[S] Brian: Enter

DM_TZIVOS: CS: True enough, but it looks like Brian's about to be needing your help with something rather special

DM_TZIVOS: CS: So I think I'll let you and him take care of that super-cool business

Suktra: TS: NiCe and ominous ~<

Suktra: TS: GReat ~<

colloquialStrummer [CS] has stopped pestering turbulentSeas [TS]

 ==BEGIN==

turbuletSeas [TS] began pestering hackinSlash [HS]

Suktra: TS: So do you have that game figuRed out yet? ~<

Brian_Carter: HS: I mean I guess. Just finished eating breakfast.

Brian_Carter: HS: Go throw the disc labeled Server into your computer.

Suktra: TS: I'm dying BRian ~<

Suktra: TS: Kay ~<
·
Suktra runs the server program
·
Brian_Carter goes and runs the client program

DM_TZIVOS: Both of you are greeted by an installing screen with some sweet music for a few short minutes before being brought to prompts that want you to ENTER SERVER USERNAME for Brian and ENTER CLIENT USERNAME for Suktra

Brian_Carter: ==> turbulentSeas

DM_TZIVOS: it accepts
·
Suktra enters hackinSlash

DM_TZIVOS: it also accepts

DM_TZIVOS: both screens flash with the words USERNAME ACCEPTED before brian's screen blacks out, and suktra's screen is given a view of Brian in his house

DM_TZIVOS: surrounding the edge of her peripheral are a variety of menus and camera controls

DM_TZIVOS: the currently opened menu contains a variety of devices, three of which and a single card icon are flashing

Suktra: /me attempts to click on something in Brian's room

Brian_Carter: HS: Yeah, just put them wherever. I tried to organize the house for you, so don't go rearranging furniture.

Brian_Carter: HS: Them as

Brian_Carter: HS: As in like

Brian_Carter: HS: The stuff in the registry

DM_TZIVOS: Suktra picks up a stray piece of Brian's laundry

Suktra: TS: Gotcha ~<

Brian_Carter: HS: The closer together, the better.
·
Suktra hits Brian with it

DM_TZIVOS: roll acro

Suktra rolls 1d20+2 = 5

Brian_Carter: Perfect.

DM_TZIVOS: Suktra, you fail to hit anything except the nearby window with Brian's laundry

Brian_Carter: Rolling acro to catch it

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+3 = 19

DM_TZIVOS: Brian, you snag it out of the air and from Suktra's grip

Brian_Carter: HS: Stop that. We're on a clock here.

Suktra: TS: Fine ~<
·
Suktra places the first machine in Brian's room

DM_TZIVOS: ERROR: not enough room

Brian_Carter: HS: Basement has a lot of room. I suggest doing it there.
·
Suktra moves Brian's bed to make space in his room

DM_TZIVOS: roll acrobatics to move the bed without fucking it up

Suktra rolls 1d20+2 = 12

DM_TZIVOS: You manage to flip the bed on its side and prop it up against the wall, creating enough room
·
Suktra re-places the first machine, now that there's more room

DM_TZIVOS: You place the alchemiter where Brian's bed used to be

DM_TZIVOS: it lands with a very heavy *THUD*
·
Brian_Carter sighs
·
Suktra messes around with the navigation now, looking for the basement

DM_TZIVOS: Suktra, you manage to zip the camera around the house, getting a glimpse at the various stuff in it, as well as Brian's brother, before finding the basement
·
Suktra places the remaining two machines in the basement, then goes looking for Brian's brother to give him the card

DM_TZIVOS: Both the Cruxtruder and the Totem Lathe land with a heavy and medium *THUD* each in the basement, and Brian's bro takes the card out of curiosity

Brian_Carter: I grab my phone and proceed.

Brian_Carter: HS: Where's the card?

Suktra: TS: Why don't you ask youR bRo? ~<

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro speaks up, "Hey bro, got some random card"

DM_TZIVOS: "Are you starting testing?"

Suktra: TS: See? ~<

Brian_Carter: 'Yeah, we started. Come downstairs with me."

DM_TZIVOS: "Sure, I guess"

Brian_Carter: You head to the cruxtruder and attempt to kick the lid off.

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+4 = 19

DM_TZIVOS: You kick it off like someone from Boulevard Brawler, all poised and stuff

Brian_Carter: "Alright bro. You know the deal. Try touching the sprite."

DM_TZIVOS: following the lid, a plethora of red cruxite dowels comes flying out, and a red kernelsprite slowly floats out as well

DM_TZIVOS: "Sure, I guess, but if it doesn't wanna touch me, I'm not gonna obsess over touching it"

Brian_Carter: "Fine."

Brian_Carter: "If it doesn't we'll try again after we get in."

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro tries touching the sprite, but it doesn't want anything to do with him right now, it seems

DM_TZIVOS: "Sure, why not"

Brian_Carter: "Be right back."

Brian_Carter: I run to his room and grab his padded gloves, and return.

DM_TZIVOS: "Hey, I noticed a timer on the cruxtruder"

DM_TZIVOS: "It's counting down"

DM_TZIVOS: 4:00

DM_TZIVOS: 3:59

DM_TZIVOS: 3:58

Brian_Carter: "Huh."

Brian_Carter: I take a cruxite dowel, throw it in the lathe with the card.

Suktra: TS: Oh look, moRe ominous stuff ~<

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro puts the card in the lathe, since he's the one holding it, but you still pull the lever

Brian_Carter: HS: I can cover it from here. Go contact Amdran. You need to do what I'm doing. Watch closely.

Brian_Carter: While we wait, I check on the sprite.

DM_TZIVOS: Very quickly, the clamps tighten their grip on the dowels and begin spinning extremely fast as the needle descends and begins carving

DM_TZIVOS: The sprite is just casually floating in front of the cruxtruder

DM_TZIVOS: and in a very brief moment, the dowel is fully carved

Brian_Carter: "Hope you don't mind, I'm prototyping your gloves."

DM_TZIVOS: The clamps loosen their grip, the needle ascends, and there's even a small *ding*

Brian_Carter: I chuck them at the sprite.

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro looks apprehensive, but he doesn't refuse

DM_TZIVOS: The gloves impact with the sprite, and in a bright flash of light, the kernelsprite is now taking the visage of two padded gloves

DM_TZIVOS: 3:40

DM_TZIVOS: 3:39

DM_TZIVOS: 3:38

Brian_Carter: Alright.

Brian_Carter: "I'm gonna go finish this shit. Once we enter, just touch the sprite."

DM_TZIVOS: "okay, then"

DM_TZIVOS: You suddenly hear a set of footsteps from upstairs as he says this

Brian_Carter: I head upstairs.

DM_TZIVOS: You find yourself staring face-to-face at a red-headed girl, roughly 5'11", wearing a weird red outfit with an obnoxiously long hood

Brian_Carter: "Lucy, I assume."

DM_TZIVOS: "Well hiya!"

DM_TZIVOS: "I told you we'd meet!"

Brian_Carter: "Hitching a ride?"

DM_TZIVOS: "I just.... had some time to spare"

DM_TZIVOS: "I thought I may as well pop in and maybe even tag along"

Brian_Carter: "I guess you already know, but in regards to listening to your puns, I just... don't have the time."

DM_TZIVOS: "Depends on what uh..... happens in the next few minutes"

Brian_Carter: You make double pistols at her and laugh a bit.

DM_TZIVOS: 3:30

DM_TZIVOS: 3:29

DM_TZIVOS: 3:28

DM_TZIVOS: 3:27

DM_TZIVOS: 3:26

Brian_Carter: You throw the dowel on the alchemiter and press the button.

DM_TZIVOS: "Oh, looks like you have a sense of humor after all! Haha!"

Brian_Carter: "Shh, don't tell anyone, I'll hear about it for... all of time."

DM_TZIVOS: The alchemiter flashes with a blinding light and there's an 18th century pocketwatch sitting where the dowel used to be

DM_TZIVOS: you can hear its gears ticking and tocking

Brian_Carter: I inspect the clock on it.

DM_TZIVOS: It's counting down from 3 minutes

Brian_Carter: I try to snap it.

DM_TZIVOS: 3:25 | 2:59

Brian_Carter: Wait.

DM_TZIVOS: You fail to damage this clock in any way

Brian_Carter: The timers on the clocks are different, I realize.

DM_TZIVOS: in the middle of the clock is a small arrow pointing towards your kitchen

Brian_Carter: "Wanna... watch?"

DM_TZIVOS: "Hehe! You're good!" Lucy giggles

DM_TZIVOS: the timer on the pocket watch keeps ticking, and the small arrow in the center of the clock keeps pointing to your kitchen

Brian_Carter: "Let's go." I lead her towards the kitchen, following the arrow.

DM_TZIVOS: In the kitchen you find a series of cruxite blocks with various angled lines and targets

DM_TZIVOS: "Huh, looks like you got some side-objectives"

Brian_Carter: "Any idea?"

DM_TZIVOS: "I'll hang out in the living room, I guess. Don't wanna get in your way. Maybe you gotta break these. What else are the targets for?"

Brian_Carter: "Fair enough."

Brian_Carter: You walk up to a target and punch it.

DM_TZIVOS: Your fist impacts with some really fuckin' hard cruxite

DM_TZIVOS: ouch

Brian_Carter: Ow.

Brian_Carter: I inspect the blocks closer.

DM_TZIVOS: They almost look made out of the kinda stuff you see on those sword demonstration videos, ~somehow~

Brian_Carter: Okay, that makes sense. I pull out my sword and slice it on the line.

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+4 = 12

DM_TZIVOS: You slice through the first line with minor ease

DM_TZIVOS: Roll Athletics to slice and stab everything else

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 9

DM_TZIVOS: You manage to hack and slash all the targets, but not very quickly

Brian_Carter: You check the watch.

DM_TZIVOS: 2:50 | 2:24

DM_TZIVOS: 2:49 | 2:23

Brian_Carter: Where's it pointing?

DM_TZIVOS: It's pointing towards your front door

Brian_Carter: You head to the front door.

DM_TZIVOS: it's still pointing in that direction

Brian_Carter: You head... outside?

DM_TZIVOS: Once outside, you see a ring of cruxite surrounded by small cannon-looking things. The arrow points to the circle's center

DM_TZIVOS: 2:48 | 2:22

DM_TZIVOS: 2:47 | 2:21

Brian_Carter: You fire the cannon-looking things

DM_TZIVOS: 2:46 | 2:20

DM_TZIVOS: You can't interact with any of the cannon-thingies

DM_TZIVOS: 2:45 | 2:19

DM_TZIVOS: 2:44 | 2:18

Brian_Carter: You look closer.

DM_TZIVOS: They look like they're attached to the ring, as if it were a railing for them to slide across

Brian_Carter: You push them all towards the center

Brian_Carter: Along the ring.

DM_TZIVOS: The cannon-thingies don't budge

DM_TZIVOS: The arrow on the pocket watch is still pointing at the circle's center,

Brian_Carter: You go to the circle's center.

DM_TZIVOS: 2:43 | 2:17

Brian_Carter: You prepare to block objects flying at you.

DM_TZIVOS: Once you step in the center, the cannon-thingies come to life, moving from side to side at increasingly rapid paces

DM_TZIVOS: Roll athletics three times to deflect or Acrobatics three times to dodge

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 7

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 9

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 18

DM_TZIVOS: You're bombarded with a plethora of small cruxite projectiles, each one letting out a buzezr sound until you deflect a few, each *dinging* as you hit them

DM_TZIVOS: 2:26 | 2:00

DM_TZIVOS: Roll athletics to keep it up

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 8

DM_TZIVOS: once more, I'll be nice

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 14

DM_TZIVOS: The cannon-thingies keep moving and shooting, and you keep deflecting until the dinging sounds, as well as the cannons' movement, finally stops

DM_TZIVOS: 2:00 | 1:34

Brian_Carter: Where to, watch?

DM_TZIVOS: The arrow points back inside, in what you think is the basement's direction

Brian_Carter: You return to the basement.

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro's still standing there, staring at the sprite, but more importantly, you see much thinner and fragile looking targets in the sparring arena, which somehow is still unoccupied by anything

Brian_Carter: You go break the shit out of them.

DM_TZIVOS: as soon as you step into the ring, the targets start spinning around.

DM_TZIVOS: Roll athletics with advantage to break them all

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 15

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+5 = 15

DM_TZIVOS: You spend a moderate amount of time punching and kicking away at the targets, but you manage to fell every last one

DM_TZIVOS: 1:30 | 1:04

Brian_Carter: Next?

DM_TZIVOS: "Hey bro, can the sprite hold anything more? Aside from potentially humans"

DM_TZIVOS: "It intrigues me"

Brian_Carter: "Only two prototypings."

DM_TZIVOS: "really?"

Brian_Carter: "Yeah."

DM_TZIVOS: "Have we tested that"

Brian_Carter: "HEY, LUCY"

DM_TZIVOS: "Lucy suddenly appears behind you, tapping on your shoulder, "yes?"

Brian_Carter: "Two prototypings?"

DM_TZIVOS: "Usually yea, but sometimes there were extra prototypings involved for certain people"

Brian_Carter: "Why?"

DM_TZIVOS: "Good enough for me to try it out," Bro says as he starts unfastening his watch before chucking it at the sprite

Brian_Carter: "NO"

DM_TZIVOS: it absorbs it unceremoniously, and now there's a clock in the background behind the gloves

Brian_Carter: You punch your Bro in the face.

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+4 = 16

DM_TZIVOS: you give him a solid punch to the face

Brian_Carter: And again.

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+4 = 17

DM_TZIVOS: "Dude, we're testing the game! It's only logical to try something like this!"

Brian_Carter: You give him another.

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro prepared to dodge a second strike, so roll once more for disadvantage

Brian_Carter rolls 1d20+4 = 17

DM_TZIVOS: but you still manage to hit him anyways

Brian_Carter: "This."

Brian_Carter: "Is why."

Brian_Carter: "I'm the fucking player."

Brian_Carter: You check the watch again.

DM_TZIVOS: Lucy decides to step in after the second hit and moves between you and your bro

DM_TZIVOS: "Hey, not that I don't understand the sentiment of what's going on, but your pocket watch is getting close to zero"

DM_TZIVOS: "and it's..... pointing at the sprite?"

DM_TZIVOS: "huh, so this is one of those cases"

Brian_Carter: "Fuck it."

Brian_Carter: "I seem to get fucking infinite prototypings!"

Brian_Carter: "This game is going to fucking kill me."

Brian_Carter: I throw the pocketwatch at the sprite.

Brian_Carter: "You may as well get in there too, Lucy. Everything vaguely associated with time."

Brian_Carter: "Fuck, lets just throw the cruxtruder in there while we're at it."

DM_TZIVOS: The sprite absorbs the pocket watch, and the clock background gets more clock-ier, while also displaying a clearly visible time matching that on the cruxtruder

DM_TZIVOS: 0:30

DM_TZIVOS: 0:29

DM_TZIVOS: 0:28

DM_TZIVOS: 0:27

DM_TZIVOS: 0:26

DM_TZIVOS: 0:25

DM_TZIVOS: 0:24

DM_TZIVOS: 0:23

DM_TZIVOS: 0:22

DM_TZIVOS: 0:21

Brian_Carter: "The second we enter, you're going into that, got it?"

DM_TZIVOS: Did someone turn the heat on? You feel it getting hotter

DM_TZIVOS: "Yea, yea, I got it. Go turn the heat off, why don'tcha" your bro says

DM_TZIVOS: "Surprisingly hot down here"

Brian_Carter: "Lucy, you're quicker."

DM_TZIVOS: "Nah, I'm with your bro. I don't know how your heating works"

Brian_Carter: "I can wait."

DM_TZIVOS: 0:20

DM_TZIVOS: 0:19

DM_TZIVOS: 0:18

DM_TZIVOS: 0:17

DM_TZIVOS: Man, it's getting really hot

DM_TZIVOS: the heat is almost sweltering

DM_TZIVOS: 0:16

DM_TZIVOS: "I'm going upstairs and checking on the heating," Bro says

DM_TZIVOS: 0:15

DM_TZIVOS: 0:14

DM_TZIVOS: 0:13

Brian_Carter: "You're staying right here."

Brian_Carter: You grab him by the collar.

DM_TZIVOS: "I guess I'll go see what the problem is, (as if I don't already know)," says Lucy

DM_TZIVOS: She pops upstairs and calls to you, "Hey come check this out! Something really cool's heading our way!"

Brian_Carter: "Look, I want to be here with you when this hits zero."

DM_TZIVOS: "Also I need help with the heating"

Brian_Carter: "We cool, bro?"

DM_TZIVOS: Your bro reluctantly nods. "But turn the fucking heat down, alright?"

DM_TZIVOS: "Like a boiler in here"

Brian_Carter: "We'll take care of it once we're in."

DM_TZIVOS: 0:12

Brian_Carter: "Besides, you won't have to deal with it."

DM_TZIVOS: 0:11

DM_TZIVOS: 0:10

Brian_Carter: "You'll be a sprite."

DM_TZIVOS: "Spoiler warning: It's meteors," Lucy chimes in

Brian_Carter: "No shit."

DM_TZIVOS: "Oh, you already knew?" She replies

Brian_Carter: You give your bro one last bro-hug.

DM_TZIVOS: 0:09

DM_TZIVOS: 0:08

Brian_Carter: "Yup."

DM_TZIVOS: 0:07

Brian_Carter: "That's why I'm entering first."

DM_TZIVOS: The ground begins to rumble as the meteors keep landing

DM_TZIVOS: 0:06

DM_TZIVOS: 0:05

DM_TZIVOS: By now the heat is unbearable

DM_TZIVOS: 0:04

DM_TZIVOS: 0:03

DM_TZIVOS: 0:02

Brian_Carter: "Let's do this."

DM_TZIVOS: The ground rumbles on last time, harder than ever before, causing you and your bro to lose your footing

DM_TZIVOS: 0:01

Brian_Carter: You nod at Lucy and your Bro.

DM_TZIVOS: 0:00

DM_TZIVOS: As the clock ticks zero, you can practically feel the impact of the meteor as the ground shakes violently like never before, and you're suddenly engulfed in a blinding flash of light.

DM_TZIVOS: Wlecome to the medium

==END==