Chapter 18: Media Craze and Distant Eyes

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New Topic: Invasion of New Fukuoka Cancelled?

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 182

New Topic: Cape kicks C.U.I butt?!

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 642

New Topic: PRT Response to Continued Eurasian Instability.

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 1,592

New Topic: New City in China?

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 341

New Topic: City Builders Thread 2: Electric Boogaloo

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 34

New Topic: Unusual Simurgh Movements?

Posted: 24/07/2011  Pages: 403

-Elsewhere-

EMERGENCY NEWS ALERT

A major cape incursion has broken out before the Emperor’s own palace. All citizens are advised to remain indoors and away from areas at risk.

The primary instigator of this conflict is a parahuman shamefully claiming the likeness of Sun Wukong. This individual is known to be extremely dangerous and uncaring of civilian casualties.

Link to an image of this dissident: Here.

Link to a map showing areas of risk: Here.

The C.U.I have expressed their confidence in putting this rogue element down. Should any citizen have any information regarding this parahuman please call: xxxx xxx xxxx.

Updates will continue to be provided as the situation develops.

-In the darkest depths of the internet-

Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:21 No. 11745863

>Be me

>Wake up and check news

>Japan ain’t being invaded anymore

>Feels good

>China starts imploding and another fucking city shows up

>I wanna go back to sleep

+ 37 replies and 12 images omitted. Click here to view.

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:28 No. 11745870

     >>11745877

     Bro, imagine actually supporting a country getting invaded. Gotta be a real dipshit IRL.

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:41 No. 11745894

     >>11745885

    > Final boss is a group of architects

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:44 No. 11745895

     >>11745891

    I swear God is getting lazier and lazier every day. What’s next, aliens who want our bath water?

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:49 No. 11745912

File: Monkey_Boi.jpg (591KB, 851x1100)

     >>11745894

    > I wanna spank the monkey!

    + 67 replies and 30 images omitted. Click here to view.

        >> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 05:56 No. 11745934

         >>11745921

         WHY ARE PEOPLE ALREADY DRAWING LEWDS OF THE BONK MONKEY?!

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 06:01 No. 11745941

     >>11745910

    > Opens up 4chan after seeing the chaos in the world

    > Not surprised at what I found

   >Find monkey lewds

   >Slightly surprised at what I found

>> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 06:12 No. 11745967

     >>11745943

    So are the new cities just going to be a thing now? Because we already decided spooky tinker places are Probably bad news, and I don’t want to be anywhere near one

   + 12 replies and 1 images omitted. Click here to view.

   >> Anonymous 24/07/2024(Mon) 06:31 No. 11745981

         >>11745961

         Imagine not wanting to enter a scary murder city smh.

-Dragon POV-

The AI known as Dragon to the rest of the world was in the middle of pondering the current situation. Given the sheer amount of data at her disposal it only made sense for her to consider every possibility.

The layout of New Fukuoka leant credence to the theory that the City Builders are not Japanese. The street signs weren’t numbers, as would be typical of a city in that nation. No, the streets of New Fukuoka were given names.

On the other hand there were so many small details added to the city which convinced every analyst that the builders had to be very familiar with Japanese culture. The temples and shrines were especially well done.

Naturally this juxtaposition lead to the theory that this cape team was international in nature, drawing Tinkers from all over the world. The similarities to Toybox were easily apparent, but they themselves seemed confused at being unaware of such a group.

Which was perhaps the most disturbing thing about them.

They had appeared out of nowhere.

Even with their ability to block Thinkers there should have been something to find.

Dragon had chased down every lead and trail with zeal, and had found only disappointment.

This was partially why no one had seriously suggested the group was moving by travelling underground. For a group who so clearly valued secrecy such an easily tracked method was unthinkable, verging on ridiculous.

Yet, that was exactly what they had done.

No wonder every threat assessment trying to profile the group was falling apart. At one moment they seemed like Machiavellian schemers and the next bumbling idiots.

It was days like this that made Dragon wish she had lungs to sigh with.

Instead she returned to her current hobby, browsing through the New Fukuoka Archives. The information and blueprints Collin had retrieved were a goldmine, and yes she could see the irony that the City Builders were responsible for both her biggest headaches and largest source of happiness (besides Collin).

She had already pushed through several inventions via affiliated companies, others had been stonewalled by government officials ordering her not to release them into the wild.

Given that all of those were technologies that would drastically reduce the need for oil Dragon guessed that some rich oil tycoon had gotten wind of what they had retrieved and acted quickly to prevent a loss in profit.

Dragon would be impressed with the speed and efficiency of such a response, if only it weren’t so morally bankrupt.

Despite this cost of living in America and Canada was projected to actually decrease by 0.5%. To many that might not sound like a lot, but it was actually huge considering the continuing downward spiral Earth Bet seemed to be locked in.

It was a win, and those were becoming more precious by the year.

As Dragon returned to her projects she idly nudged a few satellites towards Jinzhou. This time she would be sure to properly track these Architects.

-Simurgh POV-

The past was observed with clinical eyes, the immutable preserved with crystal clarity.

The present was a black void unable to be processed, only worked around.

The future was a kaleidoscope of possibility, each action branching outwards into infinity.

It’s avatar hung in the atmosphere of the host’s planet. The occasional twitch of movement would send fearful watchers into a frenzy, their actions shaping the future according to its design.

However it’s real focus was on the Anomaly. From all data gathered it was an Annihilation Drone, much like it. However no such drone was in its database. Furthermore the entity’s actions and personality clearly matched that of the host species.

It had sent a ping to the Warrior, alerting him of this potential threat.

There was no response.

Typical.

Thus the thing that the local species designated the ‘Simurgh’ watched and waited. Initially the false drone simply wept at the bottom of the ocean floor, an indicator of inferior hormone based responses. Ignore.

The entity then began to restore the sunken structure that Annihilation Drone 07 had destroyed. Matter manipulation was noted and logged for future reference. Oddly the individual seemed resistant to her predictions. Many hours in the false drone began adding wiring and other sophisticated technologies currently in excess of what the host species was capable of.

The technology was nothing their species hadn’t seen before, but some of the uses were new. Novel, even. She logged this within her databases and continued to observe.

Eventually the city was rebuilt and raised from the seas. It was of acceptable efficiency and self-sufficiency.

But it was only after the anomalies departure that it saw the bountiful harvest that could be reaped. The entity had crafted a scenario so unstable that conflict was sure to follow. The projections of this conflict were so absurdly high that it briefly considered upgrading this entity from ‘Threat’ to ‘Resource’.

The next few weeks proved it correct. Instability reigned and the island became a prize the world would come to fight for.

Then the false drone arrived on the continent of Eurasia and prevented the war that was to come.

It had been vexed, as much a being like it can be vexed.

Then it looked closer at what the being was creating, the culture it was giving rise to.

The Simurgh smiled, uncaring of the watching humans panic.

This being, for all its faults and weaknesses, would surely prove to be a boon for the Cycle.

AN: If you’re wondering why this chapter is so short, it’s because I feel like shit. Physically this time. I’ve caught some kind of cold from a co-worker and now I can’t stop coughing and feel like I’m going to throw up occasionally.

Despite the shortness I hope you enjoy this chapter. I’ve tried a few different things this time, like the 4chan section (which I’m not sure Patreon formatting will allow me to properly show off. If that is the case then you’ll see the full colour version when it’s publically uploaded.

Have a good week!