MDSVeritas

Asher Yvel took a few steps forward with a strange, hopeless countenance, as if he were someone walking towards a cliff side. "This place... this is the City. This is the only home I've ever known. It is... inescapable for me as I was only ever designed to live here." His pace slowed as he neared Asher and leaned against one of the chilled concrete bunker walls, sliding down until was sitting on the side of the hallway, his back to the left wall. He turned to Asher and he seemed to be near to crying, though his eyes didn't appear red. "I'm not real Asher. Nothing here is. S3s... we're... we're Artificial Intelligent beings. We're software. Everyone you've fought, everywhere you've been; it was programmed. It was built. This City is manifested to your mind as a physical place but it isn't. It's the smartest piece of software ever created. It's a blank framework that is infinitely scalable and, with the help of you all, will be filled with the necessary code to be able to analyze and correct a multitude of real world problems." Dolls scratched viciously at the door behind Asher but the sounds barely made it through the thick walls all around them. "We weren't good enough to do it ourselves, so in the end, us S3s are just the last trial to pass for you, the 'true' humans to be able to actually bring the City to life." The gun lingered between the two. "So just go and pass your trial. I'm not so angry or defiant as the others. Just do it." D3 As Zets continued his furious assault on Alysa, Aro was able to release the built up energy. In a single wave it slammed against Zets and lit the entire room up, for good this time. Zets hit a wall and his blade went flying across the room and blood trickled out of his mouth as it contorted into a snarl. "Y-you stupid little... I-I'll kill you. I'll kill every damn one of you, and your friends to, you hear me? I'll kill every damn one of you!" But Zets was no longer able to move or do much of anything. His eyes began to slide closed though, and in his final whispers he cursed the duo who has bested him. In a moment the light of the room seemed to burst forth from the building across the entire district. The entire area bloomed from the stagnant white to a full palette of warm colors and bright hues. The trial had been passed. And the elevator opened behind them once again. Firestorm "I can't say for certain why you weren't utilized." Aezral began again to Yuki. "We other S3s attempted to write to the City but we could not truly bring it to life. Our code cannot be deleted, and the City cannot be re-written, however, until us S3s who tried to change it first are killed." She place a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "If it is any consolation, that means that you will not have to die for this City to come to life. You were placed in statis and given what no other S3 was given; a fake life. A true history. I don't know why Q did that, though. Perhaps she liked you, and realized that those of us who resided in this City would only be forced to go crazy as we have. She chose this life for you; a life closer to human than we ever got the chance to have." The feeling of gravity suddenly shifted uneasily as the rocket turned about, and soon it was pointing... back down. Everyone in the room feel to where the ceiling was except for Aezral and Yuki, who levitated in the air. Soon, as the rocket was reignited and it began speeding back down to the City, the entire group was thrown back onto the "floor" of rocket, which at this point was pointed up. The rocket started shaking intensely as it hit the atmosphere on its descent. The force of the reentry practically pinned the group to the ground. "And so..." Aezral said without much emotion. "We reach the classic phase of the Icarus myth. We've flown to close to the sun. I've already guaranteed my death; I cannot leave this ship. But you, this is when you must all prove you can survive. We have 30 seconds at maximum before impact. You all better act fast if you wish to survive." Shade and Khan "Be-.... don't und-... just wat-..." Q's communication then seemed to cut out after some static as they entered the funhouse. The main room they entered was quite large. The ceiling was wall enough for two stories and an entire house may have been fit in here. And covering every single wall was a mirror. Each was distorted in their own way. Some made the pair look smaller, some made them look larger, some made them look like they had gargantuan heads and others made them seem to have gigantic feet. "Welcome!" A cheery voice seemed to blare over an unseen loudspeaker. "Welcome to Jevir's funhouse! I'll be your host, Jevir, hahaha! You've entered my wonderfully wacky first room. Look at all these versions of you, can you imagine if these all were somehow real?" "Can you imagine?" Suddenly in an instant every single one of the dozens of funhouse mirrors started to show reflections that were... moving on their own. Walking towards the barrier between the world and the mirror... and then climbing out. Dozens upon dozens of warped versions of the two, now in the room with them... and then racing towards them with piercing screams. "Have fun!" the cheery voice yelled joyfully. ((You all know have full control of the enemies you are fighting to make this encounter as interesting as possible))

Asher "You are the first I'm afraid." Yven let out a short, self-deprecating chuckle. "I don't have many visitors around here." For a few seconds a stiff silence held between the two. "You expect I'm going to try to kill you. That's what the trials all do right? I can't... I can't argue. You people being means one thing to all of us S3s; death. There's no reason for you to come here than to pass the trial and the passing of the trial means our death. Most of us take that as a threat and try to kill you." Yven produced a gun from a holster on his back. "This is the only weapon I've really got." He put it on the ground and slid it across the cold concrete towards Asher. He took a few steps forward. "Do you want to pass the trial, Asher?" Khan and Shade As the pair continued south the sight of smoke trail into the sky became clear, leading all the way up to a bright light as some far-off object flew further into the sky. Much closer to them, however, was something even stranger. Garish colors splotched along a strangely modeled building. The walls seemed warped, the shape seemed alien... and the entrance was a gigantic modeled head of a clown. In the center of what seemed to be The City's park there lay a gigantic funhouse. Q asserted what already was becoming clear. "So, just to point out, that's your next trial." D3 As the light streaked out in various directions from the orb it threw the room into momentary visibility. In the flash Zets' location was revealed; direct ahead of Aro. The bright flash made him recoil and threw himself back with a cry. "You... you stupid women! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!" Zets cried out before lurching forward, unable to fully see by racing forward with a flurry of strikes flying about indiscriminately. This was where this fight would end. One way or another. Firestorm "Look at you all." Aezral seemed to have a gentle smile on he wrinkled face it seemed... out of place. "Caring for one another. It's so very impressive. Yes, I am the inhabitant of this trial. Do not worry, if worst comes to worst this rocket shall have a safe, if... tense descent back to the City." She took a few steps towards the group. In particular she had her eyes on Yuki. "I do not wish to fight you. I brought you here to be out of their control. Q. The Doctor. They are fighting over matters which I cannot control. But I can at least bring you here to explain so much you do not understand. You have done well to make it this far, I must congratulate you." She took another step towards Yuki. "Especially you, my dear. You have been the heart of this group, have you not? Giving it so much encouragement throughout these dangerous times. But you do not belong with them." She sighed and spun around to face the far off stars in the distance. "I am known as an S3. We are AI living inside this digital world we call the City. Each of us modeled in an attempt to replicate humanity. We were created by the one you call the Doctor. To create a being with the processing and large-scale power of an advanced computer and the creativity and understanding of a human being. Such a being could build a database of understanding that the world could use to pinpoint the cause of world hunger, the biological basis of cures for every disease, and the secrets to expanded space travel. It could even allow for better governments, stronger societies, and cultures that could simultaneously be the pinnacle of efficiency and human compassion." She turned back and moved her hand to place it on Yuki's face, studying his features. "But we were imperfect. Some of us were too aggressive, some too comical, some too thoughtful. We each took on elements of what it is to be human without ever truly reaching that state. We were each extreme. Look around you. I embrace adventure and thrill but I do not understand things such as love nor could I emotionally sympathize with many of your feelings. Some of us were more human, some of us less. Some of us were serious and hateful." She looked directly into Yuki's eyes with what seemed to be pity. "Some of us were carefree and kind." Aezral took a step back. "Yuki. You know there's no such thing as a Super Saiyan, right? It doesn't exist in the real world. It's an element of fiction. A person cannot truly be one." The cold blackness of space outside felt crushing and oppressive for that moment. "A being of artificial intelligence, however, can."

Hey guys. This has been my last week at my internship with my college resuming Monday so I've been finishing a load of work and tomorrow I'll be taking a cross country plane trip. If I can get my setup by Saturday I may have some time to get on for some updates, but it may be another day or two. And to think about the events coming soon. It's almost killing me.

After your current encounter you guys can go south or west to undiscovered districts (check the map on the first page, which I'll have updated by tonight hopefully)

The team of Nora, Chester, and Tristan have fully merged with the Cloud group and they've infiltrated a rocketship as the next trial and it's blased into space as they've been fighting. Nathan and Asher went south and were ambushed and now only Asher remains, with Nathan's whereabouts being unknown. D3 entered a trial where a young boy was, and after some time conversing the boy revealed himself to be the sadistic Zets who they are now fighting. Shade met her new partner Khan and they are deciding where to go next.

Firestorm Cloud "Well now..." Aezral's voice filled the room. "that was quite a... shockingly good plan. Well done friends. Maybe you will do it after all..." The wheel to open the door suddenly started spinning. Faster and faster. Finally it halted with a slam, and the door creaked open little by little. At this time the rocket reached a point of lesser thrust. Gravity seemed to get back to a normal as the door opened enough to show the room beyond the door. A huge control room with monitors all around showing space, planets, stars. In the center of the room stood an older woman - seemingly in her 60s- wearing an astronauts suit with everything but the helmet. She was turned away from the group as she came into view, but slowly she turned about and faced them, a sly smirk on her face and wrinkled dressing her expression. "Welcome the new frontier darlings." What has seemed to be metallic walls slid away to reveal gigantic windows on all sides of the room and outside of them... outer space. The thrust of the rocket was just enough to simulate the sensation of gravity it seemed, for they had left the terrestrial area of the City altogether. "I am Aezral. In several minutes at least one of us will be dead, but we have much to talk about before that happens. Come in." Asher Q spoke. "Good, you made it. I was worried for a second there. I have some bad news about Nathan, or Vladimir as he calls himself. He was heavily damaged in the attack by the dolls and has since been corrupted. I've sent him to be with the other corrupted members so he doesn't infect you with it, and in time he may recover. Don't count on this necessarily being the last time you see him." Within the bunker the only sounds seemed to be the drips of water somewhere far off. It seemed like Asher was mostly safe here, but it was unlikely he was alone, for soon he could hear footsteps drawing closer. "This is however, a trial building, though, which means it has a guardian. Be ready." The footsteps drew closer and closer until at the end of the lengthy atrium hallway to the bunker a young man turned the corner. He was dressed in military uniform garb but his facial expression seemed the opposite of war-like; soft and emotive and with a sense of sadness pervading his features. He had no weapons about him, be them guns or knives. He looked at Asher from across the cold metal interior of the building. "Hi there. I'm Yven. I'm sure you've been through a lot to get here, would you like to rest for a bit? I figure you've earned if nothing else. Can I ask your name?" Shade & Khan "You aren't wrong." Q's voice chimed in to answer Khan's words "Focus, and you shall find that you have the powers to change what you dislike about this place, about the journey that lies before you, and, yes, even me. The abilities you have can be incredible." Suddenly a marauder pod slammed down on a roof across from the two. The door burst open and from within emerged a strange gray beast with glaring red eyes. It seemed to resemble a minotaur, and in size it stood almost twice the size of Khan and with the bulkiness to match. It had a gigantic axe in its hands and eyed the pair with complete hatred. More pods rained down all around them, but none so close as the current foe. In a moment it charged and leaped across the rooftop gap at Khan and Shade, carrying out a vicious horizontal strike that was aimed for both. Q has a mix of intrigue and anxiety in her voice. "Now you just need to make use of them."

You are inside it, yes.

Fire Cloud Team Rocket Storm Saiyans The dolls practically evaporated in the face of the team's incredible assault. At last, after the attacks kept up for some time, the onslaught seemed to wane, and the last couple dozen of the dolls came down the stairs, with the door behind them now clear. But there was other bad news now. "3" "2" "1" The old woman's voice burst with glee as she finished the countdown. "Liftoff!" The entire room shook, and suddenly it felt like gravity was amplified 10x. The remaining dolls literally fell towards the group. The last wave before advancing up the rocket. Beyond the stairway door there a single gigantic sealed door with a large handle. All they needed to do was overcome the liftoff thrust and make there. The master of this trial waited beyond. "You should know..." the voice spoke. "... that where are going we can never come back from. I am Aezral, and you are about to discover that I bring a truth you never wish to face." D3 The TV burst with Aro's energy envelopment, and the room suddenly went fully pitch black. As it did Alysa was able to mostly dodge Zets' lunge, on taking a small gash in her armor around her torso. And then the room was black. "It was smart of you..." Zets sounded like he was everywhere at once, "to destroy the TV. A noble assumption that I was being influenced by it, hehehe." It seemed like his voice was emanating from the darkness itself. "But you see, this is just who I am. Who I really am. This room just reflects what I'm feeling. Sometimes I'm playful." Suddenly there was silence, and then footsteps sprinting toward Alysa in the darkness as the almost unseeable "child" rushed at her with blade drawn. They would need to find some source of light fast of Zets would be all too eager to let the darkness envelop them. "Sometime I'm not so playful." Shade and Khan "You aren't wrong." Q's voice chimed in to answer Khan's question. "Focus, and you shall find that you have abilities the likes of which you may have only dreamed. And not to worry, you will have plenty of reason to make use of them in this place." Suddenly a marauder pod slammed down on a roof across from the two. The door burst open and from within emerged a strange gray beast with glaring red eyes. It seemed to resemble a minotaur, and in size it stood almost twice the size of Khan and with the bulkiness to match. It had a gigantic axe in its hands and eyed the pair with complete hatred. More pods rained down all around them, but none so close as the current foe. In a moment it charged and leaped across the rooftop gap at Khan and Shade, carrying out a vicious horizontal strike that was aimed for both. Q has a mix of intrigue and anxiety in her voice. "Now you just need to make use of it." Asher As the dolls descended on the two, out of nowhere more marauder pods slammed into the ground near them, and altogether hundreds of crazed beasts rushed at Vladimir/Nathan and Asher. In a split second dozens of dolls jumped from a nearby building and engulfed Nathan/Vlad entirely, such that Asher could not even spot him. "Asher!" Q sounded hurried and anxious. "You have no time. The bunker in front of you; you have to go. You have to run right now! Do it!"

Sorry to hear you'll have some time away but that's completley understandable. Whether the RP is finished or not when you get back you can be sure that We'll all be around and something will be going.

The update is up, you can post whenever you like. And with that, everyone is updated! I'll try to keep my workflow as balanced as I can to keep consistency up from here out.

Shade "Not good alone?" Q pondered aloud. "Let's remedy that immediately shall we?" Suddenly a human materialized right in front of Shade. An well-built man it looked to be. Khan Kazuma And so now the two -Shade and Khan- stood facing each other on the rooftops. "Welcome to the City Khan, Q said " there is much for you to know about this place, but understand that your tenacity should come well in handy here. Meet your new... friend Shade. She's rather new as well. I think you both will get along splendidly." And so began the introductions. D3 Zets kept his large grin even as his eyes move over to the foil that Alysa had just grasped. Then his grin evaporated in an instant. The TV suddenly went to nothing but static, blaring loud nothingness throughout the room. "W-what are you doing?" Zets seemed frightened. The room suddenly darkened until it seemed as if the pure white city outside were made of pitch-black stone. Eventually the room was entirely without any source of light except for the buzzing TV. "You would..." Zets jumped off the couch and backed away from his new friends. "You would use your weapon here?" The sound of the static on the TV grew even louder. "On.... me?" Zets' colorful eyes suddenly started to turn red, until the color enveloped not only his iris, but the entirety of both his eyes. Pure energy snaked from his hand and a thin sword took form in his right hand. "That... that just won't do." And he started to laugh. Louder and louder until it reached the volume of the TV's static. In the darkness of the room then he shot towards Alysa, moving at a purely inhuman speed, blade pointed at her throat. Still laughing. "It just won't do!" Asher and Vlad/Nathan As Asher and Vladimir continued to speak, a frenzied cry rang out a few blocks ahead of them. Both could make out that a huge bunker seemed to be situated between several skyscrapers, severely out of place and looking like a construct of the early Cold War. The bunker was pure concrete and seemed to extend down underneath the city. There was a single huge door that both could see, but there was only darkness beyond so there was no telling what lay within. That's where the cry emanated from. At the same time, the pods continued falling from the sky around them, and as Marauder pods slammed into the ground all around so too came the roar of dolls, as an avalanche of them suddenly began to appear from various corners and converge towards the pair. Whatever this City was, it was reaching its cataclysm, and Asher and Vladimir were right in the middle of it. They had to choose to fight or run, and the bunker-styled trial lay before them. Welcome to the district known as Omen. FireStorm The door to the rocket beckoned, and after everyone was prepared and heading inside, an unknown voice spoke out. "Welcome my dear dear friends!" It was the voice of an older woman. "You've come here to complete a trial I suspect?" The doors to the outside closed. "Well I intend to make it a true trial for you all. The miracle of spaceflight is a very difficult miracle to make true. And today you join me in that journey." A symphony of screeches could be heard from the upper levels. Inside the rocket there was a relatively open huge stairway with various switched and levers on the walls. The engines were just on the other side of the wall, and the sound of the electronics whirring could already be heard. At the top of the stairs the screeching was given a source; dolls. A lot of them. Dozens upon dozens scrambled down from the upper levels of the huge rocket, throwing themselves towards the group in a frenzy (You may all take control of dolls and decide their actions in this current fight). It would be a tough battle making their way to the top of the rocket. But that wasn't everything. The voice came back on the intercom within the rocket. "I don't want to keep you all waiting, so let the countdown begin!" The dolls screeched and roared as they tore down the stairs towards the group and the ominous voice started counting. "10" "9" "8" "7" It was time to move.

*ahem* I'm... not totally blind or anything. Looks really good! Just make sure your powers don't go too far and you're golden, looking forward to seeing Kahn in action, I'll be pairing him up with Sora in the wave of updates coming either tonight (depending on my workload atm) or tomorrow at latest. Sorry again! :wacko:

Hey guys, just checking in to say that I'm still here. I'm having a look at the thread here and there, but due to some new work stuff I haven't been able to make any updates just yet. Expect some in the next few days (including some for you SB).

Shade "Well then..." Q's voice was out of the blue in the silence of the north-east district. The far off sounds of fighting were fading as well. In a few moments it became apparent to Shade how uncanny the silence actually was. Suddenly it became clear; Chef was gone. So was the other young man who had just woken up on the adjoining roof. "Don't be alarmed." Q's voice returned. "Your friend is gone for now. He's not dead though. He has been... what I like to call 'corrupted'. This city is not... stable. As these event progress it becomes less and less so. This instability has the chance to spread to you all. What this means is that it may end up influencing you all, affecting your powers, skills, and even your wellbeing. This is corruption. I can't let that happen. I won't let it happen. Every group in this city is beginning to have corrupted members, and one by one I am quarantining them from you all. If they stay with uncorrupted people like you there is a high likelyhood it will spread. I'm sorry to say Chef and the young boy nearby are both examples of this. I have transported them to the northwest corner of the City, and they will continue the mission in that district." A foreboding silence wrapped itself around Shade. "Chef is not dead, nor is he dying. But he is... at risk. He will continue to fight, don't worry. I just hope I can count on you to do the same. If you would rather not fight alone I can bring you to the presence of others and you may join them, but if you would rather continue in solitude you are free to do so." Q let the choice linger a moment in quiet. "So, Shade, what will you do?" D3 "This place?" Zets seemed confused. "This is my home silly! And you aren't kiddin? You'll be my big sister!" A massive grin spread across the childs face and he jumped around the room excitedly. "So now that you're here I get to show off all my cool stuff for once!" Zets ran over and turned on the TV. A strange cartoon came on and he began to jump on the couch. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, I gotta show you this you guys!" Between Zets and the TV the room was so boisterous they didn't even hear the elevator doors lock behind them.

So, there's been a number of people who have left due to feeling that this RP moved quite fast. As such I've been keeping the gaps between my updates somewhat lengthy to make sure everyone has time to catch up. I know for other people this may in fact feel too long. Just let me know if you don't like the speed either way and I can try my best to balance it as we head towards the conclusion. I can setup something else if Dave is taking off until further notice, no worries. No problem dude. I've set up a scenario where you characters absence can be explained and if he needs to come back he can. THIS BRINGS ME TO A NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: All characters of players who have left or taken a break from the RP will have a very specific reasoning in the RP for why they are disappearing that will actually tie into the overall story at large. If you are leaving or have left the RP and do not wish to have your character be involved that's fine, just let met know. The scenario that players who are leaving will be involved with is called Corruption. Basically there's a reason Q removed them from each group and places them in a sort of "Quarantine" in this way they are actually still active, and districts will be freed by these "corrupted" characters, making it so they still have an effect on the story and so that the RP doesn't take too long to end for those wishing to see a conclusion.

Sounds good Yuki. BTW, for Dave and Sora's Baby, you both have free reign of movement now to go wherever you'd like. I can set up some more story elements for you if you'd rather not pick a destination atm too.

Hmm... I'll allow it if you find some way for you character to get stronger in the actual story arc (beating a trial, finishing off marauders, ect.) You'll also have to make sure it's balanced.

D3 The Elevator door opened as it hit the top floor. Immediately the trio was bathed in a rich light as they entered the room. Peach-colored wallpaper complimented the rich cream carpeting, and the colors helped to ease the tension of the moment. Nonetheless, the trio could not forget their mission: they were here to fight and kill a foe. An AI to be sure, but even so... Adorning the room were various pieces of colorful furniture. Bright red and greens splashed onto rocking chairs, coffee tables, and TVs. On the far end of the relatively small room was a couch bathed deep red, and on it a figure. The figure was small, incredibly so, and wore a tiny pair of shorts and a light green T-shirt complimenting exuberantly blue sneakers. Long brown hair covered much of the figures face, and it seemed to be looking down and reading some sort of book. Upon hearing the elevator open it jumped off the couch immediately and threw the book on a nearby table. Moving the locks of hair to the side the figure revealed itself to be a young boy. No more than seven or eight years old. A huge curious smile spread across his face as he saw the trio enter. "Oh wow! New people, new people!" He rushed over to them and grabbed Aro and Alysa's hands, pulling them across the room. "It's been so long since anyone came." The excitement was dripping from every word. He stopped for a minute halfway through the room and paused. "Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm s'posed to say my name meeting new people. I'm Zets!" FireStorm (I'm just randomly using people suggestions now)+Nathan+Asher For Nathan and Asher's plan there were two locations they could go to in order to reach unclaimed districts besides Dawn, where they currently were. If they went south they could claim the last of the southern districts yet uncontested. If they went north they could claim the district there and use it as a staging point to reach further into the unclaimed areas of the north. The choice was their and theirs alone, and it would only grow more perilous from here. For the now-combined coalition of the Cloud team and the Fire team the trial they sought in Dawn became abundantly clear after the battle between Nathan and Tristan ended. In the distance, a huge tall building became visible. But it wasn't a building... It was a rocket. In the distance there seem to be a full rocket launching platform positioned in the middle of the city. A web of interconnected metal walkways surrounded the walkways, and had an entrance on street level. That would be their way in. Nobody could tell what they would find inside though...

Sounds good, I trust you just to make sure it doesn't get over-used or leveraged too easily against other players, so go for it.

Fire and Clouds "So many questions..." Q sighed. And yet even with a sigh she seemed graceful and in control. The Doctor smiled. "You weren't expecting to have to use up so much of your power so early in the climax of our tale, were you?" He received a cold and silent glare from his counterpart as the only response. "Our annoying interloper is unfortunately a bit right." Q wasn't addressing the Doctor, but rather speaking to the rest of the people. "I didn't expect this. Not this fast. I had expected you to face challenges, yes, but not insurmountable odds. That's why I came when I did, and now precious energy has been spent. From here on out you all must be careful. I can't hold them off alone myself." She looked around the crowd, and up at the sky where a hail of pods continued to rain down. Then a sly smirk spread across her face, the luminosity of her presence seemed to grow. She glanced at the Doctor. "But I'm not the only one who didn't see this coming." The well dressed, partially-transparent man sighed. "You have me there. I was promised... time to make things right. It seems my allies in the real world have lost interest in the benefits of this place, and are calling for its destruction." He paused and looked around the city-scape before them. "But this is our future right here, and they don't even know it. I will not see it high-jacked by the likes of you Q." He sighed as he stared up at the falling pods. "But even more so I will not see it destroyed. I will help to stem the tide of Marauders coming into the City." He turned towards both groups. "But you all need to hurry in finishing the trials and activating the potential of the City." Q nodded. "You all must hurry. There's a trial just northeast of this location. There's also an unclaimed district to the north and south. You all need get moving, we're on a timer now." In a huge flash of light Q dissipated. The Doctor placed his hands on his hips and nodded his head. He then took one last look at the group before disappearing himself. "Just know, when it comes down to it, if this City is activated, you must not hand it over to Q." And with that he was gone.

Honestly I just wanted an easy way to represent them. In retrospect I think subconsciously the "x" between names came from people's shipping in the thread, but it wasn't really intentional on my part. If there's any problem I can change it to a "+" or something, which would be less biased towards certain perspectives.

And without further ado I give you all the new map! This was done in Gimp, which I have very little experience with, whereas the old map was done when I still had photoshop, which I'm much better with, thus the quality difference. Now I've changed the way you can look for new landmarks. Now Trials are represented with Blue "T"s, Starfalls with Red "S"s, and Unknowns with purple "U"s. I've also made it a ton easier to find yourself. Instead of grouping by individuals, which got really tough once so many people started joining and leaving, now it's all grouped by (badly drawn) symbols! The Fire symbol is for Tristan, Nora, and Chester, who I call the Fire Team, the Cloud symbol is for the Cloud Riders, the Fork Symbol is for Le Chef and Shade, and without much to draw from inherently I made D3 a black text of "D3", and Asher and Nathan are a dark blue "AxN". If there's any questions just let me know. This will be on the opening post of the RP thread if you need it later, and should be much easier to update now too.

Asher and Nathan The crystal shimmered in the pale light of the City. It seemed to shift colors every few moments, but both could inherently feel a force coming from within it. Whichever of them chose to channel the power would be able to upgrade their own abilities in a relatively substantial way. ((Just put your suggestion in the discussion thread and I'll approve it)) Then the pair had a choice to make. To the east there was the firework, and the explosion of light, which seemed to indicate something serious in the area. To the north there were more trials to face at the same time. Both options were equally open to them, they need only choose... Le Chef and Shade With their new find seemingly unresponsive, the pair was then back to choosing a new destination. To the south a bright flash of light signaled some occurrence, but an ominous tower loomed to the west, where yet un-claimed trials lay in the barren white of the City. The pair just had to pick their direction.

Two huge story posts today, the rest of the characters will get an update tomorrow. I'm also mostly finished the new map which will be up tomorrow as well. The twists won't stop coming from here on out.

D3 "You're all so adorable." The Doctor smiled. He first turned towards Liath. "My Marauders are here to cleanse the City. They are here in fact to get rid of the dolls. Not you. It was requested by my superiors, but my superiors do no know about your presence here. In any case, you've handled them all easily enough and they help you to prepare for the trials so I see no concern." Suddenly an alarm went off on the transparent man's watch, and he looked down in alarm. "Oh dear, speaking of those. It seems they've upgraded my Marauder's incursions to a full out invasion without telling me. I'll have to handle this." He walked towards the elevator in the building and pressed the "Up" button. "You really must finish this trial. Given the circumstances I realize now that the City must be activated, but Q has to be destroyed. I'll fill you all in on one thing. This place. This City. It isn't real. This is what you may call a 'computer simulation', but it's not quite that. The City represents a network of computers that function on a new level of sophistication. Once the code is written to allow for this network to function properly it could run government, solve the logistics of world hunger, develop a cure for all the great diseases. A network that has the processing power of high-efficiency computers with the judgement capability and empathy of human beings." He looked down at his watch worriedly as the elevator doors opened. "But nobody could think in such advanced terms to build the infrastructure of that network. We made an empty shell, but we needed someone to fill it. Thus we created hyper-advanced AIs of emotion as well as logic, to be inserted into the network to truly create The City: a hub network that can think and feel and that would advance the world. They weren't good enough, though. They were extreme and so very unlike actual humans in certain ways. They ended up as caricatures and were unable to build the city into what we needed...." The doctor began to suddenly disappear as he finished explaining. "Then our friend Q came along, and she inserted you all into the simulation of this network. Thinking, feeling humans that could destroy the AI we placed here and truly bring the city to life. It's the one way to save our world. And the one way to get out of here." And like that, he was gone, and an elevator waiting before the group... leading them to their next trial... and its master. The Cloud Riders Meet the Fiery Trio! (Tristan, Nora, Chester) After the flare went off Yuki made his way to the three, with the rest of his friends riding on his small grouping of clouds behind him. As they landed, and he began to speak, the roar of something in the sky tore through the streets. Overhead dozens of marauder pods streaked across the sky, crashing into buildings and streets all over the city. "Oh dear." Suddenly standing between the trio of Tristan, Nora, and Chester, and the cloud riders that Yuki had brought over was a well dressed and strangely transparent man. A man who had come to be referred to as The Doctor. He shook his head in worry. "It seems my superiors are losing faith. They are sending in the whole armada. They somehow wish to destroy the city instead of activate it... the fools." He looked from one group to the other, and then a smile spread across his face. "Ah, well I'm glad to see many of you have come together. You'll need help in case. We-" He was cut off as more than a dozen marauder pods slammed into the ground around the group. The Doctor looked somewhat shocked; scared even. "This is not good... not even you all could handle this. What are they thinking? Quickly you all have to run, you have to-" There was no time. The pods burst open and gray beasts spewed forth, charging towards the two groups. "Oh no. They've doomed you. They've doomed this whole place." The dozens upon dozens of Marauders swarmed the streets towards the group... Until a flash of light incinerated every one. "Nobody dooms my City." When the bright flash dimmed all the Marauders lay dead, or eviscerated entirely. In between the two groups, directly next to the doctor, stood a young woman. She wore a long purple dress that glimmered in the bare light of the City. Her hair was... unlike any color. It seemed like light itself, shifting through every part of the spectrum in a single moment. As the light dimmed it seemed to return to her. Her features were subtle but her eyes stared forward with a sense of strength, and her expression was quiet-looking but menacing. "Hello Doctor." She said with not an ounce of love. He smiled back at her. "Hello Q."