duplicitymemes | TDM #19

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«tdm

TDM #19

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « ALL ON DISPLAY

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit. Yet, solace is found in the lies we tell each other, comforted by the peace of knowing that we're not alone in our depravity, and once on this path, sin itself becomes the lesser of two evils masked in a cloud of normalcy.

This is how Duplicity has functioned since the beginning. The divide of power and social standing is overt in that Dominants influence the decisions made both publicly and privately while Submissives cater to the rules presented to them. It is the way of Duplicity to assign random designations at birth with no leeway in altering what has been given. Climate in the Up is far stricter than that of the Down; violating outlined personas for a Dominant or Submissive while in full view of others is punished by degree of infraction. In the Down, many tend to turn a blind eye to these sorts of offenses.

To counteract the discovery of the Deceit Gene – a natural "negative" response to all stimuli – the L.I.E.S. program was founded. The program had been designed to introduce new subjects to the current environment and test for the Deceit Gene through immersion in Duplicity's standing society. Sexual impulses and encounters increase the chances of detecting the gene within these individuals. Participants are typically released from L.I.E.S. after a year; however, results have remained unsatisfactory and testing still continues.

... and you're here! Finally! Welcome to Duplicity.

After choosing a door and stepping through to the other side, the first thing that greets you are the enthusiastic faces of people in medical scrubs and pristine lab coats. Their enthusiasm translates to eagerness as they strip you of your clothes to perform a thorough examination—you will be healed, bathed, and given a clear plastic top and pants along with clear plastic boots to wear until your items can be processed and delivered to your residence later in the evening. You are also given a device that accesses the network as well as the time and location of orientation.

If you enter Duplicity into the Up, congratulations! You're a Dominant, which means you are immediately picked up by a limo after processing and taken to your high rise. Here, it is two Dominants per floor with separate apartments. If you enter Duplicity into the Down, congratulations! You're a Submissive, which means you are directed towards public transportation with the address of the motel you'll be living in. Here, it is two Submissives per room with a shared common space for all rooms. ...At least, this would normally be the case.

Enjoy your free time until orientation! Participation is mandatory by all new and old arrivals.

The weather is stormy and miserable. There's flooding. Quite a bit of it.

» » » VIRTUAL VOYAGE

(cw: voyeurism, privacy violations)

Ordinarily, new arrivals to Duplicity are sent on a tour of the city by train, but with the tracks currently underwater this month's tour is a little different. Instead they will assemble in a conference room on the third floor of the Orientation Center and watch a video that highlights the many beautiful locations of the Up, such as White Wall Bridge, Fiddler's Square, and North Park, complete with cheesy voiceover. The video also displays some… less beautiful landmarks in the Down, though that segment is shorter and much less complimentary.

After the video concludes, it's time for the interactive portion of the tour! Tablets will be handed out, though there aren't enough for everyone so some people will have to share. These tablets are set up with a program allowing characters to look through various cameras in public areas around the city. They can click from one camera view to the next to explore or tap the 'randomize' button and see where they end up. There seems to be a glitch with the latter feature, however, that enables it to tap into camera feeds that aren't part of the carefully curated tour path. Security cameras in the lobbies and hallways of apartment buildings, hidden cameras in hotel rooms, webcams, and even the cameras on the communication devices that they all carry — any of these might pop up amidst the regular street views. Characters may suddenly find themselves a silent third party to a video call or spying on another LIER in an intimate moment. The question is, will they keep watching or click away?

« « « SOGGY SLEEPOVER

Due to the ongoing watery crisis, temporary accommodations have been arranged for until new arrivals are able to move into their assigned housing. Officials explain that the Submissive housing in the Down is partially flooded out and that the Dominant building in the Up, while not faring nearly as badly, has been experiencing electrical issues. As the apartments available to new Dominants are mainly on higher floors, this means an exhausting climb when the power goes out. In either case, the situation is not ideal.

For now, Submissives are given blankets and sleeping bags in a hastily cleared-out hotel ballroom. There's plenty of floor space to spread out, but little else with which to create a sense of privacy. An adjoining set of restrooms provides the basic facilities (including a lube dispenser!) though a bath in the sink is as good as it gets for hygiene. Several room service carts loaded with bottled water and suggestively-named cheap pre-packaged snacks are refilled twice daily at meal times. If the Submissives sheltering here wish to better their circumstances, well, perhaps they should find a Dom to shack up with and sign a contract.

Dominants each get a room to themselves, though LIEs haven't exactly sprung for the fanciest accommodations. Five star? Not even close. The rooms are small and garishly decorated, with minimal amenities. There's a tv on the dresser that only gets five channels — four of which are porn and the remaining channel is local news and weather. (No matter which channel you're watching, the immediate forecast is: wet.) At least they have a full bathroom. The hotel isn't serving food, but a few complimentary meal vouchers for a nearby restaurant can be found on the nightstand along with a 'sexy' welcome basket consisting of lube packets and a cheap vibrating dildo. All Dominants are strongly encouraged to visit the emergency Submissive shelter and rescue a Sub in need. PSAs featuring sad stock photos will be sent to their devices as a reminder.

« « « TAKE THE STAIRS

(cw: aphro, dub-con)

With the steadily rising water and heavy rain, Duplicity’s utilities are feeling the strain of being increasingly waterlogged. The city is dotted with pockets of temporary power outages lasting a few hours at a time. It’s concerning, but there isn’t much city officials and engineers can do about their soaked infrastructure. All they can do is try to manage the blackouts and pray that a citywide one doesn’t befall the Up and Down.

The area where the Orientation Center is situated is unfortunately prone to losing power, and those characters who decide to take the elevator instead of the stairs while attending Orientation may find themselves stopped in the dark with the doors sealed shut. The emergency system kicks in after a minute with dim red lighting and a voice over the intercom tells those trapped to keep calm. In addition to the emergency lights, a recording of smooth jazz will play over the intercom and air laced with a special blend of aphrodisiac will filter into the enclosed space. One last message over the intercom from whoever is on the other end reassures the stuck parties that the main power should be back on in an hour and in the meantime they should relax.

So, what will you do with your trapped elevator buddy? You may find yourself wanting to sit next to them and open up about your feelings. Maybe you're feeling blabby, ready to get some things off your chest, or maybe you're more touchy-feely and you'd prefer to let your body do the talking. You have time, so why not take comfort in one another while waiting for the power to resume?

« « « GET WET

(cw: aphro, altered mental states, dub-con, exhibitionism)

With the water level now at an all time high and with no sign of stopping, the locals are trying to avoid going out in it as much as possible. This need to stay dry (or at least not wade through murky water on the streets) has created quite a few job opportunities for those looking to make a quick buck. Whether it’s helping transport someone on a makeshift raft by pushing them slowly through the street or delivering food and other orders to customers, the demand is there.

New arrivals will be offered these gigs, regardless of designation. Whether they decide to take on the jobs is up to them, but the incentive to do so includes an offer of better accommodations in a penthouse suite of Somass Hotel for those who provide the best service. It’s certainly an upgrade compared to the other lodgings that are available.

Of course, there’s good reason the locals want to stay as dry as possible, aside from the annoyance of soggy clothes and pruney fingers. The murky water is contaminated with run-off chemicals from the waterlogged storm drains, that, with extended exposure, may cause irrational and impulsive behavior, especially with regards to sex. Get in an argument? Better fuck to make up. Want to bargain for a deal? Use your body. See someone whose rain boots are pretty stylish? Compliment them by offering yourself. Cause a problem with sex? Solve it with… even more sex.

There’s also an even more unexpected side effect that’s cropped up - the urge to sing and dance in the rain, as if putting on an impromptu burlesque show. Wet clothes will be shed and tossed aside in the fervor of the act, baring it all to the elements and whatever audience might’ve formed in the process to watch the spectacle.

« « « MOD & OOC NOTES

Please read carefully.

On each Test Drive Meme, there will be a section noting character roles; these will vary each TDM. On an IC level, characters will still have gone through the doors but assignments OOCly are still randomized. When applying, there is a section of the application that denotes whether the character chooses "left" or "right". When participating on the TDM, there will be a third option. Players may link either a top level or a thread (five or more comments from their character) from the TDM and title the link as "Door Pass". This means that the player is choosing to take the designation that they were randomly assigned on the TDM, rather than taking the designation of a door. If the player decides to select a door rather than use the pass, then they are trying their luck; they may get the same designation they had on the TDM or the opposite. Once the application is submitted, players can't change their choice.

To assign roles to characters for this TDM, use the following guide:

If your character can swim well and independently, they’re a Submissive. If your character cannot swim at all or needs assistance (flotation device), they’re a Dominant.

To Note: Characters can only swap their designation for one of the following reasons: an event occurs that allows it or there are OOC reasons that make it a necessity. Any swap always requires mod approval and each character can only ever switch once. Characters that are being reapped will keep their previous designation but players can choose to use new TDMs with different designations for fun!

Test Drive threads can be used as activity proofs for characters currently in-game.

Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have a good time!!

» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not only willingly announce his presence through the force, but in words too. This is the weirdest day yet.

Skywalker. That's a name he knows, but not Luke Skywalker. So they have to be related. Maybe a family with at least one force sensitive one is likely to have another? That would make sense. Could be a brother or cousin or something.

If only he could ask Cere, but he hasn't found her yet.

"Oh, uh ..." He looks down at the raft, then raises his head with a sheepish smile. "I'm technically working. They probably wouldn't be happy if I just ditched."

Luke swings his legs, boots not quite touching the water. Very carefully so. "They never mind if a submissive leaves somewhere with a Dominant. Especially not if that submissive is uncontracted. They're hopeful that there will be a click and a contract." He shrugs slightly. "But I also don't want you to do something you're not comfortable with. I wold still like to take you out for a meal and a talk. You're hiding yourself really well, but you don't need to here. While this place is awful in some ways, it's safe to be Force sensitive here. There's a few of us."

He makes a doubtful grimace. While he's more inclined to believe Luke than not, because he seems truthful, distrust is his best defense.

Is it all right if he just leaves the raft here? He considers it for a moment, looking between the balcony and the raft, then decides that it actually doesn't matter. He can come back for it later, or someone else might find use for it. If they really don't mind him wandering off with a Dominant, this should be fine too, right? Since he's leaving with a Dominant.

Even if that thought makes him mildly uncomfortable.

"Sure, you can buy me a meal," he says, finally, and pushes the raft closer to the balcony so he can tie it there.

Once it's secure, he makes his way onto the balcony. If Luke is still offering his hand, he'll take it, but if not, he'll get up fine on his own.

It's not really an idea that Luke's comfortable with either, hence his determination to use his privileged position to help as many people as possible.

The hand is still offered and he helps pull Cal up onto the platform with him. "Be careful of the water. There's chemicals in it that lower inhibitions. Something to do with a major chemical factory being flooded?" He hadn't caught the exact details. "What can I call you?"

His nose scrunches up slightly as he peers back at the water. That's not something they deemed necessary to inform him of, probably to not discourage him from taking the job offer. He'd concluded that something must be up because most people were clearly trying very hard to avoid the water, but he hadn't known what exactly.

"Cal," he says, turning back to Luke with a slight smile. "Kestis." His eyes flicker down to the crystal around Luke's neck. "Where did you get that crystal?"

Luke's hand went to the crystal. "I made it. Natural kyber are just about impossible to get hold of in my time, so when I had to make a new lightsaber, I had to make a synthetic one."

Yeah, the type that frequently caused lightsabers to explode.

"They took my actual lightsaber, but I'm working on a replacement now. I just need to find something sensitive enough to handle the energy fluctuations without burning out doing so. I've done it before, I can again, it's just annoying."

Of course, kyber crystals are difficult to get a hold of. They were never really meant to be readily available in great quantities, because Jedi always travelled to Ilum to find their crystals. To him, it had been the most important step in his journey to becoming a Jedi. Now, unless they decide to try to stop it, the Empire is going to mine Ilum dry and take it all for themselves.

But the way Luke puts it is ... strange. He wants to ask why they took Luke's lightsaber, because he still has his own, but this is more pressing.

"Your time?"

"Hm." Luke looks somewhere else, then back to Cal and rubs a hand through his hair. "Right. So, this place takes people from different places, but also different times of the same place. Different points of the same timeline, or potential timeline? I'm not sure. Like, if we use the declaration of the creation of the Empire as a reference point, I'm from twenty three years after that. My contract, Din, he's from twenty eight years after that. But Obi-Wan is from that year, and Padmé is from before it. But we're all from the same galaxy and know roughly the same events. Oh, and there's Poe, he's from about.... twenty five years, thirty years further along than where I'm from..."

He pauses and huffs a breath and gives Cal a slightly lost look. "It's sort of confusing and wonderful at once."

Confusing sounds right. Wonderful? He's not so sure about that yet. So far, all he can think is that he'll be worried about saying something that he shouldn't have or hearing something he didn't want to hear. And neither of those sound good.

"It's been five years for me," he says, if only because he can't think of what else to say.

So Luke, who right now looks to be about the same age as him, would have been a child back home. Something about this whole thing makes him very uneasy.

In Cal's time, Luke is five and already obsessed with flying and racing and jumping off things like a normal child.

"I'm so sorry," he says softly. "Do you want a hug? You sound like you need a hug."

If Luke is a Jedi, he must have been trained by a Jedi, in which case it's not strange that he'd know about the Purge. Cal might have preferred to not bring attention to it, though. Even if he's a lot better than he was even just a few months ago, it's still an open wound.

And as kind as Luke seems, they've only just met. So Cal offers a smile, and says:

"No. I'm okay." Time to move on. "Why did they take your lightsaber?"

Because he still has his.

"All right." He doesn't press the matter. He just knows that Cal aches and sometimes... nothing can really help that but time.

"I don't know. I seem to be the only one they did it to. Obi-Wan has his and- Apparently Anakin had his." He tries to use Anakin, like with Padmé, to differentiate the people here from his own time. "Even Din has the Darksaber."

"That's weird."

Luke seems oddly calm about it, but maybe he's just come to terms with it. That, and if he's able to just build a new one, Cal supposes there's no point in worrying too much about it. Being without your lightsaber is stressful, though, and the fact that they might just choose to take it with no explanation is frankly infuriating.

It took a lot of effort to make the one he has now. If he ever has to start over again, he swears ...

There are so many things he could ask, and so many he's not sure he actually wants answers to.

"You said something about food?"

Building a lightsaber is, for Luke, easy. The crystal was the hard part. "Yeah. And a bit frustrating. It's not like it will take me long once I get everything together but it just seems... petty?"

He nods and gestures. "Yeah, there's a pretty decent place this way that's moved to the top floor of the building. "Do you have any preferences for food?"

He makes a noise of agreement. It does seem petty. Why exactly they'd target Luke, though ... Maybe they'll never know.

"Not really. I'll just get something cheap." Even if Luke's the one who offered, he doesn't want to take too much. "It doesn't take much to beat what I was eating back home."

He loves you really, Greez.

Edited (for clarity) 2021-07-18 19:31 (UTC)

"Sure." Luke won't push on this either. Even being able to provide a decent, if cheap, meal is being allowed to help a fellow Jedi. "I can only imagine. I know the lengths that Obi-Wan and Master Yoda went to to stay hidden and it didn't include amazing food." He starts leading them over roof tops, showing that carelessly easy grace of a Jedi walking on narrow ledges and jumping across spaces.

So Luke did train with Jedi. Two, even? The thought that at least two more Jedi survive the Purge is enough to make his heart leap in his chest. Not that it's all that surprising. Especially Master Yoda was a force to be reckoned with. If anyone would have survived, it would be him.

Didn't matter how strong you were, though. The survivors were still simply too few to do anything but hide. He and the rest of the Mantis crew only survived by the skin of their teeth.

"Are they the Jedi who trained you?"

He follows along with the same ease, occasionally looking down into the flooded streets below. Never know when someone might need help.

"Master Yoda did. Ben, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I knew him as Ben, he never had a chance to really train me. He taught me a few basics, but we only had a few days together before he died. Then I was more or less self teaching for a few years until I pointed towards Master Yoda."

And he learned a lot about 'How not to die when Vader comes for you'.

Luke's keeping an eye on their surrounds. And by eye, the Force, the Force will tell him if someone needs his help. "Did you grow up in the Temple?"

For the past five years, Cal had carried his master's death on his shoulders, along with the uncertainty of how many others survived and the knowledge that very few probably did. When he never heard anything from the Council, and when Cere revealed that the Council was gone, like he'd feared, it was like he'd been carrying the weight of the entire Jedi Order too. Even if he didn't know Master Kenobi personally, and even though this death would happen over a decade into his future, it pains him to hear it.

He swallows thickly, and tries to shake the heaviness in his chest. He can think about that later.

"Yeah, I did. And kind of on a Star Destroyer, after I became a Padawan."

Cal feels it and Luke- Luke feels it as well, the echo of guilt and pain, of watching a master die so that you will live.

"Is it too painful to remember? I don't want to make you dig up things that are still raw." He knows it too well to inflict it on someone else. "We're just up here, so you know."

"No, it's okay. I'm all right now. I'm really happy to hear more of us survived."

If only he could tell Cere about it. But he supposes he'll get a chance sooner or later. Hopefully.

Luke pauses and then nods slowly. "All right. If you want to talk about growing up in the Temple, I'd love to hear. I grew up on a moisture farm on Tatooine, so I don't really know a thing about what it was like to grow up there. Obi-Wan says it was like one big family, that he never felt an absence of birth parents or blood relatives because he had his Jedi family."

"Yeah. I don't even remember my family. I guess that might sound sad, but ..." He shrugs. "I don't know. All I could think about was finally becoming a Jedi Knight. I wanted to be a hero. Didn't have time to think about anything else."

It sure didn't turn out like all the dreams he'd had, but in a way, he supposes he accomplished it too.

Not that he'd call himself a hero, but he's done something good, at least. Something important that felt right.

"Being a hero can be overrated," Luke says softly. "I mean, helping people is great, but the rest of it can be- yeah."

Lonely. Terribly lonely. People have expectations and demands and wants and you can't be what they think you should be.

He hops up onto a external staircase and offers his hand again. "In here. And nothing is expensive, so order what you want. I have paid work."

"Yeah," he says, softly enough it's almost a whisper, as he takes Luke's hand and climbs onto the staircase.

It's not actually about being a hero either, is it? It's just about that. Helping people. If he can find his way back home and back to the Mantis, that's what he's going to do, too. He doesn't think they'll join the resistance, nothing like that, but find places and people that need help, no matter how small.

That would feel like a life worth living.

"If you say so."

He's still going to order something on the cheaper side.

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