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quaranmeme2018-01-20 07:58 pm
riverview: january test drive meme
riverview test drive memeWelcome to Riverview's test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!
● There are currently 2 Character Slots available.
● Reserves will open on February 15th. Applications will next be open between March 1st to March 7th.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Threading on the TDM is intended for prospective new characters, so top-levels should only be posted by players of these characters. Since the events in the TDM are considered game canon, characters currently in the game are free to use the TDM prompts for logs and posts on the regular communities.
Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.
information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
Starting around the 20th, residents of the city will start hearing some pretty disturbing rumors circulating - the rumors originate with some members of the Perimeter Guard who are returning from patrols, pale and a little panicked. They're reporting that a herd of terrifying beetle-like behemoth monsters lumbering toward the city - one female leader clocking in at 60 feet long and about 20 smaller male companions, each around 30 feet long. Unlike the Behemoth who showed up earlier in the year, these ones are nasty, sporting horns and big enough to knock over trees and displace even the bigger monsters in the usual crowd, and they've already breached through the wall of the Abandoned City and are heading toward the city itself. A herd like this could cause some serious damage, maybe even enough to compromise the wall of the Inhabited City. Thankfully, the Perimeter Guard has a nice big ace up their sleeves in the form of a small fleet of mechs, but the problem is that the mech are still in beta-testing, prone to breaking down, and there aren't enough to go around. This means that there's going to have to be some serious support on the ground.
The attack on the behemoth beetles is two-fold. The first order of business is to send out anyone with big powers or big guns to wear them down, beating on them the old-fashioned way, with brute force. The second is to circle around behind and, while the monsters are distracted, try to herd them away from the city using bright flares, fireworks left over from the Festival of Light, and even more big guns. Volunteers to do the shooting and supplying the brave souls going out into the jungle are welcome!
What do you use to fight a giant monster? A giant mech. And thankfully the Perimeter Guard has been working on something just like that - a new fleet of 20 three-story-tall mech suits meant to be manned by two people. With the behemoth herd approaching, the Guard is calling for anyone with piloting experience, or even people willing to take a quick course in it, to help man the fleet and head out into the fray, stomping through the brush and fighting the behemoths either in the Abandoned City or the jungle outside it. The goal is to take them out, take them down, or at least help the ground teams herd them away from the city and discourage them from returning.
Mechs are piloted by two people working together - while it's not exactly drift compatibility, the two characters need to act together, with one directing where the mech goes and keeping an eye on the terrain, and the other one manning the guns and keeping an eye on the mech's defenses and energy and ammunition levels. This takes a lot of concentration and cooperation, and this day is bound to forge a lot of new friendships....and probably a few mortal enemies. On top of the difficulty of working with someone who may be a total stranger, don't forget the mechs are in beta-testing and are only being used as a last resort, which means they have a bad tendency to break down in unexpected ways.
Each mech is fitted with two large canon-style guns that can be semi-automatic or automatic with a limited amount of ammunition, one plasma sword, and a force shield that can take four serious hits before it is depleted. They have a finite amount of energy storage and are able to be in continuous use for 3 hours maximum before shutting down. Out of the fleet of 20 mechs, the mod only expects about 5 to still be functional at the end of the battle, so feel free to have characters destroy them in threads. If any player (once accepted to the game) is interested in having their character take over the mechs as a project going forward, feel free to PM the mod account and we can talk it out!
Once the city is safe enough that it isn't in poor taste to advertise fun outings, residents will start seeing ads for a new attraction in the city - the Crystal Caves. Presented as an excellent date spot, the caves are beautiful natural formations only recently discovered just a short walk outside the city. With the path cleared and patrolled by hired security to ensure that the trip there is safe, happy couples (or singles, but why go alone when you can bring a special friend or two?) can walk through the caves.
Inside, characters will enjoy a short walk along a twisty cave path where the walls appear to be made of semi-opaque crystal that shimmers with different colors, looking almost a little like the Northern Lights. After this path, the caves open into a series of beautiful caverns that seem to be made of pure crystal, with jagged crystalline formations in wide varieties of colors, some of which look almost like they've been slowly melting for decades, molten and shimmering. Visitors can find booths offering rock candy crystals on sticks and other treats, souvenirs, and for those without as much exploratory spirit or patience, guided tours that point out some of the more beautiful formations. There are also a few smaller caverns that have been converted into overnight camps where groups can stay the night and enjoy a catered group breakfast in the morning!
If there's one trait that entrepreneurs in Riverview Quarantine all seem to have in common, it's jumping the gun and opening attractions or releasing new products before taking the time to conduct enough tests. The Crystal Caves are no different, unfortunately, though in this case the effects are a little less distressing. Residents who traveled to the caves will find themselves tossing and turning at night anywhere from a few days later to a week later, depending on their mental fortitude, and slipping into incredibly strange dreams. Varying from wild flights of exhilarating fancy to personalized nightmares depending on the personality of the dreamer, the dreams are incredibly vivid and realistic, with everything feeling, smelling, sounding, tasting, and looking completely real.
The strangest part of the dreams, though, is that anyone who'd looked at the same particular crystal as another person and seen their reflections in it will experience the dream with that person as an equal participant, able to share the same dream-granted abilities and experiences, able to work together as a team or hinder progress. Whether that person was a partner, a friend, an enemy, or even just a stranger observing the same formation at the same time, if their reflections appeared on a crystal together, they will find themselves sharing each other's dreams off and on for about a week. Some dreamers might even find that just thinking about a particular person they know as they fall asleep can pull that person into their dream, even if they weren't in the caves together.
This effect can be shared between just two people or larger groups, and the dreams themselves can belong to any character affected or be a combination of all of their dreams. The dreams themselves tend toward the positive more than the negative and the fanciful more than the realistic, but where they fall on that spectrum depends largely on character temperament and personality. Characters affected simply have to have looked at the same crystal in the caves, even if it was on a different day or at a different time, or for characters who would not have gone to the caves, be thought of by a person who has while they fall asleep.
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.
Alternately, an offer for a free app is popping up on new arrivals' devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.
Friendr base code is by photosynthesis.
The code in the textbox is for the default color scheme, but the Friendr app has a wide variety of themes, so feel free to customize with colors and patterns as you see fit, but do not remove the credit line out of respect for the creator of the code.
Use the wildcard prompt to choose your own adventure and do whatever else you like in the setting!
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[That makes Tony pause. And come to think of it, he is getting some weirder readings off the guy. Huh, go figure. It does at least explain the death wish.
Though a moment later, it occurs to him that there was more to that statement.]
Wait, why wouldn't you have a closet?
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I'm technically city property, which means I don't get things like closets and personal space.
[ And Kennex isn't here. Dorian isn't sure where to lobby for such things. And who would support him if he asked for it. ]
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Okay, so what do you get?
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Do you need a description?
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Nope, just curious.
[And it seems a little bit ridiculous to be having this conversation through the faceplate when there's no immediate threat, so he pops it open to give the guy a curious look.]
Do you want more? I'm guessing yes, from the first comment.
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I wouldn't say no to that.
[ He holds his . . . clean hand out, since there are still guts hanging off his clothes. ]
My name is Dorian.
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[He takes the offered hand a bit gently in deference to the gauntlet he's wearing.]
So upside, I'm pretty sure nobody's going to deny you all the closets you want. Downside...[He gestures to the nearest beetle corpse.]
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It can wait. My priority is helping the people.
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[Not that Tony would know anything about that, would he? Maybe that's why he's taken such a shine to the guy.]
If we get separated later, look me up after the bug problem has been dealt with, I'll hook you up.
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[ It's certainly a load off his shoulders. Dorian is already registered with the police department but he doesn't know them. Doesn't know how people take to synthetics. He's not bothered about prejudice, but it's a new world. ]
Killer bugs are new, even to me.
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[He lets out a long breath, looking out towards where they'd been coming from.]
Seems like that kind of place. Expect the unexpected and etcetera.
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Sounds like you'll never get bored.
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[It's a total lie, and from the wry grin on Tony's face it's not one he's trying to sell particularly hard. The fact that he's comfortably wearing a full-body suit of armor might be another clue.]
You do get used to the insanity, though. Sort of.
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[ The future, after all, might seem strange to many. ]
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[It's a place with sentient androids, Tony can help but be curious what he'd consider weird.
Then again, the only android he knows has a magic stone in his forehead, so maybe Tony can't exactly talk.]
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[...probably. If the last few years have proved anything, it's that Tony should never make assumptions.]
Not a whole lot of any of it, but it's out there. What year is it, for you?
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[ Not that far off. ]
Yourself?
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[So okay yeah, Tony can see the progression, even if Dorian's world isn't exactly like his. Extraordinary tech becoming commonplace. It's something he kinda hopes he can have a hand in most days. Probably not the municipally-owned androids, though, that's still kind of weird.]
And I don't know, early sci fi was always pretty big on the flying cars. You don't have those, do you?
[Howard would probably turn over in his grave. The thought almost makes Tony smile.]
no subject
The technology exists, but they're mostly used for emergencies. Having clean airways is important otherwise they become a security risk.
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Something to look forward to, then.
[Nevermind that he can already fly. Some things just appeal, even if they're dumb.]
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[ Dorian doesn't get it. He's never had that kind of nostalgia or feeling before. ]
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[They've already had the aliens, after all, and that was a lot less fun.]
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I wouldn't know, but I'll take your word for it.
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Not a big reader?
[Actually he has no idea what androids do when they aren't floating through walls and failing at cooking.]
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