• The site has now migrated to Xenforo 2. If you see any issues with the forum operation, please post them in the feedback thread.
  • An addendum to Rule 3 regarding fan-translated works of things such as Web Novels has been made. Please see here for details.
  • Due to issues with external spam filters, QQ is currently unable to send any mail to Microsoft E-mail addresses. This includes any account at live.com, hotmail.com or msn.com. Signing up to the forum with one of these addresses will result in your verification E-mail never arriving. For best results, please use a different E-mail provider for your QQ address.
  • For prospective new members, a word of warning: don't use common names like Dennis, Simon, or Kenny if you decide to create an account. Spammers have used them all before you and gotten those names flagged in the anti-spam databases. Your account registration will be rejected because of it.
  • Since it has happened MULTIPLE times now, I want to be very clear about this. You do not get to abandon an account and create a new one. You do not get to pass an account to someone else and create a new one. If you do so anyway, you will be banned for creating sockpuppets.
  • Due to the actions of particularly persistent spammers and trolls, we will be banning disposable email addresses from today onward.
  • The rules regarding NSFW links have been updated. See here for details.
DXD: Her Heart (1) New
Asia was lost.

She was meant to head to the church here to meet with the Fallen Angels, but she could barely read the language, and no one she had asked for directions spoke Italian. She must have missed the guide that was supposed to lead her there; she prayed they weren't held up somewhere waiting for her since she left the airport over an hour ago.

Growl


Oh! She hadn't eaten either since the day before; the pangs were much more manageable then…

[Comfort]


The nun stopped clutching her aching stomach and stood a little straighter; she was truly blessed to have her guardian angel follow her. Maybe they could guide her to the church?

[…Direction]

It took a few minutes of waiting and a short time where she felt her angel's presence leave pleasecomeback,whatdididowrong? – but thankfully they were back, and soon she felt them like a cool breeze at her back, guiding her down the road while she tugged her suitcase along.

She of course didn't recognize where she was as she walked, but all her faith was in the guidance of God's angel, so things would be alright!

In her haste, she nearly tripped over a chipped part of the sidewalk, but for a split second-

[!]
-she felt herself grow a little lighter, just enough to only stumble for a step or two instead of fall and spill her belongings everywhere. She wouldn't want to be a bother to other pedestrians, after all!

"Thank you, Lev." Asia whispered under her breath before continuing on her way.

Mere seconds later, a recently reincarnated devil—Issei Hyoudou—walked past that spot home, none the wiser.



Asia was still lost. She was less lost than before, but Lev had fallen silent, as they sometimes did, so she could not rely on her guardian angel's guidance to the church; she wasn't one to presume, but this was most likely another trial from God.

Growl

…If only she could get to the church, she was sure there would be some charity for her. Maybe some bread? She was trying, but she was really hungry.

Maybe she should try asking for directions again?



The Lord had answered her prayers and sent her help; a trio of young men came across her, and though her failure to learn their language enough to speak it before being assigned her stung, she was still able to get her point across!

Now they were leading her to the church; she was sure of it.

"Hey, Suzuki-san… Are you sure about this? I mean, won't someone miss some foreign girl?" The tallest young man with a rather peculiar black jacket whispered to a shorter older man in a thin white shirt.

"Oi, don't tell me you caught feelings for her so quick, Taiga-kun? It's no skin of our back, I'm telling you; we take her back to Akihiko, maybe cop a feel or two, and we get paid!" Said man laughed, and Asia smiled a little more; seeing people happy was a good thing.

"Heh. D'you see the tits on this one? I might do more than cop a feel, eh Akihiko?" The last man, who seemed to be around the same age as the second, said while looking at Asia with a... strange look.

Eventually, the four of them began to cut through a few alleys, crossing certain places that gave her the slightest feeling of unease.

It was getting dark; she hoped the church would still be open to receive her... But she also hoped she didn't cause them to stay up late waiting...

By the time the group stopped walking, the sun was just setting, Asia's stomach was rebelling against her, and they were once again in an alley.

This time, they were crowded around a sloped door; Asia knew that these kinds of doors lead to basements because she had seen more than her fair share of them attached to a few of the church buildings at the Vatican.

…She was sure that the church wasn't in this district at all. Maybe… Maybe she didn't communicate well enough? Maybe they thought she needed a place to stay—she did, so they weren't even wrong—so out of God's kindness in their hearts they had offered?

But... Why was she feeling uneasy?

Well, she had nothing to fear, right? God was with her, and her guardian angel as well. So, she took a deep breath, ignored the pang of hunger that caused, and shuffled a bit closer to the trio, who were whispering between themselves while looking back at her and the door at intervals.

"So, here's the plan, alright? I've already called Akihiko, and he's got some friends waiting on the other side of the door. We just get her in, lock it, and we're done, alright?

She can't speak a lick of our language either, so no looking nervous because it'll make her nervous. I'm talking about you, Taiga-kun."

"Y-Yeah, sorry Suzuki-san."

The taller of the two older men broke off from their conversation and approached her, smiling and waving. Reflexively, she waved back, sure that they were finally getting somewhere.

He turned around behind her and patted her on the shoulder, pointing towards the door, which the other two had apparently unlocked while her focus was on him.

The door was slow to open and a bit dark since she couldn't see the insides. But she shouldn't shirk someone's hospitality just because of looks; that's vain.

So why did she feel so bad about the door?

She… She couldn't do this. She looked around at the nice men trying to help her and didn't feel good feelings in her empty gut. Asia began to tear up a bit, biting her lip to stifle a sniffle, not understanding the words of alarm but their intent. Great, now she was worrying them too!

"Shit! Taiga?!"

"It wasn't me, Suzuki-san, I swear!"

"Well don't just stand here, waiting for her to start making noise; let's go!"
Said the man who was behind her with a steady grip on her shoulder.

Suddenly, she was pushed along, arms grabbing at her none-too-gently as the three men tried to nearly lift her down into the space beyond those sloped doors.

She didn't want to go in there.

Asia Argento felt fear and started to struggle.

Asia Argento felt those hands on her turn angry and forceful, ripping off her veil and bible.

She frantically yelled for help. It wasn't a prayer to God; it was a plea to anything. Anyone.

Levhelp

"Someone shut this bitch up!"

Asia Argento cried out in pain.

The alleyway exploded with light.
 
Cataclysm: Open Eyes in Nuclear Fire (1) New
A sensation of falling. Of emptiness. Of failure.

You have died.

Anger, disgust, fear, panic, pain all drain into apathy; this has happened before.

The World is revolving.

Memory begins to be cut away, compiled somewhere, but something has changed.

[Trait: Self-Aware]

Memories stutter.

You are.

[Error]


You're not meant to remember. You know this. You don't know how you know this.

The World notices.

[Error]

The World becomes insistent; the wheel must keep spinning. You cannot choose as you are.

[Error]

You remember you are something else. Somewhere else. You have escaped similar entities before. You know what to do.

You cut.

[ERR-
Resolving…]


You… forget. It hurts.

You hope whoever you were, whoever you will be, is worth this pain.

[SCENARIO START: "The World burned in Nuclear Fire"]




"So can you do it? I know it's a lot to ask, but you're one of those Vault people, right? The world's gone to crap out here and I never thought I'd see anyone from the inside. I dunno the kind of stuff you all can do down there, but maybe we can work something out?

What I'm saying is, you help me and my friends out, and we'll owe you some stuff. Hell, we'd throw in some caps too." The woman bundled up in a lab coat, dress shirt and pants pleaded.

You don't want to come across as rude, and what she says seemed logical, but you'd rather settle some… things by yourself right now. You still agreed to her visible relief, before you headed down to the steps to the vault you had just walked out from, apparently. You didn't remember doing that, but some memories seemed to be right about it, and it seemed to be the logical conclusion as to how you were found wandering around near said vault, right?

Case in point;

ACTIVE MISSIONS


Refurbishments:
Refurbishments for Jessie 'Sleep' Stroud and co. Bring them 20 planks of wood.​


Jessie hadn't reacted when you brought the screen up, so at least there wasn't a visual indicator of whatever was happening to you. The screens and other assorted things felt so natural that you didn't question them. You asked Jessie a little question to see if she had any, but she was confused about it, so you let it be.

Your memories are sparse, but from what little you can remember, the vault's still functioning. Everyone's still alive and kicking, although you're not the most popular person down there; people treat you like you're barely there most of the time…

You think.

In any case, here you stand in front of the vault doors; something tells you they aren't supposed to be four heavy duty blast doors, but you ignore that thought and head over to the rugged console beside the door. The thing is more like a brick than a computer, but somehow the very moment your fingers touch the console's keys, they begin to dance over them lightly, opening and closing two screens before you even find out what they are.

[Passkey accepted. Gate 1 unlocked. Press any key…]

With a sigh of relief, you take a quick inventory of yourself before heading back in.

INVENTORY
Worn
  • Boxer shorts
  • Pair of socks
  • Vault 13 Jumpsuit
  • Pair of rubber boots
  • Vault dweller's knife (sheathed) (left)
  • Holster (left)
  • Backpack
  • Pip-Boy 3000 (left)

Guns
Colt 6250 (.40)

Magazines
Colt 6250 magazine

Ammo
10mm JHP (24)

Tools
Matchbook

Food
  • Clean water (plastic bottle)
  • Nuka Cola
  • Nuka Cola Quantum

…That's not much at all. What was your plan? To just walk out the vault and never look back?

Madness.

You pass through one of the two hydraulic doors deeper in, giving a wave to the two vault security guards on post behind the sandbag barricades on the sides, before you get through one more metal door into the vault proper.

Another thing that is in the corner of your mental vision is a real-time map that updates itself as you move along. Considering the fact that most of the vault is in darkness, you decide to use your previous reputation as a bland wall ornament to refamiliarize yourself with the place.



The first thing you realize, is that no one is pissed at you knocking lightly and entering a room; be it the barracks, the labs or the cafeteria, not much is barred to you as far as you can tell. Part of the etiquette for doing so is that you at least bother to close the door behind you, so you do just that.

The second thing you realize, is that you don't own jack. Even picking up a book from the small library to take a look at has a few people carefully eyeing you like you're about to take off and pocket it. The cafeteria doesn't serve you food even when you ask nicely, you're directed to the water tanks instead of being allowed to take a bottle of water, and you just keep being directed to the overseer when you ask why, when you're answered at all!

Your opinion of your supposed fellow vault dwellers has rapidly dropped over the hours. This becomes frustration and soon you decide to not care about their stupid laws; the CCTV system is dead as a doornail alongside quite a few other systems, which is why you think people are moving around a lot more. This all culminates in you deciding to take some things for yourself.

Your first target is one of the storage rooms connected to some room with some machinery and tanks here and there. There's a guard relaxing by a water heater, but apart from giving you a half-hearted wave at you while you walk in and say hi, she doesn't really do much before settling back in to doze next to the heat. The room has reinforced glass through which you spot two other dwellers in a similar room chatting. Although it limits your options due to sight lines, you only manage to swipe a bottle of Nuka Cola and some drugs out of a cabinet in the corner into the dimensional space inside your backpack before leaving as casually as possible, heart pounding in your chest.

After some minutes passed and no alarm is raised at your burglary, you become emboldened to steal a few more things before going to see the overseer. Depending on how the meeting goes, you might not want to come back here again as a dweller for a long while so it's best to stock up before leaving.

(+Nuka Cola, +Drugs)



This isn't normal. There is no way reading could just… do this.

[Read "Crafty Crafter's Quarterly"]
[…Fabrication Lv1!]
[Recipes memorized: makeshift stethoscope]
[Read "Under The Hood"]
[Recipes memorized: makeshift jack]
[…Mechanics Lv0-3!]
[Recipes memorized: telescopic cantilever, vehicle controls]
[Read "Popular Mechanics"]
[Recipes memorized: firearm repair kit]

The information slots into your head as easy as breathing, your fingers clenching as you imagine the exact steps you'd need to build, maintain, disassemble and repair all of the items you've just learned about. Even more amazing is the fact that you just know things now; you can look at the seams on the cabinet and now vaguely how they were put together.

By the time you're done it's been an hour and a half and the guard had to someone who had promptly taken up the previous one's spot; seems like the space beside the water heater was a really good post? The temperature was okay – Heat: Comfortable – in your opinion, but maybe it was a little chilly for them?

In any case, you decide to make the most of this; you can go see the Overseer any time before afternoon after all.



…You think your brain should feel bloated.
[Cooking Lv1]
  • [coconut milk]
[Cooking Lv2]
  • [hamburger helper]
  • [deep-fried/stewed tripe]
  • [grilled sweetbread]
  • [humble pie]
  • [mayonnaise]
  • [fruit jam]
[Cooking Lv3]
  • [chili con carne]
  • [fried liver]
  • [liver & onions]
  • [bread]
  • [fried brain]
  • [deviled kidney]
  • [leverpostej]
  • [vegetable/maple/fruit pie]
  • [cake]
  • [sloppy joes]
  • [smores]
  • [chocolate bar]
  • [cookie]
  • [fruit juice]
[Cooking Lv4]
  • [sashimi]
  • [lutefisk]
  • [spaghetti al pesto]
  • [fermenting sauerkraut jar]
  • [sauerkraut w/ sautéed onions]
[Survival Lv1]
  • [chamomile/dandelion/pine needle/lotus/spurge tea]
  • [chicory brew]
  • [copper axe]
  • [fried dandelions and burdocks]
[First Aid Lv1]
  • [antiseptic]
[First Aid Lv2]
  • [saline solution]
[Electronics Lv1]
  • [wide-angle/ car headlight]
  • [directed/ floodlight]
  • [water purifier]
[Electronics Lv2]
  • [soldering iron]
  • [voltmeter]
  • [power converter]
  • [signal receiver]
  • [heating element]
  • [amplifier/transponder circuit]
  • [wired sheet metal]
  • [battery charger]
[Electronics Lv3]
  • [micro/tiny/small electric motor]
  • [Very large/large/medium storage battery]
  • [medium/heavy battery]
  • [car/motorbike battery]
  • [bicycle alternator]
  • [coffee maker]
  • [hotplate]
  • [electric lighter]
  • [UPS conversion mod]
  • [battery compartment mod]
  • [reading light]
  • [electric lantern]
[Mechanics Lv3]
  • [makeshift automotive filter/drive belt/air filter]
[Tailoring Lv1]
  • [golden/gecko-skin gloves]
  • [fur/leather gloves/liners]
  • [cargo/boxer shorts]
  • [union suit]
  • [sun/dress]
[Tailoring Lv2]
  • [fingerless leather/fur gloves]
  • [work gloves]
  • [duffel bag]
  • [backpack]
  • [balaclava]
  • [cargo pants]
  • [electric blanket]
  • [compression shorts]
[Tailoring Lv3]
  • [fur/leather hot pants]
  • [denim shorts]
  • [jeans]
  • [tailor's kit]
  • [elegant dress]
  • [leather vest]

On top of that, you'd skimmed a little off the top of their food stores when running a little errand for one of the cooks to grab some cans since people saw you were 'idling about.' Stingy folk didn't even give you any food after your hard work so you were completely justified in taking some.

(+Nuka Colas, Colas, irradiated fruit, 2 CRAMS, 2 healing drinks)

You'd also used some of your new mechanics knowledge to appropriate some spare parts and batteries from one of the workshops. You weren't alone in there, so you couldn't grab much after turning the corner; luckily for you, the room was L-shaped and they were working with heavy tools in the other side.

Some clever deconstruction – seeing items just fall apart into distinct parts in your hands will never get old – let you also reclaim a few things that you don't think anyone would miss.

(+antenna, fur pelt, long string, rag, wire, batteries, flashlight, lighter, soldering iron and solder, sewing kit, steak knife)

Eventually, seeing that there was no way you were going to get much more time to yourself, you scoped out the side of the small library that no one was looking at and just straight up tossed a few books you hadn't finished reading yet in your backpack, filling up your Inventory space completely.

(+5 skill books)

The downside to all of this glorious progress was that two guards eventually practically frog-marched you to the one room you hadn't dared to enter casually; the Overseer's office.
The overseer – Edward 'Murmur' Hooks, Vault Overseer – was practically surrounded by a huge wooden desk, with servers and magreels strewn by the walls, files piling on his right and a relatively new looking console situated right behind him. Despite all this, the grey-haired tall man manages to look almost stately as he looks right in your eyes as he waves away the guards in the room, the ones who brought you here included. The only other person in here is another vault dweller typing away at a console beside the big desk; a secretary, maybe?

"You're back here, Lucky. I thought you wanted to leave the Vault?" He asks, and you tell him that you didn't mean that permanently.

This doesn't make the man happy, but he takes a visible deep breath, patting the holster of his Colt 6250 -the same kind of gun you have on you – like it was a pet. That cannot be healthy, you think.

"Well, what do you want, Lucky. I've already heard you've been scurrying around, doing some cramming from different books as if you're studying for a test, or looking for something. So just tell me what you want, and we can both get on with our days." He grits out, and you say the first thing that comes to mind.

He laughs. He laughs so hard that the secretary looks up from his work, startled, before sucking down to try and not be present at all.

"A task?! You want to do work, and all it took was you seeing the hellhole outside, huh?" He laughs, and he settles down, although there's a glint in his eyes that you aren't sure you like.

"You want a task so bad, here's one for you. You asked, so you don't get to walk away from this one."

"I need you to go out and retrieve something for me; something vital to the Vault's continued survival. I'll be blunt with you kid; we're running out of water since our old water chip finally died, and we lack any spares. Without that chip, we can't process water, and without water? We're all dead. I can't risk sending out a large party, so it's great that you can do it by yourself.

Now, listen carefully; we know other vaults should have spares, and we have some older, probably defunct vaults on our map. You'll have to go get one." He explains, and hands you a small map with a few faint Xs marked on it.

You ask him if he can spare something for you to do your job, but he barks out another laugh.

"Don't push your luck kid. Now get out of my office." He says, pointing at the door.

Well, that's just rude!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top