Duplicity Game Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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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"Nissen. Sorry. Just different. The guy's a loon. Last time he was here he got his rocks off grabbing people outta a crowd, stripping 'em naked, 'n having strangers masturbate 'em in public. Or just selling 'em off to the first bidder after he made 'em pull his sleigh around.
"I heard something 'bout a forced orgy too." He's happy to say that he's only got second or third hand knowledge. "He's out for his own pleasure, his own whims. Definitely not someone you'd want running a government, not that I'm saying the Creator is."
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He knew it was bad, but he's just starting to understand how bad. What will be done to him if he's not careful, if he's not smart enough. People smart enough.
"Then we need a third option." That could be another person, or leverage. Ed's mind is already at work. "What was the previous governmental structure?"
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Of course Ed has no way of knowing that a third option was precisely what he and the people he's closest to here tried to devote themselves to during this war. A third option outside the supposed neutrality of the gang called the "Rubies" who ended up extorting sex in exchange for food.
Ed won't know the hours Vrenille spent scouting, planning, carrying out strikes and raids to try and weaken both Nissen and the Creator's factions, try and make sure that whoever won would be weak, could be forced to accept compromises. And he won't know how in the end, Vrenille was unwittingly betrayed by one of his own Submissives who, playing double agent, had unknowingly undermined his own interests and led the Creator's forces right to the one person he never intended to betray.
A third option is a fine wish, but the reality is, for Vrenille, a bitter pill.
"Petty bureaucracy," he says to answer the question about the government so far, but it's not what he really wants to say.
"Look, I dunno you, and I dunno what you can do. But Ed, I'm gonna tell you this for your own good: you wanna find a third way, that's the long game. You're not the first to think of it; there's plenty of others want the same thing. Only you gotta get yourself secure here first. I dunno what the Creator's gonna do, but you can't change anything if you wind up with a bullet in your head or locked up in the People Zoo."
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Others have thought of it. But Ed isn't necessarily looking to secure others with him. He's looking to get safe himself. Last time, it took him four years to secure his way out, scraping together savings, taking the punishments and not letting it damage his progress. He would have got out of Arkham on his own with more time, more information, he just didn't need to.
"I need to find someone willing to vouch for me. I know, it's a basic hierarchy of needs towards self fulfillment, rather than self actualisation as Maslow would have it. What's crime like here? More importantly, what's are forensics like here? Do you know what that is?"
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Of course he doesn't know who Maslow is, but he can gather enough from context and doesn't bother to ask. As for crime, that actually gets a slight eye roll. "Y'know, you're the second guy in so many months I met who's comin' in here looking for his in with the criminal underworld." At least that's what he assumes Ed is asking about.
"I'll tell y'this: there's plenty to go 'round. The Down's got a gang for every day of the month with some to spare. As far as forensi-whatever, not really my department, but I know there's people who, y'know, do that stuff."
They've come to a cafe not far from the square and he pauses by the door with a casual offer. "Coffee?"
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If there's a lot of crime, there's a good chance there's people solving it. And without his Arkham record and the tiny complications of those murders he did, he can go back to working in forensics.
"Oh. Um... thank you, I'd appreciate it." He opens the door and holds it, because that's just common manners.
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"I don't really know where forensics sits in the pecking order of, y'know, the captain on down to the guy who sweeps the floors. What I do know's that the police force here keeps Subs to lower ranking roles, whether that's in the Up or the Down.
"Not that I wanna be discouraging, but forewarned is forearmed 'n all. I mean, ask. But this place sometimes requires a bit of creative re-branding--same work by another name. Thanks," for getting the door.
The inside of the cafe is quaint, a touch Parisian. Tile floor, mirrors above the wainscotting, round tables set around the perimeter. Vrenille leads them to one by the window with a view of the street and the people passing by. A waitress heads over almost at once, the v-neck of her uniform exposing the line down her throat. "Anything you like," he offers Ed, "my tab."
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It could be just the sort of thing that someone like him, a marked, could get away with doing. It's mentally challenging but holds little authority. And Ed generally gives an air of being fairly easily cowed.
The way the waitress' mark is flaunted makes Ed feel slightly uncomfortable, touching his own buttoned up shirt collar with tie. "Coffee, thank you." If it's a good cafe, which it seems to be fairly good, it will include milk and sugar on the side to mix as he wants.
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"Go ahead if y'like. It's not quite like the ones I'd get back home, but it's the closest I've found." And he's willing to share.
As far as the rest goes, he's glad that Ed seems to have a prospect. "Well if they tell you they need a Dominant to okay it for you, come talk to me. That's the sorta thing I can do easy 'nuf.
"Which, y'know, just leaves the one bit 'bout the rules of this place that we haven't said a word about. I'm not sure if that's 'cause you're not worried 'bout it or if you're so worried 'bout it that you're trying to avoid it completely."
He means the sex part, obviously--the quota and the potential repercussions if it's not met. And if he has his guess, Ed isn't avoiding the topic because he's completely confident that he's got no cause for concern.
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Don't worry, Eddie, I can deal with that.
"It should be in hand," Ed murmurs, cheeks pinking up. "I'll be looking to contract myself with someone willing to accept my domestic presence without any physical complications."
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He takes his tea with a little milk and sugar, and now that they're sitting here and everything's calm and unhurried, he takes the chance to watch Ed's micro-expressions.
"Y'know I'm actually not worried for you on that front," he says setting his cup down after a first sip of tea. "Something tells me you'll manage the contract bit just fine.
"I meant the quota. If you're not planning to meet it in your contract--and most people don't just--then you're gonna have to do it some other way. Three times a month. LIES always seems to find out when folks fall short."
He's very casual talking about this. Might as well be talking about the weather.
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"The quota will be met. I have no desire to break the rules and end up in any of the places they use for the correction of such things." He's pink again and busies himself sipping his coffee.
He wouldn't be adverse, Eddie. Since I'm going to be dealing with all that nasty, messy sex stuff, you should let me chat to him.
"Definitely not," he whispers. Then pauses. "I... definitely don't want to end up there."
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"You say that almost like it's got nothing to do with you." It will be met. Passive voice. Vrenille might not know the grammatical term for it, but he catches the distance it puts between Ed and the act.
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Then he looks down again. "Well, it's not my quota, is it? It's theirs, that I simply have to conform to."
The other guy yells at him from the window, torn between demanding to be let out, to give Vrenille a piece of his mind about what business it is of his and berating Ed about being so timid and so eternally weak.
Instead, he sips his coffee again.
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"No, it's not your quota. But you're still getting caught up in it. I mean, it's still your body. I know a thing or two 'bout that.
"It ain't easy trying to live like your body's nothing to do with you. The bill comes due, y'know."
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"It makes an ass of you and me," he whispers, eyes closing and a small smile tugging the corner of his mouth.
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But more to the point, it seems to him that he's being told to back off, and he can accept that. There's a fine line between offering and pressing.
So, no pressure. In fact he just leaves a moment of quiet, gives Ed a chance to change the subject to something that suits him. Or else to fill the silence by saying more about this subject, should he find himself feeling the need to get a further word in.
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"I'm strengthening and crippling, avoided by all but not feared by the brave."
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But then again, maybe Ed's thinking of something else completely and Vrenille's not got the answer at all.
What he says instead is "It's a kinda trend for you, huh? The riddles thing--like the puzzles you said you're good at solving."
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That... is definitely a bit flirty.
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Convenient and also interesting. He runs his tongue over the flat of his molars. He's not necessarily down for pain (or for teeth) except with people he trusts pretty well or in particular circumstances, but he's always curious to see where a bit of flirting goes.
"So that's what you're into, huh? And maybe not quite the way that line they'v drawn on you'd make it seem?" Because the way he's just said it doesn't sound especially submissive to Vrenille.
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He leans forward, dark eyes bright and sharp. "Are you a challenge, Vrenille?"
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