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OCTOBER + NOVEMBER TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 4
… What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence?
These are the words that ring in your ears, as a slowly growing red glow surrounds you in this dreamspace, filling you with an acute sense of dread — and whatever it is that you’ve just agreed to might have changed everything forever.
It is this sense of dream that startles you awake, and as it fades, and your heart begins to slow into something resembling your normal tempo, you'll notice something you should have picked up on immediately: you are not in your bed.
1.0 White walls, clinical yet clean, sparsely-furnished rooms. You may wake in one of three rooms: a room with only one bed, a room with two beds, or a room with four beds. Those waking up in rooms with more than one bed notice that they are not alone. Perhaps the other occupants of the room are still sleeping, dreaming the same dream as you just did, or a regular one after returning to the station just barely a week ago … or perhaps you wake up to the other person in the room watching you.
What you do is entirely up to you: yelping in surprise when you wake to someone staring at you is always an option. Or maybe you’ll try to sneak away before anyone notices you...
2.0 Those with life-threatening injuries will find themselves waking up in the infirmary, in a regular hospital bed. Most of their injuries have been treated, and any lingering illnesses or conditions will have designated medicine bottles on the table next to the bed.
White curtains surround the bed on both sides, providing an illusion of privacy. But is that a rustling sound you hear? A set of footsteps? Perhaps you’re not the only one in need of some medical attention.
In fact if you’re very badly off, you might want to hold out hope for some company - you can’t stay in the infirmary forever. You'll have to make your way through the hallways of the station to the living quarters, and claim a room and a bed there.
Once upright, you might notice something in your ear: an earpiece that, when you become aware of it, quickly runs you through the instructions for how to use the network, a recorded message by a female voice that explains exactly why you’re here… and leaves you with a map of the station.
So what else is there to do but to explore, right? Best get to know your way around your new home.
3.0 When trying to decide where you go, you might find your way to the armory, where you can make attempts to work the machine and create a weapon for yourself — maybe replace the one that didn’t come with you to the station ... or maybe you decide to prepare something for the future. Any recently-returned team members will surely recommend having a functional weapon with you.
And speaking of weapons: why not put them to the test and head over to the training room, where the entire purpose of this space is to provide you with opportunities to spar and train to your heart’s content!
4.0 After you’ve exhausted yourself from training, your stomach will prompt you for something to eat. For that you should head to the kitchens and the mess hall, which is equipped with all the basic appliances you might need, along with some more unusual ones (including an ... interesting-looking waffle maker and popcorn machine), as well as ingredients for most generic Earth-based dishes. For some reason, there are also some bags of now-cold popcorn left abandoned over the counters.
5.0 A welcome reprieve to the cold, dark space that surrounds you can be found in the sunlight room. A skillful illusion builds up around anyone who steps inside the room: you can hear the trilling of birds, feel a light breeze caress your skin as you walk through a grass field. The illusion has been programmed to reflect the seasons — the leaves in the trees are currently bright with all the colours of autumn: orange and red and yellow; and the air is crisp and clean. If you follow the path, you'll be led to a bridge rising over a sparkling, babbling brook, a few fallen leaves floating on the water and falling around you like very bright raindrops.
Here, it's easy to forget (for a moment, anyway) that you are in space at all. Maybe that gives you comfort, or maybe it just makes you miss the real thing all that much more.
6.0 If you’d rather choose tinkering with objects over wandering through nature, the lab is guaranteed to provide you with some entertainment. Glass vials and jars of chemicals sit on shelves in a surprisingly beautiful display of colour on one side of the room, while the other side of the room contains stacks of boxes filled with assorted equipment: cords, bolts, panels, buttons, gears, gadgets, gizmos, and thingamabobs. The downside is that the parts available seem to have no apparent method to their sorting. So get digging and you may just find exactly what you need to make what you’ve always wanted to!
7.0 Some time after your arrival, the earpiece alerts you to a new message. If it’s items you’re lacking, you may just be in luck.
Indeed, the platform located near the personal quarters is still whirring with power, and new items form neat piles on top of it. There are clothes, shoes, dishware, skincare, books ... and in one pile, a varied collection of what seems to be Halloween decorations and costumes. So, sort through the piles and grab what you want before someone else does! (But don't forget: sharing is caring.)
Whether you’re a quick study and you’ve become settled into life on the station, or you want to get the full lay of the land (in a manner of speaking) first, if you decide to explore the hall past the control room, you’ll eventually come across the simulation room. It’s been equipped with a new simulation to show you the drill where the missions are concerned, so step in and see what it has in store for you!
8.0 The moment the doors slide shut behind you, the space goes dark and then quickly lights up again, but instead of the blank empty walls you initially walked into, you’re surrounded by colour and lights, the sound of music and chatter, and the smells of deep-fried foods and overly sweet beverages. Someone calls, ‘Step right up, step right up!’ while another voice from somewhere starts to cheer as an electrical sound of a buzzer goes off, announcing its winner for prizes.
It seems that you’ve entered the Carnival simulation, so come on in and have a little fun.
There are booths spread out across these simulated grounds, each one offering food, drink or games. As you wander past you’ll notice that there is a touch of macabre to everything — the colours are black and orange and violet and red, the drinks offered have strange names, some you recognize like ‘Witch’s Brew’ and ‘Eye of Newt’, and some you might not, like ‘Viole(n)t Breeze’ and ‘Undead Essence’. It’s as though all of the things strange and wonderful find themselves spread across the entire universe to unite here.
Once you’ve had your fill of food and games, you can make your way past the little market area to a brightly glittering ferris wheel with carts rotating in a cycle, enticing you to try it out. Or if you’d rather be spooked, there is a hokey little ‘haunted mansion’ to your left that won’t take more than a handful of minutes to move through. Creatures and ghosts will pop out at you when you least expect it, their masked faces exaggerated with paint and some fairly realistic prosthetics to get the adrenaline pumping. Take a friend with you, or go it alone — just try to keep your cool through it all.
9.0 Eventually, once you’ve had your fill of the festivities, you may notice a wooden sign pointing you past the haunted mansion. Pressed on it is a round mark, and you remember that this is simulating a mission — you’re not here to just have fun, but to try and retrieve a simulated orb.
As you follow the path, you’ll find the hustle and bustle of the carnival growing quieter. All around you, there is nothing but woods — and hold on, where did all that mist come from? It surrounds you slowly, the ground seeming slightly damp as you keep walking… and arrive at a graveyard.
So the orb… it’s there, hidden in one of the graves? There’s nothing else to do but to start walking and looking at the gravestones — but when you do, you’ll be shocked to find some of the names are terribly, terribly familiar.
They might be names of your loved ones, people who were still in perfect health back home; and yet here those stones bear their names, along with an epitaph that brings tears to your eyes. And if you move closer… you may experience a flash of colour and light, and a memory suddenly plays out in front of you: the death of your loved one, whoever that may be.
Or perhaps the name you see on a gravestone is something else even more familiar to you: your own. But ... how, right? Reluctantly, your heart pounding, you approach with tentative steps, and yes — the name does not change. It's yours right there ... and it's your own death that you witness when the grave’s spell binds you.
● ● ●
N O T E: The deaths witnessed are intended to be non-canon deaths, so feel free to go wild inventing them -- this also goes for characters who are canonically dead. These are “alternate universe deaths”, not canon.
Additionally, there are three personal tasks provided to each character as they enter the simulation. In-game, each character will be given one task. For the purposes of the test drive, we’re leaving it to players to pick a task for their character and run with it.
A Find the grave of a teammate and witness their death.
B Team up with a fellow Orber win in one of the Carnival games.
C Scare a teammate in the haunted house.
F Y I
• This TDM covers both October and November, so there will be no new TDM for November.
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are currently open!
• Apps open October 27 and will remain open until November 30.
• For any questions regarding TDM, please direct them here. For questions about the game, please refer to the FAQ.
FOR SOME FUN:
Have a clue for your upcoming mission:
“I’m going to bed, where I may die.”
Jinx (Star Guardian AU) | League of Legends
[Jinx seems to be much more in her element inside the training room. Shooting, blasting, and otherwise terrorizing her way through the targets. She's probably going a bit too far for just training, but hey, she gets to cut loose with zero consequences, so why not take advantage and blow off some steam while she's at it? Doesn't look like anyone will even have to clean up after her, too.
Not that she was going to volunteer herself or anything like that.
But like most things, Jinx gets bored quickly and starts to kick her foot against the floor.]
Hey!
[She yells out.]
Anyone looking to make me break a sweat? Come on, I'll even go easy on you, I swear.
[Talking mad shit for someone who just got there.]
7.0
[She rummages through the pile, picking up anything that might catch her attention before through it back. Sometimes the discarded items make it back into the original pile, sometimes into another pile she's making...
Jinx's always had her her own specific style when it comes to fashion:
Loud and bright colors.
So of course she wants to stick to that.]
You see any sunglasses around there?
[Sure, just ask with zero lead-in.]
I had this big pair back home. Kinda wanna see if I can get them here, you know?
9.0 (Her Own Death)
[If you've hanged around Jinx for any length of time, you'd be aware by now of how fiery and energetic she is. Aside from the arrival, nothing's really fazed her or brought down her mood for any meaningful length of time. Or so she claims.
In any case, it all changes when she makes to to the graveyard to find her name on a gravestone. Written plainly for the world to see. It's the first time where Jinx's bravado melts away despite her best efforts.
Being a Star Guardian eventually means... this, right?
She does her best not to think about it. Her clenched fist shakes and she just... continues to stare at the gravestone.]
Pfft, y-yeah right. As if I'd ever...
Whatever. It's a load of crap anyway.
[Unnerved, Jinx begins to walk away, though to not before making eye contact with you.]
What are you looking at?
You got something to say?!
[Yep, she's definitely upset.]
WILDCARD
[Hit me up and I'll roll with it!]
9.0
Still, he does feel bad. Dying is unpleasant and he can't fault people to be shaken by it. Isn't it normal to be shaken when confronted by your own morality?] Isn't it normal to be upset? [He gestures slightly at the gravestone she was just in front.] That's yours right?
Even if it's a simulation, it's unfair to just casually show something like this to someone and think they'll be alright after.
no subject
[Not feeding into her rage is good. It allows that frustration to dissipate, if only a little bit. Understanding where she's coming from also helps, though it doesn't cross her mind at all. All Jinx continues to think about was what she's just seen.
It'd brought back a number of insecurities.
Insecurities that she'd kept buried deep.]
Who do they think they are?!
[Jinx walks back over to the gravestone with her name on it.]
Here's what I think of their stupid simulation or whatever.
[And she begins to kick the stone with the sole of her foot again, again.
And again.]
no subject
[Is there really a way to look at the bright side after seeing yourself die in what is possibly a horrific way?] The reality is that we're probably going to be risking our lives here and it would be a disservice not to give us a taste of it somehow. Do you- hey!
[The man is surprisingly agile on his feet as he quickly moves over to try and pull her away from desecrating her own grave.] Hey, hey, hey! There isn't a reason to do that. [He glances at the tomestone. Kim Dokja doesn't know her name, so it was more as to put a name to a face.]
Isn't it taboo or something to destroy graves? [Something about upsetting spirits and what not. Damn, isn't it a little crazy to still do that? It's technically her grave after all!]
no subject
Hey, let go of me! We're not done yet!
[She gives it one more stiff kick for good measure before she's finally pulled away.]
Stupid peace of... I'll show them how tough I am!
[Jinx grumbles and... grumbles some more. There's probably some more unflattering things being said, too.
Eventually, she takes one big deep breath and begins to calm down.
Finally.]
They're know my name, alright. Count on it!