TDM 002

[erkumods]

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

Comments

a. hey girl hey

[kintsugambol]

[ well, blake hasn't seen ilia since they parted ways at mistral, but she's always a welcome sight. especially in an unfamiliar place like this. she has her own collar hidden under the neck buckle of her coat, the equally embarrassing tag tucked uncomfortably between the leather and her skin.

she starts moving to get closer to her old friend as soon as she spots her. ]

Ilia!

[chamilia]

[Ilia turns at the sound of her voice, eyes widening and mouth breaking into a relieve smile.]

Blake! You are here!

[She also cuts the distance between them as quickly as possible, not even remember the collar in that moment.]

Nothing around here makes any sense, but at least there's one familiar face. ...But the hair is new.

[kintsugambol]

[ blake smiles a little herself, loosely grasping her own forearm. she... hasn't quite registered ilia's tag or what it says. give her a second. ]

This isn't really how I thought we'd catch up. [ when the other girl says that though, she reaches up to touch the end of her hair, realizing ilia hasn't seen her like this before. ] Oh. Yeah, I... cut it, after we got to Atlas? Some things happened on the way, and... it felt right. [ wait. okay. she's definitely looking at the collar now. think fast, ilia. ]

[chamilia]

Atlas? Oh right! [Blake is looking down and oh crap the collar--the tag--and Ilia is quickly turning around as if she's looking for something all while scratching at the back of her neck like she's not totally trying to spin the collar around and hide the pendant at the nape of her neck under her hair.]

I talked to someone who said he met you. Clover? He told me your teammate Yang's here, but I haven't found her yet.

[kintsugambol]

[ yang's here. good. that's one major concern out of the way, but... clover. there was a relieved sigh, but now she looks... tense. nearly angry. that takes her focus as ilia moves the tag out of view. ]

Clover's one of Ironwood's top enforcers. [ some of her old bitterness about atlas seeps back into her tone. she feels like such a fool for trying to trust them, trying to work with them. ] Keep your distance for now, if you see him again.

[chamilia]

Ironwood.

[The guy running Atlas. Who claims he's "helping" but somehow Faunus still keep dying in those mines and being mistreated.]

He said more people are here. Was telling me we should "stick together." I passed.

[kintsugambol]

Good. [ the tension doesn't slip from her shoulders. ] Depending on where Yang and I end up, you're welcome to stick with us, but...

If Clover's here, more of Ironwood's people might be. Don't trust a word they say. Even with all of Atlas's problems, just... fuck, Ilia, [ she rubs her forehead, dragging her hand down her face. ] I never thought it was going to get that bad. Ironwood's lost it. He kept stringing us along, he acted reasonable as long as we did as we were told, we kept having to push and push for him to do the right thing, and then...

[chamilia]

[Her brow furrows because it's obvious whatever happened had affected Blake deeply. Og course she believed her, there was no reason for Blake to lie to her, but it feels strange for her to talk about this as if she'd been in Atlas for weeks or months.]

Everything went that bad in only a few days?

[kintsugambol]

[ thaaaat...catches her off guard. ]

What? No, I... we weren't even able to leave Anima for more than a week. We've been in Solitas for a couple of months.

[chamilia]

[Ilia shakes her head.] What are you talking about? You just took the train from Mistral a few days ago. Not long before I left to go back to Menagerie.

We were on the ship when I ended up here. But if it takes a week for you to get there, and Clover knows who you are...

[Her skin shimmers and ripples because she's confused. Worried.] Am I missing months of time?

[kintsugambol]

Hey, no, I'm sure it's not... [ she reaches out, taking ilia's hands in her own. ]

We don't know how this place works, right? I don't think you're missing time, it's got to be more complicated than that.

[chamilia]

[When Blake takes her hands, she gladly squeezes back because even if nothing makes sense at least Blake is here. At least she has someone she knows who gets her. This would be a lot worse if she was by herself. So she takes a breath and nods.]

You're right, there's got to be more to it. They barely told me anything when I got here. I got this bracelet and this [She motions at the collar] and barely anything else. Have you tried to get yours off?

[kintsugambol]

No luck so far. Gotta say, unless they're doing this to everyone else... I'm not happy about it. [ blake's clearly already not pleased about it, given the look in her eye, but it's something else entirely if she and ilia were singled out for it.

she unbuckles the neck strap of her coat, showing the collar and its tag. if found, please return to yang xiao long. she'd be mortified, if she didn't just find it insulting. ]