Anti-Gnosis Weapon
KOS-MOS had been careful not to stray far from Sumireko's side in the aftermath of the shrine turf war, assuming that the poor girl would be shaken in the wake of her first ever shooting of another living being. So pressing was her concern that she dared not even spare the time to question her fellow gynoid, 2B, on her own combat capabilities or other frame specifications, not to mention experiences. Strong and silent as she mostly was, it was unquestionable that the white-haired robot woman had a story of her own to tell.
Seeing as the day's challenge was over with and their guide was moving on — not to mention that his oracular friend had vanished into the ether — the blunette saw fit to finally detach herself from the psychic girl and stride over to the group's resident elf mage.
"Hello, Kashira," she greeted, "Now that conditions to continue progressing through the Tower have been met, I propose we organize an ad hoc debriefing on the latest mission with any Climbers who are so inclined. How was your day in Kamurocho?"
edited 1st Feb '18 8:36:10 PM by darksidevoid
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
The Mighty Pen
Kashira Lavellan - Tower - The Fire Captured
Kashira trudged back into the familiar confines of the Tower in grim silence. They had achieved their goal, but as usual, much of the effort that had gone into it was of ill intent and often disparate, scattered fumblings where it should have been united and if not of noble intent, at least the intent of least harm. And yet, they could hardly all have earned money the same way, at least, not enough to pass the gate and continue climbing. I acted with good intentions myself and tried to restrain the most lawless and stupid among us the moment I heard of them. I'm only one woman. But as usual, she should have done more.
Taking only a moment more time to plan, maybe even to send out scouts to assess the situation before all of us ran in, would have saved everyone time, effort, and anguish, not to mention sparing the people of that world so forceful a presence of outsiders. They probably wouldn't have listened, but I should have made the attempt to pitch that plan. I'll do that next time. She sighed. It was always next time, somehow, and it rarely seemed to arrive. At least I backed up my words with that miniature rage demon. She intended to have words with both Pitou and Dio, but before that, other things took precedent. It seemed one of their number intended to set himself up as a merchant, she should see what he had in stock. For that matter, perhaps the rest of them should think a little more about bringing along things from previous worlds, if that was permitted.
Also, she was tired and sore from walking around and fighting in armor, even the light silverite armor of a battlemage, and she wasn't sure of how much time had passed, but it was probably long enough that she should get some sleep. They had some newcomers she should make an effort to get to know, or good or ill. There is always more to be done.
Kosmos' proposal was unexpected but very welcome and she offered a weary smile and nod in return.
"Good idea," she said, a fresh energy stirring within her at the thought. "I was just thinking of something like that myself and I have a few ideas I'd like to talk to the others about. We should introduce each other to the newcomers, too. And afterwards, I, and probably some others, could use a rest. As for my day? Eventful. I started out trying to sell my magic and ended by fighting Dio and that girl after they got involved with a local syndicate. How was yours?"
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu
"That was... fast. Either the people in this city are very loose with their colorful scraps of printed papers or our acquaintances are good at acquiring currency." Lucifer idly remarked even as she quirked a well defined eyebrow after hearing the good news in question, her grin growing slightly in intensity as she now disregarded the prior prey and made her way back towards the portal that led up to the Tower proper.
Once more in their hub area of sorts, the hood wearing former heavenly agent simply leaned against the stonework while regarding the various Climbers trickle in and interact with each other. There was that mortal grit and drive that made it ever so much fun to watch them from afar, a sight that never failed to amuse the Lord of the Fallen.
Salute the freedom fairy! ._.7
-I- Yeah I stole half of my old intro post. Effort can fuck off the edge of my dick.
Throughout history, there were always some people for whom the fates seemed to harbor an ESPECIALLY sour hate for. There were some poor fools of myth had to deal with having their organs eaten for eternity. Or the arrogant father who had turned his daughter to gold, and now in Hades spent eternity attempting to get the water that could cure her to her statue, only to fail at the last step every time. Always ironic punishments, the fates decreed, for the foolish, the arrogant, and the cruel. No matter how cunning or strong, fate always gave them their just due; punishment for the wicked, rewards for the benevolent.
—If that's true, then I must have once eaten the fates' favorite pet in a previous life—, the girl at the edge of the group thought dryly.
Leaning against one of the stone walls with her arms crossed, she was a short thing. Barely over five feet tall, with long red hair tied back so that it wouldn't fall into her face. She was lithe in frame, and where her skin was exposed tightly corded muscle rolled with every movement. Her clothes were pretty odd in even this colorful crew, with the highly traditional greek hunting tunic she wore, and tight hunters pants that ended just above her exposed ankles and feet, all murky brown and dark green in color. Some say she was beautiful, others say the features of her face were far too sharp for the word. Perhaps it was the way her nails seemed a bit too sharp, her body a little too still.
Maybe it was just in her eyes; pure silver to the point where they almost glowed, with flecks of harvest yellow sprinkled subtly within, all too focused and observant, like peering back through the scope of a rifle.
When she had first appeared here and had gotten the spiel from the Locksmith, the shadow of Artemis hadn't shown much emotion, having elected to just stand against the wall in the back and wait for the doors to slide open and carry her new companions through without saying much. In truth, she had been very, very carefully controlling her own breathing, lest she scream, or cry, or roar in ecstasy.
Home...How long had she been wandering between universes, seeking the power that could take her home? And now, after at least a year of living the life of a multiverse vagabond...she had found a power that could take her back. Back to her planet, with her cub...Assuming he was still alive...
Of course, it was hidden behind mysterious doors that would only open at the beck and call of a highly suspicious figure that claimed they were unlocking the power to galactic godhood. She rolled her eyes; that was certainly a popular tactic in her experience.
As those doors did open and odd people began to pour in, she stiffened slightly and watched intently. The locksmith moved on, the oracle vanished into smoke, and the suspicious grinning man simply stood in a corner similar to herself. The members of the group, meanwhile, seemed to elect to take a small break. Eager as she was, she couldn't blame them. It had probably been a harrowing flight so far.
As they dispersed, she stayed back against the wall, looking either intimidatingly offputish or creepily focused.
In truth, she was just really, really nervous to say anything to anyone. Best to stay quiet and still in an unknown situation. For now, she simply observed at a comfortable distance.
edited 2nd Feb '18 7:47:00 AM by tvtropesnoob
"Your Sig is now charmingly out of date" — Vox, 7/6/2016
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
"During the mission's first half, I was engaged in scouting activities," the robotic woman explained, not bothering to mention that she had actually been wandering aimlessly and sight-seeing, "I joined the members of our party at the shrine soon after you left, and presented myself to locals in the guise of one of their gods. Our enterprise was successful until we were challenged by criminal elements, but they were easily dispatched. It is fortunate that the nation in question provides free emergency vehicles for the transport of its injured citizens."
Putting aside the news that their small, hatted friend had been the source of the most grievous of those injuries aside, KOS-MOS paused in consideration. "It was a good day."
edited 2nd Feb '18 8:57:20 AM by darksidevoid
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
"Man, too bad we couldn't just charge everything to your card, Weiss, that would have made everything way faster," Yang said when they were done shoving money in the money hole to open the gate to the new Tower floor. "I still don't know why that last one took five tries. It wasn't creased or anything!"
She wiped her brow with her left hand. "Good thing we were here to save the day, those guys who came before us must have really messed up."
Taking a few steps towards where she had parked Bumblebee on the return trip (hopefully without having to deal with Weiss falling off again), she pulled a hairbrush out of the storage compartment. Holding it up to her hair so that she could brush it, she let out a sigh of relief. Something about that place had just really not sat well with her hair.
A dogged fellow, aren't we?
2B - Back to the tower
2B had followed the rest of the shrine group back to the gateway, keeping an eye on each and every dark alleyway and passing human while her Pod formed the rearguard, scanning behind them with his sensors. The other android, KOS-MOS, was taking care of their smaller human companions, which suited 2B just fine.
As they finally stepped back into the tower and started the process of unlocking the next door, 2B paused in the threshold and turned to look back out at the bustle and noise of Kamurocho, folding her arms over her chest and frowning pensively beneath her blindfold
Uzume and "Junko"- Tower
"..." The blond twin-tailed girl arrived to the door area in a huff.
"Huh... You're kinda of a sore loser, aren't you?" Uzume said, catching up to her.
"Oh, no, not at all. I'm completely fine."
So what if her outfit didn't exactly combine "Monocrome" and "Bear"? Those judges wouldn't know fashion if it hit them...
... maybe she was a sore loser.
"Um... okay..." Uzume tried to get off that subject. "...Say, why don't we introduce ourselves, now that we're all gathered here."
"Alright, fine..."
They then looked to introduce themselves, seeing another group of two who were looking for people, one some sort of technological girl and a woman in armored mage getup, they approached the par.
"Hiya!" Uzume said
"Hello!" Junko said afterwards.
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
The artificial woman with electric blue hair turned her red eyes to the new girls in their midst — or rather, the two who had opted to approach her directly. There seemed to be an unusually high proportion of teenage girls among the newcomers, in fact, not to mention that forty percent of the entire group consisted of such persons. The combat gynoid decided to make a note of that information in her memory for later analysis. Maybe it was a random quirk of fate, or maybe it would turn out that the Tower's Ruler had some special preference for a certain kind of teenagers with attitude or had otherwise congregated them with some purpose in mind. But in any case...
"Hello," she replied to the two youngsters with a surprisingly warm smile and less than full-on robotic voice, "I am the Kosmos Obeying Strategic Multiple Operation System, or KOS-MOS for short, a specialized humanoid weapons system. What are your names?"
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Vampire Hunter
Sabrina, Tower
When they got to the tower, Sabrina allowed the others to insert all the yen she had earned in Kamurocho while she used the pet food that they had bought to feed her Pokemon.
They could use something to eat at this point. Sabrina decided to wander around to check the new arrivals, before recognizing a familiar face. Was that Junko?!
Soon enough, she wandered up to meet 'Junko,' not knowing that this was a completely different person, "Hey, Junko! It's good to see you again!"
Wizard Needs Food Badly
Samus Aran- Tower
After their interesting costume contest experience, K.I.T.T had driven the group back to the door and rejoined their fellow climbers to gather their earned money and submit it. The entire process was longer and more awkward than necessary, and Samus now realized why paper money was obsolete in the future. It was incredibly hard to feed a thousand of them into a small slot.
Now that the door was unlocked, the Tower's next floor was accessible. Samus ended up behind Uzume and Junko as everyone caught up with one another, a 2nd place ribbon somehow pinned to her shoulder's armor. Whether it bothered her or not was impossible to tell, but she hadn't removed it yet.
The Mighty Pen
Kashira Lavellan - Tower - Hinterland's Who's Who
Kashira offered a neutral hm as Kosmos briefly described her day. Not the way out I'd have picked if I'd been there, but I can hardly fault them for resisting paying protection money. I hope the shrine worked out at least a little.
"Well, glad to see you all made it through all right," she said when the other woman had finished. "I'd ask why that counts as a good day, but I already know. I've had some days like that myself. Perhaps we could trade stories sometime of bad days."
Others already seemed to be gravitating towards them, which was slightly encouraging, she she turned to nod in greeting to Junko and Uzume.
"Well met," she said, following Kosmos' welcome with one of her own. "And my name is Kashira Lavellan. We should all get to know each other a little better. There are perilous times ahead."
Still more faces - or in Samus' case, blank helmet - arrived soon after the two human girls and as they were already familiar enough, Kashira spared them a brief nod before returning her attention to the newcomers.
"We were just introducing ourselves," she said, addressing the group as a whole. "Why don't we take it in turns? Just your name and a little about your trade and what you can do or where you come from should be enough for now. Then we can talk about preparing for what's ahead." She motioned to the two girls. "Would anyone mind if they went first? They did get here first."
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu
Sumireko was kind of huddled away in a corner, one that was different from the corner that the other people were brooding in, and definitely far away from the creepy bald guy that everyone else was rightfully avoiding. Really, she was pretty sure she pointed at her once to get her to come over there; she wasn't going to touch that with a 50 foot pole.
In a world where shooting a round into the chest of a young shrine maiden doesn't do anything besides help you win the fight faster, your ideas of gun safety kind of get thrown out the window. Now that she had the blood of an adult gangster who was trying to murder her and everyone around her on her hands, she only had one thing to say: this sucks.
Sooner or later, her moping turned into ambulatory moping, as she started to kick up dust with her hands in her pockets. She ended up right next to the big pile of attractive girls who were all talking about their day, including KOS-MOS, but that particular person was busy.
She probably didn't need to hear this kind of whining.
Though, standing behind them all was a tall man in bright orange mecha armor. Aside from the fact that he looked pretty cool, his stoic visored gaze and very large arm cannon gave her the portrait of a man who knew how to deal with this kind of stuff.
So, she tapped him on the arm (would he even feel it through the metal though???) and quietly said "Hey...sir? If you have a moment...this is kind of a personal question."
If she got that moment, she'd sullenly ask "...Have you ever killed a guy before?"
Samus Aran- Tower
The dark skinned woman with pointed ears Samus had seen earlier in the City turned up again, though she seemed to be taking on a more authoritative role now. Introducing everyone to one another wasn't a terrible idea, so Samus didn't have any objections to it. Someone tapped her on the arm, and she turned her head to look down at a brown haired girl. She didn't even look old enough to be out of school yet, but Samus assumed she wasn't an average child if she was brought here. Being called "sir" didn't bother her enough to stop and correct the misconception.
"Hm?" Sumireko's question wasn't quite what she expected to hear, but if Samus was surprised by it, she didn't show much of a reaction. The teenager didn't look like she was in a good mood, so maybe this question about killing was less curiosity and more of a way to ask for help with it.
"... Yes, I have." Many weren't human, but she'd certainly killed a number of intelligent beings for various reasons, but mostly out of necessity. Most bounties she tried to at least drag in alive if possible, but some just refused to give in, even to the last breath. It wasn't fun, but she wasn't about to have a breakdown about it anytime soon either. "Why did you ask?" She didn't sound accusing, though it was hard to tell the exact tone through the helmet's filtering.
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Qrow and Weiss - Back in the Tower
"Yang, even if my credit card worked, I don't think there's an accepted conversion rate between Yen and Lien." Weiss replied, brushing a stray strands of Yang's hair off the front of her dress.
"Besides, what woulda happened if Papa Schnee cancelled the charges? We might be five floors up and suddenly get pulled right back here."
Yang's uncle has a point. Weiss thought, as the older man wandered off. With my sudden disappearance, Father would assume I'd run away, and do anything to stop me.
Meanwhile, Qrow took in the room, looking for Guts. He didn't think the Black Swordsman would be the type to talk about what Qrow had done back in the arena, but it would be best to keep an eye on him to confirm that. Actually threatening him was out, though, because he might not know it was a secret, and thus something of value.
However, a new compatriot caught his eye, staring from the shadows. There was something familiar about the way she held herself, the way she observed the group. It came to him quickly: this girl was a predator, a hunter, and she was calculating the risks of interaction with the group.
Qrow shot Instinct a friendly grin, and nodded his head in her direction. The message was clear: I see you, and I know what you are, fellow hunter.
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
As though summoned by the thought of herself — or more likely, by the call to meet and greet — Sumireko appeared behind a woman in heavy armor and the pair KOS-MOS was already addressing. The blunette only half-registered Uzume and Junko's replies, knowing she could easily review later, and instead focused her attention on the words the hatted girl was saying to the armored woman (and it was a woman, at least according to x-ray scans).
"Have you ever killed a guy before?"
KOS-MOS quickly moved her hands behind her back to conceal the clenching of her fists from the gathering. While listening closely for the nameless woman's answer, she opened up a recording of the incident Sumireko was surely thinking of in a corner of her field of view. The psychic girl ran up to the yakuza, shouting. The gun discharged with a bang. The man collapsed. The space-age robot replayed that recording and interactions with emergency personnel over and over in her databanks, doing her best in spite of limited information to calculate what the likeliest outcome would be in the question of that gangster's survival.
While introductions continued, her gaze briefly flickered to her fellow gynoid, who was in turn standing in the still-open door to Kamurocho, staring out at the sea of humanity. Immediately feeling a certain kinship with the YoRHa unit, even if the source of that kinship was still a hypothetical, KOS-MOS sent her a message in the conveniently silent format she had been utilizing at the shrine.
Are you feeling regret at leaving so soon, 2B? Do not worry. The last two locations of interest which we traveled to were situated on alternate versions of Earth, and due to the high proportion of humans in our group, their unique physiological needs, and the rarity of Earth-like atmospheres in known universes, there is a very high probability that we will emerge on the same planet in at least one future mission.
edited 3rd Feb '18 2:42:15 PM by darksidevoid
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
Stop Killing My Titles
Back In Tower
So, that was Kamurocho. Claw's experience with the place was... better than he first expected, even if they had to drag a whiny Remilia back to the Tower and then do some damage control between an egomaniac Brit vampire and whatever the hell Pitou was (she surely was no cat). Well, he did contribute to a fair amount of earned money, even if he ended up never going back to Akiyama's place for his test. Oh well, live and let live.
"Man, shame it ended on dat sour note." As for the Blacker Baron, well, there was that disappointment of not having participated in any real fight during their stay there. There surely would be another time. He knew, however, someone who'd probably punched someone's lights out, eyeballs and all. "Yo, Gutsman!" Approaching the Black Swordsman with the usual magnificently opulent swagger, Blacker Baron shuffled over to his "friend" (not that the feeling was mutual). "So, dat's modern world behind us! Whatcha think, brudda? Beat up any big shot?"
Meanwhile, Claw was about to approach Kashira's group before two familiar faces caught his attention. One was more known than the other, but he had seen both of these people before and thought them lost in action. Tipping his hat to Instinct, he elected to approach Patches. "Well, I haven't seen the two of you" He gestured idly towards the huntress in the corner. "for a while. What have you been up to, Mr. Patches, and what is all this?" If Claw didn't know any better, he'd think the bald rogue is trying to oust Risinn out of her supplying business.
edited 3rd Feb '18 3:31:02 PM by FergardStratoavis
grah
A dogged fellow, aren't we?
2B - Tower doorway
2B's head shifted slightly as 042 relayed KOS-MOS's message, glancing over her shoulder at the red-eyed android behind her as her pensive frown deepened for a moment.
"I don't regret leaving. We have a mission to complete." She replied after a moment. Was that actually true, though? She couldn't deny that she did want to go back into that busy city for a while, if only to try and deal with these lingering, distracting feelings.
"I spent my whole time here fighting. I don't have any experience dealing with humans, but I expected their civilization to be different. It's disappointing."
Uzume and "Junko"-Tower
"A Robot?" Was a thought that was shared between the two girls about KOSMOS, one of curious surprise, the other of sheer bafflement. Meanwhile, Kashira was ready to introduce themselves to the group, and they took the opportunity to go first.
"My name's Uzume Tennobushi! I'm a CPU!" the orange haired girl said with a confident smirk, and a voice to match, presuming most people would know what she was talking about.
"Oh, I'm Junko Enoshima! Ultimate Fashonista of Hope's Peak Academy! Charmed, I'm sure." the blonde said, this voice a little more high-pitched. The fact she's was talking to a "Humanoid Weapons System" was an irony that was lost on the more literal-minded girl.
It seemed that KOSMOS though was busy with another person, so they waited for others to respond.
Unfortunately for Junko, the next woman who addressed either of them off gave a response she never expected.
"Hey, Junko! It's nice to see you again!"
Her mind kinda blanked out for a second while she proceed the... implications of that statement. Was she part of this? Did she miss her while in the city? If she is, then why does she think it's good to see her again? Was she brainwashed? Broken? Unaware? What did she do to her? Or was it her herself, like, another her...?
Of course, the most rational explanation for this is that she simply knew her from the Magazines, and is someone from her world, maybe from before everything. Yeah, of course, that had to be it. The chances of... her being involved are minuscule, astronomically low.
Then again, only reason she was even here was minuscule odds on top of even more minuscule odds...
Either way, acting natural seemed to be the best course of action.
"Oh, hello!"
If Sabrina was observant enough, there were a few discrepancies between the Junko she remembered and this one. Besides certain... body parts being less pronounced, her face was a lot less porcelain, and actually had freckles. Her tie was also a different pattern, and traded her bear-themed headclips for a bunny hairclip and a red-and-white bow.
Uzume, while this was going on, took noticed of the critters that were being fed, and was watching them with interest, as a guest watches a dog or cat at the host's house, especially the purple cat/fox like one.
edited 3rd Feb '18 11:28:33 PM by Boomer75
Nitori - Tower
Nitori sighed. She had hoped to get a bit more done in that city. Still, she wasn't exactly unhappy about leaving. There'd been a real dearth in ponds and rivers. Maybe next time.
Still, the little adventure had brought one interesting character to her mind's eye. Smiling, she made her way towards 2B. Nitori liked to think she had a good grasp on robots, and the prospect of tinkering and improving this one almost made her giddy. More practically, 2B could be good protection from the ... more unsavoury individuals in their coterie. Her thoughts drifted involuntarily to the vampire duo, and she suppressed a shudder.
Sliding in behind 2B, she tugged at her left arm. A bright, cheerful smile adorned her face as she considered all that they could accomplish together. Her and 2B and Sam. Gensokyo would be forever changed.
Conception is sin Birth is pain Life is toil Death is inevitable
Toph
Well that's over with. Wonder how much money the others made.
-Toph pulls up a seat from the stone floor, idly sensing for newcomers to the Tower. The Locksmith made an announcement, but it seems no one else is going anywhere yet.-
Njal
-As Njal closes in on his prey in the storm raging around him, the ork continues to fire blindly as if hoping to gun down the blizzard itself. Sparks fly from its telyporta and the rune priest's staff as Njal prepares to bring the planet's invasion to an end with a single lightning strike.-
In the Allfather's name, monster, be-
-The ork swivels towards the sound of Njal's voice and aims, but then looks around in confusion, the rune priest having disappeared from sight mid-imprecation. Then it sighs, shouldering its gun to look for more victims as the storm dies down.-
Zog me, I 'ates it when dey does dat.
-The world becomes real again. Njal is immediately struck by two sensations: the biting cold of the snow is gone, replaced by a slower chill that seems to radiate from the stone walls surrounding him, and far worse, the voices of the spirits that had always accompanied his thoughts are silent.-
What- what is this?
-A quick glance around shows no immediate danger within this place, an old castle by the looks of it. He draws his pistol as he approaches the sounds of many voices.-
Krek?
-Flapping its wings, Njal's faithful psybird settles on his shoulderpad. He is not entirely alone, then.-
-As he approaches the source of the voices, Njal sees an astonishingly varied crowd of humans, wearing fashions he has never seen before, most sporting weapons but with no hostile intent. Standing apart from them are three people, one of which disappears before his very eyes, another smirking like an underhiver selling used stubbers at boltgun prices, and the third turns to the crowd to make an announcement.-
Come, then. When you are ready, the next world shall be yours to take, up this flight of stairs.
-With those words, the man goes up the stairs. Njal follows him immediately.-
edited 15th Feb '18 12:55:34 AM by Chabal2
Calamity is a housewife
The Black Swordsmen, The Tower
A part of me was a little glad to leave that behind me, but another part of me wanted to admit that I had fun. The cosplay competition turned out to be a lot of fun in spite of my initial embarrassment. That moment when I had signed up, I had slipped into my online persona briefly, and that ended up being prolonged for the competition. I had to if I wanted to stand a chance and earn the prize.
Unfortunately, I didn't even come close. I knew from the start that my getup was a little generic (excuse me if I liked the generic JRPG hero sometimes), but it was still a little disappointing to lose, considering I ended up putting my all into it. Realizing just how seriously I took the whole thing, another wave of uninvited shame hit me, and I forced myself to think on other things. Thankfully, we had other means of earning the required yen to unlock the next door, helped by the fact that the group I was with weren't the only Climbers.
As I walked out, I saw Uzume and Junko introduce themselves to a sci-fi heroine, the Locksmith move on past the newly unlocked doors and up the stairs to our next supposed challenge, and a gaudily dressed American with the words 'Blacker Baron' etched on his coat accosting what looked like the protagonist of a seinen manga I might've seen once.
The man didn't so much walk as he did skulk, his footsteps heavy and his scowl growing darker as the 'Blacker Baron' (I'd seen less culturally sensitive things before, so I couldn't say I was fazed by that title) approached him. His dark cloak hiding much of him, but not the black armor that clothed him. On his back, I saw the unmistakable handle of a sword.
All these fantasy types appearing, mixed in with modern day folks and sci-fi characters made me question what sort of simulation this could be, or what the creator of this simulation was aiming for.
Anyway, it seemed that a woman with elvish ears had invited Uzume and Junko to introduce themselves, and by means of distance, it seemed I was a part of the group introducing themselves to each other. When my turn had come, I rubbed my neck and tried my best to just get my name out. Nearby, I heard another girl ask a question about killing, which made it a little harder, as I swallowed before I could say my name.
"Uh... Kirito. You could say that I'm an adventurer... I guess?"
At this point, with all I'd been through, I don't think I was lying.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the skulking swordsman was still with the Blacker Baron, though it seemed like he was trying his best to ignore him. He did, surprisingly, give him a response to his question.
"I choked out a bear. That a good enough answer for ya?"
The swordsman immediately moved to the stairs, moving on to the next floor. I guessed that he was the type who wanted to be left alone, as much good as that was gonna do him.
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
The contest passed uneventfully. I did not, in the end, win the prize on offer, but in truth, I did not care much. This world had given me much to ponder, much to consider, and so I would be lying if I claimed I was putting my full effort into what amounted to a children's game. However, we found that the remainder of the group had more success in gaining funds, and so we returned to the tower, I declined a ride from the strange talking machine that came with us, wishing to ponder my thoughts alone, and so I was among the last to reenter the tower. Much of the group was speaking with themselves, introducing themselves, and so on. These things concerned me little.
In the corner, I took note of a newcomer, one that had not been with the most recent group, a strange woman, a redhead who had on clothing which suggested a Greek origin. Yet, none would confuse her for anything that could be considered natural. Red tattoos ran down the visible parts of her body. her eyes were an unnatural silver color, and her movement was too still, too stiff. Most thrown into such a situation would have been confused, panicking, or enraged and demanding answers. I made a mental note to keep an eye on that one.
But another matter drew my attention, the android being, 2B, was standing directly in front of the portal I emerged from, looking back and staring at it. I am unsure what made stop, but something drove me to speak.
"A curious world, is it not? So similar, and yet so.......different."
Anti-Gnosis Weapon
KOS-MOS nodded at the not-very-informative introductions from the teens. At least they were all gravitating toward one another without her having to say anything, which was a good sign for group cohesion — and for when she'd need to make an announcement later. "Understood," she affirmed, "However, please elaborate on what skillsets are involved in being a CPU and an adventurer." She left out Junko as a matter of courtesy, seeing as she was otherwise occupied.
Meanwhile, she continued her silent conversation with 2B and 042.
The specific locale we just left is aberrant in its frequency of violence, and not reflective of the state of human civilization as a whole for its time period, she assured, Also, violence overall has continued to decrease over the course of human history, even into the 61st century.
The implications from the other robot's statements were interesting, however. It is somewhat unusual that you have not encountered any humans before, she commented, Perhaps my initial hypotheses regarding your creators or functions were in error. Appearances suggest that you are a combat model like myself, so what battles were you originally made to fight for?
The blue-haired of the gynoids paused this line of question as their robed comrade addressed 2B. KOS-MOS knew full well that it was troublesome enough to devote processing power to two conversations at once, seeing as she was already doing that herself.
edited 4th Feb '18 5:18:21 PM by darksidevoid
GM of AGOG S4: Frontiers RP; Sub-GM of TABA, SOTR, & UUA RPs
With the last of the hot cash inserted, the slot, the counter and any extraneous decoration fused into the door, and it became completely flat and monotone as it opened up to the next floor.
"Aaahhh...well done, Climbers, to have done that in such record time," the Locksmith said, "The rest of this tower's many tests will be nothing before you, at this rate."
"...That's it?" The Locksmith's friend, the Oracle, got up from her seat on the floor and stared at the now-open door. "That was...that wasn't even a day. How did you..."
"I merely assume that, if your own party was so waylaid, they must have never attempted in the first place. But, now that this floor has been surmounted...you should be free, then, Oracle."
"...I must be," the Oracle responded, still sounding dumbstruck. After all these years of silent contemplation and waiting, there wasn't a single thought in her mind that didn't say how this floor's task would take many, many days at the very least, or that yet another group would be enticed by the siren allure of Metropolitan Japan. She heaved a deep sigh of relief, and said "I'll hazard tha—" before disappearing in a puff of nothingness.
The Locksmith looked at where his brief conversation partner once stood, and sighed on his own accord. "Be that as it may, your own durance has not yet elapsed, o Climbers. Come, then. When you are ready, the next world shall be yours to take, up this flight of stairs." He then, finally, started to slowly climb up there himself.
Now, in one corner of this stone room sat a possibly-familiar face. A big-nosed, smarmy, bald fuck of a face
◊ attached to a squatting body, which lorded over a tarp covered in various items. Some seemed like they could be from the world they had just visited, others not, but in any case he genially smiled at the returning Climbers.