TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

[erkumods]

TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

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. STARGAZER On the first night that new arrivals wash ashore, the moon rises. It's full and beautiful and surrounded by stars. The robots quickly bring old, dusty telescopes out of storage and line them up on the beach to help people get a truly spectacular view. "Look to the heavens! Behold, the chicken, the cat, the owl, the donkey!" It's... the cock, the pussy, the hooters, and the ass. For the rest of the night, characters will become fixated on the specific asset associated with the constellation they've gotten an eyeful of. Whether this leads to some body worship or just casual appreciation is up to you. You can learn about the stars and constellations later this month in some of the rare, non-pornographic books in the library. (More info will go up soon, so please be patient!) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● II. STIMULATING CONVERSATION An ancient courting ritual has been announced! It involves the give-and-take of candy hearts with slogans printed on them. Of course, since these hearts are being manufactured by robots, their sense of taste is a little... off? Or perhaps off-putting? "You'll do." "5/10." "Acceptable." "Sloppy Seconds." Receiving a negative heart makes one feel insecure, jealous, and submissive. "Be mine." "Nicest ass." "Swell bulge." "They're good lays, Bront." Receiving a positive heart will make one feel confident, boastful, and dominant. Your friendly neighborhood 'bots will give them out to anyone who asks - and maybe even those who don't. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● III. Eat Or Dare The robots have set up a stall by the beach with a banner that reads: Eat Or Dare. They have procured bigger candy hearts than ever before -- fist-sized and larger -- with actions written on them instead of derogatory slogans. "Take a dive." "Lick me." "Get handsy." The name of the game is to follow the instructions or forfeit the challenge by making the evidence disappear into your mouth. Delicious! Those who eat the candy hearts will feel themselves getting giddy and unreasonably invested in the love affairs of others. They will feel compelled to play matchmaker to spread the cheer. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● N A V I G A T I O N

Comments

[zechs_isonfire]

"For some metric of 'in charge'. They certainly don't do much more than try to encourage us to partake in the things which will help rebuild this place," Zechs said wryly, and then sighed.

Well.

"We're intended to perform sexual tasks to rebuild their world, and they reward us for it," Zechs said, blunt and straightforward. And yes, he understood exactly how that sounded. "And it gets worse."

"They will transform us, drug us, manipulate our mental state, and provide any of a number of things that are a corruption of our original intentions to meet that goal," Zechs informed him. "This is to insure even the most recalcitrant of individuals comply."

There were likely gentler ways Zechs could've told him this; but Zechs was not a good candidate for delicate tasks.

[zerofive]

Wu Fei stared at Zechs for a few minutes, ire fading into a vague, uneasy sense of... pity. He knew what it was to be extended beyond his limits, and to be there for long enough that even the worst pain simply became another background. He knew what it was to break. And this? This was beyond the pale. He couldn't believe he'd bought it, even in part, even for a moment.

"I am leaving now," He said, calmly, and turned away, "Do not follow me."

[zechs_isonfire]

Zechs sighed. He wouldn't follow him, just as requested. However;

"You should seek out Heero Yuy," Zechs advised. "Or perhaps Treize Kushrenada."

All right, perhaps he'd respect his wish not to be followed - but he also knew there was far, far too much about this place that Wu Fei didn't know. And, Zechs would not let an ally or opponent enter a dangerous situation unarmed.

[zerofive]

That brought him up short. It seemed perfectly plausible that Zechs would lie about their abduction, the point of it all, and to emphasize the ridiculousness of the lie, as if for effect...

But not Treize. That was no longer a joke, practical, spiteful, or otherwise.

"...Kushrenada is dead," He says quietly, not turning. As if there was any doubt; as if Zechs somehow did not know. And then; "I killed him."

[zechs_isonfire]

“He is dead in the place we had been abducted from,” Zechs agreed, quiet and serious. “This place was able to abduct him, as it had done so for us. He remembers all that happened to him, including how he had chosen to die.”

Perhaps Wu Fei would be surprised there was no blame, no anger in Zechs’ voice. Instead, if the younger man could hear it, there was an odd sort of regret, rather faint.

“I would understand you might neither trust nor respect me,” Zechs told him. “But Treize believed that you understood him. And he respected you.”

[zerofive]

All his objections crowd the door at once and stick there in his throat, unvoiced. 'How he had chosen to die', such a bloodless phrase for what had happened. Wu Fei had gone into that battlefield duel not knowing what he hoped for; victory, or death, or some speech that might change everything somehow. It was anything but bloodless, horribly so.

He wanted to rage, to threaten Zech's life, to physically attack him just for persisting in this unwelcome line of conversation. For a moment, one fraught heartbeat, a lifetime of training was all that kept his composure in place.

"We shall see," He choked out, finally, and then sought only to put some distance between himself and the past, as well as Zechs himself.

[zechs_isonfire]

How else was he to say it? The role that the young pilot had played was the one Zechs himself should’ve taken. And still in many ways, it felt more accurate to say that Zechs had killed Treize, not Wu Fei, looking at the path that they’d taken.

It was himself who he blamed even still.

And that was not a conversation he wanted to have with Chang Wu Fei.

“Be careful,” Zechs told his retreating back. “This place can change and manipulate people. Be on your guard.”

And the warning might fall on deaf ears, but he had tried. Zechs considered as 05 left if he should contact Treize and warn him.