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duplicitymemes2019-09-12 04:47 pm
duplicitymods) wrote in duplicitymemes2019-09-12 04:47 pm
Entry tags:
TDM #8
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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 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 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 highrise. 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 by all new and old arrivals. The hellish summer heat is finally starting to subside, and the cool breeze suggests autumn is approaching. |
 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. |
 The weather’s getting cooler, and people have begun transitioning from summer clothing to the sweaters and jackets of early fall. With jackets come pockets, and with pockets come a bizarre uptick in robberies. Then again, perhaps the correlation is flawed. In the Down, getting robbed is a constant threat. Gangs of street toughs look for lone or inattentive people who look like they’ve got valuables on hand. Uncontracted Submissives are particularly easy to rob, since authorities have little time to bother with a lowly Submissive without a Dominant to advocate for them. One particularly nasty gang of young adult men, the Bulldogs, hangs out near the train, looking to ambush unwary Submissives fresh out of Orientation. They are prone to violent muggings and will simply beat up their target and leave them in a gutter when they’re finished robbing them. In the Up, the streets are nominally safer, but there have been reports of a group of college-aged Submissive women taking advantage of their designation to attack travelers. They, too, stand near the train and the orientation center, looking to seduce passersby into an alley where a group of them can beat and mug their victims, usually Dominants looking to capitalize on their pretty appearances. But you’re truthfully at risk anywhere in the city. The new arrivals are easy targets, and any brazen thief might get the idea to make some quick cash. The authorities are spread too thin to help, but perhaps LIErs can look out for one another? Or they might just get in on the thievery. Everyone’s out for themselves, after all. |
( CW: potential dubcon, drugs, BDSM/sexual torture, prostitution, public use ) Surrounding a large building near the orientation center in the Up, banners and fliers announcing the beginning of the inaugural Duplicity High Tech Sexpo, a trade show for businesses and manufacturers of adult novelties. Since this is the expo’s first year, admission is free and many excited volunteers are handing out vouchers all over the city. These vouchers can be exchanged for goods and services within the expo, but have no monetary value outside of it. Even if you refuse them, you’ll likely find two or three of them tucked into your bag or pocket. Inside the expo hall, there are dozens of booths pitching a variety of entertainments. Many offer interactive demonstrations, showing off their tech for the crowds of interested onlookers. Competition is fierce, and booths try to attract attention and customers through any means necessary. There are private rooms all around the expo for potential customers to try out the products. Booths will also happily accept volunteers for demos, or try to recruit them by bribing them with cash or free samples. There’s a nasty rumor going around that some are recruiting volunteers via more illicit means, like drugging and dressing them up, but surely that’s an exaggeration… Some of the smaller booths sell more traditional toys and accessories: leashes and collars, specialty lubes and massage oils, fetish gear, strap-ons, dildos and vibrators in myriad shapes and sizes, and other basic items. Others advertise apps for the devices, the most notable of which is HUGGR (which LIErs may recognize as a poorly rebuilt sex-themed version of a certain other app.) The closer you get to the big-ticket sponsor booths, the more elaborate and fantastic the products become. One of the most eye-catching demos is for the Climax VR Headset. You and a partner both wear a VR headset, which displays a collaborative virtual scenario. Both partners can alter the setting and surroundings however they like, and any sexual activity conducted in VR transmits real sensations to their bodies. You can come together without ever physically touching. Symphony Hydraulics have a large, loud booth where crowds gather to watch perhaps the most outrageous demo: a variety of fucking machines. Volunteers get stripped, strapped in, and turned on, brought to screaming orgasms in front of the whole crowd. There is a fifteen minute break between demos on each machine, as some poor intern hurriedly washes and sanitizes them between uses. In the interim, they offer smaller, portable versions for sale or rent at the expo. (Some may note that a few of the Symphony Hydraulics staff members look a bit familiar.) Does all this high-tech equipment have you overwhelmed? Wish you could go back to a simpler time? Sir Robert’f Bedroome Provifionf (sic) is helmed by historical reenactor Robert Plum, who has also created his own line of medieval torture device-themed sex toys. Need a chastity belt to keep your Submissive all to yourself? A rack with an attached spreader-bar? An iron maiden with soft vibrating silicone ticklers inside? All the stocks and whips and chains you could ever need? Sir Robert has you covered. Of course, everything on display is harmlessly altered for sexual novelty purposes, but one might also ask to see Sir Robert’s “special” merchandise in the back. Perhaps the most unassuming booth at the expo belongs to Grandma Hattie’s Snacks and Sweets. Grandma Hattie, a kindly old Submissive, has partnered with a tech company to produce what appear to be completely normal vending machines, stocked full of her tasty homemade bread, snack cakes, and other baked goods. Vouchers are good for a free sample of any treat from a vending machine. They taste amazing and have no apparent odd effects-- until 10 minutes after consumption, when you suddenly gain an insatiable craving for a random kink. Your craving will dominate your thoughts for three hours, or until it is appeased. |
 (CW: potential dubcon, objectification) By far the largest and shiniest booth comes from expo sponsors Sexy Metal Incorporated, who have set up a display of their incredible high-tech sexbots. These life-sized dolls are made of extremely realistic material that feels like warm human skin, and come with state-of-the-art mechanics that give them lifelike movement. Engineers show off how the bots can be plugged into a computer and programmed to act any way the buyer likes. They come in a wide variety of customizable appearances and eerily, some of the bots on display look exactly like people you may know. Booth staff encourage customers to buy these dolls, or to rent them and give them a try onstage in front of the fascinated crowds. If that’s not kinky enough, one of the engineers has purchased a VR headset from another booth, and programmed it to interface with the bot’s controls. Care to slip inside the silicone skin of another person? |
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: In celebration of our one year, pick whichever role you want for your character! » A Pocket Full of Pennies: Feel free to come up with any free-roving gangs or petty criminals you like for your characters to tangle with. » New Flesh Like A Glove: Characters can spend money on items at the expo, or may exchange vouchers for what they want. Each voucher has a value of about $5 within the expo and they may be acquired by finding them, having them handed to characters/stuffed in their pockets or bags by expo volunteers, or paid them in exchange for “volunteering” at booths. Characters may indeed try before they buy, either out in the open or using one of the provided private rooms with a partner. The expo has a staff of unpaid student interns tasked with cleaning and sanitizing products if they are used but not purchased. Grandma Hattie’s snacks can inspire characters to have any kink you may desire. » Perfection of the Digital: Sexbots can resemble any player characters, including brand new arrivals/test drive characters. They can also resemble characters that yours knows from home. The engineers have no explanation for this, and the one who identifies himself as the designer will shrug and say he gets inspiration from many places. The sexbots are hot-ticket expensive merchandise, so security is tight around the booth. Characters who attempt to steal or destroy a sexbot (for instance, one who looks like themselves) will be quickly set upon by guards, who are meant to eject them from the expo. However, many of the guards will take bribes from other booths to provide them model “volunteers,” drugged into complacency. If characters want to acquire a sexbot permanently, they will have to buy it or exchange a hefty 50 vouchers for it. Please remember to mark any necessary content, and have fun!! |
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His tongue makes a soft click of exasperation.]
Yes, I just showed up, and would you please not? It's unnecessary to needle me right now. I'm rattled enough.
[However, now that they're discussing time frames...]
How long have you been here? You've gone native.
[He's dressed like most of the people he passed on the street earlier and many in here.]
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[He glances aside a bit sheepishly at the question. Which is a very fair question, actually.]
Six months. Got tired of the staring. And my mantle was starting to stink like you wouldn't believe.
[He doesn't really want to get into how comforting he finds it to be able to simply vanish into a crowd here, in a place where nobody knows or cares who he is.]
Plus they've got these trousers now, called blue jeans, they're amazingly comfortable. Anyway- welcome to Duplicity, hope you're enjoying that mildly disgusted feeling you've got, you'll get used to it.
At least you're not marked Submissive. That's no small bloody favor, trust me.
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Maker, I can imagine if it's always this blasted hot.
[He only just resists the urge to run a gloved finger at the neck of his gorget, for all the good it will do.]
Duplicity. It sounds like the name a demon would take.
[Once more he drops his voice and steps in closer, almost close enough to bump him with the breastplate.]
About that. Are they slaves? Are we?
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[He'd lost a lot of weight since Cullen last saw him, but his takeout habits... well. They fixed that. Maker, he's going to have to explain "takeout" too.
His expression turns a bit grim at that line of questioning, and he sighs.]
Technically, no. This blighted city just arbitrarily decided half the population is inferior and can't be trusted to spend their own money or do anything without being babysat by the other half.
[He draws an invisible line down his throat to indicate the marks that all the so-called Submissives wear.]
But we're all test subjects. Some group called LIEs. And they call us LIErs. They'll pull the same stupid bullshit on all of us equally.
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Fine. [Distractedly. It's the rest he wants to hear.]
Liars? They have a lot of nerve. And you just...
[He's not even sure how to ask this. Toss it. He has never been one to beat around the bush.]
What are you doing about it?
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Hawke wonders if his rising hackles are visible on his facial expression at all.]
I-- what am I supposed to do? I'm just as reined in as everybody else is!
[As though he's anyone special. As though he's anyone strong or powerful enough to fix the situation.]
I'm keeping my head down so they don't drag me into their center and toy with my mind, that's what I'm doing.
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The thoughts pass in the flick of his eyes, quicksilver fast. He holds up an appeasing hand.]
That... There's much I don't know. Obviously. Maker's breath, Hawke. Less than three hours ago I was walking the courtyard at the Winter Palace. Now I'm here. You're here.
[A brief pause.]
Is there anyone else from home here?
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[His tone is perhaps a bit raised, but Cullen managed to jab him right in the raw, sensitive part of his psyche with that question. Leave it to a templar to nail his weaknesses with no effort at all.
Ah... ex-templar. Varric had told him in letters. He's the Commander of the entire Inquisition now, and before he unceremoniously arrived in Duplicity, Hawke had been on his way to Skyhold to...
The next question drags him out of that line of thinking.]
Ah... Neria. She's-- [Oh. Wait. Shit.] Um. You know... Warden Commander Surana? [Which is a slightly less weighty way to refer to her than by her other title.] And...
[Oh. Shit. Hawke looks a little green for a moment. Maybe he'd best not lay that one on him too quickly.]
A few others, I guess.
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There is the faintest flicker of...something...in his gaze at the mention of Neria. He covers his reactions well with decades of practice for it under his belt.]
I know who she is, yes.
[His mouth tightens at the equivocation.]
A few others? How many is a few? More than three? Less than five? Who?
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[He may not be a templar anymore, but Maker if he doesn't still have the air about him to scare Hawke shitless.
Until he blinks and realizes that he's actually the one with all the answers here. And that they're standing a short distance from a booth where some woman is strapped to a device that seems to be fucking so hard she's screaming with delight.]
Listen, is this the place to be having this discussion? Why don't we go somewhere less... gooey, and I can answer whatever you feel like asking me?
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You have a point.
[He had almost managed to shut out the distracting sounds and smells. Having it brought to his attention removes that buffer and somehow makes it all seem worse.]
I'll follow you. I don't know this place.
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You drink at all, Cullen? Let's go for a pint. [It's 1:45, that's plenty early enough to start drinking.
Also the sooner he can blank that Meredith sex doll out of his memories, the better.]
Would you think I was mental if I asked what the last thing you remember from Thedas was? You said you were in Orlais, at the Winter Palace...
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I wouldn't mind going to a tavern. I just want to keep my wits about me.
[All things considered, he finds the question natural, if a little uncomfortable. There's no delicate way to tell someone that as far as you know, they've been dead over two years.]
I had settled in. I was making rounds in the courtyard greeting people, playing politic and circumspect.
[His eye roll shows what he thinks of that.]
I needed to find Ambassador Montilyet about someone having a fit over a seating arrangement. You know how the blasted Orlesians are. And then there were doors. Just like that, although I suspect I had to be drugged or something first, because that makes no sense.
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[It occurs to him that he didn't phrase that question very well. Hawke knows that Cullen's working with the Inquisition, and little else about what they're doing or when that is. Though his answer to that does stir an emphatic response.]
Ugh. Blighted Orlesians.
[They may have their disagreements, but at least Cullen is a fellow Fereldan. They have plenty to agree on in that respect.]
Mine was... similar, yes. I thought I was dreaming. I was on my way to Skyhold, actually, Varric had sent for me, and I was asleep for the night... [Sleeping in a cave at the time. A rocky ledge under a slight overhang, more like. It had been stupidly cold.] Next thing I knew, the stupid doors. And a paper dress. And here I was.
What, um, what year was it? That you recall? People seem to come from different times, even if they are from the same place.
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[His reasons are his own. He hopes he managed it casually enough that it wouldn't invite further inquiry.
He nods, more warmth in his gaze for that one shared moment of disgust. No matter how bad things are, they can bask in that mutual contempt very comfortably.
He feigns watching the odd carriages whizzing by when he mentions his journey to Skyhold. Then it's likely he doesn't know, and now nothing short of a dose of extreme indiscretion (or a serious fit of temper) will loosen his lips on that topic.]
It's 9:44.
[If he must accept the reality of being displaced in location, the idea that time is out of line is no more difficult to swallow.]
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[And he'll say no more about that. Also hoping it doesn't invite further inquiry.]
Oh. Nearly 9:42, from what I recall.
[So Cullen's from a few years after he is. He bites down on the temptation to ask him what becomes of the Wardens... of Carver, as though Cullen had any sort of contact with him or would even care. Perhaps he knows from Varric. But that opens the eerie possibility that he will not want to know the answers, that he'll hear something that upsets him, and then he'll start wondering if it can be prevented... yes.
Let's not get into all that. It'll just freak him out and there's nothing to be done about it.]
Anyway, I think the first thing you ought to know... um. They told you about the quota thing, right? Because I'm sorry to say they really aren't joking. Not a bit.
But yes, if you keep your quota, they'll nominally leave you alone. For the most part.
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However, at the mention of the quota, he frowns and lifts a hand to rub at the bridge of his nose.]
It's tawdry.
[And he's all too happy to move past it.]
"Nominally." "For the most part." What of the rest of it?
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[Hawke glances at him sidelong as he crams his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.]
It's... surreal, at times. Bizarre things happen. The whole city changes, or strange things happen to the people. No one can make heads or tails of it or even understands what it's for. No one's yet found a reason for much of it... nor a way out.
[He sighs heavily, shaking his head.]
But if you play along, enough to make them think you're complacent-- they won't mess with your mind. Worry about that first. There's people trying to stop all this, trying to figure things out, but you can't help do that if they've turned you into a sex-crazed maniac.
I wish I could tell you better advice. But that's all I've got thus far. All anybody's got.
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And he is now well aware of just how depraved some of his comrades-in-arms truly were.]
It sounds like blood magic.
[A low murmur, as much to himself as Hawke.]
I hate it, but...I'll do as you say. I'll take your advice.
[After a much longer pause...]
How do people go about making these arrangements?
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[And we'll just not pursue that little line of thinking much further. He'd heard what shit they were getting up to in the other two cities, Veracity and Insincerity. Ugh.
At least Cullen isn't going to pull the righteous "well maybe you just aren't fighting it hard enough" martyr routine. He's seen more than enough of the newcomers show up with that attitude, only to have it ground out of them in the worst way.
He's really not prepared for that last question.]
Arrangements? You mean, like the contract thing? Or- [Please, Maker, let him not be asking Hawke how you have sex with people...]
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Andraste's tits, is he going to force him to spell it out? His expression deepens to a scowl.]
Yes, the contract thing and "or." It's not like I have experience propositioning people. If I'm not used to that at home, how well do you think I'd fare here? Just help me not offend somebody or get laughed out of the city.
[It's spoken gruffly and crossly to cover the worst of his discomfort of having to discuss this at all.]
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Though of course, the first thing that comes out of his mouth is a stupid joke.]
I find getting drunk and stumbling my way to attractive people in a tavern works out fine.
[Not helpful, and he knows it. He reaches up to scratch the back of his head, sheepishly.]
Maker, I don't know. It... everybody's in the same situation, here, so it's not all that easy to offend. You're a strapping handsome fellow, just chat up some ladies... [A feeble, bizarre gesture with his hands.] Or whatever... you hit it off, and there you go.
[Great advice! Thanks, Life Coach Hawke!]
Conditions are shit for Submissives, and if you're not an utterly oppressive monster most of them would be pleased to sign a contract with you so they don't have to live in the Down.
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It doesn't mean he isn't still a bastard.
He strides forward more quickly, temporarily forgetting that he hasn't the faintest clue where the tavern is.]
I don't know why I bothered. [A growl.] As for how oppressive I am, I suppose it depends on who you ask.
[Bitter and edged, there's a barb in there for Hawke if he's of a mind to hear it. He doesn't even care anymore. The entire situation is shite, and he's getting a headache.]
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Hawke sighs, and steps quickly to catch up with him.]
Hey, hey, hold up. I know it sounds bad, but...
[Okay, and it is bad, but it's survivable. Right?
He hesitantly puts a hand on Cullen's shoulder to steer him to the right, towards the 13th Step (where Hawke has just finished paying off his tab, so they can't complain if he starts a new one, technically.)]
Listen, don't worry about it for right now. You just got here, of course it seems insurmountable, but you've got three months for the contract, and as for the other bit--
[Huh. He has no idea what he was about to say there, suddenly.]
-- You don't have to muddle it out all by yourself. I've got friends. They're better at this than I am.
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He's angry (and under that, afraid), and has a hard time accepting that guidance without shrugging him off and calling it a wash. Three months doesn't feel like a long time to commit to something so momentous, and as for the rest...]
Well, they'd have to be, wouldn't they?
[It's not fair. He knows it isn't as it's coming out of his mouth. He's feeling too cornered to take it back or soften it. He lets out a sound that's half scoff and half sigh and keeps walking in the new direction. Stalking, really.]
Let's just drop that. I'll talk to these friends of yours about it if you genuinely think they're helpful.
[If he's having it over on him, he may just track him down later and punch his smug face.]
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