revivalprojectooc | Opening Test Drive Meme

Entry tags:

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

Billy frowns and moves to sit near him, offer a comforting presence, hopefully without scaring him off. "I think...I don't know, but I get the impression that she's okay now. Whatever happened before, she's found Vision, and she's an Avenger now. They seem happy."

He gets the urge to want to take them away, but they might not need rescuing.

"They're married. And he didn't think we were his. I had to explain it," Tommy sighs, hands coming up to rub at his eyes. This wasn't a conversation he's ever had with their actual dad. He's never met their actual dad. Maybe Billy has. "But he smiles so stupid over her. And... and he said he'll make sure there's room for me if I want it. So I think you'd have an invitation too."

A family. What even is someone supposed to do with that.

He has. Just the once. It wasn't like the touching reunion they'd had with Wanda. And Billy's pointedly never mentioned it to Tommy. He doesn't need more disappointment like that.

"He really loves her," Billy agrees, smiling softly. You can't fake that sort of goofy in love. He tries, at least briefly, to lay a hand over Tommy's.

"Which I guess is another difference between here and there."

Seems like whatever version of Earth they're from is just better. Perhaps because they don't have kids? The Shepherds always mentioned like would have been better without Tommy.

He sees the touch coming and doesn't... doesn't bother to pull away from it. It would make Billy pout. Clearly that's the only reason why. Truth is, he needs a bit of reassurance. Why wouldn't he? This place isn't a lot worse than he's letting other people see. A lot harder for him because the food he needs to get by is harder. Because the squalor they have to live with right now is stressfully familiar. And because someone he wants to protect is here too.

Two people, actually, before their alternate-parents. Viv doesn't need him as much, though.

"...He loved her then too-" Billy tries to reassure. He's sure of it. He gives Tommy's hand a small squeeze. The twins...all of it...it's the sort of stress most normal couples couldn't make it through, let alone all the other stuff they had to deal with. If Billy ever had children and they were taken from him, he's not sure he could go on. Or how he would react if they suddenly appeared again, nearly grown.

But given Tommy's background he knows it's an extra sore topic. Seeing their parents together and happy...it's new. It's nice.

"...Maybe if they have kids it'll be different there."

"I hope so. Because maybe it would be nice if, you know, in some world we really were brothers."

As opposed to soul brothers. Like, logically, their genetics can't match up, right? That's always bothered Tommy . More than he could say.

"We are." But Billy understands. He hopes there's some version of them out there that gets that. Brothers and a happy family. No getting torn apart.

Maybe they see themselves as brothers, but he doesn’t know how to really explain it. Which sucks. They look like twins but...

“Life here is gonna suck. Hope your pampered New York self can handle this place. It’s almost as bad as Jersey.”

Yeah. He gets it.

Billy gives a small laugh, withdrawing his hand. "Oh come on now, that's not fair. It's not even close to as bad as Jersey."

There they go. A nice little conversation. And he is pleased with it. Hisbhand pulls from Billy’s, but only so he can lay down.

“You don’t know half of it. You’ve been to jersey, like, once.”

Maybe more. Tommy really doesn’t know. They don’t know each other too well at all.

He smiles fondly, and nods. It's more or less correct. He's been there a few times incidentally, but his New Yorker self can't possibly admit that.

"So, Teddy and I got a place. It's prime teasing fodder, you'll love it. Corner apartment, view of Central Park. I think you called it the gayest thing about us the first time we had you over."

“Hell, talk about a fucking sitcom life!” Tommy grumbled. “You magic yourself it as a tent controlled place too? Cheating, using our magic like that. But I guess your boy likes you anyway.”

But Tommy doesn’t actually begrudge Billy the good life. It’s what billy is used to, and it sounded like his powers had gotten him into a lot of shit.

"It wasn't me, I swear. Sunspot hooked us up as a way of making up for backpay. We could never afford a place like that for real." And Billy tries not to abuse his powers with stuff like that. Small things don't hurt anyone, but big stuff, it feels too much like cheating.

“How big?”

He thinks maybe Billy should be the one managing team meetings from now on, though. Because yeah, comfort sounds nice. And if they have a good TV, Tommy will come over to watch it.

Is it silly, though, that Tommy is glad for Billy finally moving out and getting on with his own life.

"Like those sitcom apartments struggling Manhattanites always have. So...huge." He gives a bashful laugh, but honestly- it's been nice. And exactly what he and Teddy needed to start thinking about the future. Living with his parents made all of that way too weird to think about.

“About time to think wedding then. Dibs on best man.”

Which is silly. You can’t just dibs that sorta role. And Eli should have it. Or the younger siblings. Or any number of other people. Kate maybe. But Tommy doesn’t care. His brother has a sitcom life. Of course his twin has to be his best man.

And thinking about the future is needed. Because he doesn’t want to think about the present.

"Well, yeah," Billy says, giving him a look as though he should know that as well as anyone, and then flushing. Right. He's behind on things.

"...You are. I ask you. Better than this."

Well that earns a burst of laughter from Tommy. Yeah, he can do that. He can be Billy’s best man. Because embarrassing speeches and bachelor parties that don’t involve nerd stuff. What more could he want?

The easy acceptance makes it worthwhile. And makes tommy want to work harder. Got to get his brother back to Earth. Get him married off.

“This is going to be hard for you, yeah?”

The laughter makes Billy smile, despite how the flush spreads over his face, and he glances away.

He's pretty sure he gets Tommy's meaning, but he pulls a play from Tommy's handbook, giving a questioning hum. "...Which part?"

“The part where I don’t know what I should. Where, days ago, I was still held captive outside of space and time.”

Days ago his life was complicated and probably bad. Terrible. Unlike Billy, he has no one waiting for him. The person who cares is already here. Well, mom.

"Mm," Billy offers a small shrug, "It'll be a bit weird for a while. But we're not too far our of sync. I'll catch you up."

He glances to Tommy, trying not to look too worried. "...You wanna talk about the whole space and time thing?" They've had this talk. On Billy's end. But this Tommy hasn't had the chance to share. Or to refuse to share for an annoying long time. Whenever he's ready.

The worst part? Billy knows already. He knows everything, doesn’t he? And Tommy has no secrets because he can assume his twin annoyed them out of him by now. What is even the point on trying to process bullshit when someone right there already has an edge? The thought has Tommy up on his feet and pacing across the room before anyone could be reasonably expected to blink.

“This is shit, you know? How much have I already told you? Future me is a fucking ass, leaving me me at a serious disadvantage. You probably know everything. Like how I was half trying to impress David.”

Which, more likely than not, was a secret future Tommy had actually kept from Billy. No reason he would have shared something so pointless.

There's nothing he can do to un-know what he knows, though Billy is doing his best not to just flaunt whatever Tommy's told him. He winces at the abrupt movement, looking apologetic.

And then...confused. That seems to be genuinely new information. He blinks a little. "I know a bit. But that doesn't mean we can't talk about it. It might help."

“Except I have no choice but to talk. Because you already know. You can already judge me.”

Already has conclusions Tommy hasn’t even come to. Which isn’t fair. He doesn’t have anything that Billy doesn’t know. Too bad he missed that flicker of confusion. Apparently the intricacies of his relationship with David are a secret still.

"Why would I judge you?" He frowns, not really sure what he can offer up to try and make it more fair.

"...I can tell you things that happened while we were looking for you?" Billy offers. Maybe that's an easier place to start.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject