False Dendrite Quest 160

>shooty gunny thing

>tossy hoopy thing

>>shooty gunny thing

>shooty gunny thing

I wish there was the one where you shoot a water gun into a target and force your piece forward against other people. That way we could at least have some sense of satisfaction of -someone- winning.

>writing

Since nothing immediately comes to mind off the top of my head, I motion for Charlotte to come along as I make my way down the path and check out the individual stands for myself.

Along the way, we pass by lots of those games with all the bottles lined up and you try and throw rings around their openings... slightly less of those darts games where you pop balloons to get posters that are all of boy bands and crappy TV shows that I don't care about...

"Ooh, how about that one," I say, pointing to a stand that has airguns lined up along its front.
"Shoot the target?" Charlotte says, squinting at the starred papers that line the back of the stand.
"Not quite," I shake my head. "They give you a bunch of shots and you're supposed to use them to shoot the paper until the star's been completely destroyed."

Charlotte stares at me with a completely puzzled expression.

"What made you decide on that?" she asks.
"Well," I shrug, "back when I came to places like this when I was little, my Mom would taunt my Dad into challenging all these gun games to see if he could handle it. Since they didn't directly depend on physical strength, it was purely up to his skill to see if he could win them."
"Skill?" she rolls her eyes. "Aren't all these things rigged?"
"I dunno, probably?" I shrug. "But figuring out how to beat the system is part of the fun, isn't it?"

Charlotte simply sighs and pats me on the head.

"You're what they call a 'born sucker,' Cecile," she says as she makes her way towards the stand.

>charlotte is the gunner
>cecile is the gunner
>we is both the gunners

>we is both the gunners

>we is both the gunners

>>we is both the gunners

>we is both the gunners

>writing

"My my!" the middle-aged booth guy laughs as me and Charlotte approach. "It's a rare day when I get not one, but TWO pretty ladies who're interested in taking a shot at winning a prize!"

He points at a sign listing the prices.

"One dollar for ten shots, five dollars gets you seventy-five!" the man says. "Great deal, right?"
"I suppose so," Charlotte says as she reaches into the pocket of her dress and brings out a fancy-looking coin purse thing. "Might as well take the seventy-five..."

She hands the man a $5 bill and is promptly handed a plastic cup that's filled with BBs.

"So you've got an eye for a value, eh?" the booth man says, winking at Charlotte. "and just because you're so pretty, I'm gonna give you a break."
"Hm?"
"In the unlikely event that you can't get the target even after using up all of your shots, I'll let you keep on using the same sheet if you want to try again instead of making you start over."

How generous of him.

>[1/?]

>[2/2]

"So who's going to be doing the shooting?" Charlotte says, turning to me. "I don't exactly have any experience with this sort of thing."
"We've got 75 shots, right?" I ask.
"Yeah, they're right here," she says, pointing at the cup.
"Then how about we -both- do it?"

I call out to the booth guy.

"That's allowed, right?" I ask. "Since she already paid for the shots."
"What, you're going to both shoot at the same target?"

>yes, this is cooperative shooting
>no, this is competitive shooting

>yes, this is cooperative shooting

There's nothing to be gained by beating a novice.

>yes, this is cooperative shooting

>>yes, this is cooperative shooting

>yes, this is cooperative shooting

>writing

>"Competitive shooting."

>"Competitive shooting."
Meanwhile, on bizarro FD.

"Yup," I say, taking Charlotte hand. "Cooperative shooting."
"Hm," the man slowly nods his head. "It might be more confusing for the two of you but there aren't any rules saying that you -can't- do it."

I turn to Charlotte with a big smile on my face.

"Victory is as good as ours!"
"I don't know about that," Charlotte laughs, "but at least not all the pressure is on me anymore."

After listening to a quick explanation of how to load our guns, me and Charlotte fill our respective rifles with as many BBs as they can hold and take aim at the paper at the back of the booth.

Charlotte seems to think that I have some kind of personal experience with this kind of thing, but I haven't used anything even resembling a gun since Mina dragged me to an arcade and we played some light gun game... 'Time Saga' or whatever.

Oh, and there was the police one too. That was fun.

>[1/?]

Guns are easy, just point and shoot. That's what Mina would say while using BOTH guns in those arcade games to shoot down entire armies of goons. But I only have this one stationary target and this one gun so it should be a lot easier for me... right?

Whatever, I have over thirty BBs to try with even if we end up splitting them evenly. No sense in hesitating.

So I point the rifle at the star.

And I make sure that my aim is true.

And then I pull the trigger.

>[2/3]

>That Lance of Longinus in the pic

>[3/3]

Almost in unison, the sound of both mine and Charlotte's rifles going "PSHH" fills my ears and their BBs go flying towards their target.

...and both shots end up wildly missing their marks.

"Ugh, why am I not surprised," Charlotte groans as she checks her rifle and begins to reaim.

But not me. I -know- that my aim was right. The reflected light off the paper was at the exact angle for me to hit it from where I had the rifle aimed... but it ended up like four inches away from where it should have been.

The gun itself is rigged.

>if they can cheat then so can I
>I will try and power through this without subterfuge

>if they can cheat then so can I

>>if they can cheat then so can I

>Check in which direction the shot goes askew.
>Aim properly.

I always thought of those guns simply being poorly made and therefore inaccurate, not being intentionally rigged. Same difference, though, I suppose.

>>I will try and power through this without subterfuge

This

>I always thought of those guns simply being poorly made and therefore inaccurate, not being intentionally rigged. Same difference, though, I suppose.
Depending on the area, they can actually have official laws concerning how many degrees off the guns in games like this are allowed to be before the establishment gets fined or shut down.

>writing

catch the sun and light it ablaze

burn a hole in that foolish thing which would claim to be a star

No, I'm not going to do that. Even though this gun is most definitely off and that is a fine example of CHEATING, I'm better than that crap. Way better.

So despite the fact that it would be a piece of cake to make a UV-light "laser sight" on my gun that no eyes aside from mine would be able to see, I'm going to be doing this the honorable way.

"Damn it..."

Charlotte fires two more shots that don't even hit anywhere NEAR where she was aiming for.

>[1/?]

"Alright," I say to myself. "I have this."

My arms steady, I hold up my rifle and fire a test shot which misses its mark. But even so, it served its purpose well. Thanks to that, I now have the exact angle of deviation from which my aim and the actual shot differ.

PSSH PSSH PSSSH PSSH PSSH PSSH PSSH

I aim and fire, aim and fire. And while my aim still isn't perfect, it's good enough for me to actually hit the star and its surrounding paper a couple of times.

...but come to think of it, isn't THIS cheating? I mean, I'm not so dense as to think that the fact that I'm able to figure out these angles is anything other than a result of my Branch.

>[2/?]

While I'm pondering the fairness of my own actions, Charlotte peppers the paper with a volley of shots, several of which actually hit their mark.

"Wow blondie, it looks like you're starting to get the hang of this!" the shop guy laughs.
"Apparently," Charlotte replies, seconds before letting loose another couple of shots. "but I'm sure that my sister would've already won this game by now if she was here..."

Yeah, she's probably right. This kind of thing seems like it'd be right up Gabrielle's alley.

>[3/?]

Shoot and shoot... I might have an "unfair advantage" but it's not like I'm doing it on purpose. This is just how my mind works now, it's not like I'm actively cheating.

Yeah, that's the excuse I'm going to use.

with my mind cleared of guilt, I fire my rifle again and again and again and again until the star's completely vanished from the paper that me and Charlotte share.

"We get to try another paper, right?" I ask. "Since we still have like thirty BBs left."
"Only 'cuz you're both so easy on the eyes, the booth guy replies with a wink.

Ew.

>[4/5]

>[5/5]

This second paper lasts maybe two minutes before the two of us spend the last of our BBs in completely obliterating it. And the booth guy seems genuinely impressed.

"Congratulations, ladies!" he laughs as we return our guns. "Since you've cleared two stars, you get your choice of two prizes!"
"Wonderful," Charlotte says with undisguised sarcasm. "So what exactly -do- we get?"
"One minute..."

The booth guy disappears begins a walled-off area for a few seconds and returns with a large crate... that contains a number of little goldfish in cups.

"And if you're not into fish then we also have keychains!" he says, holding a bunch of cute mascot ones.

>fish
>keychains

>keychains

>>keychains
Time for a souvenir

>>keychains

>>keychains

>little goldfish in cups
living ones or some of those plastic ones?

>>keychains

Living.

…how cruel. Buncha retarded animal babies that prematurely die doesn’t feel carnivally to me.

>…how cruel. Buncha retarded animal babies that prematurely die doesn’t feel carnivally to me.
Sadly, they're a pretty common prize in games like that.
and of course most end up dying after a couple of days either through neglect or because they were already full of parasites

>writing

Fearing the worst, I turn to Charlotte... but she doesn't seem to be bothered at all. Not visibly, at least. Still though, I really wish that I asked what the prizes were BEFORE playing this game.

"Umm, I think we'll go with the keychains," I say to the guy at the booth. "You okay with that, Charlotte?"
"Yes," Charlotte nods. "That would be for the best."
"Okay then, you can have your pick of any two!" the booth guy says as he places an assortment of them on the counter between a couple of guns.

In the end, I pick a happy little flower and Charlotte picks a cat and then we say goodbye to that booth and its poor, poor fish.

>ask the charlotte about the fish
>no sense in bringing that up

>>no sense in bringing that up

>>ask the charlotte about the fish
Might have too little of a mind to really warrant concern (and be kept from developing one by their circumstances). After all, she doesn’t cry after every tick or fly.

>>ask the charlotte about the fish

>writing

While examining the cat keychain that our combined efforts won her, Charlotte continues to walk alongside me.

"Sorry," I mumble.
"For what?" Charlotte replies.

She then brings out her change purse thing and begins attaching the keychain to it. I can't really say that the cheap plastic thing is suited for such an expensive-looking accessory, but it does make me kind of happy to see that Charlotte actually cares about it.

"The, umm..." I clear my throat, "...the fish. I should've checked what the prizes were before we started playing."
"Cecile," Charlotte sighs.

And then she wraps her arm around my shoulders and pulls me towards her.

"All you've done today is worry about me," she says, resting her head against mine. This earns us a couple of stares, but I don't really care.

>[1/2]

>[2/2]

"While I -do- feel really bad for those fish, I don't think I could function if I let every single thing I saw like that weigh on my conscience," Charlotte says to me. "But thanks for your concern."
"You're sure?" I ask.
"Yes," she nods. "...but I -would- appreciate it if you made sure that the next game we play isn't offering any more of them as prizes. I don't think my conscience would let me pass them up a second time."

>yeah, let's play another game
>eh, maybe we should do something else

>>eh, maybe we should do something else
Any Ferris wheels or similar attractions around?

>eh, maybe we should do something else
The Ferris Wheel ought to be the last thing we do, so unless we want to end the date I say we go on another ride before it.

Good point.
Changing See if we find any fun rides, or maybe just wander around the park. Not sure what this mix of amusement park and plain park has.

>writing

"Ehh..." I sigh, "...maybe we should do something else for a while."
"I really don't mind if you wanted to play another one so-"
"No, that isn't it," I say, shaking my head. "Just feel like a change of pace, that's all."
"Fair enough," Charlotte shrugs. "So what's next, leader?"

I check my phone for the time... it's a little past two. So that means that we've got about three and a half hours left before Charlotte starts getting antsy and four and a half max before we flat-out need to get out of here.

"We've still got a fair amount of time left," I say, "so how about a ride?"
"One of -those-?" Charlotte asks, pointing at a huge wheel that's spinning crazy fast.
"It doesn't have to be something fast," I reply, "they've got a lot of stuff out here."

>boat ride
>bumper cars
>ferris wheel
>look for something else

>boat ride

>bumper cars

>>bumper cars

>writing

And then it hits me- the absolute BEST ride that places like this have.

BUMPER CARS.

"...why are you smiling like that?" Charlotte asks.

But I don't answer her. Instead, I just take her hand and pull her along with me as I search for them. And though I may not know where exactly they are, there's no way that a place can have rides without them.

"Yeah, this is it!" I say, snapping my fingers as a large enclosed area comes into view.
"What exactly is it?" Charlotte asks. "I hope this isn't something aw-"

I point at the bumper cars.

"...oh. Of course."

And then she starts laughing.

>hey now, I thought we were partners in this
>I take it that this is a challenge?

>>I take it that this is a challenge?

>I take it that this is a challenge?

This means war

>I take it that this is a challenge?

>>I take it that this is a challenge?

>writing

I cross my arms and glance at Charlotte out of the corner of my eye.

"I take it that this is a challenge?" I ask, a sly smile forming on my lips.
"Challenge?" Charlotte repeats. "What, so you want to go against me? Cecile, you wound me."
"You were the one who started laughing all of a sudden," I reply.
"That was just because I was reminded of all the times that my father tried and failed to teach me how to drive," she laughs. "Yet at the same time, my horrible driving abilities are actually to my benefit here..."

Wait, so I completely misunderstood her?

"But if you want a challenge," Charlotte replies, "then I am all for it. Just don't try to claim domestic violence when you end up getting knocked all over the place."
"Oh, so -that's- how it's going to be?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "Alright, you are ON."

>try to bet something
>ladies, start your engines

>try to bet something

I'm not sure what, but this needs to happen

>>try to bet something
The loser must give the winner a kiss. (I think we've done that once before too?)

>>ladies, start your engines

While I had wanted to reach the end of the date tonight, I guess that's going to have to wait until next time. As always, I thank everyone who participated.

With the usual "assuming that things don't go to shit" disclaimer attached, the next thread will be on Monday night. If nothing else, I'd like to at least finish this chapter out.

and now questions

How has the writing experience changed, now that you have a sword constantly hanging over you?

>How has the writing experience changed, now that you have a sword constantly hanging over you?
It sucks.
Prior to all this, False Dendrite was a pleasant change of pace for me after spending most of the week working on Princess Guard stuff. The difference in subject matter helped to keep me from burning out on either.
But now that leisurely feeling is completely gone and has been replaced with dread, and the previous really freaking great pace that I'd achieved lately with Princess Guard writing has been shot right to hell.

And now I sleep. Thanks for playing!

For further questioning:
maouzenigame.tumblr.com/

Game production blog:
studioarchelon.wordpress.com/

I think it is still lovely. Will really miss it if it’s gone, though. Occupied a place nothing else did, if you know what I mean.

Why is this quest okay, but all the other quests have to move to /qst/?

Thanks for the thread, Archelon.

Special snowflake

>but all the other quests have to move to /qst/?
Because that's completely untrue?