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FEBRUARY TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 5
… What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence?
The words ring in your ears as in the darkness of your dream, an ocean-deep blue glow hovers in front of you. Transfixed, you reach out to it... only to hear a different voice, a distant echo of cruel laughter, and with a sudden certainty you know — whatever you’ve just agreed to has changed everything forever.
It is to this laughter that you wake, and as it fades and your heart slows into something resembling a normal tempo, you notice something you should have noticed 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 very much 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 to the other person in the room watching you.
What you do is entirely up to you: yell in surprise when you wake to someone staring at you? Or maybe you’ll try to sneak away before anyone notices you...
2.0 Those with life-threatening injuries find themselves awakening 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, giving an illusion of privacy. But is that a rustling sound you hear? Some footsteps? Perhaps you’re not the only one in need of some medical attention... or you've attracted the attention of those with experience in medical aid, and they rush to your bedside, surprised about this sudden new patient.
It is not just for your injuries that you may want some company, but also for leaving the infirmary — you can’t stay there forever, after all, and will have to make your way through the hallways of the station to the living quarters, and claim a room and a bed there.
Once you’re up, you may notice there’s 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? Best get to know what is now your new home.
3.0 When trying to decide where yo go, you may find your way to the armory, where you can try to work the machine there to make yourself a weapon — perhaps to replace one that didn’t come with you to the station… or maybe you want to be prepared for the future. The recently-returned team members will surely recommend having a functional weapon with you.
And speaking of weapons: to put it to good use, head to the training room, where the entire purpose is to provide you with a space to spar and train to your heart’s content!
4.0 After you’ve exhausted yourself training, it’s time to grab a bite. For that, you should head to the kitchen, which is equipped with all the basic appliances you might need, and ingredients for most regular dishes... and large amounts of chocolate. Weird.
5.0 A welcome reprieve to the cold, dark space that surrounds the characters can be found in the sunlight room. A skillful illusion surrounds 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. It seems that the illusion reflects the season — the leaves have fallen, a layer of white covers the ground, and the air is crisp and clean. If you follow the path, it leads to where a bridge rises over a brook that has now iced over — but maybe don't try your luck walking on it, as the ice may crack underneath your feet and you'll find yourself plunging into the freezing water.
Regardless of whether you like the wintery atmosphere, it is easy to forget you are in space at all. Perhaps that gives you comfort, or just makes you miss the real nature all the more.
6.0 If you’d rather choose tinkering over 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 containing 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 make!
7.0 If it’s items you’re lacking, though, some time after your arrival, the earpiece alerts you to a new message.
Indeed, the platform near the personal quarters is still whirring with power, and new items form neat piles on it. There’s clothes, shoes, dishware, skincare, books… even a couple of CDs, and a few cute stuffed animals. So sort through what there is and grab what you want, before someone else does!
Eventually, you’ll find yourself at the doors of the the simulation room — it has been equipped with a new simulation to take you through possible mission-like scenarios so it’s best to prepare yourself and see what it has in store for you.
8.0 The doors slide shut behind you and the room goes dark. Small pinpricks of light will start to build on each other until you’re surrounded by grey skies overhead and grassy green lawns, a row of old stone columns lining your vision. It seems you’re in a courtyard of some kind, but that’s not all. Something tugs at the hem of your sleeve or nudges at your leg, a warm presence that feels comfortable and ultimately very familiar. They look up at you, or maybe they meet your eye-level, a creature that varies in size, shape, colour, and form depending on what reflects you best. This creature, known as a compalion is a physical manifestation of your spirit or soul and will stay by your side on this journey.
You can stay here and get to know your compalion, or you can take your new companion and explore the campus. Because, if you do move forward past the line of columns (a hallway it turns out), you’ll find that the small cluster of buildings forms an academic campus of some kind.
a) They cannot go any further than a few yards away from their person; the further the distance, the more painful the separation will feel.
b) Your compalion will shift into one form throughout this simulation and can be any creature that best mirrors your personality.
c) They can be as small as a flea and as large as a small elephant; get creative!
d) Whether they speak to you in your native tongue is entirely up to you (some speak, some don’t)
e) Basically daemon rules apply.
9.0 While it might seem like fun to spend hours just exploring the old buildings with your compalion and any Orbers like you that you might bump into along the way, it’s important to remember that you have a goal to achieve: follow the clues and retrieve the orb. Your compalion might offer an idea or two for where to go, or it may just be voicing the thoughts in your head, but it’s not a bad thing to follow your heart (or your gut) as it were. You might find that the rooftops of the campus buildings are easily climbable to get a good vantage point of your location. (Just be careful not to slip and fall! The height from here is quite dangerous.) A clocktower stands proud in the distance among a cluster of other campus buildings, marking the time.
Inside, you might be led down dark stone halls and into a series of classrooms: including reading quarters, study rooms with old leather couches and warm carpets covering stone floors; lecture halls with stiff wooden seating and individual desks to match, a chalkboard with indiscernible scribbles half-wiped away; and a laboratory that deals with something a little less modern than you might be used to, or perhaps with its twisty vials and bubbling potions, it suits you perfectly. There is the large library filled from floor to ceiling with books beyond imagining.
If you look out from the tall arch-shaped window from a classroom, or if you’re outside and you tilt your head up to the sky, you might notice that the sky appears to be darkening further, growing heavy with what is inevitably an oncoming rainstorm. If you’re inside, it might be best to stay indoors; if you’re outside, perhaps it’s time to find some shelter. Or if you’re determined to find that orb outside, risk you and your compalion getting wet.
● ● ●
N O T E: 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 Team up with another Orber and their compalion to find the orb's location.
B Climb into the clocktower and ring the bell.
C Explain your best theory regarding your compalion’s manifestation to a fellow team member.
F Y I
• This TDM covers the month of February.
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are currently open!
• Apps open February 24 and will remain open until February 28.
• 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:
no subject
His staff is more reliable right now, particularly in close quarters, the beskar steel echoing cleanly as it hits the targets' armored shell over and over, crushing and piercing through with little difficulty. He may be struggling a little, but that's only because he's been at this for a while now, and the hit he took earlier is still making his side ache.
Eventually the program draws to an end, and he feels mildly victorious that he's managed to finish it on his feet. He's alert immediately after, though, thinking it's another attacker provided by the program, only to realize— ]
Skywalker.
[ He takes a few deep breaths, mind racing to light speed. He walks up to him, hope and concern both bleeding into his voice. ]
Is he with you?!
no subject
he lifts both hands in a gesture meant to halt the other man, his brows knitting faintly. ]
I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know you or who you mean. [ a beat. ] Yet, I suppose. [ this is someone--several someones--from his future, apparently. ] The only Mandalorian I've ever met is Boba Fett. I-- [ his glance flicks down to the saber on the stranger's thigh again, then up to the helmet hiding his face. ] I think we're probably from different points in our galaxy's timeline. For me, the second Death Star was only recently destroyed.
no subject
But that was years ago.
[ He's still getting used to this notion of people coming from different points in time, as well as different universes. But looking at Luke now, he does seem younger than the last (and only) time he's seen him, and he can think of no reason for the Jedi to lie to him. ]
Never mind. It's not important.
[ Well, it is, but nothing can be done about it. He's back to hoping that wherever Luke took him, Grogu is safe. ]
no subject
It seems important, [ he argues gently. ] I'm sorry that I don't have answers for you. [ at least, not yet. there's no telling who else may show up here in time, and maybe they'll know how to answer the mandalorian.
in the meantime, he hesitates, but indicates the saber the other man is carrying with a finger. ] Is that a lightsaber? [ and then, belatedly: ] --I'm sorry, I didn't ask what to call you. What would you prefer?
no subject
[ It was a sliver of hope that he would get to see Grogu again, even if it hasn't even been that long since they parted ways. Not that he would have wanted him in yet another dangerous predicament, and he certainly hopes that wherever he is back in their universe, he's safer than he was with him, or than he would have been here.
He's pulled from his thoughts at the question, looking down to his waist and resting a hand over the hilt. Then he looks back to Luke, for the first time not sure which name to offer. ]
Mando's fine. [ It's what everyone calls him anyway, his own name having been shed so long ago. ] And it is. It's— mine, now. I earned it through combat.
[ He takes it from his belt, holding it up for Luke to see, though he doesn't draw the blade out. ] You've heard of the darksaber?
no subject
I can't say I have, [ he admits a little ruefully. ] My training hasn't exactly been.. conventional. [ 'darksaber', though.. it's not exactly a promising name. who had it belonged to before mando had won it?
he lifts a hand, reaching out to touch the fingertips of his real hand to the hilt of the saber, brow furrowing. it feels.. old. it has a great deal of history behind it, he knows. ] What is it meant to signify?
no subject
My training didn't cover this kind of thing, [ He shoots back. ] But it was created by a Mandalorian Jedi. It was passed down from one generation to the next, but taken by a Sith Lord at some point.
[ He hasn't even extended the blade since he got it, and he hesitates to do so now, fingers resting just barely over the trigger. ]
I claimed it in a fight against Moff Gideon. I didn't know— I didn't want it, but it can only be won through combat.
Whoever wields it has a claim to the Mandalore throne.
no subject
he reaches down instead, hands curling briefly over the saber at his own waist, loosing it from his belt and lifting it, fingers uncurling so it rests on his own palm. ] A lightsaber isn't like most conventional weapons. Are you-- [ his fingers close around it again. ] Are you familiar with its use? I have a feeling people are going to come for it once you get home.
[ and if the mandalorian intends to keep it, or at least to make it difficult for someone to take it, he should probably know how to wield it. ]
no subject
No. I'm more used to my own weapons. I've never wielded it.
[ He won it, held it once, and that's it. It's been strapped to his waist since, largely ignored so far. ]
no subject
he gestures to the door he entered through, lips quirking up at the corner faintly. ] There's another Force-sensitive here that I'll be teaching, too, so.. it could be good for him to practice with someone like a Mandalorian.
[ and he probably doesn't need to say that it would be good for mando to learn how to face force-sensitives, as well. ]
no subject
[ Something he's sure Luke is well aware of at this point, but he figures he should make it clear anyway. Still, it's a generous offer, and something that could prove to be very useful in the future, both here and back in their own universe.
He straps the saber back to his waist, canting his head. ]
Can you still teach me?
no subject
[ he gives him a thoughtful once-over, taking in the armor and the helmet and tapping his knuckle against his chin. ] There are some techniques you probably won't be able to perform, but I think you should be fine on the whole. Have you met Finn yet?
no subject
Alright.
[ He'll take the compliment. Observation. Whatever. Good enough to smooth over that laugh. ]
I haven't. He's the other Force user?
no subject
he presses his mouth thin to smooth his smile away, then clears his throat and nods. ] Yes. He's from further along in the future, as well. Probably even further along than you are. I'll introduce you later if you don't meet him beforehand.
[ since.. he works in the infirmary and all. ]
no subject
If you think it'll help us both.
[ He does have the sword, he may as well learn what he can do with it. And even if Luke isn't used to being a teacher, at least he knows how to wield a lightsaber. ]
When should we start?