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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
But at the same time the image warms her heart a little. Whatever regrets she has, she doesn't regret saving her best friend's life, or making sure his family still had their father.]
Nathaniel must be getting big. They grow fast at that age.
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So big. He's- [Clint puts a hand out, estimating about how tall now.] Gonna grow like a beanstalk like his brother. Still manages to disappear out from everyone's noses and give us all a heart attack. And his favorite sign is to ask for cookies. At least he's polite about it, cuz he knows mama teaches manners in this house.
We've, um. Tried to figure out a way to explain things. [He waggles his hand.] Not exactly something they teach in parenting books, especially when the concept of time mostly revolves around when it's light and dark out, meal times, and when he's allowed to watch Paw Patrol.
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I'm sure you can explain it more clearly, in less Saturday morning cartoon related terms. He'll get it eventually. No need to rush.
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Hell, I can barely wrap my head around it sometimes. I'm sorry I gave you guys hell. I know I was on your radar for all the shit I was pulling around the world.
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[Was it really as simple as that? Natasha didn't think either of them believed it. But it was something else that nagged her. Maybe she hadn't wanted to face him until she had something to offer.]
That it happened in the first place.
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[But also: she found him anyway, when she needed to the most. So they know this is also not as simple as it's stated. She could've found him anytime. He moved when he needed, to keep ahead of his own demons, but that wouldn't have stopped her.
He wasn't surprised when she found him, after all.]
I'm sorry I was too damn...everything that I was to stay and try and do things the right way.
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[She breaks off, her jaw shifting and working as she finds herself struggling with what to say, just how to say it.
A lot had gone unsaid between them.]
If we keep up like this, we'll be apologizing all night. Probably safe to say the last few years were... they were pretty shitty. And we both messed up in some ways we can't take back.
But we're here, right? That's time we wouldn't have gotten otherwise.
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[Since obviously Vormir wasn't his choice. It was very specifically not his choice.]
We're here. We can do some good. Maybe fix a few things along the way. ...Do you think maybe you can come home, after?
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Natasha doesn't regret saving her best friend's life. She's sad it took dying herself to do it, but that's not the same.]
I wouldn't get your hopes up. I think... unless someone makes a bargain with the orbs for it, then when I go back it's to the same place I came from.
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[It makes her look radiant.]
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[She's the furthest thing from in her mind. That's a word that should be reserved for people with more moral clarity.
But she is stubborn.]
But it's not worth the price.
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[Natasha shakes her head.]
Do you think I haven't considered it? That's not even the worst case scenario.
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[He won't. Probably. Probably. There are things he regrets about the Ronin, but he's not always convinced it was the wrong thing to do. Maya was hurt, yes, but she also didn't know what her family had gotten involved in. How many people had he helped by taking out the worst of the worst, in droves if need be? He could change it. He could bring Natasha home where she belongs.
And damn whatever happens to himself in the process.]
It's not the same without you around.
no subject
[She gives him a quick warning glance.]
You already came here for a reason.
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I won't change it. I know better than that. But I also know all the lost time we make up for here...it won't be enough.
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[She cuts herself off, doing what she can to mediate the feelings he drags out of her. Things she's spent the last months doing everything she could to keep from spilling over. Briefly, she'll squeeze his hand, then she pushes the bottle of vodka back into it and gently tries to extricate herself.]
Quit acting like I'm some kind of a saint, Clint. We both know it's not true. I'm not some kind of... moral compass. I'm the same person as before.
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[And he cuts himself off, trying to reorient himself. Takes a drink. Fuck.] Might as well talk things out now instead of burying it all and acting like it didn't happen.
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I don't know what you want me to say.
[He has the right to last out, and the words hit their target, aching in Natasha's chest. The pain doesn't make it any easier to listen though, or to talk about it.]
I hate that it happened the way it did, I really do, and I can't blame you for being mad about it. I'd be mad too.
But talking won't change anything.
no subject
[Hm. No. That's a lie, isn't it? He isn't, not really, but also, there's a part of him that is. That she was so determined to take that choice away from him. But then again, he hadn't been any better. It's no one's fault. It's the stupid fucking space rock's fault. It's Thanos's fault. He's not mad, just...frustrated, in this instance.]
I'm not mad about it. I'm upset, and even though having my family back means more than the whole rest of the universe combined, I'm always gonna be upset. Okay? You should be there. You should be home. And when we're done, me and Yelena and Sam, we're gonna go back and you're gonna be gone again. It isn't fair to make us lose you again.
The world might move on, and we all might move on and eventually get somewhere that feels like it's adjacent to okay. That's how it should be. But getting to okay kinda means talking about it at least a little.
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[Safe to say it's been a persistent theme. Too much unfair, too much out of their control. The moment things feel comfortable, something turns them upside down again.]
You'll go home, and you'll be okay. Yelena, and Sam, and all of you. You'll be okay.
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Fine. [Not fine. They're both stubborn, and he's going to come back around to this.] Fine, we're good, we're done, it's done, we don't have to talk about it. What do you want to talk about, then?
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[Natasha sighs, very tired and suddenly feeling very old. Older than it seems like she has any right too, as though there's too much life crammed into too little time.
It's petty, but there's something about this that feels deeply unfair to her, a weird little complaint that comes up now and again. She is supposed to be dead. And the dead aren't supposed to have to deal with the consequences. She's not supposed to have to look her best friend in the eyes after she died for him, or to examine what her own death meant to her. All of this was supposed to have been someone else's problem.]
Come here. Please. [Motioning him a little closer on the bed.]
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So while there is a quietly petulant part of him that wants to refuse, it's easy to silence. She says come, says please, and he's there again, leaning into her space, an arm around her. Holding on.]
Can I at least sometimes sing your praises? At inconvenient times with other people around to embarrass you?
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She's real. She's not going anywhere.
When she answers, it's lighter but very honest.]
I'd really rather you didn't, but I don't suppose I can stop you.