TDM 005

[etrayamods]

⏵ arrival ⏴ Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in a sterile hospital bed in a clean, white room to the hum of machines under the unnatural lighting common to well-kept institutions. Every bit was designed to be comforting and calming, even with the jarring undercurrent of this situation. The first face they see is Aurora's: her smile appears to be warm, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She might offer a quick explanation, or leave characters to figure it out for themselves depending on their approach. The door to the room swings open, revealing a hallway that stretches out ahead of them. There’s noise from outside and strong pumpkin spice scents coming from the lobby. Ah, muffins and tea. Grab one and head into the crisp, sunny fall morning ahead. ⏵ potluck ⏴ Cutthroat Iron Etrayan Bake-Off As you step out of the arrival holding area into the main thoroughfare, the entire street has been turned into tents and chef stations to accommodate the activities of thirty people at once. There’s seats, trailers, and robots bustling about to make sure everyone is ready. A couple of cheerful robots in aprons and colorful sweaters approach and redirect you as you step towards the cooking area. There’s gas ranges, ovens, grills, blast chillers, mixers, and set walk-ins and pantries with just about every ingredient you can imagine. There are cameramen (also robots) patrolling the area to capture all your best moments and to broadcast them directly to your fellow citizens’ devices. Your instruction? “Make your signature dish. You have one hour, chef.” It can’t just be straightforward, can it? The land itself is held together with pure chaotic energy. If you’re lucky, all goes as planned. If you aren’t… well… Roll a Die 1 Your leg is now tied to another chef’s 2 Your meal is continually un-cooking itself. 3 All of your ingredients are pickled now 4 The longer you touch an ingredient, the bigger it gets. 5 Every time you lift your pot lid, a component changes. 6 The aromatics are glowing and flashing like LED lights. 7 Your knife has been replaced with a cheese grater. 8 The ingredients are now magnetically stuck together. 9 Your meal is becoming deep fried. 10 Kittens are multiplying out of the cupboard. * 11 All of your ingredients have become incredibly heavy. 12 Your cook pot moves burners whenever you turn around. 13 Eggs scream when you crack them 14 The kitchen has become incredibly slippery. 15 It’s soup now. 16 All utensils have been replaced with crustaceans. ** 17 Your knife has a mind of its own. Watch out! 18 Your fridge catches fire. 19 Your pasta is trying to escape. Go get it. 20 Any ingredient not in the pot starts to float away. * All kittens disappear at the end. ** These however, stay. ⏵ share a meal ⏴ As all the cooking concludes, you will be invited to plate your meal into one of many casserole dishes, regardless of what was made. A ladle will be tucked into the corner and placed on the table with a folded bit of cardstock declaring the chef’s name and the name of the dish. A helper camerabot will come around to each participant and ask for their thinking and their process. Even if you got away without having to cook, even looking towards the table of dishes will spur a helper bot to start making you a plate with one of everything. The helperbot will insist that it is rude to not at least try what their peers have made. In fact, if you are to fill out the score card for each person, you really must taste everything! The robots can’t try the food, so it’s up to you. The cards look like so. The grading system is opaque. Is it meant to be numbers? Stars? Letter grades? Well, you’re the judge. You figure it out. Chef: ___________ Dish:_____________ Judge:___________ Overall Rating:_______ Flavor Presentation Stackability Wet Originality Rizz ⏵ tummy ache survivor ⏴ No matter how well your compatriots cooked or baked their dishes, there are… factors. You see that carrot? It’s really just condensed chaos in the shape of a carrot. No matter how powerful you are, these particular ingredients may not mesh with your being. …And even if it is truly a carrot, do all the chefs know the proper cooking temperature of chicken? Even chickens are aliens to many. (Optional) Roll a Die 1 Tummy Ache. Go lay in bed. Complaining alleviates symptoms. 2 That plate of food has energized you. You feel compelled to race or spar. 3 The food has reminded you of home. You must tell someone a detail of your childhood. 4 That food was so horrible that it simply must be washed out somehow. Spicy peppers? Booze? Gravel??? You’re going to over do it. 5 You have now discovered your new favorite dish. Make them teach it to you or you’ll lose sleep over it. This is all you want to eat for the next week. 6 The oddity of the ingredients has transferred to you. You start floating away. 7 The range of food and textures have inspired you. Acquire an annoying new hobby or habit. 8 You are now haunted by the digital souls of chickens. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Please direct all questions to our mod queries comment! ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[redsquares]

[Small mercies.

At even the hint of her anger, James' lips purse together, his body tenses anew, but it isn't completely devoid of guilt. Oh, no, James has a well of the stuff to draw from, and he's quite aware of the fact that Maria... exists for only because of him. That rejecting her had taken away the only real purpose she had, and her reaction, while he often thinks of it as a way of the town testing him once more, was not unwarranted.

He just... doesn't have a solution for that anger, that feeling of being unmoored. He doesn't have a solution for anyone these days, it seems. He's barely keeping himself together.]

Then... I don't know what to think about any of this. These people, have you been actually interacting with them?

[heavensnight]

[james didn't know much of anything. it wasn't her trying to be cruel but simply the truth. in the situation he had been in, what was he supposed to do? and now here in this world, what were they supposed to do? she had known her purpose and that purpose was gone. james didn't want her and now she had no clue what to do.

still not looking at him, she nods.]

Yeah. I was actually asked if I was okay by one man. Funny, right?

[before she'd finally run into james in silent hill, she had been alone and scared. just waiting for james. what she wouldn't have done to have someone be there with her. now? now it felt unsettling that she was real. or seemed it, anyway.]

[redsquares]

["Funny" isn't the word he'd use for it. Only know, he's getting hit with the implication of her participating in this cook-off. She interacted with others and fussed with ingredients. She's even struggling with an onion right now, as ridiculous as that seems.

James lets out a shuddering breath.]

Yeah, funny. [To ask if she's okay is. A bit of an irony, yeah.] Maybe that's a good thing for you, though...

[He trails off, suddenly uncertain again, something bothering him at the back of his mind like nails scratching at his brain.]

Maria, you seem calmer now, but there's not going to be— [Pause.] A repeat of last time anytime soon, right?

[heavensnight]

[might be a good thing for her, huh. she wants to laugh and almost tease him about hoping she'll find a rebound or something but then he asks that question.]

What do you mean? We didn't even finish the conversation of our last time. You told me things were done and before I could go full woman's wrath on you, I was here. [what a choice of words to use. but she had remembered being furious and upset. sure that she was going to make him change his mind and see what a bad idea that was...

but this feels very foreboding. did something happen that she didn't know about?]

[redsquares]

[He's quiet again, uncomfortably so. Maybe this is what James had a bad feeling about; did she forget? Did this place do something with her memory via whatever they did to make her... manifest?]

You... attacked me.

[He doesn't know what else to say, other than to say the truth. Well. The truth with all the ugly, monster-y bits shaved off.]

You don't remember?

[heavensnight]

Attacked you? [she's surprised and that is genuine. whether or not he can tell, she didn't remember that and didn't expect it.]

What did I do? I remember I was furious with you. I never felt angrier. But I don't...remember...[she looks down, as if she's trying to remember. like maybe it's buried somewhere in her mind.]

[redsquares]

[...Oh.

Now he's 200% uncertain of what to do or say.]

You, you just-

[Should he tell her? Is it better for her to be ignorant? Will she just remember and be angry about him not being straightforward with him? Or will revealing what really happened to ensure a repeat?

He doesn't know. How's he supposed to know? Why does he have to decide? He shouldn't have said anything—]

You yelled and lashed out. Tried to strike me a few times. That's all, it was just... intense. Hard to forget.

[Liar.]

[heavensnight]

[that's all he says but why is he so nervous? and maybe if she was just another woman then sure, that's all she would do. but she wasn't normal. she didn't know what she was. did silent hill just let her react like someone normal might? or did it do something else?

when she had woken up here, it was like all her rage was gone. like it was sucked out of her. but now? now as she looks at him, she feels annoyed by the idea he might not be telling her everything.]

So what happened? I tried to strike you and what, you took it? Didn't fight back like a big strong man? You didn't just let those monsters do as they pleased with you. That isn't you anymore, James, is it? [her tone is cold, like it had been in the labyrinth. she knows james too well for his sake. she'd been made to know him well.]

[redsquares]

[Ah, that cold bite to her words; he's familiar with that, too. James winces internally, his mouth screwing into a slightly deeper frown. He doesn't otherwise react, though, just giving Maria a level stare.]

...Look, I just don't think this is something we should be talking about right now.

[Amid all this hubbub, it almost feels ridiculous to be having this conversation at all around other people, even if no one is listening in. Moreover, maybe James just doesn't want to deal with having to give her the truth just yet — doesn't have the bandwidth for it, being so newly arrived. He needs to steel himself.]

Can't we just wait until after all this... cooking stuff is over?

[heavensnight]

You came to me, just a reminder. But fair enough. [honestly, she's not really a fan of talking about it right now either. especially because there's something unsettling in knowing more happened than she knew of and clearly, james didn't want to talk about it for some reason.]

You don't have to help me. I'm sure I can find somebody to lift up an onion for me.

[redsquares]

[Awkward. This is all awkward and vaguely uncomfortable. James should help, and he does feel bad about the whole... everything back in Silent Hill, but he's not sure how to proceed here.]

You want me to help you?

[Ultimately, of course he offers.]

[heavensnight]

[she expects him to walk away. it had been what he'd been ready to do back in silent hill but here he is, offering to help.

she doesn't know what to say. yes, she wants his help. all she's wanted is his help and it feels like it might drive her crazy if she thinks how badly she wants it.

but well, he doesn't want to help her. right now he probably doesn't want to see her at all.]

I can't lift the onion by myself.

[yeah, help her. she'll take it.] You can ignore me after this if you want.

[redsquares]

Maria...

[Her name on the tail end of a sigh. Don't say things like that, he nearly says, but he doesn't really want to get into it now, not after she's willing to set things aside temporarily until they're done with this cook-off. And so he just shakes his head, steps forward, and puts his hands around the onion.

And tries to lift it. It budges, but barely, because James wasn't expecting it to be that heavy.]

Jesus Christ.

[heavensnight]

[maria smiles, amused. it is very comforting to see james struggle.]

Is the onion too heavy for a big strong man like you? [it's too much for anybody.]

[redsquares]

[very funny!!]

Nngh- No, it's-

[James is stronger than he looks, but he's still only human. He manages to lift the onion up... by an inch at most, but there's no way he's going to carry it around like this.

He lets it drop with a thud.]

-way too heavy for anyone. You'd be better off just getting a new onion.

[heavensnight]

[she whistles as if impressed and puts a hand on her hip.]

That one probably shouldn't be digested either I guess. [she leans her elbows onto the counter, frowning at him.]

But I don't think anything here can be trusted. Were you going to try to cook? [she had vague memories of him cooking before which she shouldn't have but well, that wasn't new! she had a bunch of memories that were never hers.]

[redsquares]

[Yeah, an onion that weighs as though it was made of lead is probably not... ideal to eat. James straightens and looks at Maria, a little dubious.]

I don't think we have much of a choice. I think they're using this cooking competition as a way to test if we're...

[A beat. This part sounds ridiculous, if only because he thinks he's the last person in the world they should've chosen to judge if their universe is worthy of being saved.]

Well. A test of our character, or something.

[heavensnight]

[she can't help it. she laughs. sorry, James.]

Didn't you already go through that? Now you're being retested. How do you think you'll do this time?

[Maria already knows she is of no help at all. if the other person is supposed to be hames? well, they are surely fucked.]

[redsquares]

[THANKS FOR THAT VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, MARIA, (he agrees)]

I don't know.

[He responds tiredly, but sincerely enough.]

They picked wrong.

[He shouldn't be here — he's a terrible person. They both know that.]

[heavensnight]

You're telling me. [they also picked her and well, Maria knew she was the wrong choice too. if she had actually been chosen and wasn't just here because James was. who knew! but if she was here because of James, it wouldn't make sense other people could interact with her.

so this place was really dumb apparently.]

I'm the farthest thing from a good choice, too.

[redsquares]

[Guess they're in the same boat. James can't help but feel a little at fault for her being here, too, even though he knows he had no control over it. As though their existences are entwined, whether or not they'd prefer otherwise.

Maybe that's not too far from the truth at its core.

Deadpan:]

I'd say we file a complaint with management, but I don't think that'll get us anywhere.

[heavensnight]

[she smiles a little at his attempt for humor and lets silence come between them for a moment. she'd always felt like she had to fill it. try to be charming or whatever he wanted from her.

now? now she didn't know what she was supposed to do with him and she looks at him.]

Are you going to try to do what we're supposed to?

[redsquares]

[He shrugs a shoulder, vaguely defeated. Definitely worn.]

Do you mean to participate in whatever they throw at us, or...

[A beat.]

Try to be someone good?

[heavensnight]

Both?

[it figures like they both tie into each other.]

[redsquares]

Well. One more than the other, anyway.

[It's what he had always planned to do, anyway, having decided to live. The only options otherwise were to live under the weight of crushing guilt or to justify his existence by trying to be better.

Then again, maybe both can exist at the same time.]

But yeah. What other choice do we have? We're stuck.

[Again.]