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upcyclingmod ([personal profile] upcyclingmod) wrote in [community profile] pedalbike2020-10-16 08:19 pm
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Third TDM: Don't Turn Around


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Arrival



Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.


Braving the Trail

A new trail has opened up in the woods today! Funny, that there’s never been a real path before, but this one promises a spectacular view for all Wickies who brave it.

However, the view has to be earned with one stipulation: until the Wickie reaches the trail’s end, they are forbidden to turn around. At all. There’s no mention of what may happen if the Wickie does glance back, but the scripted text on the sign marking the trail hints that the consequences just might be dire.

The hike itself is fairly easy. It even feels peaceful with the sounds of bird calls echoing in the distance. But for Wickies who are known for past procrastination, the walk will prove to be difficult. These individuals will experience an itching urge to turn around and leave the trail, and the itch worsens with every pause of their footsteps.

If a Wickie does turn around, they will find themselves staring up at a blank masked figure, slightly taller than themselves. And as wisps of fog cover the packed-dirt path, the figure hisses out a sigh, their voice barely audible as they issue their reprimand:

“I’m disappointed.”

Why, it’s not clear at all.

But with those words, the Wickie will find their body locked into place, unable to scream as their limbs become paralyzed, their eyes remaining fixed upon the masked figure. Somehow, the figure moves without walking, inching closer and closer until their mask and the Wickie’s face are close enough to touch.

The only way to become unlocked from this position is to have someone come and cover the Wickie’s eyes before leading them back to the trail’s start, somehow breaking their vision of the masked figure, or by speaking of a past regret outloud.

Otherwise, the Wickie has a good chance of dying from exposure.


Currently residing

It’s been nearly three months since the first arrivals started off on the island. It’s had its ups and downs, but with the previous quiet month, it’s been easy to relax in the cottages and houses, and even feel safe.

But not everything stays as it should. Whether a Wickie is just scoping the houses out, or returning to sleep in one of those comfy beds during the night, they will find that things are just a little..off. It’s as if someone has moved everything just a little, by no more than an inch or two. Sometimes, it even looks as if someone hurried away from the middle of a task. For example, mugs left in the sink will be washed; unslept in beds have been stripped, and their sheets are found in the laundry.

It’s only after sitting down with a fellow Wickie, that what’s going on will slowly become apparent.

People, looking more like blue tinted holographic designs, appear within the house. Slowly they become more visible, going through the motions of daily life. People with their significant others, children playing, even pets can be seen, playing with their owners or doing things that pets do.

These residentials don’t seem to notice the newcomers in their surroundings. But they do notice objects are moved, particularly if it’s furnishings. They frown, confused, before talking to one another and seeing the items returned to where they believe it should be. And curious too, that while the residentials appear to speak to one another, there’s not a sound that’s uttered when their mouths move.

It’s not possible to interact with them, unless the Wickie has the spiritual power to speak with spirits. Even then they’re quite confused, and do not believe themselves dead- it’s as if they think the Wickie is the ghost instead.

It is possible to deter the residentials manifesting by lighting a candlek. Upon the candle being lit, they recoil, some of them violently, and with great upset, before fading.

But they weren’t causing any harm.

Are they?


It Arrives

The pumpkins have vanished (finally!) there’s no more costumes in the various drawers in town; the apple bobbing is done, and there’s no more bonfires. Pity that means the food is gone too.

But something else has arrived. Something...small, white, and with webbed feet.

You’ll know it by its sound. It’s unknown what has brought this particular goose to the island; it might have been a laden desire, or it had flown here over miles. Or who knows, maybe the Admin has set this goose out as some kind of petty revenge.

All that is known as that this goose likes to wreak havoc. It likes going into the flower and vegetable gardens, looking for seeds, vegetables, and flowers to pull up; it likes to grab keys and toss them just out of reach.

It’s also clever enough that it figured out how to get into Fruits Basket, into homes, and even...sometimes...onto roofs.

Thankfully, while the goose likes to startle people, its mischief is rather harmless, and even, at times, enjoyable to watch. Just be sure not to leave anything electrical it can throw into a body of water by accident- or any bells it can keep in its temporary home by the woods.

For those who are curious, yes it will accept all sorts of snacks, and it is a wild, ordinary goose. (So yes, it is as harmless as a normal goose and yes it is edible).


Confession network

Yet again, the phone goes off. Doesn’t look like it’s anybody in town, but it’s that weird, cheesy app called The Heart Game. And it’s persistent, too: it doesn’t want to be ignored, making a series of beeps and chirps, much like a pet that wants attention.

The message that pops up is as follows:

We’re back! It’s the time for everyone's favorite game- Confession! So beloved users, our question is:

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why? Tell us everything!
penpoint: (pic#13302708)

it arrives...

[personal profile] penpoint 2020-10-21 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
[ What's better than one idiot dealing with a goose? Two. Rohan has zero patience for this goose that has seemed to taking a liking to tormenting them. He's perched himself somewhere relatively awkward, but the problem with that is --

This goose seems to like his shoes. His feet. His pants. And it grabs them, and tugs the already ill-fitting articles of clothing. So, Rohan hops from where he was, shoving a pen into his pocket, and watches as the goose makes his way to torment someone else.

He's content to just let this other, large man deal with the annoying creature when the noise gets to be far too distracting and uninspiring for him and he finally makes his way to actually get a good visual of the scene. ]


Idiot? You or the goose?

[ Good first impressions. ]
Edited 2020-10-21 02:32 (UTC)
binghua: (10)

[personal profile] binghua 2020-10-21 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
It's amazing what the body can do to make up for the loss of one sense. Xingchen had to take time to adapt, of course, and he tripped and fell and scraped his hands far more than he'd ever like to say, but every time he'd get back up and try again. And try again. And try again. Until he eventually grew to feel the world around him, not just by physical touch, but sensing it in other ways. He's so much more aware now than he ever was before.

Zichen's question makes him pause, thinking. "I've been here...I think about two months now?" And then he's all but ushered into a seat at the table and although he wants to object, having Zichen here convinces him to just give way. He listens to the bustling in the kitchen for a few moments, just letting it settle around him. This is how it should have always been, whether or not Zichen's eyes were ruined or not. And then his own...

Xingchen sits quietly, wringing his hands in his lap. And then, quietly, "You...healed well?" Meaning the transplant. Xingchen assumes he's able to see well enough, or at least he's able to get around even better than Xingchen himself. But he says nothing else right now, knowing this is a sore subject.
bindsthedead: (art-cause for concern)

[personal profile] bindsthedead 2020-10-21 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
[Several days. He doesn't seem so young that he'd have trouble managing on his own, at least.

But Sabriel was a prefect, and the idea that younger students- or people in general- should be looked after had been drilled into her.]


And you're doing all right, on your own? You've found a place to sleep and aren't eating nothing but sweets?
bindsthedead: (art-cause for concern)

[personal profile] bindsthedead 2020-10-21 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
But I- what I was doing wasn't something that can wait. [How long can a living spirit remain in Death before it isn't alive any more? Sabriel doesn't know the answer, and some small, suppressed part of her suspects she's already too late. The rest of her refuses to believe it. So she presses on, trying to ignore the growing tightness in her throat.]

I can't wait several weeks to be sent back- if I don't get back to Belisaere soon, Father will- [Sabriel can't quite say it.]

I have to get back.
incinerators: (a180)

[personal profile] incinerators 2020-10-21 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Mutants"?

[ She almost feels like she shouldn't ask for clarification on that, but the message is sent. Whoops. ]

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. I was just surprised -- usually that sort of term is used as an insult, so...
bindsthedead: (art-cause for concern)

[personal profile] bindsthedead 2020-10-21 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think I've seen that film. [Sabriel does know what a movie is- she's snuck out of school to watch her share at the cinema in Bain, but none of them were about the Dead, or necromancy.]

The Book is- a family grimoire, one with a thorough accounting of necromancy and counter-necromancy. [Sabriel represses a small shudder. Some of what was in that book frightened her, and other passages... well, the fact she'd been made to forget those passages until needed was probably an act of kindness.]

How much experience have you had with magic? [Clearly not much, but apparently enough to know that it was real, and not some Old Kingdom superstition.]
bloodypath: (Hm. Doesn't seem intimidated)

[personal profile] bloodypath 2020-10-21 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
A bit strange, [Hubert repeats slowly, his tone sharply underlining the understatement.]

[But then he falls quiet, still wound up too tense, and the Arrow of Indra sparks in response to his agitation. There's too many possibilities running through his head and his mind too weary to process them all without it winding up in a damnable headache.]

[Was he warped here? Was this some kind of elaborate Agarthan trick? Was this—]


You should hope you're rather convincing, [Hubert settles on. It was a question of whether he trusted Ferdinand or not; it was a question of whether this was Ferdinand. Hubert was too disoriented, and his weariness wasn't helping his usual paranoia any.]
bindsthedead: (art-cause for concern)

[personal profile] bindsthedead 2020-10-21 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
I wonder if it might be a route out of here, back to where we were before our arrival. [Some small part of Sabriel wonders if it will be that easy, but Sabriel resolutely ignores it. She doesn't have time. And her father certainly doesn't. Besides, how much worse can it be than everything she'd faced since she set foot in the Old Kingdom?]
omnimorphs: (Neutral)

[personal profile] omnimorphs 2020-10-21 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
[The response comes several moments later, as Paige opts to be thorough.]

It's fine. I gather that a lot of people aren't from the same world that I am from.

Mutants are individuals that have evolved a step beyond humans. We possess an extra gene called the X-Gene that changes our genetic makeup and provides each of us with a preternatural special ability. Some mutants are able to turn invisible, others are able to fly, and others can read minds, or control the weather.

Mutant is not an insult. It's the name of a race of beings, like Human, or Bird. However if you called me a "Mutie", that would be a slur humans use to describe us and I would take offense.
omnimorphs: (Sad)

[personal profile] omnimorphs 2020-10-21 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Mmm.

[Paige nods, accepting the answers she's given patiently, noting the change in demeanor, and...well, it's probably for the best that she doesn't ask much about that.]

My experience with magic is fairly limited. I know and have worked alongside Stephen Strange, a man known in my world as the Sorcerer Supreme, and he taught me some of the very basic rules. Magic is manipulating the energies of the universe in some way, and the source of that energy determines what it can do. Different sources can change the spell, and how the energy can be manipulated.

So...very, very basic stuff. I tried to learn some very, very basic spellcraft with a book and some of his advice, and I managed to make a candle light up but that was pretty much the extent of my attempts.

[She...looks apologetic at that, both for not being good at it, and for probably talking the girl's ear off.]
spryite: (:thinking:)

1/2

[personal profile] spryite 2020-10-21 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
It could be a different dimension, too. I've done my share of traveling, and this place feels different from anywhere else I've been in my world. [Reminds him of his first time at the Temporal Crossroads, but if that place was brimming with volatile mana, then this one here sure feels... stifled.] There's supposed to be portals involved, though. Spontaneous warping on this scale is something even the Great Spirits should be incapable of. [He does know one with the ability to dimension hop, but this is too much, even for Muzet.]

Yeah, if you don't count the part where I saw a strange city first. A voice was whispering about 'becoming perfect', and just when I thought I must be hallucinating, the surroundings changed again into this village. [...Man, hearing himself organizing things out loud is really hammering home how freaky and tiring this ordeal's quickly become. Dipping a hand into his lab coat pocket through habit, he fishes out a smartphone--]
spryite: (o_O)

2/2

[personal profile] spryite 2020-10-21 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
Huh? T-that's not my GHS! [--And stops in his tracks, wide-eyed at the phone that clearly isn't his own (the card that came out with it wasn't any less sus, but details, for the moment at least).]
omnimorphs: (What?!)

[personal profile] omnimorphs 2020-10-21 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
It could be. That wouldn't be out of the question.

[She'd certainly been to a few other dimensions. The Negative Zone, Null-Space, the Dreamtime, Otherworld, even Asgard briefly, but this didn't have the strange vibes those other places did.]

I'm...

[She starts to respond, but then he pulls out what appears to be a phone and seems to be freaked by it.]

The hell? Seriously?

[Patting herself, she notes two lumps instead of one. The first is her Starkphone...which is mostly admittedly an MP3 player for her. The second is a strange device that's the twin of his own.]

...Mine too? Huh!
softwarelacunae: (♪I'm locked in this universe)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 05:25 am (UTC)(link)
It is a possibility, though my calculations suggest that the probability is incredibly low. However... I am uncertain that my calculations reflect a proper probability, as being here is an unprecedented reaction to leaving the storeroom.

[Shit's weird, fam.]
thumbsdown: (☢ and the seams are torn)

1

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Hey. Kinda need to get through here.

[Boone looks up at Xavier, frowning.]

Why're you just standing in the doorway, anyway?
softwarelacunae: (♪Tell me: who am I?)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes a good door, doesn't he?]

Ah. I am sorry. I did not realise there was an individual in -- this place.

[Smoothly, at least, he steps out of the way, turning to face Boone.]

I was analysing the room. It is not the storeroom I should have been entering.
thumbsdown: (☢ your heart is worn)

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Why is this guy so stiff? Boone squints as though expecting an answer.]

Yeah, well. Next time, try analysing the room where you're not in the way.

[He's just grumpy because he doesn't know where he is and nobody can tell him anything beyond it being a mysterious island.]
softwarelacunae: (♪I can't recall how it all began)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 07:37 am (UTC)(link)
[There's a tilt of his head, not... really any less stiff than his tone.]

I apologise. I will do so. I had not realised there was anyone in this space with me; Pieces does not typically follow after giving me an order.

[He... he's bowing. Politely and smoothly. He's very sorry, Boone.]
thumbsdown: (☢ ever slightly out of reach)

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 07:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Er. Is this guy bowing to him?]

Yeah... sure. Don't- you don't have to do that.

[He just seems uncomfortable now.]

Who the hell is Pieces and why is he giving you orders?
softwarelacunae: (♪Where fantasy dies)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 07:46 am (UTC)(link)
[Sure is.]

If you are sure. I will append my database.

[Is Boone ready for more confusing information? No? Well, too bad.]

Pieces is my registered maintainer. As I am to stay with him until my system repairs are complete, I am sometimes tasked with retrieving items or running errands.
thumbsdown: (☢ they don't say)

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
[Okay, that didn't make much sense to him. INT: 3-]

You'll what your what now?

[System repairs? What is this guy, some kind of walking terminal?]
softwarelacunae: (♪I can't recall how it all began)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
Append my database.

[Hm. What would be a better...]

I will make a note in my programming that you would prefer me not to bow.

[I mean, you're technically not far off, Boone.]
thumbsdown: (☢ musing through memories)

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 07:55 am (UTC)(link)
Your programming, huh.

[He thinks of Rex, or a Mr Handy. Both are very obviously either robots or augmented. This guy? Not much of a giveaway, save for the weird mannerisms.]

So what, you're a robot? You don't look like one.
softwarelacunae: (♪An artificial dream)

[personal profile] softwarelacunae 2020-10-21 07:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Imagine if he met one that was properly made and didn't talk like he was cold-reading a script badly.]

Correct. I am an Artificial Companion, model FH-76854-XVY. We are designed to be functionally indistinguishable from humans under mild scrutiny, to assist them with their needs.
thumbsdown: (☢ cause i ain't change)

[personal profile] thumbsdown 2020-10-21 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
Okay.

[That model number is already something he doesn't remember.]

No offence, but you don't talk like a human. Didn't take much scrutiny on my end.

[He still isn't sure he believes him, but it's one hell of a lie so whatever, he'll go along with it.]

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