Stories RPG Crossover: Gigacity Guardians 7 Giga Gaia Gathering
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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. This is Stories RPG, the podcast where we tell stories better together. And if you'd like to play along at home and use the same game that we use to tell our stories, check us out at patreon.com backslash stories RPG, or just stories rpg.com where you can find all of our episodes and some free downloads as well.

All right. And with me as always, Dan is also Abe Canaveral. Would you say hey to the lovely people? I am Abe Canaveral, the chimp extraordinaire. I cannot be harmed because of an experimental rocket. Doesn't always work out great. Worked out great for me.

Great ape, great guy, great superhero. And also with us as always, although right now underneath the city, deep, deep down, the amazing Scriv the Bard, aka Animus. Hello, hello. I am Scriv and Animus.

office worker turned superhero escaped from the evil tusk core and am working hard to expose them for everything that they've done and continue to do i love how easy it is for y'all to throw around that word evil it makes me happy as a storyteller every time because it just lets me flip things on you later okay and then there's a

The incredible Jillian Jays, Amanda Weldon. Would you say hello to the lovely people? Hello, this is Amanda from Stories Podcast. Today I am Jillian Jays, who is a high school student by day, and all the other times I am the leader of the Giga City Guardians, and I am doing my best. Champions of the city, defenders of the peace, heroes of justice, the Giga City Guardians!

Come on.

All right. When we last left our heroes, you were split. Animus had just met a mysterious figure with a face similar to Jillian's and a head that looked like a budding flower. The guardians were following Werebear as he plunged through the city sniffing. Now, importantly, you're all in.

You're all in your civvies, in your civilian gear. You are not geared up. And I will remind you all that Ape is conveniently tucked in the...

The baby Bjorn to be wild. The backpack on the hulking werebear's shoulders. Riptide is just wearing his regular jean jacket and ripped up jeans and his white tee. He goes classic. And Specs is staying in the tower. He's a little worried about keeping control of all the electric stuff. He wants to keep an eye on Ellipsis and his movements and also an eye on the media feed.

And your mom has stayed behind as well. But Jillian, you are without your Firefly suit out in the city. Do you have something that's like a, I don't know, like a remote trigger to bring the suit to you? Is there, do we want to build something in like that? Or do we want to just have this be one of those wonderful scenes where it's like, you don't have your stuff. And that means the story gets told a different way.

I feel like there isn't there something that exists already to bring the suit to me? Is that something? Am I remembering that wrong? I feel like there was something in a story. We don't have the suit to you, but you have sort of a utility built that has just a few different things like you have like the fireflies you can put out to kind of scout things.

In Scan, and you have just like a certain like kind of a handheld light blaster sort of thing. I think that maybe this is telling the story a different way, especially because we're potentially going to somewhere that where Firefly is not liked or welcomed. So I would prefer to show up maybe just as Jillian does.

I'd say the one thing we should do that Specs would probably do is some way to extend our radios. Yeah, I would like to still be able to communicate with my team. So Specs has done everything he can, but without making a move, you don't know for sure if you'll be able to maintain radio connection forever.

wherever animus is. You're going to have to make a move to get this if you want it. Now, a quick check in. How many hearts does everyone have? Because that limits the number of dice you can roll. I took one off because of the, to get, to get this, the bite, the bite, you were injected. Yeah. So you are currently at two hearts. Uh,

Ape, did you ever take a heart? Yeah, I took a heart in the battle at the docks there. Okay, yeah. And remember, even if you're invulnerable, taking a heart doesn't necessarily mean physical damage. It means you could be exhausted. You could be sleepless. You could be something like embarrassed or out of control with rage. It just means you're inconvenienced by, you know, being out of it. It's the way to ramp up a little bit of narrative tension is to get your heroes in trouble.

We didn't identify yet a point where I may have

gone down a heart with animus. I don't think you lost one. So remember, uh, losing a heart is one of the troubles that might happen when you roll and get a trouble. Yes. So we always will discuss what trouble makes the best sense. Whenever you, you make a roll and you get a four or a five, or you get a one or one through three. And you know, if we choose the heart because it makes sense in the scene. Cool. So that means we've got Jillian at two hearts, eight, but two hearts, um,

Animus, you're feeling fine. A little overwhelmed, a little tired, but you know, you're all right. Overwhelmed is a good word. Yes. Yeah. All right. So if you would like to make a move to do something to make this signal so strong that you think it can penetrate whatever kind of weird fields going on down there, I'd like you to figure out how you're going to do that. Build your dice pool and let's, let's make a roll. Okay. I think that we should do that. And I think that some of the things that I could use, um,

I guess my power is the suit, which I'm not bringing with me, but we also, I also built the suit and like did all of the stuff, like the coding stuff. So I feel like that, like that knowledge can count. I'll give you a dice for that. Absolutely. And then bond specs is my wingman. I think, and specs is going to help me figure this out. Absolutely. Solid too. Yeah. That's a solid too. Okay. Oh, I see a six. That is a six. Oh, heck yeah. Six.

Okay. So yeah, you have figured out specs has figured out, um, a particular kind of, he's like a bit experimenting with something. Uh, I guess now's the time anyway, no better time to try it out.

He's using a different kind of wavelength, a different kind of field. And he says, this passes through solid objects a lot more effectively. And all the current tests say that it shouldn't do anything to biological organisms. All right. And he nods and he goes, anyway, we should all be able to be in touch. Okay. Oh, no.

You're all kind of like, cool, cool. Yeah, cool. Off you go. Awesome. You go through the city streets and you quickly get tangled. Giga City is massive and sprawling. Giga City takes up the entirety of what used to be a bunch of different areas of coastline. This is one dense city that exists all the way from the north to the south along the coastline. And

There are so many different neighborhoods. You're right in the center of Giga City, which is one of the most densely populated areas. But this city's been around for years and years and years. So there are all these little weird back alleys, strange little shops, neighborhoods you never saw before. It's almost impossible to get to know Giga City completely. No one really knows the entirety of Giga City.

You quickly find yourselves lost in an area that is... It's kind of run down. This is one of the areas where there's been a lot of development that never panned out. So not a lot of work, not a lot of resources. And you finally come up near an old... It looks like an old church, an old mission. And Werebear stops solid. And he goes, Whoa. Okay. Okay.

This is getting creepy, y'all. Brings back memories. What kind of memories? He kind of looks at you and he goes, well, I don't like to talk about it, but I spent some time on the streets. Not everybody likes it when their kid turns into an enormous bear. Didn't exactly go right with my folks, so I had to figure out my own way for a while. And well, folks here did me a solid.

I found myself here more nights than I can recollect. Come on, I'll introduce you. Okay, thank you. Can I give him like a little pat? I don't want to like take away, but I just want to like pat him on the back, kind of. I'm glad he's part of our group. He clearly feels it. He's not saying it, but he looks like he kind of takes a deep breath. And then you guys come out of the, you've made your way through some alleys and you came out in front of the mission and he leads you on in.

Inside, there's a whole bunch of people. There's a little clinic in the corner where folks are getting all sorts of treatment. There's a food line. There's an area where it looks like people are redistributing clothes and other home goods that different people need. When you walk in, you hear a voice that says, Jillian? It's Jorge. My academic rival.

He walks over and he goes, "Hey, are you volunteering here too today?" - Something like that, maybe. - He kind of like, kind of looks at you when you say something like that, he kind of gives you a questioning look like, "Okay." And he goes, "Who are your friends?" Kind of like waves a little. - Um. - Werebear goes, "Uh, I'm Sam." And he goes, "Nice to meet you, Sam." And like his little hand gets like absolutely wrapped in this giant shovel and there's a shake.

Riptide's like, yeah, I'm Brody. Pleased to meet you, brah. He gives him a dab. So if you're only here to sort of volunteer, what do you need? I've been here off and on for a few years now. There's a lot of cool stuff going on. I could show you around. Okay, we can. We do not have time for this. Do we not?

We're going on a rescue mission. You want to get a tour? I know, but I guess, but I do. I mean, let's look to where bear, where bears in charge. Sam says, uh, Oh, it's okay. Uh, I know this place pretty well. And you hear somebody in the back go, Sam, there's a, there's a little old lady who hobbles out. She's in a nun's habit. Um, and he, he goes,

Hey, Sister Mary. And she goes, look at you. She comes over and gives him a big hug. And he goes, hey, these are my friends. I'm sorry to be brusque, but can we go somewhere and talk? And she says, of course, Samuel. My door's always open. Come on. You guys walk back past the food line. You end up in an office that's kind of full of stuff. Jorge kind of gives you like a little wave and he kind of gives you a questioning look.

on your way out. And pretty soon you're in the office and seated. And she says, well, what do you need? I'm always here for you. You know that. And Sam says, well, sister, it's like this. We need to know a little bit about, and he kind of looks at the rest of you and he goes, bricks. And she goes, she kind of like widens her eyes a little. And she says, and what makes you think I would have anything to say about that? And he says, I kind of got a feeling that

Well, I know you know everybody who comes through this city. And I know, well, I heard that some folks have been disappearing off the streets. And look, I'm looking for a friend of ours. And I think she might have been here. But now she's gone and I ain't been able to find her anywhere. And I just want to make sure she's okay. She looks at him for a moment and she says, All right, Sam.

If you tell me that these people are people you trust, he nods and he says, with my life. She opens her eyes a little and she says, I always said you'd find family if you just learned to trust a little. And he kind of like looks a little embarrassed and like, like he's like, well, I guess you were right. And she's like, she looks around and she makes eye contact with each of you. And then she says, well, I'm going to trust you to keep our secret then.

Come with me. She leads you down a series of stairways into the basement. And in the basement, you find this enormous locked door. It looks like one of those old Al Capone vaults. And she says, this is our, well, our portal. There's another organization called

She sort of thinks about that for a moment before she says, organization in the city that's been helping some of the people who need it most. Not everyone accepts them for who they are, so we try to keep the connection quiet. We rely on city and state funding for much of the good work that we do. But if your friend has disappeared and she was last here, she might have decided to join some of my colleagues here.

They call it flip side. She walks over to the door and she opens it. She puts in a little code, the giant wheel spins and it opens and this rich like smell. It's almost like a green smell, like a forest smell comes rolling out. And she says here and she bustles over and kind of like digs around a little bit. She unveils an aquarium and it's got these glowing snails in it.

Each one is probably about the size of like a, maybe like a softball. And they're phosphorescent. She says, you might feel a little odd about it, but if you take these with you, they'll know your friends. The snails? Yes.

Yep. Giant snails. I know where bears trying to play it cool, but how is his like emotional connection is like, I know it led him to this place. Is it leading them to this door? The minute the door opens, where bear looks at you guys, he looks at Jillian cause Jillian and riptide and he goes, he does a nod and he goes, she's in there. All right. Let's follow the snails. Yeah, let's do it. Where bears like, do you have like a,

Like, I don't know, like a jar or something, or do we have to carry them with our hands? She smiles and she goes, you never used to be so particular. And then she pulls out a couple of mason jars and she lets each of you have a snail and a mason jar. So there's three of them now. That's adorable. They make for good lanterns. So in you go to flip side.

And as you get in there, she says, I hope you'll understand. I have to close this door. If you need to find your way back, the people inside should be able to help you.

You're in no danger. I know it seems odd, but it's one of the safest places in the city. All right. The second that door closes behind us, Ape is out of the backpack. Who let the ape out of the bag? Okay. So yeah, you guys are in this sort of a cavern. And right now it's sort of a solid floor, dirt floor. This looks like it might've been an old

a cellar or something or a vault, but it's been carved out and the far wall has been tunneled into. And there's some growth kind of coming around the edges of this broken down hole where bear says she's this way. I mean, I feel it.

In your ear, Specs goes, and I can totally hear you. It works. So good. Thank you. I'm excited. He goes, sorry, I was just like listening. I didn't want to interrupt. You guys are in some weird stuff. Yeah, it's super weird. It smells great, though. I really like the smell. He goes, dude, it smells weird. Did somebody say you guys have snails? Yes.

Giant snails in jars. The minute you, the door closes and you've, you know, connected with specs animus, you suddenly are like, Hey, where bears like here, he's somewhere nearby. He's definitely here. And he's like,

Looking for me. I feel like every time I tap into that power and channel where bear in some way, I'm imagining that that that link becomes faster. Yeah, it's getting easier and easier. It's like a it's almost like another. This is the thing is you've been where bear. So it feels like a part of you is closing in.

You know that self. It's not exactly you, but it's, you know, you know that you. That's another thing Animus has been conveniently compartmentalizing until probably very soon. Well, Werebear isn't really, you know, he has definitely not processed it yet and is definitely like, you know, this is more emotional intimacy than this poor guy has ever had in his life.

Um, realistically, uh, so you immediately like kind of snap open and the figure behind the desk says, do you need a moment? I I'm sorry. I, um, please forgive me. I, I think I'm feeling a lot of things right now and I'm trying to process a lot of things. She waves a hand. She says, I understand. It's a lot to process. She gestures to a seat and

It's a living plant. It looks like a lily pad, but with a thick stem. It's very cushy. You sit down on it and it's kind of springy. And she says, do you require refreshment? I actually can't remember the last time I had a drink of water. Does that sound weird? I think that's probably strange. She shakes her head and says, it's difficult sometimes to remember what the body needs when the heart is busy.

Microbial has walked over. There's a pool in the corner and he dips a container in it. He brings it over, hands it to you. You see a little movement in the pool. There are fish in there. Don't be rude. You got to drink it all.

I didn't put the toilet fish in earlier, but boy, I was looking for an opportunity. You can't say toilet fish. They are the toilet fish. They've been seen on live feeds in people's toilets. Do you remember? Wait, that's a thing? In the story? Did you have to do that while I was drinking the water? Yes, I did. Yes.

Yes, in the story. If you don't remember, this is part of what Specs found out when he was doing the deep dive on social media feeds about bricks. He found that there were all kinds of weird rumors going around the city about brick sightings. And one of them was people had been finding these fish in their toilets. And you saw a live video on a cell phone where people were like, oh my God, oh my God. Okay, here we go. I'm gonna open it. And it was a closed toilet. And when they opened it, something like flipped and they were like, ah!

And then like, that's something you've seen. So this is part of the rumors that have been going around the city. I'm going to keep it together and drink that water. And I bet it is refreshing as anything. Wow. Your faith is well rewarded. It's in fact, really, really crystal clear water. In fact, it doesn't have any flavor at all. It's very, very- No fish flavor. Very pure. Nope. No fish flavor. Nope.

Or toilet flavor. That's good. No, no toilet flavor or anything associated with toilets. The figure behind the desk sort of just sits down and like she puts her hands together and just kind of waits. She says, take your time. I have other things I can do. If you wish, you can retire somewhere and have some time to yourself. Something tells me I actually don't have that much time. Yeah.

Okay. It's hard to explain, but I have so many questions. So your name makes a lot of sense now. She kind of cocks her head and looks curious. She says, I heard them call you Sister Rose. She nods and she says, oh, yes. I've never met someone like you before. Is that rude? I'm very sorry. It's been a long day. Yeah.

She smiles gently and she says, not many have. It's quite all right. Something out of the ordinary is often surprising and people deal with surprising things in a variety of ways. You seem to have made a friend in microbial. And she kind of like reaches out and he kind of leans over and they kind of give each other a hug. And she says, I missed you. And he says, I was worried. And she says, did you bring back the others?

He nods and he says, they should be in the healing chambers, but they'll require my help. She nods and she says, I'm

I'm comfortable waiting upon her if she's comfortable being with me. And they both look at you. I think this is the first time in the past 48 hours or so where I've actually felt a little bit relaxed. And I have so, so many questions, but remember how you said something unexpected can sometimes take people by surprise? Both of them look at you like, hmm? There's a little bit of a like, okay? I think some of my friends...

might have found their way here too. Both of them look a little shocked. And Sister Rose says, I... And she kind of looks at Microbial and Microbial looks at her. He turns to you and he says, are these friends that you trust? Yes. He says, they will be stopped if they were not welcomed by someone who knows us. And Sister Rose says,

Perhaps I should go and greet them myself. And he shakes his head and he goes, that's not safe. You know how we got into this situation. If I come with you, I can, and I want to take this moment as I'm speaking and try to get a sense for proximity and emotion, right?

But instead of influencing their emotions, because somehow I feel like it would be rude in that moment, I want to feel the emotions of my friends and try to convey that in a way of showing them that they can be trusted. Or this, or this. While I'm checking in, because I really only have that link to Werebear, if I can somehow instill in Werebear a sense of trust,

It is safe, but be careful. Be nice. Don't come in hot, that kind of thing. Almost using that like a walkie talkie link. You know enough about Werebear to know what his fears are. And if you send him, I'm safe. I'm safe. And these people are good people.

Yes, that's what I want to do. He'll definitely feel that and vibe off it. Perfect. Okay. What do you got that's going to help you do this? Okay. I'm going to use my bond. Okay. With that connection and the knowledge of Werebear's history and mental state, I'm going to use my quirk. Ooh.

which is wait tell us your quirk again oh sorry not quirk this is my uh power sorry okay yeah your power um and then i want to actually levy the dream which i haven't done yet which is to be part of something that helps the city and i feel very very strongly that flip side is a good thing a good part of the city that needs to be protected okay let's hear let's see those bones oh i hope it's good

Oh, crap. Oh, no. There's always one that goes flying. I'm going to re-roll the other one. I'm going to re-roll the other one. Oh, no. Two. Oh, no.

This is a perfect moment to remind you of a rule that you might've been able to use later, but you're going to have to spend it now if you don't want to blow this. I don't want to blow this. This is very important. Your highest roll was a two. That means you failed and there's trouble, but remember that once per game, your power will allow you to move up your level of success. So you can turn failure with a trouble into a triumph with

but with a trouble. I'll do triumph with trouble. I will. If there was a moment to do it, I will do it now. Okay. So you absolutely connect with where bear you absolutely convey that. Yes, you are safe. This is a home. This is, this is a safe place. Now here's my question. Do you think this, this is the moment when you finally feel the exhaustion creeping in and you lose that heart?

Or is this a moment? This could also be there are some other options. This could create a complication. Another possibility is it could subtract a die from the next move someone makes. I think that sounds interesting. I have another thought, though. Okay. If they know that I have a connection and can send messages somehow, will this somehow color the way that they trust me?

Thinking that I maybe led people down here in some way. I don't know. I don't know how Sister Rosa Microbial would feel about all this. Yeah, I definitely feel like they are definitely looking at you slightly differently. You said my friends are coming and they were like, ooh.

Okay. Werebear knows. Let's do this then. Your triumph is Werebear absolutely knows that you're safe and that this is a place you want to be real careful and be gentle and be sweet. The problem is both Sister Rose and Microbial are looking really nervous. Sister Rose says, you are welcome to enjoy our hospitality, but I must consider each of your friends individually.

Of course, of course. Microbial nods and he says, I'll get everything ready. And he leaves. Can I come with you to greet them? I didn't expect them to be here. I just, I got this feeling. Sister Rose holds up her hands and she says, this is our domain. Please allow us to handle this in our own way. Okay. If there is any reassurance I can offer you, it is that ours is not the way of violence.

Okay. I'm going to cut to y'all. You guys have been making your way through these tunnels where bear keeps like, when he gets to a branching, he'll be like right or left. He seems to know you get to a doorway and

And you realize it's closed and it's another kind of like sealed doorway. And where Barry immediately goes up and starts to like move and he, he wrenches it open. And the minute he does, you hear a voice from the other side. And the voice says one at a time. And don't you dare come through that door fast. Okay. Hey, you recognize the voice. What's the voice. Sounds like that cat you saw in the sewers.

Ape would be like, yo, Catman dude, you got to let us through, bud. You hear it. One at a time and slow. That's fine. We can do that. Jillian's like, one at a time and slow. That's okay. We can do that. Meanwhile, you hear this laughter coming from the other side. He goes, Catdew, he called you Catman Dew. Dude, that's really funny. The little bug dude pokes his head around the doorway and he's like, hey, you guys made it. How'd you find us?

we have our ways. He goes, dude, don't be creepy like that. We don't like creepy like that. He hops down and he swivels his hat back around. He had his forward and he swivels it backwards. And he goes, look, I didn't get to meet you earlier, but I owe you one. And so does Ken. So put it there. And he holds out four hands. Yeah. I give four very intricate high fives. Okay. He's a, he goes, my name's Skitter. He goes, you're ape, right? Oh, you know it. He looks over at the other two and he goes, so who are these losers? Oh,

Don't worry about them. The way we found you is we're looking for our friend. You got animus down here? Human woman? The cat has come around the side of the door and she looks at all of you. Her claws are out. They're steel. And she says, don't worry about any of them. Back up all of you. Skinner turns around and he goes, dude, this guy is good. These guys are probably good. And he goes, you should probably introduce him. Echo's kind of like picky.

Oh man, this is just, uh, this is Jill, Sam and Brody. They're like my crew. You could say I'm like sort of a leader, but we're all, you know, uh, Skitter goes low cap. They got snails. Where bear goes, uh,

My name's Sam and I'm here to find my friend and sister Mary said I could come down here. And she said that if we brought these here snails, it'd be all right. The cat kind of looks at you. The really hard thing about the cat's face and you've picked up that it's echo low cat. That's her full name. The hard thing about reading the cat's face is it's a cat's face. She doesn't seem to have the same expression that a human would, but

She can kind of close her eyes and open them, but there's none of the like expressive eye movement. She's just looking at you very calm. So it's hard to read the emotions on her face. Um, she is, you know, she's got gorgeous pink and red swirls of fur and she's clothed in what looks like a hoodie with the arms ripped off, uh, some jeans and a couple of crossed belts. Um, she sheathes her claws, um,

And she goes, if Sister Mary says, all right. She calls back down the tunnel and she says, coming through. And you hear some like noises down the tunnel. There's a series of like resonant drumming noises. And then the door opens and she says, all right, outsiders, welcome to Flipside. And she turns and walks into the corridor. She leads you through a series of tunnels. This time you don't see much. The doors are all closed.

But you end up in the same space, the garden where Animus is seated with the giant bud of a huge looking plant hanging from the ceiling with roots going in every different direction. And this mysterious figure with the flower-like face seated behind the desk.

Is she connected to the larger growth in the room or do you want to ask? Is it like obvious at a glance? I guess is what I'm wondering for now. It's not obvious at a glance. What is obvious is if you had to guess about all the roots tangling through this place, you would guess they all come from this plant. Gotcha. Okay. Good to say. Hey, how you doing in the sewers? You're all okay.

Oh my God. And you're okay. And I think this is where exhaustion would kind of hit in as well. This is when the breath goes. And I just kind of slump. I'm so happy you're all here. Skitter goes, hey sister, this one looks like you. And he points at Jillian. The figure behind the desk turns and looks at you and the petals open a little and the face inside easily could be your sister. My sister? So does she look like a peer? Like my own age? She looks young.

very young and she looks similar to you. You know, this is like somebody you'd see at a reunion and you'd know you were related. Yeah. Yeah. Well, this is weird. And I, I feel strange about it. Uh, did you say that out loud? You're like, this is weird. I feel strange about this. Um, you can see she kind of widens her eyes a little. Yeah. And then she says, Oh, Oh my God.

And then Skitter's like, dude, you two could totally be like, I don't know, not twins, but like close. Like she doesn't have a flower. Sorry. Yeah.

Echo Locat grabs Skitter by the collar and just goes, just starts dragging him out of the room. And he's like, what? I want to hang out. And Sister Rose kind of waves and says, thank you, Echo. And Echo doesn't even say anything. Just one hand on Skitter's cuff, just the hand up behind her head, waving by like, uh-huh. And then the door closes behind. You are alone with Sister Rose. She says, I did not expect to meet you so soon.

Do you know who I am? She kind of cocks her head and says, I have heard stories. Please sit and know that we are not alone. And she gestures upward and the bud above your head opens a little bit. What's in there? Uh, um, there's a face nestled deep in the middle of that bud. Does it look like my face again? Well, it definitely looks like a relative. It looks like Scarlet King. Ugh.

Jillian. It's so creepy. I'll give y'all a moment. Werebear goes, okay. He looks over at you, Animus, and he goes, hey, are you all right? I don't know.

Yeah, he kind of comes up and he puts his, he just like kind of like stands next to you. Like he doesn't want to put his hand on your shoulder to be like up in your space, but he's kind of like, I'm here. I think I would like to kind of give him a hug. Okay. If he seems receptive to that. He looks startled and he's like a little stiff for a second. And then he, he folds his arms around you and kind of like gives you a big bear hug. A bear hug? I think we both needed that. Welcome to Flipside and please do not be afraid.

This is not exactly who it seems to be. We're not afraid. It's a flower. No, I'm afraid. I'm afraid. Nobody knows what Scarlet King looks like except for you. Well, I'm uncomfortable. Yeah, exactly. Do you want to say anything? I'm not afraid. You're a flower. It's fine. Jill, what's going on? What's the deal here? She sort of smiles at you and she says...

I'm afraid not everyone is as comfortable with difference as you are, but you seem like you would fit in amongst us. My name is Sister Rose. This is Giga Gaia. Ooh. Oh, okay. So not Scarlet King. Do you say that? I mean, maybe, yeah. Well, she referred to me by name, didn't she? She did. Okay, so...

Okay, I would like to clarify, Giga Gaia, did you previously go by Scarlet King? I have many of the memories of Scarlet King. So we all know Scarlet King, so we'd be like, do you get like the cool ones or like the bomb the city ones?

She kind of like smiles and this face is embedded in the flower and it says, I suppose you might say all of the important bits. Okay. She looks at you and she says, Jillian, I suppose you expected someone else. I have transcended some of my heritage.

I hope you find my form acceptable. I feel I have evolved. I mean, you just said that you hope, or you thought that I might be expecting someone else. I had no expectations, and I am confused, and I would really like for you to start at the beginning of how you got here and what we're doing now. Probably a seed, right? That's what we usually...

That's totally an ape line, by the way. I think Sister Rose would say, most things begin with a seed. And she says, I certainly did. I believe you and I share some genetic material. Thanks to our maternal grandmother. Giga Gaia above says, accurate. I wasn't going to waste excellent material like yours, Jillian. Thank you.

I don't know if that's a compliment necessarily. I don't know. I'll take it though. I'm going to choose to... I'm overwhelmed. I don't know. She says, You must understand, Jillian. I wasn't only making one plan. What kind of a fool would I be without a plan B? So you foiled plan A. A full reset.

Throw it away, start over. Crude, I'll admit, but effective. This was my second option. Sister Rose holds up a hand and says, This is our community, Mother. You know that. And she says, Yes, yes. My daughter likes to play at being the peaceful heroine. But of course, all of this is only possible because of me.

She smiles kind of happily to her, like in a sort of self-satisfied way. Sister Rose looks back at you all and says, you'll have to forgive her. She's not accustomed to speaking politely. Um...

Do you want to say anything here? Does anybody want to say anything? Yeah, you got to demand an explanation, Amanda. Yeah, even in my exhausted state, I'm concerned about the emotional state of Firefly because I look up to Firefly. And you can feel that Firefly is absolutely a storm of emotion. I can feel it. There's a lot going on here. I guess I'm just still... So, okay, this was your plan B, right?

What is it that you're trying to accomplish? Like, what is this plan? What have you done? - So like Jack. She kind of smiles down at you and she says, "A fool for devices, as if they solve anything." Do you know what else he was a fool about?

People who didn't bother with the sciences that matter most. Anthropology, sociology, psychology, microbiology. The study of the human body, mind, and soul. Inside and out. This is another way of beginning over. Before, I thought to simply convert the world. But, in case it failed...

And you made sure of that. This was a second option to create a people who could transform the world on their own. Transform it from what to what? We are a self-destructive species, my dear. Think about all the world's problems.

A ravenous plague we've become on this planet. Mining too deep, burning forests, polluting waters. We watch the poor starve and go homeless and eat processed meats while our cattle and cars ruin this perfectly balanced ecosystem we call home. I cannot stand for it. I refuse to simply let it go.

What does it take to truly change people, Jillian? Not convince them to placidly agree that climate change is awful and oh, we feel so terrible for those starving people while we keep on letting governments and companies who make them blind destroy the world? To actually change them? First, you make them feel like one people.

Give them a way to identify with one another. Something indelible, a mark that sets them apart. Better if you can make it something they're persecuted for. Have them bond in solidarity against an unkind world which treats them as monsters. Then, add a bonding event.

A moment in their history, a shared trauma, a story that connects them, makes even those who would treat them as family feel like outsiders. Well, my bricks have had theirs, and I have you to thank for that. Okay, hold on now. I'm not going to say I disagree with the logic in the things that you're saying, ma'am.

But for someone who makes a big deal out of sociology, psychology, and understanding the hearts, minds, and emotions of people, you're going about this a very manipulative way. Sister Rose holds up a hand and says, She's never been very good on the individual level. She thinks purely in aggregates and offends deeply. My apologies.

I don't think you have anything to apologize for, Sister Rose, as someone who is very intimately aware of the individual level of individuals. I think she needs to be the one to apologize. You can't force change.

And I think if you are not so good at the individual level, you need to get good at the individual level. I'm probably starting to be a little bit influenced by the turmoil that Firefly is feeling, and I'm feeling it as well. And one of the things with Animus, sometimes it's hard to decipher which emotions are mine and which ones are others.

So at this point, she turns her eyes and her eyes are kind of glazed over. There's not what you can kind of see a pupil behind, but there's like leaves framing her face. And she chuckles a little and she says, oh, you're an interesting one. You're one of the ones they made before, before we got them back.

You didn't think that all of those bricks I converted because they'd volunteered, did you, Jillian? Sister Rose says, Hold on, can we rewind a second? Yes. Yes. Animus is saying that. Yeah. Hold on. You're like, hold on. Sister Rose walks over to you and like holds up a hand gently and reaches out to touch your face. She stops with a look of may I.

Werebear kind of gets in the way. He gets in the way and he says, I don't know what's going on, but don't you hurt my friend. And Sister Rose holds her hands back up and she says, I would never hurt a living creature. I'll kind of pat Werebear on the back and say, it's okay. I don't think she means any harm. She reaches out and her hand is cool against your face, more like being pressed against a leaf and very lightly touches it.

And then nods a little and says, "Yes, you are one of us. One of... one of their version. Tusk Corporation. They've been trying to take the process and perfect it. I have inherited the ability to offer the gift to any who choose it. But without microbial's help, it can be deadly."

Microbial helps to correct the microbiome of those who inherit the spore so they can make the transition safely, and we can guarantee that they do not die and are not harmed. Until this point, we have only given the gift to those who have asked for it and wish to join us here in Flipside. Tusk through...

Someone we formerly considered an ally discovered what we were capable of. They wished to take the ability and change it to make their own super soldiers. That's why they abducted my friend. And that is why they have been experimenting on people inside of Tusk Towers. So all of those poor people in the bays, in that lab. Sounds like employees too, because you were just working there. She says, you were employed by Tusk?

was willfully left. Giga Gaia cackles above you and says, Oh, so there's something those men in the golden towers have actually grasped, even if it's crude. They've perfected the appearance. No sign of the brick color on you. I consider that a failing. I mean, red's not really my color, but you know, who's judging?

Sister Rose says, "You are welcome among us from now on." And she kind of like puts her hand on your heart and then your head and then her head and her heart. And then she turns to the rest of you and she says, "I believe we have much to discuss. It sounds as though we have you to thank, Animus, for saving those people in the towers. They took Microbial to attempt to have him moderate their transition.

I'm gonna look at Firefly now.

Something that changes people at a micro level. Ooh, the, uh... Firefly and Werebear. Yeah, that's, that, this is what they've done. I think they've... Ape gets excited. He says, oh, that sounds like the, uh, that, uh, Portabella fella could cure you. Um... Is that... So when you say that, that Portabella fella could cure you, uh, Sister Rose turns and says, cure whom?

Has one of you been injected with the spores? Yep. Two. Yes. Like, Werebear raises his hand, and immediately Sister Rose says, We must get you treatment immediately. I had no idea. Meanwhile, Giga Gaia above you has kind of cackled, has started cackling and says, Welcome back to the family. I'm so glad that we have even more in common now.

The weird part is she doesn't seem to be being nasty. She seems to be utterly sincere. Am I going to grow petals? I've never punched a flower, but I will, Jill, if you need me to. No, I don't want to punch anybody. Yeah, Sister Rose says, I apologize. I should have considered her particulars. I didn't know. And she looks over at you, Jillian, and she says, I didn't know it would be you. Please come back.

And then she walks out of the garden and gestures for you to follow. She gives you a little tour on your way to the healing gardens. She explains how they have created a form of fish that processes wastewater from the city naturally, feeds upon it. It's the toilet fish?

So she shows you a series of gardens where they're growing all sorts of different forms of fungus and yeast that seem to be growing very well on the nutrients that they found. There's a recycling area where there's a particular brick who looks really excited to meet you, who looks like they're sort of armored in cardboard, but it looks a little bit like firefly armor. Their name is upcycle and they're responsible for a lot of the gear here and they build everything out of junk. Um,

everywhere you go, everyone is a little nervous, but welcoming. There's a lot of touch the head, touch the heart, make a gesture, um, because you're with sister Rose, who seems to invoke reverence from almost everyone. Um,

So you find your way to the infirmary, which has got a bunch of beds in it. It's still all mossy and very grassy. Everything here feels very natural. Most of the beds are made of living plants. And there you find all of the patients. Microbial is tending to them. They're going through their transition. And when you arrive, Sister Rose says...

We have more patients. Microbial, his eyes widen and he immediately says, oh, please be seated. Sister Rose sits down next to you, Jillian. And she says, I should explain. I can now help alter and emit the spores causing the change. But Scarlet King had a secret. The bricks who worked for her did not do so voluntarily. Not all of them.

Without a change in your microbiome, the body rejects the spores and eventually decomposes. All of her bricks received regular treatments, and she would withhold them if someone were disobedient. Microbial walks over. He looks at you for permission, Jillian. And he says, Elise, lean down.

As you lean down, he takes your face in his hands. They're very, they're very gentle. And he leans his giant mushroom cap over your head. And he kind of murmurs to you as he's doing what he does. It's weird. It's like taking a warm bath. He explains as he's doing it, what he's doing. He says, all of us are an entire universe of creatures too tiny to see.

We contain multitudes: bacteria, viruses, fungi. If they are not appropriately in balance, it makes us ill. There are all manner of ailments that stem from eating the wrong foods, being in the wrong environments, hurting the tiny creatures who we depend upon for our health. I have the ability to influence the microbial creatures on any living being.

Which means I have been able to alter the microbiomes of those who have been infected by the spore and either remove it or allow it to flourish safely with no harm to the infected patient. When he finishes speaking, he leans back a little bit and looks straight into your eyes and he says...

You could join us to embrace your part of what we are building here, or go back to the surface. The choice is yours. ♪♪♪

All right. So that brings us to the end of this, this edition, this episode of Giga City Guardians. And like always, I'd love to give some shout outs. I'd love to talk about lines. Really, shout outs, I feel like for me, they're burning in me right now. I feel like I got a lot of nice things I want to say about everybody. So what does everybody want to shout out? Are there any lines anybody wants to add?

propose for themselves or each other? I would love to do a big shout out to Michael, our storyteller, because there were lots of twists and turns today. There were so many big surprises, things I was not expecting. And just really, really great job. There's so many and so many callbacks and, you know, connections to it was just really fun. There's a lot of stuff I wasn't expecting. Yeah, it's a good job.

I love the Scarlet King reappearing. Yeah, so weird. And I like Giga Gaia too. I think that that's fun. That's a fun name and really cool. Like, yeah. There's so much more I want to tell you about Giga Gaia. I got so nerdy on this. Thank you so much. Hold it in. I'm not going to say anything. I'm going to keep my secrets. But yes. She's more of a Giga Gorilla anyway, right? Oh, no. You're just being a Giga Gorilla over there. That's right. Yes.

Is that going to be a new bond? I think maybe, but I don't know what it is yet. I don't know how to sum it up in a sentence. I feel like so much of it is still like...

Because it's very weird. My deed is that I defeated the Scarlet King and saved Giga City. And that feels like it's kind of in question a little bit. Or like, you know, there's sort of a... So I think, yes, eventually. And I also need to hold and wait, kind of see how it pans out a little bit, I think. I'm really interested to see how you get along with Sister Rose. Because...

There's some weird connections and weird vibes there too. Because Sister Rose is really kind of the sister part. You know, I did choose that for multiple reasons. There's a little bit of vibe there that I love to explore. I'm seeing some parallels between Sister Rose being kind of

the leader and the guiding voice here as you are the leader and guiding voice on the top side. And now we all know that Giga City Gold, we know now that they're frauds, they're kidnappers, they're experimenting on both people they kidnap and their office workers. Very not cool. Can't imagine there was any informed consent. I would...

I was an experiment. What? Animus is a brick. If I put spores in the water cooler. Yeah. Now I'm trying. Now Animus is going to think back. Like, when did it happen? How did it happen? What? Everything I know was a lie. Do you want to do a line about being a brick? Like, like I'm a brick, but never knew it. Do you want something like that? Cause I feel like that could be definitely there for Animus. I think that's a thing that Animus needs to process. Yeah.

If there is a therapist or a counselor somewhere down here, Animus needs to book an appointment in ASAP. There's a lot to unpack. I will say again, there definitely is. If you want to explore and find out who does therapy when people are undergoing conversion, because remember, they only accept people who decide to join them. You can definitely talk around and find out who does therapy here.

You can talk to Abe. He'll sort you out. That's fine. And Sister Rose said, you are welcome to join us. And Animus is going to have to figure out what that means. So maybe no line now, but you could think about it? Not yet. Not yet. Anybody else have any shout outs? I wanted to give a shout out.

I really thought everybody did an amazing job today. Oh my gosh, Scriv, you really embraced Flipside quickly, but it felt so genuine. It was just like, I needed to be here. This is what, like, it felt like a homecoming and you made it feel like a homecoming in the story. I kind of had that in my mind. Oh, you're really a brick. That's how they experimented on you. The minute, the first session when you were like, I feel like, you know, I developed this power and I saw Tusk Corp was doing something. I was like, here it is. Here's the thing. Oh,

And so even I was waiting for this for a while. Oh, gosh, you have no idea. So I love that you just immediately were like, this is the place. Like there was something wonderfully intuitively natural and genuine about the connection you felt the flip side. And I love that.

So thank you so much. I feel like you tapped into like my actual preferences for community as well. Like Scriv, not just Animus. Like, oh, like super embracing the natural world and taking care of people like this. It feels like my people. I definitely had my own way to want to bend the superhero plot line. You got me. Devious. I think you did a great job. I love all the continuations of the Firefly plot are great. Love it.

Loving the whole vibe. Can't wait to see what's next. Much love. This has been amazing. Thank you all for coming with us on the rollercoaster ride to flip side. Remember, if you'd like to play along and learn a little bit more about the world of Giga City and find out about some other heroes up to some interesting plot lines, go ahead and check us out on patreon.com backslash stories RPG to download and play the game. You can also find us at stories rpg.com and we would love

love if you would send in a few character sheets, any ideas you have. I always love to get inspired by what everybody's up to at home. Did I want to say anything else? Nope. Just give us a, give us the outro. Just goodbye. Peace out. Get out of here. Catch you on the flip side. Thank you. Bye.