☆RESCUER TEST DRIVE: SOMETHING ABOUT US

[interdimanagers]

☆WELCOME RESCUERS

"Daft Punk - Digital Love" (Watch on YouTube)

Welcome to Interstellar's second RESCUER TDM! A part of the Interstellar plot that first opened a couple months ago, this TDM cover the second round of recruitment for those approached by the lone space pilot Shep to join him on a mission to the planet Terra to rescue those held captive by Pride Records and Virgo Entertainment. Rescuers will not suffer any memory loss and will enter the game as they are, in contrast to the memory loss/force humanization of the musician half. Powers will be nerfed to a certain degree upon entering the game fully, but during recruitment they will remain at full power.

☆A DREAM ABOUT YOU

These prompts are designed to be game canon, for both rescuers and musicians both new and already in game. For those in game, they will start occurring around New Years in the form of dreams. The dreams will be very clear while happening, but after waking, they will swiftly fade away into something barely remembered. For rescuers, these dreams will occur very shortly before they are approached by Shep or other already recruited rebels to join the rescue squad and go save the people being held captive in Vista City. Rescuers will remember these dreams as clearly as something that actually happened in real life.

Both of these prompts take place in the dreamscape, ostensibly, and the surrounding will appear as whatever fits those taking part in a scene. It can shift and change as a thread goes along, as well, and may resemble things from a captive's home, the game setting, or anything else appropriate. Rescuers that are already in game can also end up in this dreamscape, and can run into both new musicians and new rescue team recruits.



►A1) FOR THE CAPTURED: The kidnapped musicians of Vista City will dream of being themselves - in a way more true than they have been for months now. They'll dream of themselves as they're meant to be, in physical form and manner of dress, and their personality will align more easily with their true nature, even as the confusing influences of their programming nag at their mind. It could alarm them, or it could feel somehow natural. Either way, their memories will still be gone, except for what they've recovered - but they feel somehow much closer to reach, like they may break through if only given the chance to dig just about deeper. They may dream of home, they may dream of Vista, but either way...when the morning comes, their memories of this experience will be all but wiped away. Including the memories of the strangers that promised that they would find them and take them home.

►A2) FOR THE RESCUERS: The dream is the first sign of something being wrong. You'll find yourself somewhere else - either a scene from your home, or someone else's, or an alien world you've never seen. In this dream, you'll find a person. Perhaps it's someone you recognize, someone you love dearly, but that doesn't remember you. Maybe it's a stranger, lost, confused, and desperate for help. Either way, you find yourself reaching out to them - but outside of this dream, you are helpless to save them. The dream will fade but stay with you in your memory, and may be a key component in you choosing to believe and join the other rescuers when they come to your door. Something has been taken, and you will take it back.

☆MAKE THESE DREAMS COME TRUE

These prompts are design to be kept as game canon after acceptance, and can be used as the official story of how your character entered the game. Importantly, the technology used to enter your timeline causes massive time distortions, which means that the outcome of this scenario will stagger and replay itself multiple times before settling on an outcome. This means that after the fact, you character may remember being encountered multiple ways, or going in more than one direction, before the timeline settled on a final path.




►B1) JUST SAY YES: Soon after these dreams, rescuers will find themselves in a strange situation. Time will abruptly stop for every part of the world except for them, and fade into a ghostly vision of its former self - just in time for them to be approached by some mysterious strangers. Whether your rescuer chooses to run, fight, or talk, eventually they'll be told the truth - people of the multiverse have been captured and taken to a universe far away to be harvested for their souls...in the form of forcing them to becoming rock stars. You heard it here first, folks.

The people recruiting you will mostly be other player rescuers that have already been recruited (regardless of whether or not that's been threaded out - you can assume your guy got recruited by someone if you want to recruit OTHER people.) The pilot and owner of the space ship doing this appears to be a blue man named Shep. He's the guy that's apparently in charge of this whole thing, but he's so busy with the dimension hopping that he's kind of hard to find and talk to. He presumably recruited some of the first members personally, but things have been sort of getting more complicated since then.

►B2) INTERSTELLAR DISCO: After you've agreed to come for whatever reason - to save you lover, friend, some guy, whatever - you're be taken upon the guitar shaped spaceship to wait out the tide of the temporal distortions picking you up has caused. It's a long journey back to Vista City, and you've got plenty of new comrades to get to know. This mission could take a while, so you better get comfy. You're in for the long haul now.

NOTE: If you want to see the interior of the spaceship (or if you want to see Shep dance) watch the music video posted up top. It's going to be a fair bit bigger in Interstellar to accommodate the big crew, but the essence is there.

☆HELPFUL INFO

► Follow the mod plurk for updates: interstellar5555
► Check out the game NAVIGATION
► Check out the MUSICIAN TDM
► Ask the mods some QUESTIONS
► Reserves open on February 27th at 12:01AM EDT
► Applications open on March 4th at 12:01AM EDT

Comments

Sans | Undertale | Already in Game! (A1)

[exhumerus]

The situation feels familiar from the first moment Sans finds himself within it. The feeling of deja vu, the strange distance from his life in Vista...the fact that he's a skeleton again. It's all seems very similar to an experience he's had before, which in itself is a familiar feeling of nostalgia. He doesn't quite remember the first time he found himself in one of these dreams, but it's close enough.

Enough has happened in between that now, instead of baffled and only slightly put out, he is legitimately pissed off. He regards his surrounding with a feeling of disdain, like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth just by existing.

This time, there is no snow, or frosted subterranean trees. Instead, there is a vast stretch of laboratory space - a sight that is familiar yet foreign all at once. It isn't the kind of science he studied in university before dropping out, instead its of a distinctly arcane variety, like the sorts he's been gradually remembering over time. He could probably even name what a few of the devices and formulas are for. He knows what some of the mysterious looking scripts scribbled on boards and papers mean.

He just doesn't care. He doesn't want to be here. He feels like the entire place is haunted, whether or not it only exists inside his head.

There's no one else around, so he wanders for a while, in his lab coat and...somewhat misplaced slippers. When he realizes that its not really possible to find his way out, he just starts pushing things off of counters with a dull sense of amusement, much like a cat would. Will anybody react if he dumps this bottle of crap everywhere? Well, how about this one?

He manages to be pretty grim looking, even while grinning toothily the whole time. It's a talent of his, being a skeleton.

I SAID I WOULD

[eba02]

[And here J thought the dreams would end once he actually made it to Vista City. Guess not.]

[It's a little nostalgic, showing up in a dream with Bone Man - Sans, he now knows, thanks to Frisk. What's new is the dulled fury in Sans' tune - a mixture of anger and disdain and supreme irritation, worsened by the skipping and warping that the brainwashing creates. At least the damage isn't as bad as it was last time.]

[He approaches, hands in pockets, outwardly casual. Don't want to make the situation worse right off the bat, after all.]

Not a fan of science, huh, Bone Man?

ROUND TWO

[exhumerus]

[Sans looks at J sharply, surprised by the new presence, but only at first. Something about the voice, the questions, the nickname - strikes him as familiar. Is it a dream he's had before? Maybe so.

He lays a finger on some kind of potion bottle, rocking it back and forth gently.]

Kind of lost my taste for the white collar environment, I guess.

[He dumps it on the floor. Good thing he's wearing a labcoat with all this splash back! Safety first, kids.]

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT kiss kiss kiss

[eba02]

[Boy is it a good thing J's out of range right now. He watches the bottle give in to gravity.]

No kidding.

[He looks back at Sans. There's something about the blasé fury in the skeleton's tune that he just can't get around.]

What happened?

don't kiss Sans unless you like dentada

[exhumerus]

Here? Beats me.

[He messes around with some more stuff on the counter, but doesn't actually break it this time. It's likely he will when he's finished, though.]

A lot of failure, so far as I can recall...and the cost that comes with it.

[eba02]

[On one hand, jeez, dramatic much? On the other hand, Sans' tune is still skipping over something - presumably the gaps in his memory - and J can't really blame him for that.]

I meant what happened to you. Semi-charmed kind of life didn't pan out?

[exhumerus]

Well, I'm a skeleton now.

[That much is obvious.]

Part ways in real life, too. Whatever that means to you, dream guy. And apparently I'm not human and never have been. What the hell, right?

[eba02]

[He shrugs again.]

You were last time I saw you, too. You still a wizard time scientist?

[Time to see if Sans remembers that last dream, though if the lab is a surprise and an irritant, he's betting on no. Still...]

Can't say that 'everything you know is wrong' sounds like a fun life experience.

[exhumerus]

[Sans looks back to J, actually sort of surprised at that question. After a moment, that expression eases into another somewhat biting grin. He taps at his temple with a bony click.]

Heh. Yep, still all that. Hell if I know what good it does me.

[He rests his hands against he counter, leaning on them for support, staring down.]

When did we meet, exactly? Can't quite recall...

[eba02]

[Well, at least he's not breaking things anymore, though is tune is still stumbling over gaps. Improvement?]

Figure there's a lot you can do with time literally on your side.

[He waves a hand dismissively.] Once upon a dream, a little while back. Not like dreams ever make any sense, right?

[exhumerus]

Sometimes they make too much sense.

[He can't really decide whether or not to discount this guy's presence. The whole thing sure feels like a dream, but he can't place his role there. There's no reason for him to be contacting a real person in his dreams, unless this is some kind of vision. But...he doesn't recognize this guy from anywhere besides other dreams.

So instead he just starts venting his mental process, as if hoping that throwing enough things at the wall will get something to stick.]

You know what's going on here, pal? You sure sound like you do.

[eba02]

[Jeez, Bone Man cottons on quick. He's hit something of an impasse here; on one hand, he can give Sans the runaround and essentially defeat the point; on the other hand, he can tell Sans what he knows and run the risk of blowing everything wide open. Just because Sans doesn't seem to remember the other dream doesn't mean he won't remember this one, and given the brainwashing factor...well, J can't afford the risk, can he.]

[So he shrugs, completely noncommittal, and evades the question.]

Question is, how much do you know about it?

[exhumerus]

[That might have been a poor choice. At the very least, it makes Sans angry in a way he hadn't been, even before.

He turns on J suddenly, full of a fiercely aggressive kind of discontent despite ostensibly having no physical advantages here. His left eye flickers blue and gold. What is this, some kind of test? Some kind of mind probe trying to figure him out with reverse questioning? A paranoid suspicion has taken root, and now it's not clear if there's any going back.

No way, man. Not this shit. Not today.]

I'm about done having to answer questions for myself. [The words come out as a snap between unmoving teeth. They calm slightly in his next words - forced back behind the wall.] I like to take it easy, y'know? It's a bit more stress than I'd rather deal with.

So, how about you cut the shit, human?

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus doesn't dream very often, largely because he doesn't sleep very often. Even before leaving the underground, he spent most nights awake and doing things. That hasn't changed, not with the wider variety of things to be doing in the human world. So it's with some confusion that he has no idea where he is, or what is going on.

He walks through the halls, looking for signs of how he got here, or other people, or just an exit. The strange tiled floors, the awful lighting... It's like no place he's ever seen before. Too bad he doesn't watch more science fiction. MTT's set designs are always a little flashier than this, and don't help him to recognize it.

The sudden crashing sounds are the first sign of life, and he jogs around a corner to find the culprit. It's almost not a surprise, to see Sans knocking things on the floor.

"Sans!" Papyrus throws his hands up in the air, exasperated almost beyond words. "It's bad enough you make a mess at home, but doing it in somebody else's... place! Who do you expect is going to clean this up?"

It's sure not going to be Papyrus. Not when it's bad enough that his brother leaves his literal dirty laundry around, and doesn't even follow helpful reminders to take care of it.

[exhumerus]

The look that Sans gives this new stranger is sharp.

He's not sure what to expect out of this, but the dreamlike quality of the scenario has him more frustrated than curious. He absolutely doesn't want to deal with whatever is going on here, and he has no idea what this other skeleton is going to want out of him. As one skeleton in a lab, another one appearing doesn't seem that special. This is probably some kind of memory - this person is probably more of a phantasm than an individual.

And so, instead of asking questions or even responding, he stares right at them and then slowly pushes a small rack of test tubes onto the floor. Smash.

"What's it to you?" he asks blandly.

[spaghettimonster]

That expression... it's like barely concealed hostility.

That's not a look Papyrus has ever seen directed at himself before, not from Sans. Usually his brother hides everything important, from anger to sorrow, under his distracting jokes whenever possible. Something is not right here, something besides the strange setting and attire.

"What's it to... Those things aren't yours, right?" He doesn't give Sans a chance to answer, continuing to spin an elaborate imaginary scenario. "That's a crime, and somebody's going to be made you broke their stuff! And, if I don't stop you, I'll be your accomplice. How can I bail you out if I'm in the cell next to you?"

As far as Papyrus is concerned, it's obvious he's not going to just walk away. Not when Sans is in such a openly terrible mood, and in need of somebody to keep him in line.

[exhumerus]

He's struggling with everything far worse than he wants to be. This was a mistake, he can't help but feel. Everything he's done recently has been a mistake, and this place just seems to be a reminder of that. Something he left behind because it was too much for him. He couldn't take it.

How is it that he manages to be such a failure in both sets of memories? Is that really all there is, for him?

"Maybe if they don't want their crap broken, they should consider letting me leave," he says, his challenge directed at the room, like he's only vaguely humouring the fact that Papyrus is there in the first place. He doesn't care about that. He couldn't even put a finger on why, but this other skeleton's presence has the essence of feeling tasteless or unnecessary.

He turns his back on him, and stalks off further along the counters, turning over a larger piece of equipment with more malicious disregard.

If he has to stay here he's going to break something. That much is becoming clear, and on more than one level.

[spaghettimonster]

Papyrus winces at the crash. Sans' disinterest in his chiding is nothing new. Fake agreements that turn into post-it note arguments have plagued them for some time, and only somewhat improved on the surface. This outright destruction is something else.

"Who's keeping you here? I haven't seen anybody else since I... mysteriously found myself here?" Come to think of it, he has no idea how he got here. There's no signs of other people around, not even an elevator to explain how they got down here. But if there's a way in, there's a way out.

If nothing else, Sans really should be able to use his secret 'shortcuts' to get himself out. If he already tried that, and failed, then...

He shakes his head, nowhere near ready to give up on getting somewhere else. Instead, he risks stepping closer to Sans, and reaches a hand to beckon him over. "Come on, stop breaking things, and let's do something productive. Like look for an exit!"

[exhumerus]

Thus comes the inevitable moment. Sans turns to that beckoning hand with a look of total disinterest - like he resents being force to give this consideration for the few moments that he's going to. His fists are clenched, shattered glass, metal, and spilling ooze around his feet.

"And who the hell are you, exactly?" It comes out sharp and impatient. There's a sick feeling in his gut (?) at the sight of him, and he doesn't like it. The way it connects to the rest of this place, to this feeling in his head, is aggravating. His left eye flickers blue, and then gold, his grin more a bearing of teeth than a smile.

[spaghettimonster]

If it weren't for that flickering light, this could be the setup to a bad riddle. Who the hell is Papyrus, anyway? Cool skeleton and great friend, certainly. Ex-future member of the royal guard, only because it was disbanded before he could be instated. And now...

"Your brother?!?" Increasingly concerned brother, at that. That snarl, that light, it's like Sans is having a waking nightmare. He's walking around, doing things and talking, but reacting to things in a completely nonsensical way. "I'm not your keeper, but I do try to look out for you!"

[exhumerus]

His expression flinches, ever so slightly. To someone unaccustomed to Sans's permanent grin, it might be hard to catch. The subtleties are there, though. Something about that cut a little, but not in a way he's prepared to face head on. So instead, his aggressive front continues.

"I don't got a brother, pal," he says, like it's some kind of joke. "Don't you think I'd remember that?"

Except he's forgotten so much, already. But how could he have something like that and not remember it, in the rare moments coming back to him? How could something like that remain concealed? What about this laboratory makes him scared of the idea?

[spaghettimonster]

Fortunately (?), Papyrus is well-versed in looking at eyesockets instead of mouths, when it comes to reading expressions. He has to be, if he's to make any sense of his own reflection. So he sees enough to see that something, somehow, bothered his brother about what he said. Not enough to see which part, or any hint of why.

"Of course I would!" Indignant, like they've had too many conversations about what Papyrus does and doesn't think already. "If this is some new joke routine, I have to tell you, it's not funny! At all! You should stick to puns."

If that doesn't say how unfunny this conversation is, nothing will. Sans' overuse of bad puns has been a thorn in Papyrus' side for years. Better that than this.

[exhumerus]

Sans scowls, is eye flickering once more. In the absence of familiar affection, there is only annoyance.

"I stopped tryin' to be funny about this a while ago," he growls, and turns back to the counter, taking in the arcane miscellanea. And this is his whole problem, isn't it? Everything had been a joke. It's always been a joke. But it feels like something is tearing down his psychological from the inside - ripping out some pieces and sewing in others. He doesn't know when the exact moment was. Probably somewhere around the point he realized that everything, ever, had been a lie.

There's been no help for it. There's no laughing it off. His staunch dedication to ambivalence stopped working the same moment he decided it was worth acting on his situation. Knowing he has power, knowing that some people's life and death could depend on his actions...all it's left is anger and despair. Like the process of mourning has started anew.

Day to day, he's held up okay - at least on the inside. But in the realm of this dream, it's like his interior struggle has been laid bare.

"So, you don't know what this place is, huh?" he asks, after a moment. "I think I might be starting to."

[spaghettimonster]

It's like looking at a stranger with Sans' face. Very unsettling, having so little idea what his brother is thinking or feeling in there.

Papyrus mutters, "when did you stop being funny about serious things...?" but doesn't raise his voice enough to make it a point. Sans just looking at things is an improvement over breaking them. Better to take this whole situation step by step.

There's something spooky, and empty, and heavy about these hallways. Something hard to pin down, that he really doesn't like. It's clear that his brother doesn't like this place either, with that tantrum and accusation that some mysterious 'they' is keeping him trapped here. Maybe it's that spooky weight that's ruining Sans' mood, making him pretend Papyrus doesn't mean anything to him.

"You do? That's good! Knowing where we are... is the first step to knowing how to leave!" He brightens a little at Sans' last comment. Trying to figure this out is worse than Junior Jumble. How can you solve a puzzle when you don't know what the pieces look like, and you don't know where to look for them? This is the kind of thing he counts on Sans to guide him through.

[exhumerus]

For Papyrus's purposes, maybe he really is a stranger. Hell, he's strange enough to himself, these days. He falls silent for a little while, finding himself unbalanced by the other skeleton's disposition. Really couldn't keep this one down, huh? He's not quite sure how to handle it.

Eventually, he hops up and sits on the counter, tired of pacing around, and messily knocks a few things out of the way as he does so. He's asleep, but he is still so damn tired.

"Hey, I got a question for ya," he says, still only partially seeming to acknowledge Papyrus's presence. "Do you figure it's possible to remember forgetting something?"