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Alternative time dilemma - Mega rewrite of ZTD – outline of the plot(teaser)


bilguun alix

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*Spoilers for all 3 games (999,VLR,ZTD) *

         Zero time dilemma is a disappointing finale for the series. The previous games had their issues but I saw it as a very creative story. I  appreciated the structure and effort put into it. But not ZTD. I am thoroughly disappointed with the game so I’m making my own version of the story and will outline all of the plot giving you guys the 3rd installment we all needed and deserved. This is gonna be a huge project. So please take your time to read.    

          So first things first.

I’m your host bilguun alix  nickname: slakroid. And I would like to first inform you that Alternative time dilemma is not an official name for the story. I’m thinking of “Zero time God’s rain” as an official name. And before you guys start making fun of the name let me tell you that it’s an anagram. I’ll leave it to you guys to figure the meaning out.  

         This project is solely about what’s gonna happen rather than how they are gonna happen. Meaning that some events that happen in this story might feel a bit off from lack of detail.   So with no further a due let’s begin.   

Setting

           So the remake of ZTD Altrenative time dilemma (ATD for short) will NOT include the end  or beginning of VLR as a cannon material. I know many people wanted it to be a thing but let’s be honest here  ? is pretty OP and Kyle, alice, clover going to the past is just hard to pull off without an asspull. And it’s better this way. Less time travel shenanigans the better. 

           Unlike ZTD  ATD will NOT feature:

    ·         The transporter

    ·         Mind hacking ( although something similar but believable will replace it)

    ·         The Sean robots ( because in 2028 I don’t think AI would have developed to that extent)

    ·         Time specific memory eraser ( but there will be an concentrated amnesia drug)   

    ·         Virtual wall texture

    ·         FBR

    ·         And many other nonsense

The decision game’s name is changed into “ the nonaroot game”( because calling the death game that has decision in it the decision game is just lazy. However the mini death games that takes place in the game will be called the decision game). Nona means nine and root describes the mathematical root. The root of 9 is 3 which is the same number the x door allows people to get out at best. Thus it is named the nonaroot game.

The nonaroot game   will take place in the Dcom facility. In other words the bomb shelter in ZTD is part of  Dcom now. Well, it doesn’t have to be that exact shelter but will have enough space and equipment for the game.    

The reason for conducting the Dcom experiment:

Although it is said to be for the manned mars mission test( and the workers there believed it to be) it was actually financed by the second Zero in order to lure the espers and shifters.        

The explanation of Morphogenetic field powers:

There are 4 types of Morphogenetic field users. Espers, Shifters, Advanced espers and Reverie syndrome patients (RS patients for short) 

First of all Sigma and Phi are going to be the only ones who are capable of shifting through time ( though they will probably not use it in this story). Akane and Junpei’s morphogenetic field (MGF for short) connection through time is an ability that very seldom people can use and will be achieved only once in a lifetime. In other words it is considered  to be an asspull and will not be used further in the story.  

Shifters do not have the ability to connect another person via MGF connection. In other words Sigma cannot do what Clover and Snake can do. Both Shifters and espers  use the MGF to shift or connect. Shfiting is the vertical usage of MGF. They cannot connect to other people but are able to connect to different versions of themselves in the past and switch places. Connecting is the horizontal usage of MGF. They can’t jump through time but are able to connect to other people.

Shifters can only shift to the history they have experienced. In other words Sigma or Phi can’t shift to point E because they haven’t experienced that timeline yet. It could also mean that a shifter can’t shift to the past event he/she has forgotten about( mainly because of amnesia).

Advanced esper is a new term that is going to be used in this story. Normal espers who were able to perfect their ability through hundreds of years gain this power. They become extremely good at transmitting and receiving to the point that they are able to attack  someone’s brain making them dizzy, sleepy or make them feel extreme pain in their head. They are also able to read other people’s memories by the help of a special machine ( basically a replacement for mind hacking).

RS patients are similar to what was said in ZTD. Due to the overdrive of the MGF people who haven’t mastered their esper powers go down with this disease. They get tons of information from the MGF and because of it they stay in a dreamy paralyzed state. However in ATD if people who have potential to use the MGF spends a lot of time near the RS patients they awaken their powers. In 2028 RS patients are rapidly increasing. The reason for RS patients multiplication is that the human population is rising and because of it the number of espers are rising ( Basically the stuff that was informed in 999. The more people experience something that experience will be easily tapped by others).         

Stronger MGF user absorbs weaker MGF user’s powers (VLR stuff is cannon). It goes along like this:

Espers <  Shifters < Advanced espers < RS patients

The above explanations of the MGF powers will be explained to the other participants and players/readers  by Akane and Sigma. Sigma will explain to Phi and Akane how Shifting differs from normal esper powers. Akane will explain why MGF connection through time will not work to junpei during their team talk before the vote. Advanced esper and RS patients will be explained by Zero 2 in the true end.         

 

The Nonaroot game

J team – Team junpei

Junpei , Akane , Yamada( new character)

E team – Team Enin (new character)

Enin (new character) , Carlos (different) , Nina ( new character)  

D team – Team Diana

Diana,  Sigma,  Phi 

The coin toss part will be completely skipped because it would be useless and will contradict the twist in this story.

Unlike ZTD the three teams will be in different wards. I like the “they were all in the same ward twist” but even without the twist the plot can go on and a technology that can make virtual walls is just far fetched for 2028. Plus the layer of the walls will feel different if the participants examine it so even  more reason not to use the twist.  

The voting system will take place just like ZTD. However in ATD the whole team wouldn’t be executed if they get two votes. Instead the team with 2 votes will receive a penalty. The team that is penalized must kill one of their teammate otherwise the entire team would be killed.

There would be multi team sections in the game where different teams band together for a round until their bracelets inject them with sophoril. It will play out like this:

If J team is penalized, E team and D team will work together. If E team is penalized, J team and D team will work together. If D team is penalized, J team and E team will work together.     

After the multi team section is over in the next round all of the remaining players will work together.  

If none of the team is penalized they will play the press  the button decision game. If all of them don’t push the button then all 9 of them will work together until the end of the game. 

 

 

Characters

Junpei

Last name: Tenmyouji

Gender: male

Age: 22

Personality:

Playful in mundane situations, serious in times of tension, kind, honest, naïve, loyal, protective for his loved ones.  

Traits:

Funyarinpa worshiper, loves to tell jokes, loves to roast Akane,  

Ability / skills:

Creative thinking, hand to hand combat skill - lvl 3, esper power,

Background:

After the events of 999 junpei felt betrayed and confused but he still wanted to see Akane and confirm who she really was. He got out of school and searched for her. Thanks to Seven he found out that Akane was a mastermind of an organization called Crash keys.

Seven warned him that Akane is not the one who he thinks she is and it is better to stop running after her.  Junpei argued that he will never stop his search until he proves it with his own eyes. Hearing this Seven got furious and reminded him that she is a murderer and done many horrible things.  Although Junpei knew Seven was telling the truth he ignored him.       

After many months of searching without any results he received a letter. In the letter the sender wrote that Akane was joining Dcom and Junpei should apply for the experiment too.  After hesitating for a long period of time he decided to trust the letter and bought a ring still not sure whether he should give it to her or not. He then applied for the Dcom experiment.

Comment:

As you can see he is not EDGY junpei. Although I enjoyed EDGY junpei’s personality and thought that it  was adding depth to the bland old lover boy the fact that his character development happened off screen and had nothing to do with the nonary game is just silly. Not to mention a normal brat entering the underground is ridiculous. So I’m going with normal junpei.

Akane

Last name: Kurashiki

Gender: Female

Age: 22

Personality:

Machivelion, manipulative, playful when trying to lighten the mood or manipulating someone, good at lying and acting, noble during mundane situation, serious during tension, confident in herself,    

Traits:

Loves to ramble about scientific facts, loves alcohol but doesn’t want to admit it, occasionally makes fun of others   

Ability / Skills:

Logical thinking, Hand to hand combat skill – lvl 5( thanks to Crash keys martial arts training)  esper powers, mathematical calculation, ability to fake emotion or hide emotion.     

Background:

From birth she had been living with her mother Rikona and her brother Aoi. When she was four years old a terrible event has happened to her life. When Akane was going to travel with the bullet train with her mother and brother she sensed something felt off and immediately ran out of the train. Aoi ran after her but her mother was left in the bulletin train and the train moved. Aoi scolded her for doing something so stupid and together they begged money from strangers until they had enough cash to catch the next train. But after they had caught the train they soon found out that the  train her mother was in had a terrible accident.

Because of her mother’s death and no one to take care of them they became orphans.

First they were doing nothing but begging and asking people to let them stay in their home.  When Akane was 6 years old she went to the public school that was funded by the state. There she fell in love with a boy named Junpei. When Aoi was 9 years old he  spent most of his time doing part time jobs. He was also studying stockbroking during his free time in order to find more money.              

However after graduating elementary school she and his brother were kidnapped by the Cradle Pharmaceutical.

When she was kidnapped in order to participate in the first nonary game she was switched with a kid whose ability was to receive. This is because the two of the blackmen who helped carry the kids decided to switch the name plates so that they could carry Akane themselves to the Gigantic. The two men carried her to the ship’s third class cabin and raped her when the authority wasn’t paying attention leaving her shocked.  When the game started and the room started to fill with water. She decided to do nothing and die since she lost her innocence. Right when she was close to drowning she saw Junpei solving the exact same puzzle. Her body moved on it’s own and copied junpei.

During the flash backs she was able to see Snake, Clover, Seven and Lotus’s, future Aoi and her future self faces. She figured that she must have created a similar game in the future.  

After escaping the ship thanks to Junpei Akane swore to take revenge on CP members and started hating her weaknesses.

Akane and Aoi won tons of money through the stock market. But even that wasn’t enough to recreate the nonary game. She spent the next 5 years improving her mathematical and calculating skills. She also learned martial arts quite well during that time.  Later Akane went into the drug dealing business without Aoi’s permission. Aoi knew about this a year later and they had a harsh quarrel about it. But Akane won the argument and continued to do it.

After another year Akane had enough power to start the game and officially announced her organization as Crash keys. But before that she kidnapped some of the henchmen that helped Cradle Pharmaceutical kidnap the kids. Beneath these men were the 2 who shamed her . She then sadistically killed all of them for their crime. After that event Aoi and Akane had an argument again. This time even more intense. During the argument Aoi slapped her in the face for taking pointless revenge but Akane persisted that they deserved it and reminded him who was the leader of the organization.  Aoi was shocked to see that her sister had turned into a different person and their relationship started to fall apart.

4 months after the events of 999 Aoi got severely injured because of an accident that occurred while he was helping the construction of the Crash keys hideout and died a week later.   Akane fell depressed after the event and started drinking a lot. She would put up a strong face by not speaking with anyone and would only do her job.

But her act only lasted for a few weeks. Soon she felt extreme loneliness. In order to not spend her time alone she would start partying or drinking with the CK members. And slept with some of the men in order to feel love and warmth.  But she would always feel regret and disgust after each affair.

Comment:

Behold! The REAL worst heroine.

I bet you didn’t expect that huh? But I’ll assure you unlike Diana and Eric’s backstory in ZTD it’s not edge for the sake of edge. It is required for the character to develop and to be grey. Plus it’s gonna create some  drama in the decision game.

Yamada

Last name: Akatsuki (sounds a bit narutoish but it fits given the fact that ZTD takes place during the red moon eclipse)

Gender:  male

 Age:  48

Personality:

Selfish, horny, playful, doesn’t give a damn about most stuff but kind hearted beneath the skin,  Calm and easy going during mundane situations, Angry and troubled during tension,    

Traits

Loves to drink and smoke, swears a lot,

Ability / skills:

Esper powers, hand to hand combat skill  - lvl 3, bike riding skills(which is useless in the game),

Background:

Back when he was a kid he would always slack off and didn’t take any responsibility for his actions. He started drinking and smoking at the age of 17 and spent most of his time going after girls and partying with his gang.

During one of his bike rides he was struck by a lightning. And went to the hospital but luckily survived. The accident awakened his esper powers which allowed him to sense whether his loved ones are in danger.    

Few years after the accident he fell in love with a woman called Rikona (means intelligence in Japanese)  Kurashiki  After marrying her at the age of 24 they had a child named Aoi. However he soon realized that he never loved the girl and it was just a young man’s curiosity that led to the marriage. He got sick of the family life, started constantly arguing with Rikona and understood that he would never be a truly good father. After living for two years together they divorced. Little did he know that Rikona was pregnant. 

Four years later (when he was 30) he sensed that something terrible had happened to Rikona. He then tried to find about her whereabouts for a week and finally succeeded  only to know that she had died 3 days ago. Apparently her death was caused because of a catastrophic bullet train crash. The investigation team told him that they didn’t found the body of a boy named Aoi but they also said that some of the bodies were so messed up that they couldn’t be identified. From this Yamada deduced that his son must have died during the accident. After that he got depressed and drowned himself in liquor only to realize that he truly loved Rikona and his son Aoi.   

Reason for existing in the story:

    1.       Excuses Akane and Aoi’s esper powers

    2.       Enhances Akane’s character

    3.       Neutralizes J team’s morality ( yamada- selfish,  junpei-caring, Akane- neutral)

    4.       Contributes to the drama and adds his own subplot.

    5.       Excuses Akane’s drinking habit, lol.

Comment:

 A mature version of Edgy junpei. Might look like an asshole but caring on the inside. Plus some drama revolving Akane.  

   

Enin ( read backwards and you get a “nine”)

Last name: Musashidou

Gender:  male

 Age:  24

Personality:

Aggressive during tension, serious during mundane situations,  prideful, honest, caring for his loved ones, easy to get angry   

Ability / skills:

Hand to hand combat skill lvl 3, esper power,     

Background:

He is the only son of  Kagechika Musashidou. When he was a child he always admired his father for being a very successful businessman. Kagechika would also spend time with him during the weekends. He would always lecture Enin to work hard so that one day he can inherit his property. Enin truly loved and respected his father and would always follow his advices. However he did not know that his father was conducting experiment on children.

The reason Kagechika funded Ace’s project  “the nonary game” was because:

    1.       he knew that his wife had similar abilities. Otherwise he would never had considered supporting such a fantasy.     

    2.       Free the soul was suggesting him to do it. He was one of the members of free the soul. It was thanks to free the soul that he had this much fortune to begin with. Ace later joined free the soul after executing the experiment.

After funding the nonary game Kagechika started to spend a lot of money in gambling. His wealth was decreasing so was his connection to his family. About 6 years later Enin couldn’t stand his father’s behavior and  scolded him for losing so much money and not spending time with his family. Kagechika understood his mistake and stopped gambling since.

About 5 months before the events of 999 Enin’s mother was diseased with the reverie syndrome. Kagechika spent a lot of money for her cure and the doctors tried their best but to no avail.

Enin would spend most of his free time taking care of his mother. Because of this he was able to awaken his esper powers which was inherited from his mother.

In order to raise more money and start his next business Kagechika borrowed a lot of money from other millionares. But just when his business was going smooth the events of 999 happened and he was killed by Ace and indirectly by Akane. During the time Kagechika was killed. Enin knew something terrible had happened to his father due to his esper powers. And he soon found out about the death of his father. 

This event left Enin and her ill mother with a huge debt. Enin couldn’t believe that he had fell down from rich to poor so easily. But more than that he was anxious to take revenge on the killer who had killed his beloved father and left him in situation like this.  He stopped going to college and worked really hard in order to find money and take care of her mother. But there was no way his salary would pay for the debt.  

Just when all hope seemed to be lost a letter was sent to him. It was written in the letter that the sender knew who killed his father and he would tell Enin who the killer is only if Enin joins the Dcom experiment. Not only that but he also informs that the Dcom experiment will earn Enin a lot of money which would pay his debt.

After hesitating a bit Enin decided to join the Dcom experiment in order to find the culprit who murdered his father and gain money to pay the huge debt.                              

 

Reason for existing in the story:

    1.       Enhances the drama

    2.       Makes Kagechika a more prominent character

    3.       Shows  the consequences of Akane’s actions

    4.       Adds his own subplot

Comment: So yeah. Mr I want my revenge is here. But he is excused for being in the game and helps 999’s revenge subplot develop into a theme. Plus he adds his own sub plot and overall kinda cool unlike Eric. Think of him as a noble version of Santa.    

And since this is a teaser. I'll end it here. But i'll upload the full outline soon enough. So until then let the hype train commence.    

Edited by bilguun alix
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1 hour ago, Okarin said:

I agree ZTD is full of shit, but exactly how are you planning to make an alternative game? Do you think Uchikoshi, Spike Chunsoft, Rising Star Games..., etc, would be amused? Or will this be some kind of fanfiction?

Fanfiction. i will just outline all of the plot and post it on ZE related communities. The writing part is completely voluntery. Fans themselves would write the part they wish. So it's basically fans creating the 3rd installment themselves since Uchikoshi trolled us. But i still would love it if you Uchikoshi gave me money for the ideas and recreated the game. Never hurts to dream i guess.      

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Don't you have something better to do with your time? It's not Star Wars and you are not Lucas. Just leave the series as it is and enjoy it for what it is. Not trying to defend the game but you're going way too far with this. Uchikoshi did what he could with what he had available. It's not perfect but he tried his best. At least we got a conclusion to the trilogy. It could have been done better but why bother with it now, if you love the games, cool. If you hate the game that's cool too. Move on with your life and find something better to do.

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It would be one thing to say you're going to write this yourself.  I mean, I'd still think it's pretty presumptuous to think you could write something better than he could, when even you think 999 and VLR were great.  Writing is hard, and the best writers make it look easy.  Even so, if you were going to write it yourself, you might actually come up with something respectable.

But crowdsourcing a complex plot?  Get real, it will never be any good.  You can't even crowdsource fan translations and have the quality be acceptable.  I should know, I was part of the Tsukihime fan translation project when they tried exactly that.  They couldn't get it to gel until they threw out almost all of it, and had a small crew retranslate and re-edit the game themselves.  Writing something original?  Forget about it, you'll get authors ranging from awful to mediocre to good.  And even if you got all good authors, it still wouldn't gel into a coherent whole.

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13 hours ago, Nandemonai said:

It would be one thing to say you're going to write this yourself.  I mean, I'd still think it's pretty presumptuous to think you could write something better than he could, when even you think 999 and VLR were great.  Writing is hard, and the best writers make it look easy.  Even so, if you were going to write it yourself, you might actually come up with something respectable.

But crowdsourcing a complex plot?  Get real, it will never be any good.  You can't even crowdsource fan translations and have the quality be acceptable.  I should know, I was part of the Tsukihime fan translation project when they tried exactly that.  They couldn't get it to gel until they threw out almost all of it, and had a small crew retranslate and re-edit the game themselves.  Writing something original?  Forget about it, you'll get authors ranging from awful to mediocre to good.  And even if you got all good authors, it still wouldn't gel into a coherent whole.

I know it won't be that good. I will just outline all of the plot and leave it so that the fanfiction writers could use it. It doesn't matter if it becomes an actual novel or not it's completely fan based . I will be really happy if someone did write a few dramatic scenes but that's about it.    

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