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

[verstoned]

[He was going to lean over and try to deal with one of those snakes. He honestly was, because for some reason, Rhus has no fear of serpents, even when they're hissing at him in warning-- they're just not frightening to him.

Probably for the best that someone pulled him back, really, because he might have gotten himself hurt otherwise.]

Ah-- [His eyes are wide, ears twitching. It's clear from the surprised expression on his face that he wasn't expecting someone to grab him.] Aye.

But-- have you not noticed? Their hissing has stopped.

[cadeuces]

( Oh goodness, the ears were moving. The young man had been fearless enough as it were, perhaps the confidence wouldn't have resulted in the snakes striking— but she isn't going to take the chance. Or the chance that they're venomous.

It's an easy little movement to keep him from stumbling or staggering, nothing that jerks him back and startles them further, though her expression is apologetic when he turns to face her with those wide eyes. )

Just a step or two back, now— oh, ( He's right. Snakes were not known to give up so easily once on the defense, yet these cease their flaring and rearing, going right back to the original task at hand. ) —so they have. That's strange.

[verstoned]

[The ears aren't the only things moving. His tail rises slightly, gaining a curve at the end to show his interest. And he leans over to place his hands on his knees, not enough to dislodge her hand, but enough that be can distinguish where one black snake ends and its equally-black fellow starts.]

Look at them, 's as if nothing happened!

[If there's one thing Rhus can take from this experience, it's that he likes snakes.]

[cadeuces]

( It's hard to look away from the ears, ok!! She's never been around animals like cats for very long and isn't very good at reading the body language associated with them, yet he sounds kind. He's gentle in his movements and his curiosity for the snakes is well-meaning, and she looks a little sheepish in having been the one to overreact in comparison. )

I don't imagine their attention span is very long— wild animals don't often remember things that fall out of instinct. They'll remember where to hunt and where to nest and where danger may be, but the occasional run-ins are likely forgotten as soon as they're encountered and departed from.

( She'll take her hand away from him, assuming the danger has safely passed. Maybe that's going to be a mistake, but she isn't turning around and walking off, either. )

Were you going to investigate that cube?

[verstoned]

Impossible for them to forget when we're right in front of them... [No, Rhus thinks there's something else entirely at work here. But for the life of him, he cant tell what. More curious about the snakes than the cube in the distance, he crouches down and attempts to poke at one with a finger... But the snake lunges at him for his trouble, mouth open wide and fangs looking to sink into Miqo'te flesh. And Rhus jumps back in alarm-- except he doesn't react so mildly as simply hopping back. No, he's rather emotive. He leaps in the air and lands several feet away, his arch several feet up in the air. And he leans over, hands balled into fists and tail sticking straight up, fluffed out like a bottle brush, and he hisses.]

[cadeuces]

( Angela's not so sure. Not when they're perfectly content to forget a threat in their path the moment people are touching. Except he pulls away from her to crouch down, breaking that contact that kept them safe. And he nearly pays for it if he weren't so swift in his reaction, which...

Well. People don't move like that, and she lets slip an "oh!" of surprise (not quite a yelp, thankfully) as he flies up and back, some ways away, hissing and well-ruffled. She has to trot back a few steps herself to create distance between her and the snakes, turning to reach for his hand immediately. )

Were you bitten? Let me have a look.