▶ TDM .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 discover the many mysteries of planet Prismatica!

TDM OVERFLOW can be found here!

Comments

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Pow, right in the--well actually crystal, shattering and clattering to the floor like glass. McCree narrowly avoided a hit to the face because of the momentum behind his own recoil, though he felt the air from 76's fist rush past in a terrifying blur. He shuffles back and gives himself some space, his natural hand hovering over the hilt of his revolver. He speaks very darkly but whatever intimidation McCree was angling for was probably very lost because of the obnoxious vibrating.]

Don't think anyone'd make a mistake about that ten million dollar bounty on your head.

[The implication is that whatever this Solder 76 guy was doing definitely earned all the wrong attention to warrant that kind of blood money.]

[mylawn]

You want it?

[He's not too broken up about McCree dodging that first hit--it speaks to his training, and 76 is perhaps glad to see he hasn't forgotten it while he was off losing an arm and growing a beard. He can't say he's as thrilled about the fact that McCree seems interested in his bounty, but hey, everyone's got to eat.

76 isn't about to go easy on him. At the very least, McCree needs to be incapacitated so that he can make a more effective escape. Now that the obnoxious vibrating is done, 76 takes a step back and more-or-less invites McCree to try and lay one on him.]

Come get it.

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Oh no his arm is still vibrating like a chihuahua on ritalin but it's ignored at the very serious very real prospect of coming face to face with the very mysterious and elusive Solider 76. McCree knows that bounty money might be damn well useless out here... wherever here is... but finally seeing who's under that mask would absolve him of some concern.

Even if he hadn't responded to the Recall he still cared about a lot of the people who did. By his account, that meant they were at risk of being targeted by this guy too. There's an opportunity here and he intends to take it.

Fighting in a narrow crystal-filled cave ranks really low on the list of ideal places for a gunslinger to pick a fight, however. For a few long tense moments he scowls at 76 and quietly thinks about how to make this work. a tumble weed inexplicably passes by He's drawn to the way the crystals reflect different angles of 76, how tall he is and how broad his shoulders are, and how the crystal he hit has a clear fist-shaped imprint in it. He's a dangerous man to get into close quarters with, but he's also got a lot of cover from fire in here. Both of them do.

McCree decides to make the first move, suddenly whipping out his revolver and taking a risky shot. He shoots at a crystal angled on the ceiling, testing his skill at bouncing a bullet off of it to catch 76 in the back by surprise.]

[mylawn]

[It's pretty hard to take McCree seriously while his arm is still clanging around--but if anything it just draws attention to just how much has changed. Either way, he's not very keen on being punched with that fist, and he tries to keep at least some distance between them.

McCree goes for his gun where 76 doesn't, betraying the fact that he doesn't actually want to fight this out with anything lethal.

As soon as the gun goes off, he's ducking for cover behind nearby crystals, the bullet pinging off the reflective walls until it becomes embedded in a crystal stalagmite. Shooting in here is just going to get the both of them killed.]

Are you insane?

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Shoot and a miss. McCree's far less discouraged by that than 76's reaction to it. His shoulders slump and he casually flicks his wrist, gesturing with the gun in his hand and pointing at 76 accusingly.]

You just asked me to COME GET IT. [There's no small amount of exasperation in his voice.]

You want me to not come get it?

[mylawn]

I thought you'd be smart enough not to SHOOT A GUN IN HERE.

[He's not shooting his gun! He's read the environment and gotten the sense that it would be a very bad idea, as McCree has just demonstrated. 76 was expecting some good-old-fashioned punching in the face, not bullets pinging off the walls of the crystal cave into eternity.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Don't talk like you know him, vigilante!]

You want me to fight with this [He waves his robotic arm in the air, still vrrrrrring loudly, a clear handicap.] thing instead?

[With that same arm he gestures to the small open area McCree's currently standing in. He really doesn't want to invite a fist fight when he's got a big distraction attached to his arm but if 76 is going to balk at the idea of using guns--and so long as this really isn't a farce for him to whip out that big rifle of his the moment it's convenient--then fine. He can throw down. He's ready to throw down, he'll totally throw down.

With a dramatic huff he sheaths his revolver.]

Why don't you come here and get it.

[mylawn]

You gotta admit, it'll be funny.

[Mostly to watch McCree try to throw punches with a vibrating arm. Nobody ever said Soldier: 76 had to play fair--Jesse should be glad that he's not trying to kill him outright. Not that 76 would do that, but he's got the advantage in that he knows McCree much better than McCree knows him.

He'll try and use that to the best of his ability, and feels a little self-satisfied when the cowboy holsters his gun. That's one thing taken care of, and unless McCree has undergone an extreme personality change in the last three years, 76 is fairly certain he won't be seeing peacekeeper again.

Which is just fine by him, because Jack is going to rapidly close the distance between them, swinging his own rifle like a baseball bat.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[McCree is of course less assured when he sees 76 charging at him rifle still in hand and he made it clear he promised to not use his gun. To 76's credit, he doesn't shoot but swings it like a baseball bat, a motion unexpected. McCree's reflexes are sharp enough to move, just not quite enough to avoid it outright. The rifle slams into his shoulder and he rolls with it, both palms clamping on the barrel of the beast to try and hold it back. He's forcibly shoved a few feet across the cavern floor, boots scraping the ground and spurs jingling to a halt. His hat got knocked clear off his head in that single exchange and if this were any other fight he'd worry about getting it back on his head immediately.

This is a fight where it's immediately apparent he doesn't have that luxury. Not with that absurd amount of strength 76 is pitting against him. He struggles to push back, especially with the thing still merrily vibrating on his arm but he does his best and gives a shove with a growl.]

[mylawn]

[Perhaps 76 would be a bit disappointed if McCree didn't know how to stop a rifle being swung like a baseball bat, but since he does want to incapacitate the ex-Blackwatch agent, he curses a little to himself when it slams down on McCree's shoulder instead of his head. Hopefully by now, however, McCree realizes he's not dealing with an ordinary human.

If he had any sense, he'd walk away, but they're long past that point.

That robot arm is strong, however, and it rattles the rifle and everything attached to it (in this case, 76). He's got to break the contact somehow before his teeth vibrate out of his head, so he tries a sweeping kick, aiming to knock McCree's feet out from under him.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Leave it to an ex-Blackwatch agent to see a kick coming when both opponent's hands were occupied. When he feels 76's weight shift he continues to use the barrel of the rifle as a brace while he short-hops in the air over the kick. He knows this is a risky venture, continuing to put all his weight and balance on something his enemy (a very very strong one at that what the heck kinda wheaties was this guy eating) was still holding onto. He's not sure he can get him to let go right now but maybe he can get him to drop some other part of his equipment, something that's surely giving him a great advantage.

Once both his boots are back on solid ground he shoves the barrel of the rifle upwards with as much force as he can muster, aiming to butt 76 in the face with his own weapon. Maybe damage that visor if he was lucky enough.]

[mylawn]

[It's almost like McCree is extremely well-trained! When 76's kick doesn't do the trick, they're caught in a stalemate again, only this time he's thrown his weight into an attack that misses, which means he overbalances.

McCree gets his feet back under him first, and uses the opportunity to shove his rifle into 76's face, which jostles the mask. That in itself is enough to have him take a step back, using his free hand to ensure that the visor doesn't fall off.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[Damn. Didn't seem to do much but McCree's content to use the opportunity to disengage from their position while 76 gives up one of his hands. He leans back with most of his weight, twisting his hips as he tries to wrest 76's rifle away.]

[mylawn]

[It works--McCree's strength and 76's shoddy grip is enough for him to wrest the gun from his hands. He tries to grapple for it, but it's cast aside and he's left with nothing but his fists. So he guesses he deserves this. He'd compliment Reyes on McCree's combat skills if not for the fact that Reyes isn't here and is also conspiring with terrorists at the moment.

Unfortunately, 76 is more than content to play dirty. As soon as the gun is out of his hands, he raises his knee and slams down on McCree's instep, hoping to stumble him and finish things off with an uppercut.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[That instep gets him good and the wind's knocked right out of him as that knee slams deep into his chest, lifting him right up off the ground. Not far enough he lost his footing but it's enough of a stagger that there's little time to predict or block that uppercut from coming. Blearily he groans and tries to guard his face but 76's fist swipes right between his arms, swift and precise.

McCree thought he was doing pretty good for himself for a moment as he reels and see stars. All at once he realizes how outclassed he was with this guy when it came to hand-to-hand, especially with a big distraction on one of his arms. He'd been a fool.

He desperately and blindly ambles backwards to try and put some distance between 76 and his fists, all sense of equilibrium knocked right out of him. He roughly hits one of the cavern walls with his back and grunts, feeling blood well up in his mouth. A protest coming from somewhere in his jaw, he's pretty sure. He's not down for the count just yet but it's clear he's using the wall to brace himself upright and it wouldn't take much more than a tap to finish him off. McCree's not fond of that prospect and deeply considers playing possum, but, he's also got his pride. Enough maybe to slip in a quick question or comment first to stall.]

Hit like a truck.

[mylawn]

Sure do.

[There's a reason he hasn't been caught yet, and he largely attributes it to his own enhancements. Normal humans, hell, even ones with advanced cybernetics, can't keep up with him. McCree might be an impeccably trained Blackwatch agent, but 76 is an entirely different breed.

With his opponent on the ground, 76 is eager to finish things, fist pulled back and ready as he closes the distance between them once again.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[McCree's not someone who likes to lay down and take a hit but he figures if 76 was going to shoot him he'd do it. For all the ruckus he caused in the news reports it rarely seemed to ever end in casualties, unless Talon had a hand in it. Then again as he well and personally knew, News liked to put their own spin on things. He's really not ready to die up here on some weird technicolor alien moon that had flying unicorns and vibrating magnet dongs.

He's also got too strong of scruples to pull his gun despite a real fear he's might not wake up from this. Some part of him, maybe, doesn't fear it as much as he used to. Another part of him thinks about pulling out a flash bang but he thinks it'll just be a waste of it. He snarls anyway, awful sore about being knocked down so quick. He'll take his punch with dignity but not with pleasure.]

This ain't over.

[Whatever dignity left he has with that vibrating dong on his arm.]

[mylawn]

[For now, it's over, and that much is apparent by the way McCree fails to get back up again. 76 supposes he could deal the figurative killing blow and knock him out, but he doesn't want to leave him unconscious in a potentially hostile location. Better to just incapacitate him and make his escape--then be long gone as soon as McCree is able to get back up again.]

I'm sure I'll see you around.

[But 76 sincerely hopes not.]

[good_bamf_ugly]

[He waits for another punch or worse as 76 looms over him but it doesn't come. Why? McCree levels him a hard, confused stare until it registers no hit is going to come.

Some part of him is infuriated by how the most merciful thing can seem like a complete mockery in this kind of context. He recognizes he's getting off way too easy here and it doesn't add up. He doesn't want to tempt it so he stays down but he narrows his eyes and spits out a wad of blood in obvious distaste.]

You'd best hope not.

[All but growled and then he relents to a lot of pain he'd been ignoring, slumps fully against the wall and winces. He won't chase. Not now, but later inevitably.]