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]

[He babbles and she smiles, resisting the urge to laugh. She's been known to babble a lot too.]

Admit it, you were wanting to drink.

[It's a playful accusation more than anything, one accompanied by her hiking herself up to sit on the bar itself. It really takes some work to get turned around so she's facing him, legs dangling over the edge, but she eventually manages. Her legs kick a little, and she takes the time to look him over. He's cute, but definitely a nerd. She can tell these things.]

This is clear. [She pushes an unmarked glass bottle his way.] It could be water.

[nerded]

What? No -! No, really, I wasn't. [ Peter's immediate protest probably makes him seem even guiltier of wanting to swipe a swig of some hard liquor, and honestly, maybe he should just go with it because that's a whole lot cooler than the truth.

But she's obviously teasing him and Peter lets out a huff of a laugh, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck. God. Why is he such a dweeb? ]

Thanks. [ He accepts the clear glass bottle and pops the top open to sniff. ] If you wanted to drink, I'm not gonna judge.

[cheerleader]

I don't.

[She's quick to dismiss that idea, but leans forward to place her hand over his that's holding onto the bottle.]

And if you don't either, let's get out of here.

[It makes more sense than sitting around in this weird bar where no adult is sitting and drinking. That probably means everything in here is bad or something, and she's not about to let this guy sample whatever's in that bottle.]

I can get you water from my room.

[Which would be a come on if they weren't both sixteen and naive and incapable of flirting. As it is, it's a genuine offer.</small.]

[nerded]

[ Peter goes from feeling relief (because while the bottle doesn't smell like alcohol, it certainly doesn't smell like water either) to feeling a slight edge of panic the moment she places her hand over his, like - what's happening here right now? Should he be freaking out? Should he be saying something?

The circuits in Peter's brain don't quite manage to parse talking to girls who also happen to be way out of his league, and his last attempt kind of ended ... pretty spectacularly bad, actually. So. He's a little at a loss.

But she's offering him a way out of this (honestly) creepy bar and he's grateful to take it.

He nods, swallowing. ]

Okay. Yeah. [ Actually? His mouth is really dry now, so water would be amazing. ] Thanks. [ There's a brief pause before: ] Uh, I'm Peter, by the way.

[cheerleader]

I'm Claire.

[She flips her hand up in a casual wave, before moving to slide off the bar. She's so used to bossing around her friend Zach that she doesn't really think twice about taking charge here. ]

It's nice to know I'm not trapped in space alone. I mean, there's adults here but it's not really the same as having someone your own age.

[Now that she's on her feet she starts to lead the way out of the bar and down the hall toward the elevator. Her room's up on the sixth deck so they've got some walking to do.]

Where are you from?

[nerded]

Uh, New York? Which now sounds kind of weird because it's gotta be the smallest speck of a place from up here.

[ Peter exhales.

It doesn't even occur to him to maybe broaden his answer out a little bit in case she's not even from Earth. Or the Milky Way Galaxy.

Which - that's impossible, right? Says the guy who got bitten by a radioactive spider and regularly swings around in a spandex suit. ]

Oh - nice to meet you, though. Who else is up here? [ A flurry of questions occurs to him and he doesn't think to stop himself. Sorry, Claire. ] Are there a lot of people? Do they know what's going on?