Opening Test Drive Meme

[trpmods]

TEST DRIVE
Application FAQ | Taken Characters | Reserves | Application

Welcome to the first Test Drive for The Revival Project!

For those who do not know, this game is a spin-off from The Drift Fleet game, which is shortly closing. For more information about what this game is about, please check out the FAQ here or the premise here.

The TDM for the first round of applications is NOT required but is highly recommended. Really this is to see the interest level in the game as well as to have everyone interact on the new planet and with the new experiences offered here. There will be a post in the TDM where questions can be asked regarding the prompts/settings. We're keeping this loose though so go ahead and have fun with it. Any questions about the game please direct to the comment section of the FAQ. 

If you are a Drift Fleet alumni, please label your character as 'DFAU' on your top level so we know. Also, keep in mind you have complete flexibility on how your character comes here. They could be taken before endgame, after endgame, two years after, one year before, etc. It's up to you! The only option not allowed is to completely restart your character (because then it's not DFAU, is it?) 

So go! Explore Agra 10! And, as always, HAVE FUN! 

*ATTENTION! RESERVES ARE NOW OPEN!*
*ATTENTION! APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!*
*GAME OPENS AUGUST 19th!*

WHALE COMB PARTY


In the square near your arrival point, one building seems to be in fairly good repair. It’s large and stark white on every wall. Unlike the other buildings, all the lights are on and the windows looking out are intact. That alone would make it remarkable but it’s hardly the most noticeable thing once you step inside the open doorway.

Hanging against one wall is a piece of fabric that has ‘WHALE COMB!’ painted on it in drippy, fluorescent pink letters. A smiley is painted underneath it right on the wall with three eyes and long fangs. The fangs drip down all the way to the floor and the eyes are just a blob of paint, but whoever left it seems to have been trying, here. ‘US THANK THEY!’ is written beside it, barely legible. On every other wall is ‘EAT’ in various sizes and colors. They thankfully don’t drip as much as the smiley since, beneath them, are tables upon tables of food.

There are meats, fruits, root vegetables, and even what might be a sweet dessert of some sort as well. Bowls are full of them, apparently a welcome dinner for the Agrii’s new heroes. At the very least it will give everyone a quick crash course on what is edible around here. But some of it might have … adverse effects:

- People chomping down on the striped meat all seem to get very drowsy a few minutes later.
- The red fruit that looks like a giant cherry is the equivalent of a few shots - the more consumed, the more drunken this party is getting.
- There is a bowl of weeds that have small, daisy-like flowers all along the stalks. This tastes like chicken and gives the eater a sudden burst of energy that will have them running around the room like they’re being chased.
-There are a collection of drinks, some made from the red fruit, some that are clearly water, some that taste like a less-sweet lemonade with no effects, and then there's a blue one that tastes like an especially dark beer. People drinking this will find themselves incapable of lying for a half hour.

Of course, no way to know any of this before you chow down. So dig in and enjoy the show!

 

LOST AND ALONE


They said don’t go into the forest. If the noises there weren’t deterrent enough then the thick trees and lack of paths should have been. Yes, you’ll need food. Yes, both meat and many fruits are in the forest. But maybe you should have gotten some more information before heading in.

Congratulations: you went into the forest and are now lost. You can’t hear the murmurings from town, nor can you see any of the lights that might be flickering on and off in the city. How are you going to get back into town? How do you make sure that the creatures here don’t attack you? You probably don’t have any weapons, so you’d better figure something out quick.

Or, maybe you’ll get lucky and run into another foolish person wandering around out here. Try not to attack them - unless they attack first.

 

MILES TO GO


The first thing every survivor needs to find is shelter. Not long after your arrival at the fountain, it’s getting darker now and, even if the night is short (you’re about to find out it’s not!), you don’t want to spend your first one out on an unfamiliar street. Distantly you can hear a sound like a wolf howling through an elephant’s trunk. It’s loud and alien. Maybe you want to find somewhere to sleep a little more quickly.

Right away there are two pretty solid options that will do nicely for the night: an abandoned hotel-like structure and some empty stores.

The hotel structure seems to be the most popular option for others. Its large, overgrown lobby leads you to the staircase and over a dozen floors of rooms in varying conditions. Despite it looking as though no one has set foot in here for decades, the stairs and floors all are secure. The rooms that have doors on them open up to dusty rooms that all have a bathroom (of sorts) attached and long, narrow bed frames. Figuring out a mattress will be a challenge but at least this is a safe place to sleep. As long as no animals laid claim to this room before you got in...

But let’s say the room in the hotel doesn’t work for you. Maybe the room is too small for you. Maybe you don’t like the stairs. Maybe you want someplace private to separate yourself from the rest of these strangers and to think quietly about what to do next. Either way, the other option is any number of abandoned stores lining the block where you arrived. The glass doors and windows of many are broken but there are just as many intact as well. The rooms are all large and empty, as whatever wares inside were either taken or dissolved over the years. There may be a counter or two that will get you off the ground, though. With all this space, you’re bound to find something to sleep on.

Unless someone else got there, first...


code bases by tricklet

Comments

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Bucky groans, half of him wanting to smash the dumb glass against the wall, but when Steve actually offers to take a drink and even things out, Bucky decides, "Yes." Maybe Steve doesn't lie often, or unabashedly, but Bucky knows he's better at twisting the truth and omitting details than most people would give him credit for. He's not the wide-eyed boy scout they painted him as in the comics and the radio shows.

He shoves the glass at Steve, even as he gives the guy a once over, trying to figure out how to answer the question, mostly because, "I wasn't worrying about whether you were attractive before the serum, I was worrying about whether you'd make it to thirty."

Well. That's... an answer.

But, of course, there's more. "You weren't unattractive. Any girl who said that's outta her mind. But it's nice not having to worry about you chokin' on your own lungs or coming up dead after a case of the flu. That's pretty attractive," he mumbles.

And, while he's wondering if that's enough or this dumb drink is gonna make him say more, he tries to get in a question of his own. "Is it still weird to be taller? And - everything else. After the serum."

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve is a good boyfriend and swallows down the glass. He listens to Bucky and that answer is actually pretty sweet. Bucky worried so much about him. Steve only knew the half of it but he's learning more each time they talk. Steve sets the glass down and pulls them both over to a corner so they can talk just the two of them. No one else needs to hear.

"I like being stronger. Not sick." It's weird, the compulsion to speak and the inability to even think of a lie. Steve doesn't mind, though. They're in the same boat. Especially when it comes to embarrassing things like:

"I miss being smaller than you, sometimes. How we used to sleep and how I'd look up at you. I like that first time at the tree when I got to see it again."

Okay. That was a little more than he wanted to say. He flushes a bit and decides on revenge.

"Is it still weird for you to be sleeping with a guy instead of a girl?"

[doubled_speed]

Really? Heavy? Tommy rolls his eyes at that. But he has a rule. In situations where it isn't life or death, or absolutely funny, he doesn't break people's requests about that stuff. It can be uncomfortable for them.

"Dude, I can lift a literal ton. Okay, I can only lift 850, but seriously, if you're that dense, that's pretty impressive."

So he starts moving, walking away from Cap like he isn't even bothered by how slow he has to go for a normal person.

[unbearablynaive]

He nods, looking satisfied. Granted that they'll have to build up a food supply at first, but until they can get some refrigeration working, drying or smoking food is going to be the easiest way to preserve it. Having cats (or other small pets, he supposes) around to keep watch could be life-saving.

"Yes, once we've ensured the immediate needs of the others are taken care of, I would be most interested in exploration." And he smiles a little, an ironic look in his eyes. "Do we have a good collective name yet? Kidnapees? We're not Fleet members any longer."

[stillgotmyleftarm]

It's a smart idea, sequestering them in the corner. It doesn't help a whole lot, but at least now Bucky won't be professing six different sexual positions they can try for the rest of the room to hear.

Probably.

He can't fault Steve for what he says, though - except then he goes on, and maybe it's Bucky's turn to smirk a little, for a second. "I can always find something else to climb, if you really wanna recreate that. Like you."

Yeah - yeah. The corner was a really great idea.

The smirk does fade a little, though, when Bucky answers next, if only because, "Yeah, I - guess it kinda is. I never pictured it, you know? But when I think about it... I don't know that I'm really surprised. You've been pulling me into your crazy plans since we met. This is just one more of those, right?"

Well, "Except it's not. It's not a crazy plan, it's... serious. I'm serious, Steve. About all of it.

"But yeah. We got the same parts, but you... it feels a lot different than when I was with girls."

This time, he doesn't think to ask anything smarter than, "What, did you ever see yourself with a guy?"

[brooklyn_boy]

Steve is relieved to not be in the air all the same. He follows behind Tommy, curious. "So," he broaches, "Super speed, super strength... Looks like you got a bunch of talents."

Like he can talk.

"What do you do in your universe? Save people? Part of the Avengers?

Compete in the Olympics?"

[brooklyn_boy]

"Agrii heroes?" He has no idea what to call themselves, here. He had no idea what life would even be like here once the dust was settled and a daily routine had been set up. Right not it's all basic needs that have to be covered. Water, shelter, food, and safety. Once those were good, what came next?

What did it mean to revive a whole planet from the ground up? He guesses he'll find out.

"Revivalists? I don't know. Maybe we can have a big bonfire during the few hours of night and get together to talk it out."

[brooklyn_boy]

Bucky has a dirtier mind than Steve suspected. Not that he minds. Indeed the drink of truth seems to loosen his tongue too since, a second later, he's murmuring for Bucky that, "There's other ways to get you on top of me, you know..."

But then Bucky is answering and Steve's smile turns lighter. He gets it. He does. And Bucky doesn't need to say he's serious for Steve to know it. He's known it for awhile. When Bucky flew over in the dead of the night to just be with him. When he turned cold as ice when Steve was going to leave. Yeah. Steve knows.

"I didn't think I'd be with anyone," he answers truthfully. "Either I'd be dead or no girl would give me the time of day. Guys weren't an option. I never thought about it because it wasn't an option." But there were times. So many times.

"I wanted to kiss you, though. Few times. I didn't think about it, but... Looking back? I didn't think I'd end up with anyone but I figured I'd always have you."

He squeezes Bucky's hand knowing the next question would hurt. But Steve has to know.

"When I said I was gonna leave, before. Have you forgiven me for that?"

[doubled_speed]

Aw cute, Steve thinks they could do things like Olympics. Tommy turns around, hands up behind his head, walking backwards as he considers Steve.

"First, the speed and strength are a package deal. If my muscles weren't stronger, how would I even be able to push off the ground hard enough to go fast? So it's like... if super powers were an umbrella, those two would be under mine. Speed means you've gotta have some strength. Like people with super solder serum like you. Strength, faster than most, heal better, look pretty."

Tommy shrugs.

"Or maybe I have them together because, you know, mutants. But they wouldn't let us compete in the olympics. I guess Northstar did, for skiing. Surprised they haven't taken his gold away. Because humans are pretty racist."

[unbearablynaive]

[He cups the side of her face with his hand and gives her another kiss, meant to reassure.]

Let's go together. We can recover the fish from where we stashed them and bring them here, and gather some bedding along the way as well.

[There are plenty of unusual sounds outside, but between this part of the old city being more or less intact and whatever sounds and smells the two of them together make - and, most likely, the light from the Vision's glowing fish once they're recovered - no wild animals harass them. He's grateful the fish were brought along in their lantern-like globe-tanks, because the larger aquarium they usually lived in might be difficult to manage out here.

It does take the better part of an hour, but they return to the shop for a second time with several bundles of what might work out to be bedding, and even though he doesn't tire like a human does, the Vision is ready to cuddle with his wife for the rest of the night by now.]

There. It will be a nest for tonight. Tomorrow, we can work on making it a home, if a very temporary one.

[wearingthestars]

Billy laughs again. "...Glad you approve," he teases.

He nods though. The red fruit is to be avoided. At least as a food source. "I didn't know you even could get drunk."

It's a pretty good guess, and Billy smiles, nodding his head again. "Yeah. I've been trying to figure out a better name, this one's kind of confusing, but I might have had too long, it's kinda stuck."

[stillgotmyleftarm]

"Well, you're an idiot," Bucky says softly. "I coulda seen you with Peggy, easy."

And, "'Course you'll always have me," he adds, bumping shoulders - and realizing how very specific that statement is, given how Winter and Soldat have treated Steve. Well. It's true, for Bucky. It always will be.

Except then Steve fucking asks him that, and Bucky just stares at him for a minute, because, "You're a conniving little punk - Fuck, I don't know."

It's maybe not what Steve wants to hear, but maybe it's better than some of the possible answers. Because the answer isn't 'No.' Bucky's just... not sure if it's 'Yes,' either.

He makes an irritated sound and runs a hand over his face, thinking it's both so easy just to open his mouth and let the words come out, but also so, so hard. "I understood why you were gonna leave. When I said you wouldn't be you if you hadn't at least seriously considered it... I meant that, Steve.

"But maybe sometimes I wish you weren't so you that it would've been easier for you to just.... decide to stay, without all the other shit that had to come first."

Bucky glances up, and - well, again, it's honest when he says, "I don't know if that's what you wanted to hear."

[brooklyn_boy]

"I wanted the truth." And he got it. For better or worse he got it. Steve looks at the floor for a second, ingesting what was said and, honestly? It's better than he likely deserves.

"I promised to stay with you," he says. "I said I would and I went back on that. You have every right to be angry and to not forgive that. I...I was furious when you were gone. It was supposed to be 'Til the end of the line', and I was alone."

He looks up and takes Bucky's hands in his own, holding them.

"I am gonna promise you again, alright? Right now when I can't lie: I promise you I'm not leaving ever again. And if I get taken away I'm gonna claw my way back.

"Do you believe me?"

It doesn't matter what he sahs. No matter what Steve knows this is going to be something he proves. And he has every intention of doing so.

[stillgotmyleftarm]

Bucky takes a breath, holding it for a moment, letting it burn in his lungs, until he lets it go. His expression is hard to read... but his hands at least twist around so they can squeeze Steve's.

He does believe him. He'd believe him even without whatever the hell they just drank. But the thing is... the thing is, the answer to that simple question isn't the end of it.

"Steve. You promise a lot of things to a lot of people. You do it in good faith, because you mean it, but I get that at the end of the day, when you have to weigh all those promises... you always come last. I fucking hate it and I have been trying my whole life to get you to stop doing it, but I get it.

"And if I have to be last down there with you... I know what I signed up for. Of course I will always fucking forgive you. Even if I haven't done it yet, or I'm not sure - I am sure that I will. You ain't just my friend, or my boyfriend, or - I don't know. 'Till the end of the line... I figure that says it all. Right?"

He glances away, because, "Even when you tried to end the line early. Doesn't mean I wouldn'ta thought about you every day for the rest of my life. It's like - even if you stopped being my friend. I wouldn't stop being yours."

He lets that sit for a second, before he mumbles, "God, it'd be really nice just to get drunk and make out now."

[theladyofwinterfell]

"Only a bite of a cake," Sansa says, wobbling a bit on unsteady feet. "I should find a place to sit before I collapse on you, I think."

She's not slurring her words but only just and Sansa isn't so used to drinking alcohol that she can maintain her balance while drunk.

[brooklyn_boy]

The part about the powers makes sense but everything after that has Steve feeling lost. Humans were racist, sure, but he had no idea what that had to do with Tommy and his running. Was their universe so different that you needed to be a certain type of person to even compete? What was this all like?

He keeps thinking though and thinks, suddenly, that maybe he was only partially correct. He'd said 'us', after all. And something told Steve that Tommy didn't mean white guys with blonde hair.

"Mutants? Like Kitty?" He remembers talking to her about it. The idea that Tommy came from that same place makes him feel instantly sympathetic.

"They don't like people with powers?"

[doubled_speed]

Blonde? Oh come on Cap, be fair. This is the pure, snowy white hair of a Maximoff. Or Lehnsherr. Listen, Magneto and his offspring are so name fluid it's weird.

"Kitty? Let me guess, last name Pryde, with a 'y', goes through things? If so, totally like that. She's an X-Man. And no, some people do. But come on, with all the racism against Jews when you were younger, and all the shit against black people, are you really shocked when humans get freaked over a fucking actual genetic difference as opposed to religion or melanin levels?"

Phalanx | OC | OTA

[pileofspirits]

→ Whale comb

After much aimless wandering, Phalanx comes to settle at the tables of food. With no great hurry, they pick their way along the assortment of treats, clumsily sampling as they go. They must not have actually consumed much, however, being that they aren't drooping drowsily or racing around the room on an energy high.

They do sort of settle at the bowl of red fruit, however. Moving almost dreamily, they work their way through the couple of fruits in their hands until the pale strips of cloth covering their hands are stained pink. And they don't seem like they're intending on stopping any time soon. Just a pale, spacey-looking figure dressed in layers of rags, standing at the table and slowly chewing on fruit like they'd forgotten what they were doing long ago.

They also don't seem to notice that every once in a while, one of the other bowls nearby begins to rattle, or slowly lift off the table by about an inch before dropping to rest again.

→ Lost and alone

What does anyone who is lost in the dark and spooky woods need on their journey? Probably an equally-spooky-looking figure suddenly appearing between the trees. Dressed in layers of pale, sun-bleached rags, the wanderer looks more like some specter of death than just another flesh-and-blood creature pulled to this planet like the rest.

The way that they seem entirely unconcerned about their surroundings doesn't help either. Phalanx is, of course, helplessly lost... but they're wandering over gnarled roots and between overhanging branches as if they belong there, hardly looking at anything around them as they go.


→ Miles to go

Shelter seems like a very appealing idea, but Phalanx has not gotten the memo that you should probably stay in said shelter once you find it. So, the ghostly figure is exploring all of the nooks and crannies of the crumbling hotel and storefronts, regardless of whether anyone else is already holed up there or not. And, regardless of how many promising spaces they do find for themself, it's only a matter of time before they continue on their way, climbing and creeping around wherever they can get to on bare, dirty feet.

Hopefully no one is trying to catch a restful nap in one of these places, because Phalanx might just wander right over their sleeping bodies.

[brooklyn_boy]

"It takes dedication," he laughs. "Just ask Buck. He has some good stories."

But already he's starting to feel better. Alcohol doesn't last long unless he's actively pickling himself. The mistake with the fruit is already getting cleared out by his super kidneys. It's nice to have the double-vision finally go away. Steve smiles at Billy and leans back in his seat looking a little less out-of-sorts.

"Where did Wiccan come from in the first place? You come up with it?"

[wearingthestars]

Billy nods. Hard to blame her there. But he tries to offer a small smile. "...I think, if they wanted to hurt us they probably would have just done that. Whoever they are, they seem to be trying to look after us. In a way."

General Armitage Hux | Star Wars

[tiedonastring]

[Whale Comb]

Hux found himself apprehensively approaching the party. This was a strange place and he knew nothing about the area or it's people or what this party was about. It reminded him of the time when he first arrived with the Fleet, only there was no party. But this sense of uncertainty and yet vague familiarity about it.

He scanned the crowd of people milling about trying to see if there were a familiar face about. Someone from his organization, or someone he knew from the Fleet? He was surprised to remember his time at the Fleet. Maybe he was still with the Fleet and this was some random stop? They were known to drift and arrive at new places. And strange things often happened.

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think things over while he observed the crowd before him. Nothing really made sense.

[bossofspace]

"I think I'd prefer the poison," she mutters, shaking her head. It's not that she's prone to lying, but compulsive truth-telling is still definitely not ideal in new situations, when she doesn't know who exactly she's dealing with - be they the fellow guests or their absent hosts. "Anything else here have any detrimental psychological effects, or just the truth serum?"

[doubled_speed]

"Uh, someone said that the zebra like meat was for nap time. I haven't tried it, even though I'm dying for a burger or something," Tommy sighs, his eyes casting mournfully to the meat. It could be so very, very tasty. But like hell he trusts people here enough to risk sleeping around. "I think something is supposed to be alcoholic? I don't know, I sorta am immune to it."

Re: Lost and Alone

[bossofspace]

[Carol hears rustling nearby, and while she doesn't startle easily, she falls back into a defensive posture. Even if her photon blasts aren't at their full power, she can still put up a pretty damn good physical fight if she needs to.]

Who's there?

[tallasaking]

"Right, let us go and get you settled down."

Tyrion immediately supported her, pulling her off to the side. Mindful of his own leg, he settled them both into chairs.