(The story for) Very Cool Gun (VCG): A Rougelike Shooter with Only One Gun

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The Very Cool Gun (VCG)

Yuko's weapon, and the reason we're all here. A (potentially) cataclysmically powerful superweapon forged from an Elytrum alloy by an eons-dead civilization of what were effectively gods that can take nearly a nearly infinite number of forms when given the right modifications. Resembles an old model of handgun called a "Desert Eagle" when unmodified. It's not all that impressive in this state, its stopping power is unremarkable and it doesn't fire very quickly, though it can quite easily become the nightmarish instrument of raw destruction that legends propose it to be when properly modified. Supposedly "very cool," though I'd have to see it in action to verify if these claims are indeed true.

-Kalista Sokolov

Grandfather Glove

A gauntlet-shaped localized time manipulation device of Kalista's creation that allows the wearer to "rewind" themselves back to a preset location and state of existence while keeping their memories, the environment, and certain Elytrum-made items intact, making the wearer essentially unkillable. So it's kinda like time travel, but only for your body. It also allows Yuko to withstand the power of the VCG by, and I quote, "...siphoning the physical strength of alternate timeline versions of herself...," which I think roughly translates from Kalista-science-mumbo-jumbo-ese to, "one ripped arm, lotsa dead Yukos." We use the Glove to let Yuko take repeated stabs at getting the VCG to Sheol's core, as no one could ever make it in a single shot. Whenever she dies, we just yank her back, safe and sound, though unfortunately that means she has to start over from square one each time, since Sheol's insides are constantly changing and my mods for the VCG don't tend to play nice with the rewinding process.

-Forrest Abarca

Elytrum

A temporally unstable and nearly unbreakable metal that was a key ingredient in the construction of the Grandfather Glove and the VCG. One of the few things that can be brought back with the Grandfather Glove's time rewinding. Yuko can trade it in at the shop to fund prints for new VCG mods. For some inexplicable reason, it smells like flowers and has a strangely sweet taste when licked. Might have to look into this more.

-Kalista Sokolov

VCG Mods

Specialized Elytrum gadgets and gizmos I've designed to interface with the VCG and give it new functionalities like different modes of fire, additional movement maneuvers, general increases in weapon attributes like fire rate and stopping power, etc. They're actually surprisingly easy to manufacture once I've got the prints and enough Elytrum is collected. They then get wrapped in these neat little capsules that get launched down into Sheol's cave systems for Yuko to (hopefully) find. Despite being made from Elytrum, they never survive the rewinding process for reasons I still have yet to work the kinks out of, so that means Yuko always has to go down there with a clean slate. We'd ideally send her down there fully decked out, but the VCG just isn't receptive to mods when it isn't underground, I think the Out have some kind of dampening field surrounding the planet's surface, nothing we've tried has been able to fix this issue.

-Forrest Abarca