TEST DRIVE #002

[reveriemod]

TEST DRIVE #002

( 0 0 1 ) » WAKE UP

Were you asleep or were you unconscious? It doesn't matter: when you come to, there's an odd taste in your mouth and there's a low-level mechanical hum in the air. Your head hurts and you feel nauseous. You aren't anywhere you know: everything around you is metal, from the floor you lie on all the way to the ceiling. You are dressed in a jumpsuit you definitely weren't wearing before.

"We tried to save the world. I think— I think we did the opposite."

The message repeats on a loop. If you look for its source, you find a comms device on the floor next to you. The logo on its wallpaper says REVERIE TERMINAL. Upon closer inspection, you find the same logo on your jumpsuit.

Welcome to your new home. What choice do you have but to explore your surroundings?

( 0 0 1 . 1 ) » WAKE UP WHERE?

When you wake up, you find that you're not alone. But more importantly, you find that you're in a closet. An empty closet, bar you and your new companion. It's small, cramped, and there is no door that you can see. The ceiling is low, there is barely any lights, only some coming from the tiny flashlight clipped to your suit's shoulder. You cannot be sure that there is any air coming in to the room.

Are these grooves in the wall supposed to mean something?

( 0 0 2 ) » OBSERVATION DECK

There were no windows in the corridor you woke up in and no windows in any of the crew quarters you might have checked for occupants — but there are plenty of windows on the uppermost level of the station, deck 1. In fact, there are windows from floor to ceiling all along the circumference of the station's circular deck, and it's possible to walk along it all. What it shows is a strange solar system you've never seen before and a planet that might resemble one you know, but certainly isn't the same.

You're in space. You don't know where you are. Neither does anyone else.

( 0 0 3 ) » BAR

On deck 3, you find the bar. Tucked away from the crew quarters, it's dimly lit, there are bar stools thrown down on the floor and what looks like some very old drink spills, crusty and dark against the bar top. But there is alcohol here, or at least, what you think is alcohol, in bottles with faded labels, most of them indecipherable. Take a drink, get drunk, start a fight, or start a party? You're stuck on this station, might as well make the most of it, right?

( 0 0 4 ) » SPACEQUAKES

One second, you are is walking. Magnetic boots are on, the ground feels solid enough, for a metal deck in a space station. Everything is perfectly fine, or at least as fine as it can be, given that you still don't know where you are or how you came to be here.

The next moment, it's like everything explodes around you. You're thrown against the wall as sparks erupts from electrical panels, as the whole station rumbles and shakes around you. You fall to the deck, earning yourself scratches from the grating. When you look up, it's like nothing has happened. No wires hanging from open panels, no flickering lights, no more shaking. Like an earthquake in space.

( 0 0 5 ) » NETWORK

The comms device you found next to you when waking up connects to a station-wide network, REVERIE NET. You have the option to post video, voice or text messages.

What will you share?

( 0 0 6 ) » WILDCARD

The station features a variety of locations, from sleeping quarters free for the claiming to a dirty swimming pool and a bar that still holds alcohol (though some of the bottles seem to have been opened a while ago).

Go wild, but don't wreck the place. It's your home for the foreseeable future, after all.

Comments

[cheerleader]

[That cues an eyebrow arch that reaches teenage sass territory.]

Lucky for me, I don't need air like the rest of you.

[Technically speaking. LOOK WHO'S DYING FIRST NOW?]

[oorah]

[ max seems really interested in this lady, enough that frank takes notice of it. but it isn't an aggressive way, so he doesn't comment or try to step in. the pit accepts his pets but emits a low whine of uncertainty. WHAT ARE YOU ]

Uh. No? Not that I know of anyway and I don't know much. [ frank catches the dog's eyes and he stops whining, but stays close to other-max's side. ] But that's the first time it's happened to us. Should add, though: a lot of weird shit has happened to us. [ just not this specific weird thing ]

[oorah]

[ he shrugs, a little helplessly. ]

Don't know what you want me to say, pal. We know basically nothing about this place.

[why_me]

I literally woke up around half an hour ago, so I thought perhaps you might know more than I do.

[ He doesn't sound frustrated or even all that tweaked. He's just... tired, honestly. ]

[oorah]

[ oh right, he should be nice to new people. he shakes his head, but it's directed at his own internal dialogue. ]

Sorry. What do you know so far? I'll fill in the gaps if I have them. [ spoilers though: he probably doesn't. ]

[why_me]

Space is where you are when you're among the stars. If you wire two machines together you can make them have more 'processing power' perhaps. I was probably kidnapped because I can do things most people can't.

[ He spreads his hands, because that's about it. ]

[morphogenia]

It's not exactly by choice. There's just not a lot to do here. And tbh I don't know. Not long? I think??

[veristitalian]

I'm not a person who does things out of social obligation.

[She says, understating the case only slightly.]

I wonder what your train must have been like, if this seems like a terrible inconvenience to you?

[nerded]

oh

i mean i guess it was kind of a long shot

i've got this crazy headache though

[theoceanbetween]

"If I did drink this, I'd most likely die. I'm not sure what's in it, I'll admit," Aqua holds up the bottle for emphasis. "But it's definitely poisonous."

Which...apparently doesn't affect whatever Lapis is! Aqua's not usually one to dwell on the unique beings she meets, but having several different kinds in one place is really throwing her.

"This is harmful to a lot of people, in fact, so I wouldn't keep offering them as drinks."

Once again, giving Lapis the benefit of the doubt. There's nothing malicious about what she's doing, anyway...

[tumang]

What, how can a stone do things?

[ Is it infected by the protomolecule? Amos has seen quite a bit of weird shit going on around Reverie since he arrived, but not a rock that can 'do' things. ]

Power - electricity? No? Are you one of those that don't know what that is, too?

[why_me]

Because it's the chosen instrument of the Necessity of the Universe.

[ Which is something he's never exactly consciously thought since this moment, never entirely put into words. It's something he knew, but all the same... ]

And no, I don't know what that means. At least not in that context. I know that there's a sort of buzz you can get from walking across a carpet and touching to metal, and my grandfather used a word like that to describe it to me... but-

[ He pauses as he puts some things together. ]

So you can build up large stores of that spark energy, perhaps as much as would be in a lightning bolt, and use it towards a purpose?

[oorah]

[ oh my god?!??!!? this man is fucking adorable. frank hates it. ]

Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the kidnapping thing, but if it makes you feel special more power to ya.

[why_me]

[ He shrugs, because he's not exactly married to the idea that he's 'special' or anything. Mostly, it's juts a lot of work. Work he does willingly, but all the same. ]

I'd much rather not be special, but I wasn't really asked about the whole thing.

[ Seriously. Not consulted on this. Hell, he was married before he was even born. Prophecie's a bitch like that. ]

But I'm glad to know there's no reason at all why I'm here. It's almost comforting.

[tailsections]

A nightmare only you're awake and you have no privacy.

[ going into too much detail wasn't going to happen when the whole thing was so fresh. seventeen years of his life spent there, seventeen years in darkness and dirt, stepped on by anyone and everyone. ]

People did something like this for you on the train, they wanted something in return.

[ and it was never good. ]

[veristitalian]

By the look of you, don't have a great deal I could ask for.

[She says, giving him a shrewd glance up and down. She's just got him sitting down; Jasnah wouldn't bet he'd be able to get back up any time soon.]

If you want the rational explanation, here it is; we're here together, each one of us against our will, and confined to a very small space. We need to behave well with one another. We need to handle tensions responsibly. That will mean fostering good will, health, and patience.

[mirrortide]

"Oh. Huh." Notably, Lapis does not apologize for the misconception. She does, however, give a shrug. "I guess it's not the same kind of thing that I saw everyone else drinking then."

Oh well!

[tailsections]

I'm not going to start trouble.

[ He's too tired for that, honestly. But, the fact that he's stuck in yet another small space makes something twist inside of his gut. It doesn't appear to be as bad as the train but it's another place where he's been imprisoned without any real choice on his part.]

Compared to where I was though, this isn't small. No one's sleeping on top of each other. This is a lot bigger than where I've come from.

So, I won't start trouble.

[veristitalian]

I didn't think you were. But I thought you might like to hear my pragmatic reason for helping you.

[Since he doesn't seem particularly at a place where he's likely to be able to accept altruism.]

The rest of us complain about the food. How does it compare to your train?

[tailsections]

If you don't put a protein block in front of me, it's an upgrade.

[ Anything would be an upgrade over the food they were given by those in the front. All those blocks did was keep them alive, keep them intact so they could be used and abused by the front.

There was nothing else that was good about them. ]

You won't find me complaining.

[ He'd probably have to stop himself from eating until he was sick. ]

[veristitalian]

[Nothing like that. Jasnah smiles, and takes a moment to go find and slide him a tray of what they eat here. Tasteless, but not so tasteless. Definitely not block shaped.

She sips her own water.]

Then welcome to Reverie Terminal. Catch your breath, take a few days to heal. Then I'll fold you into the escape efforts.

[theoceanbetween]

Lapis is wholly unapologetic but...honest mistake? It's fine??? It's fine.

"No, it's really not."

Aqua sticks her tongue out again. It is so unhappy with her right now, bleh.

"You understand, don't you?"

JUST. MAKING SURE. Yeah.

[tailsections]

[ Another escape. Another attempt to get out of a place that he couldn't avoid being sent to. He knows even less about this place than he does the train and he's so tired.

But, he'll help. It's what he can do. ]

All right.

[ He appreciates that he's not going to be immediately thrust into things. He doesn't think he'd be able to be much help without some food and rest.]

Got out of one place I wasn't supposed to. Guess I can do another.

[bombshelled]

idk what you want me to tell you.
I know you, and MJ kind of and Bobby and Johnny.

[veristitalian]

[She nods, in that case, and goes quiet. He should eat, and begin to process. He'll never get through his own thinking if she keeps talking at him.

Jasnah sits back in her seat, crosses her feet at the ankle, and sips her water.]