>>672334
Helloooooooo! WAIT SHIT! YOUR MASK!

Alright first thing's first, let's activate your boost. You're in a situation where physical skills are important. Assuming you can move around capably, you can start helping whoever you can.

YOUR MASK IS OFF!

AAH MAROON YOUR MASK

Maroon, your mask is off. Calmly put it back into place (it's around your neck now). If you don't panic, anyone who sees you will probably just think you're putting your outfit together (not that anybody would watch you that closely right now, but you never know).

oh thank god. glad to see you are still in one piece. we were worred

still are tbh, but now we have something to work with

maroon, press your lips together right now. is your scarf around your neck? you need to pull it up.
if it's not, don't talk as much as possible-- everyone will write it off as shock-- i can tell the other AI pops that you can't really talk right now if you want.
you dont look terribly injured, considering. can you look around? please try to find the others, you all need to regroup and get out.

*everyone cool it for a second, we're all really scared. maroon seems okay but obviously shocked, we're trying to get them up right now.
*do you think goldie is trying to dig up the dance floor for mikado and flax? tell yolk that might be the place to look if they arent already.

Close your lips, damn. Get up and GTFO.

>*We really can’t get Goldie to listen to us.
*He's trying to find someone to rescue in the rubble, right? Can you give them a false lead? Direct him towards one of the other Chargers, say they might need help? Can we get directional data from our network signals?

*Or just try to triangulate your location from our signals, so we know which way to go to find Goldie.

>Where are Mikado and Flax?
We haven't heard from their AI pops.

>>672334
Keep your mouth shut till you can get your mask back in place, dude.

Something over your face is probably a good idea anyways. Who knows what's in the dust and debris you're breathing in.

And here's where our athletics boost is going to get the chance to proove what it can do. Let's get you up and going, and find Goldie. I think they'll need all the support they can get at the moment.

Get your mask back up when you can - it'll double as a dust filter in here. Cadmium or Daffodil might've spotted your chomps, but in all honesty, I wouldn't worry about either of them. They're the calmest and quietest Chargers we've met, and they'll know what's important right now.

First step - be the rock again. Calm Daffodil down, and then get moving. You'll operate strongest in a group, so focus on that. If need any direction, we'll glean what we can from the other Chargers' AI pops, okay? You can do this Maroon. You can do this.

wait, Maroon's anemic. that can't be helping how disoriented they are right now, and might also be why their head's hurting. Shortness of breath is another problem and if we're dealing with any broken ribs here then that could just make breathing even harder; should we really put the mask back on and risk them passing out again? It's dark and everyone's panicked. I say keep your head down, take deep breaths through your nose, and let us take care of explaining things for you buddy.
(I don't think their rly in a place to be calming other people down right now, anyways.)

Don't panic or anything, but yeah you should totes at least not be baring your teeth to literally everyone.

SECURE CONNECTION WITH AI POPULATION GROUP: ♇

*ok we have coords, sending now
*got it. sending cad as soon as maroon’s up
*i’ll get yolk over there too. any luck getting in touch with the other pops?
*Flax’s population has been repeatedly rejecting contact. I think they’re panicking
*or they could be malfunctioning somehow?
*mikado is offline
*that doesn’t sound good. let’s stay focused and keep our users safe first and foremost

FRACTAL 2015/09/27(Sun)16:14 No. 673217 ID: a6f913
File 144339564766.png - (238.10KB , 700x600 , 15.png )

[Just Put Maroon] Fuck fuck fuck

Maroon clamps their mouth shut and quickly pulls their mask back over their face. The air is hot and dusty, and the mask is both a blessing and a curse – filtering out the smoke and debris in the air, but also sticking uncomfortably to their nose and mouth. Either way, it’s a necessary evil, and once they’re certain it’s firmly in place they stand up with Cadmium’s help. As soon as they’re steady, Cadmium takes off.

“We should go too,” Daffodil says shakily. “I don’t want to just stand here.”

FRACTAL 2015/09/27(Sun)16:14 No. 673218 ID: a6f913
File 144339565815.png - (125.65KB , 700x600 , 16.png )

INFORMATION SHARED: LOCAL COORDINATES

INTRODUCE TO VISUAL OVERLAY?

>>673218
Two dude's on the right have the silhouette of Black and Blue.
Obviously Goldie in the far back, judging from their AI's pops description of action and injury. Dude trying to get Goldie to stop should be Yolk.
Two others must be Yikado and Flax.

I'm not sure....on one hand of course we want to go help, but also Cadmium seems like the most levelheaded one here and they specifically told us to stay put. I guess make sure Daffodil is okay, and if she seems to be in an okay state of mind then we can carefully join the others.

yes!! go help get people out, if you can! (but maybe don't rescue Black/Blue...unless it looks like they're going to survive no matter what in which case helping them could win the Charge points/leverage? But it probably wouldn't hurt if they *accidentally* died in the chaos)

uhh add users "cadmium and Daffodil to "team" list"

>INTRODUCE TO VISUAL OVERLAY?
Yes. Tag those locations with names, if we can.

*do we need to worry about the police showing up or anything?

visual overlay pls
shit, is that black and blue?? if you cant avoid it, ask if theyre ok, wtf happened, if they need help after we help goldie. i mean, necessary evil.
reassure daffodil too. they seem pretty shaken.
*ok were trying to get visual overlay rn, trying to make out way over.

>>673218
add names. add minimap of area based on memory from before we got out. overlay positions on map. correct map as new visual information is supplied.

>>673230
Is it possible that mess WAS the police showing up?

if black and blue really are here, then this isn't because of them... i don't think you need to worry about your siblings too much then. focus on the issue at hand and turn on visual overlay.

don't tell anyone about you being a half elf either. if anyone else knows then they might slip up to the wrong person, and you don't want that to happen. especially when you have family.

FRACTAL 2016/02/06(Sat)20:02 No. 699572 ID: 57fc24
File 145481777533.png - (133.55KB , 700x600 , 17.png )

ATHLETIC BOOSTS INITIALIZED: USER OPERATING AT 85% OF NATURAL ABILITY. OVERDRIVE NOT CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED.

LOCAL COORDINATES OF ALL UNLOCKED PAAD USERS IN AREA ADDED TO VISUAL OVERLAY.

MINIMAP ADDED TO DISPLAY; NEW INFORMATION TAGGED AND CURRENTLY UPDATING.

[Just Put Maroon] Okay, I see where Goldie is ... and Black and Blue. I think I can avoid them, so I don't want to get near them if I can handle it.
[Just Put Maroon] My ribs suddenly feel a little better, too, and I can breathe easier ... is that you guys? Wow ...

"You're right, Daffodil," Maroon says. "I can see where Goldie is now - my AI pop got it all worked out. Let's go."

Daffodil's voice is tiny when she agrees, and they skirt around the edge of the room - which is mostly free of debris - to reach the back corner.

FRACTAL 2016/02/06(Sat)20:03 No. 699573 ID: 57fc24
File 145481779581.png - (91.02KB , 700x600 , 18.png )

Cadmium and Yolk are already there. Goldie is on hands and knees, panting, and as the two approach Goldie throws Yolk's hands off their shoulder, eyes wild.

"If you're not going to help me, leave!" Their chest is heaving, and as soon as they're done speaking they turn back to the pile of twisted metal they've been railing against. Their PAAGs are destroyed, sparking and fizzling, and blood is starting to seep into the circuited fabric at their torn fingertips.

"You aren't accomplishing anything!" Yolk yells back, but Cadmium grabs their wrist, shaking their head.

Yolk shakes them off, letting out a frustrated hiss. "I'm going to go look for other Chargers," they snap. "Ones we can actually get to."

ok well- we shouldn't strain ourselves too bad because we're fucked up but like. we gotta help. is there any loose bits of rubble? with our and goldie's combined strength we might be able to lift some. but be careful, ok?

like honestly i'd just suggest grabbing goldie and getting the fuck out but goldie would probably scratch our eyes out or something. not that i blame him

>>699573
"Goldie, take a step back. My PAAL's still working, I got visuals on two survivors and they gave me a bit of a strength buff. Yolk, anyone else here, do you have strength buffs? I think one of my ribs may be popped, but I could probably do some basic pushing around instead of lifting myself. Someone else with a strength buff, I might be able to work with you to move some of this stuff if we sync up."

>>699572
>OVERDRIVE NOT CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED.
Explain the consequences. If they are minor enough we could consider using them to get at whoever Goldie's trying to save.

alright try to dig out who we can, we're in damage control mode right now and we need to help whoever we can.

>>699605
Hey Maroon, uh.. scale of 1 to 10, how much are you willing to hurt yourself to try and help?
You are already banged up, so the safety protocols don't recommend pushing you further, but we can override for another boost. A hospital will probably be in your future, but if you're lucky, there maybe one in the future for whoever got buried here too.

Disregard safety protocol, we're already in trouble as it is. Unless the consequences would put us really out of it, it should be worth the risk. Try to find out what happened, then help Goldie.

let's help goldie. they look really upset and it's unlikely we'd be able to get them to give up, even though. um. it doesn't really look like we could find someone alive under there

Goldie doesn't know where the Chargers are, it's pointless to help them with this. Try to calm them down if you can, shake them out of it. Then tell them you know where the two of you should start digging, since we do have data

help goldie without overdrive first if possible.

what's getting a little more banged up if we did it saving/trying to save lives? override

FRACTAL 2016/02/10(Wed)10:19 No. 700728 ID: 8679fe
File 145512839049.png - (125.40KB , 700x600 , 19.png )

OVERDRIVE - SPECIFICALLY, USING AUGMENTATION TO BOOST USER OPERATION PAST 100% - IS SAFE UNDER OPTIMAL CONDITIONS. PRESENT CONDITIONS ARE SUB-OPTIMAL; MANUAL OVERDRIVE RISKS INJURIES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: INTERNAL BLEEDING, MUSCLE TEARS AND SPRAINS, ANEURYSM, PAAD DISCONNECTION, FAINTING, ETC. J.R.R. INC. DOES NOT CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR INJURIES OR DEATH SUSTAINED UNDER THE EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL OVERDRIVE.


>Hey Maroon, uh.. scale of 1 to 10, how much are you willing to hurt yourself to try and help?

[Just Put Maroon] Uh, that's ... not really an easy question to answer ...
[Just Put Maroon] I don't want to get hurt at ALL! But ... if people are in danger ... I also don't think I can just stand by and know that I'm not doing everything I can.
[Just Put Maroon] I don't know. I really don't. I want to keep myself safe for the sake of the kids, but at the same time, there's real people hurt here ... people Goldie really cares about. People who are my teammates now.

FRACTAL 2016/02/10(Wed)10:20 No. 700729 ID: 8679fe
File 145512840765.png - (172.71KB , 700x600 , 20.png )

"Goldie ..." Maroon approaches, wincing as they watch Goldie's arms strain and tremble against the metal. "Hey, hang on. Do you have athletic boosts?"

"Yes, and I'm using them, please just - please help me, I'm not -"

"Hey, hey, it's okay, calm down." Maroon drops to their knees beside Goldie, bracing one hand against the pile of debris. "Cadmium, do you have strength boosts too?"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm tech. Right now I'm trying to find a way to locate user PAADs even if they're powered down or disconnected."

"Okay ... uh ... Goldie, do we know for sure that anyone's under here? We might want to start looking elsewhere instead ..."

"We don't know where anyone is, barely anyone's reconnected to their PAADs," Goldie responds desperately. "We have to start checking somewhere and talking about it isn't getting anyone out so shut up and help me!"


Maroon nods and shifts to grip the edge of one of the larger sheets of metal. "This will be easier if we coordinate," they tell Goldie. "Count of three, okay?"

Goldie nods, face pale and tight, and when Maroon counts off, they both begin to strain against the weight, pushing steadily and painstakingly upwards. It doesn't take them long to collapse back down again, breathing heavily, but not before the sheet of twisted metal shifts an inch or two with a colossal groan.

FRACTAL 2016/02/10(Wed)10:20 No. 700730 ID: 8679fe
File 145512842744.png - (171.50KB , 700x600 , 21.png )

"We moved it!" Through their exhaustion, light finally sparks in Goldie's eyes again. "Come on, again -"

Eventually they manage to shove the top sheet of metal off the pile like a lid. The remaining debris bristles outwards like a cupped flower, and Goldie climbs in immediately, quickly finding two huddled forms. "Oh, my god. It - It's Mikado - Hang on, I'm lifting them, you pull them out -"

Even though Mikado is much larger and Maroon's arms feel hollow and shaky, they manage to lift the elf and they lay them carefully on the floor. Goldie emerges again, carrying the much smaller Flax in their arms. Both Chargers are battered and bloody, and one of Mikado's arms is bent at an unnatural angle that makes Maroon's stomach lurch.

"We shouldn't move those two any more than we have to," Cadmium warns. "Arylide just reconnected - they have a med specialization in both their PAAL and their PAAG. I'll message them to get back here, and they can run as medic if we find other Chargers hurt."

Goldie doesn't answer. When Maroon glances over them, their face is drawn and distant.

[Just Put Maroon] Flax doesn't look good ... is that why Goldie is starting to lose it?
[Just Put Maroon] I don't know what to do ... I don't even know where to start.

Comfort Goldie briefly and tell him that you guys need to keep looking for downed Chargers.

tell goldie we can't do much for them right now- let's keep digging out survivors. we need their help to do anything useful

not much we can do except to see if we can't find and dig anyone else out. Right now we're on search and rescue duty... I have to ask are their really no paramedics coming? I mean if something like this happened in a human city cops, medics, and the fire department would have swarmed this place in minutes.

do we even know if they are all alive?? if you don't know for sure if they are check for a pulse. comfort goldie as well- they are really valuable help and above all your friend.

We're gonna save everyone!

FRACTAL 2016/02/16(Tue)12:26 No. 702391 ID: 8679fe
File 145565436730.png - (107.40KB , 700x600 , 22.png )

>do we even know if they are all alive?? if you don't know for sure if they are check for a pulse.

[Just Put Maroon] God ... I hate to even think that, but ...

As Goldie finally lays Flax down on the ground, Maroon bends down and tugs off one of their gloves to reluctantly press their fingers against each injured Charger's wrist in turn, letting out a shaky sigh of relief when they feel the skin thrum underneath their fingertips.

[Just Put Maroon] Flax's is really weak ... but they're both still with us.


Maroon turns their attention back to Goldie, who is shivering and vacant, and gently rests their hand against the gang leader's shoulder. "Hey. Goldie. They're both still alive, and Cadmium said Arylide is on their way to help. There's nothing else we can do for them right now, so we gotta go look for anyone else we can find."

Goldie nods numbly. Taking a deep breath, Maroon tightens their grip on Goldie's shoulder reassuringly, trying to make their voice as even as confident as possible.

"We're gonna save everyone!"

FRACTAL 2016/02/16(Tue)12:26 No. 702393 ID: 8679fe
File 145565438125.png - (93.26KB , 700x600 , 23.png )

Something in that seems to shake Goldie out of it. Weak and forced as it is, there's an attempt at a smile creeping back on their face, and they straighten their shoulders firmly. "You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me. But you're right." They give Maroon's hand a brief squeeze before standing up, turning their attention back to Cadmium.

"How's the progress on finding those downed PAADs?"

"I don't have it figured out yet, but it's close. When I have it online I'll send the info across the Charge network."

"Has Maroon been added to that list yet?"

"Yes."

"Good." Goldie pauses for a moment, apparently communicating with their AI population, before speaking again, firm and calm. "They're not gonna send municipal emergency services to this district.Thank god we didn't bring everyone, but now we have to get all our med-specialized Chargers here. Send a call out to any Chargers off-location asking for vehicles and med PAADs. Don't give them enough info that they'll waste time panicking and asking questions - just tell them it's an emergency and we need everyone here now."

"On it, boss."

"Updates from Yolk?"

"They're found two other members. Both members are injured and shouldn't be moved, so Yolk is staying near them and can't search any further. Adding that to Mikado and Flax, plus the Chargers we currently have headcounted who were uninjured and are outside the warehouse now, that means we're only missing three other members who we know came with us."

"Got it." Goldie turns back to Maroon, hands on their hips, posture determined. "Any thoughts, Maroon?"

>>702393
Uh, people who can still walk but can't do much to help dig for others should maybe set up a perimeter to make sure who ever or whatever did this doesn't come back without some warning this time?

Other then that yeah plans sounds good. Find who we can find, get people who can actually help them down here, and... wait, wasn't this whole thing meant to be a gang meeting between multiple gangs? What are the chances of this turning into a gang war once everyone calms down and then starts pointing fingers? Should we call some people to start dealing with that before it becomes a problem?

do we know who is unaccounted for? also, do we have knowledge of anything that could assist with the medical parts of things here?

oh shoot!! i forgot. um, is there anyone here at all that can explain what exactly just happened?? or at least a brief idea??

>>702393
In addition to the chargers, do we have a head count on everyone else that was at the party? We're going to have to get statements from every survivor that HASN'T run away yet. Hopefully there's a visitor list too.

As much as I don't want to ask about Black and Blue, do we know how they are? Goldie's diplomacy work could have been made undone by this attack. Their gang may become more aggressive, and even use this as an excuse for a tighter hold of Charger territory.