etrayamods: (Default)
∎ ETRAYA MODS ∎ ([personal profile] etrayamods) wrote in [community profile] etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
Entry tags:

TDM 007

content warnings for this TDM include: violence, potential death, body horror, physical transformation, loss of senses, loss of autonomy

⏵ arrival⏴



Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. New characters are introduced to the AI, then informed of a mission that they are required to participate in before they can return to their home base of Etraya. A world called Aphaia is falling apart, and while there is nothing they can do to resolve this broken world, they can participate in the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Their mission is simple: step through the glowing purple portal that Aurora creates once they've had time to listen to her, and survive until a similar portal reopens in front of them, allowing them to return to Etraya. The Gamerunner's Stratagem is something they have been working on building for quite some time. She informs all newcomers that they will not be present on this world that long: their exit will appear to them exactly when it's meant to, allowing them to meet the others who have been recruited to save their worlds. She provides each and every arrival with an earpiece, allowing them to communicate with the other Etrayans. Aurora suggests taking a bag full of supplies along with them, which she will fill with a few generic items as well as any specific items they may need: synthetic blood for vampires, protein bars for those who may burn through calories faster, medication for anyone who requires it.


⏵ aphaia ⏴


Aphaia is a neon-lit, chaotic planet. Cameras are everywhere, every action and inaction is judged by the 'audience'. Towering holograms advertise upcoming events while flashing leader boards track the most "popular" players. Contestants are thrown into challenges, many of which are games of skill, survival, and deception all to keep the viewers entertained. Not participating is an option! However, avoiding playing along and not putting on a show will quickly cause participants' score to go down, and scores that reach zero? Well.

Unfortunately, there are only so many resources left on Aphaia. Their wildlife has died off, their planet is falling apart, and most others in this galaxy were either destroyed from the inside out, or warring planets trying to gain control of remaining resources destroyed them to avoid others getting involved. Their natural resources are depleted, and only those who manage to keep their scores up are given the luxury of having any supplies. As soon as one steps foot on Aphaia, as soon as they breathe, they intake nanotechnology which tracks their oxygen consumption, their food, everything they do or need. As soon as their scores reach zero?

They disappear. There one moment, and completely gone the next. Their communicators go offline, and while everything they were carrying will be left behind, no one will be able to find them. They are simply--gone, erased from existence.

This is a death and counts as a death as outlined in the game FAQ! Please keep this in mind.

"Points" that go towards their total score will be assigned to contestants from the moment they drop down on planet. This will be visible using the HUD on their earpiece, and will be randomized at the beginning. For the sake of the TDM, we ask that no one be assigned Paragon initially, but you're free to use other ranks!

The possible rankings are:

100: PARAGON
99-80: LUMINARY
79-70: CHAMPION
69-50: CONTENDER
49-30: UNDERLING
30-0: SHADE

Ranks may change daily, or even hourly depending on the kind of situation one has found themselves in. Are they having a very public break up in which it comes out that they wronged their ex? They may go from a Champion to a Shade before they can even blink. Did they save a defenseless reporter from the big bad villain of the week? They may find themselves quickly elevated up to Luminary and given all the benefits that comes with being upper class. The world is their oyster, they only need to figure out how they'd like to utilize it!

Aphaia is broken up into four districts.

The Colosseum is a dynamic battle arena where combatants fight for entertainment, with shifting environments controlled by the audience. Victories earn points, while losses depend on performance.

The Symposium is a lavish social hub for top contestants, where alliances and betrayals are made under the audience’s watchful eye.

The Agora is the public center of Aphaia, where contestants engage with the audience through polls, interviews, and challenges to maintain popularity. It also houses the contestants in high-rise apartments.

And Backalleys provide hidden spaces with intentional blind spots for secret dealings, though the Gamerunner is always aware of what happens there.


⏵ st★rlight soirée ⏴


Something special is happening in the Colosseum. Lights flicker as the arena shifts, rearranging itself into a grand, glittering ballroom - if a ballroom had stadium seating, paparazzi drones, and an ever-changing floor plan designed to disorient those within it. Silver chandeliers pulse with artificial starlight, their glow refracted through the crystalline floors. Music swells, but it sounds - unnatural. It thrums through your veins, setting your blood alight with the urge to dance.

Why is the ballroom designed as if intentionally put together to throw off one's balance? Well, it's time for the Panopticon Prom, of course!

The Panopticon Prom isn't just an adventure in dancing and impressing your most recent crush. It's a test of endurance, cunning, grace, and charm. The floor beneath your feet moves as if it has a mind of it's own, shifting to the beat like a living creature all of it's own. It tilts, undulates, even vanishing in sections to keep dancers on edge. After all, it's difficult to keep up one's pace if they're falling through a hole in the floor to the foam pit below.

Drones zip through the air, catching every stumble, every misstep, and every attempt to throw off others on the dance floor. This is a competition, after all; and what fun is a dance battle without having the freedom to thwart someone else on their road to victory?

The rules are simple:
  • You must dance with a partner. This can be an ally, an enemy, or someone you intend on using as a stepping stone to victory. It matters not, as long as you have one hand (or limb) on them at all times.
  • The longer you last, the better your chances. Endurance is the name of the game, meaning one must pace themselves on the dance floor. While epic twirls and impressive moves will garner more attention, it may also hurt your chances in the long run.
  • You may sabotage others by throwing them off balance, but keep in mind: everything is televised, and it won't stay secret for long.
  • The arena adapts to the chaos. Expect sudden obstacles, environmental shifts, and sudden changes in the music's tempo. Gravity may shift, walls may close in, but participants can't let that stop them - they must continue to dance, if they wish to win.
The audience is watching. Who will make the final cut and become Prom King and Queen? Everyone is vying for the titles: it doesn't matter what rank you started at when you joined the Panopticon Prom. Whoever wins becomes a Paragon until their points drop. There aren't many opportunities to sail through the rankings, but this is a sure way to do it. As long as they can keep up.


⏵ casino royale ⏴


Out in the Agora, another popular quarterly event is being set up! The Casino Royale has been destroyed countless times, but it seems as if the Gamerunner just can't let it go - every time it gets knocked down, it gets rebuilt.

There is one rule. One must take a turn at the revolving wheel just inside the door as their entry fee, and whatever the wheel lands on, they must maintain until they exit the building for the night. Sometimes, this is easier: an effect they have no control over and cannot undo even if they wanted to. Sometimes, this is more difficult: an assigned task they must complete. Failure to abide by the wheel once means receiving a penalty. Twice? Certain death if caught by any employee.

The wheel's effects are as follows:

1 You must speak entirely in rhyme. 2 Your body has become unnaturally delicate. The smallest injury hurts like a fatal wound.
3 You must avoid stepping into any sources of light. Doing so causes massive burns to appear on any area of your skin where light has touched. 4 You have been transformed into an animal! You can still think as you had before, but you cannot speak or communicate easily.
5 You have been cursed with supernatural strength, but cannot control it. 6 Time doesn't flow normally for you anymore. Each mistake you make makes you visibly younger, slowly erasing your experiences, skills, or even memories.
7 You can no longer form your own words, but only repeat what others have said to you. 8 You cannot meet another person's gaze.
9 You can no longer turn around, physically or metaphorically. If you try to return where you came from, you'll find that the pathway no longer exists. 10 You are given a specific letter that you must avoid using out loud entirely. "A"? Better hope you know enough words without one.
11 Every time you speak, your words come true - but never in the way you intended. Trying to control this is futile; the monkey's paw curls with every new sentence. 12 Within the casino, you lose the ability to feel anything. No pain, no pleasure, no warmth, and no cold. At first it may feel like a blessing - until you realize you cannot feel hunger, or tell if you're injured.
13 Regardless of if you've drunken anything, you still act inebriated. The effect only gets worse the longer you stay. 14 No one can see you. You are invisible, even if you are still able to reach out and touch or converse with those around you.
15 Any special ability you have is gone. You are reduced down to what an average human being is capable of - regardless of if you are human. 16 Violent impulses become impossible to ignore. You are rage incarnate, and you will be heard.
17 Every time you make a decision - to walk into an area, to start a conversation, anything, a small thread pulls loose from your clothing or your skin. Keep making choices, and you may become entirely undone. 18 You may speak freely, but for every syllable you say, your ability to hear slowly fades. You may want to watch your word count - too many, and you may not be able to hear at all.
19 Perhaps you arrived with a friend, or beside a stranger. It matters not: whoever came in either just before or just after you, you feel a powerful urge to protect them to the point of aggression. 20 Love is in the air - at least it is for you. Every time you meet someone's gaze, you feel the need to try and make them fall in love with you, through whatever means necessary.


The casino is alive with the hum of conversation, the clink of glasses, and the steady whirl of the roulette wheels. Golden chandeliers cast a warm glow over velvet-lined tables, where fortunes are made and lost with the flick of a wrist. But something feels. . . off.

The dealers never blink. The cards never seem random. And the house always wins - always. Maybe it's just paranoia, or maybe this casino is something more than just a den of chance. Tonight, you're not here just to play; you're here on a mission.

You've arrived dressed to kill, blending into the sea of bodies filling the casino's floors. But you're not here to win points or boost your social standing - you're here to win intel. Somewhere in this casino is a single flash drive containing information on just how Aphaia maintains their system. The only problem? The House knows someone is coming for it. After all, they're well-aware of the game: whoever retrieves the flash drive will obtain information on how to flip the script, to change the rules of the game to fit their wants and needs, rather than following the current Gamerunner. After all, this is the Gamerunner's Stratagem that Aurora has sent them out on! Many apply for 'employment' within the Casino Royale in hopes of getting insider information on where the flash drive is hidden and what it looks like. However, it seems that even the employees have no clue where it has been hidden.

⏵ NOTES ⏴


This is an extension of our Aphaia Mission! We have included enough information in this post that catching up to current in game logs isn't necessary to play with it, but you are welcome to use any part of the Aphaia setting in your prompts as you'd like. Current players are also welcome to bring the events from this TDM into their in-game threads.

This mission can happen outside of time as needed! Incoming characters will find themselves introduced to Aphaia as they arrive. Current characters may find Aurora calling on them to visit Aphaia after the current mission for the Gamerunner's Stratagem.

Characters already in game are welcome to post to the TDM, too! Please mark them as current characters in your header. Threads can be kept as game canon as long as both characters get into the game!

Please direct all questions relating to this log to our mod queries comment! All other questions can be directed to our FAQ.

FULL NAVIGATION

sabigoe: (⚙ 04)

[personal profile] sabigoe 2025-04-04 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ The one that ran into him is... a very tiny human! And she's realized that she's run into something very... poofy? Fio stumbles backwards, almost falling over.

She looks up, slowly. ]


S-sorry...
thelightshines: (Memories of a time)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-04 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Really? [Like the people in the films he used to watch?] You can move stuff with your mind? And read them? [...that doesn't work through this, right?]
laserguy: (alex smells)

[personal profile] laserguy 2025-04-04 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
[BRUH. WHAT THE FUCK.

Okay, so this has happened to him before and the first time it was weird, but then he sort of got used to it. But that was with Jean. And he likes Jean. They're friends now. He's absolutely not friends with Sophie. He's upset and he doesn't want some telepath he doesn't like going through his mind.

Have some mental grumbling. Scott doesn't really have any training on mental shields rip.]


This was surprising the first time, so you're late on that. [Lies, because he's still a little surprised. And kind of annoyed. Another weird girl creeping around in his head--]

And what? You're trying to say that you care?
sophielicious: (48)

[personal profile] sophielicious 2025-04-04 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
(Oh my god, the teenage ANGST in this brain. Was her version of Scott like that?

Wait, she doesn't want to know.

Don't humanize him.

He dated your mom.)


/Let me guess, Jeanie, the meanie supremey?/

(Pfft.)

/Mmmm, maybe. Call it curiosity./
limiterrings: (pic#17703033)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-04 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
[ for once, that irritation in his eyes shifts to the other behind her. when he looks at him, he senses something familiar. a sort of burning hate that flickers every so often that could spread like wildfire if given the chance. it's behind those eyes of his, shadow knows the look well even when the hedgehog tries to hide it with his own concerns. it only subsides when his eyes close and shadow can no longer see them.

...

he remains quiet. he listens to the way maria breathes in and out, the sobbing, and the way she searches for someone to hold her. at this moment, she'd probably take anyone, as long as she didn't cause herself any discomfort from trying to hug herself. ]


You.

[ he's finally given the other hedgehog his attention, as much as he probably doesn't want it, or even wants to disappear. those desires won't be fulfilled, instead... ]

She says you have a "good soul". [ whether he believes that or not, it doesn't show. ] Show it to me.

[ how shadow feels at the moment, it's hard to place as he feels absent, but he hasn't left either. this entire situation feels almost like something he's unable to believe, but the box in his hand remains as he contemplates his next move.

... ]


I'll do my part after.

[ nothing will heal the pain other than what she's searching from with both of them, to... stop fighting. as much as he hates it, the fact that he could be making a mistake again is like a warning sign in his mind. ]
thelightshines: (Because you lit up my world)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-04 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
[He won't. He's a kid from the 70s, suddenly tossed in some time traveling episode of the Twilight Zone with this stuff. But he has no choice but to try and figure this out. Eventually.]

What is technology in your time like? [An actual, curious question not related to the earpiece? Scott just sounds, not from somewhere as futuristic. Whatever Earth they're from, if it's still Earth. They talk about things that are on Earth anyway. And he's choosing not to type it, because it's tedious.]
fireboost: (pic#17745817)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-04 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
Of course, but I'm afraid it may be a little bare bones for a library. I'm sure we can make it work.

[ and a picture diary sounds lovely. already, blaze is thinking through the places she's visited here for anything that might be useful to them in their task. it would hardly be appropriate for a princess to fail to fulfil her promise.

that thoughtfulness persists after a glance to fio for that question, too. ]


About myself, hmm? What would you like to hear about?

[ and to give her an example of what blaze might be able to share: ]

At home, I am the Princess of the Sol Empire, though I've lately been visiting a friend's world in order to assist him in their restoring peace.
Edited (oops) 2025-04-04 03:18 (UTC)
fireboost: (pic#17773399)

now you're just being mean to her

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-04 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ seems simple enough indeed. blaze casts a glance to meet shadow's gaze, directed at her for a moment, before stepping further inside. then she frowns as she observes the higher platform, but it can't be helped. rather than focus on that, she turns her attention to the sun on the ground.

she seems to be considering it before she speaks, but... this is a show for entertainment, and watching the two of them solve their puzzles in silence can't be the ideal way to build up their points. instead, picking up the sun to look it over, she makes a suggestion. ]


Is there anything you wish to talk about?

[ her attention wanders back to him, expectant, but firm as she continues: ]

... If you do not pick, then I will be forced to make a decision.

[ and she doubts he will enjoy the topic of her choosing. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17703072)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-04 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ accelerator will have to accept his losses because the hedgehog doesn't feel like writing anymore. he doesn't want to do it so he won't.

that sounds dangerous itself to take back what he said. then if he doesn't look like a clown, then what would the other look like? ha, he'll probably turn into one of those aliens with not one bone in his body.

the hedgehog kneels down to look underneath a table, hand smoothing along the bottom surface in case there's a button or anything around, but doesn't seem to be the case. ]
Edited (i was told i needed to link the images) 2025-04-04 03:34 (UTC)
limiterrings: (pic#17756611)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-04 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's called a "flash drive".

[ initially this person called it a "flashing drive" which he's correct, but incorrect at the same time. there are some that flash when plugged in, but who is to know if a "flash drive" here is the same as what he knows it to be. ]

Normally, it's a small device that you can fit in the palm of your hand with information saved onto it.

[ shadow's not going to open his palm to show, but he can give dimitri the basic information of what he should be looking for. everyone is possibly on the same wavelength when it comes to what "flash drive" they should be looking for. it's one of those times that he wishes rouge were here, or even that annoying two-tailed fox, he'd be able to download the data within this place and go through it with ease.

however, it's not the case, and this aurora is sending out various people in search of something so small.

then again, this is only for shadow's own curiosity, he's not going to do something requested to him by someone who ushers him into a new world. as many times as he's been used, he'd rather avoid that and handle it his own way. ]


No employee here is quite sure where it could or appear to be.

[ he has the same information everyone else has. which isn't an advantage at all, it only places him at the same pace which... the less idiots, the better. ]
bigpoofymammoth: (Ice Age 1 (Migration scene))

[personal profile] bigpoofymammoth 2025-04-04 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
[Manny also looks towards the two individuals sitting at the bar. Given the kind of conversation they’re in, it would seem like they are either workers of the casino or someone else who’s also gunning for the flash drive. It would be tempting to simply walk over towards them, but that would only encourage them to make a run for it.

Then, the mammoth notices a beer bottle on the floor after it’s been dropped by one of the drunken patrons in the bar. After which, Manny looked up at the lights hanging from the ceiling.]
levelshift: (tch)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-04-04 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
.................

[He has no idea how old this guy is, but right now he's guessing he can't actually be an adult, he's way too immature.]

Oi. [He's banging the feet of his crutch on the floor to get his attention.] This is serious. This is your ability, even if it's temporary, so you need to take responsibility and be sure of how it works before you end up fucking killing someone.

[The clown thing is highly annoying, yeah, but more importantly than that - there are kids wandering around. What if this idiot accidentally says the wrong thing and hurts them because he's too childish to bother figuring out how this stupid power works?]
futuremessiah: (hope15)

[personal profile] futuremessiah 2025-04-04 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Head cocked at an angle, she looks up at him.]

Do you really think I don’t know that? That Nathan didn’t teach me everything I know? Especially, the wrongs done to mutants and how to do what I can to stop it?

[She kicks the bag at her feet.]

Some savior I am if I can’t even save myself.
levelshift: <user name=sakurouji site=tumblr.com> (what)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-04-04 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
It's not that kind of psychic, no.

[Thankfully, no mind reading over here!]
bigpoofymammoth: (Ice Age 5)

[personal profile] bigpoofymammoth 2025-04-04 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
[Normally, he’ll come up with a snappy response to whoever ran into him. But given that the one responsible is only just a little girl, the mammoth couldn’t help but let out a sigh.]

It’s fine. Just make sure you don’t repeat the same mistake again.
laserguy: (that's a big problem)

[personal profile] laserguy 2025-04-04 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
[Guess it was too much to hope that the alien was knocked out for good.

There's more that Scott wants to say to Shadow, maybe even ask him if he's comfortable with the earpiece yet, but he's distracted by the way the ground starts to shake once more-- a clear sign that this is far from over. Well, unless Shadow knocks it out again. The mutant turns his head towards the approaching noise, that worried look flashing back on him, before turning his attention back to Shadow. Wait, what kind of question was that? He's not going to knock it out again?]


What do you mean? I don't want to fight. Not like this. [Not when he can't control his strength. Scott really doesn't want one of his first experiences here to be of a murder of another lifeform, especially since it's fully sentient and all. This may already be a dying world, yes, but it's still killing. Scott swallows hard, especially as the vibrations continue to get more frequent and stronger. This place is really becoming a mess.]

Can't you knock it out again? [Just let Shadow do all the work here--]
Edited 2025-04-04 03:39 (UTC)
limiterrings: (pic#17689659)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-04 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ to call him immature when he's the one not adding onto the issue of what's happening to the clown beside him. as annoying as he's being, shadow continues to ignore him in favor of everything else. he's the only one that the hedgehog has spoken to, the first to even be an example of what words can do.

and here he is complaining about the lives of others.

little does he know is that shadow hardly even cares about those in general. ]


.....

[ he turns his head to stare at the other with a tired expression, raising one hand with his thumb at the bottom and four fingers up top then snapping his fingers together to tell the other to shut up.

using him as a test subject is an option, but there's no need to go that far in sake of learning how this ability works. aren't clowns supposed to tell jokes, it's at this moment that shadow hopes he does that instead and stops spouting information he's already aware of. ]
sabigoe: (⚙ 66)

[personal profile] sabigoe 2025-04-04 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ She's about to comment on the library situation, but then she lets out a light gasp, the surprise visible on her face.

That's just one of Fio's favorite things: princesses! Blaze's situation sounds different from the storybook princesses that she usually reads about. Or once dreamed about. The ones in her dreams were usually sad over their lives and lacked freedom. ]


You're a Princess?! Really? Wow. And you get to travel to help your friend. You're a kind princess.

[ Blaze might have to take the initiative and take the lead, otherwise they'll be stuck in the alley for a while. Fio already has so many questions to ask: ]

What's the... Sol Empire like? What about your family? Did you have to listen to your mommy and daddy all the time?
sabigoe: (⚙ 65)

[personal profile] sabigoe 2025-04-04 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nodding obediently. Completely unfazed that she's talking to a mammoth and more focused on the mistake that she just made. ]

Yes, sir. I'll be careful and watch where I'm going next time!
levelshift: (way too tired for this)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-04-04 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
[This isn't sign language, but he's making a mental note to go read up on that when they're back in Etraya. It seems like it'd be useful to know.]

I have no fucking idea what that means, use the damn paper. [His tone is exasperated. Really, he should be getting a gold star for how patient he's been so far. He's treating himself to a coffee as soon as humanly possible.] If you're going to keep on being an irresponsible idiot, I'm out of here.

[Because there's no point in wasting his energy on someone who isn't going to listen. A reasonable plan B would be to ask an employee about the wheel's effects and go from there.]
fireboost: (pic#17773400)

[personal profile] fireboost 2025-04-04 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ ah, let her do that. she'll take a few steps forward, watching fio all the while, expecting her curiosity to bring her along, only to continue walking as they talk. ]

Thank you, Fio. Though I don't think it's anything special—it is a Princess' duty to look after her people.

[ and she has come to love the people of sonic's world just as much as her own, feeling a sense of duty that compels her to treat those who reside in it no differently from those in her own world. speaking of which: ]

The Sol Empire is a prosperous and peaceful place, thanks to the blessing of the Sol Emeralds. I have a mother and a father, and my mother leads the Empire as Queen—everybody must listen to her words.

[ though she can't help but worry about that first part, as the emeralds are still on her person right now... but she still answers the questions one by one as they continue. ]
limiterrings: (pic#17756611)

[personal profile] limiterrings 2025-04-04 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ can he hear this really lengthy sigh as though he's tired of dealing with him too. someone doesn't understand the consequences of saying things that will have repercussions.

with a roll of his eyes, shadow reaches for the pen and paper, scribbling on it until he crinkles it a bit to get the other's attention. the hedgehog in basically a blink of an eye is now in front of accelerator holding out a sheet of paper for the other to take. ]


You're a fucking idiot. The extent of this could backfire on you.

[ but don't think this is kindness from shadow. ]

If you become a problem, I'll kill you.
waxen_wings: (018)

[personal profile] waxen_wings 2025-04-04 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ Josh looks pumped for what Jay considers the most humiliating option, pandering to the crowd to be liked so you won't fade out of existence. It's one thing to be loved because of something you love doing and they love it too. He did, after all, have dreams of being a rock star, but this? Just feels inauthentic. It's fake.

But if that's the route Josh wants to go, Jay'll help.
]

If you think it'll work, okay. But I swear if you start losing points, I'll challenge you to a match on live tv before I let you get voted off the island. Now what do you need?
thelightshines: (when they're playin)

[personal profile] thelightshines 2025-04-04 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
[His ears twitch, body tensing when the other actually addresses him. For just a split second, he wanted so badly to strike the owner of that voice. But the feeling quickly passes, eyes only seeing a blue dress before him. This Maria, putting herself on the line for him, them, the one who caused her so much distress. He didn't want this. The dance they just shared so she could be happy, now felt like a distant memory.

A "good soul". How does he do that when he doesn't believe it himself? Ears fall forward. A discomforting laugh almost coming from him.]


I... [Words hang at the tip of his lips, but then he closes his mouth. No. It doesn't matter how he feels about it. He looks up to Maria, left in a sobbing mess because of them. Doesn't matter what the other wanted. All that matters right now is her. Let her believe in the lie.

His body starts to move towards her, coming up beside her. It was almost instinctive what he needed to do. A hand, gently takes one of hers, pulling her out of the swirling darkness she got dragged into. Her once bright, smiling face, now wet from tears falling down her face. He finds himself wiping a few away before putting his arm around her back, squeezing gently. Memories of bygone days, threatening to swallow him while he held her. Memories when his Maria would comfort him the same way when he was feeling uncertain about himself, worn down after a long day of tests. To have another warm comforting body beside him, instead of the cold testing equipments.]


...It's okay now. [A quiet apology of sorts, even when he couldn't bring himself to look at her. Whether or not he believes it, he's doing this to make her feel better and reassure her.]
levelshift: (neck crack)

[personal profile] levelshift 2025-04-04 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
[He pauses, then grabs the paper to read, at the same time making a second mental note: teleportation? Likely teleportation. He isn't going to bother switching his choker to check, it isn't really important right now.

After reading the paper he gives a short not.]


That's fine. [Well, not the killing part. He's pretty sure he's just being dramatic, and if it actually comes to that then he'll deal with the situation.] It's not like I haven't been experimented on before.