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

The scene might've been comical if they weren't trapped in a strange place with no idea how they'd gotten there. The cramped space meant a lot of accidental elbow jabs and, at one point, they almost bumped foreheads. A few of Hank's curses were met with quiet 'sorry, Lieutenant's though they began to sound less sincere and much more mechanical after the first few.

"I'll try applying pressure to it," He stated, shimmying a little to get his back against the wall opposite the grooved wall, the movement requiring another apology or two.

Once he'd calculated the best position to be in in order to apply the most pressure, he put his hands and one foot up against the grooved wall and started pushing. It wasn't often that androids revealed their full capabilities, it tended to be off-putting to humans, though Hank had witnessed some of it during chases. Connor's 'strength' was backed by engineering, hydraulics and metal, and the walls once again started groaning and creaking as he pushed. He grimaced slightly, a few warnings starting to pop up on his interface, but the wall, or maybe it was actually a door, was starting to give and bend, bowing outward. It was a separate piece, so bending it had broken the air tight seal and they could see out through the cracks where the piece of metal was no longer pressed flush against the rest of the box.

A fifth warning popped up, his joints and metal frame were likely to be damaged if he continued, forcing him to ease back with a scowl. As much as he wanted to get them free, damaging himself wouldn't do either of them any good. His 'breathing' was unusually audible, bringing in air to help cool his overheating core.

"You're not in danger of suffocating anymore," He pointed out, LED flickering blue as he examined the bowing sheet, calculations about it popping into his head, "I should be able to break it after my core temperature lowers."

This wasn't a failure. Not yet. He refused to let it be. He could get them out of here and he was determined to.

It's only fair. Hank was surprised the android had gone so long apologizing each time. Connor couldn't be as frustrated as him or at least he assumed since Hank hadn't seen any of the few times Connor had sworn before.

He watched in silence as another reminder of the difference between the both of them rose up like the piece of cracking seal that let in precious air into his lungs. He couldn't see Connor's warning screens but the LED was giving him an idea of how much the other was putting pressure. Damn, CyberLife had thought of everything he mused as the sounds of the fans was just enough to almost emulate actual breathing. So many breakthroughs in ten years could only make him think of how much more it would have been changed as they went on. At least before Markus put a sort of stop to some of it...

It was Connor's voice that broke him of his inner thoughts, probably a side effect from how little air he had before. Like if he'd been prodded by an invisible rod, he let out a loud gasp as his body demanded more of it.

"Geeze Connor...that was intense."

The other's pushing that is. The flashlight looked up at the android's face to make sure the light hasn't gone red, or if he was showing any signs of damage. Not that...he'd know how to repair it, but it was the thought that counted.

"Gimme a minute as well. Phew...maybe we can try to push it down together."

Like hell Hank was going to make Connor do all the work at this point.

Connor didn't react to the light, no squinting, no flinching, his pupils just constricting to adjust for the shine of the flashlight. His chest expands and contracts a few more times until the warnings about overheating subside.

He gave Hank a single, curt nod.

"The metal is strained. It's close to breaking," He said, looking at the areas where the sheet was still attached to the closet walls. He tilted his head slightly to get a better look, making a more accurate assessment, "Pushing here will be the most effective."

He looked to Hank as he placed his palms against the bent metal, ready to follow the lieutenant's lead when he was ready to start pushing.

TEST DRIVE #002

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