▶ TDM .001

[prismods]

Cybernetic dream, something like you've never seen

QUICK LINKS ⬤ navigation ⬤ faq ⬤ world ⬤ moonblessings

"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

interstellar

[magocracy]

[It isn't his intention to rudely eavesdrop on the conversation, but given the scientists are projecting their data collection for the entire room to hear, Dorian would have to stopper his ears to avoid it. A belabored sigh signals his interruption -- fortunately well-timed, as it seems Connor's intake session is wrapping up.]

Most definitely a 'no', and I'm afraid I've never heard of Thirium myself, nor Chroma, nor any of the other strange fantastical words thrown around since we were roused into this waking nightmare.

[He gauges Connor with a look, hoping not to appear too... exasperated. It's been a tiring day.]

I'd be interested to know more about Thirium, if you're willing to share. May I ask, are you human?

[bleps]

[Dorian’s interruption is two-fold; it cinches the fact that his session of many, many questions is over, encouraging the well-intentioned interrogator to move on. It also means that Connor’s window of asking questions in turn is not only shortened, but utterly slammed shut, leaving the android watching the Prismal depart with a lingering glance.

An actuator moves in his jawline, and a hand lifts up to allow deft fingers to straighten a tie that’s already evenly aligned. He looks over at the other, blue LED blinking at his temple, schooling his face into something politely neutral.]

It looks like there’s going to be plenty for all of us here to learn, by way of necessity. This would be far less disorienting if they weren’t in such a hurry to gather as much information as possible, as quickly as possible.

[And not!! Satisfactorily!! Answer!! His!!]

...Thirium is a blue fluid that circulates both energy and data between my biocomponents. It’s colloquially known as ‘blue blood’; a partial misnomer. You can probably gather from that much that I’m not human at all — I’m an android.

[A beat.]

My name is Connor.

[magocracy]

I understand the frustration. Perhaps they're too overwhelmed by the sheer number of us -- as they've muttered amongst themselves, we appear to be a new species entirely to them.

[Dorian's eyes travel the perimeter of the crowded facility, numerous rooms, tables laden with foreign instruments, technology the likes of which he's never seen. He's glad his own session is done and over with, but it doesn't make him eager to learn how that information is going to be used.

Ah, anyway. Connor the android.]

I'm afraid I've no idea what an 'android' is, you'll have to enlighten me. Though your description of this 'blue blood' is quite fascinating. [You reeled in a big ol' nerd here.] It almost reminds me of mana, if it had some tangible form within the bodies of mages.

[bleps]

[A strange mode of classification, to take a varied group of potential multiple species (doesn't he skew the trend just by being synthetic, alone?) and solidifying them all into one. Based upon this apparent potential for "Chroma", if he's correct about what he's gathered thus far. A term he would've liked to have asked after, if not for the missed opportunity.

He queues it up in his prioritized task list, slotting it somewhere neatly near the top, to be tended to later.

Connor moves the conversation forward accordingly.]

An android is a synthetic creation made to resemble a human. A machine, so to speak, though programmed to exist and interact with society in accordance to their original purpose for being created. [Thankfully, this android often gives thorough answers when he can!]

Sorry, "mana" and mages- [The faint scrunching of his brow, questioning.] You're referring to... magic?

[magocracy]

[A thorough answer, but no less puzzling for it. Many of those words suggest a whole breadth of terminology that he can only grasp at -- but there's context, from which Dorian manages to cobble together meaning. A being created by another's hand and designed to exist within society according to a set intention. It calls to mind the Maker's children, even if the parallel isn't identical.]

I see.

[As best he can.]

And yes, magic. Is it something you've heard of? Don't tell me your world contains both these sentient purposeful machines and magic.

[bleps]

[It isn't difficult to know what sticks and what doesn’t. It isn’t the first time he’s given the canned “I’m an android” explanation, and it likely won’t be the last, but Connor's been met with varying levels of reactions. Impressed, utterly confused, dismissive. Somewhere between all the extremes.

This man seems to fall somewhere in that middle ground, perhaps a little closer to understanding based on context and grasping at the threads of his own experiences. What their conversation currently loops around may be indicative of these not-quite crossed wires; while Connor speaks of advanced technology (is advanced tech), the other utters about magic and mages, a foreign concept to him.

Foreign, that is, not including—]

Detroit has its magic, sure. [The lift of a brow, his even tone lilting into something that sounds… dubious, without the intent to really offend.] In books, film, and television. Not in any real capacity, beyond the “smoke and mirrors”, as the saying goes, of performers on stage.