WEEK 4

[shardmods]

You were successful in repelling the robots attacking the city, but you've been left with far too many questions. For once, Tails doesn't have any answers for you, and a gloomy uncertainty has fallen over your three allies. It probably doesn't help that everyone had a rough time of it last week. A win is a win, but it doesn't really feel like a win when you're not even sure who this unknown threat is...

Regardless, life goes on. Things are a bit different this week in Chicago, however.

THE CITY

You'll need to be careful now more than ever when heading out into the city. Though Eggman's usual robots are still present, their numbers have been cut drastically. Far fewer drones patrol the streets, with only the occasional tank or B33 to be seen. You can still find and fight them, and they will still call for backup, but it seems like you all really have destroyed a lot of them.

But there are the new additions to Eggman's forces. Unlike the white chrome versions, these are here to cause problems. You can find them patrolling sometimes... but usually you'll find them in the city proper, destroying whatever they can. Whenever they catch sight of you, they will stop at nothing to try to pursue you and destroy you.

The city itself is still undergoing changes, with more of that white chrome spreading throughout, as if infecting the structures themselves. The Badniks will still destroy even that, though; it's more like they're mindless machines than carrying out any precise orders.

But in a stroke of good luck, occasionally you'll find that some of the humans recognize the danger they're in. It's only when confronted with a robot - but you might hear a scream, or see them try to run away, and if you save them, you may even be able to get a few words in before they simply return to their monotonous lives. You won't be able to get any truly valuable information from them, but they will thank you repeatedly for helping. They don't seem to realize that they're being controlled by someone else, even if you ask them about it.

VISIONS

If you thought last week was a lot, get ready for the madness of week 4!

You may still have nightmares. You may still be pulled into each others' nightmares (same as last week, if you'd like to play out more of these). Or maybe you'll finally be able to catch a break and get some z's, but even if you are lucky enough for that, you'll still be dealing with everything else.

You may find yourself randomly teleported into the city. This happens at random, and can happen to multiple people at the same time. One minute you may be waking up, the next you'll find yourself surrounded by robots ready to kill you. And yeah, the robots are a feature, not a bug. No matter how it happens, you will always be facing down robots whenever you're brought into the city. Enjoy!

But maybe your luck holds out and you're unaffected by that. Well, there's still the visions to deal with!

There are two different kinds of visions that may happen.

The first are the more minor ones - where you may see the people closest to you (positive or negative). They will appear for others as well, and they will gladly speak with you - though they aren't exactly behaving in the way they should. They will torment you, reminding you of past failures and imperfections, and speaking as though everything is your fault. They will follow you wherever you go, and will only fade when someone else has helped you come to terms with the horrid things they're saying. These visions are a manifestation of a character's psyche and thus are based on their own perceptions of their friends/enemies and their own faults. They're incapable of interacting with the world or the characters, but they sure can insult you!

The second are much larger in scope. No matter where you were, you may find yourself pulled into friend's memory. These memories are one-for-one versions of what exactly happened, though now you're here! Are you playing the role of someone else, or are you just a bystander in all that's happening?

The character having the vision may or may not be aware of you initially, but once they're made aware of your presence, the vision will still play out as the memory would. The only way to stop it - aside from simply letting it play out in its entirety - is to drastically alter the memory in such a way that it cannot get itself back on track. Considering the trauma some of the people in this game have, it might be a good idea to help break them free of it.

Regardless of which happens to you (the nightmares, the teleportation, or the visions), your vision will turn bright red for a moment afterwards - it vanishes quickly enough, but it leaves you with the eerie feeling that you're being watched.

SHARDS

Your powers are growing, and you'll find you're able to defend yourself with your power in some way, even if yours is a power made for support. All characters are now able to fire off a blast of energy in their shard color to defend themselves - this attack will grow stronger in time, but at least everyone should be able to defend themselves (somewhat) now?

As you fight with your allies - particularly those you have a close bond with, positive or negative - you may feel the tug of something in the back of your head; it tells you that you can do more. Together, you can become more powerful. You can use your shards together. Doing so will grant you a new power, or strengthen the one you already have. The more you trust one another, the easier this power will be to use.

It might be good to experiment with these new powers; after all, you never know when you may need them.

TAILS' TASKS

Like last week, Sonic Team is still in need of rings. Rings are still annoying to get. You'll probably need help to get them, but they're worth collecting. So make sure to grab some for Tails!

You may also be tasked with tracking Chaos Energy. Like with tracking rings, Tails will give you a device that can pick up on the signature. You should be careful in approaching, especially if the signature is a large one, considering the three enemies you faced last weekend. Still, Chaos Energy may lead you to more of Eggman's fake Chaos Emeralds, which could prove useful...

Tracking the source down will lead you to one of the weekly enemies with a shard somewhere on its body. It will be much harder to kill than the regular versions of that enemy, and capable of some kind of special power (players' choice). Crushing the shard will weaken the enemy and bring it back down to its normal power level, making it fairly easy to defeat, but if you manage to defeat it without breaking the shard, you can bring it back to Tails for examination.

ENEMIES

Though you can still find the enemies from previous weeks in Chicago throughout the city, their numbers have thinned. Mostly, you'll be running into new faces - robots that don't look anything like Eggman's usuals. They are very rarely actually patrolling or idling, instead focused on destroying parts of the city or attacking any people unfortunate enough to get in their way.

Moto Bugs are... rather cute. They roll around on their singular wheel and can slash with their front claws, though primarily they deal damage by ramming into things at fairly high speeds. They're fairly weak, all things considered, especially by now. They're completely powerless when knocked over or onto their backs. Though one Moto Bug is weak, you will never find them alone - instead, you'll usually find at least 3-5 of them in a group.

Crabmeats are robotic crabs. Where does the meat come in? Unclear. Regardless, they're stronger than Moto Bugs and are capable of both bashing with their massive claws and snipping, and either way they are capable of a good deal of damage if you get hit. They're slower though, which means getting out of the way shouldn't be too hard. Like Moto Bugs, these usually are never alone, often working in pairs.

Buzzers are bees. Did you think we were done with bees? We are absolutely not done with bees. These bees function almost identically to the B33 models in that they're capable of firing lasers from their stingers, divebombing to try to sting, and generally be(e)ing a nuisance. Unlike the B33 models, they do not have a glaringly obvious weak point and are a bit harder to hit and destroy as a result. Though you may rarely encounter only one of these bees out in the wild, usually you'll run into groups of them and they will not be(e) happy to see you.

NAVIGATION

Comments

[holeful]

[Fukuda was at least not still hovering in their personal space by this point, though still closeby since why not. He's trying his best to follow along with their work because he's genuinely interested. the math he can handle, the concepts that are clearly unique to this world are a little harder to grasp, but he's able to follow along just barely enough that he's fascinated by it, and impressed with the two men who are clearly both extremely intelligent.

So when Viktor actually addresses him, he visibly jumps in surprise.]

Ah! I'm sorry Mr Viktor, I thought you couldn't see me so I figured it didn't matter...

[He's only slightly ashamed, but he is now standing in a way like he's trying to shrink his big gangly body as much as possible.]

[hexcrafter]

It's fine. I was just... [A vague gesture to the surroundings.] ...enjoying the moment, perhaps?

[holeful]

[It seemed like they were hitting it off nicely so Fukuda can't begrudge him for that.]

He seems quite talented and he's very handsome. I can see why you like him!

[hexcrafter]

He's brillant. [casually tossing the chalk to himself before setting it down, looking back over the rune-laden notes and mathematics.] The base concept was all his own work--all I did was simply fine-tune it into something that would function.

[holeful]

Well sure, but you don't need to downplay yourself so much! It's clear that while the theoretical side of it was all him, I could tell by the modifications you were doing that you've got a great sense of the practical execution. That's impressive too.

[Don't worry about the fact that Fukuda could apparently follow along well enough to notice this.]

[hexcrafter]

Well, of course I had more of my share of influence, but-

...

Wait. Fukuda, how much of this do you understand?

[holeful]

[Fukuda looks almost like he's been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.]

Ah, well this is the first time I'm seeing al this, and some of the foundations of your science are obviously different from mine, but just in this context... maybe 68%?

[hexcrafter]

...Sixty-eight. Of the mathematics of an entirely different world, interwoven with the magic of an entirely different world.

[He didn't even sound disbelieving, just stunned.]

What...exactly do you study, Fukuda?

[holeful]

[Fukuda scratches the back of his head.]

Ah, well, having an office job with my appearance would be difficult, so in recent years I've just been picking up various data entry and analysis contracts that can be done remotely.

Right after I graduated university I did similar work for an online booking company, but it uh.... didn't go so well. Between then and when I got my hole I did the accounting and inventory management for a local restaurant.

[This is probably not the impressive answer Viktor was expecting.]

[hexcrafter]

[????? WHAT ARE YOU]

I...feel as though I am missing something here. Where did you pick up this kind of expertise?

[holeful]

[A symptom of an educational system and social structure that is unequipped and/or unwilling to address the needs of the mentally ill and thus allows them to underperform compared to their inherent ability and intelligence. Is what he is.]

Well, I've always been good with numbers, so anything related to mathematics comes relatively easy to me. Other than that... I try to read about a wide variety of topics! It's good to keep your brain fresh, you know?