>>6023981
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on one of your kids (Aleksander)

Also if you're wondering about the Arthis, it's the one that the demon of the backstreet tutored. She found it protecting a kid once, and that's what made her decide to take it as a student.

>>6023993
+1

>>6023996
Very cool. Glad to have you back

>>6023981
Let's fucking go
>>6023993
And as always, fpbp, let's roll with this one

>>6023981
>>6023993
Supporting.
Nice to see this return.

>>6023993
>+1
>>6023996
Nice. Glad to see you back, OP

File: LR.png (2.74 MB, 2400x3000)

2.74 MB PNG

>>6023998
>>6024135
>>6024167
>>6024233

You find Etsy in the factory where Last Resort is stored. She's making some last minute adjustment to it, and you can't even begin to describe what that entails. You're pretty sure this thing is so complex by now, even Etsy doesn't fully understand how it works.

"A-Ah, are you okay? D-Don't see you in the factory o-often." She doesn't look angry, but not particularly happy either.

Confused, that's the emotion she has right now. It's also the emotion she first exhibited when you first talked to her on that fateful day.

She frowns. "I-I'm sorry! It's not that I mind! Y-You can do whatever! D-Do you want to hear about what I-I added to Last Resort?"

You nod, and she clasps her hand together happily.

She starts to ramble about new features and technical terms you don't understand. Sure, you may have become better at figuring out her tech stuff, but her knowledge is ever-increasing, and half of her lexicon is made of words she made up herself because she was the first to ever discover certain concepts.

Even so, you listen, because she's really cute when she talks about something she likes, and you can't get enough of her smile.

You're not a huge fan of the new 'divine decree', but it does make conversation with her more enjoyable. She knows you're enjoying yourself, and you know she's having fun too, so there's no reason to stop or for her to go 'sorry, i'm talking too much', those barriers are now gone for good.

"H-Hey! Do you want to see it in a-action? Not against r-real people, of course. J-Just a test run in an empty desert, s-safe as can be!"

You nod again, and she points to the giant cube that you assume is Last Resort. After a few seconds, a small hatch opens, and she motions you to go inside.

It's...surprisingly not as cramped as you expected inside, it's rather comfy if anything. There's even a shower, kitchen and bedroom, which makes it already better than your old apartment.

"I-It's like a mobile n-nuclear vault! If things really go wrong, we can hide h-here! Of course, e-every single piece of furniture here can quickly be r-rearranged at a moment's notice. A-Anyway, we should be in the desert now!"

Wait, already? It's been less than a minute. Did the cube just...jump from Russia to the Sahara or something? Etsy notices your confusion and answers for you.

"It's uhm, T-Tri-matter. It's not quite t-teleportation, just very f-fast without friction. T-Teleportation without the cloning dilemma."

Yup, that makes perfect sense, won't question it at all. Sure enough, when you leave Last Resort, you find yourself in a desert with dunes as far as the eyes can see. It looks like the night is coming, probably because you must be on the other side of the world, so it makes sense that the time of day would be different.

Once you're both out, Last Resort sprouts two spider legs not unlike K.I.S.A, and lifts itself up as its form change to that of a sphere. The sphere's color rapidly changes, which makes it actually quite hard to look at. You're pretty sure it's not just the colors doing that, there's something else at play here.

"H-Hey, try to use your magic on it!"

You stare at her as she casually asks you to do the impossible. What are you even supposed to target? This thing is so big you're not even sure what you can even target. Sure, you became good enough to use your magic on most people, but that machine is a brand-new level of complexity.

Even so, you try to reverse its legs, and to nobody's surprise, it doesn't work.

"A-Ah, yeah, we'd need very strong magic to test that out. N-Not saying your magic isn't strong! J-Just, it's supposed to repurpose the magic for s-stuff. Oh well!" She points at a random spot in the desert with a finger gun. "B-Bang."

A flash of light, and a massive hole in the sand. That's all your mind could process. There was no sound, no recoil, no delay, there's not even a single grain of sand floating around the impact. It's as if everything here was just deleted and never existed in the first place. The surrounding sand starts to fill the hole back up, but so slowly it makes you wonder how deep the hole goes, it's too far to tell from here.

Unfair, that's the first word that comes to your mind. If you were fighting something like this, you would be obliterated with no fanfare, faster than you could ever react. If there was ever a thing capable of challenging a god, this would be it, right here. The scary part is that this is probably not the best it can do. This was a field test where it had to hold back.

"N-Now check this! Last Resort! Void Dance protocol!"

The machine starts to slide across the dunes like it's skating on ice, it goes so fast that the wind created by its movements alone are enough to create a sandstorm. However, the sandstorm ends soon after each movement. No, it doesn't just end, it's as if it just...despawned? Deleted, like that last attack.

"I-It's actually shooting each individual grain of sand, v-very intensive in processing power, but it means even the t-tiniest drones could get hit. O-of course, if it's nano-machines, it's t-too small to be hit, so there are other countermeasures for that!"

Last Resort stops 'dancing', waiting for another order.

"S-So, what do you think?"

You're terrified, amazed, and to be honest, weirdly aroused; you can tell she shares at least two of those emotions with you judging by the way she looks at you. Neither of you go through with it just yet though, sometimes you have to take in the moment.

>>6024616

Etsy looks back at Last Resort. "I...I'm good at making s-stuff. M-Maybe the best. M-Maybe I'll even be the best that ever will be, and that s-scared me a little. It's a lot of r-responsibility. I-I didn't think I could do it, but... I wanted to test m-my absolute limit with this. I want to leave the world with all my k-knowledge, and t-that comes in that form. W-When I die, I'll p-put all my designs inside Last Resort, and I'll make sure it o-only shares it with people that deserve it."

You tell her that's actually really cool. You're not sure how Last Resort would know when someone 'deserves' her designs, but you suppose it's better than just letting some random guy find them in the future.

"A-Anyway, yeah. Uhm... d-did you know L.R also scrambles satellite and drone footage? No one can really see what's going on here."

The hint is obvious, and the moment has been taken in. You shove her into the sand, violently enough to get your blood pumping, but not so strongly it might hurt her. It's an awful place to have sex, the sand gets in every crevice, and it's pretty hot out there, but strangely enough that makes it better to you. It's dirty and makes the act feel more spontaneous, more real. Today, you're dominating what might be the most powerful woman on this planet, and you'll relish in every single second of it.


The trip back home was admittedly pretty awkward, and you had to take a shower inside Last Resort, but you can't say you regret a single second of it. You're still never doing desert sex ever again.

You decide to spend more time with Aleksander, his school years have been going alright. He's still barely passing, but it looks like failing a school year did make things easier for him. Still, socially it's not the best, as every kid in his class is a year younger, and at his age a one-year difference might as well be a decade.

He turns to you after finishing a drawing on his desk. "Dad, how do you know if you like someone."

That's a new one. Didn't Mikhail ask you the same thing before?

You ask him if he means liking someone in a special way, and he nods. You thought kids didn't like to talk about that type of stuff with their parents, but maybe you're just that cool of a dad that they don't mind. You tell him that it's a feeling that can develop over time, and it's something that will be obvious when he feels it.

"So if it's not obvious to me, then that means I don't like someone, right?"

You tell him it depends. It's a complicated subject, the line between friendship and love is a fickle one, especially between boys and girls. Mikhail didn't really feel like he loved his friend back then, but it looks like that changed over time, so nothing's really set in stone.

"It's just, a girl said she liked my drawings, so I draw for her sometimes. Some guys tell me I'm lucky, that I just need to ask her out but... I don't know if I want to. She's one year younger than me, and I don't mind being the way we are."

>>6024617


You can tell he's lying a little bit. As withdrawn as he is, he's still a boy in the middle of puberty, and you're sure it crossed his mind at least a little to fool around with this girl. Even so, it seems he values his friendship with that girl more than whatever benefit he'd get from dating her.

You ask him how he'd react if that girl asked him out.

"...I don't know. I guess I'd say yes, if that's what she wants."

If that's what she wants? That's a weird answer. You tell him he shouldn't have to date someone if he feels uncomfortable with the idea. You didn't find love before you were in your twenties, after all, no sense in rushing things. For some reason, he's actually surprised that it took you this long to find someone, maybe your kids have a much cooler idea in your head of who you used to be as a teen.

"I guess I just wanted to be cool. Having a girlfriend would make me look cool. I know that sounds stupid but I just- I don't know."

You tell him he's already pretty cool, but of course this doesn't mean as much coming from your own dad. So you leave him to his own devices so he can think for himself what he wants to do.

In other news, Mikhail is old enough to pick a form of higher education. He wants to become a teacher apparently, which will require a few years in college. His grades are good enough for it, and it should take about 3 years. He'll stay at home for now, but his girlfriend is already planning to get a place to stay so they can start living together once he's done with his studies.

Anastasia is still experimenting, and you can tell it takes a lot of self restraint for her to not drug her bullies. You're pretty sure the only reason she's not doing it is because she knows you'd find out about it and that you can take away her lab privilege at any moment.

Sophia is still making games. Nothing she makes is a standout hit, but it makes enough money that she doesn't need to ask help from you financially, and that's enough for her.

---
5.19M
+
500K (Investments)
-
360K (Yearly costs)
-
100K (Last Resort field test)
=
5.26M
---
Sophia: 25 years old.
Mikhail: 19 years old.
Anastasia: 16 years old.
Aleksander: 14 years old.
Etsy & Weaver: 44 years old
---

>Focus on one of your kids
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Check up on world affairs
>Write in.

>>6024619
>Focus on one of your kids (Anastasia)
Better make sure she doesn't end up becoming a crazy scientist.
>Write-in (Focus on your hobby)
We deserve some time for ourselves alone.

>>6024619
>Check up on world affairs
>Focus on one of your kids (Anastasia)

>>6024619
>Check up on world affairs
>Write-in (Focus on your hobby)

>>6024663
>+1
so us time in a while

>>6024616
This thing is basically an Object now. I fucking love it.
>>6024621
Hobby is a good idea, as for Ana, sure, let's go.
I don't feel like doing word affairs. It's not like Her Holiness the Smellynerd-god isn't watching things and making sure no one is fucking up anyway.

>>6025073
>>6024734
>>6024663
>>6024630
>>6024621

You decide to check up on world affairs for a moment. You're more or less safe, but it doesn't hurt to stay informed, and you don't want more orphans to show up at your doors if possible. Speaking of, Etsy found out that D.I.Y did sell that swordswoman the device used to reveal your invisible bullets. You wouldn't call it a betrayal exactly, it's not like they knew what it'd be used for, and they made it clear they sold to whoever had the money from the moment you signed the contract.

Anyway, world affairs. Bounties are still active, and some big name players are still there, but it seems very few are willing to kill anymore. Turns out that new divine decree had an added effect of making killing other magic user very very painful, albeit not physically. From what you can find, it's described as a 'feeling zip bomb', where all the worst feelings and memories of the person killed is unloaded all at once on the killer. It's possible to recover from it, and no long term mental damage are present, but it's enough to make most people consider rising up the magic ranks the murderous way.

This doesn't happen for non-magic user, but turns out it's harder to go on a killing spree with a heightened sense of empathy, and murderous intent can now be seen from a mile away by anyone.

You're still not certain all of this is a net positive for society, but it's not like you can do much about it. You also double check your and Etsy's dossier. Not much changed, although Last Resort is briefly mentioned, but with almost no info on it. Etsy's bounty actually got into the negatives, which you did not know was even possible.

Apparently someone can decide that killing you is such a bad idea that they'd rather have whoever killed you get their own bounty increased. It seems that while there's no info on Last Resort, somebody considers the possible risk of this thing going berserk upon its creator's death so dangerous that they want to make sure no one even tries.

Right, Last Resort is more of a mutually assured destruction kind of deal, isn't it? Even if someone killed Etsy, there's no way they'd survive what she made, and the collateral damage is bound to be immense. Like a nuke, it's not meant to be used, it's meant to make attacking you incredibly unappealing.

Maybe that's not how Etsy thinks of it, but it looks like that's how everyone else does. That's probably a good thing.

You check up on more things, but can't find anything of note. Schadenfreude's had a kid, and it looks like she didn't age at all unlike her husband, you're happy for them, you suppose. Sawyer also found someone to share their life with, actually looks like most people you knew got engaged in one way or another. Well, you can't find anything about Mia, or the demon of the backstreet, which makes you wonder if something happened to them. You could always look further into it later, maybe bringing Arachne along would help.

>>6026020

You decide that's enough research for today, and you decide to check up on Ana. You don't find her in the lab for once, but in the kitchen arguing with Mikhail of all people.

Mikhail raises his voice, it feels like the first time you ever saw him truly angry. "-And you didn't think that was a problem!? You didn't think it was a step too far? Ana, you know better!"

"I- It wouldn't have-" Ana stumbles over her words, all her usual confidence turned into immense distress. "...I'm sorry."

You can tell Mikhail wants to shout at her some more, but he takes a deep breath and stops himself before speaking. "What if something bad happened? Could you live with that?"

She stares at the ground, unable to answer, it looks like she's about to cry. You finally decide to step in and ask what's going on.

"Dad." He takes another deep breath. "She tried to drug my girlfriend."

"I- I didn't! I-" She's choking on her own tears, and both you and Mikhail can tell she's lying.

You take a deep sigh, and ask Mikhail what exactly happened.

"I invited Ania here, and Anastasia said she'd cook something for us, and I thought it was her trying be nice, but we both started feeling really weird after it. We pressed her about it, and apparently she put something in the food."

You ask Ana if it's true, and after what feels like hours of crying, she finally makes out a coherent answer.

"I put something, but- but it was only a small dose! I- I needed to test it out on people who loved each other, that's all. It's nothing permanent, I didn't- I didn't do anything wrong."

Mikhail raises his voice again. "And what if it didn't go according to plan? What if she DIED? We're not rats for you to experiment on, damnit!"

You quickly check up on Mikhail with MPR, and he does look fine. It does look like his soul is slightly vibrating, but it's clearly waning, so you suppose Ana was right about it being 'nothing permanent'. Still, Mikhail's reaction is justified, this could've gone very wrong very fast.

You sit Ana down and tell her the worst thing you could ever bring yourself to say to your child.

You're not mad, just disappointed.

You can feel her spirit shatter in real time, and it hurts you nearly as much as it does her. Mikhail is also not enjoying the show, and he has to relent and give her a hug as she fully breaks down.

Once this is all over, you take away her lab privilege for a month, which she surprisingly doesn't complain about. Looks like she really does feel guilty about it, although a huge part of that guilt is surely caused by her brother's anger. At least she learned her lesson, you hope so, anyway. You just hope it won't cause a rift between the two of them, Ana looks up to her brother a lot after all.

>>6026023

You also decide that now is a good time to tell Mikhail about the magical world, something you should've done long ago, honestly. You did mention bits and pieces to him, but unveiling the whole truth is something else. To your surprise, he says he already knew, and that Sophia told him when he started asking too many questions as a teen. Although hearing it coming from you is something else entirely, as Sophia was never particularly good at explaining the details.

---
5.26M
+
600K (Investments)
-
360K (Yearly costs)
=
5.5M
---
Sophia: 26 years old.
Mikhail: 20 years old.
Anastasia: 17 years old.
Aleksander: 15 years old.
Etsy & Weaver: 45 years old
---
>Focus on one of your kids
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Investigate Mia or the Demon's dissapearence. (Doing both is Full Time)
>Write in.

>>6026024
Uhhm...honestly man, no idea. I guess investigating those two might be interesting? But i feel like i'd rather stay home and enjoy our retirement. Also Ana needs some help, she seems like she's in a bit of a troubled spot.
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on one of your kids (Anastasia)

>>6026024
God fucking damn it Ana.
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on one of your kids (Anastasia)
Ask her EXACTLY what she wanted to do, and essentially make sure she ain't doing it again (without explicit consent).

>>6026065
+1

>>6026065
>+1

You could look into the disappearing girls, but you're sure they'll be fine. Sawyer said Mia should be okay, and the demon of the backstreet is strong enough to take care of herself.

Right now, you have more pressing matters, namely your daughter. Ana is starting to worry you, and it's not just because of the attempted drugging thing, you have this feeling she's slowly spiraling into some sort of depression. It's getting harder and harder to drag her out of bed, and she seems hesitant to even approach her lab now. Her friend still comes her to deliver 'ingredients' here, but they aren't meeting face to face anymore.

You find her in her bed, staring at the wall. She doesn't even complain that you entered her room without knocking.

"I'm fine, dad."

You tell her her friend brought more stuff from the beach.

"Cool."

The conversation continues like this, where all her answers are variations of 'uh-huh' and 'sure'. Eventually, you ask her about what she 'drugged' Mikhail and his girlfriend with.

"Of course that's what you're here for! Fine! I shouldn't have done it! I fucked up! Mikhail hates me, you hate me, everyone hates me! Fuck, FUCK!" She tries to chew whatever's left of her fingernail, but ends up biting the tip of her finger instead.

You tell her that you just want to know what it was, and that you don't hate her, you were just disappointed that she did something you specifically told her not to do.

"It wasn't anything bad, dad! It was- It was emotion replication! I found a chemical that kind of... enhances the visibility of certain emotions, and I had another vial that could see it, and copy it. But- But other emotions like rage, or sadness, or even happiness, it's- it's too unstable. I needed a gentle love, like the one they had together! I'm telling you, it didn't do anything bad. They felt a little weird, but that was it! He's fine in the end, isn't he?"

You tell her the issue isn't the drugging itself as much as it's the betraying of trust. There's nothing inherently wrong with sharing alcohol with someone, it's something else to give someone alcohol and tell them it's water.

"Well- they wouldn't have eaten it if I told them! Besides, I tested it on myself first, so I- uh..."

You sigh. God damnit, you tell her she shouldn't experiment on people let alone herself, she's messing with undocumented magic chemicals.

"But you said yourself that it was about the 'betraying of trust'! I trust myself with my own medicine, so what's the issue then, huh? I'm not betraying anyone, I know what I'm getting into, I'm the only consenting party that I need, so why-"

>>6026717

You tell her that it's because she's still a child, and smart as she is, she's still capable of making mistakes that could be lethal, and the last thing you want is to lose her because she didn't watch her dosage.

"I'm SEVENTEEN, dad! I'm basically an adult! Besides, mom said she was tinkering with dangerous stuff at my age, so what's so different, huh?"

You tell her Etsy easily could've died back then too and that she isn't the best example of work and safety. Besides, this is also about respecting her fellow humans. If she accidentally kills someone that way then-

"Oh, like YOU did? You didn't respect your 'fellow humans' when you... when you..."

She stops, and you do too. You know she didn't mean it, but it still hurts you a little. Is that really how she sees you, a murderer? You-

Yeah, maybe you can't hide from it, you've killed people before giving them time to react. You've killed in ways that couldn't exactly be considered self defense, maybe you really are a murderer.

Deep breaths.

You tell her that no one should have to do what you did, and that you aren't exactly proud of it.

"...yeah, I know, dad. I didn't mean to. But... I just can't really do much with my experiment without some people test. And it feels like... it feels like that's all I have, you know? If I can't do this, what else am I supposed to do?"

You tell her that she's still your daughter, and she still has a friend that cares for her. She's more than what she's good at, just like her mother.

She doesn't answer, and decide to leave her to her own devices for now. You're not sure if she's happier now, but she's at least a bit more productive, and hangs out with her friend more often. It might take her a while for her to learn the right lessons from this.

>>6026720

She's right, she's becoming an adult, and whatever she decides to do as one will be mostly outside your control. You can only gently guide her towards the right path and hope for the best.

The night comes, but you can't sleep. Your mind can't help but repeat what Ana said. Isn't she right? Do you really get to judge her? It's not like this is something you enjoyed doing, it was always out of necessity.

You poke Etsy, who is sound asleep. She grumbles and rubs her eyes as you force her awake.

"Mnnnh, w-what's going on?"

You ask her if she wants to take a walk with you.

"Huh? I-It's midnight, why? C-Can't we do that tomorrow?"

You tell her you need her right now, and walking alone will just make you feel worse.

She raises an eyebrow, but doesn't object.You take a walk in the cold neighborhood until you find a bench to sit on, and you tell her what's been bothering you.

She rests her head against your shoulder before answering. "I d-don't know. I killed more than you, I t-think. But even if we w-were in the wrong, g-guilt won't help, I think. Doesn't bring a-anyone back."

You know that, but that doesn't change the fact you did it anyway. You're not feeling guilt either, not exactly. It's more like you're feeling guilty that you're not feeling guilty. It's like how you felt when you killed Oliver. You want to be a good person, but would a good person be so uncaring about those they ended?

"I-I think, even if it was true you were a bad person back then, n-not saying you were, but if you hypothetically were a bad p-person, it would still have been p-possible for you to become a good person now, right?"

You tell her you're not sure if you understand her point.

"I-I'm saying that the bad p-person you used to be is dead, and the good p-person that you are now is s-someone different, I guess? So y-you shouldn't pay for crimes the past you committed, b-because that's no longer you."

You're not sure if you agree with this. You're still responsible for your past actions, otherwise people could commit atrocities and just say they've changed and escape the consequences. But maybe she's right in a way, you're more than your past, and you know Ana didn't mean it, she said so herself.

"Hey," Etsy raises the finger with her tri-matter ring. "Ch-check this!" She pushes the edge of the ring away, and the metal zooms upwards into the sky. "I-It's like a shooting star! Make a wish!"

You wish all your kids live a good life.

"A-And I wish you'd stop worrying about dumb stuff like that!"

The metal zooms back towards her, and she catches it with her finger as it wraps itself around the finger. You clap, and she lets out a laugh. She's right, maybe it's a dumb thing to worry about, you did all those things so you could have that moment right here without worrying about your life, and you succeeded. Wouldn't feeling bad just make all those deaths for nothing?

>>6026721

You spend the rest of the night looking at the stars. You make up new constellations as Etsy babbles about more things she made. Before you know it, the day comes, and you have to hurry back home before you have to explain to your kids why you were out at 3AM

For the rest of the year, you keep an eye on Ana, but it looks like she's trying her best to move on. It really does look like she settled on experimenting on animals for now, although you can't say that's fully safe either.

Apart from that, it sounds like Sophia found a boyfriend, and from what you've seen, he sounds nice enough. Aleksander opted to stay friend with that girl he talked to you about, and Mikhail's girlfriend found a place they could live in for now. Love stuff asides, everyone's studies are going well. Ana is still at the top of her class, and Mikhail's studies will finish in a year. Aleksander could be doing better, but he's not failing, and he only has to suffer through 2 more years before he can follow what you presume will be a career in art. He could probably work as a freelancer without needing to go to an art school at his current skill level.

---
5.5M
+
700K (Investments)
-
360K (Yearly costs)
=
5.84M
---
Sophia: 27 years old.
Mikhail: 21 years old.
Anastasia: 18 years old.
Aleksander: 16 years old.
Etsy & Weaver: 46 years old
---
>Focus on one of your kids
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Write in.

>>6026723
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on your hobby
an opportunity for some us time

>>6026737
+1

True, we're already in our mid 40s. Our kids are close to leaving their homes. We deserve to enjoy ourselves.

>>6026737
+1

>>6026721
>You're not feeling guilt either, not exactly. It's more like you're feeling guilty that you're not feeling guilty.
You have no idea how relateable this is

>>6026721
>"Hey," Etsy raises the finger with her tri-matter ring. "Ch-check this!" She pushes the edge of the ring away, and the metal zooms upwards into the sky. "I-It's like a shooting star! Make a wish!"
Damn we love this woman.
>>6026749
>>You're not feeling guilt either, not exactly. It's more like you're feeling guilty that you're not feeling guilty.
>You have no idea how relateable this is
Hmm, not sure about this one, but then again, I'm easily feeling guilty over the littlest thing. Different people, different things.
>>6026737
>>Focus on your hobby
Just saying (and I know I voted for it before), but last time we picked the hobby, it didn't exactly go so well. Maybe we should do something else?
>>6026723
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Write in
Can we try to integrate more with the town and other folks? Random stupid idea, but I don't like the hobby one...

>>6026723
>>6026848
+1

>>6026848
>Just saying (and I know I voted for it before), but last time we picked the hobby, it didn't exactly go so well. Maybe we should do something else?
2nd time's the charm and it wasn't exactly bad

>>6026863
>>6026854
>>6026848
>>6026749
>>6026742
>>6026737

This year, you spend more time playing soccer. You find out that a lot of tactics you used during fights are applicable here, reading your opponent, feints, and reaction time all play a hand here. However, you also have to rely on your team to win, so not everything falls on you, which does give it a different dynamic; sure, you relied on K.I.S.A before, but it always felt like it had to hold back around you instead of being a proper duo.

You have to admit that it's very tempting to disrupt the ball, and it makes you wonder what a sport played by magic users would look like. Because of how unique each magic type is, it would be a very hard sport to balance, but you think it'd still be fun in its own way. You really should try that out one day, how many magic users do you know? There's Sarah, she still owes you for helping her out of the country, then there's Sawyer, Schadenfreude, and Arachne. That still makes the team uneven, so maybe K.I.S.A could serve to complete the team.

Well, you could always call Leah, but you think that the game would be pretty unfair against god herself.

Yeah, this is a really dumb idea, though. Asking all of them to come here for a soccer match? Even if you pay for their trip, it's a lot to ask for, isn't it?

Ah, screw it, they owe you this much, don't they? Once you're back home, you quickly make contact with the girls to see who would be interested, and it looks like most of them find the idea fun. Sawyer even says she can bring the Infinite Reflection in, which means you won't even need to use K.I.S.A for this.

You don't prepare the match in the town, since they're not super fond of strangers, but instead you reserve a field for you to play in somewhere else. K.I.S.A is still on standby near the match, just in case things go wrong somehow.

Sarah lays down on the grass and yawns. "Aren't we a little old for this?"

The Infinite Reflection laughs. "Exactly! It's the type of stuff you want to do before you kick the bucket, you know?"

"So, what's the prize?" Sawyer asks you.

You say you didn't think of one, it was supposed to be a casual thing.

>>6027522

"ONE BILLION DOLLAR!" Schadenfreude shouts.

You tell her you can settle for a million. You hear Etsy say she didn't agree to this, but you retort she wasn't doing anything with it anyway. This time it's your turn to splurge on stupid stuff.

Sarah starts to suddenly pay more attention. "So much for it being casual. So, it's a team of 3 versus 3? What's it going to be?"

The teams would be, mhh...

Well, assuming the prize is being shared between each team member, you would save some amount by picking the right people in your team. The entire point of this is to allow people to use their magic, so you should also take that into account.

What do we have here...

(Vote for two people, the two most popular votes will be picked for your team.)

>Schadenfreude: Agile and unpredictable, for better or worse.
>Sawyer: Good at predicting outcomes, but not very in shape physically.
>Sarah: Incredible defense, but easy to trick. Would make a very good goalkeeper.
>Infinite Reflection: Good at trickery and confusion, but can get overconfident.
>Arachne: You know her as much as she knows you. This might make her easier to play with as you'll be both perfectly in sync.

>>6027523
>Arachne: You know her as much as she knows you. This might make her easier to play with as you'll be both perfectly in sync.
>Sawyer: Good at predicting outcomes, but not very in shape physically.
Sawyer in the goal while Arachne and Weaver play to attack. Since Sawyer can predict outcomes, she can basically tell where the ball will go, which is like 80% of being an goalkeeper. Also, without Sawyer, Infinite Reflection and Schadenfreude will probably suck at coordinating. As long as we can keep the ball with ourselves, they're not gonna be able to do much.

>>6027523
>Sawyer: Good at predicting outcomes, but not very in shape physically.
>Arachne: You know her as much as she knows you. This might make her easier to play with as you'll be both perfectly in sync.
they're our pals after all

>>6027523
>Schadenfreude: Agile and unpredictable, for better or worse.
>Infinite Reflection: Good at trickery and confusion, but can get overconfident.
The insane unreliable hard hitting team.

>>6027538
+1

>>6027525
Sounds good

>>6027523
>Schadenfreude: Agile and unpredictable, for better or worse.
>Infinite Reflection: Good at trickery and confusion, but can get overconfident.
Get out of our comfort zone.

>>6027698
>>6027617
>>6027608
>>6027538
>>6027530
>>6027525

You decide to team up with those you know the most, Sawyer and Arachne. Sawyer will be the goalkeeper, and you'll work in offense while Arachne stays in defense.

The other team puts Sarah as a goalkeeper, Infinite Reflection in defense, and Schadenfreude in offense.

You review your strategy with the team, a team that probably has never actually played soccer. The ball has been made to be both very easy to manipulate with magic while still being very hard to destroy. The rules are that you can't touch the ball with your hands, and as long as a part of the ball gets into the goal, it counts. You're also never allowed to use magic directly on people, however you may use it in the environment to disorient or impair someone as long as it doesn't harm them in a significant manner.

You all get into position, and the match starts.

Schadenfreude jumps on the ball and starts running on it like it's a unicycle, somehow, she's able to get past you that way, as any attempt of disruption stops working, she doesn't get past Arachne however, as she quickly reverses the ball's momentum and makes Schad slip and spin until she reaches the ground. You wouldn't consider this an attempt at harm, although it got dangerously close, you have to be very careful about how you handle the ball from now on.

You go further into their side of the field, passing back and forth with Arachne before Schadenfreude can get her bearings again. Getting past the Infinite Reflection proves to be an issue however. The moment you pass to Arachne again, the ball starts to split into hundreds of versions and he uses that split second of confusion to catch it with his knees.

Of course, nothing stops you from just reversing the ball back to you, but doing so makes every copy of the ball also go backward directly into you and Arachne, which unfortunately covers your vision enough that he can get the ball back for himself. He starts to make copies of himself to pass to, but just before reaching the goal, he passes it to Schadenfreude who somehow manages to score.

Sawyer somehow jumped in the opposite direction of the ball.

Sawyer apologizes, "Haha! Sorry! I just didn't think she'd just... shoot straight? She's kinda hard to read! I'll get it next time!"

Mhh, she's right, but you're not sure Sawyer would do better outside the goal post, she doesn't have that much stamina, you'll just have to be extra careful about making sure the ball doesn't get passed to Schad next.

With that in mind, you keep playing the game, Arachne stays in Schad's way, and you try to get past IR, but that proves to be incredibly hard, and even when you do, Sarah's power makes it near impossible to score. You're sure there must be some hole in her magic, but you're never given enough time to find a weak spot in it before the ball's snatched away from you.

>>6028266


At least you were correct in your assumption that IR can't score himself against Sawyer, as she can predict his shot pretty reliably, but Schadenfreude is simply too chaotic to defend against.

As the match goes on, you realize that you're more and more outmatched, it's less that your team is bad and moreso that you're getting countered at every step. You do manage to score a few times, but everytime you did, Sarah's defense only got more impenetrable. It was only a matter of time until you lost.

"Aww, sorry guys! Maybe I wasn't the best choice!" Sawyer says as she lays back down on the grass.

You tell her it's fine, you could've played better too. Besides, it was fun to play with them as a team, even if you lost. You're sure if you got more time to refine your strategy, you could've found a way to win, but winning wasn't ever the point anyway.

The other team's celebrating, the Infinite Reflection says she doesn't need the money, so it looks like it'll get shared between the two girls. Sarah is ecstatic, as she's the one that was doing the worst financially. You were honestly planning to give her something even if you won, but she wouldn't have tried as hard as she did if you told her that.

This was stupid, but it was fun. It's one of the few times you felt like you could use your magic freely without it being survival related. It was also nice to hang out with people you met all those years ago, too. You wonder if magic will become more common knowledge now that the game's over. You hope so, hiding your true self from everyone because you fear for your safety, that doesn't feel great.

After a picnic where you all reminisce of times long past, you all part ways, although Arachne will stay with you for a little longer as she figures out what to do next. Turns out she's been doing odd jobs trying to find her place in life this entire time, and while the nomadic lifestyle is fun, she wants to settle down somewhere eventually.

You want to spend more time with Etsy., so Arachne might as well look over the kids while you're out. You haven't gone to the beach in a while, and you think swimming could be fun. Of course, you don't pick the beach at your town, as everything here could kill you, but instead a much safer beach in Spain. Etsy is still not a huge fan of travelling abroad, but this time you don't have to worry about the kids, so she's not as stressed as she usually is about safety.

File: Spoiler Image (440 KB, 965x848)

440 KB PNG

>>6028268

She doesn't do well with crowds, so you dare her to swim as far as she can. This would normally be pretty dangerous, but you're sure you can protect Etsy from a few waves, and swimming your way back won't be too hard with your silver arm.

"W-Water's cold. People keep saying 'it's warm' but i-it never is."

You tell her it's warm compared to how warm ocean water usually is, but she is the type of person to only enjoy warm bath and showers. You're surprised you even managed to convince her to swim at all, honestly.

"I-I don't like it, but I guess that's why I like you. Y-You make me do things I wouldn't normally d-do, it annoys me sometimes, but it'd be p-pretty boring without you."

You tell her she's being cheesy.

"H-Hey, I'm having a heart to heart here!"

You laugh, when are you not having a heart to heart? She pouts, and you laugh harder. You don't even know why you find it funny, you just do.

"N-Not that funny..."

You tell her you can think of something funnier, and she narrows her eyes at you. She probably already knows.

You disrupt the strap of her swimsuit's bra, and it...doesn't work. She looks at you smugly.

"P-Predictable, no wonder you l-lost that match."

Looks like she used devil's gamble in her swimsuit...somehow. Okay, you're not even doing it for horny reasons now, you just want to one up her. You try to disrupt the water into her swimsuit, you can't keep control of it very long, but if you can just shift the water in the right way...

Snap.

You make another wave so that the bra drifts towards you, and you grab it before she gets time to react.

"C-Come on! What if someone s-sees?"

You did make sure to swim far enough so that this wouldn't be a problem. Well, this wasn't the original reason, but now it is. You keep her swimsuit out of reach until she pulls out another ace up her sleeve.

"S.V special protocol! Give back the item Weaver is holding, h-he's gone rogue!"

Your silver arm suddenly goes out of your control and chucks the swimsuit at her. You disrupt another wave to make her lose it.

You keep going like this for an hour until you're both exhausted and out of options. You're actually so tired that sex doesn't sound like a fun idea anymore, and you both decide that you've had enough water for today.

>>6028274

Once you're back home, you find out that Arachne didn't have to do much, as most of your kids are already adults now.

Ana found a chemistry school she likes, Mikhail finished his studies and is going to move out soon, and Aleksander still has about 2 years before high school ends since he failed one year of school before.

Also, Sophia may or may not have a baby, and you're happy to announce that the guy she chose isn't a deadbeat father and decided to support her, which eases your worry as you didn't know him that well and there was always the possibility of him being a bad person.

This also means you're... going to be a grandpa soon.

Sophia was right, you really are ancient now.


---
5.84M
+
1M (Investments)
-
1M(Grand Prix)
-
100K(Trip with Etsy)
-
360K (Yearly costs)
=
5.41M
---
Sophia: 28 years old.
Mikhail: 22 years old.
Anastasia: 19 years old.
Aleksander: 17 years old.
Etsy & Weaver: 47 years old
---
>Focus on one of your kids
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Write in.

>>6028274
I kneel for the titty hag
>>6028278
>Focus on one of your kids (Ana)
since she'll probably move soon
>Spend more time with Etsy

>>6028278
You know, I would have thought that the whole 'synchronicity' thing would matter more.
>Focus on one of your kids (Ana)
>Focus on one of oyur kids (Aleksander)
We've already spent plenty of time with Etsy. Let's enjoy our last years with our kids before they move out.

>>6028278
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on one of your kids (Ana)
My funny vote was vindicated.

>>6028304
>My funny vote was vindicated.
Schadenfreude's bullshit alone really wouldn't be enough to win a game

Like i get that she has the broken toon powers, and those are annoying in every dimension, but having good coordination is how Pele became the King of Soccer. Most people have no idea, but an ridiculous amount of the goals from Pele only happened because he got passed the ball from Garrincha, another player that is criminally unknown.

>>6028309
yup, like it was said it's more that they countered us than anything else. btw are you brazilian, anon ?

>>6028331
>they countered us than anything else.
my point was that they shouldn't due to how soccer works.
>btw are you brazilian, anon ?
Yes. I don't even like watching soccer that much, it's just something that culturally bleeds.

>>6028309
If you're curious, my notes mostly went like this
>Sawyer hard counters IR's shot, but gets hard countered by Schadenfreude
>Sarah can block nearly anything apart from IR's shot.
>IR can get bypassed by either Schadenfreude or Arachne&Weaver, but he makes it tremendously harder to score.
>If Arachne and Weaver are not in the same team, the match cannot progress as long as they have the ball as they keep predicting each other's moves, and the match is entirely up to the two other players of each team.

Essentially, the weakest link in your team was Sawyer, Weaver and Arachne did have good coordination, but both Sarah and IR were absolute hell to bypass, and if either of them were in your team it would've probably shifted the balance massively.

>>6028344
>Sarah can block nearly anything apart from IR's shot.
Yeah see that's the thing, even if Sarah has the magic helping her, Weaver and Arachne's coordination would allow them to do some crazy-ass goals since they can basically tell what the other is going to plan to do.

I'm not complaining much since it's just a game, but i think you put a little too much focus on the magic itself rather than the physics of soccer.

>>6028290
+1

>>6028278
OP I love this mental image of middle-aged main characters coming together to play soccer. Reminds me of Trainspotting

>>6028354
I think that's fair, i'm not too knowledgeable on soccer (unless you count playing inazuma eleven) and there's an argument to be made about how the coordination could've won them the match. If anything I think that in a rematch Weaver would win because he'd be more prepared, and it's true that it might have been a closer call than I first considered.

>>6028274
>You tell her you can think of something funnier, and she narrows her eyes at you. She probably already knows.
>You disrupt the strap of her swimsuit's bra, and it...doesn't work. She looks at you smugly.
>"P-Predictable, no wonder you l-lost that match."
Prick. Glad we one-upped her. Or tried.
>>6028344
I kinda like how you planned those dynamics, but yeah, IR is kinda broken I feel.
Speaking of, is he still banging God?
>>6028290
Let's go with that.

>>6028274
HAGsy

>>6028278
>Spend more time with Etsy
>Focus on one of your kids (Ana)

>>6028278
>>6028289
+1

>>6029556
>>6029543
>>6028446
>>6028363
>>6028290
>>6028289

Turns out, the chemistry school Ana chose is not super close, and she'll need to move out too. You scout out multiple places that's big enough to host a lab and that are close enough to the school she wants. Weirdly enough, she insists on getting a house with two bedrooms, but refuses to tell you why. At first, you were worried it was going to be something weird like keeping someone locked in another room, but pressing her about it, it was something a lot more innocent.

"Fine! I just- I just want my friend to live with me, that's all. I'm not gay! She just- she just doesn't have anywhere to live anymore, and she's been working with me for a while, and she's useful, and-"

You tell her it's nice she's helping a friend in need, and that there's no reason to assume anything from that.

Okay, if it wasn't for this emotion reading thing you might assume there's something more going on, but you wouldn't actually care either way. Having someone she cares about can only be good, and her friend might keep her in check when you aren't around.

"This one!" She nods to herself. "Two bedrooms, big kitchen, biiig basement for the lab, and a garden! It's not as big as yours, but it's not like I'm going to have kids."

You ask her why not.

"I'm NOT getting kids, dad! Besides, I'd need a boyfriend for that, and all guys I met are assholes."

You clear your throat.

"I'M NOT INTO GIRLS, DAD!"

You didn't say anything.

"Just because I only have ONE friend, and she's a girl, and I want to live with her, doesn't mean I want to fuck her!"

You're still not saying anything.

"Besides, I don't even think she likes girls, I think? I never asked... n-not that it would change anything!"

The funniest part about all of this is you know she's telling the truth, she doesn't seem to actually be into her friend, but she's so insecure that she can't help but try to justify her actions.

You can't resist the urge of teasing her further, and you tell her that you like her the way she is.

"I hate you, dad," she says in a calmer tone than you expected. "But huh, thanks for paying for the house. I'll pay it back when I make money, I swear."

You tell her she doesn't have to, you don't even know what to spend your money on most of the time.

"No! Mikhail and Sophia are paying stuff on their own, so I will too! It's my responsibility, okay!"

Sure, that sounds about right.

"...you'll come visit, right dad?"

You say you will, and a faint smile form on her face. Despite everything, she still loves you, and you still love her, you just hope she'll do alright without you and Etsy around.

>>6030422

Helping Ana moving out is easy, setting up the lab is a little harder, but Etsy did most of the work. It only takes a month, and another child is gone. You check each room, and it feels weird. Sophia's room is full of notes with terrible handwriting among screens and handheld consoles. Mikhail's room has pictures of him and his friend, with plushies that his girlfriend bought for him, and Ana's room has nearly nothing as she wanted to get everything from her room to her new place.

And Aleksander is just there, soon to follow. He looks back at you from his drawing, confused, and you just give him a thumbs up. You go to Etsy's workshop, and you find her tinkering with K.I.S.A.

"F-Feels empty, huh?"

You nod. Ana was the most...controversial kid you had, but it did make things livelier. You wouldn't say she turned out wrong too, it would be like saying Etsy turned out wrong just because she wasn't at her best when you met her.

"H-Hey, do you think they'll b-be alright?" Etsy asks. It's unlike her to actually worry about the kids like that. Sure, she still helped them with their troubles sometimes, but she always had a more 'they'll figure it out' approach to it all.

You tell her they're all pretty mature in their own way, and that you can still check in on them as adults if you need to.

"I-I guess you're right, I hope so a-anyway," she tightens a bolt on K.I.S.A and throws the wrench away. "D-Done! Wanna watch anime?"

You ask her if it's the kind where she'll complain about how the plot doesn't make sense for 2 hours.

"C-Come on, I don't do it that often! B-But yes, it's that kind. I-It's fun when it's with you."

The anime watching goes on with less snarky remarks from her as usual, and you notice that she's shifting uncomfortably in the couch as she chews on the chips you brought.

"H-hey, we're getting old, aren't we?"

You nod. Not that old, but old enough that you feel like you wouldn't consider yourself a kid anymore, something you thought would never leave you.

>>6030424

"W-What will happen when we're old, old. When we're g-getting senile, or, what if one of u-us dies before the other? I just- I've been t-thinking of that a lot."

That's...not something you WANT to think about, but it's not a stupid thing to worry about. You're at the very least halfway there, and you can tell your body is already not quite as fit as it used to be. You're... going to die, one day, and it's not going to be from the agency, or from the game, or anything, but probably from something like slipping down the stairs or some random disease as the rest of your body finally breaks down.

"C-Can I be honest with you? If- If you died b-before me, and I wasn't s-super okay in the h-head, I don't know what I'll do. I-It scares me. S-So, I know it's a lot to ask but... c-can we have a synchronized death switch? I-If one dies, the other does too, and-"

You tell her you can't agree to something that might kill her, what if you die protecting her or something? Sure, your enemies are fewer now, but-

"T-Think about me! M-Me! I-I don't want to l-live without you! A-And the idea of you d-dying when I die too b-bothers me, but i-it can be one way if you want. P-Please, just don't... I just don't..."

The mood turns somber. You don't like the idea, but it's because you don't like the idea of Etsy's death falling on you. At the same time, it's what she wants, isn't it? Is it really fair to deny her that because of your own desire?

But if you die early because of some car accident or something, would that really be fair? Depriving your kids from both of their parents at once?

>Agree, but the dead switch can only trigger once you're both old enough that you can confidently say you've lived a full life.
>Disagree, if one of you die, they'll have to keep on living despite the other's loss. It will hurt, but that's life.
>Agree, but only one way, you'll die if she does, but she won't die if you do.
>Agree, but only one way, you won't die if she does, but she'll die if you do.
>Fully agree, even if it means an early death for the two of you.
>Write in.

>>6030426
Well, that's a good question. On one hand, I feel like the idea isn't really nice, obviously, if one of us dies, that's life.

At the same time, I'm a bit worried Etsy would end up pulling out Last Resort if we ended up dying.

This is a very tough question, but it makes sense. It reminds me a lot of the Mortal Engines series and how it ends for the main character couple

>>6030428
Hmm, what'd she pull Last Resort for?
>>6030426
>Write in
Depriving our kids of both parents at once isn't very fair to them. Rather than death switches at the very early age of 48, can't we simply start working on some automated rescue & first aid solutions?

>>6030426
>Disagree, if one of you die, they'll have to keep on living despite the other's loss. It will hurt, but that's life.
the first one is tempting, but tbf I don't feel like picking it

>>6030578
It's not particularly nice, but I don't feel good about having her die if we do but not having it happen to us. We literally know the afterlife exists anyway and are on a first name basis with Leah. I don't think she'd be mad about it?

>>6030586
We could bring this up, couldn't we?

>>6030583
We could do this too. We have the technology.

>>6030587
>We could bring this up, couldn't we?
Well yes but Etsy would just say that's even more of a reason why she'd want it to happen.

>>6030589
Ugh, fine

>>6030426
>Disagree, if one of you die, they'll have to keep on living despite the other's loss. It will hurt, but that's life.
There's still going to be the kids after all. Our lives aren't simply our own or each other's anymore. She better not take the wrong idea from this, she's in her mid 40s for fuck's sake

>>6030426
>Agree, but the dead switch can only trigger once you're both old enough that you can confidently say you've lived a full life.
Sounds cool.

>>6030961
>>6030951
>>6030584
>>6030583

You disagree, this isn't just about the two of you anymore, you have kids, is it really fair to make them lose both of their parents in one go because of your selfish desire? Losing the other is going to be hard, it really will be, and you might even regret making that decision when that day happen, but that's life, and you have to go on despite all of it.

"Y-You don't get it! I-"

'I get it', you almost shout. The idea of losing her hurts, and it frankly hurts even more that she would assume you're making this decision because you wouldn't miss her as much as she did you.

"But I'm n-not- I'm not as strong as you!" She sobs. "I care a-about the kids too, b-but, they're adults, they can live w-without us, now, s-so"

You tell her she's an adult now, and that means she should also be able to live without you by that logic.

"I-It's not the same, it's just..." She takes a deep breath. "W-When I lost contact with you on the radio, when you were f-fighting that sword girl. I-I almost did it, I almost used L-Last Resort. I was scared to j-just find you... dead when I finally got c-contact back. D-Deploying it like this...p-probably would've caused collateral. I-I hate it, it reminded me of how w-weak willed I was, a-almost threw everything away in a panic."

You hold her close, she keeps crying.

"I-I don't trust myself, I just d-don't. I thought I b-became better, I thought I grew, but maybe I'm s-still the same scared girl I was back t-then."

You tell her that even if she doesn't trust herself, you trust her, and if she trusts you, then she has no choice but to trust herself in the process.

"Y-You shouldn't trust me then."

You ask her if that means she doesn't trust you, then.

"I-I do! I just-"

Then that means she has to trust herself, it's that simple.

"...I'll try. T-That's all I can do. I'm- I'm s-sorry for being like this."

No one's perfect, and death is a normal thing to worry about. Besides, you still have a good amount of years before you, so you might as well make as many memories as you can while you have the time. She holds on to you as if you were going to slip away at any moment, and you gently wipe the tears off her face.

She raises her ring. "T-Together,"

'Unstoppable' you answer.

>>6031246

The rest of the year is a little bit awkward. You know your answer still bothers Etsy, but it seems she's coming to terms with both of your mortality.

Sophia had her kid, a boy. The birth happened prematurely apparently, which meant you couldn't show up in time to be here for her, but her boyfriend was here so she wasn't exactly alone. Despite the early birth, the kid seems pretty healthy, and it looks like Sophia has to shift her habits now that she needs to take care of a child.

Aleksander's finishing another year of high school. One more year before he's gone, and after that... life will continue, you suppose. A little slower than usual, but maybe that's not a bad thing.

Mikhail is planning to marry his girlfriend in the following year, and Ana looks like she's making it alright.

Soon, it'll just be the two of you, and you'll have to think of something else than your kids for once.
---
Final Year.
---

(As a final year, the picked action will set a path for the rest of your life for the final epilogue. Two of them can be picked.)

>Make enough profit to guarentee your kids will never have to worry about money ever again.
>Focus on the study of magic, just because the game is over does not mean no knowledge can be gained.
>Explore the world with Etsy, there's still so much to discover and you want to see as much as you can.
>Help Etsy in her technological endeavours. Her knowledge can easily shape the future of humanity.
>Focus on enhancing your combat abilities, you never know when something might go wrong.
>Write in.

(When I mean 'Final Year' I don't mean that you'll die this year, of course. Also your kids will automatically be focused on no matter your two choices, which is why I didn't put it in, since it felt like a pretty no-brainer choice, so you don't need to put it as a write in.)

Well, that's a hard question...we definitely don't want our kids to be trust fund babies. I think exploring the world with Etsy would be cool, but we need something else. Any ideas?

>>6031247
>Final Year.
Oh.
Tough cookie.
>>6031283
Let's not go full combat. I don't want our legacy to be weapons galore.
For the study of magic, I'm pretty sure whether we pick it or not, Ana will handle it herself.
The question now is if we wanna go full selfish with Etsy by exploring the world, or if we intend to leave something for the future (her technology) even if it may not be used correctly.
Alternatively, we have the technology, we could build a moon base. Explore the world, then explore space? Inb4 we crash on Leah's lawn

>>6031320
I don't know...i guess the technology is nice, but i honestly just want to enjoy the rest of our life with Etsy, even if it's a little selfish.

>>6031247
>Focus on the study of magic, just because the game is over does not mean no knowledge can be gained.
>Explore the world with Etsy, there's still so much to discover and you want to see as much as you can.

I'll miss them

>>6031390
Me too

>>6031247
>Explore the world with Etsy, there's still so much to discover and you want to see as much as you can.
>Focus on the study of magic, just because the game is over does not mean no knowledge can be gained
Good quest OP. It was a fun ride for your first quest

>>6031396
And thank you for whoever sticked with it this far! I've finished the doodle I wanted, so I might make the update in let's say... 6 hours, let's say 8 hours for good measure, then I'll lock in votes.

>>6031445
Damn, night bird, aintcha.
Sad I couldn't convince peple to go to space, but I'll be fine with magic, I guess.
Looks like lil' Ana will have to share the fame of her discoveries with us.

Is it too late to say I'd rather vote for technology? I'm >>6031324

>>6031396
>>6031387

You get the results by mail, paper. Quite strange in this day and age, but Aleksander insisted that he wanted it that way, it felt more authentic to him.

You cautiously open the letter, and the result you feared is written right here.

He passed.

Deep down, you wanted him to stay here a little longer, a selfish thought, of course, but it can be hard to control how you feel. Aleksander is rightfully happy with the results, and you see him smile for the first time in what feels like years. He's free, he no longer has to worry about grades, or doing classes he doesn't like, or performing the social game of classmates, none of that.

He doesn't even have to wait for employment, as Sophia was already commissioning him for some of her game's art, which has been received very positively. He'll soon have his very own source of income, and that means he'll get to live on his own like the rest.

It took a year for him to find a place he liked, and he admits that he enjoys the peace and quiet of being alone more than he enjoys being with family. You know he doesn't mean anything by it, that's just the kind of person he is, and he sometimes updates you on how he's doing so you don't get worried.

The house feels so empty, but Etsy is still here, and your sexual life did become more interesting now that you could both be as shameless as you wanted in your home. Even so, sex isn't all there is to life, and it felt like you were both running out of things to do, or to talk about, which was scary at first.

And so, you decided, you'll explore the world with her. You have the money, and K.I.S.A can take care of the more work intensive parts of travelling like carrying supplies and baggage. Etsy agrees, perhaps because she got tired of the same old house you were living in anyway.

You visited places like tourists at first, taking photos of monuments from all around the world and soaking in the culture, but then you'd get more deeper. You got interested in the magical side of each country, sometimes you'd even go as far as hunting problematic magic users, even if K.I.S.A did most of the work. You'd dig into forbidden places and libraries, checking info you never should, and saw how little you truly knew, and how much E.N.D hid from the public.

With your abilities to notice patterns better than anyone else, you were also capable of organizing and making discoveries no one else had, some that Etsy was even capable of incorporating in her designs. The line between technology and magic was slowly being blurred.

You still came back to check up on your kids, and they're all doing well. Mikhail is a very popular teacher, and is well liked by pretty much everyone. He had a few kids and lived a simple life, but his students still regard him as someone extraordinary.

>>6031822

Sophia follows a similar path. She had to spend a lot of time taking care of her kid at first, but her husband would make sure she would get enough time to rest herself by working just as hard. Her games stayed relatively niche for a time, but Aleksander's art severely boosted her game's popularity, and she even had multiple offers from big name publishers to buy the rights to her games. Of course, she refused, as she did not need the money, and she even took it upon herself to make her own publishing company where she could support games she felt had potential.

Aleksander's life was quiet, but he liked it that way. He would work with Sophia but asked to stay anonymous, as he wanted to stay away from any and all drama that his art could possibly create. He stayed away from social media, and the internet in general, making him forgotten by most people surrounding him. Somehow, he found love in a library with a girl that was just as quiet. He paints and she writes, neither of them speak very often, but that was exactly the reason they gravitated towards each other, as they could both understand each other while speaking very little.

Ana's life was more tumultuous than her siblings. With a history of emotional breakdown and hissy fit, it made most people despise working with her. However, the result she brought couldn't be argued with. She had a few hookups, but never found true love, and maybe it wasn't for her. She kept her research going to an almost unhealthy degree, some discoveries being so dangerous that you suspect Leah herself had to intervene. Normally, a lot of what she did would've caused her to be abducted by another agency, but Last Resort was still there, and it still scared everyone enough that your family was off limit for anyone that would seek to harm them. Even so, Ana's life was not as lonely as it would seem as first glance, as she still kept the friend from her childhood, and while not romantic, it was just as if not more valuable to her.

Yes, everything was going well, until too much time passed, and Etsy died.

You knew it was coming, she was always less fit than you were, and seeing her slowly wither away was devastating. You tried everything you could, but she was 95, older than most, and you could tell her mind was starting to deteriorate at this point.

You didn't even cry, you just stood there staring at the roof, in your bed, alone more than ever. But maybe you were happy that she didn't have to see you die first, maybe it was a mercy, in a way. You hated it, but you lived on, because that's what you promised. 5 years later, you followed, with a heart attack.

>>6031823

Arachne and Schadenfreude were both unaging for somewhat different reasons. Arachne was given a body crafted by divine hands, and as such she was able to be what one would call 'spirits'. Beings that attained immortality via magic or other means. Schadenfreude was not so lucky, and caused untold rampage when her husband perished from old age. But still, she lived on, and she managed to gain some semblance of sanity after enough time.

Sawyer died after raising a kid of her own. Despite all her knowledge and power, she only ever used it to make sure she and her family would live a happy life. Just like you, she died in a rather mundane fashion, but unlike you, she knew when and how it would come, which made the ordeal rather stressful.

The Arthis student of the demon went on to spread her teachings around the world. Arachne would occasionally travel with it as an homage to the queen's memories. The Arthis was also unaging, having modified its soul enough that it could be considered another beast entirely, and in the far future, history was distorted to make the Arthis society sound more advanced and intelligent than it truly was. This Arthis was an outlier among outliers, but even so, it still misses its brethern.

K.I.S.A, with a complete lack of directives, went on to protect all your family members through the ages. However, with enough time, the machine developed a soul, and started searching for purpose. It became, as its name implied, a knight in shining armor, protecting the weak and fending off the strong.

Last Resort, one day, activated. No one knew why, perhaps a part of Mona's greed was still somehow in an unchecked circuit, perhaps all the years it spent in the factory unused made it grow impatient, or perhaps someone activated it remotely.

All that anyone knows, is that one day, it woke up, moved to the ocean, and absorbed the sunken teeth, only to not be seen again for a hundred year. Every time it woke up, it would present an open challenge, any nation that was willing to fight it could, and if they won, it would share parts of its knowledge.

To this day, only a single country has managed to win a fight against it with the help of a powerful magic user and divine intervention, and it was still not enough to destroy it. Last Resort is now known as an absurd artifact of unknown origins. A natural disaster that cannot be reasoned with, and a reminder to humanity that as long as it exists, they will never truly be safe.

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>>6031826

"Anyway," Leah closes a book that's way too small for what's supposed to contain the entirety of history. "That about wraps it up, I believed."

"W-Wait, that's it?" Etsy protests. "T-That can't be it, right?"

Leah shrugs. "I'm not telling you the entire future, that will take literal eternity. I'm only keeping you two here because I need to figure out a way to stop your stupid pet project, okay?"

You tell her that you're surprised she can't just delete it since she's god and all.

"Yeah, I maybe could've done that before, but that thing just keeps improving and I'd rather not accidentally go overboard and kill everyone on accident, sounds kinda counterproductive. Fuck meeeee."

"I-I mean, it's only attacking countries that a-agreed to it, so..."

"Yes, I'm sure all the civilians are okay with being fuckin' blown up too, be thankful that there isn't a karma system here or you'd be in the deepest pits of hell. Okay I wouldn't do that cause I owe you and it's not like you intended for it to go this horribly wrong, but holy shit.."

You tell her you're kind of tired of dealing with world ending threats right now and you'd like it if you could take a break.

"Yeah, i'm tired too anyway. I hate this joooob, I thought being god would mean doing whatever you want but it's just dealing with bullshiiiit." She spawns a flatscreen TV and starts to zap through channels rapidly, until she stops on a channel that has you on it. "Eeeeh, sure, why not?"

You ask her why you're on TV.

"There's a few timeline that are super close to ours, and even though I can't exactly affect them, I can see what's going on in them. I think that's uh... you before you got your powers, I think, some things look different though. I just do it for fun, wanna join?"

You tell her you're not super comfortable with her spying on your past like this.

"I see people jacking off to their sibling a million times a day, your worst embarassing moments are the tamest shit to me my man."

"I-I kind of want to see too..." Etsy looks at you with puppy eyes.

Fuck, fine whatever, you're pretty sure another version of you would take the exact same choices anyway, right?

>>6031770
Also sorry I probably should've said when I started locking the votes. But if you're wondering about the difference, it would've impacted Last Resort's effect as most countries are now more technologically advanced, and K.I.S.A's path would have also been slightly different.

It's a little late for me, so I'll come back to this later, but if you want to ask questions I'll answer most of them. I also have some thoughts I wanted to share but again, I'll get back to that later, maybe in the morning.

>>6031834
You're cool

>>6031828
Well, thanks for the ride, Curse. It's been great. It did kinda go off the rails, but i liked playing Family with Etsy. It's a shame Ana continued to be a bit turbulent, but i guess she wasn't unhappy.

>>6031834
Question..that's a hard one. I guess i'd have to ask, what would have happened had people other than Leah took the 'throne'?

>>6031834
Also, just for curiosity, any particularly interesting stuff that *could* have happened with our children had we taken other options? Did you always plan for it to be the 4, or could we have actually accomplished the 'Football Team' plan?

>>6031828
nice, thanks for running OP.
>>6031834
what would the infinite bucks and combat focus do exactly ?

>>6031862
Yeah, it did go longer than I intended, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny little burnt out on it. Not that I'm burnt out on the setting, i'm just not great with relatively plotless family drama like this. I'm still glad I wrote it, and a lot of it made me discover stuff about my writing I wouldn't have otherwise, and I wouldn't be against doing something similar again, although I'd absolutely structure it differently. The 'choose on which kid to focus this year' wasn't *super* consequential apart from a few outliers, and I admittedly used it a lot to pace my own writing along with choosing which kid people wanted to see more of. Not saying focusing on kids had no impact, but it didn't always have big ones.

For the god question, there were I believe 5 main contenders. Sawyer, you, Schadenfreude, Dusk, and Mona.

Sawyer was unlikely to happen, but it would've given people a form of precognition when dreaming, which would've had pretty bad results as people kept only following the 'perfect' paths laid out to them in their dreams instead of doing interesting mistakes. Divine decrees are actually less for the betterment of mankind and more a way for gods to cement their control over the world, imagine it like marking your territory so other gods can't interfere with it.

Weaver...depends, of course, Schad would actually have the worst shift in that it would make injuries non harmful and death nearly impossible. Not sure how I would've written that one, but culture would've changed massively as a result.

Dusk is a weird case, because Dusk the blade is not really a character and more of a living weapon people can use when they meet its criterias. However, dusk's ability is not actually shadows, that was the previous owner's own brand of magic, and the sword got taken away from his corpse by the swordswoman. If he rose up, It would've made nights much darker and longer, it wouldn't have actually been that different and overall a pretty tame change compared to more supernatural stuff, and there are arguments to be made about him being the least bad one to reach the top.

Mona rising to the top isn't great, unlike most gods she'd be more hands on and would mingle with mortals more often to assert dominance, and of course, absolutely humiliate whoever stood in her way. Her decree would've increased people's general greed which would've caused more war and devastation. At this point, the plot would've probably required you to use Last Resort to kill god and for you to speedrun max magic to stand a chance to set things right, some kids might have even died.

There are also some other outliers, but I don't see someone like say, Sarah make it to the top without you actively encouraging her to do so.

>>6031899
>Yeah, it did go longer than I intended, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tiny little burnt out on it
That's fair. Slice of Life family raising simulator is a lot different from "Spooky Mystery Magic Battle Royale", but I feel like it was a pretty logical next step. People wanted to get a happy ending with Etsy, and obviously, risking our lives in a battle royale wasn't that.

>The 'choose on which kid to focus this year' wasn't *super* consequential apart from a few outliers, and I admittedly used it a lot to pace my own writing along with choosing which kid people wanted to see more of.
That's fair, though a few times it did feel a little bit weird with how it felt like we were neglecting the kids (like how Ana's whole turbulent personality came to be because we didn't focus on her enough)

If you ever come back to this setting (maybe make another quest first though? I'd like to see your take on other stuff since you've been pretty good in this quest), you should probably remember that most anons aren't going to want to risk death when they have the choice to retire with their waifu and have a bunch of children.

>>6031866
As for the kids, it's complicated. Originally, Sophia was 'the' kid. I didn't plan for her to be a gamer, but most of her personality and struggles were mostly planned. Anything after that was mostly winging it, and trying to explore different parts of growing up. I think my favorite scene is still the short one from Mikhail's POV where they all interact, makes them feel more like a family. Football team was out of the question and for a simple reason, too much drawing effort, I've gotten a little lazy drawing wise near the end, i'll admit.

As for differences, the main ones differed, with the most drastic ones being Ana and Sophia.

Mikhail could've not ended up with his girl and ended up as incredibly popular with women, but never finding 'the one' if you didn't have this conversation with him. Sophia could've ended with her childhood crush, but she could've also ended up with a very mediocre gaming carreer and get very depressed about not being good at anything if you didn't support her.

Ana could've, and I hate to say it, turned out a little incestuous. I think it needs to be said Ana's love for her brother wasn't really sexual, however she would perceive it as if the only thing other girls could offer him that she couldn't was sexual gratification, and her twisted mind would eventually come to this fucked up conclusion. There would be a LOT of red flags before it comes to this point, and of course Mikhail would be absolutely not okay with it and a massive rift would start to form between the two of them, and at that point her descent into madness is inevitable. Is a better ending for her possible than what she has right now? Possibly if you focused on her more at certain points in her life she maybe could've found someone she was into romantically, but I think the friendship she has is just as good.

Aleksander gets focused on less, but I think he could've spiraled into depression or ended up as a porn artist to pay the bills in a bad case scenario. I'd say this is one of the best ending he can get, easy job and despite failing a year (which was nearly inevitable) his life was pretty good.

>>6031895
Money would've made Ana use it to make a new megacorp that rivaled the others, and with all those resources most diseases and ageless immortality would be achieved in the far future. Combat would make you reach 'on the verge' status and you'd spar with the Arthis and impart some of what you learned to it. The Arthis would now be probably strong enough to help fend off Last Resort, albeit not strong enough to outright beat it. I think technology + combat focus would be enough to beat it though, but just barely.

>>6031906
Also yeah I'll try another quest first, maybe a one shot, maybe something longer, but I want something where the goal is very obvious so i can go "okay this happens, quests ends here".

I can't say I blame people for going for the obvious 'happy ending', I think it's just that I wasn't prepared to handle it. I could've just said 'lol you win' when you fled the country, but that didn't feel right? There were too many unresolved issues, the game was still going, ect.

I think setting it up to stop when it reached 18 years old for everyone was fine, but still felt like it dragged on a little at points. Again, I don't regret the way things turned out or anything, and if my goal was to originally explore the different facets of relationships, parenthood is definitely one way to do it. I wish I did more scenes like Mikhail's POV as I said before, as seeing him interact with his entire family was fun, but I've always been bad at handling multiple character conversations.

>>6031920
Well, It was definitely interesting to go through parenthood, even if it had some issues in how it was handled. I feel like the fact that most quests just never get to that point and usually only have children in the epilogue (if they do at all) also helped people to vote. I will admit I liked Mikhail quite a lot, being the happy joyful lad he was. Sophia was nice, but not very protagonist-like, and Ana was...Ana. Aleksander sadly wasn't as explored like you said.

All in all, I'd say it was a quest that explored stuff you don't see quite often. I liked having our happy life with Etsy.

>>6031920
>>6031911
>>6031899
I for one think this quest finishing at all is a miracle, given how few quests ever survive to any real conclusion without dying or being flaked on before then.

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>>6031924

I did get close to fluking multiple time, but I abandonned projects before, and I hated the idea of not finishing another one, I wanted to be able to finish something for once and be able to sleep at night.

I remember during the very first thread, I took into account the possibility of very few voters and made the original win condition of getting laid if I only had a few voters. It's also why back then the time clock was more pronounced, it was literally the timer of the quest in a way. Of course, I did have more plans than that if it did work out, but I had a simple one shot true and done idea in the back of my mind too.

Also, I found some oooold 'concept art' of Etsy. I think in that art Etsy wasn't always supposed to be a super genius, but she was supposed to be this slightly weird neighbour. However, I'd say she was supposed to be more confident, but still pretty socially inept. While I'd say I've improved in some parts of my art, there's still parts of my old art I prefer, something about the rougher aesthetic gives stuff more personality in places. I think I'll try to refine that in my next quest.

Also as for Ana, she was a problem child, but even if you hard focused on her she would've still been pretty fucked (fun fact focusing too much on Aleksander would've been bad too as he'd see it as you being overbearing).

Ana was almost always designed to be a problem child, where every child mostly respects you as you respect them, Ana was just inherently rebellious. I think the reason I wanted to do it is because I really wanted a 'you don't GET IT, dad!' but it's not something that really fit any of the kids much apart from maybe Sophia. She's also sort of a parallel to Etsy herself, and there's a few scenes I considered but never got to. Etsy was supposed to be more encouraging of Ana's antics saying that 'she did the same at her age' which weaver would disagree with, which would cause an argument. However while Etsy is a little more accepting of Ana's stuff, I'd say she matured enough to realize when her kid is going a little too far.

>>6032191
Well congratulations you finished something good.
>parts of my old art I prefer, something about the rougher aesthetic gives stuff more personality in places
I agree, but it's up to you to figure that out
>'she did the same at her age' which weaver would disagree with, which would cause an argument.
Weaver's right
>matured enough to realize when her kid is going a little too far
I like this character development. This was a very nice first quest. Please be sure to archive it properly

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>>6032259
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Curse+Carrier

Aaaand archived! I'll still be here to answer questions and whatever, although I'll probably take a short break before starting the next quest, or I might not, starting something else feels exciting, and a little freeing, but also Curse Carrier felt like a part of my life for a few months so it feels sad to see it end, or at least this iteration of it. Time to treat myself to battery acid and figure out what to do next.

Also man, I kind of miss old Etsy's design. Very scrunkly, and it's weird to remember when the both of them were almost strangers to each other.

I'm going to miss having Etsy as a wife and this sort of thing.
Thank you for running QM!

It's been good life with Etsy. We may not have done everything we wanted, and one of our kids may not have turned out as well as we hoped, but in the end, we managed to get two lonely losers to create a happy family and have a long life together. Not many other quests can claim that.

I'll be waiting to see what your next quest will be about.

>>6031834
Wew lad, that was great.
Thanks for the whole stuff.
>>6031911
>Ana could've, and I hate to say it, turned out a little incestuous.
Hey, it was your idea in the end :^)
But honestly, I'm glad of the path our kids took.
>>6032331
I'll be honest, man, that quest began before a big (bad) change in my life, and reading it, our struggles, and our successes kinda helped me push through the worst part of mine. So glad you stuck to it. And I still think it's pretty good, so take pride in it, will you?
Looking forward to the next one.

>>6033448
I'm glad it helped, and it's true I shouldn't put down what I make too much. I think sometimes I like to treat my drawings and what I create like kids. Sometimes your kids don't turn out how you want them to be, or they aren't as good as you wished they were, but they're here and once posted they're living a life of their own now, having their own impact outside your control. I think Curse Carrier Etsy edition did have a good life, and I'm proud of it in the same way a parent is proud of their child.

As for the bad change in your life, I can't pretend I know what your life is like, but I know how hard it can be to recover from near rock bottom, so I'm happy I could help in whatever small ways I could.

>>6033655
Thank you for running.