Part 12: Update XI - Featuring: Bizarre DLC Availability

Update XI - Featuring: Bizarre DLC Availability

Music: The Daily Grind


Before we go get the Blaster Pen for Blaster Raven for a Blaster Autograph, let's go start all those other sidequests.



This guy in the Development Room starts up Code: Student.



Ichi: Oh? Are you the one who took my request upon their shoulders? My... I am not only extremely humbled, but delighted as well. To be honest, I saw... a member of the legendary Unit 13 at the Skytower in 7th Encount! However, everyone insists my eyes must have deceived me! They refuse to believe the truth! Honorable Unit 13! Please bring her here, and prove my innocence! If that is impossible, the only option that remains is to honorably end my own life.

Well he certainly went from 0 to 100.

*nods*

Ichi: Oh! You will bring her here? I am forever in your debt! She will surely be in the Skytower in 7th Encount! I beg of you, find her!



In the entrance hallway of the R&D Floor is the grinding DLC.



Yui: Um, we have some intel saying there there's been a mass outbreak of Dragonsbane Seeds in Atlantica! Do you know what a seed is? It's like, those things that start off small but then turn into plants! They're really annoying to beat, but they'll give tons of EXP and SP! Doesn't that sound lovely? This isn't really a request, but just some info for you. It'll help you level up quickly! Whadya say?

*nods*

Yui: Watch out for special Dragonsbane Seeds in Atlantica! Hope they ex-seed your expectations!



We were already here for Blaster Raven, but there's a second sidequest in the same room.



This one is Snail Mail.

Ami: Thanks for taking my request. Well, let's get into the details! What I need is... A collection mission! Have you heard of a Spiral Cannon before?



Is that in the zoological record?

Ami: Yes, yes! It's the tender white creature that lives in a large spiral conch shell!

~

What's that, a food?

Ami: Yes, yes! You just pop that shell off, rub butter all over its soft body, and smoke it up on a grill— I-I mean, who would eat something like that!? This is research! Purely research!

~~

Ami: Spiral Cannons form their shells from rare metals, so they help to map out mineral distribution. Unit 13, my request is this: Collect 10 Spiral Meat from Spiral Cannons. Can I count on you?

*nods*

Ami: Thank you so much! Spiral Cannons live in various locations around Atlantica. Good luck♪ Oh by the way, Spiral Meat rots very quickly. Make sure you get the freshest possible meat for me...! *drool*



It's too late to mention now, but Ami is known around Nodens for her... bizarre taste in food. She once tried to eat a dragon specimen, and was sick in bed for an entire month. The mineral survey will probably be useful, but you can bet she'll roast that Spiral Meat later. What a weird request... Sucks for you that you have to go along with it. Well, good luck! Eeheehee!

Sidequests in the 2020s consisted of things like scavenging for resources, saving people from monsters, or stopping death cults and the like.

In VFD, we have to go get a celebrity autograph and get monster meat for a foodie.

But, again, what can you do when there's no threat to Nodens? Everything in the world is business as normal, so there's no real way to have actually serious sidequests.



Up next is Code: Otaku down by the entrance cafe.



Kazu: Nobody believes me, but I totally saw her! Nobody believes me, but I totally saw her! She was fighting a dragon at the Skytower in 7th Encount-o! I was a fan at first sight-o! Those flat eyes, gently curved tails, and long sleeves! I can't resist her... I want her to treat me like a human piece of trash-o! There's no doubt that she's a member of the legendary Unit 13! I must meet her no matter what! Bring her to me, please! It's all up to you-o!



A-Anything else you'd like to say, Kazu?

~

Kazu: And then I'll take her crown... She'll probably get mad, but I won't give it back—o... Then I'll be able to taunt and tease her... Her eyes are gonna well up with tears!



I honestly think I prefer the seppuku guy.

Kazu: *gasp-o* I blanked out again... Hm? What you you still doing here? She's surely in the Skytower in 7th Encount! Please, bring her to me-o!



And finally we have Code: Lucier in 7th Encount.



Hiro: ...Go find the cat girl. ...Go find the cat girl in the Skytower. ...Listen. ...The other day I saw a cat-ear girl who looked like a member of the legendary Unit 13. ...She was so fluffy. I have to fluff her fluffiness. You must bring her to me for fluffy time! ...The cat girl should be somewhere in the Skytower in 7th Encount. ...Good luck.

...

Why are they all freaks!?

~

Hiro: Meow meow meow meow meow meow... Meow meow kitty cat meow meow... ...What're you looking at? ...The cat girl should be somewhere in the Skytower.

Aaaaaaand now semantic satiation has set in on 'meow.' Lovely.



This is probably a bad idea.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals


But I'm going to go get them.



We run into 2020 Samurai as soon as we walk in.



During this entire trip, I really want you to keep something in mind:



We're in the damn pods. Why the hell can't we just unplug these three from 7th Encount?



Nagamimi booted us out when we proved ourselves to be dragon hunters, so why do we have to go and drag them out by hand?



Another scene starts as soon as we enter the Skytower.



This time with 2020 Hacker.



She glances at us for a moment and walks away.





And about 10 seconds later we get another scene.



This time with 2020-II Lucier.







Oh, and the fights are completely unchanged from the last time we were here, so we get basically nothing from random encounters.



That's it for this floor.



But a scene starts as soon as we enter the next.





Samurai looks around a bit then runs ahead.



Go get her, Unit 13! Do whatever it takes to catch that brat!



Aaaaaand that's it.

For the entire floor.



But yet another scene starts up when we go up the stairs to 3F.



Having all three quests active at the same time really makes this a bit exhausting to do.



Hacker casually strolls away.



You've got to get her, Unit 13! Even if it kills you!



On the plus side, we have a marker down a dead end, so whoever is there won't be able to keep running.

Also, we can finally finish clearing out the dungeon!



Let's go deal with that first marker.



A dragon in a video game.

Unit 13! You've gotta go save Straight Bangs!



Why can't Nagamimi, I don't know, use admin commands to despawn it?

Music: Battlefield - Furious Predator


They jacked up the encounters and spawned in the baby dragon, after all.



...oh dear.



See, the Megamouth Dragon first shows up in Cladeon, so this is one hell of an early fight for us.



And to make things worse...



This isn't any old normal Megamouth.



The first one are regular Megamouths that we'll be meeting in Cladeon.

The second is this specific Megamouth.



So we're underleveled and undergeared, we're lacking multiple abilities we'd normally have for a Megamouth fight, and it has nearly three times the HP of a base Megamouth.





And even if we ignore the damage it deals directly, the poison it inflicts ticks for 1/4 of our health.



Oh, and he can hit multiple party members.



Winning as I am now is straight up impossible, I just don't have the resources needed to try and brute force the fight.

So what do I do?



I cheat it to death.

Music: Finish Them Off


Because we actually get our second set of classes early into Cladeon, so putting this fight off until I could actually win it would mean none of the DLC portraits could be used in the next chargen vote..

And if you were playing at home, using these portraits would mean either waiting for the final classes, benching someone you already have, or changing a pre-existing party member into them at the Terminal, completely defeating the point of these make-your-own-party type games.

Music: Tokyo - Cascading Ordeals


So fuck it, I'm calling LP'er fiat, bitches!



Opal nods, then Samurai gestures.



Samurai tilts her head.

Well, where are you from? What should we call you? Just what are you?

Samurai shakes her head and then gestures.

What!? You have amnesia!? What a bullshit excuse!

Having two silent protagonists in the same place is a pain.

Opal gestures.

Grr... Fine! You're way too freaking lenient. Get her back here!



Up next is...



The next Lucier scene.



C'mon! Didn't I tell you to stop!? Chase her down, Unit 13! Don't let her escape, even if you die in the process!



At least we're finally able to grab this chest!



Both Hacker and Lucier have had two scenes, so both of them will need to be saved now.



The closest one is Hacker.

Shit! Unit 13, go save Goth Eyes!





Bop.



Opal nods, Hacker gestures.

Goth Eyes! Why the heck were you trying to get away from us!? You brat... Just tell us who you are. Or maybe where you're from. Or at least WHAT you are.

Hacker shakes her head and ges-son of a bitch did they make this formulaic???

You've gotta be freaking kidding me! Amnesial? I'm not gonna fall for that shit!

Opal gestures.

Grr... Whatever! Just bring her back already! You better be ready to deal with the consequences!



That just leaves one more to go.





There's a heal point at the end of the dungeon.



And the Lucier.

This is bad! Unit 13, get in there and save Cat Ears!





Bop 2: Electric Boogaloo.

And yes, all of these will be showing up in Cladeon.



You know the drill by now.

Hey, you! Why did you run away from us, Cat Ears!?

But in a twist, Lucier steps back a bit first!



And now we get the shakes and gestures.

What!? Amnesia!? A shitty excuse like that isn't gonna work on me! Grr... Fine! Sheesh, you're too soft. Bring her back here!



That's it for the Code quests, but I still need to clear the place out.



And done.



Actually done, even! The top floor is just this small roof!



There's not even a chest or anything to reward us.



Really strange how they just... made half the tutorial dungeon irrelevant.



Oh well.

Music: The Daily Grind


The Code: Lucier turn-in is like 5 seconds away, so I might as well deal with that while we're here.



...I already regret this.



Hiro: ...Fluffy.



What have we done...













A-Anyways, what're you gonna do now, Cat Ears? Do you have somewhere you can go?

Lucier shakes her head.

Hey, this is a problem...



Suddenly, Allie!



Allie. She is, but... She has amnesia. She doesn't even know where her home is. We're all out of ideas...

I have a great idea! How about we have her fight dragons alongside Unit 13?

Ah yes, let's take a girl with zero memories and have her fight for her life. No possible way this could go wrong.

Don't be absurd! This civilian can't fight against dragons!

Well, I looked into the data from 7th Encount, and it turns out she has superb battle abilities! She was hunting dragons before you came along and found her. She even managed to beat a High Dragon!

And yet we had to save her from a normal dragon, which are significantly weaker than High Dragons.

Hell, we haven't even killed a High Dragon yet!

What!? No way!

Also, despite all of that, all the DLC portraits still start at level 1 if you make a new character.



Are you a dragon hunter?

Each one gets a nod from Lucier, natch.

Eeheehee... Looks like she's all pumped up.

Then it's settled! I love getting more teammates! Welcome to Nodens!





And despite being, you know, an actual person we recruited, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from filling your party with nothing but 2020-II Lucier.

Next time: More sidequesting.