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Lost...and Found?! A Surprise CYOA

Started by Ph0ny, January 24, 2022, 05:04:26 PM

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Ruriska

Itsy Bitsy found the Toll Dolls fascinating. They had created a life for themselves in the dark despite having been discarded and she couldn't help but see some similarity between them and her spider kin.

They were also cute, in an odd sort of way. Like a naked rainbow haired baby. And oh how she loved babies!

She listened as everyone listed current world events, their responses giving away little pieces of their personality. That one there was obsessed with sports, that one mushrooms, and that one was still living through her trauma and wished she'd had a chance to fight other children. The poor dear.

Her multi-gaze shifted towards Lemma when the word spiderweb was mentioned, catching the quick glance and the cough. 

She lifted a spider leg, pressed the tip against her cheek and tilted her head towards it. "I wouldn't know anything about arcane rituals, oh no... but what I do know is that very recently a new spider was discovered. Sweet little dears, peacock spiders. Tiny but beautiful."

She laughed softly. "It's oh so precious when scientists find something 'new'. If only they knew just how many more there were. But I don't want to ruin the surprise."

Scaramouche Fandango

The Tolls murmur their thanks, each one incorporating this new piece of information and tucking it safely away for another day. The leader shows the group to a flat area of perforated metal– the top level of more scaffolding. "When they couldn't get back out the way they came, before the boulder brought some of the scaffolding down to make a path- that only happened a year or so ago- they decided to go further into the mountain to try to come out the other side. It's a big place down there, and... hm. Hm hm hm." The Toll leader scratches their chin, thinking, then smiles. "You know, if you're looking for your friends... you need the foes."

Foes?

"Just keep going that way. There's another set of scaffolding that will take you into foe territory."

Foes? Like... enemies?

"The foes know everything that goes on under this mountain. Just don't mention snakes around them. There's a big venomous one that lives down by them or something and they get real freaked out about snakes. They'll probably want to interrogate you, but it won't be bad– it's just their way. They can't help themselves. Tell them that you paid the Tolls and we granted you passage, answer their questions, and then ask them if they kept any records or information about where the phonies went. If you tell them it was a lost patrol, they'll be sure to take you seriously. We can't go down there- these stump legs make it impossible to take the stairs back up. But the foes will help you. Just keep going until you reach their gate, and you'll be fine. Good luck finding your friends!"

And so the group continues, ever onward, ever downward... until the plastic debris smooths down into something more organized. There's been some effort put into maintaining the scaffolding here, and the plastic litter has been neatly pushed to the side. And there's light up ahead! In fact, there's an entire military encampment, with a miniature fortress, stockade fencing with real fake barbed wire, and an expensive-looking aircraft carrier floating in a sea of blue plastic. The gates of the fence open up and several rows of soldiers march out, the sound of their boots echoing in the cavernous space.

"HALT!" shouts one of the soldiers. "WHO GOES THERE?" Bright lights made from Christmas bulbs stuffed into tin can and aluminum foil reflectors blind you for a moment, as a small platoon of soldiers march out to face you. They're all dressed in neat, but patched uniforms, and not one of them is over twelve inches tall. The tiny soldiers walk stiffly, as though they depend on points of articulation rather than skeletal joints.

"It appears to be more phonies, sir!" shouts a small soldier.

"Good job, Recall!" the army man shouts. "Smaller group this time than the last, which means the interrogations will go quicker." He turns to look at the phonies, his chiseled jaw jutting forward. "The name's Sergeant Freedom, and this area's under military jurisdiction due to an imminent threat. We'll have to take you in."

You find yourself surrounded almost immediately. The small soldiers aren't touching you directly, but you are being herded into their base camp... the buildings of which are between three and four feet tall at most. It's a bit like being in a kaiju movie. The buildings are made from scavenged materials, and there's a neatness and orderliness to them that's almost out of place in this ginormous junkyard.

As you're all far too large to enter these miniature buildings (the doors are only about 14 inches tall, after all), you are herded to a makeshift corral made from piles of discarded plastic. Sergeant Freedom hops up onto a stepladder with a deep grunt and addresses you through a hot pink megaphone that's clearly part of another toyline.

"Welcome to G.I. Faux base camp, citizens! If that's what you truly are. It's rare that we get non-enemy visitors, and so we have to ask you a few questions. This won't take long, and if you aren't the enemy, you'll be able to move on, no problems. But if you are, well. Well, let's just hope you aren't."

The interrogations are all the same. You're surrounded by these tiny, tiny men and one of them talks to you. They all have one question:

What do you know about... Distro plans?

A: Answer that you know nothing about Distro. (Truth)
B: Answer that you do know something about Distro. (Lie)
C: Try to change the subject. (Deflect)
D: Start crying, try to escape, or otherwise obstruct the interrogation. (Distract)

@Ruriska @Maxx @Jun @thy @FrostyPeaches @Nym @Blinded By Silence @Syrcaid @purpleroses

Ruriska

Itsy Bitsy had never been detained by soldiers before. It was a rather novel experience, though not one she planned on repeating anytime soon.

She kept close to the younger members of their group (why were there so many of them? She was going to have a word with End of an Era about allowing so many underage Phonies on this expedition) and as the interrogations began, stepped forward protectively.

She didn't know what a Distro was nor did she care.

"Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourself? We are searching for lost friends, half our group are children. There's nothing remotely suspicious about us. This is terribly inappropriate. What sort of enemies would you even expect us to be?"

Her legs crossed over her chest, many eyes narrowing.

"What is the imminent threat of which you speak? We deserve to know."

And should she be worried about their group journeying any further.   

C: Try to change the subject. (Deflect)

thy

Lemma had to admit that she'd spent far more time than intended pondering who the Foes could be, but thankfully the instructions were pretty straightforward, and the foes didn't...well, they didn't look too threatening.

That said, while the Tolls had mentioned snakes, they hadn't said anything about...Distro? Lemma squinted. Okay, they were a lot bigger compared to Lemma than they were compared to, say, one of the Old Enough Phonies here. Still, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth. Hopefully 'Distro plans' didn't mean 'basic knowledge anyone who wasn't a snake had'.

"I got nothing," she said. She kind of wanted to know, though.

[A: tell the truth]


FrostyPeaches

#49
[imgleft height=235]https://mylittlephony.citycyb.org/phony/bullseye.png[/imgleft]
A: Answer that you know nothing about Distro. ( Truth )

She huffed air into the cave as she watched them murmur under their breath and led them down a clear path...towards foes? why the hekky would anyone point us in that direction? she wondered. and the Tolls' smiles kind of creeped her out... giving them a crooked forced grin back, she said thanks and followed after the small group of brave phonies big and small. 

It wasn't long before more things decided to shine at her face with bright lights. what now. "Hey watch it. This face makes the big bucks you know!" she shielded her eyes with a hoof and noticed...tiny soldiers? perhaps their plastic guns don't even have bullets to kill me with? just where have the Tolls send them us to? I could easily thrash this campground into trash if I wanted to...

Bullseye sighed and let the tiny soldiers hold her 'hostage' as she played along with the game, letting them corner her somewhere 'threatening' as the captain shouted through a megaphone asking about something named Distro. Now she got curious. was that the name of the snake they feared or some other toy soldier that betrayed them in the past?

"I don't know what you mean by that. Honest truth. We've been sent here to find you, passage given by the Tolls." she looked back at the sergeant with a plan in mind. "Is that the threat you mentioned earlier or is that a phony we don't know about who is also lost? or is that...a phony you shot dead?" Her eyes welled up with tears, ready to cry on command for more dramatic effect. clapping her hooves together as if praying to the sky, Bullseye changed her voice as if she was a mother who had lost all her precious children: "Sergeant. Please help us find the lost phonies..." a single tear shed from the corner of her eye which was smudged with a bit of runny mascara......
so sleepyyy ;-;

Jun

#50
"Oh, yeah, they've been talking about that," Diamond nodded, "Phony's Diner just isn't doing as well as it used to ever since the Birthday Crew had to be shut down after the, uh, incident, so they've been thinking that maybe redoing the whole place to be more Champs-Élysées and less Rhode Island might go over better with the Millenial and Gen Z crowd.

"I dunno, I still think there's something to be said about a hotdog and soda after a baseball game. Screaming kids. Cheese sticks. Anyway, they're still thinking about it. Maybe they'll just open one on the next street instead."

(Does it count as lying if she thought Distro was bistro? If so, B. Lie, if not, C. Deflect XD;; )

Maxx

Paper Tiger's little brain did not recall these aggressive little men making veiled threats and some part of her felt deeply betrayed by the fact that they split them up (as much as they could...split them up in the miniature landscape) because how could she now guilt trip adults into sacrificing themselves for her? She could no longer blame them if she was injured by little angry solder shenanigans because it wouldn't be their fault.

So she started on big fat cat tears.

"You're threatening me," she blubbered, "and separating the babbies from the adults! That's against Phony rights! We have them, you know! You're war criminals!"

Then she blubbered a little harder because she figured it wouldn't hurt.

D. I think she's pretty distracting tbh

purpleroses

Torte was a lawyer! She did the interrogations (well, cross-examinations) here! "Hey! We're peaceful folk here. This is unlawful detainment. I'm a lawyer you know, and I specialize in lawsuits. If you don't wanna deal with a hefty suit, you better let us all go quick." Despite their tiny size, there was kind of a lot of them. And a lot of kids in the mix with them. But also...

"And, if you do ever need help fighting your enemies, I can give you my card!"


D. Lawyer up

Blinded By Silence

Sworn-Sword had to resist the urge to practice her kaiju act as they were escorted through the tiny encampment. Ooh, that'd be such a fun cosplay! She was thinking about how much eva foam she'd need for such a thing when one of the younger phonies started crying. Paper Tiger's acting was far better than hers and so she stepped forward to defend her, fully believing the little filly.

"Yeah, guys, this isn't cool. Where's your honor? Seriously, interrogating children like some villain..." She frowned, "We don't know anything about whatever it is you're talking about, at least I've never heard of it, so let us go back to the adults!"

A. The Truth

Syrcaid

"The wh-?" 

Nightvine's mouth went a little slack trying to contain this all.  He watched all of them, wondering who even put them all in here.  Did someone make all these guys like the Toll Dolls?

"Is that like... Dis... Distribution?  Distro?  Like Info is for Information?"  Nightvine scratched at the base of his horn trying to find some kind of association with the words.  "Do you mean like you're all toys waiting to be deployed? Were you sent here without orders?  I'm so lost..."

A: Answer that you know nothing about Distro. (Truth)

Nym

Weatherly had stuck close to Itsy Bitsy, who he had yet to speak to but felt comfortable beside the strange Phony nevertheless. It was clear she cared what happened to the children, and while Weatherly was used to taking care of himself (while also regretting every mistake that led him to where he was), Weatherly also found himself drawn to the radiating spider-Phony. Being around those who cared was a new thing for Weatherly, and he was interested in embracing it.

That, and honestly he was starting to get more and more uncomfortable as the darkness swallowed them further in.

The soldiers came and Weatherly let out a high-pitched whine of alarm, nervously clasping his hooves over his mouth. The group unfolded into action, with Itsy Bitsy leading the charge. Something about 'the children', which Weatherly recognized included him. Several others admitted their confusion and lack of answers, to which Weatherly nodded. Another child cried and Weatherly felt his heart tugged at, stepping closer to Paper Tiger and now Sworn-Sword.

"We don't know anything," he answered, closing the distance between him and the other children. "The Tolls sent us down here, that's all. You shouldn't be so rough with us."

Bold words for someone currently trying to level their breath, which had hitched into an anxious and irregular pattern.

"Are you okay?" He asked Paper Tiger, concern riddled on his face.

A. Answer that you know nothing about Distro.

Mentions: @Ruriska @Blinded By Silence @Maxx

Scaramouche Fandango

Before the interrogations can go any further, the questioning is interrupted by commotion. A klaxon goes off, and a voice shouts over a PA system. "Incoming ASP attack! It's Distro, The Duchess, and ASP Administrator! They're coming in hot!"

Sergeant Freedom, from his perch on the stepladder, hollers orders to the soldiers in the courtyard. "There's civilians onsite! Get out in front of them! Go Faux!" The soldiers questioning you and guarding you all run to their formations.

Because you're much taller than the 12-inch active action figures, you can see over the walls. You've never seen anything like it. There's a cloud of something that looks like a snake being shepherded by more of the small soldiers. Unlike the ones at the camp, they aren't wearing camouflage uniforms. Their outfits appear to have been made from scavenged bits of waste. On either side of the snake and following it as a rear guard are remote control cars, driven by more of the enemy forces.

The Faux line the top of the wall and get out in front of the fort. They have single piece plastic weapons with them in various colors, as well as actually functional spring-loaded missile launchers. They also have catapults they've loaded with heavy chunks of metal waste bits, and perhaps the most functional thing of all, several of them have built flamethrowers. The small soldiers are resourceful.

The battle is pitched and intense, but brief. The Faux have the upper hand, focusing on disrupting the cloud snake and pushing it out of formation. A couple of enemy soldiers are captured, but the three on cars– Distro, the Duchess, and ASP Administrator–  get away, shaking their fists and yelling about revenge.

As the Faux bring their injured back into camp to snap hands and feet back into place, Sergeant Freedom waves the phonies together. "That's why we had to ask you about Distro's plans, citizens. The RC cars- those are new. Dunno where they found them. That could be a problem later on, but now we know, and knowing is half the battle.

When we found ourselves down here and built this place, the only enemy was our own thoughts. A lot of us weren't ok with being what we are. We were never meant to be anything other than nanite-powered plastic toys, and when you think about the implications of that– well, it's enough to drive you mad. And I guess that whoever built us realized that, because we were all left down here with the aircraft carrier. At least they let us keep that.

So we built a base, because we're soldiers. We didn't know what else to do. We waited for the war to come to us, and eventually... it did. ASP. The Assorted Small Particles. That's what we had to fight. That cloud of nanites started attacking. Tiny robots gone rogue. Our weapons were useless, so we started building things we could throw at it, disrupt it. We don't know what they want, we don't know what they can do, but when any of us were swarmed by them, we... changed. We couldn't control our movements any more, and everything seemed random. So we built up the fort, started drilling to work on repelling them, and that's when some of us got a dangerous idea.

Some of us thought that the enemy could be controlled, and could be taken up top to get revenge on those who left us down here. And that's– even if they deserve it, we can't let them hurt innocent civilians. There's lots of those up top. We fought about it, and eventually, some of them left. Now, we're what stands between them and the surface world. The upshot is that they're so single-minded about revenge, they're more interested in destroying us than actually trying to find another way out.

It's clear that you're not spies for Distro, and he's not trying to ride you into battle or anything. So why are you down here?

Ender answers. "We're looking for the missing group that came through here years ago. This little one was part of the original group and she got out somehow, and we're trying to find the rest of them because we miss them and love them."

Sergeant Freedom nods. "A rescue mission. We Faux know all about those. We haven't seen them in years, but there's a chance they're still down here. Years ago, when the first group of Phonies came down here, it was apparent that they accidentally found their way in. We're not sure if that's the only way out or not– our trackers have never reported anything else– but if they're still down here and you find them, somehow, look for one of our scouting outposts. We'll send word that you're to be escorted back up to Toll territory, and we'll help you get to the surface. I'll also give you this map. It's not a complete map of everything down here– we're still trying to find the edges– but it'll get you safe passage away from ASP territory. Good luck finding your friends, civilians!"

The gate opens and you're able to leave. The group skirts around ASP territory, and soon find themselves even deeper into the landfill. The plastic down here has changed– lots of big chunks in haphazard piles, some of which have clearly collapsed under their own weight. The vibration of the group's footsteps has managed to dislodge some of it, causing tiny avalanches... that snowball into a much bigger avalanche! The path behind you is now blocked, and there doesn't seem to be any way ahead that isn't blocked by a plastic mountain!

What do you do?
A: Try to climb one of the plastic mountains to see if you can see a way forward.
B: Scout around the area for another way through.
C: Dig in the plastic debris- maybe there's a tunnel that's only sort of blocked?
D: Look around the area for something that can help. Maybe one of the G.I. Faux dropped a shovel down here.

@Nym @Syrcaid @Blinded By Silence @Maxx @Jun @purpleroses @FrostyPeaches @thy @Ruriska

Syrcaid

Nightvine looked at the mountains of... plastic junk.  "Everything is blocked, I think we should just build with all this material lying around.  I'm getting tired and if I fall asleep I won't be getting up again for twelve hours!"

Nightvine started sifting through the debris, but not before putting one of his handkerchiefs from his pack over his nose.  Who knows what sorts of horribleness they were breathing in while being here!

D: Look around the area for something that can help. Maybe one of the G.I. Faux dropped a shovel down here.

purpleroses

Torte Bar didn't enjoy how chilling the GIs explanation was. Rogue nanites? That was terrifying! All the more reason she, and the rest of the party, needed to locate the missing phonies as soon as possible. Who knew what had happened to them in all this time... With them all seemingly blocked in as well, Torte decided to make use of her athleticism. She climbed to the top of the nearest mountain of plastic, wings beating in case it collapsed, and looked for a way through with an improved vantage point.


A. Climb!

Ruriska

For a home-loving spider, this was all rather overwhelming. Now that they had declared them to be innocent civilians and defended them from the dangerous Distro, the soldier's seemed more than happy to send them on their way.

Itsy Bitsy wasn't really sure what to think. She'd been angry a moment ago and then concerned and now she was just wishing for a new cup of tea and her favourite armchair. This was all too much.

But there was no going back (the sudden avalanche had made that a physical impossibility) and there were children to look after. As much as she wanted to skitter away into the shadows, she did not have that luxury.

"Every be careful," she called to the group, concerned by Torte Bar climbing straight up without a second thought. "There might be more avalanches. The plastic is unstable and you don't want to get trapped beneath it."

Careful not to disturb anything, Itsy Bitsy started scouting the area, poking her head into shadows and carefully navigating around the piles of junk.

B: Scout around the area for another way through.