▶ TDM OVERFLOW .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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▶ Lisa Frank's LSD Fun House
anytime, anywhere on the moon Iris | top

Everything is darkness except for dim lights sparkling in the distance, a faint gleam that greets you as you start to unfurl from your dormant state. Your body is hemmed in by shards of crystals, gently sparkling and possibly pricking your skin. The surrounding landscape is dyed in the pinks and purples of the dusk filled with crystals protruding from the ground, some as large as a skyscraper. Throat parched and skin dry and aching, you grope your body in alarm to make sure your possessions are still in place. This is far from home— perhaps a dream? You pinch your skin and slap your cheeks, yet nothing seems to do the trick. Searching for answers only rewards you with an endless expanse of purple dust as far as the eye can see. You have four options: one, panic; two, soil yourself; three, admire it all then soil yourself; or four, go into survival mode. Eventually, you’ll realize that you’re not alone.

A ⬤ As you traverse the near-barren landscape, you feel something sting your skin. It's small and subtle at first, then you finally catch sight of it: an elegant, crystalline mosquito buzzing around from the corner of your eye. However, a pest is still a pest. After a while, marks near your welts begin to form strange patterns on your skin, mimicking ancient runes. Each rune has with it a particular side-effect that may hinder you on your journey:

✾ The Mark of the Enchanter: Hallucinations, hallucinations galore. Your character will see everything and anything their imagination can conjure and will have difficulty separating reality from fiction.
₪ The Mark of the Destroyer: Limbs start to cease their function, causing you to stumble or try and get around one-handed. Other certain body parts may be affected as well. Look at the bright side: you can stop worrying about jiggle physics and hiding your fear boner.
⍢ The Mark of the Sinner: Your hunger, your thirst, your fatigue and your desire are at an all-time high. Your impulses are rabid and uncontrollable. Maybe you experience only one of those symptoms. Maybe you experience them all. All you know is that you want relief now.

These effects will eventually clear up with a bit of accidental or purposeful physical contact with another person, making you wonder if there was anything wrong with you at all.

B ⬤ Hunger starts to gnaw at you vigorously. Perhaps you consider hunting the moon's creatures to sate your hunger. That's when you see it: a thick, meaty, juicy meal on legs. No, we're not talking about Alex Louis Armstrong. A wild silver-white pegasus runs across the purple landscape, its hair billowing in the wind as its hooves smack loudly against the ground. Try and shoot it, and you may find your efforts curtailed by its legendary rage. Eyes aglow and wings beating up a storm, this pegasus is no dainty horse. Two thousand pounds of pure muscle swoop down and charge at you, all blades and ammunition deflecting off its impenetrable skin. Taming appears impossible; it will buck anyone away and leave a sizable horn- or hoof-shaped hole in them for their efforts. Hunting it, however, should be easier. Relatively.

C ⬤ Or you may decide that you'd like to take a drink in the prismatic waters. A small pond can be found just a few miles away from where you first awoke, but gazing into it reflects what appears to be a window into your own world. You see the faces of loved ones or at least someone very close and familiar to you gathered around your prone body, shaking it frantically as though to try and rouse you, yet your image lies frozen and unresponsive, not even a whisper of life running through you. Did you die in your world? Is this your afterlife? The questions start to pile up along with the gnawing dread that you may never return home again.

▶ Camp Nowhere
anytime, anywhere on the moon iris | top

Time moves strangely when you're trapped on a moon with no sun to guide you. Hours feel like days, and days feel like weeks. Travelling has rendered you weak and tired. Luckily, a few crystal formations in the shape of a cavern may offer you a small place refuge as you decide to nap. You notice a few artifacts left over from previous explorers.

D ⬤ A comm unit abandoned within the cavern will display the former owner's idol obsession. As you tap the buttons indiscriminately, a holographic screen will appear, and you will see a fabulous recorded concert featuring three bubbly young ladies in animal print, singing to you about something called Cordis, a cat, and a bag of gems. Does this make any sense to you? Probably not, but the beat is catchy. You may even find yourself tapping a foot along to it. Don’t worry. We know it’s plastic love.

E ⬤ There's a small cooler-like container of preserved powdered food bags labeled with only the word “Edible” that can be safely consumed. Although the powder tastes as bland as you’d expect, it’s oddly filling, sating either hunger or thirst. But who will be the first — and the bravest — to try eating them?

F ⬤ A strange, pointed instrument is among the effects found in the cavern. It's silver, long, and thin with a curved end and a light. When you grip it with warm hands, it seems to vibrate enthusiastically and comes in three settings indicated by a frowny face, a neutral face, and a happy face. What could it mean exactly? No one knows, but you can fiddle with it to your heart's desire. Just don't ask yourself where it's been before. You don't want to know.

▶ Interstellar Action Force Assemble
prisma, iris | top

Over a day has passed when a group of people find you worse for wear. Some are full of uncertainty and fear while some are full of curiosity and excitement. They claim that they are scientists from the planet Prismatica here to investigate the sudden appearances of rainbow crystals in the skies. That means you and the others they’ve located within the area. You are all a surprising find to them, and they are quick to load everyone in their transport vehicles for examination and questioning.

You all may have your usual inquiries — Where are we? Who are you? What's going on? Why are the pegasi so ill-tempered? — and the Prismals are almost too eager to answer. They do have questions on their own, so it’s only fair to trade. They tell you about their world as they poke and prod you, trying to understand what you are and how you came into their land. If they’re not trembling in fear, some of them may ask you odd and invasive questions in return, such as what the rate at which your body achieves thermoregulation is, how long your refractory period is, and if you would be willing to submit various kinds of body fluids to them. It's up to whether you wish to comply or protest.

G ⬤ If you react violently, you will be restrained and nerfed with a specialized neurotransmitting gun that releases a numbing agent through the top of your spine. They came prepared, so have fun with that! In any case, conscious or not, you’ll be brought into one of the transport vehicles. If you choose to peacefully cooperate, you’ll be provided any necessary first aid and a refreshing drink to help you recuperate after the rough time you had for the past few days. Each transport vehicle has a few small rooms to rest in, but due to the limited space, you’ll have to snuggle up with someone else on that bunk bed. Unfortunately, the moonshine fruit the ship is also carrying in its cargo has an extremely sweet smell that’s been permeating through certain areas of the ventilation system… Taking a whiff of it may inebriate you for the rest of the trip.

H ⬤ It’s a bumpy ride as terrain vehicles draw over various crystal formations until you see a large dome-like structure up ahead. Within its confines lies the seat of the Prismatica's government, Prisma. It’s a bureaucratic wet dream: skyscrapers practically touch the upper surface of the dome, windows glimmer with a prismatic sheen as daylight hits them, and small ships can be seen flying to and from its spaceport. The scientists, members of the Lunar Scientia, usher you into their facilities for tests. Arrivals are likely to twitch, tremble, and panic as Lunar Scientia fellows take and broadcast every embarrassing, unfiltered detail about you — height, weight, age, strange odors, estimated frequency of sexual activity —- to one another. These scientists will ask you politely to undress, too, but understand if you don't want to. They're especially fascinated by the readings of pure Chroma inside you, whispering among one another excitedly about the possibility of the new arrivals being a new moon species. What should they call them? Moonborne? Moonblessed?

I ⬤ At long last, the questions and physical examinations are done. They’ve decided to call the arrivals as the Moonblessed. They’ll take you under their care until they understand more about you. You're allowed a very refreshing hot shower and a warm meal for your efforts. Don’t worry, the meal was imported from their planet. “Planet?” you might ask, but you won’t need to wonder for too long. The ships are preparing for their next destination: the nearby planet Prismatica, where you will be dwelling for the time being. You're free to explore the government center until then.

▶ Wildcard
Lunatia, Prismatica | top

It only takes a couple hours for the ships to reach their home planet. The ships drop the characters off at the city of Lunatia, where they will be given their communication devices and a plastic card they can present to certain landlords at any residential district for their subsidized (read: absolutely free) lodging. Officials at Prisma instructed the newcomers to await further instructions from the government, but you have a lot of time to kill before then. Why not explore in the meantime? Learn the ins and outs of the world, get a job, transform under the full moon, and explore the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

This is this TDM's overflow. Feel free to move your threads from there and continue tagging!

Comments

don't be, I'm not!! live ur best trash life, neighbor

[cadeuces]

( Angela just blinks a pinch owlishly (wrong woodland critter) as he pulls away from her, stumbling, and calls her... well. )

Oh, am I a "beautiful enchantress"? My. ( She's trying very hard not to laugh, hiding her smile behind the curl of her finger. ) I'm not trying to tempt you into anything, I promise.

( And she's reaching for the collapsed staff tucked in the back of her boot when he's asking, only— well, he's warding her off like some medieval knight, and then she really does laugh, muffled behind both her hands and masking the alarmed sound that slips out of her when he stumbles back and he falls back down, then simply flops back in defeat. If he hadn't been so earnest in his words, she would have thought he were playing about to be charming.

The secret is, she would have been charmed. But she's quite certain that isn't the case and he's just... dramatic. So she's kneeling down beside him and resting a hand carefully at his shoulder, trying to catch his attention to look over at her. )

I just want to help. I'm not looking to hurt you or take samples of you. These are nanomachines that will break down once their job is done and absorb into your body— just like protein.

( She holds it aimed toward his middle, nearly resting along the ground, when she squeezes the trigger. Warmth blooms and seeps into him, and he'll feel the hyper-localized numbing tingling about the wounds so it spares him the strange sensation of flesh knitting back together, with any contaminants ousted. It's only a few seconds, all told. )

See? All finished and not a scratch left.

( Goodness, you. )

[yakiniku]

[While she appears to be trustworthy and helpful, he's not so sure he should be quick to believe anything she says. And clearly, very clearly, he should keep his own mouth shut because the things he's hearing himself say aren't helping his case.

His baseline is a bit more subtle, but in this state his level of dramatic is exponentially increased. If he's lucky, whatever she's doing to him will help cure him of this intoxication. He has no issues being completely inebriated, but he is too much of a control freak to not want even that to be on his terms. Certainly not after arriving to a strange place and waking up not knowing how he's arrived there.

He's never wished for sobriety so hard. As his thoughts continue to rush, he feels his wounds sealing up, bleeding stopping, and the different sources of pain he was feeling slowly vanish. The nanomachines also rid his bloodstream of whatever that toxin was enough for him to come to his senses as he stands up, his balance back to normal.]

Thank you, doctor. I apologize for my behavior.

[It seems as good a place to start than any.] Where are we? What is this place?

[cadeuces]

( Hey, at least she's laughing— and it isn't at him. It's clearly amused and far from derisive, and she continues to navigate whatever state it is he's found himself in with grace.

There are worse things than to be afraid of someone coming at you with a staff while you know you're hallucinating and compromised, all right? She gets it.

But the nanites do assist in quick filtering of alcohol and non-essential drugs, and it's almost like flipping a switch. One moment he's yelling at her, and the next he's giving up, and the next he's getting to his feet and seeming to give himself a glance, steady on his feet. Thanking her.

Naturally, she waves it off. )

I did what anyone should do. No apologies or thanks necessary. How are you feeling?

( His question prompts her to look around, some little "plaza" section of their transport with something like... what, a food court? Who knows. There's trees and what looks like food, though it's strict in who is allowed it and who isn't. They fall into the latter. Staff-only, she assumes. )

We all seem to have awoken on a moon orbiting the planet they intend to take us to. I believe they called the moon Iris. They found us all wandering the surface and ran physicals and basic exams on us on intake, and we're on the transport to their base under a dome for further tests, I believe. But they have been friendly and they're very excited about us, so I don't believe they wish us any harm.

I suppose it makes us 'aliens'. ( then, quietly, with a heavy-handed bit of teasing: ) Do you remember who I am?

[yakiniku]

[Whether or not it was necessary, he has to express his gratitude when it's due. He is in her debt now, and if they cross paths again, he will try to return the favor if he can.]

Much better. I have never been impaired in that way before. [He's been regular drunk plenty of times in his life, but that paled in comparison to that cocktail of altered mental statuses. If this place was going to keep doing that to him, he's going to need to overcome his need to control so many aspects of his life so tightly. He's made plenty of progress in these past few years, but this was still too much.]

Iris? [He nods, listening now that he's able to be mentally present.]

What is the reason? There must be a reason why we were brought here. [Of course it's a big question, so he's not sure that she'll know the answer to that for sure, but it's the one question on his mind that keeps coming up.]

What do you mean? You are the doctor. Angela, if I remember correctly. [From not even several minutes ago when she was introducing herself to a man high out of his mind on hallucinogenic mosquito toxins. He doesn't realize she's teasing until it's too late.]

[cadeuces]

I don't think many of us can say that we have, really. It gives us a fair bit of leeway in our actions.

( But she rises as well from where she'd knelt beside him, brushing off her knees with idle care and ensuring her staff has locked back down before it's slid into her boot once more. Clunky, perhaps, but she has nowhere else to store it on her person in the tight black suit. At least she isn't smeared in pastel moondust anymore; she'd had the chance to clean herself up with a damp cloth and a bit of soap, even if it wasn't a proper shower.

But he's asking her questions she has no answers to, so she looks apologetic as she just shakes her head. )

I'm afraid I'm not certain either; no one seems to know. But we may have answers once we arrive at the next destination.

And it was just a tease, I promise. I'm a doctor, not the doctor. And Angela is correct. It's nice to meet you properly.

( She offers him her hand, as she'd never gotten his name. Perhaps it would have helped sooner, but he had given in easily enough when he knew she was trying to help him. And now he's all right. It all worked out in the end, didn't it? )

[yakiniku]

[Hanzo now has the presence of mind to take in his new companion, sizing her up and noticing her accent and uniform. The boots are additionally convenient for storage of that staff. It’s brilliant. Which reminds him!]

My bow. [He looks around and grabs it since it’s not far, and secures it to his back alongside his quiver of arrows.]

Right, then. Where was I? My name is Hanzo. Likewise, Doctor Angela. [He’s sober and back to being his polite, and sometimes overly suspicious uptight self. Which he feels is justified given their situation. All things considered it’s not actually so bad. Just different.]

Before this I was traveling. [He rakes his fingers through his hair in an attempt to smooth it over as he thinks about his next move. For now he’s content in following along to see where they’re being taken and for what purpose.] It was winter, nearly christmas.

[cadeuces]

( It's possible, even, he's seen her before on the news— both as a prolific member of Overwatch and for the occasional piece on medical breakthroughs in the Middle East, or photos from some gala or another fundraising for MSF. An honor not bestowed upon her in turn, certainly, because while his name rings a bell she can't place him otherwise. Someone she's met in passing, perhaps.

Genji's letters are far from her mind, or the name of his brother on dried-out lips. Not a detail usually forgotten, but she'd had a hundred other priorities above that. He asks after his bow and she's pointing in a tiny gesture, still trying to contain her smiles, before he's scooping it up and righting it over himself. )

Hanzo; please just call me Angela. You'll give me a big head otherwise.

( The 180 in his demeanor from giddy lush to impulsive to restrained and polite is amusing her, but he doesn't take her hand so she lowers it without offense (cultural difference, most like), turning to walk at his side as they begin to make their way out of the section they're in and he continues to speak. )

Mm, I was stationed in Iraq for war relief. It was about the same time of year. 2076?

( Maybe a reach, but it feels right to ask. )

[yakiniku]

[He doesn't recognize her from anything right away. When he was digging into Overwatch it was largely with one subject in mind: Genji. Anything else he'd deemed unimportant. So of course at some point he had become obsessed with the dark past of Blackwatch, and when that yielded nothing that wasn't infuriatingly redacted, he'd decided to leave it alone.

His mental health prospered, but his guilt remained about the same. The last he saw his brother, he'd suggested Hanzo pick a side, and despite how he misses what they once had, he's refused to take the advice, stubborn as ever. He'd have no part in it. Perhaps if he'd let the obsession consume him he might have recognized this Angela to be Mercy.]

Very well, Angela. [It feels strange not to attach any form of honorific to the name, but he will get used to it.]

2076, yes. [He nods. It seems they're from the same place and time.] Already it seems so long ago.

[cadeuces]

( That likely makes it easier on them both, for now. Give them a chance to get to know one another before the truth hits, on both sides, knowing the impact the other has indirectly had on their lives. It'd be a difficult pill for her to swallow when she's only just meeting the real Hanzo, as charmingly erratic as his inebriated self had been. )

Well, you're not the first I've run into from our slice of the world. One of my old friends is here as well, so perhaps you'll find someone you know.

( Until then, he has her. She certainly isn't making to split off and walk away from him, steadfast at his elbow. )

I had a very dear friend from Japan as well. Christmas isn't celebrated the same way there as I know it, if I recall, but I hope you had a peaceful one regardless. I'd just received a letter from him, even. It made me miss the Christkindlesmarkt from home.

[yakiniku]

[If he's silent while they walk it's because he's trying to put together bits of a puzzle without even knowing if he's got all the pieces. He's terribly good and receding into his own thoughts. It's great for problem solving, but not so good when he's feeling self-destructive.]

Perhaps. [It would be in poor taste to inform her that he has no friends. The closest thing he has to that is the sniper who once attempted to recruit him to Talon.]

No, it is quite different. Fried chicken is a Christmas staple. Christmas cake is also a tradition, though one that is more common even in places outside of Japan.[He leaves out the part where it's about family, and he hasn't had ties with the Shimada clan for several years now. Christmas was always difficult but this last one wasn't so bad somehow.]

Thank you. Do you remember the contents of the letter? Suddenly I am missing home. [Hanzo admits easily, but in his defense Angela does make him feel safe.]

[cadeuces]

( Silence is fine; they're both staying close enough for companionship without words needing to be spoken, puzzling one another out one little revelation at a time. There's some tiny, tiny little familiar thing about him she can't place, but she's assuming it's his accent. He reminds her of Genji. (Actually it's his eyebrows, too.)

Also, Hanzo, that's a lie. You have One Whole Friend and she's right next to you!! )

I remember hearing about the fried chicken; what sort of cake is it? Vanilla, chocolate, or something special? I was in the desert, and my friend wrote to me of the snow amongst other things; when I was very little I mostly just remember playing in the snow in the family cabin in the Alps. I missed the cold, and the hot chocolate, and the cloves and cinnamon in the air. The little stalls selling handmade ornaments and decorations, and the mulled wine... It was very special, all lit up. Very warm and cozy. Decorating trees and putting candles in the windows was always my favorite part.

He was in the Himalayas, with the Omnic monks. He told me of their reverence for the cold and the snow no matter how dangerous it was to their systems, and how they had begun to decorate their homes and how much they loved yellows and oranges and bright blues. And of a planned pilgrimage to the nearby hill station Mussoorie to help restore their little temples. I'm afraid he didn't write of Japan... but let's see...

( She's thinking back some years, to little conversations she'd managed to eke out of him during the worse throes of his recovery. )

I've known him for quite some time now, but when we spoke of Japan, it was always little bits and pieces. He'd undergone multiple surgeries in my care, and he was quite reclusive to begin with. He was very angry and in a lot of pain. But little by little, he'd share when asked. Mostly he just listened to me prattle on. Much as you are, now.

( She was teasing with that; it's not as though he isn't contributing to the conversation; she is just used to filling silences. )

[yakiniku]

[Hanzo nearly closes his eyes at how closely he plans to listen to Angela's words, hoping that it manages to remind him of home, of when he was last there. Through nostalgia it may bring him some temporary peace.

It's true that he's not one to talk unless communication is necessary or beneficial to him somehow, so he doesn't mind that Angela goes on to share more about her friend but not so much about Japan. Usually it's always fascinating how others describe the country he once recognized as home, but he's a bit interested in how she's describing the Himalayas--a place he's yet to go to in his travels.]

It seems like a place out of a fairy tale. My brother enjoyed those as a child. It is fortunate your friend was able to make a recovery after some time.

[He means that. Angela seems nice enough, and very caring. Perhaps they could become close friends if the circumstances weren't so...strange.]

Or rather, it speaks to your skills as a doctor.

that icon murders me he's so soft

[cadeuces]

( When she notices he's (nearly) closing his eyes, she makes a point to reach over and curl her fingers in the crook of his elbow to loosely keep ahold of him, just so she doesn't lose him amidst the others they're about to shuffle through.

She wishes she had more to tell him of Japan; Genji hadn't been terribly forthcoming. He'd idly mentioned summer festivals once, and when she'd began asking him what sort of foods he liked to see if she could get him close, adapting to his new body, but for the most part it was a difficult topic to speak of and likely brought up too many memories.

Hanzo seems to appreciate whatever it is she does share, though. )

It very much was; I wish I had a way to show it to you. It was very quaint and comfortable until you were in the midst of the big cities like Zurich. How much younger is your brother?

( It's her gentle way of sussing out if he happened to enjoy those fairy tales as well, if they were close in age instead of being the one responsible for reading them to a younger sibling. )

It was far more in his hands than mine, I assure you. It takes a strong will and the patience and trust given to others for your care, and taking their direction to heart. He was very strong through the process, even when he likely felt his weakest. I'm very proud of him. But thank you, that's kind of you to say.

( Only "perhaps"? Nope, sorry Hanzo, you're already friends with Angie, she doesn't make the rules. You're stuck with her now. )

Shall we try this way? I don't think the vehicle's exit was far from the sleeping quarters.