap parts. Spent a lot of time hacking on that thing. What's Flavio do these days?

Sold out to TransTechnicals. Analyzes data. Listen, you look like you're still street. I can do something for you. I got an Azrael. You need it, I trade it for a 16TB mem chip. I do the Dragon so the Azrael don't turn me, interested ?


The Dragon and the Azrael are are both soulboxes. The Azrael is a lot better than the crap we currently have but we certainly don't have what he's asking for. Essentially, we've been Rick Rolled.


Last but not least, we have Big Dina :

At last someone that knows what charit- em... --help-- means. The data spider is a virus program that can be inserted to a system and destroy it. And not only that, but we also got the address of a weapon merchant... Weapons! I was starting to worry. We haven't even seen any combat yet. I mean how can you consider this an RPG without any grindan ? And as we ponder these disturbing questions, let's head over to our favorite club, the Abyss.

Now we're talking. Abyss is a place with strong booze and it's filled with mercs, hackers, cyborgs and other lowlifes. Our kind of people. Almost all people here are recruitable.


We have Kyle Avery :

Good stats, but he wants 25.000 $ and on top of that he's an arrogant prick, fuck him.



Next there's Cisco ALvarez :

He says he's retired, but eventually he'll join us if we also enroll that Maghsoudi guy we met at the Houston Matrix Rovers. So... fuck him.



Then there's the ZZ-top affectionado, Max Bax :

The guy is batshit crazy, so he definitely has what it takes to come with us. Max Bax, welcome on board !


We also find a cyborg assassin called Nimrod 7 :

He's quite powerful, but everyone else will hate our guts if we take him, so... no.



Slash McLachlin is sitting with his best friend, a bottle of booze.

So, do we want a drunkard for a sniper/marksman ? Sure we do. We'll hire him.



There is only one woman in this room. A close examination reveals that she's one hot babe. We'd hit on her, using that charming smug women find irresistible, but it turns out she's an old friend and she's already taken.

Yep, we have them both as contacts in our portable full tower 8086 supercomputer.

Always could. You laid your own neck on the line for Garrick and me many a time when we nearly crossed the line with TransTech.

Where is your old man anyway ?

He's working for an uptown gang that wants some TransTech dirt, Call themselves Electric Anarchy. Not much work lately. Imagine that I'm booked to trail some guy in the net who's allegedly a Vampire. Anything to stay working, I guess. What is it Stark ? Your pale skin went almost blue there for a second.

Let's put it this way, if you were bounty hunting the undead, you'd be able to take that cuban cruise with the money I'd bring you.

They got you, Stark ? I can't believe it ! Nobody could ever touch you when it came to combat. I mean I hope you're OK, but how did you let your guard down ?

Hey, I'm human, OK ? At least half, anyway. Now what I want is to keep my half-breed alive... And there's more. The Incubus is real, and these guys want it. If we don't get it before they do we're all goners. I'm gonna need the best people on my side.

Sign me up. That's what you're getting at, isn't it ?


Exactly ! And she signs up for free on top of that. You're my girl, Rymma.

No Kidding, Rymma is an excellent hacker/decker.

So, let's equip our boys with some kevlar suits and guns and hit the Streets. It's time we got some combat !

Why don't we stop by the local cemetery ? We're Vampires, after all...

Hey, it seems that there's a crowd here... And what the hell is Nimrod doing here ? [I forgot that I actually took him too]

Whaa ?

HA ! you don't stand a chance against us, you ugly... transvestite ! It's time to see what RPG's are all about, people, let's FIGHT !

The battle system is simple, but a bit clunky and slow going if you chose to give exact orders to each party member. First you place each member to the position you want and then you can either let them engage in free combat (not recommended) or issue orders separately.

After each round you can watch, if you want, the detailed report of what just happened :

Bah, I don't have time to read this old school wall of text, ATTACK !
HAHAHA, DIE LOSERS ! ...eh ? what's going on ? what the...

Damn. We just succumbed. To death. I didn't know death looked like a mutated Coala-Predator with a smiley on his chest... Hmm, now that I think of it , this pic is actually full of awesome. Anyway, that's it. Starks career as a Vampire-Hacker half-breed prince of smugness, just ended ingloriously.


...


This will teach us not to pick fights with strange transvestites that hang out in cemeteries. Next time we'll choose a better (and more economic) party and we'll try to be more careful...

 

[Satori (original)]

Nice nice. If you don't complete the game due to the time limit will you play it again to get the proper ending or leave it as is?

 

[ghostdog]

If die because of the time limit, I will cry bloody tears on my keyboard, and send hate mails to the developers. Then I'll watch Twilight saga under candle-light and sweetly hurt myself...

Fuck, I just gave myself goosebumps with the crap I'm writing. But seriously, I don't know what I'll do if by any chance we run out of time. Have faith in Stark.