» 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

Cinderella

[cinderelli]

001; closet
[Her bed may have been old and worn, but it was comfortable in a broken in sort of way. That's why upon waking up, cramped, in a tiny closet has Cinderella letting out a gasp as her eyes flutter open.

She presses a hand to her chest and swallows, doing her damnedest to keep her composure. Beside her she hears a strange item repeating a message, and while she picks it up, she really has no idea what she's looking at. She puts it back down for now, instead surveying the room around her.]

Oh... Where am I?

[The dim flashlight doesn't help much as she gropes around on her hands and knees. As he hand settles on something else lying on the floor, it's warm and soft to the touch, a slight pulsing beneath the surface.

She recoils and lets out another startled yelp.]

002; observation deck
[It was like nothing she had ever seen before. All she had to do was pass by the observation deck and catch a glimpse of the sky, and it stopped her in her tracks. She'd never seen anything like it before. Not so large and close. She'd only ever seen sketches of the worlds that could be glimpsed from a telescope.

But then, something else occurs to her. She brings a hand to cup her chin, brow furrowed and a worry twisting in her gut.] If the Earth is out there, just where am I?

002

[bombshelled]

[ It's not that Lana isn't freaked out by the view. It's just that she's doing her freaking out on the inside, because she has a reputation to uphold. ]

What, are you living under a fucking rock or something? [ She points at the planet visible through the window. ] That's not Earth.

[cinderelli]

[The crassness catches Cinderella off guard and she visibly tenses, but besides a brief look of shock, she doesn't acknowledge the attitude. If anything, she seems to close herself off in a way, expression stern.]

It's not? Well, I've never seen the Earth from this distance before, so it's not quiet so easy for me to tell.

[Another glance, and she notices the curve of a second Moon peeking over the horizon.] ...Oh! There's a second Moon.

[bombshelled]

See? Two moons equals Not Earth.

[ Lana crosses her arms and frowns at the view out the window. Wherever they are, they're a long way from New York. ]

I don't have a fucking clue what planet it is, though, so I'm not much better off than you.

[cinderelli]

[Two moons equals "not Earth" indeed. Cinderella gives the window a contemplative look, before turning back to the other girl.]

There must be someone here who knows. They couldn't have all just woken up like we have... [She lets out an exasperated sigh, brushing off the front of her jumpsuit.] Nevermind how we got here to begin with.

[bombshelled]

[ Lana sighs. None of this is fun, but someone has to fucking deal with it. Looks like it has to be her. ]

Go ahead and ask around, if you want. I doubt you'll find anyone. These sorts of things rarely make that much sense.

...From what I hear, anyway.

[cinderelli]

Well, it's worth a try, isn't it? And you know, if we work together we could ask twice as many people.

[A pause, and she adds.] What have you heard, exactly?

[bombshelled]

[ Lana heaves THE MOST put upon sigh, because loathe as she is to admit it, the dumb blonde is right. ]

What I've heard... Some bullshit about trying to save the world. Weird shit happening in the walls...

[cinderelli]

[If she's right, then she's the opposite of dumb--]

Oh, that's right. My wristband had been saying the same thing. It was an awful pain getting it to stop. That seems to be all anyone knows so far.

2

[mirrortide]

Space. And that's not Earth. [Lapis would know what Earth looks like, after all.] Earth doesn't have two moons. And... I don't know. It's not like any dropship I've ever seen. [It's really beat up, for one. Secondly as far as Lapis is aware, humans and space generally don't go together.]

I don't even think this is the same galaxy, nothing looks familiar here to me.

[cinderelli]

[Lapis is speaking, and surely she should be listening, but instead Cinderella is so taken aback by her appearance that she just stares. She's blue. Truly blue. It's not make-up, is it?]

Oh-- I'm terribly sorry. [She presses her hands together, smiling apologetically.] What was that? Are you from outer space?

[mirrortide]

Uh, sort of? I'm not from Earth, if that's what you mean. I'm from another galaxy. And I said that's not Earth down there. [Lapis replies, speaking a little slower. Surely a human would recognize their own planet? But that might be hard if they've never seen it from space, Lapis is guessing...]

[cinderelli]

So then you're...an alien, is it? That's amazing! A real alien! Who knew such a thing existed?

[She's much more pre-occupied by that than the status of what planet was outside their window.]

[mirrortide]

[She makes a face, and the sarcasm is utterly dripping off of her as she speaks.] Not me. Never would have guessed.

[cinderelli]

[Guess who's unfazed by sarcasm, IT'S CINDERELLA. She lets out a small laugh, realizing it was probably far less exciting for the alien in question.]

Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Cinderella. [She curtsies.] The human.

[mirrortide]

Lapis Lazuli. The Alien. [Lapis, notably, does not respond with "Nice to meet you too".]

[cinderelli]

Like the gem? That's a wonderful name.

[Lapis is far from the rudest person she's dealt with. Compared to her step sisters and mothers, she's downright friendly.]

So, if it's not Earth out there, what is it?

001

[lightduties]

[That 'something else' lying on the floor is, in fact, a man. A man with a pair of cat ears, face planted on the closet floor. He only stirs when her hand settles on his head, eyes slowly opening as he tries to shake the grogginess from his head.

It's only when she yelps that he reacts, jerking back with his ears flying upright. What's going on? Where is he?]

Who goes there?

[cinderelli]

[As Cinderella draws her hand back and has a moment to recollect herself, she was certain she had felt fur. That is, until a man's voice speaks up.]

Oh, I'm-- Well, it's just me.

[lightduties]

[That's definitely a female voice. He doesn't remember having any drinks or having a wild night out... Rhea'li puts a hand on his head, trying to shake the fog from his mind.]

Pray forgive me, but who are you?

[He tries to stretch his arms and get his bearings, but quickly ends up banging his arm against the side of the closet.]

...And where are we?

[cinderelli]

I'm Cinderella. [She properly introduces herself this time, voice light and pleasant.] And who are you?

[As for where they are, she can only hazard a guess.] I think we might be in a closet. It's certainly small enough.

[lightduties]

Rhea'li.

[It sounds exactly like "Really."

Well, staying in a closet isn't going to do either of them much good. Feeling around with his hands, he determines the the closet doors being on his left, since there's a bit of give to the 'wall', but it doesn't readily open. It doesn't feel like there's a lot of space, hardly any room for him to throw his weight.

His hand goes to his tome... or where it should be. It's not at his hip.]

Have you found a book perchance?

[cinderelli]

...Really? [Cinderella repeats hesitantly, threading her fingers together.]

Sorry, I haven't found much of anything. I can help you look, though!

[lightduties]

[Now that he thinks about it...

Rhea'li pats himself down. These aren't his clothes and none of his belongings are on him. This is all really very confusing.]

Later mayhaps. We'll achieve nothing while trapped in here.

[He shoves at the closet's door, but it stays stubbornly stuck. Hm. Rhea'li stands, steadying himself with his hands. There's not a lot of room, but nevertheless, he curls a hand into a fist and punches the door.]

[cinderelli]

Oh, but your name--

[Cinderella starts, only to be startled into silence at a sudden bang against the door. She only realizes it was his fist after the fact, thanks to the small light on her jumpsuit.]

I, [She clears her throat, voice firm.] I don't think that's going to work. Come, let's have a look around. There must be something of use in here.