TDM: Spring 2021

[modblob]

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.

a. Be Sure to Take your Over-the-Counter Allergy Medicine.

Despite the fact that Anchor is far from a planet with traditional seasons, spring is apparently in the air as the park erupts into an array of colors. That’s a literal eruption, by the way: one moment, the park is enjoying a calm, uneventful morning, and the next, there’s an explosion of pollen and petals, leaving the entire area covered in blossoms. It’s really quite the scene, granted anyone around to witness it isn’t the sort to suffer from allergies.

And if they are around to witness it, they’d best be prepared to deal with the bots, who make their way to the park in record time. They weren’t prepared for any sort of a party, nor were they prepared to be spirited away as a Shift opens upon their arrival, dragging half of them into it to who knows where. Anyone who takes a walk through the park might be fine, allowed to enjoy a casual stroll through the flowers… or they may end up in the flower shop of their AU dreams. Or fighting a giant, carnivorous plant. The remaining bots try to shoo people away from the park for their safety, citing the various posters around Anchor that warn of the Red Shifts, but as they’ve been with every event that has ever happened, their degree of success is questionable, at best.

b. Buzz Buzz.

Though the Shifts in the park dissipate, the flowers remain longer, as do something else that came with them: bees. There aren’t too many around - just a small smattering of buzzing insects here and there, making themselves a little hive in one of the trees.

Unfortunately, these are not regular bees. They are big bees. Mega Bees. With their size comes more intense buzzing, the beating of their wings causing headaches in those who get too close. They start off (relatively) small, only about the size of a house cat, but when they eat… boy, do they eat. As it turns out, their "stinger" is secondary proboscis, used to first inject threats with a powerful venom that liquefies the insides of anyone unfortunate enough to be stung. Then, they suck out the resulting fluid, engorging themselves and growing larger in the process. You want a car-sized bee? This is how you get a car-sized bee.

Thankfully, they’re relatively slow-moving things, though how they fly with their size is an utter mystery. That about sums up the Mega Bee: a round, fuzzy, occasionally gross mystery. Someone better smoke the park, or they might just stick around.

c. From the Depths.

While spring is in full swing in Anchor proper, in Colony 2, something is stirring. While largely empty for those who explored it previously, a new contingent of 'people' have been released into its halls. It seems busy, noisy bees have been building their hive in the open foyer, and all of the burrowing, has released a previously secured bulkhead door, freeing the test subjects (as per the neon sign) from their captivity. These test subjects are, unfortunately, not very friendly.

And that’s because they’re not so much “people” as they are “horribly mutated individuals.” Remember Creepy Joe? Because these guys could be Creepy Joe’s next of kin, but without the sense of humour, or relative sanity. Some of them have spider-like legs emerging from their eyes; others have amorphous tendrils for arms, while some have a few extra appendages emerging from the boil-like pustules covering their backs. In other words, they’re unlikely to be crowned at a prom anytime soon.

In the sandy, derelict tunnels beneath colony 2, more sealed rooms have been buzzed opened. There may be treasure to be found there, or at least clues as to why they were down there all by themselves. What will anyone who investigates definitely find? Bones. Human bones, practically sucked dry of their flesh and marrow. One thing is clear: the vending machines aren't working down there.

e. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend what to do if a cannibalistic mutant bites you? Maybe you need use your phone to vlog whatever crazy thing you're seeing to make sure it's real?

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

Navigation.

Comments

Questions.

[modblob]

Kabal | Mortal Kombat | In-Game

[kaballin]

Feeding Frenzy
Remember that reindire that Kabal adopted/stole/didn't chase away from years ago? Yeah well it's still around. Still named D.P. because boy is he classy. And it's still hungry and Kabal is letting it eat whatever the hell it wants from the newly exploded park.

What could go wrong there?

Network | @ KaballsDeep
Anyone go check on the new, smelly uglies that moved in next door? They got anything worth stealing?

@iceicebaby

[hypothermic]

I hope you weren't planning a robbery without lil ol me.

[kaballin]

Course not I'm doing reconssance.

reconaissance? resonance?

recon.

I'm doing recon.

[hypothermic]

You wouldn't know reconnaissance if it hit you upside the head with a 2x4.

Darling. Let's face it.

You're a bull and the world is your china shop.

[kaballin]

Maybe I'm just plotting the most effective way to smash everything then.

Genji Shimada | Overwatch | In Game

[arcadedragon]

1.Bzz Bzz
Those are definitely some large bees. Very large bees. Genji isn't too worried about being stung considering he's encased in metal, but it's still pretty alarming to see bugs that big and the buzzing of their wings actually causes the lights in his armor to flicker from the intensity of the static electricity it causes.

He has actually grabbed one of them, and is holding the very angry puffball in his hands while it furiously tries to escape. One might ask: why?

Well.

"Stop squirming! I am going to let you go. I wanted to know if you were fluffy."

2. Colony 2. Creepy.
Genji has crept along the ventilation ducts into the other colony, and is viewing the new residents from afar. Eventually he silently emerges, dropping down into a crouch and retreating into the shadows.

While he wants to know more, he doesn't want to make his presence known. Not yet. His plan is to go investigate and then report back to Anchor Prime about his findings. But even Genji is a bit horrified by what he's seeing. It would almost be more humane to kill them wouldn't it?

His hand is on his sword, but he hasn't pulled it yet, torn on if a massacre is really how he wants to proceed.

Network | @ Sparrow
I thought we killed the giant tentacle plant! Why is it back?

2!

[federalbureauofimmortals]

Victor's made a mistake. He realizes that after he found his own way down here. He's not a ninja. He's decent enough at sneaking around but at some point there's no way to avoid a confrontation with them. The more he finds down here the worst it is. Victor's going to need more than a simple pistol to actually get clear and he's still not entirely sure he wants to use it at all.

Which leaves him no other choice except the worst one.

Victor steps out from around the corner he was hiding behind and points to the nearest mutated cannibal he can find. Acting like he's just dealing with a street punk and not a monster in hive of monsters he shouts, "Hey, you! I don't care if you're an ugly asshole, come here. We need to talk before things get worse."

Yup, if he gets attacked he's going to get overrun sooner rather than later. That's not great but he's giving these people one last chance before he has to go get back up. Of course that implies he can make it past them all and back out. He doesn't really have a plan for that yet.

Unfortunately for Victor this unnaturally large man is hungry. The weird extra limbs growing from the grossness on its back spread out as if getting ready to cut off an escape for the relatively smaller would be victim. Victor isn't running yet as he gives it another moment to see if it talks beyond opening it's mouth in a weird snarl.

Re: 2!

[arcadedragon]

Straightening up as soon as he sees the other man, his hand closing on the hilt of his sword, Genji is about to shout a word of warning as Victor approaches them. But then he speaks and behind the mask the ninja blinks. Totally taken aback that he's going to casually address a group of monsters that Genji has watched eating each other.

"I do not think they understand you..." said quietly as he emerges from the shadows silently to approach Victor, lights softly glowing. "And if they do, they may not like being addressed like that."

Though admittedly it hadn't occurred to Genji to try diplomacy and talk things out. When you have multiple swords all problems look solvable through stabbing.

[federalbureauofimmortals]

Oh, good, back up. Actually, that's really good because Mr. Too-Many-Arms Cannibal has decided Victor should be a snack. Also but the sounds and movement all around, more of them have taken notice that their food supply just got a sudden unexpected restock. Victor is more annoyed though than scared. Oh, he definitely doesn't want to feel what it's like to be eaten but that thought wasn't enough to deter him. Talking it out seems to not be a viable tactic here though.

"Damnit. Okay, the metal man is right. I gave you guys a chance but I guess we're choosing violence today," he grumbles out as he lunges forward, trying to duck beneath those awkward limbs and coming up with an uppercut under the thing's gross jaw. Victor presses the attack before the cannibal can recover, aiming for the face and teeth. This isn't really sustainable when more than one of these guys gets in on this fight, but Victor continues to be oblivious to his predicament as he rants, "Now people are just going to kill you and you'll kill them and no one is going to be fucking happy. Only sick bastards enjoy killing and now a bunch of normal folk will have to do it to live. You can't even comprehend that can you? Lives destroyed because they die and others destroyed because they lived. What the hell!?"

He's not sure if the blood on his hands is his own split knuckles at first or from the cannibal's face. Either way he steps back out of reach, no longer pushing his advantage and realizing he should have started looking for an exit four sentences ago. Instead he looks to the metal guy as the cannibal recovers. "You wouldn't have an exit strategy that includes two people would you?"

[arcadedragon]

"Metal man?" said softly to himself. It's better than a lot of things he gets called but still..

There's actually something impressive about one person trying to punch his way through a crowd of mutants and monsters that are clearly set on eating him. Especially since so far Victor isn't acting like he's in any sort of trouble or danger at all. One of them reaches to grab Victor from behind and Genji springs into action, darting forward almost too quickly to see and neatly slicing off that hand with swing of his sword.

From the sound of things, and the gushing blood, that's not going to improve any of these monsters moods. "You talk a lot while fighting."

Still holding his sword defensively, he ducks back, inclining his head over his shoulder. "I came in through the ventilation. How high can you jump?"

Its totally normal to be able to double jump right?

[strongestcoward]

"Fool! Buffoon! I can't believe you made such a mistake!"

The high-pitched, slightly manic voice comes from too close, Asura zipping up in a blur to point an accusatory finger at Genji for saying something so ridiculous.

"It's not fluffy! It's fuzzy!"

Asura says it almost like it's a matter of life and death, sweat on his brow from the seriousness of the distinction- as if it went uncorrected, they were all doomed.

[arcadedragon]

It takes a lot to startle a ninja, but he is definitely startled. So much so that he lets the big fuzzy fluffy bee go. The bee may be thrilled, but Genji is less so, darting back in the blink of an eye and going into a defensive pose.

"How.. where did you come from?" and more importantly he's wondering how someone was able to sneak up on him. He must be going soft from being here for years.

"I was the one holding it, and I think it's fluffy."

This very important argument will surely come to blows.

[strongestcoward]

And in all fairness, Asura is a lot. An extra-large scoop of pain in the bum. Also in fairness, he didn't sneak up- he simply moved like a bullet, upon hearing the word fluffy. He chooses to ignore the perfectly reasonable question of where he came from and a pair of his scarves shoots up into the sky to snatch the bee and pull it back. It's tragic, just as hope reached it, it's stolen.

"Now I'm the one holding it, and it's fuzzy! Fuzzy! Look!" Asura holds the bee out, still in the grasp of his extra appendages, to demonstrate a hand over it. "That's fuzz! Short-haired! Not soft! Fluffy is soft! You can have fluffy pillows! Do you want a fuzzy pillow, like sleeping on a broom head?"

Kishin Asura ΦΦΦ Soul Eater | Window Shopping

[strongestcoward]

(( Short version- a god of fear who is just as much about feeling it as causing it, comes as a a_facility CRAU, where years in a torture chamber means he wants to be around people but is kind of a jerk about it. ))

1) From the Depths

Asura doesn't especially fit in anywhere, being one of the weirdest freaks ever to grace the universe. However, the various mutants down in the tunnels are not unlike his own creations and thus he has enjoyed encountering them. They're his kind of people. And thus he can be found wandering about down there. The seven-foot-tall man wrapped head to toe in white bandages, dragging an extra-large mutant behind him by the ankle, emerges from around a corner. It's clawing at the floor in an attempt to get away, its razor talons making a high-pitched shrieking.

There's a pregnant pause when he spots someone else watching him, and holds up a hand, waving it slightly. Hello! It's incredibly awkward.

2) Network @ Scared

I'm scared.

Network! un: longinmouth

[abheirrant]

Of what? That's not terribly specific, and there is much to fear.

[strongestcoward]

You want the whole list? Okay, here I go.

[ Basically, this. Except with fears. They just keep coming, ranging from aardvarks to zymurgy. It would probably take an hour to read it all, and longer to look up the more obscure words. ]

Anyway, that's what I'm fearing in the background. What I'm afraid of most at the moment is meeting new people.

[abheirrant]

[In good news, this here is a man who also has an exhaustive list of fears; it's exhausting to both him and everyone who has to put up with him. Please do not ask him to list them, as he is (somewhat predictably) afraid of being off-putting with the number of things that scare him, which includes such hits as loud noises, birds, and birds that make loud noises.]

That is quite a list. I'll admit that in this place, meeting new people can be an appropriate fear to have, but if it is any comfort, you are not alone with that worry.

1

[makesomedeals]

Everything here is horrible. It's filthy, things are broken, covered in dust and disused. And this very pretentious robot wearing shoes worth more than this entire facility is downright disgusted by it all. If he could somehow float and not touch anything he'd gladly do that. Unfortunately he's not the kind of omnic that can levitate so he has to walk through all this detritus.

The apertures of his eyes blink with an audible mechanical noise as he looks at ... well he's not really sure what he's looking at. Something tall and wearing bandages and dragging one of these things around. Needless to say, the awkward wave is not returned.

"I do hope you're not going to eat that." He gives an exaggerated shudder, assuming that this is just a very large, slender version of these stitched together monsters.

[strongestcoward]

Asura's head slowly twists around to look behind him, not quite 180, but horribly close. The creaking like an old book's spine doesn't help matters. He spends a few seconds staring at the monstrous creature attempting to burrow into the floor now that its captor has stopped walking before turning his gaze back towards Max (or at least pointing his head that way, what exactly he's looking at is not easy to discern).

"Why, did you want it?" Despite moving like something out of a nightmare and looking like something out of a horror movie, Asura has a very nice voice. Softly spoken, smooth, somehow not muffled by his head being completely wrapped up. It's a genuine question. He doesn't know what this... mechanical doll wants.

[makesomedeals]

Even without facial expressions Max is still managing to somehow convey the essence of: eugh.

"No, of course I don't want it!" in fact he sounds absolutely aghast at the mere idea of that. And that raises so many further questions: what would he do with it? how would he even hold it?

But even more importantly, "What is it?"

2

[federalbureauofimmortals]

From boi
At least you're consistent.

[strongestcoward]

That's a new one. Consistency is terrifying.

[federalbureauofimmortals]

No it is not. It is a god damn blessing. You know how hard it is to deal with assholes who are inconsistent and have no standards?

Maximilien | Overwatch

[makesomedeals]

1. Allergy Season

Max has been here for all of approximately ten seconds and he's already determined he hates it. He hates Idris Elba giving him useless human-centric information. He hates the dusty, dingy, industrial looking halls, he hates the birds, the helpful bots who keep getting in his way, the flowers... well just about everything.

This is an Omnic who's pretty much allergic to anything remotely resembling joy, happiness, or community.

Trying to avoid touching his surroundings (because ew), he's made his way down to where the bees are, watching in downright disgust as they liquify some poor rabbity creature and then get slightly larger like some horrific bee-shaped sponge. He's not too concerned about himself, being metal has some distinct advantages.

It has some other, worse, disadvantages where the annoying robots that are bustling around seem to think he's one of them and keep trying to get him to help them catch all these bees.

Yeah, that's not going to happen. In fact if they get much pushier he may have to risk damaging his $20,000 suit ripping their arms off.

2. Network @ Maximilien
Is there someone in charge here? I'd like to speak with them.