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

[decodex]

Codex?

( not that everything this cat is saying isn't piquing eddie's attention, but seeing how his codex is the reason everything in his life has become ten times worse, he's honing in on this.

sleeper is a cat, and eddie is a human, and in this moment he feels the need to rectify their height difference. he takes a seat on the ground, a little strained, like he isn't used to being cross-legged.

it's a lot. hearing that he's an absentee father is, you know, not great, but that's just one piece of information among what feels like millions. it feels like his brain might explode. so, he closes his eyes for a second, taking a breath. )

Can we, like, touch you? ...Cat child? Venom Jr.?

( respectfully. this cat barely seems like a cat, after all. they turned down a good can of tuna and a good 'pspspspsp'! )

[definecat]

The marker we leave behind in a host. Not something any of us can control. And my name is Sleeper.

[They consider the question, and they decide the best thing to do is just headbutt the hand nearest to them as an invitation.]

Do I just call you Venom, or Eddie, or does it depend on who's driving the body?

[decodex]

Sleeper. Did we name you that?

( it's unusual by earth standards, but with names like carnage, and venom, it sort of fits in. sleeper feels like venom, but smoother. he gets the feeling his hand won't come away sticky, and he scratches behind sleeper's ears. )

We sorta answer to both. Either. We're both here.

( in a 'if you shout venom from across the room, they'll both turn their heads' kind of way. venom can't stop peering down at his cat spawn, and neither can eddie, really. )

Clearly we have, like, a novel's worth of questions... also, not sure if any of this is real. ( just being honest. suddenly learning that he's got a kid and a cat in another dimension just seems like the sort of thing he'd dream about. ) But, if it is... it's, cool, I guess. It's a lot. I feel lightheaded.

...You doing okay here?

[definecat]

I named myself. It seemed appropriate.

[They press happily into the ear scratches, making a soft thrum of a purr in encouragement.]

I have been here a couple of months now, and it's...always something. But there's chocolate and other things to eat, so it's not a complete waste of a pocket dimension.

[decodex]

Are there... beds? I think I need to lie down.

( it's a LOT to take in!! )

But, if we do that, are you still gonna be here?

( is this a really weird dream that he's going to wake up from? or, worse, will he be just as bad as his alternate universe counterpart and disappear from his new child's life? )