Rose, for the power of LUUUURVEEEE.

Surety of Self, Sera is a master of mutation magic, and despite her love for Rose, she really needs some strong idea or foundation of who she is, or the taint's twisting influences will cause even greater damage to her mind.

Who Sera is, but keep in mind her love for Rose and Rose's love for her as herself constitute a major part of her. Use their love as a focusing point to get Sera to think about what she is and wants. Rose loves/loved about Sera the compassion and willingness to help, her inner strength of character. Sera's body helped, but the mutations quite surely show it was Sera's soul Rose is/was interested in. No matter if Rose is dead or alive, the way to honor Rose is to keep to the Sera Rose loved.

If Sera needs a goal, there is also Rose son to consider. She only knows he lives in some bunker, but Sera owes him to tell him about Rose as Sera expierenced her.

>>411185
Hm.

Admittedly there is some merit to this.

You step forth.

The world shifts around you, again. Cold steel and pipes, harsh coldness. You remember this - The room where you had met Sera. She stands in the center of a room, untouched by mutation. blood clots her hair, gore clothes her. She stands over Noise, smiling wide, a foot on his chest, his neck laid open and his vocal cords in one hand - a bloody scalpel in the other.

She looks happy, her eyes manic. Rose's coat flickers on her back, the room full of people cowering from her.

This is how she sees herself? This is what she's fallen into in such a short time? There must be something to do - call out to her, stop her, change something!

Is there something I should say? An aspect of the image I should change directly? Or perhaps something to manifest myself?

add Rose and give purpose to the violence.

Replace the crowd with the grateful children she and Rose rescued from the raiders.

Be careful. She's touched Angelic magic too. Trying to give "purpose" to the violence could make her fall the other way.

Replace Noise with the Noble commander from the siege on Jamestown.

Replace the screaming commoners with people she's helped.

Remind her she's always tried to help.

Remind her that people are depending on her.

Hell, remind her that she may well have even helped us, whatever the hell it was she did to us.

>>411776
this sounds like a plan. if we can say something as well as change the scene we should say

"ever since you climbed out of that vault you have done everything you could to help others, there has not been a single instance where you walked away from anyone who truly needed help. you walk the path of the hero, not the path of the monster weather you admit it to your self or not Sera.

[Demonic Suave]

"No, this is all wrong." you say, snapping your fingers. "This is all wrong, wrong, wrong." You shake your head as you step over the gore, reaching up to wipe her cheek. "Since you were little, you've needed me, haven't you? When the only thing you're doing wrong is seeing a monster where an angel stands."

"But... I..." she looks down at herself.

"You are doing what needs to be done." you continue, walking around her. "Certainly you intimidate others, and certainly you enjoy it." You lean close, eyes focusing on her. "But you are nothing like him." you point at Noise.

"But he does the same things!"

You lean back and laugh.
"You're nothing alike. Noise only thinks about himself. Only thing in here..." you lean down and knock on his helmet. "Is himself. I've been in heads like that. Big and empty, full of grandeur. But you... Look! Look at all these people. All these people, you care so much, you give them faces. You think he does that? Even when he dreams, the people he kills, he talks to, he fucks - blank. I've seen it." You grin.

"But you... Faces, voices, emotions, clothes, color, smells! You care. You construct them here, not to use them. But because they are here with you - they affect you. It's rare. It's very rare. Especially these days. So don't tell me, Sera, that you are a monster. Because I've lived with them. I've guided them. I've swam in their murky minds, directed the shambles of their intellect. I've watched them ruin others for chuckles." a black finger pokes into the center of her chest. "When the Vault that scorned you was dying, you could think of nothing but to save them, when all they did was ignore you. Now, Sera. Look at me. You need to wake up. There are people who need you. There is a mother out there, who wants to make this world a place where her son can live and be free. And she needs your help. Don't let her down."

You grasp her shoulders.

"Don't let me down."

You can feel the place shifting again. Rumbling. She's coming back. She's being lucid again.

You've only a few more moments before she is lucid again entirely. Is there anything else you'd like to do, or say?

I don't even know.

I'm enough of a maudlin, cliche'd dork to suggest saying "thank you."

Tell her that we're impressed with her work so far in here, too. For a mage without magic, she did quite well.

remember.

Yes. it is true. You know it yourself, too, deep down. And other's seen it, too. Us and Rose, for one. Even Alisa in the short time she knows you, or she wouldn't have given you Scars.

>>412601
Seconded.

@@ Shot!H508X.HbJ6 2012/05/16(Wed)17:02 No. 412754 ID: 8db51b
File 133721296771.jpg - (1.22MB , 2480x3507 , ZigZag.jpg )

"It is true. Everyone thinks so." you manage to say, before everything shifts back to normalcy.

[DICONTINUITY]
[PERSPECTIVE SWITCH]

My everything is sore.
"Haha, the new kid's up!" says a soft voice. "Wakeywakey, girl. We've place to be and people to kill. Don't leave auntie ZigZag waiting."

I blearily open my eyes. A woman stands beside the bed I lay on, hands on her hips, a dangerous grin on her lips. "Well? Can you get up?"

>>412754
Anyone else nearby? If not... tail. face. stab.

...did you really agree to become part of the Reapers? If so, then I suppose we have some backstabbing to do.

Let's play it cool for now. Figure out what their capabilities are, and what they expect us to do exactly. Try getting up, then ask where you are.

>>412776
Err, not Reapers. Whatsits. Fiends.

>>412791
Mother FUCK.

... She probably didn't agree consciously though. She seemed to be having a bit of a fit.

WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, SCARY DEMON LADY.

you ok Sera? also, how long has it been since we last talked?

and guys, we are going undercover remember? we wait for a good opportunity to back-stab the bastards.

...

I turn, and my tail lashes out. She turns her head, grasping it, then steps, pulling - and throwing me into the wall opposite the bed.

"Who..."

"The name is Zigzag." she says harshly. "And Noise asked me to keep an eye on you." she cricks her neck as she stands up again. She's slender, and attractive, if it weren't for the massive hands. "Listen, there's a tribe of horse-folk not far off. We haven't hit them because we've not had enough folks, but Noise is pressing for more supplies. Me, you, and a few others are going to move ahead of the main force and cripple their defenses. Do well, and you'll be rewarded." she says, sauntering closer to touch my chin and lift it, looking into my eyes. "Do badly, and, well, the horses will kill you. Are you coming, or not?"

>you ok Sera? also, how long has it been since we last talked?

I'm fine. It's been maybe a week? I've gone out once or twice with raiders to hit other settlements. We don't wipe them, not yet. Noise says he's trying a new method, and he's still ironing it out - for now, we're only allowed to take half. It's weird. Fiends were never this... controlled.

right so, lets start planing the downfall of the fiends. if we are lucky they have an ammo dump that we can set off. hey is it possible to unbind demons? i'm assuming the fiends keep a few around so that would be another way to cause some hell. hmmmm, how many men and demons do they have? and how are they for ammo and food?

...hmm. Well, okay, sure. Let's go.

I'll tell you right now though it's gonna be hard for us to follow you on this nasty business.

>>412956
Oh man. Food.
If we can find their food stores (and make sure they aren't contaminated - you HAVE to know that Noise is expecting us to betray him), maybe we can supply some towns along the way.

Take from the ill-begotten goods of the wealthy, give to the less fortunate.

It's been a week, Sera? By some chance did Noise give you any weapons or armor? Check your inventory for us.

Is the collar off? If so, betray them at the raid.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I mutter, standing and cricking my back. Augh. She's strong - absurdly. I suspect demonic ancestry, since she claims not to use magic. "When do we leave?"

"In a few hours. Grab something to eat before you go." she says. "You can find your way there, I expect."

"Yes." I retrieve my things and get dressed. Zigzag doesn't seem to care or notice my nudity or appearance. Walking out, I head to the yard. Sal, the girl who I fought, nods to me as we pass. Seems she respects me, now. Which is good - her respect to me means that most people here regard me as higher than I am. The food isn't the best, but the cook is alright, if creepy.

...Hey. Another new person - a blonde girl. She seems out of place. Timid, small, slender, quiet. I can also talk to Sal or Zigzag, if I want.

Yay for creepy cooks? Yigh. Who is Sal? (Granted I'm curious about this timid blonde.)

Out of place, here? There's probably more to her than it seems. May as well go say hello, though. Just don't expect her to be a weakling.

aren't you slim and small and not exactly outgoing either? you guys might have stuff in common.

>>413896
>>413756
I wander over, sitting beside her.
"Hello."

My venture is rewarded with a small nod. There's an air of... peace? around her. I'm willing to bet it's a mutation of some sort. "I'm Sera. What's your name?"

"...Asila." she says quietly.

"How'd you end up here? You don't seem the type."

"I... I am a healer. They have many uses for me." she says, sullen.

>>415325

yeah, but what use does she have for them?

>>415384
"But why? What use do you have for them?"

She looks up at me with dull, hollow eyes.
"If I heal them, they leave me alone." she says sullenly. "You aren't leaving me alone. Do you need to be healed?"

I've seen eyes like that before, when I was a kid. Before I met you. In the mirror.

>>415617
Oh my God the way she said that.

The look in her eyes.

I can picture it VERY clearly.

We need to get her out of here when we leave.

>>415804
I sigh and finish my meal.
"No, I don't." I say, walking down the hallway. The place is huge, labrynthine. Sometimes I think it changes of its own accord, other times I think I'm imagining things. It feels... Wrong. Like... Like if there was a jail that was the most jaily of all jails? It's hard to describe, but the feeling grows as I wander near to Noise's office, and fades as I step away.

"[small]My lady?[small]"

I stop walking, staring at one of the high windows. A narrow face regards me.

"...Scars?"

The figure nods, then points at the ground beneath the window, then gestures to run.

What?

Move! I have a feeling theres going to an explosion soon.

you did lose the collar, right? if so, go run to the window.

>>422926
Somehow I get the feeling that's not the best thing to run towards.

Did his gesture seem to indicate more towards the window or away? I'm guessing away so do so quickly... maybe grab the girl too.

>>423071
He gestured towards the ground NEAR the Window, not the Window itself.

Then gestured for us to run.

My guess is explosives are involved.

Hence my suggestion to NOT approach the window.

>Run!

I dash back to the food hall and locate the blonde girl.
"Come with me."
"Why?"
"It's important."

She gets up again, without fighting. Some part of me wishes she would resist me more. Her compliance almost seems creepy, or... indicative of overall behavior.

It only reminds me how much I want everyone else here to die. She looks up at me as I take her into another room. It's dark. I hear her unzipping her clothing and stop her, shaking my head.

For a moment, she seems confused. But her eyes open wide, seconds before an explosion rocks the building.

A beastial roar thunders through the air as Harumda lets out the happiest cry I've heard in a long time, and a siren sounds through the facility. I peek through the door, and people are running towards the sound.

find your friends and move behind them because spellcasters generally attack from behind the ranks.

Let's see what the fuck is happening.

Make with the backstabbing. Start eliminating people at the rear. BE THE SPY.

"Stay here. I'll be back with friends. We're getting out of here."

I feel a strange shudder as I say that, but I don't say anything as I kick the door open. It swings, impacting someone, and as I step out, I touch the Taint and fire three Smites into the rushing crowd. Blood flies out as enemies are wounded and dropped, and I spend another three shots killing the four who fell.

They aren't . They aren't . They're monsters. No better than animals! My hackles rise as I move towards the disturbance. They don't even care as their allies fall - like a pack of beasts, they only care about blood and fury. Fury... A bubbling feeling in my belly, as I realize that what Bones did was common. Rape, murder, torture.

"Not..." I pull out the knife I've had since I was dropped here, and slam it between the disks of the man's spine in front of me. He falls, screaming - and is stampeded to death, judging by his cries. Nothing.

For the first time, killing something evokes nothing in me. But that doesn't matter. Scars cannot act on his own. That means someone had to send him. Only two people can.

Rose...

My anger boils harder, and six more white crosses fly from my fingers. They are noticing, now - they're starting to realize something is amiss. The monsters feel the gap in their ranks, and turn to the problem. But there's not enough room in these tight halls for them to get at me properly. Black holes fly from my hands to rip them apart, huge fist-sized holes simply appearing in them. My heart races. My body feels warm. Blood spatters my face, but I don't care.

And then I reach the hole in the wall - which isn't jagged or cracked, but smooth and round. Harumda roars as he cleaves through whole rows of enemies, blood flowing free and staining the hall in a growing puddle while Scars moves between targets, blowing them apart from simple attacks. Bullets take apart foes.

She's alive.

She's alive!

"ROSE!" I scream, leaping above my enemies, sailing to slam into her, face into chest, arms around her strong, warm figure.

She smiles and pets my hair a little, hallway and hole secured by Scars and Harumda.

I look at the hole, which is slowly, steadily, shrinking. Gaining speed. When I saw it initially, a few cars side-by-side might have fit, now only one with a lot of clearance.

"We should get going." Rose says quietly. "This place is weird."

...Should I go?

Fuck yes.

GTFO.

I never liked this place.

OH!

Grab that girl, first, though.

The depressing one that thought you wanted to rape her and was totally willing to just accept it.

She needs out of here.

>>425139
Don't forget the girl.

"There's someone here I have to save."

"You can't be serious - in this place?"

I nod.
"Please. I promised her..."

Rose palms her face and mutters something, but nods.

I turn to Scars. "Scars of Yesterday!"

He blocks a sword almost casually.
"My lady?"

"I need you to clear a path for me towards the eating hall... Can you do that?"

"This unit would be happy to."

"Don't think so!" croons a new voice, as Harumda is sent flying back, Scars barely dodging him. Zigzag stands in the hall, with Noise beside her.

"NO ONE LEAVES WITHOUT MY FUCKIN' PERMISSION, BITCHES." Noise screams, drawing a short blade and a large handgun, And Zigzag's eyes glow a bright red, a huge grin on her face as her teeth turn sharp. "SHOW THEM HOW YOU ZAG, ZIGGY."

"With pleasure." she says, launching forth - But Harumda is there, blocking her massive weapon with his own.

Use Bare on Noise to get rid of his handgun. Close the distance then use Darkness to make him unable to see your attack or attack you. Take him down!

Alternatively you could use Darkness first and give no fucks about his gun, but he might blindly shoot one of your allies. Your choice.