uhmani | TDM #4

Throughout the main hub where everyone congregates, a light chiming echoes through the first floor. "Hello, everyone," comes the synthetic voice from when you first arrived. "Please, watch your step since there's quite a few puddles around. If you'd like, there is cake, some refreshments, and some eggs for you in these trying times. If they feel warmer than usual, that's because they're going to hatch soon!"

While the Peacekeeper doesn't elaborate, as usual, simulation inhabitants are free to notice the eggs that either they gathered or are still littering the simulation are now warm to the touch, give off a faint glow, and may even move subtly now and again if watched.

APRIL SHOWERS

Granted, there are bigger things to worry about such as the storm that's rolling in.

Dark, ominous clouds begin to gather over every piece of sky in the simulation and before long blot out the sun. Sheets of rain begin to pour down almost without warning. Hopefully, you've managed to fix those leaks in your house! Or maybe you're finding new ones...

Lightning splits the sky with a dramatic crackle and thunder booms not long after it. The wind howls and the worst of the storm won't relent for a few hours at the least. Even after, the rain will linger for days on and off to varying degrees of severity.

While the weather has taken a turn for the gloomy, that doesn't mean that simulation inhabitants have to be! In fact, it may feel somewhat refreshing as if the rain is washing away any negativity lingering after The Overseer's masquerade. Whether by her design or not, she - nor The Peacekeeper - will say but it does seem that she wants to keep relations as peaceful between the simulation inhabitants and creators as she can.

ONE FISH, TWO FISH...

The constant rain brings water levels of the rivers and eddies up at an alarming rate. Flooding is inevitable and, hopefully, the place you've claimed as your own isn't in the way. If it is, you might want to get the buckets ready or consider a relocation!

Of course, your buckets might not just be catching water. With the rising water levels, the fish that inhabit the simulation's waters are just as confused as anyone else. Even more confusing is the glitch causing them to transform once they find themselves on solid (mostly) ground.

Thankfully, they don't change into anything harmful. Well, maybe to your teeth since an abundance of sweet treats is bound to cause a cavity or two... Not to mention the other odd effects that food here is known to have.

Taiyaki

radiate warmth

Swedish Fish

flexibility

now

Hard Fish Candy

unable to speak

body language

Chocolate Sardines

sweeter

delicious

Eventually, the fish will go back to normal and the glitch corrected; however, any candy collected will remain until it expires naturally.

WHAT'S YOUR DTF STATUS?

If the party and its cake don't appeal to you, that's perfectly fine. This is the perfect time to configure your Digitized Technical Friend or your DTF status. A DTF is similar to a dæmon from His Dark Materials in that it is connected to and a reflection of a character's soul. These DTFs take shape accordingly and are projections similar to the NPCs. Think of them as your own personal Clippy except less annoying. Hopefully.

Once that's set-up, there are other locations of the main hub to investigate! You can still find an (off-key) instrument to play in the music lounge or check out the (algae-ridden) pool.

You can even visit The Peacekeeper themselves on the second floor. They're always happy to have visitors! They're also conveniently where you might place a complaint about that status of the main hub and its amenities.

RAINING CATS AND DOGS

While the fishy foods are odd enough as is, another glitch appears to be occurring throughout the simulation but this time originates not from the rain but The Peacekeeper's humble musings. "Did you know," speaks the resident AI, "that there is an expression called 'raining cats and dogs'? I think that's such a curious saying! It made me wonder what it might actually look like..."

Following the strange, unexpected 'announcement,' inhabitants may begin to notice large globs of water falling periodically from the sky now amidst the regular rain. When they hit the ground with a large splash, nothing is there... at first. The water will burst apart only to reassemble into a canine or feline friend. Well, it's shaped like a dog or a cat.

Due to the sudden nature of their spawning though, some things aren't quite right. Perhaps that cat has only three legs instead of four; a dog may be missing an eye, an ear, or even its tail. And those are the more tame oddities! While the unique animals aren't overly abundant there are still a good number that spawn across the days of rain. Don't be surprised if a dog takes up shelter from the storm on your porch or you come home to a cat you don't own having climbed through a loose window.

While this might be exactly the addition to your home that you wanted, it doesn't change the leaky roof or broken window in your new place. Or, unfortunately, the fact that there's no extra space for a pet yet. No, unfortunately that will still need to be fixed the peaceful way. If you'd like more lighting or even cozier clothes, simulation inhabitants are reminded that 'peaceful interactions' are very important!

It might be a good idea to stick close to someone you know, for now, since even the smallest amounts of intimacy might see subtle changes occurring where they're staying. Perhaps that broken window is now fixed, the grime and dust seem a little less, or the floor doesn't creak quite as loud.

Larger changes, however, will only come after demonstrating the more powerful peaceful interactions. If you want new hardwood floors or a fresh coat of paint on the walls, you're going to have to demonstrate how well you 'get along' with others against them first.

SEEING PINK

ear the end of the week, the rain finally relents and temperatures continue to gradually increase. Those May flowers can't quite seem to wait though since several of the trees lining the edge of the forest bloom brilliant pink blossoms that a DTF will be able to identify as love blossoms. While the blooms won't last very long, they certainly are using all the time they have to take over.

The pollen is one thing. It may start out as just a tickle in your nose or stuffy head but eventually turns into something much more lovely. You're tickled pink about almost everything, it seems, and want to share that happiness with others. And who needs rose-colored glasses when almost everywhere one looks there's a string of love blossoms blooming?

These invasive flowers are in your garden, along the vines in the city, and even sprawling through the main hub! It actually seems almost impossible to avoid them. The Peacekeeper assures inhabitants that it isn't purposeful and just the natural cycle of the love blossoms.

Enjoy the mood-lifting and groin-tingling effects while they last! The love blossoms will only linger for a few days, at most, before receding back to the forest line and eventually falling dormant again until next spring.

SEXY STAMP CARD

If you're wondering about these 'peaceful interactions' that keep being mentioned or what the kinks of the month are for... Here's your answer! Upon arrival, all characters will receive a digital copy of their very own sexy stamp card.

Sexy Stamp Card

Issued by: The Peacekeeper

1 2 3 4 ♡

6 7 8 9 ♡

❤

<div style="width:100%;padding:10px 10px 0;font-family:garamond, georgia, serif;font-size:20px;font-style:italic;letter-spacing:2px;text-align:left;">Sexy Stamp Card</div>
<div style="width:100%;padding:0 10px 10px;">Issued by: The Peacekeeper</div>

<div style="width:100%;display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;justify-content:center;align-items:center;gap:10px;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;color:#13336b">

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<div style="max-width:300px;width:100%;margin:-10px auto 0;text-align:right;font-size:10px;"><a title="code credit!" href="http://10billionghosts.dreamwidth.org" style="text-decoration:none;color:#eee;">❤</a></div>

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Completing peaceful interactions (i.e. kinks) will reward characters with stamps that they can turn in for re-gains and many other things! While the example one here is the standard issued card by The Peacekeeper, players are more than welcome to customize it how they see fit. Have fun with it! NOTES

★ The kinks of the month have changed! Be sure to check this post for what the new ones are. Also, give a congratulations to Corrin (

fatefulprince) as the as the new leader of the sexy leaderboard! 🎉

★ The effects of the strange fish candies can, as always, be as heavy or light as you'd like! It can be chalked up to differences in resistance, non-humanity or not, etc. etc. Also, they can mixed-and-matched! Have fun with that.

★ The flora and fauna page will be updated. It's also still open for player suggestions! All you need to do now is link your check-in (or player claim) comment to make a submission!

★ Make sure to dunk your questions/feedback in the thread below!

NAVIGATION

F.A.Q. ★ RULES ★ CHARACTER CLAIM ★ LOCATIONS ★ MAIN NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Albedo nods, taking the answer exactly as it is. If the stranger doesn't know, he simply doesn't know.

"As am I- oh," he pauses as something catches his eye, and watches as from a puddle, another cat seems to emerge from the liquid. This one has an extra set of ears on the sides of its head.

Wordlessly, Albedo digs his fingers into the ground to scrape up a small bit of the soggy earth. As he shifts his hand, from the mud springs the first tendrils of a fern in an opaque, pearl-like color. The frond unfurls fully, growing in his hand as if it were entirely natural. The only difference between it, and the actual flora it mimics, is the color. Once fully formed, he waves the frond at the new cat, and smiles when its eyes go wide. Before long, the four-eared cat is happily batting the crystalline fern about like a toy.

He glances to Sephiroth, and offers his hand out. A new fern uncurls from the same mud.

"Would you like one to play with as well?"

At the display of unfamiliar magic, Sephiroth has nearly forgotten about the cats. He's watching the fern with distinct interest, and looks more than a little surprised when Albedo offers him one.

"I - wouldn't mind. But I would have thought your magic was maintaining them...?" Which is to say, Sephiroth wouldn't have expected the ferns to be physical objects that could continue to exist outside of contact with Albedo.

"Alchemy," Albedo corrects gently, his smile widening a fraction. An opportunity to teach presents itself, and he can't resist. "This is called alchemy. Specifically, it is called the Art of Khemia, but most would simplify it to alchemy."

As if to show Sephiroth the answer, instead of just telling him, Albedo sets the fern upon the ground. The base of the frond appears to grow new roots almost immediately, tiny little tendrils that try to sink into the mud to anchor it like a proper plant.

"It could grow on its own now. It no longer needs me. Or," and he taps the frond. It dissolves from the leaves down into a gentle, white light, evaporating entirely before long. "I can simply return it to its base elements. Small plants are no trouble to breathe life into."

Albedo lets a new fern form from his fingertips, and offers it once more.

"Is there something similar in your world? Magic, as you said?"

"Alchemy," Sephiroth repeats, watching Albedo's actions carefully. He certainly can't replicate anything the boy is doing, but it's good for him to learn what he can about exactly what it is and how it works. "That's not something that exists in my world...except as an outdated practice of attempting to transmute metals in times before our world had a better understanding of science." If Sephiroth sounds like he's reciting a textbook or a lecture, he quite likely is. He tends to retain the information he absorbs. "It certainly couldn't achieve what you're doing with it."

After watching the plant beginning to grow...Sephiroth finds himself almost bothered by its dissipating so easily at the boy's touch. It's just a plant, but...well, after taking such fastidious care of Angeal's plants, he can't help but have some affection for them. And more to the point...even in just a simple plant, the casual giving and taking away of life on a whim unsettles him. To simply dismiss a living thing because it's served its purpose and its creator has no more use for it...it feels like a very ShinRa attitude.

He knows he's reading too much into it, placing too much importance on something trivial. He does his best to keep it from affecting his judgment. The boy seems friendly, and as though he means well. And if he's accustomed to this sort of alchemy, then no doubt he has a very different view of the matter than Sephiroth does.

He stretches out his hand and takes the fern from Albedo, with far more gentleness than his size or looks would set up expectation for. He doesn't actually offer it to his cat, however, who is increasingly distracted by Albedo's own toy and the antics of the cat he's playing with. He simply cups it in his hand, studying it. "Magic, yes," he murmurs. "Though it would be a stretch to call it similar to what your alchemy can do."

Albedo nods to the explanation. The idea of transmuting metals is really not far off from the basis of most principles of alchemy, but the science behind it can be flawed. He's seen what people outside of khaenri'ah have tried to call alchemy again and again, but their understanding is simply one thing to be made another, not what the actual art entails. It sounds a bit like the outdated practice Sephiroth describes.

It's interesting, how this stranger seems fixed upon the plant. It's not easy to read his expression (because Albedo has never been great at human expression? Or because neither has Sephiroth? Hard to determine. Probably both), but Albedo makes his best attempt.

"You seem to like them. It should have a friend." Bringing up more of the damp soil, Albedo focuses on it, and lets another crystalline plant unfurl. This one has a more woody appearance, a few leaves sprouting from the thin branches. It's almost comedic how small Albedo's own hands look curling over Sephiroth's to place this new plant in his hands beside the fern. But he is infinitely gentle, and offers a smile.

"It is a gift to be able to reshape the loamy soil of creation, and breathe new life into it. To nurture it, and see it make new memories to one day give back to the earth. So I give this gift to you. Perhaps you'll see it bloom one day, and be proud of it."

This person may look like a child, but he certainly doesn't speak like one. He sounds a bit like Genesis - a broad vocabulary and a somewhat poetic way of describing things. It makes Sephiroth wonder if this boy is something like himself - someone who's immersed himself in learning to such a degree that he sounds well beyond his years - or if there's some other explanation.

Sephiroth accepts his new plant as gently as the first, studying both of them. "If they're meant to be friends," he says, after a moment, "then...neither should be used as a cat toy." Then, after a moment - "Thank you."

It occurs to Sephiroth that he hasn't had a plant since he last took care of Angeal's, before the mission to Nibelheim. It likewise occurs to him - painfully - that after his death, everything he'd tried to preserve of the three of them, including Angeal's plants, must have been discarded. There was so much horror and loss in the Nibelheim incident and afterwards that, somehow, he's never even considered that until now. And, for a moment, as he gazes down at the plants in his hand, something in his throat works.

The cat, however, seems to sense the distress of its new friend...or maybe it just wants attention. Either way, it moves to butt its head against Sephiroth's leg, which jerks him out of his thoughts. He reaches down with his free hand to gently pet it, earning a purr.

Nodding, Albedo then shifts how he kneels, tucking the ends of his coat up so as not to drag them through the wet earth. His boots are routinely scuffed enough that he doesn't appear to mind those becoming a bit dirty. This could also be the product of a white coat is much harder to clean later. Regardless, there's something practical about how, if he's going to be out in the rain, he may as well minimize muck where he can.

"No need to thank me, I enjoy the chance to bring people a small measure of kind will. If anything, I should be thanking you. You are interesting, and attentive." A brief pause, and then Albedo hums, and presses a hand to his chest as if to express his sincerity. "My apologies, I was so caught up in showing you alchemy, that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Albedo, Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius. Though I suppose the title no longer matters..."

"I don't know what I've done that's so interesting yet." Sephiroth quirks an eyebrow. "Or worth thanking me for. If simply listening is that worth gratitude, you must not be listened to very often."

At the introduction, he nods. "My name is Sephiroth. I was, at one time, a SOLDIER, First Class, which is the only title I've held...but I'd lost that title even before coming here, so that means even less."

It's almost inaudible, but Albedo does sigh. Sometimes he does not feel particularly listened to, no. On most days really. His assistants are wonderful, certainly, but rarely do they let his advice breach their passions. Brazen travelers, unheeding of warnings as they traipse on the mountainside he knows better than anyone else. How many of them has he quietly rescued, he wonders? Right down the fact his position among the Knights would oft be met by whispers and challenges due his sudden appearance in Mondstat, despite his obvious proof of capability.

"It is more refreshing than I might care to admit, Sephiroth. So yes, worth gratitude indeed." A soldier? How interesting. He wonders exactly what that entails given standing armies aren't very prominent where he's from. "If it isn't too personal, may I ask what you did as a soldier? And what you fought against? Please, don't feel obligated though. My curiosity is not worth your comfort."

"I'm surprised. Your title gives the air of a figure of authority. Although..." He glances at Albedo. "You seem a little young."

At the question, he sighs. "I was part of the private military force of a global corporation," he says after a moment. "Employed and essentially manufactured by them. Ultimately, I served their interests. Much of my career was spent fighting an expansionist war on their behalf against a country that refused to be exploited by them. I did fight monsters as well at times, helping them maintain their empire. We did keep the peace and protect civilians to a degree, though that was less a result of any good will and more to maintain public face and corporate control. It wasn't glorious work. Or ethical. But it was all I knew."

He blinks. It's an absolutely dead stare that betrays immediately that he's definitely heard that one before.

"Yes, I admit, my appearance does give that impression. But I assure you, I am much older than I look. Due to the nature of my creation, time was not always relevant to the functions I was required to preform, so my calculations may be incorrect. But if I had to take an educated guess," and here Albedo pauses for a beat. He may actually be doing calculations given the intensity of sudden focus. "I would consider 300 a modest approximation, perhaps a bit older. Certainly less than 500 though."

As ridiculous as that may sound for someone that looks like him, his tone has not changed a fraction since their conversation started. There's no notable indication that this is meant as a joke, or even that he's lying. Likewise, there's no judgement in the tone he takes after.

"Hm, but that is fascinating. An expanding empire is by nature a very dangerous thing, though conquest is often a vessel of tremendous change. That change is not often for the better, I have found... You said you were manufactured by them, no? Seems my hunch about you being interesting may be on the right track; so, again, I apologize for prying, but how do you mean?"

Sephiroth simply blinks at Albedo for a moment as he processes this. It's far from the most outlandish thing he's ever heard, but it's also a lot to take in. "Creation, hm?" he murmurs, half to himself. "Should I take that as an explanation for why you don't appear to have aged in all that time?"

He at least seems to take what Albedo says at face value, without hesitation. Whether this is naivete or his simply feeling Albedo has no reason to lie could be a matter for speculation, but at least it means the process of convincing him can be skipped.

His gaze flicks over to Albedo when the boy asks his question, but given what Albedo's already said about his own origins...Sephiroth doesn't see much reason to hold anything back. "My parents surrendered my existence to the corporation before I was born," he says flatly. "That company, ShinRa, used the lifeforce of the planet, called mako, as fuel for its generators to create electricity. It had risen to such supremacy through its monopoly on mako that it was essentially the primary authority, governing force, and military power of the planet. They sought the remnants of an ancient race of people from which the humans of my world had diverged from long ago, the Cetra - they were said to be tenders of the planet, able to communicate with it and channel the flow of its energy. More than that, the Cetra told of a place called the promised land - a paradise of supreme happiness. ShinRa assumed that such a land must be fertile, and since lands stripped of mako are barren...then surely it must be a place where they could harvest infinite mako. So they sought to find the Cetra...or, barring that, to create one."

Sephiroth shrugs. "Before I was born...I was injected with the cells of a being they believed to be one of the Cetra, called Jenova. Had this given me the abilities of a Cetra, I'm sure they would have used me to try to harvest the planet's energy, or lead them to that promised land. But...they'd misidentified Jenova. It wasn't a Cetra. It was what the Cetra called the calamity from the stars...a sort of sentient planet-killing virus. Subduing Jenova, preventing it from destroying the planet completely, is what wiped the Cetra out. But Jenova's abilities made me exceptional in other ways than they'd intended, and ShinRa have never been a company to let anything go unexploited. I'm not what they intended, but for my entire life, I was still their property. Just a product of their science department."

He pauses. "From the way you speak of yourself...I feel as though you may understand this."

"That is correct. This is the exact shape I was made in. I have not changed much from then, to now."

Albedo is quiet and still while Sephiroth explains. He keeps his hands folded flat against his thighs, teal eyes set on the other with an unreadable expression. There's a lot running through his mind, but none of it he really knows how to translate into expression. That all of this rings in oddly familiar ways he's never heard someone else express before.

"We are not so dissimilar, you and I." His gaze comes back to focus as he speaks, drawing himself out of thinking too much. He could get lost in it for hours, but that wouldn't be kind or fair to Sephiroth. "So yes, I do understand. As an alchemist, I have no love of nation or creed. My loyalty was only to my master, a strict and... well, rather cold, woman by the name of Rhinedottir. I was considered her greatest work, the pinnacle of alchemical excellence. A homunculus with a soul. Human life, transmuted from the dark of the earth." A beat, Albedo seeming to gather his thoughts some, and idly, he touches the star shaped mark on his throat.

"Even so, if I failed, if I slipped in any way, she would not hesitate to leave me to my fate. Such was the passing of many of the other failures before me. I was... I am simply a tool, an achievement. I would very much like to believe my creator... my mother, if you will, loved me. But that is a very far leap of logic, perhaps a chasm too great even to hope on. So I do not cling to the notion any longer. I worked with her on her research, creating all forms of life, in the shape of monsters and beasts. Terrible things that plagued my former world. At the time, I had not the ability to understand my actions beyond her orders. I simply preformed what was asked of me. It was not until, one day, she told me I had no more to learn, that my final task was without her, that she vanished." Albedo shakes his head, and lets his gaze drift to the sky that still offer nothing but strange rain. So much of his master's actions still elude him as to why.

"I still do not know what she meant by her parting words to me. There was, is, so much left to learn. I am still learning the simplest things of being 'human.' To be created as a tool, an instrument to purpose, I believe I understand the same way you do. We are products of the whims of others. My condolences to us both, I suppose."

Sephiroth shakes his head. "A familiar tale," he agrees. "ShinRa used me as well, for things they insisted were for the greater good but only served their own interests. Though they were at least skilled enough in propaganda to usually present themselves as a benign force...at least, to the general public. Those who saw past their lies - especially their victims - knew otherwise, but ShinRa suffered few enough of those to survive."

He sighs. "My view of the company was never a positive one...but I knew nothing else. Was nothing else. To leave it seemed as though it would simply pit me against an endless stream of SOLDIERs and operatives sent to kill me, who I'd have to kill or be killed by. People brainwashed or ensnared by ShinRa, who didn't necessarily deserve to die just so I could be free of them. Assuming, of course, that the continued experiments done on me while I was working for them weren't all that was keeping me alive. And to get rid of the company itself...perhaps I could have, with my power, but then what? I had no replacement to offer for the services they provided people, no energy solutions, no infrastructure or government I could establish in their place. Destroying the company with nothing to replace it seemed as though it would cause even more devastation than its existence did. I suppose my best choice would have been to die - to take myself out of their hands as a tool they could use. It would have done little enough against them as a whole, but it would have robbed them of their greatest weapon. But then...they would have simply made another. They created me, after all. Even before I understood what had been done to me...I was confident they could replace me, if needed. Every choice I could have made...seemed as though it would only cause an equal amount of suffering."

He shrugs slightly, gaze settling itself on Albedo again. "So we were both trapped by our circumstances, then. Weapons of our creators, wielded without concern as to what we may have wanted. Barely permitted to have desires at all." He tilts his head. "But I'm glad to hear you no longer put stock in your creator having feelings for you. As harsh as it may be to hear...craving such love without any demonstration of it, building such high hopes on such shaky foundations...if those hopes collapse, you can be buried beneath them. I knew nothing of my own mother besides her name. My father...was the head scientist on the project that created me, who only cared for me as his crowning achievement. The man behind every immoral indignity I suffered. So...I dared to dream my mother may have loved me, once. That to at least one parent, I had meant something, been wanted as I was rather than as what I was forcibly turned into. And when I found out the name of my mother was the name of a monster...was the name of the virus...that I might be a monster as well...my mind was broken. And the virus took control of whatever was left of me."

He exhales. "I learned the truth of my human mother, as well. But that was no better. She agreed to my father's experiments. Participated in them. I was never anything more than a sacrifice to science for either of them." He shakes his head again. "So...don't burden yourself with illusions. If your creator never valued you, so be it. There will be others. Better to seek something solid to hold onto than to cling to what has no substance. If I had never placed such importance on my mother...perhaps greater tragedies could have been avoided."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TDM #4

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