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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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(She's definitely tuning him out, and thanking FUCK she came out the test tube perfect and at a less angsty age. Cripes, can you imagine. Also, this is a trap. This is definitely a trap.
With the laugh she gives, her hand raises so someone can come see them. With a nod, they should be here soon.)
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If you piss me off. You're approaching that again. [Big talk, honestly. Because Scott will probably end up wandering into her space for one reason or another. He'll just never admit it.]
Bring up the X-Men again? I'm leaving.
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Alright, alright, Summers. Then what do you wanna talk about? Gentleman's choice.
(Although, pretty hard thing he asks of her, because being a mutant and doing mutant shit is the most relevant part of who she is. It'll come back, maybe less X-Dressed, but that's the only thing they really have in common.
Alas, she orders a piña colada for herself, and for him, a beer. Good start point, she thinks.)
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[There's that ongoing attitude, but Scott at least isn't leaving. Luckily?? He just folds his arms across the table before leaning against them slightly, still the picture of teen angst. When will it end? The world may never know.
Scott's also never had a beer before. This will probably be really disastrous, at least for him.] I'll even accept you talking about some girly crap.
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(Actually, these are definitely things she does and would talk about very easily, but just for the sake of being annoying back.
The beer and the drink do come, and listen, she chose beer because that's mostly water. It's low-key way to take care of him, but shhh.)
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[He wasn't implying anything in particular!! Except he kind of was. Sophie's answer is pretty much what he assumed to be in that category, but he thinks it makes all the difference that she said it first. NYEH-
But look. Beer. Great. First time drinking? First time drinking.
Scott takes the beer and because he wants to be a super cool teen that just does shit, he takes a big gulp from it and-- immediately coughs. Almost spluttering from the taste. It's a miracle that he doesn't spill his drink on himself.]
Ugh, that was gross!
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(He didn't say anything else, so... Busted, kinda.
But if she had two dimes for every clueless boy that will have their first beer and absolutely hate it in her presence in Aphaia, she'll end up with two dimes, which isn't much, but it's kind of funny that it happens twice.
She's trying so hard to keep a straight face, mostly failing.)
Wanna try mine?
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Scott notices the look on Sophie and yeah. He's sure that's what is going on. He folds his arms again, scowling and looking elsewhere. Sure yeah, it's just the other patrons of this bar, but whatever.]
You ordered the worst beer on purpose, didn't you? Thanks. [No he doesn't answer her yet.]
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(But look, she's going to throw him a bone and check if there's any acceptable beer for oh, your small majesty Scott Summers. The pink in her eyes, the little glow, and she's going through all the tastebuds of whoever is drinking too, only to wrinkle her nose and drop it.)
Yep, Summers, all their beers super suck. Get a juice, or a girly cocktail.
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Whatever. I'll just drink it.
[Or probably not drink it at all. Probably the latter, since the teen isn't even trying to reach for the glass again, just sitting there with that sour face that looks like it'd never change. He doesn't feel like ordering juice or a cocktail now either, just because she suggested it.
For a while, Scott looks like he's just going to remain silent. But then.]
How long did it take you to control that?
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(Does she really want to explain telepathy to him? Probably would be a good moment to, and well, might as well. She'll not teach him how to kick her out, or even notice when she's crawling in there — there are enough telepaths here who might throw him that bone.
What she will do, however, is explain the bullshit that is being a telepath.)
Telepathy comes in a lot of different uses, though, and I am not perfect at all of them. What do you wanna know?
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Hopefully they at least have different names. Like come on.
Scott frowns a little, some of the earlier anger leaving him.]
Um, I guess how you stop yourself from reading everyone's thoughts. Blocking everything from entering your mind. [Wasn't that the thing his Jean had most trouble with? It's the first thing that comes to mind. It's not like he has much experience with telepathy.]
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But, okay, sure, she can answer that. It's a good question, after all.)
Think of it this way. You're constantly in a crowded room. You see someone crying in the corner, some people yelling in the middle, a girl sighing at a guy from across the place. You don't really have that much choice but to witness it, you're there already, right? You can focus on the people yelling, you see they're red and about to throw hands, you hear the insults, see the anger, you get angry yourself... Or you just let it all become background noise. After a while, you get used to it.
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She doesn't have a choice though, because that's her powers.]
Sounds like a pain. [Scott admits, head turning to look at all the patrons for a moment.] Even if they're all background noise right now for you. Does it actually help focusing on one conversation?
[Their conversation?]
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(And she's not even the one with massive ranges like the other OmEgAs in this place, but with her glitchy powers, sometimes she does have moments of utter silence that drive her a little nuts.)
For me, it hardly matters, Scott. My brain is shared with four other brains, I'm pretty good at multitasking, and half of my conversations are up there, anyway.
... Or, well. Were up here.
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He wonders if there's anyone else that's like him at all. Someone that has uncontrollable eye beams. Or is he the lucky bastard that's special in that way? Ugh.]
But your clones aren't here, right? So, you're no longer sharing. [...] Does it really suck for you?
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(A little correction there, simply because they are not Sophie clones — Sophie too is one of them. It does seem like bitching opens the bitch up, so she's taking advantage of the situation.)
Before I got here, we got into a huge, ugly fight, so I left the hivemind anyway. That said, it fucking sucks.
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I'd be surprised if you guys didn't have a huge ugly fight at some point. Sharing a hivemind together? That's a lot, even if you are used to it. [...] But they'll probably want to hear all about your adventures here when you eventually return.
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(Kinda, not at all, or any of that. Probably they'll laugh at her a bunch, which she is not looking forward to. Ah, how the mighty have fallen.)
Yeah, let's hope we don't fry the universe, that'd be nice.
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[He really hasn't thought about that until now. How or when he'll eventually return back home. Supposedly they go to Etraya if they survive this planet, but Etraya isn't 'Earth' and who knows if that's even true to begin with. It's a huge clusterfuck if you ask him.]
And then you can have another big argument and almost fry the universe with your telepathy. That's how it goes.
[Him the expert on girls, clearly.]