13. New Panels and Story
Ongoing Newsletter for The Phantom Pleasure
← Previous Newsletter (12 Photos and Story Development
Panels from the opening of THE PHANTOM PLEASURE
Art and Writing by Lordess Foudre:
Echo uses her Rogue Class skills to find hidden sites with abandoned Downloaders, so she can access the lower levels of the NOMAI NETWORK without unwanted user engagement. This method is only recommended for advanced users, as obsolete areas have terribly designed layouts with high difficulty environments. No telling how many lost amateurs have starved or fallen to their deaths in those labyrinthine hell sites. So if you prioritize safety and security over speed and anonymity, I recommend you stick to the more populated linkways.
But I don’t care how good you are, once you get embedded in the Nomai Network proper, you better expect to get hit with some random encounters. Though, you can make it easier on yourself by avoiding the PUBLIC ACCESS ZONE, assuming your strength and agility stats are high enough to get you over the PAYWALLS. As you can see above, Echo was able to do just that. She scrolls through a private sex chat shortcut, surprising the phreakers lurking in the filthy corridors. Usually Echo wouldn’t turn her back on anon perverts, but lately most of them have become too weak to try anything beyond selling or begging for free nudes.
After logging out of the shortcut, Echo unequips her SYNTH SUIT face filter and continues scrolling towards CHAT CLUB METEO. Being from the secret DEBUG LEVELS, Echo is unusually hesitant to show her face in the slums. And unlike any other user she’s encountered down here, Echo’s Synth Suit can transform at extraordinary speed; responding almost instantly to her personal preferences. Despite the heightened level of comfort stemming from her familiarity with this area, she decides to keep her suit in its LURKER MODE configuration. And that’s because…
… There seem to be bugged GOGG REPUBLIC pop-up ads following her everywhere she goes tonight. Echo is well aware of this bizarre cyber stalker watching her, but she’s smart enough to not give anything away; not even her casual attention. Instead, Echo silently leads the unwanted follower, this obvious Gogg Republic Jump-Cutter, deeper into gang territory at METEO. There, she can sip custom Dopamine plug-ins while she thinks of a cunning way to respond to this new threat…
I added the MERGE WITH ME art of Halo and Echo to my shop! If you’re interested in owning this print or others, CLICK HERE to visit my print store. I think I’ll eventually add some limited number Phantom Pleasure drawings, if people are interested.
CHARACTER PROFILE:
Prime Moderator of THE GOGG REPUBLIC OF PEOPLE and presiding member of the exclusive AEON FORUM; a small collection of rare People with ancient, priestly job classes. With the help of this mysterious forum, SUZE-AN has been altering the COMMUNITY GUIDELINES to maintain influence over the GRP. Despite what COLIN ATARI (see previous newsletter) believes, she’s not interested in gaining power or control over GEO-CITY ONE. However, like Colin, she is desperate to collect the ultra-rare POLYCOM known as the MEMORY DRIVE before the YEAR ZERO RESET occurs.
Outside of that secretive Forum, no one in the Gogg Republic knows her true intentions. Attempts to physically or remotely breach the Aeon have been totally unsuccessful, as a specific Stat Profile is required to enter. More research is required. However, we do know that she has played a direct role in making the MATERIALIZERS more aggressive, specifically to collect more bio material from users who get deleted due to TOS violations. What she, or should I say they, want with all the deleted users is still unknown… To make matters worse, many of these corpses do not get fed back into the SPAWN POINTS, contributing to the already declining population of GEO-CITY ONE. There is a rumor that SUZE-AN has taken a secret lover, someone she keeps hidden in her private domain. If true, perhaps breaching her site would prove less difficult than the Aeon Forum, and squeezing information out of this romantic partner might clear certain things up. And I’m sure Colin would be more than appreciative to anyone who could provide this info…
Thank you, everyone! I’ll be back soon with some new Phantom Pleasure content.