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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. |
no subject
No, this is something else.
All too obviously a trauma response.
There's a softness that shifts in her eyes, her expression.
(And she doesn't miss Charles' name joining Sinisters.)
Jean's voice remains calm, gentle. ]
See if I might be able to identify or help with whatever might be wrong.
no subject
He sighs — eyes falling shut. A shake of his head, white bangs fall in front of his face some as he looks down. Moira and her words come to mind — Sinister sits there with her in his thoughts and the words they’d both said. Well. Moira he had to rip out of her mind when he sensed she was hiding something from him. Sinister was at least upfront and honest about it, he’ll give him that, even if he hates the madman. )
I know what’s wrong with me.
( Words soft, he opens his eyes and lets his gaze linger there on the ground. )
Weapons aren’t meant to last.
no subject
Oh, Nate. No. You're not here just to die.
I refuse to believe that.
[ Not when she she knows she'll see him again after this point for him;
Not when she'll do whatever it takes, put herself between him and this place if it comes to that. ]
no subject
( The one he and Jean are from now because his... is gone, along with everyone on it. Lucky him, right? To be the sole survivor of it in the new world he'd found himself in.
He doesn't let himself think about that too much — shakes his head after a moment and takes a few steps forward before he stops. He doesn't know where to go... doesn't know this planet and feels alone again just as when he'd fallen to Switzerland on the Earth he's been on now for a bit. This Etraya he isn't even on yet and will have to find his way around there, too.
He looks to her then. )
That's why you're here, too, isn't it?
no subject
No.
They can say it's why they brought me here.
But no one can make me party, through action or inaction,
to the decimation of another planet again.
I will help every person and their world.
[ She held out a hand for Nathan, thinking so very suddenly, and without warning, about holding the older version of him in her arms. Emotionally broken from his own mistakes meant well and applied to the worst degree of negating free will. ]
Our world, our universe, isn't more important than anyone else's just because it is ours.
[ Especially not with the kind of powers they have, and the kind of choices they can make with them. ]
no subject
He's quiet — feels he should be — gaze cast downwards for a moment before he's looking back up to her and it's with a gentle sort of curiosity there on him that he even thinks to ask: )
And how do you plan to do that?
( It's not that he's doubting her. He's just curious. )
no subject
She doesn't need the chagrin, and there's a soft burst of hope for the other. ]
The same way we do everything else: step-by-step, day-by-day, choice-by-choice.
Picking what will always help the greater good and the greater share of people,
both here and everywhere else.
No matter who tries to tell you, the shape of their gameboard doesn't allow for it.
[ Maybe as an example, she wiggles the fingers of the hand she's still holding out to him, her smile turning a little fond and lighter. ] Come back with me to where I'm staying. We have room enough for another, and you can rest a while before we start planning what to do while we're here on Aphaia.
no subject
She wiggles her fingers there and he looks to her hand again. Uncertain. It's not that he doesn't trust her it's just... he doesn't know her. Not like he should have. But he... wants to. Deep down. He just... needs to know something first. )
Do you know who I am?
( And the way he asks her that... it's so soft, so careful, as if he might be rejected for even asking such a thing in the first place and thus, not wanting to get his hopes up that she just, somehow, knows him. )
no subject
[ The answer is so immeadiate it doesn't even need a thought first.
A thing that half wants to comfort, and on the otherside could never be denied.
Jean knows her children; loves them to the deepest her doubts once kept her from.]
Maybe even a good deal more than you would expect me to, as I think I come from a good bit further down the timeline, in our world, than where you've arrived here from. I don't want to overstep or overassume anything that might make you uncomfortable, but yes, I know exactly who you are.
[ Who he is. Where he came from. Who made him.
Who his parents
wereshould have been.How her heart twisted the first time he said 'mother.' ]
no subject
Images of Sinister flood to the surface of his mind. Nate struggling to get himself up from the floor, Sinister caressing the side of his face and claiming the boy to be his. Telling him of his parents — Scott Summers and Jean Grey — and how he was meant to be nothing more than a weapon against Apocalypse. That he will only ever be that and nothing more. The helplessness and anger from Nate bubbling to the surface as he's strung up while Sinister just laughs in that maniacal way he's prone to at times. All these moments flood to the surface of his mind, so easy for a telepath to see and pick up on but... so, too, does the image of the way he presses his hands against the glass window of the ship he rides with the Avengers... the way he spots Jean there and stares to her, feeling something twist within his chest at the sight of her there on the ground with Cyclops and the X-Men. A deep-seated longing that can so easily be felt within the very center of his chest there on the ship.
He quells the images spinning around within his mind — forces himself to quiet his thoughts and just... stands there. Head bowed. Tears suddenly pricking blue eyes, refusing to let them fall. Maybe that's the Scott Summers in him. Maybe that's the Jean Grey in him. He doesn't know. What he does know is that she knows him and he just... feels overwhelmed that she does. )
I'm Nate Grey... ( He forces himself to say that. ) ...and I'm not anyone's weapon.
no subject
Let's him process that surprise, and all it touches.
That—with him, this version of him—she hasn't been given the right to (yet). ]
Good. And anyone who disagrees,
can know I'll be there to back you up on it.
no subject
It's in that moment he blinks back those tears — lifts his gaze up to meet Jean's then and, staring to her hand again, gently takes her fingers with his, breath soft on his lips. )
Where do we go from here then?
no subject
He takes her fingers gently, barely breathing, like they might be the thinnest of fragile glass—
—and makes a promise to herself, if nothing else, that she's going to do the best she can by him, while and as she can here. No matter whether he chooses her or not, this early. To help him in the ways they never knew he might need it, when they knew him at this age. She knows the future often can't be changed, but sometimes hearts and paths can be softened. Helped.
He needs it. Deserves it.
It wasn't as though she could have ever turned him away.
Jean tugs on his hand just as gently and starts them heading in a different direction than he had stumbled into this place, or she had come roaring like a comet from. ]
Home. Or at least what's managing for it while we're in this world.
Which is an apartment I'm sharing with Ororo, who arrived a few days ago as well.
no subject
( He knows this isn’t where they’re meant to be stationed while, supposedly, proving the worth of their world to be considered for saving. He hates the thought of that — the thought that someone else deems whether or not millions upon millions of lives are worth saving. It shouldn’t be up to one single person or entity and he intends to find out what he can about this Echo and Aurora the moment he can.
For now, he just follows along. )
You have something considered home there?
no subject
Her words are careful, but they aren't sharp at all.
"I have somewhere I consider safe enough. For now."
Beyond where the cameras can hear, she adds:
{ It doesn't hurt that I can hear everyone across this world and I don't need to worry about anyone sneaking up on me, or the place itself. }