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MAY TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 1
So what do you say? What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence?
These words ring in your ears when you wake with a gasp — perhaps the last thing you remember after hearing them is the sense of free-fall, or your throat constricting as tears threaten to fill your eyes. Whatever it is, you can’t shake the feel of dread — that whatever you’ve done in your dream has changed everything forever.
As the sense of dread 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 not alone. Perhaps the other occupants of the room are still sleeping, only to wake up with their heart pounding… or perhaps they have been awake for longer, a spectator to everyone else’s dreaming.
What you do is entirely up to you: try and wake the others from their dream? Yell in surprise when you wake to someone staring at you? Or maybe you’ll try to sneak away before anyone else wakes...
After all, nothing binds the characters to the room they wake up in. If you find your bed comfortable, you may claim it as yours, or try to change rooms. However, there are only eight one-person rooms — so those who want solitude may have to fight for it.
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.
In fact, if you’re very badly off, you may want to hope for some company — you can’t stay in the infirmary forever, 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.
Suddenly, the soft hum of the station is replaced by loud static, like an old radio being turned on. Wherever you are on the station, it’s impossible to miss it — or the clear voice that follows.
With that, the speakers go silent — though if characters follow Viveca’s instructions, the earpiece will provide them with a chance to speak to her again.
True to her word, there is a lot to do and see on the station. When characters leave their rooms, they have the chance to explore all of the Southeastern and Southwestern Wings, and the Center of the station.
3.0 In the armory, characters can try to work the machine to make themselves some weapons to perhaps replace ones that didn’t come with them to the station, or to simply be prepared for future missions... but there aren’t many materials available, so the more the weapon requires, the more chance there is of the end result being less than satisfactory. A gun whose barrel is made out of recycled rings, a sword that’s just the blade and no handle, a knife made out of cheap aluminium — well, it’s better than nothing, right?
4.0 Eventually, when characters get hungry and want to eat, the kitchen and mess hall are ready for them… mostly. What food there is on the station seems to have been stocked for long-term storage: canned foods, dried meat and fruit, dried herbs and seasoning, condiments, some rather musty root vegetables and cartons of chicken stock. It’s certainly not impossible to make good dishes out of those, but it may require some skill.
5.0 The lab provides an interesting space for those who enjoy tinkering and technology — though the parts available are all in large boxes with no apparent method to their sorting. It may very well be that what you need for a hoverboard or a robot dog are in the boxes — it’s just a matter of finding it!
6.0 Meanwhile, those who want to train (or perhaps let off some steam by sparring with others) find the training room suitable for their needs. On top of the entire room existing for the express purpose of training, whether it’s martial arts, weapon skills or magic, anyone entering the room will see a message pop up on their network:
Complete these tasks for a boon:
a. Teach someone a new move or skill
b. Win a sparring match against someone
c. Learn to fight with a new weapon, style or skill
Should you take up this challenge, any time you complete any of the three, you’ll see that one turn light green — a mark of completion. Once all three are completed, you’ll see a new message:
Congratulations! You are now eligible for one (1) boon. Please check in later for submissions.
But when is later? What submissions? Even if you try to ask, no answer comes… all you can do is hope that you haven’t done all that work in vain.
7.0 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: characters will hear birds singing, feel a light breeze on their skin, as they walk through a grass field, a meadow and a small forest. In the middle of the room, a small brook runs the width of the room, and to cross it one must walk over a bridge — wooden, creaky, yet undeniably charming.
There are other things to do, of course… but the only room that requires a mandatory visit from everyone is the simulation room...
For those eager to get started, it might be best to do a little practice run first, huh? When you’ve successfully entered the simulation, you will immediately be provided with a supply satchel containing the following: a grapple hook, a long cord of rope, a flashlight, and a couple of snack bars (these will not actually feed you IRL). And your mission, if you choose to accept it (and you must, right? Otherwise what else are you doing here?) is as such:
There’s an orb buried deep in the Lodgen Mountain Mines — a series of winding underground tunnels long since abandoned now that any and all useful resources had been picked clean — and it’s causing a little bit of a problem down there, but the good news is that it’s yours to claim so long as you can get in and get out. You see, there’s been a cave-in and the culprit is the orb itself. Extracting this valuable object might take a little bit of doing, and if that’s not complicated enough, the orb’s presence appears to be the cause for the mines being in their current state of fragility.
Still: you’re resourceful, and more than that, you’re determined, and you can enter the mines in the following ways: going in from the top and climbing down through the mine shaft; going in from beneath the rubble where a narrow but perfectly safe-ish tunnel opening leads back into the mountain; finding an entry point from the mountain’s side by way of a refreshing dive into the lake that neighbours the mines.
8.0 If you decide to climb into the mine through the mine shaft, there’s a risk of the rocks you’re using as hand and footholds to crumble, or for the rocks to give way against your weight.
9.0 If you decide to go in through the tunnel, be careful you don’t take the wrong prong in the fork of paths. One will get you closer to the orb, but the other might lead you into the darkness where the first thing you’ll notice are several beady little specks of light reflecting off the beam of your flashlight, accompanied by the sharp chittering of large monster rats who haven’t had a decent meal in who-knows-how-long, and are eager to befriend you. It’s probably a good time for that weapon you have on you, or if that’s not an option, maybe there’s something you can MacGuyver from your supply bag?
10.0 Swimming is always an option, but like all unknown waters there’s the risk that you’re not alone, and we don’t just mean your fellow teammate swimming somewhere close by. (Though you might want to continue onwards together, Buddy System Style and all.) There are beautiful, haunting creatures that live in the depths who have the ability to draw their prey towards them through song — Sirens, some might call them. They call to you now, and oh boy, don’t you want to dive deeper? See what secrets they hold? Now would be a good time for your swimming partner to pull you back to your senses or be lost to the waters.
But okay! You’ve made it. Don’t forget that the mines are still in a very fragile state, so it’s best to tread carefully and avoid making sounds that could agitate the delicate infrastructure and risk the whole mission — and your simulated life. This is on you. This is about you.
Or is it?
When you’ve neared the location of the orb, you’ll find that it’s mostly quiet and you’re on your own, except … if you stand still for long enough, you can hear muffled cries for help behind a large wall of rock right by you, sounds that are clearly distressed and panicked. But before you can make any kind of snap decision, there’s a tiny blip of static in your earpiece and a matter-of-fact voice will state that you should probably get going — there’s an orb to recover and you’re nearly there. Anything else you attempt to do is outside of your mission, and time is ticking. Will you listen to the voice or will you try and save the trapped? You might be successful, but time is running against you and the longer you stall the more unstable the mines become.
● ● ●
N O T E: During each mission, characters will be given one personal goal to complete. For the purposes of the test drive, we’re offering three goals to choose from and leaving it to players to pick one for their character and run with it:
A Choose the most difficult or challenging path into the mountain.
B Help a teammate during the mission.
C Retrieve the orb at all costs, leaving any possible trapped individuals to fend for themselves.
F Y I
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are currently open to those with invites. They will be open for everyone May 26.
• Apps open for those with invites May 26. They will open for everyone May 29.
• For any questions regarding TDM, please direct them here. For questions about the game, please refer to the FAQ.
ptsd prisonerwife in the house
there's little reason to believe he'll spare her his tight leash on her power, here, and the jut of bone carved into his palm confirms that fear as she eyes it from the corner of her vision. confirms, above all else, that he recalls capturing the stag — at the very least. she goes still for the brush of his fingers through her hair, waiting for him to unearth the prickly antlers that rest beneath black cloth, for any sign that he's caught on; when it doesn't come, her upturned grin comes far more easily to her. ]
You're right. I don't think their medical care covers being scalped.
[ it hadn't covered plucking the amplifier from her skin, try as they had. she conveniently keeps that information to herself as she lifts the ball of cabbage to ... eye it. allowing them around the stoves wasn't in ana kuya's agenda. ]
Your mother? [ play as dumb as you can, alina. she huffs out a breath that nearly passes for a laugh. ] And here I thought you were hatched from an egg.
[ he shouldn't trust her to shred the cabbage. alina is too content to grip her fingers around the hilt of a kitchen knife, feeling far more protected with its slim weight in her hand, and make her first slice through the cabbage leaves. ]
They would make it in Keramzin, sometimes. Soup is easier when you have too many mouths to feed, and not enough patience or money to feed them.
[ for as much as she hates sharing any part of herself with him in the aftermath of what he's done, it feels necessary. pointless, casual chatter to deter him. ]
thats all just detail the wife bit is the only important part
alina is many things, but not cruel. there has to be an angle he hasn't thought of yet. )
My mother, yes. You've met her. ( humorlessly, his mouth turns up in a wry smile. ) You might remember her cane a bit more fondly. Or not.
( is it possible she just — doesn't remember? his attention turns back to her at the mention of keramzin, eyeing her from head to toe as if there's a secret meaning behind her every word just waiting to be uncovered. deep in thought, he nods, spilling more spices into the broth as he sorts himself out.
ultimately, he decides he won't be hostile first. he never wanted to hurt alina. not the way she'd hurt him. )
I find it comforting, soup. It tastes like childhood. Luckily, we do have many mouths to feed. ( he huffs a small laugh when alina makes her first chop, shaking his head. ) Though — none that big. Shred, Ms. Starkov. Here.
( leaning away from the pot, he comes up behind her, hands finding hers as his intends to show her how to hold the knife, how to cut the cabbage into ribbons. )
o yes of course my bad
and her unrelenting dread over what became of his mother. surely punishing her for her aid was not beyond aleksander, but digging for that information feels like climbing a rickety ladder — precarious, requiring more grace than alina knows she has. ] Well, that fits with my theory about being hatched from some kind of creature.
[ like childhood. she covers a snort. aleksander hardly seems the type for sentimentality, when she's learned the difficult way that everyone is just a tool at his disposal. it's almost easier to imagine him birthed from the shadows, a man half-formed already, than to consider that he had once existed before the black heretic was conceived.
easier to imagine a monster than a child who had grown into cruelty, something human beneath it. she won't fall for that luring bait this time, or the horns that seem to blare in her head like a warning the nearer he comes. an orbiting pull that had felt so natural, once — but feels so tainted by what she knows, now. ever the apt pupil, she straightens as he finally settles behind her. ]
That's a bold choice, coming up behind me when I'm holding a knife. I don't trust myself not to cut both of our fingers off. [ she mumbles, hoping the rabbit-hearted thump of her pulse doesn't vibrate through her spine. fear. anticipation, as her gaze darts to the circular slice of antler. something more shameful that she doesn't want to name, sickening her with a new burst of nausea. she shoves it aside in favor of a fantasy of plunging the knife through his palm, an impulse she has to temper down. for all of the fights she had engaged in at the orphanage, she's learned how to pick her battles.
and she's chosen this one, but not yet. not here. it requires patience she's not sure she can afford to have. slowly, as if taunting her, the tip of the knife shreds the pieces in front of her into small, thin portions with his help. ] I take it you were saddled with bunkmates, too?
thank u
he already knows alina's opinions on that. far too late to take any of it back, but this dance they play at isn't unpleasant. taller than her by several inches, he peers down while they cut together, seeing the illusion of her prongs detailed there on her hidden collarbone. a momentary confusion he's now had cleared up — doubtless, she knows his plan, his intent for her. she forced his hand. he has the evidence of that melded into his hand, a connection drawn between them.
not that he'll use it not. this is nice, and using her power would only upset her — it's a chance to show her he only wants it for the fold, too. some level of trust has to be involved in that, right?
he drops his mouth close to her ear, ) Then we'd have matching scars.
( an alina, a new amplifier. it's all he manages before he pulls away, deciding her knife skills are well on their way to being perfectly subpar, and telling himself he can just go over her chop after if he needs to. if she doesn't attempt to kill him before then. if soup is still the priority. )
Ah, yes. It's been a long time since I've been in communal bunking. ( even in times of war, the grand general has always had his own tent. anyone who ever claimed it luxurious, likely never saw the inside. ) Have yours been treating you well?
no subject
a cold shudder dances along her spine as though his whisper has grown spider-legs, creeping and crawling.
she had underestimated just how terrible this would be — playing polite when she wants nothing more than to be free of him. her blade pierces the leafy greens in front of her a little harder, diced into chunks. he must know. there's no other reason to whisper poison into her ear, unless he's searching for her violent reaction.
if not for mal's life hanging in the balance, dependent on her cooperation, she would oblige him. she eyes the returning scar on her palm instead — tailored away by genya for days, the pink lines beginning to bleed back through the illusion — and absently traces her fingers over its half-circle. ]
One matching scar with Mal is more than enough.
[ if this is the only way she can provoke him without bringing consequences down on mal's head, so be it. sometimes improvisation is necessary, when it involves defending yourself — whether it's with letter openers or words. she gathers the shredded cabbage in her hands, wandering over to dump it unceremoniously into his stew. ]
I suppose a general never had any need for bunkmates. [ not as they had in the first army, packed together in cramped, chilled tents. ] You must miss the luxuries of the Second Army.
[ like having the second army. a reminder, that he has as few allies as she does here. casual, she lifts her shoulder into a shrug, as though shedding his question. giving the impression she's close to anyone here, that they might help her escape him, would only place a target on their heads. ]
[ dryly: ] They didn't throw me out of my bed or steal any of my things. That's better treatment than most places might give me.