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

[fourthwalled]

I might. [Dubstep never dies.] So, maybe you should just tell me that you love it and that later you'll listen to some Skrillex with me...

[overconfidently]

( Eyeing the other for a long moment, he's... unable to help the smile that ever-so-gently touches at his lips. Shake of his head to follow, he blows out a sigh. )

I feel like you get this a lot, but you're really weird.

( Although it's not said as a means to insult. Just simply saying. With that, however, he puts them both back on the ground, feet gently tapping down as he does. )

[fourthwalled]

[He's not offended. It's hard to offend him, even if Nate had been trying to.] It's come up. Although usually with a lot more colorful language. I must inspire that in people.

[Probably because most of the time Wade is doing this while also trying to stab or shoot someone.

He pouts when his feet finally touch the ground, shaking them out.] Bummer. Thanks for that, though. That was a blast. Maybe we can do it again sometime?

[overconfidently]

( Like he said, it requires focus and while he's more or less power incarnate, he still hasn't one hundred percent mastered his abilities just yet. Plus, he can get tired.

Sigh leaving him, he flicks his white bangs out of his face as he looks over to the other mutant, tilt of his head and brow raised a bit. )

Is that before or after the introduction to Disney princesses and dubstep?

[fourthwalled]

Tell you what, Mindfreak Jr. [He gives Nate a firm pat on the back.] I'll let you pick the order.

[overconfidently]

( Just a bit of A Look at the mindfreak jr. comment there. )

Yeah. Can't see why anyone wouldn't like hanging out with you. Not at all.

( That is sarcasm. )

[fourthwalled]

Aww, don't be like that! [You're going to make him cry!] I have plenty of friends! Blind Al, Peter, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Colossus, Logan, Dophinder, Shatterstar, Domino, Cable... of course those last two couldn't be bothered to come to my last birthday party.

[overconfidently]

( He's about to ask if he means Peter Parker but then he goes and says Cable and he turns to look to Wade a little more seriously. )

You know Cable?

[fourthwalled]

I sure do! We're basically best friends. [maybe more than.] It was a real meet cute. He threw me over a railing and broke my back. We had a dance battle, and then I tried to blow him up with one of his own grenades. It was a real back and forth... will they / won't they situation for a bit there.

[How else do you make friends?]

But at the end of it, he compared me to his wife, and then we murdered some mutant hating pedophilic pieces of shit together. The best way to bond, I say.

[overconfidently]

( Like with... everything he says, really, it's a lot to take in and Nate can't help but stare in confusion for a moment. When he thinks he has the gist of it, he folds his arms in front of his chest. )

No offense, but Cable doesn't really come off as the type to do meet cutes.

[fourthwalled]

Please. That bitch carries a fanny pack. He's been dying for a meet cute.

[Maybe not. But Wade's got a way of cutting through the thick layers of stoic prickly types. Probably because he's so goddamn relentless.]

[overconfidently]

Don't call him that.

( That's rude, Wade. )

He can be annoying, sure, but he saved my life and probably yours at least once.

[fourthwalled]

It's a term of endearment?

[Wade can't help himself sometimes. Yet he does look surprisingly chided. Cause well--] He did save my life. Used his last charge on his time travel watch to do it too.

[overconfidently]

( Falling quiet at that, his gaze drops — recalls the way Cable had argued with his companion how he was going to save Nate and not destroy him like he was told to. He was the abomination, not Cable, according to his companion. But Cable had allowed his hold against the virus to slip some to reach for him within his broken mind — pull him back from whatever shattered pieces of his mind he was falling into. So he's not all that surprised to hear he would sacrifice some part of him for someone else. Someone he could empathize with to some extent. )

Yeah. Sounds like something he'd do.

( Arms dropping to his sides, he eyes Wade. )

He's my brother. So watch what you say.

[fourthwalled]

And you're both named Nate.

Zero points for creativity on that one. [Wade doesn't look at all worried about the inherent warning in those words. He just smiles.] I'm not very good at watching what I say. Not a strong suit. Still, I'll do my best?

[His best is terrible, but about as good as you'll get.]

[overconfidently]

It's complicated.

( To say the least. But with that, he starts off towards the city space he can feel close by. )

You mentioned Peter earlier. Did you mean Peter Parker?

[fourthwalled]

Nah. Not Parker-- but that would be cool. [Spidey-Pool!]

He's just Peter. You'd understand if you met him. He's pretty great. And a damn master at selling reasonably priced minivans.

[overconfidently]

And what are you a master of?

( He glances back to him as he goes. You know. Expecting him to follow and all. )

[fourthwalled]

Uh. [Wade is definitely following, but the question leaves him stumped.]</small. I'm a master of... shooting people? Also stabbing them, I'm pretty good at that too. I also saved my universe, so maybe that means I'm the master of the universe too? He-man's got nothing on me.

[overconfidently]

You?

( That... absolutely came off more judgmental than he meant it to, but. )

If you saved your universe, why are you here then? Shouldn't you be all good?

( Why did Echo pull him in to save his world if he had... already done that? )

[fourthwalled]

Yes, me! And Logan. But mostly me.

[He sighs at the question, clearly it's a touchy subject.]

I saved it from the TVA and then Cassandra Nova's crazy ass. This Echo thing is something else. Marvel Jesus's job is never done, it seems! I'll save it again and do it in style. And I don't need Wolverine around to be oiled up and shirtless to do it this time! I'll do it on my own merit!

[overconfidently]

Wait.

( Please hold. )

You need someone to be oiled up and shirtless to get you to save the world?

[fourthwalled]

I don't need it, didn't you hear what I just said?

[He pauses, looking Nate over for a moment.] Why? Are you offering? Although-- wait. How old are you?

[overconfidently]

( Cue the eyebrow raise. )

How old are you?

[fourthwalled]

I'm... [mumbles under his breath.] fourty-seven.