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

kanan jarrus | star wars rebels

[kanyounot]

[ 002; observation deck; ]

[ It's hard to say why this man is standing in front of the huge windows, given the mask that's obviously covering his eyes. And yet, here he is, after making his careful way from the place he woke up. He never stumbles as he traverses the observation deck, though his movements are somewhat cautious. There's a frown on his face, as well, and despite the fact that he can't see anything - it's obvious he's aware that he's far from home. ]

This... isn't right. At all.

[ 004; Spacequakes; ]

[ Kanan has only just managed to get his bearings (he thinks), when the whole place jostles and wobbles and topples him the hell over with an uncharacteristic curse. ]

Kriffing hell!

[ Slammed to the floor, feeling the bruises forming, he tries to right himself as things calm down. Someone ought to help the blind guy get up. Right? ]

What was that?

[ network; voice; un: spectre-1; ]

Okay, I've just got one question. Anyone here heard of Phoenix Squadron? Let me know.

[ Wildcard; ]

[ Hit me with anything! ]

network again; un: tokumei

[neuralnet]

There's a gym on Deck 4, if you want to exercise.

[ That's not quite... what they said... ]

What does your friend look like? I can try searching the station's camera feed for him. [ Or, he can ask Hank to do so for him. ]

[improbablelie]

[ Hoss. Jack definitely stares at that last message for a solid stretch of time before she continues her scroll through of the network for a few minutes.

But even if she doesn't trust offers of help, she won't get anywhere by ignoring them and taking people up on it at least gains her something. What, she won't know until she does. So she's quite punctual, arriving at the observation deck about two minutes early just in case.

Besides, she really does love the view. It has to be a trick, but it's beautiful. Her attention is split between glancing around for whoever this stranger might be and looking out the window as she sends a quick message. ]

Here.

[improbablelie]

I guess that works.

[ The second offer she hesitates on how to respond to -- there's no polite and non suspicious way to say "people knowing what our faces look like is dangerous and I don't trust surveillance" and she's not willing to admit why she's so sure he's not here at the moment, and she's out of practice with the niceties of conversations. ]

I appreciate the offer, but I'm already certain he's not here yet. He'd have responded by now.

You have access to the station's surveillance feeds?

[ Nailed it. ]

[donkeyballs]

[ He arrives around thirty seconds later, wearing not the usual Reverie jumpsuit, but a different one - one with red cord in the seams, and the words Tachi and MCRN emblazoned on it. Unlike her, he knows fairly well who he's looking for. Not that he knows what to expect, so much as that he knows who to rule out. So when he spots her unfamiliar figure he makes a beeline for her and offers a small wave. ]

Howdy. [ He offers the same hand he'd waved with for a shake, when he draws close. In person, the Texan twang is impossible not to notice, despite the fact that he's obviously of South Asian ethnicity, and despite the fact that he's never been to Texas. Or Earth, for that matter. ]

Alex Kamal, at your service.

Wildcard

[impossibletruth]

[ He woke up with a sharp intake of breath, almost jolting out of his skin as he sat up, mild reeling.

Well, reeling was a word for it. He felt - incredibly sluggish, in a strange way, like each thought wouldn't quite fit neatly into his head. He shook it, roughly, before trying to take in his surroundings, and--

And he felt his stomach lurch in something quite close to fear. No, no, no, no, this wasn't right, nothing was right, not even the gravity--

The communicator kept repeating that phrase on repeat and he scrambled to turn it off, lights flickering around his head in odd, fizzling ways as his brain tried to make up for the fact that he suddenly couldn't think quite as fast. But he didn't need to think fast for the first word to leave his mouth: ]

Jack??

un: rocipilot

[donkeyballs]

Well I can't rightly say I've heard of Phoenix squadron, but if you tell me what planet you're from, I can help narrow it down.

We've got a lot of different origin worlds on this bucket.

Some from different versions of Earth and some not. Pretty sure you ain't Martian, by that question, or I'd recognize the call sign.

2

[merging]

[Ezra isn't really sure what's going on. Right now, in general, ever. When he checked the holonet, there were suddenly a million messages and people talking about things he didn't know about and- Honestly, he thought he had mostly gotten used to the stuff around here. But whatever.

Trying to figure out what's happened to the station or to him, he heads to the observation deck. Even before he sees him, Ezra feels that same sort of shudder he felt back on Lothal years ago. When he does see him, though, his stomach is a swirl of emotions that all probably end in throwing up or something like that.

Okay. He knows people can be brought from all different times, but this is still....]

Kanan?

[He calls out hesitantly.]

[improbablelie]

[ It's the difference in the jumpsuit that pings her first in her scan of the surroundings, zeroes her in on him, but it's the wave and heading straight for her that cements that this is likely who she's meeting.

(Does he know her face, or just know the current residents well enough to know someone he doesn't recognize? Questions to be filed and answered later.)

She takes his hand, not particularly smiling but not negative either, looking alert and curious more than anything. ]

Jack. Pleasure to meet you, Alex.

[ Her hand shake is quick and brief, and then she glances around. ]

You've been to space before. Do you get used to the view eventually?

the pleased yell was VERY MUFFLED so as to not wake people

[improbablelie]

[ Her empathy here is -- lessened. Not in the way that means power nullifiers at work on her or others, that is an emptiness that is endless and unbreakable. She hates that feeling. It's still unsettling to not have what she knows she should be capable of available to her, but it's actually easier to not have the constant cacophony in her head. This many people, this close.

She shudders to think what it would be like to have her full capabilities, especially as broken as her shields are, in this close quarters.

But she feels it, the moment something in her mind snaps into place. It's faint and thin, the gentle threads of something that had only been beginning to be understood, but it is to her absolutely unmistakable. Marlowe.

She's on her feet a moment later, sprinting only a few seconds after that as she searches for the exact position, tries to pinpoint where he is, sending her mind ahead of her to reach out to him, let him know that she's here. ]

Marlowe. [ She turns a corner and he's there and she almost laughs but doesn't quite, heads directly towards him with every intention of wrapping her arms around him. ] You're here.

[impossibletruth]

[ She reaches out, the pulse of her being reaching him from wherever she is, and the relief is so instant and overwhelming that he almost literally sags with it. He hadn't been able to feel her at all - not quite like the connection had been severed, but almost - so he'd been filled with fear that he was completely alone.

If he thought about it, he would think it was strange that now, after all this time, he could barely think of being without her.

It means he has a few seconds to let the panic subside as she comes to him, able to mold his expression into something a little more laid back than he could have managed before, as she comes around the corner.

There's no hesitation as he steps forward, pulling her into a tight, hard hug. The kind of hug a year ago he was not particularly good at, but now was almost natural. He hadn't even gotten a good look at her, his sluggish brain not doing as instant a read as it normally should have, and now his eyes were closed as he held her tight. ]

You really should know better than to wander off. [ Just a little bit of false bravado, considering the panic he'd been in a few seconds ago. ]

[donkeyballs]

Never. [ His smile is warm, and when she releases his hand he slides it into the pocket of his jumpsuit. ]

Though the Roci ain't got any windows, so, maybe I'm just biased. A view screen ain't really the same, even if it still offers one hell of a view.

Alright, so, you found the Observation deck well enough. You found the bar, yet?

[improbablelie]

[ The response from him is strong, it's -- stronger?

But in the immediate relief of his presence, the knowledge that she could still protect him, keep him safe, bring his mind against hers, that isn't something that fully translates yet.

The hug does confuse her a little, if at the moment she's also entirely willing to just sink into it. She'd expected more surprise from him, honestly, given how most of the time she shied from physical contact, how recent it was that she'd even been willing to sleep in the same space as him. But after a few days of separation, it's enough for the moment simply to wrap her arms around him and hold on tight. It shouldn't mean this much, she thinks, but it does, it does, it does.

He's here, and he's alive and safe and warm and she can keep him that way now and for the time being, while she can enjoy this moment, that's all that matters. ]

Yeah, well, I didn't walk into a snowstorm this time. [ Mumbled into his shoulder, teasing a little. ] I just went into space this time.

[impossibletruth]

[ He doesn't hold on for too long, regardless, though when he pulls back his hands linger on her shoulders as he checks her over. Little lights flicker and fade, a hundred computations a minute which feels incredibly sluggish as his brain automatically runs comparisons to what he knows.

It hasn't even finished its full set of computations before he starts feeling uneasy, but for the most part it's still overwhelmed by relief. ]

Do you remember how you got here?

[ A pause, and then very solemnly, considering that he could remember every detail of his entire life otherwise: ]

Because I don't.

bridge carson | power rangers: s.p.d.

[spd_green]

( 0 0 2 ) » OBSERVATION DECK
Wow. [ It's the first time Bridge has ever been in space. Sure, he's been up real high in the Megazord, but this is completely different.

He presses his hands to the glass, testing it, then presses his full face against the plane. His breath fogs up the surface, so he takes a deep breath and holds it while he looks out on the view.

He pulls back and lets out his breath in an exaggerated exhale, then turns his head to the nearest person with a smile on his face. ]

Do you like heights? Because if you push your face against the glass, it's almost like floating. But not. Do you think there's space suits around here? Do you think we can make some? Or hack the grav boots to be the opposite of grav and anti-grav?

[ He leans down to start to take off his shoes. ]


( 0 0 3 ) » BAR
[ Another thing: Bridge has never been to a bar before. At least, not one that he's not investigating for unlawful activity. So he immediately feels awkward, walking into a place so obviously meant for unlawful activity. If there were more people around, maybe there would be trade in illicit substances or stolen goods. As it is, he wanders over to one of the bottles, opens it, sniffs it. He makes a face. ]

What about just milk? Maybe chocolate?


( 0 0 5 ) » NETWORK
Hi. I'm Bridge Carson, SPD Green. That means I'm the Green Power Ranger. Well, Delta Squad Green Power Ranger. But we're B-Squad, even if we're Delta. And A-Squad turned evil so we became the Power Rangers. Sky was very proud.

Anyway, my point is: who's tried to hack anything on the system? I mean anything. I'm new here and I don't know where to start. But we have to figure out where we are before we can figure out how to get there, right? So where are we on improving the navigation systems?

voice; un: tokumei

[neuralnet]

How many squads of Power Rangers are there? Also, um. What is a Power Ranger?

[ ooc: how do you feel about some light 4th walling? Haruto likely would know about Super Sentai... ]

[spd_green]

On Earth? Four. A, B, C, D. Plus the cadets who don't count except when they do.

A Power Ranger is a protector of the galaxy. We're highly trained and advancedly armed to defend the universe against whatever evil might be coming our way. We get really spiffy suits, too.

(( Go for it! IIRC, previous series established that there's a comic book about the Power Rangers, or at least that they're well-known. Plus, alternate dimensions. ))

[neuralnet]

Sort of. Not any of the archived feeds. But there's an AI named Hank who lives in the station's network. He was brought here like us, and he can pull up the feeds of all the station cameras to areas we've unlocked.

[neuralnet]

[ This is sounding more and more like a tokusatsu show for kids. ]

What kind of suits? Different colors?

[spd_green]

Yup! Mine's green and made of this high-tech polymer blend that... well, kind of resembles shiny spandex, but isn't. It's heat resistant, water resistant, flame resistant, knife resistant, explosion resistant...

[improbablelie]

[ She lets his hands linger, does a quick once over of him to make sure he's still all right. The shoulder should be mostly healed by now so there's no lump of bandages under clothes to determine anything from, but she doesn't see any strain in his movement. That's good, means that whatever brought them here didn't aggravate the injury. ]

I have no idea. I can only assume they found us, but --

[ She gestures around them even as mentally she brushes against his mind, reassurance.

And then she skips a beat, because that's not the same link that she had searched for only the first time a few days ago. Well, it is. But it isn't. There's more to it than she had seen in the cabin lying in bed together. That had been new and tentative and confused, neither of them certain yet and him not even knowing it was there. This is bigger, a deeper running current, one that could pull her in and hold her captive with ease. Her voice is slower when she speaks again. ]

I've been here a few days and haven't seen any sign of the usual suspects. Why do you feel different?

[improbablelie]

There's an AI who lives in the station's network? That seems like it has the potential to be quite dangerous.

When you say brought here, you mean that he also seems to be an unwilling arrival?

[improbablelie]

Good to know. The Roci was the station you used to be on?

[ Casually enough said, even if the curiosity is genuine. Given that her own experience with space sits at a beautifully rounded up zero, the more information she can get from people who've been in it before, the better. ]

I found a bar, yeah. Nobody charged me anything, which seems pretty weird, but "pretty weird" seems to be a running theme with this place so far. Never seen a prison where they let you run free before.

[impossibletruth]

[ There were lights blinking next to him, tiny numbers. A range. The lights read est. 340 - 370 day discrepancy. So he knew. He knew, already, but it didn't make sense so he was redoing all his calculations again, eyes darting across her face as he took in every line, every crease, every nearly microscopic difference.

It made the hair on the back of his neck rise. ]

Jack. What's the last thing you remember?

[improbablelie]

[ She doesn't quite take a step back, because his closeness and the warmth of his hands are still a comfort, but something in the tone of his voice and the question makes her want to.

Something's wrong, and on top of the strangeness of this place she's not sure she's ready for something else new to be wrong. ]

The cabin, of course. We were going to leave in the morning. Head to New York.

[ Her voice is very steady still, but it's taking effort now to keep it that way. ]

Why, Marlowe?