redmarsshit | redshift: tdm #5

redshift: tdm #5

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.

a. don't be a sap.

Good morning, October 25th! Whether you're a confused new arrival or a current resident, you probably had some plans for today, right? Grab breakfast, visit a friend, pick some fruit, explore a new part of the massive city.

Well. Too bad. Because, as every single bot in the city will be telling you the moment you show your face, it's GOOP FESTIVAL DAY! What? You've never heard of it? Preposterous, everyone knows about the Goop Festival, it's one of the most anticipated holidays in Anchor! Haven't you been preparing for this for a week now?

The Goop Festival is a harvest celebration, in particular, a celebration of the sap-producing trees that grow wild in the Park, thick around the edges of the south side of the lake. The bots have been hard at work setting up the festival grounds in the shade of the trees in the balmy fall temperatures. There are spiles tapped into trees with buckets placed underneath that are already half-full of a thick, viscous, amber-colored sap. The bots have also set up troughs of shaved ice with long sticks nearby, with which they will demonstrate for excited residents (you are excited, right?) how to cool the sap in the ice and wrap it around the stick to make it a sort of taffy candy. That's not the only sweet surprise waiting, either.

A long table set up in the grass is loaded down with all sorts of delicious sap-related goodies, ranging from cupcakes with thick globs of sap-flavored frosting to sap-flavored jerky to sap sugar candies, and just about anything else you can imagine. There are a wide variety of offerings that would taste good coated, flavored, or glazed with the sap, which tastes sort of like a caramelized toffee. Another table is laid out that has row upon row of cups, each half-full of the sap, heated lightly to a thinner consistency and served similarly to hot chocolate - at least, if hot chocolate gave you a floaty, happy, hazy sort of feeling. Everything made with this sap does, actually, with the cups of pure sap having a stronger effect and items with less sap content having barely any effect at all.

Does this not sound like your cup of weird tree sap? Too bad. This is the GOOP FESTIVAL, and everything is shut down for this lovely paid vacation day. Spa? Locked down. Kitchens? Locked. Bar? Nope, totally shut down and the server bots are all down at the park. VR Gaming? Too bad, the computers are all shut down. Even roaming the halls and trying to stay out of the way won't help much...be prepared to be dragged down to the park to participate in this mandatory festival! Isn't it exciting?

b. familiar ground.

Every year in Anchor near the end of October, there's a very strange interaction between the protective dome over the city and seasonal radiation surges that happen in the wastelands. Some complicated combination of refraction and reflection means that for the last few days of the month, residents will experience some of the more benign effects of the red shift inside the city.

Did we say benign? Because while there may not be any dangerous radiation to melt your skin off, there are some mind-bending dangers. Characters experiencing the shift will find the world becomes distorted, warped, impossible to navigate; they are enveloped in auditory and visual hallucinations, and can become so disoriented that they can't even recognize people they've known for years. And characters will find that the citywide shift brings in slivers of other universes, little slices of places characters have never seen before...or places so familiar they make the heart beat hard with joy or fear.

And just like in the wastelands, the things that show up in these shifts are all too real. Characters may find themselves walking through a door into a scene straight from home, or from someone else's home. Whether it's a favorite place to share with a new friend, or the nightmare landscape you almost died in, complete with the monster that almost killed you, be careful. Everything you experience here is real, and if you die in the shift, you die for real.

Of course, the city has its own safety measures in place - residents experiencing the hallucinations and appearances of items and places from other worlds may find themselves locked down in the room they're in, trapped with the otherworldly effects of the shift.

c. the virus.

A few weeks ago, people in Anchor started getting a case of the sniffles. While some of the earliest cases might be clearing up, there are still a few people suffering, or people freshly infected by those who were sick earlier, including some of the new arrivals who may not even be feeling it yet.

Which may make the cause of some unexpected 'glitches' around the city a little unclear. Residents who are feeling the effects of the illness, or who are infected but not showing symptoms yet (or anymore) will find that their access to certain parts of the city are restricted. Suddenly, automatic doors aren't opening for them, as if they were ghosts, particularly when they try to access anything that may facilitate transmission of the virus. Suddenly, only some of the residents of the city will find they can't get into half of the MedBay, or the spa, the kitchens, the VR or games rooms, the bar...anywhere people gather or eat or sit close together.

Residents may put together that it's related to the illness some of them have been experiencing over the past few weeks, but it might take a while, since these safety and security measures are affecting people who are showing no symptoms yet. Be prepared for a few days of paranoia while seemingly perfectly healthy people are locked out of common areas. What does the computer know that residents don't? Are these people security risks? Is it a system glitch? What could be going on?

c. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to warn a friend not to leave their apartment unless they want to be forcibly press-ganged into the Goop Festival? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?

Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.

Mod Note: The "familiar ground" prompt will be active between October 29th and October 31st; "the virus" prompt will be active until the next introductory mingle, which will be kicking off the second part of the illness plot.

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ sparrow, whoever he is, seems huge and metallic, and for that, allison is strangely glad. he seems like the best kind of person to deal with overeager robots.

at his comment, allison snorts and rolls her eyes a little. a robot is prodding her cheek with a sap lollipop. allison sighs, lets it put the lollipop in her mouth, and then returns to her phone.]

Am I? I can't tell.

[ allison would say that out loud, if she could. of course, network user sparrow might notice a stark white bandage on her neck, hinting at why she can't.]

[Behind the mask he gives a wince, he's more than familiar with that, as beneath the armor he has the exact same scar across his throat. It wouldn't be visible even if he took the armor off as most of it is hidden under the metal plating and voicebox that lets him still speak, but he has more than enough other scars to make up for it.]

They seem to really want us to participate in this festival.

[They turn their attention to him, but as he doesn't have a visible mouth they can't force feed him goop. Not unless they want to take a can opener to his armor, which hasn't yet occurred to them.]

When I first arrived they forced me into ridiculous clothing. I think they are trying to help. Somewhat.

[ allison sucks on her lollipop as a robot watches, making sure she doesn't spit it out. as she does so, she starts to relax, her posture becoming less guarded. it happens slowly though, so slowly that allison doesn't quite realize it. ]

Ridiculous clothing doesn't sound like it could be that bad. What did they make you wear?

They sure are *trying.* has anyone been able to get through to them what it is they really want though? Or do these robots have minds of their own?

[ allison's pretty sure she's encountered both kinds. ]

Pants with a horrible dragon on them and an orange hoodie. It did not match.

[ He gestures to himself, indicating the green lights in his armor. He looked a mess. ]

Pockets were nice though, I forgot how useful pockets were.

[He deftly gets between the robots and her everytime they try and present her with a new goop concoction. Hopefully they'll give up at some point and go bother someone else.]

They are not very talkative. How is it? Whatever this is smells as if it's pure sugar.

[ dragon pants?? and orange? allison literally shudders at the thought. ]

Remind me to help you find some pockets that match then once these robots leave us alone

[ as allison relaxes, her typing slowly gets worse. ]

I think its syrup

Tastes bad but now I feel good?????

It was bad. Very bad.

[Syrup? How odd.]

Is it alcoholic? That could be interesting. But I wonder why they are forcing it on us in that case.

[Why make sure everyone is drunk? That'd be strange. But then again so is everything here. One of the robots gives up and heads somewhere else, and Genji blocks the other one from getting near again. One hand is on the wakizashi at his side, ready to do more than stand there should the robots insist on trying to force feed them more of this.]

[ allison shakes her head, her movements becoming freer, looser. not alcoholic! but is sure does feel nice! does the nice man in the armor want to feel nice? allison also offers him a lollipop. ]

do you want one???

i think maybe the robots theyre onto something

[The nice man in armor would definitely like to feel nice but that would involve taking off his helmet and he's not going to do that.]

Perhaps later. I do not think they are going to run out. It does smell good.

[Meaning it smells like candy and he will eat all the sugar if he can. It's what fuels his ninja powers. ~~It most definitely is not what fuels his ninja powers~~.]

They do not seem to mean ill, but they could certainly improve on how they interact. I'm not sure how much sentience they really have.

[ allison agrees -- the robots have terrible social skills! much less consciousness! she knocks on one of their little tin heads and all it tries to do is give her more candy. ]

not sentent at all probably!!

not like my mom

shes the smartest robot around

[He winces, he knows what its like to have someone smack his armor and the sound reverberates all thru his head. But what was that?]

Your mother is a robot? An Omnic?

[ allison crinkles up her nose and furrows her brow. a what??? ]

whats that

my mom is just a regular robot but really smart! And also my mom

A... Regular robot.

[Sure. He'll go with that. It would make sense to have robots provide child care when the parents can't. He can see that. Maybe she likes her robot mom better than the real one.

Knowing both humans and omnics he couldn't blame her.]

I think these are rather primative, though they do seem to have programmed goals. Currently to get us to eat this but I am unsure why they're so adamant.

Would you like me to break them so they leave you alone?

[ sad thing is, allison doesn't even know her birth mother! just the robot one. she tries really, really hard not to think about that too much, if at all.

so it's out of compassion for them that she shakes her head no -- no, don't break them! neither she nor the suited stranger know how much these robots really feel. ]

I think we should just ask nicely

alsoooo

What's your name?

[Sure but it's a lot easier to break them. That solves the problem permanently.]

Genji.

[But fine, no breaking. It's not like he has two swords he never gets to use or anything. It's fine. Turning to the nearest robot he inclines his head, very politely asking it to go away.]

Will you leave us alone to enjoy the rest of the festival?

[ allison reaches out her hand to shake. she might be high as a kite, but she at least remembers her manners! one handedly, with some difficulty, she types: ]

allisob

allison

[ the robots, sensing that allison has probably had enough goop, make a few low beeps and leave to find their next victim, or something. allison smiles and nods, impressed. ]

[He shakes her hand, metal grip light and cool to the touch. He's had more than enough practice to not accidentally crush her fingers.]

It is a pleasure.

I have not been here very long, but the robots are generally less aggressively active like this. Usually they are in their separate places doing their programmed duties.

[ allison releases her hand. it's only after the shake that she realizes that armor is a little out-of-place for a happy festival like this. ]

i like your armor!

Are you a soldir for the station

[How is everyone here so nice?! It's so different than back home.]

I am not a solider here. But I would protect it should it come to that. I hope it does not.

[ honestly, allison wouldn't be this friendly if not for the goop. when it wears off, she'll probably be super embarrassed -- she's usually much more reserved than this. ]

Me neither

I used to fight crime until i learned that actually?????? it sucksss

Most do not fight because they enjoy it, often it is simply necessary.

What did you decide to do instead?

[ allison scoffs. ]

I dont think it was even that

[ allison, initially, isn't sure how to answer genji's question. ]

I tried to start a family

Oh.

[Not the answer he was expecting. It's odd to him to think you could stop being a warrior and then just be a normal person again. Pay taxes. Go grocery shopping. He's not sure he could ever do that.]

A better pursuit than fighting.

[ here's the thing -- you can't. not really. allison wasn't really a warrior, per se. more like a master manipulator, and it's impossible to not carry that with you, even when there are no more bad guys to trick, no more reginald forcing the weight of the world on her shoulders. ]

sure

I just wish i was better at it

Better at being a normal person who isn't fighting? I don't think it's possible, I feel as though I'm looking at it through a store window where I can see it but never reach.

It is hard to go back.

[ allison looks at genji for a while, a little sad. ]

Store window huh

that's a good way to put it

redshift: tdm #5

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