#Hardware SP

[armchairmusings]

39 by Martin Westberg

[n64retro]

[scarletelectronics]

Our handhelds (not all of them some of them are at my moms place still)

[molagboop]

I would very much like to infoblast about Raven Beak's powersuit upgrade library with all the optimizations, QoL tweaks, security features, and the myriad integration systems Samus is currently lacking with her babby suit, but alas. Time restrictions.

[antirepurp]

at last i was able to get jojo, digimon, and sonic arts in the same con. incredibly based. legendary even

[realness-remade]

i need a gameboy ............

[kdinjenzen]

The fact that Nintendo announced the Nintendo Switch Online was adding GBA games, specifically GOLDEN SUN, and the lineup is still... so small... and also STILL NO GOLDEN SUN!

Like there is no legal way to play the game right now other than either:

Finding a GBA/GBA SP and a copy of Golden Sun.

Already having a digital copy of Golden Sun downloaded on a WiiU.

Like.. that's IT and there's NO WAY to play these games at all.

No Golden Sun, no The Lost Age, no Dark Dawn.

You either have to OWN THE ORIGINAL COPIES AND THE ORIGINAL HARDWARE or just cry forever because GS/TLA are not on digital platforms anymore and DD never was.

[bro3256]

The source of the video game bleeps and bloops in media

Have you ever wondered what the source of those specific video game bleeps and bloops were from? Odds are if a show or movie had a character play a video game or if a scene takes place in an arcade than it's very likely that it uses the same distinct sound effects that originally were sourced from the Atari VCS (2600) ports of Donkey Kong and Pac-Man. These ports are already historically important with Donkey Kong being one of the few Nintendo games to be released on non-Nintendo hardware and Pac-Man being one of the most anticipated releases for Atari at the time. Today these ports are often mocked for how butchered they are to the arcade originals but at the time these were fine ways to experience these arcade games at home.

So why are the sounds from these arcade ports used so often in media? You can pretty much thank the widespread use of a particular sound effect library and in this case the Series 1000 Sound Effects Library which initially released on tape in 1979 and released on CD in 1983. A good chunk of this library contains the same sounds found on another sound library called the Network Sound Effects Library.

The Series 1000 library however includes audio recordings of gameplay from these Atari games. Ever since then, these sounds have been used for many years and continues to be used to this very day. Before I showcase some examples of media using these sounds I would like to present the recordings from these games. The following is sourced from the Series 1000 Sound Effects Library which feature sound effects from Atari arcade ports.

If you're familiar with these ports than you can make out the specific sound effects present from these recordings. The distinct walking and jumping sounds in Donkey Kong and the dots being eaten and game over sounds from Pac-Man are the more identifiable sounds you hear. With this in mind here are a handful of examples of these sounds being used in media.

(Note: Due to Tumblr restricting one video per post I have compiled all the example clips in a single video so feel free to read below for the specific sound bytes used whilst the video plays.)

Arthur (1996)

The season 1 episode "Arthur Accused!" has Buster investigating an arcade which features sounds from Pac-Man as it eats ghosts and a faint sound of Pac-Man dying from a ghost.

Drake & Josh (2004)

The season 2 episode "The Bet" has Josh playing your typical video game but features several seconds of audio from Donkey Kong. Weirdly music from the Nintendo NES version of Tetris (Type-A specifically) can be heard when Josh is playing on his "handheld" which is clearly a red Game Boy Advance SP.

SpongeBob SquarePants (2007)

The season 5 episode "Atlantis SquarePantis" features a segment of Sandy in a retro inspired environment. The puzzle game segment features various cut up sound bytes from Donkey Kong including jumping over barrels and the walking sounds.

Chowder (2008)

The season 1 episode "Sniffleball" features a brief sound effect from Donkey Kong of Mario jumping over a barrel. (also what is this retro nonsense?)

Ted (2024)

The season 1 episode "Just Say Yes" features Ted and John playing Super Mario Bros. on the NES. For whatever reason no footage of the game is shown and the audio used is from, you guessed it those Atari games. Donkey Kong sound effects can be heard while brief snippets of Pac-Man can also be heard mixed in.

I could keep going but you get the idea. There are plenty of other examples you can find and I highly recommend checking out the Sound Effects Wiki if you're curious to see what other examples are out there. Linked below are the articles for the other sources for these Atari recordings.

Sound Ideas, ARCADE, VIDEO GAME - VIDEO GAME: ELECTRONIC SOUNDS, AMUSEMENT PARK, FAIR 01 Sound Ideas, ARCADE, VIDEO GAME - VIDEO GAME: ELECTRONIC SOUNDS, AMUSEMENT PARK, FAIR 02

I guarantee most folks nowadays aren't even aware that these sounds are from actual Atari games cause out of context they sound like generic bleeps and bloops. That's probably why it's so common to hear these sounds in media as unless you're a nerd like myself this is something you're likely not going to think about and I'd imagine the folks working with audio aren't gonna stop and think about where particular sounds come from outside of the library they're featured in.

[skenisasleb]

Oliver Intro Post

TW: There are some references to touchy real-life events. There is also verbal abuse and child neglect. Proceed with caution.

Oliver Ranch is the second South Park OC I have made. I made him originally to ship with my OC, Ted, since I shipped Ted with Kyle before and I realized that may be kiiiiinda cringe. 😭

Now he’s one of my favorites out my SP OCs.

(All forms of him below are ‘episode’ scenarios I have created for him.)

Oliver’s Main Story

He is the firstborn of his three siblings; he has a baby brother, Bryce, and a younger sister, Blair. He cares for the both of them to substitute for his parent’s horrible behavior.

His mother is a overall angry person, probably where Oliver got his own anger issues. She verbally abuses everyone in the family, and gets close to hitting them on the occasion. Oliver’s father is a drunk and spends all his time drinking, watching football on the TV, and falling asleep on the pull-out couch.

Oliver’s Relationships

Oliver is in a relationship with Ted, and even though before he wanted to punt Ted into the street in the beginning, he now is overly protective of Ted and would resort to dangerous measures to protect him. Oliver also allows Ted to call him “Olive.” If anyone else tries to call him this, he will most likely pop them in the mouth.

Oliver absolutely hates Augustus. He has thought about wringing the clown’s neck multiple times; even making up fake scenarios where he could just gut the guy. In secret, Oliver is envious of Augustus’ progress, running a circus all by himself without anyone overlooking him.

Oliver doesn’t really approach Casey and Ernesto. He prefers to keep his circle tight, where the circle only consists of Ted (Ted takes up his whole social battery anyway).

Oliver’s Sub-Plots/‘Episodes’

“Self-Defense”

The government has passed a law, allowing kids in America under the age of 10 to own and carry guns in order to protect themselves. Most kids don’t know what to do with a gun, or don’t know how to work it and end up massacring each other. Oliver, already owning a pistol beforehand (illegally, might I add) and now with the freedom to own as many guns as he wants, he goes absolutely ballistic and joins in the chaos on purpose.

“Come Get My Ass”

Oliver is deathly afraid of the visitors. Everyone in South Park seems to pass it up as just a thing that happens, but Oliver doesn’t want something he doesn’t want up his ass. He has nightmares where he would look in the mirror and see himself as a visitor. He decides that he will try and stop the visitors himself if the people of South Park won’t.

“AI Generated Slavery”

…. If you couldn’t tell, this is a play off of the disasters of the recent Willy Wonka incident. 💀

But this time, the organizer of the event hired children for low pay because his budget dropped from the shipping of the hologram interactive activity that was meant to arrive for the event, but never came. So now the organizer would be charged for MORE heinous crimes :DD

“Phantom of the Soap Opera”

“The Phantom of the Opera,” but make it a soap opera with goofy-ass side characters like the neighbor, Dave Hillis, and Christine’s boss, Junior.

In this case, the Phantom is Oliver, who is a shut-in who practices the piano, and Christine is Ted, who works a casual job at the hardware store.

It’s really just silly goofy stuff.

“Pride Misconseption”

Oliver completely misunderstood what a Pride parade actually is for. He thought it was just a place to be proud of ANYTHING. Therefore, he went to the Pride parade decked out in Scottish flags. People present were pissed and confused at Oliver, accusing him of not taking it seriously and kicking him out of the parade after shaming him. The whole time, Oliver was just confused, never really knowing what the parade was truly for.

“The Mishaps of the Furry and the School Shooter”

Pretty much an ‘episode’ featuring Blackbear and Dire Dune teaming up in order to beat Cartman’s ass, forming a duo that strayed from both Freedom Pals and the C**n and Friends.

Dire Dune is Oliver’s superhero persona; he is an elemental class that controls sand and strives to control the rocks that the grains came from.

Contrary to his actual personality, Dire Dune is a more calm and collected character who shares wisdom instead of spitting harsh truths.

I have made other ‘episode’ ideas, but they’re not as fully developed as the ones I have shared, so I decided not to share them. That’s all for Oliver’s backstory!! Thank you for reading this far!! :DD

[lonestarflight]

Cancelled Missions: Apollo AS-204 (aka Apollo 1)

Planned Launched: February 21, 1967

Commander Pilot:CDP Virgil I. Grissom

CM Pilot:CMP Edward H.White.II

LM Pilot:LMP Roger B. Chaffee

The tragic fire that claimed the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffe and postponed the debut manned flight of the Apollo Spacecraft. The Apollo AS-204 was cancelled as NASA officials investigated the cause of the fire and came up with changes to the block II Command Module, set to debut now on Apollo 7. Set back Apollo program by 18 months. This deserves its own post

Here is what was originally planned for the first manned mission (C-type) of the Apollo Command and Service Module:

"Originally planned for the last quarter of 1966. Numerous problems with the Apollo Block I spacecraft resulted in a flight delay to February 1967. The designation AS-204 was used by NASA for the flight at the time; the designation Apollo 1 was applied retroactively at the request of Grissom's widow.

Apollo 205, a second solo flight test of the Block I Apollo CSM, was planned but cancelled on December 22, 1966. The Schirra, Cunningham, Eisele crew from that flight became the backup crew to Apollo 204 (replacing the original backup crew of McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart)."

-Information from Astronautix.com: link

One proposal was to launch Gemini 11 (or 12 or both) and Apollo 1 at the same time and rendezvous in orbit. If the first two Apollo missions (AS-201 and AS-202) were a failure, then AS-204 (AS-203 did not carry a CSM) would be flown unmanned and a Gemini astronaut would EVA transfer to and enter the CSM-012, check out its systems, and return to the Gemini. However, with the delays with getting CSM-012 ready, having to reconfigure the Gemini capsule to work with Apollo and the eagerness to finish Gemini to focus on Apollo, this proposal was cancelled.

"The Apollo 1 prime crewmembers for the first manned Apollo Mission (204) prepare to enter their spacecraft inside the altitude chamber at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Entering the hatch is astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, commander; behind him is astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, lunar module pilot; standing at the left with chamber technicians is astronaut Edward H. White II, command module pilot."

"For the first two and a half hours in orbit, CSM-012 would remain attached to the S-IVB stage much as a Moon-bound Apollo would do prior to trans-lunar injection. After separation of the CSM, Grissom would perform a station keeping exercise with the spent S-IVB stage so that White and Chaffee could photograph the stage as it vented its residual propellants. This would provide vital observations on the behavior of the S-IVB stage to aid in planning future mission activities.

At this point, Apollo 1 would perform an open-ended mission which could last for as little as six orbits in order to meet at least the highest priority mission objectives or as long as two weeks, provided that CSM-012 continued to function adequately. The primary objectives of the mission basically centered on testing all the systems of the Block I Apollo spacecraft during ascent, in orbit and during descent. The first pair of firings of the SM’s SPS would take place the day after launch to raise and circularize the orbit of Apollo 1. No attempts would be made to perform a rendezvous with the spent S-IVB stage. Afterwards, burns of the SPS were planned to be performed every other day during the course of the mission with each astronaut taking turns in the left-side commander’s seat – three burns each by Grissom and White as well as two burns by Chaffee. Apollo 1 would carry a television camera which would allow live broadcasts from inside the CM cabin during the mission. The camera would also allow ground controllers to monitor the CM’s control panel during key parts of the flight.

In addition to the laundry list of systems checks, Apollo 1 also carried an array of hardware to perform a total of nine medical, scientific and technological experiments during its long orbital mission. These consisted of the following:

The storage locations of some of the hardware for flight experiments inside the Apollo 1 cabin.

M-3A In-Flight Exerciser: This was simply a pair of bungee cords that would loop around the astronaut’s feet and grasped by the hand via a handle. Each astronaut would spend three ten-minute sessions each day exercising with this device to determine the utility of in-flight exercise to stave off the effects of prolonged weightlessness. A similar M-3 experiment was flown on the Gemini 4, 5 and 7 long-duration missions during 1965.

Diagram showing the M-3A exercise experiment that would have been carried by Apollo 1.

M-4A In-Flight Phonocardiogram: The purpose of this experiment was to produce in-flight recordings of the crew’s heartbeat to determine the effects of weightlessness on heart function. Grissom and Chaffee would be the subjects of these tests. This was similar to the M-4 experiment flown on the long-duration Gemini missions.

M-6A Bone Demineralization: The goal of this experiment was to determine the effects of weightlessness on the demineralization of certain bones in the body. This experiment required no special in-flight equipment and would rely on measurements derived from X-rays taken before and after the flight from all three crew members. Once again, this was similar to the M-6 experiment performed during the long-duration Gemini missions.

M-9A Human Otolith Function: The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of prolonged weightlessness on an astronauts sense of orientation. Each crew member would spend 15 minutes each day in orbit wearing a set of test goggles with their responses recorded by a 16 mm movie camera. A similar experiment was conducted during the Gemini 5 and 7 missions.

M-11 Cytogenetic Blood Studies: This experiment sought to determine if the space environment produced cellular changes in the blood of the crew. No in-flight equipment was required with the necessary data coming from blood samples taken from all three crewmen at set intervals before and after the mission.

M-48 Cardiovascular Reflex Conditioning: In this experiment, one of the astronauts would don a set of vascular support tights one or two hours before the end of the mission to determine if such a garment helps prevent physical fatigue blood pooling in the lower body following return to Earth.

S-5A Synoptic Terrain Photography: This was similar to the S-5 experiment flown on most of the earlier Gemini missions. The crew would use a 70 mm Hasselblad camera to perform near nadir-viewing photography of the Earth during 9 AM to 3 PM local time. Two color film packs with a total of 110 exposures were to be carried on the Apollo 1 mission.

Diagram showing the in-flight stowage of the camera and film packs for the S-5A and S-6A experiments on the inside CM crew hatch.

S-6A Synoptic Weather Photography: Similar to the S-6 experiment conducted on most of the Gemini missions, the purpose of this investigation was to provide orbital photographs of weather phenomena at a much higher resolution than was possible with contemporary weather satellites like NASA’s TIROS or Nimbus satellites. One color and one color-shifted infrared film packet along with an ultraviolet filter for the camera would be carried to support this experiment.

T-3 In-Flight Nephelometer: This experiment used a device to measure the size, concentration and distribution of particles present inside the CM cabin. Measurements would be made every six hours starting two days into the mission."

-Information from DrewExMachina: link

The mission was scheduled to last about 2 weeks and would have been recovered by USS ESSEX (CV-9) in the Pacific Ocean on March 7, 1967.

- Apollo 1 mission patch

NASA ID: S66-30236, S66-58038, S66-36742

source, source

[pooklet]

About ten years ago I bought a computer specifically for playing Sims 2. I'm going to do some hardware upgrades, particularly replacing the busted second DVD drive, because doing what I call the 21-disc tango with only one DVD drive is

Well

Bad

(I'm also putting in a solid state hard drive to speed things up, and some more USB ports because almost all of them are burned out. I may also install a second SSD at a later date so I can run a non-Windows 7 OS for newer games.)

It's funny you should mention the 21-disc tango.

Because someone just provided me with this link! Which is a folder where you can download The Sims 2 Double Deluxe Edition plus all EPs and SPs.

They told me to pass along the fact that because it's a 15GB file, they had to upload it in 256MB chunks, so you'll need to use 7zip to join them together again. After you have, you can save the .iso on a backup drive and never have to worry about using multiple discs again, or dealing with all the issues specific to The Ultimate Collection!

This happens to be the same version that wife and I have used since our discs wore out, and I can attest to the fact that it's very stable and has served us both well over the years.

The Sims 2 Double Deluxe + All EPs and SPs

And here's a direct link to the installation instructions.

Edit: These links are no longer working. The uploader confirmed that they did not remove the files themself and they can no longer access their account at all, so it looks like someone at SFS nuked the account. I don't know if they're going to reupload the files elsewhere but if they do I'll update the links.

[deusexmachinawitch]

Day 9 of my subliminal journey

I thought that today was going to be uneventful, I am starting to feel better as well. I’m also trying to not be attached to SP, especially after what happened yesterday. I was planning my own subliminal because a friend told me to do my best and combine the mystical subs with my own sub.

But the big thing happened here. I don’t remember when but I do remember I made an entry before about being gifted a gaming computer that was missing some hardware pieces. I wanted a second screen as well. But because I was really busy with work and then saw the price of the pieces, I decided to leave it like that until I could afford everything. I have a laptop after all.

Today I thought “Wow, I want something to do to keep my occupied from SP” and daydreamed about games and such. Like, I sunk into the feeling of how I felt whenever I gamed before I was with SP because it was fulfilling.

And today I was randomly gifted everything I needed for a powerful gaming PC. Just out of nowhere. I was asked if I already bought the pieces and I said “Nope” and the pieces came to me, all new and better ones than I expected. Yes, the screen is there too, I just want to crop everything as much as I can to not doxx my house.

Among all the things I could expect from these 21 days of testing these subs, I really wasn’t expecting to end up with my dream phone and a gaming PC. The phone is coming tomorrow and I cannot wait to show you guys.

Please don’t give up on manifesting. Just find a method that feels right for you. After several months of fluctuating results, this has been the most fruitful time of my journey and it’s because I feel comfortable with the methods I’m doing.

[n64retro]

Game Boy Advance SP and Mario Kart: Super Circuit (Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, 2001).

[frenzyarts]

Procreate dreams anon - yeah the amount pf video tracks u can have is afaik limited by ur hardware? So i can also only use the 1 (im on an ipad pro from 2018 lol) but i get around this by importimg my frame-by-frame animations as images - u have an unlimited amount of image imports and u can put images in any layer! You can shorten the durations of the imported images quickly by selecting them all in timeline edit mode (the two squares) - & you can import an entire png sequence all together at the same time too! Sp no frame-by-frame import/export is necessary :] & at that point u can just treat them like normal frames in dreams :3

Thank you ^u^ I think I’m gonna try playing around with it and see what happens. I’m trying to make a cute webcore themed animation and it’s already been a big learning process

[mecha-omega]

Had to think about this one for a while, 2 1/2 weeks max.

Many games go under the radar from many fans and companies. Many just become forgotten. But thanks to a friend, I’ve experienced a game that I’ve never thought I would enjoy fully. That game is Panzer Dragoon Saga, a game released on the Sega Saturn in 1998. It had a rough development cycle, being made while the Sega Saturn and Sega themselves were spiraling down due to the commercial failure of the Saturn. But thanks to people on the internet, the Sega Saturns Emulation is fully stable as the games rom can be found online.

Panzer Dragoon Saga starts at a dig site in the mountains, while mercenaries are guarding the area. In it they find a Girl surrounded by stone, but not long after they get attacked by their employers while they all get picked off one by one. All but one are alive, a young adult named Edge, after being shot off a cliff, Edge is awoken in ruins surrounded by gray ancient plates. He gets attacked by creatures of a by-gone age but a strange dragon saved you as you escape the ruins, venturing out to get your revenge and save the girl they took.

Right of the bat, you go straight into the gameplay, clean and simple. The only things you have to focus on is your dragon’s HP, SP, and any Status effects it has. There is no equipment like armor and the like, just whatever attachments Edge’s gun you’d like to put on it. To attack you have to use an action gauge (3 bars) to attack with your gun or the dragons’ many attacks. At one point in the game you will have access to many moves that does different kinds of effect to buffing, debuffing, Healing, AOE attacks, Shields, ect. At a certain point in the game the Dragon will be able to transform into 4 other forms, Attack, Agility, Spiritual, and Defense, each form can be chosen by via a slider so you can go either a balance Dragon or go one sided with your dragon.

There are items & intractable objects in the world of PDS so it’s best to explore as much as you can. Honestly it’s recommended due to this games length, it’s only 12 hours long minimum, I’ve personally hit 13 hours due to me just wondering around areas & looking for certain items that can help me with later fights. I recommend looking for items called “D Units”, there are 12 of them in total. I won’t say what they do but it’s a neat bonus for finding them all.

The story and look of Panzer Dragoon Saga are amazing especially its world. The Sega Saturns from what I heard wasn’t the best with 3D compared to N64 & PSX1, but ultimately these environments were amazing to look at. Nothing honestly compared to other games around the time, the detail in certain landscapes were impressive, Granted there are some pop in but it might just has to due to the emulation since it isn’t running on OG hardware. Final Fantasy never did 3D fully mainline till FFX, and Xenogears only did 3D for the environments rather than the character models. PDS does both and it’s insane how a console that can’t do 3D very well processes all of what’s going on screen. Yah, other games like MGS1 & Mario 64 are full 3D but idk for this game it feels different.

The Story isn’t the most ground breaking I’ve witnessed but it’s has some twists that I’ve would’ve not predicted. I won’t say what they were but there were moments where my jaw dropped and I just sat there like “DAWG WHAT!?” Till I went back to processing what I’ve seen. With the story being so short, it’s plot is way more focused than other games after it’s released, which is super refreshing in certain cases. For Edge and Azel being the main characters, they are pretty endearing, they aren’t to crazy as characters but their interactions all the way up to the end of the game fits the game’s end with a nice bow.

Overall, Panzer Dragoon Saga became one of my favorite games of all time. I’ve never had an experience quite like it, but sadly I don’t believe we’ll have something quite like it again. After it’s release, Sega was already setting its sights on the Dreamcast as their financial situation gets worse. While PDS isn’t the sole reason for it, it was non the less not very favorable sales wise. While it’s JP version only produced 100K copies, its US versions only produced 25k and worse its EU version? Only 1,000 copies making it extremely rare in said region. It can sit around for 1,000$ to 2,000$ minimum compleat as parts of it go for 200$ to 300$ and that’s only for the US. Due to the restructuring Sega was doing they disbanded Team Andromeda and folded them into Smilebit. Thankfully the game did get a sequel in the form of Panzer Dragoon Orta, taking place after PDS.

If you want to play the game in full I highly recommend getting an emulator for it (Mainly Retro Arc) since Saturn emulation has been smoother the past few years, there is a guild on the Wiki iirc. And if you are one of the few that are waiting for it to come to current Gen home consoles, tough shit. We don’t know the full story but due to the restructuring for the Dreamcast release and after the company restructured again after the Dreamcast died and moved onto game making. The source code is most likely lost or destroyed since there has been no attempts to rerelease it in some shape or form.

With all said and done, with it being one of my favorite games I’ve played this year, I give it unironically a 9.5/10 to a 10/10. I don’t think I’ll have the same experience that I had with this game with any other game moving forwards, but I’m glad to say that this game found a home in my head and heart. And I’ll fight for it whenever Sega tries to remake it or remaster it if they ever find the source code or have another studio help them create it from the ground up.

Ty Team Amdromeda and Sega for creating such an amazing experience…

[causeitsagame]

Fic: Aquila (4/?)

Pairing: Hajime Hinata/Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu

Author: @miggylol

Notes: Last week was late-semester hell and seeing GotG3 yesterday absolutely stomped all over my emotions, so it's CATHARTIC ANGST TIME, BOYOS.

Previous Chapters: in the tag.

Excerpt: Gasping, Hajime lurched up from his mattress. With deep breaths, he tried to ignore the queasy, heavy feeling in his gut. Above him, a fan's blades spun lazily in his hotel room and the soft sound of ocean waves rumbled through his tilted shutters. The typical streaks of moonlight barely made an appearance through them. That was him, he told himself in his dark room. That was him. That wasn't me, that was him.

Yes. It'd been Izuru watching all of that, not him. But it was his eyes that did the watching and his feet that walked away. And so, it still hurt. Hajime had managed to wrangle his brain into a somewhat more balanced state, but that apparently meant that his memories didn't feel so neatly segmented. He'd get to freely remember not only the world's worst days, but like he himself had chosen to stand in their midst. Great.

-----

"Hey! There's someone!"

Hajime ignored the footsteps behind him. They were soft, matching the youthful voice he'd heard. In front of him was a developing scene of destruction, which mattered more than whoever approached. Not that the Remnants' efforts were especially interesting, either, but this battle had the chance to steer the path of many days to follow. Such scale had more relevance than a few lost children.

In the distance, a regiment wore matching black-and-white helmets. The electrical fields inside of them kept their wearers compliant. The highest-ranking soldiers wore those helmets not by force, now, but out of deep (and sometimes desperate) loyalty. In the earliest days of Japan's collapse, after the massacre at the National Diet, many potential fighters had indeed been forced into the mind-control helmets. They were strong, but Nidai was stronger. Once he'd gotten one man under control, they now had two people forcing others into the fold. Then, they had four. Then, eight. Then…

Such force hadn't been necessary for long. Plenty of civilians would pledge loyalty to anyone who suddenly held the power of life and death over them. The most capable had been allowed to put those helmets onto themselves. For some, joining the Remnants' army was a way to let their families stay safely ignored. For more, it was a thrill to be released from a stifling, suffocating social contract, and they joined the slaughter with glee. Some civilians who couldn't join the elite guards still tried to show loyalty by dashing a smear of red paint or lipstick over their left eye, or by piecing together a halftone outfit split down the middle.

But the true core of the Remnants' army in Japan wasn't civilians who'd joined the fold. It was the twenty-two thousand trained killers who'd once lived as the underworld, and now gripped the nation by the throat. There had been five thousand more yakuza fed to the military meat grinder. They'd bought time for the Imposter to give fatally conflicting orders in the guise of a dozen different generals, and then for Souda's machines to take out the remaining soldiers' hardware. Another few thousand more from the clan had died in loyal defense of its former leader, or in revenge for his abrupt patricide.

Many of those trained killers were now lined up against forces rallied by the so-called Future Foundation. Based on who was victorious in today's conflict, Japan would tilt very slightly toward one of two paths.

"Mister?"

The soft footsteps behind him had finally made their way up the staircase of broken cement and shattered brick. Hajime turned just enough to see the speaker in his peripheral vision. It was a girl, perhaps nine or ten years old, with a younger brother struggling to follow her. In her arms, she carried an infant wrapped in dirty rags. All three of them had dry, cracked lips and their skin was liberally speckled with cuts and abrasions.

At the full sight of who she'd been speaking to, the girl drew back in surprise, then fear. But she looked down at her infant sibling, forced a deep breath, and took another step forward. "Mister? Do you know where to find water?"

As he'd thought, they were orphaned. Knowledge of how to treat abandoned wild animals filled his head, and Hajime turned back to watch the battle. In such a threatening environment, any animal's lost young would certainly perish.

"Please," the girl begged. Her voice cracked, and as she walked right up next to Hajime's side, he saw that the skin of her lips had, too. A drop of blood pooled there, thicker and slower than it should. "Please. I'm trying to find food and water for them."

So, Hajime thought distantly as he watched the battle begin in the distance. These were Enoshima's chosen lieutenants. It wasn't interesting to watch them work, but at least it was a wealth of data to observe for future calculations. For the moment, as bodies and bodies and bodies and bodies hit the asphalt, he wasn't bored. Not interested. But not bored.

"Please!" the girl screamed, grabbing his shirt. "They're gonna die!"

He'd seen enough. The Future Foundation had bolstered its strength, but they wouldn't topple the Remnants any time soon. Enoshima's plan inside the Academy would continue unhindered, and Japan would continue to wither as destruction spread from that impressive edifice. Hajime turned, then glanced down at where a tiny fist still tried to hold him in place. He looked back up to meet the girl's gaze with inhuman crimson eyes. "Probabilistically, you're all dead already."

Her eyes filled with tears that she couldn't afford to shed, and her grip tightened.

Hajime reached down, forced her hand open, and ignored the cracking of bone and the screams that followed. He walked down the unstable pile of rubble with sure footing, and let the shouts of dying men and the sobs of dying children wash over him.

Gasping, Hajime lurched up from his mattress. With deep breaths, he tried to ignore the queasy, heavy feeling in his gut. Above him, a fan's blades spun lazily in his hotel room and the soft sound of ocean waves rumbled through his tilted shutters. The typical streaks of moonlight barely made an appearance through them. That was him, he told himself in his dark room. That was him. That wasn't me, that was him.

Yes. It'd been Izuru watching all of that, not him. But it was his eyes that did the watching and his feet that walked away. And so, it still hurt. Hajime had managed to wrangle his brain into a somewhat more balanced state, but that apparently meant that his memories didn't feel so neatly segmented. He'd get to freely remember not only the world's worst days, but like he himself had chosen to stand in their midst. Great.

Well, he wasn't going to get any more sleep. Hajime pushed himself roughly out of bed and spent a good few minutes listening to the noises outside his window. He was here, he insisted to himself, not there. In those dust-choked ruins of a city, wind hadn't rustled through lush trees, nor blown waves to splash against white sands. Insects didn't chirp and hum there, and a few noisy birds didn't brave the early hours.

He'd spent years alone in dead, silent hellholes, silently suffocating under the weight of isolation. Under the weight of what world-class butchers had done to him. Hajime gripped the windowsill harder, and heard it creak dangerously under his fingers.

The most dangerous moments passed. Now, he focused on a sound that managed to drown out the gusting winds. Izuru had led a solitary life (if that could even be called living), and so he certainly hadn't slept next to anything like Kazuichi's absolute buzzsaw of a snore. The ruckus powered out through Kazuichi's half-tilted shutters and in through Hajime's. It was exactly what Hajime needed to hear: they were people, and they were here, and life still went on.

The usually obnoxious sound became a meditation mantra. Hajime focused on it, breathing in and out with the same rhythm, until he'd calmed down enough to turn toward the shower.

Hours later, at breakfast, Akane studied Hajime critically as she peeled a banana. "When'd you wake up?"

The sense of panic that'd choked him was long gone, but he hadn't been able to fall back asleep. He hadn't even tried. Apparently, that lack of sleep was written plainly on his face. "Dunno. Few hours ago."

"Rough night?" The voice put a real smile on Hajime's face, and he turned to see Fuyuhiko walking in to the hotel restaurant. His question had held real sympathy, but it vanished in the face of the open surprise he saw from the others. "What, am I not allowed to show up here, any more?"

"Of course, and we're so glad to see you!" Sonia insisted. "We just didn't know to expect your return. Since your departure was so sudden."

"Yeah, man!" Kazuichi cheerfully said, and tried to shove a bowl of fruit over to welcome Fuyuhiko to the morning meal. It didn't slide as he'd expected, and wobbled to and fro before tilting toward an edge.

Fuyuhiko lunged forward to steady it. With a deliberately suspicious look toward his friend, he wondered, "Can't even slide a bowl, huh? Are you safe to be left on your own?"

"Hey," Kazuichi protested. "There was a rough patch on the table. And you're one to talk about being on your own. Why'd you take off, anyway?" At the question, Akane also looked up with keen interest.

Shrugging, Fuyuhiko tilted his head in the direction of the hotel hallway. "I got sick of feeling like I was stuck at boarding school. Remember, I didn't do dorms at Hope's Peak. Besides, the cottages over there are a hell of a lot nicer."

Sonia nodded and took a brief sip of coffee. They'd discovered where coffee plants had been established, but would still need to harvest and roast the beans. That was hardly a priority with everything else they faced, and so coffee was currently a luxury. For all of Sonia's many and varied skills, she wasn't good at denying herself those. "Hajime also described those cottages as much nicer than this hotel. Perhaps we should focus on the roof repairs, then, and all move?"

Remembering Kazuichi's loud snores from the night before, Hajime blanched. With a good block of time between now and when he and Fuyuhiko had kissed—

holy fuck that's right we totally kissed

—His brain had focused on more everyday matters. But now he remembered the heat of skin against skin, and how he'd spent the evening before that mired in (confused, frustrated) arousal. In the future, those situations could easily lead to very specific, very audible behaviors. During neither of them did he want Kazuichi, Sonia, or Akane sleeping behind open shutters, right in an adjacent room.

"I really don't think it's a priority, with everything else we need to do," Hajime replied, beating Fuyuhiko to the trigger. His voice sounded odd in his ears. Distant. "If Fuyuhiko's willing to walk back and forth and really wants a cottage, then I guess he can do that for a while."

"Mmm. A fair point," Sonia said, and studied Hajime over the rim of her coffee cup.

He nodded uncertainly to her.

Breakfast was fruit, of course. Between natural foliage and what had been planted for the tourists, they'd never run out of food. Even when they managed to wake up their friends, they could easily sustain themselves on the first island alone, let alone the rest of the archipelago. That was good, Hajime thought as he worked on a papaya's soft flesh. Considering how this was 'forever,' and all.

In morning's bright light and after he'd worked out the situation with Fuyuhiko, 'forever' did seem much less of a threat than before. Hajime found himself smiling faintly as he worked on his meal.

As everyone eventually began to finish, Sonia was the first to speak up. "If I might propose today's tasks?" Once they'd offered her their attention, she continued, "Since Fuyuhiko is focusing on internal logistics, I would feel much more at ease if I verified our external defenses. Kazuichi and Akane, would you mind accompanying me to the police docks on the fifth island? I'd like to review what they used to defend the tourists."

Hajime looked over to Fuyuhiko and caught his eye. They both looked back at their meals and said nothing.

"Defend the tourists," Akane repeated. "Huh. I guess you're right. With all these rich people staying here, they'd need to have some way to send any pirates packing."

Kazuichi folded his arms. "Yeah, now that you mention it, they wouldn't let millionaires and fancy resorts just be sitting ducks. I guess that makes sense for why it showed up as a full-on military base in the simulation."

Sonia nodded proudly. "Precisely. We too should know exactly what defenses are at our disposal." She took another long sip of coffee, then looked up to study Hajime and Fuyuhiko. "Since they've talked about managing the animal population here, the two of them can stay here and work on that."

"Makes sense," Kazuichi said, and tipped back his glass of water. "And I'm just not gonna think about how our freezer might suddenly be full of chickens."

"Oh, yeah!" Akane said, beaming at them both. "All those chickens. You guys better get right to work!"

"Sounds like a plan," Fuyuhiko said with a deliberately level tone, and kept eating.

The five of them had already established such strong habits that it was no wonder that Fuyuhiko's sudden absence had caused such a ruckus. Today felt more normal, and so like usual, they waited until everyone had finished eating before standing to tackle the day's tasks. Akane rushed out to beat Kazuichi to the boat, while Sonia set a more level pace. She offered Hajime and Fuyuhiko a bright smile before walking to follow her companions for the day, and vanished into the distance while humming an obscure eighteenth century waltz.

Hajime watched her go with a faint frown, wondering why she'd studied them with such curiosity, but that faded as soon as Fuyuhiko cleared his throat and he was reminded of who he stood beside. A smile instantly appeared, instead. It would have been a huge relief to move from 'weird, uncertain argument' to 'normal again.' Moving from 'I don't know why, but we're apparently fighting' to 'holy shit, we're actually kissing!' was an even better outcome, and it left him feeling rather giddy.

"Sounds like they'll be on that other island for the rest of the day," Fuyuhiko levelly said.

"Sure does."

A warm breeze whistled through the restaurant, bringing the scent of perpetual summer. Hajime inhaled it deeply, focusing on its touch across every inch of exposed skin. When his eyes opened, he noticed Fuyuhiko watching him. For a moment, their gazes held.

A moment later, Hajime backed Fuyuhiko against another sturdy wooden table, and easily hiked him up to sit on it when it interrupted their path. Fuyuhiko kept his arms wrapped firmly around Hajime's neck as he was positioned, which also kept their mouths locked together. A low, pleased noise rumbled out of the back of his throat. Hajime instinctively echoed the sound.

"Okay," Fuyuhiko said when they broke apart for air. His cheeks were pink again, like when they'd first kissed. Then, it had looked like embarrassment shifting into disbelief. Now, this was only excitement. "We're supposed to figure out the animals."

Laughing reluctantly, Hajime pulled back. "Do you have to be so… responsible?" Fuyuhiko had been the one to shoo them away from his cottage yesterday, too. Just because they'd had their first kisses ever, with each other, didn't resolve their daily checklists.

"We've got a whole day alone," Fuyuhiko reminded him. "And there are way too many fucking chickens."

"Right," Hajime relented, and stepped away. "The chickens."

Ten minutes later, as they walked to where goats and chickens had once been raised and penned, Fuyuhiko broke the silence. "You never answered me."

Hajime glanced over. This interior road had been used to truck food and other supplies between the hotels, airport, and docks, and so it was much broader than the scenic trail used only for electric tourist carts. It was two lanes comfortably sized for trucks on both sides, and with no concerns for setting the mood for tourists, trees were hacked away well clean of the road's shoulders. There were no palm fronds overhead, but the two of them were already tan enough to not worry about burning. A breeze would be nice, though. "Answered you? About what?"

Fuyuhiko studied him for a few steps, then looked back ahead. "I asked if it was a rough night."

"Oh." Hajime also took a few steps to reply. "Yeah."

Fuyuhiko nodded, and said nothing.

"According to Akane, I look like hell. I guess it's not a secret. But I dunno, I just didn't want to say much in front of everyone."

"I get that, but still." Fuyuhiko shoved his hands into his pockets and let his gaze wander across the trees. "Everyone understands. We all have bad nights"

"Yeah?" Hajime asked softly. It'd been likely, of course, but Fuyuhiko had never admitted to also being trapped inside memories of those past years.

"Yeah." Suddenly awkward at admitting weakness, Fuyuhiko plastered over his sincerity with a sidelong smirk. "Should I be worried that you had a bad night right after we…?"

"Well," Hajime reluctantly admitted, "I did dream about you." Fuyuhiko nearly tripped over a stray pebble, and Hajime laughed as he clarified, "About one of the big fights with the Foundation. I was watching. But no, having a bad night had nothing to do with you. I'm pretty sure it's because there were clouds over the moon. And it's only a crescent right now, anyway."

Fuyuhiko worked through that, and clarified, "So, it was dark? That's what can set you off?"

After moving to this grimmer topic, Hajime could no longer say that he was in a good mood. And now that they were talking about specifics, even 'okay' faded. "Yeah. Seems like it." Fuyuhiko was willing to accept that without comment or judgment, and for that, Hajime was grateful. He was. Truly. But suddenly, he felt truth rise in him like vomit wanting to come out, and he knew that he had to share something for the first time. "I think I know why."

With uncommon patience and clear concern, Fuyuhiko waited.

Even though this demanded to be said, it took Hajime a few dozen steps to find the words. "They had to develop talents that involved vision. Marksmanship, art forgery. Whatever." With each step, Hajime's face prickled warmer, but this wasn't the excitement he'd felt while pressed up against Fuyuhiko in that restaurant. This was the boundary of a panic attack, where the only worse thing than speaking the memory would be trying to force it back inside. "And so they wanted to improve my sight, too."

"So, what did they do?" Fuyuhiko hesitantly asked. Their pace down the road slowed.

"I still don't know," Hajime managed. His speech was choppy, by now, and each word hurt. It felt like he could barely get enough air into him to fuel more than a single syllable at a time. "But they cut the optic nerves. And left me like that. For a while. Until another surgery. Then I saw better." His hands shook, and he missed the first time he tried to brush away a tear trailing down his cheek. "But until then. It was all dark."

A hand gripped his wrist, hard, and Hajime was forced to a halt.

Fuyuhiko's cheeks weren't pink, now; he was crimson with rage.

Hajime's face prickled as blazing fire and terrible cold ran across it. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest like it wanted to burst free.

When he finally spoke, Fuyuhiko's voice was a low growl, barely audible. "Are all of those motherfuckers already dead?"

Sharing that memory had exhausted Hajime. He nodded once. "I'm sure they are."

With no targets for which to plan a murder, Fuyuhiko was left shaking with futile fury. His eye rotated in its socket, looking for a tree or signage pole or anything in close distance that he could punch. There was nothing. With a frustrated cry, he instead grabbed Hajime and drew him close. His hands gripped the back of Hajime's shirt nearly hard enough to tear it, and they strained and pulled until the worst of his anger ebbed. "Those pieces of absolute dog shit," he spat, his face buried against Hajime's shoulder.

Getting that memory out really had been like vomiting. He'd avoid it if he could, but once it became inevitable, Hajime did feel better with it out of him. He wrapped his arms around Fuyuhiko in return, and let himself sag and be held up. Hajime couldn't say why, but it felt almost like he should apologize for putting the words out there.

Eventually, Fuyuhiko pulled back enough to look up at him. "Do you want me going back to the hotel?"

Confused, Hajime blinked. "Huh? For what?"

"In case you have another bad night, if it's that dark again." Regret filled Fuyuhiko's eye, and he reluctantly added, "Or anything else they did that might set you off."

"No. No, it's fine." Hajime tried to force levity back into his voice, and barely succeeded. "We want an excuse to have some privacy over there, yeah? Besides, right now, you're the one dealing with any rough nights alone."

Realizing his meaning, Fuyuhiko shook his head. "Trust me, what I remember… there's nothing like that. Nothing even close."

Hajime studied him critically. No, Hajime remembered a brand of horror that was—thankfully—unique in the world. But Fuyuhiko would remember feeling the hot splashes of blood as his parents died in front of him. He'd remember more blood as he personally toppled a government, then watched the ugly years that followed with full knowledge that it was him: he'd ended things. He'd wrecked supply lines, he'd shattered infrastructure, he'd left dying children hunting for food and water. He'd pushed the men who trusted him to lead them into the slaughterhouse.

That sort of practical horror had a less demanding presence. It probably wouldn't reach up and drag him forcefully down, but should Fuyuhiko sink into the depths himself, Hajime didn't know how he'd climb back out. And like Hajime had said: right now, Fuyuhiko was the only one left dealing with terrible nighttime memories alone.

"What if I move out to a cottage, instead?" Hajime slowly suggested.

"Huh? That's not…" Though Fuyuhiko instinctively countered him, his argument trailed off.

"So long as we're there for breakfast and dinner, it'd still feel like normal, right? They wouldn't complain. And I can just say that if you're going to stay out there, then I didn't want you to be alone. Sonia already worried that you could get hurt or something and we wouldn't know about it."

"She needs to stop worrying about me," Fuyuhiko groused. "I can take care of myself."

"So?" Hajime prompted.

Fuyuhiko didn't meet Hajime's eyes as the last bit of righteous anger left his expression. He seemed suddenly aware of how close they still were, but he didn't step away. "Yeah. That'd… be nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll move out."

"Okay. Good." Fuyuhiko cleared his throat. "Into a different cottage."

"Obviously, yeah. But close to yours?" There were multiple pathways that arced over the water, some quite long.

"Yeah."

"It's a plan, then," Hajime committed, and nudged them back into motion. It was so bright, today, and the horrors of last night seemed increasingly distant. He was here on the island, not watching death from atop a throne of rubble. Fuyuhiko was beside him, not facing down the would-be saviors of humanity. They were here, and they were them. And for now, all they had to worry about was all those fucking chickens.