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Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redmarsshit2019-08-24 02:53 pm

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.

sleepyhollowed: screenshot by <user name=blackxbelle site=www.tumblr.com> (LOOK AT THIS SOFT BOY)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-28 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Somewhere, in the distance, Kieran swears he hears some sort of noise, like a drumset and cymbal crash. Clearly, it's just a side effect of whatever's making his head all fuzzy.

"I dunno who that is."

And he's far too disjointed to even try to figure it out.

"Mind readin' it?"
superposition: (And yet you start to recoil)

[personal profile] superposition 2019-08-28 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
He does mind, yes, but he'll do it. He tries to get them back walking while he opens the message in question.

"'Hi, Kieran, it's Ami,'" he reads, with the inflection of someone who really has more urgent things to do. And pronouncing her name wrong. "Says she's putting your fishing lessons on hold... 'something gross' at the pond?"

There's a photo attached, which he opens. It's been taken from the walkway of a higher floor, looking down into the park at the bottom of the atrium. A park which, to his dismay, looks very similar to Kieran's little farm setup. In the sense that it's also badly infested.

"Damn! It's worse than I thought." He tries to shove the comm back into Kieran's hands, this time not taking into account that said hands are still full. "Now we'll have to seal off the whole park. Ah - of course, a force field'll do it. The question then is, how far has it infiltrated the air supply...?"

Yeah, he's rambling to himself now.
sleepyhollowed: (:(?)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-28 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Those... sure are a lot of words. A lot of words that Qubit is saying with a lot of speed and not a lot of volume.

Kieran manages to take the communication device from Qubit using the hand that was guiding Branwen along. He can trust that the little horse will follow him without any issues--after all, they've worked together for a while now and they've got a nice, strong bond.

"H-Hold on. I know an 'Ah-mee' who I was supposed to teach fishin' to," Kieran pipes up. That little bit of adrenaline stemming from fear for her safety clears his mind.

"Did she say if she's alright? She could be back there. If she is, I gotta... I gotta go get her. She's just a kid. Can't just leave her..."

He turns around without waiting for an answer, completely prepared to go back and find Ami.
superposition: (But no more apologies)

[personal profile] superposition 2019-08-28 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Qubit's so preoccupied with his own muttering that it takes him a moment to notice Kieran's. "- and whatever source is feeding the lake - what was that?"

Who are they talking about? The girl who messaged him? So far, Qubit's seen no sign of anybody else in here, but if he thinks she's around - wait wait wait why are you turning back around, get back here.

He grabs Kieran by the shoulder to stop him. "Kieran. Is there someone else living in here?"
sleepyhollowed: (WAIT NO IT WENT TO SHIT ANYWAY)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-28 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
When Qubit grabs Kieran by the shoulder, he easily turns back around. His movements are almost pliable with how out of it he feels.

"Livin' here? No. No, she doesn't live here. I think she lives..."

Kieran pauses, searching in the dark for a place he doesn't really know all that well to begin with.

"...downstairs. In those odd rooms. Not too sure, though. Everythin's a bit... my head doesn't feel right."

He looks down at the communicator in his palm.

"I can ask her if she's here, but I don't know how to get this thing to catch my voice. It told me it could put my words into writin' when I first got here, but I never tried."
superposition: ((you're not the boss of me))

[personal profile] superposition 2019-08-28 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
So he's disoriented and tech-illiterate. Great. It's alarming how quickly this stuff is affecting him, but then again there's no telling how long he's been exposed to it.

Still, if the girl is here, Qubit will need to retrieve her, so it's best if he lets Kieran ask. "Here - this'll put it in video mode," he says, reaching in to push the appropriate button. "Go ahead and ask her, but we need to keep moving."

He starts leading Kieran by the arm, just to make sure he doesn't get distracted and wander off.
sleepyhollowed: (has senpai finally noticed me?)

[personal profile] sleepyhollowed 2019-08-29 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
Given how quickly it's been spreading, chances are good Kieran's slept through the initial stages of the fungus invasion, and what better way to breathe in some noxious fumes then through a relatively deep sleep?

He watches Qubit press the video button and, after some hesitation, leaves her a message, finishing it just in time for the least patient of the two men to start leading him along. Kieran doesn't fight it. Why would he? He's feeling far more agreeable than when he was first pushed to leave his barn.

Wait, wasn't he mad about that before?

Eh... doesn't matter now.

He continues to walk forward, occasionally stumbling over his own feet as he cranes his neck to look at his communication device for any sign of response. Every time he trips, he manages to catch himself just in time. It's just like walking drunk--and Kieran has plenty of experience with that.

"Are... are we there yet?"
superposition: ((what are we talking about?))

[personal profile] superposition 2019-08-29 05:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Almost. Just keep walking."

Closer to the exit, there's no fungal growth at all. But that still leaves the question of getting Kieran to the medbay without contaminating everything in between... If only his damned teleportals would work! Cutting travel out of the equation simplified so much!

There are still a few things he can try, but he'll need components, and the agricultural zone is predictably short on those. Best bet's going to be meeting up with Peter downstairs, at the labs...