• oh boy. that is SO much leather.
  
• curiosity killed the cat, did it? is that why you call me kitten?
  
• i am still not over this voice.
  
• i hope i ate enough food to be this close to him without trying to sink my teeth into his jugular. that would be very embarrassing.
  
• that bastard just picked me up with his evol and landed me on the back of the bike. AND he welded my hands to his waist. golly.
  
• "you like to bargain, don't you? but you're not yet qualified."  sveet. i am enjoying the push/pull dynamic so far as we fail to meet this guy's expectations. YET, Sylus. heavy on the 'yet'.
  
• and then he just lifts me off the bike the same way. this guy is going to get a hidden knife to the face again if he keeps this up. i just know i have a hidden knife somewhere, its de rigueur at this point.
  
• oh, we went to the auction! oh, i will definitely behave and not get into trouble.
  
• i don't think defiant or sassy is a good choice, little kitten. and yup, it sure isn't.
  
• "it hurts!" ... "you'll hurt even more."  THIS GUY.
  
• a brief aside at this point to say... wow. this is really more sexually charged banter than i figured a game like this would even come close to skirting and this is right out in the open as it were. i mean, i'm actually pretty impressed.
  
• neat with the sparking knife he's flipping around so casually.
  
• Evol Linkage Alteration project, huh? how convenient.
  
• aaaand Sylus locks the door from across the room.
  
• i think i've been quasi betrayed again. sure feels like it anyways.
  
• i actually just got in the chair without arguing? wow. go me. her. us. whatever.
  
• i am so sorry, i know you're probably very tired of hearing this by now but good GRAVY Sylus is gorgeous. its the attitude. he's just sitting there, playing with a sparking energy blade and waiting for the whole ordeal to be over and... okay, moving on.
  
• no deals for the doctor project man, what Sylus wants, Sylus gets.
  
• well, according to the blood pressure cuff they've got wrapped around my... wrist... i'm at 91% of something.
  
• "did they do anything while i was... gone?"  loaded pause there, Mr Leather Pants. who is "they" and what do you mean "gone"?
  
• oh, gone as it "i was tied up for four days in my dungeon with a reluctant cat and i wasn't paying attention to the outside world while i tried to encourage it to drink my blood."  and nothing much happened apparently, just a couple of explosions. regular Thursday.
  
• ooooh, right. Bloomshore. Grandma's old place that is now an empty scraped lot no doubt.
  
• so "they" (Ever?) made a mess, Sylus overestimated "them" and they are wanting him to be their scapegoat.
  
• my blood pressure is 96%
  
• oh, he's chiding me for wanting a sugared lie instead of finding the truth.
  
• and i'm free of the chair! what did Mr Project Man even do?
  
• "I'm afraid she is not a suitable recipient. her evol linkage is completely normal. only the strength's been suppressed."
  
• but. but i couldn't resonate? earlier? and you're telling me i'm completely normal?
  
• so no physical suppressor but... mental, i guess? spiritual? EMOTIONAL?!
  
• muahahah! "its not my fault! i can resonate just fine with others!"  you tell him, girlfriend! there's definitely something wrong with him, not you. well, its true though. we linked up just fine with the other guys. maybe you shouldn't rub his nose in it though.
  
• ooooh "...that thing I asked you to alter - how's that?"
  
• "maximum energy burst value has been increased tenfold."  i didn't notice a THING.
  
• oh shit.
  
• Sylus, you're going to make me FIGHT THAT?
  
• okay, guns and a vampire leather biker guy at my side. what could go wrong?
  
• compared to when i first started this game, i am leaps and bounds better at combat. go me!
  

• oh! wow, okay not going well. i only THOUGHT we won in the battle but apparently i'm going to take an energy cannon to the face.
  
• oh. oh my.
  
• okay. heightened stress, fear, panic.. and now he wants to link.
  
• the hand thing again oh boy.
  
• i can handle it!
  
• yes boss! if i handle it good enough, can i get a bird beak mask and a cool feather tassel too?
  
• he is really, really intent.
  
• okay, some actual information here. my special evol works with the waves of a human brain's magnetic field. reeeally.
  
• ... Sylus isn't human, i betcha.
  
• our brains are clashing. and not in the sexy way.
  
• ooooh. Mr Project Man, you are saying some very dangerous words to a guy that controls the area you live in. "on a subconsious level, she's either rejecting you, scared of you, or... "
  
• OR WHAT 
  
• please please please be "competing with you".
  
• nuts. disgusted with you. COP OUT.
  
• so even if i do the "alteration", we can't resonate if I'm hostile towards Sylus. that has to stick in his craw somewhere. i promise, baby, i am not in the least disgusted, although i'll allow for scared.
  
• i guess Sylus really does like his truth hard and unvarnished. this guy just laid it out and didn't even flinch.
  
• oh, now THAT'S a great look of disappointment.  i'm sorry! you're scary! really, if you think about it, its your fault. if you'd lead with flowers and sunshine, maybe we wouldn't be in this predicament.
  
• woah woah woah back up. if the alteration fails, i'll be completely ruined? we need to address "the cause" first?
  
• ... what are the chances the "cause" is my loss of memory?
  
• (how did Mr Project Man get all that from the blood pressure cuff? admittedly, the chair was pretty high tech. maybe it was sequencing my RNA while I rested during the manicure)
  
• "Which means there's something wrong with.. her."  excuse YOU.
  
• they're going .. excuse me, Mr Project Man is going to stab me with an "evol stabilizer". thanks i think. that sounds kinda helpful to be honest.
  
• okay, the storeroom's second floor has a massive, and i do mean massive telecope and a glass observatory ceiling? this guy must get paid really well for his shady services.
  
• confirmed. i have "part of an aether core" and staying with Sylus is apparently my safest option.
  
• Sylus seems to encourage loyalty in his underlings and criminal contacts, it must be said.
  
• I KNOW THIS GUY! okay, i know OF this guy. he has to be the one that defected from the unethical medical lab and disappeared into the N-Zone so long ago. He recognizes the protocurve signature i'm putting out - he used to monitor aether cores as his job.  i will point out he specifically said "Aether CoreS" - more than one and that's implied they were intact cores, not fragments.  Sylus may still have the other part of mine, but its not the one and only.
  
• huh. "The aether core's other half is one of the items at the auction."  so, we actually know that for sure? not just a random aether core or fragment of one, but the half of mine in specific?
  
• okay, not a bad thought. use my inner core to resonate and find the other.
  
• yeah, lets go make a deal with the dev... i mean, Sylus.
  
• and the bastard abandoned me here?
  
• i didn't reject youuuuuuu. come baaaaaack.
  
• * cough *
  
• okay, ominous thud from the alley off the empty streets. gee, i wonder what that was.
  
• SUSPICIOUS LITTLE GIRL IN THE EMPTY STREET IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT SELLING FLOWERS.
  
• those are probably weapon grade flowers. be warned, me. i saw Men In Black, we need to shoot Tiffany stat.
  
• oh sure, lets follow the suspicious little girl in the dead of night on the empty street with her basket full of contraband.
  
• flapping wings in the distance! CROW, COME GET ME!
  
• "a few bloodstained tufts of gray fur peek out from under its metal claws." gray... fur? wolves? in the streets of N109? eh?
  
• oh, a MOUSE. silly me.
  
• hang on, why does a metal crow familiar want to hunt living mice?
  
• muahah! thank you game for restoring my faith in you! the rats were rigged with spy cams
  

(05-10-2025, 01:57 AM)ChicletPrime Wrote: you, i feel, are opposite? i have been in awe at your lists of things, it feels like you're pulling all these facts out of thin air and its been great. you can absolutely lead this horse to water and she will be a grateful drinker.

• 395mb this time. i should figure out exactly which drive this is being stored on before it becomes mission critical
  
• i have reached... Elysium. its full of graffiti apparently according to the description but the visual looks more like Sylus' library or something. there's even a black granite and/or marble fireplace frame.
  
• 50k for a name list and a map? wow. uh. maybe i still have that yogenfruz coupon I offered Sylus earlier.
  
• oh excuse me, 50k per * word *.  maybe i should pull out my hidden knife.
  
• awright, gambling hall! maybe i can WIN the 50k per word with a 5% discount entry price here. i am so good at kitty cards, you know.
  
• Solon Hotel. /scribbles that down
  
• do you know Heaven's Official Blessing? because it sounds like Sylus is this world's answer to Hua Cheng. even has the red eye come to think of it! i should start calling the guy Crimson Rain Sought Flower behind his back at every opportunity.
  
• oh, there's been a hierarchical shuffle in Onychinus while Sylus was gone? i have a feeling they don't just mean the last four days he's been busy with me. where HAS Sylus been then, if not sitting on top of the heap and feeling bored about it?
  
• wow, he's been out of the immediate action for long enough that people are speculating he's finally dead. and a group named "Sherman's Punks" have been taking advantage of the free field. boy, those guys are in for a surprise! for a dead guy, Sylus is definitely on the warm side.
  
• "If Sylus was with Onychinus, they wouldn't even dare to be so bold."  oookay. huh. /thinks  - has Sylus maybe broken with Onychinus? except that doesn't make a ton of sense, Kieran and Luke (my beloveds!) are still in bird gear. i guess these guys are in the baseless speculation end of things.
  
• pompous and contemptuous face. yeah, that's our guy for sure.
  
• (if he died, he'd drag the entire N109 Zone to hell with him - that's just now he is.) AMEN, sister. sing it.
  
• OH NO, Tiffany the Street Urchin wants to give me a flower. this is bad. very bad.  oh yeah, black flower. even better.
  
• aaaand we took it. are we dumb or what.
  
• "he's a monster with huge wings that never dies. and he has horns!"
  
• this kid has seen some shit.
  
• is it K or L that's the man-eating birdie? oh, the CROW. i keep forgetting about the crow.
  
• we're going to ... use our evol as a valuable tool against Sylus? wut? this is a terrible plan, possibly worse than the first one that Xavier had no faith in. i am not sure even how that would work, unless we want to attempt to resonate with everybody BUT him en masse and stage a coup d'etat.
  
• hey, were IS Xavier? i thought our sunshine boyfriend was supposed to be listening in! four days, lover, where you been while i was being dragged across the floor and tempted into murder?
  
• gunfire!
  
• /refuses to duck
  
• oops. uh... Sherman? I guess? and his band of merry guntoting brethren.
  
• for a second i thought for sure it would be Sylus, but since red and black tendrils didn't squeeze through the door first to choke everybody in submission, i was mislead. gunfire, really? as if he'd bother with something so low stakes.
  
• let me guess. i got abandoned, lured to this gambling hall and now i'm going to be in trouble so Sylus can swoop in and spread the Gospel with the biggest splash possible.
  

• me and the little girl are hiding in a utility closet that has a secret window. well, if i can't fight for some reason like the bad ass i am, at least i am excellent at finding and utilizing safe spaces on a moment's notice.
  
• "the floor is soaked in blood". wow. okay, that must have been a lot of gunfire.
  
• yup, is Sherman's Punks. Chekov's Gun goes off fast around here. and they're specifically looking for me. i made quite the impression at The Nest i guess. i wonder if i have a bounty target on my head now?
  
• hey, the shopkeeper is covering for me! seems out of character. then again, this guy did shoot up her bar so maybe she's not feeling helpful.
  
• this lieutenant has a broken, "wire-bound" jaw. i wonder who hit him.
  
• spatial issues. now the shopkeeper is talking to me directly. is the.. is the utility room like right behind her or something and she's.. talking through the secret one way window?
  
• bingo, i am so good at putting things together
  
• hey, i remembered the tranquilizer in my sleeve! at least its still there after three days of random torture and some extra down time in a bed. i guess i get why Sylus wouldn't have confiscated it; it probably wouldn't work on him anyways and he doesn't much care about anybody else that might get in my way.
  
• oh yay, she covered for me because she thinks i could be worth a lot more to somebody else that isn't the mysterious Mr Sherman Punks.
  
• woooo! HI CROW! with your razer sharp wings dive bombing the lieutenant, love you buddy.
  
• "what is that?!"  really? well, if your memory is that bad, let's jog it for you  /flashback to long fingers around throat, eek. i'm four seconds into this story and i am already channeling my other murder-soaked half. and he's not even here.
  
• my attempted escape during the distraction is foiled. hiiiii, Sylus. i guess you WERE here! no wonder i was ready to cut a bitch.
  
• "do you always point your gun at your saviour to express your gratitude?"   when its you, absolutely. what a silly question.
  
• but why are you just standing around in the shadows, my guy? Mr Sherman Punk Lieutenant just shot up the place which he wouldn't have done if you had control of N109, soooo.....
  
• hah! bullets into Sylus, dust comes out.  what the fuck are you, and also, so hot.
  
• four seconds late, more dead bodies on the ground only nobody saw anything move.
  
• SHE POINTS IT OUT! go you, girlfriend, this wouldn't be happening if Sylus wasn't losing his grip on the N109.
  
• oh. and he stops himself from saying anything. interesting.
  
• what the hell? "several Wanderers materialize..."   that is not only interesting, that's really foreboding. is somebody using... i guess protocores to cause destabilization fields deliberately?
  
• HOT MOVE.  why the fuck isn't that a card? maybe its a card. i need to SEE THIS.
  
• (Sylus spins me so my back is to his chest in an embrace, slides his finger over the trigger of my gun and we're both aiming at the lieutentant guy)
  
• BATTLE COUPLE is BEST COUPLE
  

• i do love that we have to defeat the bad guys without the shieldbreaking move since we can't resonate together yet.
  
• also, First Deal, huh.
  
• Wanderer infestation, they just keep appearing. can't we find whatever is holding the field steady and destroy it, if its not a single big Wanderer... wait, the memory of Mt Eternal says .. hang on (goes and reads again).  endless waves of Wanderers. a set of coordinates for the center. implied some sort of machine and an electrical surge and then a physical explosion and a magnetic field that goes wild. okay, a gaping hole now at the bottom of the valley. they blew up something that then caused the field collapse. so i'm right, if there's just literal waves of Wanderers spawning in this graffiti covered, marble fireplace having, blood soaked saloon, it has to be a physical thing calling them here.
  
• c'mon Sylus, even you have had to reposition from a bad angle at some point in your history.
  
• "since when was i required to investigate the files the Hunters Association had on you?"  wut? sometimes this stuff just comes out of nowhere. does he just mean that he doesn't know if retreat is in MY dictionary because he's never looked over my recruitment tests?
  
• training practice with my new teacher, Mr "Never Retreats" Sylus Onychinus!
  
• great, he aims my gun for me at the switch box on the wall. probably no back to chest option on this one, just those damned tendrils no doubt. there is So Much Fanfic Packed Into That One Thing.
  
• aaaand boyfriend peaces out in the darkness. Sylus, you are a rat bastard.
  
• disembodied voice offering a deal. yeah, get lost, if you won't help.  although lets be honest, you have helped a TON. but no, i refuse to feel grateful.
  
• oh wow. okay. that's a deal i can't really refuse now, can i?  you are a rat bastard with some sort of plan i already don't like. fine, i can do this. can i call Rafayel for an assist though?
  
• i really want to know if the necklace is just a necklace or something else.  he doesn't always wear it so i guess its just a trinket but....
  
• he also puts a communicator in my ear?
  
• that was... what? "if you have the audacity to die on me... you actually will meet your end."  that makes no sense at this particular juncture. and he was being.. kind about it? or soft, maybe. so i die and he has me bugged now so he can find me when i go weigh my heart against a feather?
  
• oh, he just wants to TALK to me while he peaces out and leaves me to somehow stay alive against endless monster waves.  hi, Sylus.  are you hoping even more frenetic and frightening life threatening stuff will unlock things with us?
  
• oh, really. we're stalling for time? stalling for time for WHAT? nothing is bigger and badder than you. although now that i stop for a second, he's waiting for somebody else to show up to this soiree? in the darkness? something that avoids light?
  
• i am so deeply immersed into every conspiracy i can think of.
  
• oh, the crow has a name. hi, Mephisto! apparently you're my target. good thing your eye glows.
  
• oh. apparently you're my sighter. CLEVER BIRD.
  
• oops, communicator not working. Sylus, are you okay? or just busy? i HATE it when he goes radio silent.
  
• hey, we set the place on fire! good move? nope, Wanderers don't burn. just me.
  
• oh shit. okay. under the crystalllized skin, they seem human. I KNEW IT.
  

• for the record, i am not liking these dots that are starting to line up.
  
• okay, Mr Lieutenant ran for it in the chaos, trips over a robot who then chimes in that 67 days remain before the end of the project and the greatest discovery in the world. 
  
• unknown door, abandoned room, a dark colored stone platform. well, we got us some new stuff now.
  
• oh. Flux Nexus? HERE? well, i did say something had to be causing all the trouble.
  
• hello, deadly red-black mist!
  
• and woosh, ex-Nexus. and all the human-Wanderers fall over but don't dissipate it seems.
  
• okay, we steal what looks like a very weird protocore, all slimy-oily.
  
• shopkeeper slips me something too. do i still have the black flower as well?
  
• aaaand back to the swanky crib via motorbike. yay, more food?
  
• aww, Mephisto's hurt!
  
• yeah, i dunno how i know how to speak bird either, but here we are.
  

• okay, so the thing the shopkeeper gave me was the plans for the Solon Hotel and the guest list. her bar got all shot up but she still decided to hand it over. Sylus standing over my shoulder was probably factored in there somewhere.
  
• so Mephisto is really a construct? how can he be a metal thing that can be repaired AND form and reform like he does, with obviously sentience?
  
• nice, love me a good flashback. apparently while Mr Lieutenant was out on his mission, the actual Sherman was being pasted. or pasted-adjacent. actually, its kind of ambiguous where the man is dead now, or is only going to be dead very shortly. also, i like the coin flipping. Sylus always having to be doing something with his hands.
  
• okay, so it was a faction struggle in Onychinus that took out Grandma and my brother from another mother. trying to blow ME up to get to my aether core but they screwed it up, i take it. leaving Sylus as the obvious instigator as the internal schism isn't obvious to outsiders.
  
• and if Sherman is up to his neck in needing an aether core for whatever reason, and teams up with the Ever who probably also want to do some...  hang on. so Sherman has some wiggle room because Sylus isn't around to apply pressure on the zone, he makes a deal with the biomedical lab - he obtains my piece of the aether core and turns it over, and in return they give him an army of human-Wanderers to complete a takeover of the zone. that has to be really close to right. i'm right, right?
  
• Sylus picked a good time to come back, i guess.
  
• why am i being so mean to the crow? wow, i don't like this me sometimes. yes, let's take the fight straight to Sylus please.
  
• aww, he is so pleased with himself. or me. or both.
  
• oh really? we're going to bring that up NOW? "when we first met you said we were the same" and then we flat out ask if he has an aether core too. I AM SO CURIOUS. don't deflect, don't deflect.
  
• ooooh. "sure, think of it like that".  so wrong, but close enough. his eye show the core inside him at the very least.
  
• wow, just stuff going off everywhere here. MY aether core doesn't seem to do much in comparison at all; its not like i'm busy compelling people around me and blowing up stuff just by staring at it really hard.
  
• nice, caught him a little off guard with that.  i want to pry this man's brain apart, he obviously knows So Much He's Not Saying. 
  
• "it helps me see what people want the most."  and i apparently am hungry all the time and i never knew it. "..desires they refuse to admit."
  
• okay, so if his evol is whatever the black-red manipulating stuff is and the aether core is what gives him insight into a human heart -- my evol is to resonate with others and my aether core does... what?
  
• AND THE FIRST THING WE DO IS STARE INTO HIS EYES AGAIN.
  
• i am SO VERY HUNGRY at the heart of me apparently.
  
• have i gone mad? i don't reallly know. i don't think so?
  
• OPTIONS:  Push Away - or - I'm Sorry
  
• eeeee decisions decisions
  
• "you like it when people do that?" stare into his eyes and bare their innermost everything?
  
• oooh, we offer to try and resonate again! could we, oh please, could we??? if his eye sees things we all hide, and we resonate to drive it higher, what would that feel like?
  

• muahah! we can only think of two good things about him - he's good at fighting and he's pretty. i guess that's not enough.
  
• yeah, auction is coming up baby, we need to get on this, stat.
  
• "...that means my evol is controlled by my emotions."  yeah. OBVIOUSLY.
  
• take it or leave it, amigo. you want something, i want something. as long as we both have something we can offer each other, its a deal, right?
  
• aaaand he looks at me with -indifference-.  you rat bastard.  are you really this untouchable or are you just better at hiding than anybody else in this place? probably a little of column a, a little of column b. whatever he desires in HIS heart, he's probably got it on a little golden shrine with tiny candles.
  
• yeah, yeah, its not enough. i have TRIED to give you my yogenfruz coupon, you keep saying no.
  

• is jewelry really the answer here? i DID want a feather tassel, its true.
  
• oooh, PETTY THIEVERY GOAL.
  
• everything is a competition with this guy. i like it.
  

• time to slip into our mafia moll persona? man, Xavier and Jeremiah and that peacefully green flowershop are SO far away at this point.
  
• oh, boo! we skip the entire larceny heist with two sentences. i got the brooch (somehow) and Sylus will keep his promise (no kidding).  that is a real cop out, honestly. booooooo.
  
• i am all dressed up for this auction (i've been chasing this thing my entire life, it seems like) and Sylus is looking snazzy in his... same gear he was wearing before, only now With Coat.  it's okay, i am not disappointed.
  
• he called me beautiful. d'awww. magic 8 ball says we're rude back.
  
• nailed it. "this beauty will bash your skull sooner or later."  we are NEVER going to resonate with this guy if we keep this up.
  
• okay, the way this is phrased, the auction core is the other half of my core, which means what Sylus has is its own thing.
  
• i guess being able to suss out anybody's intentions with just a look would come in really handy in a case like this.
  
• ".. i can only ally myself with someone deadlier than the enemy."  at least we know that much!
  
• what the what?
  
• milky way eye out of NOWHERE.  a pulse resembling a heartbeat. something penetrates the invisible barrier. and slowly opens its eyes. 
  
• what is coming through the Tunnel!?
  
• finally some new scenery. i've been staring at the same backdrop for three chapters now.
  
• god, Sylus is so beautiful. le dreamy sigh.
  
• wow, i am good looking too!  we're a matched black and red set.
  
• "stay frosty."  that's what we're going with as a pep talk for the most dangerous guy in Linkon City, with the possible exception(s) of my other boyfriends? oh, i am terrible at all of this.
  
• little protocores on display everywhere. i get it. i also am having problems finding a really GOOD core. i am with you, my larcenous brethren.
  
• aaaaand i get cut loose again as he hands me a black credit card. well, AWRIGHT!
  
• the lights love his hair.
  
• 92k for the red core. 70k for the other one. oh, this one is sparking? oh, let me guess. Wanderer metaflux field incoming at some point.
  
• nice. the name of the bank on the card is "The ACME".
  
• we checked in with Sylus before buying anything? girlfriend, he gave you the card and left. buy the whole damned hotel if you want.
  
• that voice... did not sound like Sylus at ALL. bad transcript? something more sinister? banking on 'more sinister', they really haven't messed up any of the VA stuff so far, save for the odd supporting character.
  
• why are we paying a million for a damaged core marked at 70k?
  
• and Sylus wants us to pay five million? what? okay, maybe its just this third rate communicator making him sounds so wrong. oh, he doesn't want people to think he's BROKE. muahahah! okay sweetheart, we'll overspend to your exacting standards, not mine. wow, we'll really gonna stick it to his bank with ten million, final offer. yeah, mr butler with the data pad, you heard me.
  
• aaaand Sylus just called me pompous. pot, meet kettle.
  
• its a good thing we got kidnapped and held hostage by this guy - there's no way i could afford any of that on a Hunter's salary.
  

• Okay, Sherman is here. Walking dead man, hello.
  
• i was not in the least wrong! slammed to the ground in a half heartbeat while Sylus just smiles.
  
• "even a meticulously crafted plan is powerless before absolute strength".   /crosses self, clasps hands, communes with personal deity at revelation of overarching wisdom
  
• yup. i am so good at this. ".. people who said they'd help you replace me must have made an offer only an idiot would refuse." 
  
• its a good thing i'm not squeamish.
  
• the protocores i picked up are modified somehow. i guess my evol is still useful for something.
  
• eek, i've been accosted by a man with weird cuff.
  
• no buddy, i am not touching your obviously rigged hand.
  
• ... the Picture Of The Day on the main page is going to be Sylus for WEEKS.
  
• "sorry, the brooch is a gift from me."  yeah! back off! its my crow brooch now i did something sneaky for that wasn't well explained.
  
• oh yes. let's dance.
  
• "refuse me all you want."  that is SUCH a mocking tone. problem is, he probably knows more about me than i know about me.
  

• a laser sight while we're dancing? everybody is being so rude lately.
  
• nice, they think we're going to fall into their trap by leaking the location of the aether core. oh. yeah. i read that story just yesterday -- will this trap hold the weight of a starship, is the real question.
  
• eight evol bombs, fifteen Hightower guns... yeah, i think they have it in for you, Mr Leader of Onychinus Who Is On Technically Shaky Ground
  
• and the lights start to dim. hey, still dancing here!
  
• "Don't worry, you won't die that easily." what the hell is that supposed to mean? hey. if i have a whole core and not just part of a core, do i get to form and reform like Sylus? or is that something else again unique to him?
  
• great, they set off at least one of the bombs and collateral damage is something they can spell but have insurance for.
  
• he crushes something and throws it in the debris? red herring?
  
• the detonator. wow. THIS GUY.  "they were taking too long and i was getting impatient."
  
• Wanderers ahoy!
  
• hey, this gun is not outdated! this is straight from the Hunters Association, and it work FINE.
  
• and this gun is supposed to be superior? i would scoff, but i'm busy right now making sure your fine coat doesn't get shredded.
  
• we've been reduced to threatening henchmen with guns. Sylus really brings out my basest instincts, doesn't he?
  

• i've been fooled before on the chapter titles, but this looks promising.
  
• wow, is that the Deepspace Tunnel? that's terrifying.
  
• unclear if we're still at the Solon Hotel. I'm going to guess not? one elevator ride later, we're at the remnants of an abandoned medical facility at the top of something, open to the sky.  yup, EVER's discarded things. was this where they did terrible things to me? and Caleb?
  
• how could they be involved in the N109 zone?  WE ARE SO NAIVE.
  
• before the Chronorift Catastrophe, N109 was the tech hub. i think i knew that.  did whatever EVER was doing here call down/open the Deepspace Tunnel and shattered the place?  because that rift is RIGHT OVERHEAD.
  
• and Sylus outright calls me naive. thank you. i'm glad we are in agreement on this at least.
  
• good point. it was only an actual catastrophe here.
  
• i did not realize the tunnel was so close in the atmosphere. the original cinematic, it looked it had opened really far away from the planet.
  
• hey, another one of those plinths. a Flux Nexus thingie.
  
• TIME TO RESONATE. don't fail me now, heart.
  
• oh shit.
  
• whatever it was, its coming through the vortex!
  
• eeek!