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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.)
ii. here to torment u, raleigh
Holy shit, you're here.
[He walks with confidence into the infirmary, acting like he's been here practically all his life, as is his weird skillset; he's made his bed on the Ximilia, same as the bed he's made at the Shatterdome, and so there's an easy, welcoming aura to him as he gestures to Raleigh. He's got the same outfit on that he'd had when the two of them met, pristine now thanks to his pals aboard the station.]
Good to see you again in person, dude, welcome to outer space, etcetera, ecetera!
Anyone familiar come with you?
[Also a skillset: letting their last interaction become water under the bridge, because Newt is used to yelling at his co-workers one moment and then being chummy with them the next. Besides, the world almost ended, and then it didn't. Things are different now. Whole new slate.]
bless
The voice is familiar, and Raleigh blinks, coming back to himself, staring at the figure until his brain finally clicks all the pieces into place. ]
Dr. Geiszler?
[ Raleigh sounds shocked; the little scientist wasn't really Raleigh's favorite person, but he's a familiar face all the same, and not an entirely unwelcome sight. ]
Uh, thanks. I think. [ There's still some confusion about where he is and why, and the current, burning fear that he's actually dead hasn't subsided. ]
No. It's...just me, man. [ He pauses as he shoves his feet into unlaced boots, not bothering to tie them, instead cramming the ends into his shoes so he doesn't trip. It's a moment to look away, to mask the pain, the sharp pain in his heart and the missing pieces of his soul.
It's just him, alone again - nothing new, Raleigh is used to aching loneliness and solitude, but this time it's different. He's found new purpose with Mako, a friendship forged at the end of the world, and now he's lost her. His brain curls desperately around the soft, empty place where Mako's consciousness had been not all that long ago, aching, reaching, finding nothing. ]
Did...did it work? Was the mission a success? [ Cause Raleigh's last memory of home was scrambling to get into an escape pod and then lights out. He doesn't know if it worked, if he got blown to kingdom come, or what. ]
no subject
[Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, bud. But hey, he and Hermann did help prevent Raleigh and Mako from becoming super dead smears in the bottom of the ocean, so that's... something. Even as the weight of what was lost returns, leaving Newton's usually chipper and obnoxious self suddenly a bit more subdued as he stops a few steps from his fellow PPDC member.]
... Either way, good to see you. Seriously. [But he looks a little unsure, brow furrowed. He takes note of his general posture, and how achy he looks, and how tired, and - ] What do you — oh, wait a sec. Shit.
What time did you get pulled from?
no subject
[ "Who is that, Yamarashi?"
"Oh, this little kaiju? You got a good eye."
"My brother and I took him down in 2017."
How could Raleigh forget? Not the best first impression, but an impression nonetheless.
Petty grievances; how could anyone but a jaeger pilot who had felt with every fiber of their being the loss of a copilot, the death of another piece of their soul understand? There were plenty of people like Newt; individuals who were fascinated with the creatures, who longed to see them up close, in the flesh.
Still - Raleigh is no fool, and he remembers Newt at the end, shouting into the mic, the mingled voices of two scientists with Herc Hansen's Australian tenor. He remembers the information (vaguely, because he was kind of busy being mangled at the time) that they received, crucial pieces that helped save their collective asses.
He takes a deep breath, rolls his shoulder with a barely concealed wince and shakes his head. ]
I remember configuring Gipsy to detonate, and...climbing into the escape pod. Then nothing, just...darkness. [ He'd been so low on oxygen he could barely function. Getting into that pod had been pure luck, pure survival instinct, nothing more. He barely remembers doing it. ]
no subject
His frown turns into a slow grin.
First thing's first, and with so much eloquence:]
Dude.
You guys destroyed it. The breach is gone. They stopped the clock.
[The twelve-year war that a lot of them spent a considerable amount of their adult lives fighting? It was over. Just like that.]
You and Mako are the big damn heroes on campus.
no subject
That kinda thing.
But Newt’s smile and his news…
Oh, Raleigh feels the weight of the world lift a fraction, the anchor tethering him to the ocean floor releasing his chain in inches. ]
Seriously? We really did it—?
[ He looks so hopeful, please don’t smash his puppy look. ]
no subject
His head kind of hurts right now, actually.
Ugh, not right now.
He pushes back the feeling and focuses on the look of relief that has overtaken the big ol' oaf. Who knew a muscular, dashing Jaeger pilot could turn into such a doe-eyed princess? Not that he's gonna say that. Last thing he needs is to get punched between the eyes; his glasses break enough as it is.]
You did it, man. And not only did you do it, but you gave those guys fireworks. Last I was aware, they choppered you back in, and — pretty sure the two of you were taken to the infirmary to be looked over while everyone else ran left and right to get data compiled and podium speeches prepared for the media. The usual bells and whistles.
Congrats on becoming a rockstar! Hell yeah!
[He gives him a teeny weeny light knuckle-bump to his arm, because he looks like pure shit, not gonna lie. He does quickly remember one small tidbit in the elevator, which reminds him of hushed conversations and passed around files... so then, more hesitantly, like he's unsure if he should be so bold:]
Your brother'd be super proud of you. You and Mako.
I know everyone else is.
no subject
The two of you--
That means Mako is alive. She's okay, she made it. The relief is palpable, curling through him and easing some of the tension in his muscles.
God, he's tired. ]
Thanks.
[ Raleigh is a man of few words, but Newt is not - not in the slightest. He remembers that about the little guy, the chattering and blathering on.
Honestly, it's distracting right now and probably for the first (and only) time in his life, he appreciates it, because it's keeping his attention from his nerves that feel like they're on fire.
That last bit, though - it catches his attention and he looks up. It is pretty bold, bold and brave, because Raleigh could easily snap and be an asshole, say something like you don't know shit about my brother, but ultimately--
Ultimately, Newt is dead on the money, and Raleigh offers a small, tired little smile. ]
Yeah. I think you're right. He would be. [ And because he wants to desperately change the subject, he moves right the fuck on. ] I think I owe you one. You and Dr. Gottlieb really saved our asses.
no subject
But then he blinks, a little surprised.]
Owe us — uh. Oh, yeah, right! Looks like the PPDC cutting our science budget didn't stop us from being totally awesome, am I right? [He smiles toothily as he adjusts his glasses.] I'll admit, Hermann came through for me crazy big in the end; I'm not sure I would've been able to get the information we needed without him stepping up and drifting with me. He's around here, just FYI — cranky and snooty as ever, but like — a familiar face is nice, right? Even one as sour as his.