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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.)
no subject
Hold on, are you speaking about the same Halley's comet that passes by Earth's orbit every seventy-something years?
no subject
[She pulls a vape pen out from her jacket pocket and takes a deep inhale from it. Hopefully Akechi doesn't mind because she wasn't planning on asking for permission.]
After magic woke back up in my world, shit got kind of wild. Judging by your tone, I assume that there aren't a lot of comet based mutations where you come from?
no subject
Not that I've noticed, if I'm frank. But now you've made me even more curious about the place you come from. I'm not going to lie to you, at the start I thought you'd tell me you came from some planet unknown to me. But you narrowed it pretty much to probably being from Earth as well, am I wrong?
no subject
Yup, I'm from Earth. Third rock from the sun, sitting somewhere in the milky way.
[Et cetera, et cetera.]
Specifically I'm from Los Angeles, but I was in Seattle when I was brought here. What about you?
no subject
I was in Tokyo when this happened.
( it's probably just a little obvious he's also from japan in general, so he doesn't mention it. )
May I know the year? There is the possibility that we may share the very same Earth, or I will have to start thinking of parallel universes. Given where we are, I wouldn't find it too odd.
no subject
[She comes from, it seems, one of the stranger universes. It didn't take her much detective work to realize that most of the people here claim to be from earth, but none of them are from a place where elves and orks are running around and a dragon got elected president of America.]
If you're from any time past 2012 and you've never met an elf, we probably aren't from the same version of Earth. I've talked to a few people here and it seems like my world isn't exactly the norm.
no subject
So tell me, what does an elf look like? Were we all wrong with the pointy ears?
no subject
[She takes a small, tablet computer from the inner pocket of her jacket and angles the screen toward Goro.
Without touching anything, the screen activates and shows him a series of pictures. The first is of a blonde businesswoman with cat eye glasses and pointed ears.]
Elf.
[The next image is of a short, bearded man with two obvious, cybernetic arms.]
Dwarf.
[Then a tall, broad shouldered woman with pointed ears and sharp teeth protruding from her lower jaw.]
Ork.
[Then an even taller, more muscular figure. Strong jaw, sharp teeth, and multiple horns protruding from all over his head.]
Troll.
[The images don't go by super fast, but she doesn't linger on them for all that long. If Goro is observant, he may notice that all of these pictures are taken from about eye level, of people in the middle of talking or going about their daily business.
That's because both of Jonesy's eyes have been replaced with realistic cyberware prosthetics, that have cameras (among other upgrades). These are literally just clipped images of people she's seen and kept video of for whatever reason.]
There are humans too, but you know what they look like. Like I said - I'm kind of a mutant freak, most people on earth look human or like one of those four variants.
no subject
it's with deep interest that goro looks at the pictures, idly wondering how much of her version of the earth might have changed towards acceptance of the different or if they were still as chastening as his own. a few more images in and he finally starts seeing the pattern, while there really is no way for him to know how they were taken, there is something peculiar about it. before he can go further into wondering why that is, she speaks again.
for the first time during their exchange, goro's little smile seems to fade as he looks at her, almost in a scrutinizing manner. )
I think we might need to set some rules if you're going to be my roommate. ( he leans back, crossing his arms upon his chest. )
Rule number one: you cannot call yourself a freak from now on.
no subject
She quirks an eyebrow upward when the boy mentions potential rules - and then lets out an audible snort at his first one.]
You're sweet, kid. But I'm not in the business of letting other people tell me how I'm allowed to talk about myself.
[That is not to say that she'll let anyone else call her a freak, mind you. But how she talks about her own appearance is nobody's business but her own.]
What other rules do you have in mind?
no subject
Heh, alright then, sorry about that—if that's how you feel about yourself, who am I to change it? ( the gentle tone and the good-natured smile leave little room to realize that he's actually calling her an idiot. )
Hmm... ( he taps his chin. ) That's the only one so far. ( which isn't a lie, but he doesn't care enough about it to try further. and suddenly, he can't help but wonder one thing. )
Do you... shed? ( it's been more than annoying to clean his clothes from the little time he's spent in a place with a cat, he doesn't want to imagine what a nightmare this will be... )
no subject
She isn't going to touch on the shedding thing just yet. There's something about the way he said that first part that bothered her.]
Now wait, hold up.
[It's not that he was dismissive - that's something she's used to. It's a reaction she actively angles for a lot of the time. But there's something about the phrase 'if that's how you feel about yourself' that says something about her self image that she can't let stand.]
It's not about how I feel about myself. I like myself, more or less.
[She pauses for a moment to choose her words carefully. Akechi may seem pretty clever, but in the end he is a teenager. Emotional intelligence isn't bound to be his strong suit, so she wants to explain this well.]
When I was a kid, something bad and really painful happened to me. It changed how I look, how I walk, the places I'm allowed to go, the way I need to talk to people, and the way people talk to me. Just about every aspect of my life.
I'm very good at what I do, and I like the person I've become. But that doesn't mean that my life hasn't been wholly and irrevocably shaped by what I am. And I am going to use whatever shorthand that I deem appropriate to talk about this very big aspect of my life.
[She pauses and looks at him for a moment, trying to get a read on whether or not he gets it. It's not strictly a self esteem thing for her - this is something she's thought about very deeply.
After a second, Jonesy settles down and leans back again, resuming her carefree, relaxed posture. She takes another hit of her vape.]
And no, I don't shed.