TDM 003

[erkumods]

TDM 003: #BEACHBUMS

I. BEACH Welcome arrivals, new and old! The skies on Erku may be perpetually gray, but the weather has taken a sudden turn to summertime heat. Fortunately, soaring temperatures have chased away more of the strange fog that conceals so much of the island, unveiling a charming, sandy cove dotted here and there with rustic love shacks. These shabby little lean-tos are dusty and sparse, but they provide everything one (or two, wink wink) might need for a little relief from the sun. Just don’t wander too far... that fog has memory-loss properties. II. DRINKS The 'bots are very apologetic about the whole fog incident, and they are trying to get on the new arrivals' good sides by giving out fancy drinks. Of course, they still haven't mastered the art of making things properly, so each drink has a little something... extra. Geloso: Has a slightly bitter, yet refreshing herbal taste... and it will make you feel inexplicably envious of virtually anything, to a petty degree! Be it someone else’s shoes or their incredibly muscular physique, you’re jealous enough to tell them about it! Colpito: Fruity and sweet like candy. If you drink this, you will feel hopelessly infatuated with the very next person who catches your eye! Vivace: Delightfully tart, with a flavor somewhere between citrus and raspberry. This summery drink will fill you with bubbly energy. Whether you’re feeling flirty or just mischievous and playful, you’ve never felt more alive! Verace: Creamy, earthy, and a little nutty - the flavor is hard to describe, but delicious. After drinking this, you’ll feel strangely compelled to spill something you’ve been keeping a secret, no matter how incriminating or embarrassing. Conoscere: The robots are especially excited about this flavor! They’ve heard organic beings enjoy chocolate, and hope you like their first attempt (it’s a little bitter, but it is chocolatey). Those who drink this will feel incredibly confident and sensual. Better yet, if you share it with a partner - which the 'bots encourage you to do - you’ll find that every touch is enhanced, and every sensation is shared between the two of you. A lucky few may even be able to sense one another’s thoughts! III. SNACKS Lo! As you ask, the Augur shall provide. Thanks to the efforts of your organic predecessors in restoring the planet’s Eros energy, edible fishes and seaweeds have returned to the ponds and the shores of Erku. If you fancy yourself savvy to basic survival skills, why not fashion up a fishing rod and catch yourself dinner? Just be careful if you happen to hook one of the octopus creatures from the deeper waters - they can be quite forward with their tentacles! Or, if primitive angling isn’t in your repertoire, you can always trade some credits for a tasty catch from one of the food stalls along the coast. Most stalls are manned by 'bots, but there’s nothing stopping an enterprising arrival from setting up shop. No credits? No problem! The robots have also provided a bit of entertainment, and any volunteers to man the kissing booth, get dunked in the wet t-shirt dunk tank, or grill up some fish - among other opportunities - will find credits automatically loaded onto the payment app of their bracelet devices. The 'bots are recruiting especially hard for participants to work in the gloryhole tent! IV. SPARKLES As dusk descends, the white sands of the beach suddenly come alive with glittering lights. It’s as if the darkened waters have carried a thousand shining stars from the depths of the sea to the shores of the cove. In actuality, each little twinkle is a bioluminescent plankton or jellyfish! Feel free to wade among them and admire their shine; even the sting of the jellies won’t hurt you... though they do pack a different punch. The tentacles of the jellyfish elicit a powerful aphrodisiac response, which gets the heart racing and the blood pumping for an intimate touch. The effects come on within a matter of minutes, and last for a few hours. Only time will relieve the symptoms, but a partner will help to make it more bearable. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[noncertus]

[For all of Cloud's stubborn reluctance, he somehow managed to tackle significant issues of city potable water supply and the availability of (well, monster) protein, so, that's something. There hasn't been any entity or enemy to beat back that results in anything productive, no forward momentum to be won on the edge of a blade. There's no way of telling what's happening back on Gaia, to the people he's come to call friends.

There's little point in indulging his own curiosity to ask Leslie how they were doing, because the they he's talking about all since parted ways and left the city of Midgar. There's no reason for him to know anything. It's frustrating.

Cloud notices him reaching into his pocket and doesn't like that he knows what Leslie is likely reaching for. It isn't his problem. Nevertheless, that thought arrives anyway: now they're really worlds apart.

His arm is resting over his bent knee. The gloved hand hanging from the end of his wrist lifts, a general gesture.]

It's gonna sound crazy....

This was a barren island with a crumbling city two months ago. The machines keep telling us to fulfill our function.

[Cloud, keenly aware he's likely heard all about it at the hospital and eager to get past it, doesn't pause to explain away what that function is.]

When we do, things change. Sometimes we can ask the Augur for something, we have some control over what changes here. Sometimes we don't. Like when plants started growing like crazy.

[steadfasters]

[ Leslie might be...impressed? touched? honestly mostly surprised to find out that Cloud had done something so big without demanding payment for it. And he might even consider that the island has had more of an effect on him after all. For his own part, Leslie has little to offer for now but drive to work as hard as possible to get the hell out of this place, strengthened by the itch of that chain wrapped around his fidgeting fingers as Cloud explains.

If what he divulges can really be called an explanation, since it really doesn't shed much light on anything at all. Part of it--the parts Cloud neatly skips over, for both their sakes--Leslie does know even if he doesn't quite understand it. But the fact that all that shit about "the Augur" is true hits a little hard and fast. Or maybe Leslie's just been in such staunch denial that he should have sat before Cloud started talking. ]

You're right. It does sound crazy. [ He pulls his hand from his pocket, to cross his arms over his chest. He doesn't trust the wall of the shanty to hold him up if he leans on it, but he's not quite prepared to have a seat in the sand yet either. He couldn't be further from comfortable if he tried, present company not withstanding. ]

So we get taken, to...evolve this place? Until when, we're dead? Until we can no longer "fulfill our function?" [ He doesn't expect Cloud to have these answers, the questions mostly rhetorical and entirely composed of worries he shouldn't have said aloud because now he's only more unsettled. His frown deepens, and for a not-so-fleeting moment, Leslie shows his age, not his experience. But he doesn't expect Cloud to do anything about that either, and honestly it would probably make the feeling worse. ]

Just one other question. [ He's already stubbornly determined to figure the rest out on his own. ] Is it worth my time looking for a job to do?

[noncertus]

[People were getting by on sparse, dubious rations, but the caloric demands of his mako-enhanced body couldn't last so long on a daily ration of canned beans. Something had to be done. It's also why his features are a little bit sharper, Cloud didn't exactly have much to lose.

That's his excuse.]

There ain't much. The machines do all the odd jobs people usually would do. Look for a place that isn't about to collapse, or....

[There are tells, subtle signs of embarrassed silence, like the small duck of his head or how steadily he's decided to stare at the sand outside the shelter.]

Don't ask me how it works. What we do generates some kinda energy the Augur uses to change stuff. Couple places popped up, like a bar and this place that will give you whatever you wanna eat on Thursdays. Even this-

[Cloud's hand moves again, turning up his palm at the sunshine just outside the shelter's entrance.]

This is the first time I've seen a sunny day here.

Not everything we do generates the right energy. That's what the A5 is for. Maybe when more of the city's restored, there's gonna be work.

[steadfasters]

[ Of course he had figured as much, but there's no stopping the disappointment anyway. Why wouldn't these junky robots do everything in their power to enable their test subjects with as much free time as possible to do the only thing expected of them? Leslie still rues the lack of distraction beyond finding shelter--something he hadn't necessarily expected, but which doesn't surprise him either. At least growing up beneath the plates will prove good for something in this place.

His mouth and jaw are taut as he listens, tense and increasingly uncertain that there is any chance of him getting by, to say nothing of thriving in a place like this, with the expectations what they are. He is not really this kind of resourceful, but he supposes that's going to have to change. Or he'll start to turn into the sort of ghost he's only just noticing Cloud is becoming too, with shadows along his cheekbones, beneath his eyes. The slums can prepare a person for that too, but only to a certain degree. ]

Then I guess I work towards rebuilding. Like back home. [ "Home" almost seems like a forbidden word; it tugs at something he didn't realize he'd already tucked away somewhere deep, and at the corners of his mouth to deepen that frown, too. It's not any easier to focus on what he's suggesting of himself either, but really, what else is there to do? Nothing, from what Cloud is explaining. But he's grateful to have the explanation.

Except-- ]

It's not dangerous, is it? That fog, sure, I don't trust that at all, but the city. The other people.

[noncertus]

Maybe not for someone like you.

[Leslie has a worldliness and understanding about the ugly side of human nature, he has street smarts. So as far as the human element goes, Cloud thinks he'll be fine. Most of the people he's met here have been respectful enough.

Not that Cloud is so sociable he's managed to meet everyone. His sample pool is very small.

With a troubled wrinkle between his eyebrows, Cloud closes his eyes and adds]

Other than that, the machines have mistaken us for enemies. The plants can poison you, make you see things or lose control, they even attack.

Usually it's all for the same thing.

[Fulfilling their function.]

[steadfasters]

[ Leslie sighs heavily, shifting his weight. He hadn't expected good news, but also doesn't care for the way this conversation rolls along with hope only to bottom out with things like that. It's funny how now he realizes he'd taken the relative safety of Midgar for granted, the way those walls mostly kept out anything too nasty—the don's pets notwithstanding. It forces him to realize that he's not quite as adept or prepared to use a gun as he'd like, even if he'd brought it with him. To say nothing of how woefully unready he is for fulfilling any sort of function. But that's not anything he's about to address with Cloud of all people. ]

So the food is poisonous - or worse. The robots are friendly, until they're not. Housing is where you find it. The weather isn't any better than the smog. And if I want anything at all, it's at the expense of dignity.

[ It's more review for himself than anything, and is punctuated by another deep, resigned sigh, the only indication of and fidelity he'll give. Because Cloud is right--that isn't his problem.

One hand lifts to adjust his cap; sweat beads along the line of it, but that only discourages him about removing it. He feels insecure enough after all of this, enough that maybe he just isn't going to bother. ]

Thanks. [ A beat. Then he gestures to the enclosure as he speaks. ] I'll leave you to this.

[ It's not really a rejection of Cloud's company, although despite their similar natures, Leslie can't help but feel an odd sort of tension between them, even now. Like they both feel obligated to say something, even though there's not really anything to say. It is, however, the perfect excuse to get his legs moving so maybe his thoughts will stop for a little while. ]

And I'm sure I'll see you around.