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TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN
TDM 012: SLINGING IN THE RAIN |
00. Arrival![]() 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. If you don’t manage to get away from them quickly enough, they may even usher you toward the Laid Bare Spa, where new arrivals will be offered free massages, a sauna, hairstyling, and their clothing may come up permanently missing. But you will be given a complimentary towel to leave with if needed! Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see beyond what arrivals before you have helped to rebuild. 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 place to live in the now, whether a rundown apartment in the City, a tent on the beach, a bed in the barracks, or your own space at the House of Worship. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home. I. THUNDERBOLTS AND LIGHTNING![]() Erku's new arrivals may not be the only residents left dripping wet. Although the weather on the Island is almost always dreary, clouds begin to multiply and darken over the days before that first arrival, turning ominous shades of purple and blue which may look familiar to Islanders who have been around since Erku's beginnings. Perhaps robots will advise Islanders to fortify their shelters and get ready to accept refugees, and they hope their charges take the warnings to heart! When the rain finally falls, it is a non-stop torrent. Even though the weather is warm, the rain itself chills to the bone. Shacks and beach tents won't stand up to the downpour for long, and the shabby apartments may leak and flood. New arrivals who aren't handy enough to make quick repairs may be forced to take shelter in the homes of current Island residents, or else huddle together in the 12 rooms of the barracks for the full week that rain falls on the Island. Cats, dogs, and little dragons will also be begging Islanders for a warm place to stay! Beware of lightning strikes, too, because the skies rumble with thunder throughout the storm. Buildings and residences are frequently damaged by strikes. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and that's very true on Erku - Islanders who are struck by the lightning might find themselves temporarily blessed with god-like super strength. Such power might not always be a good thing for those who aren't used to wielding it, so please be careful not to damage your friends or property! Islanders may choose to keep their new powers, but a bingo square can be used to wish them away. II. A TASTE OF ERKU![]() In need of shelter and credits? Then the robots have a task for you! Erku's robot population has taken note of how much Islanders seem to love the humble potato, and they want to contribute! Ready as always to please, the robots have filled the hospital cafeteria with mountains of potatoes in every imaginable variety and color: russet, red, gold, purple, chartreuse, sweet, savory, spicy, and so many more! But wait, there's more: they have provided knives, cutting boards, and peelers too, and are eager to see Islanders work their magic in their open cafeteria kitchen! Robots will monitor every dish produced, as they are eager to improve their food replication repertoire. No worries if you aren't culinarily skilled, however. Islanders will be rewarded in credits for whatever they can contribute, whether it's a gourmet meal or simply a basket of peeled potatoes. Robot-provided potato preparations are also freely available to snack on while you work, though as always, they're liable to be spiked with something to encourage Islanders to get more "friendly" with one another. Of particular note is an invention the 'bots are quite proud of, sure to delight your organic tastebuds: the potato cocktail, which packs quite a punch and - strangely enough - tastes just like a hearty steak dinner? III. NOSTALGIA FOODS![]() Seeking a bit of refuge and some comforting food to warm you up? Signs and flyers are out informing residents of the Straight From Home Special going on right now at the Flashbang diner! Come In For All The House Favorites! For the next few days anyone can walk in and receive a free meal (or two if you’re really nice) from the robot cooks behind the counter! And it just so happens that they know exactly what you want. You will be served a meal of your favorite foods from home just the way you like them. Did you tell them? No. How did they know? Don’t bother asking, they’ll just say that the Cook Always Knows. The robot waitresses will make sure your drinks are topped up and you have everything you need, just like any hometown diner or pub you may have heard of. Eating any of the foods will bring out such nostalgia. Feelings of fondness, sadness, longing, anything when you think about the memories of your past and even of recent events. You won’t be able to stop yourself from sharing those thoughts and feelings with those around you. You’ll want to talk about your life, your opinions on the weather, the sex you just had last night and in great detail. The waitresses are listening and so is everyone else nearby. When you leave the diner you might just have to keep on sharing your thoughts about anything that comes to mind. Walk by someone you think is attractive? You’ll have to tell them. Don’t like someone’s outfit? Definitely have to tell them. Suddenly remembering having sex on the beach? Maybe the person next to you on the trolley won’t mind hearing all about it! The effects of the nostalgia will last for half a day or until the completion of an auspicious act. N A V I G A T I O N |
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"Might be a good thing to have a gauge on food wise." Since Duo is cobbling together leftovers and uncooked bones for her as food in the first place. It's how he's used to feeding the dogs that hung out with him and the rest of the gang as kids, and well.. he isn't sure about the kibble situation on the island. Everything else seems to make people horny, so he's not looking for a horny dog.
"Once we're not in a storm we can go and look.. good news is Heero won't be outside diggin' in this shit I hope. Heavyarms should be parked between Scythe and Altron at any rate... they put 'em in order in the hangar and everything." It's kind of funny but also disconcerting.
"I've done a total ops check on Scythe and nothing out of the ordinary. But considering last I saw my old buddy he was a smoking shell it's.. a little more brain breaking than the whole 'here and gone' thing."
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"Of course. Best to get inside." He blinked at the comment though. "Digging? Why is Heero digging?"
He was glad though that if Heavyarms was here, the Gundam would most likely be exactly how he remembered it.
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".. Long story. Short version is Relena was here and gone and you know he's like a weird puppy with her." Duo makes a flippant little hand motion about it, of course, though he's got his own feelings on the whole situation. It's complicated, though, and he isn't really about to get into his relationship with Heero in this place with Trowa the moment he shows up. That might be a bit much.
"Anyway, having new faces around might help. Along with the dog." The cabin is coming in to view, a rather rustic looking, quaint thing for housing four gundam pilots, three of which Trowa would recognize from their own world. Duo gestures to the cabin as they approach to call Trowa's attention. "This is where we've been livin', though, Heero, Wufei and I. There's also a guy named Mika here that also pilots a gunda, though it's pretty different from ours."
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Anyway...
Trowa paused looking up at the cabin. It was certainly nicer than most of the locations Trowa had slept in so he couldn't complain. The comment about Mika though got his attention. "There are more pilots?" He's still following, wanting to get out of the rain.
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"Tends to preoccupy a lot of brain space at times, for someone who gets herself into her own shit." Granted, they were raised pretty differently in the end, for two kids who had never really had much. Duo was too used to dog-eat-dog, taking care of yourself and maybe someone else if they hadn't gotten themselves in to deep unless they were your close comrade. Heero.. from what he'd gathered, had just been molded without having very much. Definitely not a great way to be raised, which obviously leads to other things. They all have their quirks, don't they?
Thankfully the cabin isn't much further, and Duo nods as he chooses a careful path around a puddle or two.
"Yeah. Not from this world, though. Mika's Barbatos is huge compared to any of our gundams. I'll show ya when we go to see about Heavyarms." For now, Duo is too preoccupied with getting the door open, a happy puppy yapping and wiggling behind the door, thrilled to see Duo and the friend he's brought along, sending Duo into a fit of light laughter as she wiggles happily, moving to hang his jacket up by the door.
"This is Merry. She decided she was coming home with Heero and me a little bit ago."
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Trowa stepped around the puddles as they approached. "Barbatos..." He repeated the name of the other Gundam before nodding his head. "Of course."
Trowa paused watching the dog as it happily greeted Duo before crouching down as and offering a hand. He had an unfair advantage with animals though he tried not to be in most cases. When she came over to him, he spoke. "Hello, Merry."
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"Gundams in his world require you to have these ports..." Duo stops to poke at the back of his neck, indicating the top of the spine at the shoulders. "That you can plug in and become even more one with your mobile suit. It's... I dunno, man. If they'd told me I needed that to pilot Deathscythe, even as a kid I might've thought twice." Said as if he wasn't still a child, just one that he been through much more than Duo many years ago had, now. In the end he would've ended up saying yes and going through it anyway. He knows he would have, but the possible damage through a spinal surgery is worrying.
Merry happily greets Duo for a few moments, wiggling and squeaking her glee to see him again. With enough head pats and reassurances, though, she's quickly investigating Trowa, scampering over to try to stand on his knee and lick his face easily enough.
Duo laughs lightly. "She's not a hard one to win over. Guess that's not surprising though. Fell asleep in my lap and basically suckered me in to keeping her."
With Heero's go ahead too, of course.
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Trowa smiled faintly as Merry came over and began to lick at him, wiggling as only very happy puppies could. He gently pet her, not minding the enthusiasm.
"Puppies usually aren't. They love everyone."
It was something that was incredibly endearing bout them.