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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:
Natasha Romanoff | MCU | OTA
[Natasha dreams she's falling. The kind of quick, visceral sensation that would usually jolt her awake. This time, though, it seems to go on and on, an impossible length of time slipping through space, her sense of gravity and direction twisting. Then there's an instant, a flash of shock that seems like it must be the precursor to impact—
But instead, she's struggling upright, almost tripping forward out of her hospital bed in her rush to get her feet under her.
Her head is spinning, her heart hammering with the last of her dream.]
This isn't possible.
[She sits back down unsteadily when she realizes there's no immediate threat.
This is going to take a moment to process.]
SUCH A LOVELY PLACE 3.0
[The armory is Natasha's first destination once she gets her bearings. The fact is, she feels a little naked without at least some of her gear. Replacing it becomes a top priority.
She doesn't waste time.
Before long, she's testing the weight and grip on a new combat knife, tossing it hand to hand, holding it this way and that.]
Well. [Her comment is dry, glancing at anyone who might happen upon her.] It's a start.
[It won't be the end.
That's when her professional curiosity kicks in.]
What have you got there?
STUDY ABOARD 9.0
[In a way, Natasha almost finds it comforting to have a mission. It's not one she accepted, and she's not entirely sure she wants to follow through with this one to the end. However it's a direction. Playing along to get along is a strategy she's more than familiar with, and she finds it easy to fall into the paces now.
The red fox accompanying her isn't quite as familiar, but if that's part of fitting in, well—she's done worse things than carry a fox with her while she climbs one of the campus buildings in the name of fitting in. At least the little beast is cute, even if it also proves to be an odd blend of cautious and mischievous.
From the top of the building, she takes in lay of the land.
Apparently she's not the only one with that idea, either.]
Hell of a view from up here.
[She comments neutrally, a gentle starter to probe whoever might have joined her on the roof. The fox is less subtle, padding closer to sniff around just out of reach.]
3.0
She blinks a few times, trying to convince herself this is real.]
Natasha?
[She doesn’t quite believe it.]
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She looks over her shoulder for the source, not sure if she hopes it's Yelena or not. It might be easier if it weren't. There's a lot that never got said—goodbyes, mostly.
Her throat tightens, and her chest, and she's not sure what to say.
So instead Natasha whistles, soft and a little hesitant.]
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She never thought she'd hear that whistle again. Not from her sister, at least. Clint had surprised her with it in New York, and while it was enough to stay her hand, it wasn't the same as hearing it from Natasha, knowing that she's alive.
Her throat catches, but she swallows, licks her lips and whistles back.]
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At least she's real if any of this is.
Natasha raises her hand, covering her mouth, her eyes suddenly shiny as she holds back tears. She doesn't understand what any of this means—are they both dead?
She approaches slowly, cautious.]
Yelena?
[She has no idea what to say. Should she ask if this is real? Does it matter?]
How...?
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You were gone.
[This is not especially coherent and also not really an answer to her question. "How" is too broad a question, Yelena isn’t sure how to answer it right now.
It also definitely sounds like she’s crying a little bit.]
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For a second or two, hugging is enough. Yelena feels real and solid, and suddenly Natasha feels the weight of just how much she'd missed her sister. When she got Yelena back, she thought they'd have time. She'd thought they'd be able to touch base between their missions, eventually when their lives were more stable,t hat they'd be able to... to make up for some of what they missed all those years.
Then she'd been gone. Like so many others, Yelena had been gone without a trace.
It's only after that the words sink in. "You were gone."]
You came back. It worked?
[Natasha didn't know before this moment that being happy could hurt so much.]
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3
Oh, uh--
[Daisy looks down at the gun she's just created.]
An M&P.
[What the hell is going on today? It's been months since anyone showed up, and now there's so many from her home world just popping up.]
Sorry, it's just--
[Daisy laughs in disbelief.]
Never thought I would see the Black Widow in person.
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[Natasha says wryly, not entirely sure what to do with that information.
There's a lot to unpack there, and she's not sure the best place to start.
She opts for the most superficial.]
I wouldn't expect anyone on a spaceship to recognize me.
And now you have me at a disadvantage.
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[Daisy says dryly. Knowing from experience that information spread well beyond Earth.]
Right, that's--
I'm Daisy.
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[Still, she's only been to space a couple of times. None of them went well.]
Nice to meet you, Daisy.
[Like a person. Natasha still remembers how to do that, even if she's been out of practice.]
Should I expect a lot of people to recognize me around here, then?
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A few, yeah.
[She must've just gotten here then, if she doesn't know who exactly is here.]
How long ago did you arrive?
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She generally wears heels for public appearances for a reason.]
Not long ago.
[Vaguely.]
I've run into one or two people I know already though. Seems like a strange coincidence.
2.0
But since then, he's stayed away. There were too many who needed the space there. Too many who were left recovering from both injuries and malnutrition for him to take up any of that precious space. And if part of his reasons for staying away related to his own cowardice, well, that's nobody's business but his own.
So when he forces himself to head back over tht day, the last thing he expects is to run in to another familiar face. One who he'd only just started to get to know the previous year. One who had no knowledge of her sacrifice to come. And Sam isn't here to pave the way this time.]
...Natasha.
[If it looks like he's seen a ghost, it's because he practically has. He'd mourned her loss, here. The friendship they'd built here may have still been in its early stages, but he trusted her in a way that very few have managed before. Had been through good and bad times with her here.
And then, she was gone.]
Tell me you're real.
[And not a hallucination. Because it wouldn't be the first time. Especially given just how little he's taken care of himself over the past few months.]
[ooc: Please ignore the icons. rn, he has longer hair, a really scruffy beard, and has barely been eating/washing/taking care of himself.]
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Barnes?
[He's not the only one who looks like they've seen a ghost. Bucky's face is one of so many she's kept track of, files on everyone they lost—those they confirmed dead in the Snap, and those presumed taken by it. There was a particular injustice in his disappearance. Steve had only just got him back. Bucky himself had barely had a chance to process his freedom, and then... poof.
He's supposed to be dead.
If he's alive (and oh, she hopes he's alive), then she shouldn't be.]
I wasn't...
[She trails off. How do you say that you didn't expect to wake up? All the implications of her choice to sacrifice herself start to crowd in on her. Things there hadn't been time to consider while she was fighting Clint on Vormir. Things she never expected to have to think about.]
This isn't supposed to be happening.
[For less than a second, Natasha looks lost. It's gone quickly, her training asserting itself. A spy who lets her emotions show on her face doesn't live long.]
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[Or coming back from the dead? The latter question remains unasked. Last time, she'd had no idea of what was waiting for her when she went home. He'd left that to Sam and Tony to unveil to her. Two people who actually knew her. Whose history hadn't involved gunshot wounds and fistfights. It hadn't been his story to tell, and it isn't this time either. Especially not with Yelena on this station now.]
You heard the orbs, right? Made a deal with them.
[Whether she remembers it yet or not remains to be seen. He'd known from the moment he'd woken up here. But others had taken hours. Days. They'd been caught offguard in arriving here, and had no reason to trust anything they saw. But eventually, everyone here has stepped up. Has started to play their roles, for better or worse. The missions they've been sent on, the tasks they've needed to fulfill- There's been no option but to step up. To do all they have to in order to find the rest of the orbs, and hope that they've been told the truth. That they really have the power to undo their regrets.
They're still waiting on proof for that part. Nobody here has filled their end of their contract yet. Who's to say they ever will?]
They've got some kind of power. The Blip was over a year ago for me and Sam. Most people here haven't event heard of Thanos or the Avengers. [A shrug] Time travel and alternate universes are real.
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[They are not. Not even slightly. They aren't new, though. Natasha has some up close and personal experience with that kind of thing, and it's enough to try to front. To play it off like she's not shaken by all of this.
The facade isn't her best, though. The nightmare about falling is still too fresh, if it even is a nightmare and her deadpan delivery comes across thin.
She licks her lips, pausing briefly as she chooses her next words. Then:]
I've heard of them, I guess. [If you could call it that. She knows about them.] Still trying to process it.
[Because even if what the orbs offer is possible, it still doesn't make sense. None of this makes sense to her. The idea crosses her mind that this is all some kind of strange hallucination, something cooked up by her brain in the instant before everything blinks out. She discards the idea almost immediately, though. There wouldn't even be time.]
What the hell is the Blip?
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[To when Natasha gave up her life to save half the universe. He owes her a thank you, at the very least. The whole world does. The whole universe. But he knows better than to say it. That isn't how people like them work. It's the actions, not the words that matter. So he'll find a way to thank her, eventually. For now though:]
Don't know if you've seen her already, but Yelena's here.
[Because from what he's learned from the others, its been a long time since the sisters were together. While he was on ice again, they were off tearing down the Red Room. So it stands to reason that she'll want to catch up with her now that she has the opportunity again. And not just Yelena. There's Sam-
His gaze cuts briefly over to the door to the medbay. To where Sam still lies unconscious, months after he collapsed on their return to the station. All this time, with no changes. And now Natasha is here, and Sam isn't waking up to greet her.
(Is this another punishment? Are the orbs really that angry that he didn't play along?)]
Sam's back there too. He won't wake up.
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The Blip.
[They couldn't come up with a better name? The Blip sounded so... trivial. Little a minor inconvenience—the power going out for a minute, or the picture in a movie. But in the same words, Barnes confirms they're back—not just him, but Sam too, and Yelena.
They could call it whatever they wanted, as long as everyone was alive again.
Everyone but Natasha.
She scrubs her finger under one eye, holding back tears that she thinks are mostly happy.]
I haven't seen them yet. You're the first.
[There, she can break the problem down into smaller parts. Focus on them one at a time.
If she and Barnes were closer, she might have hugged him. She might have been tempted to hug him anyway, if he didn't look like twelve miles of bad road. The scruffy beard and lank hair aren't lost on Natasha, even now.]
What's wrong with Sam?
3.0
[ He could've gone with something more hardcore, but he preferred to start small. Carry something that he could add to the gun already tucked in the back of his jeans, hidden underneath his jacket. Couldn't hurt to have more than one. ]
And you? [ Glancing at the knife in her hand. ] That it for you?
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[She inclines her head toward his gun.]
But you have to start somewhere, right? That seems like a pretty good place to start.
[She does cock an eyebrow, her lower lip turning up in a question.]
You feel comfortable using that on a space station?
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[ What would be the point of this place if they needed to use weapons inside? He assumes they'd be using the weapons outside the station walls. Not only that, he knows that he could probably survive whatever space threw at them (not that he's ever experimented with that), however, not the others. ]
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[But if she made herself a knife, isn't not because doesn't expect to carry it on board.
She imagines she'll sleep with it under her pillow.]
I suppose I'm not ready to rule it out.
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[ Simple handguns, a knife; he’s glimpsed enough films over the past century to get an idea, if it ever came down to it, not that most films aren’t a gross over exaggeration of science fiction and fantasy. Even he knows that. ]
They’re better than nothing, anyway.
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[Natasha shrugs, making the combat knife disappear somewhere behind her back. It'll be there for later, if she needs it.]
You'd think that. On the other hand, they've done well enough so far.
[Speaking from the experience of two alien invasions and one genocidal robot.]
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