reveriance | TEST DRIVE #002

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He watches Holden for a few more seconds, considering - but then decides to just rip the bandage off. ]

... Miller.

[ Holden looks at Alex like he's grown a second head for a second. ]

How's that possible?

[ Alex gave him a helpless look. ]

Would tell you if I knew, hoss. But he's here.

There's - most of the people here, they're all Earthers. But from Earth's where Mars ain't even conolized, yet, or aliens have already invaded, or where they have crazy powers and magic-- I know it sounds crazy. I know. But Miller ain't even the weirdest shit here.

Let's go get a drink.

[ Does he mean coffee or alcohol? Who knows. He smiles slightly at Alex and reaches to pat his shoulder lightly. ]

If you don't mind.

[ The slight smile makes a knot between his shoulder blades release, and he nods. Yeah. Alright. They were all here, everything was going to be fine. ]

There's a bar down on third. Come on.

[ And he'll lead him down. ]

[ As they make their way down, Holden is quiet. His mind is spinning with all the new information, not just from Alex but from his environment. He's worried about getting back to where they belong, the problems left behind -- are they behind?

Is this all just a part of it now? The bending of time in this place doesn't seem to have any logical reason, at least that he can figure out yet. ]

What do you like here? [ If anything. ]

What do I like here?

[ The question throws him off, and it's obvious. He's been keeping a brave face, an optimistic one, for the crew. If Holden had asked the opposite, 'what's so bad', he would have been able to say something about how it wasn't the worst place he's ever been, or that they could be in a lot worse.

But that's not what he asks.

And Alex flounders. ]

... There ain't any protomolecule. [ It's the only thing he can think to say. There are people here he likes, that he wouldn't have met otherwise, but he wishes they didn't have to be here, either. ]

[ There's perhaps some logic behind what question Holden chose to ask Alex, knowing who he's talking to and all. He brushes his finger through his hair at the answer and as they reach the bar.

He'll actually be really relieved to have a drink or two or three.

His brow furrows. ]

You're sure about that?

[ He nodded. ]

Yeah. Sure as I can be, anyway. A lot of the station's closed off - doors are sealed, so we can't even get to a lot of the main habitat ring.

If it was here, it would have taken over the whole damn station by now, right?

[ Holden's expression doesn't really lighten up. ]

Maybe, or maybe it's just gotten smarter. [ Not that that made much sense. But the Protomolocule didn't make sense and Reverie didn't make sense either so it all fits right in. ]

[ Alex made a face - that was not a thought he liked. ]

Look. Let me have this one, alright? We ain't seen it and we've been here a month. If it's that smart, it's damn smart, and we're damned to hell anyway.

But I think it just - ain't here. I don't know how we got here, but. Most people on this station ain't even from the system as we know it. So I'm holdin' out hope that it just didn't come with us.

[ Holden gives a reluctant nod but the worry that the problem couldn't just be one that had went away as they were somehow relocated. He'll not argue with Alex about it -- there's no point if it's not been present or making issues for anyone that they know of. ]

Doesn't it make you at all suspicious?

This whole damn place makes me suspicious, hoss.

[ His frown is set deep. ] There ain't a god damn thing here that doesn't give me the heeby jeebies if I think about it too hard.

[ It won't likely be that Holden fares any better than Alex in that regard though he might word it differently. ]

Let's just get a drink for now. [ He's sure Alex will fill him in on anything else that's important. ]

[ It's okay, Holden, grown men really shouldn't be using the words 'heeby jeebies'. ]

Yeah. Alright. There's a bar on level three, we'll head there.

[ Which is a couple floors from where they are, so he tries to explain the rest of what's happening as they go. ]

We haven't been able to find the Roci - or any sign of any kind of shuttle, though Apollo thought he spotted something that might be a hangar bay. We can't get to most of the station, anyway. No access to any of the life support systems, so who knows what shape they're in - no access to the sensor arrays, either, so no idea what the hell else is out there, save for what we can spot visually.

[ Such rules don't apply to Alex, though, it's probably not the weirdest turn of phrase he's ever uttered in Holden's presence. ]

Apollo? [ isn't that the name of an ancient Earth diety? It's hardly the most important detail but nothing that Alex says otherwise provides him with much positivity. There's certainly an uncomfortable lack of control here, of even the most basic things. ]

No one has been able to make any progress in gaining access?

Yeah. He's uh - he's somethin' else. He can, uh, fly. Outside. Without a vac suit.

[ He says it like he knows exactly how insane that sounds. Because he does. ]

Not yet, Chief. I mean - there's been a little success gettin' into some of the terminals, but - no access to any actually useful systems. No ops, no engineerin', nothing.

TEST DRIVE #002

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