» TEST DRIVE #001

[reveriemod]

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.

Comments

[oorah]

[ he nods after a beat. ] Yeah, I heard it. Seems like whoever was here before us fucked up big time.

[spinals]

What do you think happened?

[ honestly, kat isn't sure she really wants to know — but it seems important. of course it's important. ]

[oorah]

[ frank opens his mouth, only to snap it shut audibly a moment later. ]

I'm not really in the business of speculating. [ it's flat. if he has any theories it doesn't seem like he's sharing. there's way too little info anyway. ] Best I can tell is they went on a suicide mission. Or maybe it's just been a long time since that recording. How would we know, huh?

[spinals]

[ fair point. ]

I guess we can't really know, can we? But maybe we can find out. I feel like this is the sort of thing someone should write about. You know, so it doesn't happen again.

[ wait — she makes a face. ] I hope whatever happened here won't happen to us as well.

[oorah]

[ someone should write about this. it makes him think of karen. but the last thing he'd want is for her to be in danger again because of him. his distant look is easily overridden with kat's hopeful statement. ]

Yeah... yeah. You and me both, sweetheart. [ as little regard as he might have for his own survival, he's not prepared to go down with this ship just yet. ]

[spinals]

[ kat isn't much of a journalist or historian. she can write, which is more than can be said about some folks on l-21. she's gone to school for a good while. she's even learning another language now, under brand's tutelage. but she's no journalist. ]

Should we have a look around? [ she asks after a moment. sweetheart. that means she gets to talk like it's a given that he'll stick around and they'll explore together, right?

it's not that she's helpless, okay, it's just — maybe she'd feel better not being alone, is all. ]

[oorah]

[ he doesn't even notice he's doing it, honestly, but slowly he turns back to look at her face and nods. frank doesn't have the heart to abandon her even if that's exactly what he should do. ]

You lead the way, huh? [ i've got your back. ]

[spinals]

[ she won't say it's a relief, but— it's a relief. ]

Okay. I have no idea where I'm going, though. [ but she picks a direction and starts moving. ]

[oorah]

That's what makes it interesting. [ he follows closely behind her, wishing he had at least his kabar. though his ankle gun wouldn't hurt either. but his fists will do them well enough if they get surprised. either way, he's with her for the forseeable future. ]

[spinals]

[ kat's glad for his presence at her back. it feels solid. she's not helpless; brand's seen to that, but she's never wanted to be alone. she never really has been, though travelling with brand isn't anything like having her family, like having her friends around her. ]

Does any of this look familiar to you?

[oorah]

Familiar? [ not in the way she means it, he supposes. though there's something about it that inspires deja vu beneath his skin. like he's done this before, been exactly here. he can't explain it away so easily but eventually he shakes his head. ] No, sweetheart, none of it.

[spinals]

Yeah, same. I mean, I've seen places like this before? But never this place. I don't know the logo. Or anything.

[ sweetheart, again. kat starts to smile, then realises that— he doesn't actually have anything else to call her, does he? ] I'm Katarina, by the way. Or Kat, or Kata. What's your name? [ she can't actually go around calling him big, can she? though she's tempted to. ]

[oorah]

[ he moves closer to her side when it seems like nothing is coming out at them immediately, but he's still ready if they do. no one he's run into so far knows anything about this place, so it makes sense that she doesn't either. katarina. it's a pretty name. his eyes grow sad, but he doesn't say anything about it one way or another. ]

Frank. [ he has a readymade alias he could give out, but it seems ridiculous to keep a name from any of these people when they're victims the same as him. he doesn't really look like a "pete" anyway, does he? ]

[spinals]

Hi, Frank.

[ he's ready for something to come out at them. kat isn't; not really. she's not alert the same way he is. instead, she's turning to look at him, smiling for a moment despite their circumstances. it's a practiced smile, but no less genuine for it. ]

[oorah]

[ frank swallows as he turns, that smile and her easy greeting make his chest ache. he knows some of his anxiety must show on his face, if not the crippling pain that always bubbles for him just under the surface. he blows out a breath and forces himself to relax by a measure or two, though his shoulders are still locked as he walks, the slight shuffle of his right boot as it drags for a second longer than the left noticeable now. one side of his mouth twitches, but nothing close to a smile comes from the effort. ]

Hey, Kat. [ it's probably a dumb question, but: ] You doin' okay?

[spinals]

[ he doesn't look okay. he doesn't look okay at all and kat wants to tell him again that it'll be okay. it will be. she doesn't know where they are or what's going on here, but — they'll figure it out, right? and even if they don't, they'll make it work. she'll make it work. this can't be so different from l-21, the moon she's grown up on. you look after each other because if you don't, no one will do it for you. ]

I'm okay.

[ she bites her lip for a moment, but then she nods, smiling again. she is, or she will be. she's worried about brand and she's worried about all of this but— she's okay.

but, ] Are you?

[oorah]

[ joke's on her because this is his okay. but he's working on at least looking like he has it together. even if he sincerely never does. her being okay, or at least saying she is, goes a long way towards bringing him down another notch. ]

Yeah, sweetheart, I'm okay. [ he doesn't notice the slip, his eyes watching intently as they move through the corridors. each turn looks the same, and he glances behind them a moment, trying to remember the way they came. his fist clenches in muscle memory, feeling a gun in his hand that isn't there. as long as she's okay, he'll get there, he thinks. ]

[spinals]

[ this place reminds her of the docks, a little. of walking next to or behind her father and his cargo. there aren't nearly enough voices here, not enough feet hitting metal, but the look of it isn't so different. the hint of familiarity helps, as does knowing that her dad's still there, doing the same thing.

missing him is an ache that's two years old already. it doesn't sting more now than it did yesterday, just because she doesn't remember getting here. ]

Are you a soldier?

[ she doesn't mind the sweetheart. that more than anything was what convinced her to trust him, after all. ]

[oorah]

[ frank narrows his eyes at the question, holding back the no that wants to spill vehemently from his lips. but his dogtags are wearing holes in his skin each time he takes a step and he knows that isn't the truth. and he's not all that fond of lying when he doesn't have to, especially to a girl like kat. ]

Once. [ he's not an old man, but it sounds weary anyway. he isn't sure how else to answer that question. he was, it's been seared into every part of him which he's sure is how she guessed. but he isn't anymore, that's an insult to everyone who still is. ]

[spinals]

[ once. that's good enough for her. it explains the way he holds himself, the alertness that's written into every line of his body right now. the word comes out weary, but kat still smiles, again. ]

I bet that'll be useful here. Wherever here is.

[oorah]

Yeah. [ a grunt more than a word. he knows all about being useful and he's been focused on the exact opposite now that his war is over. but he already knows he'd do anything necessary to protect her so maybe it doesn't matter in this context. ]

[spinals]

( kat wants to be useful. admittedly, she wants to be useful in a very specific way: she wants to make the world a better place. not just her moon but her entire star system. the universe, if she can. or just the lives of those people she meets; that's a good start.

having been a soldier means he has the skillset required to protect people, doesn't it? that's good. though - ) I hope you won't need to be much of a soldier, here.

( but hope and expectation are not the same thing and that knowledge translates into softening her tone, making it a little thoughtful instead of blithely naive. )

[oorah]

[ then what else would he be? frank thinks dimly, working his jaw as they move through corridors, only met with more and more of the same. the place makes his skin crawl though there's nothing immediately sinister about it. each turn resigns him to his fate a little more until eventually he very nearly relaxes -- still vigilant, but without every muscle tensed and spasming with the flickering lights overhead. ]

It's a nice thought. [ one he's not buying for a second, though he's careful to leave it open instead of shutting her down. optimism is sorely needed in a situation like this, and frank remembers acutely when he used to be that voice. ]

[spinals]

( how about just frank? how about whoever he wants to be? but kat isn't aware of the internal conflict, or at least not aware of what prompted it. she sees his jaw working from the corner of her eye, but that could be anything. and gradually, he relaxes a little and then a little more.

and she knows that it's unlikely. she doesn't expect it'll happen. but still, when he acknowledges that it's a nice thought, she smiles brightly. ) It would be nice, wouldn't it?

( a moment later, she shrugs. still cheerfully enough: ) Somehow, I don't think this place is going to be a spa vacation, though. ( it's fine. it'll be fine. they can handle this. )

cool to call this done?

[oorah]

[ he walks along in silence for a while, though he's listening to her. just when she might think he's letting her words pass him by he speaks up again. ]

No, sweetheart, I'm guessing you're right about that.

[ he's starting to get the unsettling feeling like they might be here a while, actually. ]