![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsehowmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
redstringtheories2021-07-04 06:36 pm
TDM #1
(cw: potential for severe disorientation/vertigo, claustrophobia, arachnophobia, body horror)
It happens in the blink of an eye. You may have been asleep. You may not have. You may have stepped through a door or turned a corner. You may have seen a flicker of something at the corner of your vision and turned to look. Or maybe you didn't.
It doesn't matter. What matters is that you find yourself somewhere entirely new and entirely unfamiliar. The arrival point is not always the same. (If you're lucky, it might be a canteen or an open office. If you're not, well... you aren't claustrophobic, are you? Or arachnophobic. These ducts do seem to be a bit cobwebby.) There is no one waiting for you but you don’t seem to be alone, either. Even in a janitor’s closet or the bathroom, you’ll find at least one person who seems to be just as out of place as you are.
If characters have arrived in a location devoid of NPCs, they may want to work together to figure out what is going on... or to avoid their 'kidnappers.' If you’ve arrived in the middle of the entry foyer or the gym, there may well be a few people who startle a bit at your arrival and try to approach (or discreetly leave the room... where are they going?). Will you cooperate or fight? Do you even understand what they're saying? You might need to find a translator, if you’re not immediately willing to follow a stranger.
After characters follow their new hosts (or are forcibly taken in) there will be a limited tour and the chance to settle in at the ADI-provided housing. (Do you enjoy living with strangers? Well. It's a new situation to navigate, anyway.)
(cw: hallucination, potential mind-control)
Weird things happen in Dogtown, everyone knows it. The Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) is not above taking advantage of that to test out the waters for its newest arrivals. They're not looking to send anyone to their death, though. That's far too much paperwork, you'd been assured with a wink from the employee who'd directed you to the park trailhead. You've been left with another person. Maybe they're a new arrival, as well, or a more seasoned 'veteran.' Either way, you're together for the next while and you've been asked to find and record any paranormal activity in the park. You have your phones and any other equipment you might have brought with you. Those who succeed in documenting anything peculiar will receive a $100 reward to be used as they see fit.
This month, there seems to be something odd afoot with the stones around the park. Instead of the questionably useful advice they offer, there is, instead, something embarrassingly or horrifically true about you carved into the stone. Trying to show your companion or gauge their reaction will net nothing; they will simply see their own truth. It's only when you admit to what's on the stone that it seems to become visible to others or any camera in your possession.
Take a picture. The least you deserve for the trouble is some money.
"We'll have others with you, but all of you will be out on your own for missions, so to speak," the ADI employee who had led you down to the underground training facility explained. "You'll need to have some basic skills. Even if you're not going out soon or ever… it's safer to know these things."
Basic skills, in this case, appear to mean survival and weapons training. The room you've been brought to on Floor B3 below ADI Headquarters is a massive, underground gym, and there are sections set up for various skills practice. One side of the gym is dedicated to fighting: bare-knuckles, wrestling, knives, and tasers are all out on display. There are also a few guns, but those are reserved for people who can prove they can manage the other weapons first. The other side has areas for fire-making, building a shelter, navigating without a phone, supply preparation, cooking, and basic first-aid. Through a side door, there's also a small pool where people are being taught the basics of swimming.
Any or all of these skills would be useful in a dangerous situation, and there aren't enough native ADI employees to cover training for all of them. If you show that you're proficient with something, you'll be asked to man one of the areas to assist in training others. If you're at a loss and looking lost, you will be pushed toward whatever skills practice area is physically closest to you, whether you wanted to learn anything about that or not. Best make the most of it… and try not to kill anyone or burn anything down.
Even those who have refused ADI Housing and taken themselves to Bonnie's Flophouse will find that they're welcome for this training under the strict understanding that no supernatural abilities will be used. Bonnie will have informed them of it and helped them get to ADI to ensure they learn some of the things they might need to survive... and also just to bond with the people they'll be working with for the foreseeable future.
(cw: body horror, implication of near-drowning, violence, potential for blood, gore, drowning, death)
The beaches around Gloucester are numerous and varied with reported supernatural activity at many, if not most of them. For those working with ADI, they'll receive the direction in a mass email from Reyes Amador, the assistant to the Head of ADI. For those not technically working at ADI, Bonnie will provide the same information.
All,
We have received reports of strange noises and sightings at Coffin Beach. Please take at least one other person and investigate. A $300 bonus will be offered to those who bring back evidence of the source of these reports.
Take Care of Yourselves,
Reyes
Those who head to Coffin Beach will find that the sand beneath their feet squeaks softly with each step, like the faint sound of a poorly-maintained hinge protesting their movements. It makes stealth especially difficult, and those who wish to maintain their cover would do well to stay farther up into the vegetation and off the beach, itself. There aren't any houses out this way, just coastal marshes, the beach, and some higher ground with low-growing shrubs, tall grasses, and thin trees.
For the patient, those who wait for night to fall, they will be rewarded when they hear the sound of someone crying. Searching the beach, they will be able to spot a young person who appears to have washed up in a kayak on the beach. The young person is visibly injured in some way with blood coming out of them. Those who approach cautiously may get the sense that there is something not quite right about this person. Man or woman, their face is too long, their angles too sharp.
There is something wrong. It's not the injury.
There is something very wrong with what this person is.
They will not respond to any calls or move from where they lie, half-submerged in the surf. Anyone who approaches within a few feet will discover they're not nearly as helpless as they seem to be, though. The person will burst from the water with a powerful thrust, attempting to tackle anyone nearby and bite them. The person's face transforms into a long, fanged maw, trying to rip and tear and drag their prey into the ocean with them, away from any safety.
- ARRIVAL: Two people will always arrive in the same general location together. Arrivals occur throughout the early month, not all on the same day or in the same place. Arrivals are not naturally fluent in English/other languages immediately upon arrival. Characters may attempt to evade capture, but they will eventually be snagged before they can leave the building. Please refer to the Arrival page for details regarding the arrival and onboarding process.
- STICKS AND STONES: If so desired, to facilitate CR, characters may feel themselves compelled to ask about the stones when they see their truth written on it. Resisting the compulsion will become more and more difficult as time goes on.
- I WILL SURVIVE: Characters may be students or trainers in this scenario. They might be able to get away with small displays of supernatural abilities if they want to risk it and if they find themselves with the necessary reserves of power. Anything significant will have them immediately removed and asked not to return to ADI for a few days.
- SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE: Characters may fight off, capture, or kill the creature. If they successfully capture it and bring it back to ADI (or call for someone to come and do that for them), they will receive a significant monetary bonus beyond the promised $300 for their work. If characters successfully kill and document the kill, they will also receive the bonus and instructions to push the body out to sea. If a character is taken by the creature, they will be killed. Please bear in mind that if a character dies in the TDM prompt, they are dead. A different version who doesn't have TDM memories may be apped in their place.
no subject
[Except, she knows a little more than most, about what happens on the production floor when the boss is alone, tinkering. But that's not the company, and it's certainly not relevant here. Right? Right.
Meredith recognizes the smile he's giving her. Polite, opaque, ever so slightly superior (while not being enough so to feel insulting). It gives her a read on Elias, at least a preliminary one. And the fact that he calls Rosie his 'secretary' rather than 'personal assistant' gives an impression of being a little old-fashioned.
While she's not sure what he's about yet, she recognizes the potential for a dynamic between them, like when a ball-and-socket joint pops back into place after being dislocated. They'd fit together--if she wanted to.]
And your line of work, sir?
[The honorific is deliberate; she thinks he'll respond well to it.]
no subject
He noticed that, found it pleasing from long, long histories, from the familiar roles that he was lacking here. If he was to stay for awhile, well, then he wouldn’t mind another Rosie. Particularly someone more tech oriented.
The smile ticked up a little farther, a motion by degrees.]
I am the head of The Magnus Institute, in London. We deal…well, in something similar to what they seem to be doing here, however in more of an archival nature.
[He looked to the weapons with a small sigh.]
How long have you been here?
no subject
[She's not sure she wants to commit to anything yet, but she definitely wants to stay on Elias's good side, wants to be thought of as potentially useful rather than utterly below his notice.]
I'm worried that if it comes to true survival scenarios or fights, I won't be particularly useful.
no subject
[How many of those had he used? How many tools had he made people into? The numbers were vast and high and he didn’t care enough to come up with one that seemed plausible.
Distractions were important, given the chance. As long as he wasn’t the distraction.]
There is a place for everyone, no matter how little you fight. [Food, after all, was vital in the lifecycle.] I am certain they will tell me the same thing. There is probably a plaque with that written on it in a breakroom somewhere.
no subject
[There's a very dry sort of humor behind that comment, as her gaze flickers back to the training weapons laid out.]
But truly, I feel like our utility here shouldn't be limited to decoys. There's plenty of things we can do even within the offices to help, without learning how to bludgeon potential foes firsthand, or how to set up a tent.
no subject
[His own sarcasm hung like honey from his words. He knew those posters, just as he knew the ones in the early 2000’s of landscapes with text below. He had bought several for the office after he knew how much they were hated.
The bludgeoning potential foes almost got a smile out of him. Not for the reason she suspected, but still.]
If I am being honest, the likelihood of having one of these items on us at the time of an attack would be low anyway; we might have to be adaptable to whatever is lying around, and at that point, I believe the raw living instinct would take over.
Perhaps it’s time we take this to someone else, someone higher up. I have found going to the source for discussions tends to help facilitate a faster change.
no subject
[There's actually a lot of information about how Meredith operates there; rather than trying to get herself in front of the Warden and instead of going directly to her, she's creating more steps in the process, but going through proper channels. She knows how a bureaucracy operates, and can navigate it like a salmon in a river.]
no subject
He smiled, and for once it was slightly more real than the others, something that wasn’t solely surface level. She had potential, had the building blocks for something positive, and most importantly: useful. He needed to keep an eye on her for future endeavors.]
That would be delightful. I think you would agree that it would benefit us both if we were switched to something that utilized our skills a bit more favorably.
[Hands tugged at one suitcoat sleeve, smoothing it.]
I appreciate your help, Ms…?
[He could have Looked, could Know on his own, but the stakes here were too low to warrant an attempt of use. Yet.
Yet.]
no subject
[She notes the shift in the nature of his smile. Yes, she's managed to impress. Even if this man doesn't have any power or authority yet among the arrivals, he has the aura of it, carries it over from whatever world birthed him.]
And I don't think I've had the chance to catch your name, either, sir.
no subject
[There was an emphasis on the formality of it, of the Mr. Bouchard portion, as if to push her towards that rather than his first name.
As a proper assistant should address him.]
I think we will be seeing a great deal more of each other if all goes well. I do hope that is the case, Ms. Idlewild.
no subject
[She isn't sure if she'll end up working alongside him full-time in the office, but she's eager to watch his social maneuvering; it may indeed be best to hitch her wagon to his star.]