MAY TDM

[monstertruckers]

code

Things are a little stranger than usual at the gas station and garage. Namely that gravity just isn't working as it should. Objects float, pieces of the floor float... Even unlucky new arrivals can also find themselves floating! It's going to be a challenge to get around without any scrapes or scratches... Though at least there's what looks like a hospital nearby? Granted, it's an upside down hospital, but it's better than nothing.

01: SUMMONING CIRCLE

Drifters come to with an odd floating sensation hooked into their stomachs, and instead of laying on the concrete find themselves drifting a foot or two above the floor. An unfortunate few may be stuck on the ceiling. Whether they crash down hard into the floor (and the various vials, daggers, and broken glass scattered about) or remain floating in the air is a coin toss.

Still, it might be best to lend a hand with pulling them back to the ground, and hoping gravity will work as normal in another breath or two.

Once they make their way out, they can see a gas station and garage located in the midst of strange, floating rocks… And an upside down hospital close by, for those who had a rougher landing.

02: START UP

New arrivals will have a similar experience to before; a Convoy waiting for them, and a collection of vehicles, one of which feels like it belongs to them. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.

…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the (sometimes floating) supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.

And hopefully no one's vehicle has decided to float. But one can never be sure in a place like this.

03: HUSKS AND HAUNTS

The inverted hospital seems to have trouble deciding the exact formation of its hallways, whether the new arrivals should be walking on the ceiling, floors, or walls. But one thing that is certain: this place isn’t entirely deserted. Warnings of “Beware the Husks” have been spray painted on the walls. Metallic bodies line those same halls, some of them broken open. A wet trail leads from the broken Husks to the rafters… Where several odd monsters wait to drop down. Some look like they’ve merged with the hospital equipment, while others look like they’ve been cobbled together from different body parts. And all of them look ready to turn the newcomers into a corpse, or part of a specimen collection.

Strange, malformed chimeric creatures that are Unknown stalk the hallways. Unknowns come in three different colors, red aligned with fire, green with poison, and purple with lightning.

Adding to that are the various screens flickering on, and diagnose new arrivals as infected. The screens declare the infection seems to be contained, but requires further study… And if the monsters aren't enough to worry about, there’s also the restraint systems trying to activate and tie the new arrivals down.

04: TESTING (CW: Needles)

The deeper someone plunges into the hospital, the more the building reacts to them. More defenses are deployed, treating them as thieves or intruders. Traps and monsters alike wait for them, with syringes melded into the forms of attackers, or lining places where someone might step or reach for. The syringes make a quick bite on skin… But it’s only a few minutes later where the effects become clear. Something in those syringes is now in the blood and forcing monster transformations. There might be an antidote amongst the supplies… Or the newcomers might need to rely on each other, in order to stay anchored.

The needles can also force temporary Swarm traits, along with:
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to hunt and share their prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.

05: LONG WAY DOWN

A portion of the gas station breaks away with groan and a rumble. And it is slowly pulled up and up, taking a portion of new comers with it! They (and anyone watching) will need to act fast, as gravity starts to go weird the further they rise. They’ll need to find a way back down, taking any supplies from the now-floating garage that they can grab.

What’s more, they are drifting closer to the broken moon, and that seems to be having a strange effect on those stranded on the new floating ruin. They may start to feel their control fray, and their forms shift, the higher they rise.

In terms of getting back down, there’s a handful of tow lines in the ruin that might work as ropes. There’s also a few pieces of rock that are floating up more slowly, and could work as stairs back down… Or there’s just jumping and falling fifty feet and hoping for the best.

06: PSYCHIC ECHOES

There's one last quirk to this area; a few scattered bits of odd plantlife, and the odd dead brain monster. While these things aren't a threat on their own (beyond being unnerving) they still pack a psychic punch; mainly in the form of temporary psychic abilities.

It's possible that after coming in contact with either plants or corpses, newcomers will find themselves gifted with either empathy (projecting or receiving emotions) telepathy, OR the ability to share their dreams with others, and having their dreams influenced by others in turn. This effect fades in just a day or so, but is still capable of causing mishaps.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Broadcast: The garage contains a few burnt out monitors. But a handful of them are playing a message over and over again on loop, filled with static. It’s a recording of important looking people in lab coats advising people to remain indoors and avoiding all objects falling from the sky. Especially “moon shards.” They insist that they are working to contain and cure the infection, but the safest action is to remain inside.

Warped Air: As seen in Long Way Down, the air overhead has strange warped pockets in it. There seem to be slightly different shards hanging suspended in the air, looking more silvery than the surrounding rocks. Almost like it could have fallen from the broken moon overhead.

Medical supplies: Most of the medical supplies found in the hospital seem to consist of healing salves and potions, a handful of healing herbs, and a few antidotes for poison or sickness. As for reverting transformations… It’s advised that new comers be careful of taking any experimental medicine. It may revert a change. It may also leave them hallucinating nightmares and fears, and they’ll be wanting someone close by to help administer the drug.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS

Comments

[phantomshow]

[He wants to hear everything she has to say, and tell her everything, too. Ren isn’t typically a big talker, especially about himself; he’s more used to letting others carry their conversations and saying only what’s needed. But with Kotone, he feels like he can tell her anything, and he wants to be known as much as he wants to know her, too.]

That’s right, [he nods,] I’m seventeen too. Just finished my second year at Shujin Academy in Tokyo. I’m not from there originally, though.

[He sobers a bit. Might as well get this part over with.]

My parents sent me there to stay with a guardian for the year. I was on probation.

[xxiis]

That sounds difficult. I can only imagine how much you struggled. It's sad how sometimes people are quick to label others because of things beyond their control.

[For a moment, Kotone goes silent. She's not the type to judge people before getting to know them more. Ren seemed like a very kind and upstanding young man. He probably had reasons for his circumstances. After all, she remembers learning from Igor that not everything is as it seems.]

You probably didn't have much of a say in anything, did you?

[phantomshow]

[Ren is surprised to find himself so relieved that Kotone has such a kind reaction to his confession. Even after all this time, the expectation of being met with fear, distrust, and rejection is difficult to discard.

And he was more of a pawn then than he ever knew until so much later. Ren shakes his head.]

My parents did what they thought was best. I’d been expelled from my old high school, and there wasn’t another school any closer to my hometown that would’ve accepted a student with a criminal record.

[He shrugs. Convincing everyone, including himself, that every point of what happened to him wasn’t a big deal is what he needs to do to keep the primal, unbridled rage that boils inside of him over such an injustice from eating him alive like so much acid.]

I was falsely accused of assault, and the man who accused me was very powerful. That’s how I ended up with a record.

[Ren shoves the memory of Shido’s face to the back of his mind. For as much harm as he’d caused Ren, there were others who’d been hurt far worse. And his heart had been changed. Shido would have to live with the weight of his crimes until the end of his days.]

It wasn’t all bad, though. I made some really good friends in Tokyo, and I never would’ve found the Metaverse if I hadn’t been sent there. And the conviction did get overturned, eventually.

[Ah, here’s the door. Ren pushes it open and points to the dusty, faded black Citroën H van parked a few feet from the entrance.]

This is it.

[xxiis]

[When Ren explains his story, Kotone remains quiet. She's going to let him finish without interrupting. Her willingness to hear him out without any prejudice makes her different from most. While she listens to him, her expression shows great understanding and sympathy. Ren had never commited a crime but he still had to deal with a criminal record. Kotone thinks that people were probably rude to him in the past if they knew his background. Her impression of him is a good one in fact! She's happy his verdict got overrturned and things worked out. Though, it still sounded difficult so her enthusiasm deflates into a more serious expression.]

You've been through a lot. Despite everything, you still managed to set things straight. At least you didn't have to go through it alone.

[Ren deservee to have people that care about him. To Kotone, he's not just a Persona user but also a fighter. She finds herself respecting him for his resilience.]

Did the relationships you form affect the stength of your Persona?

[She examines his van and nods. They can talk there and have more privacy.]

[phantomshow]

[He shrugs, pulling open the van’s rear doors with a gesture of invitation for Kotone to climb in. The back half of the van is bare floor, but it’s clean, and there’s more space than the bench seats in the front can offer. Ren can also keep a better eye out for danger through the back, should any decide to approach.

He has been through a lot, but sympathy, though appreciated, wasn’t the point of telling her everything he has up to now. It’s necessary context for the rest of his story.]

It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. [Ren takes a seat in the doorway of the van, slouched with his legs dangling over the edge.] I did form bonds, and they made me stronger, not just my Personas.

[He smiles wistfully, fond fragments of memories with his friends flashing through his mind. The church with Yusuke. Ramen with Ryuji. Crafting lockpicks with Morgana in his attic bedroom. The rooftop of the school with Ann and Shiho. Makoto throwing herself at Kaneshiro’s goons in Shibuya. The jazz club with Akechi.

Sitting in chains on the floor of his Velvet Room cell, listening to the twins rattle on about his “rehabilitation” tasks.]

I was told that the state of the Velvet Room reflected the state of my heart. Were you told the same?

[xxiis]

Really? Igor had told me something a little different. He mentioned that only people that signed a contract could enter. Then this kid gave me a form and told me that I was responsible for my own actions.

[Well, she's happy to hear that those bonds made a significant impact on Ren. Kotone can say the same thing about her relationships. They're meaningful to her. Of course, relationships are an important part of life. ]

The Velvet Room I went to was more like an elevator that just kept going up forever. Does that sound familiar to you in any way?

[phantomshow]

Mm. He mentioned the contract to me as well.

[He wonders … does the Velvet Room usually take the shape of an elevator? Was the fact that his Velvet Room wasn’t the same just part of Yaldabaoth’s elaborate manipulation of him? Or was there truth in what Ren was told about the state of his heart shaping the Velvet Room’s appearance?]

No. The Velvet Room I saw was a prison. [His mouth pulls into a tight line.] I was told I was “a prisoner of fate” and that I needed to be “rehabilitated” in order to avoid the ruin that was coming.

[Ren shrugs and glances over to her.]

I didn’t learn until much later that the Igor I met then and worked with for many months wasn’t the real Igor. My wardens, Caroline and Justine, were really Lavenza, and she’d been torn into two parts by that fake Igor - the God of Control, Yaldabaoth.