TDM #25

[duplicitymods]

« « « TEST DRIVE MEME » » »

« « « ALL ON DISPLAY

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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 LIEs 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 LIEs 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 paper gown 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. Enjoy your free time until Orientation! Participation is mandatory for all new and past arrivals. Skies are clear and the weather is warm.

» » » ALL ABOARD

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After stepping through the door and participating in Orientation, LIERs are assembled together in the Up for a tour of Duplicity in its entirety. Seats are in pairs and randomly assigned to Dominants and Submissives alike. Traveling from Fiddler's Square, the train journeys through various parts of the Up, showcasing society and examples of lifestyle. Along the way, frequent stops are made; a variety of passengers can be seen exiting and entering the doors. A Dominant with a kneeling Submissive takes a seat near the front of the train at one stop. A small group of Submissives board and sit closer to the LIERs at another, all seemingly content in their roles. As the tour continues through the Up, the train passes close to the Market and White Wall Bridge and zips by North Park before heading into the Down and bypassing Red Wall Bridge and South Park. The train makes a "final" stop at Riddler's Square, where inhabitants of the Down are instructed to return to their temporary housing. Those who live in the Up are permitted to stay on the train and revisit the same locations while returning.

« « « SUMMER SPECIAL

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(cw: aphro/drugs) LIEs has once again partnered with a local coffee chain, Peek-A-Brew, to promote their summer menu and help play matchmaker among those in the program. Along with the usual goodie bag, each character will be handed a small slip of paper after Orientation with a date and time, location, and three fun facts about a mystery partner they're to meet for a coffee date. These "facts" may or may not actually be true — they're simply meant to spark conversation. For the duration of the 1-2 hours the pairs are expected to spend getting to know one another, they will receive unlimited free iced coffee, tea, and lemonade and a discount on any other menu items. Seasonal specials include fruity parfaits and popsicles in a variety of refreshing flavors. Naturally, all goods are spiked to make the consumers more agreeable, more truthful, and perhaps a bit more handsy than normal. Though the meetings are not mandatory, contact with the paper brings on an inexplicable sense of curiosity about meeting their partner and discovering who they really are.

« « « BEAT THE HEAT

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(cw: aphro, temporary body changes) With summer heat building, the natives are looking for a reprieve from the sweltering weather. All manner of frozen treats are being sold and consumed and it's not uncommon to see Submissives fanning their Dominants as they walk down the street or ride the train. Sprinkler systems are running day and night in North Park and other city-owned patches of green and plenty of people are taking the opportunity to run and jump through the spray with little care for soaked clothing — or perhaps they aren't wearing clothing at all. Others have taken up squirting one another, as well as whoever is passing by, with water guns or hurling water balloons at anyone who looks like they need to cool down. Especially on the streets near the park, it's a wet and wild battle royale and all are welcome to join in. Getting hit with some of those colorful water balloons and squirt guns temporarily causes those who get splashed to taste like sweet, mouth-watering summer fruits. It's not just their skin either — the effect extends to their sweat, saliva, and even sexual fluids and can last for several hours. Those around them will find it hard to resist having a taste.

« « « HANG ON TO YOUR HATS

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(cw: violence, public nudity/exposure) If you're out on the streets of the Down, it's not just your wallet you have to worry about losing. It seems that one of the local gangs, the Bulldogs, has set a new test for their junior members and those hoping to join: steal an article of clothing right off the body of someone in a public place. From snatching the hat off their head to slicing the shirt off their back, it's anything goes! These junior initiates quickly get competitive, one-upping each other on who can complete the task in the most ballsy or outrageous manner. Some compete over who can collect the most clothing, either certain articles or overall, or who can score a full set first. As word spreads and more people are going around suddenly missing part of their outfits, the Sparrows, a rival gang, decide to get in on the action purely for bragging rights. Rather than taking the clothing by force, they pride themselves on using stealth and trickery, leaving more than a few people naked and confused.

« « « MOD & OOC NOTES

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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 the assignments are OOCly 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 is more of an optimist, they are a Submissive. If your character is more of a pessimist, they are 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 fun!!

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» » » MAIN NAVIGATION « « «

Comments

[old_man]

You could, but where's the fun in that?

[Liven the approach up a little.]

Although I was on Earth in the 2240s to judge a gymnastic competition, so I do know a little of the history books.

[But not all Dax hosts have been as travelled, at least to different planets.]

[failed_astrophysics]

[She certainly doesn't look old enough to be on Earth in the 2240s, but then again he'd never seen anyone with spots like that. Maybe they aged differently.]

I was still being moved around from ship to ship back then.

[And okay now he had to ask]

I don't think I asked your name.

[old_man]

[She looked different. She might still be able to stand on her head, but anything else gymnastics related her body is not built for.]

Jadzia. Jadzia Dax. I serve aboard a space station Deep Space Nine. Alpha quadrant, Denorios belt.

[failed_astrophysics]

[The name doesn't ring a bell, maybe in a few years.]

It's a pleasure.

[The Denorios Belt is out there, and while he's never been he knows something about star charts.]

Isn't that in Cardassian Space?

[old_man]

[Dax has been intertwined with Starfleet in various lifetimes. Different roles, of course.

She hums.]

Yes and no. Bajor- their government owns the station now, although it was built by Cardassians with Bajor slave labour.

[failed_astrophysics]

[Sometimes he forgets that there are still worlds out there that operate on all of those kinds of labor practices, and he hates it. Oppression doesn't sit right with him.]

I'm glad they have their own government now, how did the Federation come to be in charge of it?

[It might be venturing too close to 'break the timeline' country, but he figures he'll give it a try.]

[old_man]

[Not like the other side of the worm hole is much better... The Dominion threat looms on the horizon.

And time... Time is funny here. As are timelines.]

We're not. Bajor asked for aid, so we stepped up. It... has become a very important station, so the Federation was all the more eager to help.

[failed_astrophysics]

[Whatever the reason the Federation decided to provide the help had to be fairly important, he's not going to ask though. That had breaking timeline implications, he's sure.]

I'm glad the Federation's still helping where we can. Is Bajor applying for membership?

[old_man]

There are talks, but at the moment, they haven't applied for membership.

[A small shrug.]

There's that sentiment to be independent after being under the foot of the Cardassians for around a decade.

[failed_astrophysics]

That makes sense. I hate to think of the Federation as oppressors, but considering it was their recent experience, I don't see how they could see it another way.

[Negotiations like that one are delicate. Pike's been involved in enough of them to know that if one thing goes wrong everything can go wrong and destroy the whole process.]

[old_man]

The Bajorans know what they sit on, but also know that they do need help in securing it. And, at least the Federation does give them the choice unlike the Cardassians.

[The Federation may have it's faults, but the ideals that it is built on are good ones. It is just sometimes what people do in the name of the Federation that may be questionable.]

[failed_astrophysics]

[As someone who told off an admiral on the bridge of his ship because of the Federation's use of mines during the war, he understands.]

That's something. I hope it manages to work out the best way possible for all of you.

[old_man]

Perhaps in time. I'm afraid we have to deal with some Gamma Quadrant issues first.

[As Julian, Rios and Laris had given her some information about the future.]

[failed_astrophysics]

[The Gamma Quadrant, going there was just theoretical in his time.]

We made it all the way to the Gamma Quadrant in just over 100 years?

[old_man]

Technically?

[Just not in the typical way.]

How much do you want to know about the future? And I should stipulate, returning home, you don't remember this place. As odd as that sounds.

[failed_astrophysics]

I know my own future, so I don't think anything you could tell me would break a timeline more than that.

[He does take some kind of comfort in knowing that he won't remember whatever happens here.]

[old_man]

[There's a curious light there as she files that information away to poke at later.]

We discovered a stable wormhole that allows us passage.

[failed_astrophysics]

[It's not something he particularly likes talking about, but he might. Someday.]

A stable wormhole? I didn't even know those existed.

[old_man]

Nor did I, until we happened across it.

[She can still recall it very clearly. And likely will until the day that she dies. It may well be one of the areas of pride that future hosts can know about her.]

[failed_astrophysics]

Does it open on a schedule?

[Stable wormhole is entirely too fascinating. Even if her future hosts aren't proud of the discovery, Pike is.]

[old_man]

Proximity based, actually. You have to be within a certain distance of it. Which is why it wasn't know before, or rather a part of the myth in Bajoran culture.

[failed_astrophysics]

That makes sense, especially if it's been there longer than they've been spacefaring. Some debris would fly by, wormhole opens. Events like that were often the basis for myths...or religions.

[He didn't know much about Bajoran culture specifically, but his father's academic religion study came in handy more than Pike would like to admit.]

[old_man]

They're tales of it going back as far as ten thousand years.

[Although she pauses, before clarifying a little further.]

The Bajorans have gods called the Prophets, who are non-corporeal lifeforms that reside within the wormhole that we've dubbed wormhole aliens. They exist outside of linear time, and are aware of the past, present, and the future.

[failed_astrophysics]

[Aliens that exist out of time. He knew there were some Klingons that effectively existed out of time but an entire species, fascinating.]

Do they interact with anyone outside of the wormhole?

[old_man]

[She'd have been curious about these Klingons...]

In a manner of speaking. We're still learning more about them, and they are considered Gods to the Bajorans, so we tread carefully. That, and they don't just make themselves known to everyone all the time.