revivalprojectooc | Opening Test Drive Meme

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Opening Test Drive Meme

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh no, she is going to get explanations of 'movie star versions.' Because it's kinda scary.]

Angry bird people? I mean, archangel gets angry. And David said they were in a universe once where there were multiple harpy Kates, but I wasn't there. But no, I'm just a mutant.

And Movie Star Versions means you guys are, like, movie star attractive? Maybe you should act.

Same one, then.

[Or reasonably close to it. Or rather, not exactly the same one. But the same enough that Tommy knows Kate's story about the versions of herself with feathers.]

Are you really going to tell me that Captain America where you're from isn't attractive?

I mean, he's not that... Well, he's broader. And sometimes so clean cut that it's like... It's trying to sexualize a Ken doll? I mean, I imagine people still consider Stark hot because he gets a bit of action. A good bit.

[Listen, there really is a difference. And he seems to be amused at the ideas of Captain not being attractive. It's about scales, Romanoff.]

What do you mean, 'same one then'?

[Natasha goes back to clearing the floor. If they're going to have this conversation, she might as well keep her hands busy.]

A while back, I ran into Barton, but not the Barton I know. He had a girl with him, Kate. She mentioned having some experience with reality hoping in passing.

[Also, that Natasha and Clint had been a thing. That was weird.]

[She met Kate? Tommy can't help the briefest smirk. Yeah, she must have been so prepared for shit. Weird stuff happened to Kate.]

Hawkeye and Hawkeye. Sounds about right. I bet there was too much purple between the two of them. Kate's a friend, sounds about what her and David told me after.

[He does go back to starting to clean up again.]

He's a good man, I guess. But he gets into trouble. Which I guess makes him like most of my team.

She seemed capable. And like she managed to keep her Barton in line.

[Imagine Clint being the one who had to be kept in line, of all the boys on her team. Natasha shakes her head a little.]

You know, you say we're the movie star versions, but she was cute. And your Clint didn't seem any less attractive than ours.

[Yeah, Hawkass was like that.]

But he's a good shot. And a bit of a con sometimes. Still, made stealing from him that much more fun. Especially since he was in his ninja-drama phase or whatever."

[Oh, yeah, he definitely grins at the idea of Kate being cute.] I don't know, she's a bit more than cute. And Hawkeye tends to be injured enough that he doesn't look great all the time.

Not really my type.

[Ninja drama phase. Weird that part carries across both universes when so much else is different.

She gives a slight shake of her head.]

This going to be strange for you?

[What's not really her type? Him? Kate? Whatever. Doesn't matter. But he chuckles at the idea of this being weird.]

Nah. Me and the other you don't really interact. It's just... Well, one of the most badass non-powered people in the world. You and Hawkass make other people realize they can be more if they aren't more than human. That's cool.

[Either one, really. Though she meant Kate.

His comment after that is strange, though. Unexpected, maybe. She didn't get into this to inspire anyone. If she's a badass, it's because she had to be. Originally just to stay alive, but after that to do the work that matters to her...]

Well, I'm glad you approve. Hopefully I'm enough of a badass to keep us alive on an alien planet.

It's hardly my place to approve, right?

[But yeah, he's certain she can do that. Tommy's just a bit more concerned about keeping his siblings alive.]

Or disapprove. People make their own value or something.

Most of the time.

[Or they try to. Tends to be more of a work in progress than anything, until it isn't.]

So you know about me, some version of me. I don't know anything about you, other than that you're fast and need extra servings at dinner.

"I mean, that pretty much sums me up," Tommy shrugs as he finishes clearing up the biggest chunks in his area. There's another brief moment where air rushes from the room and back in as Tommy carries his load out, and then he returns, looking around to see what else he can help with.

"I'm from another version of Earth. My name is Tommy, I go by Speed, and I'm a Young Avenger. I've got a twin brother, sorta, and that's really all there is to know. Yanno, without making things awkward."

If he told anyone, he supposes Natasha would be safest, right? Anyone keep secrets better than Black Widow? Probably not.

"Young Avengers, huh?" She nods. That's not entirely new to her, but it's strange. It's still very strange. In her world, there were barely Avengers half the time. Every so often they'd pull things together in time to save the world. They even had a couple years there were they were training. They were organized.

Then the Accords hit, and that mostly fell apart.

Natasha shakes her head once, then shrugs. "Well, Tommy, I'm not sure how you sorta have a twin brother but it's good to know. In case I ever run into him."

Among other reasons.

"Did, well, I guess my Kate and Clint tell you about Wanda Maximoff's magic back home? Or the idea of Reality-Warping Mutants?"

Because there is so much explanation that can be bypassed with that bit of starting information.

"I know what kind of power Wanda has in our world." Her name had been brought up, and Natasha gets the feeling that there's some differences there between the two of them. Scans since there seems to be differences between the rest of them too. "Sounds like this is a little beyond what we have experience with though."

The whole mutants side of things had been new for her too, until Kitty explained it to her.

"Seems like things where I'm from are a little less—extensive."

"Yeah, seems about right. But really, it's true. Heard your world doesn't have them. Basically, Wanda's a lot more powerful back where I'm from. So, you good with secrets, Romanoff?"

Because he doesn't want it getting back to his Mom.

"Are you asking me that question, of all people?" That's not a real question. The important thing is that she know it's a secret.

In Wanda's case, there could be some particular hurdles, but it doesn't rattle Natasha's confidence on the subject.

That really is the important part. But Tommy nods as he moves to lean against a wall near her.

"Where I'm from? Wanda's a lot more powerful. Probably one of the most powerful mutants there is, in the grand scheme of things. She can do magic, does these hexes by manipulating probability or something, flies. I don't know how she does it all. But she also does this thing called reality-warping. Not as strong as my twin brother, Billy, but really strong. She married Vision, see. She married Vision and wanted kids."

He gestures briefly, hands flicking over himself. As if to say 'and here I am.'

"She made twin boys, Thomas and William. Her magic could make everything but life itself, the soul needed to make a spark of humanity, to make true personhood and not some weird sort of doll. She didn't know it. Her magic took two stray pieces of the soul of the demon Mephistopheles. The demon didn't really like that, you know?"

"For the sake of continuing this conversation, let's say I do." Natasha pays close attention to what he's describing, especially since certain parts of it correlate with what Natasha's seen herself. Vision and Wanda's romance, for example. And while she's willing to believe that this other Wanda is far more powerful than her own, there's also the sneaking suspicion that they only ever scratched the surface of her potential. The things she did to their heads, that she could do...

Let's say it's good to know what those might have looked like another way.

"So your Wanda—your mother—changed reality to make you, and she stole pieces of a demon's soul to do it. Am I getting that right?"

Tommy nods, Natasha's smart like that. She follows along quickly and he appreciates that. Appreciates taking a few nanoseconds to arrange his thoughts even more.

"So, well, things get complicated from there. Demon came and reclaimed the souls, killing her kids. Which of course led to her having a serious breakdown. Her magic had altered our souls enough that we sorta exploded the demon for a while. And her old mentor used a spell to block her memories. A lot of shit happened after that," Tommy says, because he's definitely going to be vague over his soul-mom going crazy, blowing shit up, killing a few Avengers, and having to be stopped by Dr. Strange because no one had ever cared to tell him she was hurting so he could help. "Thing was? No one knew our souls were also thrown into the past. Wanda lost little boys, small, toddlers or something. Not long after, she meets Billy on the street. Billy who was sixteen."

Tada. Retro-reincarnation.

"So Billy and I were born to different families in different states. But he takes after her powers, and I take after Pietro's, but Billy and I, being the kids of a nexus being, are supposed to be insanely powerful compared to even her."

Except he'd never proven to be, though Billy really has.

"And things didn't even stop being complicated there."

Not by a long shot.

More complicated from there. Natasha snorts, her lips twitching. She doesn't comment, because she is absolutely sure that it's clear that's more than complicated enough. She's also sure he knows that better than she does. No reason to rub the kid's nose in it.

Still, how's a person supposed to respond to that.

"That's a lot. I can see why you're not interested in Wanda finding out—or Vision?" Presumably. If for no other reasons, she's not convinced Vision could keep a secret from Wanda. Or that he would, given the choice.

"Vision already knows," Tommy sighs. "I may have gone off on him about how my Vision is sort of a deadbeat dad. I just don't know how to approach it with her. Or if my twin or half-sister are going to just blab it out."

Because she was clearly upset about something about Pietro, and he is a lot like Pietro so he doesn't want to upset her. There's a lot of things he doesn't want to do. Including going through the awkwardness of being a disappointing son again.

"Anyway, back to the Young Avengers? We all were powered kids that Vision had listed in his Avengers Fail-Safe, in case the original Avengers were gone or dead or something. Which they were. The group was brought together. All of them had associations with the old Avengers somehow. That was ours."

That's not a very good way to keep a secret, Tommy. Just for the record.

Considering that Natasha has a hard time picturing Vision as any kind of dad, though, she'll let that slide. Better to stay focused. Even if at the moment, there's not a whole lot to focus on.

At least the connection to Pietro explains his speed.

"That makes sense." For values of makes sense. At least it's internally consistent given certain assumptions. Natasha's lips tighten. It's clear she'd like to ask about the Avengers being "dead or something," but she hesitates considering it's not especially relevant. "It raises a lot more questions, but it does make sense."

It wasn't his fault. It was the blue truth serum drink!

"When doesn't super hero work raise questions? Seriously, All we do is make people ask questions. But, anyway, you know this Wanda better than I do, right? How the hell do you do a 'why I'm kinda sorta your son that may or may not carry genetic material similar to yours because Maximoffs always find a way to complicate shit?"

Because they do. Period.

"Whatever, doesn't matter. You're her friend, and helping you helps her, so I'm helping you. Simple as that."

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