TDM 001

[etrayamods]

⏵ 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. <center><table style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 2;"><tr><td width="260" align="center"><img src="IMG URL HERE" style="width: 245px; border-radius: 15px; border: 1px solid #7F7F7F; box-shadow: #8D8D8D 1px 1px 1px;"><br /><b><big><big>CHARACTER NAME (CHARACTER AGE)</big></big></b><br><div align="justify"> CHARACTER BIO</div></center></td></tr></table></center> ⏵ 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⏴

Comments

[skaikru]

( relax? relax? if clarke griffin was ever capable of relaxation in the first place, it's become a lost skill by now. especially on the heels of a mysterious prison escape, in the middle of acclimating to a brand new world that she hasn't decided is trust-worthy or not, or after seeing the first familiar face from her homeworld in god knows how long covered in blood — and saying it isn't hers?

her eyes remain wide and fixed on octavia's face, concerned for the other girl's well-being but also a little frantic — like if she looks away for even a second, she might lose her. but the rest of her face pinches up in... confusion. preemptive horror. had octavia arrived and been given a bingo card that prompted her to engage in a massacre, or was this older? some of the blood looks as if it's begun to dry and flake, have they been here that long? )

Whose is it?

[bad_habit]

"So what are you like an actress or something now?" Well actually it probably didn't matter what their jobs are anymore right? Though he wonders how all that works here. He supposes they'll have some time to figure it out. "Hopefully we don't have to get new jobs here or some shit. Something tells me I can't do my old job here."

"Somethin' like that." He sing-songs out.

ii. water you doing

[gloomstrider]

[ Rownan, unmoving and from a comfortable distance, studies the living, breathing, finally-organic creature like she's waiting for something more exciting to happen.

But this just feels pathetic to observe after the third failed strike. (She should just leave. She doesn't.) Her gloved fingers twitch, and Ruby's cigarette is warm and dry and curling perfect, easy smoke as if it had been lit for some time. ]

[nonvoting]

[ tseng understands both of those requests as clear as day. they'll need a place to stay, other than the hospital room where they'd woken up; they'll need to know who else is here, both from midgar and, perhaps, from elsewhere, if the claims of the hologram are to be believed. ]

Yes, sir.

[ were this midgar, this would be the point at which tseng gets out his phone to make a series of calls, to tell a series of people to do a series of tasks that results in the outcome rufus wants.

but this isn't midgar, is it, and tseng doesn't even have a phone at his disposal. at least not one that will connect him to anything useful. it's been a while since tseng was a full time, boots-on-the-ground agent of the shinra company, but there's no time like the present to remember where he came from. ]

Have you toured the apartments yet? [ tseng had stuck his head in the lobby during his earlier exploration, but hadn't spent much time actually perusing the lodgings therein. ]

[dawn_is_breaking]

She blinks, surprised at the assumption she's an actress and then chuckles. "No, I'm a vigilante."

Might as well just say it out loud, it's no less bizarre than the situation they are in right now.

"What was your previous job?"

[dawn_is_breaking]

Dawn nods, he has a point. They shouldn't assume that everyone who arrives here is from the same when or even earth for that matter.

"I'm originally from London, England but I was living in Paris before I came here. In 2024."

[bad_habit]

Well she's good looking, and also used to dance. He feels that, that is sort of a next step. He perks an eye up though. "Vigilante? What like a crime fighter?"

He hasn't met too many people here yet but they seem to have a little theme going and, well, he doesn’t fit it. He feels a little sheepish now. Not ashamed, cause he is not, but more and more he has no idea why he was here.

"Uh… well. I am a porn star." Is it was? Or still am. He wonders how time passes here verses elsewhere. He tries not to think about it. "Pretty good one too. Hottest in Hell~"

[myagic]

Hmm... [So he thinks he's--a leader? No, in her opinion, he hasn't shown the combination of aggressive and charismatic she associates with that. It's more like-] So, what, you fancy yourself a strategist?

[She thinks it's a bit silly--games aren't reality, after all, so she's not likely to believe that until she sees it. Anyway, more immediately...he asks what would be a pretty valid question, but she's not really thinking about it, instead picking up the shape of a subtle pattern as she gives him a probing look.]

You know, you're pretty quick to change the subject anytime I ask about you. Some kind of deep dark secret you're trying to avoid?

[dawn_is_breaking]

"Exactly that, yes."

When he shares with her his pervious line of work she can't help but chuckle, "With a title like that you'd have to be. That sounds like a fun if not physically demanding job. No wonder you like stretching so much."

[myagic]

[Colour Rita feeling equally blindsided--if not even moreso--by apparently being out of the loop on Clarke getting stabbed and having it cauterized by Jade, right across the hall from her own room, no less. First aid attempts momentarily forgotten as surprise and disbelief make her brows furrow.]

Wha--what the hell did you do to make that guy stab you?

[Because obviously Pratt has never been anything but a harmless weirdo, right???]

[bad_habit]

"Yeah, I'm more from the opposite side of that." He comes from a big Italian family, big into 'waste management' if you catch his drift, at least that's how it'd been when he'd been alive. He didn't do too much of that shit at hell, trying to come away from it.

Though his Hell-ish career choice wasn't exactly any better.

He smiles twirling the bingo marker in his hand. "It's pretty fuckin' great. I mean my bosses suck, but I do love the work~" For the most part, Val had him do a lot of weird shit but not all of it was bad. Most of it was pretty great in fact.

water you doing?

[gloomstrider]

[ Unfortunately for Krouse, his first interaction is a tired, black-robed necromancer. Rownan stops walking when Krouse addresses her. Her eyes move to follow the sound of his voice before her body turns to follow. She recognizes him, even sopping wet and shivering. She doesn't know what e-sports are, but she's familiar enough with the term 'bad boy' to know he either had no control over the description, or he's someone she won't want to talk to.

She clasps her hands, one over the other, and manages not to indicate the inconvenience in her expression. ]

I might. [ And then, because he looks so uncomfortable to be asking at all and that's somehow reassuring, ] I do. Why are you wet?

[once_reborn]

[It absolutely is - which is...a pretty rare talent. But she shakes her head.]

No, I'm fine. Pretty durable, me. [She self-consciously touches her fringe when she says it despite her smile. Suffice to say, she's had her share of injuries and the scars they leave behind.]

[once_reborn]

Heh, yeah. Big, stinky ones.

[skaikru]

( okay, first off, deeply offended here because: )

I didn't do a thing! I'd just met him outside in the rain, asked if he was okay and all he could talk about was "culling the weak" and killing everyone on board!

( ah staci pratt, their beloved local mashed potato eating weirdo. something of an unofficial apocalypse cousin to clarke, who'd gone from threatening to kill him if he'd ever misstepped again to embracing him in the middle of sundries upon her return and professing her love for him over an ice cream sandwich. who once got triggered so bad by a bloody vest that he'd definitely proven himself to be anything but harmless, and had been dealt with appropriately. )

All I did was make sure he couldn't actually follow through on it.

[dawnfacing]

Would they be better wrestled off or do you think the universe's feet would be even worse?

[dawnfacing]

( rita promises. she promises. and sylvie's eyes well with tears, because she hasn't been given many promises in her life, not in words, hardly even in action. she has been cared for, and cared for well, but she has never been given the promise of any of it getting better, safer, closer... smiling through the tears that blur her vision, she hugs the other girl close once before stepping back, a feeling of weak hope overtaking the rest. maybe it will really be different here, in this place, this strange and wondrous place with technology she doesn't understand and people from worlds she's never heard about before.

the heat returns as soon as they don't touch anymore, which seems to be the way it is now. but she waits for rita to decide what to do with that, it was her promise after all. her decision. )

Thank you. I'll be here when you need me, too!

[dawn_is_breaking]

"I've heard that most bosses suck." She muses, "But if you like the work it can make all the difference."

"Were your co-workers also demons?"

[bad_habit]

"Some are better than others." And the Vees are the worst. But she is right in one aspect, if you like what you do you don't have to work a day in your life."

He laughs. "It's hell baby, we're all demons."

[dawn_is_breaking]

"Dawn, not baby." She corrects him gently and then shrugs. "And you never know, I thought maybe there would be some fallen angels or something."

[bad_habit]

"Force of habit toots." A pause, as he realises he definitely did it again. "Sorry."

He has to laugh, because that was a hell of a thing before he left.

"Technically I think it's just the one OG. But to be honest; I ain't much cared for that sort of politics. I was more involved then I ever wanted to be already." A wave of hands. "All I know is that once you go under, ya turn. Which is kinda shitty I still gotta be this even when I do finally get out."

[myagic]

[Look--look, she's come to trust Clarke enough that she generally believes what the other girl says, but-]

That doesn't sound like him at all. You sure you're remembering that right? I mean--the timing doesn't line up with the possessions, unless--argh, that doesn't make any sense!

[once_reborn]

Heh, no, I think we've about tortured that metaphor enough.

[skaikru]

It was way before the possessions, he's just a little — ( conflicting impressions of pratt make the next adjective a little hard to settle upon. fucked up, traumatized, ruined, the product of his environment. oh but he'd made so much progress, he'd even burned the vest. ) — broken.

( it rubs a little the wrong way though, that sure you're remembering right? but it's fine, she trusts rita has the best intentions behind it. and regardless, clarke has proof. she reaches for the ripped, fraying edge of her prison shirt and lifts it up just enough to show the ugly scar just above the curve of her left hip. it's pitted and gnarled in the middle, right where the knife went in. shiny and purpleish where the white hot scalpel had kissed the open blood vessels with a horrendous sizzle. and, for no other reason aside from being horribly susceptible to traumatic flashbacks, for some reason clarke can taste orange juice on the back of her tongue for a split second. )

But trust me, I remember that night very clearly. ( at least to the point she'd passed out, but — ) That was the only time on the ship I actually killed anyone.

[dawnfacing]

It's not torture, it's fun!