ercookies | TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

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TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

Arrival

This time, you come out of the water. While the Augur reboots, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy draws people in. It's like being suspended between realities and walking through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you and carrying you to shore.

Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. Feel the friendship!

Recent arrivals and visitors to the beach may notice a sudden influx of hundreds of bright red crustaceans crawling (and coupling) across the sand. It's crab mating season, as it turns out, it's a regular invasion! To keep the beach a pleasant place to gather for the island's inhabitants, the robots are offering credits to especially enterprising crab-catchers. Grab a bucket and get to work! Be sure to watch out for their pinch, mind you. Their little claws are tiny, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt.

Surprisingly, there is another effect that even the robots don't anticipate: islanders who are pinched by the crabs find themselves feeling instantly buddy-buddy with the next person they spot. Did you just become best friends?! Get pinched one too many times, however, and those feelings may sour into a crabby mood, indeed.

If you are feeling particularly vengeful (or just hungry), the little crabs do make for delicious gumbo. Once cooked, they have no side effects whatsoever.

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II. Phallus Phestival

Although the Augur is offline and supplies are scarce, the robots of Erku are still eager to make their run-down little island a welcoming place for the new arrivals. To that end, they have arranged a three day festival to boost morale and promote the generation of plenty of Eros energy to assist in the restoration of the damaged and decayed parts of the city. The robots claim that this celebration was once a cornerstone of the long-lost civilization of the island. By the dawn of the first day, every island resident will find at their doorstep (or tent flap, mobile suit, etc) the traditional costume of the ancient islanders to wear to the festival. It appears to be... a giant sheet? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the sometimes garish colors and patterns of the fabric, but at least the robots have uploaded instructions on how to wear it to your bracelet device.

Attendees will find food (mostly crab-flavored), confections, and household necessities in rather suggestive shapes, as well as goods you might find handy to complete your A5 squares: sex toys, pervertibles, sexy maid outfits, and the like. While islanders are welcome to set up shop on the festival grounds and sell (or charge) whatever they like, all items from the robots are offered up for free to those who wear their traditional island garb!

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III. Fireside Adventures

Each night of the festival is wrapped up in style with an enormous bonfire on the beach, where drinks, fruity cocktails, and lively music appropriate for dancing is all provided at no cost by the robots. Even if you’re not usually much of a dancer, the longer you stand by the fire and allow it to warm your limbs, the more you feel like moving! Not only that, but everyone is looking quite beautiful by the firelight, are they not?

If you’ve grown tired - or if dancing just isn’t your thing - you might prefer to sit back and swap stories on one of the many driftwood log benches the robots have prepared for seating. Or, maybe you’d prefer to rough it for the night in one of the beachside canvas tents. Better claim one quick, though, or be prepared to share… there’s only one sleeping bag!

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N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Honestly, the rest of her outfit likely didn't look anymore comfortable, and certainly wouldn't have been on anyone more... organic. But it didn't quite dawn on her to assume Lys was, just yet. Why scan if she was organic when every single humanoid being she knew of was an android like her? It was an easy assumption to roll with, even being on an alien world... ]

Oh, no no, this is the standard uniform of a YoRHa Operator Unit. I'm quite comfortable, actually! Really, my struggle with catching the crabs is just a lack of coordination...

... and, well, getting distracted. This is all a lot for me to take in all at once.

Do you... know where I am, exactly?

The standard uniform of a Yourhaha-say-what-now?

[With a flick of her wrist, she tosses the crab she'd caught into 6O's bucket, not even needing to look away from 6O's face to make the throw. Her blue eyes, too wide, seem incapable of it.]

As long as you aren't sweating yourself to death or anything.....and this is, um, the nameless island. We were brought here from our worlds to revive this one.

[Please don't ask how. Please don't ask how. Please—]

[ That was a pretty good shot... 6O half wondered if she wasn't a combat specialist android. It'd explain some things, at least. ]

Revive this one? Ah... I don't really have any data for terraforming, but I suppose I could search my banks for anything useful. It makes sense that we're gathering food sources, then.

[ Lys might have noticed, with how much she was staring that 6O wasn't... sweating at all, actually. ]

But why me? How'd they even get me out of the Bunker? Was this a protocol from Command? [ She mostly whispered the last lines to herself, still pondering how this could be. An Operator Unit being sent on a mission at all was too bizarre...

Another wave washed over her ankles and drew her gaze back to the horizon, and once more she grew quiet. ]

[The heavy tang of sea salt and wet sand are like a damp blanket pressed over her nose, drowning out other smells, but she's definitely standing close enough to notice that what she can see of 6O's face is calm and clear. Lacking a flush, free of sweat. Which is.....interesting, but perhaps Lys can be forgiven for not commenting upon it. The way 6O looks out to sea and falls silent, absorbed in the horizon, seems to steal all her attention.

After a long moment, Lys quietly crouches down in the shallows, picking up every crab that seems poised to pinch 6O's ankles again and dropping them into the android's bucket.]

I'm not really sure what you're talking about [you hip android kids with your fancy data banks and bunkers and jargon like "terraforming"] but....I don't think anyone knows why they were picked. Or how they got here, if it's magic or tech or both. We've just been doing our best to adapt.

[A half-ironic chuckle.]

Human nature and all that, you know?

[ There's a word that gets her. It jerks her back to her current reality like a sudden lasso around her shoulders, jamming her perspective right back onto Lys, her eyes widening as well. There was no way... no way! That had to be just an ironic statement, right? There were lots of androids who made comments like that, about their constant and consistent imitations of human behavior and rhetoric. There wasn't any way...

And then she noticed the crabs. ]

O-oh... [ Well. It turned out androids could blush, at least. ]

Thank you. I'm so sorry for spacing out like that. I've... never been on a terrestrial surface like this.

[ The feel of the water, the pinch of a crab, the smell of sea air, the breeze that tossed around her hair. All of it was blisteringly real. ]

Oh! I never said my name! I'm Operator Unit 6O, originally assigned to the Bunker... I guess I've been reassigned to whatever this place is...

"Terrestrial surface"? You mean a beach?

[A friendly smile to show she's not trying to make fun, the startled surprise at 6O's sudden whiplash-like motion smoothing out. It's followed immediately by a slight wince as one of the crabs she'd just picked up takes advantage of her lapse to pinch her thumb super hard. Peeling it off, Lys drops the little blaggard into the bucket with his fellow crustaceans and straightens up again, working out the kinks in her long limbs with a languid stretch.]

No need to be sorry, though! That horizon's real pretty. It'd probably distract me too if there weren't all these crabs scuttling around.

[She holds out a hand, the one that wasn't pinched, waiting expectantly to have it gripped and shaken.]

I'm Lys! I wasn't, um, "reassigned" here or anything, but it's still nice to meet you, Operatorunitsixoh!

[I'm so sorry.]

[ Despite having literally watched Lys extend her hand, 6O's first instinct, or rather her first protocol, was to snap to a salute. After all, given she's only ever corresponded with other YoRHa units and Resistence androids (and the latter never in person), she'd never had a need to use any other form of greeting gesture. But she blinked, blushed again, and quickly saw there was a matching gesture in her databanks and she'd just messed up.

It didn't help that she felt like her protocols were all jumbled since that initial pinch. She really wanted to leave a good impression! She just kept... stumbling. At least Lys seemed understanding.

She reached to grab Lys' hand, perhaps way too firmly, shaking awkwardly. ]

Please, just call me 6O! No need to be so formal, right?

[ 2B would likely immediately disagree with her... ]

[Another slight wince as her hand is squeezed, but Lys doesn't complain. Wouldn't even if 6O had actually managed to crack or break something. Her free hand mimics the android's salute, with a mock-officious air entirely too playful to be an insult.]

Nope! None at all, I'd say.

[Once the contact breaks and her hand is released, she points at 6O's crab bucket.]

Now, d'you want to take those to the robots? Or do you want to try some gumbo with me?

[ Her first instinct, as always, was to be compliant and cooperative, even if it was with machine lifeforms, and turn her bucket in. Though she felt a bit guilty that Lys has done virtually all of the work there. But when she mentioned gumbo, her head tilted, and she had to take a moment to recall the term... ]

Oh, I've... never actually tried gumbo before! We had synthesized replication meals at the Bunker, but that was something that never got cycled through the menu...

I'd love to try it! [ Her enthusiasm spiked. She was on the surface, witnessing real life nature for the first time. She wanted to experience all that she could! ]

Synthe.....what?

[Bewildered puzzlement crowds in, her friendly smile turning openly quizzical even as she nods for 6O to follow and starts walking toward a small campfire still burning on the shore.]

....well, it's....pretty tasty? Hot and tangy, but not too spicy. Dunno if it'll be as good as what you ate in that fancy Bunker place, though.

[Or so she's assuming it's fancy, anyway, just from the sound of that "synthesizzle replisomething" or whatever.]

[ Oh yeah, surface units had to gather their own food, if they wanted it. Made sense Lys might not understand what the synthesized meals were. Still, eating REAL actual food was too good an experience to pass up! She happily followed along behind Lys, trying to keep her boots from sinking too heavily into the wetter sand. ]

[The temporary camp she's pitched looks....well, temporary. A low fire, a flat rock dragged close to serve as a seat, a battered rush mat held down by Lys' own bucket. Plus a sheet of scavenged metal balanced across the burning driftwood logs, cleverly repurposed into a makeshift stovetop. Resting upon this last is a small saucepan filled with chunks of crab in a thick, heavy sauce, sending up wafts of tangy steam.

Gesturing for 6O to take a seat on the rock, Lys pulls a wide, sturdy clam shell from her pocket and uses it to stir the gently bubbling contents.]

Just needs another minute or so.....hope you'll forgive me for not having any spoons or napkins or anything.

[ The scent was absolutely exotic and wonderful. 6O's enthusiasm only seemed to bubble more as she approached the pan, taking in great big wafts of the aroma. She'd never imagined something like this... ]

This is amazing! [ 6O gasped, her excitement palpable. ] I don't even mind if I don't have a spoon, I'm sure it will taste great, either way!

[That prompts a smile, the corners of her mouth twitching with gentle amusement. Usually her guildmates were too focused on wolfing down (to pardon the pun) hot food, not caring if it scalded their lips and tongue and throat, to bother with such effusive praise....before and after tasting it.]

Well, I hope you still think so after you've had some. [Using the shell, Lys scoops up a generous portion of gumbo and holds it out for 6O to take, miming the correct way to hold the shell so that nothing would spill.] Here — careful, it's pretty hot! Give it a second to cool a little, first.

[ 6O took the offered shell, carefully as she could, and gives a blow over the wafting fumes to help cool it down a bit, at least on the surface. It was a ritual that was strangely human, one done seemingly out of imitation, especially since androids weren't exactly harmed by hot food the same way organic beings were, but even so, she took to the ritual as instinct, just as any human would. A few more blows, and she had a sip...

Ah. Food. Real actual food. Made from actual, organic matter. The flavor was amazing, and she could feel tears welling up on her eyes in reaction to the gravity of the sensation. ]

It's so good...

[Sitting back on the rush mat, Lys seems content to wait and watch, making no move to sample the gumbo herself. Her small smile widens, seems to deepen at the compliment. Or maybe just at the fact that 6O was eating at all.]

Thanks! [But.] ....you okay, though? Did I make it too spicy?

I'm fine, really! [ Yeah, it had some heat to it, but the fact that it had flavor at all was remarkable. ]

The synthesized food back at the Bunker couldn't really replicate flavor like this! It's amazing and full! I can feel it tingling in my nose!

Heh....there you go with that word again.

[Not that she's making any great pains to understand it. She could, if she felt like it, piecing together the obvious context clues, but for now.....she's content to keep watching and waiting, more concerned about 6O's enjoyment.]

But since you like it so much, you can have as much as you want.

[ 6O took a bigger gulp of the gumbo, reveling in its flavors for a moment and just enjoying the blend of texture and taste. Real food, prepared with real ingredients... it was something she'd never imagine she'd ever do, before. So many new experiences, and she's only been there less than a day.

She honestly had become so lost in herself that she hadn't realized Lys was watching her, or had even said anything. Again, her cheeks darkened. ]

I-it's fine, I don't think I could eat too much... [ She only had so much space for it, after all, before it was processed by her core into usable fuel. ]

Like I said, as much as you want! Even if you only have room for a little. You won't hurt my feelings or anything.

[And whatever 6O can't finish, Lys will happily polish off.....eventually. Right now, she's in no great hurry to do much of anything besides talk, wiggling her bare toes in the sand.]

Sooo...I guess you're gonna need a place to stay, huh?

[ Ah, there was the dose of reality to drag her out of her food based reverie. ]

O-oh, that's... right. The machine lifeform that greeted me said something about that, too. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time.

[ Too busy being absolutely blown the fuck away by being on a planet surface. ]

Yeah, not everyone does....it's a lot to take in, you know? I think I spent most of my first day exploring, not house-hunting.

[Glancing away, she watches the living, scuttling tide of crabs move across the sand. Thinking, for once, not of all the ways the spiny creatures would make a tasty snack.]

Do you need help?

Well... [ 6O hummed. ]

I think so long as I find a place that won't get sand or saltwater getting inside me, I'll be fine! I'm an Operator, but all YoRHa units are pretty well built to withstand natural environments...

[ Because at any moment, an Operator may need to convert into a Battle unit, which was something she didn't really like the idea of, but it was an accepted truth of being an Operator. ]

Uh.

[OH FINE, I GUESS WE'RE DOING THIS NOW!!]

"Built?"

[ 6O tilted her head slightly, thinking there was some missing context here... or maybe, rather this Lys person was confused by what she said? ]

Yes? YoRHa specs are a little different from standard androids. But I also admire the versatility standard androids can have! Like you are obviously really well built, even if you're not strictly following your original design specs. Most standard androids don't, from what I understand...

TDM 004: WASHED ASHORE

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