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[Grimith]

Haha. I'm really glad that DethSquad Officer shot off the doctor's arm now since I didn't know a sleeper would bother to repair clothes under any circumstance. I knew the full and active members of the LCS would do such, but... yeah. Never had the opportunity to see a sleeper do it until this playthrough.

As for why I don't kidnap Conservatives I seduce, it's just a self-imposed restriction. I think it's too easy to kidnap Conservatives through seduction (unless they're, y'know, Agents), so I only ask them out on dates in order to avoid them raising an on-site alarm. Kidnapping through hostage-taking also fits along better with my violent style of play. Besides, why not reward those automatons who found themselves wow'd by my amazing one-liners?

I plan on recording/capturing my progress through this session until it finishes, for better or worse. If the RNG's feeling kind, I should get the Liberal Agenda to Elite Liberal status. But my reckless attitude towards gameplay could also wipe out the Mutant Liberation Squad (particularly if I make a bone-headed error). We'll see what happens.

Screenshot updates covering Videos 6-8 will be up in the next few hours. I'll also play the game a bit more tonight, although whether those sessions will also get screenshots and storyline to go along with them remains yet to be seen.

[jasonred79]

Eh. At this point, the only thing that would really end your game would be if your base got raided. Anything else, you could just rebuild from the ashes.

[Grimith]

Update 006: Video

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"So, Grim, what do you think?"
"'Mutant Liberation Squad'? Really, Kurt?"
"Oh, come on, Grimmy. It certainly has more zest than 'Liberal Crime Squad'. Besides, freeing the masses from the injustices of Evil can't possibly be criminal unless the automatons are right."
"Yeah, but not all of us are, no offense-"
"None tak-"
"'Mutants.' I don't want to disinterest others from joining the cause."
"That worry, Grim Bones, is highly Conservative. Relax. The PR couldn't possibly get worse; you're already villified as one of the most dangerous men in the country. No one could be more terrified than they are now of joining our cause.
"You really know how to make a guy feel special, huh?"
"Grimace, you don't know the half of it..."



Kurt, as I had noted earlier when he joined me, was my greatest asset. His hunchback seemed like little more than an inconvenience, and the frail musculature on his lanky skeleton gave him a vulnerable charm, yet he was very agile, and the conviction with which he spoke of the Liberal Cause seemed almost to armor him, to sheathe his form in a faint lime glow. There were many times I questioned if anyone, even the Death Squads, could break his aura; I certainly wasn't capable of such a task. Every day I spent outdoors, waging war against the Conservative menace, I found myself the victim of a deep frown and a disappointed head shake. He didn't oppose necessary violence, but he found my gratuitous actions to be harmful to the cause. Still, he remained by my side - perhaps he saw soothing the rage in my heart as his own personal project, and he could not deny the ripples I had created in the country so long ago when I had first burst onto the activist scene in a Latte Stand...



...quite similar to another one I had visited earlier to dispense some Vigilante Liberal Justice.



Kurt continued to lead his squad of assembled Liberals out to test their mettle against locked doors and suspicious tenants; in a refreshing change, however, he didn't actually raid the apartment complex containing our primary safehouse. He informed me, upon their return, that they had managed to escape unseen, but I strangely doubted that such a hodgepodge'd mishmash could be missed wandering through such a wealthy locale.



Not that I remained faultless...



...but at least I was honest.

After another day of crushing Conservative automatons, I returned to the Croft Apartment complex at sunset. None of the others had come back yet, save for Lynette, and the moon had risen far into the night sky before Kurt's squad had returned to me.

With one hell of a story to share.



So the Mutant Liberation Squad had carried out more actions against the injustices they perceived at the Semin Apartment complex.



As its members are wont to do, the squad secured Conservative scum for Enlightenment.



Unfortunately, not everyone had been easy prey for the squad and they were forced to make their escape before the arrival of the Death Squads.



They hadn't succeeded, so, whilst dragging two hostages, the six non-combatant members of the Mutant Liberation Squad found themselves on the run from two advance members of the Death Squads sent to respond to the Conservative alarm. Rachel, Phillip, Kurt had the speed to break free before the officers could get a shot, but the rest were not so fortunate...



But the Luck of Liberalism had shined upon my allies...



...for the only injury which had been sustained...



...stemmed from reckless fire from one of the pursuing officers. Very fortunate for Kurt and his group, especially since I found myself rather pleased the automaton had discovered, first-hand, how ruthless and impassionate the Arch-Conservative Evil could be. For once, I found myself pleased to take upon myself the task of Enlightenment. I knew I'd relish reminding the wounded Conservative of what he had lost to oppressive firepower.

Perhaps, as Kurt kept suggesting, there were more pleasurable rewards than slaying my Conservative foes.

[Grimith]

Update 007: Video

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Education of Chloe Lee and Jinyuan Piercey had only taken a week and a half, but the latter had caved far sooner than the former. As I had predicted, the former automaton caved quickly when I had forced him to confront his disfigurement time and time again. Irrefutable evidence of Conservative irresponsibility had been more convincing for the one-armed Enlightened than any other tactic I had at my disposal. Should opportunity present itself in the future to seize Conservatives who had been alienated by the government, I would pounce on that chance with relish.



Admittedly, the likelihood of personally encountering such an opportunity was low.



Very, very low.



In fact, the more I considered the idea, the more I resigned myself to having to rely on Kurt's squad in order to encounter aforementioned opportunities.



Well, at least my actions ensured there were fewer Conservatives left to menace the masses. Too many automatons were still alive before the Liberal dream could be realized, but I knew my actions were having an effect upon the people.



As were the actions of the Mutant Liberation Squad, albeit in a far less profound fashion.

With the end of February drawing near, Lynette took it upon herself to sell off the acquired Conservative belongings to fund the Liberal Cause. $8,800 had been added to our Freedom Chest, and we all celebrated a fantastic gain with glasses of illicit Liberal Champagne.

"The effort is proceeding, Fearless Leader," Kurt had said to me after all the others had retired for the evening.
"It's not enough," I had replied. "The corporations are funded by billions of dollars. Our progress has weakened only a small segment of the demon's armor."
"Our progress may be slow, Grimmikins, but change is inevitable. The Mutant Liberation Squad is making an impact upon the people. We will help them to realize freedom, and we will give them the will with which to seize it."
"Oh, I know, Kurt. Believe me, I know..."



For all my confidence, the news I heard the next morning blindsided me as it did all. The members of Congress, operating for reasons as myriad as they are inscrutable, attempted to gather enough votes to brute force Liberal resolutions through the Arch-Conservative Evil leading this country and weaken the vise Conservatism held upon our nation. Division amongst the representatives left Congress incapable of much success, but one resolution managed to force itself through and become signed into law.

In our safehouse, only Kurt remained unfazed by the news. He gave me an enigmatic smile, a smile which, while confusing, only served to further my trust in him.



Our Liberal paradise had not yet been realized, but only two months had passed since I started this mission, on my own, lacking in the way of guidance and sense. Give us another two, another ten, and see what we could realize...

March flashed by in a blur of activity; so much done in so little time, and I had been too busy to jot it all down. Some of the Mutant Liberation Squad took to the streets to enjoy the laxed free speech laws through demonstrations to the masses, whilst others joined myself in assaulting Corpnet, probing for weaknesses with which to exploit in order to continue to exorcise the nightmarish Evil surrounding us. Only three events stand against the grain and need description here:



The Conservatives had finally gotten their clutches on a member of the Mutant Liberation Squad. From what Kurt shared - opposing what the media said about the affair - Phillip had been lured into a trap, and he had Liberally sensed that a quick surrender would spare him, for a time, from the death that awaited him if he had offered the slightest hint of resistance. We were all concerned, and we vowed to find a way to free him, although we couldn't figure a way how. We knew that the police retained custody of Phillip, doing their damndest to break him, but not even I, in my zeal for Liberal Justice, could visualize a successful attempt at springing Phillip from jail. We resolved to find a solution while continuing our activism, remaining wary for government interference.



By the end of march, Julia had become overconfident in her ability to sense the Conservatives seeking to capture her, and she ignored the threat a newfound friend outside our circle had posed to her until the trap had squeezed shut. Like Phillip, she had abandoned the idea of escape once she realized what had happened. From my understanding, they beat her anyway; I didn't know to the extent they had injured her, but I knew she was alive and almost immediately shipped, along with Phillip, to the Halls of Ultimate Judgment.

Such a move had caused concern in those who remained with me in the safehouse, but I quickly relinquished my concern and replaced it with the hot temper of rage. The Arch-Conservative menace was trying to snuff us, sensing a serious threat in allowing the movement to continue developing. Rather than execute the captured Liberals immediately, they preserved them in the hopes of breaking them and forcing them to confess their "sins" to the masses in order to spin opinion against the Liberal Cause. Such an outcome was unacceptable. Not after what we had already achieved. I wouldn't let it happen. I refused.

It was then I realized, quite bitterly, that, in the entire month of March, I hadn't killed a single automaton; I remained content, fueled by our success, and thoroughly enjoyed assaulting Corpnet. But, now after two of my friends had been seized, I no longer found contentment in the idea of assault from afar. No, I decided to form a disguise - one way or another - and plan an escape assault on the Evil Halls of Ultimate Judgment themselves.

No matter the price.

[Grimith]

Update 008: Video

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

My initial foray into the Halls of Ultimate Judgment absolutely failed from being the resounding success I sought.



I couldn't defeat the security measures separating the lobby from the rest of the Conservative stronghold.



Well-positioned Liberals, so few in the Arch-Conservative regime, rejected the call to arms.



And I couldn't find a suitable and alone Conservative to kidnap in the hope of obtaining a map. If I knew where my fellow Liberals were being imprisoned, I could free them from Evil much quicker.

Frustrated beyond all measure, I left, resolving to return with a cooler head the next day.



I continued to find myself lacking. Through dilligence, I had managed to persuade some Liberals to meet me at the Croft Apartment complex in the hopes of persuading them to join the cause, but I still hadn't found a prime target for abduction.

But, as it turns out, I didn't need to enlist the aid of an automaton.



Cassandra Weller, frustrated beyond measure from attempting to preserve justice in the face of Corporate Evil, confided in me not long after we met. She asked if I could use someone like her in aid of the Liberal Cause. When she helped me formulate a map to better find my primary target, I knew I couldn't refuse her.



Alas, when I checked my map upon arrival the next day, I found her writing at two particular points indecipherable. I presumed, given the exclamation marks at each point, that one would lead to the jury room and the other to the jail cells. I wasn't for sure which was which, but, regardless of location, I remained resolved to free Phillip and Julia.



Divine intervention again interceded on my behalf, for, in an undoubtedly horrible architectural choice, likely seated in the hubris natural to all Conservative thought and behavior, the cells of those who awaited trial remained not far from the lobby.

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I failed to free them, and I forced myself to retreat rather than risk discovery, which would jeopardize the mission and result in either prisoner relocation or elimination.

The next several days were spent on continuing to master the security measures preventing me from rescuing my fellow Liberals. I also had managed to acquire two new members for the Liberal Cause - including another the Conservative scum had labeled as "freak." The primary focus during these days, however, was rescue, and, eventually...



I managed to disable the locks protecting the doors.



Phillip had been spared much of the torturers' wrath, but Julia had suffered greatly under their "care." I carried her as best as I could, given the circumstances, but we would quickly raise an alarm looking as we did unless we fled from the site. And, without looking back, that's exactly what we did.



The most favorable article written about the affair came from The Globe; the article pushed past most of the Conservative bias and cut straight to the known facts. The other forms of media media, particularly the local variety, expressed outcry and rage at the audacity of raiding the Halls of Ultimate Judgment and freeing obviously guilty prisoners who deserved the death sentences they were facing.

But none of the Conservative hogwash mattered.



I had settled for nothing less than success, and I ended with exceeding my expectations. Phillip and Julia had been returned back into the fold, and we had three new recruits to join the Good Fight; Bryan, who assisted us at the safehouse, and two judges who even now remain in the Halls of Ultimate Judgment for emergency purposes. Yet success in this mission presented itself as a double-edged blade, for we all knew our actions had severely angered the government, and the Arch-Conservative threat looming all around could not, nor would not be denied...

[Grimith]

While looking through the posts I've made after showing this thread to a friend, I've noticed that ImageShack is making some of the images I uploaded... disappear. I'm not sure why. I'll go through my updates and attempt to find the places with a missing picture, but, if this occurrence continues, I may stop using Imageshack and go to using Photobucket.

Unless anyone else has a better recommendation.

-EDIT: Only four images were missing - two from the first update and two from the second. I've replaced those that were missing, and I'll make sure to be dilligent over future vanishing acts. It is a free image upload service, so I can't expect the highest quality. Perhaps this event was just a fluke.

[soup_alex]

Somewhat unusually, perhaps (I've heard some horror stories), photobucket has never pulled any of my hosted images without warning; yet I've always heard that imageshack was better in this respect. Who knows.

Anyway, thanks for doing this LP, Grimith! I like your storytelling, but if I'm honest, it's the videos that really grab my attention. Laughter is contagious, I suppose. Mass murder isn't really my style (at least not so far, not yet having attempted Nightmare Mode), but this series has never failed to entertain and enlighten (ho ho).

Keep up the good work!

[Grimith]

Since you're being honest, I'll admit that I also prefer creating the videos over creating the screenshots. While I get to play the game during the videos and have a grand old time laughing and plotting and murdering the Conservative automatons, I have to spend on average an hour each update collecting the screenshots and crafting a narrative to mold to my violent style of play. Each video only takes a third as long to create; I review the videos once each for technical difficulties before uploading them. Doing both videos and screenshots in the same day is very taxing, especially for multiple updates. The way I staggered updates six through eight over the course of two days may very well become a regular occurrence in this thread.

For anyone who is concerned, I won't be dropping the narrative half from this thread. There are two reasons why:
1.) I introduced this LP as a hybrid LP. I'm already eight full updates along this path. I'm too stubborn to stop now, even if I have to brute force myself to keep writing the storyline.
2.) Many people on the internet, for one reason or another, are incapable of enjoying video LPs. Consequently, were this thread to contain nothing but videos, they wouldn't be able to enjoy whatever I could offer them. By offering two options, I allow more people the opportunity to enjoy (and participate in) this thread.

On a related note: Videos #9 and #10 were finished a few hours ago and have already been uploaded to Dailymotion. You can access the links through the original post on Page 1 or through my Dailymotion account. The story to complement these two videos should present itself before Saturday... but, again: no guarantees.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

I tend to prefer video LPs myself and rarely follow screenshot ones; it used to be the other way around, and then I discovered the joy of just being able to sit back and listen to people talk and have fun in front of you. I'm spoiled to the point where I skip over the narrative portions here and just watch the videos.

[jasonred79]

Grimith has gone completely blood crazed. I notice that he's abandoned actually trying to win the game ala influencing issues and stuff and is just trying to kill as many conservatives as possible? (going on an unarmed rampage in all those locations does not help the issues at all AFAIK)
 
Go rampage in the courthouse and such.
 
BTW, if you want to train dodge, go find some unarmed opponents and then hold down the S key instead of the F key.

[Grimith]

Well, let's have a look at this opinion poll from May 4, 2009, collected by Grimith himself:




Compare that to where those percentages start at Nightmare, and... well, you be the judge. I've recorded all of my days of activity besides the ones I spent on interrogation and this past day I used to collect the above data, so you've got everything in front of you.

At any rate, I'm suppose I'm too busy being bloodthirsty and whatnot to hold down the "S" key, but it's definitely a thought. Wouldn't make for much of an exciting video, though. If I did that, I would off-screen it.

[Jonathan S. Fox]

The 80+ ones look like they're all issues associated with your earlier courthouse liberation raids (gay rights, death penalty, free speech, justices, racial equality, gender equality) and the recent extremely successful raid on the oil refinery (pollution). You've only raided those a couple of times, so it shows you're having a big impact with each attack.

[jasonred79]

Against an unarmed opponent, for the founder, it will always only take 1 fight to max your dodge gains. So you could max out dodge in a mere 12 fights... and each fight will involve holding down the S key for 10 seconds in real life (+press F twice to kill the conservative!)  So... I don't see a problem with your including the dodge training in the video. Completely your choice, of course.

... You can get gun violence issue while fighting unarmed? ... presumably because your OPPONENTS are armed?

[Grimith]

The huge impact I make when I actually bother to stop murdering Conservatives and start changing the world is why I don't concern myself so much with the issues. I enjoy how I play, and I believe I have enough knowledge in how the game works to make the issues eventually fall in line while I'm dispensing Vigilante Liberal Justice.

Anyway, I've never actually worked on training my dodge skill before, not even for my founder, not even for my mass murdering style of play, so I didn't know how long it'd actually take. Since you don't have a problem with watching it, however, I'll give it a shot next video. I planned on introducing the Conservatives to Grimith + AK47 anyway, so I can combine Dodge and Rifle training for maximum fun. Providing you're into that sort of thing, of course.

[Grimith]

Update 009: Video

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Kurt and I haven't shared many words with each other since I rescued Julia and Phillip from the Arch-Conservative menace. Although he had been pleased to see the return of our comrades and even more pleased that I had rescued them without the "gratuitous" violence he found so distasteful, he didn't approve of  my increasing rage towards the Corporate-led Government.

"We're no band of thugs, some sorry group of ill-skilled criminals they can just torture and murder like they had done for so long. We must exact retributio!"
"Grimith, I'm all for the cause, but the bloodshed you're proposing borders on Madness, not Liberalism. You want us to rampage in the sites, potentially alienating the masses, and provide a wealth of material the government can use to create its propaganda?"
"Kurt, look at what I've been doing since the start of the new year. Examine the events which brought us together. Deep inside the people, they yearn to break free from Corporate shackles and fight the man just as much as I. Such violent demonstrations are the best way to break free from the Conservative stranglehold. Create enough of a threat, and there's no way they can bury us. No way, no how."
"Well, that's all fine and well, but why do-"
"Listen, Kurt. We need to be united in this idea. All of you need to be prepared to do what is necessary to lead the cause if I should fall."
"But-"
"Look, I know your passion is just the same as mine, and you're intelligent and skilled enough to lead the others in this war. But you're not experienced enough in the more physical affairs of handling Conservatives. To the Death Squads, should they ever catch you, you'd all be nothing more than playthings."



Glumly, he followed my orders and organized the Mutant Liberation Squad to march.



And to fight.



And to kill.



While I did the same.

When I had ordered Kurt to send the Mutant Liberation Squad out to fight, I prepared to accept the worst. The inexperienced, as devoted as they were to the cause, could find themselves fearful and flabbergasted in the rush of battle. If any of them got injured, if the Death Squads arrived before they could escape...

None of them would be alive tomorrow.



Julia filled me in on the details of what transpired that night; Kurt had managed, with his near superhuman agility, to outrun the DS, but the others couldn't muster his pace. Rudy nearly had his right leg blown out from under him, yet, somehow, he and all the others had managed to escape together. The wild look in Julia's eyes as she recounted the tale told me their encounter had been too close of a call.

But they needed this. All of them. I wouldn't order Kurt to send them out again, not for quite some time, but they needed to know that the Death Squad Officers had no qualms with annihilating each and every one of them.



I stayed at the apartments to watch over the injured, but they refused to relax, not even Rudy. Those who were capable of First Aid (including a very intelligent and agile new recruit, John Nickson) tended to the wounded each night, while others acted individually to support the Liberal Cause. We kept the same schedule throughout the remainder of April...

...until the final day, when the fury I held against the automatons overtook my body and compelled me to Go Forth and Dispense Liberal Justice.



Either I had become very reckless and overconfident, or I truly had been developing greater prowess with every automaton I Judged. Did my body feed upon the souls of these Conservatives, enhancing my abilities with otherworldly gifts? Granted, I may have been losing tough with sanity, but my continued success, in spite of the odds arrayed against me, against all of us, gives credence to the notion that I have become far greater than I was.



But, for now, I need rest. Though I feel the others could carry the cause without me, I have no desire to die. Each night, I long for the day when I can escape this Evil Nightmare and live in a free, peaceful world. Such thoughts undoubtedly empowered me with the vigor I needed to go forth into battle and defeat the Conservative Menace, yet they also filled me with a nervous energy.

Do I belong in the world of my dreams? Or have I, like a lab animal, become corrupted by the taint of Conservatism?