» 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

Steve Rogers | Marvel Cinematic Universe

[unshielding]

[ 001.1 ]
Steve wakes with a sharp inhale. He doesn't remember going to sleep and for a moment he's too disoriented to know where he is. As his eyes adjust quickly to the near-darkness, he realizes that that's because he really doesn't know where he is. He breaths steadily in through his nose, out through his mouth and keeps himself still save for slowly turning his head towards the sound of the other person't breathing.

He doesn't say anything, just tries to make eye contact in the dark. Do they have to stay quiet? He's not even sure.

[ 003 ]
The bar doesn't interest him for the potentially dangerous liquids, but for the social clues he might find here as to what happened to the crew that used to man this station or even who they were. They're in space, that much is clear, but there's very little he can figure out about where the crew could have gone or what they were trying to accomplish. Signs of a major struggle or war would be less disconcerting than the almost blankness of many of the corridors he's walked down.

"I wouldn't drink any of that if I were you." They don't even know what it is, let alone how long it's been here.

[ 004 ] (CW: severe sickness, talk of death/lost loved ones)
The fabricators aren't something that Steve entirely trusts, but he doesn't have much choice if he doesn't want to starve. They haven't lead him astray so far, so after a few days, it's something more in the back of his mind. It's less than an hour after his first meal of the day that the sensation comes upon him slowly. His muscles feel fatigued in a way they haven't since before the serum and he finds himself winded and leaning against a wall for support. That's when he starts to hear a distant voice, but it's someone he'd know anywhere and his head snaps up.

"Peggy?" Could she be here? It seems impossible, but so far a lot of impossible things seem to be happening.

He pushes off of the wall, determination pushing him through the aches in his chest and legs. Stopping isn't an option if Peggy's out there and she needs help. He can't let her down again.

The steps he takes are rocky and he doesn't stray far from walls as he moves, stopping every few yards to catch his breath and help support his weight.

"Peggy, I'm coming! Where are you?"

It's not until he finally sees her turn a corner at the other end of a long hall that he starts trying to really run against whatever this is, but he trips and nearly falls, catching his weight on his knees with a painful, bruising thud and struggling back up to move after her.

[ 006 ] UN: SROGERS

My name is Steve Rogers. Until we can figure out what happened here, I'd suggest no one go anywhere unpopulated alone. We don't know who or what could still be on this ship. Don't be afraid to ask for backup if you find anything strange.

( 003 ) »

[theycalledmeacurse]

Finding the bar had seemed like a miraculous event in the moment, but upon closer examination of those questionable bottles... Well. The warning her nameless companion offers is likely a wise one, worth of being heeded. But after the day she's had? She's willing to take a bit of risk for her first taste of alcohol in literal years.

"Someone has to test it," she points out in a smooth southern drawl, tone conveying her casual lack of worry on the matter as she pries off the cap of a previously sealed bottle. "Might as well be me."

[unshielding]

Steve doesn't even hide the torn look on his face. He doesn't want to start spitting out orders, but he also doesn't want to watch someone poison themselves.

"Are you sure, ma'am? We don't know what happened to the people who were here before us." He moves closer to the bar, ready to act in case anything does happen to her.

[theycalledmeacurse]

Ma'am. Lord, when was the last time anyone maamed her? He doesn't sound southern, so either he had a miraculously good upbringing or he's been in a situation to address people as such regularly. Military, perhaps? Or maybe politeness is just a hell of a lot more common where he's from than the world she's left behind.

"I know what happened to me before all this," she informs him, hefting the bottle up to give it a quick sniff. It certainly smells strong. "And I am in desperate need of a drink. I do appreciate the concern though, sugar."

With that said, she takes a solid swig, savoring the way it burns almost painfully going down her throat. Swallowing it followed by a slightly choking cough and an expression that conveys whatever is in the bottle does not taste good. At all.

[unshielding]

With a somewhat pathetic abortive motion towards her, Steve sighs and leans on the bar instead. Well, now he has to stick around and make sure she hasn't just poisoned herself, at least.

Her cough has him surging forward with concern, though.

"Are you okay?" He reaches for the bottle. "Do you need to sit down?"

[theycalledmeacurse]

She holds up a hand to try to ward him off, then quickly pulls it back while still making tiny coughing sounds. Bare hands, she has to remember that. Bare hands means no touching by anyone, at least not until she manages to find some gloves somewhere.

"Burns so good," she tells him with a somewhat grimacing smile and a shake of her head. "I'm fine, promise. It takes a lot more than some really bad alcohol to kill me off."

After finally managing a full, steady breath, she sets the bottle back down on the bar with a solid thunk. "I'm Rogue, by the way."

1

[subplot]

Karen feels like something is sitting on her chest. She's able to breathe, but it feels so heavy and pained that she winds up sharply gasping as she moves to sit up. Her head is pounding, and dizziness overcomes her as she wobbles and falls back to lie down once again. Her hands brace against the side of her head and she makes a soft sound of discomfort. There's someone else here, she's heard them. So she drops her hands away and slowly turns her head toward the sound of movement.

"Who's there?"

[unshielding]

"It's okay." His voice is a whisper, just in case.

He moves his hand slowly in the dark, trying to make out where her shoulder is and aiming behind it, because if he's going to miss in the dark, that's the safer option than accidentally groping the poor woman when she's already afraid. "My name is Steve. I'm going to get us out of here, okay?"

[subplot]

"Steve?" Her ears are ringing too, and she cracks her jaw and rubs at her ear like it's going to help. She can feel his hand behind her, and shifts to try and sit up again. Disoriented doesn't even begin to cover how she feels right now. It's a little too similar to how she had woken up after James Wesley had drugged and taken her, and that puts her completely on edge.

"I don't even know where we are."

[unshielding]

"I don't, either, but I'll figure it out."

His hand follows her back automatically to try to support her up, but his mind is half on trying to see whatever he can in the dark. From the way their voices sound, the space can't be too big, but he doesn't see any cracks of light.

"I'm--" He's not sure what he is anymore. He's not SHIELD and he's not an Avenger. "This is what I do. I help people."

[subplot]

"Yeah?" Karen's heard that before. She thinks of Matt and smiles a little, but there's a wince as she reaches out to grab hold of his arm so she can steadily rise up to her feet. She's tall enough that she manages to bump her head on the low ceiling, and it causes her to curse under her breath.

"So, who are you? One of the Avengers?"

It's clearly said as a joke, something sarcastic to make light out of their situation. If she doesn't, she might cry because of how awful she feels right now.

3

[veristitalian]

"I'm looking for dust patterns."

Supplies Jasnah, in response to the advice, picking up the bottle extremely carefully. She touches it by two fingers at the cap, another at the bottom lip.

"Krem patterns. Whatever the case may be. I'd like to know if anyone else has been here since the original abandonment."

She's a tall woman, nearly as tall as him, with a seriousness to her, and a poise that suggests she does not normally get shoved into jumpsuits. Or abducted to space stations, for that matter. But after her inspection of the bottle, she meets his eyes, levelly.

"People will try to drink it, won't they?"

[unshielding]

Not only is he relieved that she's not going to drink it, but she also seems to have some skills that he certainly doesn't.

"Oh, yeah. It's only a matter of time." His smile is a little strained, but there's not a whole lot of bite to his words.

"Is there anything I can do to help you find those patterns?" He moves carefully around anything that seems to have dust on it so as to not disturb her work and holds out his hand. "I'm Steve."

[veristitalian]

"Jasnah."

She says, setting the bottle down, and turning to face him properly. The handshake makes her hesitate for a moment- not out of pride, but because it's so unfamiliar. It's pretty self explanatory, luckily, and she takes his hand with a careful grip. Her left hand, he may notice, is gloved, though the right one is bare.

"Krem- it's not really krem, because it doesn't rain here, but time brings deposits. Grit? This sediment you see." Turning, so they can both examine the shelf. "It builds up most on the top of the bottle, not at all underneath it, and above all, slightly less on points of contact with the back wall. Like this one."

Lifting a bottle of something amber and actively gelatinous, by the way it slurps, rather than sloshes. At the point where the fat part of the bottle touched the back of the shelf, it's considerably cleaner.

"Some of them have fingerprints, where the new crop of people have grabbed for them. Those will be completely fresh, rather evident. But so far, I haven't found a one with partially filled in fingerprints, or with any kind of mottling that'd suggest the bottle was facing the wall for- a hundred years, say, and then moved, and left for another fifty. It seems truly undisturbed, but let's check them all, especially the ones at eyelevel."

[unshielding]

The concept is easy enough to understand and Steve's eyes are sharp. With a nod, he moves to the other end of the bar so they can meet in the middle. He's careful with the bottles, making minimal contact so as to disturb less of the dust.

"What do you do back home? Are you a detective?"

He checks the backs of the bottles, checks behind and under them. A few have clearly been moved, maybe even consumed from already and that last part worries Steve. Getting drunk at a time like this isn't exactly responsible, but worse than that, the bottles could be poison to humans or contaminated with something.

[veristitalian]

"I'm-"

Now, a second beat of hesitation, but this one because the answer is a little bit unclear, even to her. If she went to sleep the evening of her coronation, and then came to here, can she really call herself the Alethi Queen? Does she want to deal with all the complications that would entail, when they've barely finished recasting the old king's crown to fit a woman?

"-a Knight Radiant, a kind of military order. Before the Desolation began, I was a scholar. If a true historian or archaeologist she might complain about us moving the artefacts without cataloguing their original placement, but war does tend to teach you to emphasise survival over methodological purity."

006; un: lauren2

[mylastchance]

[A first letter and a last name as his username. Lauren nearly kicks himself for what an obvious idea it is. Why didn't he think of that?]

You really think there could be something dangerous in here with us?

[unshielding]

I think it's a possibility we have to keep in mind if we want to stay safe.

[mylastchance]

But we don't have any weapons.

[Would going around in groups really be any help if there was real danger here? Wait...]

There aren't any children here, are there?

[unshielding]

I don't know. I haven't met any yet, but I can't be sure.

We might have to look around and see if any weapons were left here.

Bar

[morethan084]

[In all honesty Daisy wasn't really planning on drinking anything right now. Especially in the situation she finds herself in right now, with hardly any familiar faces. She is holding a bottle though that is mostly empty and looks like it hasn't been touched in years. She was behind the bar trying to find any sort of clues, but aside from a lot of dust, she hasn't found anything.

Looking up from the bottle of brandy, Daisy lets out a soft laugh before putting it back on the shelf.]

Wasn't planning on it. I'm more of a whiskey girl myself.

[Having already seen him a little while ago on the ship, the shock has slightly worn off that Captain America was here as well. In all honesty it's a relief.]

Besides, I already feel like I have a hangover.

[From the way she had woken up here, although apparently it has happened to everyone that woke up here. Letting out a sigh as she moves to lean against the bar, Daisy looks past him briefly, still feeling on edge about this whole situation.]

You find anything?

[Even though they definitely don't know each other, Daisy does know she can trust him.]

[unshielding]

[ Steve's relieved that she's not going to drink it. She's not the first person he's tried to warn off and not everyone has listened. Not only are they not sure what's in the bottles or how long it's been there, but they should stay sober when they've been thrown into a situation like this. There's no telling what could be going on here. ]

Nothing helpful. If we could at least figure out what brought us here, it might give us something to go off of, at least.

[ He moves closer, leaning over the bar to offer his hand. ]

I'm Steve.

[morethan084]

You really are the whole package.

[It's meant to be a joke, but as soon as she's said it, Daisy realizes it may not be well received.

Shaking his hand briefly, Daisy lets go in favor of letting her hand tracing over a stain from the bottom of a glass.]

Daisy.

[Pushing off the bar, Daisy briefly looks over the drinks again before shrugging off the idea that there could be something of use here.]

They all probably had terrible livers.

[That's pretty much all she's been able to deduce from this section.]

[unshielding]

[ Steve raises his eyebrow at that comment, but he's had stranger reactions to him. He's not entirely unused to being recognized, in any case. ]

Maybe. If they have a leisure space like this, they must have lived here long term and whatever made them leave doesn't seem to have done too much damage to the station.

[ He leans over the bar to see what might be on the shelves under it, but there's really nothing noteworthy from what he can see. ]

But they didn't take the alcohol when they left, so I wonder if they thought they'd be back later or if they were too busy worrying about something else.

[morethan084]

[Lips pressing together in thought as he tries to figure out more about these people, Daisy comes out from behind the counter.]

Like the world ending, maybe?

[It was hard to just forget that message she had received when she first arrived here. This is way too similar to what she’s been dealing with back home.]

Maybe they’re hoping we can somehow reverse what happens.