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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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[Because Tyrian religions are so different (and because, frankly, a few conversations here have left Vrenille with quite a particular impression of Christianity) he hasn't even bothered to properly remember the name, but the experience is still plenty fresh.]
Came away with this great souvenir 'n everything. [He points vaguely to the word on his chest. "We went to Hell and all I got was this lousy shirt," as it were, though he doesn't have the cultural reference points to make the joke.]
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then his eyes follow vrenille's gesture down towards his chest, and his brows knit together again in another brief frown. ]
A sin. Is that what that is.
[ he slows down in walking as they hit a crosswalk. without thinking his hand comes up, hovering at a short distance from the brand. something about the sight is a little disquieting. maybe he'd feel differently if he'd been here. ]
Magical branding? [ half a question, half an observation. ] Did it hurt?
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[He doesn't think these things of himself, but he's aware of the contradiction between his moral compass and that of...lots of people. Though it occurs to him, suddenly, that he's not sure if Stephen ever knew--if he or Hakkyuu had ever told him in so many words about this part of Vrenille's past.
He glances down at the scarred fingers hovering inches from his chest. The word, as though seared right through him, appears on his back by his left shoulder blade as well. Whichever way he turns, it's never away from it.
He gives a little sideways cant of his head, like it's no big deal. Hurt is relative.]
It won't go away. And I've tried to hide it. [But no dice.] I did have my chance--give something up to erase it. But here we are. [It's obvious what choice he made.]
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[ he still remembers in fine detail the pride bracelet from his first day here, the gleam of it around his wrist and its reflection in the dark.
he considers resting his hand on vrenille's collarbone, asking if it hurts when touched. the light beeps to indicate they can cross, just in time for him to decide clinically against it and return his hands to his pockets. ]
It doesn't matter. They could tattoo "huge jackass" on your forehead and you'd still be the one embarrassing people who point it out. [ dry and decisive. he's always been incapable of comfort, and anyway vrenille doesn't seem to need it. he's leading them to a corner diner, a shabby place where uncontracted submissives can put up a barter tab for coffee and breakfast. ]
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[But really, what Stephen says is kind. Every bit as kind as the touch that doesn't arrive, that he misses, subtly, without knowing that he's missed it. He smiles, warmed by the wryness of the compliment and content to let Stephen lead them wherever he chooses.]
They say there's a place I can go 'n get it fixed. New place--new city. "Insincerity." 'Cause someone's working the whole on-the-nose trend right into the ground.
I haven't been there. Loki has. [He favors Stephen with a rakish grin.] Lost his ability to speak for a while. Bet you're sorry you missed that.
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[ but his voice trails a little as he processes the fact that loki is still in the city. there's a twinge of relief in his chest, something visible only in the slight slackening of his expression.
but he's pushing the glass door of the diner open for vrenille, the rusted bell tinkling over the top; the line cook looks up over the counter at stephen and nods in acknowledgment. stephen traded often here just to eat without having to genuflect to a dominant, is likely to do so again. he sits down with vrenille at a small two-person table and orders a tea. there's a menu in letters over the top of the grill line, standard breakfast and lunch fare. ]
A new city, really. I'll have to check it out. [ he leans back in the seat. ] I suppose I should ask if it's dangerous first. If you were planning to go I wouldn't hate the company.
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Two new cities, as it turns out. One of 'em's Veracity. [He lets that settle. Stephen, he's sure, will remember the name all too well from their time at Fort Harmony.] It's different now 'n it used to be, I guess. Shell of its former self.
Can't say how dangerous either one of 'em is really, but I'd sure take you up on the offer. This place they say can "fix" things...won't surprise me if their service can't be bought with money. [So what does that mean he might be getting them into? There's no telling really. He trusts Stephen though--trusts him enough to bear the risk.
There's a pause as the drinks are set down. Vrenille's eyes go to Stephen's wrist, noticing for the first time.]
You still have it. [The watch. He's a little surprised.]
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Did you think I'd sell it?
[ a rhetorical question, mostly amused. he taps the small spoon against the side of the mug and sets it aside. ]
On my return home it was useful in assuring me my initial stay here wasn't a very comprehensive hallucination.
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The actual answer's a lot more serious, a lot more weighty. And as much as it's about the two of them, it's also about much more.]
Actually, up 'til just now, I wasn't sure I believed anyone ever really went home at all. And I sure didn't think they managed to take anything back with 'em, maybe not even memories.
If I'm honest, I've been thinking that "going home" 's just some euphemism for dead bodies thrown on a rubbish heap. I'm glad to be wrong 'bout that. [Because the idea of people he's cared for here becoming so much scrap is bad enough in the abstract, but even worse when he attaches it to Stephen, personally.] But I'll admit I've got questions.
Like whether anyone there knew you were gone, whether there'd been some gap--some time you'd been away.
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I'm always hard up.
[ it's not a secret that he's chronically broke. he curves his hand around the mug and shakes his head at vrenille's words before taking a long sip. ]
Not one. I stepped into the life I stepped out of. In time for disaster, no less. But given the number of people who return without their memories ... I'd say my experience is the exception rather than the rule. And I can't really account for it.
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I'm glad you didn't forget. Maybe that's selfish of me, but I'm glad. [More glad than he thinks he realized at first, because now that it comes to it, trying to imagine the alternative is awful.]