etrayamemes | 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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Of course.

[His agreement with her assessment comes from knowing the power of watching everyone from everywhere. Not only through cameras but also conditioning. People can be trained to watch themselves with the correct input.

But were he to be watching himself at this moment? He might believe himself to be enjoying it.]

Give me ten seconds starting now.

[ This may be all for nothing. Felicia knows that. Oftentimes, they're tasked with finding a needle in a haystack, and usually, she's not sure anyone finds it. Who knows, they could be on a wild goose chase, but as far as ideas go, this is what she's got. It beats walking around aimlessly looking under tables for the next few hours.

And there is a bit of fun in breaking and entering.

A small nod and Felicia takes the next ten seconds to sip at her drink. After time has passed, she figures Crane is probably near the door and ready to move, so she begins to saunter in the direction of the guard... only to trip and splash her drink all over him as she grapples him around the shoulders. ]

Oh my GOD! I'm sssooo sorry.. I think I tript ober the carbet. I could SUE you!

[ Yes, she's pulling the drunk routine. As the guard tries to help her, Felicia slips a hand into his pocket, fishes out his keys, and gives them a gentle toss into the air. ]

[Crane brings his hands together like a baseball glove and catches the keys, closing them and muffling the metallic sound. Inside his pockets they go, out of mind and literally out of sight. He silently unlocks the door and slips inside.

There is barely any light. Just the glow of a wall of monitors and a range of recording equipment. He remains standing, refusing to settle himself in the office chair.

Her act was something. Dramatics were something he had learned to enjoy. Not out of professional curiosity but the idea of fooling people who thought him unthreatening was certainly a thrill.

But for now he has other matters to attend to. They can still communicate even with a wall between them. Time to test that]

UN: Ulysses

This is the correct address for you on the network, I trust?

[Guess who.]

[ Felicia knows what it's like to be underestimated because she's beautiful or because she's a woman. They usually regret that once their valuables are gone. Those who do know her skills are now much more cautious around her.

Once she sees the door open and shut, Felicia pushes away from the fumbling guard and stumbles toward the bar, muttering something about the cheap ass carpet in here.

At the bar, she takes a seat and orders another glass of champagne, just as she hears her communicator go off and the text is read aloud for her ears only. A smile creeps onto her face as she picks up her drink. ]

UN: blackcat

Yeah. Nice work. How's it looking in there? Got eyes on anything interesting?

[ ooc note: our efforts may be in vain? but they're still having fun, right? ]

Plenty of us are rooting around in figurative trash. But there's nothing suggesting there is anything resembling a paper trail.

[Not that he expected one for something so sensitive. His own work is kept underneath the asylum, out of sight and mind. He watches one screen and another, wondering if the drive being here is nothing but a deliberate rumour. It would be a good diversion to draw people away from another location.

In any case, he does gossip a little.]

Do you suppose our associates would consider our surveillance of them cheating?

[Does he care? Lol no.]

[ Felicia continues to have doubts about the drive's existence, but they have to play these games to make their worlds look good, supposedly. At least, that's the running theory.

No hints. No paper trails. How are they expected to find the damn thing? It's like a needle in a haystack. Especially in a place as big as a casino. Nothing to do but let the man observe the screens. He sounds smart enough that he might pick up on something. If not, they gave it a shot.

Again, Felicia smiles, biting her lower lip. She's always down for some gossip. ]

They might, but I won't tell if you won't.

While you're doing that, tell me more about yourself, Crane. You said you were into chemistry. You a scientist?

Among other things. Been one for a couple of decades at least.

But these days I practise medicine. I prefer my responsibilites to be my patients and not my benefactors. Now I barely have time to further my research, let alone enjoy my leisure.

[In other words, he knows it's important to fight for what he wants.]

I studied the way you handled that guard. Outside the obvious pleasure of commiting crime, you're quite talented.

[He might be joking. He is speaking from a location where he is trespassing, after all.]

[ Crane may have more time now that he's in this universe, but his research may not benefit from that. ]

I'm sure your patients are better off for having you.

[ A little smile appears at the compliment, which is heard in her voice, even if it's unseen as they communicate. ]

You've got to enjoy your work, right? Or what's the point? But fooling that guard was child's play. You should see me when I really get warmed up.

You did pretty well, yourself, getting in there.

[His own expression loses a little bit of warmth. Not that anyone can notice it with how they are communicating.]

Coming up with solutions is what I do.

[For a moment he allows the message to settle, giving the impression compliments are hard to receive. He does struggle but for reasons other than phobias.

That might be why he returns the conversation back to business.]

No signs of activity so far. I think we might be waiting here a while.

[ Not everyone is good at receiving compliments. Some entirely distrust them, but her assessment wasn't wrong. She's impressed with how well he handled it. ]

Do you mind?

[ Something tells her that he won't mind having the peace and quiet of the security room. ]

[His response comes immediately, fuelling a fast and flowing conversation. Calm professionalism truly makes people believe in the best of you.]

Not at all. But I would like to be gone before the end of the night. I need to keep myself cognizent of other affairs.

[Hmm. Maybe he can use this camera system to spy on others he's met.]

[ Felicia smile a little to herself. She wonders if he's watching her, too, amidst all of this. Maybe he wants to make sure she doesn't discover something and run off with it on her own. ]

Oh? Got plans? A hot date, maybe?

[Her smile earns nothing but his notice. It is a point of data to denote and save for later. Because, well, she is but one person he is observing. But he cannot find it inside himself to be worried, for when you expect betrayal it is difficult to be disappointed.]

Of course. There's a delightful book and a dry sherry with my name on it.

[His hot date is his own company, naturally!]

TDM 007

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ooc: it's all about the game right?

right!

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