Kintsugi Plays Fallen Hero: Rebirth

Always smart to keep informed about our enemies' condition.​

> I will visit the hospital and see if I can find Ortega.

This is not wise.

This is not a smart move.

oh okay, my bad​

You've been listing reasons why you should just go to bed and get some sleep, but all you have managed is to come up with is justifications for why you need to go. Selfish, stupid reasons. Clever, paranoid reasons. You don't even know anymore: you don't trust your judgment when Ortega is concerned. Maybe that's it.

You just need to see the aftermath yourself. Figure out where you stand.

It's not very hard to figure out where they would have taken Ortega, injured as she was. There's really only one place it could be—the Memorial Hospital.

The Memorial Hospital is not just any hospital; it is the premiere celebrity clinic of Los Diablos, the place to go to if you have the money or the insurance to make sure you get nothing but the best. They also have a reputation for being one of the best clinics if you need medical attention due to problems with your Boosted or Modded physiology. And, from what you have heard, the one that does a lot of work on the Rangers as well.

So far, so good. You know where to go.

Now the question is, what kind of face should you present when you get there? What kind of clothes should you put on? You've made sure to shower and patch up your scrapes to the best of your ability. You don't have any major or distinctive injuries, and your face is clean of bruises. Everything else can easily be hidden by clothes, and that's nothing unusual for you. Covering up is second nature.

　‣ I will dress randomly, like I just threw something on as soon as I heard the news.
　‣ I will dress smartly, as if I were already up and out, enjoying the nightlife.
　‣ I will dress like I always do, drab and neutral.

All right, how are we playing this?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
█████████▒██████████
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
████████████▒███████

Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
████████████████████

Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
██████████████▒█████

Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
████████████████████

Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
████████████████████

 

I want to see what Josie's random outfit is!

 

> I will dress randomly, like I just threw something on as soon as I heard the news.

You need to be thinking about your backstory, and the easiest solution is that you saw something about the fight on the news and then threw some clothes on when you realized she was hurt. You want this to look natural and impulsive, like you were just overwhelmed with worry and needed to check in on her.

Taking a final look in the mirror, you look nothing like you did a scant hour or so earlier. There's no villainy there. No viciousness. Just a tired person with tired brown eyes.

Good.

This time of night, you will even get a cab to the hospital. You've got nothing to hide.

Not right now.

I feel bad leaving you without a proper outfit description after you voted to see it, so I've taken the liberty of generating one from the sequel's style options. According to the RNG, Josie's current outfit is best described as "masculine, edgy and preppy".

I hope this either answers your questions or raises more.​

> The Cab Ride Is Uneventful

Arriving at the hospital, you avoid the main entrance, walking along the side to an employee gate. The tired security guard there lets you in without any issues. His mind was laughably easy to manipulate; it's not like he really cared who you were, as this was just a job, and he wanted to go home and sleep.

Part of you wants to do the same, but curiosity makes you press onwards.

You finally did what you wanted to: you beat Ortega fair and square. Who wouldn't want to bask in the aftermath of victory?

You just wish you could get rid of the lump of anxiety and guilt in the pit of your stomach.

Moving through the corridors, you relax your focus, trying to scan for someone who has the information you need. Around you, the hospital is filled with a restless energy filtering up from below. How bad are things down in the lobby? How many victims? Deaths?

You shake your head and focus on the nurses passing you, making sure they don't notice you enough to check who you are. As long as you walk with confidence, you don't even need to use your powers much. People are susceptible to authority, and you obviously know where you are going.

And while that is not true at the start, eventually it is.

There's a thought…a nurse who had recognized Ortega, and better yet, knows where she ended up after being admitted. Brought in on a stretcher. Hurt.

Hurt. Of course she was hurt. You should know that.

You were the one who did it.

Fuck.

Shaking your head, you rid yourself of any intrusive thoughts and focus on where you need to go. Ortega's room lies in the more private wing of the hospital. The one for the special patients. The rich and the important…and the Enhanced.

Good. At least it won't be as crowded.

You quicken your step, worrying that if you start to hesitate, you might realize what a bad idea this is. Or maybe you are just nervous.

There's the door with the right number. All you have to do is open it.

> It Slides Open Quietly

The room is a private one, the single bed in the center surrounded by machinery. The overhead lights are set to a low, pale green that you suppose is meant to be restful, but it just makes you feel ill at ease.

It also makes Ortega look dead where she's lying on the bed.

She is still in her torn and dirty party clothes, which doesn't help the impression at all.

Looking closer, you decide that maybe dead is not the right word. You can see the gentle rise and fall of her chest, but there's still something off…maybe plastic is a better expression? The skin looks fake. And looking down at your own hands, you see that they also look like they belong to someone else. Something else.

Reaching out, you run your fingers over the light switch, and the hue changes into the warmer, yellow tint of sunrise. That's a lot better. You don't need to battle those kinds of memories here as well.

Unfortunately, this lighting also reveals the exact state of Ortega's body.

Prone on the bed, she's hooked up to an impressive array of machinery. Reinforced cables snake across the floor, connecting to hidden ports under her skin. You know what they are; you've seen them many times before. Emergency recharging.

While you know that Ortega has internal generators, it can be faster to use external power to refill the batteries. Does that mean she is planning to get back into action soon?

Looking closer at the readings on the machinery, you realize that no, that doesn't seem to be the case. It looks like her internal generators have been put in hibernation mode; are they worried that they might have sustained damage? That would make sense, as they are by far the most volatile aspects of her Mods and the ones with the biggest consequences should they malfunction.

For now, she seems to be sleeping peacefully. You can see the bruises mottling her body, large patches of skin turned greenish purple by your hands. There are scrapes that have been bandaged, open wounds that have been stitched. And though you can't see it under the covers, you suspect her ribs must have been securely wrapped as well.

Looks like her shoulder was just dislocated instead of broken; that must have hurt pushing back. If she was even conscious at the time.

It feels odd that you are the cause of this…of this…you don't even know what to call it. It can't be a mess, because you won. But standing here, looking at Ortega all messed up in bed, it doesn't exactly feel like a victory. There are too many old memories wrapped up with your emotions right now.

　‣ I really don't like hospitals….
　‣ I can't believe I did this to her….
　‣ Should I take the opportunity to end this right now? Kill her?

Well. There she is.

What thoughts is this bringing up for us?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
█████████▒██████████
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
████████████▒███████

Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
████████████████████

Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
██████████████▒█████

Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
████████████████████

Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
████████████████████

 

"doesn't exactly feel like a victory" makes me want to go "I can't believe I did this to her"

 

:(​

> I can't believe I did this to her….

You can't believe it was your hands that did this to Ortega. Looking down at them, you see no trace of bruises; the gloves of your armored suit are good at absorbing the impact. In the old days, your hands would be scraped raw, the pain a reminder that you were alive.

If not exactly why…

There's a flash of memory there, of Ortega making a joke as she applies antiseptic to your knuckles, and you cursing her out for being an asshole. Her hands were gentle though; you remember that as well.

You were friends for so long. Comrades. But why are those memories not enough to change what you are about to do?

Fuck. How far are you willing to take this…vendetta? Maybe that's not the right word, but you do want her to suffer for what she put you through. Is this enough? What will it take for you to be satisfied?

Honestly, you have no idea. All you can do is keep moving forward. Ortega will keep standing in your way, so these things will keep happening.

Because you will not stop. Not for anyone.

You let out the breath you have been holding, looking around the room once more. There's a chair in the corner, and you quietly walk over and grab it, moving it over to the side of the bed. Lightweight. Plastic. Easy to keep clean.

It feels cold when you sit down.

This close, you can see the smaller wires attached to the mods in Ortega's hands, grounding her so she can't accidentally short out the expensive equipment.

Sitting here, you realize you've done this once before. Sat here by the side of her bed, waiting for her to wake up. But that hadn't been in a hospital, just a safe house on the Mexican border.

There had been flies. You had kept swatting them, trying to be patient, hoping that the jury-rigged interface would feed enough electricity into her batteries before the Void found you. Alone, you wouldn't have stood a chance.

How things have changed.

You always hated waiting, but it looks like you have no choice here. What will you do to amuse yourself while Ortega is out? What will she see when she wakes up?

　‣ Me, sitting next to her and looking tiredly at my phone.
　‣ Me, fiddling a bit with the machines she is connected to.
　‣ Me, holding her hand and looking worried.
　‣ Me, pacing back and forth.

And suddenly we have time to kill. Do we spend it at her bedside? Pacing the room? We could also distract ourself by taking a look at those machines—we should be tech-savvy enough to make sense of the readings.

(For anyone else who gets a headache trying to guess these things: the game does not treat holding her hand as a specifically romantic option.)​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
█████████▒██████████
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
████████████▒███████

Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 76% (+2)
███████████████▒████

Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
████████████████████

Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
██████████████▒█████

Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
████████████████████

Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
████████████████████

 

I want to fiddle with the machinery
no particular special reason why I just want to know what they say

 

Proceed.



I think looking at our phone would be better for Cover Story, but examining the machines to try to get a sense of how she is would also read as concerned friend.

(Messing with the machines like pressing buttons or unplugging things would not, and I'm not totally sure what 'fiddling with' means in this context.)

 

Can confirm it does not mean actually messing with the machines. (I agree the phrasing is confusing.)

 

It's important we stay apprised of any advances in or damage to Ortega's mods! As her good, 100% retired friend, of course.​

> Me, fiddling a bit with the machines she is connected to.

It's been interesting, checking the readings on the machines that Ortega is hooked up to. With the amount of power feeding into her batteries, there must have been upgrades since you last knew her, especially looking at the settings.

Have they installed a new generator, even? You can't be sure, as the codes putting it in sleep mode are unfamiliar, but the stats look impressive. No wonder she could put up that much of a fight—looks like her power threshold is a lot higher than back in the day.

Good to know. This means you have to be more careful in the future.

"Hey there." Ortega's voice nearly makes you jump; you had no idea she'd woken up. "Find anything interesting?"

"Just more proof that your systems are in even worse shape than you are," you say, turning away from the screens to face her bruised form on the bed.

"It's…rather hard to overlook," she admits, stifling a painful cough.

"So how did you manage to land yourself in this mess?" You're curious how she will choose to phrase what happened.

"I…suppose that you already know part of it, considering that you're here."

"I saw the fight on the news, threw on some clothes, and rushed over here. I had no idea how badly you'd been hurt."

"Mierda. They move fast."

"They do have helicopters." Your comment makes Ortega break out in a laugh that results in another wince.

"Don't make me laugh. I think I've got a couple of cracked ribs."

"You're lucky if that's all you got."

"Well, maybe I did underestimate the danger."

"No kidding," you say, giving her a pointed look. "Who were you fighting, anyway? I didn't recognize the suit, but I'm not really keeping up with the scene."

"They looked super cool in it, though. None of the villains who kicked your ass back in the day looked that cool doing it."​

"It was someone…new." Ortega shakes her head, trying to shift into a more upright position. "And I was an idiot, rushing in too fast."

"That's not exactly uncommon." You frown a little. "Didn't you have backup?"

"We weren't expecting an attack. We were spread out; Herald had already been taken down, and I couldn't afford to wait for Angie."

　‣ "Looks like the Rangers aren't what they used to be."
　‣ "Miss me then?"
　‣ "Where was Steel? He's supposed to be the leader."

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
█████████▒██████████
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
████████████▒███████

Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 78% (+2)
███████████████▒████

Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
████████████████████

Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
██████████████▒█████

Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
████████████████████

Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
████████████████████

 

Where's Steel?

 

We were not such buddies with Steel in that convo that a little blame implication would go amiss here

 

We're not mad, Steel, just disappointed. :/​

> "Where was Steel? He's supposed to be the leader."

"Where was Steel, then? He's supposed be the leader these days."

"He bowed out of the party. Said it was important that someone was on call in case something happened."

"And it did." You can't help the eye roll. "And the marshal wasn't there, and everyone else just fell apart."

"I know." Ortega sighs a little. "Herald is not half as experienced as he thinks he is, rushing in half-cocked like that. And Angie's not a team player."

"Why them, though?" The question is one you have wondered about, and this is a good opportunity to ask without looking suspicious. "Of all the possible heroes, why recruit those two?"

"It's not that easy to get new members." She groans as she tries to adjust her position. You find the remote, raising the bed to support her as she sits up. "You have to be deputized. That means you have to pass a security check."

"I know," you say, as that was one reason why you never considered signing on. "Guess there are a lot of people with skeletons in the closet."

"It takes a lot of money to become a Mod, and a certain amount of insanity to try to get Boosted. Not to mention that the military tends to vet some of the good ones so they can snatch them up later."

"I never would have thought you'd become this cynical." Honestly, her words surprise you. Ortega had always been an idealist. Maybe even she would wear down eventually.

"I'm not proud of it. But there have been good people out there I wanted to work with who never got the clearance. We have to make do with what we've got."

"And right now, the city will have to make do without you." You pat her arm. "You need time to heal."

"I heal fast…."

"Why are you always like this?" You have raised your voice now, because you can't help it. Trust Ortega not to realize her defeat.

"Because I have to go after the one who did this." Ortega has raised her voice in return—this is beginning to feel familiar.

"You know as well as I do that there are other heroes out there who can deal with these things. The mayor's office has got their Guardians, not to mention there are a handful of vigilantes who would love to pick up your slack."

"I know, but that's not the point here." Ortega shakes her head, staring you down. "I just can't let this one go."

"Why?" You give her an incredulous look.

"I can't let this one go—it's too important to me." Ortega looks down, shaking her head.

"What's important is that you allow yourself time to heal," you say, swallowing a little. "I know you hate being out of the action, but you don't want to get yourself in trouble."

"It's my…friends I am worried about." She sighs in frustration. "I can't just sit this one out."

"Nobody's asking you to. Just not to run yourself into the ground in the process."

"Josie?"

"Yes?" It still feels a little weird to hear your name on her lips again.

"You are…fine, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'd tell me if something was wrong?"

"Of course I would," you lie. "Honestly, you need to stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself instead."

"I'm sorry." Changing the subject, Ortega forces a smile, which turns into a wince as the stitches get pulled. "I'm getting too intense here, I guess. I haven't even said thank you yet."

"For what?" you ask, momentarily confused by the shift in tone.

"For coming here. There's no reason for you to."

　‣ "You did drag me back into your life."
　‣ "I do care about you, you idiot." Even though I shouldn't.
　‣ "I do care about you, you idiot. You're my best friend."
　‣ "What was I supposed to do? Ignore that you got hurt?"

…I guess we can't blame this entirely on Ortega after agreeing to reconnect. So what do we say?

(Speaking from experience, the game does interpret that second option as at least implying romantic feelings.)​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
█████████▒██████████
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
███████▒████████████
Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
████████████▒███████

Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 78%
███████████████▒████

Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
████████████████████

Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
██████████████▒█████

Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
████████████████████

Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
████████████████████

 

I vote for "I do care about you, you're my best friend"
I want to be buddies, for reasons of desiring emotional conflict

 

Looks back at the signs of a subtle telepath. Looks at Ortega continuing to fuss over Josie's wellbeing. Squints at the space between these points, long and hard.

( Wondering if there's been a pattern of subtle mind control with mostly-normal behavior among the Rangers, or if this is specifically following Josie. )

( Also staring back at that flash to the mad science earlier. )

 

I'm sleepy enough that I can't tell precisely what you're implying here, but I'd like to know :o

 

Curse this human disease known as friendship.​

> "I do care about you, you idiot. You're my best friend."

"I do care about you, you idiot. You're my best friend." You give Ortega a light jab on her arm, which makes her wince.

"Ow—remember that I am hospitalized."

"As long as you do. Just look at you…." You can't help it; things are slipping out now, feelings that you had promised yourself to bottle up. The fact that you are the one who did this, caused this, everything…

"Hey, are you all right? I'm not dead—are you…?"

"I am not crying," you snap, blinking furiously for no reason. "And you are an idiot with no sense, and I don't even have any idea why I should care what happens to you, and yet here I am, and—" You break off before you say something you will regret even more later.

"And I am grateful that you are." Ortega has a look of confusion on her face. "I just didn't…"

"I was so angry at you," you say, so quickly that your words almost stumble over hers. "I told myself we weren't friends, we'd never been friends, and—"

"Hey, hey," she holds up a hand to stop your rant. "I get it. I think."

"I'm glad one of us does, because I don't get anything anymore." You smile helplessly because there is a certain truth in that.

"I let you down." She keeps looking at you as if she is just not sure how to deal with things anymore. "I get why you would be angry. I should have been there, and I wasn't. I've been feeling guilty as well, but…I mean, it is okay to be angry at your friends, you know?"

"Good." You can't stop the grimace. "Because I am. I still am."

"I probably deserve it," she admits.

"It has nothing to do with what any of us deserve." There's a moment's pause as you look at her, willing yourself to hate her, what she stands for, what she's done. And you can't. You just can't.

"Josie…" She carefully reaches out, touching your knee. "I just want you to know that you'll always be my friend. And if you ever need my help, just let me know."

There is a moment's pause. Then she continues, "I mean it."

"Fuck, when did my life turn this complicated…."

"There's nothing wrong with a few complications." Ortega rubs her head with a grimace. "Speaking of which."

"What?"

"There's someone I need to check up on. Could you give me a hand up?"

"Are you nuts?" You give her a stern look. "There is no way you're getting out of that bed right now."

"I have to," she protests, looking at the cables connecting her to the surrounding instruments and rattling them helplessly.

"Why?"

"I need to get in touch with Steel."

"No, you don't." You push Ortega back in the bed quite sternly. "You're not the marshal anymore, so let him deal with cleaning up this mess. If he wants you, he can do what I did."

"That's not fair."

"I don't care. You're staying in this bed, and that's final. You're not helping anybody in your state."

"I suppose you have a point." Ortega has such a sullen look on her face you nearly find yourself cracking up.

"Get some rest, Julia. You need it."

"Since when did you become the reasonable one?"

"I always was," you lie, part of you wondering if she has any idea how very far from reasonable you have become. Probably not. "Now, you get some rest. I will do the same."

"I will…and thank you."

　‣ I will give her a hug before I leave.
　‣ I will give her a peck on the forehead before I leave.
　‣ I will give her a kiss before I leave.
　‣ I will just leave before I dig a deeper hole for myself.

x/o y/n?

(Note that the current version of the game fails to recognize platonic forehead kisses; apparently this will be patched at some point.)​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary
Description: An average mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short, neat curly dark brown hair.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are tired.
Willpower: You feel tired.
Injuries: You are hurt, with no significant wounds.

Telepathy

Strength of Mind: 50%
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Subtle Manipulations: 74%
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Armored Suit

Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores that are functionally similar to having a disintegration touch. It is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed, as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status

Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
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Standard of Living: You are comfortable.

Psychological Profile

Infamy: 47% / Obscurity: 53%
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Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73%
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Ruthlessness: 39% / Empathy: 61%
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Daring: 64% / Caution: 36%
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Main Puppet

Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: Unknown, left in Mortum's care.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties, with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Josie's relationship with Ortega: friend.
Ortega and Josie: 82% (+4)
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Barbara's relationship with Ortega: flirting.
Ortega and Barbara: 65%
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Barbara's relationship with Dr. Mortum: flirting.
Mortum and Barbara: 71%
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Josie's relationship with Lady Argent: distant.
Lady Argent and Josie: 0%
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Josie's relationship with Marshal Steel: former ally.
Marshal Steel and Josie: 24%
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Josie's relationship with Herald: distant.
Herald and Josie: 20%
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Is forehead kiss one of the ones that affects if you're platonic or romantic?

 

Quote spam to connect some dots I've been peering at:

Spoiler

Quotes are chronological as we saw them, not chronological as Josie experienced them.

So there's 2 or 3 different veins of things I'm bolding here, and I've been wondering whether these things are related. Throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing whether the resultant marinara sauce streaks make viable red strings for some proper conspiracy theorizing, and all.

(Part of why my mind is jumping where it is: fondness of Serial Experiment Lain, Homestuck, and Undertale/Deltarune - fandom likes to play with the concept of Chara as narrator and/or malignant possessing presence, while Deltarune is emphasizing that it's the player's input. Stories where there's Entity(ies) influencing the POV character's mind, possibly splinters of the same person, possibly the reader/player themselves in a fun 4th wall break eldritch way)


So, we've got that long flashback dream, where some of it is Josie's memory of that day when Anathema died and Sidestep went missing, right? They found the source of the suicidal urge aura, a woman in dirty hospital scrubs, and made eye contact. Then the rest is memory of scientists doing an experiment on "her" - presumably the woman in scrubs, though it's not definitively her memories either.

Those scientists had an ongoing study where "she" was only the most recent subject, where they'd "lost" (killed?) previous subjects. It involved lowered body temperature (96.2!) and inducing altered brainwaves state (aiming for theta waves)

They talked like they expected the woman's mind to elsewhere, and possibly get into contact with something else - they were tracking where her mind was, where her id was, and began to panic at the idea that she might have brought "it back with her."


I'm under the impression that it is an entity that's been pulling at minds and puppeting them to do things for a while (at least since before their experiments focused on tracking minds like that).

That side comment about childhood sleepwalking - the implication that it looks like sleepwalking, that someone might not have been flagged for irregular behavior if they had a previously known medical condition to account for it.

The woman who caused the suicidal urge aura had been empathically in contact with it, after which... she started trying to die, and killing people around her with her? And that accounts for the incident, but not the entity she'd been pushed into contact with.


With my fondness for the 4th wall eldritch shenanigans, I'm tempted to theorize that we are actually playing as it, that our choices as we play are the entity tweaking some of Josie's perceptions of their own memories and motivations to steer actions towards a goal that we the players don't yet know about, other than the recurring get revenge / reveal the falsities re: the institutions that run these hero groups.

Heck, maybe that Ortega is feeling so concerned about Josie's behavior precisely because something is off, but the narration is hardly about to tell Josie that, if my guessing's right.

Whatever was messing with Argent might have been an investigator trying to figure out what's going on, or might have been the hypothetical entity shaping events to further push the new Anathema into the needed mindframe.

If I really wanna push my guessing, I'd guess that the scientists were government-funded, working out of the hospital that Josie disappeared from, and maybe the actual origin of super abilities is connected to it in some way.


I'm also trying to figure out... what is with those comments of "not someone they wanted to be" anyway? Is that just referring to the role that Being A Hero demands? Something of what society in general expects? Or...?

Because some of those comments, tho I didn't go back and search for those specifically, gave me more of a vibe of someone who's been molded for a role since a very young age in a way that didn't allow for childhood friends or anything. Earlier in the story I wondered if Josie had escaped supervillains to become a hero, but that really doesn't seem like it, unless...?

 

Yep, the game will assume a forehead kiss implies romantic interest. (At least, it will until it's patched, I guess. :P) Doesn't permanently lock you into/out of having either a romantic or platonic relationship, but will at least lead to a "soooo, about our relationship... what's going on there?" talk at some point.

@swirlingflight
While I can't comment in detail for obvious reasons, please imagine my current form as a biblically-accurate cluster of eyes emojis. Those are a lot of very interesting thoughts!

 

I find it tragic platonic forehead kiss is not an option. also I'm going to vote for hug goodbye