Super Chic Flop Era – plasticbagger

September 30, 2025

X-1 

jumping off a bridge is fun. *MECH thrusters fire* *MECH smashes through guardrail into open sky* *DIVA releases the ladder on MECH’s back, flicking buttons on her GIZMO mid-air* there’s a CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON directly below [SCAN: CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON: these balloon drones’ propulsion systems disperse potent chemical mixtures that micro-target and form weather patterns quickly] [H A C K E D] *DIVA lands on top of CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON* *tilts GIZMO to make CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON glide beside MECH* every cloud behind them is spitting lightning. *DIVA jumps off again* *collides first CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON with another CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON* the explosion forms a giant sparkling snowflake that falls to the water like a melting anchor. [H A C K E D 2.0] *DIVA grabs onto third CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON, hoisting on top of it like a horse*  

with their archipelago universe conquered in THE DAEMON INVASION, two new friends decided today was the day to explore AI-POWERED PARADISE: N E O N C I T Y. a small group of CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON drift in front of DIVA and MECH’s trajectory. *a small explosive missile exits MECH’s storage cell* *travels up vent* *gets handed off to launch contractor* *and fired by MECH* [ECHO OF AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL: OFFENSIVE MECH ACTION(S) GENERATE HEAT. CONSERVE TO RETAIN UNIT STABILITY] the cluster of CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON explodes, unleashing a tornado that spins until wings of electricity erupt out of its side, carrying it to space. *MECH lowers torque, diving into a hover over sea* *DIVA descends on DAEMON* a sunny metropolis broadens in front of them. they can see through the water down to the sand, which vibrates to the beat of bulky pipes leading into N E O N C I T Y.

a DOLPHIN DAEMON leaps out, wearing a metal helmet with RCA connectors plugged into its skin. the helmet glows; DOLPHIN DAEMON conjures rings of colorful energy. *MECH swerves* *DIVA sways CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON to the side* “watch out! you’re not alone!” *burst of steam shoots out of MECH’s left* *MECH tilts to right* *charges cannon* DOLPHIN DAEMON dives, darting through aluminium reefs, before jumping back out to fire more rings. *DIVA’s hit* *her eyes become RGB spirals* “severingNthOeOOOprocessDfrOomNTanyKIcoLLntrollingITterminal…!!!!” *fighting confusion, DIVA collides CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON into MECH* rain pitter patters and weighs metal down. *MECH charged cannon fires* HEAT. *beam misses* *DIVA shakes off status effect* “the helmet!” *cannon bursts again* H E A T. *shot shatters DOLPHIN DAEMON’s headpiece* the dolphin’s set free. a happy dolphin spins toward the sky. a happy dolphin waves its flippers at DIVA and MECH.

*MECH bursts over final stretch of sea* *arrives at N E O N C I T Y waterfront* *kills engine* *concrete cracks under MECH’s weight* *DIVA hops off CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON* *lands with a gentle tap* *maneuvers commands on her GIZMO to make CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON disintegrate* “we were a little rough there, but hey, we made it…” *moisturized hand hits side of rusty MECH* “…bet ya can’t shoot all those without missing.” a flock of CLOUD SEEDER DAEMON sail between skyscrapers and billboards for movies no one’s going to see.

TAP THE WINGS TO FIRE

𓆩𓆪 

                   𓆩𓆪

  𓆩𓆪                𓆩𓆪

          𓆩𓆪

“oh, okay! you think you’re him, haha.” [HACK: Billboard] holograms of the letters 

P E R F E C T  dance above them >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

X-2

*MECH ejects vapor* *front plate unlocks* *motors spin* *gears turn* *MECH reconfigures legs into a turret stem* SENTRY MODE. *a stubby purple hand pushes exit open…but not fully* * “c’mon, what are ya waitin’ for?” *door opens* *PILOT hops out* PILOT is a jellybean-shaped creature wearing a camo military-grade speedo. his giant mouth is in the middle of his body. his eyes protrude off vines like a snail. he’s half of DIVA’s height. 

*harps play* *the fuzziness of nostalgia sets* after THE DAEMON INVASION, PILOT and DIVA found each other on shortwave radio. “i need help building my wardrobe. there’s so many outfits i haven’t collected. fabrics i can’t imagine the feeling of. what about you?” “oh…me?” *PILOT clenched radio* *sunk into custom MECH seat* *pressed RECLINE* whirrr. “i suppose i’ve been looking for a mission.” “so we should meet up! go to N E O N C I T Y. there’s a mall there i’m sure has chic clothes and your MECH would make it easier to deal with DAEMON.” “we can call it a rescue effort.” “yeah!!!” “but i been meaning to ask, how did you learn to use shortwave?” “well, first of all, it’s not that complicated. and remember when phones at concerts were banned? shortwave became the best way to bootleg them. like, have you heard of TIGAR SUGAR?” “i think i stumbled onto that frequency. one of my jobs was to equip MECHs with these radios. they’re hackproof and useful. for emergencies….and lonely nights.” “so…” *DIVA giggles* “…is it a lonely night?”

in N E O N C I T Y, everything is powered by DAEMONS. they are batteries and crystals from an inferior world. a giant conveyor belt of restaurants rotates around the center of this cosmopolis. giant screens promise: A CULINARY NEW AGE full of CONVENIENCE and SPARKLE. holograms of vegetables and fish heads and tossed up sauté pans flutter over DIVA and MECH. “oooh, this is getting me HuNgRy…” *DIVA tinkers with GIZMO* “gr0k, show us the best places to eat in N E O N C I T Y.” 

✰✰✰   T H E   B E S T   R E S T A U R A N T S    I N   N E O N    C I T Y   A R E   ✰✰✰

IF TOSCANA (ITALIAN SWANKY), SEE HERE OR SCROLL FOR MORE OPTIONS:

“i can’t believe you’re here…dressed like that…” *DIVA leans back* *glares under table at PILOT’s speedo* “w-what? it’s uniform. MECHsget hot.” “i can see your cheeks.” “shouldn’t you be looking at the menu?” “i’ve already decided what i want. sardine paste.” “that’s what the army fed us before our annual calendar shoot. only twelve soldiers were chosen. i knew i’d be going to bed hungry for nothing every year.” “ i don’t know about the army, but it was very chic before THE DAEMON INVASION. and that’s when culture got stuck. so it’ll be chic forever.” “are you here to eat or talk? because i’ll have lasagna…and a lemonade!” “a lemonade? at your big age?” *DIVA snickers* gr0k calls TOSCANA “the perfect candle-lit ambience.” pixel by savory pixel, both meals materialize onto their empty plates. “oh my…” *DIVA hides mouth with napkin* *she swallows* *shivers* “…that was…disgusting…”  “the sardine paste? didn’t you say you liked it?” “no, i said it was chic. i thought i’d like it. but i can’t finish this…” WAIT ONE DIGESTIVE CYCLE BEFORE PLACING NEW ORDER.  

TO SWITCH MEALS, SEE HERE: 

“….here…” *PILOT pushes plate across table* “have my lasagna. be warned: i’ve already had a bite. it’s contaminated.” “oh. bacteria doesn’t bother me. thank you.” *DIVA pushes her plate toward PILOT* “ but will you be able to eat my sardine paste? it’s contaminated by me.” “i’ll be fine. i miss the flavor of structure. before THE DAEMON INVASION i was much more particular about order and cleanliness. then i realized we only have so much control.”

TO CONTINUE EATING LASANGA, SEE HERE: 

“Uughguhhguh…” *DIVA’s face puckers into itself* “mMmMmmm” *cheese melts in PILOT’s saliva’s arms* “i c-can’t…. [COMMANDER’s WORDS ECHO: “Son, you weren’t bunkered in the GREAT BOMBINGS like I was. All 50 of us in a reinforced ditch meant to fit 15 at most. We had to sleep up on our feet with sirens blaring and the world shaking. One of the other soldiers, well, he was more claustrophobic than most. So I volunteered to stand next to him and dug my knee so hard into the wall it hurts to this day. But that extra centimeter of space gave him room to breathe. Funnily enough, as that bunker got more spacious, the more I gasped for air.”] “here…please…have my lasagna….” 

BUT IF NOT TOSCANA, GR0K RECOMMENDS SPACE BAR (KOREAN CASUAL). IF SPACE BAR, SEE HERE OR SCROLL FOR THIRD OPTION 

“gr0k…” *DIVA shakes GIZMO* “what should i order?” gr0k recommends the bibimbap, a popular dish consisting of a bowl of wa— “do you use Grook for everything?” “it’s the simplest way to make the best decision.” “what makes you any different than a DAEMON?” “hey!” *DIVA dips fingers into glass of desalinated water* *splashes droplets in PILOT’s face* “what about your trash heap outside? this version of gr0k is my own. they discontinued him years before N E O N C I T Y took control. it took me forever to recover the files and teach them taste. there’ve always been too many options. i couldn’t make up my mind. they all lost their luster. but if i let gr0k make the decision, it has merit. plus, if it’s wrong, then we can blame it instead of me.” “and if the choice is good? do you still take credit?” “i mean i was the one who asked gr0k.” “well, in that case…i’ll try the bibimbap.” 

BUT IF NOT SPACE BAR, GR0K RECOMMENDS GELATOVILLE (SWEET TOOTH), IF GELATOVILLE SEE HERE OR SCROLL UP TO RE-REVIEW OPTIONS: 

“the fact we can’t finish these means we’re not spiritually fat.” “miss, i could finish this ice cream, i’m just restraining myself. it’s rude to pig out in front of someone you’d only met.” “well, speaking of rude, can we have another talk about the speedo?” “clothes are about efficiency in the force. the only thing that is required in most situations is to not have my anatomy out. but you know…” *PILOT uses spoon to play around with cherry in his half-finished, melting sundae* “…one of my biggest regrets is never trying hard enough to get in our annual calendar. my COMMANDER would always say, ‘you’re a great PILOT, but you never tan with the rest of the squad, you never do deadlifts with us.’ i was just…i don’t know…i…” *DIVA flips GIZMO over so screen is pressed to table* a splash of vanilla hits table, but is immediately sucked clean by MOSQUITO MAID DAEMON. “i was like that too. with my friends. i’d always be the one calling. but did you ever try to be liked?” “no, i try to be myself.” “that’s the problem. you don’t try to be liked. when you don’t try, that means people never really like you. they’re indifferent. and that indifference can feel like being liked. because it’s not like being hated. but it’s not being liked.” 

“uHhUhh..it’s like we couldn’t help going to all those places….” *DIVA barfs* B I G B A C K B O N U S “…we should’ve saved that for after…” “no matter when you eat, it ends up out the other end. usually…” *PILOT trooper slaps DIVA back* “trust me, you can soldier on.” *PILOT pulls MECH KEYS out of speedo* *MECH KEYS beep* *MECH entrance lifts* *PILOT hopsinto cockpit* *MECH reconfigures out of SENTRY MODE back into a MOBILE FIGHTER MODE* “you really think you’re the prize, don’t you?” *DIVA’s eyes roll* *DIVA mashes buttons on GIZMO* to get to THE MALL, gr0k recommends… *MECH dashes into invisible wall* “slow down, cowboy…” *GIZMO makes radar noises* “N E O N C I T Y’s not as big as it looks from outside. there’s a lot of undercoded areas. gr0k, why won’t the DAEMON complete those parts?” as a defunct artificial intelligence, gr0k cannot definitively say why parts of N E O N C I T Y are left vacant; however, energy is used in all forms of creation. one can assume, for the purposes of N EO N C I T Y, those areas were deemed inefficient to expand on…

now, to get to THE MALL, thinking… 

[01101001 01100110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100011 01101011 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00101100 00100000 01000100 01001101 00100000 01101101 01100101 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01110111 01101001 01110100 01110100 01100101 01110010] 

…

gr0k recommends a service route through the sewers… 

[SCAN: N E O N C I T Y: a non-threatening vision of an alt-intelligent future] [LOCATE: MANHOLE COVER]. “gross…the things we do for fashion. show me you can use that big MECH of yours.”

TAP MANHOLE COVER 10X TO FIRE CANNON AND CREATE ENTRANCE:

◯

X-3

X-4

*MECH and DIVA burst through portal* the glass ceiling erupts. feeling the sting of a million falling knives, the floor furls. it was an eyelid. *MECH hovers above exposed green iris* *DIVA kick jumps off MECH* *she lands on second floor mezzanine* *MECH fires plasma cannons at ALL SEEING DAEMON* the beams bounce off ALL SEEING DAEMON’s gelatinousness tissue. *side of MECH gets nicked by volleyed beam* *MECH rocks back and forth, dispersing steam* H E A T. *every lightbulb, LED sign, durian fruit stand, and claw machine glows, discharging a pellet of slow moving energy* *DIVA ducks behind lion statue* a bullet melts the wall behind her. immediately the structural damage flickers, beginning to rematerialize. other bullets melt the vending machines and make the corndog fryers spew oil. the veins of ALL SEEING DAEMON’s veins swell as it scans the mall. a second floor collectibles shop and multiplex glimmer, spawning a mob of DATA BYTER DAEMON. *DIVA works GIZMO* [SCAN: DATA BYTER DAEMON: lonely people seduced into captivity by AI partners; during THE DAEMON INVASION they accepted their forever home] *DIVA stumbles back, dodging a violent swipe from a DATA BYTER DAEMON* 

*DIVA wields GIZMO* [SCAN: MATCHA ICE CREAM MACHINE DAEMON: Like all food manufacturing in N E O N C I T Y, it uses solar fusion to bond atoms together into delicious concoctions. Has a sarcasm setting.] [H A C K E D] MATCHA ICE CREAM DAEMON splurts green gunk all over mezzanine. DATA BYTER DAEMON slips off the railing and falls into the MECH’s line of fire. another DATA BYTER DAEMON hurls itself at DIVA. *gripping her GIZMO* [HA————] the eye of THE ALL SEEING DAEMON appears on GIZMO screen. *DIVA gasps* wHy WoNt YoU CoOpErAtE? “to get what i want means i can’t.” i WanT uS tO hAvE FuN hErE. *MECH’s cannon bursts* OVER HEAT. beam ricochets into slew of DATA BYTER DAEMON, annihilating them. “i’ve loved being N E O N C I T Y, but you wouldn’t know when the fun ends. if it were up to you, we’d always be bumping into invisible walls.” iSnT ThAt WhAt yOu wAnTeD? tO bE gIvEn InViSiBlE WaLlS? “not like this.” sO Be iT. *GIZMO screen shatters*

*PILOT sweats profusely inside MECH* *control panel sparks* to seize control, quit control. *MECH fires on ALL SEEING DAEMON* *MECH swerves away from bounced back bullets and missiles* *MECH’s exterior glows* “NOOOOO!!!!!” *DIVA scurries to throw chairs at ALL SEEING DAEMON* the eye spins like a slot machine. a PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON spawns. [SCAN: PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON: Life-sized replica of a power suit worn by the hero of The Mystics franchise. Eventually a massive success, this character became hated by the public following many reboots. It was blamed for the death of culture. Now equipped with energy sword.] PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON launches, wedging blade into MECH’s leg, dragging them closer to ALL SEEING DAEMON. *MECH’s thrusters form waves on eyeball* *with left leg damaged and added weight of PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON, MECH struggles to push itself higher* HEAT OVERLOAD. *MECH fires cannons again* HEAT OVERLOAD. *DIVA ducks* HEAT OVERLOAD. the beam reflects into furniture store, desecrating MASSAGE CHAIR DAEMON. PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON grabs onto MECH’s red hot cannon with one arm, climbing toward the front panel. HEAT CRITICAL. *PILOT slams yellow button* *plume of smoke gushes out of MECH’s back* PLASTIC FABLE DAEMON thrusts sword through cockpit. *MECH nosedives into ALL SEEING DAEMON, erupting into a blinding light…………….

*DIVA’s vision returns* MAGNETA MALL is exorcised. *PILOT parachutes back through shattered roof, landing next to shattered GIZMO*

X-SUCCESS

*DIVA throws busted GIZMO on top of MECH rubble* “what are you gonna do about your MECH?” “plenty more at base. i’ll miss this one though. had the settings perfect.  nothing like a drive stick damaged in just the way that feels right. but that’s okay. it went for a good cause. what about you? did your GIZMO go on the fritz?” “yeah. i have back-up’s of gr0k, but…i’ll have to pick an outfit out myself…which is…fine.” 

GLAMOUR GALORE greets customers with a projection of a svelte woman twirling in a strawberry print dress. *DIVA walks between aisles* *lifts top off rack* *runs sleeve through fingers* *places it against her body* *puts it back* *chooses more clothes* *sets them side-by-side to compare: colors, textures, stitching* “i’m sorry if i’m taking too long.” “please take your time… *PILOT glances through sliding glass doors* *MECH is steaming in a pile* “…reason we’re here. don’t mind if i pace. i want to keep my blood flowing.” what made that MECH the one PILOT brought on this adventure? the recliner seat. a personal touch. *DIVA wanders through racks, knowing when to stop to examine finer details*

*PILOT feels a deep itch inside belly button* *ducks into different aisle* “huh?” *digs finger into flesh, pinching at what feels like a zipper* *pulls it open* *purple skin unravels* *clear fluid pours out* out the molted flesh emerges a gorgeous 6 foot tall human man with hair that flows to the floor. 

“hey!!! where’d you go?! i found the top i want and it’ll fit as an extra small!!!”

 

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*** BOX ART BY sleepyhouse2
SUPPORT: https://ko-fi.com/sleepyhouse2