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etrayamemes2025-03-28 09:16 am
etrayamods) wrote in 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:
 ⏵ 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:
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. 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. |
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Unconcerned with the creature in question, she turns toward Shadow in full.]
I have everything I need already.
Do you have to give me something?
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[ which means offering her help for nothing in return will be why people use her, if she's smart, she'd know to use others to her advantage instead. ]
Normally, you would ask for something.
[ but if she has everything she needs... ]
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You can owe me on a different mission.
If you’re still here for another.
[It’s hard to say, when it comes to Etraya.]
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Hm. If it's worth my time.
[ as long as she doesn't ask him for anything stupid then he'll see to it. to have a lingering debt though, he'd rather it be used sooner than later. ]
And on the next mission, I'm sure you can think of something.
[ he's difficult, but he has to be so he can repay her actions. ]
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... So she holds out her pinky finger, because Etraya has inadvertently made her believe that this is the way you agree on something.]
Then it is a deal, Mr. Shade.
[Because of your current score status, you see.
If you don't give her a name, she will get creative.]
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From the looks of you, do you really need help in these "missions"?
[ he's noted how worn her clothes are in some places, the spots of blood and the smell that wafts under his nose.
the thing is, shadow's aware he doesn't have to say what about her appearance says this. she should know, considering she has the points to spare. ]
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... Not always. But sometimes, things happen.
Even people who never need help might need it, when things go wrong.
[She tucks hands with blood-stained knuckles into her jacket pockets.]
Every mission is very different from the last.
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[ he looks to her as they speak, the hedgehog raising a brow at her comment as he figures asking would help him understand what he's dealing with. ]
What was the last mission you went upon and how long ago?
[ since this is his first, part of him should be prepared for whatever the next may be.
especially if he's giving his assistance to her to pay this debt. ]
I'm curious of what assistance you could have needed.
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[Something like that, anyway. She doesn’t keep track of them as well as the others probably do. They just sort of happen, and she just sort of accepts the status quo.]
We were on a train where people were split into different groups.
Some were poor, and some were rich, and some were in the middle. [It was the least enjoyable way for her to learn class dynamics, but it is what it is. More importantly:] But there was a mission before, a long time ago, where they took my abilities away from me.
That was the most dangerous kind of mission.
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and through all this, worlds are supposed to be saved...
with every piece of information, shadow becomes a little more skeptic to the idea of it. ]
Have you prepared for in case that happens again?
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... I can find something else to stab with, if I can't use my claws.
[So no, she has not prepared for anything whatsoever.]
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[ immediately his eyes are going towards her hands to see if there are claws there. not shocking if so, but he'll follow up with something else. ]
Where you're taking me, do they have a good weapon selection?
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My claws.
[She does not... appear to have claws???
Her nails are short and painted in chipped blue and pink.]
If you win enough fights or make enough points, you can get a weapon.
I've never needed to earn them.
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[ and there are no claws to be found. ]
Then you're capable of changing your appearance?
[ that's what he thinks at first, not unlike what he could do before, but he tries not to think so bad on those time.
it is interesting given what could be deemed "claws" to her. ]
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... Oh.
After a moment of consideration, she holds out her hands in front of herself; there's a snickt sound as adamantium claws snap out from between her knuckles, and she holds them in an X-pose in front of her.]
Sí. A little.
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[ his eyes assess what's before him, it's hardly impressive visually, but with the amount of points she gained with just this at her disposal makes the act of working with them to be.
she was able to get through the colosseum with just this, then again, her skills might pair well so there's only so much he can judge on. he'll keep an eye out in the future, he supposes. ]
You must pride yourself in close-quarters combat.
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Especially after being here, having to fight to keep her points up. That was the point of this place, and yet... Some situations have led her to realize she's very good at hurting people. In a way, she worries she'll never get bad at it.]
It's what I was trained to do best.
Close-quarters and scent tracking.
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... ]
Hm.
[ it's not his place to ask, instead he takes a different direction. ]
Have your goals changed since being here?
[ or has all that training still have meaning in this place, whoever they trained her to find... or kill, it's all he can go off on their training methods. ]
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... I don't know.
I have been trying not to kill people. Even if it is in defense... I don't want to do it anymore. [A frown pulls at her lips, something unhappy in her expression as she stares ahead.] But it has been easy to hurt people still, and I am... not sure how to feel about it.
[Aphaia has certainly given her a lot to think about.]
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however, she is only a child. she shouldn't understand the concept of killing for defense. ]
Are you aware what happens if they hurt you?
[ he thinks it's a rhetorical question, but maybe she has a different way of seeing things.
shadow will listen because she sounds unsure, but through his life, he had to be sure, he had to commit to what life has given him. ]
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That doesn't bother me. I don't stay hurt.
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it's an understandable response, be it the way her body works or how this world works. ]
Interesting.
[ because she can't be hurt it doesn't bother her, so she's fine with the battle ahead of her.
not his place to correct, only to listen. then again, what's there to correct, he works by this concept as well. ]
When others try to hurt you, do you fight back until they're dead or do you spare them?
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[She looks away from him, opting to stare ahead as she walks.]
They were... bad people. [But still people all the same.] I didn't feel bad. I still... do not feel bad. Maybe I feel bad that I don't feel bad.
[She's not even sure. It's all so confusing.]
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[ even if they're... people, he doesn't seem to care. then again, he doesn't care for what's good or bad. ]
You do what makes sense. Some will like it, others won't. It's not like they're doing anything about it.
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It's too much to think about.]
You never question things you do?
[It must be comfortable, to be that sure of yourself.
Maybe it helps not to think about sensitive things.]
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