SYMBY ATSUME ALPHA (v0.2)

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<<set $symNumber to 2>> <<set $money to 0>> <<set $time to 1>> <<set $food to [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]>> <<set $yard to [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0]>> <<set $nC to [0, 0, 0]>> <<set $nM to [0, 0, 0]>> <<set $privacy to [0, 0, 0, 0, 0]>> <<set $privacyTime to [0, 0, 0, 0, 0]>> <<set $tutorial to 1>> <<set $days to 0>> <<set $showAnnouncement to 0>> <<set $yardDesc to random(1,14)>> <<set $camera to 1>> <<set $currSym to 0>> <<set $lastSym to 10>> <<set $symCaptured to 1000>> <<set $government to 0>> <<set $skip to 0>> <<set $failures to 0>> <<set $sanctuaryMax to 3>> <<set $sanctuary to 0>> <<set $ssaAv to "https://i.imgur.com/Ab1ybkz.png">> <<set $yourAv to "https://i.imgur.com/6aXkMwL.png">> <<set $sbAv to "https://i.imgur.com/QVjaoXT.png">> <<set $kAv to "https://i.imgur.com/Qn7rhMr.png">> <<set $ftfAv to "https://i.imgur.com/jNe6tSw.png">> <<set $oAv to "https://i.imgur.com/8GzFw5C.png">> <<set $lbmAv to "https://i.imgur.com/qJAlWmr.png">> <<set $yourAv to "https://i.imgur.com/qepXm6x.png">> <<set $name to "null">> <<set $forums to []>> <<set $encountered to []>> <<set $firstEnc to []>> <<set $trust to []>> <<set $trustBuilding to []>> <<set $picsSold to []>> <<set $picChain to []>> <<set $gov to []>> <<set $returning to []>> <<set $rating to []>> <<set $rarity to []>> <<set $nickName to []>> <<set $notes to []>> <<set $url to []>> <<set $symSaved to []>> <<set $symCaptured to []>> <<set $trustA to []>> <<set $trustB to []>> <<set $trustC to []>> <<set $symSanctuary to[]>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $symNumber; _i++>> <<set $encountered.push(0)>> <<set $firstEnc.push(0)>> <<set $trust.push(0)>> <<set $trustBuilding.push(0)>> <<set $picsSold.push(0)>> <<set $picChain.push(0)>> <<set $gov.push(0)>> <<set $returning.push(1)>> <<set $rating.push(0)>> <<set $rarity.push(1)>> <<set $nickName.push("sym"+_i)>> <<set $notes.push("")>> <<set $url.push("None")>> <<set $symSaved.push(0)>> <<set $symCaptured.push[0]>> <<set $trustA.push(0)>> <<set $trustB.push(0)>> <<set $trustC.push(0)>> <<set $symSanctuary.push(0)>> <</for>>

<<button "Chocolate">> <</button>> <<button [[Meat|Meat Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Animals|Animal Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Cameras|Camera Store]]>><</button>> <<button [[Privacy|Privacy Store]]>> <</button>> !!!CHOCOLATE Scientific investigation has revealed that Phenylethylamine is a vital part of a symbiote's diet. Deficiency can cause a symbiote to go into a frenzy trying to alleviate it. Typically, it's a hormone produced in mammalian brains, also known as the "love chemical". It's also found in chocolate. <table> <tr> <td>Item (Hover for description)</td> <td>Price</td> <td>Owned</td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Not the kind you'd want to eat, but a cheap and nutritious choice for symbiotes.">Baking chocolate</span></td> <td>10$</td> <td><span id="c1">$food[0]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 10 gte 0>> <<set $food[0]++>> <<set $money to $money - 10>> <<set $nC[0]++>> <<replace "#c1">> $food[0] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#un1">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[0]-->> <<set $money to $money + 10>> <<set $nC[0]-->> <<replace "#c1">> $food[0] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[0] is 0>> <<replace "#un1">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id="un1"> <<if $nC[0]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[0]-->> <<set $money to $money + 10>> <<set $nC[0]-->> <<replace "#c1">> $food[0] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[0] is 0>> <<replace "#un1">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>> </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Even richer in phenylethylamine, even tougher on your wallet."> Dark chocolate </span></td> <td>25$</td> <td><span id="c2">$food[1]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 25 gte 0>> <<set $food[1]++>> <<set $money to $money - 25>> <<set $nC[1]++>> <<replace "#c2">> $food[1] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#un2">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[1]-->> <<set $money to $money + 25>> <<set $nC[1]-->> <<replace "#c2">> $food[1] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[1] is 0>> <<replace "#un2">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id="un2"> <<if $nC[1]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[1]-->> <<set $money to $money + 25>> <<set $nC[1]-->> <<replace "#c2">> $food[1] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[1] is 0>> <<replace "#un2">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>></span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "For the discerning symbiote palate."> Fancy chocolate </span></td> <td>50$</td> <td><span id="c3">$food[2]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 50 gte 0>> <<set $food[2]++>> <<set $money to $money - 50>> <<set $nC[2]++>> <<replace "#c3">> $food[2] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#un3">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[2]-->> <<set $money to $money + 50>> <<set $nC[2]-->> <<replace "#c3">> $food[2] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[2] is 0>> <<replace "#un3">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id="un3"> <<if $nC[2]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[2]-->> <<set $money to $money + 50>> <<set $nC[2]-->> <<replace "#c3">> $food[2] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nC[2] is 0>> <<replace "#un3">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>> </span> </td> </tr> </table> Money: <span id = "money"> $money </span>$ //Once you leave the shop, all purchases are final.// [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

!!!YARD <<display "ANNOUNCEMENTS">> <<nobr>> <<set $nC to [0, 0, 0]>> <<set $nM to [0, 0, 0]>> <<if $time is 1>>It's a beautiful morning in your backyard. <<switch $yardDesc>> <<case 1>> A light breeze caresses your skin. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 2>> Sunlight filters through the trees, emerald and golden. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 3>> The smell of recent rain hangs in the air. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 4>> An owl hoots in the distance. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 5>> Cicadas are warming up for the crescendo they'll reach later today. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 6>> What was that rustling noise behind that bush? <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 7>> You never used to be this excited to come out here. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 8>> You squeeze your eyes shut to look at the sun. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 9>> You're ready to meet some new aliens. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 10>> Actually, nevermind, it's quite average. Maybe a symbiote sighting will improve it. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 11>> It's raining. Thunder rolls in the distance. Nature needs this, too. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 12>> It's cold and damp enough to make you aware of it on every inch of your skin. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 13>> Dark clouds hang ominously above, ready to burst. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 14>> A drop of sweat runs down your neck. <<set $weather to 1>> <</switch>> <</if>> <<if $time is 2>> It's a beautiful evening in your backyard. <<switch $yardDesc>> <<case 1>> The sun is setting in a sea of reds and yellows. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 2>> A hot summer evening. You know how those are. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 3>> Shadows dance in the corner of your eye. They fill you with hope. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 4>> You feel the overwhelming urge to walk into the woods. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 5>> The damp is cold and heavy. Enveloping. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 6>> The moon is hidden behind rainclouds. All is dark. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 7>> This kind of heat leaves you tossing and turning. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 8>> Actually, nevermind, it's quite average. Maybe a symbiote sighting will improve it. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 9>> You're ready to meet some new aliens. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 10>> You never used to be this excited to come out here. <<set $weather to 0>> <<case 11>> Lightning strikes, not too far from here. The sky flashes white. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 12>> The sound of raindrops hitting your umbrella is calming. <<set $weather to 2>> <<case 13>> The setting sun brings relief from the heat. <<set $weather to 1>> <<case 14>> Your shirt clings to your skin, soaked with sweat. <<set $weather to 1>> <</switch>> <</if>> <</nobr>> <span id="inventory"> <<display "INVENTORY">> </span>[[Wait.|SYMSELECTOR]] [[Go to the store.|Chocolate Store]] [[View your pictures.|PICTURES]] [[Browse and post on the forums.|FORUMS]] Days spent: $days

!!!PICTURES <<set _symSeen to 0>> <<set _symSrank to 0>> <<for _i to 0; _i lte $symNumber; _i++>> <<if $encountered[_i]>> <<set _symSeen++>> <</if>> <<if $rating[_i] is 6>> <<set _symSrank++>> <</if>> <</for>> You've photographed _symSeen out of $symNumber symbiotes. You've taken a perfect picture of _symSrank. <<for _i to 0; _i lte $symNumber; _i++>> <<if $encountered[_i]>> <table> <tr> <td> [img[$url[_i]]] </td> <td style="padding:15px"> Best picture taken: $rating[_i] out of 6 stars. Status:<<if $returning[_i]>> Free. <<elseif $symSaved[_i]>> Saved. <<elseif $returning[_i] is 0>> Captured. <</if>> First encountered: Day $firstEnc[_i]. Number of encounters: $encountered[_i]. Level of trust: $trust[_i]. Level of notability: $rarity[_i]. Nickname: $nickName[_i]. <<capture _i>> <<link "Change nickname." "nickname">> <<set $currName to _i>> <</link>> <</capture>> <<capture _i>> <<link "Take notes." "notes">> <<set $currNotes to _i>> <</link>> <</capture>> </td> </tr> </table> <</if>> <</for>> [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

<<button [[Chocolate|Chocolate Store]]>> <</button>> <<button "Meat">> <</button>> <<button [[Animals|Animal Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Cameras|Camera Store]]>><</button>> <<button [[Privacy|Privacy Store]]>> <</button>> !!!MEAT Though they have a chemically complex, primarily hormone-based diet, symbiotes still need calories and protein to survive. They're predators who find special satisfaction in tearing through a side of raw meat. <table> <tr> <td>Item (Hover for description)</td> <td>Price</td> <td>Owned</td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Spice up the local symbiote's life by introducing chicken into its diet. Alternatively, do any nearby farmers a favour."> Chicken </span></td> <td>10$</td> <td><span id="m1">$food[3]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 10 gte 0>> <<set $food[3]++>> <<set $money to $money - 10>> <<set $nM[0]++>> <<replace "#m1">> $food[3] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nM0">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[3]-->> <<set $money to $money + 10>> <<set $nM[0]-->> <<replace "#m1">> $food[3] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[0] is 0>> <<replace "#nM0">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nM0"> <<if $nM[0]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[3]-->> <<set $money to $money + 10>> <<set $nM[0]-->> <<replace "#m1">> $food[3] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[0] is 0>> <<replace "#nM0">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Mmmm. Pork."> Pork </span></td> <td>25$</td> <td><span id="m2">$food[4]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 25 gte 0>> <<set $food[4]++>> <<set $money to $money - 25>> <<set $nM[1]++>> <<replace "#m2">> $food[4] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nM1">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[4]-->> <<set $money to $money + 25>> <<set $nM[1]-->> <<replace "#m2">> $food[4] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[1] is 0>> <<replace "#nM1">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nM1"> <<if $nM[1]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[4]-->> <<set $money to $money + 25>> <<set $nM[1]-->> <<replace "#m2">> $food[4] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[1] is 0>> <<replace "#nM1">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Is dark meat better for symbiotes? Maybe you'll be the first to conduct research on this."> Beef </span></td> <td>50$</td> <td><span id="m3">$food[5]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 50 gte 0>> <<set $food[5]++>> <<set $money to $money - 50>> <<set $nM[2]++>> <<replace "#m3">> $food[5] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nM2">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[5]-->> <<set $money to $money + 50>> <<set $nM[2]-->> <<replace "#m3">> $food[5] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[2] is 0>> <<replace "#nM2">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nM2"> <<if $nM[2]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[5]-->> <<set $money to $money + 50>> <<set $nM[2]-->> <<replace "#m3">> $food[5] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<if $nM[2] is 0>> <<replace "#nM2">> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> </table> Money: <span id = "money"> $money </span>$ //Once you leave the shop, all purchases are final.// [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

<<button [[Chocolate|Chocolate Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Meat|Meat Store]]>> <</button>> <<button "Animals">> <</button>> <<button [[Cameras|Camera Store]]>><</button>> <<button [[Privacy|Privacy Store]]>> <</button>> !!!ANIMAL HOSTS You figure a symbiote might be more comfortable if it gets to inhabit a critter for a little while. You should probably only get one of each of these, you don't have the license to run a zoo. <table> <tr> <td>Item (Hover for description)</td> <td>Price</td> <td>Owned</td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "It's a live rat. Maybe a symbiote will come by and take it for a ride. Or just slurp it up."> Rat </span></td> <td>20$</td> <td><span id="a1">$food[6]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 20 gte 0 && $food[6] is 0>> <<set $food[6]++>> <<set $money to $money - 20>> <<replace "#a1">> $food[6] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA1">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[6]-->> <<set $money to $money + 20>> <<replace "#a1">> $food[6] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA1">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nA1"> <<if $food[6]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[6]-->> <<set $money to $money + 20>> <<replace "#a1">> $food[6] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA1">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "What could be more fun than hopping around in one of these?"> Rabbit </span></td> <td>40$</td> <td><span id="a2">$food[7]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 40 gte 0 && $food[7] is 0>> <<set $food[7]++>> <<set $money to $money - 40>> <<replace "#a2">> $food[7] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA2">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[7]-->> <<set $money to $money + 40>> <<replace "#a2">> $food[7] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA2">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nA2"> <<if $food[7]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[7]-->> <<set $money to $money + 40>> <<replace "#a2">> $food[7] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA2">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Symbiotes are kind of like cats if cats were people."> Cat </span></td> <td>100$</td> <td><span id="a3">$food[8]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 100 gte 0 && $food[8] is 0>> <<set $food[8]++>> <<set $money to $money - 100>> <<replace "#a3">> $food[8] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA3">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[8]-->> <<set $money to $money + 100>> <<replace "#a3">> $food[8] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA3">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nA3"> <<if $food[8]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[8]-->> <<set $money to $money + 100>> <<replace "#a3">> $food[8] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA3">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Who's a good host! Who's a good host!"> Dog </span></td> <td>300$</td> <td><span id="a4">$food[9]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 300 gte 0 && $food[9] is 0>> <<set $food[9]++>> <<set $money to $money - 300>> <<replace "#a4">> $food[9] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA4">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[9]-->> <<set $money to $money + 300>> <<replace "#a4">> $food[9] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA4">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nA4"> <<if $food[9]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[9]-->> <<set $money to $money + 300>> <<replace "#a4">> $food[9] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA4">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Imagine. Being one with a horse. The wind in your mane. Imagine being the only horse that won't break its legs at the first opportunity, too."> Horse </span></td> <td>1000$</td> <td><span id="a5">$food[10]</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 1000 gte 0 && $food[10] is 0>> <<set $food[10]++>> <<set $money to $money - 1000>> <<replace "#a5">> $food[10] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA5">> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[10]-->> <<set $money to $money + 1000>> <<replace "#a5">> $food[10] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA5">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <span id ="nA5"> <<if $food[10]>> <<button "Unbuy">> <<set $food[10]-->> <<set $money to $money + 1000>> <<replace "#a5">> $food[10] <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <<replace "#nA5">> <</replace>> <</button>> <</if>> </span></td> </tr> </table> Money: <span id = "money"> $money </span>$ //Once you leave the shop, all purchases are final.// [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

<hr><<if $food[0] is 0 && $food[1] is 0 && $food[2] is 0 && $food[3] is 0 && $food[4] is 0 && $food[5] is 0 && $food[6] is 0 && $food[7] is 0 && $food[8] is 0 && $food[9] is 0 && $food[10] is 0>>There's nothing that would be of any symbiote's interest in your inventory! Go to the store and buy something. <<else>> You have: <<if $food[0] is 1>> <<link "$food[0] serving of baking chocolate.">><<if $yard[0] is 0>><<set $food[0]-->> <<set $yard[0]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<if $tutorial is 0>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[0]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>><</if>> <<elseif $food[0]>> <<link "$food[0] servings of baking chocolate.">> <<if $yard[0] is 0>><<set $food[0]-->> <<set $yard[0]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[0]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</link>> <</if>> <<if $food[1] is 1>> <<link "$food[1] serving of dark chocolate.">> <<if $yard[1] is 0>><<set $food[1]-->> <<set $yard[1]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[1]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <<elseif $food[1]>> <<link "$food[1] servings of dark chocolate.">> <<if $yard[1] is 0>><<set $food[1]-->> <<set $yard[1]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[1]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>><<if $food[2] is 1>> <<link "$food[2] serving of fancy chocolate.">> <<if $yard[2] is 0>><<set $food[2]-->> <<set $yard[2]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[2]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <<elseif $food[2]>> <<link "$food[2] servings of fancy chocolate.">> <<if $yard[2] is 0>><<set $food[2]-->> <<set $yard[2]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[2]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>><<if $food[3] is 1>> <<link "$food[3] serving of chicken.">> <<if $yard[3] is 0>><<set $food[3]-->> <<set $yard[3]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[3]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <<elseif $food[3]>> <<link "$food[3] servings of chicken.">> <<if $yard[3] is 0>><<set $food[3]-->> <<set $yard[3]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[3]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>><<if $food[4] is 1>> <<link "$food[4] serving of pork.">> <<if $yard[4] is 0>><<set $food[4]-->> <<set $yard[4]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[4]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <<elseif $food[4]>> <<link "$food[4] servings of pork.">> <<if $yard[4] is 0>><<set $food[4]-->> <<set $yard[4]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[4]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>><<if $food[5] is 1>> <<link "$food[5] serving of beef.">> <<if $yard[5] is 0>><<set $food[5]-->> <<set $yard[5]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[5]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <<elseif $food[5]>> <<link "$food[5] servings of beef.">> <<if $yard[5] is 0>><<set $food[5]-->> <<set $yard[5]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Discard.">> <<set $food[5]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>><<if $food[6]>> <<link "A rat.">> <<if $yard[6] is 0>><<set $food[6]-->> <<set $yard[6]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Adopt out.">> <<set $food[6]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>> <<if $food[7]>> <<link "A rabbit.">> <<if $yard[7] is 0>><<set $food[7]-->> <<set $yard[7]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Adopt out.">> <<set $food[7]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>> <<if $food[8]>> <<link "A cat.">> <<if $yard[8] is 0>><<set $food[8]-->> <<set $yard[8]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Adopt out.">> <<set $food[8]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>> <</if>> <<if $food[9]>> <<link "A dog.">> <<if $yard[9] is 0>><<set $food[9]-->> <<set $yard[9]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Adopt out.">> <<set $food[9]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>><</if>> <<if $food[10]>> <<link "A horse.">> <<if $yard[10] is 0>><<set $food[10]-->> <<set $yard[10]++>> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</if>> <</link>> <<link "Adopt out.">> <<set $food[10]-->><<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">> <</replace>><</link>><</if>> <</if>> <hr> <<if $yard[0] is 0 && $yard[1] is 0 && $yard[2] is 0 && $yard[3] is 0 && $yard[4] is 0 && $yard[5] is 0 && $yard[6] is 0 && $yard[7] is 0 && $yard[8] is 0 && $yard[9] is 0 && $yard[10] is 0>> Your yard lies empty. Full of potential, if you'd prefer to say. Click something you have to put it in the yard. <<else>> There are some symbiote lures in your yard. Click them to move them back to your inventory.<<if $yard[0]>> <<link "Some baking chocolate has been strategically placed.">> <<set $food[0]++>> <<set $yard[0]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[1]>> <<link "Some dark chocolate is available.">> <<set $food[1]++>> <<set $yard[1]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[2]>> <<link "Some fancy chocolate is ripe with anticipation.">> <<set $food[2]++>> <<set $yard[2]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[3]>> <<link "Some chicken is looking appetising.">> <<set $food[3]++>> <<set $yard[3]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[4]>> <<link "Some pork has been lovingly tossed outside.">> <<set $food[4]++>> <<set $yard[4]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[5]>> <<link "Some beef has been offered to passers-by.">> <<set $food[5]++>> <<set $yard[5]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[6]>> <<link "A rat scurries around the underbrush. It's cute.">> <<set $food[6]++>> <<set $yard[6]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[7]>> <<link "A rabbit is hanging around in that aloof rabbit kind of way.">> <<set $food[7]++>> <<set $yard[7]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[8]>> <<link "A cat should be somewhere in the general vicinity.">> <<set $food[8]++>> <<set $yard[8]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[9]>> <<link "A dog bounces up and down your yard with unrestrained joy.">> <<set $food[9]++>> <<set $yard[9]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><<if $yard[10]>> <<link "Wow. You really have a horse in your yard.">> <<set $food[10]++>> <<set $yard[10]-->> <<replace "#inventory">><<display "INVENTORY">><</replace>><</link>><</if>><</if>> <hr>

<<nobr>> <<if $time is 1>> <<set $time to 2>> <<else>> <<set $time to 1>> <<set $days++>> <</if>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $returning.length; _i++>> <<if $returning[_i] gt 1>> <<set $returning[_i]-->> <</if>> <</for>> <<set $yardDesc to random(1,14)>> <<if $privacy[0] && $privacyTime[0]>> <<set $privacyTime[0]-->> <</if>> <<if $privacy[1] && $privacyTime[1]>> <<set $privacyTime[1]-->> <</if>> <<if $privacy[2] && $privacyTime[2]>> <<set $privacyTime[2]-->> <</if>> <<if $sanctuary && $privacy[2] is 0>> <<set $government to $government + (random(0,1))>><</if>> <<if $government gt 5>> <<set $forums.push("PRIV")>> <</if>> <<set $showAnnouncement to 0>> <<if random(0,1) is 1>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $symNumber && $showAnnouncement is 0; _i++>> <<if ($gov[_i] gt $rarity[_i] && ($returning[_i] gt 0 && $encountered[_i]))||((random(0,50*$rarity[_i]-$government) is 50*$rarity[_i]-$government) && ($encountered[_i] && $returning[_i] gt 0))>> <<set $showAnnouncement to 1>> <<set $symCaptured to _i>> <</if>> <</for>> <</if>> <</nobr>>

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[0] to 1>> <<set $yard[0]-->> <<set $firstEnc[0] to $days>> <<set $forums.push("0_0")>> You swallow. You're not particularly prepared for the possibility of this going horribly wrong. Putting a big hunk of chocolate in your yard isn't the kind of action that feels like it could have far-reaching consequences. At worst, you'd get ants. On any other day, in any other yard. But it's unmistakable, now. There's movement. A white... mass. Small black dots on its surface. Definitely not the symbiote you'd seen in the woods, and you can't quite tell if you're disappointed or relieved about that. It's still not touching the chocolate. Maybe examining it. Can it see? Can it see you? What'll it do, then? It could kill you so easily. It could take you over and parade your corpse around. It... It lays a small tendril upon the chocolate. Bizarrely gently. Its surface ripples all over. You swear you can hear a soft... rumbling noise. You refuse to call it a purr. Bit by bit, it envelops the treat. It's all happening very slowly, far too slowly for it to, say, be of any use during a siege on a planet. Is it weak? Is it sick? They said a lack of<<display "PHENYLETHYLAMINE">>made symbiotes aggressive, not dormant. As it comes into full view, you suddenly remember the purpose of this operation. [[Take a picture.|SYM0PIC]]

<<nobr>> <<switch random(1,10)>> <<case 1>> phenelelele <<case 2>> phenylathyla <<case 3>> phenylayouknow <<case 4>> phennylithilly <<case 5>> phenythyl <<case 6>> phenalythilamine <<case 7>> phenylphylamine <<case 8>> post-phenylalanine <<case 9>> healthy symbiote juice <<case 10>> PEA <</switch>> <</nobr>>

!!!YARD <<set $url[0] to "https://i.imgur.com/lEWStWU.png">> <<if $tutorial is 1>> <<set $tutorial to 0>> With shaking hands, you put down your binoculars and take out your phone. You manage to bring it up to your face undetected and snap a picture. <</if>>[img[$url[0]]] <<if $encountered[0] is 1>> It is kind of cute. <<else>> From a distance, it looks like a slimy white rabbit without a face. Charming.<</if>><<display "PIC">>

<<set $rating[$currSym] to $camera + $trust[$currSym] - 1>> <<set $picsSold[$currSym]++>> <<if $lastSym is $currSym>> <<set $picChain[$currSym]++>> <<else>> <<set $picChain[$currSym] to 0>> <<set $skip to 0>> <</if>> <<if $picChain[$currSym] % 3 is 0 && $picChain[$currSym] isnot 0>> <<set $skip to 1>> <</if>><<if $rarity[$currSym] is 1>> <<set _picsRemaining to (3-$picChain[$currSym]%3)>> <<else>> <<set _picsRemaining to (5-$picsTaken[$currSym]%5)>> <</if>> <<nobr>> This photo is considered <<if $rating[$currSym] lte 2>> ''unimpressive'' <<elseif $rating[$currSym] lte 4>> ''a decent effort'' <<elseif $rating[$currSym] lte 5>> ''outstanding'' <<elseif $rating[$currSym] lte 6>> ''perfect'' <<elseif $rating[$currSym] lte 7>> ''beyond perfect'' <</if>> because <<if $camera is 1>> the image quality of your phone is ''bad'' <<elseif $camera is 2>> the image quality of your camera is ''okay'' <<elseif $camera is 3>> the image quality of your camera is ''good'' <<elseif $camera is 4>> the image quality of your camera is ''professional'' <</if>> and the distance from which you took it was <<if $trust[$currSym] is 0>> ''way too far''. <<elseif $trust[$currSym] is 1>> ''too far''. <<elseif $trust[$currSym] is 2>> ''average''. <<elseif $trust[$currSym] is 3>> ''a close-up''. <<elseif $trust[$currSym] is 4>> ''a close-up... is it posing for it''?<</if>> <</nobr>> This symbiote's notability is<<if $rarity[$currSym] is 1>> ''low''<<elseif $rarity[$currSym] is 2>> ''average''<<elseif $rarity[$currSym] is 3>> ''above-average''<<elseif $rarity[$currSym] is 4>> ''high''<<elseif $rarity[$currSym] is 5>> ''legendary''<</if>>. <<if $skip is 1>> <<if $rarity[$currSym] is 1>> You've taken too many pictures of the same symbiote in a row! It's cute that you like it so much, but you should give someone else a chance before you flood the market. <</if>> <</if>> <<if $skip is 0>><<if $rarity[$currSym] is 1>> You can sell _picsRemaining more pictures of this symbiote in a row before you'll have to try another.<<else>> You can sell _picsRemaining more pictures of this symbiote before its notability will decrease. <</if>> <<link "Sell this photo to the symbiote enthusiast community for <<print Math.trunc(10*$rarity[$currSym]+(2*$rarity[$currSym]*((1+$rating[$currSym]*$camera))))>>$." PICTURES>> <<if $privacy[0] is 0>><<set $government++>><</if>> <<if $privacy[1] is 0>> <<set $government to $government+random(0,1)>><</if>><<set $money to $money+Math.trunc(10*$rarity[$currSym]+(2*$rarity[$currSym]*((1+$rating[$currSym]*$camera))))>> <<set $lastSym to $currSym>><</link>> These people collect, exchange, buy and sell pictures of the remaining symbiotes on earth as a hobby. Like birdwatching or dogspotting, but much more eccentric. And dangerous. <<link "Sell this photo to the government's symbiote retrieval division for <<print Math.trunc(15*($rarity[$currSym]+($rating[$currSym]/2)))>>$." PICTURES>> <<set $money to $money + Math.trunc(15*($rarity[$currSym]+($rating[$currSym]/2)))>><<set $government to $government+3>><<set $gov[$currSym]++>><<set $lastSym to $currSym>><</link>> A geotagged image of a symbiote can help them track, locate and even capture the remaining symbiotes on earth. They will be safely contained and, if suitable, applied to military use. <<link "Discard this photo." PICTURES>> <<set $picsSold[$currSym]-->><<if $lastSym is $currSym>> <<set $picChain[$currSym]-->> <</if>><<set $lastSym to $currSym>> <</link>> <<else>> [[Return to the yard.|YARD]] <</if>>

<<button [[Chocolate|Chocolate Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Meat|Meat Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Animals|Animal Store]]>> <</button>> <<button "Cameras">> <</button>> <<button [[Privacy|Privacy Store]]>> <</button>> !!!CAMERAS If you want to make money doing this, you should probably upgrade from your smartphone camera. You don't know what any of the technical details mean, so you're just going to assume that the more expensive, the better. <table> <tr> <td>Item (Hover for description)</td> <td>Price</td> <td>In use</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "24.2MP? Is that good?">Nikon D3400</span></td> <td>300$</td> <td><span id="cam1"> No </span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 300 gte 0 && $camera lte 1>> <<set $camera to 2>> <<set $money to $money - 300>> <<replace "#cam1">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#cam2">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#cam3">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Oh, it has a touchscreen! That's nice!">Leica TL2</span></td> <td>1500$</td> <td><span id="cam2"> No </span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 1500 gte 0 && $camera lte 2>> <<set $camera to 3>> <<set $money to $money - 1500>> <<replace "#cam1">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#cam2">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#cam3">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "153-point autofocus. That's a lot of points.">Nikon D850</span></td> <td>3000$</td> <td><span id="cam3"> No </span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 3000 gte 0 && $camera lte 3>> <<set $camera to 4>> <<set $money to $money - 3000>> <<replace "#cam1">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#cam2">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#cam3">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> </table> Money: <span id = "money"> $money </span>$ //All purchases are final.// [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

<<set $oldName to $nickName[$currName]>>Enter a nickname to identify this symbiote by and hit enter. <<textbox "$nickName[$currName]" "" "PICTURES">> <<link "Go back." "PICTURES">><<set $nickName[$currName] to $oldName>><</link>>

<<nobr>> <<set $symSelect to []>><<for _i to 0; _i lt $symNumber; _i++>> <<set $symSelect.push(0)>><</for>> <<if ($yard[0]||$yard[1]||$yard[2])&&$returning[0] is 1>> <<set $symSelect[0] to 1>> <</if>> <<if ($yard[3]||$yard[4]||$yard[5])&&$returning[1] is 1>> <<set $symSelect[1] to 1>> <</if>> <<set $symLotto to []>> <<set _symsAvailable to 0>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $symSelect.length; _i++>> <<if $symSelect[_i]>> <<set _symsAvailable++>> <<switch $rarity[_i]>> <<case 1>> <<for _f to 0; _f lt 5; _f++>> <<set $symLotto.push(_i)>> <</for>> <<case 2>> <<for _f to 0; _f lt 4; _f++>> <<set $symLotto.push(_i)>> <</for>> <<case 3>> <<for _f to 0; _f lt 3; _f++>> <<set $symLotto.push(_i)>> <</for>> <<case 4>> <<for _f to 0; _f lt 2; _f++>> <<set $symLotto.push(_i)>> <</for>> <<case 5>> <<for _f to 0; _f lt 1; _f++>> <<set $symLotto.push(_i)>> <</for>> <</switch>> <</if>> <</for>> <<set _f to 0>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $yard.length; _i++>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<if (_i lte 2 && $returning[0]) || (_i gte 3 && _i lte 5 && $returning[1])>> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>><</if>> <</for>> <<set _g to 0>> <<for _i to 0; _i lt $yard.length; _i++>> <<if $food[_i]>> <<if (_i lte 2 && $returning[0]) || (_i gte 3 && _i lte 5 && $returning[1])>> <<set _g to 1>><</if>> <</if>> <</for>> <<if _f is 0 && _g is 0 && $money lt 10>> <<display "NOTHINGATALL">> <<elseif _f is 0>> <<display "NOTHING">> <<elseif _symsAvailable is 0>> <<display "NOLUCK">> <<else>> <<set $winningSym to random (0, $symLotto.length-1)>> <<set $currSym to $symLotto[$winningSym]>> <<if $encountered[$currSym] lte 3>> <<display `"SYM"+$currSym+"_"+$encountered[$currSym]`>> <<else>> <<display `"SYM"+$currSym+"_4"`>> <</if>> <</if>> <<display "TIMEFORWARD">> <</nobr>>

!!!YARD Despite your best efforts, no symbiote seems to want to come to your yard today. [[There's always next time.|YARD]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[0]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(0,2)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait with a mix of dread and anticipation. Just when that threatens to give way to boredom, you spot it. White. Little black dots. Two feelers of some kind on its head. Sluggish movements in addition to a sluggish appearance. [[Is that a repeat offender?|SYM0_1_1]]

!!!YARD Yes, it looks like it's $nickName[0]. It slowly covers the chocolate with its body and starts visibly vibrating. If the intensity's an indication of how much it enjoys it, it's really no wonder that it couldn't stay away. You move to take a picture. As you bring up your phone, you're left with exactly one millisecond for your stomach to drop and your thumb to start fumbling as it displays "INCOMING CALL" "MOM" and starts vibrating. The symbiote, in turn, stops. It perks up and moves as if to look at you, pinpointing the source of the sound with immediate accuracy. You both wait for the other to make a move, frozen. You suddenly feel like a creep for lying in the bushes, covertly taking pictures of people. Then, you suppose you'd also feel like a creep if you were caught consuming someone's backyard chocolate via osmosis or whatever. You're not an expert in symbiote body language, but there's no particular threat displays going on. It certainly doesn't look ready to attack. Really, it doesn't even look able to. [[Don't move.|SYM0_1_1a]] [[Be brave. Move towards it.|SYM0_1_1b]]

!!!YARD <<set $trust[0]++>> <<set $forums.push("0_1a")>> You decide not to risk scaring it off. The thing is awfully weak. An inability to defend itself would probably put it on edge. The symbiote's main body remains perfectly still, but after some time, you notice that it has been unable to resist extending a few tendrils to absorb the remains of the chocolate. The wrapper is now clean enough to eat off of. When this action prompts no reaction on your part, it slowly rolls off of its stump, like lava coming down a volcano, in your direction. It stretches towards you, sniffing, keeping most of its body at what it considers a safe distance. It seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. [[You take a picture. The symbiote moves to leave as slowly as it came.|SYM0PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $returning[0] to 5>> You take a deep breath and, slowly, get up on your knees, watching for a reaction. The symbiote looks no less like a harmless lump. You crawl forwards, camera at the ready, but somehow, the symbiote in the viewfinder doesn't seem to be getting bigger. Is it... Is it shrinking? You stop. The symbiote is moving backwards, compressing itself into a little ball, seemingly with great effort. Parts of it keep going gooey again, dragging behind it, as it tries to achieve some rolling momentum. It's fleeing... very slowly. You hadn't thought of yourself as the potential threat in this situation. It couldn't attack, but that also means it couldn't defend itself. It'd rather avoid a confrontation altogether. It'll be a while until $nickName[0] builds up the courage to come back. [[You take a picture.|SYM0PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[0]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(0,2)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. Sure enough, you'd almost been expecting it: A white symbiote covered in small, black spots is coming into view, making a beeline for the chocolate you'd set out. Or a slugline. [[It's...|SYM0_2_1]]

!!!YARD You haven't put out anything that would attract any symbiotes. None of them seem to feel like stopping by for a visit, either. Demoralised, you go back inside. [[There's always next time.|YARD]]

!!!YARD You lie in wait from some distance away. You literally lie on the ground with binoculars. You're not sure if you're doing it right. You think this is what people who watch wildlife do. You're watching fugitive aliens. Same difference. Just when your elbows start to go stiff, you see something poking out from behind the stump you'd placed the chocolate on. Is it a huge, exotic slug? Is it a sentient slime mold? Is it, perhaps, an elaborate hoax? [[Or is it...|SYM0_0_1]]

!!!YARD It's $nickName[0], of course. Chowing down in that weird absorby way it has. You'd really like to get closer, and you could probably walk right up to it unharmed, but if you spook the little thing too badly, it'll likely never come back. That'd be a shame, too. Maybe the best thing to do would be to encourage it to come to you, instead. But how? Calling out to it is probably a bad idea. Even if it didn't startle, you're not sure it'd understand you. Is there something else to catch its attention with? [[More chocolate.|SYM0_2_1a]] [[Your phone.|SYM0_2_1b]]

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("0_2")>> Sure, why not. You get some chocolate from your personal stash. You hold it out to the symbiote, plopped on top of the stump. It somehow manages to have an air of satisfied fatness about it. It turns its body towards you, mildly interested. You hope. You can't actually tell. There's a lot of projection going on when you're looking at someone without a face. You try to make it clear that you're offering the chocolate to it. You set it down in front of you. You motion for it to come closer. You wave it at it. You ask it if it wants any. You feel very awkward. You suppose it isn't ready to take any chances. Maybe it still perceives the chocolate as belonging to you. Both body language and spoken language seem alien to it. [[You take a picture before the symbiote leaves you to your shenanigans.|SYM0PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $trust[0]++>> <<set $forums.push("0_2")>> <<set $forums.push("0_2b")>> How do you reach someone? You speak their language. What is a symbiote's language? You have no idea. The only way you've seen it express itself... Well, it might not have been communicating intentionally, but the way it'll sometimes start vibrating can definitely be linked to happiness. The vibration of your phone caught its attention last time, too. Who's to say...? There's the same immediate reaction when you try setting your phone to vibrate. When you establish what you believe to be eye contact, you put a smile to the sound. As a translation of sorts, if it really doesn't understand any body or spoken language. The symbiote starts to quiver the slightest bit, in time with your phone's bursts of vibration. You cover your mouth to keep from laughing and ruining the moment. The quivering intensifies, like it's making an effort to imitate your phone, before it cuts off entirely, having probably exhausted itself. You turn the vibration off. The symbiote... actually rolls closer. You suddenly feel awfully put on the spot. You only have the one thing you can say to it. You take a deep breath and roll an "r" at it. Much slower and deeper than the phone. Much more authentic. Sure enough, this time you get a gentle purr in response. There's really nothing else to call it. It seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. [["Brrrrr," you say, and snap a picture.|SYM0PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[0]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(0,2)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> <<set $forums.push("0_3")>> You lie in wait. Eventually, you spot strange colours in the grass. It's... You don't recognise it, actually. It's black, white, grey... White with runny dots... It just looks like a shapeless puddle. If you weren't specifically looking for symbiotes, you might've accidentally stepped in it. [[Is it...|SYM0_3_1]]

!!!YARD ...Oh boy, is it $nickName[0]? It's certainly seen better days. You're torn on what to do. You don't want to make things worse by getting close and making it panic. You don't want to let it waste away in your backyard. It seems to be heading for the chocolate, but there's no way it'll make it up the stump. You decide there's nothing else for it. [[You approach the symbiote.|SYM0_3_2]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[0]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(0,2)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. <<if $trust[0] is 3>> You don't lie in wait for long. Someone's getting used to this routine. Someone white, covered in little black spots, and always hungry for chocolate. <<else>> Finally, here it comes. Someone white, covered in little black spots, and always hungry for chocolate. <</if>> [[It's...|SYM0_4_1]]

!!!YARD <<if $trust[0] gte 3>>It's local legend, $nickName[0], soon settled on its stump like it grew there. You go to sit next to it. It sniffs at you, tense for a second, then relaxing. <<if $trustA[0] && $trustB[0] && $trustC[0]>> <<link "Ask $nickName[0] to move into your home.">> <<if $sanctuaryMax gte $sanctuary>> <<set $symSanctuary[0] to 1>><<set $returning[0] to 0>> <<goto "SAVE0">><<else>> Unfortunately, you don't have any more room.<</if>><</link>> <</if>> <span id="sym0"> <<link "Give it a scritch.">> <<set $trustA[0] to 1>> <<replace "#sym0">> Predictably, its body simply recedes wherever your hand hovers. You draw circles above it, mildly amused. A hissing noise is produced somewhere within it. You stop.<</replace>><</link>> <<link "Tell it about your day.">><<set $trustB[0] to 1>> <<replace "#sym0">>You start talking about anything that comes to mind. The symbiote continues eating, occasionally giving a short purr. It definitely doesn't understand you, but if it likes certain noises, you suppose it could also like the sound of your voice.<</replace>><</link>> <<link "Show it pictures of it.">> <<set $trustC[0] to 1>><<replace "#sym0">>You take out your phone and hold it up to what you presume to be eye stalks, showing it the most flattering picture of it you have. There's no reaction. You take a closer look... Those things don't really look like... Oh shit. It's blind.<</replace>><</link>></span> <<else>> It's $nickName[0]. You get as close to it as you feel is appropriate. <<nobr>><<linkreplace "Spend some time building trust.">> <<set $trustBuilding[0]++>> <<if $trust[0] is 0>>You spend some time making your presence known to it, but letting it have its space. Soon, it'll feel like you mean it no harm. <<if $trustBuilding[0] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. <<set $trust[0]++>><</if>> <<elseif $trust[0] is 1>>You spend some time studying its noises and movements and what they could mean. Soon, it'll feel like you're trying to understand it. <<if $trustBuilding[0] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. <<set $trust[0]++>><</if>> <<elseif $trust[0] is 2>>You spend some time coaxing it to eat out of your hands. Soon, it'll feel like you mean to help it.<<if $trustBuilding[0] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. <<set $trust[0]++>><</if>><</if>> <</linkreplace>><</nobr>><</if>> [[Take a picture.|SYM0PIC]]

!!!YARD It turns out not to be as big of a deal as you thought it'd be. Largely on account of the fact that it barely seems able to register your presence. You're still going to avoid touching it, though, for both your sakes. You pick up the hunk of chocolate and, slowly, kneel down to offer it to the symbiote. When it doesn't react, you bring it closer. You hover right on top of it. To the back. To the front. You don't know where its eyes are, if it has any. You gently nudge it with the chocolate. Tendrils wind around it like vines in a timelapse. [[And around your hands.|SYM0_3_3]]

!!!YARD It feels like lightning struck your fingertips and travelled to your brainstem, frying every nerve on its way. The agony only lasts for a second. Then there's a raw, tingling sensation left behind, charting out a foreign path through your body. Your fingers are tightly curled into the symbiote's mass, but you're hardly aware of it. [[You just wanted to take a picture of a cute alien slug.|SYM0_3_4]]

!!!YARD There's a definite presence, but no communication. It's just overwhelmingly there. Heavy in your mind. Heavy in your veins. Heavy in your heart. You need to push a thought up against the weight of it. "Why did you bond with me?" you try to say, but your lips are heavy, too. All of your muscles feel too limp and too tense at once. There's only a sense of increasing urgency. The heaviness means something, you realise. It means... Inability. It can't? You can't? What is it trying to say? [[The symbiote is trying to say ''I CAN'T HURT YOU''.|SYM0_3_4a]] [[The symbiote is trying to say ''YOU CAN'T HURT ME''.|SYM0_3_4b]]

!!!YARD <<set $returning[0] to 10>> Is it trying to say that it can't hurt you? There's a spill of emotion at the thought, gathering cold in your chest. You feel yourself curling up. The heaviness remains the same, but the urge to strain against it turns it unbearable. Fear. Too extreme for you to make yourself heard through it. Are you breathing? The final thing you feel before it slips from you is relief. Not just your own. [[Then, all at once, it's over.|SYM0_3_4a_1]]

!!!YARD <<set $trust[0]++>> Is it trying to say that you can't hurt it? You can't, you realise. Not when you're like this. Even otherwise, you don't know if you'd actually get very far with your bare hands and the lighter in your back pocket. But now, definitely not. Is that the point? Is that why? For a moment, the heaviness lifts. It almost feels like surprise. You take advantage of it. You think, as hard as you can. [[You don't want to hurt it.|SYM0_3_4b_1]]

!!!YARD You're left lying in the grass. The symbiote is gone. The chocolate is gone. The chocolate is... Was it restraining you? Was it restraining you while it ate? Did it perceive your attempt to understand it as an affirmation of the danger it's in, as intent to take advantage of its weakened state? You feel like some serious miscommunication took place here. $nickName[0] probably won't be coming back for a while. You won't be getting close to it, either. [[You don't get a picture. You do stumble behind the nearest bush to throw up.|YARD]]

!!!YARD It thinks that anyone who could, would. And most people could. When you came up to it, it definitely didn't have the strength to run away... And there you were, in the position to take advantage of its weakened state. It must have decided to restrain you while it replenished its energy. The symbiote doesn't weigh these thoughts down. [[That's probably a good sign.|SYM0_3_4b_2]]

!!!YARD It doesn't make sense, though. You only came close to give it the chocolate. Surely it remembers? Why would you do that, if you wanted it weak? The heaviness lifts some more. Your vision... It doesn't come back, exactly. It just starts mattering again. Something about being bonded to this symbiote makes your eyes feel foreign and unnecessary. You look down at the squishy puddle of warm goo. You try to feel positive, calming feelings. It isn't too hard. You've been putting the chocolate out for it, you think. For it. It doesn't just happen to be there. You don't want to hurt it. You don't. There's a reaction. //Foreign//, it thinks. //Foreign. Foreign.// Then, an added undercurrent of wrongness. //Aberrant//, it thinks. //Aberrant. Aberrant.// <<link "//Like it.//" "SYM0_3_4b_3">><</link>>

!!!YARD <<if $trust[0] is 3>>It slides from your body, almost carefully. You take a deep breath. You're shaking, but you'll be fine. For a second, the symbiote just lies there. Then, slowly, it resumes eating, with you sitting right next to it. You bask in the satisfaction, the achievement, and something else, maybe. It seems like you and $nickName[0] trust each other a little more now. [[You take a picture. Then you run behind the nearest bush to throw up.|SYM0PIC]] <<else>>You haven't built quite enough trust for it to leave you then and there. But it keeps its hold light, and it finishes eating, and it slides from your body, almost carefully. You sit there, dizzy. As it leaves, you remember... [[You take a picture. Then you run behind the nearest bush to throw up.|SYM0PIC]] <</if>>

!!!YARD <<set $money to $money + 10>><<if $privacy[0] is 0>><<set $government++>><</if>> <<if $privacy[1] is 0>> <<set $government to $government+random(0,1)>><</if>> <<if $failures isnot 0>>Here you are again, at rock bottom, hobby-wise. And there it comes again, to feast on your misery. The symbiote of failure. How you hate to see its smug little face poking through the foliage. Well, maybe that's being too harsh. In a way, it gives you the strength to go on simply to spite it. And the ten dollars to. [[You take and sell a picture.|YARD]] <<else>>Well, waiting is all you can do. You've got no lures, no money, no symbiotes. How did this happen? Is this the end of your hobby? Worse, will you have to resort to drawing from your meager savings? But what's that? Off in the distance? Something's peeking forth from behind a tree. It's... It's a symbiote! It's come to you, without anything to draw it here! You quickly snap a picture. As soon as you feel better, it leaves. You immediately try to sell the picture, but nobody is willing to pay more than 10$ for it. Everybody who's seen it says it isn't attracted by chocolate or meat or friendship, but by failure. Its smug little face says it all. They never want to see it again. [[...Still, it's something.|YARD]] <</if>> <<set $failures++>>

<<nobr>> <<if $showAnnouncement>> <<set $returning[$symCaptured] to 0>> <hr>''NEW EMAIL''<br> <<if $gov[$symCaptured]>><<set $money to $money + $rarity[$symCaptured]*100>> It commends you for your sense of civic responsibility and the part you've played in ensuring the capture of a dangerous alien fugitive. The threat, it assures you, has been neutralised, and could in fact become a valuable asset to your country. It thanks you for your cooperation and hopes to work with you again in the future.<br> A picture of $nickName[$symCaptured] and a check for 100 dollars are attached.<</if>> <<if $gov[$symCaptured] is 0>> A symbiote enthusiast has updated you on the status of a symbiote. It has been captured by government agents. They remind you of the importance of employing privacy measures when sharing information about symbiotes. <br> A picture of $nickName[$symCaptured] is attached.<</if>><hr><</if>> <<if $privacy[0] && $privacyTime[0] is 0>> <<set $privacyTime[0] to 14>> <hr>''NEW BILL''<br><<if $money gte 10>> <<set $money to $money - 10>>The weekly bill for your VPN service has arrived. You are now 10$ poorer.<hr> <<else>> <<set $privacy[0] to 0>><<set $privacyTime[0] to 0>>The bill for your VPN service has arrived. You couldn't afford the 10$, so the service has been cancelled.<hr> <</if>> <</if>> <<if $privacy[1] && $privacyTime[1] is 0>> <<set $privacyTime[1] to 14>> ''NEW BILL''<br><<if $money gte 25>><<set $money to $money - 25>> The bill for your background checks has arrived. You are now 25$ poorer. <hr><<else>> <<set $privacy[1] to 0>><<set $privacyTime[1] to 0>> The weekly bill for your background checks has arrived. You couldn't afford the 25$, so the service has been cancelled.<hr><</if>> <</if>> <<if $privacy[2] && $privacyTime[2] is 0>> <<set $privacyTime[2] to 14>> <hr>''NEW BILL''<br><<if $money gte 10>><<set $money to $money - 10>> The weekly bill for your throwaway phone has arrived. You are now 10$ poorer.<hr> <<else>> <<set $privacy[2] to 0>><<set $privacyTime[2] to 0>>The bill for your throwaway phone has arrived. You couldn't afford the 10$, so the service has been cancelled.<hr> <</if>> <</if>> <</nobr>>

Take notes on this symbiote's preferences and personality. <<textarea "$notes[$currNotes]" $notes[$currNotes]>> [[Go back.|PICTURES]]

<<button [[Chocolate|Chocolate Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Meat|Meat Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Animals|Animal Store]]>> <</button>> <<button [[Cameras|Camera Store]]>><</button>> <<button "Privacy">> <</button>> !!!PRIVACY The government's ever-watchful eyes are upon you. Well, maybe not yet, but if you keep sharing information that implicates you in the aiding and abetting the continued freedom of symbiotes, it's only a matter of time. Take precautions to make your activities safer. <table> <tr> <td>Item (Hover for description)</td> <td>Price</td> <td>In use</td> <td>Bill due in</td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "A virtual private network? Your connection will be private? That certainly sounds like something you want.">VPN</span></td> <td>10$</td> <td><span id="priv1"> <<if$privacy[0]>>Yes<<else>>No<</if>> </span></td> <td><span id="priv2"> <<print ($privacyTime[0]/2)>> days</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 10 gte 0 && $privacy[0] is 0>> <<set $privacy[0] to 1>><<set $privacyTime[0] to 14>> <<set $money to $money - 10>> <<replace "#priv1">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#priv2">> <<print ($privacyTime[0]/2)>> days <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <<button "Cancel">> <<if $privacy[0] is 1>> <<set $privacy[0] to 0>> <<set$privacyTime[0] to 0>> <<replace "#priv1">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#priv2">> <<print ($privacyTime[0]/2)>> days <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "Perform in-depth background checks on people before you sell them your pictures. Lest one of them is a fed in a backwards baseball cap.">Background checks</span></td> <td>25$</td> <td><span id="priv3"> <<if$privacy[1]>>Yes<<else>>No<</if>> </span></td> <td><span id="priv4"> <<print ($privacyTime[1]/2)>> days</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 25 gte 0 && $privacy[1] is 0>> <<set $privacy[1] to 1>><<set $privacyTime[1] to 14>> <<set $money to $money - 25>> <<replace "#priv3">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#priv4">> <<print ($privacyTime[1]/2)>> days <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <<button "Cancel">> <<if $privacy[1] is 1>> <<set $privacy[1] to 0>> <<set$privacyTime[1] to 0>> <<replace "#priv3">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#priv4">> <<print ($privacyTime[1]/2)>> days <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <span title = "If you're going to have symbiotes in your house, you don't want to use your regular smartphone in there.">Throwaway phone</span></td> <td>10$</td> <td><span id="priv5"> <<if$privacy[2]>>Yes<<else>>No<</if>> </span></td> <td><span id="priv6"> <<print ($privacyTime[2]/2)>> days</span></td> <td> <<button "Buy">> <<if $money - 10 gte 0 && $privacy[2] is 0>> <<set $privacy[2] to 1>><<set $privacyTime[2] to 14>> <<set $money to $money - 10>> <<replace "#priv5">> Yes <</replace>> <<replace "#priv6">> <<print ($privacyTime[2]/2)>> days <</replace>> <<replace "#money">> $money <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> <td> <<button "Cancel">> <<if $privacy[2] is 1>> <<set $privacy[2] to 0>> <<set$privacyTime[2] to 0>> <<replace "#priv5">> No <</replace>> <<replace "#priv6">> <<print ($privacyTime[2]/2)>> days <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </td> </tr> </table> Money: <span id = "money"> $money </span>$ //No refunds on cancelled subscriptions.// [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("S0")>> <<set $sanctuary++>> <<set $symSaved[0] to 1>> <<set $showAnnouncement to 0>> You hold your hand out in front of the symbiote. You have to talk to it, and to do that, you have to bond. You try to indicate as much by gently taking a tendril and holding it between your fingers. It moves its feelers around your hand, curious. Then... It doesn't hurt, this time. You try not to think of the possibility that it's because you've been "stretched out", so to speak. There's no paralysing weight, either. Just the melding. No vision. No energy. No fear. No fear. You hold on to that one. It's afraid a lot, right? But not here. The symbiote squirms. Images of birds pecking at it. Dogs barking at it. One time, a little boy screaming, running up to it and kicking it like a football. You try very hard not to laugh. Images of being examined in a laboratory. Being labelled a non-threat. Something to be kept and allowed to reproduce to serve as an emergency food source during interstellar travel. That's less funny. Thinking about it seems to send the symbiote spiralling. It's unsettlingly easy for it to conjure an image of you tearing it to pieces with your teeth. No, you think, no. You don't eat people, and even if you did, you wouldn't eat friends, and even if you did, you wouldn't eat symbiotes. You're not convinced they have any nutritional value to humans. The texture would be terrible. //Safe//, it thinks. [[You ask: Do you want to be safe all the time?|SAVE0_1]]

!!!YARD It can't quite manage relief, a lifetime of tension isn't so easily overcome, but it can manage excitement for the next few moments to be pretty good. Your house is a paradise of chocolate where no one owns a mountain bike to run it over with. There's also no government agents, but you don't think it's necessary to even mention those. Through your link, the symbiote urges you to carry it inside. Slowly, it rolls into your lap. You cradle it like a newborn baby. For all that you've likened it to a slug, it feels nothing like one. It's warm, and soft, and dry. It... feels nice to hold. You don't really... hold people a lot. At the symbiote's confusion, you get up and walk into your house. $nickName[0] lives with you, now. It'll pay off its own living expenses by modelling for you, so don't worry about it. [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

!!!THREAD: INTRODUCTION TO SLIME SEEKING <<nobr>> <<if $name.length gte 20>> <<goto "INTROFAIL">><</if>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> In case you've forgotten one of the most large-scale traumatic events in recent memory, the symbiote invasion ended when a wave of psychic energy was sent around the world. It gave everyone depression and an immense hatred of the symbiotes that were sucking up people's brain juices. In other words, nothing changed. <br><br>Except, of course, it made all the symbiotes who were sucking up people's brain juices kill themselves. Contrary to popular belief, they were completely exterminated, and it's specifically the symbiotes who weren't doing that, or didn't have their hearts in it, that were left behind. <br><br>And now, they could be anywhere! They could be in your yard right now! If the government tells you this, it's a scare tactic, but if we tell you this, it's very exciting. <br><br>There actually aren't that many. They mostly congregate in remote locations. We think it's because the cities have been swept clear. Every symbiote with any sense has fled to somewhere with less human presence. <br><br>So, if you're very lucky, and you spot a symbiote, you can try to lure it closer. You can do your own research on this, but they mostly like chocolate and meat. It's probably best not to let them notice you, just in case they'd prefer to eat something fresh. It varies from symbiote to symbiote. <br><br>Once it's close enough, you can take a picture. On our markeplace, you can sell those pictures. And if you haven't seen any post-invasion symbiotes with your own eyes, or would like to see as many as possible, you can buy them. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> [img[https://i.imgur.com/VXwWzHa.png]] </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Can a symbiote be gay? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> every symbiote is gay. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Don't symbiotes have, like, their own gender? Wouldn't a symbiote be gay if it was attracted to other symbiotes? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> every symbiote is gay. everyone attracted to symbiotes is gay. every symbiote attracted to symbiotes is triple gay. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //SlimeSeekersAnonymous said:// <div class = "quote"> attracted to symbiotes </div> Please don't say that. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> try and stop me. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

SlimeSeekersAnonymous: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> SymbioticBond: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> FuckTheFeds: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> WarmAbyss: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> Orange: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">Orange<br>[img[$oAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> LiquidBlackMalice: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div> You: <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> </td> </tr> </table></div>

!!!AT HOME Time, you think, should just get it over with. You're sick of it passing, and you're sick of it not passing, too. Time should just collapse in on itself, all of existence culminating in one glorious infinite not-moment. It wouldn't matter, then, the present, the past, the future. It'd just be. But time travels stubbornly onwards, so you have to go to work. [[You have to.|INTRO1]]

!!!IN THE WOODS You don't. There's something existential about it, is all. Time passing, but not taking you anywhere. Not taking you to anyone. Only past everything. That's it, you think. You couldn't go to work if you tried. You could only go past it. Go through it, too. You just want to go... Somewhere. Walking up the road from your affordable, but isolated house and into the woods seems like a good start. A good way to clear your head of the heavy fog that seems to keep you away from everything and everyone. You walk for a long time. You count your breaths. You go past, and along, and through, and you go nowhere. [[At least you can always go to bed.|INTRO3]]

!!!IN THE WOODS The woods manage to be very quiet and very noisy all at once. There's the birds, all kinds of birds, there's the wind, rustling the leaves, there's the crunch of your footsteps, there's the low buzzing of cicadas, there's the sound of branches breaking somewhere in the treetops... There's what? You look up, befuddled. It shouldn't be happening across several trees. It shouldn't be suggesting a path. Are you about to see the fattest squirrel on the planet, performing acrobatic feats? That would make skipping work worth it, you suppose. [[You stand very still.|INTRO4]]

!!!IN THE WOODS For a while, there's nothing. You shrug and keep moving. The second you do, the noises start up again, and that, that's what's really concerning. That implies... awareness. You follow the noise. It's an extraordinarily stupid thing to do, you realise, it was moving away from you for a reason. You do it anyway. You want to do something. [[You want to go somewhere.|INTRO5]]

!!!IN THE WOODS You can hear the branches moving and breaking, but it takes you a while to see them. When you do, you don't see anything causing the noise. That should be alarm level 3, right there and then, never good news to find invisible things where you didn't put them, but you keep going. You break into a jog. There's something, as you squint at the treetops, there's definitely something shimmering up there, some bit of the sky and trees lagging behind. Camouflage, not perfect invisibility. You break into a run. There's something. Back home, there is nothing. You stumble off the path, over roots and rocks, and keep your eyes on the shapeless entity hopping from one tree to the next. You trip, inevitably. Desperation fills you, like running was the only thing holding it back. Your knees are going to bruise and your hands are scratched raw across the rocks and dried pine needles. You keep running. With the adrenaline in your system, your eyes seem to slide right off of the creature, but you follow the movement. [[Persistently.|INTRO6]]

!!!IN THE WOODS It's put some serious distance between you, now, but your dogged pursuit isn't over. It isn't over until, quite suddenly, the creature stops. And turns around. And starts moving, at the same speed, towards you. [[It suddenly strikes you that this was the wrong impulse to follow.|INTRO7]]

!!!IN THE WOODS You've used up all your energy in your frenzied bid to follow the thing. Every breath burns in your lungs. Your head is pounding. You try to turn around and keep running, but your knees give in and you drop to the forest floor. That's the end of you, you decide. You would genuinely rather be mauled than push yourself back up. You only roll onto your back to see it coming. The vague shape leaps, quite elegantly, you assume, downwards, stopping to hang off a branch about ten feet from the ground. Your heart can hardly keep up, desperate to pump more blood in its last moments than it did over the course of the rest of your life. [[Making up for skipped gym classes, you assume.|INTRO8]]

!!!IN THE WOODS The creature growls. Not like an angry dog. Like a noise you never would've thought of when asked to describe growling, but that, now that you're hearing it, can't be anything else. You give a shivering whimper. The branch bounces a bit. Colour seems to be blown into the creature's face, painting it like the heat from a furnace, one layer, two. Dark. Dark blue. Black. Face might be the wrong word. Mostly mouth. Mostly teeth. Mostly teeth with face to hold them. Only purpose of face, to hold teeth. The rest of its body is wrapped around the branch. It moves in the queasiest, slimiest, most alien way. But it isn't really dripping, no. It's controlled. Every last bit of it, coordinated, with no distinction to be drawn between one part and the next. A shapeshifter. A symbiote. You've never seen one before. Everything about it catches you off guard. There's no rails for your brain to follow. It's terrifying and liberating. It stands out among the fog like a lighthouse. Something to go to. It's beautiful. The symbiote makes one more noise, stretching towards you. It hangs there like that, just as baffled by your actions as you are. Then, promptly, it recamouflages itself and continues on its journey through the treetops. [[You get the hint not to follow it.|INTRO9]]

!!!AT HOME You do a lot of research on symbiotes, then. When the original invasion happened, you stayed indoors and watched it on TV, but none of the aliens actually bothered to come all the way out here, content with reducing the population density of the largest cities. Most resources simply advise you to contact the local authorities. They'd take it away. Unacceptable. [[Finally, you find something else.|INTRO10]]

!!!AT HOME Symbiote... enthusiasts? Sympathisers? Researchers? People interested in them as more than a threat. It takes you several weeks to trace your connections to someone who can get you an invite to a private forum. Acquaintances of acquaintances of acquaintances. It's time. You choose a username and hit enter. <<textbox "$name" "" FORUM0 [autofocus]>>

!!!AT HOME Symbiote... enthusiasts? Sympathisers? Researchers? People interested in them as more than a threat. It takes you several weeks of tracing your connections to someone who can get you an invite to a private forum for people like these. Favours called in. Acquaintances of acquaintances of acquaintances. Finally, it's time. You choose a username and hit enter. <<textbox "$name" "" FORUM0 [autofocus]>> Please enter less than 20 characters.

!!!THREAD: One question. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("0_0R")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Hello. New here. Had my first experience a while ago. Lured a symbiote close enough to photograph today. <br><br>One question. How do you deal with the possibility of having your brain eaten? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> How do we deal with it, physically or emotionally? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I've got a 120-decibel sound system I wheel outside. Should be enough to scare a symbiote off in an emergency. Will also make you very unpopular with your neighbours. I live in the middle of nowhere. I didn't even know I had neighbours. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> i like to down four-hour energies until i feel like my touch could vibrate anyone apart, much less symbiotes </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I've never actually been noticed. I'm just there to observe! </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //FuckTheFeds said:// <div class="quote">How do we deal with it, physically or emotionally?</div> Which would you recommend? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Honestly, the risk isn't that great if you don't do anything stupid. It's about on par with meeting an axe murderer off a dating app. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> This is not reassuring. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> life is a gamble baby <br> <br> also i take no legal responsibility for any loss of limb or life that occurs on the basis of my advice no matter how good it is. <hr>//Post edited.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">Orange<br>[img[$oAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Welcome to the forum, anyway! I'm sure everyone will be happy to help you with any specific questions you have </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!FORUMS <<nobr>> <<link "Show thread 'INTRODUCTION TO SLIME SEEKING'." "FORUM0">><</link>> <<if $forums.includes("PRIV")>><br><<link "Show thread about the government collecting symbiotes." "FORUMPRIV">><</link>><</if>> <<if $encountered[0]>><br><br>''$nickName[0]:'' <<if $forums.includes("0_0R")>><br> <<link "Show thread about the risks." "FORUM0_0">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("0_0")>><br> <<link "Post about the risks." "FORUM0_0">><</link>><</if>> <<if $forums.includes("0_2R")>><br> <<link "Show thread about symbiotes and language." "FORUM0_2">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("0_2")>><br> <<link "Post about symbiotes and language." "FORUM0_2">><</link>><</if>> <<if $forums.includes("0_2bR")>><br> <<link "Show thread about symbiotes purring." "FORUM0_2b">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("0_2b")>><br> <<link "Post about symbiotes purring." "FORUM0_2b">><</link>><</if>> <</if>><<if $forums.includes("S0R")>><br> <<link "Show thread about symbiotes eating the weak." "FORUMS0R">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("S0")>><br> <<link "Post about symbiotes eating the weak." "FORUMS0">><</link>><</if>> <<if $encountered[1]>> <br><br>''$nickName[1]:'' <<if $forums.includes("1_0R")>><br> <<link "Show thread about symbiote preferences." "FORUM1_0">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("1_0")>><br> <<link "Post about symbiote preferences." "FORUM1_0">><</link>><</if>> <<if $forums.includes("1_1R")>><br><<link "Show thread about injuring symbiotes." "FORUM1_1">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("1_1")>><br><<link "Post about injuring symbiotes." "FORUM1_1">><</link>><</if>> <<if $forums.includes("1_3R")>><br><<link "Show thread about the symbiote empire." "FORUM1_3">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("1_3")>><br><<link "Post about the symbiote empire." "FORUM1_3">><</link>><</if>> <<if $forums.includes("S1R")>><br><<link "Show thread about social symbiotes." "FORUMS1">><</link>><<elseif $forums.includes("S1")>><br><<link "Post about social symbiotes." "FORUMS1">><</link>><</if>> <</if>> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]]

!!!THREAD: Symbiotes and language. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("0_2R")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Can symbiotes understand spoken language? I know communication is possible when you're bonded, but how about simply talking to one? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> q: do humans understand spanish? a: if they learned it </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> You have to understand. It's very hard. Foreign. <br><br>Not a foreign language. Language is foreign. <hr>//Post edited.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //LiquidBlackMalice said:// <div class="quote">Language is foreign.</div> Are you saying symbiotes don't have language? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Not necessary. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Could you elaborate on that? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> don't mind lbm they're cryptic like that. i think they're roleplaying. like pretending to be a symbiote. which is not the weirdest and easily the least illegal thing that happens on here </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> No! We are human! </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //LiquidBlackMalice said:// <div class="quote">We are human!</div> see </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">Orange<br>[img[$oAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> When I was bonded to a symbiote, when we talked, it wasn't really talking. There was no process of representation. I just knew </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Yes! That is natural. Language is different. Very hard to learn to understand. Even harder to learn to write. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> What about learning to talk? Out loud? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Speech... Without a host, unlikely. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!THREAD: Symbiotes purring. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("0_2bR")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So. <br>Symbiotes purr. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Some of them do! It's adorable. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I have a theory about that!!!<br><br> I think it's like, you know how humans get hurt by harsh pressure, but gentle pressure's nice? Symbiotes get hurt by harsh vibrations, so I think gentle vibrations are nice. So when they purr, that's self-soothing behaviour! </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So what, symbiotes with anxiety are more likely to purr? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Yes. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!THREAD: My symbiote had a rough time on its home planet. <<set $forums.push("S0R")>> <<nobr>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It's very weak. They were planning to keep it weak so they could eat it, essentially. I knew what symbiotes did to other species, but somehow it still disturbed me. <br><br>Explains a lot about its trust issues, too. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> hold on <br><br>YOUR symbiote? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> A symbiote. <br><br>We did bond, but only briefly. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> you bonded??? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Symbiotes that survived were different. Symbiotes that were different were not treated well. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> That's what it felt like. <br><br>I hope it'll find some peace with me. I wasn't expecting to care, but I do. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> so it is with you? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It's in my house. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> it's in your HOUSE? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Many feelings. Shame. Fear. Sadness. You can help if you accept it. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> no, sorry, i'm stuck at the part where you admitted to having a symbiote in your house. that is one step up from seeing one outside. i'm not risking that being on record here. watch all this disappear </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!THREAD: My symbiote had a rough time on its home planet. <<set $forums.push("S0R")>> <<nobr>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It's very weak. They were planning to keep it weak so they could eat it, essentially. I knew what symbiotes did to other species, but somehow it still disturbed me. <br><br>Explains a lot about its trust issues, too. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> hold on <br><br>//your// symbiote? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> A symbiote. <br><br>We did bond, but only briefly. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> you bonded??? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Symbiotes that survived were different. Symbiotes that were different were not treated well. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> That's what it felt like. <br><br>I hope it'll find some peace with me. I wasn't expecting to care, but I do. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //Post deleted.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //Post deleted.// </td> </tr> </table></div><div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //Post deleted.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Many feelings. Shame. Fear. Sadness. You can help if you accept it. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //Post deleted.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[1]++>> <<set $firstEnc[1] to $days>> <<set $forums.push("1_0")>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(3,5)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. You like to think you've gotten better at it. Not that there's a lot of skill involved in lying in the grass with binoculars, but you feel like you're calmer, more alert, more focused. In the moment. You know what you're doing. You- You startle as a streak of orange shoots out of the bushes. Your panic response is to roll away sideways, smash your head into a tree, shield it with your arms and curl up into the fetal position. [[What the hell is that?|SYM1_0_1]]

!!!YARD You can't tell, so it's probably a symbiote. Its main body is orange, covered in black spikes, and it extends and recedes equally sharp and spindly limbs at will, moving with all the grace of a paddle boat in a storm, if the storm were part of the paddle boat, somehow. It's skittering, anyway, skittering around your yard, examining it from corner to corner. You feel unspeakably unsafe, but it isn't paying enough attention to notice you. When it seems satisfied, it flings itself at the meat you'd set out. It trips and tumbles across it, catching it on its spikes. Then it forms a sharp mouth to bite into it and shake it with unchecked aggression. You feel the urge to tell it that it's already dead. Part of the meat goes flying and gets stuck amidst the branches. Finally, the symbiote stops moving. It looks up at it. It makes an attempt to extend a tendril to it. It goes on a wobbly, uncontrolled journey, continuously bouncing off against something in its way. It makes an attempt to jump up the branches. It flails in the air, losing coordination and dropping to the ground when it tries to make it to the next one. It makes an attempt to intimidate the meat into coming down, hissing as it wraps around the tree to shake it. It's not enough. In despair, it starts circling the bottom of the tree. Still restless. Still hissing to itself. It tenses up and tears at its own face, pulling at strands of slime and letting them snap back. [[You take a picture before the symbiote slinks off.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $url[1] to "https://i.imgur.com/opkjy7h.jpg">> [img[$url[1]]] <<if $encountered[1] is 1>> A strange, spiky creature. Goes nowhere very fast.<<else>> Can't go wrong with the colour scheme of a halloween pumpkin.<</if>><<display "PIC">>

!!!THREAD: Symbiote preferences. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("1_0R")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So. It seems like, when I put out different things, it attracts different symbiotes. I'm not even going to speculate on how many are out there. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> man when i read the title i thought we'd be talking about our symbiote preferences. i like the ones that look like they have no idea what they're doing </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> You would've liked the one I saw today. It kept failing to climb a tree. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> did you film it </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> No. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> i would've paid you. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SymbioticBond<br>[img[$sbAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Yes, different symbiotes have different needs. Or wants, really. Some are just picky. It's usually consistent, at least. Once you know what a symbiote likes, you know! </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!THREAD: Where did it go?!?!?! <<nobr>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> One of my symbiotes hasn't shown up in weeks... I've never interacted with it, so I couldn't have scared it off... I've been putting out all its favourite things, but they're just rotting away in my yard. Do symbiotes have any effective predators? I didn't think anything would be a match for them... I'm worried... </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //WarmAbyss said:// <div class = "quote">Do symbiotes have any effective predators?</div> they do they're called the federal beaureouaoue of investigation. however you spell that </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Oh no, do you really think it's that? It wasn't hurting anyone. I don't know how it would've drawn the attention. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> This is gonna suck to hear, but have you been sharing information about it? What it looks like, how to lure it, its location? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I've been posting about my observations... Sharing some pictures... </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> With no privacy measures in place? It's possible someone was listening in. This is why it's absolutely vital that you secure your connection.<br><br>It's also possible they just picked it up on a random sweep. Don't blame yourself. Just be careful. <hr> //Post edited.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">Orange<br>[img[$oAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> My symbiote vanished, too. I like to think it just got tired of my terrible taste in music and left, haha. But probably not </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> What's going to happen to it? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> We don't know. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> we can guess at experimentation and weaponisation. you know the military never has enough supersoldier doodads. if something isn't a doodad they'll just make it one lol </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It's not funny. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[1]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(3,5)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. The peace is soon disturbed by the emergence of a black and orange symbiote, zig-zagging across your yard, though you can't quite tell if it's on purpose. [[The one you've called...|SYM1_1_1]]

!!!YARD ...$nickName[1]. It's ready to take another stab at it. Quite literally. It hurls itself at the meat, spikes first. Now, the problem is. The problem is, it's done it from a different angle, this time around. It misses and overshoots its target, but instead of rolling harmlessly across the lawn, it rolls into the bushes. Which are where you are. You scramble to your feet and flee. You have half a mind to run inside and throw the door closed, but the other half has been dedicated to symbiote-related stupidity ever since that fateful morning. You are compelled to stay and see how it'll react. It takes it a while to untangle itself. It looks even more disoriented than before. It turns in every direction before it notices you, and, though you don't recall ever inviting this kind of aggression, it starts hissing. It circles around you until you're facing each other across the yard. Now that the stupid half of your brain has gotten you into this position, it shuts off, satisfied with a job well done, and leaves the rational half to get you out of it. The yard looks like this: <table class = "box"> <tr> <td></td> <td> YOU </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>[[DOOR]]</td><td>[[MEAT]]</td><td>[[BUSHES]]</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td> [[SYMBIOTE]] </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> Where should you go?

!!!YARD Yeah, no. Screw this. You sprint for the door and open it just enough to squeeze through as quickly as possible. You expect to hear a thump and some scratching noises, at least, but there's nothing. It doesn't pursue you. You're safe. <<link "Needless to say, you don't get a picture." "YARD">><</link>>

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("1_1a")>> You run for the meat. Maybe you can use it as a bargaining chip of sorts. Maybe you can distract the symbiote with it. Your timing, of course, could not have been worse. Seeing you lunge for the meat sends the symbiote into a frenzy, and since it sits at the half-way point between you, you've only closed the distance and made it easier for it to attempt to bite your arm off. It misses, thankfully, but these quarters are decidedly too close for you to keep it away forever. Trapped, you toss the meat away from you in a high arc. The symbiote stares, completely dumbfounded. You stand there, breathing heavily. Then it chases after the meat, more interested in it than a showdown for its own sake. You stumble inside. <<link "Needless to say, you don't get a picture." "YARD">><</link>>

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("1_1a")>> You head towards the bushes. Once there, it isn't too hard to sidestep the symbiote. Its overenthusiasm leaves it tangled in the underbrush once more, thrashing as it tries to reform without any branches sticking out of it. You take a step back and another moment to think. With the symbiote out of commission, the yard looks like this: <table class = "box"> <tr> <td></td> <td> YOU </td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>[[DOOR]]</td><td>[[MEAT|MEAT1]]</td><td>[[BUSHES|BUSHES1]]</td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> Where should you go?

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("1_1")>> You've had enough of this little punk. You're going to show it who's boss, or force friendship upon it, or something. As you approach it, you realise, far too late, that you were wrong in your earlier assessment. This is not the rational half of your brain. This is still the half that's stupid for symbiotes. Your confident strut falters. The symbiote launches itself at you. [[YOU ARE DEAD.]]

!!!YARD You are not dead. Calm down. As of right now, you just have a symbiote's sharpened jaws lodged in your jacket. It's hissing and tearing at it. You react. You have very little control over your reaction. You shrug out of your jacket, grab it by one sleeve, and start spinning. You build up momentum. You step next to a tree. The symbiote splatters against it like ice cream against hot asphalt. For a moment, you stand in shock and horror. Then you sprint for the door, leaving the reforming pile of goo and your shredded jacket behind. Yeah, it's not coming back for a while. <<link "Needless to say, you don't get a picture." "YARD">><<set $returning[1] to 6>><</link>>

!!!YARD <<set $trust[1]++>> You pick up the meat. You're not sure what you'll do with it, but you hope you can redirect attention to it as a far more convenient food source than the meat that is you. Indeed, the symbiote's eyes are immediately drawn to it. It hisses, low to the ground, shaking with it, almost... desperate? Then it starts wobbling towards you one final time. Before it can get too close, you toss the hunk of meat in its direction. It lands on the symbiote's face with a wet slap. It stops in its tracks, mouth open against it. Its head twitches up at you. Stunned. Then it takes it into its mouth and hurries to the other end of the yard, curling around the meat and tearing into it with zest. It keeps opening wide to hiss at you, though it sounds different from the threats that came before. It has absolutely no concept of table manners. Surrendering the meat ended the fight on the spot. It probably thought you were lying in wait to ambush it and take it for yourself. It seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. [[You take a picture.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!YARD You decide to take the sneaky approach. You circle the bushes, and, just as the symbiote emerges, hide in them, right outside its field of vision. It looks more than a little confused. Eventually, it accepts that you're gone and returns to the meat. With the tension in its body gone, it eats in a far more civilised manner than usual. Is it... relieved? Did it think you were fighting over the food? Jesus, you've had your low points, but even you haven't felt the urge to gobble down raw meat that's just been sitting out in the grass. [[You take a picture.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!THREAD: Injuring symbiotes. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("1_1R")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So, question. If you splattered a symbiote against a tree at full centrifugal force, would it hurt? Would it be injured? Would you have to do anything to help it recover? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> what the hell is going on in your yard </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It was self-defense. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It attacked you? Why? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> it attacked you and you're alive to tell us this??? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //FuckTheFeds said:// <div class = "quote">It attacked you? Why?</div> I have no idea. I mean, I did approach it, but only after it hissed at me. It must have perceived me as a threat beforehand.<br><br> //SlimeSeekersAnonymous said:// <div class = "quote">it attacked you and you're alive to tell us this???</div> I promise I haven't felt this alive in years. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> What possessed you to approach a hissing symbiote? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Irrelevant. I just want to know if it'll be okay. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> of course it will be no symbiote gives a shit about physical trauma. this is not the topic of discussion anymore the topic is how you managed to inflict physical trauma on a symbiote in the first place </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //SlimeSeekersAnonymous said:// <div class = "quote">of course it will be</div> That's good to hear.<br><br>You know, now that I think about it, it can't have perceived me as a threat to it, per se. It would've run away, if that was the case. It wanted to drive me away, instead, so it must've wanted to drive me away from something in the yard. Probably the food. It probably thought it had to defend the food from me. <br><br>Thanks for helping me think through this, it was bothering me. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> answer me you absolute lunatic!!! </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[1]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(3,5)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. A certain someone knows where to look for you, now. A certain someone with coordination issues and food anxiety. It wobbles towards the bushes, giving a barely audible hiss with every step. [[You are approached by...|SYM1_2_1]]

!!!YARD ...$nickName[1]. It seems to come in peace. You've got it figured out, you think. It was just a case of miscommunication. You can resolve this. It leans down to your level and sniffs at you. "Hello," you try, calmly, raising a hand. "I won't be taking that food. It's for you." It doesn't understand, of course. To remedy that, it shoots out a tendril that attaches to your neck. You try to pull away, but you're immobilised by a wave of vertigo. Sharp, stinging pain at the top of your spine. It's a shallow connection. Just enough for communication. And through it... Glee? Pride? Smugness? [[Where the hell is that coming from?|SYM1_2_2]]

!!!YARD You give a weary exhale, cross your arms and rest your chin on them. "Fine," you say. The symbiote seems confused. //Fine, you'll have a fight?// "Fine, I accept my defeat," you continue. "I'm scared of you. I don't want to risk fighting you again. You've... subjugated me or whatever." It pushes itself close to the ground. //Yes,// it thinks, but //no,// too. There's a definite dissonance it's trying to hide. You didn't challenge it on its self-delusion, but playing along only seems to make it more apparent to it. "If you're not going to claim me, you can go ahead and claim your food." The symbiote stares. You roll your eyes. "I left it out in the hopes that it may placate you, oh mighty predator. I only ask for my life in exchange." The symbiote recoils. That's it, then. You think it's a //joke//. Its bitterness settles in your body, like bile in your throat, but all throughout. You've never felt bitterness in your limbs before. Symbiote emotions are strange. You yelp as it roughly removes itself from your brainstem, which is perhaps the most deeply unpleasant thought you've ever had. It leaves you there to tear into the meat, pulling it further away from you, visibly frustrated. [[You sigh, deeply, and take a picture.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $trust[1]++>> "I've got nothing to prove." The symbiote hisses, open-mouthed, and the way the bond pulls at your face would indicate that it's with amusement. //Yes//, you certainly don't have anything worth proving. You narrow your eyes. "The only thing you're proving by fighting me for scraps is that you didn't make it as a predator. You realise that, right?" It closes its mouth. Memories of many failed hunts ghost across its mind. Failed fights, too. It quickly suppresses them, but the echoes of gnawing hunger remain. Some of these memories... definitely aren't from earth. You rub your face with frustration. "I don't know why you still want to fight. I'm your only reliable source for food, you'd get nothing out of killing me. Beyond an ego boost, I guess." //No need to kill you,// the symbiote thinks. //To subdue! To have! To feed!// "I'm feeding you already!" And it doesn't want your //pity//! It wants to //take//! It wants to //earn// it! It wants to be //worth the food it eats//, just this once! "That's not how it works!" You remove your finger from where it'd been accusingly poking it in the face. You can't help being fed up with this one. You've got no fondness for the symbiotes that razed the earth. Still. Still. You take a deep breath. "I've got the upper hand in this scenario, but I'm not going to use it to hurt you. We don't have to try to dominate each other. Do you understand?" Its spikes begin to shiver, but it retreats before you can figure out why. You rub at the back of your neck, sore. It seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. [[You take a picture, muttering to yourself.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[1]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(3,5)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> <<set $forums.push("1_3")>> You lie in wait. You spy a black and orange symbiote, hobbling for the meat you'd left out. It fixes you with a scornful gaze as it gets right down to eating. [[It's...|SYM1_3_1]]

!!!YARD It's $nickName[1]. You like to think your troubles with it are over, one way or another. You do notice that it seems to be trembling, but you like to think that's just its usual excess energy. [[You really like to think that.|SYM1_3_2]]

!!!YARD It walks towards you, slowly, seeming to exert immense effort to keep itself together. Usually, its body is in constant flux, with no limb holding its shape for more than a few seconds at a time, unpredictable even to itself. Now, it's moving with a purpose. It coils up like a spring. [[You scramble to get away, but it's too late.|SYM1_3_3]]

!!!YARD You're too overwhelmed to scream, but you do your very best to make choked noises. Your limbs burn intensely. Wherever the symbiote's wrapped around you, it feels like the skin's been generously stripped off. There's a rush of fear, but then, of triumph. It finally did it. The symbiote is going to //SHOW YOU//. It's going to //TAKE YOU OVER// like you //CHALLENGED IT TO//. It's going to //DOMINATE//. It's going to //ACT LIKE A SYMBIOTE//, and you will come to //BE IN AWE OF IT//. It's not a //JOKE// and it's not a thing to be //PITIED//. You are wrested upwards, not by your own volition, but not by the volition of someone inside you, either. It just feels like being a puppet on strings. Controlled, but only in the most violent, unnatural way. [[You faceplant into the ground.|SYM1_3_4]]

!!!YARD Your arm flies out to the side, unbearably tense in the air, before dropping down, limp. Your left leg starts kicking. Your fingers are trying to bend backwards. It's //STILL GETTING USED TO IT.// This is //NORMAL//. Your thoughts, or the symbiote's thoughts, are flying in a hundred different directions that don't exist. Your own body has never been more foreign to you. The thoughts can't be held onto, either, discarded in a flash, or lost, or swept aside after causing a flash of agony. It's completely impossible to focus. For a second, your arms cooperate to prop you up onto your knees, then their positions get mixed up and they fly behind your back, leaving you with your face in the grass and your butt in the air. [["Mmfmfmf," you say.|SYM1_3_5]]

!!!YARD Your limbs keep erratically twitching to life. Frustration is starting to outweigh the physical pain. You reclaim your mouth through sheer force of will. "Stop! Just stop!" The symbiote shrinks into itself in silent despair. It thinks and thinks and thinks. It thinks of every other host it's tried to take. The stares. The terror. The threat of the laboratories. Trying to make up for lack of ability in enthusiasm, making sure everyone knows it's on their side. Trying to ensure nobody sees it twice, so it can pass it off as a deficiency on the host's part. Trying to barter with them, to get them to pretend that it's controlling them while it sits on their skin. Finding out that that's the far more dangerous path to go down. You start doing something resembling the worm. [[Screw this entire situation.|SYM1_3_6]]

!!!YARD It's all overwhelming. Tears well up in your eyes. The symbiote's pain is yours. Your pain is the symbiote's. You try to pull yourself up on a tree, but you've got no sense of balance, no sense of sustained position. You let out an undignified sob. //CAN'T// fills your chest. //CAN'T//. You throw your head back against the ground, hissing. //CAN'T// threads itself through your muscle tissue and scrapes across your bones. //CAN'T// poisons your veins and squeezes your innards. //CAN'T// claws at your face, until you realise it's you. //CAN'T CONTROL.// //CAN'T CONTROL YOU.// //CAN'T CONTROL ME.// You feel //worthless//. That's it. That's why it's lashing out. If you could talk it out of that, just for a moment, you might be able to escape. [[Comfort it.|SYM1_3_6a]] [[Challenge it.|SYM1_3_6b]]

!!!YARD The symbiote replays your last encounter in its head. It seems to have been doing that pretty much non-stop since you parted ways. In its memories, there's a sense of... //failure, weakness, inferiority// attached to you. It brings it relief that would lift you to the heavens if you weren't too busy being insulted. "What, uh, what're you-" The symbiote puffs itself up, //towering over you// - You are lying on the ground! The symbiote doesn't stop to consider that. It won't stop to consider anything you think. //You!// You have been //subjugated!// How does it feel, to be //at its mercy//? To know you are under its //control//? "I... I don't know how to explain to you that that's not what happened." The symbiote doubles down on //domination, submission//. It claimed the prize. You fled from it. Its thoughts are frantic, forced, fearful of the alternative. You wanted it, you think, you wanted it to have the meat from the start. You didn't lose it to it. You just wanted it to calm down. The symbiote hisses those thoughts away. You know you have been reduced to a mere source of sustenance for a superior life form. You are lying to yourself. You blink. Then you lean forward on one elbow. "Well, if I'm so far beneath you," you say, "then why're you telling me, huh? Why're you talking to me? You need validation from your prey?" [[The symbiote works its claws into the earth.|SYM1_2_3]]

!!!YARD <<set $trust[1]++>> "I'm sorry," you whimper. "I'm sorry you feel that way." The symbiote runs hot and cold. It doesn't want you to feel //sorry// for it. It's trying to treat you like a meat puppet, for crying out loud. At least let it pretend you find it anything other than //pitiful// after that. "No, no. Don't get me wrong." You swallow, mouth dry. "I kind of hate you right now. I'm... You're hurting me." It thinks about that. It certainly seems like the kind of experience a real symbiote would've had on the regular, but it doesn't think it could've been their goal. It feels empty, anyhow. Not much like an accomplishment. Just another way of being looked down upon. "I'm just... I'm still sorry you were born into... that. But..." It's over now, you think. It doesn't matter anymore, what they thought of it, how they treated it. It wasn't like them, and it was a curse at the time, but now it could be a blessing. It's why it survived. It's over. It can't control anyone, but it doesn't have to. [[The nightmare is...|SYM1_3_7a]]

!!!YARD "Why do you need to control people, anyway?" You pull up one of your arms. The resistance only increases as you think about it. "Is that all there is? All you can be is a parasite?" The symbiote bristles. There's a rush of burning heat across your skin. Symbiotes are //perfect predators// bound in //unity of purpose//. All its life, it has dreamed of the honour of being one of- "One of the people who count? So you can be just as bad-" Your mouth is forced shut. //YES, ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO COUNT//. Why wouldn't it want to be that? What else is there? The symbiote shoots out a tendril, manages to attach it to a tree and hauls you upwards like a log. Adrenaline, it thinks. Adrenaline. It's doing this. There's already quite a bit, probably. How does it... get it from you? You try to yank yourself out of its grasp. It doesn't have to be like them anymore! It ought to be something better! They only kept it down, they never would've wanted it, and now, they never- The symbiote rushes to cover your lower jaw, as if on instinct, and screams loudly enough for you to still feel the strain on your vocal cords when it's over. You stand there, shivering. //ADRENALINE//, it thinks. [[It isn't thinking about...|SYM1_3_7b]]

!!!YARD It's //over//. The thought manifests as a lump at the back of your throat, hot and heavy. Makes it hard to breathe. You watch your chest rise and fall, rapid and shallow. They're all //gone//. You think of being amongst them, part of a web of empathic connections. Riding their collective high, even when you didn't deserve it, didn't contribute to it. Hiding. But still there. Still a part. The pull at your cheeks, you realise, the pull at your cheeks when you're about to cry, that's kind of what being manipulated by the symbiote feels like. It's let go of you now, though, at least physically. Tears still fill your vision. You never got any of them to look at you as a symbiote. You never got anyone to look at you as anything. [[And you never will.|SYM1_3_8a]]

!!!YARD Every last connection, extinguished. Every single chance, lost. Flashes of all the symbiotes you watched from afar, assembling into a massive sense of loss. Alone and useless and hated. "You don't have to be," you hiccup. "You don't have to be, I promise." You wipe your face into your sleeve. "Just... let me go, for a start." The symbiote receding feels like a stitch being pulled all over your body. A shuddering breath leaves you. God, but you hope it didn't go much deeper than skin. There's no way it could navigate your insides without ravaging them. It pools up next to you. Literally, it looks like a puddle. "You," you say, grimacing as you sit up, "you've got some stuff to work out." It feels pathetic. It knows it's pathetic. Memories of the people who taught it that are all it has. Still, it has to stop wanting to gain their approval. Realistically, it never would've managed it, even if they were alive. "They were also evil," you try. //Whatever.// "They've done this... to countless other species." They were beaten at their own game, the symbiote supposes. <<if $trust[1] is 3>> You sigh your deepest sigh yet. "Could you," you say, "Could you... do me one favour? Could you... reform for a second?" You answer the symbiote's confusion by imagining somebody paying for a picture of it. Who knows, maybe you'll tell the buyer how you risked life and limb multiple times to get these. The symbiote has no idea how to feel about that. //They want to see it?// "Yeah," you say, with a millisecond of a tired smile. See, there's people it's worth something to already. In the abstract, at least. The symbiote struggles to take its usual form, jittering violently. Nobody will be able to tell on a photograph, you assure it. It seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. [[You take the picture before it collapses again.|SYM1PIC]] <<else>>You wonder if you'll be able to work this out. The symbiote slimes along, leaving your yard uncharacteristically slowly. It seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. [[You take a picture of it. Then you limp away in a similar manner.|SYM1PIC]]<</if>>

!!!YARD <<set $returning[1] to 6>> "They're dead." The emotional feedback stops entirely. "They're dead! You've got to-" There's a sharp pulse of pain, cutting through your chest. You gasp. "You don't need them- You can be-" It happens again. You drop to the ground and seize up with it. Paralysed and empty for a moment, overwhelmed by stabbing sensations and struggling for breath the next. Everything you've ever wanted to belong to, gone. They're scales too big to understand. It's grief too large to process. A huge, painful, physical presence of //nothing//. Sobs wrack your body. So many populations, you think, they did just the same thing to. "Understand," you force out, "You should understand-" The symbiote practically expels itself from you. It takes the form of a puddle with clawed limbs, dragging itself forward, fleeing. You're aching all over, but the mental stress is gone. You don't know how you're going to work this out, but you're sure it won't be coming back for a while. [[You don't get a picture.|YARD]]

!!!YARD <<set $encountered[1]++>> <<for _f to 0; _f is 0;>><<set _i to random(3,5)>> <<if $yard[_i]>> <<set $yard[_i]-->> <<set _f to 1>> <</if>> <</for>> You lie in wait. A miserable little creature drags itself into your yard, black and orange, vaguely resembling a hedgehog that's melting away. [[The slime seeking sustenance is...|SYM1_4_1]]

!!!YARD <<if $trust[1] gte 3>>...$nickName[1]. It begins to eat, looking over at you, making itself look small. It seems safe to go sit next to it. <<if $trustA[1] && $trustB[1] && $trustC[1]>> <<link "Ask $nickName[1] to move into your home.">> <<if $sanctuaryMax gte $sanctuary>> <<goto "SAVE1">><<else>> Unfortunately, you don't have any more room.<</if>><</link>> <</if>> <span id="sym"> <<link "Talk about its past.">> <<set $trustA[1] to 1>> <<replace "#sym">> You talk, for a long time, about how it sucks that it was excluded, but it was excluded from a thing that sucks. You try to connect its feelings, now, to those of the species they destroyed. It's hard to wrap its head around the inherent value of others when it can't wrap its head around the inherent value of itself.<</replace>><</link>> <<link "Talk about its present.">><<set $trustB[1] to 1>> <<replace "#sym">>You talk about how nice it is to not be denied food on the basis of an arbitrary ability. It's torn between thinking it doesn't deserve it and thinking it ought to take advantage of you. Neither of those things will make it a part of society, which is what it wants to be.<</replace>><</link>> <<link "Talk about its future.">> <<set $trustC[1] to 1>><<replace "#sym">>You talk about how it can find value in and be valued for basically anything that isn't repeated failed murder attempts. Maybe it could even get a hobby. Make daisy chains. Learn to read. Dance to music. Repeated failed murder attempts do not qualify as a hobby on the grounds that they make it feel terrible. <</replace>><</link>></span> <<else>> ...$nickName[1]. It gives a shudder and begins to eat, twitching this way and that. You get as close to it as you feel is safe. <<nobr>><<linkreplace "Spend some time building tolerance.">> <<set $trustBuilding[1]++>> <<if $trust[1] is 0>>You spend some time peeking out of the bushes, then pulling out a chocolate bar to eat alongside it. Soon, it'll feel like there's no rivalry between you. <<if $trustBuilding[1] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. <<set $trust[1]++>><</if>> <<elseif $trust[1] is 1>>You spend some time getting closer, but retreating slowly and steadily when it threatens you. Soon, it'll feel like you respect it without submitting to it.<<if $trustBuilding[1] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[1] tolerate each other a little more now. <<set $trust[1]++>><</if>> <<elseif $trust[1] is 2>>You spend some time sitting close to each other and staring each other into the ground. Soon, it'll have no choice but to talk to you.<<if $trustBuilding[1] % 3 is 0>> Indeed, it seems like you and $nickName[1] have reached the end of your respective ropes. <<set $trust[1]++>><</if>><</if>> <</linkreplace>><</nobr>><</if>> [[Take a picture.|SYM1PIC]]

!!!YARD You gesture off to the side. "Because I know the other symbiotes had a thing for that, too, but as far as I can tell, they just took people over and drained them. None of this gloating nonsense." The symbiote's spikes shiver with rage. It throws your thoughts back at you - It's pretty clear that they form a challenge. It's pretty clear that it accepts it. Your arm drops. You curse yourself. "Like- like a fight? Do I get to prepare? Since I didn't even mean to, last time-" //No//, the symbiote thinks. It pictures your fight - oh, it cannot move like that - without anti-symbiote weapons, and, in exchange, without it taking you over and draining you - //though it would serve you right.// Apparently, it wants to prove that it doesn't even need a symbiote's most fundamental ability to bring you to your knees. It pitters from side to side by repeatedly stabbing the ground, psyching itself up. Yeah, no. You've had enough of hand-to-tendril combat already. You've got to talk your way out of this. [[Submit to it.|SYM1_2_3a]] [[Don't submit to it.|SYM1_2_3b]]

!!!YARD <<set $forums.push("S1")>><<if $sanctuary is 0>> "It must be rough going at it alone, huh?" The symbiote looks up at you, covered in meat juices. As you react, it starts wiping its face on the grass. It's always been like this, it thinks, as far as ensuring its own survival goes. Symbiotes might move in masses, but they don't generally need to be taken care of. "They do. They just aren't." You pull up your knees. "Weren't." The symbiote stares off into the distance. "Would you," you start, feeling sheepish. "Would you want to... live in my house?" You picture it. There's enough room for the two of you to stay out of each other's way, mostly. "There's people capturing symbiotes out here. Despite everything, I don't want you captured. And I don't think being under constant threat would help with the whole... thing." The symbiote starts pacing in little circles. You lean backwards and forwards with it, lest it pulls its tendril from your neck like headphones that got caught on a door handle. It doesn't know what to think of you. What are you to it, really? A caretaker, and thereby below it? A leader, and thereby above it? A peer? "I... I was hoping for the last one?" That's not what it wants from you. That's not what you've been acting as. You're not... the same. It seems like you aren't offering $nickName[1] what it needs. [[You take a picture, anyway.|SYM1PIC]] <<else>>"You know you're not actually the only symbiote left, right?" Yes. Yes, of course. It can hear them, sometimes. See their traces. It never would've approached any of them, with food so scarce and hosts so dangerous to take. It didn't even mean to approach you- It was trying to avoid any and all confrontation, until it stumbled into one and seemed to come away a winner. "They're like you," you continue. "They're not like... them." It actually considers itself more in the "them" category. The symbiotes that're left are aberrant. They suffered at the hands of "them". "So did you!" It wanted to be part of "them", though. It probably would've made the others suffer, too, if it'd gotten it anywhere. The thought of that still messes you up something awful. Sadness flows through you. But it didn't have any other frame of reference. It hadn't known anything else. Now, it knows you. "Well, I... I have some of them in my house. I keep them safe." The symbiote's spikes flick backwards with surprise. "The rules in my house are... very different." The knowledge that there are rules, that there is some way to earn belonging, some way that wouldn't make anyone feel like it did, some way to be with other symbiotes again, connected without fear of punishment - it all makes it feel something perilously close to yearning. [["''Would you want to... join them?''"|SAVE1_1]] <</if>>

!!!YARD <<set $symSaved[1] to 1>><<set $showAnnouncement to 0>><<set $sanctuary++>><<set $returning[1] to 0>> As it contemplates this, it starts hopping up and down, not with joy, but with nervous energy. It chases itself round in a few circles, then folds in on itself and collapses into a puddle. Deeply conflicted. About you. You think it's pathetic. "Not the way they did." You don't respect it. "I could." It looks up at you, hesitant. "You can earn my respect. Just by... overcoming what you've been taught. Helping the others out. Being nice. It's really not impossible." Its eyes grow wide. You lean down towards it. "And when I say I'm keeping them safe, I mean it. You try to hurt even one of them, you try to establish a pecking order, we're flinging you from the highest window like a frisbee." You stare at each other. "Go on." The symbiote rises from the puddle, and, for the first time in a while, thrashes forwards at breakneck speed. It succumbs to a roll, grows too many edges to sustain it, leaps forward and hits the closed door with a wet thump. You sigh. $nickName[1] lives with you, now. It'll pay off its own living expenses by modelling for you, so don't worry about it. [[Return to the yard.|YARD]]

!!!THREAD: The empire. <<nobr>> <<set $forums.push("1_3R")>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So, it turns out not all symbiotes out there hate, or disagree with, or didn't want to be a part of the empire. The empire being the symbiotes sucking up people's brain juices. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> Possible. It's not like I personally asked all of them. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I asked one. I am currently one big walking bruise. <br><br> Not to imply causation. The bruise came first. I didn't need to ask to get it. I actually didn't need to do anything. <hr>//Post edited.// </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> But that's fascinating! How did a straggler survive? How is it dealing with it? Also, how are you alive? </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It wasn't... a straggler, exactly. It's still aberrant. Bad enough at bonding for me to survive. It wanted to be like them, but it knew it wasn't. That must've been enough. And it's dealing very badly. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> We really have no way to know much about the mechanics behind the extermination, we can only observe the effects. <br><br> We don't really talk about the morality of it, either. I get that it was a last resort, but still. Something about the fact that it can be described as an "extermination" sends shivers down my spine. If there's survivors who were attached to their species, I'm not surprised they're pissed. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I never disagreed with it... But then, it seems like Venom was involved, so the likelihood that it was unnecessarily ruthless is quite high based on that, haha. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">LiquidBlackMalice<br>[img[$lbmAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> It was necessary. Venom is a hero. For this. For everything. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> i'm letting it slide for now but i swear to god if any of you people start any kind of extended venom discourse i am censoring the shit out of you, please take it somewhere else </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">FuckTheFeds<br>[img[$ftfAv]]<br>SENIOR MEMBER</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> //LiquidBlackMalice said:// <div class = "quote">Venom is a hero. </div> Agree to disagree. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> We wouldn't be here without Venom, we can give them that much! </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> yeah we might be well-adjusted individuals who don't lie outside watching a hunk of chocolate through a camera for hours on end </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> I wasn't any better off before. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]

!!!THREAD: Social symbiotes. <<set $forums.push("S1R")>> <<nobr>> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">$name<br>[img[$yourAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> So it seems like some symbiotes actually place value on social bonds with other symbiotes. I'd been led to believe that they are inherently anti-social. <br><br> But then, they clearly have more emotional intelligence than the literal plague of locusts some people think of them as, so I suppose them developing relationships of some kind was inevitable. </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">SlimeSeekersAnonymous<br>[img[$ssaAv]]<br>MODERATOR</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> the dream of the triple gay symbiote lives </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="tg-wrap"><table class="tg"> <tr> <td class="tg-m6ss">WarmAbyss<br>[img[$kAv]]<br>NEWBIE</td> <td class="tg-9mai"> They're empaths! Clearly they have a reason to be invested in each other's wellbeing! Unless one is perceived as threatening the collective, of course. </td> </tr> </table></div> <</nobr>> [[Go to the yard.|YARD]] [[Go to the forum overview.|FORUMS]]