Let's see... so, if the planet Earth exists in relation to Grateful Seventh in this manner, then that implies some manner of... read/write permissions? But what governs that? How is it that humans are capable of this, but only in these limited ways? What principle governs the...
is someone doing smart person things
...no, but perhaps I should look at Ayana-kun's sister's research notes, place a bit more importance on her subjective observations. If I think about this through the logic of what I know for certain is possible, I won't go anywhere, so...
Yes, I just need to look at the absolute facts and draw a conclusion from there. Mio... no, am I thinking about this the right way?
No, don't let yourself get distracted. You know she was capable of delivering a mental framework into a machine, that she possesses some capability for temporal distortion, that she...
What's Richter doing?
I think he's trying to figure out how Mio's powers work again.
Somehow... this is certainly some form of alteration of reality, yes, but in a different context than the way I do it, clearly... What's the mechanism behind all this? Think about other psychics. Koron has the ability to accelerate and decelerate particle motion by using the materials of her body to create the necessary chemical reactions. Neko can create fine particles of super-chilled water vapor. Himuro-san has the ability to teleport himself long distances...
No, no, I already know that each psychic has unique abilities. But...
Unremarkable Changes
Skill Changes
Nanomachine 119:
Given inverse priority; now always goes at the end of the turn.
Hack:
Changed to a ranged skill.
As a result, contact-activated counters no longer activate on Hack.
Hack All:
Changed to a ranged skill.
As a result, contact-activated counters no longer activate on Hack All.
noiztank.exe:
Now a tier 2 skill, instead of tier 3.
Quick Hack:
Activation chance reduced from 35% to 25%.
Shutdown:
No longer bypasses immunities.
Changed to a ranged skill.
As a result, contact-activated counters no longer activate on Shutdown.
What's wrong with Richter?
I think he's rubber-ducking.
...but, no, even seemingly supernatural phenomena like teleportation can be understood as simply transforming the body into electrical signals that float through the air. ...Saingreed isn't what I should be concerned with, certainly not. Those technologies she uses, those aren't the issue, it's...
Richter?
Just thinking about this isn't getting me anywhere. If only I could... I mean, I have so much evidence, there's just... what am I not understanding? It's not simply that she can distort time to allow us more actions in battle, no, that doesn't explain it at all. But it can't simply be a power to break rules, some sense to specifically do the impossible. Much of what she does makes perfect sense, but how can I solve the question of abilities that the woman herself doesn't understand? I can't accept that they simply 'work'...
'They simply work'. 'They just work'... 'Just'. 'I just know'. 'I don't know how I know, but I know'...
Why are you quoting me?
That is you, isn't it? But, no, obviously there's only one VFD...
Chisa, what is a True Dragon?
What?
That is to say, how is a True Dragon created?
...Well, either you have a Bloom-born Dragon that evolves thoroughly enough to become one, or... if the strongest being of a planet becomes sufficiently powerful that 'instinct' overtakes 'will', I suppose I'd say? That's how I'd explain it with regards to a human, anyway.
So even if it were not you, there's nothing saying a sufficiently powerful human being couldn't become a True Dragon, then?
No. Why?
Alright, thank you. That's good information to have—
W-whoa! Where did you all come from?!
We've been here a while.
As payment for not listening to anyone, it's review time!
What? Oh, yes, I suppose it would be an alright time for that. One moment.
Noteworthy Changes
Tier 1 Skills
Regenerator
Innate skill. Places a buff on all party members that restores a fixed amount of LIFE at the end of each turn for a set amount of turns.
Changes:
Now an innate skill.
Now heals a fixed amount of LIFE instead of a percentage of maximum LIFE.
Old: 7%/9%/10%/12%/15% Max LIFE
New: 4/7/10/13/16 LIFE
This is the result of a bug, not an intentional change.
Notepad ready, Mio?
Yup yup!
Alright. The most recent firmware update for YUUHI moved a pointer erroneously that I can't get to without causing serious damage to my Gauntlet, and we don't have time to repair it. So unfortunately, the Regenerator subroutine is currently working at much poorer efficiency.
If I just had a week or so to fix it, I could, but unfortunately we don't have that kind of time. We'll have to live.
Getting screwed by firmware updates is relatable, bro
I wonder how complex the bug actually is? I bet it's like, one character off, like the gems in Sonic 2006.
Firebrand
Cures freeze on all party members. Changes the damage type of all party members' regular attacks to fire for a set amount of turns.
New skill.
The primary new technologies I've developed in the intervening time are the 'Brands' and 'Trojans'. The Brands are a form of alteration to the informational interactions of our strikes that cause them to be superheated or superchilled.
Unfortunately, it's not powerful enough to affect more than the most basic strikes—past that, your own informational fields take precedence over the packets delivered through this subroutine.
But I am aware you all would prefer I be more self-aggrandizing when I do something like this, so I will say I'm still rather proud I made it work.
Good boy, Richter.
Both Firebrand and Icebrand are interesting, if situational, sills that do best when paired with both the TROY skills and an Idol. They'll never result in too much direct damage, but can cause some great support DPS and lead into strong status ailments.
Tier 2 Skills
Feedback
Attempts to inflict curse on all enemies. Infliction is guaranteed on hacked enemies that are not immune to curse.
Changes:
No longer bypasses immunities.
Unhacked base infliction chance reduced from 95% to 35%.
Changed to a ranged skill.
As a result, contact-activated counters no longer activate on Feedback.
Returning to the subject of technologies not working optimally... I have unfortunate news regarding the bio-kinetic feedback loop. It seems that Fomalhaut and his spawn are particularly resistant to it.
That makes sense to me. It's the sort of trick Fomalhaut himself would use against direct opponents—no wonder he'd be resistant.
It's not impossible for me to establish it, simply much harder. I'm not sure how useful it will be, with that in mind.
Aww, it's okay, buddy! You're super useful in plenty of ways!
look i don't know how much i can say that taking a 60% infliction rate debuff doesn't say by itself
TROY: Fire
Places a debuff on one enemy that activates upon that enemy receiving fire damage for a set amount of turns. Upon activation, TROY: Fire deals a fixed amount of damage to the enemy, attempts to inflict burn, and inflicts Hack Weakness if the enemy is not already afflicted with it.
When used under the effects of EX, TROY: Fire's damage is increased by 1.3x.
New skill.
TROY: Ice
Places a debuff on one enemy that activates upon that enemy receiving ice damage for a set amount of turns. Upon activation, TROY: Ice deals a fixed amount of damage to the enemy, attempts to inflict freeze, and inflicts Hack Weakness if the enemy is not already afflicted with it.
When used under the effects of EX, TROY: Ice's damage is increased by 1.3x.
New skill.
Regarding the Trojans, essentially, their function works thus—I write a command to an enemy's informational field that simply serves as a command to run a secondary command upon the following conditions. Since this command is not itself negative, it isn't purged by their autoimmune systems.
When the command is triggered, the secondary command causes a magnification of the previous effect—a sort of 'secondary attack' with its own properties, you might say. I can't make it too large on a single activation of the secondary command or the opponent's informational field would flag it as a threat, but it's certainly something!
How the hell did anyone even come up with this YUUHI business to begin with?
Beats me.
But your mother made it.
You seriously think I understand how her brain works?
The Trojans's biggest draw aside from the small damage adds is the super-strong status ailments. Their weird inverse scaling on the effect still bottoms out as better than any other example of the ailment in the entire game.
...Incidentally, while the damage is small, 7th Dragon 2020-2 actually caps out at much lower HP numbers than its predecessor, so the damage numbers aren't quite as poor in a relative sense as you might think.
Icebrand
Cures burn on all party members. Changes the damage type of all party members' regular attacks to ice for a set amount of turns.
New skill.
i don't know why this had to be locked to tier 2 tbh
Tier 3 Skills
Luck Booster
Places a buff on all party members that increases their evasion for a set amount of turns. Additionally, increases the chance of Order Action skills resulting in higher-tier skills, instead of regular attacks or lower-tier skills.
New skill.
I've also been attempting to develop what I would describe as an attack redirection algorithm, similar to Mio's fog redirection but across the whole field. I doubt it'll be as effective, but—
Oh, special effects? Nice! That'll get me pumped.
Hm?
It's good when I'm pumped, Richter. It means we're all doing better.
I... see.
The evasion buff is small but nice. The Order Action buff... look, explaining exactly how it works would require getting into the nitty-gritty of Order Action mechanics. Suffice it to say, it does work, and it works pretty well. It's a good skill for Hacker/Idol parties.
Tier 4 Skills
TROY: Cure
Places a buff on one party member that, for a set amount of turns, activates upon that party member having their LIFE restored. Upon activation, TROY: Cure will restore a fixed amount of LIFE to the target.
The amount of LIFE restored by TROY: Cure is modified when under the effect of EX. Due to a bug, instead of TROY: Cure's healing being increased at all levels when under the effect of EX, it reduces the healing at levels 1 and 2, has no effect on level 3, and provides a smaller-than-intended increase at levels 4 and 5.
New skill.
I'm working on attempting to make a Trojan for our use with 119, as well. I believe we've all been working with 119 for long enough that the principle should make sense?
Makes sense to me.
Good. Good. That's good.
It's cute. I don't really use it much, but it's cute, and I could see some real use getting made out of it.
EX Skill
gg.bat
Cures all ailments on all party members. Grants invulnerability to damage and ailments to all party members for one turn.
Changes:
SP cost reduced from 9500 to 9000.
Now grants proper invulnerability to damage and ailments, rather than guaranteed evasion.
Now cures all ailments on all party members at cast time.
Ah, I haven't managed to complete it just yet, but I've almost managed to add an ailment-purging function to GG.bat! I thought that if I were to be contradictory, it's best to be contradictory as thoroughly as possible.
What I'm learning from all this is that you did such a good job the first time that you kinda had to scrounge for new features to add. Not that they're not impressive or anything, but.
These are for hackers deep within the 'custom installation' menu, yes.
...Thank you?
it's a good move
If there is one thing I do wish I had, though, it would be a manner to rout myself into their fields more accurately... but I don't believe we have the technology for that.
Maybe if you go on the dark web or something
I... don't enjoy going on the dark web. But I may have to, if I wish for such a thing.
Super EX Skill
Heavenjack 2021
Deals MAT-based aerial damage to all enemies. Attempts to inflict hack on the targets.
New skill.
It's not the most damaging thing in the world but it's pretty damaging and we all love a nice Hacking. I just wish it lasted more than a turn, but hey, I guess that's what Hacking React is for, right?
...My apologies, that didn't seem all that interesting.
It's alright. Hey, at least you're not tearing your hair out over whatever you were talking about earlier?
Right, right... I suppose it would be a good idea for me to rest instead of fretting over ideas I know I don't have enough time to study.
Frankly, Mio, I wish I had your skill with deadlines. Were I not so thoroughly hurried, I feel as though I would be able to do quite a bit more.
Such is the fate of one who requires technology to hunt, I suppose.
Shut up and go take a nap or something. You look like shit.
Do I?
Yeah, you look exhausted.
Ah. In that case, I likely should sleep, yes. But I should also likely deliver these papers here to Kirino before I—
