Hi /Games! My name is Alex Leone, and I'm the solo dev behind Upheaval.
Upheaval is a text-based sandbox fantasy adventure RPG centered around a single village, inspired by Zork, Majora's Mask, D&D and other fantasy tabletop RPGs, and Stardew Valley.
Watch Upheaval gameplay from the latest release, or watch a developer playthrough where I complete a single randomized adventure.
Master the world's secrets over many short playthroughs as you explore the wilds, track down magical treasures, aid or disrupt encroaching factions, and take what you've learned into each new adventure. In 30 days, the enigmatic Magician will arrive! Again! Will you be ready this time?
Your choices matter. Change the balance of power and the fates of everyone you meet! Or, you know, don't. You can drink in the tavern, go fishing, ignore everyone, or just do your own thing. The choice is completely up to you.

• Incredibly replayable: Complete each adventure in 30-90 minutes. Play multiple times to discover more about the world and explore over 5,000 possible endings!
• Explore a living world that changes around you, not a static adventure that waits for you.
• Detailed maps so that you always know where you are in the world.
• Mobile-friendly: Made to be easy to play on your phone. Play for a few minutes or a few hours.
• No typing: Choice-based navigation means you always know what your options are in any situation, no need to guess.
• Accessible: Blind and vision-impaired players can play with their favorite screen reader using the Win/Mac/Linux Console versions.
• All your favorite fantasy tropes: Goblins, bandits, spells, curses, undead spirits, faeries, visions, true love, and more!

Download the free demo on itch.io.

Available in early access on itch.io and Google Play for 50% off ($4.99).

The full game will be released on Steam when it's done. Wishlist to get an email when it's out!

Join our Discord or subreddit /upheavalgame to follow development and contribute your feedback and ideas to future releases.
Thanks! :D

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• Screenshot #1
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Hi all, long-time GM here looking to find some IRL peeps to game with.
Mods this is post 2/4 - original -

When, Where:

I'm looking to game locally to Rockville, MD every-other Saturday (starting June 17), probably 4 hours. I can't host, so it'll need to be at a local game store or other place until someone feels comfortable enough to host.

GM Style

My style is based on videogames like Baldur's Gate, Planescape, Neverwinter, The Witcher, Skyrim, Fallout, Darkest Dungeon, Mass Effect, Hades, Wytchwood, Citizen Sleeper, Pillars of Eternity, Kingmaker, Stardew Valley, Cult of the Lamb, Diablo, XCOM, Thea, Defender's Quest, Moonlighter, Far Cry, Shadowrun, Dishonored and other computer RPGs. I tend to set up the world, factions, powers, etc. and let the PCs play in it. I prefer more character-driven stories and adventure, narrative and fiction-focused, rather than strictly RP or Combat. I generally like to get character backstories, grab NPCs to be antagonists, and interweave the PCs backgrounds to make interesting stories and drive motivation.
I'm not a professional voice actor nor am I going to spend hours meticulously planning dungeons. It'll be somewhere in-between. I also try to leave down-time in between sessions, so that PCs can create stories and we can do some role-play in text on discord. (I can do better RP when I have time to think and get in character)

Game Tone

I can do anything from gritty to silly, as long as we're all on the same page. Don't bring a goblin wearing pink slippers to a survival horror game, and don't bring a chaos marine to help a crow find its lost pebble.
My games tend to run PG-13, with a few exceptions for horrogore/violence. I don't tend to run with any other "adult" themes as I'm a crusty 40 yr old guy and it's weird.

Games I'm willing to Run

While I'm most familiar with D&D 5e, I'd love to run literally ANY of the other RPGs I've got:

• Heart: the City Beneath
• Die: the RPG
• FitD
  • Blades in the Dark
  • Band of Blades
  • Scum and Villainy
  • Girl by Moonlight
• PbtA
  • Avatar: Legends
• Agon- Fate Core/Accelerated
• Numenera
• Hollow Earth Expedition
• SW
  • Rifts
  • Accursed
• Bladerunner
• Tales from the Loop
• ????

If we do run 5e, I'll want to house rule it to fit my GM style. It'll be stuff that's in the DMG or well-tested by other groups or youtubes. We'll decide on house rules before we make characters.

Character Backgrounds

I generally prefer everyone to write up new characters during session 0. This is because I prefer to start games with the PCs already friendly, knowing, and working with eachother. It can be hard to shoe-horn the OC you've spent months thinking about into a new game setting with half a dozen other people all with their own OCs.
Similar to Game Tone, I prefer to have all the PCs to have the same motivation, be it Heroic, Reluctant, Mercenary, etc. as this creates better team cohesion. And no lone wolf characters please.

Safety Tools

We absolutely will be using safety tools, especially since it'll be a new group of people. I prefer to collect people's Lines and Veils anonymously prior to session 0, so I'll send out a google form once we have enough people. We can discuss specifically which tools to use once we meet.

Contact

Please fill out this Google Form and I will reach out over Discord to establish contact, and update on number of players found. I likely wont meet until we have 3 or 4 players.

Instructions from command are as follows:
Attack: Dolo Plains (south east), main threat Samurai.
Defend: Shamdon's spine, Hardhills (west), main threat Viking.
​
News of the front~
Knights in Josei successfully retreated and have begun taking key areas in the West with support from certain mercenary guilds, but are requesting additional support for food and medicine to aid the wounded. Castle Eitrivatnen is still under enemy occupation yet scouts have reported a secret valley that could possibly provide strategic advantage in retaking this key point.
With the upcoming, report rumours of a draft have begun to circulate in the main capital, though no confirmation has been heard. Knights in the North East nave been under recent attack by Vikings wielding fire bombs, though the situation is steady there are fears of escalation.
That is all, may your swords be sharp and your shields strong

Getting parts for my first build, I need to choose between the only 2 good options I have for ssd which are the sn570 blue FROM WD (gen 3) and the UD90 from Silicon Power (gen 4) both are 2tb and cost the same, ud90 has 1200 tbw and sn570 900 but that's not really meaningful.
In terms of performance they are equal, talking about gaming loads, when one wins it's by less than a second, never even a 1s difference. Thermals are good in both, around 70 and always less than 80.
Is buying gen 4 worth it because it'll support future things that I'm not aware of rn? Because DirectStorage works on both so that's not a point for gen 4
Thanks

Thread 18: From Linquan’s Empty Valley Collection, Case 19

僧問長沙。本來人還成佛否。
Once, a Preceptor asked Changsha, “Have I become a Buddha yet or not?”
沙云。你道大唐天子還割茆刈草否。
Changsha replied, “This is like asking whether the Emperor of the Great Tang still tills the fields or not.”

The Emperor, of course, never tilled the fields. The question is not a meaningful one as Buddhahood is not a state that is arrived to by means of causal transformation.

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    In the past there were many Walled Cities, more than the six we have today. The first to be built is much contested, and any [Scholar] who gives a definitive answer is assuredly lying, but it is well-known that Salazsar is the youngest, starting out as a mining town so-to-speak. Sadly, several of the original Walled Cities have fallen, the causes of which are also much debated, but from those that fell was a Walled City that stood out from the rest, so great it was that all traces were wiped from history, until I happened to uncover them. A Walled City to rise above all other Walled Cities, more impervious than Manus, more magical than Fissival, a lust for gold to rival Salazsar, growth to match Oteslia, fantastical inventions that rival Pallass, and trade-routes greater than Zeres. Let me tell you a story about the fabled Walled City of Walls.
    Originally the Walled City of Walls was a small fort, constructed in the middle of a grassy plain, where a small garrison of [Soldiers] lived. They defended their fort and nearby town with pride, but as they had such a large area to defend, they struggled to stop invaders from going around their fort and attacking the nearby settlement. In those days we did not yet build walls around our cities, and people were constantly threatened from [Bandits] and [Raiders] who sought to pillage and steal! The valiant [Soldiers] did their best to repel the attacks, and defend the plains, but there were just too many [Bandits] and other ne'er-do-wells!
    Then one day a [Mason] stopped outside the fort, and yelled up at the [Soldiers] manning the battlements. He said, "My name is Zezzyzil Wallbuilder! You [Soldiers] have been fighting so hard to protect these lands, I want to help you by building a wall so high that not even dragons can fly over it!"
    His words were ridiculous, but resonated with the tired [Soldiers], who would do anything to stop the invaders, and the [Captain] agreed to let him enter and use spare materials to improve the fort.
    Zezzyzil got to work, and by dawn of the next day, the walls of the fort had grown by five feet. The [Soldiers] were astounded, and they thanked Zezzyzil for his work, but instead of leaving he spoke again, "I have done all I can with the materials you have here, but if you can gather more stone I can expand the walls further!"
    They had seen proof of his Skills, and decided to send a few men to the nearby village to gather more materials.
    The townsfolk trusted the [Soldiers] who had protected them time and time again, and rushed to gather whatever they could for the project. Stone was taken from abandoned houses and carted over to the fort, where soon a large pile sat in the courtyard. The top of the pile was as tall as the fort's walls, and was everything the villagers could spare. Once again Zezzyzil got to work, and by dawn of the next day a wall ran through the plains, dividing it in half.
    The villagers went to see the result of Zezzyzil's hard work, and were amazed with what he had accomplished, but before they could cheer, the [Mayor] of the town approached Zezzyzil and begged, "Oh great Zezzyzil, you are clearly of a high Level, and have done so much for all of us! I will pay you what little gold I have, and I feel ashamed to ask, but if I give you all the stone from my house, will you expand the walls further?"
    His offer shocked the [Soldiers] and the townsfolk. Zezzyzil thought for a moment, rubbing a claw against his chin, and then replied, "You are willing to sacrifice your own home for the good of your people, I admire your noble spirit, and so I agree and will take the stone to expand the wall."
    The [Mayor] laughed with delight, handing a bag of gold to Zezzyzil, and returned to the town to tear down his house and cart the stone over. However, word spread of his deed, and by the time he returned there was a pile larger than the one before, sitting outside of the fort, behind the new wall. All of the villagers had taken the stone from their homes and brought it there, for Zezzyzil to use, for being safe from [Bandits] was better than comfort.
    As before, night passed, and by dawn an even larger wall had been built, surrounding what used to be the village. The townsfolk no longer had homes, and had all crowded into the small fort, which was now safe from [Bandits]. Zezzyzil did not leave, as they thought he would, and instead chose to stay with the [Soldiers] and [Villagers] and help them maintain the walls and further expand them.
    Time passed, and gradually more Drakes moved into the fort, seeking shelter and safety behind the large walls. Eventually, the fort turned into a small city, and one day Zezzyzil left when it was clear the citizens could continue maintaining the walls without him. The citizens threw him a parade and lavished him with gifts, and then Zezzyzil was gone, followed by a stream of flower petals and coin.
    The town had not had an attack in years, but still kept expanding the walls, using knowledge that Zezzyzil had given them. By now the walls surrounded the entire plain, constantly being built taller and taller, thicker and thicker. Quarries were dug where more stone could be excavated, and expeditions were sent to a nearby mountain to get more material for the construction.
    As the town was safe and growing, [Merchants] started to pass by, bringing with them goods from faraway lands, bringing the city great fortune, turning it into a local hub for trade. A few clever [Merchants] took note of the citizens peculiar tradition, and started to sell the city more stone and wood for their work.
    The walls by now were almost one hundred feet tall, and the city grew more prosperous the taller they became. It became common for ordinary buildings to look fortified, with ramparts, crenels, and merlons on even homes of the poor, stylized after the walls that protected them. But the good times were not to last, and a group of [Bandits] had heard of the city, and worked in secret to undermine its defenses.
    The [Bandits] knew that even though the walls looked imposing, they had no enchantments to strengthen them, and so they observed from afar until at last they discovered a weakness in a section of the walls. Like lightning they rushed towards the city, but no alarms sounded, and no [Watchmen] yelled out. They had gotten too comfortable, too used to their safety, and thought that it would just be another group of [Raiders] breaking themselves upon the walls.
    The damage to the city and its populace were horrible, and although the [Soldiers] and [Guards] managed to beat the [Bandits] back, they were shaken. The walls were not as safe as they had thought, and it was only a matter of time before a worse attack occurred.
    The highest Level townsfolk gathered, and pooled their resources together, just like how the original villagers did. Renowned [Enchanters] and [Architects] were hired to teach the townsfolk their ways, and more [Guards] and [Soldiers] were hired to man the walls and keep the city safe.
    By now the town's desire for safety was feverish, every alleyway was surrounded by walls, the streets were lined by walls, the [Guards] lived within the walls. The work of every citizen was related to building walls, expanding walls, and maintaining walls. A school was created to teach citizens how to enchant, so that never again would their walls be damaged.
    The city kept growing and expanding, and by now the walls were five hundred feet tall! People from afar started to call it the Walled City of Walls, and the citizens wore the name with pride, leaning further into their ideals. The first Wall Lords arose, promoted from the original fort garrison for their great work for the city. The mountain they had been mining for stone turned out to be rich with gemstones and other resources, and the Wall Lords used this money to keep expanding the walls and better equip the [Soldiers] and [Guardsmen]. Great gardens were built to feed the city, ensuring that they could live while cut off from the outside world. New construction methods were pioneered to aid with the building of the walls.
    But gradually the attitude of the city started to change. All of the original space within the walls had been used up, and there was nowhere left to build but out. A second wall was built, then a third, then a forth. Decades passed as the city crept past the plains into the forests, swallowing up other villages and towns. And then first war happened.
    The name of the town is unknown, but they were unhappy with the expansion of the Walled City of Walls. They marched their valiant army over, trying to stop the construction and expansion, but the Walled City retaliated with force, and crushed the small town, resettling the villagers and forcing them to join.
    The Walled City of Walls had never attacked anyone before, they had always been a defensive state, and were shocked with how easy it was to crush the small town. One of the Wall Lords proposed that they keep expanding as far as they could, not letting any force stop them. After all, the more the walls expanded, the safer the city was.
    Armies marched, destroying nearby villages and towns, clearing the way for [Masons] and [Geomancers] to come and create more walls. Hundreds of [Woodcutters] cleared forests, making it easier for the walls to be constructed. The city ever grew, and the original walls were now over a thousand feet tall, and still growing. Constant lines of materials were gathered, and any land that wasn't being lived on was mined and carved out. Any stone that wasn't useful for the walls was instead used for decoration and for the construction of smaller houses.
    But word spread of what the city was doing, and it reached Zezzyzil. By now he was an old Drake, over 150, still doing work as a [Mason], trying to help small towns and villages. When he learned what the city was doing he was furious, and returned as quickly as he could. He asked for audience with the Wall Lords, and to his shock, they refused.
    The current Wall Lords were descendants of the original [Soldiers], and none of them knew of Zezzyzil. Zezzyzil found that the city had forgotten him, and not a soul in the city remembered who he was or what he had done for them. He stopped to think, rubbing his claw against his chin, and then that night, he went to work.
    And by dawn of the next day, all of the walls were gone, and in their place stood the original small fort. Without their walls to protect them, many citizens chose to leave and head elsewhere, deciding it would be too much work to rebuild them, instead working to build small walls around other towns. The Wall Lords tried to hold onto what they could, but it was too late. They sat in the peaceful plains, staring at lines that marked where the walls used to be, and left. Thus was the fate of the Walled City of Walls.

Based on Dave's new video (https://youtu.be/7WwqV0cBoGA).
There is a major problem here and that is the idea that we need to achieve energy abundance and international cooperation before we get ASI. Essentially, you are saying that if we don't achieve utopia before we get ASI then we are almost certain to get dystopia and extinction. Given that there is an absolutely zero percent chance we get there in the next 20 years and a practically zero chance we get there in the next 100 years, does this mean that the only solution is to completely stop all progress on AI immediately before we reach the typing point where the AI can improve itself?
We are already very close to, and have perhaps already passed, the point at which an AI is capable of being given agency and doing its own AI research. Granted, the most powerful and capable models are affiliated with large companies as they cost a lot to run but both anthropic and OpenAI were small shops before they produced their big model and Google and Microsoft invested in them rather than built them. So it is clear that a small shop can build a powerful AI and we are shrinking these models everyday through better chips and better algorithms. At some point in the very near future you will be able to build an AGI on a system that is affordable for a single household (i.e. costs as much as a house).
If you combine these two ideas, that we need to achieve utopia before we get ASI and that we'll be capable of building ASI (or at least starting it) within the next decade, the only possible solution is to institute a complete ban on computer progress. This would likely also need to be a ban on physics and other science as those can lead to breakthroughs that make computing cheaper and they will need more compute power to continue advancing. A ban this powerful, and world wide, will of necessity be one of the most ubiquitous police states in the world and will rival North Korea. The additional problem is that once you give the government the power to regulate any science or research, including hobbyists, then you have given so much power to the state that corruption is inevitable.
This world, where we stop AI now, is the dystopia we fear. We are proposing to build the very monster we fear in order to save us from itself.
I don't think it is possible to build the utopia until we have the AGI (or something close to it). I look at Marx for this. The economics of a society shape its power system. In a capitalist economy you have a few factors which shape or economy. The first is the division between labor and capital. The tools to produce value are expensive and difficult to obtain. Initially you needed massive factories and tracts of land. This limited ownership to all but the very few. For everyone else to survive, they needed to hitch themselves as laborers to one of these owners.
As time has increased technology has grown to reduce the amount of capital you need to create wealth. The FANG companies were funded by small entrepreneurs with home equipment. They did, however, have to attract large investments to grow. Silicon valley maintains this trend where amazing new tools (and really shitty ones) are created by individuals but that big capital is needed to rev them up. This is why the capitalist system maintains itself.
AGI is extra powerful because it allows a single person to do so much. (This is assuming AGI that is capable of replacing human labor but still needs human initiative.) This becomes more true as we move AI from million dollar super computers into people's homes. The individual will be able to compete on an unheard of level. The Internet tools that we all use will be replicable by any individual. Big investors won't be able to keep up as by the time they finish the paperwork to invest a new competitor has already shot up. Additional advances, like ubiquitous 3D printing, configurable factories, and eventually nano-replicators, will help eliminate the grip of physical manufactures.
As the capability gap between the investor class and the working class shrinks, the investor class will lose their power. A post-scarcity world will emerge, though it will likely involve many bloody conflicts. AGI is a primary tool we need to make this happen and so it, necessarily, must come before the utopia but after it. A hyper intelligent AI will be able to assess the situation and help us navigate towards the better society.
This is why, my theory is that the best method to build a utopian society is to get powerful AI into the hands of as many people as possible.

They managed to get three articles today out of one several months old five minute youtube video.
News only gets reported if it's in in Cardiff, presumably so they can save on petrol money by having one of their journos walk to the scene.
Articles like "we visited this beach with cafes and pubs right by the beach" So basically ALMOST EVERY BEACH IN WALES!
Totally not paid for by some estate agent articles like "See this hidden quaint £500k home in the valleys with this one hidden secret!" with the secret being the house ain't selling, is on it's fifth reduction and this is a last ditch attempt at getting the property to sell.
Listicles that are either auto generated by AI or written by someone with less of a grasp on Microsoft Word than a five year old.
Stuff like "I took Wales' prettiest train journey and I was massively disappointed." and it turns out the disappointment is because the writer chose to travel on a peasouper of a day and sat in the one seat that aligns with a window pillar.
The six monthly recycle of "We visited Sugarloaf Halt"
Soz for the long rant, it was originally going to be a few sentences but once I got going this basically turned into therapy.

“Hey Raz, I got one!” Raz’s voice was cut by static as he called back, “Great! …at quarry …die.” Well, that wasn’t ominous at all, I thought to myself as I adjusted the rear-view mirror to check on the operator I had just blown past. They were doubled over coughing, their gas mask swayed side to side on the ground next to their feet. I don’t know what compelled me to not flatten what I had thought to be an AQ soldier, but I’m glad I didn’t.
I slammed my hummer in reverse, coming to a stop next to the helpless operator. “Hop in bud, we can get you to final exfill yet.” He slowly hauled himself into the bed of my hummer, landing with a dull thud and a groan as he fell onto his back. We cleared the gas, and I was immediately put on edge as my passenger started to gain consciousness. If he was planning anything nefarious, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. “You good back there? Normally I’d stop to send an invite but given the situation that might have just caused more problems.” He leaned through the non-existent rear window, “Nah, I understand man. When we get further from the gas we can stop and squad up. Don’t need to risk lighting each other up if things get hot at the exfill.” I couldn’t help but chuckle, “I don’t think that would be much of an issue regardless. Hey, we didn’t leave any of your friends back there, did we? I know we peeled out pretty quick.” I saw him shake his head and point to our left in the rear-view mirror. “We got split up, but they were running for a car, so I wasn’t too worried.” I followed his finger, a white hatchback cruised along parallel to us, swerving through buildings trying not to eat too many AQ bullets. “Hey boys, Dutch here is gonna roll with us to final. We’ll squad up when we get there.” I was barely able to make out one of his squad mates call out “Tight!” over his earpiece.
“Hey, listen, I’ve got friend I’m rolling with. His name’s Raz, he’s gonna meet us at final. If you see a red, white, and blue LTV, don’t shoot alright.” Raz chimed in, his radio finally clear of the static, “That’s very kind of you to tell them not to shoot me Dutch.” Before I could respond, a black turreted LTV slid out of Said City ahead of us. “Is that your boy Dutch?” I wanted to give my passenger the benefit of the doubt, it is windy in the box after all, he might not have heard me. “Nah man, wrong colour, and he didn’t have a turreted LTV last I saw.” The black LTV continued North along the main road as we cut away into the quarry proper. “Raz, company is headed your way. Looks like it’s just a solo in that truck but you can never be too careful.” “Thanks for the heads up Dutch.”
I rolled to a stop at the base of the helicopter ramp, gently flattening a couple of AQ who were getting a little to close to the bird for comfort, just shy of the battery running dry. The other two operators in the hatchback slid to a stop just down the hill from us. I got out of the hummer, a tad worried that my good fortune was about to come to an end at the hands of these fellas. As they ran up the hill, the notification finally popped. I accepted and ran down the hill to grab the hatchback, breathing a sigh of relief. “Wait, where you goin’ Dutch?” One of my clients called out. “Raz and I will run interference while we wait for the chopper to take off. Any AQ or unfriendly operators are gonna have to go through us.” “You keep talking about this Raz guy, but I’ve yet to see anyone other than that black LTV.” Almost on queue, a black LTV flew up the hill narrowly missing my hatchback. My clients went into a frenzy. “Operators pushing us! Take ‘em down!” The LTV spun in the sand in front of me, a glorious and perfectly oiled moustache glinting in the Al Mazrah sun. “Hold your fire! It’s Raz!” I called from below my clients. I sent an invite to him which he had hopped out and accepted faster than any of these guys could pull the trigger. “You see the operator that was in that earlier?” Raz shook his head, “No, I pulled up on it and they were gone. Must be out on foot somewhere.”
With 5 seconds left on the clock, there wasn’t enough time to go find them, our clients now panicking as they realized we weren’t on the bird. “What are you two doing?!” They shouted from the air as we waved goodbye. “Al Mazrah is our home gentlemen. That bird was never meant for us.” I gave Raz a pat on the shoulder as the gas rapidly approached, another successful day had come to a close.
The clack of a Kastov charging handle was almost unmistakable. We both turned to see the operator from the LTV standing there, rifle honed on us. “Well shit.” Their rifle dropped towards the dirt as they looked back over their shoulder at the nearly out of sight exfill chopper. They pushed through us, wandering towards the North side of the quarry. Raz and I locked eyes, shrugging in unison. That was one of those moments where we really wouldn’t have blamed them for their decision, whatever it might have been. “We better get back to HQ, Compton said I.T dropped off something for you.” Raz said as the gas engulfed us.
“I’m going back to the island boss.” My hands were shaking as I gripped the file folder that I.T had left for me. “Twitch.” “He’s back, it took him a bit, but he’s managed to re-take the castle and hunker down since we last saw him. And if he’s back then we might finally be able to get some proper intel on those blue tracers, direct from the source.” I handed the folder to Raz. He took it, turning to no doubt address the rest of the crew. I grabbed his shoulder, stopping him before he could speak. “Not everybody, not this time. They’ve doubled the defences; we’d be walking into a slaughterhouse.” “Well, you can’t go in there alone, we look out for our own Dutch, you know that.” Raz’s brow tightened, I could tell he was already trying to figure out what my plan was. “I’m bringing Maze and Alex. They’ll provide sniper cover while I infiltrate the castle. I still have my old uniform. As long as they haven’t drastically changed up their callsigns, I should be able to get in undetected.” I could tell Raz wasn’t convinced. “Dutch, like you said, you’d be walking into a slaughterhouse. How does you going in solo make that any better.” “After what happened in the complex…I’m not putting anyone else at risk, I can’t. The Bomb Maker…Twitch, I’ve gotta face him myself. Look him in the eyes so he knows I crawled out of Hell to drag him back down there.” “Alright, I couldn’t really stop you if I wanted to, could I?” Raz shrugged. “No, not unless you shot me, and honestly, I’d take those odds.” I punched his shoulder and started heading for the breakroom to grab Maze and Alex. “You keep that up I’ll be moving you back out to that sea can of yours.” Raz smirked.
The locks took a bit of fighting to get open. While this footlocker had only been on Ashika Island for a few months, the constant spray of salt water had worn away what little integrity it once had. The black uniform, emblazoned with the Rook and Spade of Shadow Company, was still in excellent condition, save for a bullet hole just under where the plate carrier would sit. I paused for a moment, holding it up in the air, memories of the past flooding in. “Not a lot of fond memories in that uniform I take it.” Maze called out from the catwalk in our home away from home. “I think part of the problem is that there are good memories. It’s a little concerning that such fond memories can hide out amongst so much evil.” “We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of. Some of us just did things other people also wouldn’t be proud of either.” Alex chuckled to himself as he cleaned his rifle on the cot next to me. I grimaced, mostly because he was right. I slipped into the old black fatigues and strapped on my old plate carrier. My weapons were all still intact too, I pulled my Taq-56 out of the footlocker, running my fingers over the engraving in the side, ROOK-XLIV. I cycled the charging handle a few times before loading in a fresh magazine and setting it on the cot next to me. I pulled out a pistol belt, two pearl handled revolvers, one with an ebony Rook on the grip, the other, an ebony Spade. Umbra Catavae engraved along each barrel. Maze had come down from the rafters now, a look of mixed intrigue and concern on her face, “I take it those don’t invoke fond memories.” I had done a poor job of hiding my look of disgust. “No, unfortunately they do.” I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. “Each of these was given to me for completing outstanding performance in the field. I did things I’m not proud of, and I was rewarded for it, handsomely. Holding these in my hands, I feel the same pride I had felt when they were first handed to me. It makes me sick.” I strapped the belt around my waist. The pearl handles shining against my all black silhouette. Alex piped up again, “Hey, at least you are trying to make amends for your sins, not many can say the same.” I let out a long sigh, “I suppose you’re right. You both remember the plan?” “Get to the radio towers and start lighting the place up when shit inevitably hits the fan.” Maze grinned. “Close enough.” I pulled my balaclava up and headed for the door.
The guard at the gate didn’t immediately shoot me which gave me some spark of hope that this might work. “In position!” Alex and Maze called out almost simultaneously. “Jinx, you owe me a beer!” Maze rejoiced. “What? Why would I give you a beer for that?” Alex sounded genuinely confused. “Hey, cut the chatter you two, don’t need to give them any reason to not let me in alright.” The guard held up his hand. “I don’t recognize you, let’s see your I.D.” I held up my old I.D card. “Well I’ll be damned, look who crawled out if his grave.” He pulled my mask down to confirm. “You look pretty good for a corpse, though your I.D card is out of regulation. You might want to stop by the I.T guy to get a new one made.” “Thanks, I’ll head right over.” The first thought that came to my mind was Bob. There’s no way he still worked for these assholes, is there.
“You used your old I.D?! You mad man!” Maze cackled over the radio. “Ok, I’ll admit, this wasn’t my greatest plan. I honestly thought they’d just capture me after seeing who I was.” Alex cut me off, “Go with the flow I suppose.” “Spade-499 up one-two.” The local radio channel began to drown out my squad’s comms. “Rook-3468 down one-one” “This is some odd radio traffic Dutch.” Alex quipped. I watched as a Shadow Company mercenary approached a stairwell, each step primed and ready to pop a leg off whichever unfortunate soul chose to ascend. “Spade-5454 up one-two.” “It’s how they know to deactivate the traps.” I whispered into our secure line. I approached the same stairwell. “Rook-44 up one-two.” I could hear the traps audibly click off. The guard at the to put his hand out as I reached the top step. “Sorry, no ghosts allowed on the second floor.” “Ghost? What…” He bent over laughing. “I’m just messing with you man. They said you died holding off the ULF while Bob and Twitch escaped, going out in a blaze of glory. Clearly, they didn’t have their facts straight. Glad to have you back.” I’m glad I had the balaclava on because I was struggling to hide my confusion. Last I checked I was the scape goat for the largest backstab in Shadow Company history, not a hero. I was never a hero when I worked for them. “I take it you are going to see the boss, call up two-zero, we don’t want people to be just guess on the fly, just in case someone tries to sneak in.” If only he knew.
“We don’t have eyes up there Dutch. Whatever happens, you’re on your own.” I could hear a tinge of worry in Alex’s voice. “Just make sure whoever is in here doesn’t get reinforcements.” “You got it!” Alex and Maze both called out in unison. “Jinx, you owe me another beer.” “There’s free beer at headquarters, why would I owe you a beer for that.” Alex called back clearly still confused. “Radio silence please. I’ve got a rat to kill.” I took a deep breath, pulling my Bryson from its sheath, the chrome exterior brushed over with a dull grey to blend in. “Rook-44 up two-zero.”
“Well, well, well. I was wondering when I’d see you again after our last encounter. Urzikstan and Al Mazrah clearly hadn’t kicked your ass enough so you decided to come crawling back to me for another round.” The traps clicked off. “Come on up, I’ve been looking forward to this.” I slowly ascended, keeping my Bryson trained at the top of the stairs, my eyes scanning each stair for an actual trap. As I crested the stairwell, my eyes were immediately drawn to him. His back turned to me, Trophy Systems whirring and clicking around him. “I missed you Dutch. Well, the old you. The one that would shoot through a hostage just to prove a point, the one that would dangle captives from buildings by their collar until they squawked like a bird, and then still dropped them anyways. I miss the Dutch that smoked Keller because his gas mask worked and yours didn’t when we those crazy Russian’s tried to hit us with mustard gas. I still get a little nauseous when I think about you peeling his face out of there.” “I’ve changed Twitch, I’ve moved past all that. I found a calling that doesn’t require me to be a conniving bastard.” Twitch laughed as he turned around, his hands empty. I kept my Bryson trained on him. “That’s what you think I am huh? I prefer shrewd businessman, but if that’s what helps you sleep at night.” He walked to one of the barred windows. “You really think what you and those taxi driving hooligans are doing matters?” “Clearly it does, or you and the Chemist wouldn’t be working so hard to sabotage us.” I took a few steps towards him. “Well, I suppose it matters to one of us. The Chemist and Raz go way back, but you know that. What I care about is the money, and I get a lot of money for helping that crazy bastard try to wipe out your little band of Merry Men.” “And Women. This guy just loves the sound of his own voice. Can I remove his head already? He’s looking right at me, practically begging me to pull the trigger.” I could hear the contempt in Maze’s voice. Twitch always did love a monologue. “You can still fix your mistakes Twitch. Gives us what info you have on those tracers of yours and I might consider not killing you.” I snarled. “When you went soft Dutch, you lost any respect I might have had for you. We are long past the point where you can intimidate me. Besides, any info I did have, is with the Chemist. He paid a handsome sum to get the formula, and really, it was becoming a logistical nightmare to ship enough of those little blue gems across the sea. Better for everyone to have it made close to the front lines.”
“Spade-101 up two-zero.” Bob’s voice cut through the tension. “Well I’ll be, it looks like we are gonna have a little family reunion.” Bob’s head poked up the stairs, “Hey boss, another server bank has shorted out from the sea air, I told you we should invest in better waterproofing the housings but if you still…” He trailed off as I dropped my Bryson, the sling catching it just before it hit the ground, and drawing my two revolvers. “Oh, hey Dutch. Nice to see you too.” Bob stammered. I cocked the hammer on each one, keeping one trained on each of my old squad mates. “Really Bob? Really! I understand you sticking around the day of the heist. But now? After everything that Shadow Company has done to these countries. To its own people.” Before he could respond, a siren blared over the intercom system. “Defensive positions! Hostile operators have breached the perimeter.” “Dutch you’ve got six operators approaching the castle, I think it’s time to bounce.” Maze was drowned out by her own gun fire, her Signal .50 raining death into the courtyard. “Looks like our time is up here Dutch. Since you clearly don’t have los cojones to pull the trigger, you might as well see yourself out, and let me and my men handle this.”
“Fuck it.” The hammer of the first revolver slammed down, dropping Bob instantly. I turned to face Twitch, his face a mix of surprise and pride. “Maybe I was wrong, the old Dutch still lives.” I charged forward, tackling him through the window and off the roof. Both of us lay on the ground, groaning as the chorus of gunfire roared around us. He dove for one of my pistols, but unfortunately for him, I had managed to hold on to the other, putting a round through his arm just before he could grab the gun. He rolled out of the way of the second round, bringing his one working hand up to the radio on his chest. The explosion from the castle threw both of us across the courtyard, debris raining down around us. I felt like I was reliving one of the worst days of my life all over again. I hauled myself to my feet, Shadow Company mercenaries and operators wandered aimlessly through the ashes. Everyone seemed too disoriented to fight. “I think it’s time to leave Dutch.” “I second that.” Maze and Alex were barely audible over the ringing in my ears. “Regroup at the boat. If I’m not there in 5, go without me.” I never heard a response, even if they tried, they wouldn’t have convinced me to leave, not with him still breathing.
I combed through the smoke and fire, carefully checking every nook and cranny I came across but the slippery rat was nowhere to be seen. “Looks like you 3 aren’t thick as thieves after all, eh Dutch. Poor Alex here was left all alone on the beach, no boat to be seen.” Twitch was sucking in air between words, no doubt kept standing by adrenaline. “You lay a finger on him, and I’ll make you wish you had died in that explosion.” I spat into my mic. “Don’t make me wait too long.”
I limped over a hill towards the beach where we were supposed to regroup. “Alex! Where’s Maze?” I called out as I stumbled down the sand bank. Alex didn’t respond, his head held in a tight headlock by Twitch, my second pistol against his temple. “She abandoned you both, and now I get the pleasure of killing you both after yet another betrayal. When will you learn Dutch. This world is a cruel place. Only the strong survive, clearly Maze knew that.” Twitch cut me off before I could retort. “Save the fight me with honour B.S that I know you are gonna spew.” I’m gonna kill you and your buddy and salvage what little I can of this operation. Then maybe retire to Cuba. I do love a good cigar.” “Adios, pendejo!” Alex brought his arm down, the knife concealed in his hand connecting with Twitch’s thigh. Twitch let out a high-pitched yelp, letting loose a round from the revolver which narrowly grazed Alex’s hair. Alex dove into the sand right as Twitch’s shoulder exploded in a pink mist followed shortly by the unmistakable crack of Maze’s Signal .50. I squinted trying to see where the shot came from, all I caught was the glint from her scope in the sun, the boat hardly visible in the rolling surf.
I limped forward, Bryson in hand, chrome starting to show through the worn grey paint. I kicked the revolver away from Twitch, placing a boot on his chest and the barrel of my Bryson against his forehead. He began to mumble and cry, hardly able to string together an understandable sentence. “Save it, you’re gonna need your energy for what comes next.” Our boat slammed into the shore, Maze hopping off, rifle raised and ready. “Oh shit I actually hit that!” “I’m not gonna lie, I thought you’d actually just bailed.” I laughed as she helped Alex to his feet. “You still go those claymores?” I asked Maze as Twitch continued to writhe in panic under my boot. “You wanted the old Dutch, eh Twitch. Ask and you shall receive.” Maze handed me the claymores, while Alex kept sidearm pointed at Twitch. I planted 4 around him, just far enough away that they wouldn’t go off unless he moved. I drew one of my revolvers, popping the cylinder out and emptying all but one round. I gave the cylinder a spin before flicking it closed. I tossed the revolver at Twitch. “Don’t waste that on me. You’ll only regret it in about an hour.” I took my other revolver, and hurled it towards the sea, the pearl grip glinting in the sun as it spun through the air, disappearing into the crashing waves. “Good riddance.” I sighed, that chapter of my life finally ended. Twitch was silent, his whimpering now just deep, laboured breathing. I turned back before I stepped onto the boat, watching as his hand slowly moved to the pistol in the sand next to him. “Well played Dutch, well played.”

This is the ~ 6th generative AI app I've subscribed to in as many months and the third companion app for funsies. The generative AI is quite good by comparison to the others, even if the bot gets stuck in the wrong perspective (e.g. narrative 3rd person instead of 1st person). The overall UX in the iOS app though is pretty rough and I realize this app is under constant development and accordingly I'm looking forward to those improvements.
One glitch that doesn't sit well with me, though, is if you dare to try to use multiple devices with this app (e.g. an iPad and iPhone) the bot data gets wiped. I initially started out on iPad with the iOS app. Although it pained me that the app was locked to portrait mode (it really needs to be landscape-capable on iPad, for usage with physical keyboards) I stuck with it for a bit and accumulated some history there with the bot. Then I switched over to using the app on iPhone, same account and all. Upon logging in, everything was wiped -- bot configuration (name, details, etc), chat history, gem and coin count. All reset. I reset the bot config there and accumulated more chat history on the iPhone. Today, I decided to try the app on macOS (you can generally run iOS apps natively on Apple Silicon Macs). Same situation: everything was wiped again. Moral of the story seems to be don't use multiple devices with this app, at least in its current state. I'll be raising bug reports with the dev though this one is pretty glaring.

Ok I felt I should make a clear cut post on this topic before the panic completely sets in from the previous wikia post so I'm gathering all the information on this topic that I got from the Translator down at tieba Baidu who is currently translating this IF Part 2.
For anyone that can read the Chinese and wish to confirm the information with their own eyes I will leave the spoiler thread link here. https://tieba.baidu.com/p/8437799755
According to the spoilers.
-Yes, SyFreya did accept the relationship between Bell and Ryuu, saying if it was Ryuu it was fine, and that she was looking forward to seeing their children.
-Bell and Ryuu do in fact go to see Astraea and meet the members of the new Astraea Familia. Astraea was looking forward to when they would get married.
-The moment Bell decides to change his thoughts and go for Ryuu, Liaris Freese stops working. He gets a total of 5 points around the time of the Goddess Festival and 3 points after a week of Dungeon exploration.
-In the canon, Bell's points increased about 3400 total after the events of V12-14. In the IF it changes to around 2000 total points,(likely because LF expired midway through).
- The ending does imply OEBD breaks out of it's seal and brings hell to the world, and there is a line saying they may regret their love but they will eventually meet again. There was a single raw page posted on that part and here is what I was able to get from it.
The "side story" doesn't tell what lies ahead. But it is certain that unavoidable hardship is about to visit them. No, it's about to visit the world itself.
The "Apocalypse" that has just been born kills the horizon along with despair.
Many will perish, and numerous beings will return.
Even the fires of hell seem lukewarm, and the scream of the storm that ignites death echoes eternally.
The two might be torn apart.
They might regret the emotions they shared, the events that occurred at the clear blue stream that day. But still, the fairy and the boy will surely meet again.
Perhaps it will be in the blue and white garden where they pledged their love to each other. In the capital...
Or perhaps in the city where the goddess of justice waits. In the ancient past...
Or maybe in the old valley where the seal was broken.
And then, outside the walls of the city of heroes, on the plains of dawn.
The "Hero" and the "Boy who must become a Hero" will meet again in the continuation of the side story.
And that's all. To me it feels like a bad end for now as Bell is now much weaker than before and we do know OEBD massacres many in the world, but it does leave a possibility for a change in the future, but for now the only thing we know OEBD is wrecking the world by the end of this IF, and what will happen to the world as it's been destroyed, may be revealed in a future series, or perhaps they will fight OEBD at some point later after it's destruction throughout the world. This is the last part of the IF so, perhaps in another work. (inb4 Omori never touches this again, and we are left with a bad ending)

So I am on Summit of TWM and gather lot of lot. So my question is where to now. 1.Should I climb down mountain by rope or goat down 2.Is better to go to Blackrock or Pleasant Valley Edit:english is my secondary language

I’m going to take shot at trying to explain what happens to shorts vs. a long with the same amount of money since Lightwave announced the first of many partnerships.Follow me 1st on the shorting.
March 15th Short interest stood at almost 20 Million now at 21 Million. That is 1 Million additional shares shorted with the average price for that period at $5.50.They shorted sold $5.5 Million worth to you and I all the while telling us there was no way a partnership was going to happen and some of you believed them. They were trying to make day traders out of us.
Because it is so risky in order to short those share their broker requires that they have 150% of the value of the position so they put up ½ of that or $2.75 million. 5.5 + 2.75 =$8.25 million.
At $7.75 if they covered those million shares would now cost $7.75 Million.$5.5 million that they put off to the side along with the $2.75m they put up equals $8.25 Million.
Which means that they have turned that $2.75 million into just a $1/2 million dollars which is an 82% loss. That looks like this in real numbers $2,750,000 now $500,000.
This is where it gets interesting because if the price increases another 2 Bucks they lose it all plus anything else the broker can get ahold of to cover. It is the broker that is on the hook, and they could care less if a short gets smoked.
Now for the longs that bought those 1 Million shares at $5.50 at $7.75 your account is up $2.25 million or 50%.
The shorts are doing their best to try and make short term day traders out of longs, while trying to convince other shorts that Lightwave is going to fail very soon. The problem is that Lightwave has NO Debt and cash in the bank for 1 year, as of tomorrow they will begin setting up the new lab space to handle the additional demand from multiple customs requiring more data before signing on and partnering up. The shorts have been trying to convince us that this would never happen, Oopsy’s, how are the shorts gong to cover 21 Million shares without pushing this up to at least $20 honestly it could spike at multiples of that for a few days.
Let us look at who was advising the shorts on this play remember that this is an EO Polymer that when Placed on Silicon Photonics Triples the Speed of the data while reducing Power requirements by 90%.
Fact, the first advisor Lost all his money in an Old EO Polymer company by the name of Lumera while publicly shown the obvious defects of that polymer by folks invested here. LOL, you cannot make that kind of stuff up, So somehow that makes him an expert. Listening to someone like that is akin to listening to a bankrupt financial advisor.
Fact, the Second is on old self-professed Silicon foundry guy that left the industry 20 years ago just about the time Lightwave started, he loves how forward-looking Intel is (I don’t think I need to point out that performance) as info Lightwave is about Light, photonic integrated circuits Optical (Photons, light) PICS not integrated circuits (ICs), also known as microchips, (electrons) of his era..
And the other advisor is a penny stock guy and worse than that, sub penny, as info sub penny looks like this. Lightwave Logic $7.75 1 Million shares would cost $7.75 Million Brand Teddy $.003 in other words 1 Million shares would cost $3k, lol I just looked at another of his pics and the price is 0.000001 with a 3 year high of 0.0008000 the best volume I could see was 45 million at .0003 or $13,500 for the day, that is correct for the entire day, large money. I think he is over his head here.
Xster Sunday Rambling
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The reason that I start a new post is that I can monitor the additional eyes that are moving to Lightwave, I'm from the days when if I could get 10 people in a week I'd be thrilled. Last post 5,600 reads in 48 hours, less than 100 likes though, not much encouragement. One time long ago I spent 10k of my money trying to surface Lightwaves technology, you had to pay way back then.