ercookies | TDM 002

TDM 002: IF FOUND PLEASE RETURN TO

( 1 ) Around mid-morning, a message from the Augur appears on bracelets all across the city. "New organisms discovered. Domestication in progress."

The wark of a chocobo rises up from the outskirts of the city. Several more join in, forming a charming chorus. And, strangely, this is when new arrivals begin to show up.

Beamed in one at a time, scanned en masse, they are processed just as the first wave was. There's one major difference: whereas the old guard was given their bracelets and ushered into the City, the new folks are also given... collars.

Buckled, snapped, or otherwise fastened around their necks, a variety of colorful collars with some rather unusual novelty pet tags. (These are just a few suggestions. The typical “If found, please return to ____” is also very much acceptable.)

"You are new organisms. Domestication in progress. Compatible Eros energy will complete domestication."

No matter how hard they try, characters cannot take the collars off by themselves. They need a partner's help - but not just anyone will do. It very well might be the first person they find, or it might take several tries.

The robots grow bolder as the day grows on, targeting characters who aren't new, as well.

"Y̶o̶u̴ ̸a̷r̸e̷ ̵o̵r̵g̶a̴n̷i̷s̶m̸s̶.̶ ̶D̷o̶m̴e̴s̶t̶i̶c̵a̸t̶i̸o̴n̸ ̷i̵n̸ ̴p̸r̶o̵g̷r̵e̷s̵s̷."

Their antics die down by nightfall, but for the next day or two, the occasional malfunctioning 'bot may accost someone in the street, so stay on your toes!

( 2 ) An abandoned racetrack lights up the night. That's right: place your bets, folks, because these birds are about to run around a track while robots sell synthetic, overpriced aphro-popcorn.

...Did you say priced?

That’s right! If you participated in the orgy earlier this month, you'll find you have a stash of credits accessible in your app.

You've fucked money back into the world, so why not waste it?

(Opportunities to earn credits will come up periodically and won't always be sexual in nature, so don't worry if your character wouldn't have any yet.)

And if you don't have credits to bet with, why not get creative?

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
N A V I G A T I O N

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hmm? —Oh!" The man beside her was already quite tall, but the handsome chocobo beside him is a color she's yet to see and even larger, leaving her head tipping back to see this one all geared up for riding.

"—I take it you're familiar with them, then; few enough here have been. That's a relief to hear, however. Is this one also a chocobo?"

She's yet to see anyone quite like him, for that matter, but that is another topic for another time. He's polite as he speaks to her and there's the saying that anyone good with animals is often a good person themselves. To have a creature's trust and affection is a special thing. She turns to face them both a bit more properly, taking a step closer with an easy smile.

After all, the resemblance was similar but not exact, and she could say the same of emus and ostriches where she's from; similar didn't mean of the same breed.

She was at least thirteen or fourteen feet, compared to the birds on the track proper, all ranging between eight or ten. Khaishan nodded with a smile, glowing gaze softened behind his glasses with the gesture as he leaned against the railing.

"They're more common than horses back home. Osei here is a draft bird while those racers," A gesture towards them, as the snap of the starting shot had the gates swinging wide and the birds all launching from their stalls with delighted cries, jostling for position. "They're more similar to what you'd see people normally riding, or out in the wild."

Osei was a fairly calm bird. Didn't start or get upset at the sudden explosion of noise from the crowds or the other birds, just calmly lifting her head to assess the situation before seeming to decide things were fine before she was turning her attention to the woman Khaishan was speaking with, head turning one-way then the other as she was regarding Mercy curiously, earning a laugh from the Au Ra.

"And it seems the great glutton here is hoping you've got treats. Here," He rummaged through his satchel, coming out with a bundle of bitter-smelling greens, offering them over. "Best way to make friends with her aside from fruit."

His eyes are brilliant in the shade of the hutches flanking the track— its a difficult choice to pick between the equally-brilliant chocobo or himself, once he begins to speak, but ultimately it's Khaishan who wins out on her attention. It'd be rude to reach out and try to pet someone else's "steed", as it were, and she can't exactly converse with the animal.

"I see, so that saddle isn't just for show; Osei, is it? I'm sure you've been told you're beautiful many times before, but what a lovely red coat you have. —You have horses as well then? As well as these Chocobos."

Her attention splits between the two once more, but settles back on the man as he laughs, and her smile widens— if a bit at a loss. She doesn't know bird behaviors very well at all so she'll just have to take his word for it as he sets about producing the greens, and Angela absolutely lights up— she may not know birds but she loves animals as a whole, so she was hoping there'd be some way to pet her, at least.

"Ah, my hero; I was hoping I'd be able to win her over. Thank you. Do I just...?" When she takes the bundle of greens from him, she starts picking one large leaf out, gesturing to ask if she just holds it up for her. Does she have to mind her fingers...? "I'm Angela, by the way. I appreciate the knowledge; I've tended to a couple of them already, but I'm afraid I don't know a thing about them."

They glow in fact, something amused in his look as Osei coos her agreement at her name being spoken with a flutter of wings and a rock of her feet.

"Eorzea has next to no horses, but Chocobo are terribly common. I'm from Othard, and the Steppes had next to none, almost entirely horse herds there. I was rather confused when I first saw someone riding a bird, and it took some time for me to stop calling them 'horse-birds' if I'm being honest." A faint, wry smile as he watches his bird perk at the sight of the greens in Angela's hands. "Just like that."

"A pleasure, Angela. I'm Khaishan," Osei was eager for the treat, easy to see in the fluff of cheek feathers, but clearly remembered her manners, delicately ripping chunks from the wide, flat leaf Angela was holding up. She didn't get treats if she nipped fingers, so she'd at least learned to watch where they were. "They aren't my area of expertise but you don't tame one without learning some about them, I'll be happy to help fill you in about them."

It makes her grin, trying not to outright laugh so she doesn't startle Osei where she begins to nibble at the leaf Angela offers her, because she'd probably end up calling them horse-birds as well if she wasn't given a name. Speak too many languages and your attempts at creativity are null. They just turn into very literal titles. Not that the German language has ever been very good at naming things to begin with.

"I imagine it was a terrain issue, then. That's how most places developed their transportation choices where I'm from as well. It's nice to meet you as well, Khaishan. And miss Osei. So you said the ones here are runners...? Are there many kinds?"

She's gentle as she reaches up to scritch her nails through those fluffy feathers, smiling softly. She's bandaged a few friction burns and scrapes as the birds crammed through a few narrow places and saw to a broken wing, but she's never really worked on animals, before. It was all guesswork.

Osei looks fairly hard to startle, to be fair. Occasionally she'll lift her head when there's a particularly loud cheer from the crowd, but there's no skittishness or urgency to the movement, and she has no issue with returning her attention to Angie and that treat.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. Other desert areas have plenty of wild chocobos, but the Nhaama Desert seemed to be the outlier." Seeing that Osei had no worries, Khaishan was content to just settle in for a chat, watching as the huge red bird immediately lowered her head to make giving those scritches easier, clicking her beak in idle contentment.

"You can tell by how slender they are," Khaishan pointed out as the birds ran by on another lap, noisy in their delight of a good run. "There aren't too many specific breeds, to be fair. These ones here and say, your normal cart birds or riding birds are of the same stock just selected for traits, whether it's being faster, personality, or size, given someone like me would need a bigger bird than you. Some bloodlines will give more reliable results one way or the other, but they're the closest to what you'd find in the wild. There's a country back home that breeds a specific sort- black plumage, with more muscle to their wings. They have an easier time learning flight. Beyond that there's the red birds you find wild in the desert but they can be a bit more aggressive. I'm fairly certain that's the stock most warbirds are bred from, given they share an ability to manipulate aether, but they definitely used draft birds to breed them sturdier, or in some cases large enough to take multiple passengers, like Osei here."

TDM 002

omg hi kiwi!! I remember ur dr. strange 😭

Haha heyooo! Mind if I add you? 8B

hewwo!! I wouldn't mind in the least, come at me!

no subject

no subject

no subject