[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You continue with your mission

[Assistant]
If Brenda wants to abandon her duty, you're more than willing to take up the slack. Wouldn't be the first time anyway. You don't know if she's just sulking or really not returning, but either way you're pretty disappointed in her right now. You always thought she was stronger than that, you guess that's what love does to someone. Makes them weak. It's probably why Roldan wasn't alert to stop that Shadow Guard that killed him.

You can't dwell on such things now; you've got more important matters to deal with. You tell Brenda's advisors that as of now you're taking over rulership of Nalin and that you want them to take care of things while you destroy the eastern barbarians. They tell you that there are several matters that really require your attention, but you say eliminating the threat in the east is your primary concern first.

You head east with your company of veteran troops and meet up with the rest of your forces at Camp Steadfast. You explain your plan of attack and how it is to be carried out. Granted there isn't much to it other than marching straight into the heart of Slin territory and wiping them all out, but you try to give a motivational speech, to improve their morale and mindset because it isn't going to be easy.

At the crack of dawn, you begin your march. Doesn't take long before you face opposition. You defeat them with ease for the most part. When you begin to enter the woods though that's when things get tougher.

The elves and the degenerate human tribe known as the Fleg begin to attack you from the trees. Or more accurately, the elves stay in the trees and the Fleg throw themselves at you like the suicidal idiots they are. A few of your men catch arrows, and some of them are killed by the various traps the elves have set, but eventually the Fleg are all killed and the elves have either fled or run off as well.

You take a moment to rest and regroup. Your company is still strong, but you aren't at the numbers you'd like to face the Slin. You curse yourself for not spreading them out a little more, part of you is still a little pre-occupied with Brenda leaving.

"Damn it, get your head in the battle." You mutter to yourself.

After taking a very short break, you continue towards where you know the Slin make their home. It's a slightly swampy area. Not as bad as the time you spent in the Delerg Province, but it still isn't the best of fighting conditions for you and your soldiers. You start meeting large groups of Slin hissing and lumbering at you from all sides. Your soldiers put up a good struggle as usual and you fight through what seems to be the endless horde, but you suffer many losses before you even make it their cave lair.

One of your men begs you to turn back as he does not believe you have the numbers to take on the rest of the Slin. After all who knows how many are in there. You don't listen though. You're furious by their desire to leave everything, and it doesn't help that you're still angry about Brenda doing the same thing.

"We're nearly there and you dare suggest retreat on the verge of victory? I've faced worse odds and more dangerous enemies by myself! You've all been slacking off on the northern borders too long and getting weak! That ends today, I'm in charge of this company, I'm in charge of this army, I'm even in charge of the whole fucking nation of Nalin! Now we're going to finish this and we're going to win! There's going to be a lot of changes after this is over, now come on!"

You and your men fight your way into the cave entrance, several large Slin come lumbering from various tunnels hissing and charging at you. There's so many that you sometimes have to resort to punching the beasts because there isn't even any room to swing your sword. The Slin aren't weaklings though and are creatures of great strength, you and your remaining soldiers are beaten severely. You continue to struggle, but several of your bones are broken, your flesh is ripped and torn and you've got a few chunks bitten out of you.

As more Slin run towards your position, you look around and see you're the last of your company left. You don't understand what went wrong. You've been in worse situations, you've survived worse conditions, how is it that you're losing and on the verge of death?

In your last moments you see your loss as not your failure, but those around you for not being as strong as you. It hardly matters in the end as the Slin still put your skull as a trophy along side the rest of the "weaklings" they killed.


[System] Narrate a dark fantasy text adventure. The setting is harsh and morally complex. Describe scenes vividly, react to player choices with fitting consequences, and never shy away from the reality of the world.

[User] You kiss her back

[Assistant]
She tastes so sweet, like spring.

Her eyes sparkle and she draws you closer, your hands move down to her thighs, clutching at the gossamer white fabric around her knees.

Her own hands, slender and smooth, trace their way down your chest.

You both slip out of your clothes, and slip under the fur bed sheets.

For the first time in nearly a month, you feel warm.

For the first time in nearly a month, you feel happy.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You head to talk with her father

[Assistant]
"I need to go," you say.

"Yeah," Rose nods. "Thanks."

"I'll be back," you reply.

"No, Jacob! Go to the town! Please!"

You walk away from Rose, heading towards the cave. She doesn't seem to have the strength to follow, or doesn't realize where you're going. None the less, you walk away.

After a few minutes of walking, you reach the mountain. You climb up the rocks and reach the mouth of the cave, turning only briefly to stare at the forest around you. You feel a certain cold chill run through you as you stare at into the darkness inside, but you know you need to enter. You walk further into the cave, as the shadows and darkness consume you. After a minute of stumbling forward, you reach the end of the cave, pausing. In the middle of the cave, dozens of scratches cover the inside of the wall, alongside dried in blood. You pause, staring at it. In the middle, a deer skull sits in place You half expect to start hearing horrible screaming or demons to clamber out from the walls, but nothing happens. The crucifix is heavy in your pocket, and you realize that's what's preventing him from coming. You take it out and walk back to the mouth of the cave, and stare out at the woods, knowing you don't really have a choice here.

[User] You throw it

[Assistant]
Your throw the crucifix, watching it disappear off out of view into the trees. Then you turn, walking back further into the cave. You walk back to the skull, and kneel in front of it, closing your eyes. You wait in silence for several minutes, before you finally hear a voice.

"Ah... you must be the boy. Hello, Jacob."

"H-h-hello," you stutter, trying to keep calm.

"Keep your eyes closed, would you, boy?" the voice asks.

"OK," you reply.

"I assume you know who I am?" the voice asks.

"You're Lucifer."

"So you know how high the stakes are here. What did you come here to do?"

"I want you to give Rose her soul back."

"I didn't ask what you wanted. I asked what you came here to do?"

"To... to get her soul back," you say.

"Oh, my dear boy, how is it you expect to do that?"

"I'm... I'm willing to trade."

"A soul is of infinite value. You have only one thing that even comes close to it in value. But you know that, don't you?"

You nod slowly, as you feel hands on your shoulders.

"So tell me... are you willing to give your soul for hers? The trade's simple. Your soul for hers. Do we have an agreement?"

[User] You accept the deal

[Assistant]
"Fine," you say.

"Say it," Lucifer asks.

"I accept the deal," you say, before shuddering in pain as you feel his soul tear into your very being.

"Then it's a deal!"

You scream as you feel your body begin to burn up in terrible pain. You feel your soul being torn out, before you collapse, your life taken from you.

[User] You continue

[Assistant] Although you never learn of it, Rose sat by the river for several hours. Slowly, she begins to feel better. It's only after a few hours she realizes what's happening. She headed up to the cave, and found your body lying there. No matter what she offered, her father refused to revive the departed boy. Eventually, he fell silent, and she left. She left the cave and she left the cave. She walked for miles out of the woods, not knowing what direction the nearest town was. Eventually, a carriage found the girl in the dress, bringing her to the nearest town. Sitting in that carriage, free of her father, free of her mother, free of the woods, that girl in the dress knew that she was free, and it was all thanks to you.


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] You shattered Battleaxe (Dwarves)

[Assistant] "Ah, this one! I fought the dwarves when I was young, back when my name was Youngblood like you. I earned the name Magrash Shatteraxe that day! The Dwarves are small bastards and the sight of one will make you chuckle, but I love 'em! The Gods made them jesters to amuse, and the Dwarves became angry, stubborn, heavy-drinkers who can wield an axe! They hide in their tunnels and mine too much, but I respect them anyway."


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You tell them the altered truth

[Assistant]
Blatant lying tends to complicate things and if you're caught, it's only going to make you look worse. You might be better off telling the truth and omitting part of it.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you the truth, but I was only trying to protect Brother Shade's memory…and I was ashamed."
"What are you talking about brother?" Master Ebon asks.
"(Sigh) Brother Shade did speak with me, but he was mainly complaining. Stating that you didn't really know the will of Dendrin at all and action needed to be taken now regardless of what you said. At first I thought he was just spouting his usual rants, but the last time we spoke he wanted me to go with him to attack a Felkan outpost. The plan was to kill everyone there except one maimed survivor to tell the tale. He hoped that would bring war quicker and you'd have no choice, but to act on the plan."
"Why didn't you report this?" Brother Gray snaps.
"I told you, I didn't want Brother Shade to get into trouble just for having a momentary lapse in judgment and I thought I could talk him out of it. So I followed him and I caught up to him I tried to convince him his plan was folly. I failed and when I tried to physically stop him, he beat me and warned if I tried again he'd kill me. Fearing for my life I ran. That was the last I saw him."

Master Ebon is silent and puts his face in his hands. Brother Gray gives a look of disapproval and shakes his head. Cyrus on the other hand takes the opportunity to question you.

"You really expect us to believe your lies? You probably agreed to the plan, got scared and tried to back out of it. You killed Brother Shade and made up this story to…"
"Brother Cyrus that's enough! You are not the one doing the interrogating here! Know your place in Dendrin's shadow! There has obviously been too much of people overstepping their bounds lately and you'd do well to not follow that same path. In fact, you need to leave. Brother Gray and I will handle it from here."

Cyrus looks a bit put off by this order, but obeys. He gives a dirty look at you before leaving though. You're left standing in front of Master Ebon and Brother Gray.

"Brother, do you realize what sort of position you've put us in?"
"I realize it's bad, but…"
"No, you don't! All of our plans could be ruined because YOU didn't report this like you should have! For all we know Brother Shade has completed his rash mission and the war will be occur too soon!"
"And that's the best case scenario." Brother Gray adds. "Brother Cyrus' theory, though accusatory, does make me question if what you're saying IS the entire truth."
"It is! I swear to Dendrin!"
"Perhaps, but due to your deeds, a punishment still must be decided…I believe the silence of the shadow will do since you prefer to remain quiet. When your tongue is removed, I believe you shall forever know the price of your failure. Brother Gray please escort…"

You aren't about to let yourself be mutilated by these religious fanatics, you draw your weapon, but Master Ebon mumbles a few words and you're held in place.

"Brother, cease your hostility NOW! You will submit to this punishment or you will face much worse!" Brother Gray shouts.
"Never! I'll never submit to you! The Empire will live forever and your order will be ground into dust! Long live the Emperor!" you shout breaking all pretense of your allegiance, which causes a look of surprise from Brother Gray's face. Master Ebon however just shuts his eyes.

"Dendrin will preserve us through this unforeseen hardship, and we will prevail, just as he has said we would centuries ago. Your actions will not stop what cannot be stopped." Master Ebon says calmly and with a few quietly spoken words, your heart stops killing you instantly.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You open the door engraved with an Owl

[Assistant]
You open the door to see nothing but darkness before you and the sounds of several different creatures fill the air once again, only now they sound louder, and angrier. "Sorry kid." The games keeper says to you as the sounds draw nearer. "Even I can't stop them now. They're just so hungry."

Suddenly you feel a sharp pain in your foot and you look down to see that a rat has come in through the door and bitten your toe. You manage to kick it away but more rats appear and you stumble backwards trying to keep them away from your feet. An owl flies at you out of the darkness and it's talons scratch at you eyes. You try to shoo it away but see that your arms are covered in tiny black spiders which you frantically try to shake off. The spiders are the least of your worries though, since standing it the doorway is a great black bear which rises onto its hind legs and lets out the most terrifying roar. You are so distracted by the bear that you don't even notice the wolf that is circling you until it sinks its teeth into your throat.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You wipe out the rest of the heretics

[Assistant]
If all your years of knowing him has taught you anything, its what's best for Dendrin hasn't always been what's best for you. While rebuilding is certainly going to be a priority, you still need to wipe out the rest of the heretics as well. It's the only way you're going to prevent problems in the future.

You call Glen and the rest of the Blades and tell them that you'll be heading back to the temple for a break and get some things in order and then you'll be helping them again soon. In the meantime they can use this place as a base of sorts while attempting to hunt down the rest of the heretics. Glen nods, but has noticed your physical pain increase over the course of this conflict. He suggests that perhaps you shouldn't worry yourself about it directly as you have more important duties to the shadows and they're confident that they can handle it.

"Glen, I'm not some crippled old man. I still got fight left in me. I was killing men by the dozens long before you were even thought about. Do not assume just because I have a few extra aches and pains that I'm not fully capable of combat!" you say getting angry at his innocent suggestion.
"My apologies Shadow Master. Didn't mean to offend." He replies with a nod.
"No…no…of course you didn't. Sorry, this is been a long ordeal and it's not over yet. Just gets tiring sometimes. Okay, I'm off, I can make it back to the temple by myself, don't worry about escorting me back."

Glen is about to ask if you're sure, but he stops himself from doing so lest he be reprimanded again.

The journey back to the temple is uneventful. You let everyone know that Theo has been killed, but heretics still remain. You then go on to say that the Blades and yourself will seek the rest out, but everyone else should focus on rebuilding. Talia questions if you should be going.

"I think the Blades can handle whatever pathetic remnants are left of the heretics. You'd probably be better serving here where you can help in the rebuilding process. You know how the shadows like you around as an inspiration." Talia says.
"They should be getting their inspiration from Dendrin and if people liked me so much we wouldn't have had a civil war. Besides, the shadows will like me more if I'm actively doing something about potential threats in the future. Part of the reason these heretics got out of control in the first place is because I wasn't paying enough attention. It's my responsibility to see this through to the end." You answer.
"Are you sure that's what this is about? And not about say…getting old and trying to prove that you've still got it?"
"You too? I just had to hear this before from Glen. Granted he didn't say it like you did, but I know damn well he thought it. Let me tell you something, I could still take out every one of those Blades AND the heretics on top of it all by myself!"

Talia smiles a bit and rubs your shoulder.

"Yes, I know you could my love. Nobody is truly suggesting that you still aren't a great warrior, but you don't have to prove anything to anyone, least of all to me. You don't need to go wading into battle anymore, those days are past, Dendrin made you Shadow Master not just for your combat skills. You're a leader and you can allow yourself to rest."
"I'll rest when I'm dead. Besides, the last time I got complacent, Theo and Yvette conspired against us, but I've said this before."
"Yes, you have. (Sigh) I suppose you want me to take charge of things here while you go off to prove your alpha maleness. Very well, have fun and be careful." Talia says and kisses you goodbye.

Talia is right of course. You are doing this mainly to prove you still "got it." That you can still travel across the countryside getting into fights. It's silly and pointless, but its what you want to do and another part of you has missed it.

The next few weeks you travel with the remaining Blades hunting down heretic hideouts all across Quala. It's actually amazing how fast some of them have spread out, and they've probably spread out even more since the news of their leaders death and how you're actively hunting them.

The heretics aren't the only problem however. You also have to deal with the chaos that's currently going on in Quala. With Sam and now Theo gone, the region has destabilized again, with several would be leaders all rising up with their own little factions ready to attack anyone who is trespassing on their turf. This doesn't even include the already established warlords that are eyeing the new leaderless territory that's ripe for the taking. Even General Ackerson's troops have been seen patrolling further south than they normally do. Doesn't help that shadows aren't really popular for several reasons, but fortunately you can avoid most unnecessary battles due to cloaking.

However, you probably don't do that as much as you should thanks to your mindset of trying to prove something. As a result you lose the remainder of your Blades in a skirmish with a very large group of General Ackerson's men lead by a battle mage who despite the non aggression pact, decided that you were just too tempting of a target in the "new land" they recently claimed.

You manage to drag yourself back to Theo's old hideout, which you were using as a base, cursing the whole time. You're wounded and angry that once again you weren't strong enough to stop something bad from happening, yet not really realizing that it was your arrogance that was the cause of it this time.

"Fuck! Shit! I'm not old! I'm not useless! I'm still a warrior!" you say to yourself as you nurse your wounds sitting in the dark farmhouse.
"No, I'm afraid your time has passed." You hear a whispery voice say.

At first you think its Dendrin since he's always been one to kick you while you're down, but then you're wide awake and he's never contacted you in that state. Your focus has been so preoccupied with your own pride that you didn't sense another presence in the farmhouse when you dragged yourself here…

You turn around just in time to utter "Cy…" before you feel a blade slash across your throat.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You medium level thrill rides

[Assistant]
Ken was probably a little too young for the extreme roller coasters that they had here, with him also being a ghost, there was a chance of an accident happening that you wouldn't be able to intervene in.

The medium rides wouldn't bore him but wouldn't be too dangerous either.

"Alright then, let's start with space mountain since the drops on that aren't really too bad," you say giving Ken your decision.

"Yes! I knew you would pick that one! Come on I think I know the way I saw it on one of the billboard maps!" Ken says as he starts running.

"Hey wait!" Ignoring the looks of other park guests you start to run after Ken.

Running throughout the park while taking breaks to look at the maps posted around, you finally reach the section containing space mountain as the two of you get into massive designated line.

There were a pretty decent amount of people waiting, but it wasn't the size that you were expecting which was good.

When it was finally your turn to take your seat, you picked the spot all the way in the back hoping that nobody else would ride with you, with Ken already taking up the seat next to you.

By your lucks, you were able to save the empty seat as the man gave the thumbs up for the ride to start.

"Are you sure there aren't any big drops or anything?" Ken says with genuine worry.

"Yeah don't worry about it, it's just a really fun ride that swoops you around in the dark."

Ken slowly nods as the lights begin to dim while the track starts to pull you with speed.

"Oh my god that was awesome, I felt myself laughing the whole entire time! That as probably one of the best roller-coasters I've ever ridden!" Ken exclaims with adoration for what he had just experienced.

"Yeah it was pretty fun reliving that memory." You agree while keeping a steady pace along with the eager kid.

On your walk to no actual destination, you stop by a cotton candy vendor and buy a stick. There was actually something you were looking to experiment with to see if it worked or not.

Sitting down on a bench, you take off the covering for the cotton candy and point it at Ken's face who's taken aback a bit in surprise.

"I can't eat that..." He says.

"Don't eat it, lick it." You reply.

"Huh?"

"Try it, trust me." You say.

A bit hesitant, Ken does as you say and licks a bit of the cotton candy.

His eyes light up instantly as he begins to lick it more, with much more vigor.

"I know you ghosts can't eat stuff, but I thought that you guys would still be able to taste since you can touch things and all." You explain while Ken indulges in pleasure.

"I never thought I could do this since I was never able to grab anything before! This is great!"

Touching the cotton candy with your hand, you felt no wetness from where Ken had touched. Still, though you were a little grossed out with eating the parts that he had licked, so you had torn off the bottom section for yourself to eat alone.

After finishing your snacks and taking a quick trip to the bathroom, you went on the find the next ride that you could do together, though you already had two in mind.

"Alright, kid do you want to do splash mountain or the rapid one where they put you in that circular tube kinda thingy." You say, letting him decide.

"Splash mountain yes! Everyone at school always wanted to go on that and the ones who had said the feeling of your stomach dropping was so fun! I want to sit in the back though."

"How come?" You ask.

"Reasons, besides wouldn't it look weird if I sat in the front and no one could see me?"

"Yeah that would be pretty weird, O.K, let's go get in line before it gets too big."

The line to Splash Mountain was unsurprisingly the biggest one you had encountered at the park, mostly for it being the ride that almost everybody could go on, and everyone wanted to go on.

While in line, Ken kept on racing back and forth from the front to where you were waiting to see how long it would be until it was your turn to ride, you were a bit worried he would push people which would lead to questions and hysteria, but he was careful to glide through the crowds with ease.

Luckily, the line was going in a zigzag formation so it didn't mess with the boundary either luckily, even then though, your boundary felt bigger than it did last time for some reason.

When it finally came to be your own turn to get on after about ten minutes of waiting, you were able to get a log to yourself since you were the only single rider who wanted to get on in your section. Ignoring the weird looks some people gave, Ken asked you a question as soon as you were out of earshot from everyone else.

"Are you sure this ride is safe, shouldn't it have seatbelts?" He asks worryingly.

"Don't worry, people ride this thing every day. If you're really worried though just hang on to me when we reach the top." You assure him in which he just nods.

As you begin to ascend the mountain, you and Ken both laugh at the animatronics that sing and talk throughout the ride. Though upon reaching the top, you feel Ken squirm behind you as if he's nervous.

Even you feel a little queasy as you see the park before you atop of the drop.

"Actually you may want to han-."

You are interrupted as the log tips over the edge while you both let out a scream and Ken latches onto your back with his arms.

The log causes a tremendous splash at the bottom as both of your bodies jerk forward from the momentum. A bit of your pants is soaked as you exit the ride.

The same laughter that Ken had at Space Mountain is mirrored here as his head bobs up and down in enthusiasm.

"That was freaking awesome! I want to go on it again!" He says with glee.

You also shared his sentiment, but with how long the line was, you decided that it was best to just go on it later tonight when you had the free time.

"Let's go to the picture kiosk, I want to see if I made a funny face." You say to Ken.

You were the last one in line in the Kiosk, and since it was so crowded, you couldn't really see your own picture until it was your turn up in front. When the lady manning the kiosk looked at you, a bigger smile than she had before appeared on her face.

"You and your little brother are probably one of the better pictures I've seen so fa today, his smile was so cute when he was hanging on behind you." She says with a laugh.

At first you think she had mistaken you with someone else, but as she points at the picture and you look at it, your heart drops almost instantly.

Ken was indeed in the picture behind you, though his whole figure was a little bit hazed as if he wasn't all completely there.

"Sorry about how he looks, the cameras can be a bit iffy with the water and all, I have to remember to tell my manager to get it checked out." She remarks.

"N-No it's fine! Say how much is that picture?" You quickly stammer while taking out your wallet.

I didn't do anything wrong did I...." Ken meekly says while the two of you sit on a bench as you look at the picture before you.

"No, not at all! It's just I didn't think you would actually show up on the picture. Though honestly I think it made it all the much better, the lady was right you did have a pretty dumb face while going down." You laugh trying to change the mood.

"Not as dumb as yours, look how scared you look!" Ken replies with a smile while pointing at your face.

Putting the picture away, you get up from the bench and give your arms a stretch.

"Well we still got a lot of time to kill today with all these rides, we got to get as many done as we can before we leave." You say while pulling out your pamphlet map.

"Yeah, I want to ride this one next! Someone at school told me that it was pretty fun and the lines aren't that long either!." Ken says with eagerness as he points to one of the attractions on the map.

"Well let's get to it then." You say, putting the map back into your pocket.

Off the two of you were, enjoying the rest of your day with the park that was before you.


[System] You are narrating an interactive fiction game in a dark fantasy setting. Bring the world to life with vivid prose, react meaningfully to player choices, and don't pull punches when the story demands it.

[User] You think of England and continue guarding the boats

[Assistant]
Steadfast, British and sex-less to the last you resist the temptation of attractive women and stolidly remain in the boats while Adams goes off to try and get laid. You are still in the boat when Christian and his party return. After hearing where Adams is from you Christian laughs and calls him out of the hut, he emerges hastily buckling up his trousers. With many a light-hearted jibe you all return to the Bounty.

Bligh is not so amused, when you return he curses Adams for a scoundrel and orders him lashed twelve times for interfering with the Natives. Immediately the previously cheerful mood evaporates and you all stand around stone-faced as Adams is mercilessly whipped .You help him back to his hammock that evening and all around you can hear angry mutterings about Bligh.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] Continue

[Assistant]
Given the whole suspicious nature of this set up you have a feeling the truth will not help you here; you'll have to bullshit your way it. You try to remember some of the stuff you were reading on the documents upstairs.

"No, I'm from GZS Headquarters, Shipping Division. And I hope you got some answers because there's been a bunch of fucking mistakes in where things were getting transported! Who are YOU?"
"…I'm Owen! What the fuck? I ain't in charge of that! I'm just security!"
"I don't give a shit WHO you are! Where's your supervisor?"
"…I..uh…I guess Lisa is my supervisor, but she's not here!"
"Oh? And where the hell is she? GZS Headquarters is VERY displeased!"
"I don't understand, Lisa wasn't in charge of any kind of shipping. She was an egghead! A researcher! We were down here for…other reasons…but you should know that!"
"LOOK! I work in a cramped fucking office with boring paper work all goddamn day, I don't have a window, someone keeps stealing my stapler, and they don't tell me shit unless it's to scream at my fucking face. I don't care WHY you're here! All I know is; I got my ass chewed out by HQ for someone else's fuck ups! We got Shelters all over the goddamn tri-state area with mixed up equipment during the building process and we're only NOW just finding out about it! You know how BAD that makes us look to our customers? I got sent down here to see if I could find out anything and all I've found out is the goddamn City is crawling with fucking cannibalistic mutants! Now that I've FOUND someone who might have some answers for me, I'm not just gonna dismiss that! So open up the goddamn door and let me in!"

Your act and tone is very convincing of someone who's had to deal with red tape and silly corporate orders. (Though you do know something of them having had to deal with them at your own job in your "old life") obviously the security guard knows about them as well, because he lets you in.

When the door opens up, you see a surprisingly scrawny man. You were expecting someone a little more burly, but he still wields an assault rifle slung around his shoulder making the need for physical strength unnecessary.

"You…you don't look like a GZS employee…shouldn't you be in a suit and tie or something?"
"I'm not gonna be running all over the nuclear wasteland in a hot ass suit and tie! Shit, I swear we hire dumber and dumber security guards each year. Just goes to show even natural selection fails sometimes in the face of near mass extinction. So where the hell is this Lisa?" you ask walking past him and noticing the well lit room and its sterile appearance. Some sort of generator sits in a corner giving off a low hum.

"I told you she's not here; she went to the surface again. She should be back soon." The security guard says still eyeing you suspiciously.
"Again? Why's she going up there in the first place? Ain't nothing left up there."
"You're telling me. I went up once and nearly got myself killed. Since then Lisa says she'd rather me stay guard here and not get in the way of here so called research. Fine by me."
"I still don't understand, what's this research?"
"Uh…well…um…it's supposed to be a secret. I'm really surprised you being from HQ that you don't know about it…"
"I told you, I get BURIED in paperwork, and they don't tell me shit. I mean I've heard things here and there, but I don't know what else was going on here."
"Well…I guess it really doesn't matter now…I mean what's done is done and HQ probably should know anyway…okay well you know how GZS has dealings with the military and the government and shit right?"
"Sure."
"Well it's something like that going on, but I don't know the intricate details about it, just what I know from Lisa, but I guess GZS was trying to develop some sort of radiation drug, y'know something to make the body immune to the shit."
"That does sound pretty useful, but this place doesn't exactly look like a complex lab for doing something like that."
"Oh, its not. This is just a research outpost as it were. The real drug was made somewhere else, but it needed to be tested right? So they decided to test it here, a batch of it got dumped in the water supply months before the bombs hit. The idea is that the survivors of the initial blast would still be able to live and not get cancer, sterility or tumors and all that other bad shit that radiation causes. So even people caught in the cities would survive and be able to eventually rebuild and get civilization up and running again. I think they wanted to dump the drug into ALL the major cities, but it looks like world war three happened sooner than they though eh?"

What you just heard sounds like some sort of science fiction tale! Then again being the cynic you are, you can't say you're completely surprised by it. Though now you have a more important question.

"Okay, but if that was the intention…what's with all the mutants in the City trying to eat me?"
"Uh…well…I guess it didn't work the way it should've? That's sort of why Lisa and me were still here. Lisa was supposed to record the results of the drug after the bombs hit and that's what she's been doing. Lisa says the drugs are affecting people's minds, and combined with the already fucked up situation I'd say it probably explains a lot already. Though I gotta say there was some pretty bad rioting even before the bombs dropped so I wonder if the drug was starting to affect the minds of people even then…but that's silly I mean me and Lisa haven't been affected by it at all, I dunno."
"YOU and her drank the water too?"
"Well yeah, our personal water recycling system has it. I mean if we were going to be here, we damn well had to be pretty resistant to radiation…wait a minute I just realized something… you mean GZS sent you down here without this knowledge? Oh shit! You realize how many rads you've probably soaked up without the drug's protection? Oh man, you were right! They must hate your guts at HQ! Ha ha ha ha ha! Sucks to be you!" Owen laughs uncontrollably
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Man, I mean shit! They pretty much sent you to die!  I mean really why the hell would they worry about whether shelters got the right equipment shipments now for anyway? GZS already got their money, did you actually think they were going to go send someone personally to each shelter correct the mistakes? They were already built man! Use your head!"
"Uh huh, so…"
"Ha ha ha ha! I mean damn, you work in shipping, GZS fucking up shouldn't even be news to you! Look at what happened with this goddamn anti-radiation drug! I mean what asshole fucking moron thought up those shelter elevator designs?"
"Why what's wrong with the elevator designs?" you ask innocently, which suddenly puts Owen in a less jovial mood, he begins to get suspicious again.

"Something ain't right here…anyone who works for GZS knows how idiotic the computerized shelter elevator set up is. People got fired for that one. Why hell why do you think WE have a ladder? You claim you're from HQ and you don't know? I don't care HOW much you say you're out of the loop… I'm a lowly security guard and even I heard about the fucked up elevator designs!"

Owen goes for his assault rifle slung on his shoulder, and you charge slamming him into the wall with an elbow to his face. You then pistol whip him a couple times before taking his rifle away from him. He holds on to his bloody face looking at you.

"Ughhhh, shit…my face…" he groans.
"Okay look, I was probably wrong for lying about working for GZS and…"
"Fuck you…you goddamn piece of shit…"
"HEY! Asshole! I'm the one with the gun here! Now I don't want to kill you, but…"

Owen unsuccessfully tries to grab his rifle back, you kick him back down.

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? I nearly shot you, dumb fuck! I'd probably be able to kick your ass even without these guns, so you better just calm…"

Owen once again attempts to attack you, this time you butt him with the rifle hard, and kick him out the door then lock it.

"Fuck you then asshole! Let the mutants eat you!" you shout, you expect to hear banging on the door, or even pleading, but you don't hear anything. After a few hours pass, you open up the door, and Owen is gone. You close the door back up and explore your surroundings a bit more.

There's not much to explore though, just two simple bedrooms, an eating area, bathroom and the "living area" which you're already familiar with. The generator provides power, and a water recycling system provides water. Looks like there's some sort of food dispensing system as well, though what it dispenses isn't particularly tasty. You could be set up here for awhile if you wanted to be, though perhaps you just want somewhere to rest first before getting out of the city.

[User] You stay

[Assistant]
You decide to stay, and think about what Owen said about the water supply and the anti-radiation drugs in it then you think about what happened to a majority of the survivors. It didn't seem to do them any good, but he was right; it WAS stupid to come here! You can't really do much about it now, but you're hoping that water can keep you from dying a slow horrible death, though you don't know how it works exactly since you weren't drinking it before you absorbed rads. Still, you'll try anything now.

The first thing you do is start drinking the water, and a lot of it. You also wonder about Owen's supervisor Lisa. He did say she was supposed to return soon, and you form some ideas on how to handle the situation when it arises (to keep your mind occupied), but as it turns out, she never does. Probably got killed no doubt.

A few days go by and there's not much to do for entertainment purposes and you're reluctant to leave your "safe haven" now. There are some books in what is Lisa's room that you peruse through. You also look for maybe some notes on her research since the stuff Owen told you about did sound interesting. Maybe even ideas on what the drugs in the water supply might've done to people (Something ELSE you're starting to worry about) but unfortunately you don't find anything. She must've taken those with her. Owen's room has an old TV set which amusingly has an equally as old game console hooked up to it. You spend a lot of time shooting different colored circular objects with your white triangle on the screen.

After a week you start feeling weird. Like mildly delirious. You start lying in bed a lot, only getting up to quench your thirst since you don't have much of an appetite.

After a month you start feeling sick. You begin throwing up and having diarrhea even though you've barely been eating anything. You have the shakes and you often just lie on the floor aching all over you body. You drink the water in the steadily failing hopes that it will miraculously cure you.

When patches of your hair start falling out, and cough up bits of blood, you really start to lose all hope.

"Oh fuck…I don't wanna die like this…shit…" you sob.

You begin thinking about suicide, but you're so weak that the one time you seriously attempt it; you collapse on the floor when reaching for your pistol and fall unconscious for a full day.

When you wake up, you feel a little better physically, but not much. However your mind is a little warped. As it turns out this is somewhat fortunate as you don't worry about dying so much anymore. You do start talking to yourself at great lengths though. You begin having bizarre thoughts about things in general. Sometimes you go into a fit and start ranting until you're hoarse.

Another month passes and you're completely better physically, in fact you feel stronger than you ever did before. Your mind is still in la la land though. You begin to get very violent. You begin punching the walls (and even doing some damage to them) and ripping up books. What temporarily "sobers" you up is when you smash the food dispenser, breaking it completely. While you still have real food left you've just destroyed your only means of food-substitute when the real stuff runs out.

"SHIT!" you yell. "I gotta get a fuckin…grip…I gotta get fuckin' food!"

You grab your pistol and assault rifle and throw open the door in search of food.

After climbing back up to the surface, you notice that you can see pretty well in the dark warehouse. It would appear you've developed some minor "dark vision". In the darkness you also notice that the warehouse has lots of rats and roaches crawling around in it.

Those could be food…

[User] You eat the rats and roaches

[Assistant]
Something you wouldn't ever consider eating before suddenly makes a lot of sense to you. You start off by grabbing the nearest crawling roaches you see and start popping them in your mouth and chew.

They taste terrible, somehow though you don't suffer a gag reflex though. You just find them unpleasant, like eating something bitter rather than disgusting. After having had enough of eating bugs you try to catch a rat. It takes awhile, but eventually you stomp on one severely crippling it and then stomp once more to kill it.

Eating a raw rat doesn't particularly taste any better, but again you don't suffer any sort of natural revulsion during this act. It would seem you've gone through a change of some sort, one that has put you in a better frame of mind for survival. One that has also put your body in better condition for survival as well since you suffer no ill effects from eating such unclean creatures under equally unclean conditions. You temporarily have some problems with lice and fleas you catch from the rats, but even that doesn't really become a problem considering the rest hair has fallen out now. (Well you have a few wisps left)  You skin also begins to harden in time, making fleas no longer a problem. Whatever internal parasites any of these might've carried also have no effect as it seems your resistance and immunity system has increased quite a bit.

You look in the bathroom mirror one day and see that you've changed alright. Changed into something better. You aren't going to win any beauty contests, but you're going to live…

A year passes…

You've been living a relatively simple life of eating and sleeping and it's basically been enough. For the past year your mind hasn't really been the most stable, so you haven't really thought about anything other than your immediate survival, and given you have a water supply and the rats and roaches for food, you haven't ventured outside of the GZS warehouse since you entered.

That's starting to change.

Lately your mind seems to have a little more clarity. Indeed you're starting to feel like "yourself" before the change. Not entirely like yourself, but you don't go shithouse rat crazy screaming at the walls like you used to.

You've been getting a little curious about the rest of the City. If you're mostly sane now, maybe other survivors are as well. Maybe even some things have been fixed; it would be nice if they were, as its getting boring where you're currently staying. Taking your weapons with you, you leave your new home to explore. (Making sure to hide the trapdoor before leaving of course)

The City streets are still as desolate as you remember them, and mostly empty as well. You expect to run into gangs of mutants though. You suddenly stop and think about that for a moment and realize that YOU are also a mutant now!

Still, that doesn't necessarily mean mutantism is a club. You're sure there's a lot of fighting for resources. In fact you come across some fighting, though in a different way than you'd imagine. While you're walking through a neighborhood by a corner store that has all its windows boarded up, you hear voices inside. You step through the open doorway to investigate. It's dark inside, but some candles light up the place.

"Ted, what do you mean you won't gimme anything for this? This is a solid gold watch man!" a skinny mutant asks an exceptionally ugly one eyed mutant he has pistol strapped to his side.
"Goddamn it Carl, would you fuckin' think? What the hell am I gonna do with a gold piece of shit that doesn't even work anymore in the first place?"
"Well can't you trade it for something? I mean gold's gotta be worth something to someone! It's not like I gave you a sack of dollar bills!"
"Didn't stop you from trying though did it? Look Carl, unless it's something useful you know damn well I ain't taking it. Bring back some batteries, a first aid kit, hell some canned corn would be a welcome change of pace than watery roach soup! Just stop bringing me shit I have no use for!"
"But Carl! I need some bullets! You can't expect me to do any scavenging downtown without bullets for my pistol! How will I defend myself against the Ferals or how about at night when the Shadow Horde comes out?"
"Cry me a river Carl, you're a fast guy I'm sure you can outrun the roving gangs of Ferals, ain't that hard. And second of all you shouldn't even BE out at night! If you get caught out at night I got no sympathy for what happens to you! Now…" suddenly Ted's one good eye catches sight of you.

"Who the fuck are you pretty boy?" Ted asks, Carl just backs off when he sees the assault rifle strapped to your back.

"Pretty boy? Have you seen my face?" you retort.
"Yeah, I see your fucking face an' you're a fuckin' pretty boy as far as I'm concerned. Shit you ain't even got any scars. So what the hell do you want, I ain't seen you before. Ain't seen too many here with an assault rifle either. You part of the Zeropolis Guard? Then again you don't wear the uniform…maybe you just killed one of them then? Heh heh."
"Who are the Zeropolis Guard?"
"You ain't heard of them? Huh, well they've only just been making scouting missions in this area. Basically a collection of ex-National Guardsmen that insisted on staying here to the very end. They got the best hardware as far as I know, but the delusional fuckers think it's STILL their job to keep peace in the damn City. Ain't no peace in Zeropolis!"
"What's Zeropolis exactly?" you ask feeling completely out of the loop, which only gets you some mighty strange stares by Carl and Ted.

"Uh, Zeropolis, y'know…The City? That's what this place is called now." Carl says.
"Holy shit pretty boy, you been livin' under a damn rock or something?"
"Well, uh sort of…"
"I guess so! Where the hell ARE you from?
"Er…I never actually lived in the City...I guess you can kind of say I got trapped here and then shortly after went mad for a little while and I'm only just now starting to feel like myself." You explain without giving too much information out.
"Hmm, well that might explain some things. I think we all know about that madness you're speaking of. Think it happened to everyone after this place got nuked, still going on for most people. You get that hunger craving and violent thoughts pervade your mind…though the first one I killed and ate was my wife so it wasn't ALL bad har har har!" Ted laughs. "Hey how many people did you eat during that time?"
"Uh, none actually."
"None? Ah, you must be like Carl here. He just ate roaches and rats because even when the madness hit him he still was a big pussy!"
"Fuck you Ted! I'M the one going out risking my ass scavenging, not YOU! I…just didn't want to eat anybody…I guess I just never suffered the madness as much as the rest."
"Yeah, well anyway what do you guys actually sell here?" you ask.
"Well Carl doesn't sell shit, because he doesn't own this place, I do. And as you can probably tell we run on the barter system here that being the only real way to do business anymore. However I have a wide variety of items, but not obviously not right here, since this part of the store ain't the most secure as you can see, but bring me something I might find useful and maybe we can do business; just don't bring fuckin' broken gold watches!" Ted exclaims looking back at Carl.

"There's a lot of stuff downtown to scavenge, hey…maybe you could come with me?" Carl suddenly asks hopefully.

[User] You go with Carl

[Assistant]
You don't really have anything better to do, and you are sort of interested in learning more about your surroundings. You are living here now after all.

"Uh sure I'll go with you. What do I do exactly?"
"You'll go? Great! You don't really have to do too much really, I just need someone to help with the whole protection thing while I search, since Ted here is being a jackass and not giving me any bullets!"
"Hey those are in damn scarce supply in the first place! In fact, you better start finding them on your own soon, because I don't have too many to spare anymore anyway. I need something to defend my shop with. Here!" Ted pulls out three bullets from his ragged pockets and gives them to Carl. "That's coming out anything you bring back too, and if you guys are going downtown, you better do it now, before nightfall. See you later."

You and Carl set off, while you're walking you notice other mutants wandering in the neighborhood, but they don't attack, in fact many of them are just watching the both of you or going about their business. (Like catching a rat to eat)

"So is this area safe or something? Nobody's attacking us." You ask.
"Of course it's safe, well safe as anything can be in this place. I mean there's still always the Ferals that roam around, but not so much around here anymore. The people around here in the Dust District don't even try to eat one another. Probably due to the fact that a lot of people used to live here and work together in the factory and warehouses nearby, so I guess there's that sense of unity as it were. Though I'm sure most of them did attack each other at one time. Still, this is a severely new situation, you can't blame TOO much on what happened during people's madness. Weird what happened though, I mean do you think the enemy dropped some sort of nuclear nerve agent combo on this place? Or did we all just go temporarily insane in the face of the shear devastation?"
"I really couldn't tell you, Carl. Maybe the second one I guess." You say keeping your secret information on the reasons to yourself.
"Yeah, doesn't take much for us to fall apart I suppose. The Zeropolis Guard have also claimed they're going to make this place even safer when they set up a new base here, though I sort of wish they'd just leave us alone. I get the impression they'll be trying to tell us all what to do and conscripting us to fight the Shadow Horde."
"What is the Shadow Horde anyway?"
"Man, you don't know who THEY are? Then again you didn't know the city name either! Anyway The Shadow Horde is a group of mutants who primarily live in the sewers, though they do come out at night and attack anyone who isn't part their group. They're sort of like the Ferals, except they are a lot more organized and even more vicious. I've heard they have a leader of some sort; I've only heard rumors though; ranging from a giant abomination, to a beautiful priestess of some sort. Have a hard time believing a lot of them, the only thing I do know is you don't want to get outside at night, let alone even enter the sewers!"

Carl continues to about various things of Zeropolis on your way Downtown. As fucked up as things are, you can't help but be fascinated by it all. You feel like you're actually living in some sort of 80s low budget post apocalyptic movie. You ask him if anyone actually leaves Zeropolis, but he says it's rare. The Ferals and other more territorial mutants seem content on staying in the City, and as for the other "normal" ones, it's happened, but it seems mutation isn't a common theme outside Zeropolis. Most mutants are shot on sight or at least chased off. At least those are the stories he's heard from a couple of people he knows that have left only to come back.

The closer you get to Downtown the more Carl stops talking only telling you to keep a look out and to be quiet. Lots of Ferals fight each other in the Downtown area and will obviously attack anyone else. Plus there are other scavengers here that will try to bushwhack each other as well. Carl pulls out a large bag and you and he start going into various devastated buildings where he grabs things of varying interest.

A few instance you see large groups of Ferals in the street, but Carl tells you not to fire, since they're all fighting each other at the time. Another instance when you're on the second floor of an apartment store, another mutant clobbers Carl with a lead pipe and tries to make off with the bag of goodies, but a couple of shots put the thief down.

"Thanks. Oh fuck, I think the shots caught the attention of the Ferals outside, we better get out of here!"

You and Carl rush out the building and after you fire a few more shots at the Ferals you both make a beeline back the Dust District, unfortunately you and Carl have to retreat and backtrack several times to avoid large groups of Ferals, until finally when you get out of the area, its twilight and you still haven't gotten back to the Dust District yet.

You and Carl hear a nearby sewer manhole opening up…

"Oh shit we're gonna die!" Carl yells and starts running. He's in such a hurry to getaway he trips and dumps his bag with all the contents inside! He frantically starts putting everything back in, but already you can see the Shadow Horde starting to come out, and yeah they do look a hell of a lot meaner than the typical Ferals, which is pretty hard to do. The fact that they start shouting

"CARL GET YOUR ASS UP, WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" you yell and start blasting Horde members with your assault rifle, picking your shots, but when they fire back, you can't stand your ground for long and run leaving Carl behind.

You hear Carl trying to catch up with you, but you soon hear more shots, yell of pain followed by the collapsing of a body. You turn around to see one of the Horde trying to finish Carl off with a spiked bat, but he blasts the mutant in the head with his pistol twice killing it. He's wounded and even if you went back to get him, the rest of the Horde is closing in and you'd never outrun them if you carried Carl on your back.

Sensing the end is near; Carl uses his last bullet to save himself a torturous death by the hands of the Horde. Of course now you have worry about yourself.

[User] You continue a straight forward run

[Assistant]
No time for fancy shit, you just have to RUN! You run and don't look back, though you can still hear them chasing you, and other Horde members start popping out of other sewer gratings.

Eventually you get to the Dust District, but they're still chasing you, that's when you hear shouting coming from in front and above you as well.

"ALRIGHT START THROWING AND FIRING!"

Suddenly from up high bottles crash to the ground releasing gouts of fire. Molotovs. Next comes the sounds and flash of machine gun fire from everywhere.

"OH SHIT!" you shout and duck down and roll into a nearby building. The Horde was still chasing you, but most of them got burned by the Molotovs, the shrieking is unnatural sounding, but it's soon put to an end when the flaming flailing bodies are shot by the machine guns. After it's all over you pick yourself up only to get kicked in the ribs and a rifle shoved in your face.

"Don't fuckin' move Shadow scum!" a uniformed mutant orders.
"I'm not…"
"Silence!" another kick, this time to the nuts. While you hold your crotch in pain, another uniformed mutant arrives, but this one has a higher rank.

"Alright Private, that'll do for now, let's see what this fucker has to say about his buddies…what the fuck? This ain't no Shadow! He's too fuckin' pretty for one thing, and not nearly muscular enough."
"(Groan) I'm not, I live in this area! I was scavenging Downtown with another and we got caught after dark…he's dead." You say picking yourself up.
"Yeah, that's usually what happens. Woulda happened to you too had we not set up base here in the Dust District. This place will be completely safe from now on as it is officially under direct protection by the Zeropolis Guard. I'm Captain Salazar."

Well that explains the uniforms.

"…yeah I heard of you guys. I also heard you only had scouts in the area though."
"Well we move fast, and we needed a new base camp. Our last position was steadily being overrun by Ferals during the day and the Shadow Horde at night. But I think here is a good position to make a stand. This area doesn't have as many sewer entrances, Feral activity is low, and best of all there's the abandoned factory and plant nearby. Maybe one day we can power up the entire City again, but for right now we're trying to just get power to this district, though even that will take awhile. The Zeropolis Guard is dedicated to bringing order to this city and I think this is the best place to start."
"Hey that's great, okay I've had a hard day; I think I'll just go home now…"

Captain Salazar suddenly stops you.

"While you're free to go back home citizen, I can't help but notice your weapons…now while I certainly understand the need for personal protection, especially given this unstable situation and your current choice of profession, so you may keep your pistol. However, your assault rifle would be of great use to us. We need all the maximum firepower we can get to better defend this area."
"Well it doesn't have many bullets left though." You say, but Salazar merely smiles at your attempt to keep your rifle. The private who kicked you looks at you like he's anxious for you to try something.
"That's alright; we have plenty of ammo suitable for it. However, if you wish to actively join the Zeropolis Guard, then you certainly would have need for such a weapon… do you wish to join?"
"Uh no. That's okay." You say helplessly handing over you weapon. Salazar takes it.
"Pity, you seem like you'd make an excellent solider. Still, our offer is always open and I'm sure you'll be able to easily find us. You may return to your home."

You make you way back home, in fact you'll be really glad to get home, today wasn't very fun, reminds you of why you always preferred your own company. You sort of wonder though about how things might change with the Guard messing around in the area. While this warehouse is sort of in an isolated part of the Dust District, you can only imagine that it's a matter of time before the Guard start snooping around here and given you have a generator and water recycler, they'll probably want this place for themselves and you'd have to go live in one of the crappy neighborhoods like everyone else.

Of course you might be able to swing things to your benefit if you did join the Zeropolis Guard, though that might mean they'll be sending you on missions where you can get yourself killed.

Before you fall asleep, you think about the future and how you're going to deal with this situation.

[User] You join the Zeropolis Guard

[Assistant]
You see where this is going; the Zeropolis Guard is fully intent on their delusional plan and they're going to be the top assholes in this area, so you might as well join them to reap the benefits. It's better than being at their complete mercy and it's certainly better than living in fear of the Shadow Horde, at least the Guard seems to want to restore order.

The next day you go find Captain Salazar who is pretty easy to find since he's currently giving speeches in the streets to the Dust District inhabitants of how they should actively join the Zeropolis Guard. Not too many takers, but none of them are in any position to argue with the occupation. When you go up to Salazar to tell him you're interested in joining, he's pleased to just have someone taking him up on his offer.

Of course he wants to know more about you and where you're currently staying, and you do tell him about the warehouse, just not about the secret GZS rooms underneath. He's a little bewildered of why you're staying there rather than a proper house in one of the neighborhoods, or even your own house. To this you reply that you used to live in one of the Downtown apartments, and couldn't live there anymore due to the danger. You mention during your time of madness you ended up wandering this way and just took up residence there and now even though you're better, you've made it your home and feel comfortable at that place. You also go on to say that you prefer to be away from large crowds of people.

Captain Salazar frowns at that last statement.

"Y'know we are a military unit, teamwork is encouraged here…though I suppose we need all the help we can get right now, so I guess you'll be on scouting duty. Maybe if you prove yourself, I'll put you on sniper duty. As for your living arrangements…I guess you can stay there. That area is pretty empty and there isn't anything there except a few warehouses, we're more interested in the plant and factory. However it's the perfect place where the Shadow Horde might stage a sneak attack from due to its remoteness. So consider yourself the sentry in that area. I wish we could use our radios, but the radiation levels here…well are sort of screwing up the signals. We've been trying to train messenger rats, but so far the little furry bastards just run off to the nearest source of food, so you'll be reporting to me personally every two days where I'll either give you new instructions or tell you to continue what you're doing. Unless I hear otherwise and you don't report, I'll give you one more day and then I'll assume you're either dead or have deserted. If you're dead then you're dead, but if I find out you've deserted, my wrath will be terrible, and you'll wish you were dead."
"Okay, but what if I was captured?"
"Ha ha ha ha! You're joking right? Not really much of a chance of that happening. Ferals just kill, and the Shadow Horde might capture you, but they won't let you live afterwards. I trust you won't let yourself get captured then right?"
"Guess not."
"Good. Let's see, what can you do…I got everyone else working on other things, right now we're tracking down all the sewer manholes in the area and shoving the remains of cars on top of them. Others have been sent to raid nearby police stations in the hopes of finding more weapons and ammo. Okay what you'll be doing is scouting and clearing out the factory; we've discovered that all the Feral activity in the area has been coming from those places. At least that's where we've seen them all run off to, you can go retrieve your assault rifle seeing as I haven't given it to anyone else yet."
"Am I working by myself, or with others?"
"Well from the impression of getting, you'd probably prefer working alone, but that's simply too dangerous for what I'm sending you in to do, you'll need someone watching your back, so I'm sure you're familiar with Private Ackman here…"

You then see the soldier who kicked you yesterday. He doesn't look any friendlier and just nods at you.

"There will be other small detachments exploring various parts of the factory as well so more ground can be covered, but for the most part you two are on your own. Dimissed."

You and Ackman go carry out the mission in relative silence. Private Ackman doesn't seem to care for you, or at best he doesn't want talk to you unless it's absolutely necessary. This doesn't really bother you though since he is a good fighter, and is making this mission a lot easier. The factory is a huge place though even in its current devastated state; there are several sections, multiple levels and it covers a lot of land. It's going to take awhile.

After a few months of factory clearing you and Ackman have the highest Feral body count so far, and their attacks on the Dust District are becoming non-existent. Due to this accomplishment, many of the inhabitants have a little more confidence in the Zeropolis Guard and as a result more people have volunteer to help, either by joining directly or by attempting to fix the power plant. Shadow Horde attacks occur sometimes, but even those aren't as frequent. Zeropolis is a big place, and presumably they've turned their attention to easier areas.

Four years pass…

It's been five years since you set foot in Zeropolis, and the place has changed quite a bit, well in your area anyway.

Most of the factory has been safely stripped to help rebuild the district. The nearby plant has parts of it fixed and partial electricity has been restored to the district as well. Feral attacks are completely unheard of in the area now, they've either all been killed, or in a few cases, managed to retain their sanity again.

The Zeropolis Guard has firm control of the area and has been attempting to restore a few old vehicles to work again mainly using jury-rigged steam engines, though the many stills created to make hooch certainly serve the same purpose to create "Garbage fuel" as it were for vehicles. Oddly one thing that has surprised everyone is that new mutants are actually being born! Not many, but it still came as a surprise when one of the female mutants found out she was pregnant, when it was assumed everyone would've been sterile due to the radiation, but then again the fact that you're all still alive is proving that you're all working on a different biological level now.

You've risen in rank with your superior sniping skills, and saving others you've effectively become second in command. You're looked upon as sort of a "hero" figure among the Dust District.

The Shadow Horde is still around, but attacks have less frequent. This perpetual war with them is basically at a standstill. The Zeropolis Guard has many more resources, but not nearly enough people. Captain Salazar is irritated by this fact, but there's not much he can do about it. His big idea of bringing order to the entire City is slowly being crushed as he realizes this might never be possible. In desperation he's sent a few people OUT of Zeropolis in the hopes of somehow getting help, but so far all his efforts have resulted in failure. People don't like or trust mutant, and it's mainly due to another organization attempting to "tame the wasteland" known as The Combine. With most of the outside towns under their control, they've developed "a shoot mutants from the City on sight" policy. Salazar's behavior which was at one time just pleasantly dedicated is now becoming obsessively totalitarian.

However, you're standing by your warehouse home one day when you see some outsiders visit Zeropolis. They aren't entirely human though, they look like cyborgs. Which would explain why they have no rad suits.

There have been reports of The Combine currently at war with their own enemy called the Cybernetic Evolution. You're not sure what it's all about, but you're guessing they probably see themselves as superior to humans. (You've seen enough movies in the past to know that's always the case!)

You can't imagine what they'd be doing here, unless they intend on proving themselves superior to mutants as well. There aren't many of them, but most of them are heavily armed.

[User] You open fire immediately

[Assistant]
The Cybernetic Evolution's opinion of mutants probably isn't much better than their opinion of humans. This is probably a scouting force to assess the defenses and resistance level here, well to hell with that you aren't going to let them report shit. You immediately open fire. You kill the smaller one in the center with relative ease, but the others go into battle mode and start laying down the firepower. You nearly get yourself killed before managing to take cover.

Other mutants hear the sounds of battle and rush to the area to help you, and soon the metal interlopers are a pile of sparking scrap.

"What the hell, you find new enemies for us?" one of the mutants asks you.
"Nah, I don't think we'll be having any more problems with them. They're busy with a war with the Combine; I doubt an army of cyborgs will be coming here anytime soon. Better go report this to the Captain though."

Soon after the cyborg diversion a lot of rumors start flying around that the Cybernetic Evolution will be attempting to invade Zeropolis or even that they've somehow allied with the Shadow Horde, but none of these rumors even come true. Though it does make Captain Salazar paranoid enough to take the current war with the Shadow Horde more on the offensive, of course this doesn't pan out too well.

When Salazar starts sending troops into the actual sewers they're at a severe disadvantage and the losses on your side are terrible, yet the Captain insists on carrying out this plan.

A few years go by and the Dust District's defenses are nearly completely destroyed. You're one of last defenders left and the Zeropolis Guard no longer exists as you know it. After Captain Salazar was struck down by an assassin the organization dissolved and it just became a bunch of armed mutants trying to defend their homes.

It's a futile endeavor though the Shadow Horde is relentless and as much as you might hate it, you have to leave; it's just simply not safe to stay where you are anymore. The question is where to go?

There are probably other places in the City where the Shadow Horde isn't as strong or even in control, but that might just be a temporary solution and it might not be any safer. The only other option is to leave the City which is certainly going to be dangerous as you know mutants aren't looked upon too kindly.

[User] You go to a different part of the City

[Assistant]
You gather your belongings and leave as quickly as possible to another part of Zeropolis. It's a big city after all; surely you can find some place to be.

Eventually you do find a place to settle down. It isn't the safest, but it's better than where you currently were. Though in time, it begins to get dangerous once again as the Shadow Horde turns its attention to other parts of the City, and you have to move again, you continue this routine for a few more years until one day your luck runs out and you fail to leave in time and you finally become a victim to the ever growing Shadow Horde.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You end it now

[Assistant]
You think about going to school, but you just don't feel like it. Its all so futile anyway. Everything. What you did didn't change anything, so why bother continuing with this pointless carnage?

You decide there is no point, you sit next to your Mom's body, calmly put the gun in your mouth and then

You feel nothing...


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You sit Down next to Him

[Assistant]
She walks up and sits down across from her dazed brother. Since he doesn't whine about his thunked head, her dum-dum of a brother must be unconscious. Leave it to him to be the first firebending prince ever to lose a battle against a six-year-old girl and a little rock.

He opens his eyes and groans.

"You should've dodged, dum-dum."

He rubs his forehead and sniffs. Is he going to cry? "There's no honor in running away." And now he's talking about honor?

"The dead have no honor."

He looks at her if she stabbed him. "But our great-grandfather killed the last Avatar. He beat the Air Nation. He started our war to spread our glory. How can he have no honor just because he's dead?"

"The war's still going on. Sozin died before he could finish his work. He failed. No honor, just another power-hungry dead guy."

"No son of Sozin or any firebender would speak ill of our former Fire Lords."

"I'm no son, nor am I just any firebender." She pokes her chest in triumph. "I'm THE firebender."

Zuzu stares at her, trying to read her expressions. She reads others easier than she can read that awful old poetry Mother likes so much. Zuzu couldn't tell if she was sad if she was crying, not that she ever would. Maybe he thinks I'm joking, but I'm dead serious.

He crosses his arms. "How come you're so good at everything?"

"Because I want to. I refuse to allow anything else to happen, so I become the best."
He looks away from her. "It's not my fault if you were born lucky. Dad says I was lucky to be born."

Ouch. "So? You're still related to the most amazing thing that happened in over a hundred years. Just don't die or anything and I'll let you be an armor bearing or something."

"We haven't had a princess in battle for centuries, right? Why would I then bear armor?"

"I will be a warrior. Plus, you're too stupid to try to kill me, so I could trust you as my underling."

His demeanor darkens. Ug, that sounds like Ty Lee and those auroras. "I don't think I'll ever get to a battlefield. I'd just get in the way."

"Which's why you should be my helper. That way, you'd have a purpose. Plus, I promise I'll try to keep your stupid butt alive when I'm already busy killing hordes of peasants or something like that. I'll always be on your side when we're in battle. See? Now you have a purpose. I don't think you had a purpose."

They lie there on the beach until sunset. Neither wanted to leave, since both knew what'd happen. They'd revert to their normal ways. They'd fight for their parent's attention. Azula would scheme. She can't remember the last time they just… talked.

Both were right. They didn't have a quiet moment for the rest of the trip. When they got home, they'd either avoid the other of fight. Azula would come out on top. She had to. Only perfection can reach the throne, and she'll prove she's perfection incarnate.

However, she didn't lie, not when making that promise. Even though their daily lives are like a battle against the other, on the real battlefield, she'd be there for her brother. No matter how much she dislikes the dum-dum, she knows it's the duty of a royal to protect the weaker members of the family. But, that'll happen years from now, maybe a decade. The Fire Lord will probably be her tea-loving uncle by then.

Even Azula with all her cunning could never predict that the battlefield will come so soon. It'll come charging towards Zuzu not from assassins or enemy soldiers. He'll be threatened by his family.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You refuse

[Assistant]
"You refuse?" The woman looks greatly disappointed, and a sigh escapes her lips. "That's a shame. The greatest wonders await you beneath the surface of this lake. I will withdraw my offer."

With that, she turns away from you and disappears into the water with a small splash. Her companion stares at you for a moment and also vanishes underwater with her. You wait there for a few minutes longer, but neither of the women re-emerge. It seems that they have gone for good.

Curious about her words, you try swimming underwater yourself to see if you can find them again. Unfortunately, you find that the waters here are too murky to see much at all, aside from a few schools of fish swimming near the surface of the lake. The singing has stopped, and only dead silence greets you. You swim around for a while longer, but nothing else happens.

Feeling as if you might have missed out on something, you decide that there is nothing else here for you and leave the waters of the lake behind you. You've now explored the entire island and have seen everything there is to offer. It may now be time for you to settle here and find your place in life.

[User] You proceed

[Assistant]
Over the coming months, you begin to settle into daily life on this isolated island. There's more than enough food and resources here to keep you set for life, and there's more than enough to be getting on with. Having resigned yourself to the fact that you are going to be living alone, you start setting up some personal projects for yourself. You work on cutting down trees to build a basic shelter, although the natural climate here means that sleeping rough isn't really a problem. Over time, you improve your skills and modify the shelter into a small cabin for all of your needs.

You never see anyone else land on this island, not even the Gahl'vuhr Sehn. For the most part, people leave you alone. It's maybe a year before you see even one airship on the horizon, but it doesn't come anywhere the island and soon disappears out of sight. It's all right, really. You've started to get used to the constant loneliness, day in, day out. It doesn't really bother you anymore. Besides, you still have a firm grip on reality – you're not going to start going mad and go around talking to trees.

Sometimes you lie awake at night, wondering about all the chaos going on at the surface. It doesn't matter anymore, because you're so far removed from that now. You wonder about the fate of the captain aboard the airship, left drifting for eternity through open skies. You hope that she managed to find help, but it's likely that she didn't make it.

With no social contact, you seek the company of animals and begin taking in a few of them as pets. Not that you're going to become a crazy cat lady or something, but it's better than talking to yourself all the time. You start growing fruit and vegetables, using the resources of the island to your advantage. Over time, you see the potential of harvesting crops and raising animal as livestock, though you still have a long way to go.

The island never changes. Nobody is living here but you, so realistically the trees should be growing like crazy and the vegetation going out of control…and yet, this isn't what you see happening. Everything seems to be stabilised in a very balanced order, leading you to suspect that some ulterior force may be at work. You're not complaining, though. It saves you having to curb the area yourself.

In the end, you live here alone for the rest of your days, free from the chaos and violence which plagues the surface. You have your pets and animals for company, and there's enough resources to keep you busy. You have to be careful, though, because it isn't easy living alone. There are times when you feel ill and still have to do everything yourself. The animals grow used to your presence, until you almost feel as if you're a part of their little family. They help out in their own little ways, bringing you food and sustenance when you become sick.

You're alone, but you're still happy and feel fortunate that this is how things have turned out. You take each day as it comes and ensure that you live in the moment.

After falling from a great height, this is the life you've chosen for yourself.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You ... And swing the door open in a huff, leaving the room.

[Assistant]
You reach for the door and open it. Lilith calls out to you, anger evident in her voice as she says, "I thought you were better than this, Kit!"

You don't deign her with a response, or at least not one she can hear. Despite yourself, you find yourself muttering, "so did I" under your breath. A moment passes, and when you turn to see if she's still there, you find she's gone. A sigh escapes your lips as you walk to the door and ascend the stairs, back up to your room. Once there, you collapse into bed and fall into a fitful sleep.

In the morning Bertrand comes with your bread and wine. You take it, send him out of the room, and spend the rest of the day eating and drinking as you always have. The next day, Bertrand comes in the morning with the bread and wine, which you take and spend the rest of the day eating and drinking. It continues on for weeks without interruption, until one day, something changes.

You wake in the early morning hours to a yell. Your head is pounding and your stomach is killing you, but you push through and get out of bed. Stumbling out of your room, you see a man slumped against the wall: Bertrand. "Bertrand!" you shout, running to him. As you get closer, however, you notice the blood trailing down his neck. It flows freely from a fierce red slash across his throat. Bertrand is dead.

You look around, wondering who in the hell did this to your servant, when you feel a sharp pain in your arm. Looking, you find that a crossbow bolt has embedded itself into your bicep. "W-what the hell!?" you choke out. Another bolt flies true, hitting your thigh and causing you to fall to a kneel. Footsteps approach from your left, and you turn your head to look. What you see is a man, dressed in black. He approaches you, pulling out a dagger.

"Who are you?" you ask.

He simply sticks the dagger to your throat and cuts. As you fall to the ground, vision darkening and lungs filling with blood, he speaks: "The king sends his regards."

Then, all is silent.

THE END


[System] You are the narrator of a dark fantasy text adventure. Describe the world and its consequences with unflinching detail. The player's choices shape the story — for better or worse.

[User] No

[Assistant]
Hidden by the dense screen of trees, twelve thousand Norman warriors wait. Each one is battle ready, and battle hardened; professional killers. Within your camp waits fewer than eight thousand men, but of those eight thousand only three thousand can be trusted. The rest are just farmers, weary and ill-disciplined. Even with the high ground, these numbers are far too slanted.

You know it with a dull certainty; only death awaits you here.

Acwellen is still looking at you, waiting for a response. Your mouth moves of its own accord, the words escaping in a wisp of breath.

"No."


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] The Grand Alliance and The Vampire Clans

[Assistant]
The self-professed "good guys" are made up of several civilized governments. The Zalan Empire (Your former home and where your family lives) is one of the main members of the Grand Alliance. Several races belong, each one bringing their unique skills to the mix. It's quite possible to see the clockwork automatons of the Dwarven Union fighting side by side with the silent monks of Elin.

This arrangement only arises during times of great crisis such as the one you caused. Given that most living creatures have basic need to not want to die or become a walking rotting corpse (Or a slave to demons) the chances of you convincing them to leave you alone is extremely unlikely especially since Velzix has no intention on doing it anyway.

Most of your knowledge of them comes from the Ex-Dark Order demonologists who knew of Mr. Demar's dealings with them. Apparently their relationship wasn't a good one though when talks of a possible alliance failed and one of their delegates was killed by Trelik.

The Vampire Clans from what you know live in a fortress run by Lord Rostov. This fortress' location is unknown and hidden by powerful magic. It is there where those few remaining vampires that have kept their faculties stay. (As opposed to the near mindless ones that lurk in holes in the wilderness)

While groups of vampires may have been involved in their own political intrigues and agendas in the past, the term Vampire Clans now is somewhat of a misnomer since Lord Rostov has a firm command over the remaining vampires. It's basically a dictatorship more than a "council" where they all sit around discussing things. The term Clans is probably kept to just hold on to the illusion of former glory of freedom rather than the reality that they're all hiding in a secret fortress ruled by a tyrant.

Despite their reduced power, they still can affect mortal affairs. Currently they are no doubt affecting these affairs to hinder you and Velzix. The death of their delegate pissed them off pretty severely, not to mention they don't agree with "high profile" necromancy. And they really don't want demons running around all over the place. All of these things disrupt the status quo and their way of life. This is unacceptable to them.

Velzix received a letter by bat from them recently saying that his actions will not go unopposed by the Clans and that his days on this world are numbered. He of course laughed at this threat and ate the bat.


[System] You are narrating an interactive fiction game in a dark fantasy setting. Bring the world to life with vivid prose, react meaningfully to player choices, and don't pull punches when the story demands it.

[User] You loot some more

[Assistant]
You scurry into one of the carriages, clambering outside. Blood cakes the inside, where some poor soul was hacked apart in their sleep. You find a jar of cider, opening it and quickly downing the delicious drink, before tossing it aside. You grab a jar of honey that's almost empty and begin scooping it into your mouth.

"Everyone out here! Now!" one of the ratlings yells, as you turn and walk outside.

The largest rat, a big brute who's taken charge of the raid named Pak, stands there. Not too many ratlings have joined the raid, a fact Pak is clearly enjoying as it means he gets to take charge, and since you all get a bigger part of the profit, all the better.

"You, you and you!" he shouts, selecting three rats from the group. "Start moving the prisoners back."

"Yes, yes," they snarl, as they begin to shout and whip the prisoners into movement.

"You!" he shouts, pointing a long finger at you. "Kill the horses."

You nod, walking over to the horses. They seem terrified and scarred, and look at you as if begging for mercy. You wonder if it's best just to untie them and scare them off.


[System] Narrate an interactive dark fantasy adventure. The world is brutal and unforgiving. Respond to the player's actions with vivid, immersive descriptions and let their choices carry real weight.

[User] You confront Butch

[Assistant]
Probably not the best time to act on your feelings...

You suddenly feel the need to defend your sister's honor by confronting Butch and his six football playing buddies. Needless to say, you don't win that confrontation.

For the most part you're more humilated than beaten beyond recognition. Still, its enough to deter you from displaying emotion ever again, you go back to your low profile emotionless lifestyle. Things are just easier that way for you.

Another day arrives and you feel nothing...


[System] Narrate a grim fantasy text adventure. The Empire's world is brutal, its people hardened. Respond to the player's choices with immersive storytelling and let consequences flow naturally.

[User] You decline the offer

[Assistant]
"No, I don't think so. If you're as powerful as you say you are, there's gotta be a catch if you want me to willingly agree to help you." You say.
"Hmm, you're more clever than you look, but perhaps a bit short sighted as potential opportunity. You can't gain something without risk, boy. Oh well, I won't bother you anymore, it was just an offer after all." The man says and disappears into the forest.

You're still a little leery of the man's intent so you get in the cabin as fast as you can and close the door. You look out the window a few times, but see nobody lurking around. You don't even hear any noise outside.

The cabin itself is completely dark save for the moonlight coming from the window and the few small holes in the roof. It's also a simple one-room abode with barely any furnishing, so if anything were hiding in here, it would have to be doing a very good job of it.

In any case, you don't have anything that would get the fireplace started, but there is a simple straw bed in the corner. You prod at it a couple times just to make sure it isn't infested with anything and then you lay down.

No sooner have you lain down your lids begin to get very heavy. Odd, you were sort of still wound up from your recent encounters, but you guess the stress of the day has finally caught up with you. You close your eyes and sleep takes you.

You dream of your home in Teckleville except you're not living with your parents and you're actually happily married to Annah. In real life this would be very unlikely situation, but since this is a dream you don't think much about it.

Life is good. You're well respected in the village and you work as a locksmith. Not too much of a stretch given your familiarity with locks, but as the dream builds upon this perfect life, you start to feel uneasy.

Still, you're so happy with Annah and your brand new son. One night you and she are looking at him sleeping in his crib.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Annah asks.
"Not as beautiful as you." You say and then kiss her.
"Mmmm, that's how we go this one here." She says as you both enter your own bedroom.
You stare into her eyes and caress her hair.
"I wish this moment would never end." You say
"Do you mean that?"
"Of course."

Annah suddenly then looks at you more seriously and squeezes your hand.

"No, I have to know, do you really mean it? Do you want to spend the rest of your life
with me?"

[User] Yes

[Assistant]
Something about this all seems so wrong somehow…but yet you can't help but feel finally at peace here.

"Yes, I do want to spend the rest of my life with you." You say.

Annah hugs you tight and you embrace her and you never worry about anything else ever again. You two live a lifetime in bliss and happiness in Teckleville and you watch your child grow up and then your grandchildren. You grow old and so does Annah, but towards the end on your deathbed when Annah is hovering over you, her face changes, in fact she is no longer the same woman and a much younger one to boot.

This new smiling young woman with red hair touches your face just before you close your eyes for the last time.

Years later a group of adventurers find your skeletal remains still lying on the bed in that cabin. As they search through your remains, they can't help but notice that your skull seems to be smiling.


[System] Run a text-based dark fantasy adventure game. Describe the world with gritty realism, respond to player actions with narrative consequences, and maintain the tone of a world where survival is never guaranteed.

[User] You stir halfway

[Assistant]
If your dad were to throw away what you were making then it would all be over, and you had no idea if Ned would be willing to send more ingredients to make up for the ones you had lost, he wouldn't be happy either way.

You had to cut corners, the people who had done this before had to have done it at least once or twice right?

So you only stirred halfway through each ingredient that had been entered into the pot. Though you made sure that you had stirred enough for it to be mixed. You had done this for about three different mixes until you started to feel a funny sensation.

The heat emitting from the pot was getting hotter, much hotter than it had ever done before. Your whole face was burning heavily as you sweat was dripping down into the liquid. It got to the point in which you actually had to back away with how your eyes started to feel.

"Shit, this isn't good..."

The sound of something steaming grew louder and louder like a teapot, the whole bottom of the pot started to glow red as smoke was coming out of from the top rapidly. The smoke detector immediately went off as you starting coughing and wheezing, trying to get to the doorway.

Somewhere along your panic, you heard an explosion.

No pain was felt from it, just emptiness, and lot's of quietness.


[System] You are the game master of a dark fantasy text adventure. The world is dangerous and choices matter. Narrate with immersive detail and let the story unfold naturally from the player's decisions.

[User] You can't sacrifice yourself by running into an ambush for them. Head North!

[Assistant]
You all chose to leave for exactly this reason didn't you?

"Guys, we knew this might happen, it's why we left. If we run after them now we will just be dying with them at best and if they aren't really in trouble they will probably shoot us on the spot for deserting!" You tell them, trying to get them to leave the others for dead.

"I can't!" is all one of them says before starting to run after the noises, clearly set on helping at all costs. The two others shrug and run after him, leaving you standing alone. You watch them disappear then shrug and begin heading North slowly, you'll keep to the plan even if you are the only one.

You keep moving slowly and finally start up the on-ramp to the highway when you hear a shout behind you. turning you see one of the survivors running your way, chased by a fast type.

Swearing you run back down and signal for the man to run past you, as he does you pause just for a second then swing. Your bat connects cleanly with the fast types head as it tries to pass you at full speed, intent on its prey. You watch it back flip and land with a thud, clearly not going to move again, before running after the man.

You catch up quickly and call after him "Where are the others what happened?" he slows to a stop and nearly collapses "They are all dead, everyone dead. It was a trap, as we arrived to help they came after us too, I only got away because they stopped to eat the others before chasing me!" You realize that he is just a kid, probably still in his teens. You take his arm to help him walk and head up onto the highway.

After a time you Find a secure looking van and you both get inside, securing the door behind you. You divide out the rations for a meal but your old hunger is back and even a full meal doesn't help. watching the depressed kid sink into the corner of the van and stare at nothing until he sleeps makes it worse too.

"Every one of them dead." You think as you watch the kid sleeping.