TDM 001. WELCOME TO THE CITY

[headandhand]

» 01. WELCOME WAGON

Wow, what a bunch of new faces! The city of Dualis hasn't seen anything like this in a long time, and they've seen some pretty crazy things. Chances are you're seeing some pretty crazy things, too, unless you're used to a lot of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis, and welcome to your first monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, then the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right?

» 02. A BUG IN THE CODE

Remember how the Head mentioned that whole plague thing? Well, don't worry, this isn't that.

It is, however, a really, really terrible flu circulating through the residents of Dualis. Symptoms include fever, chills, vomiting, hallucinations and even in some cases seizures. Bad news, all around. Luckily, this is something the Head knows how to deal with! Time for vaccinations, everyone~

The vaccination process is pretty straightforward: just head to your local clinic and get innoculated! You'll be in and out in less than ten minutes, MedDualis is pretty efficient that way. There isn't even a copay. The MedDroids will tell you, however, that there might be some minor side effects** to watch out for, including physical reactions and odd dreams, but don't worry--those will wear off within forty-eight hours. Nothing to concern yourself about! Of course, if that worries you, you could always run the risk of getting the flu--or passing it on to your loved ones...

**Possible side effects include: Gender or sex change, positive or negative size change, appearance alterations, shared dreams, and mild telepathic links, among others. Please contact your local MedDroid if these symptoms become too severe, or other side effects such as death occur.

» 03. TANSTAAFL

Well, you're settling in just fine, and the basic accommodations and amenities are okay, but maybe you've got a hankering to see that new VR Film: SHARKS IN SPACE 85: BLACK HOLE SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO DO. Or maybe you want some sweet new duds to wear around town, or even just an actual slab of steak. Sorry, those cost extra, pal, which means it's time for...

JOB HUNTING.

Fortunately, Dualis makes this pretty easy! There's a job fair on this week, down at the Central Hub! Plug your certifications and skills into any of the EmployMe terminals in the Dualis Central Hub, and the computer will auto-generate a currently open job that it feels you'd be best suited for. No resume writing or lengthy application process required! Of course, whether or not this job sounds like the right job for you is another matter...but hey, how could an AI with millions of years of learning be wrong? Time to get started, or try and switch waivers with another unhappy new employee--but be warned, some unforeseen consequences may occur if you try swapping identities with someone else...

Comments

Re: Welcome Wagon

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Oh yes, maybe cucumbers really are watery. Except... the girl tilts her head again, clearly a quirk that implies a question or confusion. There is a deep tilt to it too, like the gesture is exaggerated. Which it is. After all, Abby has loved her whole life in a helmet, and you develop different body language when facial expressions are less common. 

“Okay. That sounds fair. Just real quick, what’s a cucumber?”

Re: Welcome Wagon

[whosthemonsternow]

Alright. Staring is intensifying. What kind of life doesn't know watermelons or cucumbers?! Good god?!

"Uh. Long. Green. Things?" She's grasping for how to describe a cucumber, what the hell? "Like a banana. In shape. Tastes nothing alike though. And way more moist than a banana. I- wait, you know a banana, yea?"

Re: Welcome Wagon

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Oh, well now they are in easy territory. Abigail offers a cheerful smile and nods. Bananas are great, easy to steal, and good for you. She knows those. 

“Those are mushy and good!” she grins. “And do you mean zucchini?”

Re: Welcome Wagon

[whosthemonsternow]

"Thank god you know what the hell a zucchini is. Yea, it's close to a zucchini, I'd think. Wetter. Juicier?" They taste better in her opinion, but she wasn't hard up on veggies so. She'd eat em as necessary, food is food when hungry, but fruits were better.

Re: Welcome Wagon

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

“Huh, you’re probably, like, from core system planets then or something,” Abby muses after a moment. Isn’t that just cool and weird. And then her eyes go huge. Could it be...? “Are you from Earth? Oh man wouldn’t that be cool? I’ve never met someone from Earth. If you aren’t, don’t tell me. It ruins the moment.”

Re: Welcome Wagon

[whosthemonsternow]

She looks the girl over curiously, wondering if she could be from a universe similar to her own. She can't help but grin when Earth is mentioned, crossing her arms over her chest and shrugging, "Well, I'm technically from Earth, was born in Russia. Spent all of five weeks there before we moved off planet, but go there often enough on shore leaves."

Re: Welcome Wagon

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Shore leaves? Weird. Again the girl considers. At lest she is smiling enough to show she’s pleased with the news that she’s met an honest earthling. 

Wait. Oh, the lady is military ain’t she? Ouch. 

“You’re military. Military personnel don’t tend to like Adaptive natives. Like, people from Earth don’t even tend to come to our planet. Sorta a shit hole. This place is better. Yanno, not needing helmets.”

Re: Welcome Wagon

[whosthemonsternow]

"This place sucks, I can't even stay fulltime in my armor or keep my guns. Not that I need them- awesome enough without any of it, but still. That's my stuff." She huffs, but focuses on the more important part. Like the less than appreciative response to her being military.

"Well, where I'm from, more or less the military is a really good thing. We stop the murderous asshole Covenant, and the shitbag Insurrectionists, we keep people safe." She isn't all super pro-military hardcore, but usually people were happy when she strode up all badass and ready to shoot shit.

Re: Welcome Wagon

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

“I just like that I don’t have to wear my helmet,” the girl shrugs. “There aren’t toxic clouds and all that.”

Which was always part of the fun back home. And yes, that was sarcastic. Still, the woman seems proud of being military. And Abby’s never had good interactions. So hard pass. 

“What is your favorite thing about earth?”

Re: Welcome Wagon

[whosthemonsternow]

While toxic clouds sound like a huge pain in the ass, South misses her helmet. But limited battery life and not wanting to waste it fucking around, she has to deal all exposed and everything.

She accepts the change of subject, though she somewhat wants to try and convince the girl that a space marine is a good thing, shrugging as she thinks.

"It's not too much different than any other planet around where I'm from. But snow? I like the snow." Though there's plenty of planets that are all ice and snow, it's not just found on Earth, but still. Who doesn't love snow?

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Snow, huh? Well, that isn't something that Abby is used to. Sure, she's heard of it, but snow is one of those things that are for other people, for other places. And on her world, just as toxic as everything else.

"The white fluffy stuff? Seen it on shows sometimes."

[whosthemonsternow]

"Dude no, you haven't seen snow in person? Shit, it better snow here or I'm going to flip my shit, you gotta see snow, kid." Because snow was incredible. Snowballs? Yes. Sometimes with rocks in them, maybe, but it's fine, they're small rocks, it's cool, don't worry. And snowmen? With inappropriate parts? Of course! Shit. Now she wants snow.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"Where I'm from, snow is rare. And even if I went to places where it was, which I could never afford to do, it would probably kill you."

Simple truths of the world. Abby just shrugs it off, because that's what life is like. In fact, it's a lot of what life is like, always has been. But she doesn't see the point to messing with frozen water. It seems silly even on shows. Which she doesn't see much so really her experience isn't useful.

[whosthemonsternow]

"Well, to be fair, normal snow can kill you too, but..." She shrugs, scooting back in her chair again and slouching down. "Do you get to swim in lakes? Or surf in an ocean? Or hike a mountain?!"

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

What are those things? Again that deep tilt of her head. Definitely a gesture of question.  “What’s an ocean? And hell no we don’t swim. Only rich people have he money to manage the proper costs of and filtration for a pool so they don’t just turn to poison or something. It’s hard enough keeping enough water around to drink. Most of it is filtered and shipped from off-world.”

[whosthemonsternow]

She's mildly concerned over the state of the girl's neck at this point, please, your head is going to tilt right off.

"Lots of salty water? With tons of animals? Covers most of Earth, some planets where I'm from are pretty much all ocean except the manmade parts." Okay, she's pulled a feel from South, what person hasn't gotten to run into an ocean?! "Okay kid, we gotta find some water to push you into now. It's mandatory."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

“Adaptive mostly has rats and feral cats. And whatever rich people ha...”

Her eyes go huge with horror and the girl pushes back from the table at He idea of being thrown into water. 

“You’re trying to kill me!”

[whosthemonsternow]

She pauses before rolling her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm not literally saying to throw your ass in water. If you've never been in water, you'll probably totally die."

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

“Non-treated water is toxic,” Abby counters. 

[whosthemonsternow]

"Where you're from. It's probably fine here." Probably. Maybe. Most likely? She doesn't know for sure, but she's fairly sure they would've heard something about it by now if the water was killing people off.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Yeah, and if you trust that then Abby has a time share in the Gulch for you. But she isn’t making that sassy comment. 

“Serious pass. That stuff will kill you. Better safe than dead.”

[whosthemonsternow]

Water's been....typically safe in her life, she's mostly sure it's probably near harmless here. Maybe.

"Have a lot of people been killed touching water here?" She questions, half sarcastic but also a little serious.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

"Like I know. I've been here like, three fucking hot minutes. All I know is that they apparently don't have death clouds and there may be plants around."

Plants. Abby's never seen plants before.

[whosthemonsternow]

"Got some low standards there, kid." She mumbles out, glancing around. "Some recon would help, find out what is or isn't going to kill anyone. Been watching some people around since I got here, things seem... safe enough."

Too safe. She's not trusting it, not entirely, but it doesn't seem hard to survive, at least.

[quicksmiles_nimblefingers]

Like you can even trust stuff like that. What you see isn't always what you get. So Abby shrugs. Watch away, Angry Lady. Not like it's going to affect this kid.

"You do you, space gal."