TEST DRIVE MEME (1)

[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
Outside the train, a large, strangely spinning cube floats over a pedestal, hissing discordantly and shedding strange black light onto the surrounding area. Beyond lies only shadows and slithering noises, a landscape of tangley thorns and eyes that glow in the dark. Your phone says it's noon, but out here it's midnight under a starless sky. As you step into the dark, an alarm blares -- your phone is sending you an alert.

"Goal: clear the area of snakes," it says. "Remember to use the buddy system!"

Soon you realise that the ground just a few feet away is actually writhing in black snakes with crimson eyes. They'll bite if you approach alone, but as long as you're touching another passenger, they're totally docile. You could easily move them away from the clearing, or toss them into the spooky-looking pit at the edge of it.

★ Three
You've been here awhile -- at least, long enough to have made some friends. Currently the TV in the public lounge is playing a weird puppet show, where all the puppets look and act like exaggerated versions of you and other passengers. What kind of person do the puppets think you are? Dramatic? Over-affectionate? Surly?It's all in good fun but it's definitely painting you in a light that, if not unpleasant, is certainly embarrassing.

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

Comments

two

[cadeuces]

( It's funny you'd say that because the moment his arm reaches to protect her, so too is hers shooting out to protect him— it thumps straight across his chest, but does little to stop him from stepping forward into the mass of snakes.

Only they're biting him and he doesn't so much as flinch. Did he have some sort of protective gear on beneath the pants...? She's reaching for him regardless, surging forward to keep pace and attempt to catch his arm and pull him back, but isn't that just the thing?

They stop all irritation or attack attempts once she has ahold of him. )

What... what are you wearing? None of them penetrated?

[corny]

A hoodie.

[ he explains totally helpfully, indeed walking through angela like she isn't in his way at all. but the second she grabs onto him, he gasps - a snake getting too close to her and he's ready to deflect it again with his skin. but then it just stops, looking strangely docile for a moment before shuffling out of their way. ]

Sweet Christmas. [ aka what the goddamn hell ]

[cadeuces]

( When her hand's at his arm, sure enough, it's only flesh beneath the cotton— forgive her the poke down at his knee, once the snakes have calmed and she can test.

No armor beneath that, either. She moves carefully as she wades into the tangled mass of snakes beside him, fingertips light where they curl in the crook of his elbow and anchor there. So his longer strides can't leave her behind and she doesn't stop and strand him in return. )

You're sure you weren't bitten? We don't know if they're venomous or not. You're being reckless pushing on where you can't easily be treated.

[corny]

[ luke jolts a little at the sudden touch, but then he's laughing - there's something he finds funny about her concern. ]

I'm sure. And it wasn't reckless- but more importantly, why aren't they attacking anymore?

[cadeuces]

Hmmmm. ( A dubious sound at best, honestly. ) Is that truly the more important question? I wonder.

I believe I've seen this before— safety in numbers, here. I have seen a couple of others getting across but I hadn't been quite sure how. Were you off to investigate the cube, as well?

[corny]

Yes. This is kind of my job back home, it's no big thing.

[ he's obviously fine so she should drop it!!! but he supposes he understands why people don't, right? it's just such an automatic response for him now sometimes it's hard to go back and explain when he was becoming a household name where he comes from. ]

What cube?

[ he was literally just here to save people from snakes ok ]

[cadeuces]

Getting bitten by snakes? How very peculiar.

( He is obviously fine, but she won't resist the chance to tease him just one more moment and shelve the observations for a later time. She'd prodded at his leg for the beginning bloom of blood had skin been punctured, but she sees nothing. She's glad. )

The one off over there toward the center— you can make out the glow between the leaves. That is what most everyone nosing around here has been investigating. And I imagine what the snakes are protecting, if not outright drawn to.

[corny]

Not just snakes. I take bullets, knives, cars... Not many snakes making their way around Harlem anyway.

[ luke takes his first look at the cube, he'd seriously just come here because everyone else was in danger - he hadn't even noticed until she points it out. ]

What do you think it does?

[cadeuces]

Oh, are you from Harlem? That's in New York, isn't it? Is everyone impervious to bullets, knives, and cars in your neighborhood?

( It isn't as though she can see much skin, but he certainly doesn't move like someone who's been shot, stabbed, and run over (or into) enough times to call it "his thing". You certainly have her attention.

Until they're both turning it to the cube they're essentially wading toward. )

Isn't that the... what's the saying, million dollar question? I wonder if it isn't one of the hallmarks we're to be looking for and clearing up. The mission at hand. Perhaps a puzzle with a core?

[corny]

That is in New York, but it's a world all on its own - trust me. [ his lips tick up at the next question. ] No, that's just a me thing. But somebody's gotta do it.

[ and that's why they call him harlem's hero. he sobers a little at the rest, keeping a grip on her arm until they clear the snake pit entirely. ]

Only one way to find out, right?

[cadeuces]

I'm sure I can do that. ( Trust him, that is. ) Well, I'm glad to hear it isn't anything widespread. It would wreak havoc on the O.R. What is it exactly that "somebody's gotta do"?

( She hopes it doesn't have anything to do with snakes, even if they're supposedly tasked to clear the area of them, here. Just how were they to do that? Maybe she could fashion a large shovel out of something... )

Investigate first and tackle snake removal later?

[corny]

Be Harlem's human shield.

[ and now apparently this place. he nods easily to saving the snake problem for later. procrastinating about snakes sounds like a great idea. ]

You read my mind, lady.