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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
Ehhh?! Shrimp rice? Aww, you've gotta be kidding me....
[Nevermind, that was the last shelf and there is no ramen to be found. This place SUCKS. Defeated, Naruto hops down to the floor as he dispels the clone, spinning on his heels as he is about to go in search of someone who can find what he wants.
At least that was the plan, right up until the moment he turns to face the door and his eyes meet with a face he never thought he would see again, here, in Konoha, or anywhere.]
I-Itachi?!
[The shock is obvious in his voice as it raises by an octave, as well as the panic, because since when could someone who had already 'died' twice be up walking around in the kitchens?!
It isn't often that Naruto Uzumaki gets shocked into silence, but for a good 2-3 seconds all he can do is stand there, absolutely flabbergasted as his brain tries to catch up with what he's seeing, to try and figure out how this happened.
And then the questions start, one after another with hardly a breath between them as he takes a step closer, and then another..]
H-how come you're here? Did you wake up today too?? No wait- that bit doesn't even matter, how come you're here? Is this--? Is it--? Is this an Edo Tensei again? Who's controlling it? [If its a jutsu, that means other shinobi are here-] Did you see anyone? I haven't seen anyone-- oh, Sasuke's not here either if you're wondering-- Oi oi, this really isn't making any sense y'know?!
no subject
but more importantly than that revelation, perhaps, is the fact that naruto does not attack him. there is concern rather than hostility in his voice, and the easy way he speaks of sasuke when their last conversation had been so fraught —
the nara boy had known. it was why he had insisted on hearing the story in itachi's own words. he was verifying some information he already possessed against itachi's own experience.
(he would have done the same, but there's a moment of fleeting irritation at having been beaten at his own game.)
naruto steps towards him, and he does not move save to drop a knife into his concealed palm with the twist of one wrist. the movement is subtle and quick, and even as he does it he is not certain what it is for. perhaps it is only that he does not like the gaps in his knowledge and the reality of the thing. his mouth parts faintly, and in the moment that follows is the only time in his life he has ever not quite known what he would say until he is speaking. ）
This is not the afterlife, nor an Edo Tensei. No one else from our world is present. I am here for the same reason everyone — including yourself — and that is to settle a matter of regret.
（ he says nothing of sasuke. he already knows the boy survives to nineteen. it was the only answer he would not have permitted nara shikamaru to withhold. ）
You are speaking of events that occurred after my death. What happened?
（ ... it's more an order than a question. as one does. ）
no subject
Itachi asks his question and for a moment, a frown flashes across Naruto's features. What should he say? How much does Itachi remember? Naruto doesn't even know what point he's even referring to, and figures that before he starts to blab a bunch of nonsense about wars and aliens and the like, he should at least clarify that up first, right?]
Are you talking about your death, or like... [the other death? after the edo tensei?]
I mean-! I guess I should ask you what was the last thing you remember happening, and then I can fill you in from there? If you want to know- that is? Well- haha- you just asked, so of course you want to know, y'know?
[With a hesitant smile, a hand reaches up to fiddle with blond hair as he awaits an answer. Why does he feel nervous suddenly? Perhaps it is because even Naruto is not oblivious to the weight such words could carry. Telling someone how the rest of their life plays out?]
'wars and aliens and the like' @ kishimoto dm me your location i just wanna talk
the smile unsettles him. he cannot say strictly why. ）
The first.
（ his tone is unremarkable. death had held no horror for him. if anything, it was aspirational. even the idea of being held under the sway of edo tensei is not especially alarming to him, as much as the pageantry would annoy him. people use resources in war, and whether it was the nursemaid or some other shinobi, he cannot deny he would be a useful one. objectively speaking, one would want as many powerful pieces on the board as they could muster if they were to stoop to the use of a forbidden technique. ）
right? kishi where u at bruh
[So, that means the DEATH death, right? Naruto contemplates how best to answer- to just give a summary? The most important parts? No. If the roles were revered, he would want to know as much as possible. Well here goes nothing.. it should come as no surprise that Naruto's explanations are hardly technical, and the beginnings seem to focus a lot more on Sasuke than on himself, because that's simply the way he is, and what he was focused on for so long during that time. ]
Well then you remember fighting Sasuke, right? 'Cause after that, a lot of things happened. That masked Akatsuki guy- Obito- well he was calling himself Madara then.. [then. a plot point he will loop back to later.] well he told Sasuke the truth, about everything. About you, and Konoha. [and then all hell broke loose.]
And Sasuke was really pissed, well- worse than that. He wanted revenge because he felt like it was Konoha's fault, you know? And I think I get it, why he acted that way. But he started teaming up with the "Madara" guy.. they even attacked the Kage summit, and Sasuke killed Danzou who was gonna be the next Hokage..
[there's a little pause. the reason why should be obvious to itachi]
Anyway, that's when they decided to form a Shinobi Alliance, I guess? To fight "Madara", since he declared war so he could capture Octo-Pops and me. Which was bad enough, but then that Kabuto guy started using that jutsu.. y'know.. the Edo Tensai one.. and brought a bunch of really strong people back.
[Finally, he pauses to take a few breaths.]
You're following me so far, right?
[a beat.]
Oh, wait! I gotta tell you that everything turned out fine in the end! It's really not as bad as it sounds! Well- uh- actually it is, but everything's okay now you know! [cue that trademark Uzumaki grin. they won, Sasuke came back, it's really not quite as disastrous as he's making it sound so far...]
1/...2?
no i lied 2/3
told sasuke the truth about excuse the fuck out of him?
danzō as hokage?
naruto is very, very lucky he decided to segue into an assurance that everything worked out, because itachi just came about 🤌 fucking close to putting him into a genjutsu and (trying to) force him to spill his proverbial guts in a way that's less offensive to his rigidly regimented preference in mission reports.
who taught this child.
kakashi, he just wants to talk. ）
no subject
I see.
（ (dialup noises intensify directly @ sasuke killING DANZŌ ) ）
What happened then?
no subject
but itachi's not mad? right? so it's fine- he may as well play catch up with the rest of it.]
Well-uh.. I was training with Octo-pops for a while but when we found out the war was going on, we broke out! That's when we ended up running into you, and Nagato y'know? It was edo tensai, that snake Kabuto was using you guys and like, a whole lot of other people too, but since you're crazy smart, you broke out of it!
[oh yeah-- about that]
Oi.. Itachi. You're not gonna make me start hurling crows out again are you? 'Cause that was super gross y'know.
no subject
he's made peace with the knowledge that everything he had hoped to set in motion had failed long ago — but the confirmation would make him laugh if he were at all inclined to such a thing. instead, he simply reaches up and traces his fingers along the sharp bone of his cheek as if brushing away the errant fall of his bangs. amusement at his own tired folly can come later, in the staggering quiet of his own quarters, well away from one who should by all rights think him an enemy even now. nothing he's done has been so forgivable as that no matter what justification madara — no, obito — could have offered. does naruto even realize how many of his kindred spirits itachi and kisame hunted down together?
it was not so very long ago he reached into a boy's mind with the intent to break him. suddenly, naruto's lack of wariness is almost suffocating, and his gaze cuts away to study the shape of a pan someone left soaking in the stainless industrial sink. it is an act of will, that he does nothing cruel in that moment.
everything turned out fine in the end. he doesn't think that naruto has it within him to lie about something of that nature — though truthfully, what he doubts more is whether or not their ideas of fine are in alignment.
to the question about crows, he shakes his head. ）
I cannot use my summons here. You will find it is the same for you.
（ does he recognize that's maybe not the reassuring answer naruto might have been looking for?
probably.
but it's itachi, and there's a lot to process here. ）
Sit. I will prepare you something to eat.
（ spoilers: not ramen. ）
no subject
I tried summoning Grandpa Sage so he could take me back to Mount Myoboku, but it wasn't working. But I can make clones just fine...
[yes- he is visibly sulking at that. it was the perfect plan, had it worked. but then itachi is offering to get him food and his demeanor visibly shifts, eyes widening in surprise breaking out as he drops down into a nearby chair.]
Er- you're going to make food for me? Really?
[Itachi Uchiha, in the flesh, cooking him ramen (it is ramen--right??). who'd have thought...he can't help the way the corners of his mouth lift up into the beginnings of a smile.]
no subject
（ he's seen so many people come and go. kakashi, still, somehow, is a wound.
what is the boy's regret, he wonders? shinobi lives are a footpath of them, each flagstone a shrine to some lost cause, or battle, or loved one, or dream. similarly, he knows full well that naruto cares for sasuke enough for it to be about him in some regard, and there is a spark of selfishness, a moment where he weighs the odds of two people with like goals succeeding where one may not be enough.
but for a lonely boy he met once on a swing, there are other options that hold no less weight. it could very well be the yondaime and uzumaki kushina, whose deaths had been a matter of hushed debate in the makeshift uchiha quarters after the destruction of their compound. later — too clearly — he remembers holding his mother's hand as they peered into the nursery where naruto, newly born and stripped of his paternal name, had lain. itachi has a clear, curious image of shifting his attention from the baby whose significance he had not understood then to where his mother was suppressing a sob, the way her hand was knotted in the sling where sasuke had been sleeping peacefully against her chest.
naruto has no way of knowing how desperately uchiha mikoto had wanted to take him in. she had gone all the way to the sandaime, had scraped her knees on the tatami in obeisance asking. but the uchiha, shimura danzō had said from sarutobi hiruzen's right side, could not be permitted to control the nine-tails again.
(already, then, he was —)
conversely, the memories itachi has of namikaze minato are more amorphous than pleasant summer afternoons spent tucked in against his mother's side as she and kushina talked and laughed and loved one another so fiercely that the warm memory is haloed with that gentle affection. he remembers his father playing shogi with the yondaime, who used to ruffle itachi's hair on leaving. and that is more than naruto ever knew of them both. those moments, frozen in the memories of a dead man, out of reach.
naruto knew loss before love. perhaps that is why itachi turns away, a moment to marshal himself before he continues — ）
It will only be tonkatsu.
（ simple, easy fare. he is a utilitarian cook, nothing more. ）
no subject
[someone said that earlier, but naruto hadn't really believed it. he'd listened to the rundown of why they were here and what the goal was, but after that he decided to focus on finding someone he knew- someone he trusted- to explain everything for real.
besides, the subject of regrets was not an easy one. there was plenty in life that he 'regretted', people who were lost, people he never got to meet, not properly, things that were taken. but 'regretting' something should also carry a sense of responsibility and there were simply too many things he had no control over, no matter how much he wished for outcomes to be different.
naruto's first regret is one he had made known before, in the middle of the battlefield. it involved sasuke, of course, because everything always did. the regret that he never reached out on that day, or the day after, or the day after that...
but if he had, would things have been different. maybe sasuke would have stayed. but would it have been naruto that had changed? ahh- the very thought of it all makes his head hurt! it would be better to simply go home without trying to change a damn thing.
yet... if he leaves, he can't talk to itachi. he may be a former missing-nin, former akatsuki, but more than that he's simply the big brother of his best friend and the more that naruto heard about him after everything that happened, the more respect he held for the older uchiha and everything else aside, he doesn't want to waste this opportunity he's been given to get to know him a little better. he wishes sasuke was here to join them. ]
Tonkatsu... well it ain't ramen, but tonkatsu's pretty good too y'know! You even know how to cook that? You're pretty cool, Itachi~!
no subject
it isn't until he's plating the rice and pork on a bed of shredded cabbage that he speaks again, this time a segue into the other aspects of station life to which naruto will by needs become acclimated. ）
Viveca is the voice that would have spoken to you on your arrival via the communication device. She is one of two members of the prior crew that has remained to guide us here. She has known a life not unlike ours, and she can seem distant at first. She holds many things close to her chest. But she is perhaps the most deeply compassionate person I know, and she has sacrificed a great deal to assist us as she does. I trust her implicitly.
（ can naruto understand what it means, for itachi to speak of trust? his faith in viveca has been hard-won, but it is absolute. ）
Be kind to her.
（ viveca does not make plain her vulnerabilities. but she has them, nevertheless. ）
no subject
[the name does sound familiar. she must have been the one he was talking to before, or rather she was trying to pass on information yet was inundated with questions in its stead. but if itachi says to be nice to her, then he'll give her the benefit of the doubt.]
Y'know... I'm always nice to people unless they deserve it. [or they say something to him first, or they irritate him or-] But I get what you're saying, I'll be nice to her.
no subject
（ there is a difference. you can be one without being the other. you can be both, or neither. but it is not a nuance of linguistics he necessarily expects naruto to understand — not because he is unintelligent, but because he is less precise in his use of language. ）
There are others here as well I can recommend as allies. Some are better avoided.
（ he sends naruto a list via the earpiece, a small handful of people listed by name, their network username, a quick description of what they are like and what they can do and perhaps most importantly, the information that most first and last names are reversed to their understanding. ）