Barely paying attention to the conversation, Hershel took in the bits he needed to know and ignored the rest as he was tossing the room apart in the background.

"S'there any damn food in here? Them crawlers worked up an appetite, and I didn't have time to carve a blueberry."

In reply to Hershel Shaw (msg # 15):

'You will gain food and more once the reformatting process is finished.' It stated simply.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:46, Mon 17 Jan 2022.

Connor nodded.

"Understood. I don't want you to get in trouble by violating your contract, but you now know my thoughts on the matter. Use that to your advantage as you will, in any acts of passive resistance you're able to muster without breaking your contract." Connor replied with a wink.

"But with that said though...besides reformatting of course, what other services, features, and perks does the guild offer us? Is this the only guild hall on this level, or are there other areas under the influence and protection of the guild and any allies of the guild?" he asked.

In reply to Conner Johnson (msg # 17):

'There is a guildhall on every level. As there are safe areas on every level. However, you will be forced to find them. Safe areas are on the only places you can open loot boxes.

As you progress, I will reveal more functions of the guild hall.'

"Then I will win this thing and do what you couldn't." She pulls her hand away from her bloody shoulder, and clutches something around her neck. "And may Inari and his Kami bless me, so I may win." She said back to the guildmaster. It was obvious that there was a storm brewing within her over all of this, but despite that she remained calm about everything.

"...now can, this be healed?" She asked, indicating the knife wound on her shoulder.

Shortly before the world he disappeared Nathan was in a good mood. His preparation for the upcoming detective exam were going well and felt confident and would be easily pass.

All his police associates were already at The Matiki BBQ for lunch, He was late because he had to remind Mathew to stop panhandling at the nearby busy intersection and pull his pants up or at least wear underwear.

He had just got out of the car when the restaurant as well as all the buildings and structures disappeared. After the D/Monixs announcement he realized that chances of surviving were thin at best, but what really made is decision was apparent death of his world left him with too many questions and the only chance to get answers was going down those stairs.

Over a dozen people followed him, mostly because had a gun and they didn't. He allowed them to follow but warned them that he couldn't guarantee their safety. He past experience with IEDs and other traps gave him an edge in bypassing them. Unfortunately several people blundered into traps despite his warnings due to impatience,fear or impulsiveness.

After clearing the traps he realized that the group was being surrounded. He realized that there were more attackers than he had bullets and unless they moved immediately they would be overwhelmed and probably killed. He quickly explained this to the survivors this and told them their only chance was to follow him NOW .

As the crossbow bolts flew and the spiders advanced he charged the least organized part of the surrounding force and shot them in order to clear a way to break out of the ambush. Many of the survivors stood frozen in place attempting to reason with them or beg for mercy, neither which the creature were willing to provide. Others who tried to run failed to avoid the crossbow bolts or the spiders.

By the time he broke out of the ambush he was left with three companions.

Scotty,the old navy vet who worked at the meat department of the nearby store, proved to be resourceful. He picked up one of the crossbows and managed to shoot a couple of the creatures.

Maxine or "Max" the cute violet dyed goth girl who worked at the gas station proved to nimble and easily dodged anything the enemy threw at her.

"Pete" was a homeless man, while  Nathan deemed a little strange but otherwise well behaved. On realizing the the creature would show no mercy fought savagely. He punched,clawed and kicked at his foes with great determination. Nathan thought he might had seem some martial art moves mixed in.

Nathan and the others broke though the ambush but with the exception of Max had taken some form of damage. When they climb up to a passage Nathan realized that he could hold off their pursers here and allowed the other a chance to escape. He handed his backup revolver to Scotty and told the other to run. Max get him a kiss before she ran off with the others.

As the pursuers climbed the wall to the passageway Nathan was down to his last clip and a half he didn't think much of his chances for surviving. But just as he was about to be overrun the surviving enemy turned and ran away. The battle left with a pistol with no bullets, his bulletproof vest torn to shreds and his collapsible baton and his utility knife his only functioning weapons.

He was trying to find his companions when sound of his returning to the pursuit forced him to run as fast as he could until he almost ran into the guildhall sign.

He will stagger into the guildhall his uniform bloodied from several puncture wounds. He will look at the others then look at the guildmaster and say. "I take it this means I passed your company's f###ing audition?"

 

'When you are reformatted, even if you remain human and as you are, all of your bodies aliments and illnesses will be removed. To further promote healing, certain potions can be ingested to restore you physical and magical strength.' It responded.



The creature turns about and floats next to Zane. 'They are not, 'my' company. I am a prisoner just like you. The contract I signed was the choice of service or death. But you are correct that this is an audition. Even now, the Wanderer count has dropped from under 30,000,000 to 27,000,000 or so.'

David tries to find a relatively out of the way place away from the door to wait for whatever happens next. "Audition," he thinks to himself. One of the things he liked to do was watch all of the reality competition shows like Big Sister, The Awesome Race, and Remainder. He even followed the shows on the internet and social media platforms when he could sneak on the internet.

"Audition," he thinks again. Whatever can I do to make myself to stand out among everyone else.

She nodded then considered a moment. "How many levels is there, and do we have the same amount of time to clear each? Or does the amount of time fluctuate based on the level or depth we are in this 'labyrinth'?"

"You said should we make it through this we gain access to the matter reserves, so that means we 'can' restore our world to the exact state it was before all this happened?" She asked considering. "A galactic community should help others achieve their potential not, do something like this."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 20:47, Mon 17 Jan 2022.

The eye less, brain-like creature turns in Tsukiko's diection. 'Those are all good questions. None of which I am permitted to answer...yet.' It points out.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:43, Mon 17 Jan 2022.

Connor considered.

"Guildmaster Tevik? It seems clear to me now that there's really only one way to go and that's forward. They literally made the game to prevent players from just settling here forever by forcing us to either move forward or get atomized when the floor collapses. Assuming monsters and traps don't kill us in the meantime, that is." he said.

"With that said...I fully expect a whole lot of humans that you are about to meet are going to just give up in despair and not bother with reformatting or otherwise playing the game. I'm just warning you. Humans are strong, but we're also really, really weak too. It depends on the person." he continued.

"But me? I am not going down without a fight. I would like to accept your proposal to reformat myself. Please let me know what I've got to do to get started." he said seriously. Solemnly even.

In reply to Conner Johnson (msg # 25):

The Brain Beast floats over to Conner. 'On my own world the sick, the old, and the young stayed in the Safe rooms even at the collapse of the first floor. They thought that it would be better than to die on their own terms then as a game or worse, kill others to entertain a cruel overlord. I refused to stay, and went on to be reformatted. Upon my reaching of the second floor, I was told that the game's rules had changed. Anyone in a safe room upon the collapse of the second floor or lower would automatically be transported to the next floor, whether they wished it or not. There is nothing shameful about not playing D/Monix's game. But they will find a way to force you to play it.'

Once Conner says he is ready, the floating creature seems to nod...which is weird because it does not have a neck. 'I will show you the options...' It says, and starts to make gestures with its tendrils. Sure enough, holographic images and drop down menus of light seem to form in front of Conner. Everyone can see them, and it shows a 3D rending of different humanoid creatures, both male and female. And other in some cases. Each image is shown with a list of professions linked to the race in question.

'I am analyzing your human abilities now, and will make recommendations based on those. You just need to decide when you are ready. Once that is done, the reformat process will begin, and after that your HUD and inventory will be fully active. Then we will open your loot boxes.'

OOC-You can now narrate the process of choosing your Wanderer race, class, and stats. The Guildmaster will make that happen.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Tue 18 Jan 2022.

Tsukiko would stand and face the Guildmaster. "Guildmaster Trevik, I am ready as well." She said with a calm nod, despite the storm raging within her.

In reply to Tsukiko Kuki (msg # 27):

Even as the Guildmaster works on Conner, it does that weird no neck nod towards Tsukiko, letting her know she could start as well. The same images and holographic menus appear near her.

David starts playing with the images and options. Tired of all of the comments about him being a sissy, he decides to choose one of the toughest looking races, Half-Orc. Next, he starts looking through the classes. Fighter, magic-user, rogue... wait... cleric. A holy warrior but follows other gods than God and then he discovered something even more interesting. He be a cleric that follows an ideal like... Freedom!

So to spite his parents, who apparently didn't exist anymore, he decided to be a priest and a priest of a different race as well. A REAL different race; a half orc! He will use these powers to support freedom! Freedom for people to live their lives the way that each person feels is right for them and possibly do something about these aliens.

Right when he thought he was done, he noticed he could choose his sex and he froze. Could that be true? He had dreamed and came up with weird scenarios where he was kidnapped or in an accident and his sex was changed and now he might be actually living in one of those scenarios?

He chooses female... no this is not right...switches back to male... but why not...switches back to female... it's wrong and a sin... switches back to male. Finally it dawns on him that if what he was taught in church was right, all of this wouldn't have happened and he switched it back to female to finalize his decision of his or her new self.

Tsukiko gave a gentle nod to herself, or was it to the Guildmaster. It really was hard to tell given her current condition. When the menus presented themselves she would begin to flip through them.

"...huh? Really...? These are the only...  ...wow..." She was about to complain but then she realized something, one of the only choices presented to her was one of the very beings her temple worshiped on earth. Was this...fate? Was Inari smiling on her for some reason? Or one of his Kami perhaps? Either way, she could not deny the choice when it was presented, and made the choice. A humanoid fox person, also known both on earth and somehow here as well as a Kitsune.

With race selected, next came sex, that was easy she would remain as a female. She felt most comfortable as she was when it came to that so why change it.

Then came class. "...huh?" Again the selections were limited for her here, but then something caught her eye. "...is he truly..." A class that deals with spirits, and deals with the the same powers of the Kami's of Inari. "...that will do." She said weakly. A Kitsune Oracle was born.

Finally, she would make her final selections, and press finished. "...done." Then collapse to her knees on the floor, taking ahold of her shoulder again.

Race: Kitsune
Sex: Female
Class: Oracle
Mystery: Tempest
Domain: Water
Sub-Class: Beastmaster
Companion: Dire Fox
This message was last edited by the player at 02:39, Tue 18 Jan 2022.

Connor nodded at the friendly Mind Horror, and turned to the hologram screens that were appearing before him. He didn't know if this was magic or science at this point, as it was all surreal. Like star trek meets dungeons and dragons. But he was resolute to survive this though, and he touched the hologram screens in front of him with no hesitation or reservation. If he had to play by the rules of his oppresors, he at least would do so on as much of his terms as possible.

As he flipped through screens, they scrolled left and right and presented menues and buttons and graphics and descriptions. He considered going female for a bit out of sheer curiosity. He would have loved to experience sex with a man from the perspective of a woman's body, but despite not being straight he still identified as male gender and went back to male. He then considered all these other races. Including Oread, to see if he could use the Shaitan's genes against them. But then he shook his head and went back to human.

Yes...he would Play as himself. He would not lose himself and his identity to this damned gameshow. No...instead, he started making elections that emphasized the human spirit. Its resilience and its versatility, even in the face of its own weakness. He opted to be reformatted as a human, but the most optimized and perfect idealization of a human. One that emphasized the enterprising and resilient nature of the human spirit and amped it up to 11 out of 10. This version of humanity was clearly unnatural compared to mundane Earth standards; this human could achieve stats (like intelligence and dexterity and so on) and inner fire similar to these other alien races he had access to. But this was okay - he was weaponizing his own humanity in an attempt to become something super-human, but yet...still mostly his old self. Minus physical and genetic flaws he had before like a mild stigmatism, flat feet, etc.

He then considered his own stats. The guildmaster had done a great job analyzing his person, and he encountered notes about boosting his intelligence and cunning as that played off the man's own innate aptitudes. The class recommendation was "rogue or possible spellthief." But Connor had other things in mind.

He only had so much "potentia" to play with though, as even the D'Monix's systems weren't without limit. So first, he jacked up his intelligence to the max the system would allow, followed by having an intermediate dexterity. This played to the man's current strengths, although he would now be smarter then Einstein and was more dexterous than even an olympic athlete or some sort of action hero marine. He gave his body a slight stamina boost, to help him endure the tough times ahead and to clear out his own natural bodily imperfections, and he retained how own mildly gifted insightfulness. His strength and charisma remained that of a mundane earth human, although not at a deficit. He refused to give up anything he had before. But at this point, he ran out of "potentia" for stats but was satisfied.

Then he came across class. He considered the Spellthief the Guild master had suggested. It certainly would go well with his enterprising nature. However...in a very human moment, Connor realized he wanted more. He looked through the roster of class options. It took some time to analyze everything, but if things like magic and aliens and Shaitans and so on were all real...he wanted to tap into whatever he could squeeze out of this system that would allow him to best dictate or at least bend the rules. He wanted magic of his own, and wanted a type of magic that would let him protect himself and anyone he cared about, while also giving him unique options and an ability to possibly bend D'Monix's own rules against them.

And then he saw it!

Wizard: You are a full-spellcaster, able to cast the most arcane of magics. You draw not on the power of an intermediary like a god or a patron, but on the very energy of the dimensions themselves to create magical effects that can bend the laws of physics. You will start off weaker than most classes, but over time you can grow your power to the point where you can - on the very slight teeny tiny minute chance that you survive long enough - warp the laws of reality itself. You can choose to specialize in a school of magic, or be a generalist.

And this had him caught, hook line and sinker. He knew then this was the class for him. It was high risk, high reward. And given the stakes...he had nothing to lose by taking this risk at this point.

And then he saw he could customize his main chassis with a sub-class, and decided if he was going to embrace magic that he would also see if he could mix in some of his beloved chemistry with that magic, both to provide him with options that a wizard normally didn't offer while helping provide him with crafting abilities he may be able to combine with his magic in unexpected ways! And what was when he saw the Alchemist, something that was a sort of crafter, but that relied on more on fantasy-physics and magi-science than pure science.  This would allow him to lean into his strengths.

If he had any chance of turning D'Monix's own rules and power against them, he knew being a wizard was the best route towards this goal. He even constructed a familiar that was just was unusual as he was going to be, but that would synergize with his elections and offer him expended options as well.

And So he made the following elections:

Race: Versatile Human
Sex: Male
Class: Wizard
School: Abjuration
Thesis: Familiar Attunement
Sub-Class: Alchemist
Familiar: Cabochon
This message was last edited by the player at 02:05, Tue 18 Jan 2022.

Jacob stumbles through the entryway, wounded and limping. His left leg is apparently unwounded, but discoloration suggests spreading poison may be to blame. He all but cries in relief as the sound of a screeching traps and enemies vanishes, leaving only blissful silence

He drops down against the nearest counter, clutching onto it for stability. A few calming breaths before he notes that there even is another figure present, his blurred vision resolving

"What the... !!!" he yells, grasping blindly for a weapon only to realize his fellow stragglers weren't the only thing to disappear. "I... what are... What is a guildhall?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:04, Tue 18 Jan 2022.

In reply to Jacob Levison (msg # 32):

'Time is running out. You will need close to the full week to get where you all need to go. I do not have the luxury of re-explaining everything to late comers in the usual way.' The Guildmaster sent to everyone's minds. So he proceeds to transmit all the conversations directly into Jacob's brain. Basically its like getting a speed learning course fed directly into one's mind. While very informative, it is also accompanied by a massive headache.

His back against the wall of the house, he motions to his partner.  “Over there behind the dumpster,” he whispers.

His partner, Dutch, nods and moves over to the dumpster and listens.  He nods back to John and points indicating that the bail jumper is in there.

John DeVore, currently a bounty hunter, has been a soldier, soldier for hire and a convict.  But not necessarily in that order.  His life experience, he is currently 51, has led him through life and led him to this.  His biggest bail jump.

John warily walks over to the dumpster and then hits it with all his might.  The dumpster rings like a huge gong.

“AAARRRGGHHH!!! Why’d ya do that??!!??” A voice screams within the dumpster.

“You ran.  Duh! Com’on Marshall.  Get out of there so we can take you back to jail and I can get paid.  I wish I could get more of you white-collar criminals to jump bail so I could get another 500k payment.”  John chuckles.

“Aww, man, I just wanted to get outta here,” Marshall complains back.

“Where you gonna go?” asks Dutch.  “We live on the Big Island.  You can’t go no where.”  Dutch chuckles too.

John look at them both.  “Let’s tag him and bag him and get to the bar.  I’m a might bit thirsty after that chase.”

Marshall gets out of the dumpster.  John and Dutch cuff him and lead him do their bright blue SUV.  It even has waves air brushed on the sides and back making the SUV look like it’s surfing.  Fortunately the ride back is uneventful.

They take Marshall out of the SUV and walk up to the jail.  John remembers the paperwork, and heads back to the vehicle.  “I’ll meet you inside,” he says and Dutch nods.  John retrieves the paperwork, locked the SUV and heads to the jail.

Just as he is about to put his hand on the door handle the door disappears and he is now looking where the building once stood.

“What that f-?”

* * *

After the voice in his head stops, sure enough the portals open.  He knows when he’s being offered a hand out and immediately jumps into the portal.  Some others also join and soon there is a small group.  They notice he’s carrying a gun and asks him to lead.  He reluctantly leads the group in.  However there are a few people that didn’t want him leading so they stormed ahead and they quickly died.

“That’s one way for me to figure out what’s going on up here.”

Next come spiders, blue “Goblins? Here? This isn’t Wrath of the Righteous?”, and more traps and death.

He makes it to the guildhall signs and tumbles through the door. Just as he begins to explain what’s going on to a young kid who must still be in college.  Rather than asking questions, John observes and makes observations.

He writes them down in his notebook.

Notes for Labyrinth Lands

• Spiders controlled by blue goblins
• Minds Horror is a wanderer like us
• When his contract is up?  How can we get a contract?
• Level 1 lasts one week then disappears.
• We need to find and defeat the Boss
• Then find the stairwell and advance up to level 2
• It is possible to win the game, but no one has.
• Guild master Trevik retired on lvl 12
• We fight to live
•   Can get better loot boxes by being entertained
•   Viewers can give us best loot boxes.
• Within a level there are safe rooms.  As well as guild halls
• Realizations
•   This is a Reality Game Show
•   It can be won, but no one has.
•   We can be whatever we want
•   We. Can. Win.

He circles “We. Can. Win.” several times.

So we can pick what we want to be huh?, he thinks to himself.

“I’ll take mine too.” He says and proceeds to slide through the menus mumbling to himself.  “Who would ever have thought that being a CRPG gamer would have ever helped out in real life. Heh heh.”

He finishes his build.  Sticking with things he knows.

Human. Versatile. Bounty Hunter.  Gunslinger with a hatchet.  And I can make my own bullets.

He nods to himself and settles against a wall.

“Done.”

Hershel stops ripping up the room as he looks up at the ceiling. Apparently mystified by something. This great vision he was receiving, unlike anything he'd ever seen before. The world laid bare at his fingertips. He saw himself a thousand times over, in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, and concepts. The She was granting him a future, a glimpse of what should be. Of what WILL be. The taste of blood on his teeth, the promise of the murky depths restored. Brought about by the swamp's greatest guardians. "I'll do it." Hershel whispers to himself. "I'll send 'em to our depths, so we can appreciate them together."

Mumbling more to himself as his hands twitched with the movements of the sliders, the program was done, the choices were made. He questions none of them. They were chosen for a reason. What was displayed was a gift, and one he would not refuse. Hershel moves to sit down in the room and remains largely motionless and quiet after doing so.

Nathan was not happy with the situation. He was in a prison where the jailers not only controlled the environment they controlled your reality. The only thing he could be sure of was his free will and the would have depend on that to achieve his ultimate goal: justice against those who murdered his world.

After giving his consent he went through all his options. He found himself drawn to the role of the investigator. He wasn't really surprised when he thought about it, solving problems was a large part of his life. Whether it was spotting a IED or a enemy in the Middle East or solving a crime at home it was about finding the problem and trying to fix it.

He went through the menus to pick his best options. He elected to retain his race and gender and concentrate on enhancing his talents and skills to help him find exploits in a game that was fixed against him. When he selected what he hoped was his best choices he get gave final consent to his 'character'

As soon as they choices where made, people start to black out. Your wounds may have already brought you to the edge of consciousness, but this is something different. Each of you has a dream of your old life, expect instead you living it there is someone else there. Sometimes that someone else is not even human, depending on your choices...

Continued in Awakening Thread!

[Private to Malcom Von Skip: I will leave this thread up so you can post Malcom Von Skip coming in late, describing his entrance, and getting hold of the Guildmaster, who will proceed to change you along with everybody else.]

When everything went haywire. Malc was out riding. It was a beautiful day on the west coast even if it was a little cool and the forecast was calling for rain. For the time being though, it was just him and the winding mountain road.
The first sign of trouble was when the car in front of him turned shimmery and went around a corner. Then when he went around the same bend the car wasn't there. He thought it was odd, there wasn't anywhere for the car to have pulled off. He sped up to see if the car had just pulled ahead around the next corner, besides the twisties were opened up to him now. He didn't see the car around the next corner, or the next. After a couple minutes, and accelerating to unsafe speeds, the voice sounded in his head.
"What the hell is that!" he spoke out loud into the wind. Thinking that he must be loosing it, he jammed on the brakes compressing his front suspension and nearly lofting his hardtail.

The voice continued.

Shaking his head he took a few breaths and when the voice of God/Carnival Barker Dan finished he shook it again. "Either I'm trippin or we are finally seeing what the Preppers have been praying for. Either way, I need to get home." He spun his bike around and gunned it back the way that he had come from. He leaned hard into a corner and went straight through a portal and down a flight of stairs. His bike was already leaned over as he hit the stairs and there was no way he was going to pull through this. As the back end started to bounce from stair to stair he pulled his leg out from the ground side instinctively trying to separate himself from the bike but holding on for dear life. When his pride and joy of chrome and displacement finally stopped it threw him over and into the wall at a landing. The spine armor and helmet saved his life without a doubt, as the outer shell of the helmet split it two.

Everything after was a blur. He stumbled back to his feet while his wife's voice told him to lie still and wait for the paramedics. He stripped his saddle bags from the wreckage and undid his helmet. There was blood on the inside. That can't be a good sign He thought while shouldering the saddle bags that held a first aid kit, his bug-in bag, toolkit for his bike, and a large hunting knife.
Something told him to go down the stairs, back wasn't an option. As he progressed he realized that he must be late to the party. There were numerous traps that had be sprung and blood everywhere from those who had fallen victim to them. He worked his way through these in a haze until he came across a small crying child who was standing next to the body of a badly mangled woman. He approached her and held out his hand. "You can come with me. I'll keep you safe." He told her. When she didn't respond he crouched down to help her mourn. That's when the spiders came. He was able to fight off the first one with a well placed steel toe and the second reared up giving him the chance to grab both front legs and rip them from the creature's abdomen. When dozens of glistening eyes began to appear all around he grabbed the girl, threw her over his shoulder and ran.
He was able to keep most of the spiders at bay by swinging his liberated spider leg at them and a broad sweeping motion. When the little blue creature appeared he did the only thing that he could think of an ran it through with the spider leg as though it were a spear. He then grabbed the little man's cross bow and fired off the loaded shot, tossed the weapon at the closest spider before taking the short sword out of the impaled imp's hand. Then again, he ran. Now he could do more damage to each of the spiders but the trade off was that they had to get so much closer. He had to slow down to make sure that he kept the girl out of their reach. Which meant that more of the arachnids were catching up and scoring hits on him. His jacket and armor were taking the worst of it but a few claws were getting through and taking their toll.
Finally, without really realizing it, he stumbled through the door and into the safe zone. He set the girl down as he took a look around the room.
"Look Sweetie. A Bald Eagle."

He had barely uttered the words when the knowledge upload happened. He squeezed his eyes shut against the headache and the spider venom throb. "Oh god, that hurts." He mutters while pulling up menus. In his hazy, pained state he wasn't sure if he was making the best choices but they were ones that made sense to him at the time, he could feel that he was going to pass out and he wanted to be done the selection before then.
Hitting the last selection he lets go of the fight for lucidity. As his vision narrows he looks at the little girl. "Good Luck, Sweetie. You can do it."