etrayamemes | TDM 008

Entry tags:

TDM 008

content warnings for this TDM include: gambling references, mild horror themes and suggestive content

⏵ arrival⏴
Arrival does not happen as Aurora usually plans for it. Newcomers generally find themselves waking up within the hospital, are given a brief overview of their situation, and sent on their way. Now? They wake up immersed in a game within The Gold Saucer. But it doesn't quite feel like a game: whether it's snowy mountains, riding a chocobo as you listened to the wind quickly pass by your ears, or in the middle of a battle with a beast, it feels utterly real.

It's only after the game concludes - either by winning or losing - that you find yourself back in the main game area. A bot, dressed as personnel in this lavish playground, approaches each arrival with an earpiece allowing them to communicate with those in their same situation. It also serves to inform them of their goal: collect enough gold saucer points (or GP) by playing the games to acquire a card fashioned to their own likeness from the game counter. Then, they must trade it for someone else's. Seems simple enough, right? Hopefully the cards aren't too expensive...

⏵ the gold saucer ⏴
The Gold Saucer is an ode to the very idea of fun. It’s huge, labyrinthine, colorful, and lively. Everywhere you look, there’s something to do. At the same time, it’s also impossible to tell what time it is. There are no windows to the outside, there are no clocks. This place is beyond such a thing.

There are games everywhere you look, ranging from the pseudo-gambling to sports to pixelated video games in cabinets. Yet no matter which boxing game, pinball machine, or skeeball machine you look at, the same creatures and themes arrive. Cactuars, chocobos, the fiercest Behemoth, the cuddliest Moogle… For those from the realms of Final Fantasy, this will feel natural- homey even. Everyone else will simply understand that there is a fairly strong central theme here about magic, machines, and monsters.

It’s hard to tell how long you spend here, and it seems to sit outside of the very concept of time. Still, there are many restaurants, lounges, and vending machines. There are shops and costume rentals. There are even little pharmacies with headache remedies if the partying gets out of hand. And when you grow tired, there is a hotel- though it is made up like a haunted house, you can count on getting some semi-restful sleep.

⏵ playtime ⏴Interdimensional Games

At first, stepping through to play any of these games may make participants wonder if they have been teleported somewhere else entirely. But on closer inspection, all the skies above are merely well-constructed interiors with painted ceilings. After all, it always seems to be daytime during these games.

Snowboarding - Race to the bottom of the mountain, but avoid obstacles and complete as many tricks as possible!

Chocobo Racing- Race on Chocobo-back around a treacherous outdoors race track which can either be taking place in a desert, a swampy forest, or upon an island beach. Work in tandem with your rented bird and against your competition by throwing hazards in their way or utilizing buffs garnered on the track. Different colored birds will yield different advantages.

Yellow - Good All Rounder
Red - Fast, but hard to steer
Blue - Slower, but very easy to steer. Much easier to pick up items from them.
Green- Resilient against traps and sabotage

Colosseum Battle- Face off against the fiercest beasts around. Pair up with friends or rivals to Collaborate or Compete to do the most damage and deliver the final blow. These battles are synced to the comparative power of the one entering the competition.

We wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt unnecessarily, after all. And indeed, no one will get seriously, gruesomely, or permanently injured in these battles. Those without fighting capabilities can rent weapons outfitted Materia to assist them in their trial. These will allow anyone to cast spells, though not guarantee any better wielding of weapons. There are a hundred rounds, starting with fairly simple Spriggans, ranging all the way up to blood-thirsty Behemoths to challenge even the most battle-hardened hero.

Gold Saucer Games

Leap of Faith- Players are presented with an obstacle course that stretches a hundred feet into the air upon floating platforms and islands. Both are held aloft by magical crystals. Powers are entirely nerfed, though falling and hitting the ground is strangely painless. Those who collect the most silver and gold statuettes of cactuars placed at random throughout the course will be awarded proportionate GP; though there is a bonus for those that reach the very top first.

Triple Triad- Everywhere you look, people are playing this game on little 3 by 3 boards, or any surface with enough space. You will be given a loaner deck to play with. Are you clever enough to defeat your fellows.

Fashion Report- Theobold, familiar to some, stands by himself in a little booth with a dressing room and an incredibly expansive walk-in closet. He is a robot of distinguished fashion and strong opinions on those fashions. Do you dare subject yourself to his scrutiny? Come prepare in his wondrous closets to make the best outfit for the chance to win a prize. Please submit your fashion here!

There are Arcade Machines and activities galore. If you can think of it, it’s probably there- Just with that Final Fantasy pastiche on it, of course.

⏵ the beehive lounge ⏴
There are other places to eat at the Gold Saucer, but the vending machines and cafés all pale in comparison to the dinners at the Beehive.

For all the rave reviews, there is a dress code at the Beehive, and this is literal. If you step inside and are not currently wearing a dress, you will be ushered into a sideroom and appropriately made over.

However, this is only for those trying to go in through the normal doors. Around the side there happens to be an employee entrance, manned by a bot. He will only allow those in who seem like they intend to work— and therefore must be wearing at least one piece of the Bunnysuit Collection to trick the guard.

Once you are made over or have snuck in, you are free to relax inside with drinks, dine on a fine meal, watch the dancers, or participate yourself if you feel brave enough. Why would anyone ever dance here? Well, that’s simple. It pays really well. So if you’re sick of games, or terrible at them— you can always come dance for a shift. Though, don't get any unseemly ideas about freeing yourself of your clothing, this isn't that kind of establishment!

⏵ haunted house ⏴
When you grow too weary or drunk from a day of games, you may be directed to somewhere a little quieter to sleep. Up the elevator, and through the doors reveals a modest walk through some woods until a quaint, victorian hotel appears. It is always nighttime here, and the stars and moon twinkle above.

The receptionist, a bot in a rather bedraggled-looking chocobo mascot costume checks you in and shows you to your room. You can sleep here, especially if you can tolerate the hokey haunted decorations strung up around the place. Though sometimes, late at night, there will come a vigorous thumping on the door to startle sleeping patrons awake- Only for the culprit to vanish and be impossible to locate.

⏵ ticket counter ⏴

The prize counter is manned by a bot and has a sign posted overhead. Most prizes will be handed over inside an appropriately sized wrapped box, as the contents are a mystery.

Sparklers & Glowsticks	10 gp
Bunny Suit	300 gp
Bunny Stockings & Heels	150 gp
Animal Ears (Random)	500 gp
Kigurumi (Random)	100 gp
Chocobo Barding (Random)	1000 gp
Classic White Mage Robes	500 gp
Classic Black Mage Robes	500 gp
Plush Toy (Random)	100 gp
Wind-Up Minion (Random)	200 gp
Chocobo Mascot Suit (Random Color)	2000 gp
Triple Triad Booster Pack	50 gp
Triple Triad Card in your Likeness	10,000 gp

⏵ NOTES ⏴

This TDM may be treated as a mini-Mission. Time will not pass inside of it in relation to the world outside - meaning, this can be happening at any time between late May into early July!

This Gold Saucer is a bit of a mix between that of FF7's and FF14's, but it also has some things that neither have as well. Any inaccuracies are entirely intentional, aimed to make this rest within a space of uncanny valley for those who are familiar. While otherwise being a bit of a chaotic fantastical funhouse for everyone else! If there is something unlisted, chances are it will exist if it is in either of the other versions of the Gold Saucer.

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 to our mod queries comment!

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Carver snorts, making another face at Bossie. It's almost strange how easy it is to fall back into old patterns, that back and forth they developed more than a decade ago in Korengal. He can't remember when he decided that Bossie was his responsibility, only that it's began there and it's been true ever since.

It's true, too, that Carver failed him. Couldn't keep him steady enough under the commander's eye, couldn't keep him away from the fire.

Carver swallows past that anxiety. He won't let it happen here. He swears on his soul. "You better be giving me tips in that picture," he warns, mock-offended. "Lots of tips. Go to sleep, kid."

Bossie grins at him again, mischievous. Yeah he'd give Carver tips.

He closes his eyes obediently and turns onto his side to use his arm as a shield against the low light from the window.

He's half asleep when the ghost comes again, pounding on the door, sending Bossie up onto his feet, grappling for his knife.

For a little while, it's quiet. Even peaceful. Carver leans back against the headboard and slows his breathing down, trying to think about what the fuck he's supposed to do now. Keep Bossie with him. Try and explain what he can of this place and the new rules here. Keep the kid steady until they figure out a new system, a new routine.

He's going to have to talk to Harold and the others about this, he realizes, and starts typing messages. And that's going to be another uneasy conversation with Bossie later on. They haven't had allies for years, not until Dixon, and that blew up bad on them.

Tomorrow, Carver decides. They'll face it one piece at a time. And he settles too, calm and quiet, until the door slams open. Carver draws his sidearm, ready -

It's a trick. Another goddamn game.

"Bossie!" he barks. "Stand down!"

Stand down.

What the fuck does that even mean?

He looks back at Carver, and his knife is in his hand. "Come on we can catch the fucker-"

"It's a trick," he snaps, pulling Leah's sergeant voice. The one that books no argument. He lowers his sidearm, flicking the safety back on. "It's not worth the energy. They like tricks here."

Breathe, Carver tells himself, and he breathes. He does it slow and steady so Bossie will have something to mirror.

He lowers his blade. Slams the door shut and comes back to Carver.

"The fuck is going on here?" And right now he's just tired and feeling ghostly pain and he wants one thing, just one, to make sense.

Yeah. He knew this was coming. There's only so long he can get away with putting it off before it becomes a worse lie than the one he's already told. And they swore to be honest with each other, to be true and loyal the way the Army never was. What would he be if he broke that oath now?

Carver scrubs at his face and sits on the edge of the mattress. Exhaling through his teeth.

"We've been pulled here by an AI to serve as representatives for our world," Carver explains flatly. "To save our world. And I woke up here after I got a blade through my heart, so believe me when I say I know how insane that sounds."

Bossie sits there, looking at Carver, knife in hand still. Ready for a fight.

But Carver says there is no fight so belatedly he sets it down. Then picks it up again because he feels weak without it.

Carver got a blade through his heart? No. Carver's the best fighter he knows. The one who trained him.

And there's no chance AI, artificial or not, would choose David Bossie to save a world.

"Brandon," he says quietly, pleading. "Tell me the truth."

"I am."

He scrubs at his face again, then forces himself to drop his hands and meet Bossie's gaze straight on. No more dodging. They don't have to talk about the thing with Pope, the thing that Carver won't let happen, but the rest?

The rest is intelligence that he needs to give his operator, otherwise they'll both suffer for it.

"The AI sends us out on jobs. It's almost like a gameshow. We prove we can do it, we save our world. Supposedly. And maybe that's a lie, but I don't know what they're hiding or why, and I remember dying, little brother. The enemy gets through the gate. They got me on the ground. I remember that."

Carver shakes his head.

"And then I woke up here and there's not even a scar. But I owe the others. We're gonna make it back to them, even if it's just to bury them proper."

He shakes his head no. No, Carver didn't die. The others didn't either. The last he knows they were all fine except Mikey.

They're here to save the world? Focus, goddammit. Don't be a bitch.

"What do we have to do?"

Carver lays his hands on his knees, keeps his back straight. He breathes out slow.

"We get our orders," he says slowly, "and we work with the people here. Can you do that for me, Bossie? I need to know right now if you can't."

He looks at Carver, trying to guess if this is a real request or a test.

Is he a traitor? Is Carver? He can't tell right now.

So he laughs softly. "You want me to work with the unworthy now?"

"That's the wrong question."

He doesn't bark it out as an order or a reprimand. Just a statement of fact. The rules are different now. It feels unfair but the world is unfair. They have to keep fighting on regardless. That's always been true. He doubts it'll ever change.

"The right question is, can you adapt enough to do what our brothers and sisters need us to do?"

He flexes his hand, nervous. "Carver?" He asks softly. "You mad at me?"

"No."

Carver swallows hard. He wishes Leah was here. If she were here, she'd know exactly what to say to make this better. Ease the truth into a smaller, more palatable shape instead of an ugly pill to swallow like so much glass.

It sticks in the throat, doesn't it? It aches.

"No, Bossie, I promise I'm not."

Okay. That's something. That's more than he can say about Pope.

Maybe that's what he's waiting for. Pope to order Carver to burn him alive. Yeah, he thinks, thinking of how they locked Leah in a shed and set it on fire. For the sin of having a lover. That's what he's waiting for.

So he doesn't fully believe it.

"What do you need me to do?" he asks quietly, defeated. If Carver wants him dead, he's dead.

Carver swallows hard. He knows what it looks like when there's obedience but not trust. Maybe Bossie knows he's lying, somehow. Senses it. But you don't disobey your superior.

"I want you at my shoulder, little brother. I want you to follow my lead. I've got a place, it's secure. There's food, Bossie - there's so much fucking food. Can you trust me that far?"

He looks up at him, terrified but trying. Feeling the boot on his chest but it wasn't Carver's, was it?

He didn't deserve that boot. He fought. He fought so damn hard. No chance his victim lived.

But Pope was still livid. So livid he hurt Bossie. And Carver watched, they all watched, believing Pope's lies.

He swallows down his protests. "Yes, sir," he chokes out.

Everyone shows fear different. That was one of the early interrogation lessons. You learn how to read the body's tells. To pick information out of a stranger's involuntary reactions and then tabulate it. And he knows how Bossie carries fear. When he fights it down, when it coils tight in him like it coils in Carver. And Bossie's scared now like he was scared at the bonfire. None of them knew it would go that far but they were all waiting for something to give.

Carver stands up slowly, going to Bossie.

Then, silently, he presses their foreheads together.

Bossie reaches up into Carver's hair and holds onto him, this man he's trusted since he was just a teenager. Who saw him through the worst days of his life.

"I'm sorry," he says nonsensically. He's crying despite his earlier vow. "I'm sorry I broke. I just wanted to save him so bad... I really tried, Brandon. Don't hurt me. I'm sorry."

Oh, God. Carver closes his eyes tight, fighting past the lump in his throat. Forget it, he wants to say. That doesn't matter. That was all a bad dream. Pope wouldn't hurt you, he loves you, he loves all of us so much. We're family, don't you remember? We don't hurt each other.

But that would be a lie, wouldn't it?

He tucks his head against Bossie's, pulling him close. Rocking him gently. "It's okay," Carver whispers. "David, it's okay. I'm not gonna test you, I swear on Matthew."

This is the greatest oath they have. The only one even God cannot touch.

"I'm not gonna test you," he repeats.

They never invoke Matthew. Matthew, the greatest of their saints. You mean fucking serious business if you so much as whisper that name.

He buries his face against Carver's neck and clings to him, the knife clattering to the floor. "I tried," he needs Carver to know. "I fought the enemy. I got us out. I never ran from Turner. I never left him. I swear on Matthew I never- I tried-"

"I know," Carver murmurs, wrapping his arms around Bossie. One hand cupped to the back of his neck, steadying. The other rubbing Bossie's back. This is against the rules, improper given Carver's rank, but what else is there to do? You cannot let a brother break and Bossie's always been his to protect, to guide. Carver swears on his soul not to fail Bossie again.

Not here. Not ever again.

"You brought him back to us, we got to bury him." Turner wasn't lost out on the road like so many others, left to rot on the killing fields. Carver kisses the side of Bossie's head, tender. "Shhh. It's okay. Just breathe for me, kid, can you do that?"

"Pope's going to make you hurt me," he says, shaking, crying against Carver's neck. But he tries to breathe. It fails, but he tries. "Pope's going to make you turn on me and I fought, I didn't leave Turner, I swear-"

"No," Carver whispers, his eyes closed so tight it hurts. Don't you fucking cry, he tells himself furiously. Be steady for him. Stand up straight. He can feel Bossie crying, feel how badly he's shaking, and Carver just holds him tighter. Trying to shield him against something that's already happened.

He thinks, or fears, that Bossie knows. That the kid already lived through it.

"I won't, you did everything right. You did everything right, David."

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