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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[ Krouse goes with Ben readily, falling into step with his pace. ]

Eventually.

[ He remarks, mildly, on the concept of dying. He doesn't mean to make it sound like it'll necessarily be soon. Then he lets the thought go, sliding down to join the dull litter of other unnecessary thoughts carpeting the floor of his skull.

It's when Ben comments on the bingo card that Krouse's demeanour shifts for the first time, a v forming between his eyebrows as his gaze sharpens in focus. ]

A tablet has an interface. [ He's still quiet, but it's the quiet of intent, not of a TV volume turned down low. ] And it'd be easier to reconfigure than the earpieces. Paper's more secure.

[ He took one from the hologram at the door too. It's folded up and tucked into one of his empty sleeves above where they're knotted at his waist.

But the guy is right. It doesn't seem consistent. Everything else is some tinker tech arrangement, and then paper cards? ]

...but why not upload them to the HUDs, if we have those anyway?

Yeah, it seems odd. What's stopping us from marking all the squares?

[ Maybe cheating on the bingo counts as cheating on a card game? Maybe they're being watched.

He looks around, wondering if he'd even be able to tell given the place seems more advanced than what he's familiar with. ]

It's a lot of pressure, isn't it?

[ At first, Krouse thinks the guy is talking about the bingo cards. He takes a second to try to remember if there was an incentive offered for filling them out, or a punishment implied for failing to complete them.

It takes too long to guess that he probably means the other thing. Aurora's explanation of why they're all here, which any normal person would be keeping somewhere at the forefront of their mind, considering the implications. The whole universe riding on your shoulders should be heavy.

He doesn't feel pressure. He doesn't feel much of anything. But he's pretty good at faking it. ]

Yeah. [ He lies, evenly. ] I guess the idea is building us up as a team early. It'll be easier if we don't see each other as competition.

[ If he's understood the rules as they were laid out right, there are plenty of other worlds to leave to die in exchange for theirs. A fucked up calculus, but what else is new? ]

I'm not sure about some of the things on the cards, if that's the plan.

I'm strongly against getting stabbed. I will if I have to, but that's one I'd rather avoid.

But I won't cheat, this might be some kind of test of character and I can make a bingo without cheating.

[ He holds out his card for the young man to see. He can make a line by winning at pool, learning a secret, and getting a hug. ]

What about yours?

I wouldn't recommend it.

[ Being stabbed, that is. Krouse can't, in good (or otherwise) conscience, say he has a strong stance against cheating.

It says something about this guy that he does. He's been nice, so far. He's taking the situation they're in seriously. If Krouse had to start making judgment calls, he'd probably think whatever world he came from is lucky that this is the guy who got drafted as their representative.

But he's not being asked to make judgment calls. He's being asked to show his card, which he does, after fishing it out of his makeshift sleeve-pocket. He hasn't given much thought to filling it out, yet, but one of the corner squares is telling someone something he's never told anyone before. He touches it with his thumb, eyebrows knitting together again as he thinks. ]

This one doesn't line up with winning a pool game. [ He contemplates aloud. ] So we could call this a freebie for you.

It probably would've been anyway. I haven't played pool since I was twelve.

[ That's the thing of information Teacher calls trivia. Krouse is momentarily embarrassed to have slipped up, which smooths back over into calm indifference when he remembers he's not on task. ]

That's young for pool, isn't it?

[ It could be informative too— having a kid play pool for money, maybe. But it could mean nothing, maybe a friend had a table at their place. ]

I haven't played it in years, but I'm good at math so I thought I had a shot— not so sure now, though.

[ He hesitates for a fraction of a second before speaking again. ]

I'm Ben.

[ No one here seems to know him so it's probably okay to go by his own name. ]

[ Krouse hesitates before he returns the introduction. ]

Krouse.

[ There's something about saying his name that feels like admitting to something he shouldn't, but if he walks around calling himself Trickster, there's going to be follow up questions with answers he'll have to lie about.

It doesn't really matter. It hasn't in a long time. He's never going home, and the connection between one identity and the other only meant anything when that was still a possibility. ]

And I don't think I was good at it. My uncle just had a table in his basement.

[ There are memories there, if he wants to think about them. He doesn't. ]

Do you think that's it?

[ At the end of the hallway they've reached, there's a sign reading RECREATION ROOM over a pair of double doors. It's a good enough reason to pivot away from personal trivia. ]

It must be.

[ He walks in first. He doesn't expect it to be a trap or anything, but it's better to be safe.

He sees the pool table and looks back at Krouse. ]

This is it.

[ It doesn't occur to Krouse that Ben taking the lead is looking out for him. No one's looked out for him in years.

What gets him - what might have been getting him all along, little by little - is getting treated like they're just two people in this together. Basic friendly civility, without implicit threats or tension.

It makes him almost hesitate on the threshold, for reasons he can't and won't sort through. It's a passing hitch. He steps into the room and walks around the table, hunting for the narrow slot he remembers the rack and balls being stored in all those dusty years ago. ]

Doesn't look like a lot of people have used it.

[ He says, quietly. The felt is smooth and new, the balls, once he finds them, unmarked by scuffs and chips. He pulls out the rack and starts filling it, pausing after the first few go in. ]

Is there an order they're supposed to go in? I know the white one stays out.

Everything's brand new, according to the hologram.

[ Ben runs his fingers through the table. He doesn't think he's ever seen a brand new pool table before. ]

The eight ball goes in the middle, and for the two far corners one's gotta be a stripe and the other one a solid. I don't think anything else matters.

[ He helps set up the balls where they're supposed to go. ]

You wanna break?

[ The balls have a satisfying weight and smoothness. An idle thought about ballistics crosses his mind, is un-idly crossed out, and he refocuses on helping Ben set up. ]

Sure.

[ His agreement is neutral, but ever so slightly soft. When he picks up one of the equally brand new pool cues, he's struck by rare self-consciousness as he tries to remember exactly what he's supposed to do first. It makes him look younger, although he doesn't know it.

He's pretty sure chalk comes first, so he collects a fresh cube from the top of the rack, setting the tip of the cue into the unused divot and spinning it. ]

And whatever we sink first decides which balls are ours, right? [ He asks, lifting the rack off the felt. ] Stripes or solids.

[ He doesn't wait for an answer before he stoops over the table, tenting his fingers to line up the cue with the white ball. He can almost smell the mustiness of his uncle's basement, remember him leaning on the edge of the table with a half-finished beer and fond eyes.

This isn't anything like that. ]

Here goes nothing.

[ He mutters, sounding more like the teenager he actually is than he has at any point before. He exhales and slides the cue forwards, sending the white ball careening forward to slam into the point of the pyramid. The balls go spinning off with moderate force, bouncing off the walls, and Krouse straightens up with a tiny, crookedly surprised smile. None of them go into a pocket, but he's pretty sure that's allowed. He glances sideways at Ben to make sure it is. ]

[ Ben's life circumstances the past year or so, have turned him into an observant guy. He can see Krouse gradually relaxing, he doesn't think it's to his credit at all, it's just normal, people can't be tense all the time, and doing something familiar is usually comforting. ]

That's good, I think— I'm more of a trivia guy.

I think it's my turn.

[ He takes his own cue, looking at the table as he does. ]

Do you like following all the rules? Because I don't think I remember them all.

[ He could probably remember them if he tried, but he doesn't think it matters unless it matters to Krouse. ]

[ Krouse huffs out a papery exhale, almost like a laugh. ]

I think we're kind of improvising, rules wise.

[ It's just a friendly game with a predetermined ending. Not that Krouse really intends to let Ben win, exactly - it's more that he's not going to try not to lose. ]

I don't think I even learned the real ones in the first place. So yeah. Your go.

[ He moves back to give Ben room, and it's still just - easier. More normal. Two people making idle conversation. ]

What kind of trivia?

[ Ben takes his shot. Logic dictates he should be good at it, pool is just math and he's a genius.

But he hasn't been in his own body in a solid year and he's never been a pool player, so it'll take him at least a few shots to get the hang of it. ]

Nerd trivia? Jeopardy style. I'm good at retaining facts, so I was good at anything other than social media and new slang. Yeet, yass, and any word that ends in ussy are beyond me.

[ The outside chance Ben was a pool shark in disguise fizzles out as Krouse watches. Nerd it is - especially with the way he lists slang with the earnest awkwardness of someone comfortably self-aware of not being at the cutting edge of cool. ]

Words that end in...? [ Krouse trails off, shaking his head. ] Never mind. I don't want to know.

[ He thinks he gets the picture. He lines up his next shot, with similar success as Ben. ]

You know any trivia that applies to multiverses?

I know all the theories about it, and I know comic books.

[ And he knows the way it applies or doesn't to his own universe. ]

My universe is one singular timeline most of the time, when there's a split it ends up converging back into one eventually. It sounds like there are universes where a split would create two separate, parallel universes.

[ Most of what Krouse knows about comic books came through Jess. She had a thing about the old ones, from before the eighties. ]

Mine's like that.

[ An easy, conversational admission. ]

Bet and Aleph. [ The order matters. It's a little tell, but it's a tell. ] Not that it makes a lot of difference to most people.

Do they have superhero comics back where you're from?

We do, yeah.

[ But that's not important. The whole alternate worlds is much more interesting. ]

...

How does that work? Obviously you're aware of the other, can you travel between them? Are there two versions of each person?

No one's really sure how it works.

[ Krouse knows the theories as thoroughly as a dedicated high school dropout probably can. He had a library of research papers and pirated textbooks encrypted on his laptop, a stack of spiral bound notebooks he'd stopped writing in once he realized it wasn't getting him anywhere. ]

There's only one hole between them. That happened in 1988. It's too small for people to get through, but they've been communicating since then. As far as anybody can tell, they're more or less the same up until 1982, so if you were born before then? Yeah. There's another you.

[ He leans against the side of the table. ]

After that, sometimes. But they're never as much alike. Too many things are different.

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TDM 001

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