ercookies | TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

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TDM 005: HAPPY SPOOKTEMBER

Arrival

This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface 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. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the "comfortable" new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. Harvest Hunt

As the daylight grows shorter and the muggy heat of the island’s summer gradually shifts to temperate days and chilly nights, Erku’s accessible wilderness explodes with a colorful collection of tempting fruits, fragrant-smelling herbs, and nuts and seeds plumped and ready for harvest. With warnings to beware of monsters, the robots of Erku encourage Islanders to take advantage of the land’s bounty by distributing basic camping supplies to those who are interested in exploring, hunting, and harvesting. They strongly encourage making the journey with a friend! Any surplus foods that Islanders bring home with them can be exchanged for credits with cafeteria robots! Just be careful out there - some of these fruits have strange effects once consumed.

For extra protection out there in the wilds, the robots have fashioned crowns of flowers or foliage to wear on their adventures. The sweet and herbal smells from the crowns will discourage most Erku-native monsters from approaching, they assure - this is ancient knowledge from the planet’s long-gone civilization, so it can’t be wrong!

What the robots don’t know is that the crowns have a deeper, more ritualistic purpose: after a few hours, the scent of flowers or herbs begins to awaken primal instincts within the wearer. Those who are wearing the foliage crowns feel overwhelmed by an urge to hunt, while those who wear the flower crowns delight in every opportunity to tease, outrun, and outwit the hunters. What happens when the chase ends? Well, that depends on the personalities and the chemistry between the hunters and their prey.

While the robots are very insistent on placing crowns atop the heads of any Islander they see, they aren’t stuck on in any way and they are easy to remove, which can prevent or break the hunting trance.

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II. seeds and sap

Of particularly high credit value, the robots explain, is an elusive flower known as the skull sunflower. It appears exactly as one might imagine: at the center of an otherwise innocuous, towering sunflower is the gruesome visage of an open-mouthed skull. Don’t worry, the flowers are harmless! Even if it’s strange how the empty-socketed eyes seem to follow your every move. And why is it that the teeth - which, on closer inspection, are actually the seeds of the flower - only seem to chatter when your back is turned?

Any Islander who can withstand their heebie-jeebies long enough to collect the petals and seeds from the flowers will fetch a handsome reward in credits upon exchange with the robots. Beware the sticky, blood-red sap that seeps from the eyes of each skull, however. Those who absorb too much through their skin will begin to hallucinate, visions of frightening or emotional events from their past dancing in the shadows. One might even mistakenly imagine that another Islander is someone they recognize from their past, someone who meant something to them - no matter whether that person is alive or dead in the present.

The hallucinogenic effects of the sap can last for hours, or they can be shortened by a dip in the public baths.

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III. Tarot

Night comes, and in the darkness, a robot sets up a table by the beach. A solitary candle sits in the center, illuminating a deck of cards. F̶i̴n̵d̸ ̸y̶o̸u̸r̵ ̵f̵o̸r̷t̵u̶n̶e̷?̴

The robot reveals tarot cards and will do a variety of spreads to tell your fortune. Each fortune can be distilled into one central theme, which characters will find pervades their life for the next 24 hours. There is magic afoot: it can be sensed, and perhaps even dispelled, if luck is on your side.

Though most robots on the island show a capacity for greater-than-average artificial intelligence, this pseudo-psychic 'bot -- M.S. Cl30 -- is less advanced. It only has six interpretations prepared:

Always watch your back. - Characters will be compelled to walk, or even speak, backwards for the duration of the day. Those who mishear it as "wash your back" may spend longer in the shower than usual.
Fake it til you make it. - Characters will feel compelled to act performatively. They will more readily fall into acts for serious or flirtatious roleplay, or try on costumes that reflect a particular persona they're interested in exploring. Faked orgasms will seem quite realistic.
You will receive an affectionate letter from a friend. - Just as it is said, someone will be compelled to engage in correspondence - and whether it turns dirty or not, well, that's up to you! Characters may also quite literally receive an article of clothing with a red letter sewn on the top. What could it stand for?
Hold on tight. - Characters who are given this life advice will start to feel rather clingy. They'll attach themselves to someone's side and refuse to leave, or they may find a "security blanket" item and won't let it go.
You are a generous, giving person. - Characters will feel compelled to do something kind for someone else. Maybe they'll invite someone to the movies, come over and cook, or do that thing their partner is always asking for.
Don't think. Feel. - Even if they weren't before, characters temporarily experience impulsive and hot-headed urges. They will also become very tactile.

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N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Is that so? You know, I'm a commander too.

[Well, he said he wasn't that sort of man. And he wasn't, not really. But he still can't help but lean in and tease by her ear:]

So would this be something like cheating...?

[ Well, that gets her attention. Her commander isn't present but here's this man who seems to fill that role quite readily. He elicits something of a shiver getting up close to her ear like that. Such a tease. ]

I guess I'd better be on my best behavior then.

Are we behaving?

[Because this was starting to seem like the opposite of that.]

I'm only showing you my mobile suit. Don't get the wrong idea.

[ Technically it is true. That's what counts. She just happens to be showing him her mobile suit while sitting on his lap. ]

I see, I see.

[Not quite buying it but he'll play along. And if she was well enough to sass him, she was well enough for a demonstration.]

Then by all means, show me how it works. How about that console...?

You want to see?

[ She's quite comfortable where she is and reluctant to move. Shifting her weight to keep her balance, she leans over to start up her mobile suit to stand-by mode. There are quite a few indicators for all the thrusters found all over the machine. She glances up at the screen as it displays the outside to see if anyone else happens to be around. ]

[Definitely an advanced unit. More so than his humble Zaku, which was feeling more and more like an antique by the day. But Char humors Julieta and lets her have a moment or two to herself... then with a careful hand, gauging the mood, he drums his fingers upon her hip. Still not that sort of man, so he would claim. Just a test.]

I already like what I see.

[...obviously that was just a general observation.]

It's a new unit and very challenging to pilot but I really wanted to prove myself so I volunteered.

[ She blinks at feeling his hand there but quickly continues what she was doing. It's probably not strictly necessary for her to lift her hips the way she does when she reaches for another part of the control panel. ]

[Probably not strictly necessary for his hand to slide along the back of her thigh but oops, totally slipped. And totally acting like it didn't just happen, even as his eyes roam along that beautiful backside. She was a small thing, small but fierce. Exactly his preference.]

And why would you need to do that?

[Leering:]

You're clearly so talented, Julieta...

[ For something that didn't happen she sure liked it. She's not sure what it is he sees in her. There isn't much opportunity to make use of her skills here. It should be a good thing that there's no war but she feels she should be where she can be useful. There's a different sort of expectation here. She settles back in this time facing him. ]

What if I wanted for you to be my commander? Just for tonight.

[This was absolutely the wrong thing to do and absolutely went against his own claim, not to be this sort of person and not to take advantage of the situation. But he was absolutely still a man and absolutely interested in some stress relief, especially the fun kind. Especially the kind she was suggesting.]

So you want to call me captain, huh?

[He likes where this was going. As evidenced by how he draws closer, his mouth right beside hers.]

Seems like that might cause a scandal.

[Which he was absolutely into, for the record.]

I like the sound of that. Captain.

[ Her cheeks blossom with red at the closeness of his face. She can no longer deny her desires. The scandalous nature of it just adds to the excitement. She's well past behaving now. Her hand slides up to his chest. What she really wants is to please him and be praised. ]

No one has to know.

Might I ask your rank, soldier?

[Look, if they're doing sexy roleplay, then he was fully committing to it. Char was a scoundrel with standards, after all.]

I haven't got one. What's it going to take for me to be noticed?

[ She may be taking cues from certain material she found in the library in her "research." There really is an erotic genre for everything. She hasn't tried her hand at roleplay before but it seems like a fun way to try out scenarios she wouldn't normally be into if it was real. ]

[Humming:]

Well, I suppose I could induct you as a lowly ensign...

[Emphasis on lowly. But for all her apparent inexperience, it seems to work well; Char rewards her efforts with a subtle touch to her chest. Subtle and downright gentlemanly though nonetheless deliberate, trailing along the swell of a breast. And he kisses her, right at the nape of her neck.]

And you can already guess, can't you? So I expect a stellar performance.

I won't disappoint you, Captain.

[ She takes a deep breath that comes out again in a soft sigh as he kisses her. But feeling his lips on her skin makes her even more aware of the clothing between them. She helps that along with a loosening of her collar. It's starting to feel hot anyway. ]

I should hope not.

[Char encourages her to shed her clothes with insistent fingertips, although only a little at a time. Only as far as she feels comfortable as he focuses his efforts elsewhere, nibbling at her neck with teeth and tongue and drawing her smaller form more firmly to his toned body. More specifically between his legs, where the beginnings of an erection can be keenly felt.

He mutters against her skin, heated words all too familiar. Because this wasn't the first time he had seduced a perky ensign.]

My standards are pretty high. So if you want to get noticed, you'll have to work pretty hard.

[His hips buck up at hard for suggestive emphasis.]

I'll do whatever it takes. I think you'll find that... ah... I am up to the task.

[ It feels better already with her shoulders free from her jacket. Slipping her arms out of her sleeves in such tight quarters creates friction against him, allowing her to feel his arousal. Now even more of her neck is vulnerable to him. She reaches down to continue what she started. ]

Mm, I don't know...

[Char holds back a bit, allowing Julieta the chance to take the reins. Of course she would still need guidance, but Char was feeling generous enough to give her a little breathing room. And also because he very much enjoyed a woman who knew how to seize her own pleasure.]

Why don't you show me then? Since you're so sure of yourself.

[ Her experience really only spans the few months she's been here. It isn't even so much that she pretends to know what she's doing. She just goes for what she thinks she wants and it tends to work out in her favor. Straddling him with her thighs tight on either side she starts peeling her shirt off to expose lean muscle softened with subtle curves. At the same time, her hips grind down on him. Her priority may not be her own pleasure but it's a result nonetheless. ]

[Char assists with undressing, stripping away the layers until she has been left in her plain bra. With a greedy hand, he gropes her breast, a little less polite and a lot more perverse. He thumbs over the shape of a nipple and dips his head to nip at her neck, biting and sucking to leave a nice shiny bruise. The mark of her mate, the surest sign of a possessive man.]

Keep working hard, ensign. Maybe I'll consider your promotion.

[Or maybe not. Maybe he'll just enjoy her body and forget about everything else.]

All this... could be yours. I hope you will.

[ Maybe she shouldn't encourage him but she wants more of this. She tenses, the sting of his bite causing her hips to jerk forward as she lets out a noise from her throat. Her hands move down to unzip her pants next, giving him a glimpse of skin underneath. ]

You wouldn't want to see me serving under someone else, would you?

[Don't mind if he does. And don't mind if he pushes her a bit further, dipping a hand straight down her underwear and fingering her shamelessly. Char was a gifted pilot, the best of his day, so it stood to reason he had gifted hands... and that he knew how to please a woman with them. He'd certainly devoured his share of desperate recruits.]

Is that a threat? Going to run off and join a rival faction, right under my nose?

[Crazier things had happened. They were at war, after all.]

I came to you because I was hoping you might find some use for me.

[ This has now gone well beyond teasing. She feels his hand disappear between her legs, tilting her head back when he's found his mark. It's only a matter of moments before he's got her soaking wet. She wants those pants the rest of the way off immediately and sets to working on his as well. ]

So you want to be used...?

[Undressing was a bit tricky in the confines of a cockpit but Char does manage to kick them off, pooling at his ankles. Entirely bare below the waist, his stiff erection stands proud and ready for her inspection; Char doesn't bother to wait, guiding one of her hands around its girth. Encouraging her to squeeze and to stroke.]

But I won't notice you, not until you take me. All of me.

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