» 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

1

[oorah]

[ frank is trapped in his thoughts, his steps weighted and even as he turns away from the corridor he'd just woken up in. there's something off about his gait, it can be heard in the echo of his magboots -- not quite a gimp but maybe an extra drag of his right foot. his communicator lays prone in the lining of his jumpsuit pocket and when he turns to face the voice he hears, a glint of a metal chain can be seen just under his collar. he supposes it's apt that they sent him with his dog-tags, if he's going to die here.

he half expects it to be another ghostly recording, but when he sees another person, dressed the same as himself and just as disoriented, frank stops dead in his tracks. he doesn't try to come closer, but raleigh is already closing the distance anyway. he doesn't say anything, just waits, the flickering lights above them catching on his healing bruises ghoulishly. there's nothing really to say when he doesn't know what the fuck is going on. ]

[wentnuclear]

[ The stranger stops when he hears Raleigh, thankfully. As he gets closer it becomes obvious that the other guy is hurt -- technically Raleigh is too, he's just doing a very good job of ignoring it in favor of the situation and the damage isn't visible. He really does have bad luck with Jaeger arms. But this guy? Someone beat the hell out of him not too long ago. That doesn't really fit his hypothetical narrative of this being a bunker, and is enough to slow Raleigh to a stop just out of reach, not wanting to be seen as a threat. He cuts straight to the chase. ]

Do you know where we are?

[oorah]

Reverie Terminal. [ he points to the insignia on the wall, then to the ones on their jumpsuits, all without looking away from raleigh's face or moving another muscle from where he's frozen in place. ] Wherever the fuck that is. [ aka he has not a fucking clue ]

[wentnuclear]

[ The certainty of the response gives Raleigh hope for a moment that he's about to get some answers, until... no. Great. He frowns a little, because what are the odds of neither of them knowing where they are and that not being a bad thing? ]

Have you seen anyone else? I just woke up down that hall.

[ He thumbs over his shoulder to indicate the direction, then reaches out with that hand. Might as well introduce himself. ]

Raleigh Becket, by the way. Are you PPDC?

[oorah]

[ frank shakes his head, looking from the man's hand back up to his face, as if he's weighing whether or not to take it. ppdc. it sounds like what, police? a task force? frank's gaze flickers in confusion. ]

I'm not anyone. And I haven't seen anyone else. [ which hopefully makes him useless here. frank takes a half a step backwards without reaching for the offered hand. ]

[wentnuclear]

[ Well that's awkward. Raleigh lets his hand drop when the guy steps away, looking him over again. He'll only accept one of those statements. ]

Everybody's someone.

[ But he's not one of them, which further shakes the theory. Hmm. That chain around his neck, are those dog tags? Whatever's on it is hidden under the guy's jumpsuit. ]

I don't even get a name?

[oorah]

[ everybody's someone. he would laugh if anything else about this situation warranted it. there's still a note of bemusement that carries in his voice anyway. ]

You get that off a greeting card, son? [ he looks around, his gaze darting tellingly, like a caged animal. he eventually decides it doesn't matter, wild eyes crashing into raleigh's. ] Frank.

[wentnuclear]

[ There's a hint of "...are you serious?" in Raleigh's expression when Frank calls him son, but he does get a name so he'll let the absurdity of that slide. This guy can't be too much older than him, it's just not worth protesting. He's been called far worse. ]

Okay, Frank. Don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me the last thing you remember? Because not only do I not know where we are, I have no idea how I got here.

[ There's something hunted in the other man's expression now, and Raleigh is half-expecting him to bolt at the questions. Why, he doesn't know. He's not being threatening, but Frank is clearly on the lookout for something -- or someone. ]

[oorah]

[ he didn't actually mean to offend this guy, but he's not about to apologize either. still, it isn't too much effort to change his attitude. he's starting to get that they're in this together as reality slowly sinks the fuck in. ]

I... I was blowing off Christmas dinner. [ he tips his head to the side, narrowing his eyes. maybe he just should've gone in. the liebermans wanted to have him as a guest. his war's over, he has a clean slate. he could've just done it, enjoyed the holiday. but all he could see was his nightmare playing out over and over, their brains splattered on the walls in their dining room. so yeah, he had dropped david off and kept driving like a schmuck. and then... then he wound up in space. how's that for kismet? ]

[wentnuclear]

[ Huh. Frank does answer, and it's not the sort of thing Raleigh was expecting to hear. At least he'd been doing something completely insane, where waking up in a random place afterwards wasn't unreasonable. ]

That's so normal... [ And he supposes it's his turn. He shakes off the confusion a little and refocuses. Frank's story has one massive problem for Raleigh, and that's the date. Unless one of them was unconscious for a really long time, this doesn't make sense. ] It's not December, though. Or it wasn't, last I remember. I was at the bottom of the Pacific, trying to close the Breach.

[oorah]

[ he snorts. normal, indeed. ] The Breach. [ um okay. sounds important, he guesses. but there's no recognition in his gaze. ]

When was it? [ when he was doing that thing he just said ]

[wentnuclear]

[ Raleigh doesn't miss the lack of recognition, which just adds another level of strangeness to this whole situation. There's no one on Earth who doesn't know the basics about Kaiju, and that includes where they come from. It's taught in grade school. ]

It's late January. [ And then, a little cautiously, because this is going to sound like a crazy thing to tack on but bear with him here... ] 2025.

[oorah]

[ there's a long pause. they did just wake up god knows where with no recollection of how, but time travel? really? nothing really surprises him anymore, but he still needs a minute to process that shit. ]

2016 for me.

[wentnuclear]

[ Yeeeeeah, Raleigh's gonna need a moment to process as well. He didn't actually expect there to be that much of a difference in time periods... and obviously there's no way Frank was unconscious for over eight years. Right? That's not possible, he wouldn't be freshly beat up and walking around if he'd just come out of a coma. But seeing as time travel isn't possible as far as they know, either... this sure is a dilemma. ]

Okay we really need to find someone who knows where we are. I've got a feeling my theory just went out the nonexistent window.

[ Frank had been going down this corridor, so they might as well head that way. With a wary eye on the flickering lights, Raleigh gestures ahead. ]

You up for sticking together for awhile?

[oorah]

You were a step ahead of me anyway. [ in that frank had no theories and really wasn't keen on drafting any. he just wants a way out so he can forget about this place as quickly as he'd come. that's a yes by the way, though he seems to ignore the question outwardly. he slots in next to raleigh though, apparently intent on doing just that. ] That recording... you really think anyone's around for a Q&A?

[wentnuclear]

[ Frank falls into step beside him and that's all the answer he needs, really. They move down the corridor and Raleigh considers the question seriously. He wasn't suspicious of the situation at first, just confused, but now... ]

I don't know, but somebody must have brought us here. If they dumped us and left, there's probably surveillance somewhere... like some kind of science experiment. In that case for all I know you're one of them here to screw with me.

[ He doesn't actually think Frank's a plant, and that's probably clear in his tone. But they'll have to be critical of whoever they come across. ]

[oorah]

[ that gets a lifted eyebrow as they walk, and raleigh might notice that his right leg drags the ground for a second longer than his left with every step. he's supposed to be the paranoid one, man. there's a temptation to just pull out his dogtags and show raleigh that he is who he says he is (for a change) but his own suspicions run a little too deep for that just yet. ]

If I was one of them, you'd think my suit would fit better. [ he twitches a nose and grabs at the tight fabric of his jumpsuit. he honestly looks like he could hulk-rip out of it at any second. ]

[wentnuclear]

[ He notices that drag, but Frank is keeping up fine so he won't comment. Who knows, maybe it's an old injury unrelated to the beating. Which Raleigh is curious about, but knows better than to ask after.

The comment about his suit gets a faint grin. ]

Good point. I'm not sure how they squeezed you into that.

[ Anyway, back to the mission at hand. ]

I think I swept most of this left, but there's an elevator down this way. Base operations are usually on the top floor of places, I guess we should try there?

[oorah]

Penthouse, huh? [ that worries him, but it seems logical at least. he gestures for raleigh to get ahead of him, he's got the other man's back. ] We sure we trust the elevator? [ he was always more of a stairs kind of guy ]