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

[ Hank sighs, frowning. That's about what he'd expected, in terms of a lack of cohesive information, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. He chews on his lower lip, mind spinning to process all the information he's been given. ]

We're obviously somewhere incomprehensibly far from Earth. So whoever-- or whatever-- took us had to have sufficiently advanced technology to cross lightyears-- possibly accounting for the time discrepancies, if we were traveling at speeds faster than light. The fact that they haven't shown themselves is worrying, though.

[ He's rambling, he knows. He's kind of hoping Erik will stop him eventually. ]

[ The fact that traveling so much faster than the speed of light would have an impact on the time is something so obvious Erik curses himself under his breath for not considering it. ]

Damn. You're right. That's basic application of the theory of relativity.

[ He shoves one hand in his pocket and rubs his forehead with the other. ]

I think you're right about the location. Not everybody here is from Earth, but nobody recognizes this place. But that doesn't mean as much as it should. There's only a few dozen of us. There could be ten times the number, all from wholly different places and times, and still countless places just in the Milky Way that none of us would recognize.

[ He waves his hand at the planet, his expression growing more disdainful. As if the hunk of rock quietly rotating alone somehow offended him, personally. ]

If we could pinpoint where everyone came from... Construct some sort of map of possible trajectories?

[ Even he knows that's a long shot, but the idea of just sitting there idle and NOT trying to figure out where they are or how they got there is not something he wants to entertain. ]

[ That's not a bad idea, though it would be an enormous amount of work. Maybe something to occupy downtime. Erik tilts his head from side to side. ]

We'd have to have some way to account for three-dimensional space. Also account for the fact that we seem to be coming from different realities as well as planets.

[ He frowns in thought. ]

How familiar are you with multiverse theory?

There are computers here. I could... [ He adjusts his glasses, like a nerd. ] attempt to program a model. Depending on what maps are already programmed in.

[ But the mention of different realities throws him off guard. ]

I've heard of it... Certainly, after the past few days I've considered the idea of multiple timelines, with different choices leading to different outcomes.

You think we're in some alternate future?

[ The glasses thing is charming, which only annoys Erik because Hank still has no idea. ]

That would be quite the undertaking, but I suppose at the very least we could determine the processing power of the computers here.

[ Yes, "we", because there's no way Erik isn't getting in on a project this interesting. ]

I think we're at the nexus of multiple realities. I've encountered people from at least seven different versions of Earth alone. Most of them have never heard of mutants at all. There's one where mutants exist, including alternate versions of us. [ Which is weird. ] From what I've been told, my counterpart has managed to accomplish much more than I have.

[ Which is weird and annoying. Erik huffs softly. ]

[ The use of the word "we" earns Erik a skeptical look. Though they've known each other for ten years, they've never exactly worked together on a project, just the two of them. It was usually Erik and Charles, or, more recently, Erik, Charles, Logan, and Hank all together.

He'd always had the impression that Erik didn't like him, or that he only tolerated Hank's presence for Charles' sake. Working together on a project of this magnitude would be... interesting, for sure. ]

If that's the case... If we're really at some multiversal nexus point... [ He takes a deep breath, looking back out at the foreign planet below. ] That's going to make any model we build that much more complex.

[ The skepticism is well-earned. To say that Erik finds Hank frustrating would be an understatement. But he's been stuck on this station for quite a while with no familiar faces and only a precious few who have even heard of mutants. Such circumstances push one toward alliances with those who under normal circumstances would not be so friendly.

At this moment, he's never been more delighted to talk to Hank McCoy.

He nods, agreeing with the conclusion. ]

It's also possible that incorporating the data from the various dimensions wouldn't be necessary. There are a handful of residents from places other than Earth. And most of the non-Earth origins seem to be from the same universe, if different points in time. Would the different Earths have different locations on a map, or would including one be sufficient?

[ Giving Hank a project, something to focus on, is smart. Because otherwise he would be worrying about their current circumstances or thinking about how angry he ought to be with Erik for Paris.

He scratches the side of his nose, frowning as he works out some mental calculations. ]

For the purposes of a three-D model, it's probably sufficient just to have one Earth, perhaps with an expandable database of the different variations therein that you could open up if you cared to explore further.

TEST DRIVE #002

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