revivalprojectooc | Sunmmer Test Drive Meme

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Sunmmer Test Drive Meme

SUMMER TEST DRIVE MEME
Application FAQ | Taken Characters | Reserves | Application

Welcome to the Current Test Drive for The Revival Project!

This game is a spin-off from the closed The Drift Fleet game. For more information about the game, including more details on the setting, please check out the FAQ here or the premise here.

A thread on the TDM will be required for all applications. Please view the FAQ for information about how this works. Any questions about the game please direct to the comment section of the FAQ as well.

If you are a Drift Fleet alumni bringing your character from the game, please label your character as 'DFAU' on your top level. 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! If you want to completely restart your character, they're not considered DFAU anymore and won't need the label.

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

Thread ideas:

Summer in Temba and Sh'Ka

Summer is a growing season, which seems to be going into overdrive this year. Instead of the gradual growth of plants that one might expect over the seasons, plants are starting to grow with an intense energy, and once clear paths in both cities grow choked over with vines, undergrowth, and even new saplings by the day. It might be wise to find some way to clear those paths as you go.

For those that are in a more summer and sun kind of fun, there's always the beach to the south of Temba, where the sand and surf welcome all comers. However here too there is a lot of growth going on, with new reeds and shore grasses rising up, serving as a great place for fat green lobsters to hide and pinch at the unwary.

Or maybe it's better to explore the buildings these days, with how the plants have taken over everything. However one might well find that less commonly used buildings and ruins have their own plant problems. Some are overgrown with fruitbearing vines, and others filled with wide swaths of various forms of mint. Good news there is that the glownies seem to have gotten free, or others have arrived, to feast upon the mintsplosion.

Explore ~~the city~~ Temba!

Here's a map of Temba and a bit more description of some of the buildings here.

Most of the buildings are run down and have clearly been abandoned for years; fortunately, the water treatment center appears to be working, but power is intermittent and unreliable. What used to be stores or places to live in lies in ruins, but there may still be something to scavenge among the rubble. Do you want to risk a swim in the flooded area that has turned into a deep lake that has yet to be fully explored; or does it draw you to some of the more prominent and partially restored buildings, such as the hotel, the hospital or the amphitheater.

If you are lucky, you might even stumble over The Deep End, the bar located on one of the mid-levels of the tower residences in one of the residence towers. Unfortunately no bright neon signs can lead you there, but it does exist.

Visit the spaceships!

That's right, there are currently several small spaceships sitting in the hangar. Not all of them may be around when you check out the building, as one of the pilots may be using one of them to fly over to Sh'Ka. But there should still enough of them around for you to inspect and maybe wonder about. However, only one of them will open its doors for you. Do you dare to step inside? Check out the protein paste or maybe even meet one of your crew mates?

Try the network!

Upon arrival, your character will have on their person a small, handheld communications device. Maybe they know exactly how to use a computer, smartphone, or tablet, and immediately blast out a text or video trying to figure out what's going on. Or maybe they're not so tech-savvy after all, and everyone is about to get a lovely shot right up your character's left nostril.

There be storms...

These power-altering storms keep ravaging parts of the planet every once in a while. No one truly knows where they come from or what to do about them yet, but one of them appears to be approaching. You have the option to find shelter in one of the buildings to wait for it to pass. Unless, of course, you rather feel drawn to investigate.

Should you step inside the storm, or even get lost in it, it will show ghosts of people you know and those you don't. It drains you of any super-human abilities and tries its best to keep you from getting to its origin. Are you going to try anyways? Or are you going to chase the whispers of people from your past? Maybe you will simply find yourself calling for help or stumble across another lost soul in need of assistance.

More information can be found here.

Wildcard!

You're welcome to use any previous test drive scenarios or previous game events as a basis for a thread/situation, or simply make up your own! Keep in mind that you're currently stranded on a planet with only basic necessities, but there is enough food and fresh water. Creature comforts, however, seem to be distinctly lacking. Quite unlike a gathering of potentially dangerous creatures to encounter. The setting is yours to explore and have fun with!

✧ Premise ✧ FAQ ✧ Rules ✧ Test Drive ✧ Taken ✧ Reserves ✧ Application ✧
✧ Map ✧ Devices & Network ✧ Data Points ✧ Ships ✧ Flora ✧ Fauna ✧ Supply Requests ✧ Calendar ✧
✧ Activity Check ✧ Player Plot Suggestion ✧ Player Contacts ✧ Player Permission Code ✧ Hiatus ✧ Drop ✧
✧ Navigation ✧

code bases by tricklet

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Nope. Nope nope nope. Fuck this shit, Dustin is out. Crazed yelling and stumbling backwards ensues, operating on about the same level of instinct as the glownies are right now.

Rather annoyingly, Dustin's brain is still working furiously in the background, calmly letting him know just how deep shit he's in right now. So this is probably a shade, it informs him, very helpfully. Never encountered one of these before. Done plenty of research, but a lot of it has dubious origins, speculative at best. Accounts differ on how they handle combat. This one can teleport, maybe? Need to get out of these shadows. Physical damage test?

Sure, brain, he'll try that shit! As he's backpedaling away from the pool of darkness spreading underneath him, Dustin feels a rock under his hand and he immediately launches it at Wilson's face.

The boy’s reaction amuses Wilson. From the scrambling over the lack of a proper verbal response to the rock tossed his way. A rock that is easily caught by another shadow hand sprouting forth from the ground without Wilson himself moving a single bit.

Wilson casts a glance towards the rock, chuckling as he leans forward, raising a brow at Dustin. “Cute, but ineffective. I do appreciate being involved in this little experiment, however. How about we try some real science next?” And as he says this, Wilson points a claw like finger vaguely in Dustin’s direction.

Yes, very ineffective. The cold rationality of his thoughts contrasts starkly with his panicked, harsh breathing, but even his brain is a slave to his fight-or-flight response. A better weapon would provide more conclusive results. You don't have one of those. You're not ready for this.

Time to run.

Scrambling to his feet, Dustin turns tail and flees into the overgrowth. He has no interest in being part of this shade's experiments. At least, not until he can come back with a plan.

Wilson watches with idle amusement as the teenager attempts to escape down the possibly least safe route he could have taken: Right into the shadows.

Again, he vanishes into a soft poof of shadow, but doesn't reappear right away. Instead, only his voice seems to be following Dustin. "Nice acceleration. Let's see what happens if I do this." Another shadow hand sprouts from the ground and grasps to takes hold of one of Dustin's legs.

Dustin thinks about the folly of his instinct to hide seconds before he feels something grab his leg. Momentum carries him forward, but even if Wilson lets go, this is enough to get Dustin to keel forward. His yelp of surprise is cut short as he faceplants in the dirt.

Too fucking dark! Dustin rapidly props himself on his elbows so he can look back at his pursuer. Of course it attacks through shadows! Idiot! Need a light source. Lighter!

He reaches into one of his pockets. Dustin was disappointed to find that most everything he'd stuffed in there was gone on arrival, and especially distraught that his backpack was missing, but at least the Agrii had the decency to leave him with his most versatile survival tool: The humble lighter. At least, it'll be useful until it runs out of lighter fluid. How much is left in there? No, don't think about that too much, you'll panic more than you already are.

With one swipe of the hand, Dustin grabs the little brick and holds it in the direction of his legs, sparking the small flame to life with a gentle click.

There is no immediate reaction to the small flame springing to life aside from Dustin being able to see his feet again. No shadow hisses away back into the darkness and no shriek of pain or discuss cuts through the air.

However, two moments after the lighter is turned on, Wilson finally manifests again, standing right behind the young man with an expression of mild interest. "Ah... Science at work. Marvelous." He muses almost conversationally, clawed hands behind his back. Though yet one more shadow hand creeps from beneath Dustin again to slither it's way up Dustin's arm, showing little interest in the flame itself despite its form notably losing density the closer it slithers to the light.

"You can stop trying to run away now."

Dustin isn't sure what he was expecting to happen here. Simply put, this would either work or he'd be dead. That ultimatum is what's swirling through his head when the shadows don't recede, and the figure of every nightmare he's had since he was child reappears in front of him, totally unfazed.

The shadows are weaker in the light, he thinks, but the little running dialog in the back of his mind is like a whisper compared to the flashes of that memory playing out overtop. He remembers unnatural darkness, blood dribbling down his face, and a monster holding him back by the scruff of his neck. "Stop running," hissed the distorted voice from inside his own head. "You have something of mine..."

Frozen in place, flame on the lighter flickering from the shuddering of his still outstretched hand, Dustin shrinks into himself, as if the teenager watching Wilson from the lake a few minutes ago has been replaced by someone much smaller. He's starting to hyperventilate.

"What do you want from me?" he breathes.

Shadows may, indeed be weaker in the light, but that's exactly why they tend to steal any light threatening them. And yet at the same time the stronger a light source is, the stronger are the shadows it casts. It's a peculiar balance of effects. Almost as peculiar as this frantic, scared boy.

Wilson gives a shrug as if his very presence wouldn't terrify Dustin. "Wouldn't we all want to figure that little detail out..." The words trail off while two comparably large shadow hands settle on Dustin's shoulders, promising with their presence alone that they will make sure he doesn't run away again.

"I'm more interested to know why you ran away, pal." He hasn't done anything to Dustin, has he? At least... Not yet.

An involuntary shiver runs up Dustin's back as the shadow hands encase his shoulders. He's fucked. He is so, royally fucked. This is how he dies: Spirited away to an alien planet against his will, less than a full day in, where he's promptly captured and tortured by a motherfucking--

--Guy who seems more like he's interested in studying Dustin than killing him, frankly. But Dustin's eyes don't see that. They see every obscure article he's hunted down, every late-night episode of Jacob Silver, Paranormal Investigator that he's binged while his adopted mother was asleep, and they all reinforce that memory to bring him to the same, inevitable conclusion.

"You don't see it?" Dustin spits, his face suddenly twisting to one of disgust. There's no hesitation or doubt in his voice; in spite of truly having no idea who or what Wilson is, or even what universe he's from, Dustin absolutely believes everything he's saying. "The mutations have changed you. They're driving you insane. You're a monster."

"Wrong!" Wilson exclaims cheerfully, one clawed index finger pointing up in triumph as he offers the correction to Dustin's words. "I'm a scientist, conquering the world with the power of my mind!" Because science is the only thing that's real. Magic is fake. Please don't mind the (magically) summoned shadows pinning you in place. There's totally a scientific explanation for them.

The claw that has been pointing up circles in the air for a moment before vaguely indicating Dustin. "Unfortunately the human body doesn't bare any secrets for me any longer. Most of what it does is fascinating, but also gross. And messy. The mind, however..." He is back to grinning widely again and the vaguely pointing hand gives an excited wiggle of its respective set of claws. "No mind is the same. Every single one of them a fresh field to study!"

Dustin's eyes narrow in stunned disbelief. As far off the mark as his assumptions about Wilson's abilities and motives might be, the whole 'you're insane' angle definitely looks like it still applies. Which is unfortunate, really - in a different situation, Dustin might've found some common ground with Wilson. He also considers himself something of a scientist. His mind isn't just powerful, thinking is literally his superpower. He and Wilson should be terrorizing the glownies together, having the time of their lives as they poke and prod the poor creatures.

Instead, Dustin's betrayer brain has slipped into a state of stubborn paranoia, and he's not likely to return from it any time soon.

"I am not your experiment," he hisses through clenched teeth. The fear that was holding him down, even without the help of Wilson's shadows, is rapidly making way for anger. Dustin's drawing from a deep well of it, and not just because of the whole shade thing. "I'm not anyone's experiment. I am so over that shit!"

He starts to wiggle a bit, testing the shadows' grip.

"-and you believe that decision is up to you." Wilson adds with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Please keep going." He invites, his posture turning observant even with the small shadows flicking about his form. "Who has experimented on you before?"

Because he has heard the young man's words very well and feels intrigued. If this is the case, then bothering Dustin may indeed prove worthwhile.

"None of your fucking business!"

Continuing to be held down and taunted with the notion that he can't escape is kicking the 'fight' part of Dustin's fight-or-flight response into high gear. His experimental wiggling turns into a series of quick thrashes, interspersed with holding the lighter as close to the shadow hands on his shoulders as possible. There was an effect from the light source, and even though it wasn't super obvious or even necessarily negative, that's about all he has to go off of right now.

Wilson clicks his tongue in faux disappointment. "Isn't it now..." Then he snaps the claws of his hand once. A sharp noise splitting the air and the grip of the hands made of shadow tightens, with a few additional hands sprouting from underneath Dustin as well, coiling around his arms, legs and torso in a surprisingly palpable way. Dustin is picked up from the ground, held by writhing tendrils and hands made of shadow. And even then, even despite being comparably short, Wilson still appears taller somehow, his edges sharpening again with playful malice seeping into his voice.

"I suppose we can do some of the more- Traditional experiments after all." Wilson announces, bringing the tips of his claws together in front of him.

Dustin's survival instincts fail him again. He yells in animalistic terror, thrashing uselessly against the shadows. His hold on the lighter turns into a fist, knuckles white against the casing; he can feel the heat of the little flame starting to get uncomfortable against the side of his index finger, but Dustin doesn't dare let go. It's the only thing keeping the alien forest from plunging back into unnatural darkness - Dustin's tenuous, delicate lifeline to sanity.

Stop fucking struggling and think!

The sharp thought cuts through his panic in an instant, louder than the roar of blood pumping through his ears or the gasping of his breaths. His legs flex involuntarily against the too-tight grip of the shadow hands, but otherwise the teen goes suddenly still.

What could he possibly do with that information? Steal their research notes on you? How the actual fuck is he going to get those, here, on this alien fucking planet in fuck knows what universe? Do you think he even knows who they are, where he's from?

The images of his first memory driving him into a frenzy become faint as reliable, cold rationality finally wins out.

None of this is important enough to be tortured for. Bargain with him, you actual fuckhead.

"--Wait!" Dustin croaks, his voice cracking from lack of air. "Diamond Pharmaceuticals!"

While Dustin struggles and screams and debates with himself, Wilson watches with bemusement, then picks up a nearby branch, roughly the length of a forearm as well as a bushel of dry grass, knotting the latter onto the end of the first, humming cheerfully.

When Dustin goes still, the scientist leans forward and holds his improvised torch to the small flame of the lighter, waiting for it to catch. It does just in time for Dustin to yell at him and Wilson leans away again, one brow raised and a burning torch in hand. “What was that?”

He then offers the torch to Dustin, with a nod towards the lighter. “You will run out of butane before this torch goes out. Let’s swap for a moment.” A pause, and a cheerful, sharp toothed grin. “Trust me. I’m a professional!”

Dustin notices the subtle increase of light and flickering shadow in his periphery before he hears Wilson's offer to switch. Near-inverted already, he cranes his neck to get a better look at this nightmare abomination - not only to see what he's offering him for swap, but also to confirm Wilson's facial expression. It sounds like he doesn't recognize the company name. Which, considering its nearly 50-year status as a global monopoly on medicine, would suggest that either Wilson has been living under a rock or he's from a different planet. Both could still be true.

Like a reflex, Dustin starts mentally counting to five, timing his breathing with it. His chest heaves with the effort, but he is, slowly, starting to calm down.

"Diamond Pharmaceuticals," he repeats on an exhale. "They did the experiments."

Warily glancing at the offered torch, Dustin does not relinquish the lighter or close it. Instead, he opens his other hand and twists his wrist in Wilson's direction, which is as much movement as he can manage right now.

"You first."

The hesitation doesn't bother Wilson and he quite willingly hands over the torch only to dust his own hands off once they are both free again and hold one open claw out under the lighter in a wordless prompt for Dustin to drop it. Is he bothered by the fact that he has actually given the teenager a weapon? No. Or he simply isn't aware of it.

"Medicine studies then, eh? I always found those boring. Just chemical reactions being observed. Hardly any real flesh to it, if you understand what I mean." He has studied medicine long enough and got expelled from more than his fair share of universities for either experimenting on his fellow students or causing chemical explosions in various labs back when he was still on Earth and attempting to do the regular boring sort of science.

"Did they test terrible tasting medicine on you?"

Wilson's willingness to cooperate doesn't surprise Dustin much. He's in total control of this situation and knows it; of course he'd compromise on a few things that probably don't matter to him anyway. Still, Dustin's eyes occasionally flicker around at the shadowy tendrils grabbing him, observing how they react to the stronger light source.

"Something like that." Ingested medicine was one of many tests, sure. Unlike some of the others, like injections and surgeries, almost all of those were conducted without his knowledge or explicit consent when they were laced into his food. Thinking about it is like finding it out again for the first time. Anger swells through Dustin's chest, making his breath hitch.

He closes the lighter's lid, but doesn't drop it. "What are you going to do with it?" Dustin asks quietly, his voice tight. Irritation appears to be giving the boy a bit more of a spine.

Even though being somewhat more translucent in the light, the shadows don't shy away from the light. Though every once in a while a small tendril will lash out as if trying to snatch at the flame.

"Eh, medicine testing... Necessary, maybe, but- One of the more boring sciences." Wilson ponders. "Unless they tested something actually interesting on you - Which obviously you survived." Which by means Dustin didn't blow up or turned himself inside out.

"As for that-" He nods towards the lighter. "I'm not going to eat it. I can see it's important to you."

Dustin's face grows hot from anger, but he doesn't rise to it. Talking so flippantly about something that so fundamentally changed his outlook on life feels like an intentional jab, though Wilson might not have meant it that way. Regardless, it hurts. It hurts even more when Dustin realizes that he doesn't entirely disagree with this monster. Not about the 'medicine is a boring science' bit, rather, the 'it's necessary and it's interesting' bit. He would've told his test subjects what he was doing to them before he did it, made sure they understood the risks involved first, but Dustin could easily put himself in his adopted mother's place and see himself doing the same things. The disconnect makes him feel a little ill.

As an indirect response, Dustin's fingers involuntarily close tighter around the lighter. "Don't talk down to me," he says, icily. "I need specifics - I promise I'll be capable of understanding them."

Wilson curls his claws in and withdraws his hand, but doesn't seem too distraught about being denied the lighter. "Oh, you need specifics." He mocks and clasps his claws behind his back while the shadows turn Dustin upside down and start carrying him back in the direction of the lake, with Wilson following behind. "I was going to keep it dry."

What else was he going to do with it? Produce a shadow cigar and light it? No. That was Maxwell's thing. But he can't toss a glownie into the lake anymore, so instead of testing the glowing creature's swimming skills, Dustin will now assist him in a few other experiments.

For a tantalizing moment, Dustin thinks he might have some leverage. He gets to keep his lighter. Good! It's all he has left of his possessions and that's important! Maybe they can actually talk about something--

--And then he's upside-down. Dustin yelps, too surprised to even struggle effectively. Heinous physical torture? He was prepared for that. Being dragged off to the lake like he's about to get dunked by the local bully after school? Definitely wasn't expecting that one.

At least this time he's had the chance to calm down first. Dustin bides his time, putting up an imitation of a fight with a few jerks of his arms and legs and some well-placed, growled curses, until he sees the bright summer sun overcome the flickering of the improvised torch.

Then he twists his wrist and flicks the burning branch in Wilson's general direction. Dustin's not trying to set him on fire - that would be cruel for someone that he recognizes isn't trying to kill him - but he does hope it'll startle Wilson enough to drop him on dry land instead of the water.

No, he hasn’t anticipated the torch to be pointed in his direction, but Wilson is quicker to react than his casual posture may anticipate. A single swipe with one clawed hand is quick to shatter the end of the torch that tries to be a bother, the impact being as powerful as the strike is swift, sending sparks and gleaming splinters flying. The expression on Wilson’s face comes something close to a pout, pointed teeth somehow managing to hide behind his lips.

“Don’t.” He says with just the trickle of a threat. “I may still change my mind and simply fillet you.” Which would be messy.

At that thought, he pauses, however. And half a moment later Dustin gets to experience the centrifugal force once more as he is spun back around and that very claw that shredded the torch is being pressed against his throat. “Wait. That’s it! Let’s find out if you can actually die in this place!”

A couple of interesting things are happening to Dustin right now. Beyond the obvious, I mean.

Firstly, he's never had his life directly threatened before - at least that he remembers. Even in his first memory, Dustin always had the distinct impression that the creature was at most seeking to maim rather than kill, like it needed him for something. Otherwise, for all of his misgivings about his upbringing and the fact that he's recently started to deal with some pretty shady characters, Dustin has lived a relatively safe life.

Secondly, even in those cases where he's been paranoid that things could go south, Dustin has never felt so unprepared to handle a dangerous situation as he has now. He has an unlit lighter in one hand, a broken stick in the other, and no range of motion to get the two to meet again. With a claw already at his neck, trying to defend himself with either will just get him killed faster. The bear has been poked and there is nothing he can do about it.

Except, maybe...

"--What are you testing?" he stammers. Too late to try bargaining again? Dustin has gone stock still, trying not to flinch into the sharp edge of the claw under his chin. "At the lake. If I can swim or not? Can't test that if I'm dead."

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nightmare_scientist - 2022-06-16 09:52 (UTC) - Expand

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quark_assassin - 2022-06-16 14:03 (UTC) - Expand

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Sunmmer Test Drive Meme

this escalated quickly and I am very sorry

lol - that’s fine. Wilson is here to be a pest and deserves stuff being thrown at him

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TW: Speciesism? Trauma?? i'm not sure wtf at this point

lol - fair enough. I feel a tad sorry for Dustin

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LMAO

No worries. He literally can’t kill Dustin because game mechanics

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