heres a little excerpt from a scene in twilight epoch.
for both immersion reasons and general limitations of trying to solo dev a whole ass jrpg, the vast majority of the story is told through prose, as opposed to the usual cutscenes or dialogue boxes.
i won't be posting many of these because i don't want to spoil the story, also i have a suspicion no ones going to bother reading it until they're playing the thing, but i want to post at least one to give you an idea of what to expect.
the party have arrived at New Magness, the capital city of Union Prime, historically known as Terra. Dusk, the main character, has been taken in for a medical examination for reasons i won't spoil. while waiting, Lua, Mush and Copper hit downtown with the newly met union fleet officer Jenny Gun, who has been tasked with accompanying the party on their soon-to-be mission.
i'm sort of assuming that most reading this have been following the game and recognise the party member names, but if not it doesn't matter too much.
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"This was a favourite of mine, a year ago when I was with the police department. Good for a bite if I got lucky with the calls."
It was a diner on a corner. Above it's wide and tall windows with only thin frame, a scrolling light-diode text wrapped around the bevel of the building, unreadable to Lua and Mush.
"Hey waidda minute, how come we can hear each-other but can't read the signs?"
"Visual translation can lead to hallucinations. Audio's good enough." Lua answered absently, eyes following the scroll to try and translate it manually.
"Fifty Brothers: Finest Pitta" Copper read the name, buried among other superlatives claiming it to be the best, most eminent diner of all time.
"Fifty..." sucking his pipe.
"Yeah, the owners, uh, Anamian. They get busy."
"So no seafood here then, I take it?" blowing.
"Heh heh. Yeah, no."
"Bah." throwing his hand and turning. "If it ain't got seafood, lass, it ain't got me; not with a pitta place. I'll look elsewhere then come back for a pint." trailing off into the streets darkness, the glow of his pipe fading.
"Alllrighty."
"But he's missing out." she side-mouthed with chin-tucked, smiling to the other two.
The interior was a clinical white, between the white fluorescent lights and less-white square tiles plastered with vague faded footprints and very un-clinical pools of grease beside a no mans land of fallen straws and condiment packets.
Parallel to the large windows were three tables with four stools each, capped with red cushion. The counter was steel, and had no seats, meant only for ordering to the fish-like man with a uniform apron and cap. Gun greeted him with a nod, and the others took the one free table in the centre.
Neither really knew what a 'pitta' was. Craning or just straight up extending their necks to take a glance over a wrapping from a stood up customer revealed a cradle of flatbread holding spread cheese, with pockets of what looked like moretum (which Lua had never been able to find anywhere beyond her home island), topped with large tomato pieces and pomegranate.
Ten minutes later, they were halfway through one and pleased. Lua more so, as she cut surgical pieces to get the most variety of flavour out of one bite.
"You said you were with the police department just a year ago?" daintily sliding a quarter tomato off her fork.
"E-yuh huh." chewing.
"You've got a fast career if you're in Union fleet now, then." with slight disbelief.
"Mmm..." considering then swallowing. "It was more like a transfer."
"Oh?"
"They've been delegating fleet positions to PD's all across the plane. I think they're just short-handed. There's talk of some big project too, but that's, uh."
She zipped her lips. "Don't have the clearance to know the first thing about it."
"S'why the streets, umm..." stabbing her food "aren't looking the best right now." taking a cheekful. "I feel bad for the people still on the force dealing with all the staff cuts."
"Erm. Staffs are a blunt weapon." Mush raised his finger with eyes morphed into glasses. Lua huffed.
She swirled her drink.
"So is that why the admiral was so welcoming? They need more people?"
"Ehhh. Maybe. I think he was feelin' more genial than usual; eager to talk to someone. Though he's been a little odd in general."
She thought back to anything odd about him besides his cooperation.
"How so?"
"Well, he just came back from a three month deep space expedition near Terra Relicta; there were highly unusual readings. Travelled there for weeks, searched for a week."
A cold swig of beer slushed, and she breathed out.
"Didn't find Jack Thompson, unfortch."
"Who?" Mush whispered, looking up to Lua.
"Jack didd-ely squat. Nothing." She elaborated over the lip of the bottle. "Which musta been pretty demoralising, coming back empty handed after all that time cooped up in space. So he's not quite himself, if you feel me."
"I see." Lua muttered.
A tendril pushed against the tile floor, then wiped off some grease on the edge of the stool cushion. Mush spun around and round slowly on the stool.
"Waaaaaaidda minute." volume dipping and rising as he spun.
"We were just in Terra-raricta. N' it took us like a week to get here. Why'd the brown guy take three months?"
"Mush..." Lua facepalmed.
"Well, he says it how it is, don't he?" grinning.
"Admiral Thymes took that long because he travelled on a ship."
"Uh, yah, but can't ships do the tangly thingy?" still spinning.
"There's no computer powerful enough in the Weave to calculate entangling a mass as large and complex as a fleet ship."
"Basically," Gun joined "A ships too big to fit through a lightthread, so they have to travel the actual space between planes instead of just zippin' around between them."
Lua propped and looked out of the window. "Unless its a really small ship like ours, designed to do it."
She took a bite of moretum. Then, snorted derisively. "Or a plane-buster, stars forbid, those'll fit."
Mush stopped. "Oooh, whats that?"
"Big bomb. Kills billions. Booooooom." deadpan, waving her hands then falling back onto her propping palm.
"Every power with a tail has one, because... because I don't know, I guess we're all neanderthals." Lua trailed off to a glass of water, sighing.
Dishes clanked and stoves burned quietly behind the counter, just beneath the hum of a fly-trap.
Gun cleared her throat. "Well, the Union has no plans of using one. They're for worst-case scenario self-defense."
"Yeah, probably..."
"Probably? Try 'definitely'. Peace is our top priority." putting down her drink and limply pointing.
Lua scoffed. "I wish I could say the same about Ta'al."
Nails tapped rhythmically on the table.
"...Is it my place to pry?" she ventured.
"Pry til the last plane fades, nectar." chuckling. "I don't give a θΞΨΠ about them, I'm an exile. I'll tell you hegemony secrets, everything. I was barely a Ta'al to begin with."
Gun leant back, with a look to the ceiling, then a smirk with eye contact.
"Sound's like you could do with a stronger drink, 'nectar'."
"Huh?" she sat up, confused.
"Oh, no, no. But thank you." lightening and shaking her head. "I only used to drink vine, uh, you know" she giggled "on occasion."
"I sip Oh jay..." Mush said quietly, rolling his lips like a playa.
"Vine? What, like fruits off a vine, fermented?"
"Yes." pleasantly surprised. "But, um... you don't have that here, do you?"
She clucked, wagging her finger. "Ah, but we do. Add another 'v', there."
"...vuh-vine?"
"YE WON'T GET WINE AT A MANKY ESTABLISHMENT THE LIKES OF THIS, YE FOOLISH WOMAN." a muffled voice boomed through the window beside them, attracting the attention of everyone in the room, staring at the 8 foot tall metal man framed by two very startled people and a mushroom.
"How long was he...?"
"Like, ten seconds ago." Mush answered.
"THERE'S NARY A FINE BROAD NOR A LOBSTER TO BE FOUND ON THESE BARREN STREETS!!" with desperation, tipping a trash can and stomping off into the darkness, making a pair of teenage girls shriek.
"RAAAAAGH!!" distantly, beside passing sirens.
Everyone else resumed eating, inside the coughing ambience of the diner.
"He's uh, gonna get fined if he gets caught doing that." Gun said with a dry throat.
"I think we should round him up then go check on Dusk..." muttered.
They nodded.
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