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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:
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[So that might explain how Yelena knows things. A little bit, anyway.]
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[She hadn't thought about that. There hadn't been a lot of time to consider all of the contingencies if Natasha's sacrifice had worked.
And maybe some part of her hadn't wanted to think too hard about the world she'd leave behind her, aside from that the people she cared about would have a chance to be happy.]
I can see why that would be his take away.
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[She shakes her head. In a way it had been easier to just blame Clint. To think he killed her to get his own family back. Or that he didn't fight hard enough to stop her.
Accepting the truth was harder because it means accepting the grief. Yelena was still getting used to that.]
I have been so angry.
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[She can't imagine Clint actually telling anyone what happened—That wasn't him. Laura, he'd tell. And apparently he'd told Yelena something.]
Why were you talking to Clint?
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[Hell, the way he got Nat out was sloppy and only made Yelena's life worse. Why would she think he cared about anything but his bottom line?]
I was hired to kill him. I took the job so I could confront him.
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It sounds like Yelena and Clint worked things out without here anyway.]
Who hired you?
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Eleanor Bishop.
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[Natasha knows the name—security business, a player in New York. She shouldn't be in Clint's circles, or vice versa.
Does it matter?]
None of this makes sense.
[A beat, then Natasha shifts the topic.]
You mentioned Stark.
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[Does that help? A little maybe?
It’s probably still kind of weird.
Yelena lets the topic shift to Stark.]
Yes. He was here on the station for awhile. But back home…he died, too.
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[But it does make some sense. Natasha has a hard time picturing Clint taking a protege, but she takes Yelena's word on that much.
Honestly, Clint has a soft spot for troubled girls.]
Do you know how it happened?
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To Stark back home? It was the time travel. Thanos came through from the past so everyone had to fight him again. Stark used the stones to get rid of him and his minions or whatever.
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[It's a lot to take in. They won. Obviously they won. But clearly the price was higher than they hoped.
Maybe it had been naive to ever believe it could be otherwise.]
I'm sorry I missed him. It would have been nice to get a chance to hear the story from his point of view.
[One last chance to see a friend. A chance to celebrate winning, even if they didn't live to see it.
She winces then. Morgan.]
So Stark used the stones to defeat Thanos, who used the stones to bring everyone back?
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[They were there at least. Yelena only knows what she’s read.
Then to answer her next question:]
Banner. He survived, though.
[Being a giant green rage monster has its advantages.]
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They're from after? They came back too?
[They really did reverse the Snap. She'd kiss Bruce, if he were here. Tony too.]
It sort of feels like I should be popping open a bottle of champagne.
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[She doesn't respond to the champagne comment. Yelena does not feel like celebrating. Though she wouldn't say no to drinking.]
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[It's hard to picture. Steve Rogers was many things, including sometimes a pain in her ass, but he wasn't a quitter.
He wasn't someone who could look the other way when things get bad.]
Not that Sam doesn't deserve it. He's a good pick.
[Complicated, but good. She'd hate to have to wrangle the PR on that one.]
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[Honestly Sam didn’t wrangle PR so much as give it the middle finger which is why Yelena agrees he’s a good pick.]
Yes, Sam is very good.
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[And he's alive. Two years from her time, he's Captain America.
It's not all flawless, clearly. Steve is apparently missing and Yelena tried to kill Clint.
But for the moment, Natasha is caught up in the enormous sense of relief.
It wasn't for nothing.]
But you said he's in stasis—should I ask?
[There are a lot of questions, and Natasha is still sorting through her priorities.]
We should go somewhere else.
[Not that Natasha isn't taking her new knife with her.]
Somewhere we can sit down and have a drink?
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[He's not hurt, just asleep.]
We can go to the kitchen. There should be a stock of booze. The last mission was pretty bad.
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Are you all right?
[Look at that. Sometimes it's easy to prioritize the right question.]
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[It's not really an answer. Yelena's not sure if she's all right. In a way she is. Her sister is here and alive and that counts for a lot.
But she doesn't really want to celebrate the victory against Thanos because the cost still hurts.
Which actually inspires her to add, because this conversation has highlighted how true it is:]
You know, I kind of miss Stark. He wasn't so bad.
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It feels strange to say she's glad she's here too. Like taking something back. She's not ready for that.
She focuses on the other part instead.]
You know, that's a sentiment I know fairly well.
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But she's also pretty willing to be selfish about having her sister in her life right now, so she will take it.]
So he just kind of grows on you? Like mold?
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[If she was feeling generous, at least. At the moment, she is. Tony saved everyone. He probably earned a day or two of her not throwing shade behind his back.
She misses him. From her perspective she saw him hours ago when they started their mission, and now she misses him.]
Is that everyone here? You, Barnes and Wilson? I was too late for Stark.
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No, there are some others. Peter Quill, Erik Stevens and Shaun Xu. And Daisy Johnson is from our world, too, I think.
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