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redmarsshit2019-10-24 11:41 pm
modblob) wrote in redmarsshit2019-10-24 11:41 pm
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.
▶ 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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
no subject
Relax, babe. [His smile turns crooked as he looks pointedly at one of the bot-brains standing close by.] I've got a better idea.
no subject
no subject
[He strolls on over to the nearest bot.]
Babe, you've gotta try this.
[The bot in question brings their hands up and shakes their head. Scaramouche steps closer, holding up the jar of sap.]
What's the matter? Don't you wanna know what they're waiting in line for?
[Not all robots come with the ability to drink; he knows that. But whether these ones can imbibe or not doesn't make a difference to him. If they can, that's great. If they can't, that usually means their parts won't mix well with liquids. Either way, a little sap tasting could give him the diversion he needs.]
no subject
The robot doesn't seem to want to try it and Kabal folds his arms. ]
If you robot types aren't gonna try it, why should we? Seems like a solid offer here. He even got it in a jar for you.
no subject
Don't you see? [He shrugs his arms and shakes his head.] This cat thinks he's better than us.
[He says it with confected disappointment, but the smile that keeps getting wider and wider tells a different story.
The serving bot turns his head a few inches to look between the two of them. He takes a rigid step back. He's got the right idea.]
no subject
[Sure. That's what they've been doing. Definitely.]
Getting the real sense that all this hospitality is a sham and they don't like us very much.
[He sounds ever so offended. But no time to dwell on that because in an instant he rushes the poor serving bot and grabs it by the throat, holding it a few inches off the ground while it struggles. Kabal isn't entirely sure what Scaramouche is getting at here, but he definitely wants in on it. Maybe pouring goop on these guys will make them malfunction. Maybe they'll get drunken robots. Who knows?
Well time to find out.]
no subject
Take it easy, babe. [He playfully pretends to chide the muscleman; the banter continues.] What do you think: do we treat him to a sample anyway?
no subject
[The robot is pretty strong, and kind of heavy, but Kabal is more than powerful enough to hold him one handed slightly off the ground so he can't get any purchase while he struggles.]
Really, what would this place do without us?
[Open up bot, time to try some goop.]
no subject
Do you hear that, baby? It's on the house!
[The jar is held a few inches above the serving bot's face; he clutches at the arm holding him up, demanding they unhand him this instant.]
Tell your buddies to get off our backs.
[Bot-Brain here doesn't understand the request.]
Bon appétit. ♪
[The jar is tipped upside-down. The sap oozes out, its thick, viscous consistency drawing out the process for the better.]
no subject
It didn't have to be like this. Your loss.
[The bot could have just drunk the goop, not that it really seems to have a mouth, but that's not their problem now is it? Instead it gets to watch as the goop very, very slowly oozes out of the jar and towards it. It starts yelling and kicking, managing to get Kabal in the stomach. Kabal gives him a shake, annoyed more than injured, why won't this robot sit there and accept his imminent demise like a good little victim?
Not having a mouth means that the goop simply pours all over it's face, getting in the sockets for its eyes, and the seams around it's neck.
Kabal drops the bot as soon as the goop is close enough to get on his hands, impassively watching it thud to the ground because it had been kicking and struggling and not expecting to have to hold up its own weight. This stuff is sticky and he doesn't want that on him.]
See? Wasn't that bad was it?
no subject
Nothing happens. Oh, shoot!
The bot falls to the ground and the jar is smoothly drawn upright again. He's back on his feet in no time, shaking in anger and telling them off. All the while, Scaramouche's face dances with amusement.]
Let's say it's an acquired taste and call it a day, huh babe? [he quips, talking over the serving bot. Said bot synthesizes a huff and spins on its heel to stumble blindly away, running headlong into a tree after five steps. Scaramouche's gleeful smile doesn't falter when he sees they've gained the attention of some other bot attendants. They're transfixed by the sight of their sap-coated colleague's clumsy retreat.]
no subject
That what you were expecting to happen? I think we just made him grouchy.
[He does laugh a little as the bot crashes into a tree, because watching this thing stumble around trying to get sap out of its metal eye sockets is pretty funny. Not what he normally does - what with the extortion and the fighting and the stealing - but hey, maybe it's time to diversify.]
no subject
[Scaramouche proceeds to address their audience, gesturing to the jar in his hand with a wave and a flourish.]
Who else wants some!?
[Several turn away and go about their business as soon as they notice the offenders have them in their sights. Others freeze to stare at them. A little bit of gentle persuasion might be in order if these bots don't let him through and let him leave this sorry excuse for a party.]
no subject
[The worlds most intense eyeroll goes here.]
Come on. Broadway calls.
[He shoulders his way through the crowd, the robots aren't about to stop two huge guys with swords at once. They're not that stupid.]
no subject
Well, thanks for the sap.
[He offers him the half-empty, lidless jar. He's got no use for it.]
no subject
Glad to be a helper.
[He takes the jar back giving it a once over and then casually chucking it over his shoulder to shatter somewhere behind him, he doesn't look. He's still got his other jar that's full and has a lid and won't get sticky goop all over the place in his room. ]
See ya, don't murder any of them in the meantime, we need them to run the bar.
[Kabal has his priorities. And right now it's getting back to his room to drink this shit and see if it gets him high.]