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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
... I suppose.
[A pause before he sighs and relaxes again.]
I want to say at least I won't have to account for wild cards like Straw hat in my plans anymore but for all I know there's someone else equally troublesome in the group here.
no subject
[Yeah, he's aware of a few who have had some pretty troubled pasts, or who have real doubts about what they're doing and react in a more visibly difficult way to it, but Rosinante is the type to talk them through it instead of growling at them for it. So. This is just his very nice way of phrasing the difference in their attitudes.]
Actually, the ones I can see you butting heads with are Viveca and Commander Degar, the two who are coordinating the orb collection efforts. From what I can tell, they do have good intentions, and Viveca will listen to grievances and try to work with you on them. She's... more human than you might think at first. The Commander, though.
[First, he's not himself a big fan of having to answer to someone his own rank, but what choice does he have? But the frown is more for the guy himself than any hierarchy issues because truly those do deserve to be thrown out the window. He quit his mission, and Degar knows the station and its history and the orbs themselves better. He's also just personally grating, in Rosinante's opinion.]
I don't know much about him. He's hard to speak with. He seems the sort who'll make jokes to put you at ease, then walk away, leaving you to realize he's told you nothing of substance. But I think they've both been through a lot. They've lost people doing what they're doing, and they must believe it's the right thing to do anyway.
no subject
Or they think of us as expendable as strangers from another world they're keeping on a leash with the promise of fixing a regret, and thus don't need or deserve to have things explained to us. How many times have you tried to get answers out of him? Maybe he just needs additional incentive to cooperate.
[Law what are you suggesting.]
no subject
[Catch more flies with honey than vinegar, right? But he's always preferred to play the long game with his targets.]
I haven't spoken to him directly, I've just... listened. He's busy. When he shows his face, it's not for long before he has to get back to work, or whatever he does. He keeps the orbs contained, and if they're being honest with us, then that probably is something he shouldn't be kept from doing for long.
[Also maybe don't break his fingers, he probably needs those for that purpose. Rosinante scratches at the back of his neck, then shrugs.]
I'm not sure what methods you've taken to using, but I'd suggest patience, first. Persistence, though.
no subject
... I'm not going to try deliberately hunting him down but I'm not promising any more than that. If the high road always worked people like Crocodile and Doflamingo wouldn't have needed to be taken down by other pirates.
[Was Crocodile even a Warlord long enough ago that Corazon would know the name? Probably not. It's fine.]
no subject
[And a little confusing. The "Crocodile" he's heard of has made a name for himself as a bounty hunter. But he hasn't exactly paid close attention to the man ever, and the name hasn't come up in years. What happened since?]
But, if Degar turns out to be a danger to us, then maybe I'll change my mind. I don't believe what he says by default, but so far his and Viveca's actions align with their stated intent, that's all.
... What happened with Crocodile?
[Now he has to ask.]
no subject
I wasn't there for this one, but I heard about it. He took over a country called Alabasta in Paradise, but because he was a Warlord at that point, the Marines did nothing about it. They only arrested him after Straw Hat and his crew arrived and helped the people of Alabasta get control of their country back.
no subject
I don't understand the Warlord system. I really don't. Not as it exists. I see the potential benefits on a certain small scale, but they shouldn't be allowed to take over entire kingdoms while the Marines look away. That's horrific.
[Look, he knows the government has problems. He wasn't part of it because he thought it was perfect. Preaching to the choir though, obviously, given Law's own history with it.]
no subject
[Law may hold a pretty unilateral resentment towards the marines but that doesn't mean he hasn't put a lot of thought into the way they do things and what the specific issues are with it. Case in point;]
Obviously that they allowed Doflamingo to hold the position also speaks to this issue, but even for me, they gave me the position after I delivered to them the hearts of 100 pirates. A display of ability but certainly not one of good character.
[Is this more or less sinister lacking the knowledge that the hearts were still alive at the time? Is Law purposely leaving that information out or did he genuinely forget? Hard to say.]
no subject
Doesn't seem likely.]
Character, no, but certainly dedication to a side, or a cause.
[Maybe this is another good reason to fix things so he doesn't die, if that's the sort of thing Law did to help him along the way to getting revenge. As he's implied, though, it actually doesn't surprise him that the Marines would go for that. A hundred fewer pirates? That's just justice in action, in the eyes of many of the upper levels of leadership. They probably all applauded it.]
no subject
But on the other hand even though it doesn't surprise him he does feel irritated by it. He's not a little kid acting out anymore.]
... That's all? You don't have any follow-up questions?
no subject
[And a bunch of them are ones he'd want to ask Sengoku, actually, in this particular instance. And on top of all that he's still just horrified enough where he hasn't gotten to the asking part yet.
He can see why Law would pursue Warlord status. Hatred for the government isn't enough to stop him from taking a powerful position in pursuit of his goals. Killing a hundred pirates seems at odds with what he said before, but maybe he makes exceptions when he decides there's enough to be earned from it, such as more freedom of movement and operation without being pursued by the Marines, and equal access to government resources as Doflamingo apparently would have had. So, then.]
Was this before or after you took on Doflamingo? What was your plan?
no subject
Doflamingo had a scientist making artificial devil fruits that he was selling to Kaidou. My plan was to capture that scientist and use it as a bargaining chip with him.
[A viciously intellectual plan as one would expect from Law.]
no subject
See, this is what he means about each answer raising even more questions. Much as he's curious about this supposedly undiscoverable decomissioned base, that's not the most concerning part of all this, is it?]
What... exactly can an artificial devil fruit do? How many were made?
no subject
At least a hundred, not including failed prototypes. All of them Zoan models. Though calling the ones he actually sold to Kaidou successful isn't entirely accurate. Based on what I've seen of Kaidou's crew, a fair number still don't work, and inflict a tic-like laughter instead. The ones that do work are... Well they have abilities but their forms seem a bit off, and I don't think they have the ability to shift back and forth.
no subject
Was this scientist the only one capable of making them, or is that the state of research in general these days?
no subject
no subject
Good, I guess. The world's pirates are enough of a pain without mass-produced knockoff zoan fruit.
[Still, he offers a brief sliver of a smile. Clearly he can tolerate one pirate in particular. But as soon as he continues talking, it fades to a scowl.]
When I was collecting intel on my brother's operations, I only got hints of things this far out. I knew he had his eyes set on Dressrosa, and that he was looking to expand business to bigger and bigger partners. I know he wouldn't have stopped with Dressrosa, though. Nothing was ever enough.
no subject
[And really, even if Luffy did, for some godforsaken reason, repeat that stunt, even he wouldn't give Doflamingo a second chance, surely. He has to believe that.]
no subject
[He shakes his head, then has a long draw from the cigarette. Just because he's spent all this time here now instead doesn't mean any of that part of his life went away in the meantime. He keeps thinking about it - how to do better if given another chance. How to get every single one of Doflamingo's contacts in prison eventually, because they all deserve it.]
What's this "Straw Hat situation", then? Tell me about that.
no subject
I don't know all the details, but two years ago, he broke into Impel Down to rescue his brother, and released several other inmates in the process. As if the execution of Fire Fist didn't already almost lead to a war without him doing that.
no subject
I'm glad he's your ally and not your enemy. Does Doflamingo have anyone of that caliber who would try to break him out?
[Please, he's begging the whole world, no. Please no. He's aware too, of course, that Law may not know the full answer. People like Vergo will always exist, after all.]
no subject
No. I don't think there's anyone in the world like Monkey D. Luffy.
[This is both an incredibly sincere compliment and a vicious insult.]
no subject
All right. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrogate you for so long. It's been so many years, though, I guess I'll never really catch up on all of it. I... don't know if you had anything you needed to ask me, but. You can, if you want.
[A hard offer to make, one he doesn't give out to hardly anyone. But fair is fair, and if he trusts anyone at all in the world, it's Law and not many others, these days.]
no subject
[Whatever the topic is, it's not like he's going to complain about being here, talking to Rosinante as if not a day has passed. Even though so many have.]
... I guess I just always wondered, why me? You threw away your allegiance to the Marines, your mission and stopping Doflamingo all just for my sake? Was it just because of the D or...
[Because surely that's the only reason to give up on such an important job.]
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