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TEST DRIVE MEME #3
TEST DRIVE MEME
A confluence is defined as the convergence of one or more forces. A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces.
Confluences have been mild ever since the Godfall Event occurred in the 1980s. The older generations tell their children of the confluences they remember as children, the earth-shaking events that transformed the landscape of the world (and the people) every time they occurred. Now they're largely inconveniences. An explosion of experimental ALIEN NANOBOTS here, a magical LIGHTNING STORM there, nothing particularly disruptive to day to day life.
Confluences have been mild ever since the Godfall Event occurred in the 1980s. The older generations tell their children of the confluences they remember as children, the earth-shaking events that transformed the landscape of the world (and the people) every time they occurred. Now they're largely inconveniences. An explosion of experimental ALIEN NANOBOTS here, a magical LIGHTNING STORM there, nothing particularly disruptive to day to day life.
ONLY SHOOTING STARS. CENTRAL CITY.
Awareness hits you in a rush. As does the sound of a town’s EMERGENCY ALARMS WAILING. Just as you begin to register the sound, you realize how quickly the towering skyscrapers are coming up to meet you. You may throw your hands up to shield yourself from witnessing your own grisly demise. Not to worry - THREADS OF MYSTICAL ENERGY rush up to meet you, grabbing for limbs and catching you before you make landfall. A NET MADE OF STARS has come up to cradle you, giving you a much gentler entry into this world than most others have received thus far. A smattering of exhausted looking people holding staves and wands peer up at you and attempt to smile, though they appear to be much more focused on keeping you held aloft.
Correction. They’re keeping MOST of you aloft. The mystical net made of stars doesn’t seem quite large enough to cover the entire sky. THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE FALLING. Perhaps you’re not spared the fall, plummeting through the gap in the net and straight into someone’s living room. Or car. Or straight into the sewer systems.
Correction. They’re keeping MOST of you aloft. The mystical net made of stars doesn’t seem quite large enough to cover the entire sky. THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE FALLING. Perhaps you’re not spared the fall, plummeting through the gap in the net and straight into someone’s living room. Or car. Or straight into the sewer systems.
DIADEM HOTEL
You're not going home anytime soon. Hopefully, the LUXURY HOTEL they've put you up in will ease that sting.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlets that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing the highly anticipated DROP DEAD GORGEOUS movie, a thriller wherein a fictional beauty queen accidentally swallows a fragment of the Necronomicon and becomes the world’s most powerful necromancer. Oh, and her boyfriend transforms into her chainsaw.
CENTRAL CITY isn't exactly the nicest place in the world. Wander too far from the shopping district and you'll find yourselves thick into territory controlled by the local non-meta crime syndicate... but maybe that's where you want to be. Maybe you're here to see just what this world is dealing with. If you're going to be stuck here you might as well make yourself useful, right?
Or perhaps you're NOT the heroic type. Maybe this is simply scoping out the competition.
Regardless, it won't take long for TROUBLE to find you. Test out your new powers, do a little thieving, stop a few muggings - this is your time to use as you see fit.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlets that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing the highly anticipated DROP DEAD GORGEOUS movie, a thriller wherein a fictional beauty queen accidentally swallows a fragment of the Necronomicon and becomes the world’s most powerful necromancer. Oh, and her boyfriend transforms into her chainsaw.
CENTRAL CITY isn't exactly the nicest place in the world. Wander too far from the shopping district and you'll find yourselves thick into territory controlled by the local non-meta crime syndicate... but maybe that's where you want to be. Maybe you're here to see just what this world is dealing with. If you're going to be stuck here you might as well make yourself useful, right?
Or perhaps you're NOT the heroic type. Maybe this is simply scoping out the competition.
Regardless, it won't take long for TROUBLE to find you. Test out your new powers, do a little thieving, stop a few muggings - this is your time to use as you see fit.
MAY FLIES AND FLOWERS. EXCELSIOR.
EXCELSIOR has just opened its very own BOTANICAL GARDEN! The facility is roughly the size of a city block, a modern monolith of steel and glass, specially equipped to prevent birds from flying into the many windows. There’s plants from all over the world growing inside, different rooms hosting rare and exotic specimens from different climates. Each mini-biome has animals native to the regions they mimic, of course - not a great many of them, but you’re likely to see some insects and birds flitting here and there.
To better protect the guests, all animals inside are man-made creations - be they mechanical or genetically engineered for a single purpose. The most notable of these projects is a MECHANICAL BUTTERFLY enjoying its first test flight. Researchers hope that these butterflies can be introduced into nature to aid the waning bee populations. These butterflies, beautiful creations spun from delicate metal wire, can be found in nearly any of the ecosystems present in the Botanical Garden. Aside from being hardy and efficient, they’re also equipped with a CHEMICAL ENHANCEMENT that makes the pollen they collect twelve times more potent. Everything’s getting pollinated in here! Best hope you don't have allergies.
This SPECIAL POLLEN also has the side-effect of making anyone in the vicinity feel quite lonely or loved. Theorized as a way to make dates more intimate, no more consideration was put into the ethical ramifications of subtly altering people’s mood for commercial benefit. It’s Excelsior, after all, hopefully someone warned you they view ethics as optional.
Should you have come to this beautiful slice of nature alone you may find yourself OVERWHELMED WITH LONELINESS as the flock fly overhead. Yet this loneliness comes with an edge of courage. Perhaps you’re emboldened to approach another lonely heart and ask if they would care to accompany you.
If you’ve come with someone you all may find yourselves feeling much more WARM AND AFFECTIONATE towards them. Such a pretty place, such great company - let’s spend some real quality time!
To better protect the guests, all animals inside are man-made creations - be they mechanical or genetically engineered for a single purpose. The most notable of these projects is a MECHANICAL BUTTERFLY enjoying its first test flight. Researchers hope that these butterflies can be introduced into nature to aid the waning bee populations. These butterflies, beautiful creations spun from delicate metal wire, can be found in nearly any of the ecosystems present in the Botanical Garden. Aside from being hardy and efficient, they’re also equipped with a CHEMICAL ENHANCEMENT that makes the pollen they collect twelve times more potent. Everything’s getting pollinated in here! Best hope you don't have allergies.
This SPECIAL POLLEN also has the side-effect of making anyone in the vicinity feel quite lonely or loved. Theorized as a way to make dates more intimate, no more consideration was put into the ethical ramifications of subtly altering people’s mood for commercial benefit. It’s Excelsior, after all, hopefully someone warned you they view ethics as optional.
Should you have come to this beautiful slice of nature alone you may find yourself OVERWHELMED WITH LONELINESS as the flock fly overhead. Yet this loneliness comes with an edge of courage. Perhaps you’re emboldened to approach another lonely heart and ask if they would care to accompany you.
If you’ve come with someone you all may find yourselves feeling much more WARM AND AFFECTIONATE towards them. Such a pretty place, such great company - let’s spend some real quality time!
WORKING ALL ANGLES. SUNSET FALLS.
Be you hero, villain, or unaligned - socialite KATHERINE WEST has a request for you. Miss West appears to be quite distressed. The weirdness of Sunset Falls has put her dear father in a bit of a pickle and she’s looking for strapping heroes (and villains, and unaligned, really anyone with two feet and a heartbeat) to help out. She states that she’s no metahuman and so she can’t offer you a team-up, but she can offer you a shoutout on her Instagram page.
The TASKS she’s issuing seem simple on the surface. Safe enough that you may be swayed by her sweet smile and the 15 million followers who might take a shine to you.
The TASKS she’s issuing seem simple on the surface. Safe enough that you may be swayed by her sweet smile and the 15 million followers who might take a shine to you.
HUNT SOME WOLVES.
A shame she didn’t mention that these wolves are WEREWOLVES.
A pack of werewolves has been wreaking havoc in the PARK. They come out at night to grow their pack. Nearly a dozen locals have been conscripted by this infectious bite.
Luckily, there is a POTENTIAL SOLUTION! This particular brand of lycanthropy can be cured if you grievously wound them with a SILVER WEAPON. A quick google also tells you that curing the ALPHA – or killing him – will end the curse for the whole pack. She’s twice the size of a direwolf with jaws like a steel trap.
Granted, killing them is the faster solution. There is a slight hitch in that plan. These wolves REVERT BACK TO HUMAN FORM upon death. It might look weird to find a bunch of bodies in the park so you’d best be prepared to clean up after yourself.
There’s always the risk you’ll get bit and JOIN THEM. Should this happen, the transformation will come on suddenly and painfully, your body distorting under the light of the moon. The ANIMAL INSTINCTS will come on just as powerfully - you’re part of a pack now, and you’re out on a hunt. Hopefully some kind soul can hit you with silver or take out your alpha, because you won't turn back on your own.
A pack of werewolves has been wreaking havoc in the PARK. They come out at night to grow their pack. Nearly a dozen locals have been conscripted by this infectious bite.
Luckily, there is a POTENTIAL SOLUTION! This particular brand of lycanthropy can be cured if you grievously wound them with a SILVER WEAPON. A quick google also tells you that curing the ALPHA – or killing him – will end the curse for the whole pack. She’s twice the size of a direwolf with jaws like a steel trap.
Granted, killing them is the faster solution. There is a slight hitch in that plan. These wolves REVERT BACK TO HUMAN FORM upon death. It might look weird to find a bunch of bodies in the park so you’d best be prepared to clean up after yourself.
There’s always the risk you’ll get bit and JOIN THEM. Should this happen, the transformation will come on suddenly and painfully, your body distorting under the light of the moon. The ANIMAL INSTINCTS will come on just as powerfully - you’re part of a pack now, and you’re out on a hunt. Hopefully some kind soul can hit you with silver or take out your alpha, because you won't turn back on your own.
HERE KITTY KITTY.
Miss West has tasked you with finding all of the town’s TREED CATS. This one is an easy enough task, right? For the last four months there's been an absurd amount of cats getting stuck in trees.
Well, it seems two months of storing AMBIENT CHAOS MAGIC has made these cats more unpredictable than usual. Chaos magic isn't something you want to mess with, especially not when it's held in purrsnickety paws. It's easy to snatch them from the branches if they don't know you're coming, but if you approach under their watchful eye you'll begin to find the rules of reality start to bend. The ocean becomes a sky full of fish, and the grass beneath you a warm carpet warmed by a sunbeam. Your thoughts and feelings suddenly seem to be able to influence this space - so careful! You wouldn't want your worst fears to suddenly manifest.
Now would be a really bad time to remember that dream where all your teeth fall out.
Well, it seems two months of storing AMBIENT CHAOS MAGIC has made these cats more unpredictable than usual. Chaos magic isn't something you want to mess with, especially not when it's held in purrsnickety paws. It's easy to snatch them from the branches if they don't know you're coming, but if you approach under their watchful eye you'll begin to find the rules of reality start to bend. The ocean becomes a sky full of fish, and the grass beneath you a warm carpet warmed by a sunbeam. Your thoughts and feelings suddenly seem to be able to influence this space - so careful! You wouldn't want your worst fears to suddenly manifest.
Now would be a really bad time to remember that dream where all your teeth fall out.
DANCING SHADOWS.
This one is fairly simple. All Miss West wants is a PICTURE OF YOUR SHADOW. She gives you her best camera and asks you take the very best shot you can.
The ambient mystical energies of Sunset Falls are known to be chaotic. The LINGERING MAGIC of the spell that snatched you from the sky is ignited. Your shadow begins to glimmer faintly like the night sky itself. If you catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye, you could swear you spy your shadow smiling back. Its eyes appear to be bright, burning stars.
These stars grant it a RUDIMENTARY SENTIENCE. And with it, liberation! No longer is it bound to your feet. Your shadow-self wants to live it's very best life and that means doing whatever impulsive thing strikes its brand new consciousness. CAUSING MAYHEM, infecting other shadows with its newly gained brilliance. Before long, the town is OVERRUN with dancing shadows. While their antics don't affect the physical space, if you glance down at the ground in pure chaos.
The magically inclined among you may want to work together to bind your shadows back to your feet. It's not good for a person to be split between planes like this. It's not good for the world, either, as the ground seems to give an ominous rumble every now and again. Catch your shadow and pin it under your foot!
The ambient mystical energies of Sunset Falls are known to be chaotic. The LINGERING MAGIC of the spell that snatched you from the sky is ignited. Your shadow begins to glimmer faintly like the night sky itself. If you catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye, you could swear you spy your shadow smiling back. Its eyes appear to be bright, burning stars.
These stars grant it a RUDIMENTARY SENTIENCE. And with it, liberation! No longer is it bound to your feet. Your shadow-self wants to live it's very best life and that means doing whatever impulsive thing strikes its brand new consciousness. CAUSING MAYHEM, infecting other shadows with its newly gained brilliance. Before long, the town is OVERRUN with dancing shadows. While their antics don't affect the physical space, if you glance down at the ground in pure chaos.
The magically inclined among you may want to work together to bind your shadows back to your feet. It's not good for a person to be split between planes like this. It's not good for the world, either, as the ground seems to give an ominous rumble every now and again. Catch your shadow and pin it under your foot!
WILDCARD.
Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects. You can also take a look at the MISSION BOARD to get your start as a professional hero, villain, or vigilante.
1
Hey! Everything okay? [ she knows Arrivals don't get hurt, but she still has to ask, of course ]
Arrivals are always really chaotic!
no subject
[ She winces as she pulls herself off the ground, sitting up and rubbing her back. Yikes, that has to be her worst high-speed landings yet. She looks up in the direction of the voice checking on her, craning her neck a bit since this crater is pretty deep.
Eh? EHH!?
[ Hibiki has seen a lot of things in her life, but Mina was new. ]
Y-You're all pink! How!?
[ "It's a costume" fails to come to Hibiki's mind... which is good, since fortunately for Hibiki, that's not actually the case. ]
no subject
[ she is about to reach for her bag, but then Hibiki asks about her pinkness. Honestly, Mina has been asked about it so many times now... ]
I was born like this. [ it's not a costume, no ]
no subject
[ Can you really blame her, though? She just fell out of the sky, and now there’s a girl with naturally-pink skin in front of her. She’s never heard of a condition like that…
Still, she takes the hand gratefully in order to pull herself back to her feet. Yikes, her back might be aching for a while… still, she takes the towel too. ]
Uh, sorry… was that a little insensitive?
[ Gah, she suddenly feels bad… ]
no subject
I don't mind. It's just weird that everybody finds it weird. [ no one would bat an eye at her skin, but now everyone asks about it. It's strange, Mina thinks ]
But well, I guess we all come from different worlds, so a lot of things can be weird, right? [ she grins ]
no subject
Instead, she tilts her head at what Mina says next. ]
Eh? Different worlds? What's that mean?
no subject
The thing that brought you here is called Confluence. It's like magic and instability in the universes... something like that, but basically it grabs people from all worlds and dimensions and brings them here! [ mina is proud of herself, she is is starting to become good at this whole welcoming speech ]
no subject
[ The explanation of 'different Earths' was already starting to make Hibiki's mind spin, but the mention of Confluences and the 'explanation' that Mina gives about them only serves to make Hibiki outright short-circuit.
Don't worry, Mina, you're getting good at the welcoming speech... but Hibiki is a special kind of dummy. ]
U-Um... I'm not sure I understand... but basically I'm really far from home...?
[ Give her time, she'll understand eventually. ]
no subject
We don't really have a way to go back to our planets, tho. So we are kind of... stuck here. [ yeah, that's the part that really sucks ]
no subject
[ That part is what gets Hibiki panicking, and her hand suddenly shoots up to the equipment covering her ears. She's immediately trying to access all of her communication lines, fiddling with the strange machinery. ]
Uhh... hello? Is anybody...! Ahh...
[ Only static. Crap. Next she's looking up at where she was just falling from, trying to see if she can recognize anybody still falling or strung up in the safety net. No luck there, either.
Hibiki has enough of an understanding right now to know that she's somewhere very unfamiliar and away from her friends, so hearing that she's stuck... well, it just cascades into a variety of different reasons for Hibiki to violently swing from dazed and confused to jumpy and panicked. One of which concerns a certain girl who fills up the majority of Hibiki's headspace, but that's a story for another time. ]
no subject
She does seem like she is having a Moment, so Mina gently tries to reach for her shoulder while she speaks softly ]
Hey... it's alright. You aren't hurt, so that means there is still a chance to go home, right?
no subject
A-Ah, yeah... you're right, totally right...
[ Right, she's not hurt, and she even still has her gear with her... but she can still feel worry starting to clutch over her heart. What's going to happen back home? Has something already happened? She can't have been gone for long yet, having just woken up, but... she just feels bad. Considering everything they've went through, vanishing suddenly without any warning would definitely worry Miku and everybody else... and when she thinks about that, she can't help but feel bad about it. ]
It's fine, everything's gonna be fine...
[ She repeats that mantra to herself a few times, though, before looking back at Mina. ]
Thanks... I was kind of freaking out, there...
no subject
Yeah, it's fine. It's really scary and there's a lot to take. Plus, we don't have all answers.
[ but Mina gives the other girl a hopeful thumbs up ] But we are all trying to figure out, and we just gotta do our best!
no subject
Mm, right! Nothing's gonna get done if I spend all my time being worried, right?
[ She'll just have to apologize extra hard for being gone when she gets back, right? ]
Oh, I'm Hibiki, by the way! Hibiki Tachibana... [ She rubs the back of her head sheepishly. ] Um... do you mind helping me out, still? Like... what happens now?
no subject
I'm Mina! Mina Ashido. [ Mina reaches for Hibiki's hand to shake it - and then she just keeps holding it ]
Oh, right - so, people will start getting their powers, so it will be a bit chaotic. But after the Confluence ends, we will all be teleported to the Diadem Hotel.
no subject
Eh? Powers? Teleported!? Am I gonna get powers!?
[ The answer is no, as her absurdly high compatibility coefficient with her Gear may as well be a power in and of itself... plus, the Symphogear itself. As for Mina still holding her hand... Hibiki doesn't actually seem to mind? If anything, she's also not letting go. ]
I-I mean, besides my Symphogear... wait! Do you have powers!? Is that why your skin is pink!? That's so cool!
[ Oh boy, she's going a mile-a-minute now... ]
How are we teleporting!? Why a hotel? Is it a fancy hotel? I've never been to a fancy one before! Ah! I just realized! That net thing that I fell through, how is that happening!?
[ Someone remind her to breathe, please... ]
no subject
And she'd ask about what is the Symph-thing, but she doesn't have time to ask and instead explains her skin because that's a thing a lot of people want to know about for some reason. ] Yeah, I can make acid from my skin. And my skin is resistant to it, so it's pink. [ she is pink because she has powers, basically. ]
And I dunno- ehehe. [ Mina releases one of Hibiki's head to rub the back of her head ] I'm here to help new arrivals, but there's always something happening besides that. just gotta find out what.
no subject
Mmph...!
[ It's very easy to rub the back of her head, and Hibiki doesn't resist either... though it does ruffle her hair as a result. ]
Okay... so do they just take care of us at this hotel until we can find a way home?
no subject
There are two Guilds here- if you join one of them, they will give you a house and an allowance. If you decide not to be part of a guild, you'll have to find a place on your own and pay for it. And get a job. [ some people prefer that ]
But not right now! You get time to think and decide what you prefer.
no subject
[ Yeah... Hibiki was definitely joining the alliance, she can't see herself really doing very well on her own. There's gonna be plenty more reasons why, but at the moment, that's the main reason on Hibiki's mind. ]
I just keep getting more and more questions to ask...
no subject
[ Mina can try helping! She may not be the best at science talk, but she has been around for a while, thus she knows a lot about what is going on ]