Chief 2014/06/28(Sat)11:17 No. 581691 ID: d470e9
File 140397944110.png - (10.84KB , 800x800 , S7A5-22.png )

Glitcher lets go of the threads, and lets them return to Rulekeeper.

"Where could he go?"
>"Anywhere but here!"
"I'd say he earns a break. You couldn't see him, and left him in area 3 alone for ten thousand years."
>"That was him? Well, I'm sorry, but he's an unstable mess - "
"You can talk to him. He can hear you."
>"... you're an unstable mess, glitcher! Go.... I don't know, I'll convince the administrator to make a special area for you during the stages if that's what it takes. You can hide there during the stages."
"What's wrong with him being here? We're willing to have Glitcher do the stages normally."
>"He thinks I'm a bridge to the system again." says Glitcher. "And can make another road to attack."
"Are you afraid of another attack on a system bracket? Our numbers aren't in the thousands anymore. We can't do that as effectively as before."
>"He just disassembled me like it was nothing! He's a threat. That, or try to cross stage brackets, or whatever!"
"Rulekeep, were you paying attention to us on this island when we were speaking in a circle to others who weren't on the island?"
>"... that wasn't a shared hallucination, was it."
"No. I take it you didn't hear Alison or the other ghosts speak."
>"No. Okay. Look. Look. I'll try to figure out what to do with glitcher later. Just, right now... just go through the gate normally, Glitcher. Those should still work for you. I'm going to pay attention to the gates triggers instead of the people from this island forward, so don't think you won't count towards the 10 exits."

That is why we revealed him to you. We didn't want him to spend another 10 000 years alone.

We are going to try our best not to scare the admins like that again Rulekeeper. When we invaded the Admin brackets we did not realize how things really worked.

Ask him if he wants to learn the true story behind whats going on here. It will make his job a lot easier and will help him deal the stuff that's going to happen as we go forward. Once Corruptor shows up again things are going to get even messier and we can help prepare him.

The goal being to get him in a conversation with Alison and everyone so we can show him what we have learned.

Actually if we could get to a system base, we wouldn't need mass numbers. There's no way to attack in system areas anymore, and it's one big open area. So if we wanted to go and look at logs we could do that. I don't think we can, though- aren't we out of admin cards? In that case there isn't even any reason to invade a system base.

Crossing brackets is a thing we could do but I'm... oh. We could do that to invade other brackets with our surplus belenosian allies and ensure the other Corruptor armies don't get through this stage! Then we wouldn't have to worry about Swordsbane or the others.

>He thinks I'm a bridge to the system again
Honestly, I don't see much point in attacking the system again. Gaining control of the system areas won't allow us to fix things. Even when we had admins on our side.

Conceivably, there might be a reason for someone to try and access their logs, but I think all the spare keycards have already been used.

>crossing brackets
This means a lot less the fewer brackets there are. And there are others who can accomplish the same thing. Savior, Corruptor, and Corruptor's Outsiders. That isn't something Rulekeeper can prevent, even if Glitcher agrees to stay out of the way.

>Glitcher should leave
One good argument against that- if Glitcher cheats his way out of stage early, he might dodge the personality reset. I think even Rulekeeper can agree that a saner Glitcher is better for everyone.

No offense, Glitcher.

I'm not sure the personality reset would make him saner, though. He seems to be very rational and calm right now, but his base personality is prone to depression. It could actually turn out WORSE for him.

Oh. Ask Rulekeeper if the reset is optional. I'm sure there are some people who would rather not go back to who they were before area 3.

>>581691
Hey Rulekeeper, if you can make or break rules, you're pretty powerful yourself.
Why not take advantage of that power? Instead of this stupid bullshit, why don't you start changing a lot of shit.
I mean, couldn't he theoretically even change the rules in the admin place? How fights work? Enable and disable fights?
Why not become a tyrant and try and rule the adminsitration itself? If he could find the rule perimeters that determine the death of admin forces, he could turn the entire system on its head and then we can all band together to figure out how to prevent the loop without the game nonsense getting in the way.

It's what the administration and contestants should have been focusing on since they figured out there's loops and that the contest is ultimately pointless. Rulekeeper, you haven't been created in the other loops before. We have a chance to really experiment with you. You can go and fuck the system up pretty hard yourself. Because face it RK, they're just going to kill you as soon as you become obselete, and he will become obsolete. So why doesn't he prevent that by fucking with the contest parameters in the system settings and making it so no one dies anymore?

>>581740

Pretty sure if he gets out of line the admins will notice and kill/reset him. We want him as a friend who will watch out for us. The longer we stay off the admins radar the better.

Chief 2014/06/28(Sat)23:55 No. 581853 ID: d470e9
File 140402490681.png - (15.84KB , 800x800 , S7A5-23.png )

>Why doesn't the Rulekeeper take over the system?
From what Glitcher has said, the system rules over the rulekeep, not the other way around. The stage rules don't necessarily hold sway in the system bracket zones.

"Is the reset optional, Rulekeeper?"
>"No it... I don't want to reset glitcher. Sorry. But for the rest of you, you have to have it. It's a point of fairness, because the people you resurrect aren't going to have gone through all that area 3 business.
"In any case, glitcher is not the only one to cross brackets."
>"No, but I want to keep it at a minimum. Preferably zero!"
>"Rulekeeper...." Glitcher starts speaking. "Savior only entered Area 3 a few times to convince people to come back with him. Corruptor hasn't been seen at all, and the only devotees that are in the stages were ones that were already made."
"Do you want to hear our story? Knowing the history may help you understand why things are as they are."
>"... I'll wait till things calm down in this stage, then while you wait for gates to regenerate, I'll have you bring me up to date. Yeah. That won't hurt, at least." Rulekeeper says.

>Out of admin cards?
Although Chief thinks they may have had one for stage 8 or 9, or both, the admin purge removed them.

>Move surplus belenosians across brackets
Rulekeeper might not be able to kill glitcher for breaking the rules, but he can certainly kill the accomplices in breaking the rules.

"What will you do, Rulekeep, when the system considers you obsolete?"
>"I think I can prove my usefulness for a whole four stages. I'm going to retract back into a non-intelligent set of algorithms to stages at the end of the cycle no matter what. Even if it happens a little sooner, I doubt I'll be missing much. It's a short existence, but it's more than I asked for."

Chief things the conversation is wrapping up, and may feel just as inclined to start passing the days as trying to find anything useful to do.

Timeskip time? Yea, might as well.

Search the stage for books and other info. We have found secrets in other stages and even if its a bunch of random info something might be useful later on.

Other things we can work on are getting King on our team. He was sort of a ally before and with the numbers falling he might want to make it official. That and the time you spent with Pepper should get a good word in for us.

We can also fill Alison in on what events and find out more about interesting things that happened for other survivors of the last stage. I am interested in how King's stage only lasted 60 years. That must have been interesting.

Make sure to stay on the watch for shapechanging Bones agents. Do not want to let someone into our inner circle who can back stab us later.

I know that Rulekeeper is like Glitcher and Corruptor and normally would not survive if we fix things but make sure to let him know that we still plan on saving him if at all possible. We do not know how this mess will end so it pays to have hope.

>>581853
Wasn't there a particular safe zone that had another easter egg?

After we get to know Rulekeeper a bit better and he warms up to us... we might want to bring up Stage 9. He might know already that it's gonna be a meatgrinder... Is he okay with that? Is he willing to be a personification of that kind of stage? Or will he be changing things a bit? Oh. Will resurrected contestants that went through area 3 also be getting a personality reset?

>because the people you resurrect aren't going to have gone through all that area 3 business
Unless we resurrect people who died in stage 3? I guess we have to assume ghosts are getting a partial reset too for that to make any sense.

>I don't want to reset glitcher. Sorry.
I'm honestly confused why Rulekeeper doesn't want him as sane as possible. Isn't he less dangerous when he's predictable?

1/4 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)10:39 No. 581931 ID: d470e9
File 140406355760.png - (15.08KB , 800x800 , S7A5-24.png )

"Just remember that in the end, Alison will be trying to save you, as well. Are you going to be okay with stage 9? We have it on good authority that it's a meatgrinder."
>"I will be."
"I'm not sure why you won't reset glitcher."
>"I don't know if I can. If I can't, and I try, the effects could be bad. Just... he seems reasonable right now."

>Other things we can work on are getting King on our team.
If King isn't an ally already, Chief has been mistaken about what an ally is all along.

>How King's stage only lasted 60 years
King says there were no skellingtons in his stage, and just about all of the belenosians were willing to let themselves die off after a decent length of time.
>"Also, please stop calling them skellingtons." he finally adds.

>Look for secrets
Between occasional talks with Alison and others, Chief's group pilfers through the bookshelves for anything but generic novels and textbooks.

Glitcher, at some point, walks up to it, and grabs a specific book out of the back of a shelf.

2/4 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)10:39 No. 581932 ID: d470e9
File 140406359414.png - (107.32KB , 800x800 , S7A5-25.png )

It looks like a normal book, but he flips to a specific page that is a different color than the others.

I found it favorable that not just did I find a rare agricultural hive, I also located a painter that both had more talents than a generic cave scratcher, and was willing to paint a portrait for me. I traded two of my pictures and some food for his skills for the day. Soon I will leave to go back home. It's always a dangerous trip. The other hives, the way the jungle intermingles with the redgrass, and of course, the cave. I hope the painting survives the trip almost as much as I survive it. I almost wish to take a picture of the painting just in case, but I feel it's just wild imaginationions to think I could ever have a camera that could capture these colors. They're a little off due to the painter's limited supply, but they're far greater than my single tone capabilities.

Originally I wished to have some of my better tools outside of my toolbox, but the painter said he would rather not paint 'instruments used in unearthly black magic.' It was the only possible way, in his mind, that I could have possibly travelled so far by myself.

It was too much for him to understand that I was intelligent. I am also intelligent enough, however, to not actively think myself smarter than them while in empathy range. Those conceited, if justified, thoughts are deadly around here, far moreso than travelling alone would ever be.

-Likol

3/4 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)10:40 No. 581933 ID: d470e9
File 140406360593.png - (185.60KB , 800x800 , S7A5-26.png )

There is also a second page.

I still have yet to capture our entire hive in one photo. Our cave system is tight and cramped, and there are a solid 80 of us. We used to have more, and used to be on the surface. We can't even upkeep our train system, and its state is near worthless. Migratory hives became too much for us to handle. Our queen normally would not consider getting help from outside species, but she says that if a single salikai can survive the brutal jungles above for years without rest from being hunted, then it must be exceptionally clever. We've heard from our ancestors about the salikai's own brutality. We can't know if an alliance is a good idea or not, they're without empathy or compassion. Allying with it will either be a new golden age for us, or bring us to ruin. I doubt there will be much middle ground with salikai in mind.

Quokko, and our hive, though... we're ambitious. We want to go far. Our question will be less of will there be a golden age, or will there be a chance of a golden age.

Pictured left to right: Rihhin, my closest hivemate. Quokko, our queen. Ludar, who olds a young Seca.

"Are the threads on these different, too, Glitcher?"
>"Yes, that's how I knew where to look."

4/4 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)10:40 No. 581934 ID: d470e9
File 140406361850.png - (61.36KB , 800x800 , S7A5-27.png )

Glitcher starts studying the threads and learning how he might find more. They have no history, he says, not that he can read. Nearly everything anyone knows in the simulation is an interconnected system, Glitcher says, but these bits about the outside world seem disconnected and an anomaly.

The days start passing. Despite the supposed formidable willpower of bones' units, the areas simply favored large alliances over small ones far too much. Chief thinks that he's done pretty well for himself, all things considered.

Glitcher goes on ahead without a hitch, and eventually, so does Chief. The other half of the bracket managed to get a couple of people there, as well. Someone who introduces himself as Felix is there, as is Smuggler and, to Chief's own surprise, Mongrel of all people. Becoming rogue did not change his personality much, he seems despondent and tired of everything. Felix claims that he owes his life to Alison, and wasn't going to throw that away so easily. Smuggler says he probably would not have made it, but while smuggling in the safe zone, he seemed to have made many friends and earned a lot of support to help him through area 3. Mongrel, on the other hand, has little to say.

Although Felix and Smuggler will also most likely be on the top 10 list to get through, Chief will still be one of the first few. Arbiter says he is about ready to go ahead, since it doesn't seem like there is much point in waiting, and they have the 5 people required, including Glitcher, to activate the final gate.

Some interesting back story about the science hive there. Might not be important right now but anything about the outside world helps.

Well lets start sending people forward then. Even though this part has slowed down a bunch the faster we get to the end the less chance Bones or someone can sneak in a unit to gum up the works.

The biggest problem we face could be deciding who to let through at the final gate. Assuming Bones does not manage to sneak in we still have Sevener and who knows else on the other half of the bracket.

Make sure that you get Rulekeeper in a conference with Alison when things are slow. This might be our best chance to befriend him and we do not want to let it go to waste. Other than that just keep watching for shape shifters and hope things keep going smoothly.

Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)11:41 No. 581943 ID: d470e9
File 140406730654.png - (65.01KB , 800x800 , S7A5-28.png )

Not much changes, so Arbiter goes on ahead. Rulekeeper engages with Alison and everyone to recall everything that happens. Trying to befriend the Rulekeeper may take awhile. Even though he is looking at the people as often as the triggers from the stage, he still keeps people at arms length.

During the next day, right as Chief recalls Sevener, she shows up right on cue. No less than an hour later, so does succubus.

The final expected count goes as follows, provided no other noteable contestants show up.

From first to last, Arbiter, Glitcher, Chief, King, Smuggler, Sevener, Loviro, Emerald, Succubus, and Felix. It's a surprisingly perfect number so far, and Chief couldn't ask for a better position at the end of this stage. It will be a shame, he thinks to lose all of the random belenos. For complete strangers, their loyalty to a fake emperor once again makes Chief jealous.

>"Sevener." Glitcher says.
>"What."
>"I... really want to take a thread off of you to look at."
>"Ask me to dinner first."
>"Wh- no. No, I mean, like... no."
>"No, you just want to go right to stripping me?"
>"N-noooo! I mean I... Chief, please help..."
"He wants a component of your physical form to study, because he thinks administrators are physically different."
>"Holy shit, is that all? Glitcher, learn to speak, goddamn."

Tell Glitcher that maybe it would be a good idea to go out on a date and dinner with Sevener later. The fuck not, eh?

>>581943
pfheehee, I'm sorry, but Chief, the stoic asexual oriented (as in, no interest in it), hugging Succubus is jut funny. And cute, I guess.
Glitcher's emotions are causing his "empty" threads to hop all over his body. That's perfectly safe, right?

Hang with Succubus, catch up, while Glitcher checks out Sevener's 'thread' for anything new.

If we're down to our final ten then, do we start planning who the 30 people we revive are? And who's responsible for reviving who, if we're not allowed to consult when it happens?

Alison, obviously. Radmin probably, because Alison promised. Bones likely, if we want to try one last attempt to make nice with Corruptor. King will probably want Mint and Pepper. Felix may use one of his slots on Vinyl. And then the rest of the main gang that killed I suppose- Duelist, Recluse, Scanner, Iso, Clarence, Healer, Guardsman, Atlas, Strongarm, Bandit, Gambler, Twirl, Sword, Shield, Charles, Spear, Chief, Math, Engineer, Friendgy. Uh... Polatt? Not if Emerald has anyone he'd want to res.

That's... 27. So we'd still need to pick 3 people.

Scholar should be safe with Savior, at least. Not sure if anyone else is over there.

Well lets keep our fingers crossed and hope no unexpected bumps show up. As for the Random Belenosians we knew most of them would not make it through. Depending on how the next few stages go there might not be many left of the core group at the end.

Maybe if we stabilize things you will have a horde of loyal subjects one day Chief. If we do manage to save everyone or even a portion it will be a immense amount of people in here to watch over. Besides its better to have subjects that you earned than ones you got given to you. Every person that you got to follow you did so out of choice not blind loyalty to a institution.

Still paranoid that at the end someone is going to rip off a mask and say "Ha ha its was me Bones all along".

>>581960

We could try rezzing Shopkeep baron to see if we got our own Rulekeeper. Could give him a existential crisis like the one Shopkeeper had. Might be a horrible idea though.

Oh, yes, and be sure to compare notes and see how other people's terrible long term psychological experiments went. I'm interested in what other strategies might have worked in that last area.

Hmm didn't Alison promise someone else to resurrect them and their friend a while back? Was it Catatonic?

>>581955
Chief is on that list to resurrect for some reason.

>>581943
That sounds sortof like permission but we should probably perform a demonstration. Have Glitcher take a thread out of you to show Sevener what that means. Also ask Sevener how she did in Area 3.

>>581955
Engineer, Mathematician, Friendgy are all in the Savior's Sanctuary- we sent our brainy buddies there since they're more useful for R&D than dealing with stages. They aren't dead. Emerald and Loviro might have people they want resurrected.

>>581965
Yes, that's right. Catatonic's friends died before they were absorbed so we promised we'd resurrect them. There's also Iso's musician friend.

It occurs to me that since we no longer have absorb, Catatonic's friends will be lost again if they die. Can we ask Rulekeeper for a ruling on that? How about, whoever resurrects someone also gains their ghost? Then they'd be in the dream.

1/2 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)14:59 No. 582008 ID: d470e9
File 140407914310.png - (31.79KB , 800x800 , S7A5-29.png )

Chief summons Rulekeep.

"Please tell us how finishing the stage will be handled. Will we be able to talk amongst ourselves as to who to resurrect?"
>"Yep. You remember those transition rooms between some stages? There will be one of those. You'll all have one hour to deliberate and check out who you want to resurrect."
"Will we get their ghosts?"
>"Hm? That's not going to be a thing anymore. If there are any more resurrections, anyone will have access to anyone they know of."

>See how other people's terrible long term psychological experiments went
Chief catches up with everyone. Area 3 only varied superficially for most individuals, and many parallels were drawn between everyone.

Glitcher studies some of Sevener's threads.

>Glitcher's emotions are causing his "empty" threads to hop all over his body. That's perfectly safe, right?
And perfectly normal.

>"IIiii don't think I'll have anything concrete soon, I have to experiment more. Maybe I can make more resurrect tokens out of this? Well, Rulekeeper will probably kill anyone resurrected illegally."
"Yeah, you may as well spend the time asking sevener out on a proper date."
>"Wh- Chief - she's right here!"
"Yes, I know. I'm joking, Glitcher."

2/2 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)15:00 No. 582009 ID: d470e9
File 140407924540.png - (38.50KB , 800x800 , S7A5-30.png )

Some more days pass.

Everything goes absolutely perfectly. Everyone on the list gets through the gate to the end. That leaves 10 people alive at the end, just as the stage intended for.

There are 30 resurrection slots. Mandatory resurrects are Alison and, as promised, Radmin. A third resurrection will go to Bones, if they want to honor Corruptor's wish despite his most recent actions.

>Engineer, Mathematician
They went in with Alison to the CAI fight, and are currently deceased. Friendgy, however, is believed to be alive in Savior's location.

Emerald does not have anyone in particular he would like to resurrect. Succubus has lost a couple of friends, but she would rather see the hard earned resurrections go to more practical choices. Felix, too, relents the option, saying reunions would be far too short lived to be worth it. Loviro would have had one choice, but the resurrection does not extend to belenosian individuals that were not pulled out by Alison.

Sevener says she would like to see Sixer resurrected. Alison's own recommendations, since Glitcher's radio works, are Recluse, Duelist, Scanner, Iso, Engineer, Mathematiction, Strongarm, Bandit, and come to think, she's having difficulties choosing without just starting to rattle off every teammate she's had. She does remember her promise to Catatonic to resurrect his friend, to which he or she can rejoin catatonic in savior's paradise, and the same for Iso's old music friend, should there be more than enough slots for resurrection.

The next stages are going to be nastier from what we have heard. So should only bring in the most capable and experienced who know the risks. While it would be nice to bring back friends now that we have Glitchers radio we can talk to people when we need to.

As for Bones lets bring him back because we promised Corruptor. Even if he was a bit crazy back then he is vital to our plans. Bones might be important somehow and while is unlikeable he is a strong contestant. Who knows Alison might be able to win him over given enough time. And if not we just be careful and watch for any backstabbing.

So get as much of the core team as wants to go and then the rest to people we promised to help.

>>581932
Did anyone think to bring this book with them? If not, then keep an extra special look out for one in future stages.

Actually, I think if we illegally rerez people in Saviors domain and leave them there the system won't mind. After all, those people are out of the game anyway and can't return, right?

Really, all people who die in the game should just automatically be place in Saviors paradise at this point, because losing shouldn't be a punishment because no contestant deserves to be punished with nonexistence, just essentially be disqualified from the end game. It's something that should be suggested to admin people, at least. Same thing with admin people who lose their admin deal. Sent straight to Savior's. Otherwise, people are just going to try and break more and more shit so they or people they care about don't end up fucking dead.

Okay. So trying to get a list here:

Stage 7 Survivors:

Arbiter, Glitcher, Chief, King, Smuggler, Sevener, Loviro, Emerald, Succubus, and Felix

People to resurrect:

Alison, Radmin, Bones, Duelist, Recluse, Scanner, Iso, Clarence, Healer, Guardsman, Atlas, Strongarm, Bandit, Gambler, Twirl, Sword, Shield, Charles, Spear, Math, Engineer, Polatt, Sixer, Catatonic's friend, Iso's old music friend, Mint, Pepper

...and that's still only 27/30. Am I forgetting anyone, or did I list anyone still alive by accident again?

People known to be safe with Savior:

The Chompers, Scholar, Friendgy, Catatonic

Catatonic had two friends. They killed each other in a dual for the second to last spot in advancement.

No one knew then you could overload endpoints.

>>582009
Stage 8 clear... That means the next stage is the meatgrinder.

>>582031
You forgot Catatonic's second friend and Historian. One slot left.

>>582036
That was supposed to be stage 7. The image has been changed. Next stage is 8.

Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)18:40 No. 582053 ID: d470e9
File 140409242172.png - (42.40KB , 800x800 , S7A5-31.png )

>Actually, I think if we illegally rerez people in Saviors domain and leave them there the system won't mind.
That's a possibility Glitcher may attempt.

>Was the book kept?
Glitcher assures Chief that he absorbed the book, manually. Chief will just take his word for it.

The final list of resurrections are established in alphabetical order.

- Alison
- Atlas
- Bandit
- Bones
- Catatonic's friend
- Catatonic's other friend
- Charles
- Clarence
- Duelist
- Engineer
- Gambler
- Guardsman
- Healer
- Historian
- Iso
- Iso's friend
- Math
- Mint
- Mouse
- Pepper
- Polatt
- Radmin
- Recluse
- Scanner
- Shield
- Sixer
- Spear
- Strongarm
- Sword
- Twirl

The rulekeeper also makes a showing.

>"Okay, congratulations and all that. All the resurrects will show up in safe zone 8. Now, I thought about it over the last couple days, and changed my mind about the mandatory personality reset. You see, you regain all your memories at it, but the memories will feel like you never experienced them. Sorta like if it were a past life. I said it should be on fair ground, but you know, it wasn't too fair you guys had to go through area 3 and whatever buddies riding on your resurrect didn't. Soooo, if you think you wanna stay loopy, go ahead. Glitcher's still gotta keep those ten thousand under his belt, though. And also, you gotta choose now, no deciding later."

Chief isn't sure if he's as mentally sharp as he used to be, but on the other hand, after all of that, it seems wrong to just throw away everything that happened like it never did. More importantly, the experiences of old-Chief may work out better than the unexperienced, but ambitious, young-Chief.

>>582053
What about those who were resurrected but went through Area 3? They're not here to get a reset. Does that mean they don't even have the opportunity?

Chief, it depends on how lucid you were during your downtime in this Area. It's been a few days, so you should have noticed if you were still hallucinating or having difficulties in general. Also, King was only in Area 3 for 60 years- get his opinion on how loopy everyone is. He can give a more objective verdict and recommend for certain people to get a reset if they are indeed loopy.

Jiro, Pepper, Timekeeper and Goat... You may not have made a connection with the majority of the other members, but you shouldn't give it all up. Every step you take is a lesson learned yadda yadda all that jazz.

Question: how does the potential reset affect those who died in stage 3 that we're reviving? Do they get a choice, or are they hardwired into keeping or resetting?

How does the reset affect the dead Glitcher interacted with? Alison and some of the others affected by the ghost-phone have several additional years of experience under their belt.

>get his opinion on how loopy everyone is
That's not a bad idea. You're not all actually objective at this point. You should compare notes with one another, see how you come across to one another.

I'd lean towards not getting a reset if you can.

1/5 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)19:45 No. 582064 ID: d470e9
File 140409635610.png - (20.48KB , 800x800 , S7A5-32.png )

"What about those who were resurrected but went through Area 3?"
>"They'll get the opportunity. I meant you guys have to choose now. They'll have to choose when they're resurrected."
"What about the time glitcher spent talking on his radio?"
>"Yeahhhh, about that... nothing. I'm just going to pretend that never happened."

Chief hasn't seen any hallucinations, and the sheer act of being in a new environment has been having positive effects on how lucid Chief has been. Everyone, upon looking at each other, has some mixed feelings, but ultimately favors Chief's choice on bypassing the reset.

"Alright. I'm going to pass."

Most others pass, with Smuggler and Sevener as the main exceptions who get the reset.

With that, everyone is dumped off into Stage Safe Zone 8.

Stage 8 Safe Zone:
200 Entrants (Tentative)
50 Exits (Tentative)
100 Hour duration safe zone

That familiarity incurs more than a couple of flashbacks for Chief.

He starts looking around. It's a somewhat vacant area, and he doesn't see anyone immediately. After several minutes, Chief hears some noise coming from a building, and Chief moves in to check it out.

2/5 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)19:46 No. 582065 ID: d470e9
File 140409639062.png - (27.49KB , 800x800 , S7A5-33.png )

>"Hello again, Chief. How are you doing?"
".... I'm fine."

3/5 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)19:46 No. 582066 ID: d470e9
File 140409639904.png - (10.98KB , 800x800 , S7A5-34.png )

>"You sound tired."
"I am."

4/5 Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)19:46 No. 582067 ID: d470e9
File 140409641329.png - (13.30KB , 800x800 , S7A5-35.png )

"I'm very tired, in fact. Where are Pepper and Succubus?"
>"We're still trying to locate everyone. There might not be a dream, but it looks like you can at least fall asleep, here."
"We only have 100 hours to do... everything."

Unnatural Selection - Thread 10 END Chief 2014/06/29(Sun)19:47 No. 582070 ID: d470e9
File 140409647387.png - (21.59KB , 800x800 , S7A5-36.png )

>"I'll take care of it, Chief. Go get some rest. You did well."

>>582070
Awwwwwwww!~
Alison is cool, and I don't just say that because we control her most of the time.

Time to sleep, for the first time in centuries.

>Stage 8
So... there are few enough brackets left at this point that math can actually count the numbers of stars in the sky, right? That means we can get a pretty good estimate of the number of people left, ignoring cheating and hiding people in Savior's zone.

you know after reading this whole thread all in one go... I have to say I find this stage to be the most brutal stage by far. I mean the physical challenges from the earlier stages and hell even the CAI battle may have been tough but shit at least they had the feeling of going somewhere and that progress was being made. But this stage... Holy crap. I applaud you Lagorope and I eagerly await the next thread.