You Won

[Lilium Mortem]

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this will be a text quest only

 

Prologue

Thinking back on the past can be painful. Regret, Loss, Guilt. Things did not go well that first session, where you fought to live. Where you treated it like a game... until it was too late. It was fun and whimsical at first, your stupid decisions were harmless, you were just having a good time. We won't dwell here long, but you cannot forget what happened.

You were given the void, to shape as you saw fit with a few simple commands. First you made the world, what was it like?

Second you spawned your first TCP, what word did you provide and what name did you give her?
 
Thirdly you gave her skills and possessions, what were they?

[King-Clod]

(Edit: Completely misunderstood the quest, my bad!)

We made a cobblestone road, stretching infinitely east and west, with grassland on either side. We created gravity and sunlight, with no night. We created small sapient creatures to populate the land, which we called Hitchhikers, who have the appearance of fuzzy goat-like humanoids with hands, horns and hooved feet, and a compass embedded in their chests. We also made birds, apple trees, and wind.

Seconding Cuddles for our first TCP

In addition to the pillows and snacks, we gave her a bedazzled vest, a rainbow satchel and matching journal, a kite, and a bike.

We taught her how to read, write, and draw, how to use the kite and bike we gave her, and cartography.

[Wilds]

When we made our first creations, the only thing on our mind was play: there was no danger, so we expected none and prepared for none. We created A BLUE SEA, A HARBOUR, and SEVERAL ISLANDS OF VARYING BIOMES to play in. The one we made our TCP on was GRASSLAND.

For our first TCP we provided the word TOYBOX, and called her CUDDLES.

The first possessions we gave her were A PILLOW, A BALLOON ANIMAL KIT, and A BAG OF SWEET SNACKS. We thought those sounded fun and harmless, like the rest of our world.

We taught her BASIC FORAGING, BALLOON ANIMAL MAKING, and SAILING. We didn't think she'd need much else - teaching her how to TALK didn't even occur to us, and we figured body language would work just as well in this fun, harmless world.

[Lilium Mortem]

With enthusiasm you made the world, first putting down a road that went further than you could see, then the land around it. Grassy hills filled in before a sea filled out to the horizon, leaving you with grassy islands in a calm sea, with a cobblestone road that wound around to each of them with great stone bridges that would let ships pass underneath. Almost as an after thought, you gave the world a sun and a sky, and made the wind blow gently across the grass.

Focusing in on one island, you gave it a harbor, dotted it with apple trees, and created life in defiance of God... Ok so goat furries with compasses in their chests might not be top of the blaspheme list, but making life out of nothing was at least a 5/10, would blaspheme again. A few settled into the harbor, making a small little village there. Most of them became nomadic, walking along the endless road. You decided to call them Hitch Hikers.

Then it was time for character creation, you assumed. You were surprised the game let you get away with making your own race of NPCs, but that should make things more interesting. You contemplated what to enter. what kind of command would it take? You assumed the intended way was something like fire, or maybe wizard. Well you wouldn't settle for a charmander for your starter, so you decided to get goofy with it.

>Spawn Toy-box

A plastic chest covered in stickers popped into existence at the top of the highest hill on the island, right beside the road. It took you a second to notice it had little dot eyes, arms, and legs. the top of the chest even had little cat ears. you named her Cuddles, and started giving her stuff. items started popping into existence around her: A pillow, candy, a bedazzled vest, A rainbow satchel, A rainbow journal, a kite, a bike, and a balloon animal making kit.

The tiny box whipped around, watching it all happen. now it was time to try out the >teach command. You entered in: READING, WRITING, DRAWING, KITE USE, BIKE RIDING, CARTOGRAPHY, BASIC FORAGING, BALLOON ANIMAL MAKING, and SAILING. the tiny cat spun around and fell flat, dazed. Whoops. You concluded there must be a cool-down between >Teach commands, it would make sense, otherwise you'd just spend hours giving Cuddles every skill you could think of.

You let her recover while you decided what kind of home you should make for her. There were so many options to think about. there didn't seem to be an edit mode, so you had to make something really good on the first try.

[King-Clod]

Hmm. Any spaceship or high tech base wouldn't really fit the vibe we've gone for with the islands, but a little shack (while cozy) doesn't seem...cool enough. How about a lighthouse? We already have a bit of a nautical theme going. It could have 4-5 rooms on the way up, and if we run out of room we can always dig down. Not anything too grand, but it doesn't have to be. Just has to be a home.

[Wilds]

Maybe a houseboat? That way we can sail between/around islands too, and essentially have a mobile home. When Cuddles has recovered a little, we can try teaching her SAILING again.

[Lilium Mortem]

Show ContentUPDATE CWs:

Dehumanizing language

You smash together the first two ideas you had: Houseboat Lighthouse: Lighthouseboat. It ended up being pretty much exactly what you expected, a large houseboat with a lighthouse sticking out of the stern. It fit neatly into the harbor, and shocked a few Hitch Hikers with it's sudden appearance. You told Cuddles to pack up all the stuff and settle into the star destroyer Lighthouseboat.

After she biked down with the goods and settled in, you figured it would be a good time to go exploring. You got a warning that if you left your base you would be entering into adventure mode, which limited the commands you could use. That sounded fine, probably more fun if you didn’t have the ability to just make anything you needed. Like creative mode is great, but the real nitty gritty part of minecraft is survival mode, right? Not that this was minecraft, more of a sims type deal going on.

Cuddles moved the ship out of the harbor and went to pass under one of the many stone bridges that criss-crossed over the sea between islands. Then the boat stopped. Cuddles looked up and you panned the camera to see the top of the lighthouse caught against the bridge.

Ah. These were not designed with mobile fucking towers in mind, were they? You could try to plot a course around the bridges… but that sounded like too much work. There was only one road, so all you had to do was keep track of forward and back. So you had Cuddles park the boat and sent her off on her bike.

Soon after she went over the bridge off your island, adventure mode kicked in. then a little after that the system said that your TCP limit went up to 2. You consider turning around, but it could wait. At least you’d have some time to come up with a new type to spawn. If Cuddles was literally a toy box with legs then what would happen if you put in something like black hole? Or antimatter?

You put the thought out of your mind as Cuddles came up to an island that was almost entirely hedge maze. You tried moving the camera over the maze, but it wouldn’t pull back any more. Fair enough. The next fifteen minutes or so you spent directing Cuddles on a puzzle platforming/maze crawl experience. Not being able to actively control her made the platforming feel boring, and the puzzles felt a bit amateurish, probably just tutorial stuff. Your reward for the gauntlet was unlocking the map.

That was a stupid prize. Who the hell designs a game where your treasure item is the map functionality?

Frustrated, you had Cuddles head back home. Making sure she was situated you panned the camera back to that hill top and got ready to spawn another TCP. Time to go for broke, let's see if you can break the game, or how much it will let you get away with.

Your second spawn was a bad decision, in retrospect. Even if bad decision is what you were going for at the time. What type did you spawn to try to break the session?

[Wilds]

Screw it. We were bored and frustrated already; our previous cool ideas had already been impeded, like the lighthouseboat, so we might as well mess with the game a bit.

The word we chose for our next spawn was DESTRUCTION.

[King-Clod]

This is a video game, right? RESET type.

[Lilium Mortem]

>SPAWN RESET

What appeared to be tail-less cartoon cat appeared on the top of the hill. It had some abstract circular shapes along its body, done up in blue, on a white base. It looked around a little alarmed.

You use the talk command to ask it what it does before remembering the check command. You quickly name it and pull up the check screen. You saw it jump after being talked to just before the check screen came up.

There was some kind of visual glitch before the screen settled.

NAME: null
… you did not name it Null.
Pronouns: It/Its, It/Its, It/Its, It/Its…
it just keeps going like that off the screen

Health: Critical(0/0)
Wait what?

Ability: ability name
-Ability specifics such as function and health cost(if applicable).
Oh you see what’s going on here.

Mood was set to happy, and the skills list was empty. It reset the check screen. Holy shit? You close the check screen to see… Null, you guess, with two more limbs and eyes then you remember. You were beginning to puzzle that over before…

AUTOBALANCE IS NOW IN EFFECT!

Wha

ADMIN gives you a communicator!

Who-

Call from Monolith, answer? Y/N

The call answers itself.

???: It seems you have blundered into quite the mess, godling.
???: My name is Monolith.

On the other side of the screen stands a black armored figure, with a helmet that twists into a towering black crown resting on his head.

Monolith: we have much to discuss.

[King-Clod]

I'm...I'm not sure if we do. It's not my fault the game wasn't balanced well enough to take care of this sort of thing. "Reset" is a relatively common word. Has this thing even had a beta? This sort of bug should've been found by game-testers before this game hit the ground.

[Wilds]

we sure do!!!! do you know what's wrong with our new TCP??

[Lilium Mortem]

You: We sure do! What’s wrong with our new TCP? Didn’t this game get a beta? Why is a common word like ‘reset’ causing problems?
You: Shit should have been figured out by QA testers.
Monolith: It is an… edge case.
Monolith: Reset types have been spawned before, and abstract abilities have always been able to affect the players… just not usually the system.
Monolith: It had not occurred to anyone that the system would be a valid target for the ability.
Monolith: when you pulled up the Check screen, ...Null used its ability on what it perceived as the source of the command you gave it prior. Since you had the check screen up, it became a valid target for this specific ability.
Monolith: the error that allows this will be fixed, but not until this game is over.
You: I see.
You: What exactly is auotobalance? Is this a multiplayer game?
Monolith: it is. A typical session contains five players, with the goal to be the last faction standing.
Monolith: Autobalance is enabled when a player creates something that severely tips the balance in their favor, and an admin is added to the game to moderate it more closely and ally against players in the lead.
You: what did you mean when you called me godling?
Monolith: this game is meant as a learning aid for gods. Small scale creation and guidance of mortals, along with other gods that may not share the same interest.
Monolith: An unintended side effect of the system that makes these games possible is that godlings like you can spawn in a player slot. You are half formed ideas pulled together into a collective consciousness of sorts, bound by god magic.
Monolith: Your reward for beating this game is the right to exist on our world as a god. Your punishment for losing, is death.
You: DEATH!?
Monolith: Yes. It is not a pretty thing, but our world cannot afford to house any more gods that cannot prove themselves capable in godly duties of even this miniscule scale.
Monolith: I suggest you take some time to reflect. Choose a name. Choose a form. Select the domain or domains of your power as a god, they will synergize with the game.
You: this isn’t fair! You can’t just sentence someone to death for losing a game!
Monolith: Do not mistake your place, Godling. You are an intruder into our world. Any number of your kind could cause irreparable harm to our world if we let you enter freely.
You: that doesn’t make it right!
Monolith: Perhaps, but it is the reality we are faced with.
You:... Fuck.
Monolith: You have been provided with the tools for your survival, now you must use them. Show me the strength of your conviction godling. Show me your will to live, the wisdom to guide your people, and the Heart that guides your actions.
You:...I just wanted to have fun.
Monolith: I am sorry. You did not choose this path, but you must walk it.
You:...
Monolith: If you have any more questions, ask now. For the next time we meet I shall be an enemy to test yourself against.

[King-Clod]

He seems educational, but condescending. Let's just hang up without a word.
So, we need a name, form, and some domains? We can do that.
Name? Elite. Let's let these opponents know what they're up against...a pro gamer.
Form? Well, the last thing I remember we were human, pretty sure. So I'd like to stick to that, with maybe a few modifications... how about goat horns and tail to match our species? I've always been a fan of the sea, too, maybe sea foam as a motif? Or a boat and it's crew, since we do seem to be a collective. Other than those for motifs, mainly a humanoid form.
Domains? Something that'll help us be what we need to be for our team. Guidance, maybe, and...can speedrunning be a domain?