▶ 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

[asaqueenshould]

"So it hasn't happened for you yet. That makes considerably more sense than you ignoring the phenomenon." If nothing else, he'd probably enjoy its artistic potential.

[jagarico]

"Something such as Shibuya turning into such a hellish landscape is hardly something I could ignore. But it does concern me that we seem to be from two different timelines and I have no idea where we are..." He sighs and looks around him.

"It is best if we stick together. There is safety in numbers after all."

[asaqueenshould]

"I have no idea, either - but yes, safety in numbers does seem wise right now." She may not know Yusuke that well, but a vaguely familiar face she has no reason to distrust is better than no company at all by a long shot.

"And I am still wondering why you were seeing things earlier. If you'd eaten something since arriving, that might explain it, but that admittedly isn't the only possible cause."

[jagarico]

"I...hadn't eaten for a while before arriving here." This is hardly something he likes to tell people who are only acquaintances at best but he should be honest. "But it's something I'm used to. I've never hallucinated from it before."

[asaqueenshould]

"I would have thought they'd at least have a meal stipend at the dorms, if not meals themselves." Truth be told, she's quite upset by Yusuke saying he's used to not eating, but at least it's anger on his behalf; still, it's not going to be constructive right now.

(Didn't that man realise his tools were only as good as they were well-maintained? Well, clearly not, atop his other sins.)

"So it's not food. I'm not sure we can rule out a lack of it, given the odd environment, but we can call it unlikely. Aside from arriving here in and of itself, has anything else unusual happened?"

[jagarico]

It's a topic that Yusuke prefers not to linger on. His friends know that he barely eats but that's something different than Hifumi. They've barely interacted and she's a classmate, someone who doesn't have to be bothered by his troubles.

"I can't recall anything but that...Oh! I saw a beautiful looking little mosquito. It buzzed just as they do where we come from and so it still wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing. But then it bit me and I think the mystery is solved." Nobody ever said Yusuke was a genius but he's not an idiot by any means.

[asaqueenshould]

She's said all she has to say on the topic, at least. Hopefully someone here can make sure he starts eating regularly, but at the moment, that's not her place.

"That could very well be it." Hifumi's not sure anyone other than Yusuke would call a mosquito aesthetically pleasing, but she's also not sure how to make that not come off as an insult. "It's not unheard of for animals to impart hallucinogenic effects, though I think plain old toxicity is more common. Still, that does sound like the most direct cause."

[jagarico]

"What kind of world is this that a mosquito could bring me such beautiful hallucinations? The choices of color were so exquisite! But if the hallucinations are ones that I created in my mind then I suppose that's to be expected." That sounds a little like bragging but he really means it just as straightforward as it sounds.

"And you really saw nothing nor felt a bite?"

[asaqueenshould]

"I'd be very surprised if your mind fabricated something you didn't want to paint, all things considered." Similarly to Yusuke being straightforward, she intends that as a compliment. His work is exceptional, after all.

(It would have to be, for an old man to be willing to sign his name to it.)

"I really saw nothing, and I'd like to think I would have noticed being bitten."

[jagarico]

He's taking it as a compliment because sometimes you need to take those where you can get them.

"I wonder why it only bit me? Though consider yourself lucky, I suppose. We should probably leave...wherever this is."

[asaqueenshould]

No worries there; she does consider herself lucky.

"Yes, shelter would be a good first step. We can work on finding out more about our surroundings from there."

[jagarico]

"Let us be off then." He is honestly grateful for any kind of familiar face though it's still disconcerting that she's from a time in the future.

"In regards to the time that you come from, was there anything that was happening?" It's probably a good idea to get some intel if he can get any.

[asaqueenshould]

The time discrepancy is odd, to be sure, but there's nothing much they can do about it here. And it does give them something to talk about while they look for shelter.

"To fill in the gap a little, the leader of the Phantom Thieves was arrested and reported as dead, but that turned out to be a ruse so they could pursue a higher-profile target - that guy who pushed for the snap election so he could run for Prime Minister. They did successfully change his heart, but he didn't confess until after the election results came in in his favor, and... everyone still seems to want him in charge anyway. That was a week ago." And even to a relative outsider, that lack of reaction is puzzling. The Phantom Thieves' other heists certainly had more staying power in the news than 'practically ignored the day after the results.'

"Akechi-san seems to have dropped off the face of the earth sometime between the arrest report and the election, but all I know about that is he just... stopped showing up on any interview shows."

Hifumi prefers his predecessor in the title anyway (and certainly understands Naoto's approach to the limelight a little better), but it's still an unusual recent event.