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.

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[ It seems to last forever, that interval between Ben helping to break the illusion of her daughter's presence and Allison typing to him. Ben can see it written all over her face, the shock and horror and loss, and he can't help hating himself a little for breaking that illusion. As soon as he reads the words she has written, he knows that she's out of the hallucination, now. That she's okay and safe and finally, he can start to process the fact that she is actually here.

Allison is here and she can see him and hear him, and Ben flings his arms around her for another hug, this one tight and more than a touch desperate. He buries his face against her shoulder and holds her without any sign he is going to let go any time soon. Ben had never been really big on hugs, or touch in general, back when he was alive. But that was a long time ago, and he'd spent a decade and a half unable to touch anything or anyone. And he had missed his sister terribly. ]

I'm sorry, Allison. I'm sorry I had to do that.

[ Regret is thick in the words, and they come out halting, staccato. After all those years of wanting to help, and the first thing he does when he's reunited with Allison is tell her she's seeing things and make her realize her daughter isn't here... ]

I don't know how I'm back. I just... showed up here after Five tried to take us all back in time, and I was alive and looked like this. I can't explain it, but- but it's good to see you again.

[ allison leans into the hug, letting it ground her. she does her best to keep her breathing even and measured -- for the sake of ben, a brother she thought she'd lost forever, and for the sake of claire, a daughter she's still desperately hoping to see again.

and then ben apologizes, and allison's gentle hug turns firm as she pulls ben closer, shaking her head. he's not the reason why she's separated from her daughter. that's allison's fault, and allison's alone, and there's nothing ben could do to convince her otherwise. allison blames herself for losing her daughter, that guilt and grief mixed deep in her heart. what happened with the hallucination is but a shadow, a reminder of what her loss really feels like. in this moment, allison is just trying to be thankful for seeing clearly, and thankful that ben is back. that's enough of a miracle.

in this moment, allison is acutely aware of her inability to tell ben any of this, to put him at ease with her words. and that's a loss too, one that allison can't and won't yet mourn. to her, it's only been a day or so since the injury, too soon to conclude anything yet.

allison doesn't want to let go of ben to write, though. the contact is too important to her, and to him. allison can't remember the last time ben -- or maybe even anybody -- hugged her like this, with this kind of need. she can only imagine what it must have been like for ben, to be cut off from so many people he loved for so long, that she doesn't want to cut him off now.

so instead of talking, she does what she might have done for claire -- rub his back in small, gentle circles, trying to assure him that she'll be okay, that she doesn't need to apologize, and that she is so, so happy to see, hear, and touch him.

only after ben loosens up will allison slowly pull away, wearing a smile that's finally truly happy, perhaps tinged with a little sadness. ]

How long have you been here?

[ Ben's gratitude for the hug, for the soft pressure of her hand against his back, reassuring him without words, is profound. He knows that, as soon as this hug is over, they will have to talk - will have to communicate, and things will no doubt be complicated and maybe demoralizing for Allison and confusing and perhaps awkward. But while the hug lasts he can cling to the simple clarity of their reunion and how happy he is to have his sister back.

Eventually, though, he pulls away, and then reads Allison's question, a little furrow settling between his brows. ]

Five months. Klaus is here, too.

[ He opens his mouth, about to tell her that Diego and Vanya had been around briefly as well, but then holds back. He can't really give her any answers where they had gone, and he doesn't want her to worry. Not when, as far as he's aware, there's no way for them to choose to leave here. He's not going to keep it a secret, he'll just... wait until he knows what to say.

Instead he asks the question she hasn't had a chance to ask, yet: ]

It's okay here. Weird stuff happens and some of it is dangerous but it's an okay place. We're - doing good here, actually. I'm alive, and Klaus's been sober for a while now- [ Well, mostly, but again, that's a detail Allison doesn't need to know ] - and there are people here from all kinds of crazy parallel worlds and other planets and places with like, legit actual magic, and demons. I'm friends with a cowboy. Like an actual cowboy from ye olde whenever.

[ Ben smiles at Allison, a little wry at the corners. ]

Being here is better than the end of the world, anyway.

[ klaus is here too? allison doesn't know whether to be relieved, thankful, or worried for him. this place seems dangerous, but allison's glad that she's not alone, and also glad that ben didn't come back from the dead only to be without his family, alone with strangers in some bizarre alternate universe.

allison listens closely, still wrapping her head around the sight and sound of ben. the real, actual, non-hallucination ben. so when ben opens his mouth to say one thing but then looks like, for a second, that he's changed his mind, allison doesn't pry -- but she does register it. she'll ask ben about that later, maybe. it's probably not important.

but then continues to tell allison these crazy, fantastic, and even good things, and finally, allison grins unreservedly. cowboys? magic?? demons??? klaus, sober? allison is happy for both her brothers, who sound like they're both getting a second shot at life. ]

A COWBOY

Does he have a cool hat?

That's so great about Klaus <3

He does, in fact, have a really cool hat. And a cool accent. And horses. I've been teaching him to read, and he's gonna teach me to ride. I can introduce you to him, if you want?

[ Because these good things aren't just his, now. They can be Allison's, too. Ben doesn't want her only thinking about the things and people she's separated from, the world that neither of them can get back to at the moment. He wants her to understand that there is a good life to be lived here, while she is in this place. ]

It is. I've been... trying to give him a bit of a longer leash, I guess. I think it wasn't helping all that much, me hovering around and watching him all these years.

[ Since he had, in fact, been there. Been there all those times that Allison, and the rest of them, hadn't listened to Klaus when he said it. Of course, Ben understands why. He knows all the reasons none of them would listen to Klaus's words. It wasn't ever ideal, but he always got it.

He looks up at Allison, eyes flicking to that stark white bandage, and Ben's smile falters slightly. He asks, concern creeping into his tone of voice: ]

Are you... in any pain? I know where the medbay is if you... if you need anything.

[ allison nods. she'd like to meet him. not just because he's a real, live cowboy (how cool is that?????) but also because he's ben's friend. she wants to be in ben's life -- share his joys, meet his friends, like a real, living sibling. when ben died she was still just a child, and not a particularly kind one. allison never thought she'd get this second chance, and she doesn't want to mess it up.

allison squeezes ben's hand when he talks about klaus. she's not sure how exactly she should get herself across. she wants to tell ben that what happened to klaus isn't his fault, that he was at least there for klaus. that counts for something -- probably a lot, allison would wager.

as much as allison hates to admit it, ben is right to be concerned. whatever painkiller mom gave allison is going to wear off soon, and that cut is going to hurt. allison's trying to take shallower breaths, trying to keep it from stretching or becoming irritated. she nods again. ]

Show me

[ Ben gets to his feet, waiting for Allison to follow; he falls into step beside her, letting her set the pace, conscious all of a sudden that her injuries might be really new. Time works strangely, in this place, and she is still wearing those damn bowling shoes. For Ben, some time has passed since Vanya's disastrous concert. Since the end of the world that they hadn't stopped. But for Allison it might be quite recent. She might be weak still from almost bleeding out less than a day ago, by her body's clock. ]

Did you come straight here? From... when Five tried to send us back in time?

[ There is so much more that he wants to talk about than just the logistics of her arrival, though. He has years worth of things to say, and as they make their way to the corridor that leads to the Medbay (thank goodness it's on the same floor and they aren't going to have to trek up a few dozen staircases), he turns to her and says: ]

I saw all your movies with Klaus, by the way. I mean, all of them. Even that horse one.

[ And he gives a grin that is just the tiniest bit sassy. He hasn't had the chance to gently tease Allison in a long time, and he doesn't think anybody will disagree that the horse movie was not only awards-bait of the most shameless kind, but also, really dreadful. Not Allison's fault, of course. She'd acted her heart out. But the soppy script and the melodramatic score and the three hours of horse-related overwrought conflict... never stood a chance. ]

[ allison walks a little slower that usual, trying to strike a balance between taking care of herself and not unduly worrying ben. now that the adrenaline from trying to save vanya, let alone the world, and then running into a hallucination of her daughter has worn off, allison feels deeply exhausted. it'll take her body some time to recover fully from the trauma, but allison is confident that she'll make it. she has to.

allison nods in response to ben's question. straight from time travel to idris elba, baby! lots happening!

and then ben brings up, of all things, that unholy horse movie. three cheers for the hoof hearted: a kentucky derby journey of the heart. it's heartwarming, of course, to hear that ben and klaus cared about her enough to see her movies, but that one?? they had to see that one?

allison visibly cringes. ]

Not a day goes by where I dont wish they just used CGI horses

but thank you

[ and then, because allison is trying to be a good and open sibling, she adds: ]

That means a lot

[ That cringe only widens the smile on Ben's face. Eagerly, he asks: ]

Was it as awful as I'm imagining? I mean, did the whole set smell like horse shit, or only like 80% of it? Gimme the scoop.

[ He is joking, bright and lively, just like the way he was on his best days back when they were kids. A little seriousness comes back, however, when he adds: ]

I want to know all your stories. About the acting, and getting married, and getting divorced, and Claire. All of them.

[ The good ones and the bad; for so long, Ben had only been able to look in on her life, on all his sibling's lives except Klaus's. But Ben isn't so naive that he thinks he can really know what Allison's life was like, without hearing it from her. He so desperately wants to hear it from her.

And he wants to hear it. Hadn't Grace said the damage might only be temporary? That in a few weeks, a few months, Allison might speak again? Ben can only hope. She'd always had a flair for storytelling, and it's just not the same with pen and paper.

He turns down a branching hallway and points her to the door of the med-bay. ]

There's a doctor who was brought to this place. Or, I think maybe she's like, a space marine, but she had some medical training? Anyway, we should call her in to check out how you're healing in a day or two.

[ For now, though, the med-bay bots, one of whom comes gliding towards them when they enter, will have to do. ]

[ allison rolls her eyes and nods slowly, spreading her arms wide and then shaking her head. not only did the set reek like horse, but so did allison, every night, for months. whoever said to never work with children or animals really wasn't kidding.

allison looks ben in the eyes before writing: ]

You will

[ she's going to heal. allison is sure of it. it's not like she can't make sounds right now -- it just hurts to much to really try. if she just rests her throat long enough then maybe, maybe...

it's what ben deserves, if not her.

allison nods, glad that there's someone with some kind of medical training in this crazy place. she lets the robots examine her and tries not to think of mom, crushed in a crumbling house. they give her some kind of cooling gel to apply to the wound and some pills, one of which she takes with a small glass of water, the others she refuses. she'll come back later if she needs more painkillers. she wants to see her brother, and if klaus is sober, really doing that work, then she doesn't want to make it harder on him. it's easy enough to come back here. ]

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redshift: tdm #5

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👀 soooo have you had any thoughts about apping to the game jw?

just did!!! :D

:D :D :D YAY

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