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AUGUST TDM.
● ● ● T D M . 0 3
… What are you willing to do to erase your regret from existence?
The words, when they die out, leave you in emptiness — despairing, all-consuming, the kind that invites only the worst thoughts. What have you done? What have you agreed to do?
But then, from the emptiness, a golden light shines, and as you reach for it —
you wake up.
1.0 Perhaps it was less the golden light in your dream and more the insistent feeling of something metallic poking your side repeatedly, making beeping noises… wait, beeping noises?
When you look down, you’ll see a small robot staring at you and looking less than happy (maybe it has something to do with your disheveled state, maybe it's still mad about having to clean up after a certain pizza-induced mess). When you get up, it unleashes a series of beeps — and then furiously starts to scrub the floor.
Yes, the floor — instead of waking up in a bed, you find yourself lying on a hallway, white walls and white floor surrounding you. You don’t have long to stare at the minimalistic look of everything around you before the little bot starts poking you again, the word MOVE blinking across its visor.
So better get out of its way! Perhaps you’re on the hallway on your own and leave on your own… or perhaps there’s someone else, sleeping near you. Maybe do them the courtesy of waking them up before this little angry bot does! Or perhaps you’re the poor soul still sleeping and needing a rescue before the beeps make it to you.
2.0 If you need a visit to the infirmary, the situation may be more dire — perhaps there’s blood on the wall that you wake up against, your clothes may be dirty or ragged… whatever it is that has happened to you before waking here and has left you injured, it sure doesn’t create a reassuring sight. Best get to the infirmary as soon as possible.... with some assistance, perhaps.
Once upright, 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 The most pressing question that you might ask yourself is: but where will I stay? The question is answered once you walk through the winding white corridors to the common area. Behind it, there are three types of rooms: those with one bed, two beds and four beds. The rooms are clinical yet clean, and sparsely-furnished — and most importantly, most are occupied. So be prepared to get some roomies!
4.0 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.
And speaking of weapons: to put it to good use, head to the training room, where the entire purpose is to provide you with a space to spar and train to your heart’s content!
5.0 After you’ve exhausted yourself training, it’s time to grab a bite. For that, you should head to the kitchen, which… seems to be filled with a lot of leftovers: takeout boxes with an assorted collection of pizza slices, kung pao chicken, lamb curry... not to mention the entire tray of chocolate brownies. Feel free to eat your fill — or if takeout isn’t your cup of tea, open one of the large fridges to pick fresh ingredients and make your own lunch.
6.0 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. A new addition is a flower garden where there once was a meadow — now, roses, camellias, lilies and dozens of other flowers sway in the wind, all varieties in their own flower beds, with a winding path of stones leading through them. The path leads to where a bridge rises over a sparkling, babbling brook.
Here, 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.
7.0 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!
8.0 If it’s items you’re lacking, though, some time after your arrival, the earpiece alerts you to a new message.
Indeed, the platform near the personal quarters is still whirring with power, and new items form neat piles 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 If you’ve been given a particular body change that might aid you in this mission, do not use it to your advantage.
B Team up with a fellow Orber to uncover the hidden location.
C Get up on stage and put on a performance during the simulation. Your song choice will determine the outcome of success in your investigation.
F Y I
• TDM threads can be used as samples for apps. In fact, we encourage it!
• Reserves are currently open!
• Apps open August 27.
• For any questions regarding TDM, please direct them here. For questions about the game, please refer to the FAQ.
FOR SOME FUN:
Have a listen for some clues about the second mission.
(Hint: there are four clues in total.)
l a T ER
Is there a spell to remove blood from fabric?
[ Not worrying at all. ]
no subject
[Better to get that question out of the way before she moves on to answering.]
no subject
Of course not!
no subject
I'm definitely teaching you a healing spell next by the way.
In any case, I'd recommend cold water and vinegar- if that doesn't work, I'll see what I can do.
no subject
If that bastard wasn't already hurt I would have fixed that myself Athrun has SOME GALL showing up here all of a sudden and even more nerve bleeding all over the place I can't believe that moron got his ass kicked that badly to begin with and then he still had the energy to try and brush ME off when I'm doing him a FAVOR dragging his ass across the station while he BLEEDS ALL OVER ME TOO WHY IS HE OF ALL PEOPLE EVEN HERE
no subject
Where are you? I know how to heal, I'll patch him up and you can get a hands on demonstration.
no subject
[ And if Sabriel decides to join him, there he will be sitting, grouchy and sipping from a cup of coffee, usually immaculate white uniform stained in random places with blood. ]
no subject
I suppose it's time for new arrivals- but why are so many of them arriving injured?
[Although seeing that uniform... reminds Sabriel that she ran into someone in a similar one.]
Yzak, do you know someone named Alex? Someone by that name arrived and he was wearing something close to your uniform, except it was red.
no subject
[ He asks - but then instantly drops that line of questioning when she mentions this """""""""Alex"" person. And boy he was already getting going through text, now it's time to continue doing so in person. He slams his coffee cup down (not hard enough to crack the cup or spill any, he is a man of culture who would never waste coffee, after all) and scowls in a way he hasn't yet on the Ximilia - a scowl specifically unlocked when talking about Athrun. ]
Alex? Alex? That idiot was introducing himself as Alex!?
[ A short pause, before he groans a bit and puts his head in his hand. ] With what he was telling me about what he remembers last, I guess it makes sense that he did that. If he thought he was still in danger...
Still! He knows that isn't the case now! I don't even understand why he doesn't remember anything after that. That happened to Athrun months ago!
no subject
[But what Yzak says next gives Sabriel pause. If his friend is missing memories, there are two possibilities.]
So either he's lost his memory, or this place is detached from time and he's actually from several months ago.
I'd say the former is more plausible- while none of the spells I know could erase months of memories, making people forget is something Charter magic can do, and we're dealing with powers beyond what I'm familiar with.
If he's from the past... There's no magic I know that can reverse time, although there are some phenomena that make its flow irregular.
[Death and time sleep side by side, her father had told her once, and Sabriel knew that time varied oddly between Life and Death, and between the Old Kingdom and Ancelstierre. But what Yzak was describing went far beyond that.]
no subject
[ There's absolutely a lot of frustration and complaining in Yzak's voice as he rambles. But somehow, there's zero trace of actual maliciousness in it. There's something about the honesty of the bitching that makes it clear that he cares.]
Unless something else happened to him and he hit his head so hard he just forgot everything. I wouldn't be surprised, he's always doing something stupid to end up like that! [ Despite saying that, though, Yzak doesn't sound very convinced of the theory. ]
no subject
[Still, Yzak is clearly worried about his friend, even if he's expressing it in a caustic way.]
It sounds like your friend is prone to getting himself hurt. Don't worry, I'll make sure to check in on him.
no subject
We were in a war. But you're right! Despite even that, that guy's gotten into his fair share of trouble.
He'll be fine, though! He heals like a dog, somehow. And we are Coordinators. It takes a hell of a lot to take people like us out.
... but thank you. [ He adds, after the fact. ] And don't you dare tell him I said that!
no subject
I won't tell him. But I will make sure you learn enough to heal him and restrain him from doing anything catastrophically stupid.
[That's what friends did for each other, wasn't it? Helped them when they got hurt, and kept them from making mistakes.]
We'll start at your next lesson.
no subject
I'd be more than glad to have the ability to restrain that fool. And, I'm already applying myself with what I've learned, so that won't be difficult!
[ Now he has more of an incentive. ]