shea-writes

[shea-writes]

Update

Sorry for the long delay, but Equivocation is getting an update :)

The summary of changes:

Fixed some coding bugs

Added a bit of content

Made Julie and Hamish gender flippable after feedbacks from my friends, as they want to have more choices of ROs (hopefully it does not break anything)

Without further ado - Happy Adventuring!

[shea-writes]

Just finished playing the demo and i must say i love the progress you provided for us players so far and i can not wait til you grow as a writer!

Thank you! Sorry for the late update, but I endeavor to provide more :)

[shea-writes]

Hi! In the overview post, it briefly switches to he/him pronouns for chi ("his neck") is this intentional?

Ah, sorry, no. In my draft I used to plan Chi as a he/him, but after some consideration I feel that they/them suit them better. It is my coding mistake, and hopefully it is fixed now :)

[shea-writes]

A small update (4/21/2022)

Hello!

I brought you a small update for the game Equivocation. Changes include:

Re-written a few scenes

Slowed down the pacing at some points

Added some interesting scenes with Julie (for those who are interested)

Corrected a few grammar mistakes

Link

Please let me know what you think :)

[shea-writes]

Loved the demo, really excited for this story 💕

Thank you! I'm really glad that you like it.

[shea-writes]

Do we get a spin off where Chi gets therapy???? Also please tell me we can care about them right off the bat cuz this is just a little too fucked of a introduction to play coy

You’ll get a chance to help them along the way! And the way you treat them will (to a degree) shape their personality. 

As for telling them you care will probably happen a bit later (not vert far into the game, I promise), because at the point of introduction the three of you are being pursued. Don’t worry, there will be a respite coming soon and you’ll get to know more about them ;)

[shea-writes]

Ah yes, a pilot, a super inelegant... android?? Person???, a doctor, and of course..... th.. the mailman

Okg can we be like, the normal dude of the group that would be funny

Well, ability-wise, MC is really just a human (who is slightly better at certain aspects, but that’s for you to decide). As for mentally? Well, you can pick anything from completely unhinged to the most laid-back ! So yes, you can totally be the ‘normal’ one among them ;)

[shea-writes]

First: I absolutely LOVE the demo. Second: What sort of kermit meme would the companions be?

Thank you so much :)

And here you go, some memes I made for you to enjoy!

Julie:

Julie is really the reckless one. She likes to annoy Doc and to tease Chi, much to Hamish's displeasure (Chi doesn't really have 'social skills', so they rarely react to her provocation.) Although she likes doing stunts, Julie actually has a rather strong sense of self-preservation. When the situation's looking bad, she'll just bail.

And she literally have a darker side ;)

Chi:

Since Chi receives a rather peculiar education (will be mentioned in later updates), they are basically wired to derive joy from absorbing new information. So yeah, in a way they are addicted to data.

Hamish:

Drinking tea because he is actually the only who might be able to afford it (as for why: that's his dark secret, and will be revealed at the end). He likes to say that he doesn't care, especially to the hopeless one like Julie, but the doctor's instinct is hard to overcome sometimes. The only thing he doesn't really care is himself: he thinks he doesn't deserve any good things(the reason is also related to his secret).

[shea-writes]

Tidbits of the cast :)

Julie likes the thrill. Her favorite pastime is taking Icarus to a ride, delicately teetering the ship on the edge of gravitational wells of several large bodies of mass. Sometimes she prefers a faster approach, propelling the chrome-colored vessel across the vast, empty space. Julie delights in having you along during her wild rides, showing you her brilliant navigation skills and ingenious maneuvers. More often than not, these mad races end up with the complete depletion of stocked Aether brew.

Chi is curious by nature. They have an ambitious plan inside their pocket subnet: a fully digitalized galaxy, with all the parameters recorded down at the highest accuracy possible. “The universe is a question that I have no answer for,” they would say, and then show you their newest attempt at deciphering the Grand Unified Theory. Once, they even take you to listen to the war song of a black hole. Contrary to popular belief, certain matters do manage to escape from the insatiable behemoth, but they will be forced to bear the monster’s roar for almost the entire eternity.

Hamish’s hobby is more down-to-earth. He has a glass orb containing water, space-algae and moon-shrimp with him at all times. Both of the space-algae and moon-shrimp are specially engineered to resist background radiations, with a nice side-effect of bioluminescence. It glows in myriads of hues, ranging from ocean blues to forest green. The moon-shrimps only emit a pale, pearly aura, but when they are surrounded by pin-points of multi-hued algae, they look like ethereal spirits swimming in a sea of gems.

[shea-writes]

Welcome to Equivocation, a work-in-progress interactive novel by me (Shea). Here is some information on this novel. Keep in mind that this novel is still in development, so many things are subject to change. If you have any feedback, or general ask regarding to the plot and/or the cast, I’m quite happy to receive them :)

Updates:

Cleaned up the codes for chapter 1

Added a bit of content

Made Julie and Hamish gender-flippable ROs

What to expect next:

Character portraits

Demo update

You are just one job away from completing your indentured service. It is supposed to be an easy job, for all you need to do is to retrieve a package from an independent supplier and deliver it to the headquarter of Dreamscape on Mars. Little did you know, the ‘package’ you need to retrieve is actually a living person. Then all the security drones in the area become hostile and you have to run for your dear life. Worse yet, after your escape, you discover that you are implicated and there is a sizeable bounty on your head for this botched-up job. Luckily, your co-worker is still with you, and that mysterious ‘package’ proves to be an invaluable crewmate. With them and a newly-acquainted doctor, the four of you leave the Jupiter Terminal in search for answers.

Note: I will use the default pronoun for two of the gender-flippable ROs for the ease of introduction below, but in game you can switch them around :)

Captain Julie/Jules Wells

Your co-worker and a talented pilot hired by the Dreamscape. She is exactly like the adventurers in any of the popular serials, with her reckless behavior, and the undying love for a bottle of good booze. The only thing you find jarring is that she is in the employ of Dreamscape, the company famous for its strict adherence to standards and policies. Someone like her could not possibly want a life like this, but Julie just shrugs and says that it is nice to have a stable job sometimes.

Appearance: Julie is an athletically-built brunette with beige skin and a pair of expressive hazel eyes. She is often seen wearing her lucky white vest and a pair of sturdy leather boots. Her favorite weapons are plasma sabers and sniper rifles, and it is fascinating to watch her fight with both - she can be fast like a pouncing cheetah in action and quiet like a slithering viper in wait for her prey.

Chi They are the ‘package’ you are supposed to deliver to the Dreamscape headquarter. Although they appear rather naive due to years of slumbering in a hibernation pod, Chi is frighteningly intelligent. They have a device installed on his nape to let him manipulate the cyberspace using raw codes, and for the love of Mother Earth, you cannot figure out how they are not insane yet (or maybe they already are, seeing that how strange they act sometimes). Unfortunately, like many other tragic prodigies, they suffer from a rare case of intermittent black outs, so they require constant monitoring from doctors.

Appearance: Chi is a youthful person with androgynous features and a pair of striking green eyes. After sometime of travelling, they manage to grow out a mop of red hair which is later styled into a slick-back look. Due to the strange illness, they wear a black bio suit with tubes and monitoring gadgets attached all the time, but that does not seem to deter them from helping you out. Thanks to the connector installed at the back of their neck, Chi can gain control of digital devices easily and short-circuit them.

Doctor Hamish/Yvaine McGuire Doctor McGuire is an outspoken secessionist living in the lower deck of of Jupiter Terminal, who happens to be the only medical personnel you can find to look after Chi without leaking your whereabouts to authorities. He is generally kind and understanding, but that does not mean that he would not use extreme measures to achieve his goals.

Appearance: Although Hamish is only in his mid-thirties, he already has silver threads of white hair near his temples due to prolonged period of overworking. With a ponytail made of messy golden locks, hollowed cheeks, and the old, shabby lab coat he wears, Hamish is no different from other denizens in the lower deck of spacer’s habitat. Like most of the spacers who cannot afford calcium pills and sun bathing, he appears lanky and pale, but underestimating him would be a huge mistake. He is deadly in combat with his surgical knives and taser guns.

Happy Adventuring!