TDM 007: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? (Sorry, No Refunds)

[erkumods]

TDM 007: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

00. 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. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● I. Entertainment District Old and new arrivals alike have likely been enjoying(?) the Island’s one day of sunshine per week - and so have the robots! The energy they are able to harness from the sun has increased their productivity exponentially, and a colorful multi-level entertainment district has sprung up to surround a few of the city’s familiar locations. Here you will find the forge, the clothing shop, the Full Moon(ty) Theater, as well as a freshly upgraded Ticket to Ride: an all-purpose arcade where tickets won from skeeball and Whack-a-Woody can be exchanged for sexy, colorful prizes! Admission is free, and the robots especially encourage islanders to check out the following arcade additions: Lurid Laser Tag: Slip into a full-body laser tag suit and arm yourself with a robot-provided laser gun before you go into this spooky and maze-like laser tag arena, which has been designed in the fashion of an abandoned, post-apocalyptic city overrun with creeping, squirming, and sometimes grabbing plants (which may look and feel very familiar to the earliest residents of the Nameless Island). Avoid these obstacles and try to spot the enemy before they spot you! The laser guns issued by the ‘bots have three graduated settings, chosen by the shooter, to alert you when you are hit: 1. vibration, 2. sweet caress, and 3. deep massage. Any part of your laser tag suit may activate, depending on where you are hit. Islanders may choose to play 1-on-1 with a friend, or can be randomly assigned to an opponent or team. VR Rooms: Pull on a shiny new headset and enjoy an immersive virtual reality experience like none other available on the Island thus far! The technology is still somewhat limited, however, in that the rooms can only replicate settings and environments from the current users’ memories. Whether you’re looking to train your battle skills on your old stomping grounds or simply want to share the experience of your favorite hometown noodle shop with a friend, these new VR rooms will literally open up new worlds of entertainment to you. VR Rooms can be enjoyed alone or in pairs, and they are fully private. GundamPods: A scaled-down version of the newly installed mobile suit simulation cockpits which can be accessed in the hangar at the outskirts of the city, these side-by-side pods allow users to recreate the experience of piloting any mobile suit that has been brought onto the island, in PVP format. Scant and form-fitting clothing is recommended for the most seamlessly realistic piloting experience, as this allows the technology to interface with your sensory system. Wear a bikini and you’ll feel it right down to the G’s! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. Sexscape Room Looking for the latest opportunity to earn credits? Look no further! The robots are researching the problem-solving capabilities of organic lifeforms, and they are seeking the Islanders’ help. The offered reward is very generous, and the ‘bots say the time commitment is no more than two hours. No manual labor required! Participants will only be given a puzzle to solve within that time limit. Those who agree will be led to a spacious, if dark, room... but not alone. When the lights turn on, two volunteers find themselves trapped together in an escape room! Written clues lead participants through a series of steps to find the trick that will unlock the doors that hold them captive. However, what kind of room they find themselves in is entirely luck of the draw. Some rooms are perfectly normal, with almost absurdly easy puzzles to solve - a tip of a bookcase or a key hidden beneath a pillow might just be the ticket out. Others may be outrageously difficult, with clues taking the form of cryptic riddles and assigned tasks requiring partnership and teamwork to complete. What kind of tasks, you may ask? Well, for some rooms it’s fairly obvious what volunteers are expected to do in order to earn their escape. That riding crop says it all, does it not? Those who fail to solve the escape room within two hours will be released without incident, the promised credits loaded to their devices. Islanders who successfully escape the room will be additionally rewarded with a goody bag of cute and colorful BDSM gear! ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Speed Dating at the Limp Noodle So many renovations have occurred thanks to the efforts of those on the Island and the robots have decided a grand opening of the new Limp Noodle Shop! This robot-run shop has three small tables and a long counter for serving customers. It caters to various noodle foods and soups from any world and their menu changes regularly, but Wednesday is All You Can Eat Ramen Day. Try the Special Spicy Fishcakes to get a free drink, but they might make your noodle anything but limp and you'll need some help to calm it down. Effects can last up to three hours. But that’s not all. To promote the grand opening of the Limp Noodle the robots have added more seating and opened up the week for Swap Meet Speed Dating. That’s right, speed dating. Anyone who takes part in the 10 minute rounds of looking for your next Auspicious Act partner will receive all-you-can-eat snacks. Couples who hit it off will receive a free meal at a small two-seat table in a more secluded area. Questions are provided on note cards with a fine print reminder: “Eye contact supports sexual intrigue, please maintain at all times.” ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[halforc]

They did last time. I woke up in the sea over there, [ gesturing to the opposite side of the beach, ] thought I was drowning at first. Plus the ... machines weren't exactly helpful.

[ The automatons going about their business on the beach get a sidelong frown from him. ]

If they give you free food, ask if it's drugged first.

[ragingnature]

I see. [ She frowns, looking in the direction he points before turning her attention to the robots. ]

I've never seen anything like them before. [ She wants to inspect on up close but at the same time they seem pretty intimidating.

And then what he has to say about the food sinks in. Her head snaps back to him, squinting at him. ] Wait... Did you say drugged? How so?

[halforc]

Let's just say I couldn't walk straight after some bacon they gave me in a 'welcome to the island' pack.

[ Not going to specify why he couldn't walk. ]

Would you like to sit down up on the grassier dunes? I have some water with me, if you're thirsty.

[ragingnature]

Well, no offense, but I'm sure my constitution is better than yours. [ She almost sounds smug. Almost. She doesn't yet realize that her godly abilities aren't at their peak here. ]

Actually, yeah. I'd also like to get out of this dress. It's pretty heavy.

[ She has no qualms running around in just her underwear and his cloak for a time. ]

[halforc]

...Okay. [ What a weird thing to say. Maybe she's like Jester though, wildly strong. ] Just be wary of them.

[ He leads her up onto the jungle dunes, the trees at their back and dry grass underfoot to soak up some of her sogginess. Fjord sinks down with a huff, an arm draped over a bent knee. ]

So, what's your name?

[ And he offers a water bottle. Plastic, filled. It's neat! He found it in his cold-cupboard. ]

[ragingnature]

I'll keep that in mind.

[ Once he's found a spot for them to sit she begins to take off the cloak so she can work the zipper on the back of her dress down and wiggle out of the soggy fabric. She takes no extra steps to cover herself until she's free. Mostly because she isn't that shy about getting undressed in front of a stranger, but also because her hair does a decent enough job of covering her. ]

My name is Persephone. [ She'd said that earlier but she supposes it might have been missed. Or perhaps too strange sounding to sound like a name to him.

Once she's free of the dress and has it laid out she recovers herself with the cloak and plops down next to him and takes the offered water bottle. ] Thanks.

So you've only been here a month?

[halforc]

Persephone, right.

[ The women here seem to have very pretty names, Aphrodite, Persephone ... ]

A month has been [ oop, averting his gaze as she starts to strip off her dress, ] plenty of time to get accustomed to the way things work here. The creatures in charge of this island are hard to bargain with.

[ragingnature]

And how do things work here? [ She'll ask that rather than the many other questions she has. Why is she here? How is she here? She'd been in Hades' house in the Underworld telling him about her Act of Wrath. So how did something like this even happen?

She takes a sip of water as she looks around. There's plenty of nature and she decides to reach out to it, see what she can do with it only to be met with silence.

Her brow furrows in confusion before she tries again. When she's met with the same results she rises and moves to the tree behind them, trying not to panic just yet. ]

[halforc]

[ He watches the way she tries to reach out to the vegetation, not unlike the way Caduceus might have. ]

... The Augur take your powers away in exchange for favours.

[ragingnature]

[ By the time he speaks she's standing with her forehead resting against the trunk of the tree. It's never been this quiet in her life and she doesn't like it. Her fingers curl against the bark, feeling the roughness of it scrape against her skin.

Don't cry. She mentally growls at herself before lifting her head to look back at Fjord. ]

Wh-what kind of favors?

[halforc]

[ Well, shit. This is awkward. ]

Have you been given a device by one of the machines yet?

[ragingnature]

Yeah? [ She raises a brow at him before looking down at the bracelet on the wrist. She'd forgotten about it given the confusion of dragging herself from the ocean. ]

[halforc]

Play around it it, there should be a lots of squares on one of the screens. That's what they want from you.

[ That's all he says for now, showing her how he swipes on his own screen, the one attached to his bracer. ]

[ragingnature]

[ Her brow furrows and lips press together in a thin line as she concentrates on the small screen/ ]

It's kinda like the phone... [ She murmurs, remembering the one that Artemis had given her and she had broken in an uncontrolled outburst.

After a few moments, she looks from the screen then back to him then back again. ]

I don't... I recognize words, but I don— [ Her cheeks darken a little as she continues to read. ] I-is this all suppose to be...?

[halforc]

Yes. For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

[ He had pretty much the same reaction of get the fuck out, no way. ]

There are good people in the city, though. If you use that device to communicate with them, you may get some offers of help to work around the Augur's demands.

[ragingnature]

[ Her cheeks take on a nearly hot pink glow to them as she slowly sits back against the tree. ]

I don't even understand what half of these are supposed to mean. I don't... I've never really...

[ She can't even begin to put into words how uncomfortable her lack of knowledge is making her right now. More so than the idea of doing whatever a lot of these things mean with strangers. ]

...And with strangers?

[halforc]

You don't have to, it's only if you want your powers back.

[ Trying to adjust the perspective to something less bleak. ]

Like I said, just ask what's in the food and you should be fine.

[ragingnature]

[ Only if she wants her powers back.

She relaxes a little with that. It doesn't appear she'll be forced into anything if she doesn't want, which is fine. Maybe she'll get lucky and Hades will appear and then—

She shakes her head to clear away that thought. The last time they even kissed she panicked and turned into a swarm of butterflies. It might be better if she can find somewhere already here that she doesn't have feelings for. ]

Do we get to choose what we get back or do they decide? And, um, how...how much do we need to do? Like, will one get us something or...?

[halforc]

I slept with a goddess and I got my sword back.

[ That should put it into perspective, sort of. He wasn't thinking about getting the Star Razor back at the time but it made sense in retrospect, Aphrodite was ... incredible. So is Dwueth'var. Even stevens. ]

But I've only been here a month, so that's about it. I really needed my weapon.

[ragingnature]

Goddess? [ Her eyes widen. ] There's another goddess here?

[halforc]

She said her domain is love and beauty, her name is Aphrodite. [ His features soften a little as he talks about her. ] She's very kind, if you want to ask her for help I'm sure she would do her best.

[ She was extremely nice to Fjord, anyway. ]

[ragingnature]

Aphro...dite. [ Her bright pink coloration seems to lighten a little at the mention of that name. ]

N-no! That's fine. It's probably better she doesn't know I'm even here! [ The words tumble out of her mouth quickly as she shakes her head and waves a hand in the air. ]

[halforc]

[ That's a surprising thing to say. ]

You know her?

[ragingnature]

S-sorta. [ She shifts and fidgets with the hem of the borrowed cloak. ]

[halforc]

[ Looking her over, he shakes his head. ]

You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, it's fine.

[ He'll ask Aphrodite if she knows a Persephone, though. ]