TEST DRIVE MEME (4)

[trainmasters]

test drive meme

Your character wakes up in a neat bedroom in their team carriage, in nondescript underwear. They might be missing their memories, or their special abilities, or they may just feel a little queasy. Next to them is what seems to be a smartphone, which they know how to use even if they never had before, even if they don't know if they have before. On the screen is a simple message:

Welcome aboard the Aurora!

You have been selected by the Star Prince as a potential hero, tasked with saving the universe from Malice. As a passenger I, your Construct and Conductor, will attempt to provide you with quality lodgings and safety. In return, we ask that you join your fellows in making bonds and doing your utmost to bring joy back to the Stars.

Due to the process of restoring your body, you may find some things are missing. We apologise for the inconvenience and hope to return them to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.

★ One
Upon investigation, you'll find some basic clothes matching your team's theme in the storage provided in your room. Or, perhaps, you're wandering out of the room still undressed. Either way, downstairs you'll find someone has left a tray of cups of hot tea on the living room table. Drinking it may be simply pleasant, or it may cause you to feel a sudden need to warm up to the others in your carriage -- emotionally or physically. Welcome to the team, newbie!

☆ Two
Shortly after your arrival, you find yourself wrapped up in some monster NPC's Game. You're inside what appears to be a stone temple, with a massive golden scale on one wall. Suddenly, on one side, a heavy metal weight is dropped. As the scales tip out of balance, the floor begins to slowly disappear, brick by brick, ready to drop you -- and whoever is with you -- into an abyss. Your only hope comes in the form of an inscription on the altar:

How much do your secrets weigh?

Every secret you tell causes a weight to fall onto the other side of the scale. The bigger the secret, the bigger the weight. If you can collectively tip the scales, the floor will quit dropping bricks and a door will appear to allow you back to the train. If you can't, you'll fall, seemingly forever, til you pass out. When you wake up you'll find yourself unable to lie.

★ Three
You've been in aurora for awhile -- long enough to have recovered a memory/power or two, if you lost any. And it's lucky for you: today, the area around the train has been surrounded in a strange mist that makes you feel dizzy and overly warm. Left alone, your condition will slowly degrade, with increasing lethargy and shortness of breath until you lose consciousness. The cure is easy enough, though -- touch another person and they'll see one of your memories, experiencing it as if it's their own. The effect is mutual -- you now have a piece of eachother, and you're safe from the illness... at least until you take another big breath. Good thing there's no mist inside the train!

☆ Four
Wildcard. Make up your own prompt! Check out the setting and team pages for info on the train. If you have any questions, ask on the q&a page. Otherwise, apps open on February 8! In the meantime you're free to join us on Discord.

Comments

[crimeboy]

[Odd. He has a feeling he's usually cute.]

Yeah, nothing! Don't think I hit my head, though! But who can say, right?

[He takes a seat to just stare over at his twin(they're definitely twins, that's just the only explanation), and he begins to sip on his own cup of tea.]

So what is up with all of this, anyway? I mean, the clothes are cute and all but like. "Star Prince", "potential hero", all of that? Are we super heroes now? I don't feel like a super hero.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . yeah. closer inspection definitely reveals a few details of the stranger's face that are a little too carbon-copy of Akira's for him to miss. he knows his face better than anyone else, after all, and this is--]

[well]

[this is weird]

[he feels like he should be more alarmed about this? but this stranger is so easygoing, and Akira himself such a chill, go-with-the-flow kind of guy that his gaze just flickers up to the horns, then to the whip-like tail, then back to the Licorice's face, and he just. . .]

[. . . TAKES ANOTHER SIP OF GODDAMN TEA]

. . . I'll leave the explanation to one of your teammates. But the short of it is: nobody here actually feels like a hero.

[crimeboy]

[That's super fair and demon boy over here is also going to just sip on his tea while he's being looked over, looking over the other guy in return. So weird...]

Well.

At least that's normal enough.

...How come you don't have horns?

[purrtagonist]

Why would I have horns?

[he's not being a little shit with that question, it's a genuine one. they might share a face, but Akira can't think of any reason beyond "we look alike" why he'd have horns, so???]

[crimeboy]

I don't know.

[It comes out really easily. He realized it was stupid just after he said it, but he's still going off this idea that they are twins.]

Why not? Do... Do you remember? Do you really remember not having a twin?

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . oh]

[there's. . . a long, long pause, here. he didn't start out with amnesia, but he can understand why someone who did would want to latch onto the first bit of familiarity they saw]

I really remember. And I really remember not having a twin.

[but he also can't lie]

I'm sorry. [a pause] Are you. . . afraid and lonely? Is that why you're asking?

[crimeboy]

[Wow that's a little personal for his first meeting.]

Oh, I see. Okay, yeah. That makes sense. [Can't argue if the guy actually remembers it, right? He does look a little disappointed.]

I don't know if I'm afraid, but it is kinda... I mean I don't even know who I am. It's a little tough to wrap my head around. Just getting some clothes picked out for me and being told "here go save the universe", and then I come down here, and here's some guy with the same face as me.

Just figured maybe you'd know something.

[purrtagonist]

[Akira is like that, sorry to say. BLUNT AND TO THE POINT AND NOT BEAING AROUND THE BUSH]

I'm sorry I don't know more.

[drums his fingers against the table and hums]

But tell you what. I can help you figure it out as you go. There are ways for you to get your memories back, after all.

[crimeboy]

[It's fine. He just didn't expect to be getting a heart to heart right here and now, without any memories. With some guy who had the same face as him??? This is a weird situation, right? He's not just going crazy?]

Oh? Is there? That's good, I feel kinda empty right now, you know? Not hungry, but in my head.

More than.

Is probably normal.

[purrtagonist]

[this his how confidants work, my man]

Diiiiid you read the part of the message that talked about something being lost?

[taps his temple]

That's why it feels empty.

[crimeboy]

[It's certainly how they start! He's never been on the other side of it though... and doesn't remember it all anyway.]

"Due to the process of restoring your body", right? Something like that. Any clue what that means...?

[purrtagonist]

I don't know, exactly.

[fffffrowns]

But I do know that the things lost were either memories or abilities. Or, in cases like mine, nothing at all.

But when you accumulate enough "sparks," you'll start to get memories back.

[crimeboy]

Oh.

[Well, he doesn't know what his abilities are, but he knows his memories are gone. That sucks.]

They coulda left me some. This really sucks. Guess I'll have to figure out how to get """"sparks"""" then. I'd at least like to know my name.

[purrtagonist]

[hmmm]

Want to hear a joke about paper?

[???]

[this is a non-sequitur]

[crimeboy]

You better fucking believe I do.

[purrtagonist]

Nevermind.

It's tearable.

[badum tish]

[crimeboy]

[He pauses at that...


then grins and gives him fingerguns.]

Hah HA! Pretty good.

Hm. I don't think I have good response to that one. Let me see... I sent ten puns to my friends to see if they'd make 'em laugh. No pun in ten did.

[purrtagonist]

[his mouth twitches, amusement appearing in his expression]

Not bad.

You should check your phone now. Try looking at the sparks app.

[you get participation points for participating in Clover's bond. HOORAY FOR NEW GUY]

[crimeboy]

[OH HE DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS PARTICIPATING IN ANYTHING.

He just thought this was diffusing the situation??? Well. It did that, too. He already feels better.]

Oh! How...? Why? What did we do?

[purrtagonist]

[points to his pink outfit]

Clover.

[waves a hand and picks up his tea again]

We get "sparks" every time we complete a "bond." Clover's "bonds" are telling jokes.

If you can't tell, I'm pretty good at it.

[no he isn't]

[crimeboy]

[He must be good at it, because he's got his double laughing again. He thought that was another joke.]

I see. Well. I don't think I looked at mine yet! That's pretty neat. So you can get... well I can get my memories back by doing things like telling or listening to jokes?

Does the other person have to laugh?

[purrtagonist]

Mmm. . . no, I think the bonds for Licorice are different than the bonds for Clover. You can get points by listening and participating in a Clover's jokes, but licorice. . .

[tilts his head]

I think you just have to have strong displays of emotion.

[crimeboy]

Oh... strong displays of emotion. I think I can probably handle that. [Scratches his head a little. He certainly doesn't FEEL numb.]

So participating in other bonds and doing my own, too? What other kind of bonds do you know about?

[purrtagonist]

Let's see. . .

Ginger makes promises. Thyme teaches people. Senna decorates things. Jasmine convinces people to do something. Hazel stages events.

[hm!]

That's all the team specific ones I can think of.

[crimeboy]

Oh, nice.

So there's plenty of stuff you can get up to in order to remember who you are. Or. I can do to remember who I am.

That's kind of a relief, even if it sucks to have to do it at all.