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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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[ He crosses his arms loosely. Contracts, hmm? He will have to make one with someone eventually, but in all honesty, he could not care one whit about dictating what the other party does. Perhaps he could find a like-minded individual and form one of convenience... ]
If you have been here a year already then you must have a contract with someone currently.
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But I do already have one, yes. I was just teaching him some life skills at first, but I didn't want anyone else taking advantage of him... so after a bit of tribulation, I offered, and we've been together ever since.
[It's a story she's not at all shy about telling, much like Ganymede himself is not shy about his trauma and why he is the way he is. As a partnership, they work fairly well, she thinks... once she gets over her own trust issues, that is.]
Believe me when I say there are plenty of people who are happy not to include sex as a contract term, though. Most of the people I see asking are more interested in the convenience of it first.
[Irhya looks thoughtful, almost a little forlorn. It's a little hard to imagine Emet-Selch making such a deal out of convenience if it only earns him borrowed time spent in ennui... Yet what else can he do but kill time?
Something about the idea of it doesn't sit right with her at all. This almost seems a worse end than the original, and she was already torn up to hell and back over it...]
...Can I ask you what the last thing you remember before being here is? I just want to confirm we're on the same page.
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Just as he's wondering what sort of person her partner is, she asks him about his final memories and he goes still.
'Relief,' he wants to say. Relief is what he remembers. That and a strange sense of calm, acceptance, resignation. Pain of course - coupled with a receding tide of frustration that the very Light he had hoped would bring about their long-fought-for Rejoining ended up being his downfall. He remembers staring out at the ruins of Amaurot, his enchantment unravelling together with his material form, and then meeting the eyes of his vanquisher.
His mouth presses into a thin line. His hands curl into fists. Moments later they go slack as the sigh which leaves him deflates whatever pompous air he'd filled himself with earlier. ]
A shard of auracite teeming with the life energies of the Scions, [ he says quietly, tapping his sternum. ] And overwhelming Light.
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[She looks vastly uncomfortable, but presses on in an effort to keep the conversation from nosediving.]
There was someone else in your situation here, once. Running on borrowed time. He's back where he belongs now, but he was miserable, even though he was the type who liked sex. Like a broken bird held captive in a cage.
I'd... rather not see that happen to you, too. Isn't there anything else you do to occupy yourself? Sleeping, yes, but what about things that involve being awake?
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I do not need your pity. Lest you forget, I held the position of Architect on the Convocation of the Fourteen. Since I'm to languish here instead of joining my brethren in the Lifestream, I may as well pick up my duties once more.
[ Surely someone has need of his god-like powers of creation. If not, well, he can always start building things again. ]
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You'd know if I was pitying you, Ascian.
[That's not a bad idea, though. She's also interested to see more of those powers, if she's allowed to be a little selfish...]
As long as it's nothing of an unreasonable scale, I don't see why not. Perhaps it will do someone some good, if not you yourself. At least, I don't think they would take something like that away... So long as you don't use it to try and flip the status quo.
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[ A thin smile. Impressed, was she? And to think that is something created by one man. ]
Well, fortunately for you, I feel no need to go about conquering the people here. It would be a waste of my energies considering they are not of the shards.
And besides... I never needed those powers to build an empire. You were all perfectly willing to fall into war on your own. I simply nudged you along.
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Gee, thanks. Just... try not to get yourself mugged again, all right? This area isn't exactly idyllic.
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If I find myself at the point of another knife, may I have your permission to kill those people, then? [ he asks in a faintly mocking tone. ]
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Didn't you just say you didn't want to waste your energy? Killing them seems like a mite more effort than scaring them off, does it not?
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Scaring them off invites them to come back. If I kill them, they'll be dead!
[ Is this what you call thinking 'long-term'? ]
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And if they're dead, they're dead forever, and over something amazingly stupid to boot. Did you forget that part?
Gods. Immortals.
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Then let me ask you this: if I were to scare them off instead of killing them, what's to say they would not go after easier prey? Powerful as you are, you cannot be everywhere to defend against them. If you eliminate the problem at the source, you save yourself far more trouble in the future.
[ Like a certain someone hunting Ascians so they can't cause trouble for future shards. ]
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...Granted. But my point about it being an awful lot of effort for something so trivial still stands. I didn't think you cared so much about potential trouble to me.
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I don't do this for you. I think you may be grossly overestimating the effort it takes for me to kill one of you. [ He turns and points at his would-be mugger on the floor, who is only now beginning to stir. ] For example...
I could crush his skull. Most direct - painless for him if I do it with enough force. Messy, but what death isn't? I would merely have to imagine something with enough weight or have one of my attacks dash him just so against the wall.
I could hang him upside-down and wait for the blood to rush to his head. Simple for me, but his screams may attract attention before he dies...
I could teleport him to the depths of the ocean where the pressure would kill him long before he could surface.
[ His gaze slides back to her. ] Or I could simply force his soul into the Underworld, thereby leaving a husk of what he was. I can go on but I suspect that's quite enough to make my point.
[ This doesn't even begin to cover all the vital organs he could simply rupture and leave to the natural process. ]
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[It isn't that she's squeamish about all the ways one could kill a person. It's just...
Irhya's eyes fall on the man who has been lying face-down for the entire time they've been talking. She watches him take a sharp breath in as he struggles to regain his bearings and get the hell out of there, watches a thin layer of blood trickle sluggishly down the side of his hair from the impact.]
...But you didn't do that here. Yes, we're nothing to you, I get it, but having the capacity to do it and actually doing it are two different things. You didn't exactly paint yourself as someone who acts solely out of malice.
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There are so many inconsistencies like that here. He has glimpsed souls both brighter and dimmer, and it piques his curiosity just enough for him to stay his hand. That, and... Well, she's right. He's not malicious. It doesn't give him any more pleasure to crush lesser life forms than she would find in squashing a gnat. ]
...I always had hope for you, you know, [ he says in a low mutter. ] Despite all your short-sighted squabbling and warmongering, I wanted to hope you might rise above your petty differences someday. But you never did, unless a calamity so vast and all-encompassing threatened to consume you all indiscriminately that nothing short of full cooperation would be enough to weather through it.
[ He waves a careless hand, trying to play off the seriousness of the moment. ] What I'm saying is: you were only ever at your best when it was on the eve of a Rejoining. Mayhap some of my brethren took pleasure in the life lost to each one, but to me it was unfortunate collateral.
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[It's odd how she feels like she, personally, has failed when she hears that, even objectively knowing she had naught to do with any of it. Her expression softens.]
Yet you are not so devoid of hope as to blindly slaughter anyone who slights you.
[It is not so much an assumption or an assertion as it is an observation. He had plenty of opportunity here; he could've easily just rendered the men dead, mere splatters on their clothes before she even had a chance to tell him not to.
There are so many ways she wants to address that that she barely knows where to begin.]
Perhaps watching how the history of this place unfolds will be educational for the both of us, given how structurally different it is from any society I've ever seen. Until things change, I suppose you'll just have to walk a malm in my shoes and do people favors with your creation magic for a bit, yes?
LAST EDIT I'M SORRY
[ And it IS a craft, what he does. Sure, he may simply snap his fingers to bring something out, but that facsimile of Amaurot wasn't built in a day. ]
I suppose you shall have to call me 'Solus Galvus' while I'm here then. The title of emperor means nothing to those here.
[ Unless she would prefer his real name...? ]
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[The grin on her face is definitely one designed to yank his chain a little. Just a little.]
I feel like you'll respond to it better, at any rate.
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...It isn't a secret. Use whichever name you prefer.
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...Not that she's complaining. Her ears tick up, and she smiles with delight. It seems more... personal, though it's hard to say if personal is truly where she aims to go with this. By all rights, she really ought not to...
But they are not enemies here.]
I shall, then. I just hope no one else questions it...
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As I plan to call myself 'Solus' while I'm about, mayhap you can use my real name in private.
[ 'In private', he says, fully knowing the kind of connotations that would have here. ]
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[Oh.]
And what kind of context would that be in, pray tell? Because I know you're not telling me what it sounds like you're telling me.
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[ This is the shit-eating smile of someone who knows exactly how far he can bend truth for his own ends. ]
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