▶ TDM .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

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"Michael Sembello - Automatic Man (original music video)" (Watch on YouTube)

▶ 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 discover the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

TDM OVERFLOW can be found here!

Comments

camp

[concerns]

[ Why is it always like this? :') Gran jolts from the sudden threat, causing his arms to reflexively raise — it's an attempt to make himself look harmless. ]

Hey, wait!?

[ He was just exploring!! ]

[menphina]

[ Because you touch yourself at night Gran, obviously. She blinks a few times, the weapon-like vibrator dropped to a side before she smiles and runs up to hug him and lift the young man easily off the ground. ]

Captain!! Didn't expect to see you here!! [ And setting him down, she looks him over worriedly, then squishes his cheeks. ] Are you hurt? Let me look at you!!


[ She's so relieved to see another familiar face again.. ]

[concerns]

[ SHHH, MEGUMI. That's a secret. :flushed: Ah, but no wonder this scene is too familiar. Well, Megumi is hugging him this time around, but she's definitely someone he can appreciate anytime and anywhere! So seeing her familiar face once he processes the scene properly, he can't help but smile and laugh out gently, especially as she dotes cutely over him. ]

Did you miss me that much? Don't worry, I won't leave you unless you say you're sick of me.

[ Looks like he's perfectly fine. He returns the embrace while he can. ]

Hm. Then again, I wouldn't mind if you said you're sick because of me. Lovesick that is.

[ YEP, DEFINITELY STILL FINE. He's still running that shitty mouth. ]

[menphina]

[ No injuries to speak of and he's definitely still giving her that mouth, what is with this kid. He acts more like a wanker than most men her age and somehow ends up being endearing about it. But even as he makes his comment, her hands reach up to grab his cheeks and—

She tugs then smooshes his face in. At least, it was always fun to squish him. ]

Lucky for me, I'm a healer.

[ She gives him a look, before letting him go and looking up behind him before moving back to his side and holding his hand. ]

Did anyone else show up? Those knights or, Eustace? And...

[ She turns, teaching over to tug and examine Gran's throat ]

The mark's gone... we really are freed.

[concerns]

[ Megumi's hands are soft, they feel nice against his cheeks so Gran doesn't mind at all. He lets her smush his face as much as she wants, or at least until she's finally feeling better. Part of why he's acting so silly might've really just to lighten her up, that tension earlier can't be good after all. But she seems to be all right, so he's relieved about that.

When she takes hold of his hand, he returns it. For this moment, his expression turns a bit more serious. ]

I can't say, I haven't seen anyone but you so far.

[ And when she points out about the missing tattoo, his eyes grow a little. Really? Just like that? But he was a recent arrival. Were they really done with him so soon? But if Megumi is here too, then the chances are the others are as well. ]

I wonder what happened. They sent us to camp, then I don't remember much after that.

[menphina]

For the better lad. That wasn't a place you'd want to stay in, anyroad.

[ The last thing they'd want is for someone like Gran to lose his cute smile. Once she's pulled him to sit down, she picks up that bag of powder ]

Tried this thing out. Apparently, it wasn't poison or worse— but a little bit of it made me feel like I'd drunk water and eaten a meal.

[ She has an iron stomach though. ]

It's better than nothing, at least. Have a bit. I was going to go out and see if I could hunt something, but the only wildlife I've run into so far was made out of crystals.

[ She hands him the bag, before sighing with her ears drooping. ]

I saw my family too... think I was hallucinating. Did you get bitten by anything out there, lad?

[concerns]

I'm personally glad. But I am worried too.

[ Most people would be happy to finally leave that cursed place. But at the same time, Gran can't help but think. What was the point of all that? Is everyone all right now? He hopes that nothing went wrong. No matter what though, there's probably nothing they can do now.

They're clearly somewhere else, somewhere incredibly far away, and they're not in a good situation themselves. It could be worse of course, but if they don't find civilization soon, they might end up as something's dinner. They don't know what's out here. As Gran ponders over what to do next, he gets pulled down and is offered the powder. ]

What is that?

[ Curiously taking it, Gran opens the bag to see the powder and sniffs the substance. He takes a small amount on his fingers and curiously tastes it shortly. Tasteless? He tries again, of course still tasting nothing. But it's as Megumi says, it's weirdly sating him. He listens to her as he continues eating that. ]

And I don't think I have. Why, something bit you? I can examine you.

[menphina]

[ She'd wonder what that's all about, but she's just glad she's out. She is worried about the others however, and she looks over at Gran with a blink when he offers to examine her.

So, she shrugs- recalling he was indeed helping her at her clinic there which should be taken care of so, she removes her upper blouse cover to leave her in her dress under it and shows him where the mark had appeared on her arm by her shoulder, but it started to fade a bit. ]

That's where it bit me. It made my body freeze up. But someone was helping me up when I could suddenly move again. I still want to get myself examined...

[concerns]

[ This is a hot view. Just kidding, he's in doctor mode right now. Luckily, Gran is still carrying his medical necessities with him. He makes sure to disinfect his hands first before proceeding. It's indeed fading, but since they're in an unknown dimension again, he's not sure if that's a good or bad thing. He'll have to run some tests to tell.

He takes a pocket flashlight to be able to light and see her skin clearly. It's then that he sees it. ]

There's some kind of mark here, but it's starting to disappear. Tell me if this hurts.

[ He starts to feel certain parts of her arm, pinching near the affected area to see the extent of that bite. ]

[menphina]

[ Enjoy it, Gran, she doesn't show off for just anyone. With him playing doctor, she doesn't really complain, and lets him work on her. It's sort of nice to have someone else attending to her, and she's amused he has his kit too. ]

Ah-

[ Alright, so that she definitely felt. ]

No need to be too rough, lad. I can feel it- but I know my entire side was numb and unresponsive. Thought I'd lost feeling in it. What's this mark? Can't really see it much from where I am.

[concerns]

[ The affected area isn't numb. But it apparently was earlier as Megumi tells him. Gran takes mental note of this and all other detail as the check-up proceeds. It's important to remember these things especially if any repeat cases happen to anyone else, but hopefully not. ]

I'm not sure either. It's a symbol I've never seen before. I'd take a picture, but I lost my phone.

[ He's talking about the one from Duplicity. Damn it, he had good photos on there. ]

I'll draw it later on, I've memorized it. We can look it up once we find civilization.

[ Since Megumi still feels pain, Gran soothes it out with a disinfectant and ointment. He would've cast healing magic, but he decided to conserve his strength. They don't know how long they'll be out here. He places a bandaid over the affected area afterward to protect it from possible infections. ]

This should hold for a while.

[menphina]

Look at you, being a good little doctor.

[ She's endeared, especially with the effort he's made. At least she knows esuna spells also work on it, but once he's done, she reaches up and gives Gran's hair a light ruffle. ]

Nothing you had to worry too much about here, lad. Unless you were looking for a reason to poke around on me.

[ Don't think she doesn't know, Gran. At the mention of losing his phone, she blinks. ]

Hm. I have mine. Don't think it works, though.

[ She shows him- reaching into the pouch on her belt that has her wand and organizer. She didn't have much else with her when she entered Duplicity, though she did end up (somehow) re-gaining her medicine bag. It has all the mixes she needs for travel, and she hands it over to Gran to check out. ]

Still have the pictures I took with you, and the others in it too. Kind of glad, there are some folks I wouldn't want to forget.

[ Her gaze is soft, before she looks at Gran and tugs him in. ]

Once you're rested up, let's go explore and see if we can find others too, aye?

[concerns]

It's better to be careful, right?

[ Megumi isn't wrong (heh) but Gran does have a point himself. Besides, he's sure that she would've done the same for him if the situation was reversed. The touch of her hand feels nice as usual, and he can't help but smile right after. ]

Yeah. Hopefully, we can get out of here soon.

[ While Gran is used to staying out the wilderness, it was easier on familiar territory. The moon isn't exactly familiar to him. When Megumi talks about her unfunctional phone, that makes him wonder. ]

Huh? Can I take a look?

[ He's experienced with tinkering machines too, so it doesn't hurt for him to try. But the technology from Duplicity is different from the ones at home. He's not that confident. ]

overflow!

[menphina]

[ right this way! ]