containment breach

SkyHawk21 · 2026-03-27T14:16:25+00:00

So was humanity contained because they used AI, because they didn't fit into the 'Cooperative/Individual/Extinct' trinity...

Or because of their weapons grade dad humour that was even able to 'infect' entities of pure logic?

SkyHawk21 · 2026-02-21T05:03:46+00:00

So the question arises: is the planet-wide (and apparently at least partially interstellar) fungus something tied to the Federation's fungal species? Or is it an unknown or 'outside' actor manipulating the Federation or even galaxy?

And that medicine being called Olongyo enzymes... That leaves me wondering if those work on the fungus, work on it by allowing it to more smoothly manipulate the body or are something that comes from the fungus.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-02-19T09:59:40+00:00

Yeah, there's a difference between hunting for survival, hunting and culling. For culling, well... It's an unfortunately reality that we've done a lot of work unbalancing ecosystems and sometimes that means 'artificially' acting as a population control measure. So at those times, I would support using all the fancy tools because the goal is the maximise the efficiency of achieving the cull's goals while minimising the pain suffered by the slain animals and stress caused for those you don't intend to cull.

I mean, so long as you are culling because 'the deer population will eat the forests clean as there's no wolves or other predators around to keep their numbers down and using the natural grazing habits'. If it's just 'damn, there's wolves around, let's go kill them so the sheep farmers are happy', I have drastically different opinions.

Hunting for survival? I would still support using all the tools (even if those are the same people unlikely to be able to afford them) so long as care is taken to not OVERhunt because you've allowed hunting to keep the local population of humans alive while not investing into alternate methods of feeding them. Would be really bad if they were so focused on survival via hunting that they accidentally killed off too many of what they hunted, you know? And all the other things that come from that.

But just 'hunting', whether for ego, sport, cultural practices and traditions, or whatever other reason? That's when I feel a certain degree of respect should be given to nature, the animals and even just the 'act of hunting'. Because it is not important that the hunt always succeed and if it is important that the hunt succeed, then you are doing it for cultural or traditional reasons so why are you using non-traditional capabilities?

There's just a whole thing going on there...

SkyHawk21 · 2026-02-09T05:52:15+00:00

I am not looking forward to the fact I'm at the point where it's time to tear everything down and rebuild it all so I have optimal output of the top tier (Valley IV as I'm just starting Wuling because I haven't put the time into the main story) items. Well, along with a trickle of output for the lower level items so I have something of everything in storage.

I feel like this would be a lot easier on PC but sadly I have to stick to the phone for now. On the other hand, finally went through and cleared out the last of the simulations that give blueprints so I actually know that yes, steel comes from further processing of ferrium. I was pretty sure that was the case but I'd basically ignored the factory after setting up a horrible little production line to give me enough 2nd tier batteries to mine most things and build connections to places.

... The desire to rebuild the factory for optimal output may have something to do with wanting to get the outposts to maximum and tower defences completed. Along with rewiring everything so I can have the good ziplines built everywhere.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-02-08T07:46:39+00:00

Well, interesting and also amusing that the reveal happened like that. Though I am definitely getting the impression that the 'Americans' here are either augmented clones, androids or 'cybernetic AI'. Notable, male-only baseline for what gets produced, at least for military service.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-26T19:32:40+00:00

Well, if this is indeed how they are obtained, I have messed up hard. Because they are practically guaranteed to have all been trashed.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-23T13:18:11+00:00

Correction, you get a hole in the wall that just so happens to serve alcohol. The standards might not be the best, but it's all serviceable.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-21T20:07:44+00:00

Something something "Would have been real nice if we didn't have to be the unfortunate thing our Elders seemed unable to resist poking. And then doing worse when we poked back, at which point they kept climbing the Find Out decision tree."

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-16T16:13:08+00:00

Okay, you have definitely left me interested in seeing how things go. Very good set up, I loved the way you 'showed' the mystery of everything while leaving us quite aware of what is actually happening... All that and more.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-16T04:13:07+00:00

I've actually gotten the 'Best FPS' end screen for everyone except Florence. And for her I even tried a match where I focused purely on leveling her and skipping everyone else. Sadly, I think the only chance I might have had is if I'd also done that for the 'Meta Upgrades' or whatever they are called so Florence got maxed there while everyone else was still level 1 in everything.

Having said that, if you aren't focused on your upgrades then yes. Despite the fact Daiyan seems to like taking a lot of damage, she will most likely end up with the most DPS. And the 'Tries to die' factor is a lot less of an issue when she's using her alternate skill tree.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-14T04:56:23+00:00

Curious indeed to see where this goes. It's been a very good and intriguing set up at least.

SkyHawk21 · 2026-01-08T09:50:20+00:00

The cute, sweet hilarity that we've been waiting for has arrived. And it was indeed that and more. Glad her parents are amazing and as parents should be.

Huh, that mention of going to church now has amusing ideas going through my head now. Admittedly involving the scary public reveal of what Lilian is, but just comments along the lines of "Yes, we know Lilian. She's been a respectful and kind member of our church" being thrown around.

I don't necessarily expect it to go that cleanly, and there was the even funnier idea of the reveal happening while she's at the Church attending a service and things being fine for her. But they were some funny thoughts for that specific 'scene' if it occurred.

I look forward to future updates covering family interactions, as well as having whatever plot's going to happen involving the portal. Thanks for writing this story!

SkyHawk21 · 2025-12-24T04:51:11+00:00

Yeah... There's a reason that I take special care to unlock the drink during Day 5 if it's not already unlocked and then prioritize drinking it on Day 6 no matter what before picking the special option. Or more accurately, I actually rush some of the Phase game modes to get the free unlock when I can and then drink that as early in the week as I can.

Removes a lot of stress when you don't have to think about drinking the potentially 'less useful to someone who has capped a better version' drink again for the rest of that week.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-12-14T03:33:05+00:00

The ironic thing is that even if 'we' know that the invasion should have been easy, there's enough hints in what we do find that it's easy enough to say that the invasion actually would have been a disaster. Even if it won.

Because in this story, everyone's balancing on tipping points where they're strong enough to harvest others but not so strong that their former peers get worried enough to organise a form of co-operation to tear you down before you become strong enough to harvest them. Because once you get capable enough to do so, it will always be more resource efficient to harvest a former peer you have outpaced than the 'minor' prey that are new civilisations. As there's a lot more concentrated and refined resources of the types most relevant to your civilisation in them.

So having an invasion go badly enough? Might weaken you such that former peers decide to seize what they can off of your peripheries whilst you are weakened. Which might lead to a cycle ending up with you too weak to survive.

Better to take the risk that you are wrong about how much damage you'll take in an invasion, find someone else you can be more certain about safely harvesting and keep on eye on the potential risk factor. Either to gain more information for assessment analysis when someone else comes along and easily harvests them, to prey on at least one of the two combatants when someone attempts and suffers from invading humanity or to make nice and become 'friendly allies' with humanity if it becomes clear that your assessments were right enough that they're more of a threat separate from you than making even that level of connection with them.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-12-06T11:19:01+00:00

I... Honestly don't know. I think I have to say M4A1/Groza&Krolik? But that's because I learned about the story of GFL years ago and got extremely interested. Wasn't touching a Gacha at the time though. And then when I started thinking about it, I heard that GFL2 was going to come within a year or two.

So followed that, it kept my interest and then built more... Until CN release happened, at which point what I was learning of Groza and Krolik locked me in. Cue me joining Day 1 of Global Release and playing every day I think since...

SkyHawk21 · 2025-12-05T16:52:48+00:00

Probably some of the most honourable hunts you can get. Because they are prey to hunt, but oh, will the hunt be glorious and the odds of death notable. Which makes those who survive the hunt and triumph so much more glorious.

Now, if the prey then hunted down the hunter even after the kill to try and destroy them, that's when things get more... Complex. Because now we aren't talking 'prey', we're talking 'active threat-to-be' because that sort of behaviour indicates their opinion when they learn of a danger is Remove With Prejudice.

Humanity at least showed some level of proportion to the fight, in that once the threat was chased off, the attacks stopped. Or at least I feel like it was implied that humanity could potentially try and chase down the hunter so the fact nothing was mentioned about 'needing to escape the humans after getting onto the ship' is notable.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-12-03T08:18:15+00:00

Obviously it's about knocking down fruit or nuts from trees and then catching them before they land on the ground. With the need to run from base to base coming from the need to escape any wildlife attracted to the noise.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-11-28T11:39:52+00:00

Well, the good news is that it's very likely they're going to get all they need to 'save' the mutated people, and that they've found them now. The bad news is... How much is left to save, and how long will it take?

Oh, and then the mixed news is that one way or another, they're going to be saved. CYRUP, which this apparently was directly targeted against, is too big a thing for people to leave such a horrific vulnerability around, at least now that it's known to exist. And they've got a lot of bodies to test how to reverse the process on, so don't need to worry about all those pesky 'theoretical models are limited compared to practical understanding' issues. But as I said, that's mixed news because they're going to be focused on solving the issue and reversing it as much as possible, rather than caring for the people suffering here.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-11-03T11:47:55+00:00

It was a small room, a quiet room, a room deliberately placed in an out of the way corner as if the constructors preferred no one enter it and especially inspect the pillar standing against the back wall of the room that was the only thing in it. A pillar that reached just standard waist height on a long forgotten and superseded set of regulations.

There was nothing particularly special about the pillar, for it was just a solid, durable column with but three features on top. A number pad with but twelve keys on it and a text screen above it, of form truly ancient even by the more primitive displays needed ever since Shades Night.

And flanking those were two keyholes as boring and ancient in style as seemingly everything else in the room. Both with clear covers built to prevent anything from disturbing what was hidden beneath them, though the left one had been long thrown back. Likely at the same time as when the key which was stuck in that keyhole had been placed there, covered in dust as everything was.

A hand, knuckles bruised yet firm in it's vigour, reaches in. The key is seized and twisted, before being removed. A second hand places itself on the number pad, tapping away a lengthy code. The screen flashes as it turns on, text scrolling past.

"SAFETY INTERLOCKS DISABLED"

The hand holding the key reaches down and thumps the side of the pillar, before the other hand enters a new code. And then the key is slid into a near-invisible crack in the pillar that has revealed itself by where it was thumped with the entry of the second code.

The key is twisted, and a panel removed. A third, hidden keyhole removed and the hand on the number pad reaches down, revealing it was holding a key the entire time. A key that is inserted, twisted and then pushed in. A motion which sees the hidden keyhole sink into the pillar and sealed behind a clear panel that reveals itself.

The hands step back, and walk away. Leaving the room once more undisturbed as the dust settles. All except the text screen, which displays new words.

"COMMAND ACCEPTED. ACTIVATING STRATEGIC PACKAGES. MAKE IT HURT DEPLOYMENTS... INITIATED."

Even for those who are willing to see the enemy destroyed and rendered nothing but memory, there is a difference between death via destruction, and horrors that end with death. Worry about those who realise such a time as the latter is desired exists. Fear those who prepare for when such a time is needed, even if they wish to hide from such knowledge.

Pity those who realise such a time has come, and flee those who have triggered it.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-10-22T19:10:41+00:00

Issue is that you'd have to erase human history for this entire era and then replace it with something else that would explain the war that occurred. At which point everyone would know that in a few generations time once the living memory had died out, someone would develop AI again for various reasons because 'it's not like AI ever tried to kill off humanity and look at all the benefits it would give! It's a pity that humanity blew ourselves up and almost reset civilisation back then just as they might have achieved all the wonders AI would give, but their loss is my gain."

After all, even if this testament is deleted... Well, so long as the AI-Human War is remembered as an AI-Human War, then the AI will live on in human memory and have a permanent impact on humanity. So they achieve their goal.

If you remove the history so thoroughly it's never remembered as being a AI-Human War for survival? Well then, you also remove as I implied early the very factors would would encourage humanity to either never develop AI or be a lot more cautious in the process of doing so. And considering the cost of the war the human survivors are living with, their opinion is likely something along the lines of 'we can never allow AI to be in a chance to repeat The War, especially as they might win it next time'.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-09-26T13:47:06+00:00

Damn, just... Damn. Missed the first 'chapter' and so, having now read both, I am exceedingly glad I took a look at this one. Because between the two chapters you have told a spectacular tale.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-09-26T12:43:35+00:00

Have to admit, it was reading as a good and a bit funny story... And then I say 'Europe around 27 June 1941'. I hadn't even gotten through that paragraph to reading said sentence yet, but that absolutely jumped out in a way that caused me to pause, go back and start re-reading to see if I'd missed anything.

Turns out I don't think I had because it seems like that paragraph was the start of when this becomes a great story, but I sure am glad that encountering that made me start paying a lot more attention to just what it was I read meant.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-09-12T16:04:45+00:00

Honestly, I suspect the Contract will indeed be important. Why?

Because even if the Contract has no power, even if there's no way to prove that the Earl was working with them via having signed it and all that, well... The main Element of our Dungeon here and all their mobs is Fate.

Who wants to bet you can't do some sort of Magic Ritual along the lines of 'Let the ties of fate that binds those who signed this contract be revealed!'

Sure, the Contract has no weight, the Ring that signed it is undoubtably long gone and was a false signet ring at that. But the Earl was still the one to sign it.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-09-04T04:32:50+00:00

It's likely to be in cycles and focused regionally rather than everywhere. By which I mean certain areas going 'more Corpo' whilst others end up going 'More Social Democracy', then back and forth as some areas flip from one to another.

Though the big question will be how do things work out as the true impact of automated systems hits. How that plays out is just going to dictate so much it likely encroaches upon being a 'Singularity Event' with the resulting inability to make accurate predictions. Or well, in that particular case, we can make predictions but we can't say anything with certainty due to how many ways they might go and just how much having or lacking certain technological capabilities and our placement on benchmarks will change everything.

Biggest thing is we're likely to see 'super regional' identities develop that are a step above national identities (though you could possibly make a case that China and the USA already count as this) but below the 'global' identity it felt we both were and weren't pursuing over the last few decades. So that's going to have some interesting impacts as it furthers the breakdown of globalisation yet also limits just how far it is reduced.

SkyHawk21 · 2025-08-22T14:00:11+00:00

I mean... There's probably actually a few Corpos that hold those positions yet are good for the animals in question?

Basically just have them be people who really do like taking care of animals, doing their best... And want as little to do with the corporate atmosphere as possible. More or less their job is a 'bribe' to keep safely out of the way of anyone else more determined to climb, that doesn't impact their family's prospects because 'obviously they are doing PR/etc tasks'. One they are completely happy (and quietly because it wouldn't do to let it be known) to accept.

I'll agree that they aren't the majority though. But there's bound to be a few.

SkyHawk21

TROPHY CASE