etrayamemes | TDM 001

Entry tags:

!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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

And you just believe that so easily?

[ She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She's not here to advocate for her goddamn world. They picked the wrong person if that's what they were looking for. ]

Believe you're just going to stand in front of these people and talk nice about where you came from so they don't blow it up?

Not really.

[ The admission comes out before he can edit it, springing up from one of the ignored corners of his mind like a macabre jack-in-the-box. Krouse holds her gaze, a muscle working in his jaw as he tries to think of how to follow that up. ]

I'm guessing it'd be more complicated than that.

[ Would be, instead of will be. He's treading on dangerous ground. He should care about that. But that's the problem with not-caring, unsupervised. ]

[ They're in agreement there, at least. She doesn't trust a thing about this place and she doesn't think any amount of begging and pleading is going to save something.

Earth really picked the wrong spokesperson if they wanted to be saved though. ]

And with that in mind, that this place might make you grovel for the fate of your home, all you wanna talk about is the weather?

[ The tension makes its way up into his face, mostly around his narrowing eyes. ]

It's not like you're the one who's going to be making the call.

[ Implicit: so why should he care about her opinion? ]

But if you want to trade pitches, sure. What's so great about where you want to get back to?

Who said it's great?

[ It was a shitty world filled with shitty people, herself included. ]

Doesn't mean I don't want to go back but I don't know if I'm the person they want raving about New York.

[ It wouldn't go well for New York. ]

No world's great. Every single one has their problems. I don't want to put that kind of power in someone else's hands. That's too much.

[ That's an unexpected streak of idealism. Jessica might be able to tell how off-guard it takes Krouse from the odd look he gives her. ]

I don't think whoever pulled something like this off needs our permission.

[ That's how power works. The people who have it set the rules. Everyone else falls in line or gets run the fuck over. ]

Assuming it's not all a crock of shit anyway.

[ Another slip of his opinion. That's happening too much, and the attendant anxiety feels like ice water trickling into his veins. ]

It's a crock of shit.

[ That's her story and she's going to stick to it for as long as possible. Until she was proven wrong. And she doesn't think she's going to be proven wrong anytime soon. ]

You seem pretty willing to give this place a chance. Why?

[ He almost likes her, for a second. Another thing that takes him by surprise. He didn't like a lot of people at the best of times, but something about her cutting directness, the cagey, bitten off suspicion she's approaching all of this with - there's a defiant fuck you scrawled into everything she's said and done so far. He can respect that.

(He used to be like that.) ]

Why not? [ He shrugs. ] Do you have a better idea?

Yeah. Anything but that.

[ Because that level of cooperation is just a little too much for her. She's not going to settle here and play house. There's something about this place that's bothering her and that feeling is growing wth every passing second. ]

Something about this place is...wrong.

Like what?

[ There's a new dryness to his tone, a tiny tang of acid. ]

The kidnapping? The empty hospital? How we're all supposed to put on a song and dance so they pick our universes to save, and fuck the rest of them?

[ Just because it doesn't matter to him doesn't mean he can't see how it's fucked up - except that's exactly what it should mean. His expression flickers again, uncertainty creasing a fresh line between his eyebrows. ]

So you're opting out. Fine. Do you see me arguing with you? [ He shakes his head. ] You're probably just making it easier on the people who give a shit.

Yeah, I'm opting out. Maybe if I tell whoever's in charge that, they'll send me home.

[ She knows there's no way it would be that easy. She couldn't be that lucky. ]

And I don't really understand the people who are trusting what they say. You really think they're going to stick to what they say? What if you look at 'em wrong and boom, there goes your universe. Oh, so sorry, my hand slipped.

[ Krouse shakes his head. ]

As opposed to asking to go back where you came from and that happening for sure? If we're still assuming any of that is true.

[ He wasn't arguing with her. He's still not, if arguing is meant to be about changing people's minds. He's just - debating. Talking out approaches. ]

I can see why people would be taking their chances trying.

[ Sure, whatever, if that's what people want to do. It's not going to be what she does. Not a chance.

Jessica rolls her eyes and sighs raggedly. ]

What about you? You decided what you're gonna do?

[ He's been very 'walk the middle line' since this conversation started and she's a little curious. ]

[ Krouse doesn't avert his eyes. That's the tell of a rookie liar. ]

I haven't decided yet. Doesn't seem like it'll hurt to play along until we have more information.

[ It keeps creeping back in: the urge to act, to think, to be an active participant in whatever happens to him next. He can try to convince himself the words are hollow appeasement to navigate this conversation, but they're also what he'd actually do, if it was up to him.

Thinking about it being up to him sends another twitch of panic down the back of his neck. ]

Or I guess I could go up to the next person I see and try to get my teeth knocked out. See where that gets me.

It would have ended with your teeth knocked out.

[ She actually almost smiles, confidence in the brief expression.. ]

I can still do that if you want a souvenir from this conversation. Might be a fun time for you.

[ Krouse almost smiles back, bemused. ]

I'll pass.

[ She doesn't look like she could knock his teeth out, but counting on looks for that is pretty much exactly how you end up with your teeth knocked out, in his experience. Anyone can be dangerous. ]

But if you feel like doing it anyway, can I get a name first?

Jessica.

[ She almost lies but...what the hell. She hasn't had a terrible conversation with this kid and he hasn't pissed her off. She can be honest. ]

Who're you?

[ A funny look crosses Krouse's face at Jessica, a near-wince around his eyes. He trades it in for a return of his almost smile as he extends his hand. ]

Krouse.

[ If she accepts the handshake, his grip is firm and practised. If he doesn't, he'll let his hand drop without pushing it. ]

I'd say it's a pleasure, but I get the sense that's not the first impression you're going for.

Krouse.

[ Interesting name. She does reach out and accepts the handshake. He's strong but she thinks she could crush his hand if she wanted to.

But, she doesn't want to. ]

And most people don't think I'm a pleasure to meet. Easier that way, honestly.

[ Krouse gives her a tiny half-smile at the repetition of his name, but no unprompted explanation is forthcoming. Maybe she'll think there's some more interesting reason for it than the truth: nobody uses his first name but his mom. ]

Right. Who needs hearts and minds? [ No-nonsense handshake, no-nonsense woman. He's getting the picture. ] Is this one of those New York things anyone not from there just doesn't get, or is it a you thing?

Probably a me thing.

[ She doesn't hesitate to admit that and shrugs a shoulder. ]

It's worked for me for this long, so why change? Just like I'm sure that puppy dog face, innocent eyes works for you.

[ Like it's a cue, Krouse gives her another slightly wide-eyed look. The difference is that he catches it this time, and self-consciously corrects. ]

Comparatively.

[ He shrugs, as though that's what he's been going for on purpose this whole time. ]

Maybe I prefer being underestimated.

Are you?

[ Underestimated. She'll admit that she had been underestimating him but she tends to do that a lot considering the strength she knows she posesses. ]

You tell people that's what you're expecting and they're gonna stop underestimating you.

[ Krouse straightens his back and lifts his chin, a ghost of confidence curving his mouth. ]

Or maybe they think I'm cocky. Overestimating myself.

[ He nods at her. ]

Like you. [ Before that comment can linger, give offence, he keeps going. ] You don't exactly look like a prize fighter. I bet it makes people drop their guard, try to cross the line. Put you in your place, so to speak.

[ He knows it's different for women. He can't exactly relate. When other guys try to knock him down a peg, he represents a different kind of threat to their fragile masculinity than a girl who doesn't flinch. But it's generally the same kind of guy who has a problem with both. ]

But considering that you're here, picked out by whoever brought us here, I'm guessing you can back it up.

For the most part.

[ And she certainly doesn't mind proving it either if she has to. Looks like she's not going to have to right now. Too bad, might have been fun. But she can wait. ]

I was also kind of curious what might happen if I did go ahead and check something off this stupid list of theirs. Would I get a prize? Or would I just get bragging rights?

[ One was better than the other. ]

Don't really know what kind of bonding happens if you let someone stab you, though.

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