redmarsshit | redshift: tdm #3

redshift: tdm #3

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. tfln: anchor edition.

The power returns with a surge throughout the colony, abrupt and powerful. Whether it’s because of an increase in the levels of radiation powering the dome or the unexpected addition of two more suns to the sky, the lights are back on, so to speak.

A surge that powerful has consequences, though. While some (currently unknown) systems have been powered up, others (mostly unknown) have come to life with a vengeance.

In specific, the robo-matchmaker in the intimacy lounge. Ordinarily, it works by taking the information of people who enter the intimacy lounge and pairing them up based on a carefully-tooled algorithm, so people are matched into casual or potentially romantic relationships. Somehow, through the frying of circuits and the machinations of a match-making AI gone rogue, the bot has the information of everyone in the colony - whether collected through the network, CCTV, or by scanning the data of people who passed by close at hand.

It's started making profiles for everyone, filling in bits of overheard conversations or bad pickup lines that it thinks match the personality of its chosen victims. It's also, helpfully, started sending messages at random to other characters, just to get the romantic ball rolling. Profiles and messages are as off the wall as the bot making them. Welcome to TFLN, Anchor Edition.

Robo-Matchmaker (?̵̢̠̀?̷̠͉͍̝̙̕ͅ?̡̢̡̹̩̖̝̞̪̦̘ͅ)

I͎͇̰̺̼͡ ̝̳̼̻͕̩͚á̷̳͍̫͕͞m̱̱̺͍̳̞̖ ̴̥͇̣͎̺̤̩͕̩͜h͖̕͞͠er͉̟͕͈̳̀ḙ͔̼̠̤ ͓̠̰̗̹̘̣͔t͏̸̤̳̙͍͎̮͕̞͢o҉̨̜͖̠̝͙̜̦̜ ̮̠̝̪̩̤̣m̖̻a̤͙̘̲̫̩̗k̮͓̀͜e̶̠͚͞ ̯̯̘̦͜͠you͈̹̟͔͜͠ͅr͈̮̮̗͖̜̠͠ ̮̗̗̹̘̬̠͢d̴̵̯͖̀r̷͇͍̦̗̯͢eaṃ̘͝͞ş̳̺̭̮͜ ̖͚͚͓͙͇͙͓̜c͖͕̰̞̺̟̫ớ͈̖͇̲̗m̶̞̟̣̘͎̘̲̣̕͢é̠̯͞ ̼t͔͢r͢͏̠̙̜̬͖̞̥̜ư̧͈̫͜e̹̮̮̝͝.̗̠̪̭̫͞

Interests: true love, friends with benefits, e͏͇̫m̲̤̬͟ ͉͍͜ǫ̙̟̳̲͘t̬͓i҉̟̼̣͓̯̜̞̼͜ ҉̛̺̪̣͈͖͖̟̥̺o̴̢͔̙̥̠̟̮̮̪̩n̷̗̜s҉̰̖̯͟͠

Assets: I̤̥̙̺̪̪̱͜ ̢̟k̢̰̫ͅn͕̤̳o̤͚͓͓w̲̬ ͠e̸̞̺̳͔̙ve̝̳̭̣̝͠ͅry͏̝̙̠t̲͚̠hi͕̣̯ng̭͓͕̖͈ ̖̣ą̰͖̲ͅbơ̯̥̹̠̱u͉̯̪͟t̜̞̱ yo̹͙ͅu̢̗.̡̪̥̙̱̘̞ ͕̀:̮̩̯̜̗̘)

Ass-ets: a bot never tells

✔ 😏 💀 🍆 ❤ 🔥 ✖

YES (✔)

NO (✖)

SAUCY EMOJI (👾)

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b. bad trip.

Unfortunately (there's always an unfortunately, isn't there?), something in one of the agricultural research facilities went haywire during the power surge, too, and released spores into some of the ventilation shafts, which carried the spores to specific parts of the agricultural areas and also released them into the park at the base of the colony.

Virtually overnight, red algae (water) and fungus (other structures) grows to cover the better part of the park and chunks of the agricultural level. There's plenty of room to avoid the algae or fungus if characters don't want to go near it (or if players don't want the effects). In fact, avoiding it is probably the smarter thing to do - except it keeps spreading, and it needs to be stopped before it infects the whole park or makes parts of the agricultural level unusable. The algae makes foliage and vegetation toxic to eat, but going in to get samples may be kind of tricky.

Those who come in contact with the algae and its spores will feel a variety of effects. The mildest among them are headaches, headiness, and mild highs; the sort of thing that would come from pot use or tipsiness. Progressing from there, depending on levels of exposure, the intoxication effects are heightened. Hallucinations, extreme highs, loss of coordination, slurred language, loss of inhibition, and an addiction that begins as a mild desire to stay near the algae and rapidly progresses into something worse.

Prolonged or extreme exposure will lead to the beginnings of vine-like plants growing under the skin, following characters' arteries and veins. The exposed will begin to exhibit plant-like behaviors - craving light, warmth, water. Particularly water. Worse, the infected will start to function as part of a collective with the algae/fungus growth, working in its interests. They will try to bring other creatures to the growth to attempt to infect them, they'll fight those who intend to destroy the growth, and they'll struggle against anyone who tries to remove them from its company or cure them.

While the growth can be destroyed with fire, the smoke still poses a hazard and can be accompanied by the mild/moderate effects of the algae itself. There are other ways to solve the algae problem, but most of them lie in the depths of the research station that accidentally released the spores in the first place, and the growth there is worse than anywhere else in the colony. Characters can be cured, too - by way of the medbay, by keeping them away from the growth until the infection dies, or by player-skill based means.

c. whole foods double-tap.

When all that algae business gets itself sorted out, characters will find some good news at last: the red shift rose up around the colony while everyone was busy and left a very large Whole Foods grocery store behind, just outside of the colony's exit doors.

Going inside reveals that the place isn't in perfect condition. Stuff has been knocked off the shelves and a lot of basic staples are missing, but the luxury items and hygiene basics are all there. Everything from (free range organic and/or vegan) chocolate to that particular kind of shampoo your earth-based character loves so much.

Deeper in the aisles, though, characters will come across more dramatic signs that something is wrong with this place. A smear of blood on the floor, leading toward the back of the building. Should characters choose to investigate, they'll find themselves following a widening smear of gore, with bits of cloth and tissue in the mix. At the very back (in the dairy section - and look! that yogurt is still good!), the source: a dismembered corpse.

Also, zombies.

These aren't the running hordes of 28 Days Later or the clickers of The Last of Us: they're standard Walking Dead shamblers, slow-moving and stupid but relentless, and very capable of coming from unexpected places or surrounding characters during a moment of inattention. Like most standard zombies, a shot to the head will take them out of commission--or you could go full Evil Dead and take that chainsaw from the inexplicable home goods department and go to town.

Those who get bitten will be decontaminated upon arrival back at the colony, but characters won't know that until they get there. Trauma abounds when death seems imminent. Even after decontamination, any injuries will remain until treated in the medbay.

Mod Note: The algae/fungus growth is set to last from August 24th until September 1st, when the intro log goes up at the start of the app cycle; or until someone finds a solution and informs the modteam.

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A. Matchmaker matchmaker
(Please note this whole profile is robot-generated and Ben will be shocked and appalled to discover its existence)

BEN (29[?])

Really needs to date somebody already it's way overdue.

Interests: Books, being alive, other people's business.

Assets: Humor, curiosity, resilience.

Ass-ets: Good hair, nice smile, an abundance of tentacles. 🐙

✔ 😏 💀 🍆 ❤ 🔥 ✖

YES (✔)

NO (✖)

SAUCY EMOJI (👾)

B. 420 spore it

[ Ben would never intentionally get high, because he ~~is a killjoy~~ has spent much of the last decade and a half of his life watching drugs and alcohol devastate his brother, change him, throw him in all kinds of wretched and dangerous situations. Even before all that had started, though, Ben had never liked not being in control. It had been hammered into him, over and over again, a constant refrain in his upbringing, that control was essential in particular for him. Because there were monsters inside of him, part of him. If he didn't stay vigilant, conduct his life in a prudent and moderate way, those monsters might just mutilate or kill an innocent person, a loved one, lay waste to the whole planet.

So Ben doesn't do drugs, and he doesn't do booze, and he doesn't do letting his guard down all that much, either. He's made some progress on that last front in the time he's been here. He's opened up, a tiny sliver, to a few people who he thinks may become his friends. But there is a huge difference between that and the kind of slurred, distracted honesty that comes over him after he comes in contact with a patch of that algae.

He doesn't yet know about the algae and its effects, so he doesn't understand why his head feels so strange, why his limbs feel heavy and his joints loose, why he is overcome with the sudden need to be around people. Friends, strangers, doesn't much matter to him. He just doesn't feel like being alone. When he's alone, it's too easy to forget that he's corporeal again, that people can see and hear him. So he goes seeking company of any kind... ]

C. Crying at the Wawa (again)

[ It would take a lot more than eerieness and some old bloodstains to discourage Ben from gathering supplies that might be essential for the Anchor's survival. He arrives at that Whole Foods with a huge empty duffel that he'd found in an old lab (it had needed a few runs through a washing machine to get it clean, but oh well). Ben has a mental list, of items that are important. Finally all those lessons on survival in hostile situations might actually be serving some good. But he has another, separate list, too. Little luxuries. Things he knows will make his siblings, and himself, a little happier. Any brightness, in this unpredictable place where all of them are trapped, would be nice.

Ben isn't all that surprised, when he encounters another scavenger, here to make the most of this chance. He lifts a hand in greeting, asks by way of hello: ]

You seen the health and wellness section around here anywhere?

[ He has no sense yet that talking aloud in a regular voice might attract some unwanted attention from the grocery store's undead denizens... ]

[ For the most part, Ami's spent this crisis holed up in her room waiting for it to blow over. But she can't just stay there all the time - she still needs food and water and other human biological things. So at the moment, she's in the kitchen microwaving a bowl of soup.

She jumps when she notices Ben - she didn't really hear him come in. ]

Oh! Hey! Sorry, I'll be out of your way in a second.

[ He'd gone back to his own quad at first, only to find neither of his brothers there, and Vanya isn't answering any texts right now, so Ben makes his way out to the communal kitchen area, hoping to run into one of them there. Instead, there is a total stranger - pretty rare in this place, considering how few people live here. Ben is delighted by the happy coincidence. ]

You're not in my way. Take all the seconds you need.

[ Ben drifts over to the counter she is standing by and, since he's not got his usual allotment of inhibitions, just hops up to sit on the counter a few feet away, heels swinging back gently against the cupboards. If Ami knew him, she'd know how out of character this is - usually he's considerably more introverted. And quiet. But instead he says: ]

I've never met you before. I'm Ben.

[ And in lieu of a handshake, he gives a little wave. ]

Oh, okay! I'm Ami.

[ She waves back with a smile! He seems nice. ]

That's not surprising. I haven't been here very long, just for a few weeks... [ pause ] Actually, that is kind of a long time, isn't it? So more likely it's because I'm being a shut-in, haha.

Edited 2019-08-30 03:24 (UTC)

It's a long time not to run into each other but not a long time to adjust to being warped to a whole other world. Was this your first one or have you already done a stop or two?

[ He is feeling perfectly chatty and a little warm all over and remarkably sunny. Ben twists around to check if there is anything to snack on in the cabinets behind him, and finds a half-empty tin of quite stale crackers, which he opens with joy and relish and begins to nibble on between questions. ]

I came here straight from Earth, and so did my sister, but one of my brothers was at a place called Hadriel for a while and one of my other brothers was in some sort of weird alternate version of North Carolina.

[ It's honestly such a good thing none of his siblings are here to see him right now, all talkative and perky. Klaus would absolutely never let him live it down. ]

[ At least he's understanding about it. She's been feeling a little out of her depth here, sure, but... it's only natural, right? Anybody would be overwhelmed by such a weird and dangerous situation, at least for a while. It's normal. She's not useless. (Only mostly useless!) ]

Oh, yeah, Peter said he was in Hadriel too... But no, this is my first stop, I guess.

[ Hopefully the next stop will be home? But you never know... Guh, better not follow that line of thought. Just think of Chernobyl and everything is okay.

(The kitten, I mean. Not the nuclear disaster. (The kitten is himself a nuclear disaster.)) ]

So you've got like your whole family here, huh? That must be nice. - Assuming you guys get along, anyway.

[ cause uh if her sister showed up it would be BAD NEWS BEARS. ]

Oh, Peter Parker? You know him? Man. He's so great. I love that spider guy.

[ Add Peter to the list of people who he will later hope never gets wind of any of this. But Ami, not knowing Ben, probably will see nothing amiss here. Just a happy, complimentary and affectionate guy, happy to meet someone who knows his friend. Except maybe there are a few signs something's a little off because he then says: ]

It's my first stop, too!

[ And then a few seconds later: ]

Wait I already said that, huh?

[ Then he laughs, seeming not at all embarrassed and only entertained by his own mistake. That easy laughter, and him forgetting a few seconds later what he said... well it's not hard to guess he's intoxicated in one way or another. ]

Naww, it's only, like, half of us. I got two more brothers and another sister that aren't here. But maybe they'll show up later? Vanya showed up after the rest of us.

[ Her comment about it being nice only as long as they get along has Ben smiling and shaking his head, like there is a heap of untold drama she can only imagine (and that's not untrue). Gesturing with a half-eaten cracker, Ben adds: ]

You must have siblings, right. I can totally tell.

[ Boy, he's just going a mile a minute! Ami has interacted with people while they're high before, incidentally, so she suspects it a little? But this is before Kabal's little public service announcement, so she's uncertain enough to give him benefit of the doubt. Some people just be like that, after all.

And wow that must be like... six? Seven? She wasn't counting. A VERITABLE DISASTER OF HARGREEVESES. But she kinda freezes and laughs nervously at that last bit. ]

Ah, geez, is it that obvious?

[ Normally, Ben is very observant and even hyper-aware of other people's tension, body language, their tone of voice. He'd learned the hard way how to pick up on all those tiny clues that would tell him when a fight was brewing between Luther and Diego or when Allison was in a mean mood or when his father's patience was even shorter than the usual.

But right now he's feeling floaty and warm and high-speed and part of why it's all so wonderful is that he isn't even watching for those things automatically. All his safeguards are on OFF and that means he totally doesn't notice any discomfort coming from Ami. He waves a hand messily in the air and explains: ]

Only children think it's all hugging and sunshine and happiness all the time no matter what. Not getting along doesn't even come into the equation. Picture? Whatever the thing is that stuff comes into.

[ These crackers are good but they would be even better with something on them, Ben thinks. He twists and starts searching the cabinets again, finding a half-empty jar of peanut butter and letting out a little gasp of delight. As he is digging into that, he says something that he has thought pretty much every time he has met someone new in the Anchor, but never said aloud before because, well, inhibitions: ]

It's so cool being here. You didn't even know who I was or how many siblings I had or anything about me. Like I'm just a normal person or something. That's so cool.

[ Yeaaaah, her sibling situation is... complicated? Of course siblings aren't going to get along all the time, but Dani is... something else. Dani has Problems.

But hey, if Ben doesn't have the attention span to press the issue, who is she to argue? The less breath wasted on that subject, the better.

The microwave beeps at about the same time, and Ami opens it up to stir her soup. ]

Oh, yeah? Are you famous back home?

Yeah...

[ Said with such a heavy sigh and obvious, almost childlike unhappiness, that there really is no mistaking that this is not some kind of humble brag, but he really does, in fact, hate having been famous. ]

All of us were. The Umbrella Academy. Kid superheroes, saving the day. They made comic books and action figures and people would send us letters and try to take pictures of us through the windows and hang out outside our door...

[ He breaks a cracker with half of it still buried in the peanut butter and has to go digging around for it with his fingers. It is not exactly very dignified. But even as he's working on that he asks: ]

Did they have superheroes in your world? Or- people with powers at all?

[ Ami shakes her head, fascinated. ] No, nothing like that! Just seven or eight billion normies. [ ~~She believes.~~ ]

[ Another version of Earth with superheroes... (Or maybe the same one? She doesn't actually know.) She can't picture herself genuinely believing this stuff back home - maybe treating it like a fun, harmless game, like she did with the paranormal. For all her enthusiasm about the spooky, it was always more like a fandom to her - she would of course embrace it wholeheartedly if it did turn out to be real, but she didn't actually believe it was.

But in Anchor, a lot of strange things have turned out to be real. Superheroes, in particular. She was never really into the comic book scene, but seeing a dude walk on the ceiling for real? That was dope as shit. In her excitement, she fails to consider the whole "but it would really suck to have to do that as a kid and also be a child celebrity" thing. ]

So you've all got powers? What's yours, can I see?

[ For Ben, of course, the opposite is true. To him, powers, the whole superhero thing - it's completely mundane. It had been the all-consuming thing when he was growing up, and all the things everyone else considers normal - school, friends, family, jobs, travel, dating, hobbies - are far more unrealistic and hard to wrap his head around. He has seen enough of the world since he died that he gets now how unconventional and extreme his upbringing was, but it's still just... his life. ]

The seven of us did. Not everybody on the planet.

[ Good thing to make that clear, even though probably she guessed that or else why would they have been famous or worth making action figures of?

When she asks what his powers are and if she can see them, Ben shakes his head. ]

No.

[ There's no hesitation in the answer and no leeway for argument. ]

Trust me, okay. You don't want to. You really, really, really don't.

[ He knows he probably should explain what his powers are and that they are extremely dangerous and also very off-putting to most and that he's doing her a favor by refusing. But that seems like so much effort and instead he says, a little petulant: ]

My powers suck I don't wanna talk about them. Tell me about your world? I love hearing about other people's worlds. That's the other really great thing about being here.

Ben Hargreeves | The Umbrella Academy | Currently in game

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