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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—
part 2
All of this, accomplished without Plants. It humbles and awes him regularly; what if this is how things could be in their world, someday? The SEEDS fleet could land somewhere better, safer -- a lush, vibrant planet like Nuhiri with no shortage of fresh water and plenty to eat.
(He and Rem and Nai could be a family again)It's why he's here, ultimately. A better life for every person on that planet and every person who never lived to see it in the first place. Including the one in front of him, apparently. Vash isn't surprised to see Wolfwood, when he opens the door to the room that he uses frankly more than his own quarters -- in the short time he's known him, Vash suspects that this man might have more regrets than any he's ever known in all his decades of wandering.
He comes to settle beside the younger man, and chuckles at his grumbling once he comes close enough to hear.]
It's a good thing, isn't it? That they don't know.
[Vash could not wish a true understanding of their circumstances on anyone, not really. Even so, it's ... nice, to have someone who can admire the miracle of technology they've been granted here and understand what it means for something like it to exist at all, "real" or not, without having to say anything at all. Like the release of a pressure valve he hadn't realized had been sealed so tight until this very moment.]
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it's so different from the rocky cliffs of Hopeland, the sandy desert that surrounded the steel-wrought buildings made out of old technology and crashed spaceships from a long forgotten age. And air that wasn't so much air but a very slow, long choking.
his own wish wasn't as sentimental or valuable as Vash's. It was simple, dirty--maybe even disgraceful. The want to go back and make sure Livio doesn't suffer the same way he suffered. To have been quicker to accept the stupid will of the Eye of Michael, if only to save the soft-eyed boy from a life where his freedom was stolen from him.
Wolfwood doesn't bother rolling over to face Vash when he feels the Humanoid Typhoon settle next to him. Staying rolled and curled in the grass with his arms tucked along the back of his neck, sunglasses obscuring his eyes as he responds to the blonde with a low tch in the back of his throat ]
Who knows. People who grow up with a silver goddamn spoon between their teeth don't know how to appreciate anything. They act like the most minor inconveniences are the end of the goddamn world.
Pisses me off.
[ he needs a cigarette. ]
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For anyone used to it, he can imagine how painful it would be to suddenly find oneself deprived. They are as starving men who've tasted their first crumbs in untold ages, but being used to the hunger pains does not ease them in those for whom it is fresh.
He doesn't say any of that. Instead, he smiles that smile of his that's just a little too old for his face, the one that's more knowing than it has any right to be.]
I don't know, Wolfwood. I think it would piss you off more for them to suffer any more than can be possibly avoided.
[Like. He has eyes? He's not sure who Wolfwood thinks he's fooling but it is sure not him!! ]
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it makes him bitter as the cigarettes he's usually grinding between his teeth, even if he knows deep down that it's somewhat petty and deeply childish of him. he doesn't care.
...or, at least, he's putting on a good show that he doesn't care.
and see, this is WHY his back is turned to Vash. He doesn't want to see that smile that somehow threatens to break down his defenses, that crinkle to the corners of his eyes that was so genuine in a way that Wolfwood has never been able to smile.
Vash can't make his judgements if he can't see his face!!!! ]
Ain't my business if they're suffering or not. Everyone's gotta keep a hold on their own shit, it's why we're all here, ain't it.
Trying to fulfill some selfish wish?
Least they can do is slow down and enjoy that they have anything at all.
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He could argue further about the crew, the kindness he's seen in them, the man he met who enthusiastically embraced his inhumanity when he was forced to reveal it to protect him. Yet he knows none of it would really mean anything to Wolfwood, a man whose deep wounds fester on the surface while concealing the turmoil below.
Instead, he can't help another little chuckle.]
Are all priests this bad at taking their own advice?
[face him you big dramatic baby.]
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Just like how he's always getting into trouble because of YOUR Jumpy ass, spikey. Sometimes you just gotta take a road you would really rather not, even if that means people get the wrong idea about you.
He's the punisher, dammit.
And he IS going to suddenly sit up to give Vash another glare, his lips curled down in a frown as he turns to look at him. ]
I ain't a priest, I'm an undertaker. I told you that already, dumbass.
And before you sat your spikey ass down, I was enjoying myself. Lyin' in the... whatever this green shit is called.
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Were you?
[You seemed kinda disgruntled there, buddy. A significant beat, then:]
Grass.
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I said I was, ain't that good enough?? What, did you want me to roll around in it like some kid or something before you believe it? 'cause I ain't gonna' act like an idiot.
[ ....
Grass.
He's gonna glance down at it again--and pluck up a blade of it.
And put it in his mouth. ]
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There is a stretch of silence in which Vash's eyes widen, as he realizes what Wolfwood is about to do, and he stares a good couple seconds longer, before he can't resist starting to laugh. It's not one of his polite, sheepish laughs that he often uses to deescalate situations or for self-deprecation, either. It's a full-throated belly laugh. He just -- he can't help it. That defensive declaration, coupled with the grass in his mouth (the childhood image flashes back in his mind, of asking Rem if he could eat the geranium she'd showed them) along with the fact that none of this is more than an illusion in the first place, it's just all too funny.]
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just -- you --
[wheeze. maybe he shouldn't tell him, actually, if he doesn't realize. it'd be a little too mean.]
Maybe we should get some real food?
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Because clearly it smells nice, and there are other people lying on it--so it can't be poisonous. And he's eaten worse things in his life, so. As he sits here, chewing on that blade of... kind'a gross tasting 'grass', contemplating it as ... Vash loses his goddamn mind laughing.
Okay, maybe it's. Just a little bit infectious, because by the time Vash speaks, Wolfwood might be smirking. Just a little bit.
He's not even gonna spit the piece of chewed grass out. It goes down his throat, and he keeps staring at vash like HE's the weird one here. ]
Don't fucking kick it in a way I can't save you from, idiot. Breathe. In and out, ya remember how to do that, yeah?
[ ...yeah, maybe he will get up. His mouth tastes weird, now. ]
I ain't got any money. You gonna' treat me to some grub, then? You at least owe me.
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There's a twinkle of mischief in that omnipresent smile as the laughs taper off and he straightens up.]
Oh, that's right. There was that massive bill you charged me before. But if this would count us as even, I'd be happy to pick up the tab.
[There is no tab. But Wolfwood doesn't need to know that juuuust yet.]
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There's no WAY some amount of grub is gonna' cover that entire bill, what the hell kind of meal are you going to treat me to, needle-noggin??
[ because 20,000$$ is a lot of fucking money so this best be like, food made out of fucking gold
he can SEE that mischief in vash's face, but ignorant as wolfwood is about a LOT of things that aren't his very closed set of experiences in his short, controlled life, for all he knows some sort of fancy dinner in a land far far away IS worth 20k$$.
What the hell has he gotten himself into.
Getting orbs to fix his regret with Livio was gonna be one thing, but was food gonna be an issue too?! ]
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[Still messing with him, of course, but his word choice is intentional. There's enough for all of them, here. Of all people, they'd know how much that means.]
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[ he's getting up, albeit a little lazily. ...It feels weird to not immediately have to turn around to grab his cross punisher. The thing was too large to have gotten as a personal item, apparently, and it's been pissing him off. It's like he's half missing. ]
Come on then, lead the way, Blondie.
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Trust me. It's worth it.
[There's some more of that Trademark Vash the Stampede Sincerity™ But Vash will indeed lead the way out of the sunlight room and into the southeastern wing, which holds the mess hall, kitchen, and food storage.
There is not, however, a single menu, register, nor apparent employee in sight. Vash opens up one of the stocked fridges with a grin that holds that same mischief from earlier and teases gently:]
One cheese sandwich, coming right up.
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Vash made the mistake of making himself a target of his unbridled ire.
Hands in his pockets, he will follow the humanoid typhoon, though. once arriving to the mess hall, though, he DOES have to look around in mute confusion.
usually when you go to a restaurant, there are employees or at least a cook. ...huh. ]
...
Seriously, you just have free reign of the kitchens here, wait.
What's stopping me from just. Eating that entire box of apples down there.
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[🙃]
Except the stomachache later, maybe?
[Though Vash has a sneaking suspicion Wolfwood might just consider that worth it, at least once.]
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I'm way stronger than you think I am, needle-noggin'. Just because you got that freaky plant shit goin' on...
[ he's gonna dig an elbow into vash's side. move, move. he's grabbing some apples. what else is in the fridge...
starving desert brat is taking this over.
...
he doesn't know what most of these foods are. ]
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Getting sick from overeating is something I'd have to worry about too, you know.
[But who knows, maybe the man's stomach is subject to the same remarkable recovery as the rest of him. Just don't say he didn't warn you if you go overboard and end up spending an evening making friends with the toilet, sir.]
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[ pot meet kettle and all that. he's never actually used his vials to treat something like a stomach ache before--usually he reserves those for when he's got enough holes riddled into him to qualify as some sort of woodwind instrument.
That isn't stopping him from grabbing a whole tomato out of the fridge and biting into it like you would an apple.
He's staring at it like it betrayed him, but. He's going to eat it anyway. ]
Just assumed you'd be fine if you went two weeks without proper food.
Shit you don't usually gotta' worry about.
What with that hunger strike you went on not too long ago.
cw disordered eating; also rip i had to switch to phone tags ...
—Ah, he’s been silent a beat too long.]
Ahaha, I’m certainly not as invulnerable as all that.
[He has nothing to say for himself on the disordered eating, frankly. It’s been a stress reaction in him since childhood, one thing he could control when everything else felt too far out of his grasp. If he doesn’t admit he did need food that entire time and was depriving himself intentionally, it isn’t real.]
cw disordered eating; phone tags are ok i do those too
the only difference is, is that while one acts like a god, walking barefoot through the desert like adam from the fucking bible
vash leads a simpler, more down-to-earth lifestyle because he loves humans WAY too much. way more than one person should, given the stories he's heard about the guy. millions knives is untouchable, and vash the stampede has never been caught due to his huge bounty.
that's why his mission was babysitting and not outright fighting the man. what chance did he stand against monsters like the twin 'angels'?]
I ain't too sure about that, Spikey.
Come on, I ain't the only one who's gonna have lunch here.
If ya ain't gonna' make me a cheese sandwich, then just help be bring stuff out to eat.
You're helping eat it, too.
Scrawny ass.
oh gosh somehow i never finished this tag?? aaa
Vash the Stampede chose to be more human than not, in the final analysis. ...Which, sometimes, means he chooses to be a little shit.]
Scrawny, is it? Maybe I should be the one taking care of that box of apples, then.