Forced CYOA REDUX

I'm starting this Adventure thing over. Read the old topic if you want to see how the first one turned out. Alright, vote for your setting in the poll above and WE WILL BE GOOD TO GO!!!

As before, the choice with the most votes will be taken for the next step of the story. You can also opt to put up your own different choice, which will be taken if enough people vote/I think it will be interesting.

god dammit, votes are all for different things again

Sea of Chaos wins. Here we go.

March 23rd, 2158 AD Wyoming, United States

10 years ago, the privately owned Protega Facility managed to open a transcendental gateway that led to somewhere not of this world. This alternate universe was dubbed the Sea of Chaos, as every condition of it was in constant flux. Almost anything and everything in it can and will change at random times in random areas, including the laws of nature and fundamental forces of the universe. Most of these changes do not allow the existence of human life or anything else from our normal universe. Over the years Protega has sent some of its finest and best equipped personnel through yet still suffered a casualty rate in excess of 83%. The figurative piles corpses of the past expeditions have bridged the ravine between ignorance and enlightenment, and we now know the following facts about the Sea of Chaos:
1. The universe cannot decrease in size. This prevents the theoretical event of the entire Sea collapsing into a singularity and crushing everything.

2. Portals may open into other universes, which may be more hospitable to human life, or at least more stable.

3. The amount of Chaos that matter brought in from our universe (including living organisms) undergoes is inversely proportional to its mass. This is not a hard set rule, as even massive objects may undergo great change, but the probability of that is not as high.

You have been chosen to embark on the next expedition into the Sea of Chaos. Your role in this expedition is:

A. "Privileged Shmuck" - The few, if any survivors of an expedition almost always return with fabulous artifacts or supernatural powers. Protega is known for taking bribes from rich and powerful people so that they or someone they favor can try their luck at this. You are a VIP status civilian who can bring any items they want.
B. "Egghead" - Scientist usually specialized in theoretical and Qu4ntum physics that primarily carry and operate the high tech machinery for measuring, traversing, and generally surviving outside of the native universe.
C. "Expendable Personnel" - Combat units with a basic understanding of how to transport and operate the equipment in case of an emergency.

C

C

B

C it is.
You are a private military contractor who didn't know what he was getting into when he signed up for this. Too late now. You form part of the "outer shell", whose duty it is to safeguard the scientists and civilians. As their name suggests, Expendable personnel are the first and most often to die, human guinea pigs used to test if an environment's condition is lethal.

Loadout: Plasma Jetpack - provides propulsion in low-G environs.
Z38 Vacuum Rifle - Primary weapon provided by Protega. Resembles a large blue tinted P90 SMG in appearance. Has selective fire options for semi automatic, full automatic, and programmed burst (default is 3 round, can be set from 2-10). Capable of firing in oxygen-less areas, and every shot is a tracer round.
Framepack - heavy duty backpack containing primary and sidearm ammunition, 2 months worth of MREs, and bottled water.
Survival knife
Radio
Standard Issue Space suit.
Sidearm of choice (pick any modern real life pistol)
(Ask if you think there's anything else you should have)

You stand on a cold metal floor deep underground in the Protega Facility, surrounded by the 37 other people on the team, their equipment, and several vehicles. The ceiling is a natural limestone cavern roof, and the room is quite large to accommodate all of you at once. Before you is the Gateway, a large steel shrine-like construction, resembling a scene from Stargate. This expedition consists of 24 Expendable Personnel(including you), 10 scientists, and 2 VIPs, and headed by one Captain Dig Bushbag. On the edges of the vast room are all the support machinery connected to the Gateway, which many workers are attending to.
"All systems powered up."
"Make the tear."
A high pitched whining sound is emitted from the machines, and the center of the Gateway is filled with what looks like a solid aurora, extremely brightly colored rainbow shapes contained within the shrine.
"Alright, sissies! This is your last chance to quit before we go through." Captain Bushbag says. "The Gateway is the point of no return. Order of entry is as follows: 4 on foot, 4 bikes, another 8 footmen with the first APC, then the remaining APC and 4 bikes. Pick your mode of transport now."

The APC is a large armored vehicle containing most of the scientific equipment and protecting the VIPs and the Captain. The bikes are hovercycles with 2 seats and a cargo rack.

What are you going through on?
A. On foot. Real men WALK into Mordor.
B. Bike - If picked, you will then choose your riding partner.
C. First APC
D. Second APC
E. Screw this, I'm not going in there!

E

D

E

D

D

D wins.
The expedition crew starts manning the vehicles at a brisk pace. You're a scared man-child, so you decided to ride under the protective cover of an APC. Unfortunately many others had the same idea, so your fellow soldiers watched on in contempt as you disgracefully shoved aside civilian scientists and the weak in order to get a seat. The last seat is reserved for the Captain, who gets on about a minute later. Looking around, you see that the other fellow passengers are mostly physicists and engineers, with the exception of two: A slight girl in a pale green sweater and jeans, who is next to a grizzled, squinting man clad in Army attire. You stick out like a sore thumb with your custom body armor. The captain eyes you carefully. "A private contractor, eh. Probably for the best that you're in here, the better for Norm and I" he indicates the Army man "to make sure you don't desert." He turns and makes his way to the cockpit. The vehicle comes to life with a slow hum. Everyone turns on their radio comm units, and you follow suit as each member reports their presence to the captain with a terse "Check."
"OK, all personnel accounted for. Commencing entry."
"50 seconds..."
The brave men on foot stride into the Gateway. A disorienting static background noise begins. The technicians appear used to this.
"30 seconds...."
The hoverbikes rev up and zoom in.
"15 seconds..."
The first APC is through. The static grows louder.
"...Zero. Go time."
The captain floors the engine and the APC rushes into the Gateway.

The inside of the APC turns entirely pitch black, despite the numerous light sources that were present before. You get a strange feeling in your gut and the hairs on your arms stand up. "Aaaaarrree wwe therrre??" in a slow warbling voice is heard. It doesn't sound quite human and is accompanied by heavy breathing. Light is restored to the vehicle a few seconds later, but everything appears blurry and warped, including your own body. Sharp pains appear briefly in your joints and tendons.
Your radio immediately blares with a multitude of screams and strange sounds.
"-disrupted from our normal linear perception."
"I don't know."
"Protega's Stabilized Region."
"It wasn't me."
"Who said it then?"
"the chronological order of events becomes"
"We appear to have entered into a zone outside of"
Glass shatters.
"What's going on?"
"Seven Hells-"
"It's temporal Chaos, basically-"
The captain yells something incomprehensible.
"3 confirmed casualties, ## missing"
"Did anyone ask that question?"
"Check."
It's very difficult for you to get any understanding of what's happening the rest of the expedition, or your own body.

A. Check on the captain in the cockpit. If our driver's out there'll be no one to steer us out of danger.
B. Talk to the others.
C. Remain strapped into your seat and keep calm. No sense doing something irrational and dying because of it.
D. Suit up and exit the APC. If it crashes it could turn into a deathtrap.

C

D, be as swift as a coursing river
mysterious as the dark side of..
THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

itsame273 wrote:be as swift as a coursing river
mysterious as the dark side of..
THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

Missing quite a few lines there.

wutever man i forgot them QQ... WHY U B JUDGIN? R U A JUDGE? R U A JUDGE DREDD? EH CHU? EH? I FEEL OFFENDED

D

C

D

itsame273 wrote:THE MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

So i herd u liek the moon. I liek the moon too. WE LIKE THE MOOOOOOON
Oh boy D wins.

You decide to ditch, as the captain can't stop you now. You get out of your seat and being suiting up while the vessel shakes wildly. The others look at you with horrified expressions like you were insane. The helmet clicks on with an audible whoosh as the suit is sealed airtight and begins internal circulation. You thrust open the side door to reveal a blinding light that momentarily disorients you. As you try to figure out what is you're looking at, you hear a distinct, raspy voice over the radio, louder and clearer than all the others:
"NO...YOU...DON'T!!!"
You glance in your suit's rearview mirror. It's Norm, somehow suited up and about to get you. In a panic, you try to quickly jump through the doorway, but at the same time Norm lunges at you much faster, wrapping his arms around your waist. You both tumble out of the APC in a tangled mess at breakneck speed as someone else shuts the door behind you.
There is no gravity or inertia outside, and you continue to float further and further away from the APC from the initial momentum. The blinding white light seems to be coming from everywhere, which renders you incapable of making out anything visually. It begins to hurt your eyes so you shut them. You can still feel Norm's arms and hands holding on to you in a vice like grip, and try to squeeze out of it, but to no avail. The resulting struggle only causes your entwined masses to start spinning around in the weightless space.
All of a sudden, Norm's body becomes completely still. Thinking yourself victorious, you attempt to pry him off, but a strange electrical jolt paralyzes you just like the other man. As the heat of the fight fades, you notice that the radio has gone eerily silent except for a constant buzzing sound reminiscent of a dial tone. The light is gone, although you can't open your eyelids to see what has replaced it.
Unable to do anything but think, you drift aimlessly through the Sea. You figure this might go on for quite a while, so to keep yourself entertained you go over your inventory and what could come in handy if you ever regain bodily control. You now remember that you had brought an additional utility item with you:

A. 20 feet of high polymer rope
B. Crowbar
C. Binoculars
D. Butane lighter

B

A, probar is too unoriginal

A rope is useful

A

Wow, D wouldn't even work in space.

A, definitely A

gamemastersCollaborator wrote:Wow, D wouldn't even work in space.

This ain't your Grandpa's outer space. A wins.
Oh yeah, it was 20 feet of rope. That's just about enough to tie two people up for bondage play.
The dial tone buzz turns into a harsh grinding noise, and red hot pain starts flaring up all over, as if you were being burned alive. The fingernails on your left hand start growing at an alarming rate and push on the glove of your suit. You know that whatever killed the others, it's happening now. Your right leg begins to bends and twist in unnatural directions, but for some reason the bone remains intact. Then you feel the crunch as your toe bones are crushed, sending you into exquisite agony as the burning sensation escalates up your back and shoulders. Gravity is restored, but you are in too much pain to notice yet. Just as your brain is about to boil, a gut wrenching jerk on your abdomen pulls you down, down, down, until you black out from the pain and G-force.
Upon awakening you find that you can move again, and open your eyes to find....what remains of Norm's body draped on top of you, pinning you to the ground. You immediately shove it off in disgust. The once humanoid flesh and metal has been warped beyond recognition into a grotesque composite blob. You avert your gaze from it and survey your surroundings. You've landed in a a rocky purple landscape that ends abruptly about a few miles in each direction, giving way to dark green featureless space, indicating that you're on a large asteroid type object. In the "sky"(perpendicular to the ground) looms a wide gray Möbius strip of gigantic proportions. It seems to be getting closer at an extremely slow pace. There are lights and objects on both sides of the strip, but they are too far away for you to see properly. Your suit reads 99.6% power for air and water circulation, which will hold you for quite a long time, but it will run out eventually unless you can find sources of replenishment. Of course, if there is breathable air and potable water outside then it isn't a problem, but you highly doubt there is any on this asteroid. Well...what now.

A. Dissect Norm's body for valuables.
B. Call for help on the radio. (Can be combined with other options, choosing this alone means you stay put)
C. Explore the asteroid.
D. Try to leave the asteroid for the Möbius strip.

A! Surgeon time!

A (without B, calling for help is for noobs, real men drink tea)

D

A

A and B. While inspecting his suit, focus on finding any life support systems or power for such can be salvaged.

BTW Kooay, this is really cool.

lol wow guys this is not one of those RPGs where you loot everyone's corpses for income. A wins.
Realizing that a potential source of supplies is conveniently placed nearby, you whip out your trusty survival knife and start cutting up the...mutated thing. Multicolored blobs of congealed and viscous liquid begin to ooze out and trickle down your arms to the ground. If you weren't such a hardened veteran you would probably vomit inside your suit at the sight. You take in a deep breath, trying not to think about what you are about to do. You then close your eyes, and plunge your hands into the depths of the monstrosity. It is probably for the best that you can't hear the squishing and oozing through your suit and the "vacuum" of space.(You don't have measurement instruments)
First things first. You pull out the fleshiest, most intact dripping masses and try to guess the organ each one could be. Well, unless you're the type of creature that has a heart-liver or an boot-kidney, there aren't any viable transplant options here as the major organs have fused either with each other, the space suit, or vanished entirely. Even if Norm's blood was the right type for you before, it certainly isn't now. It seems to have mixed with something like motor oil and mustard, and you have no idea where this other green fluid came from.
His suit's filtration devices have all pretty much been disassembled and then put through a metal blender. They are useless in the current state and are stuck onto the rest of the body. The electronics from the suit are lodged in these strange organic worm-like formations. They seem intact, but as you aren't an electrical engineer you don't know how to reinstall them. You manage to salvage a few pieces of uncorrupted scrap metal as well. You stow your finds into your framepack, and proceed to bleach the past 10 minutes from your mind.

A. Explore the asteroid.
B. Try to leave the asteroid for the Möbius strip.

A

A

A. Doraaaaaa. And then Swiper comes and steals the remains before you can say "Swiper no swiping" 3 times.

A wins.
You turn away from the body, done with your bloody work at last, and get up. But as soon as you try to put weight on your twisted right leg you are wracked with pain. It feels like joints have been created where they shouldn't be, and it moves in all the wrong directions. This rearrangement has likely made your entire leg very fragile, so walking will be very difficult and painstaking even with the reduced gravity.* If only you had some sort of long solid item you could use as a cane or a crutch. The vacuum rifle is not long enough and might be damaged from repeated usage in that manner. About to resign yourself to being a cripple, you get an idea. It's a poor idea, but at least you won't have to crawl. You retract your right leg up the suit and nestle it to rest in the suit's thigh cavity, using the extraneous joints to make it fit. You take a step with your left foot, then reach down and grab the right boot with your hand and move it forward, using the suit's structure for support. You practice this rhythm until you can maintain a steady pace. Pressing your damaged leg against the suit leg every time you touch down to transfer the weight hurts, but at least there is a lower chance of it breaking or bleeding.
(If you come up with a different or better workable solution with the current inventory, include that in your reply)
You start limping out from the spot where you landed. The ground seems dusty and undisturbed, with the occasional small rock formation. As you take a step towards the edge you feel slight tremors, which is odd because an asteroid shouldn't have geological activity. Encountering more and more of the same kind of terrain, your mind wanders. You realize that your suit's lights are turned off and there isn't a sun or any sort of light source present that would illuminate the currently visible objects, and wonder why you are able to see anything at all. The tremors grow in intensity. Reasoning that the light has to come from somewhere, you check the direction that the shadows cast by the rocks and yourself are in. What you find raises even more questions: The shadows are all in different directions. This would not cause undue alarm in normal space exploration as it is a common occurrence when there are multiple light sources and reflective dust, but there aren't any clear light sources, and where the shadows intersect each other they "cancel out" leaving an area that is in full 'illumination'. This closer inspection of the ground reveals that there are numerous small holes scattered in various nooks and crannies in the rock formations. The tremors become even louder, and finally out of the nearby holes burst long and thin chrome tendrils, which begin excitedly probing the surface of the asteroid.

A. Grab a tendril
B. Just try to dodge them if they get near and keep moving
C. Ignore them

*I hope you're good at Qwop because you can't crotch walk this

A

A

A

A wins.
You grasp a tendril with both hands. As soon as you make contact, a high pitched shriek comes from all directions. You can't tell if it is just in your head or that sound can actually travel through this space. The tendril proves to be much stronger than you, dragging you bodily along the ground as it retreats into a hole. You bang up against the hole, too large to go through. After several jerks without change, it ceases to move and other tendrils simultaneously snake towards you and wrap around your limbs. They constrict and start pulling in different directions. This must be what being drawn and quartered feels like. You hear the dreaded crunching of your right leg cracking into pieces.
You are torn into pieces and devoured by the ground itself. Needless to say you are dead.

BAD END

Pick another setting.

Setting as in new adventure?

Pirates! It's statistically shown that areas with higher populations of pirates have lower carbon emissions. We can all be like Kai-Wario and be global!

church of proz

church of proz

church of proz

March 25th, 2018 AD - Ellicott City, Maryland

There was once a saying that technology breeds freedom. In the current state of the human civilization, it is quite the opposite. Better techniques communicated through better machines allow the few to have more and more control over the many.
For the 5th year in a row, Ellicott City was named the most high tech city in the world due to the subtle integration of its entire infrastructure into electronic networks. The concentration of affluence and the politically powerful have made it among the most restrictive as well. As one of the country's foremost cybersecurity experts, you recently moved over here to get a piece of the action. What you found fell far below your modest expectations. All of the protocols, political reputation, etc. have made your daily life tedious and frustrating.It takes all of your composure just to keep your rage within, as the mass media watch every step you take out of your house and interpret things in the worst way possible. It is almost as if the world was set up to make you miserable and wish for something else. That is why you weren't surprised at all to find the glowing invitation resting on your nightstand as you woke up today.

"Wow, that whole first paragraph was far too serious and drawn out. You are formally invited to Otaku Fortress, a gathering of like minded people who..um..yeah. Here is this random address and contact number:
1337 Jankenpon street
666-666-6666 ext. G
Nope.avi"

You notice a gigantic watermark filling the entire e-vite. It's a symbol, looks kinda like this-
Wait. You've seen this before. This symbol is from the Church of Proz, an elite cabal of hackers and grifters shrouded in secrecy. In your line of work you've dealt with many pimply faced script kiddies that promote fate stay night, but these guys are on a whole nother level.
Your agency doesn't have dossiers on even one of their elusive, highly talented operatives. This symbol was emblazoned clearly on every hack they pulled off, and is almost impossible to fake because the fakes were caught too easily.
It could be that being one of them was what you were meant for, and here lies an opportunity right in front of you. Still, you have existing obligations to take care of, obligations you may regret shedding in the future. As you consider, you remember the creed....
"I have no regrets. This was the only path..."

A. Visit the listed address. It's time to get inducted
B. Decrypt* the provided number and call it for verification.
C. Report this to the cyberpolice.
D. Pick another choice

*because obviously the number is encrypted, nobody uses 10 digit phone numbers in the future.

C

A

B

B