Animal

So... 1. I still have to make my own algae using what you showed as a “base”? Or... 2. I just use the algae you displayed and make alterations to it to make it my own?

So how is this going to be set up? Do you set up the conflict the algae have to go through? Are there multiple algae cultures/cells involved?

lolwut? XD I think I get how this is supposed to work; if it were any other organism I wouldn't be confused in the least. But algae?! That's a brand new one for me. There's just enough of that special "da fuk" factor in this concept for me to want to try it; maybe give myself a challenge, but I don't know...

Friends? I like friends. I also wanna fill some empty space between posts so I'm down, too.

"...You know, one of the things I've learned over time is that people don't learn anything unless somebody dies. While it may not be the best way to provoke an emotional response like you mentioned, I felt like it resonated with what you said. Now something tells me we could go on and on about this until the sun rises, but I've been bestowed with the gift of a full glass of alcohol, so philosophical conversation can only last so long until this glass starts speaking for me." Nazo sat and drank from his glass as Litalis listed the extent of this organization. Their current plans were broad and varied: political unrest, artifact acquisition, social reconstruction. Not only did this information show that they were calculating enough to cover all of their needs, but that their connections ran deep enough to actually make an impact in those special places in society. Nazo eyes widened as he listened, entranced in the scale of this group and their actions. He perked up when Litalis mentioned the Prometheus Initiative, which was probably the most interesting thing mentioned so far, second to the aforementioned reach of this organization. "I've only heard of the Prometheus Initiative in concept; I never really looked into the name or the people behind it. I figured it was just another independent party with a lofty goal and no support. I liked the idea, though, and I'm glad to see there's someone behind it." As someone who could see themselves advocating for the public use of magic, albeit for less-than-savory reasons underneath it all, Nazo could see himself getting involved with this Prometheus Initiative. "If you'd like some extra hands over there I can-" Something broke up the ambiance of the decrepit building. It wasn't overtly disruptive, but it was audible enough to draw the attention of both men. Nazo didn't necessarily close the back door behind him, mainly because he didn't think it would matter. Even so, that wouldn't stop the occasional homeless person from stumbling into somewhere they determined to be shelter. When he looked in the direction of the noise, he saw the shadows of movement off in the distance. Nazo then held his arm up, calling his skeleton bat to his person. Before his next move, he actually took a moment to look at his newly obtained critter. "Have you ever stopped to look at the skull of a bat? The scale of their teeth the rest of their head is surprising and honestly quite scary. Were this creature any bigger I'd think it was a damn dog's skull." Nazo paused and decided to test something, "If it doesn't look dangerous, just spook it away. If it looks dangerous, try to fuck it up as much as you can. If you can't tell...then I'll trust you to make the right choice." He then released the bat in the direction of the shadows, hoping that the thing will follow his orders. "Sorry about that." He started, getting back to their conversation, "I've never used a summon before today; I just want to learn how far I can go with it. Anyway, the Prometheus Initiative sounds very interesting and I'm curious to see how events with them will play out. I'd come with you on those expeditions too, but that depends on what you're hunting. I don't always need to meet people to get new cards, if you find some non-human thing that has some magic in it you can give me a moment to experience it in my hands and I'll get a card too." Nazo smirked as he said this. While his support was genuine, he never failed to sneak in something that would benefit himself too. Though, it wasn't a lie or a lofty request. His deck was rather limited so any opportunity to get a new card or two was always welcome. "Otherwise, I think I'll insert myself into that broad goal, add some pizzazz to the process, maybe remove some of those 'enemies of the cause' that you mentioned." He downed his drink as he finished speaking, waiting for a response. He and Litalis were starting off on a good note, so Nazo figured he would probably get the hook-up he wanted.

Bump...?

Wasteland wasn't a good enough word to describe Talix-Engine. The very air felt hostile as the group left the ship. It reeked of rust and oil and it was so thick it was hard to breathe. The ambient noise of the place wasn't natural; simply put, it wasn't the wind that was howling. Unlike like the last place, malignant entities weren't so intelligent as to wait in ambush like the dragons. Every single one of those little dots he saw from the sky was a threat on the ground, out in the open ready to kill. Caution... Always needed, but now more than ever. Dray was practically underneath Double-9 trying to stay safe. It was awkward positioning, but it felt like the safest place. The focus on the danger of Talix-Engine distracted him from Double-5 offering him...goggles? Confused, Dray put them on and checked everyone's. Sure enough, it was the altered versions he saw with the crystal in hand. It was in a surprisingly clear resolution too, probably as a result of having them directly over his eyes and not awkwardly to the sides. Impressive... Indeed they were. "Thank you, Double-5. They're great." The Kids Next Door were a talented bunch, even for children not much older than Dray. However, something told him that this was a very grown-up place to be. They may be in over their heads, but this was for the sake of Orion and Feuer Krieger so it needed to be done. something told Dray that the forge was still the wrong way to go, but he had nothing else to go on from his perspective. Orion's still seemed to be that unusual woman floating around him, draping him in ethereal robes that seemed to...guard him?...protect him?...veil him? The purpose was highly unclear, but given how Feuer Krieger reacted to Dray's questioning, it was clear that she was significant in some way. The group's next steps were unclear. Nobody knew the layout of the place, nor did Orion give any real hints on what this forge he's searching for looked like. Oddly enough, Dray's new goggles held some sort of answer. Off in the distance was faint light of some sort. The source was indeterminate, but it was something to go off of. It was also in a...sort of general direction of those mysterious craters in the ground. Dray couldn't give a real explanation as to what he saw, but he spoke up about what he did know and pointed at the supposed correct path. “That way.”

"Hey, it's only terrorism if people are scared. I can understand why you'd describe your actions as such; change is scary. Even so, I'll have to disagree when you say mankind is weak or pathetic. The foundation of our society was built on strong backs and the lineage of that foundation still exists today, no matter how bastardized their legacy is now. The materials are all there for mankind's return to prosperity, they just haven't been used. If anything, humanity is becoming more lazy nowadays." Nazo finished his drink as he gave Litalis his full attention. The necromancer brought up that the goal of his little organization was to simply give mankind a push back to their original strength. However, he brought up that they wouldn't direct that path to greatness, essentially leaving the consequences of their actions to mankind...and mankind was a fickle beast. "So if I understand this correctly, even though you want to give mankind the kick in the pants it needs to be on top again, you'll have no influence in the exact direction of that restoration. Essentially meaning we could wind up in a new Golden Age, or the world will just go to shit." Nazo proceeded to completely fill his glass as he spoke. "As much as I'd like to see the the world bend to the breaking point, I don't actually want it to break. If the world goes to shit, that means I'm going to be living in a world that's gone to shit. And based on what I know about people, my money's not in mankind's favor." While both gentlemen shared very similar views on the current state of the society around them, Litalis' view was a bit more blunt. He had an ominous vibe to him; it was negligible at first, but the more he spoke the more it was amplified. He clearly had a lot more time to ponder this compared to Nazo. "Now, I like what you're saying Litalis. I like you too; you seem like a reasonable guy. But you do understand that while I do enjoy a little mayhem, I put a bit emphasis on 'little'. I'd think it's reasonable to let you know if I see anything a little too fucked up for my taste as time goes on. Chances are I'd be chest-deep in this by the time that happens though, so I could be wrong. I'm just not one to break my toys is all." With all of this information in mind, Nazo tipped his hat as he made his final decision... "Other than that, when do I start?" It was something to keep him from getting bored, and it was going towards a proper cause. It was a little...risky to do, but anything that allows for a bit of violent fun seemed like a good time. There was still one loose end that Nazo wanted to tie up before hearing really anything else; nothing too serious, just an observation, "Oh! Side note." Nazo started before taking long swig of his drink, "You mentioned that you represented someone earlier and that there were others involved, yes? Might I ask who they are, and when I get to shake their hands?"

I know I'm just a simple guy who's not 100% into philosophical observations, even in spite the profound statements given by everyone so far (y'all so smart). But I did see that this thread existed and...noticed what it was trying to say. I want to reprise my earlier post, still try to be deep, and break this down in my own way, just to clean up my two cents. I'll break this down point by point: 1. Why didn't we send the bomber to the authorities, again? We wouldn't have to think about any of this if we just locked him up and got him some help; maybe helped him learn how to express himself in a less explosive manner. 2. The points brought up for both sides of this argument are both..."limited". I'd rather say they're dumb, but I'll stick with "limited" for the sake of formality. - Our Point, "Human suffering is a temporary condition that will end once humanity has reached a certain point in development.": This is the thesis statement to a college essay, not something you say to a bomber trying to blow up the city. More importantly, though, this is a lie and we know it. However, based on how it's structured, it's a lie that's flawed in its own right. There's always going to be some level of "suffering" in the world, that's just how life is. We're always going to come across obstacles and opposition that have the potential to, technically speaking, put us in a state of suffering. The thing is that those obstacles don't always remain, people overcome their struggles all the time and come out stronger on the other side of it. Of course, that doesn't mean someone else isn't suffering while another person is recovering. There's always going to be success and there's always going to be failure, but that doesn't stop the failure from changing into something better. - Bomber's Point, "Human suffering is a permanent condition that cannot be changed due to our physiological makeup.": This is just...unusual in this setting. I don't know about you guys, but when I think about physiology I think about how our organ systems function. If he's addressing it from this standpoint then I think the answers lie in our brains. Yes, our brains have functions that respond to pain and negativity, which could culminate into a state of suffering at worst. However, our brains aren't solely based around pain; those functions are necessary for survival and overall life purposes. If you function solely on pain and suffering then you need help because that's not how the brain works. You could argue that it's also our brains that direct our motivations, be they positive or negative, and controls the nervous system that just allows us to do whatever we wish be it positive or negative, but that's something for a different person to talk about at a different time in a different place because I sure as hell won't do it. The big thing here is that while both of these points apply to humanity on an person-to-person basis, they in no way have anything to do with humanity's current overall status as a whole. While a lot of people may be flawed and struggling, I'd like to think humanity is on an upswing. Given all of this, here's what I'd say: "This is a stupid-ass idea! You are insane! You need help; come with me and I'll call somebody!" ...Okay, so how about this: "Human suffering is a temporary condition for each individual human, but does not hinder or harm the overall status of humanity." I hope you guys are happy, it's almost 2:30 in the goddamn morning for me and I've been up way too long trying to get this shit oof my chest.

Don’t. Think. I. Don’t. See. You. Boi. For all intents and purposes, I agree with @supernal, Regardless of the legitimacy of the historical probability of the inevitability of perpetual human suffering (you can clearly see how much I care about that part), having one guy decide the fate of an entire species is severely dangerous.

In contrast to what Dray stated before this point, he wanted to leave this group and head on his own way. However, something inside him tugged at his spirit. It wasn't his voices; he'd know if it was. He just felt like he was needed. He had already endured enough turmoil and learned enough information that it felt wrong not to see it through. So here he was now, asleep on one of the ship's seats as the group had reached their projected destination. While he slept, Dray had very abstract dreams; dreams of a legion of people surrounding him, all speaking there own piece of words until a sentence eventually manifests. Usually these sentences consisted of nonsense or irrelevance, but this particular time was slightly different. They spoke of vision, how they see, what they see, how they interpret what they see. It seemed like they suddenly became aware of proper vision in their own way. It would be an interesting thing to continue listening to, but... Arise... It was time to get up. Dray was still very tired from before he fell asleep. He had a big day and, chances are, he was going to have another one. He hoped it wouldn't start too quickly, though; he could barely open his eyes to greet anyone as he woke. Dray groggily staggered onto his feet and gave a massive yawn, still struggling to keep his eyes open. He almost stepped on Mr. Squishy, which was probably in his arms as he slept only to fall on the floor over the course of the ride. In an attempt to wake himself up, Dray picked up his plush squid and stumbled over to the nearest window before wiping his eyes. He thought letting in some natural light could help. The landscape the boy would then witness would not help anyone with anything in their life, let alone waking up...despite Dray being so tired he was barely phased by it. It was very clear that Talix-Engine was no better than the last place they were in, most likely worse. It was another ruined city, yes, but this time it was teeming with movement compared to the silence of the last place. It was hard to tell, but it was good to assume that all the little dots on the ground Dray could see through the window weren't friendly dots. On top of that, there were these big holes...or indents or something in the ground too. The place looked messed up, simply put. Dray decided to take a head count of the dots he could see...which were people. Orion was still in his little time-out corner being supervised by Double-9, now known to actually be named Eric. Double-5, who's real name was yet to be revealed, was still piloting the ship. All the while Lucas, also known as Double-7, was keeping watch over the landscape with a much more alert mindset. The crystals salvaged from the dragons they fought were piled up off to the side somewhere, their purpose still shrouded in ambiguity. Orion and Double-9 were speaking with each other as Dray was looking out of the window. The most suspicious man in the group mentioned that they needed to find a forge, of all the things. It was really hard for Dray to think at the time, but he thought back to the vision that the group saw, the vision that put the adult in the spotlight. The man and his armor, known as Feuer Krieger, walked into a...thing and merged into one being. He wasn't really sure what a forge does, or at least he couldn't muster that type of thought, but if it puts stuff together then that's probably not the right direction. From what Dray remembers, he also thought Orion wanted to separate from Feuer Krieger, so he forge was the wrong way to go. It was uncertain, but when in doubt ask a question; so in between yawns, Dray spoke up, "Do forges put stuff together, or take stuff apart?"

“Collapse” is a strong word. I find it funny that we’re in a real conflict with our co-writer, but in all honesty I want to see you try.

I feel like we can have you wrap it up and say that Dray changed his mind next time

.................................ugh Fine... I’m having Dray come with you guys.

@Grubbistch This is a big-ass question: Will the actions of the Kids Next Door affect the result? Do Orion and Feuer Krieger have plot armor? I’m seeing da big boi show up in other threads, and if this is the origin, does this even matter?