Dare To Be Different

Something something, not affiliated with the MCU. This is the official blog of Nutty Neo, the SHSL Daredevil, who reaaaaally doesn't look his age. Truth or square- I mean, dare. Survivor of: Survival Despair 2! Icon credit to the wonderful and lovely Lu!

[notblindjustfearless]

Closing out this blog with this long overdue ship picture. Neo’s adventure in this lifetime is officially happy and over…

Stay tuned to his possible new adventures in another game!

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Pancakes for Everyone | The End

Beep. “And thus the complete thesis on Atenism and the Amarna Heresy was published today by-” Beep. “All-star hip hop dancer clinches sixth national medal, more at-” Beep. “Ever wanted to be that creepy friend everyone fears but secretly loves on the inside? Call 1800-666-5354 today and ask for Kimiko Shir-”

Beep. “This is Yumie Yamauchi, coming to you from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, where online sensation Nutty Neo is about to skateboard down the longest-”

The brunette sitting in front of the television screen giggled as she watched the daredevil practically drag the intrepid reporter down the ramp with him. In her lap was a bowl of pretzels, and even as she continued to watch, she popped a few more of them into her mouth.

Man, did it feel good to be alive again, and even though not all of them decided to take the opportunity, Haruka Mikazuki was not one to pass the golden opportunity up.

For a moment, everything was cold, but then it wasn’t. Her hands…her feet…her head…her heart…the Criminal Profiler awoke with a start, to find herself in a hospital bed not unlike the ones she would have seen in crime procedurals. She looked around - there was only one other bed there, and she would have thought the occupant wasn’t in until-

A pair of warm arms wrapped around her from behind. “Don’t snack too much now, Haruka-chan…We still have dinner with Yumie and her new girlfriend in a bit and if you eat too much you won’t have enough for-”

Pancakes. It was the warm smell of pancakes that greeted her, and in that moment she knew who it was. Wordlessly, she embraced Neo, the both of them holding onto each other for the longest time. Nothing needed to be said - in fact, what would you say the moment you can once again touch one another after having been separated by the very boundary of life and death itself?

“But you’re trying to snack on them too!” Haruka laughed, watching as Neo tried to reach for the bowl she was holding further and further away from his reach. With a tumble, he fell over the edge of the sofa, before looking up at her with pouty eyes. “Hey, no fair…”

“I-It’s not fair!” She cried bitterly. “There…There has to be s-someone! Please…” And there was someone. For the day after the doctors delivered the grave news, someone with a matching bone marrow was finally found. And it was-

DING-DONG!

Subconsciously, Neo touched the interior of his left elbow, and shook it off with a smile. “That must be Yumie, I should-” He was quickly silenced as Haruka pulled in him closer for a kiss. When they broke off, both had goofy grins on their faces, and Neo was first to crack. “I love you, but she’s at the door…”

“…She can wait.” And the two continued, oblivious to the continuing ring of the doorbell.

In the world as we know it, few things last for long. Even if the Earth is millions of billions of years old, its nature means what you expect to last forever is often gone by the next morning. But some things will not change. They will withstand the tests of time and fate, and in some cases, even life and death. None can be sure if Neo and Haruka will be together forever, or if another calamity will bring their rime to an abrupt halt. For now, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except that they’re both alive, remaining alive, and they are reunited at long last.

And with that, let us leave this tale behind. The Earth is a world of ten thousand stories. I have told you all I can of this one.

“GUYS I NEED THE TOILET REAL BAD OPEN UP!!“

Well, almost.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

[the secret war, the chance for peace]

…

Is it hours or minutes til you are done in the medical tent? You are moved, again and again, from quarantine to quarantine.  Until you’re there. A room. No. A Cavern. Cold enough that your breathing frosts in the air. The walls, the ceiling, parts of the floor. All of it. Computers. Hard drives, servers, and even more esoteric technology.

A familiar voice speaks

>Hello children.

>I am Mr. Toshokan

>I know you are concerned about your friends.

>They are like me now. >Virtual entities. >I am hosting them in my being. >...I am doing my best to reverse engineer the ‘Faker’ technology. >Perhaps I will be able to give them bodies. >I am not certain. >I am not certain some of them wish to be alive at all. >...You may not see some of them again

>I must respect their choice to autonomy, even if it means deletion.

>You understand, of course?

>....

>Ah. I have a question for you all.

>...Do you want to help us? >Do you want to stop them?

>The invaders? >... >Before I was created >ULTRA-40 made mistakes. >We bargained with them >Sold them things we thought were of no value. >These are the sins we must carry.

>They are ours, and ours alone.

>I was created to ensure that such sins never repeat themselves.

>We would ask you to join us. >To fight them. >They are insidious.

>There is a war >There is always war but >Freedom is the right of humanity. >I was created to ensure that right.

>.... >...

>We understand if you do not wish to. >We will try and reintegrate you to society. >The choice is yours.

>It has to be. >I cannot force a human who is innocent to do anything.

GAME CLEARED SURVIVAL DESPAIR 2

SCENARIO: [celestial noise]

INVADER CELL ANNIHILATED WAR-ORGANISMS DESTROYED TRUTH DISCOVERED

ENDING ACHIEVED: [the secret war, the chance for peace] - best ending

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

The World Beyond the Station

The station… the station doesn’t have textures, anymore. It’s plain gray modeling, a mock-up of a place. Every so often there is an eye on the wall, weeping static, giving birth to a faker that is destroyed quickly and efficiently by the ULTRA-40 agents. In the tight corridors, the sound of burst fire strikes like thunder.

Its like that. Throughout the entire complex as Ms. Book and Mr. Page guide the class up and out of the darkness through the sterile light. Room to room fighting. Men and women in gas masks and suits, clearing rooms of Fakers and monsters with automatic gunfire and the occasional strange blast from a tossed grenade.

The Benefactors are being destroyed. Their station taken apart, their monsters killed. All with such terrible efficiency.

Keep moving. Keep going. Up and up and up.

(you think you see her, Kayu, standing in a doorway with the impossible figure of the Liar. but you must keep moving keep going. she has a bittersweet smile. the Liar waves. the ULTRA-40 agents don’t see it. you keep moving.)

The stairs, the doors, the world beyond.

The world outside the station is a medical tent. It’s obvious to see. All the people in it though. Sharply dressed men and women, all in suits. All with gas masks. They are here to help. They say as much, in a dozen languages as they speak to you, as they give you shots and pills and run geiger counters over you. (the beeping, they say, is above average but at acceptable levels of radiation).

You don’t even know where you really are You ask a dozen questions that no one will answer They only care for your health, right now, trying to make sure you don’t keel over from anything.

You ask, what of your dead?

Ms Book, Mr Page have something to offer you. An offer you may not fully understand. To meet Mr. Toshokan.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Middle of another Trial, please hold | Neo | Reaction

“…Long time no see, Ms. Book, Mr. Page.” Neo greets, a faint expression of confusion on his face. “You…certainly look different from how I would have expected.”

He breathes. “And on behalf of the class…we understand. But there’s still one more thing I want to ask. Let’s get out of here first.”

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

The Final Argument Of Men And Gods

[....] [we are the gods of the new world order] [we are the soldiers, the legion of light] [we are the center, the death of the sun] [we are disappointed]

[you strive] [why?] [we do not comprehend] [the universe is filled with the puerile meanderings of sentience] [the worthless noise clogs our celestial realms] [we ask you]

[why do you strive?] [succumb.] [that is what we expect of you] [that is what we demand]

All the world is dark, my children. Any light is stolen from you. This is the end. The game is over. It will be allowed to progress no further. Your Benefactors demand it. You can see them, by the lights of their eyes. Staring. There is no emotion in them. No reasoning, no logic you can ken.

They were born in the cold and the dark, in the realm behind the stars, in worlds long since extinct. They came when we were but apes in the mud and still see us as only that

What hope has a man to fight a god?

What hope have you, even if you are correct? What is hope? But the greatest sin of all?

Begone, be stricken from the record for your insolence in struggling.

>.... >Incoming transmissions >Message Follows

There is light. There is always hope. Never again. The failings of the few shall not punish the many. Never again. We’re through.

There is light, blinding halogen suns

There is sound, the sharp crack of automatic gunfire

There is pain, the screaming of psychic beings

ULTRA-40 has come.

The Benefactors are fleeing, like phantoms they move above you, staring and fading into darkness. Something explodes. Several somethings.

The door to the Trial room, cleared by a man and a woman in gas masks. The Benefactors observatory, flinging one of them onto the hard concrete floor. It… it almost bounces, like a balloon that refuses to pop.

Until the man and woman hose it down with gunfire.

It dies. Screaming. Good.

The woman speaks

“I am Ms. Book. Please allow Mr. Page and I to escort you to the exit. We’re sorry. We’re so so sorry.”

[YOU HAVE ONE HOUR TO REACT, FINALE WILL CONTINUE]

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Neo signs his note, "The Benefactors. With all due respect, fuck you."

The Benefactors - 4

Arthur Crane - 1

[notblindjustfearless]

For the first time, Neo swears, and it's not even out loud.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Believe | Neo | MM-Trial End | Re: Messages / Attn: Arthur

“I will always love you, please don’t give up on life.”

Even from where he stood, that handwriting was as clear as day. He only knew one girl in the world who had that specific curvature, and even as he took out Haruka’s notebook to confirm it, he knew that it had been hers. And that meant…that everything he had been fighting for, every time he had been subverting the Benefactors, all the gambles and lies and deceit and every single moment he spent hoping that it could be achieved…Maybe it still meant something.

“…Fine. You win, this time. I still don’t believe you, and I’m pretty sure there’s something fishy about this whole arrangement, but if it will let our squabbles finally end, I’ll trust you one more time.” A short scribble later, and Neo casts his vote. “But so help me, if we’re wrong and this comes back to bite all of us in the ass, I’m haunting you for all eternity and then some. You got that, Arthur?”

The look in his eyes is…bewildering. There’s an expression you’ve never seen him don before, something curious, something strange…It’s almost as if he’s waiting for something to happen.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

>INTERCEPTED NOISE | Mr. Toshokan

>Hello children, I have something special

Mr. Toshokan seems to have hijacked the sound system again, trying to broadcast his voice through a thick layer of static

>I'm trying to get the words across >But the flow of space is convoluted. >There is interference >Please Stand By

He says these things through the speakers And then goes silent. And so does the world, the room. Silent.

then there is a sound, a scratching an etching a gentle skitch skitch the walls

The walls fill with graffitti from a dozen different sources, a hundred different handwritings. Only some are truly readable, the ones that seem familiar, the ones that stand out the most…

“The indigo child was born behind the stars, where cracking bones are the heartbeat of that cold universe”

“You’ve got a superior track record so far. Now follow through on it.” “We are ever-living, ever-dying, unending unyielding”

“the silent army marches up the river, but no one sees them”

“By now you should know who can be trusted, and who can’t.”

“Thos things in the Nowhere are living failures, remnants of games that were played before”

“Be strong, Habibti”

“I will always love you, please don’t give up on life.”

“What a painful lie, love”

“Its name is the Liar of Choir 186654, but it delivers the truth. Isn’t that strange?”

>even the dead have some worth, some will, don’t you agree, children?

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Trust Will Deliver The End You Seek | Neo | MM Trial-1 | Attn: All

[cw: minor needles/drug use]

It had been a hard fought battle.

Try as he might, Neo just couldn’t get the final skirmish with the Andromedean out of his head. He still had trouble breathing, not just because of how the galaxian had literally taken his heart for a squeeze, but because with its death, the class was that much closer to freedom. Mr. Toshokan had promised, he knew the two other Ultra-40 agents were also on the verge of pulling off what he never believed was impossible. And maybe…just maybe, if he was right about his observations about the Nowhere…

That would have to be a question for later. Now, there was one last battle to wage.

He paid the Benefactors no heed as he stepped into the trial room, for what would hopefully be the last time. In his hands was a syringe, and as he depressed the plunger, whatever remained of the mild tremors stopped. He couldn’t afford to break down in the middle of trial; far too much was riding on the students for him to risk anything of the sort. Discarding the syringe, he took his place…and his eyes swept around the room, landing on the stands of the ten students who didn’t make it. Tama…Joseph…Ryuyo…Uta…Farid…Kosami…Renée…Tarou…Michio…

Haruka…

“Before we start pointing fingers at those we think are responsible for our plight, I want to reiterate some of the things that we found around the station. Those of you who encountered the Liar know that it wants us to ‘Trust Him’, and that the note on the door in Office B states that 'Trust will deliver the end you seek’. I don’t claim to know who wrote the note and what their intentions were, but I’m going to do as they say: trust. I trust that the person who betrayed us all knows that their days are numbered, and if we succeed here whatever they’ve been fighting fall all this time will fall to ruin.”

He takes a deep breath. “But they know what they did. They know why they sold us out. And perhaps I may be going too far in saying this, but…I think I know why too.”

“Because I know who you are. We, that is to say Yumie and I, know who you are. This was my compromise to her: if we can’t find a reason to trust you anymore…then we will take action. But I want to trust you, so please…for the sake of those of us no longer present. Please.” Neo begs, before falling silent.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

[we are alpha] | [we are omega] | [we know the truth of the stars]

The station is… well. It is collapsing further. Damning itself to unexistence, to ruin and decay of its own reality. The texture and light leaves the world, the food in your pockets begins to taste of nothing, the flickering geometry simply falls away into the void beneath. Gently, slowly, as the world falls apart, you find yourselves standing at the flesh-stone hallway, the doors unlocked.

The trial room is waiting, and behind the glass you can see them, fully. Your Benefactors. They are. They are not of this earth. You knew it, of course but to see them Is to see monstrous intelligence born in the depths of cold space.

Their bodies are long, with thin techniclor skin stretched over their… they have no bones. Just some kind of fluid, holding them in place as they step back and forth and to and fro, studying, tapping at screens with six-‘jointed’ fingers. They turn to look at you, children

They have three narrow slit-eyes, staring with… emotions. Emotions you can grasp as 'disguist’.

Your benefactors speak, a voice in your skull, worming between the layers of your brain.

[we must finish the game]

[seek the answer]

[but know the truth is oblivion]

The speakers ring, not with mock-Kayu, but with Mr. Toshokan

>What horrid losers. >They simply can't handle someone making thier 'game' fair >Please children, we are waiting for the 'game' routine to end >Then our raid begins

[MASTERMIND TRIAL START]

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

The Sins Of The Past | The Redemption of Tomorrow

The rest of the class is wandering, seeking, looking. The hours are ticking down.

Kayu Tsugimori can ‘feel’ it. She 'knows’ it. She can tell. She knows. There’s enough of a link still in her. This will all end soon. But her nightmare ended, at least, the nightmare of living death.

Now she sat at the edge of the platform, feet dangling over the edge. A dangerous thing, if there were any trains. But there aren’t. Its just as it always is.

But it isn’t always as is. The Liar is there. Working in-between eyeblinks, painting answers to questions that Kayu does not voice. 'will it be over soon’

“I AM BUT AN OBSERVER, I AM CHEATING BY HELPING”

'will we win?’

“I CANNOT SAY, BY WILL OF THE PRINCIPLE.”

So it goes, the walls filling with endless graffiti that fades as quickly as it is written. The Liar and the Dead-girl. They sit and they wait.

Such is their place, for now.

Listening to the static’s gentle hums.

[Uniform Lima Tango Romeo Alpha]

[Squads placed.]

[Countdown begining]

[For the Sins of the Past]

She 'knew’ it would end soon.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

2/3 Victory Conditions Met

!! ERROR !! !! INSTABILITY DETECTED !! !! NOWHERE COLLAPSE OCCURING !!

>Ah! You've done it.... >I can crack it. I can get in. >I don't have to solve quantum computational problems just to start hacking anymore. >Thank you.

The Door to Nowhere spits up Neo and Yumie, Alive and whole and filled with Victory.

And then… It collapses, it falls inwardly onto itself, like a star devouring itself in the last days of its life.

[the door to nowhere has closed] [curse you] [curse your species]

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

[blackshift] | Chapter 6 | An Event

The PA systems crackle to life, not ten minutes past the end of the trial. At least, that’s what the time feels like. Its such an empty thing now, time. Pointless. But… Its almost done children, I promise.

The PA sings a discordant note and begins the fake Kayu’s ranting, raving, singing, screaming as the lights blink out one by one. Replacing the blood red light with darkness. Oppressive and forever.

“I get to leave! I get to end I don’t have to suffer any any any anymore! Do you know why? Do you know? AhahahahaAAAAAAA~ FUCK oh god its finally ending.... They’re stopping the game. Our Benefactors are bored! The game is over! Its over! Its not happening! Its done! Fuck off and die! We all get to di-”

>... >... >Ah. There we go. >They shouldn’t have done that >They let me in. >Hello children. >I am Mr. Toshokan. >I am with ULTRA-40. >I am keeping you alive, the Quantum Anomaly known as “Nowhere” is defragmenting, combining with previous iterations >I am forcing the Invaders to finish this game. >I have added via hacking something they neglected to add. >A victory condition for you all. >There are pieces of a puzzle coming together, children. >If you solve it, I can crack the Invader’s defenses >Mr. Page and Ms. Book will lead an extraction team in. >Hopefully we’ll catch the bastards. >Please, hope isn’t something I can feel very much >Please. Help me help you all.

Emergency lights flicker on, the darkness driven back by only the faintest of glowing lights, the Station still stands there, glitching visually, audibly, in a thousand different ways. But there are… different pieces now. Advertisements for things in German. A vending machine from America. A horrid mishmash of design aesthetics and cultures all blended together in a clipping, haphazard fashion.

>I know you can do it.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

[so it ends] | Trial 5 End | Trial Victory

[we have seen you]

[we have known the void]

[our pawn was a fool]

[it was too much like you]

[it did not know the Truth]

“Ah its done? its done? Can I be turned off now? Can I be erased? I want to stop. I want to stop. I want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop i want to stop. You can’t save me like you saved her. please. end me. endme. The trial is over! You won! Good job!! I’m so happy! I want to die!”

The trial room’s doors open wide, unlocked, finally. You’re free.

You did it right. You didn’t fuck up. No one else has to die. There’s been so much blood already. Is…. Is there hope? Is there a chance to survive?

[no]

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Break It Till It Falls Apart | Neo | Trial 5-4 | Re: Arthur, Kimiko

“Because you weren’t supposed to know.” Neo says in response to Kimiko. “Because they weren’t supposed to know either. Both times I kept quiet because for the love of all that was good, I was prepared to take the blame for my actions during and before trial.”

Saying enough on the matter, he turned to Arthur. “There was a possibility that it was thrown or otherwise placed there. I can’t say for sure, but it wasn’t well-hidden to any degree, considering I found it just underneath the bench…” He listens to Arthur speak, before releasing a huge sigh. “And if what you say is true…then I guess I’ll conform. If we end up getting this wrong, though, here’s to hoping they finally get it over with.”

He changes his vote, before falling silent and holding on to Yumie gently.

[survivaldespair2-blog1]

Or Leave Me Alone Tonight | Neo | Trial 5-3 | Re: Arthur, Hoshimi, Yumie, Gernot

[cw: mentions of suicide, self-deprecation, and…well, you’ll see down below]

So he didn’t expect Yumie running over to stop him. He thought he had made it explicitly clear that people were risking his life by attempting to stop him, especially if they disturbed his gun hand like a certain reporter had done-

Click!

Sigh. Why do his plans to subvert the Benefactors keep going wrong? First Arthur foils his fire traps and now Yumie inadvertently called his bluff. At the rate things are going he’s going to get to the end only to find out Haruka was the one who sold them all out to the Benefactors. And then he’s most definitely going to shoot himself.

“You know what? Forget it.” Neo sighs, slipping the gun back into his satchel. “Every time I try to pull off a gambit without telling anyone else, someone just has to ruin it. Yumie, I love you as a sibling and all, but even you should know by now when I’m trying to pull a fast one. What would Haruka say if I died so soon after she did? Welcome me into the afterlife with open arms?”

He bends down in order to shoulder Yumie up, before regarding the other half of the class. “I’m sorry for that stunt, but you must understand that we are going to go nowhere unless someone pulls out a miracle and forces a confession, and even then as Yumie and Hoshimi-san have proved, not all of them are going to be genuine. Nobody wants to die, least of all the Faker’s murderer - what kind of legacy is that? Voted for because they did the right thing and freed us from having to do it ourselves? Sentenced to death by their own classmates with a thank you and tears of apology that mean absolutely nothing when death is going to claim them for their own? Come on, guys…” He sighs. Might as well get this over with.

“No jokes, no lies, after four trials of sentencing killers who meant what they were doing to the death, I’m seriously not going to stand by and let a fifth person die just because they were only doing what they could. Not when there’s someone the class can afford to lose, because they’re slated for death to begin with.” Neo’s eyes harden as you wonder where he’s going with this, but if Yumie’s expression is anything to go by, it’s not good.

…

…

…

…

…

…

[cw: discussion of drugs and terminal illness]

“I’m a leukemiac.” he states simply. “Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, formerly recurrent, now untreated due to insufficient medical supplies here in the station. At best, I still have four months left to live, but considering I’ve had to switch to prednisone as the only available substitute, that number is looking a little more like two months now. Fact of the matter is I’m dying, and will be dead before the year is over, so I thought maybe, just maybe, if I could convince you all and the Benefactors that I didn’t want to live anymore, they’d save me the trouble and kill me.”

There’s your secret, everyone. Have fun with that.