“Lots of names starting with ‘S’ in our little group.”

Serena tilts her head, looking up at the ceiling of the trailer. “Yeah, I guess so. With the Old Ma- er, Breach, that’s three S’s and two N’s. Weird how that works out, isn’t it?”

You shrug. Gray trees and black grass scroll past the window. Broken fences, bent signs, dilapidated old houses overgrown with brush and in the far distance, endless great plumes of smoke illuminated from below by still-burning fires. The wheels of the trailer rumble noisily below.

“Your name’s the weirdest of them all.”

You raise your eyebrows a little as you glance down at her. “Hey, don’t make fun of my name. I like my name.”

“You have to admit, though. Noble Jurick is a pretty weird name.” She wriggles against you, leaning into your shoulder, stretching against you with a happy groan.

“You think that’s weird, you should’ve met the rest of the family. They were…” You squint, looking up.

“They were…?” Serena looks at you expectantly.

“Huh. Can’t remember their names anymore. Just faces. Barely, at that.” You shift a little, lying down with your head in her lap, stretching your legs. “Funny how that works. Used to be, they were the most important people in my life.”

Serena brushes your hair, playing with some loose strands.

“My brother, though, still remember him.” You smile at the recollection. “So my name is Noble, but his name was Brave. I dunno. Mom and Dad had some weird-as-hell ideas when it came to names. He was always getting in the thick of things, and I was always the one to keep my cool and hold him back. He was… was just a couple years older than me.”

---

>>30213933

You didn’t realize it. You wondered how you could’ve missed it. The way he seemed strained near the end, as if he was constantly fighting for his life – no, that’s exactly what he was doing. The look on his face that last morning. He smiled before he Blissed, just like everyone else, like every other adult you’d known, like Mom and Dad did.

You feel cool fingers working their way into your balled fist, the comfortable lightness of Serena’s body on top of yours. She listens to your heartbeat.

“I like your name, too,” she says, wood-axe in hand. She holds it against your neck for a second, before pressing down-

You look out the window. Outside, where your team had parked, the great looming form of the shuttle hangar stood proud and unmarred. Other trailers, many in far worse condition than your own, were arrayed in the grass around it. Warm body lying on top of you, soft breathing sounds. No axe. Just a nightmare, you think. You reach up to brush her hair. Serena had her moment then, you think. You can’t blame her for it. She makes a pleased sound, nuzzling your chest. You sigh, staring up at the ceiling of the trailer, watching the moonlight cast bleary shapes against it.

Five months, now, and not a single Bliss attack. A half-empty jar of raspberry jam stood at the table on the other side of the trailer. Were you cured, then? Did your unique resistance become immunity? Is this just the calm before the storm, before the Bliss finally takes hold?

You shove the thought away, looking down at the girl you loved. You still had a job to do, a mission to complete, a duty to fulfill. For her. For the rest of the team. For everyone here.

Big training day tomorrow, ANIMA vs. ANIMA combat, to hone your skills still further so that you and the other pilots could stand a chance against a force that so heavily outnumbered yours. You close your eyes, and fall back asleep.

>>30213949

Your parents, their names… why couldn’t you remember them? Even your brother’s name seemed strange to your tongue, contrived-

-you know not what you have done-

You wake with a start. It’s just past dawn. Lingering warmth on your body, and silence around you. Bread and jam lay neatly on the table. You wonder idly where Serena found the flour to make it.

What do you do?

[Look for Serena. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ anchors.]
[Look for Su. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ pilots.]
[Look for Nicky. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ engineers.]
[Look for Breach. He’s been drinking himself to death ever since he apologized.]
[Write-in]

>>30213965
>[Look for Breach. He’s been drinking himself to death ever since he apologized.]
Stop before he literally drinks himself to death.

>>30213965
>[Look for Breach. He’s been drinking himself to death ever since he apologized.]

Let's not let one of the last oldies die pls.

>>30214198
>>30214686

You decide to look for Breach, on a whim. You doubt he’s awake at this hour. As far as he’s concerned, as far as your own team is concerned, his job is long over. Broken, pathetic scumbag that he is, he carried you through to this day. For that, you owe him just a little concern. You gulp the bread down with a little water, and head on over to his trailer.

You knock on the door a few times and wait. No answer. You head inside anyways. The place reeks of alcohol and filth.

Sheldon Breach is sitting, slumped, in one of his fold-out chairs, still asleep. You’re not sure how he hasn’t fallen off of the thing in the middle of the night. A line of drool leaks from the corner of his open mouth. The tubes and flasks on his desk are full of clear liquid. He must have run out of good aged spirits to mix into his moonshine.

Just looking at him disgusts you. His weakness angers you. His feeble attempt at forgetting his own guilt, his inability to face reality as it is, it sickens you.

What do you do?

>>30214940
Take all his alcohol and dump it out

>>30214940
Contemplate dousing him with it and lighting a match.

Realize you're better than that shit and just dump it out. Set it on fire if that makes you feel any better

>>30214940
Five month and we're still at that ? Noble is way more hot headed than I would've thought.

Shake the old man out of his sleep. Have a talk with him.

>>30214961
>>30215028

You’re tempted. Sorely tempted. Douse him in his drink, light him on fire. You didn’t have a match handy, but fire wasn’t hard to come by anyway. It’d be easy to get rid of this shitstain here for good.

So why, then, are you compelled to fix him instead?

Your shoulders tremble, your arms tighten. For all that he had done, for all that he is. As much as you didn’t trust him, as much as you hated him. You don’t know. Maybe it’s just not in your nature.

-incomprehensible-

The alien’s voice rings in your mind like a bell. Why do you recall it, now? Incomprehensible… yeah. A real fucking mystery, why this bastard is still alive. You move towards the desk, holding your nose against the stench wafting from the old man. Stick-thin, he looked. Skinny, frail, not half of what he used to be.

You start by opening a window, letting some fresh air in. You lift a flask. You contemplate throwing it, but glass is valuable these days. You pour it out without a word. Several more flasks wait. Breach stirs behind you.

What do you do?

>>30215232
trip pls come back

>>30215232
Eh. Let's leave and find Serena instead. This was a dumb idea.

>>30215232
Keep on dumping Noble. Don't let the old shit stop you.

>>30215278

“… Mr. Jurick? What are you doing?” His words slur, even now. You pour another flask out the window, emptying it to the last drop, setting it down back on the desk with little care.

“Mr. Jurick? Mr. Jurick, stop. I need those, I need those! I have to have them!”

“For what, old man? So you can keep on sitting around here, doing nothing?” You pick up another flask and dump the contents.

Breach stumbles to his feet and walks towards you unsteadily, dirty hands reaching out, desperation on his face. It's hardly ten steps to where you are. He's halfway across, and already nearly tripped three times.

What do you do?

>>30215387
push him down

>>30215387

I'm seconding >>30215410 and if possible let's take his glass flasks etc. away from him.

>>30215387
Settle the old man down. Don't start being a dick pushing people for no reason

>>30215410
>>30215443

“Sit back down, old man.”

He reaches for you nonetheless, and you push him back. He falls over his chair, knocking it over with a clatter. You go back to the business of emptying his distillery.

“Why are you doing this to me, Jurick? Was it not enough that I suffer like this?” He crawls back up, bracing against the chair. “Why can’t you simply let me be, let me drown in my misery? Let me die the despicable, whimpering end I deserve. Why do you force me to live?”

“And let you keep on running from your mistakes?” You set an empty flask down hard on the table. “Everything you’ve done, to this day, you did to avoid owning up to yourself. Drinking your miseries away, acting like a beaten fucking dog around us all.”

“You did this to me, Jurick!”

“No, Breach, you did this to yourself. You still don’t get it.” You huff. You wonder why you bothered to come here at all. Nothing you say is going to change him, nothing you do is going to fix him. Was it out of mere spite, then? No, not quite. Some part of you you can’t place is still genuinely concerned for him. You listened to it, for all the good it did.

“Jurick… why?”

“I dunno. I still hate your guts for what you did.” You pick up another flask, and slosh the clear liquid inside it. “Maybe I’m trying to fix you. Maybe I think you’re not as bad as you say you are. Maybe you are that bad, and I’m just stupid.”

Breach says nothing. He continues to eye the glassware on the desk.

“Maybe I’m just too much of an idealist, a romantic, whatever. Thinking all of us can get along just fine. Hell if I know.” You reach under the desk, pulling up Breach’s suitcase. You find it empty, and start putting the glassware away. “By the way, I’m cutting you off. No more drinking. You do something productive for once. Teach kids how to read or something.”

“Why, Jurick?”

What do you say?

>>30215710
Because things need to change.

>>30215710
Because after what you did you don't get to mope away. All you have is the right to spend days and nights trying to repay an inkling of the pain you caused.

>>30215710
"You haven't Blissed Out yet for a reason. Make it a good one."

>>30215767
>>30215830
>>30215892

“Because after what you did to Nicky, you don’t get to mope away. You don’t get to die your quiet death. You don’t get to wallow in your little pity party. All you do, is spend the rest of your days and nights trying to pay back the pain you caused.” You plug the last couple of flasks, reserving it for the first aid kit.

You haven’t Blissed Out yet for a reason, Breach. You make it a good reason. Things need to change. A month from now, the Bliss will be cured. Adults will be needed. Teachers, parents, whatever. Bunch of kids like us can’t live on their own like this.”

You leave the trailer as the loudspeaker sounds. “Attention, all pilots and anchors. ANIMA vs. ANIMA training will commence in 30 minutes.”

Just enough time to talk to one more person. What do you do?

[Look for Serena. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ anchors.]
[Look for Su. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ pilots.]
[Look for Nicky. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ engineers.]

>>30216056
>[Look for Serena. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ anchors.]
yandere gf pls help us

>>30216056
>[Look for Serena. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ anchors.]
Pick your poison.

>>30216056
Serena. Don't irritate the yan

>>30216088
>>30216118
>>30216142

You make your way over to the shuttle hanger, a massive blue-and-white structure that dominate the landscape, still pristine in comparison to the rest of the world. You supposed the aliens would have already destroyed it by now. Maybe it wasn’t worth destroying to them. Well, they’ll learn their mistake soon enough.

Serena walks back and forth in front of a row of anchors. Not many boys among them, you think. In fact, the girls as a whole probably outnumbered the boys here by five to one at least. It makes some sense in your mind. Most of the men your age were probably still in gangs, fighting over what scraps were left of civilization. The girls joined up out of fear of them, out of desperation.

“Hey.”

“Noble! Hey, I was wondering where you were. Training starts in 15 minutes, by the way. What’s up? Oh! Have you eaten already? I left your breakfast on the table this morning. I would’ve woken you up, but you…” She looks down, holding her arm. “Man, this is weird. I thought you’d be the one to Bliss out before the rest of us, but now I guess it’s the other way around.”

“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? We’re gonna take out that machine, keep it from happening. Then afterwards, we’ll come back, rebuild-“ You gesture around you. “-all of this. Get married, have a bunch of kids…”

She laughs, embarrassed. “Noble, don’t say that out loud! They’re all listening!”

You smile as you embrace her. “A whole bunch of kids. Ten, fifteen, even-“

-why do you resist-

Serena hides her face, punching your shoulder. “Noble! Not now! Though… I wouldn’t mind.”

You ruffle her hair.

“Then… why don’t we get married now, instead of later?”

What do you say?

>>30216378
Fuck it, Go for it.

>>30216378
Oh shit son. Uhh oh God. What do we do.

Yes. Say yes. I do Kiss her. Whatever people do at weddings.

>>30216378
I'm flashing back to that woodax incident.

Let's get married. Not about to get killed right before the Bliss is cured.

>Implying OP is going to let us
>Implying she isn't going to bliss right before we destroy the machine

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>>30216542
Shut. Up.

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>>30216568
>Implying it ever ends

>>30216467
>>30216501
>>30216510


What do you say?

“Well. Alright then.” You kiss her, and a chorus of cheers sounds from the panel beside you. She presses against you hard, lips locked on yours.

I’ll have to find a nice ring for you, you think.

---

“Full dive commencing. Your opponent will be David Sun. Don’t you lose to him, you hear?”

“I’ve got the experience edge over him. I’ll be just fine. Which one’s the virtual space?”

“Just focus on the blank a little bit, and it’ll pop. We’ll fill it in for you. Be careful. His ANIMA is specialized for defense.”

“Defense, huh?” You grin. Steel forms your body. Lightning forms your veins. A massive shield appears in your hand, and a twin-barreled cannon appears on your shoulder. The supercharger on your weapon hums, and your ammo count resolves into an infinity symbol.

The gray world around you resolves into an endless field of flowers. The opponent’s ANIMA enters a minute later, dropping from the sky like a meteor. A huge machine, heavily covered in green armor like dinner plates, rises out of the crater. It holds a long rifle in one hand and what looks like a submachine gun in the other. It salutes you.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

What do you do?

>>30216812
>“Kept you waiting, huh?”
AWWWW YISSSSSSSSS
Give him a salute and say "Think you can take on Big Boss?"

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>>30216840
Anon I like you

>>30216840
Seconding this

>>30216840
>>30216952
>>30216999


You snap a salute back at him. “Think you can take on Big Boss?”

“I regret this decision already.”

“Just having a little fun, Serena.”

The other mech pumps its arm into the sky. “Yeah! I love it when someone gets my references. No time for small talk, though.”

It levels its guns, and you raise your shield.

“Commence training battle.”

You whip forward towards the green ANIMA, and it fires at you.

[Roll 1d100’s. If you have a suggestion for a course of action, I will try to incorporate it.]

Rolled 81

>>30217102

Rolled 73

>>30217102
She's a defensive type huh ? Keep range advantage as much as possible, be cunning but not reckless.

>>30217121
>>30217149


Bullets hammer into your shield like a river. The opponent’s submachine gun spits fire and thunder, keeping the pressure on you. You heft your cannon up to return fire, and a loud crack splits the air, chipping the sight off of your cannon. Dammit, there’s no way you can any headway by staying at range.

You close in, shifting to knuckle configuration.

The green plates on your opponent flare out, revealing countless small thrusters. He fires them, skidding backwards away from your assault. Now, while he’s vulnerable! You pull the trigger on your gauntlet, sending sprays of light at the mech.

They strike and scatter on across its armor, reflecting off. “Sorry, but you’ll need more firepower than that to crack my Shagohod!”

“It doesn’t even look like a Shagohod!” More bullets strike against your shield. They’re bouncing off handily for now, but-

The green mech drops its submachine gun. Plates on its shoulders open up, launching a salvo of missiles. They twist and turn in irregular patterns, making their way towards you.

[Roll 1d100’s. If you have a suggestion for a course of action, I will try to incorporate it.]

Rolled 23

>>30217368
TACTICOOL DODGE

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1.61 MB GIF

Rolled 74

>>30217368
Do a ninja flip, follow up with a Well! What is it?

>>30217387
>>30217612


You fire your shotgun into the sky, launching beams of energy at the incoming missiles. Your aim is poor – you only manage to bring down a few of them before you have to dodge. You backflip, pulling the trigger all the while. The missiles strike the ground where you stood, the impact blasting you back. You land easily even so, spreading your arms wide.

“That all you got?”

“Hardly.” Shagohod lifts a bulky-looking gun and fires into the air several times while aiming at you with its rifle. Explosions detonate all around you. Grenade launcher. You hoist your shield into place just as the rifle splits the air with another crack. It impacts dead-center on your shield, shoving you back still further.

You have to get in close, but the pressure he lays on you is just too much. Moving in head-on will only open you up to his grenade launcher. Your shield can’t defend all your sides at once.

You shift back into cannon mode.

[Roll 1d100’s. If you have a suggestion for a course of action, I will try to incorporate it.]

Rolled 97

>>30217773
Fuck this, charge the faggot like he just took a sippy.

>>30217949
Welp. Voting for this I guess

>>30217949
>>30217973


You charge forward regardless as you hold down the trigger. One of the disks of Shagohod’s armor flies up into the air as the mech raises its rifle. You grasp his intent the moment you see it. You raise your shield just he pulls the trigger.

The round strikes the armor plate, richocheting down right on your shield. You angle slightly, letting the bullet glance away from you, and release the trigger at the same time. A ball of light surges into the ground in front of the enemy mech. Its armor plates fly off in front of it into a protective barrier.

It explodes, and the world rocks with the impact. You charge straight forward into the smoke, ramming with your shield.

You feel a crush of metal as you impact. Once the smoke fades, you see Shagohod lying at the end of a divot a hundred meters away, completely unarmored.

“Took out my plates in one attack. I guess this is your win, Aegis.”

“Name’s Noble Jurick. You’re David Sun, right?” You offer your hand.

“That’s right.” He accepts, letting you pull him back up to his feet. “Kevin, pull me out. Damn, that hurts.”

He vanishes, and the battleground fades.

“Good going, Noble. First win of the day.”

“First win? You don’t mean to say there’s more coming?’

“Of course. We have hours left to go. We need to know the current capabilities of each pilot’s ANIMA.”

You sigh. “Alright, alright. Round two, here we go.”

---

>>30218626

You wipe yourself down with a towel, grimacing as it came away gray. The creche worked well enough as a bath, you supposed, but all the same you wouldn’t mind having a proper shower for once.

“Nine wins, one loss. I’m a little disappointed you didn’t beat Su.”

“Yeah, well. Laevateinn moves a hell of a lot faster. That, and it being able to fly is beyond brutal. The trick she did with her sword, too, launching those fireballs at me, caught me a little off-guard.”

“What about those things on Aegis’s back? They look like wings.”

“Just fixed defenses, I think. Besides, they’re too high up on the body to be proper wings. Way too small, too.”

“If you’re having a problem with flight-capables, it’s only going to get worse.”

“Yeah. I know.” You stretch. Your legs always felt stiff after a long period in the creche. “So what are you going to do, now?”

“Some of the anchors are still having trouble properly synchronizing their pilots. I’ll be working with them individually. Oh! Dr. Dunwall wanted to speak with you sometime.”

“What about? I’ve already told her all I know about the drones I’ve fought so far.” Morgan Dunwall. Chief administrator of the ANIMA project. General of your little army. A cold woman by all appearances, but she held an air of unmistakable authority. It was her charisma that started your resistance, and her charisma that carried it to fruition.

“I think I missed the details. It’s not really urgent, she said.”

“Well, if it’s not urgent, I think it can wait. Don’t you agree?” You lean in close.

She pokes your forehead. “Not now. You might not be busy, but I’ve got work to do.” She kisses you anyway, then leaves. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Of course.”

---

>>30218656


What do you do now?

[Look for Su. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ pilots.]
[Look for Nicky. She’ll be instructing the other teams’ engineers.]
[Speak with Dr. Dunwall. See what she has to say.]
[Explore the base further.]
[Write-in]

>>30218670
>[Speak with Dr. Dunwall. See what she has to say.]

>>30218670
>[Speak with Dr. Dunwall. See what she has to say.]
Better see what this cold bitch wants.

>>30218656
You mean we never checked if those things on our back did anything ? Maybe it's Sundowner's shield or some shit. Damn noble what are you doing

>[Speak with Dr. Dunwall. See what she has to say.]

>>30218681
>>30218691
>>30218712


Time to see what the boss wants from you, you suppose. Nothing better to do right now. You head outside of the hangar, towards a small pre-fab erected just beside it, and knock on the door.

“That you, Mr. Jurick? Come on in. Door’s unlocked.”

“Thanks. So, what exactly did you want to see me for?”

“It’s nothing serious. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. We gathered some strange readouts from you while you were in the creche. Tell me, have you made contact with the aliens?”

“I’ve taken down plenty of drones, as you know, all different species, too. I’ve also taken down a really big Lovecraft-looking thing.”

“Lovecraftian, I think is the word you want to use.”

“Sure.”

“And have they ever tried to communicate with you, Mr. Jurick?”

Her tone shifts subtly, just enough to send a shiver down your spine. “Communicate?”

“Have they spoken to you?”

“I know what you mean. I’m not stupid.”

“No need to be defensive. I want a straight answer from you.”

“Yes.”

She steeples her fingers in contemplation, saying nothing, thinking.

“Doctor?”

“I see. It makes sense now. I’m sorry, Mr. Jurick, but I’m afraid we’ll have to place you in isolation for a time.”

Her words send ice through your heart.

What do you say?

>>30219014
Haha, yeah, fuck that

>>30219014
"I... see"
Then pick the chair up, throw it at her and RUN THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!
Find Serena and tell her that you need to leave or else this will happen.

>>30219060
>>30219063


“You’re kidding me, right?”

“I am afraid not. This is purely a precautionary measure. You are to be isolated from the rest of the pilots and anchors until such time as we deem you are no threat to this operation. You will be monitored for the duration of your quarantine.”

Your eyes flicker around you. You start up, and see a gun barrel pointed at you.

“I wouldn’t think of running away, Mr. Jurick. You are a valuable asset, and I would hate to waste such precious resources because of your foolishness. Once we confirm that you pose no threat and intend no harm, we will release you. Do not make this any harder on yourself than necessary?”

“But why? What did I do to deserve this? Why are you doing this?”

“Can you remember the names of your parents, Mr. Jurick?”

You clench your fist. “It was six years ago. A lot’s happened since then.”

“Can you, or can you not?”

“I can’t.”

“Tell me with a straight face that you don’t find it unusual.”

Two men you don’t recognize enter the room. Both seemed slightly younger than you. Both built more heavily. If it were just one, but with the gun pointed at you…

What do you do?

>>30219311
I love Serena. What are you going to tell her. You can't just keep this from her.

Rolled 35

>>30219311
Fucking book it, roll for evasion.

Serena will turn the bitch's skull into a fucking teacup when she finds out anyway.

Inb4 bullet in the leg

>>30219352
>>30219420


“What are you going to tell Serena, then? She’s not stable. The moment I don’t get back-“

“Ms. Foster will be informed of this. I am not unaware of her more violent tendencies. She will be handled carefully, I assure you.”

“Bullshit.” You jump out of your seat-

-a bang echoes in your ears.

You’re falling down.

It doesn’t even hurt.

The world fades to black.

“Get the paramedic over here, then find Ms. Foster. She’s not going to be happy about this.”

---

END

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>>30219655
>END
YOU ASSHOLE

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>>30219655
We are so getting rid of that fucking cunt later. I don't even care about the aliens anymore

>>30219702
Noble's still alive. Probably.

The next thread will be on the 20th, at 13:00 server time.