reveriance | » TEST DRIVE #001

TEST DRIVE #001

( 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 3 . 1 ) » VIRTUAL
But the alcohol isn't even the most interesting part of your discovery (depending on who you are, of course). No, what catches your interest is a second, smaller room off from the main bar room, which looks to be some kind of arcade. There are a few VR sets lined up against one of the walls, and surely, they can't be working, right? Nothing is on this rust bucket. And yet, if you put it on, the display comes to life.

It's a pretty simple HUD, and when you move around in reality, you move around in the virtual world you've just entered. It's a luxurious world, full of brightly, saturated colors, making it just a little obvious that it isn't real. Ahead, there is a jungle, a temple, and a city. You can play around, slay some monsters, have some fun, but you can feel yourself growing hot, like the VR helmet is burning your forehead.

And when you try to take it off, you find that you can't. The HUD glitches, the sound cuts off to a blaring alarm, and an error message appears, in glowing, blinking red letters: FINISH THE MISSION. Will you, despite not knowing what the mission even is, or will you fight to get the helmet off?

( 0 0 4 ) » MALFUNCTIONS

(cw: body horror, bodily functions, gore, blood, death)

The fabricators function well enough, until they don't. One day, one moment, everything's all right — the food doesn't generally taste amazing and sometimes downright awful, but it's nourishing and filling no matter what your dietary needs — and the next, things go a little haywire.

In short, the fabricators are malfunctioning.

Oh, they're still producing food that looks and tastes much the same as before, but now there are some unexpected side effects.

NB: Characters may experience any of the following side effects: nausea ranging from slight to debilitating, the sensation of being happily and affectionately — but not overwhelmingly — drunk, bone-deep exhaustion and weariness that makes it hard to move, or repeated hallucinations of loved ones screaming for help, reaching out to characters and leading them down abandoned corridors or being killed by unseen forces.

The extent to which characters are affected is up to players, as is whether you'd prefer to play this more lightheartedly or tackling more serious themes. If the latter, please provide warnings in subject lines where necessary.

( 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 5 . 1 ) » NETWORK USERNAME
When you first turn on your communication device, it requests for you to pick a username to identify you on the network. It can be anything you want. However, as you try to input a username in your wristband to access the network, you get the following message, along with a small, but irritating, warming sound:

this username is already in use.

What does this mean? Is there other people around? Were there other people around?

( 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

[ it isn't until apollo speaks that he registers that he'd been staring at him, frozen in place as the other man soaks up sweet sun rays. well, that's not something you see every fucking day, is it? but neither is anything else here so what the hell. he can't remember a time in his life where he ever wasn't angry. not even before his family died. he'd always thrived on it, fed on it the way this guy feeds on vitamin d or whatever the fuck. ]

That's one way to get a tan. [ he jokes lamely, shrugging at the question and glancing back out the windows. first time in space. like it's the fucking carnival. ] That obvious, huh.

What can I say? I like the sun, [ Apollo explains with a shrug as he turns his face towards the distant yellow star. Even through however many inches of thickly reinforced glass he can still feel the benefits. It gives him life, literally.

At Frank's question he smiles wanly but doesn't take his attention from the distant sun. ]

Maybe, [ He replies, almost apologetically. ] But you're not alone. It seems this place has pulled in people from all walks of life. You're from Earth, right?

[ it should be noted that while frank is not a brilliant conversationalist, he is a good listener. and when people talk, even if he looks disinterested or unengaged, he is anything but. he catalogues each word the other man says for future reference, but for the most part he lets them pass him by until the question comes. right -- there are people not from earth here. and solar panel dude is probably one such alien. ]

Right. New York, if you wanna get specific.

Oh yeah? I've been to New York. I liked it. [ He says that comfortably, with a faint smile, like saying he likes red wine or golden retrievers. A nn easy and familiar anchor point even as they stand and survey a foreign planet - and a foreign solar system - stretched out before them.

But a beat later Apollo amends his statement: ]

Well... I probably haven't been to your New York. But I've been to a New York.

We have good hot dogs. [ he nods amicably enough. weirdo likes his home, good for him. frank can go about 50/50 most days honestly, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to leave. until he'd been kidnapped to space anyway. ]

...Right, yeah. One of the many New Yorks. [ slow nod. he hates this conversation. ] The one you went to -- it have masked dickbags in their pjs running around?

[ Apollo couldn't possibly comment on the hot dog situation but masked dickbags... he certainly does know a lot about those. ]

Um, yes, actually, [ Apollo replies distantly, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck in a sheepish way. There's no easy way of admitting to being one of those dickbags in PJs, even if Apollo and his team mates don't personally go for the masked (or pyjama'd) look. Masks just aren't practical. ]

I do recall one or two, now that you mention it...

[ frank just snorts, turning to look back out the window. ]

Might be the same one then. [ assholes. ]

Maybe.

[ Hopefully not. That would be... awkward. ]

So were you in the masked-dickbag-punching game? Or just a spectator?

[ he hesitates, blowing out a shallow breath as he thinks over his potential answers. 'no' sounds defensive, because maybe it is. it's definitely not the truth, not all of it anyway. and he's definitely not a spectator. frank never could stay out of conflict, since he was barely a thought. ]

I tried helping one once. Too many rules. [ or just one, maybe. 'no killing bad guys' springs to mind. ]

[ Apollo silently weighs the other man's reply, balancing the idea of agreeing. There are too many rules, it's true, but the Authority's grand ideas of which means justify which ends are something that have proven historically... troublesome.

Wisely, he bites his tongue and settles for a diplomatic: ]

At least you tried to do something. Most people don't even try.

[ Change of subject? Change of subject. ]

My name's Apollo, by the way. Hi.

[ that gets a tired look that might have progressed into an eyeroll if apollo hadn't taken the initiative to move on. thank god, honestly. even if introductions are his second least favorite thing. he's getting used to it at least. ] Frank.

[ Tired looks, he can deal with. Apollo has built up an immunity to those. He radiates an easygoing, affable smile in response. ]

Frank, [ He repeats, committing it to memory. Frank from New York who once tried to help. ] Good to meet you. Circumstances could do with being a little less weird, but...

[ He trails off with an expressive shrug of one broad shoulder. A 'what are you gonna do' kind of shrug. ]

[ he nods, pushing out a breath in agreement, more or less. ]

Used to weird. Just not used to weird in space.

Space-weird is about the same as Earth-weird. Except, uh, there are a few more interesting ways to die.

[ Talking of which - Apollo tears his gaze away from the observation deck and glances back around the observation room. Airlocks. Airlocks are a thing he needs to find at some point. His expression turns a little pained as he takes in the general grimy-ness of it all. ]

I think the fact that this place is so run down is going to be a problem. Space vessels are kind of high maintenance. All that life support, you know?

[ frank seems to concede that point with a little frown + nod combo. seems legit basically. ]

Sounds promising. You know anything about a system like that? [ or more appropriately how to repair it. frank's all ears if so. ]

I'm no mechanic, [ He admits unhappily; Apollo can do a lot of things, a lot of ridiculous things, but fixing a space station isn't one of them. God, Apollo doesn't even need to breathe but he knows it's kinda important for everyone else. ]

But I think finding people who actually know what the fuck they've doing could be important. They've brought such a random selection of people here. There's got to be some mechanics around here, surely...

I'm good with cars. [ he tries for a little twitch of a smile. he wants to learn this if it'll help them get out of here, even if he isn't willing to say that aloud yet. ] You find someone like that, you let me know.

Sure. I'll see if I can find anyone who can do better than cars.

[ No offence pal but Apollo kinda hopes you aren't their best bet for keeping this place running. He pushes away from the glass with his shoulder, turning his attention towards the door and the corridor beyond it. No time like the present. ]

See you around, Frank. Enjoy the view.

» TEST DRIVE #001

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