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SPRING TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 8
The words ring in your ears as in the darkness of your dream, a teal glow pulses, slowly enveloping you. It is not a feeling of comfort that surrounds you, though — as a distorted voice whispers in your ear, you feel it: cold dread, and a sudden certainty that everything is about to be irrevocably changed.
It is to this daunting realization that you wake, and as 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 a few days 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.
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.
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.
With an illusion so authentic it may leave you longing for some hot chocolate, 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 As you wander back towards the common areas, you may notice a room off to the side. The room takes up a chunk of the common area, and on its unassuming door is a little plaque that reads, 'The Ximusic room'. Should you enter, you will find a sound-proofed practice room that contains — yes, you guessed it, band equipment that even the most musically inclined should be satisfied with. So pick up an instrument, saunter up to the microphone to belt out your favourite tunes, or take a seat at the side of the room and enjoy others' playing.
8.0 If it’s items you’re lacking, though, some time after your arrival, the earpiece alerts you to a new message.
As you make your way to the platform, you'll see there is nothing amiss in the neat piles of items 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!
(CW: POTENTIAL BODY MODIFICATION)
Whether you’re a quick study and you’ve become settled into life on the station, or you want to get the full lay of the land (in a manner of speaking) first, if you decide to explore the hall past the control room, you’ll eventually come across the simulation room.
Step past the threshold and the doors will slide shut with a quiet woosh. Nothing suspicious; nothing to worry about. But before you can really get a sense of your environment (a grey, large-ish empty room, no furniture, no discernable objects to provide markers), the room goes dark, and then … there’s really no other way to describe it: the room transforms.
You find yourself in a club. The music is upbeat, loud, but not too loud. Down a short flight of steps flanking the bar and seating is the open floor with more tables and booths bathed in a warm, dim glow of light, and at the very end of the room is a stage with its bright spotlight showcasing its performers — though, at the moment, the stage is empty.
9.0 When you take a step forward, you’ll feel a presence gently push at your chest or your shoulder — a tall and jovial man resembling a well-dressed bartender from the top up (the rest of him appears to move along wheels) approaches with a tall flute glass in hand. Its contents are sparkly and blue.
Will you proceed? Please respond ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.”
There’s something a little strange about his voice, a cadence that doesn’t sound quite natural even when the simulation is so realistic otherwise. Once you’ve given your consent, the bartender continues.
10.0 It seems the bartender wasn’t lying. Once you’ve allowed the drink (tasty, sweet-but-not-too-sweet, effervescent, with light notes of your fondest childhood memory) to settle in your stomach you might experience a myriad of effects on your body, ranging from a change in skin colour (pink? green? blue with spots?), an additional limb or two (or three), a tail or wings, or cybernetic parts such as lie-detecting eyes or a tongue that can uncover truths and lies in others. If you happen to find another Orber within the room and both of you have consumed the offered drink, you might find yourself experiencing a full bodyswap.
None of the changes are painful; if anything, they might not even be noticeable until you look into a mirror, look down at your limb-in-question, or your companion points it out.
11.0 The moment you approach the stage, a performer will appear as if out of thin air and begin to sing, her voice strong and smoky and melodic. Her enthralling performance could put you into a trance, but you have an orb to find and a personal task to accomplish, so it’s time to put your best foot forward and do a little investigating.
Talking to some of the patrons might prove fruitful as some of them are convinced that the stage has never sounded or looked so good, like there’s something giving performers that extra oomph that no one can explain. It might be wise to wait until that last performance before you sneak up there — or maybe you want to do a little snooping around now, you know, while everyone’s distracted. Strategize with your fellow Orbers and uncover the location of this hidden orb.
● ● ●
N O T E: The effects of the drink and the level of changes your character experiences is entirely up to you. Patrons of this fine club won’t bat an eye if you look a little like them.
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 Say the opposite of what you mean during the simulation.
B Create a scene with an unsuspecting teammate.
C Get up on stage and put on a performance during the simulation.
F Y I
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves open February 19!
• Apps open February 24.
• 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 about the upcoming mission—
no subject
All this he takes in over a couple of silent seconds. A deep breath to draw him back to himself... a breath out to straighten in his seat.
Alright. Time to flex his poorly-trained muscle for making friends. ]
Solitude, also known as (In My) Solitude, first recorded by Duke Ellington on January 10th 1934, second version's release reaching number 2 in the 1935 charts.
[ He twists, enough that he can look over at his unsolicited middle of the night company. ]
Not quite the same version, obviously.
[ His smile is mild, tinged with sleeplessness and the dim awareness that maybe that isn't the way you start a conversation - but trying, nonetheless, to not be actively standoffish. ]
no subject
[ Not that she would even know the difference, being unfamiliar with the song itself, so she wouldn’t be capable of identifying any places where he had either strayed from the melody or did something altogether different.
Music had not been among her pursuits learned when she was at Aretuza; there were others who had acquired knowledge of the lute, something to make them more appealing to the kings for whose realms they would serve, but she had poured her focus solely into her chaos, and that is where her true skill lies, along with her ability to navigate the politics of royal life, the self-sufficiency that would keep her from being chewed up and spit out by the more manipulative at court.
She finally steps into the room more fully, the hem of her dark dress a whisper across the floor, obsidian pendant notched above the hollow of her throat, and her steps light with her feet only clad in slippers. ] Didn’t care for the original?
no subject
[ He's doing his best with what he has.
By now he's turned on his stool, just halfway but enough to make it clear that his attention's shifted. He's not just waiting for her to leave.
There's something about her. It's more evident as the moments pass. It's not just relative youth or beauty, though he isn't blind - Not the gravitas those things can carry when weighted with confidence either, she hasn't presented herself as enough of a purposeful intrusion. And yet her presence remains heavier than a body in a room, more complex on a plane that extends beyond the senses most people have to probe with. A slight tilt of his head, like he's caught a sound or the hint of a scent. It isn't either.
There's an urge to look with an eye that would see—
He keeps it closed. That's not a first impression he wants to leave anyone with. Instead, a vague smile of welcome and the slight unconscious furrowing of his brow. ]
Trouble sleeping?
[ It's the obvious question given the circumstances, and maybe not one for strangers. But they're deep in the sleeping hours and everything is still, from the hallways to - finally - his thoughts. ]
no subject
[ She wouldn't consider herself to have an ear for music by any means, but spending any length of time in the company of an obnoxious bard over the years has given her more of an understanding of it whether she'd wanted the information or not. None of what's just been played sounds like anything she's ever heard before, which is part of what had prompted her to stay and listen to the remainder of it — but now she's here, speaking with someone who has no frame of reference for her at all, and that in and of itself is somewhat freeing.
That feeling lasts right up until the moment when he correctly identifies the reason for her even being up and about in the first place. ]
Do you always make a habit of reaching for the most obvious deduction?
[ She doesn't issue it with any real malice — in part given the hour, but she also doesn't have the energy for a hostile exchange. If anything, she's more amused by it, evidenced by the brief curving at the corners of her mouth and the manner in which she briefly tips her chin down in an effort to mask it. ]
no subject
[ An answering pinch of an almost-smile that he doesn't make the same effort to conceal.
Tonight finds him a strange breed of not-quite-melancholy: soothed by the music he shouldn't by rights have been able to play, and by the playing of it, but still ultimately sitting on a station in deep space, unable to sleep, trying to fix a mistake he hadn't realised he'd made until it was too late to make it right.
Company takes the edge off in the same way the music had. Fills quiet with something better. He leans into the opportunity, embracing even small talk as he lets her off the hook and instead asks - ]
Not a big jazz fan?
[ Summoning. It was an interesting choice of word, but a powerful evocation all the same. The calling forth of music. A sorcerer's terminology. Again he's reminded of that feeling he has, how she draws some other part of his focus like a lit window in a dark street.
Perhaps it's less that she hasn't had the interest to acquire a broad knowledge of key 20th century big band jazz composers (Stephen...) and more that she couldn't have even if she'd wanted to. ]
no subject
[ And that she does give voice to like a compliment — inasmuch as it can sound like one coming from her, almost offhanded rather than anything with clear intention. The mood in the room doesn't really lend itself to more than quiet observation, with neither of them mustering much beyond this simple exchange. From where she stands, though, Yen finds it mostly refreshing, speaking to a complete stranger who doesn't need to inquire about anything he can read in her face.
She shrugs, a brief rise of shoulders, in response to his question. ]
Music is different, in my world.
[ Which is partly an answer, she realizes, and partly not, but she isn't intent on ending the conversation there, moving further into the room until she's standing closer to the piano. ] You were using magic to play, though, weren't you?