Charcoal Hyena

Aylia sat at her desk, her pen flying across the page as she furiously wrote letter after letter. She had made a decision to reach out to every person she knew, to establish communication in case anything bad happened. She couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had been with her, and she wanted to make sure she was prepared for anything. She scribbled furiously, her hand moving at lightning speed as she tried to remember every name and address. She had to make sure she didn't miss anyone, that she didn't leave anyone out.

As the hours ticked by, Aylia's hand began to cramp and her eyes grew heavy, but she refused to stop. She had to get these letters out and to make sure that she was connected to the people she cared about.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Aylia sat back with a sigh and looked at the pile of completed letters in front of her. She was exhausted, but she knew that it had been worth it. She hoped these connections would serve her well.

48 minutes ago, Plum Rhinoceros said:

hi

Aylia's eyes flew open and she jumped, startled by the sudden sound. She looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. The rooftop was empty, save for herself and the stone walls that surrounded it.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should investigate further or return to the safety of the mansion. But her curiosity won out, and she began to cautiously approach the source of the voice, her heart racing in her chest.

"Who are you?" Aylia asked, her voice shaking slightly. "What do you want?"

Aylia stood on the rooftop of her family's mansion, staring out at the city of Tyrian Falls stretched out before her. The wind whipped through her dark hair, and she wrapped her cloak tighter around her slender frame. As she gazed out at the twinkling lights of the city below, Aylia could not help but feel a sense of unease wash over her. She had always been a woman of great courage and fortitude, but there was one fear that had always lingered in the back of her mind.

It was a fear that had been with her for as long as she could remember, one that had followed her throughout her life and haunted her dreams. A fear of the unseen horrors that lurked in the shadows of the night. Aylia knew that she was not alone in this apprehension, that it was one shared by many. But for her, this feeling went beyond mere anxiety or trepidation. It was a deep, soul-shuddering terror that seemed to seep into every aspect of her being, powerful enough to turn even the bravest of hearts to quivering jelly.

Aylia had always tried to keep it in check, to push it down and ignore it as best she could. But on this night, as she stood on the rooftop of the mansion, it seemed to be creeping up on her more intensely than ever before. She tried to shake it off, to remind herself that she was safe and that there was nothing to be afraid of. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching her, something malevolent and sinister.

Aylia took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She closed her eyes and took a few slow, measured breaths, focusing on the sound of the wind rushing through the trees and the distant hum of the city below.

Maybe it was just her imagination, she thought to herself. Maybe she was just letting her fears get the better of her. After all, the matter seemed to defy logic. Weren't the Spiked a legend, anyway?

Vulture. It sure would be nice to catch an elim one of these days.

No. You sound... different than before.

Well, well. Neither Vulture nor Scorpion has died. I feel suspicion. One of them should die tomorrow.

1 hour ago, Amethyst Scorpion said:

You think Vulture has changed enough today? You think they're different from today? or do you think their D3 was different?

 

Uhh... maybe.

Vulture. If they weren't evil before, surely they are evil now.

[Connection Lost]
[Connection re-established]
[Connection Lost]
[Connection re-established]
For goodness-
[Connection Lost]

2 minutes ago, Coral Swan said:

I would say that would probably fall under game throwing. If I were an elim that converted you, and you didn't cooperate, I would ask for moderator intervention.

Well forget it then

41 minutes ago, Coral Swan said:

That doesn't work, because if you get converted, your alignment changes and you can give the solution to the Kandra that steals your body. Otherwise we could all have done something like that starting N1.

Only if I care to do it. Which I don't. 

Maybe I'm bluffing, but will the elim team be willing to take that gamble? It wouldn't work if everyone had a code, but if it's just one person... well, surely there are better targets, are there not?

PGTAQHCQBZPRO

A ward from being turned. If I do not break the code by mid-day tomorrow, execute me.

Looks like we won't be seeing you, Ostrich. :\ Well played. 

1 hour ago, <kel> said:

im on painkillers rn 

y'all do it yourself i'll help tomorrow

pls let me rest if this is not urgent

Well, I'll make it less urgent. Vulture Albatross.

14 hours ago, Amethyst Scorpion said:

@Charcoal Hyena I think you're town, what's your take on me?

Decent enough, I think?

22 hours ago, Coral Swan said:

Do you think Vulture's suspicion of Falcon last cycle fits with them being elim? Also, any thoughts on my notes abut Falcon's player interactions?

Yeah, plausibly. I mean, the only interaction the two had was Vulture mild reading Falcon Elim as far as I can see, which is certainly an interaction two elims would have- especially one that's about to body-hop.

Falcon maybe made all those PMs to fish out a role to hop into?

@<kel> official VC pls?

[Activating defense protocols]

I would like Amber Vulture to die.

11 minutes ago, Indigo Weasel said:

Hyena, why didn't you push for my death more strongly when you had the chance?

I don't think a no-lynch was even seriously up for discussion at that point. At least, I didn't think that people would actually allow that to happen. I'm suspicious of Amber Vulture for supporting a tie- I don't think it's a given that a tie will be broken by vote-manippers, especially if the elim team winds up having several.

Shame on you for letting the lynch slip away whilst I was otherwise occupied...

2 hours ago, Amber Vulture said:

Then why the vote? I'm inclined to put Weasel in my mild village reads due to their general tone, and the way in which they village-read Beagle for asking questions. Unless they are e/e with Beagle, the way they phrased that sentence reads mildly village to me.

It's a lack of suspicious presence that fills me with suspicion.

2 hours ago, Indigo Weasel said:

I believe that's supposed to be my line 

I think I'm the one with the color closest to black, so... 

[Bucketing Start]
Bad - 15
Good - 0
>Uh oh
>They can't *all* be SynthKandra
>Guess I'll have to fix it manually

1 hour ago, Emerald Falcon said:

Love being sick

Not really it sucks

Can finally think a little bit so time to reread the thread yayyy

Get well soon. Try not to die.
Sick Bro can't be evil. 

Good - 1

On 4/24/2022 at 2:57 PM, Coral Swan said:

Albatross. Time to seal the breach.

On 4/24/2022 at 3:00 PM, Amethyst Scorpion said:

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

Fuschia Ostrich, do you currently have someone playing you?

On 4/24/2022 at 3:47 PM, Chartreuse Penguin said:

There are a depressing number of RP characters to be had… though admittedly I too feel unfamiliar with the setting and also might just leave Ladrian’s fate up to kel. And the rest of you.

Currently disliking Scorp for a couple bad reasons: Apparently not checking the player list before voting, seemingly considering not exeing, little things like that. Dunno what to make of their font size changing mid-post but I doubt that means anything.

Weasel

And so you come out swinging. Very attention grabbing. Impostors couldn't dare be so bold.

Good - 4

On 4/24/2022 at 4:02 PM, Magenta Albatross said:

package replicant;
import java.util.*
import java.io.*
import java.swing.JOptionPane;
public class FirstWords {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("System operator online.");
        JOptionPane.showMessageDialogue(null, "CONTAINMENT BREACH FOR PROJECT REPLICANT", "ALERT", JOptionPane.ERROR_MESSAGE);
        System.out.println("Please stand by.");
    }
}

 

Hello. In case it wasn't clear, I will be RPing in the form of code that probably doesn't work in practice. Thanks to kel for how to do fonts. 

The taking over bodies mechanic is interesting for many reasons, not the least of which because of how it negates the "why are you alive" argument, weakens alignment scanners, and provides strong incentive to observe tone like the proverbial hawk. The tone argument is less important because of how the Taken can act as an advisor to ensure relative tonal consistency. 

Is this a reference to something? I find myself confused.

This phrasing strikes me as odd. I don't know if that's because the notion of addressing the account itself rather than the player that would be portraying it is strange or because I don't understand the question. Are you asking if Ostrich is online?

Saying that it is best to exe someone does not really imply to me that they were considering not doing it as more than a cursory consideration of options. It is very possible to not exe given a vote minimum and lack of deaths on ties, so it should be considered for a brief moment before being discarded.

Hyena, am I hallucinating, or are there some different colors in your text? With the color display on my monitor, it's hard to tell

I would like to take a moment to affirm my anti-poke vote stance since it does very little to actually incentivize activity, especially since pings won't notify someone not logged in and there's a certain lack of recognition granted to the name of the anon account. For instance, I didn't realize Swan was voting for me instead of voting for some other player who happened to be an albatross until mere moments ago.

On 4/24/2022 at 4:33 PM, Amber Vulture said:

I've thought about this.

Embedding encrypted messages, placing other uniquely personalized media in my posts, etc. But of course, going the extra mile to make a possible conversion detectable is not in my best interests since my loyalties inevitably shift in that event. (If I had more time to dedicate to this game, I probably would have done it anyway, if only to make the kandra's life harder than it needs to be.) Instead of working on making oneself conversion-proof, the better course of action here is probably to monitor the thread and look for abnormalities following the death of a kandra. It's possible there are no kandra at all - given how the main mechanic in MR57 failed to go off at all, it won't surprise me to find out the kandra don't exist. Or maybe they won't choose to use the mimicry. 

But enough about the conversion mechanic - shouldn't really be relevant until a kandra flips. But I encourage everyone to post as much as their schedules allow them to - let's not give them an easy conversion target. And I shouldn't have to say this but please do not role claim in PMs/in-thread. They inherit the role of the player they mimic, so we have to practice caution.

I agree with Penguin that Scorp not checking the playerlist is odd - why ping the player and ask if the account is currently active instead of simply checking the playerlist? It's a redundant question - not like the account will respond if they aren't playing. This comes off as feigning nonchalance. Conversely, I also agree with Scorp that Penguin voting for Weasel after expressing suspicion on Scorp is weird. 

21 hours ago, Salmon Meerkat said:

The village has D1'd an elim three games in a row, so votes and reasonings are relevant even so early. Also nice to see Swan defending voting for a null over an elim read again.

If you're a villager, it's in your team's best interest to dissuade conversion attempts by making yourself difficult to imitate. If everyone puts in the effort to do so, the elims may not be able to make any body hops without detection, but even narrowing down the candidates is helpful.

  Reveal hidden contents

The summons comes late at night on one of my appointed sleeping days. First, my cybernetic eyes snap open, the setting to keep them closed while I slept having been overridden.  Then I hear Edrena’s voice from my voice modulator. <I’m afraid we’re in need of your services once again, Vel. Report to my lab for briefing.>

 

I want to go back to sleep. I’ve already spent all day on security duty and none of my body modifications prevent me from getting tired. Heron Industries also expects nothing less than enthusiasm from its employees, so I respond subvocally, <I’ll be there as soon as I can.>

 

I roll out of my cot in my nightclothes. My only other possessions in the room that aren’t part of me are my slippers which I put on before leaving the room. My own quarters, which is a privilege among Heron Industries field operatives, but also renders me totally isolated from the others in my line of work. My other belongings are kept locked up in Edrena’s laboratory for her to dole out at Heron Industries’ convenience. I head there now, dread pooling in my gut at the prospect of being sent out once again to commit acts of violence. That and the cold hallway air on my exposed arms and lower legs start to truly wake me up and prepare me for my assignment. Meanwhile, I create a new index entry in my internal coppermind. When I upload the memories of this trip down the hallways, I’ll change these emotion to something more suitable. The data techs that review my stored memories prefer unthinking loyalty, as if there’s nothing that makes me more content than serving Heron Industries to the full extent of my abilities.

 

I reach Edrena’s lab after only a couple minutes. When I was first assigned to her supervision six years ago after Heron Industries rejected my application to join R&D, it had taken a full twenty minutes to reach her, then much smaller and jointly owned, lab from the shared guard and operative quarters. When she was promoted to head of the R&D department for unofficial operations three and a half years ago, due in large part to my successes as a field operative, she was allowed to reshuffle the living arrangements of the personnel under her command. Now I live alone right outside the R&D wing itself, making it far easier for her to call on me. The scanner on the door to her lab registers my cybernetic eyes with a soft beep. I’m not authorized to enter the lab on my own, but I am on the list of permitted visitors. Seconds later, Edrena approves my request, the door slides open, and I step inside.

 

She looks more frazzled than usual, as if she was also woken up for whatever this mission is. I haven’t seen her look like this since she was just a research assistant. She fishes a remote out of a pocket of her lab coat and hits the button. I hear a soft hum as the automatic visual and auditory recording capacities of my eyes and voice modulator shut down. This mission must be even more serious than it already appeared. I create an additional coppermind heading to file away the details and wait for her explanation.

 

“It’s called Project Replicant,” she says. “My department has been working with the Hemalurgists since before I joined Heron Industries to create our own version of Kandra for use in infiltration missions such as the type you specialize in. Our prototypes are capable of replicating a perfect DNA match of an individual from their bones and can survive injuries that would kill even a Bloodmaker. Their design reinforces the skeletal structure of a host body to protect it from harm. Unlike a regular Kandra, removing their spikes kills them, and they can be temporarily incapacitated with precise jolts of electricity. Your name was on the shortlist to be a test subject for that program actually, but I kept you out of it. You were too valuable to waste on an experimental procedure, plus your natural shapeshifting abilities were more than sufficient.”

 

She pauses and looks up at me, her expression set and not smiling, which further underscores the severity of the situation. I unfreeze the neutral expression and detached eye contact that typically suits best for these briefings to adopt a look of curiosity and concern. This must be correct, as she continues in her serious business voice, “Something must have gone wrong because there was a containment breach at the facility that houses Project Replicant and they’ve gone into security lockdown. My superiors have decided that the response to this crisis cannot be linked to Heron Industries in any way. They’ve hired the mistrunner clientele of some dive bar, the Electric Sparrow, to enter the locked down area and settle the cause of the disturbance. Your mission is to join their crew and make sure that no knowledge of Project Replicant reaches the outside world. I’ve selected equipment that will allow you to fit in with this crew, which you’ll find in the storage area. I don’t want a single mistrunner leaving that building alive. Any mistrunners you deem worthy of recruitment are to be left unconscious inside the building so Security can handle them. Surviving mistrunners not worth our time are to be executed upon completion of the mission. Your secondary objective is to preserve current progress on Project Replicant. Do not terminate any test subjects or prototypes unless necessary to prevent them from escaping lockdown, and avoid destruction of research notes except to keep them from falling into the hands of these mercenaries. I will dispatch your team to secure the perimeter, but you will not be able to keep in contact with them and they must not learn any details regarding Project Replicant. Upon successful completion of your objectives, you are to give a full report to me, store all your memories of this mission starting from when you woke up on your coppermind, and then delete them. Do you understand?”

 

I point to my head where my copperminds are embedded. She relaxes for a second and smiles. “Of course you do, my technological marvel.” I smile back to show that I agree that the technological advances I possess or have made use of are incredible, which is true, and that I don’t mind the fact that so many of them are used to strip away my privacy, which is not. “On that note,” she continues, “since this is a dangerous mission, I’ll need a copy of your most recent memories just in case.”

 

I quickly fill the memories I’ve made since the last transfer and haven’t yet stored into their preformatted slots in my copperminds. When I’m done, I turn around, putting my back to her. I feel her reach her hands up to brush my hair away from my neck, which takes her several attempts to accomplish, and place a cold copper disk on the base of my brain stem. “You’ve been growing your hair out again,” she observes when the requisite memories have finished copying over. “When you get back, we’ll have to cut it back down to regulation length”.

 

“Of course,” I reply, my modulated voice easily keeping any emotion out of my words, as always. “I’ll return when Project Replicant is secure once more. I start to walk towards storage to collect my work clothes and gear, noticing that she doesn’t turn the recording functionalities back on. I smile internally. Perhaps the secrecy of this mission will work to my advantage. Tamara’s crew will certainly want to know everything about Project Replicant, and perhaps some of the mistrunners will prove skilled and trustworthy enough to join her. Original character, do not steal.

 

I don't know, Albatross. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. 

You don't seem the type to dare let your bodies be usurped.

Good - 7

5 hours ago, Mauve Crocodile said:

hiya hiya hiya!!!! can't move this quote box down to address later cuz me phone be dumbzo but hi y'all! im glad botcher. i botch things up! like putting quote boxes in the wrong spot! or not getting a notification about a game starting until it's almost a day into it wuuuuuutttt.

anywaiz kel that's not nice. my body is a temple thank you very much. it may be a messy temple with lots of problems and things falling apart and aches and pains that never used to be there but it is not supposed to be desecrated in such a manner!!!! you should use the powers that be in you to teach those kandra a lesson so they're not doing such horrible things to bodies!

tho i guess one flipflopside do i wants to be impersonenonayted??? .....kinda achtully. mostly just to seeeeee. to waaatchhh.

watch. watch. why that word be soo familiar to me. ah well i dontsa no.

 

whos kas?? i don't know this kas person. this game was designreated by kel. kel's been my bud since like this one game with mud and evil pandas and door fangs - yep the doors had fangs on them isn't that so coooolll? wouldn't you like to have a fanged door??? you could sicc it on anyone knocking you don't want to talk to!!!!

okay achtully kel wasn't my bud then i lied. but it was only a small lie.

but in other nooz (ha my phone just changed that to booze. phone are you telling me something??? i know it's five o clock somewhere but it's not even noon here so noooo). imma vote for the pukey colored flightless bird. penguin. 

why be mad when you can be glaaaddddd :)))))))))

If you're a kandra, I give up.

Good - 8

7 hours ago, Indigo Weasel said:

Since identity vagueness makes impersonations easier, the case for non anonymity is the strongest. Scum might try to reason their way towards undermining acceptance of that conclusion, but an impulsive preference for anonymity puts Penguin in a pointlessly vulnerable position and misses an opportunity to persuade people to join them in it. My understanding of this use of anonymous accounts is that it facilitates the game mechanics in a distinct way from the tournaments that use them which have different motivations more in line with Penguin's suggestions. 

For comparison, Vulture's first post raises the unlikely possibility of there being no kandra using flawed logic. A mechanic that failed to activate should not imply this mechanic does not exist. They also suggest an identification strategy that would be ineffective because of the Kandra's victim's alignment change and ability to communicate with them. These are scummy musings along the way towards an acceptable conclusion. 

Thank you for the vote tally, Beagle! I found your public questions to be towny as well, specifically the one about the scum win condition.

5 hours ago, Melon Dingo said:

You're s'posed to bold your votes too.

what if it's fun to be mad? (don't question it, I say weird things.)

3 hours ago, Ivory Dragonfly said:

ive never been good at following instructions tbh

good to see you back kel been a long long time

hello to all you wonderful peeps

imma be a bit out of things for a cycle but fret not 

it wont be for long

things seem basic enough like kell said tyrian plus kandra shenanigans

cant say i agree with those saying anonymity is pointless

knowing people makes it easier to imitate

Huh. I don't really see anything particularly suspicious, I suppose.

9 hours ago, Oxblood Beagle said:

A question for @Chartreuse Penguin and @Amethyst Scorpion - Did you not read the rules, or are you deliberately trying to confuse the vote? Where should your votes actually be?

Vote Tally:

Albatross (1 (2)): Swan, (Scorp?)

Ostrich (1 (0)): Scorp(?)

Weasel (1 (0)): Penguin(?)

Scorp (2 (3)): Vulture, (Penguin?), Beagle

Scorp.

Some questions for @<kel>:

Close-Quarters Specialist, Combat Medic, Negotiator, Enforcer, and Infiltrator - Will the people targeted by these abilities be told they are in their PMs?

Does this mean that, if the Negotiator had a vote in, theirs would disappear from the list because they had used this ability, or would their name remain, with just the number reduced?

Does the "surviving players" count include any elims who are NOT Synthkandra? I'd find it pretty funny if the elims had to kill some of their own for victory!

Whether you're good or bad, keep asking questions.

Good - 9

[Connection Lost]
[Reestablishing Connection]

Weasel

[Connection Requested]
Pending...
Pending...
[Connection Established]

Testing, testing, 1,2,3. Is this thing on?

Just in case.

Amethyst Scorpion
Azure Mouse
Chartreuse Penguin
Coral Swan
Emerald Falcon
Fuchsia Ostrich
Ivory Dragonfly
Magenta Albatross
Melon Dingo
Mint Heron
Onyx Flamingo
Oxblood Beagle
Pearl Chameleon
Plum Rhinoceros
Quartz Zebra
Salmon Meerkat
Sapphire Elephant
Violet Axolotl

Charcoal Hyena

This is my actual readslist btw

Maybe I should have used a different text color for my openwolfing. Didn't even think about the voting thing. RIP.

1 minute ago, Violet Axolotl said:

Current VC:

Hyena (lots): Just about everyone
A bunch of random words (1): Hyena

And I don’t think I’ve voted yet, so: Hyena

Definitely not going to entertain any ideas of postponing a suspected elim!Mistborn’s death.

Inb4 I've been a Thug the whole time and our real Mistborn is elsewhere

Oh right Quartz, to answer your earlier question, I didn't try hiding my identity because I avoid lying whenever I can + felt that would be way, way, way too stressful to maintain. I'd have probably been much less active if I tried and I didn't want to limit myself.