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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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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.
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[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.]
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[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.
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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.
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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.]
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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.]
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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.]
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[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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[But it's complicated and difficult to put into words, so give him a moment to figure out what he wants to say, and how he wants to say it. In truth, he's not entirely sure of his own reasons anyway - or, well, he is but they're feelings, not sentences. For someone who has tried to operate based on logic and careful thought, it's hard to accept that sometimes his heart gets in the way of it all.]
That was important at first, but it's not the whole story, and it got less important as time went on. I just... got to the point where I couldn't do anything else. Couldn't stand to see you suffer. I don't know how to explain it. I just felt like I had to, because you didn't deserve all that pain.
[God damn he doesn't want to lose his composure again, but he can feel his throat tightening just talking about it. Maybe that's just how it is with decisions based completely on emotions too strong for him to fight off.]
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[Hello my name is Trafalgar Law and among many other problems I have a metric ton of survivors guilt and that's why I cannot Stop at any time or treat my own life with any care.]
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[Law is otherwise right, and he knows it, and he hates this part of himself that can't ever stay as strong as he should be. Sacrificing a few to save the many is something he's always had to live with. It's the right thing to do, and he knows it, and not just because it's the philosophy Sengoku had also tried to impart. That true wisdom gets interrupted because he's just too damn soft sometimes, in the end.]
I have things I regret in my life, but saving you isn't one of them.
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But after the way things shook out, he'd lived more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. He had to survive because otherwise Corazon's sacrifice was all in vain.
He bites his lip, tucking his head against Rosinante's side.]
I didn't want to survive until you started taking care of me, so why would I have wanted to survive without you? We were supposed to escape together!
[Shocking: man actually not able to quickly get decades old trauma out of his system in one single outburst!]
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But he also can't argue right now, because he can't truly fathom how much Law suffered due to his death. He lets him yell, and tugs him closer against his side, then turns just enough to get both arms around his shoulders.]
I know. We were. And I still want that more than anything else. We'll fix it.
[He'll make sure of it, no matter what it takes to make it happen. He wasn't lying when he told Law he loved him, and he isn't lying now about this either. He doesn't trust the orbs, but they clearly have real power, and somehow they'll find a way to make that work to their advantage. He won't allow any alternative, now that there's a solution in sight.]
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After a long moment of just him steadying his breathing, he settles down a bit, though he doesn't raise his head yet.]
... I was lucky. I was able to meet other people that wouldn't give up on me, the same as you. But I still...
There was one thing I never got to say, that I should have said sooner but then it was too late.
[He's clearly still hesitant to say it now though.]
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Rosinante loosens his hold again, not wanting to suffocate Law for too long there, and then looks down at him a moment before rubbing at his eyes again with his sleeve. Fuck it, he'll get some of that makeup out later somehow. It's not like it's anything new to get stains on his clothes.]
Plenty of time now, if you want. I'm here to listen.
[WHAT COULD LAW SAY? He has a half dozen guesses, and he's desperate to know, but he doesn't want to push Law because whatever it is, it must be hard.]
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He's thought a lot about the last words Rosinante had said to him back then. How important it had been, in the moment and going forward. How it had stopped him from worrying back then.
Hey Law, I love you!
It'd been a ridiculous expression to keep in his mind, but the sentiment attached, only concerned with assuring him, protecting him...]
I love you, too, Cora-san.
[Quietly, but sincerely.]
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But this, of course, is the complete opposite. He lets out a sudden exhale of relief and joy, a sort of emotional gut punch in the best possible way, and then Law is grabbed right back up and squeezed closer than ever as Rosinante's eyes fill again with tears that come from something between crying and laughter. These ones won't be as easy to stop, but he's not even trying right now anyway.]
Law... I know. I know.
[Oh sure, of course he'd had doubts, because that's how his mind works. But in his heart, of course he knew. He could see it in the name of Law's crew, in the design of his jolly roger, in some of the tattoos. In every word of their conversation so far, now that they've been reunited after far too long, and in Law's stories of life and revenge. That's all love, isn't it? But the words themselves make it suddenly brighter and clearer in his mind.]
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But he couldn't stop thinking about how the words had meant so much to him, even though of course he knew as well. After everything Rosinante had done for him. And how he'd never said them back. And how he'd never get the chance to say it to his parents or Lamy again.]
And don't forget it. I don't like having to repeat myself.
[Muffled, the tsundere comes back out.]
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[He'll just take this one moment and hold onto it forever. It isn't something he's heard much in his life, in truth - not with his parents long gone. Sengoku told him from time to time, but that feels different, too. It's Law who he's cared for, who he protected with his life. Their bond isn't something he'll likely ever experience with another person.
Once again, he eventually forces himself to give Law room to breathe, and anyway now he really has to blot his stupid wet eyes and cheeks on his sleeve again. He's grinning still though, giddy. It feels good to be loved.]
I'll say it all you like to make up for it, too! I love you, Law. You don't have to say anything at all.
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Y-you don't have to do that! That's-
[YOU'RE EMBARRASSING ME]
Even if the world government, my bounty and my crew aren't here, I still have a reputation to maintain, you know?
[Why though?]
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The stupid grin turns gentle as he squeezes one of Law's shoulders.]
I won't say it in front of them. You're free to be who you want to be. Even I don't tell them much about myself, either. It's a relief, right? A fresh start, to make whatever impression you want to make here.
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There's only so much of a different impression I can really make, but I'm fine with that.
[In any case, he leans back a little to look up with a hint of a smirk.]
So do they not know you're a marine, a pirate, or both?
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[He laughs a little. In retrospect, it really is kind of funny. They're all so good and welcoming and accepting, as a whole - but how was he to know that, when he's lived a life where hiding his personal details has always been a survival strategy?]
Anyway, it turns out a lot of them have military backgrounds, or don't mind that I do, so to them I'm a Marine. Sam knows I've worked against the black market trade in drugs and slaves, though I didn't give him details. The Doctor, the older-looking one, he's worked out that I know a few things about working undercover. To the rest, I'm just your average soldier at sea with a gun.
[It's a safe enough story to have settled on. Safer than actually stating he's trained in espionage, that he has worked for years as a spy, and definitely safer than telling any of them that if he had lived, he would be none of that, and instead a thief and a traitor to his government.]
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[Being a spy is different than being a pirate, and while people attaching meanings to Law being a pirate can only serve to uphold the image he wants to maintain, espionage could make people generally distrustful of Rosinante. Anyway;]
Does this doctor not have a name?
[Oh boy.]
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