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annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
modaccount) wrote in annexedmeme2022-07-31 04:43 pm
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Test Drive Meme #1
Test Drive Info
⇝ Test Drive Memes usually take place in a virtual reality simulation occurring in characters' minds that tests them for 'fitness' before they enter the setting officially. However, for the first TDM, it will be set in the real world and centered around the arrival of the first crop of extra-universal "recruits."
⇝ Test Drive Meme threads may be considered game canon so long as all parties agree to it.
⇝ Test Drive Meme threads do count for Activity Check.
Welcome to the Broken World.
You can't even remember how you got here.
All you know is that one moment you were in a world you were used to, comfortable in. It might have been a regular day or the most important day of your life, in the middle of a meal or brushing your teeth or the battle to save the world or the moment of your death. Whoever took you didn't seem to care what you were doing when you were taken, and now that you're here, they still don't seem to care.
You wake up after what seems like the blink of an eye, nauseous and dizzy but otherwise unscathed, possessions taken away, barefoot and dressed only in a set of plain grey clothing, like the most bland uniform ever imagined, in an empty room with empty walls and one single door with a small barred window and a single number printed just above it. The door is locked and cannot be broken by any means, you can feel your connection with any superhuman powers you had severed, leaving them just out of reach - you can feel them there, tingling at your fingertips or in the back of your brain, but you just can't get to them. There is no one to greet you or explain what's happening. You start to lose track of time, the only sound the distant ticking of what sounds like a massive clock.
Just when things seem hopeless, when you feel like you're about to go mad, there's the sound of a commotion outside your door. The sounds of a battle, or perhaps an infiltration gone just slightly wrong. Either way, when the door opens, there is a figure there with a hand outstretched.
"Welcome to the Broken World. Come on, we'll explain everything just as soon as we get you and the others out of here."
i. The Rescue
The moment of peace and freedom doesn't last for long.
Even while you're still disoriented from everything that's happened in the past few hours, the person who's just freed you pushes a gun into your hands. If you're familiar with guns, it's simple enough to use, with a recognizable safety and trigger, a magazine of bullets attached to the bottom. If you're not familiar with guns, well...the person who just rescued you will give you a minute-long introduction to it. Press this button, click this hammer back, pull the trigger to shoot. Nothing fancy, but enough that you won't hurt yourself or anyone else you're not supposed to be hurting. Probably.
After being handed the gun, the person rescuing you looks at you not unkindly and gestures for you to follow, leads you through a maze of concrete corridors to the entrance of the building. There, you'll find something of a small warzone, a battle in progress though almost completed, in the parking and courtyard area between several small, squat concrete buildings. There, huddled in the safety of the building's entryway, the person who just rescued you will point across the courtyard toward an encroaching patch of jungle and quickly explain the situation - you've been brought to this place by the Sylphid, long-standing enemies who will "eat your soul" and replace you if they catch you, and the person rescuing you is part of a resistance army intending to overthrow them. You're to make your way across the courtyard and into the jungle, where you'll find someone named Brycen, a blue-skinned man who will get you out of here even as the battle rages on.
The courtyard is mainly open, with a few benches and trees that can be used as cover, and there is a small group of Sylphid - the enemy, the people who took you and are now shooting at you, but who look like average everyday people - who are taking potshots at whoever crosses the courtyard even as they engage with the rebels. You'll be provided with suppressive fire from those same rebels while you cross the courtyard, but other than that, you're on your own unless you want to take the run with whoever else just got rescued.
ii. Race Through The Jungle
Once you make your way across the courtyard and into the jungle, you'll find Brycen waiting for you about a 10 minute walk in. The moment he sees you, he gestures you over and leads you a few feet further into the underbrush where there are a few All-Terain Vehicles parked in a small clearing. Shooting you a little grin, Brycen spreads his arms to present the vehicles, then heads over to the closest one. What follows is a quick explanation of how to use the ATV, a small hovercraft that can seat two. Brycen points out another ATV that is driven by a member of the resistance, and tells you that this person will guide you to the Witches Camp, where you'll be living from now on. But it's on you to pilot the ATV from here to there.
Well, you and your new friend.
See, there are half as many ATVs as there are people, and each one does seat two. Brycen gestures at the nearest extra-universal arrival and tells both of you to hop on. Now, you're both bound for the Witches Camp together, for better or worse. It's a long walk, so don't piss off your pilot!
Or overturn the ATV or crash it, because the path from the clearing to the Witches Camp is rough, without many trails or paths that have been carved out of the underbrush, something the revolutionaries have done to avoid being tracked back to their home. The ride will be bumpy, hover-vehicle or not, with a lot of swerving to avoid obstacles and dodging to avoid branches. Hopefully, you won't have a run-in with any of the local jungle wildlife, which can range from small, relatively harmless animals to lizards the size of small dinosaurs and wild cats.
It's a wild ride, but eventually you make it to the Witches Camp, a sprawling maze of low-to-the-ground buildings and markets interspersed with jungle for cover, and the rebel leading you keeps doing so until you pull up in front of Central Command. This building is one of the nicer ones in the area, and houses the Witch herself as well as the seat of the revolution. This is where all of the rebel plans are made and where new arrivals are put up.
iii. Welcome Home
Once you enter Central Command, you'll find that they've prepared space for you. First, you'll be led to the residential area of the large building and given the keycard to your new apartment, a small furnished studio apartment with a main living/sleeping area, a desk, kitchenette, bathroom with shower stall, and a walk-in closet for storage. Once you've been oriented to your new apartment, you'll be taken to pick your network device from an array of devices ranging from ultra-modern tablets that can fold into the shape of a phone to an equivalent of regular modern-day cell phones to magical tablets or books that can be interacted with by characters unfamiliar with technology. They'll also offer to alter your own phone or device to access the network, if you prefer that.
After that, you will be guided to one of the big board rooms in the Central Command, where you'll find a large spread of food on the table, ready to be dug into - all the staff at Central Command have brought food from home to share with the new arrivals. You'll also find notebooks and pens to take notes, because this is the official orientation, and you'll come out of it having learned pretty much everything about the rebellion, the Sylphid, how the rebellion originated and most importantly, how you got here and how you can go home.
This is where the rebels point out that helping them is helping yourself, because the only way to send you home is to commandeer the device that brought you here in the first place, and the only way to do that is to overthrow the Sylphid overlords.
After this presentation, no matter how accepting or skeptical you are, you'll be given a small stipend and set free to explore the city, linger around and chat over the potluck leftovers, go back to your apartment, make a network entry to meet other people, or whatever else you'd like to do. Want some new clothes? They can direct you to the markets. Looking to start learning magic? They can direct you to the Mage's Sector where you can find a teacher. Looking to dance your cares away in the wake of this terrible upheaval? They can direct you to a club in The Electric Heart that sells cocktails that'll erase all your pain for the evening.
Go wild. The Witches Camp is your new home. What will you make of it?
iv. Network
Once you've settled into your apartment in the evening, you're free to browse the internet and intranet on your new network device. Care to make an entry and meet the others in your same situation?
no subject
[It was a 'kinda' situation. They'd been there to protect the interests of the United States, but they'd stayed to take out Starro and save a lot of people. There'd been a lot they couldn't save, but they'd saved more than they hadn't, so it had been a win in her book.
For a moment, she's quiet, thinking about the whole thing. It was so recent, less than a week ago, but it feels like it was forever ago at the same time.]
We were there to shut down a secret science lab thingy, and destroy it. Which we did. But then the science experiment got out, which was this huge walking starfish like, the size of a skyscraper and it was controlling people's minds with baby starfish and stuff. Total mess. They told us we should leave it just rampaging but we decided to stay.
[A pause, and then, very self-assuredly.]
We almost died like 20 times.
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I see.
[No, no he really doesn't. But that last bit? That he understands.]
Almost dying hurts.
[He's done that a few times himself. Not something he'd recommend personally.]
And this freed the island?
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[That's in response to the boy saying that almost dying hurts.]
Was more a whole lotta close calls. We did lose people, though.
[Her expression changes at that - instead of the manic glee or mild confusion she's been showing so far, her expression goes soft and a little sad. She can't help but think of them, the people they lost. Flag and Polka-Dot Man and Boomer, not to mention all the others in that first part of the mission. Mongal and Weasel and Javelin and Blackguard and Savant...they hadn't been her team for long, but they'd been her team.]
Yeah. The rebels took it over while the government was distracted tryin' to kill us.
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To the starfish?
[Sorry, he wasn't trying to discredit them or anything, he's just... still trying to figure out how a giant walking starfish does damage. It's too far removed from anything he's familiar with to use as a frame of reference. Maybe if he thought of it as a mobile suit? Because taking out one on foot would be difficult.]
You served as a distraction.
[So that the people who actually wanted to free the island could do so. Not that Harley directly freed anything. Heero's pretty sure he's slowly starting to put a picture together of how this happened.]
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Polka-Dot Man got squished by the starfish. Just straight stepped on.
[She says it a little sadly, and then sounds more sad when she says the other part.]
Flag got killed by one of our own. Betrayal. That was the worst.
[Thankfully, most of them had gotten out, but it was still way too many people to lose.]
That's not even counting Mongal and Weasel and Blackguard and TDK and Savant and Javelin, who are all probably dead from getting shot or burned or whatever. And Boomer. He got torn up by a helicopter.
[That makes her sound even more sad, and she waves a hand as if she could brush it off, but it doesn't work.]
Oh yeah. Flag told 'em to do it while we were distracting them.
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Betrayal is... never an easy thing to face.
[The listing of names was not unfamiliar. He's caused.. many such lists himself honestly. But it didn't hurt to at least listen. But such things happen in those situations, so he's.. not exactly the most sympathetic]
A wise call.
One that apparently worked.
[In a way it meant they were fighting on multiple fronts. Which usually meant losing more than you'd win.]
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No. It was seriously the absolute worst, but at least Bloodsport shot the guy who did it. Was only fair. Besides, he was gonna kill Ratcatcher too.
[More absurd names, people Heero doesn't know, but it's feeling good to get it out, because it's all so recent. She'd only just fallen asleep on the plane home before coming here, and it's all fresh still.]
Yeah, it worked alright. They had democracy for the first time in like a billion years on the island when we left.
no subject
Understandable.
I'm sure you all did what you had to do.
[Heero is actually pretty good as a sounding board. Unless it's really, really intensely stupid he doesn't tend to be judgmental and he's not the sort to interrupt. A good skill to have really, in his work. Whether he's fully realized it yet or not.]
It might not feel like much, but those people will forever live on in the memories and gratitude of the people they protected.
[Maybe not directly, but it's still a thought.]
no subject
[This is hitting her surprisingly hard, but it's been a hard day. It's been a real hard few days actually. For a moment she feels very tired, and very sad, and very cross.
Digging into the bag, she pulls out a bag of some kind of sweet snack she'd picked up in her rampage of petty larceny and opens it. But before she can even try whatever alien snack she's got, he's saying those people will live on forever in memories and gratitude and suddenly she's all teary and she shoves what looks and feels like a giant gummy mushroom into her mouth, chewing furiously. Because she's not going to cry, she's not.
Except that she's crying. A little.]
I know that!
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[Oh no. That's... not something Heero knows what to deal with. What does he do??? Awkwardly he turns, looking away to give her a little space. Emotional privacy something he understands more than privacy for clothing even.]
It was recent, wasn't it.
[If he was the sort to show his emotions he'd probably be tugging his hair and shifting awkwardly, but no. Of course not. Instead he just stands there, shoulders tense. This sort of pain he does understand well enough. Even if he's shit at consoling people.]
no subject
Just a little teary. That's doable. And it's not like she expects more comfort, because she's not used to any comfort in the first place.]
Recent? Yeah, real recent. Like just before I woke up here recent.
[A sarcastic little laugh.]
Finished the mission, got set free, climbed on the plane to go home, fell asleep right beside someone else, then bam, poof, and I'm in some Sylphid prison cell.
no subject
Or at least you probably shouldn't.]
I would say that's recent, yes.
[At least he had a few days "off" after the war. Though "off" isn't really a Heero concept yet.]
... Did you have plans?
[He'd had plans. Kind of. Not that it matters now.]
no subject
I dunno.
[Did she have plans? She's not sure. Sure, she'd love to go back to Gotham and restart her life there, resume her big new beginning, but she's liable to end up back in jail there, because the cops have a hard-on for putting her away. Her specifically, when there's just so many other criminals they could be focusing on.
She could always join back up with the Birds of Prey. But who knows if they'd have her after she stole the Canary's car?
Still, Gotham is where she belongs.]
Guess I wanted to go home.
no subject
He doesn't answer at first. Because it's not like there's any simple, easy way to fix it or make it better. Words really aren't going to help in this situation, so why use them?]
Home.
[He doesn't have one of those. A series of safe houses, sure. But a home? He doesn't actually remember ever having one. So what do you say to someone who clearly misses theirs?]
Good luck.
[Nailed it.]
no subject
Yeah. It's called Gotham City.
[She lets slip a little smile when she says it, a smaller, more nostalgic smile than her trademark grin while she thinks of her home and the people and places she'd left behind. Sure, the Joker is still there and everyone's still got grievances with her, but it's her town.
She says it again, with a little more conviction this time.]
Thanks. Because yeah, that's my plan. I wanna go home, and I wanna start fresh, all over again. I'm at a pretty good place back home. And in the meantime, I'll start fresh here too.
no subject
Gotham... never heard of it.
[Different universes then, that's not a surprise considering giant starfish people who apparently kills lots of people. If that was something that happened in his world, he would have known about it even if it had been just a historical event.]
Start fresh.
What does that mean?
[Because he's been told he should do that before, but as a concept it's not one he quite understands.]
no subject
Oh yeah? What was your city called, back home?
[She assumes he had a city, assumes he had a home. Because most people do, don't they? Somewhere they've lived that they loved and felt safe in, where they knew all the best holes in the wall to eat at and the best spot to go out at night?]
Y'know. Be my own woman. Try not to kill anyone. Except Sylphid, obviously, I already killed a ton of them.
no subject
I don't have one. [So very matter of fact.] I've never had one.
[Okay, maybe he did as a baby, but since he doesn't remember it, it doesn't count. But nope, his entire life has been go for a mission here, go for a mission there, move on, and move on.]
I see.
[Not really.]
Start fresh. A good goal.
[There's an idea, but those are vague enough parameters he could probably manage them. Though he's not really sure what being his own man would entail. Choosing his own missions again? Been a while since he got to do that.]
no subject
[Well, that's sad. She actually pouts at him a little bit upon hearing it, and thinking about it a little. Imagine, having no home. Nowhere to go back to that's familiar and safe like Gotham is for her. Well, most of the time it's safe, anyway. Not when all the people with grievances against her start crawling out of the woodwork to collect on her head.]
Yeah, I think it's a good goal. Turn over a new leaf, be a new woman, all that.
[A pause, and then-]
Are you gonna turn over a new leaf too?
no subject
[Safe he knows. He's had access to a variety of safe houses. But a home? Not really a thing in his life. Even when Odin was alive, the pair had been on the move pretty much constantly from one assignment to the next.]
A new leaf.
[He tests the words, considers what they mean, and then gives the slightest of shrugs.]
Perhaps.
[Who knows, the missions they're on, maybe turning over a new leaf outside of war isn't in the cards. Hard for him to tell just what life is going to be like in this place.]
no subject
[Sounds like more space stuff. There's a lot of people from space here, from what she gathers, and it makes her feel a little inexperienced. Small? Not really, but definitely inexperienced.]
Yeah? You tryin' to get away from somethin'?
[It's the first thing that comes to mind, because what she's got behind her is a life of crime, which she's not entirely sure is something she wants to stop, when she really thinks of it. But there are things she wants to leave behind. She's got no real ties to Mister J anymore, though. So maybe her life hadn't been so bad.
But maybe she can make friends here.]
What do you wanna do?
no subject
[Sounds like space stuff, because it is space stuff.
At her question he huffs slightly in amusement. Because in a sense?]
War.
I'd thought I was done with it.
[And now he's here, fighting a new war. Goody for him. Which means he's not sure if it's really worth it trying to turn over a new leaf here or not just yet.]
I don't know.
[Something that doesn't involve killing and war would be nice. But it's also all he knows he's good at so... complicated. Especially since that's a skill set he's going to need here.]
no subject
[She shakes her head a little, but she's smiling, at least until he says he was trying to get away from war. And now he's in the middle of another one. Even Harley can tell that's a total bum deal. Right outta the frying pan and into the fire sorta situation.]
Well that's a bummer.
[A pause, while she listens to the rest of what he has to say, and laughs a little.]
I don't really know either. Maybe we can be friends and figure it out together, even if you're a total fuddy-duddy.
no subject
[Though ultimately he's not sure it really matters too much. Space, no space. Humanity for the most part still had plenty in common with itself no matter the time period.]
You could say that.
[Not that he had, but he also wasn't going to disagree.]
Maybe. [He's not one to commit to things rashly after all.]
Even if you are... [there's a pause, maybe the tiniest hint of a smile? He's absolutely being a little shit on purpose.] Old.
no subject
[Most of it is just novelty for her. She's never really thought much about space travel or living in space or aliens, aside from the aliens she knows back home. Or knew, before they died.
And Harley thrives on novelty, so she's kind of all about it for the moment.]
What was it like, living in space?
[It's only then that she registers he'd called her "old" and she makes a loud squawk of disapproval.]
Aw come on! I ain't that old. And besides, I like hanging out with little kids.
[Her minimal revenge.]
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