Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 6 The Flipside
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Hello! Welcome to Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Amanda Weldon. Today's story is a crossover episode from Stories RPG, our play-at-home, listen-and-learn game that helps people of all ages tell amazing stories together. Tune in for a regular episode of Stories Podcast later this week!

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Hello and welcome back to Stories RPG, the podcast where we tell stories better together. And we do that by playing a game. If you'd like to play along at home, check us out at patreon.com backslash stories RPG. You can also find everything, all the episodes and free downloadable character sheets at stories rpg.com. And with me as always are the Giga City Guardians. Scriv, why don't you start us off with Animus? Tell us who you are. Hello.

Hello, hello, hello! I am Scriv the Bard, playing Animus tonight on Giga City Guardians. A disgruntled office worker turned superhero, and there's a lot of crazy stuff going on.

We found some interesting things in that Tusk Core lab, and I really want to get to the bottom of it. I think I'm still in the sewer. You are. You are. You're holding the hand of a fungus. With my new best friend, the best fungus among us. Yes, exactly. He's a fun guy. All right. And on that note, a fun guy note. Ape, why don't you say hi to all the lovely people? Oh.

Oh, I am Abe Canaveral, formerly known as Peel Armstrong. I am the chimp in an aviator jacket and glasses. I am invulnerable. I was going to go to space, but you know, the experimental rocket exploded, and now I am impervious to harm. King of the urban jungle, big fan of fireflies, just kind of here with the Giga City Guardians doing my best, just like any good fighter pilot would.

Doing my best. What happened to I'm the greatest there is? I feel like you just took yourself a tag down, man. My best is the best. I don't know what to say. There you go. That's perfect. And finally, last but most definitely not least, the leader of the Gigacity Guardians, the incredible, brilliant Firefly, Amanda Weldon.

Hello, I'm Amanda. I'm the host of Stories Podcast Normally. And then also today, I am Jillian Jays, who is the leader of the Giga City Guardians and also a high school student. Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, heroes of justice.

The Giga City Guardians!

So I wanted to start out today with just summarizing a little bit of a timeline and having a moment to give y'all a chance as authors to talk about where you want the story to go now.

Because you've got a real nice setup. There's a whole lot going on. There are a lot of mysteries to explore. But this is going to be an episode and, you know, really a couple of episodes that will really be about what you do next. What you as characters and authors decide you want to have happen in the story. So you're going to have a lot of control over how things develop.

There's a lot going on and what you choose and how you choose to move is going to make a huge difference in how things turn out. But don't worry, no pressure. It's about making a good story. So I want to set the scene a little here. It was Friday when Jillian and Specs ditched school to head to the lighthouse. Animus got brought in by Ape and you faced the Megapede menace.

It was that evening, Friday night after the Tusk Tower, uh,

big media frenzy that animus and ape got into some shady trouble by heading over to tusk corporation and animus busted out this strange brick from the bottom of tusk tower and ape and firefly ended up letting a squad of bricks escape into the sewers with a large number of the victims of the megapede attack.

It is now Saturday morning, and the bleary-eyed guardians who have had no rest and nothing but action for 24 hours are watching on TV as Tusk is once again issuing threats and proclamations about this brick attack. And that's where we left you last time. Animus has not returned.

You also encountered Giga City Gold, who showed up at the Megapede encounter and also was playing against the Brick Team, who seemed to either be kidnapping or rescuing Brick.

these unconscious people from Tusk Towers. And that's still a big question mark. What exactly is going on with the bricks and why is Giga City Gold after them? And there's also the rivalry now between Firefly and really the whole team and Ellipsis, who's really got Firefly's goat. Ellipsis is the hacker? Yeah. Dot, dot, dot is all you see on the screen once he's after you. With that snarky British voice. Yeah. Yeah.

I hate him. I really don't like him. Most people find me charming.

Oh, gross. So there are a number of things going on. You've got a question of how you're going to deal with Giga City Gold. What is Tusk really up to? What's happening under the sewers? Before we get started, I wanted to ask each of you, I like to talk about threads, themes, and dreams. Threads, themes, and dreams are just a way to think about how you'd like to develop the story as an author. So threads are those loose plot ends that you'd like to tie up.

Themes are feels that you want to lean into. So some kind of emotional tone that you would really like to see happen. And then there's dreams, something you'd really like to have happen in the plot. I really want to see this character have this happen or that happen. So I wanted to talk with you about those things before we jump back into the action.

I can start. I have some thoughts. First, my thread is it was sort of we had suspicions and we haven't really come back to it. But I still think that Giga City Gold was behind the Megapete attack. They seemed too on the ball, too prepared. And it just all seemed a little conveniently timed. I think we all felt that way, right? So you want to know for sure is what you're saying? Yeah, I want to know and I want everybody else to know too.

So you, this is a dream too. You're saying I want to prove that giga city gold is behind the mega Pete attack and that it's all their fault. And I want them, you want them outed. You want them publicly shame. Yes. If they deserve it. Wow. Amanda, that was a, that was a very firm. Yes. Do you care to expand? Is that like, come on, you gotta give me something there.

All right. Well, publicly shamed, I think is not, maybe I wouldn't use that phrasing. I want them to be exposed. I want everyone to see them for the farce, the fallacy that they are. It's a lie. I mean, that's the whole thing. They're selling something to the public that isn't true. And I want to be sure that everyone is like on the same page, that we know who the real good guys are and who are the ones that are just like selling you something, that are just showing you some sparkly something. Who are the real good guys? That's a

Good question there. I like how there's the presumption that it's you. I mean, I think I know my intentions as the character and I think I know the intentions of the Giga City Guardians. And I do think that what we want is to be, you know, we want to guard Giga City. Like we want to support the people of Giga City. So I do, I would characterize that as being

I think that we've made mistakes in the past or that Firefly has made mistakes in the past, which leads me to one of my, I think, dreams in the story is that I would want to, I want to repair things with the bricks. I want to figure out what's going on with them. And I think that there's a way that they've, that I have harmed them specifically in the past. And I want to make sure that we're,

I want to do right by them. I will, as an author, I'll jump in and say, you're really speaking to one of my themes. So one of my themes is the question of how do you know if you're doing the right thing? So one of the things I've been enjoying as one of the authors at the table is giving you all those moments where you have to make some hard decisions. You have a lot of power and a lot of agency and a lot of responsibility. What do you do when, right?

Scriv, do you want to jump in here? Do you have any threads or themes or dreams that haven't been covered? So many. So, so many. Let's go. And I think it would take up an entire podcast to really dive into this. Let's go, GigaCity Book Club. Okay, so objectively, removing myself from Animus, so many things that I have questions about and so many things I want to learn more about. So I'll choose one of the threads.

Whatever sort of genetic manipulation is going on with Firefly and Werebear. We haven't figured that out yet. That's some scary stuff right there. I really, really want to learn more about these brick refugees who are fleeing and who are helping people.

We don't know if they're helping. We just know they're taking them. Or they seem to be helping people in their own way. There are a lot of different perspectives going on. You have the Giga City Guardian perspectives. You have the perspective of the bricks. You have the perspective of the Tuskor evil. And I think we can all agree that there's some shady stuff there. I love that you're labeling. That makes me happy. Yeah.

It's because I feel very strongly about this, Michael. I would love to see a brick uprising to take down Tusk. I want to see us ally with them in some way. And part of me is also wondering if Ellipsis is not just a crony, but if that individual has a larger role somehow. I don't know. Maybe the Tusk side.

CEO is just a figurehead. Who knows? Who knows? But now as Animus, I knew there was some shady stuff going on. That's why I left. And I feel justified in leaving. And we're taking them down, I hope. You didn't even ask one of the questions I thought you might get to, which is, gee whiz, I wonder how I got my powers. It's sort of strange. I was working at Tusk Corporation and

Then one day I woke up and had all these weird abilities. There's a reason why I didn't ask that. I don't think I'm ready to know yet. And I think that'll come out. But Animus is a little bit of behind the scenes for Animus's mental state.

Holding it together as best as she can, because there are things that she has found out that she has been able to do that she never thought would be possible. And she is compartmentalizing everything.

that right now. I like where everybody is. I am excited. Thank you for letting me know what will help me channel the story in ways you want to see it happen. It's always good to stop and sort of check in and see where everybody is and where they'd like to go. And so it sounds like y'all are thinking things that I am thinking too, and I'm excited to find out how things resolve. So if you don't mind, I would like to begin with a dream sequence. Can we do that?

Let me check the rule book. Yes. Yes. Okay. Survey says yes. And Jillian, I would like you to begin in a dream sequence. You have fallen asleep on the couch. You won't know this. We're just going to open with your dream sequence. It's been exhausting being you. Yes. And you know, you still got some mega Pete injuries that, you know, have not fully healed. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'm going to say, I'm going to ask you, where does your dream sequence find you? Where are you? Okay. I am in a building that I know exists.

my school, but it isn't actually my school. You know that thing that happens in dreams where you're like somewhere? Every dream. Yeah. So it doesn't look like my school, but I know it's my school. Okay. What are you looking for? You're looking for something. What is it you're trying to find? Who is it you're trying to find? I'm looking to find my way out. I am lost in the building and I can't find any of my anybody. Like I can't find the people that

And I can't figure out how to get out. And I just keep like taking turns and like kind of winding around. And then there's a lot of aquariums. This is a real dream that I've had. Oh, wow. Great. That's perfect. As a storyteller, that's an amazing thing to bring in. Do it, do it, do it. Yeah, there's just there's a lot of aquariums. So the light is like weird. You know, those big ones with like the big ones that are like part of a wall sometimes. And then

And I can't find my way out. I know I can hear that there are people, but I can't see them. I don't know where they are. Like they're all gathered in some other part of the building and I can't find them and I can't figure out how to get out or get to where the other people are. And the light is weird because there are all these aquariums. I will add that as you walk by the aquariums, there's this enormous thing that moves forward.

far off in the dark water. - I hate that, that's bad. - And it stirs the dark water in a way that like you kind of turn your head and you look and when you look straight, there's nothing there. - Yep, that's bad. I hate that so much. - You stare into the aquarium and you feel like it's looking back at you, the darkness is. And then when you look away and you walk a little bit, you know, the light will flicker in this way that suggests huge movement in the aquariums outside. - Yeah, okay.

It's Gary. I hope, remember you can X card anything. Are you okay with this? No, no, it's fine. You're always cool to be like, I don't like this for any reason. We'll get rid of it.

No, it fits. It fits with the dream and the overall sort of like eerie. And there's like a, I don't know, this kind of dream. I feel like there's like an urgency, but there's also no urgency. Like I can't figure out if I'm rushing or something. It's just like a weird, like you're lost. You feel like you have to get out because you know you're supposed to be in your suit. You know there's something happening out there and you need to be Firefly.

But you can't find the way out and you don't have your suit and you're looking for somebody to help you. Do you want to try one of those dreamlike things like open a couple doors? Do you want to call somebody on your phone and have a weird experience that way? How do you want us to bend the weirdness here? I think I should open doors because I can hear that there are people around. So I think I should open doors and see if I can find somebody who can help me. Okay, you open a door and you see your mom.

Okay. She's seated behind the principal's desk. But when she looks at you, she looks at you and it's like she doesn't know you for a moment. Oh. And she says, yes. And then I say, like, mom, I need your help. I need to be Firefly. Can you help me? She says, oh, honey, you don't need to be Firefly. You just need to leave.

It's okay. Come here. And she stands up and walks out from behind the desk and she holds out her arms. Is she really my mom? You feel in that moment that she switched. Suddenly she feels like your mom. Okay. Well, then I would like to hug her, but I would also like for her to help me leave then. I think I say, if you think I should go, then we should go. Can you help me find the way out? She walks over and gives you a hug.

And when she folds you into her arms, you feel very warm and safe and suddenly realize it's okay. And just at that moment, you realize the back wall, it's another aquarium and the light's odd. And there's that movement behind you. And you turn your head to look and she says, no, no, honey, it's okay. And when you pull back around and look at her, it's not your mom. It's the Scarlet King.

No! She says, I told you, you're just like me. See? And she holds up your hand. And her hand, she's wearing her bio armor that looks like a carapace. And when she holds your hand up, your hand begins to grow plates of armor on the back of it and turn a reddish color. She says, you've been strong enough all along. And you? Ew, what is that?

What is that? Wait, what does this mean? Am I going to do I start I start growing a carapace like I start it's happening to me. You stagger backwards and you're looking at your hands and there's armor forming on your arms and the movement behind you becomes more frenzied. And suddenly the glass bursts in and something massive and red enters the room with you and you wake up screaming. OK, I don't like it. It's scary.

Okay. And then where do I wake up? I fell asleep on the couch. Is that what you said? Am I in the lighthouse? Am I okay? You come to on the couch of the lighthouse. You go, ah, and you like sit bolt upright. You're still in the clothes from last night and you immediately look at your hands and you look normal. Okay. And then you flip one of them over and you like start scratching a little bit and you look, there's a little pinkish patch of flesh on the back of your hand. Okay.

Okay. I'm very concerned and I need... I think at this time, the very first thing that I want to do, other than have a glass of water, brush my teeth and pee and everything that you do when you wake up, is I really would like...

We have to find out what I got injected with, what we got injected with, because this is what it's making me think of. I'm worried. So there's everybody else is still here. So the guardians have kind of come to camp out. Any of the guardians who you would like can be here. We can include them in this scene. So far, mostly this has been werebear, riptide, ape. And then, of course, when she was here, animus, specs. And your mom is here.

Um, and it's sort of full alert at the, the lighthouse. When you wake up, Specs is like, you okay? And he, he says, I, I let you sleep. I figured you needed it. Yeah. Um, thank you. I did need to sleep. Um,

I think that the people who can help me the most, I think are probably specs. And then maybe my, my mom, cause she's a nurse or doctor. She's a doctor and she's in the, the tech room and running scans on all the stuff. Okay. Everybody else is here. Where bears like, Hey, it's like, are you okay? Like, I mean, I tried to catch some Z's, but I couldn't, but you look like you were out of it.

There's definitely a feeling of worry. You can tell everybody's worried about you. Even though you're a teenage kid, everyone on this team looks up to you. You've done things none of them have had the confidence to do. You've always been the one to lead. And you've sort of stepped into that role and lived up to it. And you think this is probably the first time they've seen you like this. Defeated. Defeated.

nobody's really sure what happened. Nobody's really sure what to do about it. Animus isn't back and Animus never even was fully on the team. You lost somebody before they were even fully trained. And these people just escaped into the sewers. All those missing people, they're now on your head. You never finished with Giga City Gold. Nobody's really sure what's going on. There's this feeling of just the weight of it all.

in the air around all of you. Abe Canaveral, he was dead asleep and he has a hammock. It's pretty cool. He strung it up. Takes off his sleeping sunglasses, puts on his daytime sunglasses. Hold on. And he says, we're going to go get the new guy, right? Specs, can you fire up a tracker or some kind of pinger or radar, whatever you got in there. You got something that can track her earpiece, right?

Specs goes, I've been trying. There's no signal. They're completely gone. Those drones that went with her, they're gone too. Dave reaches over while he's talking and just goes, enhance, enhance, and starts just ramming on his keyboard. It's probably not helpful, but...

It is very clear that they have sort of disappeared from signal range. They're gone. And that happened when they hit the sewers. When you went with the little, with your new friend, your fun guy friend, that was when they disappeared. The drones, by the way, as you walked down, and I'll tell you this, Animus, since this is what you would have experienced, they started to drop one by one into the sewer.

They all stopped hovering and dropped into the water around you as you went deeper in. So do we want to move the scene from that moment of waking up and defeat and then ape asking to jump in with Animus? Or do you all want to stay with the Giga City Guardians for a second while they figure out their next step? I think we need to address Firefly's poisoning or venom or whatever it is. Yeah. I agree, but I also...

I'm hearing that my team feels defeated right now and overwhelmed because there's a lot going on and we don't really have a plan and this is unprecedented situations. And so I also I do really feel like it's important to figure out what happened and what I was injected with. But I also want to make sure that my team feels secure and like they trust me.

Even though I don't really feel very confident, I want them to know that we're going to be okay and we're going to make a plan. We don't have a plan, but we're going to make one. So I feel like maybe we need to address the team and make sure everyone is okay. Agreed. A little bit more time in the tower. What do you want to do? Specs, by the way, when you wake up after he says, you know, he's sort of gone over and you know Specs well enough.

When he gets really nervous, he starts to do stuff. So he's trying again to locate the communicator. And your mom comes over and puts her hand on his shoulder and gives it a squeeze and says, why don't you take a nap, sweetheart? Yeah. And he's like, no, we got stuff to do. And she just, she just gives him a little, she like, she brings him in and she kind of tussles his hair a little. And she says, go take a rest. And she says, and you Jillian, don't get up off that sofa.

You've got a lot of people here who love you and we'll work it out. We can talk to you while you sit. I know you're not happy about what's going on, but I need you to rest. Werebear kind of plumps down onto the couch next to you. And he gives you like a big sideways hug. He's in humanoid form, but he's still pretty shaggy. He's, he's a little stinky, but he's real warm and fuzzy. And it's a very genuine hug. And he goes, it's okay. We're here. We got your back.

Um, and then he kind of pulls away a little and scratches and he goes, uh, he's like, is this happening to you? And he lifts up an arm. There's a reddish patch on his arm. Oh, oh no. Okay. All right. Um, we kind of, all right. So we have a bunch of people. Everyone is, I think that maybe here's what I would really do in this situation as I would make a list of all the things that need to get accomplished. And then we would delegate those tasks out. Um,

That is what I feel compelled to do in this moment. Oh, man. So that everyone feels useful. I don't know if we actually need to do that. I think that's a cut to Scriv moment. I don't think the audience needs to see a little montage. I don't know. I love the staff meeting montage approach. Let's do this. Power slides. A dry erase board, you know, like we just need to delegate and figure out who's going to work on what. Yeah.

Okay. I'm going to say that what happens is you lean into that hug and you're like feeling better for a hot second. And then you like, he goes, is this, Hey, is this happening to you? And he looks at his arm and you immediately like, okay. And like your mom catches your eye and it's just like, Oh no. And then we'll go into like, to like the montage of planning. Think for a second. And so Dan and Amanda, you can kind of table talk about what you want to do. And Scriv, if you have any ideas to throw them in, don't hesitate. Um,

Um, and if you want to write up some stuff that you'd like to try and some ideas you'd like to pull, I can give you some hints. There's a lot more resources at your disposal than you've even probably thought about. There's so many things you could do. Why don't you start writing up some of the things you'd like to do to try to figure things out while I start bringing Scriv into a flip side.

Scriv, you're asking yourself, where am I? As this little dude leads you by the hand deeper and deeper into this sewer, or what is it really? You feel like you're, you know, you can feel that there's like an opening up and there's a lot of space and the ground slowly rises and you find yourself on something squishy. And when you get to a certain part,

There's a faint glow at the end of like far off in the distance and you walk towards it. It's kind of a pinkish glow. And as you get closer, you can see it's a snail. It's a snail on the wall, but it's phosphorescent and it's glowing.

And as you get closer, it brightens. And you can see that you are in what looks like a cavern. There's a spongy kind of moss under your feet. And there are a few more of the snails who brighten up. And the little guy looks at you and he says, Welcome. You are the first outsider who has come without invitation in some time. There are those who I must introduce you to, but...

This is Flipside. I'm going to take a minute and process and just look around at where I am now that there's actually light. So you can see tendrils on the walls that look like roots. Okay. But they're reddish. You can see these snails crawling, and there's a doorway. There's an arch. And the ground underneath your feet, this is the strangest part. It does feel like you're on natural springy moss. Mm-hmm.

but it's sort of purplish, purplish red in the light that's coming from these creatures. He looks up and he says, you probably have many questions. I do not wish to hold back information, but there are those who I must ask permission of first. I have so many questions. I think it's hard for me to really know where to begin. He says, how about a name? I am called Microbial.

He reaches out a little stubby three fingered hand. Nice to meet you, microbial. I am animus. He nods and he says, we owe you. I owe you a great debt. I will attempt to pay it in kind. And he kind of does a little bow. I don't think that's necessary. He says, perhaps not for you, but for me.

He turns and he starts to walk down the corridor and he kind of shepherds some of the figures. He's easily half their size. He's probably about three foot four or five. He sort of kind of like moves them forward and he says, it would be of assistance if you could help me. They lack their bearings. Of course. Of course. And I'll assist and try to

heard people and I guess we're going towards that archway. The whole way I'm still kind of astounded at the moss under my feet and like the bioluminescence and everything. The weirdest part is it feels natural. Yeah, I'm kind of like bouncing a little bit when I step like this is strange. Have you ever been on a peat bog before? Yes.

Yeah. It's like a peat bog. Yeah. Okay. Like maybe there's water under there deep. What does it smell like? Really rich and earthy, but in like the best way. Yeah. Like, like green things and growing things, not rotting things, but like, like life.

Weirdly, you feel like you're in a forest almost. You look at the wall and there are roots and these tendrils growing all throughout, but there are some bricks underneath. So you're pretty sure that at some point this was part of the city's sewer. So there's some sort of man-made architecture underneath.

But there's clearly been a lot going on down here. Are we under one of the city parks or something? How? How is it like this? He kind of looks up a little and there's a smile. He looks sort of proud for a moment. He says, there is much wonder to be seen here. I confess I enjoy introducing outsiders. Please come.

First, we should take these wanderers to a place where they can be healed. The cavern, the tunnel goes forward, and then there's a huge gate in front of you. And it looks like one of those old, like a giant almost bank vault with like a turnable wheel. And when he gets close, he puts a hand up on it, and then he knocks. And he knocks in a particular pattern. He knocks...

And then stops. I'm going to try to memorize that knock. There's a quick series of knocks from the other side. And then he knocks back. He sees you out of the corner of his eye and he says, It is a language, not a code. You might find it difficult to follow. I'll try to hide my embarrassment at being found out. The wheel squeaks and it rolls aside. And immediately he is being bear hugged.

By a massive, strangely like elongated figure who is glistens in the, in the faint luminescence, bare upper body wearing basically a pair of Speedos. And this figure says, we were so worried. We hadn't heard anything from you.

I was helped by this one. And he gestures to you. And immediately this figure draws back. You realize they have very small eyes, kind of embedded in an elongated face and a very wide mouth. Their skin is kind of a dark red. And if anything, they look sort of like some sort of underwater creature. It sort of like looks a little startled and raises its hands. I'm imagining like a salamander. Yeah.

Kind of. You got to ask the name. And he says, he puts a hand out and he says, this is animus. You should introduce yourself. And the figure puts hands down and then says, if you helped our friend, then you are friend to me as well. I'm called electric. And does a little bow. Seeing that they didn't really extend a hand and not wanting to cross any boundaries. Yeah.

Uh, because Anis Animus is a little bit socially awkward in case that hadn't been obvious in the past. So I'm just going to also give a little bow and say, thank you for having me. I think you've helped me find a safe Haven just as much as I may have helped you. Electric kind of looks sideways at microbial and says, are these the ones from above? And, uh, microbial nods and electric says, well, I'll take them to the healing chambers and,

"You best take our new guest to meet Sister Rose." And he nods and he says, "I shall." And then E-Electric gives him another hug, like almost out of nowhere, just like explodes and like lifts him up off the ground. E-Electric is really tall and gangly and kind of like does like almost a cuddle and says, "You had us so worried, you little get." And he says, "I'm very happy to be home," and kind of leans into it. - Oh, this is lovely and wholesome.

I like it here. There's a lot to learn about Flipside. Flipside's an interesting place to be. There's a lot of questions to be answered there. So many. Yeah, so we could cut to you getting to meet Sister Rose, or we could dodge back to the lighthouse for a moment and see what everybody else is up to. See how the planning montage went. Yeah, we cut from that hug to Ape eating a huge piece of mushroom pizza. Oh, God!

Like classic cartoon style extra cheese, like dripping the cheese onto the keyboard that Anne Jays is working on. Animus isn't going to be able to eat mushrooms after this. Riptide is walking through the door and he's like, yo, the really good Japanese place was open. I got inogiballs. No. No.

I had to do it. Once he had the mushroom pizza, I had to go there. Okay. There's been so many weird diagrams drawn, so many lists. But in the end, you've come down to a targeted list of actions you want to take. And that list consists of...

I think one of the things I would want to do is... I feel like now I'm interested in, like, GigaCity Gold and, like, where's the... What's the media coverage look like from that? And, like, kind of, like... So I just kind of want to comb the internet and kind of, like, compile as much research about GigaCity Gold as we can is one of the things. I also wanted to...

The thing about how to establish communication with the bricks, I mean, I think that that also goes to Animus and like figuring out how to connect with Animus again. But I think that they're figuring out how to sort of like make amends and build an alliance there. And then as far as identifying barriers.

the like poison or whatever that I was injected with, I thought that we could take some skin samples, perhaps where the gross weird skin is growing and then also blood samples and look at those things under a microscope and then also investigate the wound site more and see if there was a, I'm wondering if some, it was at a capsule or was there something, something injected or, or kind of what that looks like. Yeah. And I want to, I just want to clarify. So I'm imagining like,

We were kind of in contact with Scribd until she went underground with Animus, I should say. So we know that she was on a rescue mission and she was helping people escape into the undercity, basically. So we can kind of safely assume that she's going the same place our other, that Kentucky the Centaur man is, which is in the sores under the city. So maybe we can sort of infer she's not in...

immediate danger, but we also don't really know what the situation is. Is that correct? Is that kind of what we think, Amanda? I mean, I think that we should be concerned. I think that we can trust that she... I mean, we don't really know Animus very well either, so I think we want to make sure that she did this brave thing, but we also want to be... I don't think that we know that she's safe. I think that there could be all kinds of things that are happening, so I think we should be worrying about...

reestablishing communication. Yeah. Ape especially came up with all the test pilots. We'll watch a lot of old fighter pilots, a lot of, you know, NASA guys who are air force Marines, Navy, you know, and he has very much a leave no one behind mentality. So that's sort of his top of list there is to get animus out. And I imagine there might be a little bit, maybe not guilt. Cause I don't know if ape can feel shame enough to have guilt, but a little bit of like,

I suggested we do this. And I left her to go to the towers on her own.

He's like, nah, nah, she made her choices and now we're going to go get her. Yeah, I got it. I trusted her. I think she's doing a great job. You signed up for the job. Yeah. Yeah. You signed up for the job and she did the job and you did the job and now you're going to keep doing the job. It's just as much that I'm worried she's doing awesome stuff without us. Like I'm in this tower and she's probably down there doing all kinds of awesome stuff. I'm rocking this interview. Let's be honest. This trial period is just...

Set. Best intern ever. I'm watching like Riptide play Nintendo and I'm like, come on. Actually, this is what's interesting. Riptide has busted out. You guys have whatever the console game of choice and he's booted up Fantasy Hunt and he's actually loading up Specs profile because Specs is actually ranked in Fantasy Hunt. He goes a little hard.

Um, and, uh, and he sort of, he says, Hey dude, specs bra, you got like messages, check it. And he clicks, there's one male at the top and it has three dots. Oh no. Read it out loud. What does it say? So Riptide loads it up and he goes, uh, okay, hold on.

Oh dude, this guy's ranked number one in fantasy hunt. Dude, you like know a celebrity. Um, I, I think, I think it's gotta be your mom. Who's like,

You're all celebrities. And Riptide's like, yeah, but like, he's number one on the boards. Like, and there's this moment of like, you doofus. So he looks at it and he goes, okay, okay. Like, wait, hold on. Let me read. Dude, it's like a cell phone number. Bro wants you to call him. It says, call B46. I have plans later. Winky emoji. He used like numbers and stuff.

You guys all see it. Apes on the phone. B-4-6. There's nothing. There's nothing. Nobody's answering. You can see the cell phone number up at the top.

It's just the numbers. There's no dashes. And when it says call B4, it's a B plus a four and later is L8R and then a winky emoji. What's the winky emoji about? Wait, this has three dots connected to it. So I think I thought it was ellipsis, but this isn't, is this the person? Oh yeah, it is. And in fact, that's exactly who sent it. Ellipsis, number one on the leaderboards on Fantasy Hunt. And how does he know that Specs is somebody to contact? Oh no. And then he's like, wait,

But if he's sending me, does that mean he, wait, do you think he knows who we are? And he looks at Jillian in this like, oh no way. I've assumed, I guess that ellipsis probably knows who we are because it seems like ellipsis has eyes everywhere and can maybe hack into our stuff. All right, let's call the number. Let's, what are we waiting for? Riptide goes, yeah, dude, like, whoa, but like, can you put him on speaker? I totally want to listen.

He pushes his mop of like unruly blonde hair out of his eye. He's like looking really excited. Werebear nods and he goes, are you kidding? I kind of want to yell at that creep. Yeah, well, let's call. Your mom holds her hands up and is like, all right, everybody just simmer down. If we're going to do this, you've got to promise that only one of you talks. She looks at Jillian and she goes, should it be you or Specs? I think it should be...

Specs. Here's what it is, is that Ellipsis does a lot of one-liners and he looks for you to have a one-liner back and I don't. And I think Specs is better at that. But then I'm going to have to be talking to myself. That's the worst. I'm going to... All right. So total honesty here. One of the great things about playing games with other people is everyone brings a different feeling to the table.

Everyone has their own way of reacting and thinking how their character would react and talk. One thing I love, Amanda, about how you bring Jillian to life is you have the same energy as Jillian in the stories. It's that need to like, you don't want to let things get out of control.

And you have that like, oh, I get so frustrated. And I think that's perfect. That's exactly Jillian J's. She wasn't good with one liners. She wasn't quippy or clever. She was often struggling and really worried about putting it together right. There's a kind of honesty there in your performances, Jillian, that I love. And I feel like it gives so much to our story.

Okay, I will talk on the phone. Thank you. I want to remind everyone, it's a story. This is what's interesting about role-playing games. It starts to feel real when you're in a story game. But yes, I totally understand. And I think this is perfect. And I think it's a great moment for Jillian, especially because you have this bond with this guy, right? You established your line last time. You hate this dude. Yeah, I can't stand it. Okay. Okay, so she looks at you and like Specs looks at you and he's like, I don't want to get on the phone with that guy. I don't know what I'd say.

Werebear kind of like gives you a pat on the back. He goes, you got this boss. All right. I'm ready. We can call. Okay. Everybody kind of like leans over the cell phone. You're all kind of looking down at it. I imagine you could put it, you know, your specs is like, I'll patch it through. I'll try to trace it, but I know he's going to have all sorts of things in place. He's like, all right, here goes. And he hits the button and you hear, and he goes, you're up early. I thought you would have taken more of a rest.

No, we're ready to go. And you said to call before six. So I thought I would call, you know, now. He says, that's lovely. I do appreciate it. Let's me deal with the rest of my day. Honestly. Look, Jillian. Yeah. Okay. I appreciate being on a first name. Don't mean to be rude. I know I haven't offered mine. I'll make this simple. I need you. We need you to not get in the way.

Now, there's a lot of different ways we could do that. We've been taking some of those different approaches with you already. I don't want to have to spend too much more energy on you, and I don't want to cause you too much more trouble. So here's the deal. I'll give you something for your little skin condition.

And you make sure that you and your friends are on the right side of history. Okay. What is, okay. What do you think is the right side of history? What are you trying to say right now? Can you, can you elaborate? When you say that, he says, now, come on, we've done this before.

Honestly, can I ask you the same question? I mean, look, it's the lack of vision that boggles me. Do you have a long-term plan? Or are you just cruising around in billions of dollars of military hardware, punching random people with powers and emotional issues? That's the sort of thing angry old men think is cool.

If you're serious, and I mean, it seems like you are, you've got to start thinking bigger. I'm not going to tell you our plan, but suffice it to say, we've actually thought things out. We're being professional about this. And if you're not prepared to be, that's fine. Just step aside. Okay. That was so incredibly condescending. Yeah. He's really awful. And it makes me very mad. Yeah.

Yeah, I feel confident. Here's the thing is if I'm not just going to like listen and do the things that you say, because I don't know who you are and I don't trust you. And you're doing a lot of mind game stuff right now. And I'm just, you know, we hear you. We know what you're doing and we're not interested. So we're going to keep, you know, keep on keeping on. I trust that like we're going to be on the right side of history because we're

That's like a heavy thing to like throw at a person. Thanks, Ellipsis. But like... So he says, all right, I do hope you understand. History is what everyone writes after the fact. Oh, sure. Okay. Your name and identity are really what's on the table. Okay. So you're making a threat now about besmirching, you know, the Firefly name and all of that that comes with it. I...

I get where you're coming from. He's going to out your secret identity. Sure. That's whatever. I mean, that's not me giving you permission. Like, don't misread that as consent. But like, I, you know. He says, look, look, it's okay. I understand you've got a lot to think about. I don't mean to put any extra pressure on you. It's been rough 24 hours for all of us. I'll tell you what. I'll give you two, let's say Monday. That's when the summit is planned. So Monday, let's say high noon, right?

What's the summit? Ooh.

Yeah, the summit. You just drop that in there. The minute you say that, what's the summit? You've been watching TV and Riptide's been watching more than everyone else because he's the only one who really did get some sleep last night. So he's like,

Oh, bro, that's that thing that Tusk said he's going to have a summit with the mayor and the chief of police. And they're talking about like, dude, martial law because it's like a brick invasion. Yeah.

I don't know. It sounded like a whole bunch of stuff. This sounds like the opposite of the right side of history. Like if we're talking about martial law because of like invading others and needing to like, this just feels very, this does not feel like something that is a positive thing that will go down well in history. I don't like that Ellipsis said that. That seems very, that's very manipulative. Just a lot of the things he said were very manipulative. Good job. They're sure that they're going to win.

Because we all know that history is written by the winners. Yeah. Yes. Thank you, by the way, for appreciating my performance by, by,

By reacting emotionally. This is one of the interesting things about the teller. Sometimes when you're a teller, you have to do and say things that people are like, oh God, I hate that person. And you're like, you have to remember, thank you. That means I was communicating that character well. That was my goal there. Michael, we love you. We hate ellipsis. Great. If you hate ellipsis, that's great. I definitely did not want him to be standable. Wonderful. Well, now at least we know his first name. Specs looks up.

Wait, you know his first name? He said it's Marshall. He's going to put us under Marshall's law. I, for one, won't let that happen. Oh, come on. Werebear's like, who even is this Marshall guy? I'll punch him in the face.

There's like a bunch of like, yeah, there's some dopey. And explain some martial lies. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, so your mom is looking at you, uh, Jillian and specs is looking kind of at the both of you. And, and he's like, this means we, I never get to be adorable ever. And then he looks at you and then he looks at your mom and your mom goes, I didn't want to tell, you know, I want you to be able to choose your own path, but I,

Jillian, this is a very final decision. And then Werebear cuts in and he goes, we got till Monday. We'll figure it out. Thank you, Werebear. Yeah, we have until Monday. He goes, my name's Sam. He kind of like...

It gives you like a big, like, we're all in this together look. That's nice. I like Werebear. So Werebear's name is Sam? Werebear's name is Sam. Animus may have already known that. Yeah, no, you know everything about him. Yeah. At some point, I need to talk to him. Okay, if you guys ask, Werebear will be the one to tell you how Animus is doing.

If you ask him, he'll be like, I was wondering about that. Can we do that? Can we ask him? If the link went both ways. Yeah, go ahead. If you like, somebody might be like, oh no, but what about Animus? And he'll, he'll have a reaction to that. We get to go get Animus in these bricks and get the other side of the story. I think Firefly. Yeah. He's nodding and he goes, yeah, well, I mean, I reckon she's fine though. Why do you think that? He goes, well, hmm.

I don't know if you could rightly say, I think it, uh, I kind of just like, she's all right. She kind of, I don't know. She seems like she's having a good time. Uh, she's doing cool stuff without us down there. Where is she? Can we find her? He goes, I don't know, but I mean, I guess I could think about it. He kind of thinks about it for a second. And then he kind of looks down. I think she's somewhere underground. Yeah.

Whoa, this is creepy. I got all kinds of weird feels. I don't think there has been an in-character moment where it has actually been revealed what happened during that link. I think we all know out of character. But I don't think Animus ever had the time to tell anyone what that was. Sam doesn't necessarily...

No, he he's but he's he's got feels. Yeah, he's got feels and his feels feel real like they're the kind of feels he's a bear. You know, he knows from instinct and he knows from like, you know, this is a good thing. This is a bad thing. I trust this. I don't trust this. He feels like you're OK and he's pretty sure he's right.

He also feels like you're underground and he's pretty sure he's right. All right. I got a test. I want to do it. Take wherever by the shoulders. I say, you can feel, you feel how close she is here. You can just feel just yes or no. Right. You feel it. Well, I mean, she feels all right. You can't tell like how far away you can just tell down. He's like, well, I don't know. Like,

I mean, she's still in the city, I think. All right. I'm going to take him by the shoulders and walk him across the big lighthouse open door. You can't take him by the shoulders. You can push him by the waist. There's a height differential here. Pull on his knee. Yeah. And I say, warmer or colder? I think I'd have to go a little further. I'm kind of close to where I used to be. He looks across the room. It's like five feet away. Perfect. All right. Suspicion's confirmed. You're coming with us. Let's go.

He goes, you weren't getting rid of me, eh? Somewhere underground, animus sneezes. Yes. That's perfect. For anyone who doesn't know, the sneeze is the like somebody's talking about you. There's this old. Thank you. Yeah. It's a trope. It's a trope.

Got some spores in my nose or something. That's weird. Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry. Okay. So werebear for whatever reason has a good connection with Animus. So I guess we're going to, ellipsis is giving us part of the story, but it's only what he wants us to know. And we know that there's more to the story and the bricks have it. So let's find Animus and let's follow werebear so that we can get there. So we can put it all together and figure out what we need to do next. Okay. Werebear looks kind of like, he kind of straightens up and he goes,

yeah, I'll lead you to Animus. And then he goes, I think he looks a little like uncertain. And then he's like, actually, yeah, let's go. And he goes and he gets in the, he gets in the elevator. He's staying human. And he says, I reckon this is a suits off kind of situation. I don't think we want to be on the streets right now in full gear. Agreed. Ape, you want to get in the backpack? There's this big climbing backpack. Uh,

Like it's been rigged so you can jump in there in case you need to go, you know, like a baby carrier. Exactly. Like a baby carrier. Yes. Can I have little bananas on it? It's definitely got a banana motif. And on the stitching, it just says baby Bjorn to be wild. Oh,

I need to see this illustrated. Are you jumping in the Bjorn to be wild? Oh, we're jumping in and we're hitting the road. All right. So back in flip side, Animus is being led through a series of these peat lined tunnels with little dangling, you know, roots and what looked like vines. There's this bustling community down here. You walk past the,

entire areas where there look like there are huge gardens, um, with these giant bubbling yeasts. There's an area which looks like it's all water. Um, and there's some people who are sort of standing on skiffs and doing something with nets. Um, you brush past lots of things everywhere. He goes, microbial is greeted. I shouldn't say everywhere he goes. He's a fungus, which means there's no, no determinate gender on a fungus. They can, they don't have one. Um,

So everywhere they go, they're greeted really warmly. Everyone seems to really respect microbial and be really excited that they're back. Eventually you're led deeper and into this, this weird kind of like dome like room. And he walks up, there's no door. There's just some hanging vines over an entryway. And he looks back and he says, well,

Don't be alarmed. It's a little surprising the first time. And then he ducks through and says, sister, I've brought a visitor. And you hear a voice. Please come in. The voice is very resonant. It feels like it kind of, you know, you kind of feel it in your spine. Without saying anything, I walk in.

There is, this entire area looks like a beautiful but strange garden. There are all sorts of plants growing from the ground, none of them immediately recognizable, many of them flowering. And there is a raised dais with what looks like a desk.

And at the chair, there's a figure seated. And above her head, there is a massive plant that has a huge bud facing downwards and roots going all across the ceiling. She looks up and reaches up and the hood opens and you realize it's not a hood at all.

It's the outside of a blossom and it opens and there's nestled in the middle of this, this head that looks like a flower is a face. And the weirdest part, it's, it's very lush and red, like a rose, a little pink at the center. It reminds you of Jillian. No, I don't, I don't, I don't like it. It seems weird. Okay.

It feels like secret family. It feels like a secret family. I don't know. And it's a flower. How am I related to a flower? I don't know. It's weird. Well, a lovely flower. Sure. And also it sounds like this is at least like a nice secret relative, whereas the Scarlet King was a bummer to find out that I was related to. So...

Maybe this one's better. Hey, guess what? You're related too. Oh no. The last person you want to find out is in the family. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, real quick, everyone. First off, thank you so much for letting me continue the thrill ride. I had so much fun with this today.

I want to check in and make sure everybody's okay with the direction we're going and also ask if there's any lines you felt you wanted to grab that, you know, meant something to you from today's episode. I love the direction. I'm not going to take a line this time. Nothing. Let's save it for next time. I think when we get into the action here.

Maybe it's already covered in my I can't stand ellipsis bond line. But I'm also thinking about, like, I don't... I'm wondering if there's something there for Quirk. Because as soon as he said the thing about, like, just join up. Just, like, you know, let us do the thing. Like, my immediate instinct is just, like, no, absolutely not. And I wonder if there's, like, a little bit of an oppositional streak for Jillian that I...

Wonder if that could be encompassed in a line somewhere. Maybe something about a leader, not a follower. Okay. I kind of, I like that. Or maybe like, I don't, cause I don't think it's about leading, not following. I think it's more about like-

No, it's a, I'm just not a joiner. Like I'm, I don't want to hate people telling you like, this is like being as a kid told to sit down and shut up. The adults are talking. Yeah. Like that's what he treated you like. He treated you like a little kid. Yes. Yeah. And, and that's totally like, that's a deep cut. Like you definitely went after something that's central to your pride there. Yeah. So it's, it's yeah. Cause it's not just opposition for the sake of opposition. Um,

This is a peeve. I can't stand being talked down to. Yeah. It's yeah. That's a good one. Or don't treat me like I'm a, don't treat me like I'm, I'm a kid or something like, you know, talk down to me at your own risk. I don't know. I don't know how to, how to frame it. What do y'all think?

I think talk down to me at your own risk is good. I think that that encompasses the sort of like, because we're going to ruin him. I don't know what we're going to do yet, but we're going to win. It's more than just not liking that he treated you that way. He's going to pay for it. Yeah, and I feel inspired by this. And that's just how it is. We're going to, yeah, this is...

There's no laziness involved. Like we're doing this. Revenge is not very heroic. I appreciate it. I appreciate that. I've created a character who's so compellingly awful. Yes. It's really, and I think maybe you also found things that like also speak to me as a person. So it's like, I feel really like, yeah. In into this. I'm glad you're into it. That's.

Thank you. Well, and so this is one of the tricks and this is also one of the troubles that you deal with as a when you when you work with story games together, you have to sort of play to themes that really hook you. Right. And if you're a good storyteller, you try to set up, you know, things that will happen that will get the players interested.

things that will make the players care. And cause that always makes the story more intense, right? Any good story is animated by those wonderful moments where you're like, Oh heck no. Or yes, finally. Um, so I, uh, I really appreciate that. And, uh, yeah, I'm trying also to be careful to always give y'all the option to say, this is a little too much. You've really hooked my emotions and I need to step back, which you should please feel free to always do.

Yeah, so I think that my drive might be evolving. The drive and the dream. And I think it'll take another episode to really figure that out. But for this whole time, Animus has been driven by wanting to undo the wrongs that Tusk committed. But now, meeting Microbial, seeing Flipside, and definitely playing to...

Animus' passion for environmentalism. I know we talked about that during a session zero a little bit, but that hasn't really come out in the game too much. Animus is starting to feel very protective of this, of the people that she's seeing in Flipside and of microbial and whatever this amazing place is. So I think I need to see what Sister Rose has to say.

uh, before this is final, but I think the drive is going to be changing a bit. All right. That sounds like a perfect place for us to end this episode. Thank you all so much. Everyone at home. If you're interested in playing a parallel plot line, there's more to giga city always than meets the eye.

pick up a copy at patreon.com backslash stories RPG. You can also find us at stories rpg.com. And there are even some character sheets up for were bear firefly and a couple of the characters who you haven't met yet from, from the first chapter of the game, giga city ghosts. So check that all out at patreon.com backslash stories RPG. And thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time on giga city guardians.

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