TDM 007

[etrayamods]

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⏴

Comments

[overconfidently]

( Welp, that said, he offers her a half-smile. )

I'll try to keep it smooth.

( With that, he lifts them up into the air, arms secure against her back and under her legs. There's really no need to walk when one can fly after all, so. Taking them to Agora there by air is how it's going to go. Of course, he can't help but eye her as he slowly starts to drift his way towards where he felt the mass of people. )

Don't get airsick, do you?

[sophielicious]

(Thankfully, while her dress is not exactly long, she's wearing safety shorts, or else this would be really weird. There is an undeniable charm to flying, perhaps the fact that she doesn't get to be bridal carried through it so often adds to it, but to see the world they listen to in their head from an advantageous point is always fascinating.

Like putting faces to names, even if from afar.)

Nope, not at all. In fact, you get blanket permission to do this literally all the time.

[overconfidently]

I'll keep that in mind.

( It's said with a light smile as he glances to her before he's looking back ahead and keeping things slow and steady. After all, he said there'd be no bumpy skies and he intends to keep it that way. Thankfully, their destination isn't all that far from where they are and so this shouldn't be too long of a trip, even with the speed he's going. )

You just get here, too? Or you been here for awhile already?

( Not just here, but this Etraya, he means. )

[sophielicious]

I'll make sure you don't forget.

(Not that she thinks he would, since the first thing he did was to pick her up, but you know. Zingers, sweetness, and all that. Her dangling legs stretch a little in how comfortable she is, her eyes moving from the lights below to the man flying them around before her head shakes.)

Nope, just got here, but at least I know who's who, mostly. Lotta us are from the same place.

[overconfidently]

Yeah, I bet.

( If they all come from the same world he’d fallen into before finding himself here, that is. He doubts anyone from his own world would be here, what with it being gone and all. The mutants and the X-Men he’s come across back in the other world are all ones he doesn’t know or just barely by name, meaning he figures it’s liable to be the same thing here.

Breeze gentle in the way it brushes through their hair as he goes, he glances to her again for a moment, making sure she’s good before he looks back ahead at the approaching city. At Agora. )

Where exactly were you wanting me to drop you off?

( She mentioned a party after all. )

[sophielicious]

That's gonna depend on whether I need to call someone or if you're tagging along.

(Which, she's fine with both, but if he comes, that means more cameras, more points, more ranking, so she's very inclined to have him come with her.

Either way, they gotta do a little stop so he gets his shit together.)

Do you know your rank?

[overconfidently]

( Cue the roll of his eyes. )

I don’t need a babysitter, thanks. As for my rank, pretty sure it was Contender.

( Not as high as he’d like it to be, but also not too bad either. Not that he wants to give in to the games this place has while the planet itself falls apart and becomes even more broken than it already is, but. Here they are and here he is bringing them in closer to the city. )

What’s yours? Or is that rude to ask a lady?

[sophielicious]

( X for doubt. He seems to have missed the entire premise of the whole thing, considering he didn't know what the fuck was happening, and she's not looking forward to him freaking out when it all comes out. He definitely needs a babysitter, but she's hiding that thought from him with a billion layers of how amazing flying is. One more thing he doesn't need to know.

She shifts a little in his arms so she can rest her chin on Nate's shoulder, so her eyes can gaze at the world they just passed by.)

Not when the lady is Luminary, thank you. You'll live, you just need a scandal or to make a scene or something.

[overconfidently]

What do I need a scandal for?

( What would a scandal about himself even be? This all seems trivial when the planet is broken and falling apart, but. They arrive at Agora and, hands still in place on her, he taps down gently onto one of the less busy streets, letting her go as he takes a look around. )

Hope this party's close by for you?

[sophielicious]

Being a spectacle makes you gain points, you gain points, you get to eat. The more points, the higher the ranks, the more you get to eat. I don't know, flirt hard with a girl, lift a building, have a fight that is totally meaningless but do it while yelling. Use that brain of yours, that also works.

(Because all of the above is what she has been doing, including using her telepathic powers, and she's not at all sorry.

Her feet gently settle on firm ground, a hand still on him so she can get used to being on her feet not a billion miles per hour.)

[overconfidently]

Is that what you're going to this party for? To rack up points?

( Granted, maybe she just likes going to parties or wants to enjoy her time while being here in any way she can, but. There's also the points thing. )

[sophielicious]

I like eating, and I like parties, so. Pretty much a win-win for me.

(So, it's both. He can come, or he can go home and she'll probably mentally ring Quire for babysitting duties. This is Omega bullshit, and she's not qualified.)

[overconfidently]

Need someone to walk you there?

( Maybe actually seeing and getting a feel for the place will have him decide whether or not he wants to actually go in and mingle. )

[sophielicious]

Sure, look handsome, give me that arm, and maybe that gets you some bread or whatever.

(Maybe. She's definitely going to cheat on his behalf, implant a thought here and there on their way to get him noticed. Boost that rank, sir.)

[overconfidently]

( Handing his arm over, he lets her lead the way for this party, a glance with a curious brow lift as he looks to her. )

So we're a team now?

[sophielicious]

I don't see why not, is there a reason why not?

(Mostly so she learns if he has any reservations. Her arm loops, the heels clack against the pavement, and off they go.

To the Casino.)

[overconfidently]

Just asking.

( To the casino is where they go, looks like. )

I'm a little more used to doing things on my own. Don't really do much teamwork.

[sophielicious]

No time like the present to learn, darling. You're surrounded by people who were basically raised to deal with stuff together. Hell, again, hivemind.

(Which is funny to say, considering that she is a little too alone in her mind right now. Five-in-One, more like, Sophie Cuckoo screaming into a pillow with how quiet her brain is when her powers glitch and there's only her in it, but those are details.

The wheel is the first thing they're presented with once they enter the Casino, and with all the confidence in the world, she spins it...

19. Oh, great.)

Come on, your turn.

[overconfidently]

( He's never really been part of a time— well. Not for very long anyways. Given the fact that everyone seems to want him and his power at the moment, he finds keeping to himself a little more easier than seeking the help of or trusting others. Going to the Avengers led him to the X-Men again which led to X-Force and now Sinister has him. With the number of people he keeps losing in his life that he cares about, going it alone really does seem like the more painless option.

But he snaps out of his thoughts when it's his turn and steps away from her to spin the wheel. He marvels at it a little for a moment before he actually spins the thing and watches the way the numbers brightly change one after another as it goes; he's still getting used to things and places like this.

His number lands on 3 and he looks over to Sophie there. )

Ok? That's all we have to do to get in?

[sophielicious]

(... Oh, this is a nightmare, this is a huge nightmare, because she not only is compelled to bits to keep him from any harm, but his whole number is about just that. It's pretty dim in there, but she is already looking for where Nate should not be stepping.

If he is wearing a jacket, so sorry, she's not explaining, she's taking it off of him to set it on top of his head. This should work, probably, maybe.)

You can't get direct light, and I... I gotta make sure of that, but besides that, yeah, that's pretty much it.

[overconfidently]

( He doesn't really understand the point of this for an entry fee, but sure. He'll go along with it. Seems like he has to if he's going inside. The sudden removal of his jacket, however, leaves him in his t-shirt and he blinks those blue eyes of his in genuine confusion as they step off to the side a little. )

How much direct light can there be in a place like this?

( It's not like they're outside? )

[sophielicious]

I borrowed some eyeballs and checked it out. There are some spots, but can you do me this solid, and like, not go anywhere near them? Please? With a pretty cherry on top?

(This is gonna be harder than she thought, and while he gives her those big blue eyes, her own are closed as she breathes in for the disaster that awaits. Okay, she can do this, she definitely can do this, so she'll take his hand, breathe in AGAIN, and nod to herself.)

Ready?

[overconfidently]

( A glance down to their hands, he lifts his gaze back up to her and he offers her a sympathetic smile with a lazy little nod. )

Ready as I'll ever be.

( How hard can this be? With that said, he leads her on into the place, blue eyes flicking their gaze around the place and just... taking it all in. He can't really say he's seen a place like this before. )

This often a thing at parties you go to?

[sophielicious]

(The woody smell of whiskey and cigars, which she hopes won't stick to her hair or dress. They can get a table, enjoy the atmosphere for a moment, while she takes in this whole place. It'll be how she decides whether she'll play, or whether she'll dip towards something more interesting down the line.

Either way, her only concern right is making sure Nate is not nowhere near the harder sourcers of light. Her own blue eyes are busy, up and down, down and up, and to the sides, and not only that, she's borrowing several irises to look at the room from all angles just in case she missed something.

Goddamnit. Sophie chooses the table at the dimmest, just in case, letting go of his hand so they can sit and she can properly answer his question now that she feels he's in a good positioning within the Casino.)

What, a wheel that gives you tasks? No, it's usually just a massive guy in front of the door choosing who goes in and who doesn't. You don't think this is a thing, right?

[overconfidently]

( He can practically feel the way she worries about him as they wander their way through the casino and while it’s a bit flattering, it also has him feel a sort of guilt for making her feel the need to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t, well, end up stepping in the light. Maybe he should have rigged the wheel — used his telekinesis to give him a better number, not that he’d been paying much attention to what any of them were in the first place, but.

The moment they find themselves a table, he takes a seat at it, mindful of anything nearby that could set his skin ablaze in a manner of speaking. Looking back to her, he flicks his white bangs out of his face as he does. )

I don’t know. I’ve never really been in a place like this before.

( A casino and the atmosphere itself, which has him leaning over the table some to get a better look around them. )

It’s pretty wild to see. ( Smile soft and almost curious on his lips as he looks back to her, he blinks then. ) Oh, you wanted food and drinks, didn’t you? Should I find us some?