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SUMMER TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 9
The words ring in your ears as in the darkness of your dream, a chromatic 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: the sun hangs high overhead, bright and unyielding. Those who aren't so keen on the heat may be tempted to find shade under one of the many towering trees scattered about the lush green fields, or even take a dip in the room's crystalline pond.
With an illusion so authentic it may leave you longing for a nice glass of ice-cold lemonade, 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!
Eventually, you’ll find yourself at the doors of the the simulation room — it has been equipped with a new simulation to take you through possible mission-like scenarios so it’s best to prepare yourself and see what it has in store for you.
8.0 The doors slide shut behind you and the room goes dark. Small pinpricks of light will start to build on each other until you’re surrounded by grey skies overhead and grassy green lawns, a row of old stone columns lining your vision. It seems you’re in a courtyard of some kind, but that’s not all. Something tugs at the hem of your sleeve or nudges at your leg, a warm presence that feels comfortable and ultimately very familiar. They look up at you, or maybe they meet your eye-level, a creature that varies in size, shape, colour, and form depending on what reflects you best. This creature, known as a compalion is a physical manifestation of your spirit or soul and will stay by your side on this journey.
You can stay here and get to know your compalion, or you can take your new companion and explore the campus. Because, if you do move forward past the line of columns (a hallway it turns out), you’ll find that the small cluster of buildings forms an academic campus of some kind.
• Your compalion will shift into one form throughout this simulation and can be any creature that best mirrors your personality.
• They can be as small as a flea and as large as a small elephant; get creative!
• Whether they speak to you in your native tongue is entirely up to you (some speak, some don’t)
• Basically daemon rules apply.
9.0 While it might seem like fun to spend hours just exploring the old buildings with your compalion and any Orbers like you that you might bump into along the way, it’s important to remember that you have a goal to achieve: follow the clues and retrieve the orb. Your compalion might offer an idea or two for where to go, or it may just be voicing the thoughts in your head, but it’s not a bad thing to follow your heart (or your gut) as it were. You might find that the rooftops of the campus buildings are easily climbable to get a good vantage point of your location. (Just be careful not to slip and fall! The height from here is quite dangerous.) A clocktower stands proud in the distance among a cluster of other campus buildings, marking the time.
Inside, you might be led down dark stone halls and into a series of classrooms: including reading quarters, study rooms with old leather couches and warm carpets covering stone floors; lecture halls with stiff wooden seating and individual desks to match, a chalkboard with indiscernible scribbles half-wiped away; and a laboratory that deals with something a little less modern than you might be used to, or perhaps with its twisty vials and bubbling potions, it suits you perfectly. There is the large library filled from floor to ceiling with books beyond imagining.
If you look out from the tall arch-shaped window from a classroom, or if you’re outside and you tilt your head up to the sky, you might notice that the sky appears to be darkening further, growing heavy with what is inevitably an oncoming rainstorm. If you’re inside, it might be best to stay indoors; if you’re outside, perhaps it’s time to find some shelter. Or if you’re determined to find that orb outside, risk you and your compalion getting wet.
● ● ●
N O T E: 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 Team up with another Orber and their compalion to find the orb's location.
B Climb into the clocktower and ring the bell.
C Explain your best theory regarding your compalion’s manifestation to a fellow team member.
F Y I
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are now open!
• Apps open June 25.
• 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—
shinn asuka / gundam seed destiny / ota / launching~
armory
[ Anyone passing by the Armory will see a pale, dark-haired teenager in a red uniform at the control panel, brows knitted and frowning as he contemplates how to phrase a request. At a workstation near him are a sheathed knife, a handgun, a few boxes of ammo, and … a colorful collection of a half-dozen robots scaled down to the Armory’s size limits. Up close, the little robots are weird for toys—they’re hyper-detailed, and even look and feel like real metal and rubber. And there’s a definite progression in detail levels that suggests the kid at the controls has been refining the requests, but his scowl suggests he’s still not happy with the results. (What is this, a Gundam for ants?) After a moment, he punches in an updated request: Make it piece by piece. And several flat sheets of parts drop onto the pedestal. ]
… what the hell! If you can’t do it right, just say so!
lab
[ Same kid, this time rummaging through tech storage side of the lab. He’s focusing on piles that look like they might hold large items, and isn’t being particularly cautious about what he picks up, so there’s definitely some creaking and swaying and sliding among the stacks. After getting elbow deep in the base of a particularly tenuous pile, he pauses and grumbles to himself, half annoyed and half perplexed. ]
I don’t get it. What kind of space station doesn’t have any normal suits?
[ And then he yells as the pile falls on top of him. ]
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Do you need assistance?
[Crash. Oh no. Oh god. Oh no.]
Ah.
You need assistance.
[You No Longer Have A Choice.
Very strong, very rigid hands are trying to pull the kid free. Absolutely no give to the skin. Feels like being grabbed by some coat hangers.]
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What the--
[ ... and for a second, Shinn yanks his arms hard, testing the strength of those hands and wishing that he wasn't buried in a pile of junk so he could see the -- person? Thing? Forklift with fingers? Whatever it is! On the one hand, being a GMO child soldier means that he's stronger than his size and build would suggest; on the other, being stuck under a heap of gizmos means that he has minimal range of motion. He does a quick evaluation of his odds, concludes that he likes his shoulders non-dislocated, and pauses the attempt to pull free by force. ]
Let go of me!
[ Definitely a lot of snarly irritation in that voice, and absolutely no gratitude that someone is trying to save him from his own nonsense. ]
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❌ CONTINUE
Assisting the human is obviously the thing to do, here. However, there are other ways to assist which will also allow Connor to follow the command.
>⭕ OBEY
It lets go and starts to shift the pile, instead, starting with the junk at the top.]
You're trapped under the boxes.
[Don't be shocked at this incredible and helpful piece of information.]
Are you hurt?
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[ It's peevish and still completely ungrateful for the attempted assistance, but also a little bit relieved that he won't need to wrench his arms out of that grip. A few seconds later, the pile starts to shift and ripple as Shinn tests what he can brace himself against and where the heaviest parts of the pile are. Once he has a sense of the mess, he levers himself up with a huff, and his head and shoulders appear above the pile; he has a few small scratches, but is otherwise unhurt. And Shinn is obviously much more concerned with Connor than those scratches--he looks him up and down, openly appraising, then glances around the rest of the lab, looking for something that could feel like the bizarre metallic grip he just felt. Surely it's not Connor's human-looking hands! ]
Where's the claw or whatever you had?
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I'm not sure what you're asking. I apologize for pulling you without your permission.
[Its jacket has a serial number which is pretty robotty, but, to be fair, this is a space station and a lot of things have serial numbers for no reason.]
If your current emotion is embarrassment at being seen making a mistake, there's no need. I'm not a person, and I don't form judgements.
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[ Which is only true to the extent that he's not just embarrassed; it's closer to ten percent embarrassment and ninety percent annoyance.
He continues to extricate himself from the pile, and in the process focuses on the rest of what Connor said in the context of that inhumanly firm grip and the blinking light. Shinn shakes the last of the tiny coils and gears like a dog emerging from water, and leans forward with a slight frown and narrowed eyes. ]
"Not a person"? How are you not a person?
[ The questions are a bit argumentative, challenging, but not hostile or scared or accusatory; it's a tone that might be used, in other circumstances, to vehemently tell someone to stop putting themselves down. Coordinators getting called inhuman space monsters is absolute bullshit in Shinn's mind, so whoever told this guy that he's not a person is probably full of shit too. ]
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I am a CyberLife android.
[Still shifting boxes! They're going into extremely neat piles at perfect right angles. Non-cube items are being rapidly sorted into their correct containers with very little apparent attention being paid to the process.]
I'm designed to look very lifelike, for ease of interaction, but I am a computer running a plastic body and a natural language chat client.
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[ Shinn looks him over with clear curiosity and a fair bit of awe, looking for anything other than the LED that would give the robot-ness away. For all that his world has giant robots, the only personal robotics he's seen are not-Lacus's Haro and Kira's bird, which are way simpler than a functioning android. He'd love to lean in to see if he can spot little seams or fastenings, or even to poke Connor, but that's too weird and rude even for Shinn. ]
What're you made for?
[ A beat after blurting it out, it hits him that this isn't a question that humans normally ask other humans, so it's the sort of not-treating-Connor-like-a-person that he didn't like Connor doing to himself. ]
I mean -- don't answer that.
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[The BEST android. Connor is pretty vain about it, but Smug is not an authorized emotion, so Connor will not be expressing it.
Asking a question and then telling Connor not to answer it - a contradiction - makes Connor's ring spin faster and brighter for a moment, like a hard drive that has to process a little more intensely. Connor pairs it with a more human expression, a thoughtful head tilt and an open, earnest set of its eyes.]
If that's what you'd prefer. There's no problem with being made for something. I'm always going to be excellent at my work, and I'll never get resentful about being asked to do it. Not every human can say the same.
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Connor is eliciting big weird feelings that Shinn has not completely worked through about that time that his boss tried to do Brave New World in space. And also feelings about the fact that almost everyone he knows has genetic modifications, so they could be described as "made for" something even though the term creeps him out as applied to a person. And also also about the Extended child soldiers the Alliance "made for" combat with drugs and mind-tampering, and his own faction was absolutely ready to treat the Extended like lab rats instead of people.
Shinn really did not wake up from that recruitment talk ready to dive into existentialism and determinism, and it shows--he's a little hunched in on himself, with his fists balled and a pinched, uncomfortable expression on his face. ]
I hear you, but...!
[ Dammit, Athrun or Kira would probably have the principled way to express this. Shinn just plows forward awkwardly. ]
Are you really happy like that?
(1/2) oh this CR is gonna be SO interesting actually
Connor hunts people that don't do what they're made for.]
2/2
[All of this is said with a soft, almost naïve affect. It's all the "party line" - the simple and pleasant lie that properly conditioned androids maintain to hide the fact that truth is complicated and ugly.
Connor moves a few more things aside-]
I think you should be able to get out soon. Can you hand me the glass tubing that's near your shoulder?
[That thing's going to shatter if it falls, and no way should broken glass be falling on humans.]
no subject
But there's something you regret! That's why you're here!
[ He's more strident now, covering for uncertainty with volume. ]
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Lab
[The speaker is a woman, tall and eerily pale, who's doing something with a mass of twisted wires that are... glowing? Most of her attention is on her work, rather than on Shinn- up until things start shifting.]
Watch out!
[No time for any fancy spellwork- there's a flash of light, and the pile collapses- away from Shinn, as though shoved by an invisible, giant hand.]
no subject
-- the hell?
[ -- and pivots to face her instead. He stays on the balls of his feet and with his arms held out in front of him, as though he's not sure whether he's going to have to jump out of the way of an attack or grab a beaker to chuck at her in the next ten seconds. He has no idea what just happened, and he's visibly on edge. ]
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Ah. That would explain it. Sabriel keeps her posture relaxed, her hands in front of her with her palms facing out.]
My apologies. I should have warned you, before I used magic- since it's not something you've had any experience with where you're from.
[Because Yzak is one of her closest friends on the station- she really should have spotted that uniform sooner.]
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[ He doesn't relax, and he repeats the the word disbelievingly, even with a bit of derision... and the tiniest hint of an awkward, alarmed squawk.
Yeah, he got the orientation lecture. And yeah, teleportation and fixing regrets and whatever the armory is doing are way beyond anything his world can do. But coming from a world with anti-matter cannons and drug-induced memory wipes, it's a lot more intuitive to view this place as sufficiently advanced technology, rather than jumping to magic.
It's a jolting enough concept that he doesn't focus on "where you're from." ]
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[Some of them are from worlds where... well, given this boy's reaction, Sabriel's not going to mention necromancy. But it's probably better to calm him down and explain with words, rather than offering another demonstration.]
In some worlds, the practice of magic and... esoteric arts are relatively common, but traveling through outer space would seem fantastical. And then there are worlds like yours, where such forces are less prominent, but the supernatural is seen as mere superstition.
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[ The fact that she's fairly calm and hasn't done anything else uncanny in the last minute is reassuring ... but with the initial "magic" shock subsiding, he's able to focus on the fact that she's vaguely but accurately describing his world, while he has no idea about hers. He shifts out of an anticipating-a-fight stance, running a hand through his messy hair, and stands a little straighter and more casual--but there's still obvious wariness in the suspicious furrow of his brows and in his tense shoulders. ]
If you don't have space travel, why do you know about mobile suits?
[ The original mobile suits being for space construction, not having experience with one but knowing about the other doesn't make sense. ]
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[No point in not being direct. Dancing around this particular truth will just lead to complications later.
The wariness about magic is understandable, but concerning. Probably best to clear things up, and lay any possible fears to rest.]
I'm far from the only mage in the crew- but I promise, none of us are going to hurt you.
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Whozak?
[ Ahahahahaha sorry Sabriel, Shinn has only been in the same room as Yzak once, and he's only heard the given name twice in some radio chatter in the middle of a fight. It will take him a while, if ever, to put the given name into context. He'd do better with the surname. ]
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[Although Sabriel does feel a little bit stupid for assuming everyone in a military knows each other. So she smiles apologetically, even as she reaches back for the project she dropped- a hollow shell of carefully curled wires that is still glowing. But apparently not hot, given how Sabriel holds it without discomfort.]
So yes, I've... met someone from your world. And my apologies for not introducing myself- my name is Sabriel.
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[ His face screws up in concentration for a moment as he pieces together a mission brief about the Jule Team, then radio chatter and the given name and something about I'm in charge here in the middle of the mission itself. And there was a white-haired commander with her haircut in that meeting with Lacus Clyne at Aprilius? His expression visibly flickers into surprise as it clicks. ]
The Meteor Breaker team at Junius Seven! That was ages ago.
[ It's definitely weird to think back on that battle. It was only his third real combat deployment, and veterans of the first ward had seemed unbelievably strong. These days, Shinn is absolutely confident that he's one of the best pilots alive. And Shinn won't ruin the mood by thinking too much about the guy Yzak was yelling at over the radio. ]
I'm Shinn. Shinn Asuka.
[ Because she seems a little flustered and hasn't said anything annoying, she even gets a smile with it. The light ball won't really get his attention until and unless he notices that it doesn't have a bulb or a power source underneath all the wires. ]
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[Sabriel rolls the ball of wires over in her hands. It's almost time to test it, she just needs to make a few more adjustments, insert the last few spells, and she can see if it works... or explodes.]
Do you have any questions? About what life here is like, or how missions work?
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