Quick Fix Game 36/Anonymous Game 5: Dream Thieves

[Snipexe]

Scissors flexed his fingers, clenching and unclenching them. It felt good to be in a bodyagain. He grabbed the vessel’s phone off the ground, they’d had it open when he hopped into them. Using the touch ID to login, it opened to a site called the 17th Shard. He rolled his eyes. On a forum while you were on a trip to New York? What waste of a trip. He closed the tabs, then opened messages, texting Grains with his new phone number. The response he got was simple.

 Your Lucky Numbers Are 19 24 10 

Nineteen hundred West, Twenty four hundred North, Tenth shop. Scissors looked to the street corner, Eighteen hundred West, Twenty four hundred North. Good, he was close. He walked down the street, smiling as he felt the sights and the sounds of the city. He crossed the street, and walked down the street, counting off the shops as he walked. When he reached ten, he looked in. It was a Starbucks. He walked inside, and checked the vessel’s wallet. Twenty bucks. He smiled as he went up to the counter.

“2 Vanilla Lattes please.”

“Coming right up? What’s your name name sir?”

Name? Name? He couldn’t say Scissors, no that would tip Blaze off. He thought back to the phone, to the wallet. All he could remember was that stupid username on that stupid site.

“Uhhhhh...Snip”

“Snip? That’s a weird name?”

“My parents were weird people.”

The cashier shrugged their shoulders, and he paid her, then walked to corner of the store to grab some sugar and cream. As he did so he looked around the room. Where was Blaze? He would be doing the same thing he was, searching the room for Scissors. They made eye contact at the same time as the cashier yelled for Scissors. Keeping Blaze in the corner of his eye. He grabbed the lattes, then ran at Blaze with them. Blaze’s vessel started, then tried to get out their chair. He threw one of the lattes at him, splattering the hot liquid all over him. Blaze yelled in pain, and tried to clear out his eyes, but it was too late. Scissors reached up, and touched Blaze’s face.

“Tag, you’re it.”

Scissors then ran and jumped through the window, shredding his vessel, and then abandoning it, looking for someone else that would become his while he hid. He grabbed the cashier, and ran out the back of the store.

[Steeldancer]

I’ve decided to make a small edit to the rule set. The point of this game is to encourage players to use the primary mechanic, body hopping. However, the fact that being ousted out of a body counts as a body hop makes it so that mechanic has some unfair risk. As such, I’m defining a body hop as being a successful transition to a new body. Being stranded out of a body will STILL kill you if you’ve used all 3 hops, but being knocked out of a body when you have only 1 hop remaining won’t kill you any more. Thank you for your patience as I try and make this game as player friendly as possible. 

In other notes, not signing into your faction WILL count against you for the activity filter. 2 turns of inactivity will see you replaced by a pinch hitter. I’m very serious about this, the game’s balance hinges on everyone being active. This game will only take a week, please take the time to be active. Thank you. 

[Lumgol]

The spirit decided to call themselves Rena today. A nice name. It suited the husk they were about to occupy - not fancily dressed but pulled together neatly, moving slowly as though half dreaming as she ate. And the food on her plate looked good! It looked tasty! Spirits like Rena weren't supposed to enjoy food. Food was trivial. For the husks. Was it really their fault that Rena wanted to eat? And that they didn't want the husks to kill each other and that they just wanted to watch and learn and maybe make a few friends?

Rena looked around and stifled a shiver. It was the Shadow. Pointing to... Rena? Their husk? It was hard to tell.

Do not fear, Rena repeated as they had been teaching themselves to do. Do not fear. Die with dignity. Just like you have been told.

Rena slipped into the husk's body and moved her to a table where there were other husks eating. "What are you reading?" Rena's husk asked, in a voice that was deeper than Rena expected. The husk struggled to read the title on the spine. The Way of Kings? Interesting! It was time to make some friends.

[Sparkrunner]

 

@Steeldancer, how does a team acquire items? It seems like the mechanic relies a great deal on luck, with the people who happen to jump into the right bodies when the game ends winning. Is that all there is to the mechanic? 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Roadwalker

[Young Bard]

The husk - Felix - walked down the busy street, guitar slung awkwardly on his shoulder as he dodged around the busy sidewalks.

"Sorry."
"Excuse me."
"Really sorry."

I'm too tired for this. As he navigated his way past the swathes of people, he saw a coffee shop. Quickly stopping to check his wallet (much to the frustration of the other pedestrians, who edged their way around him and the guitar across his back), it seemed as though Felix was down on his luck. Still, there was enough cash there for a cup of coffee, at least.

[I think I am here.]

He was one of the spirits who gave himself a name. Levi. The name he shared between all his husks, the thing keeping himself, his identity.

Levi. He didn’t know what it meant, but he’d taken it from an Italian husk and had held onto it ever since.

Levi. It sounded nice, Levi decided as he killed another man.

[DeTess]

6 hours ago, Roadwalker said:

 

@Steeldancer, how does a team acquire items? It seems like the mechanic relies a great deal on luck, with the people who happen to jump into the right bodies when the game ends winning. Is that all there is to the mechanic? 

You can pass items around, and unless you're a strong spirit, you can't jump into an occupied body, where most of the stuff would be.

[Sparkrunner]

Where is the pass items rule stated? I can't seem to find it.

[Coop772]

I looked as well, it's referenced in the order of actions, Item Pass being the first, but other than that I couldn't find it either

 

[Steeldancer]

2 hours ago, Roadwalker said:

Where is the pass items rule stated? I can't seem to find it.

Huh. That is weird. Yes, you can pass items for an action. Before you body hop. 
You also can get items by voting on people and having them get lynched, and there are some other methods as well that you can discover as you hop around. 
I have a midterm today, so I'm going offline for most of the rest of the turn. Keep in mind it ends in 6 hours, so make sure your team is all set to go before the documents close. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by Steeldancer

[Fifth Scholar]

Just a brief reminder to all players that using any outside sources to encrypt, code, or codebreak is forbidden by the Fair Play Policy in the SE Rules. Any team is still allowed to devise their own codes, develop their own programs to encode and decode messages, or speed up an encoding or decoding process, but only if you yourself made that program. Using online sources directly, however, is against SE policy.

[Steeldancer]

Just now, Fifth Scholar said:

Just a brief reminder to all players that using any outside sources to encrypt, code, or codebreak is forbidden by the Fair Play Policy in the SE Rules. Any team is still allowed to devise their own codes, develop their own programs to encode and decode messages, or speed up an encoding or decoding process, but only if you yourself made that program. Using online sources directly, however, is against SE policy.

did you have to pick such a horrible, eye resistant color? 

[Fifth Scholar]

Just now, Steeldancer said:

did you have to pick such a horrible, eye resistant color? 

Yes. 

[Steeldancer]

There is less than hour before the turn ends and all documents close. Make your finishing plans now, or forever hold your peace. 

[Shqueeves]

2 hours ago, Steeldancer said:

did you have to pick such a horrible, eye resistant color? 

Yellow is a wonderful color and you shouldn't be insulting it.

[Steeldancer]

4 minutes ago, Shqueeves said:

Yellow is a wonderful color and you shouldn't be insulting it.

Fifth may have gotten away with it because he's a mod, but don't test me. I WILL feed you to Alvron, and chuckle as I do so. 
Turn 0 is over! All docs will be closed momentarily! The new day will be up fairly soon. 

[Alvron]

@Shqueeves, please don't use that colour during a game as it's used by Mods for important information.  Although this colour is more commonly used rather than that blinding yellow Fifth favours.  

Edit: Ninja'd by the GM.  Feed me!  The Shadows hunger.

[Shqueeves]

M'kay, sorry

[Steeldancer]

Turn 1- The Nonsense of Legends
"Welcome back to ABC news, bringing you the brain-breaking reports of NYC. This just in- we have had multiple reports of missing individuals, disappearing under similar circumstances as to the mysterious 'Amnesia Waves.' Police are already attempting to locate these individuals and bring them back home, although they have declined to release their names. Remember folks, to check with your loved ones to make sure they are who they say they are. If they don't know who they are, report it to the authorities immediately. Now, moving on, Elon Musk says there is a possibility that SpaceX will mine an asteroid by 2025..."
______
Turn 1 has begun! Please remember to only post using your anonymous accounts from now on! The turn will end in 24 hours, at 10:00 PM 3/6/19 MST. You now may use actions and lynch someone. 

Spoiler

1.Amethyst Scorpion
2.Azure Mouse
3.Amber Vulture
4.Charcoal Hyena
5.Chartreuse Penguin
6.Coral Swan
7.Cream Tuatara
8.Emerald Falcon
9.Fuchsia Ostrich
10.Indigo Weasel
11.Ivory Dragonfly
12.Magenta Albatross
13.Mauve Crocodile
14.Melon Dingo
15.Mint Heron
16.Onyx Flamingo
17.Opal Lion
18.Oxblood Beagle
19.Pearl Chameleon
20.Plum Rhino
21.Quartz Zebra
22.Saffron Iguana
23.Sage Kangaroo
24.Salmon Meerkat
25.Sapphire Elephant
26.Scarlet Octopus
27.Sunburst Toucan
28.Taupe Gecko
29.Turquoise Gorilla
30.Violet Axolotl

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Steeldancer

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

Making my way downtown walking fast
Faces pass and I'm home bound
Staring blankly ahead just making my way
Making a way through the crowd

Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left
I don't know what stressed me first
Or how the pressure was fed
But I know just what it feels like
To have a voice in the back of my head

It's more than a feeling--

Grgg. Listening to so many songs made Nellik feel like there was a radio constantly playing by him. He liked to do his research on vessels, so he could hide in them without disrupting too much around them. However, he was in a bit of a hurry with this one--only had a week to learn the daily routine, and it turned out the person did nothing but listen to music all day. All. Day.

The vessel worked at a radio station--Nellik's bane. He hated music, especially songs with lyrics. It grated on his ears so much, and worse, it reminded him of several close calls. For some reason, every time he lost a vessel to an assailant was when popular music was playing--or that one time, during a concert.

Call it confirmation bias, but this vessel was bad luck. Expecting a confrontation at any moment, he checked the clock and headed out. Time to finalize some research for a new vessel.

[Charcoal Hyena]

The baby was crying.

What does it want? Does it want its nappy changed? Does it want to be fed? How do you change nappies, anyway?

Maybe it wanted a hug.

Slowly, the figure lifted up the thing into his arms, and wrapped his arms around the tiny creature. He got rewarded with a wail into his ear, and a vulgar smelling assault on his nose from the direction of the creatures diapers.

...I have more things I need to get done anyway - the game's on. I don't have time to deal with the thing anyway.

Gently, he put the baby back into its pram. He wheeled the pram up next to a tree, and leant against it for a moment, watching the thoroughfare go by. When no-one was watching, he joined the pathway and began to walk away, leaving the crying behind.

Part of him seized up - the instincts of his previous owner. He forced those instincts down, and retook control. Almost immediately, he felt more relaxed, without any of that noisy, irritating screaming in his ear.

Finally. Now I can get on with the game.

[Coral Swan]

The game is on, and the World is open to me.

She went through her new body's pockets. Phone (16442), wallet, water bottle, nothing else stood out. That wasn't exactly an auspicious beginning. She sighed. Apparently she had managed to grab the one person in the States not armed to the teeth with firearms.

The phone seemed new, with a mostly empty contact list. Apparently the body's former owner used neither facebook nor whatsapp. 

Oh no... She looked up and found herself in front of a fancy organic coffee place. Letting the body move around on autopilot was always an interesting way to learn things, and in this case it confirmed her suspicion.

Ugh, I managed to hop into a hipster. That's not going to make blending in any easier.

***

Anyway, I'll be making a habit out of sharing my phone number if other people do the same. as I said before, getting in contact with others in a game like this can be pretty useful for both parties, but I'd prefer not to make it too easy for people to track where I'm going.

[Sage Kangaroo]

Caden had been hiding in his body for longer than any body snatcher he knew. The key wasn't in being inconspicuous. The key was hiding in plain sight. No one would even think that Caden was anyone but Sage Kane. That was partly because no one really knew SK. Well, people knew him, but they didn't know they knew him. After all, it was SK's job to get his picture taken with small children.

SK lived alone, and all the other tenants on his floor were druggies that paid him no mind, as long as he paid them no mind, so he rarely, if ever had to communicate with anyone.

All of that was about to change. As Caden arrived at work in SK's body, he was greeted by two men in police uniforms. "Sage Kane Guru," the mustached man said, "You're under arrest for the murder of 9 children between the years of 1997 and 2009."

EDIT:

Please respond to this message if you get it. Just let me know you read this
So, some thoughts on the game:

1. I see some of the reasoning in revealing phone numbers that Swan has suggested, and as such, I will probably follow suit, but first I have a quick question regarding this mechanic. If I have someone's phone number, am I able to just immediately create a PM with that person, or do I need to verify that it is the correct phone number with the GM prior to creating the PM?

If I do end up revealing my phone number, I won't reveal all of my phone numbers, just some of them, assuming I choose to body hop a lot. Which I still don't know whether I will do or not.

Edit: oops, I meant to just save that, and post it after some one else posted something, so that way I wasn't double posting. Sorry about the double post.

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Sage Kangaroo

[Coral Swan]

reading you loud and clear, sage

Anyway, I do suppose it's best to lynch someone? You never know what'll drop from the loot piñatas I mean, other bodies :P.

Taupe Gecko, do you currently have someone playing you?

[Violet Axolotl]

Sage, Coral. Let's do this.

That seems like an effective way to speed up the game, poke-voting. It's in the interest of everyone to beat those loot piñatas, and see what falls out. Let us start at the top of the list with Amethyst Scorpion.

/EOM

/‬

Edited March 6, 2019 by Violet Axolotl
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