achates | [DAY 0] TDM.

[DAY 0] TDM.

Error in final launch sequence:
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹͚̽𝚡̰̍̂𝟸̠̯̘ͭͧ𝚌̭͉̺͖ͥ𝟿̳̰̒̇ͅ𝟷̦ͣ̉͌̅𝚋͓͎̈̒̀𝟻ͭ̌͂𝟷ͩ̓𝟾̦
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹̖͇͕̃𝚡͉̹̯͇̻̉̓̂𝟸͚̹͈͓̩͚̲̼͒̾𝚌̱̠͙̝̪͇̈̌̂̃̄ͭ𝟿̱̜̪͓̳̹ͤ̊̈́ͦͥ̑𝟷͖̱̝̀̒̇̂̄̈́̓̇ͅ𝚋̥̯͉̹͛͛̊ͤͦͩ𝟻̬̮̈́̋ͯ͛̉̐𝟷̋ͩ̔̔𝟾̼
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Debugger connection lost.
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Debugger connection lost.
Shutting down...
Rebooting
Download in Progress:
File download complete
Time elapsed during download operation: 00:12:33.131
Rebooting
Launching Demon Summoning Program. . .

You open your eyes to the end of the world, but you do not see it.

Instead what rouses you is screaming and crying, blood and tears: all around you are signs of life. Inside the overturned train, people begin to awaken, sprawled on the ground as if thrown violently from their seats, broken bones and bleeding wounds struggling to rise from the carpet of shattered glass from the windows at their feet. Emerging from the wreck, characters will find themselves at the edge of a dense forest, a towering stone wall at their backs. Bright eyes peer out from the shadows of the foliage, more and more blinking into view like stars in a darkening sky, but despite being drawn to the scent of blood that hangs heavy in the air, nothing steps out of the forest. Not yet.

None of the passengers can recall what happened, what they were doing on a train, where it was going- there's more they can't remember, but overshadowing the gaps of memory are things they have gained in return. A familiar item that is not theirs. A gemstone that feels lighter than it appears, as if hollow inside. And a device that wraps around their wrist (or rests on their head, or hangs around their neck, or however it presents itself to each character) that starts up on its own the moment the character turns their attention to it, as if waiting. Each character's COMP has a "navigator" selected at default, either "A☆L☆A" in bright neon orange, or "K5" in cool slate blue, although the presiding navigator can be freely switched between them.

Heya, boss! My name's Ala, your new navi!

You wanna know something really funny? Go ahead and touch the map on the corner of the screen to enlarge it. See all those little red dots? Those are demons out to kill you. Haha! You're surrounded!

Heya, boss! You can call me Keigo, your navigational AI.

If you touch the map on the corner of the screen, you can enlarge it and see the positions of all your allies. Looks like some of you are already heading out: see those little blue— oh. That one just disappeared. ... Try to stick together.

Along with providing a map with enemy/ally positions, the navigators will walk characters through the demon interaction, recruitment, and summoning processes, with advice varying between the two navigators (click to expand)

Just beat 'em up and force 'em to join! They can't say no if they're dead!

Nobody is immune to bribery, not even demons. What do you even have, though...? No matter what, don't let them get that life stone.

More demons incoming! Ooh, you're screwed. You'd better run! Don't worry, I won't tell.

Let's hide here. We'll wait here until that demon passes, then move!

Look, a body! Are they still alive? Wonder what's in their pockets...?

It's already too late to help. But better them being demon food than you.

Or, you could stay. There is nothing forcing anybody to leave the relative safety of the train. Those who stay behind will find the conductor's cabin empty, save for a small black cat perched on the headrest of the driver's seat that peers out with bright golden eyes at those who enter. Otherwise, there are no signs of a fight or struggle inside the cabin. Elsewhere, there is unclaimed luggage in the overhead compartments with an abundance of clothing and blankets, although characters will not find any of their own clothing except what they're already wearing. The dining cart is still stocked with enough food and beverage to last each passenger at least two days— maybe longer, if people keep leaving/dying... But at the same time, maybe shorter, considering the pervasive hunger that gnaws at the pits of everybody's stomachs, an emptiness that yearns to be filled by something... more.

As minutes stretch into hours, it becomes painfully clear that nobody is coming to help. Everybody only has each other, this town, its inhabitants. The forest is dark and unforgiving, near impossible to navigate even with a map. Strange creatures jump out from the shadows, eyes bright, mouths salivating, hungry. Strong hands claw through the dirt underfoot to grab at people's feet, pulling themselves up, mouths wide open, hungry. Sharp talons swoop down from the skies above, snatching characters up into the air, crushing skulls and snapping spines. Hungry. The demons here seem delighted to see such a feast wandering right into their home; those who are stopped for attempted conversation express surprise that characters are able to see them, but ultimately the hunger wins, and hunger does not listen to reason.

Casualties are inevitable. Blood mist permeates the air, and follows even as characters break out of the forest and across town, all the way to the fraying end of the world. Out in the open, however, the sun rays beat down bright and harsh, and those hungry eyes shy away from the sunlight to remain in the shadows, inside husks of buildings and thickets of overgrown fields. Characters will be able to find refuge in the greenhouse and the church, and some of the standing houses are truly vacant (as opposed to "surprise! there's actually a demon inside!" vacant); the only eyes that follow you are those of photographs hung crooked on the walls, of familiar strangers and forgotten friends. Look, there's a picture of you too.

Other locations require more caution to explore:

The sound of crying can be heard from the upper stories of the school building, thin wails echoing up and down the deserted halls, and human-like shadows peer out from the broken, unboarded windows, as if watching. A barricade inside the front doors makes it difficult to enter from the main entrance, and with most of the windows boarded up, the hallways inside remain dark even during the day. The smell of rot is prominent, heavy and cloying, especially in the auditorium-become-mausoleum that is littered with crushed bones, thin and brittle, every last scrap of flesh already nibbled away. A flock of demons crowd around outside principal's office, where a blizzard blows through the entire hallway, rendering visibility near zero and temperatures below that.

The hospital is also deathly cold, breath visible in puffs of mist that sometimes form into screaming faces, and when all is still and quiet, you look up and see yourself. Shadows form into mirror images of the characters who enter the hospital, silently approaching others and attacking once the person's guard is down. If a demon borrowing your face isn't bad enough, Phantoms go a step further and take the form of people who are close to your character: friends, family, foes. Exploring the hospital may or may not be worth the potential backstabbing, considering the fact that the supplies found are maybe not the most sterile, half the equipment is rusted or corroded, and a lot of the medicine is unlabeled tablets and capsules inside unlabeled bottles (essentially, take at your own risk). Moreover, hordes of all sorts of demon ghosts will bar characters' way down to the basement, gathering in massive numbers anytime somebody tries to descend. Electricity bounces around the top of the stairway down, while bright flames lick the bottom of the stairs; particularly unlucky characters may be hit with a confusion spell, liable to throw themselves headfirst down the stairs to be consumed by the waiting demons below.

Hauntingly beautiful music can be heard from within the concert hall, and listening to their song puts you fast asleep— possibly in the middle of the street if you're not careful— while those who manage to make it past the front doors are immediately frozen in a hunk of ice or electrocuted to a crisp before being kicked to the curb. The concert hall appears to be actively guarded, and it's clear that strangers are Not Welcome. Even the other demons keep clear of this building, drawn to the music but lingering far enough to not be overwhelmed. Characters may have an easier time of initiating conversations with demons from around town or inside the houses nearby the concert hall.

The crackle of electricity can be heard from inside the power plant's upper stories despite the blackout, and the entire building shakes from time to time, as if caught in a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. A slow drip... drip... drip... can be heard throughout the building, of amorphous demons clinging to the walls like mold and leaving puddles of caustic acid Everywhere. Anybody who enters the power plant's front entrance is met with a massive agglomerate of black Ooze that has expanded to fill the entire first floor from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, preventing anybody from going upstairs while it remains. Arms and legs poke out of the demon's body in places, desperately clawing and kicking, weaker, weaker. done.

OOC

Welcome to Day 0! What better meet-and-greet is there than everybody being tossed into the fray to fight for their lives? ('': For convenience, here are the game info, locations, and demon compendium pages; please use these as reference for what more can be found in the setting.

The characters' COMP will turn on only after they notice and focus on it. If they do NOT activate the COMP, they will not be able to see the demons or interact with them in any way other than being killed. Activating the COMP will allow characters to see demons and somewhat understand their language, with an added effect of allowing physical attacks to harm demons, and mitigating the damage taken from demons.

For characters who app and are accepted, please report demon recruitment here. Characters who are just tdming do not have to report. Recruited demons are inclined to listen to their summoner, but are not necessarily friendly at the beginning: if your character shows weakness, the demon may be just as likely to eat them as they are to protect them.

There will be no NPCs in this game other than the two navigators and some key demons. You're on your own for now!

This first event/tdm is open to the public, and can be used for test driving at any time after the game starts. I'll be keeping a pulse on threads for when characters have gotten their bearings and seem to have a general idea of how they want to proceed into the next day, and we'll go from there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

a. talking to myself on the way to the station (train)
[The moment she wakes up, Alice's mind races through her checklist. Any injuries? No; she's covered in blood, but none of it's hers. (It doesn't disturb her as much as it should.) What about immediate threats? The growing mass of eyes shining in the darkness send a shiver down her spine, but it doesn't look like they're about to make a move. What's the situation in her immediate environment? Safe, at the moment, filled with enough people screaming their heads off that Alice should be able to slip away without too much trouble.

Alice usually travels light, so checking her belongings is pointless most of the time, but she does it anyways just to be thorough- and is rewarded for her efforts with three enigmas. She ignores the gem and the COMP for now, instead focusing on the real mystery: the half-eaten candy bar in her hand.]

Ugh. I don't even like chocolate.

b. pictures in my head of the final destination (hospital)
[Under normal circumstances, Alice would avoid the hospital like the plague. It doesn't just look like a deathtrap, it feels like one- her every instinct yells at her to save herself the trouble and find somewhere safe to bunk down for the night instead.

...but these aren't normal circumstances, and a hospital ripe for pillaging is too juicy an opportunity to pass up. So here she is in the pharmacy, checking the contents of pill containers with her mouth drawn into a thin line while her twitch Hare of Inaba keeps lookout.

It squeaks and nearly bolts when someone new turns the corner, but Alice just sighs and gives the demon a scritch between the ears to calm it down.]

You know, if you have time to gawk at strangers, you might as well actually help.

c. all lined up, all the ones who aren't allowed to stay (cemetery)
[The search for a place to bunk down for the night that wasn't already filled with screaming survivors attracting too much attention for Alice's liking led her to the church. The skeletons don't bother her, really. But what she finds in the cemetery does: a gravestone labeled simply,]

ARKOS JUNGHART

...figures. [Alice's face is meticulously blank. After a moment, she gives the gravestone a vicious kick.]

d. trying to save myself, but my self keeps slipping away (church)
[Alice leans against one of the stained glass windows, illuminated by the light of the fading sun as she tosses an unlabeled pill bottle up and down. She'd risked life and limb for the handful of powdery teal tablets inside. So why is she hesitating to take them?]

What am I missing?

e. wildcard
(find me at

aerialism if you want to plot out something else!)

Edited 2024-08-29 20:46 (UTC)

_{[ An extremely affected titter, titter comes from just out the corner of her eye.

Wow, when did THAT guy get here. He sure seems profoundly hard to miss: tall and eerily, gray-tinged pale, with feathers in his hair that are such an exact match for its shade the question's raised if maybe they're just, part of him? (they are.) ]}

What interesting priorities.

_{[ despite the situation, this guy seems to basically ooze with the self assurance of an ambling big cat. danger who. mystery where. he's toying with the gemstone he was left with: a blue sphere with a large gouge in its side, showing off a brilliant red core. ]}

[It's a fair question, but for some reason, it still irritates Alice. Maybe it's because he reminds her of Giallon.]

Out of all the junk that was in my pockets when I woke up, the chocolate makes the least sense. Everyone else has a gadget and one of those gems; only the candy doesn't fit the pattern. [She glares at the wrapper. Exactly half of the bar is gone, as if someone left part of it for her.] What kind of loser would even bother messing with me like this?

Edited 2024-08-29 23:23 (UTC)

Who knows? Maybe someone was using you to dump their garbage because they were too lazy to find a can. People do strange things when in a panic.

_{[ biiig stretch. ]}

Whyyy, I once watched a man try to run from a monster... but he'd been pushing this cart, yes...? Full of... apples, or bags of grain, or something, I can hardly recall.

Anyway, he couldn't think of what to do with it! He kept making these little false starts... hee, hee. Left, right! Like how a spider jitters when you jar its web.

Sooo.. maybe they were running and everything but your pocket was too covered in broken glass...

Or...

_{[ with a flourish, he's produced a dying rose from his sleeve. a dull maroon is all that's left of the vivid color that was once in the petal. he tilts it left, right. careful not to knock loose any of its remaining petals. ]}

Waking up with random trash... IS a real part of the mystery on our hands.

[When Kuja looks back at Alice, she's fiddling with a camera, paying almost no attention to him whatsoever.]

Huh. Silvia's camera. Eugh. If I run into her here, then I'm really going to lose it.

Anyways, I've changed my mind. Right now, my number one question is why you're such a creep. [He really is just like Giallon. Alice hates Kuja already.]

Edited 2024-08-30 00:11 (UTC)

_{[ he hasn't even yet BEGUN to unleash his full creepy power level ]}

Creep! Hmph! Excuse you that you can't appreciate good patter! Just because I wasn't acting short and surly...

_{[ goodbye withering rose. see you later withering rose. it's gone back into sleeve purgatory now. ]}

Anyway, I'm the company you've got, unless you've seen anyone else still rooting around in this part of the train.

Edited (typo) 2024-08-30 00:41 (UTC)

[Alice looks left. Looks right. Checks the ceiling. She even nudges a few of the more intact-looking corpses with her foot before giving up with a put-upon sigh.]

Unfortunately not.

Normally, I'd rather take a hike across Olympia by myself than deal with a clown like you, but, [she scowls at the hungry eyes in the dark,] it doesn't look like I have any other choice right now.

Alice Machias | Metallic Rouge | OTA

a. please bear with me as i get used to doing nonecats style again

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lmao the gag tag

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