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[LP CYOA] Epic

treave

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Codex 2012
I don't think I did?

I'm not going to confirm whether or not Cyber Jack is doing all of this to get us, of course, but perhaps it might be easier for you to make your case if you could provide text evidence of his interest in Senya.

edit: Well, the limitations on how Senya's power of suggestion works is a major hint in and of itself. And that's all the extra help I'm going to give for now.
 

Azira

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Codex 2012
What if Cyber Jack isn't a physical entity?

Seeing as this is Animu, consider this:
Senya woke up back on Earth, his fist held on to the charred core that used to be old Yua.
Old Yua had steered Senyas CF in just the right manner to let him reenter earths atmosphere without dying.
Senya possessed the knowledge to hack the solar ring around Earth.
Yua had access to much the same knowledge Senya did.
What if Old Yua hacked the solar ring and transferred some of herself, but not everything went as planned?

Seeing as this is Animu, I wouldn't be halfway surprised if Cyber Jack winds up to be some incarnation of the Old Yua, and she and New Yua winds up duking it out in some manner, and Senya's forced to choose between the two.
It'd be a dangerous choice, as New Yua is directly interfaced with Senya's body, and Old Yua would be interfaced with just about everything else.

How's that for paranoia? :lol:
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
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Seeing as this is Animu, I wouldn't be halfway surprised if Cyber Jack winds up to be some incarnation of the Old Yua, and she and New Yua winds up duking it out in some manner, and Senya's forced to choose between the two.

I have been thinking new Yua is the Cyber Jack. It can manipulate Senya's brain so it could make Senya do things and then make him forget.

Yua Two appeared to consider herself an entirely separate existence from the old Yua, even though the base I had constructed her from and the data I had used were identical. Theoretically, the reconstruction should have led the new Yua to behave like the old one as I input all the behavioural data of Yua 1.0 with no modifications. However, she treated the memories as just data to be compartmentalized and analyzed, building a new personality of her own according to her independent analysis of how best to serve me.
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
New Yua didn't have the opportunity since we only added the interface AFTER coming back and the letters threatening Qin were signed and written before. Plus, the suspicious activity tip on 7ch occurred before we left for the other world.

I don't think I did?

Eh, you sort of equated our thinking Naim didn't place our welfare as a priority as paranoia:
This also means that there is a possibility that we are the Theseus if we ram our tentacles down his throat in a restaurant washroom on the off chance that he might not be placing our welfare as a priority... but sometimes paranoia is justified too, for our own safety.
It's a stretch, but hey.

I'm not going to confirm whether or not Cyber Jack is doing all of this to get us, of course, but perhaps it might be easier for you to make your case if you could provide text evidence of his interest in Senya.
Our department was tipped anonymously before the 7ch hack happened. We were just thinking about a giant robot falling on top over us and then it happened. Naim did say that somehow Shulgi/Relius'd know if Kyrie and us meet up. The manager has some connection to the terrorist and she pulled major strings just to get someone from our specific department.

Additionally, the message cyber jack sent was, as you put it, "vague enough that Esquilax mistook it for a message to Senya":

They had been written with cut out alphabets from printed paper; a strange thing to do in this day and age. I look through the most recent one.

“To you,

I am watching. I am always watching.
I know everything.

Cyber Jack.”

Most of them are short and to the point, leaving few hints as to the motive and goal of the perpetrator.


edit: Well, the limitations on how Senya's power of suggestion works is a major hint in and of itself. And that's all the extra help I'm going to give for now.
Hmm. So why waste words on having them specifically write "til we meet again" if not to send a message? Maybe, I'm wrong here. Again, I'm not 100% on this but it's just very odd. edit: also, cyber jack had numerous opportunities to outright kill Qin, but didn't. If that's because all he wants her to do is "spread his message to the world", why the letters? Why our department at all if not to draw us out?

Also, there's this:

mid-level employee of the Muramasa Foundation

Muramasa Sengo (千子 村正 Sengo Muramasa) was a famous swordsmith who founded the Muramasa school and lived during the Muromachi period (14th to 16th centuries) in Japan. Oscar Ratti and Adele Westbrook said that Muramasa "was a most skillful smith but a violent and ill-balanced mind verging on madness, that was supposed to have passed into his blades. ... They were popularly believed to hunger for blood and to impel their warrior to commit murder or suicide."
A sword that hungers for blood and compells people to murder or suicide? Sekhenun?
 

a cut of domestic sheep prime

Guest
Of course there's another possibility. Cyber Jack could actually be Shulgi/Relius. Shut up. Let me finish. So Shulgi lost Kyrie, right? And Shulgi knows Kyrie will be looking for us right? He wants her to make contact with us so he'll know where she is. So he lures us out and puts us in some very public situations hoping we'll Ean out and reveal ourselves in some way. He doesn't want us to be fully exposed, just revealed enough so that someone who knows what to look for will be able to notice. Like, for instance, a bodyguard of a famous actress who jumps out of one of the city's tallest buildings to capture a suspect. Then Kyrie makes contact and he's got her. Something to think on.
 

ScubaV

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BA

Since our handling of the lawmaker case was "mediocre" it seems we should throw Azo a bone. Plus, it will mean less crap for us to deal with while we potentially get involved with this 'Messenger'.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
At the current update rate of once every two or three days, I find that I am probably able to squeeze in a general CYOA topic, which will serve more as an ideas test-bed for the CYOA aficionados here to introduce, discuss and try out new narrative mechanics - though I'm not sure if that still belongs in the Playground. I've found that some ideas, though they work fine in my head, don't turn out too well when I pit against the Codex.

I've a few ideas in the running to start that thread off with, if any of you are interested:

1. Rewind:
Stars a refined version of the rewind mechanism I've adopted for the game overs in this LP. You get to vote to repick your choice at every update, but every time you do so, the world turns ever so slightly towards a more insane reality, and at times choices don't turn out the way you expect even with your limited foresight of the future. The setting is undecided, but likely to be a mix of modern-day + some Lovecraftian influence.

2. Generations:
Generation dynamics; we can go the easy way, and have subsequent chapters focusing on the child and grandchild, or we can roll with alternating updates, jumping between each of the generations. Which is quite tricky to pull off with a CYOA for the C&C without massive railroading, and I'd be interested in seeing if anyone has any bright ideas on that part. Setting will probably be a hundred years war of some sort; not the Hundred Years' War, unless there's great demand for that particular setting.

3. Tower:
A dungeon crawl up a mysterious, hundred kilometer high monolith that appeared mysteriously one day in 21st century Earth. More traditional, less gimmickry. What I'm going to do, though, is to generate a party of seven with personalities, ambitions and backstories based on choices. Then we vote for a main, and finally we run the CYOA and see how each character plays off the other. Should a character die, we vote for the next one to be the main, and continue moving through it until we reach the top or the party is wiped.

4. Superhero:
What it says on the cover. Similar to the superhero concept I introduced earlier. Could be combined with Rewind and still work.

None of these are going to be full LPs with a hundred updates, and we'll be free to experiment or throw away a particular LP if it isn't going well in favour of playing with a newer, cooler idea. Think of them like movies rather than the long-running soap opera you are currently participating in.
 

Zwist

Learned
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236
BA

Because B is just to shiny. Even if it is ridiculously rash and will lose us our network for no certain gain.

The way the victims reacted it would make sense that Jack has direct control, as the waitress reacted on an unforseen event(by stabbing a guy), that would imply that he must have some kind of connection at all times, I do not know how augments work, so that it might be the net. However the serving robot might have served that function. In terms of an interrogation, a room without any possible connection to the net might be a good thing.
There is also the possibility that Quin was influenced by Jack, her view on things was a tiny bit to simple. We might end up in a creepy game of brain ping-pong.

Also. This reminds me quite a lot of an Anime called Lain.
 

Smashing Axe

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Divinity: Original Sin
Tower sounds the most interesting to me. I like the concept and the way death is handled. It'd be fun to try and get to the top of the tower with the luck and decision making skills of the Codex.

However the serving robot might have served that function.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. The robot infects them by touch through some nanomachine shenanigans, then acts as a vehicle for Jack to assume control.

Edit: Generations wouldn't be bad either. I suspect it'd turn into a eugenics simulator ala CK2
 

treave

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Codex 2012
Brain augments come with wireless connections, but they are hardly unprotected. Each comes with a standard ICE package, which should delay any hacker, even the excellent ones, long enough for the connection to be dropped. They are designed to report any tampering attempt to the user, no matter how minor. Direct, physical access makes things much easier, but it would either have to be an exceedingly subtle method, or the hacker would have to hold down the target by force. It is possible to program simple triggers into the augments, once you have access. If A, then B.

Current nanomachine technology isn't advanced enough to help with hacking yet, as it is still focused mainly on terraforming due to its origins in Inanna flower research.

Also. This reminds me quite a lot of an Anime called Lain.

Serial Experiments Lain? Good call, though I believe the concept has an older origin.
 

ScubaV

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Messages
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It would almost certainly be a giant pain in the ass for whoever ran it, but I think a multiplayer CYOA would be awesome. Give each player (or rather a small team of players to minimize the effects of absenteeism) a character to control and see how they interact. The scope would have to be pretty small to ensure interaction and minimize headaches. I'm not sure how feasible this is. Perhaps a small team on the author side would be necessary as well.
 

Zwist

Learned
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I like superhero. I think it would tie in great with the way people already start acting in CYOA's after some time. The reload action could be done by someone actually making "backups", dying would make you lose the chance to chose for that choice and is only available if the Hero is a big enough "Brand" to warrant a "reboot". A sort of immortality, but fuck up enough and you're not worth the hassle. and dying would still come with a price. Or you might actually put a pricetag on that if you work with funds, as in "new body 39,99,-".

Serial Experiments Lain? Good call, though I believe the concept has an older origin.

Jup, that one. And I've seen similar concepts quite a lot of places, but mostly as sub-plots or techonobabble.
 

aleam iacis

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Codex USB, 2014 BattleTech
BA. I would also be okay with AA. I know we don't expect any loyalty from Azo (we don't know him at all) and I also know that Senya is prone to oblique approaches, but I'm tired of us not caring about our cover job. Besides, maybe we can see Erika again.

treave, did you want someone to make a new topic? Or just to discuss that stuff here? Anyway, I'd be happy to enjoy a lovecraftian Rewind or a Generations one. Tower makes me think of Cube. Superhero would be okay, but I've read most of the Whateley stories and it's not that cool to me anymore.
 

treave

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Codex 2012
I have a concept for multiplayer too - the easiest way to do it is to allow players free-form decisions and then have the author cobble the narrative together, but we could also try and be ambitious:

5. Experiment
This idea reverses the Tower concept and places pre-created characters in the hands of multiple players. The characters have been kidnapped and wake up amnesiac in a deserted experimental facility, and have to work together to escape. They find that they have been implanted with some form of technology that allows them uncontrolled telepathy, meaning that whatever they think will be broadcasted to each other. This means choices for each of the characters will all be public, as should be the discussions leading up to it. As a group sometimes they will be required to make a single choice together, at other times each will be given separate choices on how to react to a situation, depending on the character they have.

Point of concern: Probably people will try to game it by having their discussions in private, but the choice must be declared in public nonetheless for it to count.

I like superhero. I think it would tie in great with the way people already start acting in CYOA's after some time. The reload action could be done by someone actually making "backups", dying would make you lose the chance to chose for that choice and is only available if the Hero is a big enough "Brand" to warrant a "reboot". A sort of immortality, but fuck up enough and you're not worth the hassle. and dying would still come with a price. Or you might actually put a pricetag on that if you work with funds, as in "new body 39,99,-".

Good idea.


edit: Yeah, I should start a new thread with the running list of ideas. Do take the discussion over there, if anyone has any stuff to contribute.
 

Jester

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Mar 24, 2013
Messages
1,493
Hello.
I found this cyoa and must say that i regret that i didn't do it sooner (would love too play Ean and Dio but too late sucker). Well written and interesting.

As for choices B, B + ask Anzo who pressured organization too get our department.

First choice i don't think that Naim would be cool if after our talk cult somewhat related too us started asking about Kyrie and he is aware/may use connections too find out what organization was tasked with protection and we don't want loose our safe haven in our situation so not A. C is ok but doing nothing can only decrease chances of loosing those 300 followers but still cult higher guys on Terra can make something stupid/risky. B isn't that hard too do probably cultist are used too stealthy missions (after all they survived after cult abandon Terra so probably wont say too much) and trying too get info bout messenger shouldn't be too suspicious (something like wanting too increase faith morale of lost lambs). We can get some intel about past or structure of cult. Still it would be good to organize those 300 get some solid command structure and mby try too reestablish cult under apostate Senya there are always poor/disappointed people out there.

Second not A accusing someone who can pressure Anzo organization (Japanese CIA? KGB?) and that have too be some solid power base without solid proof is stupid. If someone can get any good reason may change, still if i remember main points are restaurant ambush and her husband murder which aren't solid in my eyes [restaurant place need reservation some time before so hacking their computer too access information is possible and all people related too Qin can be monitored (Naim included especially if he try too court her), as for her husband on other hand was one of few thousand(?) people who commenced suicide can be base for increase surveillance (doubt it this mission looks like it has vary low importance so no backup) and suspicion but successful interrogation is unlikely whats more we will show our hand while rest options give her some pressure what he knows?]. C is like before ok, but still that jacks massage can be tricky and we would prefer too stop it before it occurs (if we think that jack is better out of our calculations) . B gives us possible information/ability too make a deal with cyber jack (maybe its organization not single person), still its very risky we cant be sure if jack wish too talk with us or reap us too shreds. In my opinion talk too us this much effort and power spend too get us just too kill is unlikely.

(its gonna be funny if its just coincidence "S: You sabotaged the movie too get my attention and here i am. CJ: Who the hell is this narcissistic guy?").
 

treave

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Codex 2012
1. B - 11, C - 1
2. A - 7, B - 3, C - 2

***

Case of the Cursed Songstress, Conclusion


“Do you know why you are here?” asks the interrogator.

“You believe I am working with Cyber Jack.” replies Nancy calmly, looking down at her hands.

“Are you?”

“Yes.” she says matter-of-factly. “I have nothing to hide.”

“Why are you working with him?”

“I agree with his ideals.”

“Why are you after Qin Kawano?”

“Her public conversion would have been a great boost to our cause.”

“Conversion, you say. Is it some sort of religion? Are you related to the Apostles? How did you plan on achieving it?”

“It is not a religion. Facts deny faith, and there can be no religion without faith. Our ideals are based on fact.”

“Very well, if you say so. What are your ideals? What do you stand to gain from all this?”

Nancy's lips tighten, pressing together in a thin, knowing smile.

“My work here is done, as the situation has changed. You will know the truth very, very soon. 'Til we meet again.”

Suddenly, her eyes roll up in her head as she begins convulsing, white foam bubbling from between clenched teeth. The interrogator leaps from his chair to grab her, but he does not make it in time before she hits the ground, her skull making a loud crack against the floor of the interrogation cell.

I pause the recording.

The truth that she spoke of had indeed been revealed soon. A day after her death, the ten thousand suicide victims had made a sudden return to cyberspace. At first, there was anger and disbelief, but as the minutes ticked by it soon became clear that this was not some insensitive attempt at trolling. Friends and relatives found that the internet personas knew everything that the deceased would. They had the same speech quirks, the same thought processes, the same emotions. If not for the fact that their real bodies were clearly dead and lying in a freezer somewhere in the local morgue, one would easily think that they were real, living people – which they claimed to be.

They claimed that they had discarded their physical shell and transcended into the realm of the digital.

As expected, this created a great uproar worldwide, having the fortunate side-effect of making Qin's encounter at the Yamaten yesterday's news. To add fuel to the fire, their location was undefined – no one could track their physical position. It's as if they really existed only in cyberspace.

After Yua had alerted me to the news, I decided to look over Nancy's death again, to see if there is anything I had missed. I get the feeling that I have missed out on some vital clues during my protection of Kawano.

“The latest medical records show that a logic bomb overloaded her cognitive augment, causing a fatal neural feedback.” reports Yua.

“The interrogation cell was shielded, was it not?”

“Yes, the interior would have been secure from all external attempts to hijack Nancy Muir's cognitive augment and implant the bomb.”

Well, that meant that it was installed before she was captured; perhaps from the very start. The use of a logic bomb would explain the other cases handily – in theory, it could be used to program the behaviour of a person bearing extensive neural augments, but such a programmer would have to be god-like in skill. I don't believe that I could do it myself.

There is also a major problem with the bomb's existence; for one, installing unauthorized software on a tracked and licensed brain disc is nearly impossible due to certain hardware locks. Nancy's augment was licensed. There is but one way to unlock a licensed augment, but that involves undergoing a second surgical procedure to manually modify the disc's circuitry after its installation. This is illegal, of course, but common amongst the augment addicts in the enclaves. Though the disc itself was too damaged to tell if it was tampered with after the logic bomb went off, there were no signs of a second surgical procedure on Nancy's skull, so I could probably rule that out.

Perhaps...

“There's an incoming call from Azo,” Yua interrupts my thoughts. I tell her to connect the call.

“Hoshikawa.” Azo greets me curtly, as is his custom.

“Minister.”

“Thank you for stopping the threat to Kawano. You did well.”

Right to the point, eh? Well, that's fine with me.

“I didn't do much, and we are still not certain that she is in the clear yet.”

“There have been no accidents on set ever since Nancy Muir was taken into custody.” He does not mention her death, but it is true that since her arrest and subsequent death a week ago, nothing strange has happened around Qin. “Of course,” the minister continues, “This does not mean that we are not supervising her anymore. On the contrary, we will be strengthening her guard with five veterans from the department.”

“Reinforcements,” I quip. “That's always helpful.”

“You won't be with them,” replies Azo with a smile.

“You're pulling me off the case? Are you transferring me to another mission?”

“Not exactly. The Federation's best hacker, Anna – I think you have encountered her before, haven't you – is currently here to assist us to hunt down Cyber Jack. I think we will be able to manage without you for a while. No, I'm giving you a one week vacation.”

“Where to?”

“That, Hoshikawa, is up to you. Did you know that Erika has returned from her mission on Rakuten?”

“Yes, but I haven't had any chance to meet up with her since I was guarding Kawano.”

“Suffice to say, the mission was a failure, and the smuggling ring is now aware that we're on to them. The whole artificial island is in a state of high tension.” he mutters. “That girl is earnest and means well, but Sadomura should've known better...” Azo coughs, composing himself.

“At any rate, she took a picture that might be of interest. Rakuten is a pretty intriguing place for a young man like you. I'm sending it over, so take a look at it.”

“File received and decompressed” says Yua. “Let's see...”

She gasps in shock and shows me the picture immediately. “Look at it!”

“I'm looking, I'm looking,” I grumble. I take a look at the picture. Immediately I see what Yua is excited about.

It's Kyrie.

At least, it looks like her; after that incident at the palace I have become a bit more wary. Only her head can be seen clearly amongst of the crowd of augments, but I recognize her features. Is she really here in Higashi?

“Check for compositing,” I whisper to Yua.

“There should be no need for that. I assure you the picture is untouched, straight from Erika's camera.” says Azo. “At any rate, should you be interested in vacationing in Rakuten, feel free to do so. Of course, you may choose to spend your time however you wish. I shall see you in a week, Hoshikawa.”

Just as Azo hangs up, I get a call from Emiri.

“I... I finally got through! Master!” she shouts, panickedly.

“What's the matter?”

“Things have gone bad, they've captured some of your loyal underlings! Apparently they didn't like us asking too much about the temple, and got really suspicious. Some of our loyal members weren't all that loyal after all, and spilled what they knew! Oh, and it seems that the fake Messiah, Rei, is there too.”

Rei is on Earth? How had she managed to slip in from space? No, that's not all that crucial right now – more importantly, if she is here, it means that they are planning to do something with the Messenger. I may have found out about this just in time, but I wonder if I shouldn't have vetted that list of names before asking them to do more.

“What do you know about the temple right now?”

“The last message I got from them was that they're apparently preparing for the Messenger's shrine to be relocated.”

“Where to?”

“Space.”

It looks like they will be fleeing with the Messenger. Still, to escape Earth orbit is a suicidal task. They must have something major planned as a distraction... like an assault by the Indus on the Federation. In a drop operation, few would be looking for a vessel travelling back into space. I doubt the Indus or the cult have sufficient resources on Earth itself to conduct any other sort of distraction.

***

A. I use my break time to investigate the Kyrie sighting in Rakuten.

B. I head north to investigate the temple before Rei clears it out.

C. I rejoin the Cyber Jack investigation – whatever he is planning, I should try to stop it as soon as possible.

D. I spend my vacation further researching the materials that I brought back from the other world, as well as the other world itself.

***

1. I inform Azo about the possibility of the Indus attacking the Federation sometime during the coming week. It would be better for them to be prepared.

2. I don't inform Azo about the possibility of an Indus attack. I don't care either way what happens to the Federation - why should I?

3. Tell Azo everything about the cult's possible plan to sneak something back into space, and let him handle it as he sees fit.
 

Azira

Arcane
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Codex 2012
Dun dun dunnnn. So by taking the option where we got to "buddy up" with Naim, we missed out on some time with Kyrie. :roll:
Well, we made some semblance of a promise to Naim. I'd rather we didn't run off to Rakuten just now, but could possibly be swayed. It's just, it seems to be the least important of the 4 choices paraded here, at least in the larger scale. Learning more of the other world could be important, as it has to do with interdimensional shenanigans.
I feel though, that both B and C present more pressing issues.
If we do B, it seems to have synergy with 1. Unless we plan to escape to space together with Rei. Then it would synergise best with 2. :M

Oh, the possibilities. :love:
 

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