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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
No one is supposed to eat it like this! It's concentrated now. It'll be very good in the soup, I promise! [Well.] Unless you don't like spicy things?
[There is a definite sulk in his voice, and he continues to wipe carefully at her face, a fond feeling welling up inside of him when she tilts her face up to him the same way he would tilt his face up to—he stops that thought before it can continue. When he's fairly certain he's gotten all of it off of her face, he takes a step back. His own face is burning lightly and his eyes beginning to water, but he can deal with that in a minute.]
I think I got all of it. You can open your eyes now. Does your face feel alright?
no subject
Even if it is because he sets her tongue on fire, it will be worth it.
Once she feels that her eyes are sufficiently cleaned up and that it's safe to open them, she just goes right on beaming at him like a tiny sun.]
I'm sure I'll love it. Now-
[She reaches to take the cloth from him, not giving him the option to tell her no as she takes it right from his hands and turns to rinse it off, soaking and ringing it until the water runs clear and she's positive all the spice is gone.]
You'll have to sit down, you're too tall for me to reach your eyes properly.
no subject
At her direction, his brow furrows for a second in confusion and then she takes the cloth from him and he gets it.]
Ah...no, that's alright, I can do it! [He waves it off with one hand, smiling sheepishly and holding out a hand for the cloth.]
no subject
And he'll have to just deal with her stubborn self too, because all she does is smile and take his hand, hers small and dainty in his but callused, a clear sign of someone who knows what it means to work hard.]
I can do it too, and you can't even see your face. Let me help you like you helped me. That's what friends do.
[Yona you haven't even exchanged names yet.
With a tug, she pulls him to a seat and gives him a very clear look of if you do not sit I will push you down mister.]
no subject
(It hasn't been that long, if he counts Shijie's fingers on his cheeks in that last moment, or if he counts a-Yuan's tiny fingers closing around his thumb just days before everything...before.)
He allows her to lead him to the bench, sitting as told and closing his eyes the same way he'd directed her. He's silent as she brings the cloth up, and though he can feel the stinging on his face lighten, his eyes are stinging even more now. He doesn't know when the tears had started to fall down his cheeks even with his eyes closed and he lets out a soft laugh in realization.]
Oh, don't mind that. It's just the spice.
no subject
[She says it lightly enough that it could be true, but there's a gentle brush of her thumb as she clears his tears away too, the touch careful but fleeting, a silent acknowledgement of the pain he must be feeling without calling it out or forcing him to face it.
The saddest part of this is that it isn't the first time she's experienced this kind of reaction to someone taking the time to take care of them. During her time in the fire lands her group had spent a large amount of time caring for the sick and the dying and she herself had helped to wash and feed them, desperate to do anything to lift the burden of her father's lax rule. So much had fallen apart, but she had learned she was good at comforting hurting people. That it felt good to do it.
She takes her time to get every trace of red off him, even the little bit that settled in his hair, and when she's done, she clicks her tongue in pretend concern.]
Oh, there's some on your back too.
[This is a lie, an excuse to put her arms around his shoulders and hug him, very very gently. They still don't know each other very well at all but she's never been very good at seeing someone in obvious pain and doing nothing about it.]
no subject
What's all this now, [he teases, mask back in place as he reopens his eyes, like it'd never dropped away at all.] I've been eating spicy food my whole life, I have definitely gotten it in my eyes before.
[he grins. It doesn't matter if she saw through the excuse, what matters is he isn't about to allow himself to give into the sympathy. He doesn't deserve it.]
And so forward when I don't even know your name.
no subject
But it will serve her no purpose here, and she doesn't think she has the heart to lie to him now.]
My name is Yona.
[It's small, but she stands a little bit taller when she says it. She's always been proud to be her father's daughter, after all, and that was the name he graced her with. It's been too long since she was able to say it out loud to a stranger.]
And I really don't know how it can be possible that you still have a tongue to talk with if you eat things like that all the time.
no subject
It's my pleasure, Yona. I'm Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian. [And because he is learning, he says with an easy smile] You can call me Wei Wuxian. And I can't help it if my tongue is more endurable than everyone else's. Truly, no one else has any taste at all!