>>29851100

Of the various teams across the country building ANIMA prototypes, yours was the first to succeed. Your group numbered five in total. Noble Jurick, yourself. Serena Foster, your anchor. Su Holt, secondary pilot. Nicky Friedman, Su’s anchor and engineer of the ANIMA system. And of course, the Old Man.

You’ll deal with the Old Man soon enough. You don’t know exactly what he’s done, but you have your suspicions.

The trailer hums with the power of the creche. It fills with the electric smell of ionized air.

You pull on your Cradle suit – a mess of sensors embedded in porous cloth, allowing the fluid the creche generated to come in contact with your skin. You slip your oxygen mask on, then enter the Cradle. Serena pulled the securing straps tight around your limbs, preventing you from thrashing and potentially harming yourself in the creche vat. She gives you a kiss. It may be the last you receive.

“Full dive commencing. Good luck, Mr. Jurick.”

Bloody thoughts circulate. Not now. Keep it inside. Unleash it once you have the chance.

You feel yourself sink still deeper into the fluid, and then the world falls away.

>>29851111

“Alright, Noble. What do you see?”

You look down. Your ANIMA fills your vision, all elegant protrusions of gold and silver, organic swirls of steel and marble. You raise your arms. A great shield falls into your hand, a massive twin-barreled cannon lands on your shoulder, clicking into place atop your spiked pauldron.

“My ANIMA. I should give it a name. Maybe… Aegis. Aegis is a good name. It’s classic, fits perfectly.” You heft your shield high.

“Eh. Not inventive enough. Boomstick sounds better to me.”

“Boomstick, really?” You pat the cannon on your shoulder. “Doesn’t really fit this thing, though. It’s way too… Too regal, for such a name. If the gun’s what we’re naming it for, I’d like something like… Ultima Ratio. The Last Resort. That’s a little much, though, I still like Aegis better.”

“Alright, alright. You’re living up to your name, I get it. What else do you see?”

You squint.

“I… it’s weird. Depending how I focus, it changes. I think I’m getting the hang of this. It’s like a level select screen.”

“A what?”

“Like in videogames.”

“I didn’t never played those. I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Or an elevator, you press a button and it takes you to that floor. Kind of like that.”

“So you’re saying… you can choose what to see?”

“That’s… yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

>>29851126

“So what are you going to pick?”

“Colors, I guess. I think they represent the aliens’ world. Wait, how do I know that?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Noble. That sounds like hostile territory. They could be waiting for you, or something.”

“Don’t think the aliens work that fast, Serena. They waited two years before attacking us for real. We only just got this thing working not even a week ago.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“It can’t be too risky. If anything happens, you can just pull me out, right?”

“The bail-out malfunctioned last time. Nicky said she fixed it. I don’t want to risk it, Noble.”

“Come on. Have some-“ You stop yourself. Probably not a good idea to bring all those memories back up so soon, not after you’ve just buried the hatchet.

“It’s not that. I just don’t want to lose you.”

The dream world, or the alien world?

>>29851138
>Dream World
We might learn more about bliss there

>>29851138
alien

>>29851138
Dream world, obviously. So abstract and malleable.

>>29851177
>>29851302

... Well, shoot.

>>29851177
>>29851597

Oh, neat.

>>29851615

“Alright. Not the alien world. How about the… uh, looks like these squiggly lines represent the dream world. How about that?”

You feel her nod. It’s a strange sensation.

You turn your focus, and the shimmering colors evaporate into a chaotic mess of gibbering black lines. With just a little more focus, the world-

-snaps-

-into cohesion.

The whirling sand scours the steel of your ANIMA. It scratches loudly at your body, seeking entrance. It’s only sand, however – and soon, the itching sensation vanishes entirely, and all you hear and feel is the wind. The sky above is obscured by dust, the sun’s light failing to penetrate this smog. Stone spires stand all across the landscape like the stalks of enormous mushrooms, dwarfing even your mech.

It would be nice if you had some kind of radar, you think. You can hardly see in front of you. Just as the thought completes, a hologram appears in your vision. Radar. So that’s how this thing works. Nothing in front of you, it seems, but the spires and… You squint. A massive structure, like a half-circle, tall in the far distance. You look down, and see red and pitted earth sculpted into nauseating shapes. Glowing lichens pattern the ground. A path seems to lead towards the structure. Behind you, the world is dark, stone spires under pitch-black shadow.

You turn your head, noticing that the ANIMA felt much lighter than before. Faster, more responsive. You wonder why that is-

-hot press of lips against your teeth-
-sense of falling to the ground as your knees buckle-
-giving in, letting go-
-eyes glazed over in light of the act-

-you force the thought away.

---

>>29851949

“Serena, you seeing this?”

No response.

“Serena? Still there?”

Still nothing. Not good.

The earth shifts around your feet. Wisps of black fade in an out. You catch sight of a small animal. It is covered in blue-black fur, resembling a gryphon. Its alert eyes catch sight of you, long red ears twitching. It thrashes its long tail, its small arms and legs, trying to move away. It seems to disappear and reappear again every few steps it takes.

What do you do?

>>29851949
Are those choices?

>>29851976
Let's follow the white rabbit down the hole

>>29851976
Follow the bunny

>>29851978
No, sorry. Suggestions I give will be bracketed, but I've been trying to keep decisions freeform.

>>29851976
Follow our Demonic Dream Bunny

>>29851978
Seems more like the bonus we get for starting Nicky's route.

>>29852117
Nicky a shit. Worst decision ever made.

>>29852018
>>29852029
>>29852117

You take a step in its direction. The animal’s movements grow more frantic. Its small panther-like form twists around gracefully. It arches its back like a cat, sticking up its fur. The wings on its forearms expand away from its in a splash of red, its scaled tail rattles at you threateningly.

… It’s barely the size of your hand. It’s almost cute.

It yelps, sneaking glances left and right, yet still holding its ground. It yelps again, as if calling for assistance. It seems somehow desperate. You take another step, and the animal whips your foot with its tail with a clang. It succeeded in flipping itself over, nothing else.

It rolls back over, backs up a few steps, and resumes its former posture.

What do you do?

>>29852276
Pick it up by its ears.

>>29852276
Treat it like a dog. Put out our hand OUTSIDE of it's striking range and wait until it stops being scared and approaches us.

>>29852135
Don't start this shit. It's how Bliss Stage is played.

Su is best girl[/spoilers]

>>29852324
Seconding

File: 1390941044697.jpg-(106 KB, 600x856, baby_nargacuga.jpg)

106 KB JPG

>>29852324
>>29852560

You crouch down, extending your hand. The creature hisses at it, and strikes before you can move. Its beaked mouth bites down onto the hard metal of your finger, its tiny fangs pressing down with as much force as it can muster. It seems confused when you don’t react. It gnaws at it like a dog on a bone. To you, it’s hardly even a pinch. It continues to chew on your finger, working its jaws more and more slowly, as if it’s tiring out.

Maybe it’s a child, you think. It glares up at you, growling, its mouth still locked on your finger.

What do you do?

>>29852624
Place it on your shoulder. Continue on.

>>29852624
Make friends with it. See if it want's to come with.

>>29852637
>>29852680

“Alright, little guy. I’m not gonna hurt you.” You grab It by the scruff of its neck with your other hand. It releases your finger at last. It yawns, closes its eyes, then snaps them back open to glare at you again.

“Upsadaisy.” You lift it up and set it on top of your shoulder, being sure to keep it away from the spikes. As soon as you let it go, it clamps its teeth around one of those spikes. Cute little thing, you think. Hate to see its mother, though.

The spikes retract back into the metal of your ANIMA, and plates come up around the animal. That’ll help keep it from falling out, you think. It pulls its head up above the plate, yelps in your ear, then stares forward.

Its mother… maybe she’s somewhere farther up?

You continue up the path towards the structure.

[Roll 1d100 for random encounter.]

Rolled 57

>>29852806
no more spooks please

Rolled 52

>>29852624
rollan

Rolled 80

>>29852806
Noel, friend to all animals.

>>29852819
>>29852875
>>29852881

You’ve walked for a good half an hour, now. You’re not sure if you should go faster, with the critter on your shoulder. You take another step, and the world falls away. You scream-

You stand in midst of a rolling landscape dotted with trees. The moon is out tonight, round as a silver dollar. Autumn leaves in red and yellow are carried up to your head by a gentle breeze.

A giant stands in the distance, the club in its hand like a chunk of mountain. Its heavy footprints leave deep craters in the green earth. It turns slowly. Its head is a searchlight.

What do you do?

>>29853218
>What do you do?

Get to cover quick.

>>29853251

You look around for cover, but there’s none that could hide the bulk of your ANIMA. Even the tallest of these hills only come halfway up your shin. The giant’s light slices apart the night like a sword. A black cloud forms above it. Just before the light reaches you, it cranes its head upwards, illuminating the cloud. A blast of lightning falls down, striking it, making its light glow brighter. Its head comes down, its gaze falls upon the landscape… and the land burns against it. Trees caught in its sight burst into flame then explode into ash. The ground it leaves behind glows red, the soil heated to its melting point.

It’s walking towards you.

What do you do?

>Trees caught in its sight burst into flame then explode into ash
Perfect, just perfect.

>>29853640
>What do you do?
Stay out of it's range of vision.
Tactical retreat.

Rolled 36

>>29853640
Leg it as fast as possible

>>29853727
>>29853861

Roll 1d100's for success.

Rolled 99

>>29853875

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OpQVGICr1c

RUN AWAY RUNAWAY RUN AWAY RUNAWAY RUNAWAY

Rolled 11

>>29854070
gj anon

Love that song

>>29854070
>>29854223

The beam of light moves towards you, and you run off to the side to evade it. Its passage scorches the air behind you, but doesn’t touch you. You feel its incredible heat, though it never came close to you.

An anguished wail comes from the giant. Its searchlight’s glow returns to its normal intensity. It grabs its mountainous club in both hands and swings down into the earth with its twig-like arms, again and again. Soil and stone fly through the air. You summon your shield against the debris, holding it in front of you as chunks of earth clang against it. You glance at the animal on your shoulder –

-It’s not there. You don’t know what happened to it.

Your cannon falls back into place, clicking neatly onto your pauldron. The ANIMA knows you’re in a fight.

The searchlight giant turns its head towards you instantly. It wails. A black cloud forms far above it, slowly descending.

What do you do?

Rolled 56

>>29854252
Get under it's range, it's too huge for us to outrun.

>>29854252
Get low and strike it's legs fast and hard.

We can look for our animal-buddy after we stop Sir. Scorch-a-lot.

Rolled 6

>>29854321
rolling for my decision

>>29854648
Ugh

>>29854696
No worries, anon. It happens.

...Man, I miss Bliss Stage. Are the new rules from celstyle actually ever coming or is it just dead?

>>29855357
I don't know, anon. The webpage for it is still up, so it might still be in progress?

>>29855613
Bump for visibility.

pls

Rolled 1

[1]>>29854289
[2]>>29854321
[3] QM's pick

>>29858810
>>29854289

I'll use this in my next post, tomorrow.

>>29858834
Alright. Starting the same time as today's?

Probably not. 16:00-ish is more likely, given my schedule.

Also, we'll be right around the halfway mark once this ANIMA sequence is over.