Test Drive Meme #5

[spoofer]

Test Drive Meme #5

You wouldn’t wake; i couldn’t sleep for years.

INTRODUCTION ⇄ FAQ ⇄ APPLICATIONS

CRASH LANDING

Exit one dimension, enter the next. It was chaos: pressure against your ears, light bending in an impossible, unimaginable way. The very molecules of your body vibrating against one another. If you have windows, the view outside makes no sense. Even if not, your hands, your face, your feet seem like an uncertain thing. It's the feel of reality itself tearing apart, reshaping, reconnecting, thread by thread.

And suddenly, there's a beach— or ocean, whichever you land in. Smoke. Fire. Salt water churning up, fizzing around.


Maybe you crash, in a ship wrecking into sand. Maybe you merely stumble out of a portal, a ragged wormhole in space. Or maybe you fall off the back of an incredible steed, some creature that carried you into this place. Either way, there's pandemonium around you. Incredibly, severe injuries are far and few between— nobody's screaming about the dead. But you might have to help pull someone free of wreckage, or move quickly to salvage burning belongings from the landing craft. Maybe it's the crafts themselves, that you're trying to salvage.

Likely, you don't know them, these other strangers who arrived here^[1]. Maybe you don't trust them— you just came out of a dying world, after all. But you all have one thing in common: you're here now.

When you get a second to breathe, maybe you'll see it. The brilliant green forest across the sand. Beyond that, the glint of a faraway city.

THE RAIN

Here comes the rain. Trickling down the rafters and tinkling down the trees, it starts as a drizzle and steadily increases to a downpour. Maybe it catches you by surprise, chasing you indoors or to share the umbrella of a friendly stranger. There's something oddly elaborate about the gutters of Xistentia's city-- it clearly carries the water toward the temple in the East, a storm system that causes the lamps to pulsate without threatening to shut down.


You'll notice too that you're prone to nostalgia which even infiltrate your dreams, memories sad or happy. This is easily a private experience, but you might find yourself wandering the city to get away from old ghosts or feeling invincible in the glow of memories. More oddly, whether or not you're an artist, you might be inspired to draw on the windows with your finger in the condensation.

Personal symbols, detailed illustrations, these inextricably lead back to the nostalgia. Whatever it is, it might pull someone to ask.

NETWORK

By now, the city of Xistentia has a population of over 400 people. Shops line the streets of downtown, and increasingly well-trodden paths will take you into the agricultural zones nearer to the forest or even down to the beach. There are still distinctive animal presences around— careful with that— but the most common critters you'll see are birds crapping on your stuff outside and tiny winged hairless people creeping your food.

One afternoon, you are taken from whatever you’re doing - taking a walk through the city, sunning yourself on the beach, running around in the forest shoring up defenses - by a message, appearing on your Daemon’s network screen. It’s a simple line of text, that reads:

PHOTO SENT

It would appear that your daemon accidentally sent a picture, perhaps one from your photo roll or instagram, or a random shot of you or your surroundings. Wait. Was that a public network post? Wait—

IMAGE CODE TEMPLATE
<center><img src="URL HERE"></center>

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE

hells yeah

Footnotes

1. Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
   
   
2. But like OOCly ask permission ofc.

Comments

[shadowblends]

[Sorry that his awkwardness threw off that adorable enthusiasm, Sidon. It's actually pretty sweet, listening to someone talk about another person that way.

Regardless of Sidon's lack of reaction to his faceplanting, he hesitantly looks at him once more, reaching one hand up to brush his damp bangs behind a pointed ear.] I'm okay, [he admits, rolling his shoulders to adjust his layers, free hand settling the wrap back around his face.]

It's just how things are. To be fair, they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be, but ... [Another shrug, citrine irides flicking back to the window they'd been doodling on. This time, his face flushes, though it's for a completely different reason. Sidon thinks he's amazing? That has to be one of the best compliments ever.

He grins in response and straightens a bit, the spade of his tail lashing eagerly.] Thank you. That's very kind of you to say— [And that's when it hits him: there hasn't been a proper greeting between them.] Ach, how rude of me! I never even asked your name or gave you mine.

[Kurt turns so he can offer his hand to the fish-man,] I'm Kurt. Or, uhm, 'Nightcrawler' is my codename. [Should he have said that one first? Oh well.]

[jawsitivity]

[ It might be less sweet after the umpteenth time. Or it might be just as sweet! Only time will tell. Either way, he likely won't tone down the enthusiasm anytime soon. It's kind of his thing. ]

I'm glad that things are improving, then! Hopefully, they only continue to.

[ At the realization that they haven't introduced themselves, Sidon can't help but laugh. ] My apologies! How rude of me. My name is Sidon and I am prince of the Zoras.

[ He takes Kurt's offered hand graciously. He probably doesn't seem very 'prince-like,' honestly, but for some that was part of his charm. For others, it was a problem. Not that he let anyone else's opinions dissuade him much. ]

A pleasure to meet you, Kurt!

[shadowblends]

[Well, it just so happens that Kurt can be rather excitable himself; they'll have a few things in common already. He'll also never find it not sweet when Sidon gushes okay]

As long as people continue to understand that there are awful mutants, just as there are any terrible beings. We're not all the same.

[Prince? No sooner has he heard this, little Blue stiffens his posture, shoulders back and head held high.] I'm sorry, Prince Sidon! I'd no idea that I was in the presence of royalty.

[His hand is taken and almost immediately, those scarred cheeks are alight once more.] The pleasure's all mine, I'm sure, [he insists, sweeping both of their hands up, that way he can bend forward in a bow.]

[jawsitivity]

[ Ah. That's a mentality Sidon isn't familiar with but definitely knows of. One rotten apple in the bunch doesn't make them all sour, does it? But he knows some people would rather not take the risk and throw them all out.

He's a bit sorry Kurt has had to live through something like that. ]

No apologies necessary, please! I may be royalty, but I'd rather just be your friend.

[shadowblends]

[Thankfully, no, it doesn't. Even though Apocalypse ruined some things for them, he didn't completely destroy what little bit of trust humans and mutants share back in his homeworld.

And as long as Kurt's around, he'll be sure to keep it that way.

He straightens, meets Sidon's gaze then offers his new friend a relieved grin.] In all honesty, I think I'd like that better, too.

[jawsitivity]

Then it's settled!

[ says Sidon, who is still smilling all the while in return. ]

I'm glad to have made such a great new friend.

[shadowblends]

[He's all for the formal things, but if Sidon prefers the casualness, he is more than happy to oblige.

With a nod of agreement,] The feeling is mutual, Sidon.