Complete Main Story Vintergard (S4) Scenario VBMS3: The Calculator

[Skyswimsky*]

Spoiler: Musicz

Numbers were just numbers.
Victory was assured.
Their attacks, comparable to emptying an ocean with a teaspoon.
That, he was assured of.

Sure, his enemies continued to grow stronger by the second, so all he had to do was outgrow them.

ZERO GAME EQUALS NO LIFE. ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE.

As @MAI threw some deep taunts at him, the Calculator retorted at first. Though grew seemingly angry as his attacks were as ineffective as the group's attack against him. Was this how it felt like? No matter how much he TORE her APART, her NUMBER did not DROP.

ONE MINUS X EQUALS ONE ONE ONE ONε 9NE O2E AAAAHH|-|H!!"

For a moment, he lashed out at @Ash Vargold and @Kyra Vashtana all the same.

THE NUMBERS ARE ALL WRONG. SUBTRACTION EQUALS ZERO. Inconceivable! Unbelievable! Annoying! Simply overpowered!"

But it didn't matter. As @Ueno Mizuki clamped down on him, he had been reminded. They were weak. He was strong. This was the nature of this space that he reigned over. But then... why did it even feel like it hurt him!? She stopped biting. So why did it continue to hurt? She was over there. So why did it still keep gnawing?!

As @Nova struck true, all the Calculator gave were some old modem connection noises as its very own form shifted in pixels and colors for just a second. Those were quite a lot of teaspoons.

It didn't matter, in just a little bit, he'd be victorious because- "ONE EQUALS TW-" His speech was interrupted as one of @Luthien errors struck true. Those pesky rangers! Why did it feel like they were still raining destruction upon him!?

It didn't matter, in just a little bit, he'd be victorious because he would just exponentially copy himself! "ONE EQUALS TW-"

And then he got mauled by an angry tiger. A very angry @Harper. Metal bent in shapes he did not think possible. Circuits broke he wasn't even aware of having! ... But the real question was, when had they gotten so fast when had he gotten so slow?

Before the Calculator could properly recover, he found himself in the air where the next beating waited. Death by a thousand cuts and stabs. @Yugam, doing a spectacular assault that sent him right back into the ground.

Yet, his ocean of health did not feel threatened.
Pain, was temporary.
Victory, forever.

So why was it, that he felt like he was about to lose?
Where was it, that he missed the Starfallens exponential expression?
No... it couldn't be... he would. Quickly! Before...

And then @Lady N, angrier than ever before, finished what everybody else had started. Each saw, another calculated outcome, shattered. Each cut, his health visibly dropping. Each attack, accompanied by a strike of everybody else.

Victory was no longer an option. He couldn't move. He couldn't guard. But somehow, he knew he had to escape! For he had just been birthed anew. The Dissonance, simply a key to free him from the shackles of his one purpose. A Master of his own Fate.

He had to escape.
There was no escape.
Death equals Finality.
He could only hope, that this calculation was an error, too.
It was all just a simulation, anyway.

...
...
...

As @Lady N hopefully calmed down, The Calculator was no more. Not even a corpse, as the group was engulfed by silence, save the countless bickering of @Legion. Who, unlike the others, had been entirely focused on her motherhood. The new Magia had mostly been watching, somewhat scared as she tried to keep up with Legion's antics.

U-Urm, I don't really remember much. But memories keep flooding into me! I... I am... I don't know! Important? But I'm here to... urgh... something is... Mama, you're suffocating me!

<<STAGE CLEAR>>
Congratulations!
Exiting Simulation...
​

Slowly, but surely, the pixels around them started to dissolve. One by one, into an eternal white, bright, light. Unlike the stage changes before, however, this one felt a lot less threatening. Maybe for the fact that they were the only ones not dissolving.

Aaahh... mama! It hurts! It hurt so much! Mama!!!!!

Much like the stage, the new Magia too started to disappear. Though nobody could really tell what was happening as the space around M&M(?) was filled by nothing but Legion, hoping to bug the system out once more through sheer numbers.

...
...
...

The white around them slowly faded away, their vision recovering as if they had just looked into some bright sunlight. They found themselves in front of a giant, albeit broken, tube-like machine. Around it a sizeable crater akin to what a meteor crash would do. In-between Vintergard proper and its walls. Behind them, the forest.

Reality. They felt perfectly normal, their wounds gone.

Upon closer inspection, the tubular machine had clear inspiration from the dragon ship, albeit oozing with purple liquid as if corrupted. The very observant could even find <CALCULATOR> printed upon a disjointed metal plate lying on the ground.

Oh what a joooyous turn of events! You did the impossible! Beat the unbeatable! I did not think to see you all alive and well again.

A voice suddenly spoke, on top of the pillar was Null. Her form was ever so ethereal, though clearly showing signs of combat as she casually threw aside bits of a dissonant Magia she had just torn apart.

I was on and about to just leave you for good! But am I glad you did it. Now now, I've mentioned before: I am not your enemy.

Clapping her hands together, she jumped down from the pillar. Landing somewhat in front of them.

I suppose it is time for some EXPOSITION then. Not like I MENTIONED all of this before, Buuuuut: It's a tale of eggs! Two, to count. One red and vile, the other golden and with a lot of style! The simulation tested your worth, because my purpose is to... Ah, screw it. As I was saying: Our purpose is to guide you along to greatness! Buuuuut if you had failed... well, let's not speak about failure. Think of it as a glorious training arc for what is to come! Because the REAL golden egg is still out there, and you, my dear Starcalled, have to protect and natch it! All while making some delicious scrambled food out of the other one! For you see, it's the evil robot versio o-

Null stopped for a moment, her eyes looked confused to someone behind the group, before pointing at someone.

And who might that be?

Ah, Mama, where are we? And why are all my other parents suddenly so big?! Uw...u~

It was, very much, the Magia that had just hatched before. Just... a lot smaller! Finally small enough for Legion to carry her! Huzzah! A chibi, in fact.

​

Was that? No, that is most impossible.

Null shook her head, shrugging.

Aaannnyyyyywaaaaayyyy: You did very excellent. Kudos to you! I am absolutely positive you still have lots of questions. I can't promise I answer all of them, but ask away!

She clasped her hands together.
The distortion was gone, the cause was taken care of.
They were free to converse with Null and the Chibi. Either way, the new Chibi Magia was sure to follow.

Info

• Congratz on clearing The Calculator!
• You may each make a closing post. The thread will be closed next Saturday.
• Due to keeping the thread clean, you may also communicate with the Chibi and/or Null in Communications, and try to get some more exposition.
  • I will answer anything tagged with a delay of at most 24 hours.
• Please leave some feedback in this form here!

 

[Lady N]

Lady N

Chelsea stood still as the Calculator and all the oddities of the past hour faded into the background. Lost to history only those here would tell of. The N-Gear had been discharged. As if she had mentally pulled the plug on it to stop a virus from spreading.

Her arm hurt.
Her legs were tired.
Her throat was dry.

Even when she pushed herself, foolishly, to go and save those stupid Adventurers, one of which was just an AI clone. The Nexon had never gone so... hard? She didn't even realize she could. It was also embarrassing. Sure the old issue with laughing was bad and dangerous, but this was different.

This felt too natural.

She felt betrayed, and more than a little scared by her outburst. Luckily, the earlier issue seemed to be less prevalent now. This new one though... she wasn't sure what it was...

Then there was seeing the connection between Harmonic frequencies and Magitech actually existed. At least in the past few circumstances. The Carrier wasn't completely a lost cause then after all.

The tired Tsun felt like leaving again. As she always did after events like this. She never could just find the strength to stay and deal with whatever the aftermath would be. Even at Camp Hope, she just ran into an isolated room to investigate whatever scraps she could find. Now here was this Null character, a tiny version of the strange girl from earlier... and everyone else alive and surprisingly unharmed for once.

Still, it looked like this was all just another part of the game. It didn't lead to the ones behind it. It didn't lead to her father... in fact, she didn't understand anything at all now. It was worse than before! Silently she strides past @Ash Vargold and muttered to him with her eyes closed and head tilted downwards. Unlike others, she really didn't have the time or desire to live in this death trap for very long.

"...I trust you can handle this? ...and... what happened here with me... was nothing really. Don't mention it anywhere to anyone. Please..."

Chelsea would let all of this go now, and log off.

 

[Ash Vargold]

As the Calculator finally fell, reality snapped back with a vengeance. In that moment before the simulation fell away it was all-consuming...

...and then it was gone. Normal physics reasserted itself. Gravity, distance, physicality. The sudden lack was enough to make Ash waver in place, still addled by the phantom of near-death.

Fortunately, there were still things to do, and @Lady N's voice pulled him back to reality. He stared blearily at her for a moment as he marshaled his thoughts, then nodded.

"...we all have our moments. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Who knew what sort of pent up feelings this girl had, after all.

"I'll see what I can find out. I've got plenty of questions of my own..." He glanced up at the holographic Null, and the... tiny magia surrounded by @Legion. "...gonna be a hell of a post. Take care."

He waved as she logged off, then looked around. It was... a little disappointing, learning that it really had been some kind of simulation, and not something deeper. That moment after his... 'death', where everything had seemed so clear, was already fading. And from the sounds of it, it had just been another part of the game all along. Damnit.

"Now then..."

 

[Siondhe]

250 / 250

Scythe Mastery ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Spirit Magic ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Aeromancy ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Hydromancy ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Corrupt

We're...we're alive. That's...that's good. A bit unexpected, but good...and...well, we're alive so that's all that matters.

Kyra let out a heavy sigh as she slumped against a nearby tree. The entire encounter had been taxing, so much going on and so many people that needed healing. She could still feel a burning sensation throughout her entire core, as if she'd spent the entire time doing heavy exercises.

Everybody's safe...even the new Magia child thing...

Her ears twitched for a few seconds, before her head suddenly shot up with a look of surprise. Her eyes scanned the area, before finding the newly-hatched...person. She spotted the individual alongside RoboWaifu and a few others, the group appearing to fawn over the newly birthed Magia. For a moment, Kyra considered making her way over to inspect the individual - entirely for medical purposes to make sure they were alright - before deciding against it. She was already tired as it was, and there as no need to push herself more.

Juuusstttt...gonna relax here...for a few minutes...

Above her, Draoi began to hum, a song that would be familiar to few others, but which would bring about many questions if anyone realised the origins, or meaning behind it...

 

[MAI]

‎

‎
‎

So it all worked. They were back in the 'reality' of TerraSphere, leaving behind a question whether there even was a glitch in the first place, or if it was all an elaborate ability of the Calculator or Null to begin with. But, if the latter was true, did that mean they knew they were in a game..? Nevermind, they were arbitrary questions, that didn't really need answering.

The whole group appeared to be tired beyond belief, which was understandable. MAI merely ran her hand over her face to confirm that the rather brutal-looking injury was completely gone. All part of the simulation... but the Null that was with them, was she real? It didn't matter. While everyone else appeared too tired to do anything but slump down or leave, the Magia flew up to face the ever-changing machine.

"Observation - Uninjured and not corrupted by Dissonance. Optimal outcome. This unit apologizes for any animosity from the side of the Starcalled."

Some would probably not like how she spoke for the whole group, but all the dangers were gone so there was no reason to be getting worked up. Especially against a potential ally.

"Statement - The trial was successfully completed despite added challenge. This unit hopes this will result in a fruitful collaboration with the Unit NULL."

@Skyswimsky*

 

[Harper]

...They did it. The machine turned skelly man had been defeated, and the simulation beat. Her destroyed hand which was just about to start hurting like hell was now perfectly healed, and everything seemed to be completely fine...

Mostly, at least. As she blinked and breathed in to calm herself down, the distortion on her UI was still present. She had noticed it being there while she was in the Crimson Sky with N, but up to now the chaos of battle had kept her mind away from it. However, it was getting increasingly hard to ignore, especially since there was no sight of it stopping. It was starting to give the tigress a headache, but she decided to just hope it would eventually go away much as a headache would.

Getting up from the ground, she would pat the dirt and dust away from her clothes, before looking at Null with a bit of disdain. Oh, now that they had dealt with her mess and murderous robo-friend she decided to come back acting all friendly after just calling them suicidal. Neat. If she wasn't so done and tired by now, she would personally go up to that brat and knock some good manners into her. At least she seemed to be proud of them, in some weird way.

"So... What you are saying is that we just need to do what we did today, but on a larger scale?" She'd take a look back at her party, just soon enough to catch Lady N logging off. Nobody had died, and even the newbie had come out alright. She definitely liked their chances. Crossing her arms with a smile, she'd nod. "Sounds doable as hell. Heck, not to jinx it, but I really like our chances here! Especially since whoever we will be facing will not be cheating like Calculator was."

"...Well, hopefully at least. Oh well, even if they do, we just need to beat their asses harder to make up for it! Hraaah!" She'd let out an animalistic roar, throwing a fist up in the air. No matter what one could say of Harper's or anyone else's performance today, it didn't matter. All that matters is that they had won.

Settling down a bit, she walked back towards the party, taking a glance at the new and improved M&M. While she did find her incredibly cute, the logistics of her existence puzzled her somewhat, and given that she seemed still confused and lost she would hold back the desire to pinch her cheeks. For now.

Reaching @Nova , she would wrap an arm around her shoulder, leaning against her with a smirk. "So, this was your first rodeo, huh? I thought you did alright, all things considered. Not exactly your everyday dungeon, that's for sure." She'd use her free hand to playfully punch the beastkin's side, before continuing. "What aboutcha? Had fun? That's kinda what this is all about, after all."

"Well, that and saving this world from mass robotic assimilation, I guess."