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

[heavensnight]

A little. Thanks.

[he knows absolutely nothing about her and they were empty compliments. but considering what she had just come back from, then woke up to, she'll take meaningless nice words over nothing.]

After all of [she motions her hands to behind her] that, hard to think straight. That's all.

[maximumlegend]

[ Something about his attitude seems to fade a little bit, like he's letting go of it. Fabian still tries to give her a slight smile, but there's less energy in it now. ]

Yeah, all of that stuff is such bullshit. [ There's a slightly fatigued tone in his voice - like it really is not the first time he has said something along those lines. ] I mean, ending up being suddenly taken here is bad enough by itself, but they don't exactly bother to make it comforting in any way, huh?

[heavensnight]

I guess if they have to keep doing it then why bother to be nice about it? But yeah, their pillow talk could use a little work.

[at least she's trying to keep this light and it's easy to jump to jokes. being playful. she doesn't know what else she could do.]

You used to this?

[maximumlegend]

[ The teen nods slightly. ]

I have been here for quite a few months now, if that is what you mean. [ Granted, interdimensional kidnapping really is not all that strange either compared to the sort of stuff he was dealing with back home.

It's why it didn't surprise him all that much when he first found himself here. It just seemed like one of those things that would happen to him or his party. ]

So I feel I understand how this place operates better than most others. I know it isn't exactly great news to hear when you first show up here, but I would not expect much good while staying here, if I were you. It's better to stay on your guard.

[heavensnight]

[ah. this isn't new for her. being in Silent Hill, she'd had to stay on her guard. she'd relied on James, of course, but it wasn't as if she always had him to rely on. oh well, what else was new?]

Good to know. I'm used to bad news so won't knock me down just yet. [she gives him a wink. but she does look back at the hospital and frowns.]

I hate hospitals, though. I can't stay good-mannered in this place.

[maximumlegend]

Hospitals specifically..?

[ It's surprising enough to Fabian - who doesn't really have bad experiences with them, given that healing works so differently where he comes from, even if hospitals do exist - that he can't help but voice it out loud before he's even realized he's done so. Or wondered why it's even appropriate to prod at the fear of someone you don't even know that well yet. ]

.. I don't know if this helps, but I'm fairly sure that is not a real hospital. It seems to be some sort of front for something else.

[heavensnight]

Doesn't help at all but thanks. [luckily for Fabian, she's not too in the know about how someone that she just met probably shouldn't be asking about the whole hospital fear.]

Maybe it's not real but it looks like a hospital. Disease, dying...yeah, not a fan. Awful place to come to first thing.

[maximumlegend]

[ At least not being a fan of disease or dying is a pretty normal thing. Fabian can understand that easily. So he gives a last look at the hospital before looking over at her. ]

Well, let's get further away from here then.

[ At least far enough so she doesn't have to see it anymore - and hopefully not think about it either. He's already starting to walk, though he looks back at her to make sure she's following. ]

Do you want me to show you the way to the apartments? You can find a room to stay in there.

[heavensnight]

Apartments...right. I'll need a place to stay. [she shakes her head and sighs, hand on her hip.]

Lead the way. [honestly he could take her anywhere and she'd be happy to get out of here.] How nice is the place?

[maximumlegend]

It's nothing to write home about, that's for certain.

[ .. granted, maybe Fabian of all people isn't the best person to answer a question like that, given that he usually lives in a huge house.. Living in an apartment sure has been an adjustment, though it's been manageable to live there with his friends.

Maybe he should first have asked about her own situation to compare it to this one, but his unfortunate habit of viewing everything through the lens of his own situation since he doesn't understand other situations exist is kicking in.. ]

But at least we are free to pick whichever apartment we might want. And there are stores nearby, so it's rather easy to get food or more clothes. [ .. A slight pause, and then he adds: ] As long as there isn't anything strange going on, anyway.