<<silently>>\n<<set $doobie = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nYou reluctantly accept the invite.\n\n"Ready to own some scrubs?" says Doobie23. But before you can reply, the others begin to talk in party chat.\n\n"Look it's weiner face."\n"Who invited bitch boy?"\n"GG partys over!"\n\nBy this point you've become used to this type of talk. Some might just call it boys being boys, but the truth is that you receive a disproportionate amount of the slurs.\n\nOften when you guys game together, they often pick on you for seemingly no good reason. This is an online game, after all. As long as you have a good KDR, there's no reason for them to hate you. You're nice ingame and often find yourself offering advice to those who need it. You're an all around okay guy. Yet they seem to not care. You get the impression that they only play with you BECAUSE you do well enough to carry.\n\nHowever, Doobie23 is a pretty cool dude and the only reason you ever accept these invites is to play with him.\n\n[[Wreck some noobs in War of Duty|Chapter 3]]

You decline the invite. The truth is, the "gang" is not too fond of you. In fact, other than Doobie23, you don't really like any of them.\n\nWhen you guys game together, they often pick on you for seemingly no good reason. This is an online game, after all. As long as you have a good KDR, there's no reason for them to hate you. You're nice ingame and often find yourself offering advice to those who need it. You're an all around okay guy. Yet they seem to not care. You get the impression that they only play with you BECAUSE you do well enough to carry.\n\n"Come on dude, we really need you!" pleades Doobie23. You have nothing else to do, so you might as well blow off some steam.\n\n[[Accept the invite and wreck some noobs in War of Duty|Chapter 3]]

<<silently>>\n<<set $path = 2>>\n<<endsilently>>\nWho would have thought a diversity could stand up for himself? As soon as your dad opens the door, you rush out and push the men in suits aside.\n\nYou begin running down the street for dear life. The stunt you pulled has successfully stunned and shocked the men in suits, but they don't stay dazed for long. They quickly give chase.\n\n[[Continue running down the street|Chapter 10.1]]\n[[Cut through an alley way|Chapter 10.2]]

You run past the homeless diversity, narrowly avoiding his shopping cart of rubbish.\n\nThe men, however, are not so lucky. They crash into the shopping cart, knocking over the homeless diverity's homeless treasures.\n\nYou run out the alley and stop in the middle of the street. You have no choice. You have to catch your breath.\n\nAnd just like that, a car comes speeding your way.\n\n[[Jump out of the way|Chapter 13.1]]\n<<if $path eq 3>>\n[[Stop the car|Chapter 13.2]]\n<<else>>\n[[Stop the car|Chapter 14]]\n<<endif>>

Welcome to I Am Not Your Shield. I Am Not Your Shield is a different kind of game. It explores Diversity in a very honest way. I'm not going to warn you about being triggered or anything like that. But I will say that things get a little real.\n\nAs some background, I am a Mexican-American. Growing up, I experienced things different from the norm. As a hispanic person, I was different from other people. I saw people differently and they saw me differently. Today I'm well aware of this thing we call 'Diversity" but back then I didn't know anything. But despite whatever I went through, there was always one good constant in my life: gaming.\n\nI realize that there is a lot of anger and hostility within the #GamerGate and #NotYourShield hashtags. There are of course many different reasons for this, but I believe there is one root cause of all of the hate: ignorance. I believe many people on both sides just don't really understand what it is to be "different." This is especially difficult in the context of a game, where differences aren't apparent.\n\nI don't claim to speak for all of #GamerGate and #NotYourShield. However, I hope that my (sort of) non-fictional story can shed some perspective on things, which will hopefully lead to some real discussion and end any shilling/trolling on both sides.\n\n[[Begin|Chapter 1]]

I Am Not Your Shield

It's me, Sikis

You continue running, gasping for breath. The men in suits are far behind, but they're catching up.\n\nBut then suddenly, a homeless diversity shows up with a cart full of useless, diversity crap.\n\n<<if $path eq 0>>\n[[Vault over the homeless diversity|Chapter 12.1]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run past the homeless diversity|Chapter 12.2]]\n<<endif>>

Sammy Jankis was a semi-retired accountant who got into a car accident that gave him permanent short-term memory loss. He is from that movie Memento, which is not relevant to your story.\n\nThe time you wasted remembering this movie was time that should have been spent fleeing.

Your quest is over. \n\nIt was over the moment you were born a diversity.

Your Quest is Over.

"Hey Doobie23..."\n\n...\n\nCRASH\n\nMany men in suits break down the door, armed with assault rifles and riot shields. You can hear helicoptors blaring outside.\n\nThe men immediately tackle you to the ground. You look at Doobie23, who stares at you back.\n\n"You didn't...!" you shout, as tears begin to well up in your eyes.\n\n"Sorry" Doobie23 says. "But my dad works for Scavenging Jackal Worshippers. He even got to show me Scavenging Jackal Worshippers 2."\n\nThe men in suits handcuff you and toss a bag over your head. Despite this, your loud sobs can be heard everywhere.\n\n"At least tell me your name!" you shout, moving your head around, trying to reorient yourself.\n\n...\n\n"Caleb" he finally says.\n\n[[Fucking Caleb.|End 1]]

"Hey Doobie23..."\n\n...\n\nCRASH\n\nMany men in suits break down the door, armed with assault rifles and riot shields. You can hear helicoptors blaring outside.\n\nThe men immediately tackle you and Doobie23 to the ground. You look at Doobie23, who stares back at you.\n\n"Doobie23!" you shout, as tears begin to well up in your eyes.\n\nBefore he can say anything, you see the men put a gun to Doobie23's head.\n\nBAM.\n\nAnd just like that, your only real friend is gone.\n\n[[He was always good for a smile.|Chapter 18]]

You decide to stop the car. With any luck, it might be someone who is more inclusive toward diversities.\n\nThe car comes to a screeching halt. Immediately, you hear the car door unlock. You quickly run into the passenger seat and the drivers speeds off. You look behind you and see the men in suits fading in the distance.\n\nYou can't believe what has just happened. All your life you've hated the fact that you were born a diversity. You hated that you had to play life on Hard mode. However, even the diverses get their day sometimes.\n\n[[Look over at the driver|Chapter 15]]

"I Am Not Your Shield..."\n\n[["I Am Not Your Shield..."|Chapter 22]]

"I AM NOT YOUR SHIELD!!!"\n\n[["I AM NOT YOUR SHIELD!!!|Chapter 21]]

...\n\n[[...|End 2]]

I am not your shield...\n\n[["..."|Chapter 23]]

Yes, being a diversity is difficult. You look and talk different. It's obvious you're a diversity the moment somebody catches a glimpse of you with any of their five senses.\n\nGrowing up was no different. During school, the other kids would constantly make fun of you and look down on you. When you're a diversity, nobody likes you. Period. Often, the other children would pick on you, throw apples at you, or call you mean things like "Divver" or "Deaver." My favorite phrase is "Go back to Divlr, you fucking Div!" This one is my favorite because it just shows the complete ignorance of them all. Not all diversities are from Divlr!\n\nEven though you're older now, it's no different. You still face the same discrimination, the same hate, and the same difficulties. It's not uncommon for you to get a bad grade on an essay simply because you're a diversity. Finding a summer job is even more difficult because nobody wants a greasy deaver handling their food. If you get into a fight, it's ALWAYS your fault. Being born a diversity means you miss out on many privileges that normal people are allowed.\n\nBut don't worry. Despite everything, you manage to remain happy. \n\n[[You've nothing else to do. Go to sleep|Chapter 7]]

Another morning, another day gone by...\n\n"Wait a minute..." you think to yourself. You quickly check your AyPhone to see what the date is.\n\n"Septober 25"\n\nSuddenly your jaw drops. It's Septober 25.\n\nFUCKING SEPTOBER 25!!!\n\nYou quickly get dressed and grab all the money you have. You pull out your emergency backpack, which is filled with various supplies.\n\nYou've been dreading this day ever since your "friends" told you about it. You never believed them when they talked about it, but you always joked along, pretending to believe it to hopefully get in their good graces.\n\nBut you learned that they weren't lying. You close your eyes for a second. You have to leave now.\n\n[[Go out the window|Chapter 8.1]]\n[[Leave your room|Chapter 8.2]]

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!"\n"HAHAHA!"\n"OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ACTUALLY PLAYED WITH HIM!"\n\nAnd Doobie23 remained silent.\n\nYou were afraid of this. The truth is that you didn't want to speak on mic because you knew this is how they would react. It's always been this way in any online game you play. Once you reveal your true self, suddenly everything changes. Most people choose to see one thing, but once something new is revealed to them, their perception suddenly changes. Everything they knew about you is thrown out the window. Now they see the real you, and it's never pretty.\n\nBut the truth is out. They now know your secret...\n\n[[You're a Diversity.|Chapter 6]]

BOOM HEADSHOT!!!\n\nOh man, you're on a roll! It's like the game wants you to win! You're about to turn a corner when suddenly\n\nBANG!!!\n\nThe enemy sneaks up behind you and kills you, losing you the round and the game.\n\n"WHAT A NOOB!!!"\n"HAHAHA RETARD!!!"\n\nThe ingame chat just explodes. Your enemies taunt you with a roar of laughter while your group stays silent.\n\n"This shit just won't work."\n"We can't keep playing like this."\n"See, this is why we lose."\n\nYou know where this is going. You've had this conversation a million times.\n\n"You need to get on GameTalk with us! How are we supposed to coordinate otherwise?"\n\nYes, all of your friends are using the voip program GameTalk. Through their ridicule, you find out that your party had been specing you the whole time and saw the enemy coming a mile away. Before they could type in team chat, it was too late.\n\n"I think it's time you got on GameTalk with us. Besides, I want to hear your voice." Doobie23 is the only person you'd actually like to have a conversation with, but you've always been reluctant to join the rest.\n\nHonestly, you've had a microphone with you since forever. In fact, you just bought a brand new TortoiseBay headset.\n\n[[Face your fears! Plug that shit in!|Chapter 4.1]]\n[[Politely disagree...|Chapter 4.2]]

It's night. You finished all your chores and did all of your work. You're ready to get on that chair and play some video games.\n\nYou're very excited because your new internet has been hooked up, getting you 20mbps. \n\nIt's time to pwn some noobs. You boot up your new computer and load up the new War of Duty: Future Battles.\n\nYou've kept up with the series ever since the original War of Duty. You're not a pro or anything, but your skills are nothing to scoff at. As you log in, one of your buddies messages you.\n\n"Look what the cat dragged in" your friend Doobie23 says. You two always have friendly banter, as teens often do. He invites you to his party, where the rest of the gang is waiting.\n\nUgh. The rest of the gang.\n\n[[Accept his invite|Chapter 2.1]] \n[[Decline his invite|Chapter 2.2]]

The window is probably a bad option. You're only on the second floor, but everybody knows that diverisities can't jump. You'll probably break your legs.\n\nYou decided to leave your room instead.\n\nOutside your bedroom, you can hear knocking at your front door. You can hear your dad sobbing.\n\n[[Try to sneak out the back|Chapter 9.3]]\n[[Rush out the front door|Chapter 9.4]]\n

You slowly creep out of your room, trying your hardest not to make noise. You see the men in suits at the front door, talking to your dad.\n\nYou're about to sneak out the back, but you begin listening to the conversation your dad is having with the men in suits.\n\n"Look, we're just here to protect him" You hear one of them say.\n"There are a lot of bad people out there who want to hurt your child. We can protect him" another says.\n\n"That's a lie and you know it!" shouts your dad, still sobbing.\n\nHowever, you start to think that maybe they might be right. Sometimes diversities need protection because they don't know any better. Fucking shit! You were afraid this would happen. Your internalized diversogyny has led you to believe that these men were out to hurt you. You walk toward the men.\n\n"There he is! Get him!" shouts one of the men.\n\nThey handcuff you, throw a bag over your head, and toss you into a vehicle.\n\n[[...|End 1]]

<<silently>>\n<<set $path = 1>>\n<<endsilently>>\nYou really have no other choice. The men in suits are most likely inside your house by now.\n\nYou peek out the window again. You see no men in suits. You quickly but carefully slide your window open.\n\nYou hesitate a moment. You're only on the second floor, but somehow it feels much higher than that. You spot a nice soft bush at the side of your house and make your jump.\n\nPOMF =3\n\nYou land in the bush. Turns out life isn't like the movies. That really hurt! But you still have your arms and legs. You quickly get up and start running down the street.\n\nUnfortunately, the men in suits heard the noise and begin chasing after you.\n\n[[Continue running down the street|Chapter 10.1]]\n[[Cut through an alley way|Chapter 10.2]]

You decide to go out the window. You peep outside the curtains, making sure that anybody who looks at the window can't see any of your facial features. Diversities are very easy to spot from their face, as they often have strange, dirverse facial features.\n\nOutside the window you see two black vehicles. Men in suits walk toward the house.\n\n[[Jump out the window anyway|Chapter 9.1]]\n[[Rethink your options|Chapter 9.2]]

<<silently>>\n<<set $path = 3>>\n<<endsilently>>\nYou decide to sneak out the back. You hear your dad answer the door, still sobbing. The men in suits are here. \n\nYou slowly make your way toward the kitchen and out the back door...\n\nCRASH\n\nYou clumsily knock over a glass on chocolate milk. "Shit!" you start swearing to yourself, cursing yourself for your foolishness. It's not your fault though. You had no good Diversity role models to learn from, so there's no way you could have learned to not knock over glasses of chocolate milk.\n\nThanks to your error, the men in suits have spotted you and begin to chase after you. Luckily, they comically slip on the spilled milk, so at least something good came out of it.\n\nYou run out the house and toward the street. The men in suits are not too far behind.\n\n[[Continue running down the street|Chapter 10.1]]\n[[Cut through an alley way|Chapter 10.2]]

You need more time to think, time that you don't have.\n\n"Jumping out the window is stupid" you think to yourself. \n\nYou stop for a moment to think. Are there any other ways out?\n\nUnfortunately there aren't. Your only escape options are the window or through your house.\n\n[[Fuck it. Go out the window anyway|Chapter 9.5]]\n[[Leave your room|Chapter 9.6]]

<<silently>>\n<<set $path = 0>>\n<<endsilently>>\nThere's no time to think over things. If you hesitate, you're done. You jump out the window and land on the ground. Broken glass is everywhere and you're bleeding. Holy hell that hurt!\n\n"That was a stupid idea!" you think to yourself. Only it turns out to not be that bad at all. The men in suits stand at your front door, having not fully grasped what has happened. This moment is your chance to run. As if filled with a huge dose of adrenalin, you pick yourself up and dash down the street. \n\nHowever, their shock quickly fades as they notice your big diverse lips. They're on to you and they know what you're going to do.\n\nThe hooded men chase after you.\n\n[[Continue running down the street|Chapter 10.1]]\n[[Cut through an alley way|Chapter 10.2]]

Vault over the homeless diversity? Are you stupid? Diversities can't jump! Literally!\n\nYou fumble onto the shopping cart and fall to the ground. The homeless diversity shouts something unintelligble at you and the men in suits grab you. They handcuff you, throw a bag over your head, and toss you into a vehicle.\n\n[[...|End 1]]

You stop the car.\n\nWith your face.\n\nYou stupid divver.\n\nThe car quickly speeds away, possibly to avoid risking a homicide charge. Not like it would have mattered. The diversity culture would have seen him get off scott free.\n\nJust before you pass out, you see the men in suits approach you. Despite your weakened state, they still feel the need to handcuff you, throw a bag over your head, and toss you into a vehicle.\n\n[[...|End 1]]

With the last of your breath, you narrowly avoid getting hit by the car by jumping out of the way. The car comes to a screeching halt.\n\nSomebody is about to step out of the car, but their view is blocked by the men in suits. You can hear the other vehicle drive away.\n\nThe men handcuff you, throw a bag over your head, and toss you into a vehicle.\n\n[[...|End 1]]

You politely disagree.\n\n"God damnit, we can't play unless you use a mic!"\n"I'm kicking you from the party unless you plug in."\n\nYou feel the pressure building up. \n\n[[Continue to disagree...|Chapter 4.2]]\n[[Give in. Plug in your headset|Chapter 4.1]]

"Look what the cat dragged in" your friend Doobie23 says. You two always have friendly banter, as teens often do.\n\n"Boy am I glad to see you" you say in response. You've actually never met Doobie23, but you've seen him post his picture on a War of Duty message board. Obviously, you always refused to post a picture of yourself.\n\n"How did you know it was me?" You ask him. Afterall, all he really knows is that you're a diversity.\n\n"I backtraced our GameTalk logs" He says with a cheeky smile on his face.\n\n"You nerd" you say with your own smile.\n\n"You know I can get in a lot of trouble for this." Doobie23 tells you.\n\nYou slink your head down. "I know." you mutter.\n\n"I should probably turn you in."\n\nYour head is inside your chest now. "I know."\n\n...\n\n...\n\n[[...|Chapter 16]]

After what seems like forever, you arrive at Doobie23's house.\n\nAwkward silence.\n\n"I'll be right back" Doobie23 says.\n\nAgain, you say nothing. And truth be told, you don't really want to say anything. What is there to say anyway?\n\nBy running away, you've now endangered your only real friend. And it's not like the Scavenging Jackal Worshippers won't find you and catch you anyway. No matter where you hide, you just know they'll send some men in suits your way. Everybody knows it. "Septober 25th is coming! Septober 25th is coming!" the gang would say in chat. They very often frequent the delinquet website GreatChan and sometimes the "Pickup Dates" get leaked. I never took anything from GreatChan seriously though, since they're filled with a bunch of diversogynists.\n\nIt seems silly, when you think about it. Despite all the negative stereotypes against diversities, they sure put in a lot of effort to kidnap diversities like myself.\n\nDoobie23 comes back with something in his hand.\n\n"Want to play some War of Duty coop?"\n\nAnd just like that, Doobie23 puts a smile on your face. That was always his way. You can never be too upset around him.\n\n"Sure"\n\nThis is how it should be. It shouldn't matter if you're a diversity or not. As long as you can sit down and play some video games, there should be no reason to hate someone.\n\nEven if you don't know their name.\n<<if $doobie eq 1>>\n[[Ask Doobie23 what his real name is|Chapter 17.1]]\n<<else>>\n[[Ask Doobie23 what his real name is|Chapter 17.2]]\n<<endif>>

"Fine!" you exclaim.\n\nYour heart is racing. You've never talked to these people in-voice before. You're afraid of what they might think of you.\n\nHowever, you KNOW what they'll think of you if you don't plug in.\n\nYou plug in your headset.\n\nYou join their GameTalk server.\n\nYou sit in silence. So do they. They saw you join the channel. They're waiting for you to say something.\n\n[[say "Hey"|Chapter 5]]\n[[say "sup."|Chapter 5]]\n[[say "Hi Everyone!"|Chapter 5]]

After a few hours, the bag is removed from your head. You are strapped to a chair. A man in a white lab coat looks at you.\n\n"What do you want!" you shout!\n\nHe says nothing.\n\nBy this point, you start crying again. You know what comes next. The man prepares some sort of syringe.\n\nWhat comes next is what always comes next. This is how the Scavenging Jackal Worshippers work. They've been fighting a losing battle against the Galvanized Gnats for quite some time now. As a desparate move, the worshippers came up with a new tactic that was especially effective against the gnats. It was a strange concoction that transformed people into shields. These shields are incredibly resilient to the weapons the gnats use.\n\nUnforunately, this drug does not work well with normal people and often backfires. However, it synergizes very well with the chemical makeup of the diversities. Thus, they began kidnapping diversities round the clock, turning them into shields and using them to counter the gnats.\n\nThe man plunges the syringe into your arms. Your start to feel warm.\n\nTry as you might, you can't get out of the chair.\n\n[[Shout at the man|Chapter 19]]

"YOU MONSTER!"\n\n"LET ME GO!!"\n\n"I'LL KILL YOU!!!""\n\n[["I AM NOT YOUR SHIELD"|Chapter 20]]

You continue running down the alley way, but find yourself getting tired. You always hated when people would shout "Diversities are lazy!" but in your case it happens to be true. You should have worked out more!\n\nThe men in suits quickly catch up and tackle you to the ground. They handcuff you, throw a bag over your head, and toss you into a vehicle.\n\n[[...|End 1]]

You decide to cut through an alley way. It's not exactly the safest alley. Many diversities come here to do vandalism or deal meths. However, this is the first time you've welcomed the danger.\n\n"Maybe a diversity will come to help me!" You think to yourself.\n\nBut no such luck. There's nobody in this alley way except for your slow self and the men in suits behind you.\n\n[[Continue running|Chapter 11.1]]