etrayamemes | TDM 001

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!tdm

TDM 001

⏵ arrival⏴
Arrival goes as anticipated. Characters awaken in the pristine, new hospital, greeted by Aurora and potentially getting a rundown of what's happening depending on their approach to being dropped somewhere new. The door to their room opens, and new arrivals are left free to explore their new environment.

Or what exists of it anyway. Exiting the hospital will show that there isn't much of anything just yet. Generally, Echo can build new facilities before new arrivals awaken, but it appears that this time… well, it didn't happen. The apartment complex exists, standing just beside the hospital, and there are a few facilities that are half constructed, companion bots carrying around rebar and other necessary bits and pieces, but they're not quite ready. Oops. But maybe, just maybe, one of those half-built facilities is familiar - a childhood home, a favorite supermarket, the run-down garage they worked at as a youth, a grounded spaceship in the middle of one of the massive bridges connecting land over rivers.

The companion bots will offer quiet apologies if approached; they were expecting new arrivals to touch down, but not quite this early. They'll be ready soon! A few more days at most, they promise. In the meantime, do not stray too far from the hospital. While most of Etraya looks habitable, they have not finished verifying that it's safe for its new inhabitants.

The apartment building and hospital are safe, and the land directly around them is fine, but beyond that? Stay away. But hey, the hospital's cafeteria is fully stocked with cuisine from across the multiverse! Please feel free to settle in, choose an apartment, and get to know your new friends.

⏵ water you doing?⏴
Decide not to listen? Well, the companion bots had offered their warnings.

Etraya is a new establishment, one that received newcomers before it was ready. And as such, the land has not quite been prepared for their arrival. Wandering off the land the apartment building and hospital are settled on comes with very, very poor results. Take a step down into the river below, and you'll find yourself uncomfortably hot. Or cold. Or hot and cold, because whatever that 'water' is, it wasn't meant to be played in. The only way to resolve the temperature regulation issue, as Aurora informs, is finding a buddy to cuddle up with. Those who are lucky may have a nearby friend they're familiar with and don't mind leaning a shoulder against. Those that don't? Well. . . have fun having a very uncomfortable conversation with a stranger, asking them if it's alright if you lean into them or hold their hand for a bit. Any physical contact will do, as long as it's directly skin-to-skin.

Except that's not where the contact stops. Characters will find that, for the next several hours, they'll feel everything that their companion feels. Frustration, anger, amusement, homesickness that comes from being so far away from their families and friends - all those feelings? They're not your feelings, they're our feelings now.

No explanation is given for how the empathy bond and the temperature regulation are related, but it may have to do with how since they had decided not to listen, it was time to test how well they could cohabitate with their new friends.

⏵ bonding bingo ⏴

Maybe it feels a little too much like Obi-Wan had when receiving Leia's message, but all new arrivals are their universe's only hope. Except they're not the only ones arriving, and not the only ones who are trying to keep their worlds safe. Instead, they've arrived with several others who carry the same weight on their shoulders. And they aren't meant to go through this alone. The people they've arrived with are both their new companions and their competition. Both comrades to fight beside and enemies to battle against, depending on what the specific mission of the month is. But currently?

They're here to bond. It's important to get to know those who they'll be spending the next unspecified but lengthy amount of time with, isn't it? To that extent, Aurora's hologram waits just inside the hospital's front doors, offering bonding bingo cards to those willing to participate. It's not necessary, but she does specify that this is one way to get ahead: cooperation is important, especially given what they're going to face together. Bingo cards are three long and three across, and offer a multitude of activities you can do to check each box off.

Some examples include:

Learn someone's biggest secret

Get into a fight

Tell someone something that you've never admitted out loud to

Throw a drink on someone

Win a game of pool in the apartment building's recreation room

Cheat on a card game without getting caught

Hug a new friend

Get stabbed

Steal something important to someone

Pull off an elaborate prank on a stranger

⏵ matchmaker ⏴

When the earpiece is put on, a nice green HUD(head-up display) lights up in front of new arrivals. It asks them for their name, which is fairly standard for these.

Except it seems it wants them to put together a profile to help pair them off with other new arrivals. For some, this information may autofill with what Aurora was able to discern about them from watching them in their home worlds. But some lucky individuals may catch their profiles before they're posted live, and have the opportunity to edit out information included in fields, even if they're not able to clear it out entirely.

Welcome to Aurora's idea of matchmaking. Have fun getting paired off with a buddy or four, with your profiles exchanged between one another. Maybe they're the perfect match. Maybe this is a nightmare in the making.

⏵ OOC ⏴
Welcome to our first TDM! We're excited to have you here. For more information on character arrivals, click here. For any questions relating to the TDM please reply below. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

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I think with being dragged here, it’s the least they can do.

[Daisy says dryly as they make their way to the elevator.]

The hospital? I know there’s a cafeteria in there.

[ Her laugh sparks something faint behind Krouse's eyes, a ghost current lighting up faded filament. It's nice, having a joke land, under the circumstances. Distracting her from the screwed up situation they're in, even if only for a second, makes him feel less - pointless. ]

Really? [ He says, straight-faced. ] You're a gumshoe? Full on, 'I knew the dame was trouble as soon as she walked into my office'?

[ He reaches for fresh gauze and bandages. ]

No wonder you don't trust any of this. Not exactly a profession that inspires much faith in humanity.

[ And she appreciates that. The last thing she wants is someone trying to baby her because she's a woman. ]

I had a little caffeine this morning.

[ She shrugs. ]

I'm a human with some...enhancements. Not of the armor based variety. And wasn't my choice either. Just happened.

Something like that.

[ There weren't too many dames walking into her office and she tended to be a little picky about cases. But, if the money was good, she'd take it. ]

I'm not wearing a fedora and a trench coat before you go asking.

[ Hats wouldn't look good on her head anyway. ]

It keeps the lights on.

Hospital.

[ He says it like he's trying the word for the first time, though it does sound familiar. He's sure they had missions where there were hospitals. A moment later and the memories resurface. ]

Oh, the place where the sick and injured go.

A — ARRIVAL.

[Waking up in a hospital is never a comfortable experience; waking up in one with absolutely no memory of what it was that put him there, and being under observation while they're at it, makes this one exponentially more discomforting. The heaviness in his limbs also doesn't escape his notice — has he been drugged? — but at least his mind seems relatively clear. It'll pose a problem if he ends up needing to defend himself. So will the conspicuous lack of his weapons at his sides.

Neither one prevents him from ultimately getting the rundown from the entity calling itself Aurora, or from ultimately making his way out of his arrival room and down to the ground level, intent on seeing this apparent battleground for the future of all planets with his own eyes. The fact that there isn't much more to see save the hospital and the apartment building is...underwhelming, frankly. So they're to justify the continuance of their worlds to someone who hasn't even gotten their own half-built, are they? The irony is palpable, really.

Still, there's one piece of the construction that catches his eye, a little ways off in the distance. It's been decades since the construction of the Shinra Building, and yet he can still remember the low lamplight in his father's office, the blueprints crisp in his hands, the pride in his voice — This is the room where I give out orders to the world! He remembers staring at them, too young at a mere five years old to really understand the significance of it all, but knowing full well how desperately he'd wanted to say something clever, something that would earn approval —

He would know that tower on sight. He would know that office. There is absolutely no reason why the "companion bots" should be constructing a replica here. And yet...]

Well, well. That's one way to leave a mark.

B — WATER YOU DOING.

[Sometime shortly after his arrival, Rufus finds his way to the recreation room, where thankfully the pool table has been left momentarily unoccupied. It's a familiar activity, for one thing; it's something he can do fairly instinctively while he lets his thoughts drift through all the various ramifications of finding himself on Etraya, for another. It's also just plain satisfying, the thunk of stick against cue, the crack of cue against ball — and there's a certain quiet satisfaction in finding his shots and sinking one after another after another, angles and trajectories and force.

Until, that is, he starts missing.

It's just one shot, at first; his stroke goes just a touch awry, and the ball he was aiming at bounces off the very edge of the bumper instead of sinking cleanly in. He sinks it on the second attempt; the third, a longer banked shot, goes wide of his target and comes to rest further down the table, having struck nothing in the process.

He's probably only gritting his teeth out of idle frustration. He's likely only gripping the cue stick as a way of working off the tension.

It's definitely not the fact that he'd gone exploring in the river prior to his arrival here, and the paralyzing chill seeping through his bones has finally gotten to the point where he can't disguise it anymore. No, it's definitely not that at all.]

C — MATCHMAKER.

RUFUS SHINRA (30)

President of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Yesterday is behind us; we must look instead to the promise of tomorrow, for today is a new day.

This is a corporate social media account and does not respond to private messages.

["Doesn't respond to private messages", huh. Sure. Yeah. Okay.]

D — WILDCARD AND NOTES.

[None of the above prompts working for you? Feel free to toss me a starter of your own! I'm also definitely willing to play Bonding Bingo, and am happy to tailor the prompt/premise as desired!]

[She ignores the last question, because she doesn't feel like answering him with any sincerity right now.]

Alright, mister bleeding heart. Feel free to hug it out and see how much it helps when they throw us all into a death match or whatever.

[Maybe she's being unnecesarily mean to this kid, but she's hit the limit of her already-thin patience, and gives him a dismissive wave.]

[She does notice that expression, but at his question, there's clear confidence in her casual response.]

Naturally. It might not mean much to you, but I was well-known in my world. So I hope you appreciate getting some advice.

[There was an attempt to edit her genius nature into her matchmaker profile, to...mixed success.]

[The past two years of her life have had some of the best and worst experiences; she doesn't think she could've made it through the latter even half as well as she did without Natsuno, and it's also because he was there that the former existed. Everyone needs someone like that, don't they?

...Of course, she's not at all biased when she thinks that Natsuno is the best there could be. He's wonderful--sweet, levelheaded, capable, reliable, handsome and cute and just...everything perfect. She's on the verge of voicing some of these terribly sappy thoughts when Sylvie shifts and proceeds to drop a targeted emotional strike right into her heart.]

Huh? I, uh- [Her face goes impressively red as she stares at Sylvie. Sylvie's--so nice. Too nice, really. Rita thinks back to what she said earlier, about being sad their meeting wasn't real if this turned out to be a dream, and suddenly thinks but that would be better, because if this is real, then they really are going to get hurt-

Floundering a little, Rita starts and her foot slips off the edge of the bank, plunging her leg into cold water right up to her knee--and she yelps in surprise and shock, because-]

Aah! That's cold!

[ aang is a nice, peaceful person.

but he's also young. ]

If I was in a death match, at least I'd have friends who'd think twice. I doubt anyone's gonna feel the same way about you.

[When everything else feels so strange and surreal, there's nothing grounding like seeing a familiar and friendly face. Rage and rebelliousness will surely take hold later, but for now? She's going to be damn relieved to have her friend at her side, after all.

Speaking of which--most of Clarke's injuries do actually look much better than the last time Rita saw her, before she and Natsuno tried (and failed) one last-ditch effort to stop Malin's plans. So it's with some confusion that she's noticing the still-wounded hand. Is that a strip of Clarke's pajamas used as a makeshift bandage? Oh, no. Nope.]

Eventually? I don't think so. We're doing it right now.

[She holds a hand out expectantly. Gauze and antiseptic, please. Rita has zero medical training or knowledge but how hard can it be?]

Mm, not surprising, I guess...

[It probably is something of a miracle they're both here together. What are the odds? Actually, she doesn't think she wants to know them.

Anyway, they're outside, and--wow, it really is still half-built.]

Geez, look at this... You do have a point about the magic, though. Alright, let's find a good spot--I don't see any ocean, so I wonder how far we can go...

[Beyond the scaffolding, it looks like wilderness. But she suspects there'll be something to keep them from just wandering off.]

Why not?

[ Krouse peels the sodden gauze free and inspects the tacky wound briefly before he slaps the fresh pad on. He thinks it'll be fine without stitches. ]

You could pull a fedora off.

[ Bandaging it up is the work of a minute, a few loops of fabric and a slap of surgical tape. ]

And it's the look, right? Although - I guess you might want to leave it behind on stake outs.

[ He's just bullshitting, mostly. He means it about the fedora. ]

[ There's something so blithely self-assured about her opinion that it doesn't rankle. He guesses she's around his age, but somehow, it makes him feel infinitely older than she is. ]

Thanks. [ He says, quietness edging up on soft, like a cloth worn out to threadbare thinness. ] I'll keep it in mind.

[ He'll keep in mind that she's like this, all unfounded optimism and slightly prickly confidence. ]

What kind of genius are you?

[ He asks, on a whim; if there's anything he knows about smart people who tell you they're smart, it's that they like to talk about it. ]

Rita —

( typical martyr bullshit right here, but her injuries really aren't that important at this moment. clarke hasn't stopped to look in a mirror let alone marvel at the fact her face is almost entirely fine but the wound on her wrist remains, but if she had. the conclusion would be somewhere in the middle of aurora ran out of time before the drug wore off and i've always been fated to wear a scar gifted to me by darcy lejeune.

but as it stands, without being waylaid by the heartening discovery of rita mordio parked on the lawn, clarke would have already been halfway out of the little city scape and into the trees. she still wants to get out of here first and foremost.

also historically rita fought her over nose plugs and winced at bone magic, the other girl is not her first choice when it comes to medic.

clarke makes no move to open her pillowcase, but does gesture off towards the distance stubbornly. )

Can we at least get outside of city limits first?

( for some reason, despite natsuno yuuki always living up to full fledged Best Friend status by seeking to alleviate her guilt and back her decisions, clarke still tries to impress upon him how awful of a friend she is. how bad of a human being she is, how those hard calls have molded her into an even harder person after years and years of making them. remember that sweet, innocent girl who played chess with bottle caps and bolts, and liked watching ancient soccer matches with her dad? yeah, she grew up to be the product of a bloody, violent environment and can't even look at new faces without wondering if someday she's going to have to kill them too.

he just never seems to take it to heart. and that's always equally exactly what she needs from him, and incredibly frustrating. i didn't even do better, i just did what i always do, she almost says

but he's prompting them towards the tree line before she can even formulate a full counter argument to why she's horrible and should honestly have been one of the last people echo chose for this task; outright saving or just keeping alive for a little while longer. and with a belated nod, she spares the dropship one last look as an arc of light flitters from inside the door — they're welding now — and has to wonder if, once it's complete, things like the bullet dents in the hull and floor will be included.

then clarke turns on her heel and waits for natsuno to fall into step beside her. they walk. )

...I like your get-out bag. Why didn't I think of that?

( take away the prison clothing and natsuno almost looks like a respectable citizen contributing to the betterment of the populace with that emt bag. meanwhile clarke's tinkling pillowcase fits with the prison suit to make a very profound statement: reckless, lawless, vagabond. and none of it's even untrue, but best believe if they don't manage to escape entirely she'll be posted up outside the shops until the helper bots finish their construction. )

[ Fett isn't much for conversation even in the best of circumstances. Now, faced with a bratty teenager who had first made herself known by trying to insult him about his age, he's even less interested. His response is monosyllabic and detached. ]

No.

Compliments aren't going to get you far with me. I don't care.

[ Does she appreciate them? Maybe a little. Slightly. Very slightly. She shrugs, looks slightly shy about it. ]

What I'm wearing now is what I tend to wear when I work. Need people to look past me if I want to find out their secrets. Tends to work.

Right.

[Daisy says, smiling in small amusement at him when it finally clicks. As they exit the elevator she glances over at the rec center on the main floor. Remembering her conversation with Matt earlier about it.]

We’re going to be here for a while.

[She doubts the thought hasn’t crossed Joric’s mind already, but she felt the need to say it out loud regardless.

Exiting the apartment building, Daisy glances across the street and does a double take. A diner? That hadn’t been there before, or maybe it had but she just hadn’t noticed? Either way, it was clearly still being constructed.]

I don’t remember seeing that before. Do you?

[Daisy asks, gesturing towards the unopened diner with a nod of her head.]

...really?

Well. That will need work.

( not the first time he'd found himself waking up in who knows where so there's not exactly much panicking to be had -- even after listening to that talking picture spewing crap at him. zoro tries one of the doors to his left and when it opens, he takes a step inside, finding himself face to face with a young girl. his hand moves towards his right hip out of habit, intending on resting it on the hilt of his sword, but that trusty weapon of his is of course missing. )

Hey. ( he tilts his chin up in a sort of impatient way, looking to get straight to the point here. ) You seen a sword anywhere? Weapons? Anything like that?

Mm hmm.

[ His feelings are mixed. This is a delay in returning home, to the place his heart craves most. But on the other hand his parting with Daisy has been delayed.

Joric turns at her question and he looks where she indicates, head tilting slightly. ]

I don't recall it, no. It is a... diner?

[ The type of place Daisy likes to eat. ]

It looks like it.

[She turns her attention back on Joric, letting him lead the way back to the hospital.]

Guess the cafeteria is our only option for now.

As long as it's edible, it works for me.

[ He is a garbage chute of a person; he'll eat anything.

He leads them inside and looks up at the signs posted that point out different areas of the hospital. The cafeteria isn't far from the main lobby and he moves in that direction. ]

Everything seems abandoned except for us and those metal men. I suppose this place must really have been made to hold us.

Somehow this place feels more constraining than the station.

[Daisy admits, glancing at someone walking towards the cafeteria ahead of them. There aren't many people in there when they enter, and Daisy's attention is immediately on the large percolator before noticing just how many other options there were here.]

We'll meet back at this table?

[She asks, knowing they'd likely be wanting to get different things.]

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TDM 001

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Rufus Shinra | FF7R

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matchmaking

arrival

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