dream_station | Dream Station TDM

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Dream Station TDM

You dozed off. Or passed out. Or perhaps you were experiencing a more... permanent 'sleep'. Whatever the case, your eyes were shut and now they're not as you awaken sitting on a train. Around you, others in similar situations. At your feet sits luggage. It has a name tag on it with your name. Inside are some of your clothes and small personal belongings.

Out the window you see that the train is rolling into a sration. Cherry blossoms line the track leading up to it. A beautiful, scenic town lay beyond those gates.

Welcome to Dream Station.

Home Sweet Home:

As the train rumbles into the station and stops you step out onto a platform. A perfectly normal looking station, all things considered. There are people waiting. Guides here to help the latest batch of residents. People who live in this world. Either due to being born here or having been brought here sometime before and agreeing to help newcomers.

The guides explain to you the situation you are in. You otherworlders are common here in the city of Dream. Your guide reassures you that it's fine. They have accommodation for newcomers. And you are brought to the Sleep Tight Apartments. While outside it looks a little small, it's actually quite expansive inside. Must be magic of some kind.

Your apartment will be a one bedroom with a kitchen, living area and bathroom. But don't worry. There will be ways to expand later.

For now you are given a cellphone with an app installed on it for the local social media, Sleepr. As well as a Nightmare Tracker that will alert you when Nightmares crop up. And finally a little banking app where you will find you already have an account that has a decent amount of money for you to spend for the month. Don't worry about rent or bills. That's all covered in return for you helping with those Nightmares.

If you refuse to help... well. Best find your own accommodation and a job, friend. They can't help anyone unwilling to help in return.

There's a lot of new faces so maybe you should get to know your neighbors or get a walk around your new neighborhood.

This Is A Beach Episode:

The Dream Beach is open for business! Come lay out a towel and get some sun. Or go splash in the waves! Seashells are a plenty and there are designated fishing spots. Just don't swim too far out.

Hungry? Thirsty? The boardwalk has plenty of delicious options from icecream to fries to ice cold lemonade.

For those seeking something fun to do, there are paddle and pedal boats available for rent. And some diving to see the beautiful coral reefs. As well as a boat that will take you on a little trip out to an island resort!

The Resort:

I mean, you're basically all on vacation from your regular lives already in the wonderful world of Dream! That said, who doesn't love to spend a little time with their feet up in a nice resort?

Come out and stay in an ocean front room with complimentary continental breakfast and free room service. There are lots of little souvenir shops to check out, run by some bipedal frogs? They don't accept money here. But they'll glady trade their wares for any seashells collected on the beach. Lots of fun tropical themed goodies and swim gear galore!

For the adventurous sort, there is plenty to explore including a forest with hiking trails and a supposedly haunted cave. Legend says some tourists got lost in there and never came back out. They were looking for a treasure apparently. But... maybe don't follow their example and get lost in there?

The Nightmare Fuel:

So remember you were told about Nightmares? Seems they're cropping up throughout the city. Some are taking the form of shadowy crabs about four feet tall that are stealing from people and carrying them off in their little crabby claws. Give them a beat down or just trick them into dropping their stolen goods.

Others look like reverse mermaids. Fishy heads atop human legs. These ones are causing problems for the local restaurants and shops by slipping on in and stinking up the place. You can fight them if you want, but they'll be just as easily dispersed by herding them to the beach where they will return to the waters. They don't seem very threatening, just confused.

However while those two aren't very dangerous, there are some very aggressive bipedal seacreatures with the heads of crocodiles and some very sharp claws that have taken to lurking around the island out in the woods. These ones won't leave peacefully. You'll have to fight them or run away from them. Watch out they don't catch you. Those teeth and claws aren't just for show!

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"It's nerd shit."

Says the man who knows the term because he's a nerd.

"I haven't been here long enough to get a good feel for it. But this place seems quieter. And more accepting of weird shit. As far as I can see the residents here all react to the weird things going on, even if they treat it like every day. Back home when weird shit happened the normies always seemed to remember it as something mundane. Even the most off the wall shit..."

"As in, they were conditioned to accept anything? Or they just didn't recognize when something didn't fit their world view?"

As far as he knew, Alfredo could still tell when something just wouldn't have happened at home; the Nightmares in general fight that category easily.

Webmind shakes his head, bringing both gloved hands up, palms out.

"There should be no need for that. I was wondering if seashells could have ended up in the trees; I will admit I've encountered strange enough things in my adventures that it would not feel entirely out of place."

Nita's eyebrows go up, but it's just out of surprise, not anything more harsh.

"Kind of surprised there's only one of this one; I can ask if they have spares in the back...?"

Because how would you know if you liked something if you didn't try it? She could respect Pepa's massive-sampler tactic.

Nita's smile is fairly somber, as,

"I've been on more packed trains before, but not as many with so many confused passengers," she says, trying to relate.

"I think they're more than crabs, with the way they're shaped. If I meet smaller crabs, I'll ask if they're related."

Assuming there both were any on the beach and that they wished to talk to someone who spoke in a language meant to be more easily understood than English.

Jack ducks behind one of the boardwalk shops' sidewalk displays at the sudden projectile, giving a little yelp. He peeks out as the trio of fish-headed people mill about in confusion, gawping in Alfredo's general direction. Yeah, not who he expected as a rescuer. He isn't sure if he's grateful or embarrassed. Probably a bit of both.

"It looks like he means business," he pipes up. "Better run along."

Fortunately, with Jack agreeing with him, Alfredo ends up appearing intimidating enough for the mers to leave.

They do manage to leave in the direction of the ocean; Alfredo wasn't sure if they had that kind of coordination going for them.

Once he's sure they're out of range, and unlikely to second-guess themselves, he lowers the slingshot, gaze turning partway to Jack's hiding place.

"There'll be more of them, most likely. Nightmares have been appearing here for longer than I have been in this city," he warns.

"... I don't know if they'll be of the same kind, though." Or temperament.

"Seashells... in the trees." You know what? "...Yeah. I've seen weirder shit too. I still don't think I wanna go around punching them. They don't punch back."

A brief pause.

"...or they shouldn't. Who the hell knows?"

"The latter. Sometimes they'd rationalize it. We had dinosaurs attacking the city and once it was all over, the normies just acted like the city had been wrecked by some kind of wild storm."

That kind of thing.

"Here though? The residents just seem to accept the weird shit."

It's not a bad thing in his book.

Edited 2023-05-28 13:48 (UTC)

"Dinosaurs?"

Alfredo sounds surprised. If he'd seen a dinosaur, he wouldn't want to forget it!

"... And they all just disappeared after? That is strange, from beginning to end."

Webmind nods.

"I believe I can understand your reluctance to 'find out', there."

His screen-face shifts to a 'thoughtful' emote.

"The shopkeepers might actually know the answer to that. We would have to ask."

This wasn't the Nightmare District; things punching when they shouldn't be capable of such sounded like it would be more likely there, anyhow.

"The dinosaurs? No. We had to basically herd them into specific areas where they could be contained and sent back to where they came from. It was a whole mess."

One of his stranger life experiences to be sure.

"I'm guessing shit has never gotten that crazy here?"

Have another blank look before Katsuki raises one hand and lets off a few small explosions. Carefully controlled and aimed upward so as not to cause any damage.

"Oh no. I'm not reluctant. Let something or someone decide to fight me. I can handle some unruly vegetation."

He breaks into a lopsided grin that maybe isn't the most comforting of expressions.

"So there was a way to deport them?"

That... probably wouldn't work on the Nightmares here, to Alfredo's understanding.

"And I wouldn't say so, though there could have been something years before I arrived."

He'd rather err on the side of caution, here, and not say something completely inaccurate.

By this point, Webmind has met powered individuals in his time as a Voidtrecker.

He still looks quite duly impressed, though.

"In that case, the only worry would be setting on fire something that didn't deserve it."

That does explain Katsuki's wariness of the ocean, however.

"I presume any seashells gained would remain intact?"

Boy oh boy is he off base about the ocean wariness. Not that Katsuki is offering any explanation of why he had been bolting away from the waves like they might bite him.

"If a tree is trying to punch me, seashells are my last concern." Hand back at his side now that he's done showing off.

"...and I'm getting better at not burning shit to the ground when I fight. I haven't been banned from a place in a couple months even."

Hoo boy.

"Honesty dunno how they did it. I worked on herding them, not on transporting them back."

But maybe shit won't be that crazy and intense here...

"So judging by earlier, I'm guessing you don't fight?"

"... No."

He can, technically, but that's not the same thing.

"I've studied tactics, however. Some moves I'm just too small for. I can make traps, but-"

He squeezes the book at his side.

"I'd rather not risk losing this in one of them. It's a reminder of home."

Touche, touche; Webmind nods again, taking a few steps sidewise to slightly alter his view of the ocean.

"Counting your time spent in Dream, then."

He's not going to make that a question; that just seems too blunt even for him.

"Yeah? What kind of traps?"

He's curious now.

He's answering it like one. Blunt is fine.

"Yes."

Granted. He. Hasn't been here long enough to set anything on fire. But. Y'know. He's a one man demolition team.

"Maybe I need to team up with someone who has water powers."

After a low-key look around, to make sure there aren't any more crabs heading their way:

"Pits, filling bags with soot, and how to deploy ropes and nets."

Things that, Katsuki may note, usually requires groups for maximum effectiveness.

Were he anyone else, Webmind might look askance - but instead, he just accepts it as the other is presenting.

"That would be a fitting duo, I presume. For the moment, though, I'm afraid I can't deliver."

He gestures along the beach. "We should both try further along the beach, regardless, if we still wish to keep searching."

And maybe be less close to the water.

Home Away From Home?
The last time Cal had fallen asleep on a train it had not exactly ended well. So waking up on one, even as different as it was, had him on edge. Even more so than just having no idea where he was might warrant. He did his best not to show it of course, smiling to others and listening to the guides with a growing sense of confusion once they had stopped. BD however, started beeping away on his shoulder, hopping down to check out everything.

The space in the assigned bunk is... so much more than he could have anticipated. And no Empire to worry about? If Greez and everyone else were here this would almost be perfect. Thing was, he had so much left to do back home, but he didn't know how to get there. And seeing as they needed help here? Why not do that while he tried to figure it out.

He headed out and started walking around, BD running ahead to scan everything he could. In his enthusiasm the small droid ran smack into another person's shins and let out a slow trill as he looked up.

Cal gave a soft laugh as he caught up, shaking his head. "Sorry about that, he just really likes exploring."

What is a Beach Episode?
Cal's exploration brought him to the boardwalk. He snagged a variety of food from some of the stalls, much of it sweet and none of it healthy. He ate while checking things out. Every so often he would stop and put a hand on something, as if drawn to it, closing his eyes as he took in the memory of a moment.

And then after he stepped back he would focus on the droid perched on his shoulder, recounting moments he hadn't been there to see. He did this quietly, not wanting to be overheard, but he's so used to travelling alone, he didn't consider that his voice might carry. Or that he might end up overheard by someone from one of those moments.

Nightmares? Yeah Now it Feels More Familiar
As nightmares went, he'd dealt with worse, even the particularly aggressive ones didn't take much more than some solid force shoves to run off. The problem? Look. The problem was the crabs. Or rather. BD was making himself the crabs' problem.

He watched BD shock yet another of the large crab's claws so that it would drop the object. And this one was annoyed Shaking his head he went over to rescue his little droid. Before, y'know, he became the object a crab decided to run off with.

BD beeped and scampered, going to shock the next one. Not that he was trying to get Cal to chase him through or anything. Nope. Not at all.

"BD, if you get grabbed, don't expect me to save you!" BD gave a trill that Cal was pretty certain was a laugh. "I'm not kidding." This was not made any more believable by the fact Cal was chasing after the droid.

Despite any parallels regarding being on a train, BD at least was someone Webmind had not met before.

"I'm all right," he assured, with a surprisingly deep voice for a skinny robot frame.

"I am not injured, in any case. Though, may I have your name? I am Webmind."

Perhaps he could run a more exact match against his past experiences that way.

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Dream Station TDM

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Re: The Resort

Re: Settling In

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Re: Nightmares

Re: Nightmares

Re: The Resort

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Re: The Resort

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Re: The Resort

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Re: The Resort

Re: The Resort

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Okay, now I'M curious: is it a canon water-monster, or something from Kaisou?

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/slides you a PM /o/

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/thumbs up!/

Cal Kestis | Star Wars (Shortly post JFO) | OTA

Home Away From Home?