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

[aimsforknees]

[ John can give a rundown of the general things he's discovered in his meager time here. ]

We get missions every six weeks or so. They range from building a car as a team to murder labyrinths to mind controlling stuffed animals. We get judged on our participation, though the manner and result are obfuscated. People are divided on whether or not we're really here to save our worlds from being destroyed. There's free apartments to live in, as well as some basic stores you can shop at, grocery and clothing included. You should have gotten a little device that allows you to connect to the network, which is sort of like a forum, if you know what those are.

[ That's most of the basics covered. ]

Any questions?

[dustyroad]

Yeah.... What if you don't want to play the game?

[As much as he was joking about games of chance, there were matters that didn't belong in that category. Like the fate of entire worlds.]

The people in charge could have picked anyone-- and they picked someone who is hardly a decent pawn at all in my case. Even my niece would have been a better pick.

I'm just a guy.

[aimsforknees]

As far as I know you don't have to. It's up to you.

[ John is trying not to judge. It's a lot to wake up somewhere completely unknown and be told you have to save your world. Not everyone is going to take to it well. Not everyone is going to want to rise to the challenge. He's seen this before with numbers, people who just don't believe the situation they're in. ]

Even "just a guy" has a chance to do something here.

[dustyroad]

... Guess I'll play it by ear, then.

[It was all he could do. His worries about the kids he was responsible for would not be resolved by just sitting there, he knew. But he also knew that the general odds were against him.

Second (and third!) chances weren't just given freely, and his responsibilities to the chance he had been given before still need to be upheld.]

... Hey. Do we know what's going on back home while we're here? I left a bunch of kids in a bad place and I need to be sure that they're safe.

[Not that he was sure he would be able to do much to help if he hadn't been whisked to this strange place. He was pretty sure he was going to end up dead.]

[aimsforknees]

[ That's a good question John has no answer to, so he just shakes his head. ]

No clue. You could try asking Aurora, see if she'll give you an answer. But I haven't seen the answer around so far.

[ John isn't so worried, he has Harold and the Machine has contingencies. Maybe Shaw is doing the numbers. Regardless, the world is still turning without them. ]

[dustyroad]

You mean the lady who greeted us?

[She wasn't unkind, but his own recent experiences with strange women greeting him in hospital rooms left him uncertain about her intentions.]

I guess it might be worth it, especially if this takes a while.

[He sighed.]

Guess until then I'll try to trust that the kids will be okay.

[aimsforknees]

[ That catches John's attention. ]

You have kids?

[ He thinks about how Carter would handle being away from Tyler. He wouldn't want her to go through that, he knows she would worry about him. ]

[dustyroad]

What? No!

[He was disheveled and socially awkward-- what part of him read as Dad Material?]

I'm just taking care of my niece, and my friend's daughters. I mean, that makes me the adult in the room? But I didn't raise them.

[aimsforknees]

[ John isn't here to judge the disheveled and socially awkward, they're allowed to have children too. ]

I'd ask Aurora then, or out on the network to see if anyone else knows.

[ He cares about kids, he hopes there won't be any problems back home with this guy being here.

[dustyroad]

Network. Aurora.

[Impatient already, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. ]

Oh this is gonna be one heck of a learning curve. Guess I better get started since we're all gonna be here.

[aimsforknees]

[ That's more like it. John could say something encouraging like "the sooner you start" but that's really not his style. He doesn't need or desire any sort of personal connection with strangers here. ]

Any other questions?