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TEST DRIVE MEME
TEST DRIVE MEME
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metaheroes! You do not need an invite in order to play on the test drive meme.
Test Drive threads can be used as game canon and can be treated as your character's arrival to the game. The first Arrival event differs from this Test Drive Meme and takes place a week later which also gives you the option to start fresh.
The first application round is closed to friends of the moderators. If you are interested in joining the game and do not know anyone involved, you can reach out to the mod team via here to request an invite for the February app round.
metaheroes! You do not need an invite in order to play on the test drive meme. Test Drive threads can be used as game canon and can be treated as your character's arrival to the game. The first Arrival event differs from this Test Drive Meme and takes place a week later which also gives you the option to start fresh.
The first application round is closed to friends of the moderators. If you are interested in joining the game and do not know anyone involved, you can reach out to the mod team via here to request an invite for the February app round.
CRASH LANDING
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.
Bad ones still occur every now and again. Something big and bombastic that shatters the peace that the world has cultivated over the years. But it’s rare. Where there was once terror any time a psychic or a precognitive seer predicted the future, people often simply shrug and make mental note to ensure they've renewed their meta-anomaly insurance.
After all, the Guilds have always been good about reporting when something big was happening well before it actually happened.
And so imagine the surprise when the sky splits open over Little Love, Kansas in the early hours of the morning on January 4th.
No one sees it coming. Especially not smack dab in the middle of Kansas.
Little Love is a small town — really more a handful of connected streets than an actual city. A gas station and a water tower proudly welcome drivers into town off the interstate, and a statue of its greatest hero, Featherweight, stands proudly in the middle of its tiny central park. Crops and cows sprawl as far as the eye can see in every direction. This is the place people go to get away from it all, the kind of place where nothing is ever supposed to happen.
Awareness hits you in a rush. So does the ground. You barely register it hurtling towards you before you make impact. Whatever surface you strike - the pavement, the frozen fields, someone's shed - is pulverized, but somehow, you're unharmed.
You're not alone, either. All around you are others who fell picking themselves up from their own craters, equally and impossibly undamaged by the impact that should have pulverized you.
Perhaps they know what's happening. The town is still and quiet, there's a chance to speak now in what is surely the calm before the storm.
As you move through the sleepy town, it comes awake. Lights flick on. Townspeople step outside in their pajamas and nightgowns to find the source of the commotion. Some grab blankets to offer to the newcomers who clearly aren't dressed for a midwestern winter, but they won't go as far as to invite anyone inside and quickly step back once blankets are accepted. They appear quite apprehensive and seem to be keeping their distance.
TOO MUCH POWER
It's nothing personal: new metas rarely have full control of their abilities. The fact that you all just came tumbling down form the sky makes it pretty clear to them that something strange is afoot. Confluences almost always make for chaos, and newly powered people don't handle that kind of stress well.
Perhaps you're one of the lucky ones, who have already had powers or who are capable of taking this in stride.
But perhaps you're not. Perhaps energy crackles within you, and before you know what's happening, your new powers are activating. You don't know how to control these. Perhaps your new eyebeams suddenly blast from previously unpowered eyeballs, destroying the water tower. Perhaps your new ability to shift density has you stumbling back and disappearing into the walls of houses or dropping through the earth.
And it's not just those of you who fell from the sky. Some of the citizens appear to be experiencing similar problems. A scared preteen phases through you. A farmer who fused with one of his bulls rampages through Main Street, destroying cars and street lights and terrifying those he once named friends.
Cause problems, or step up as a hero and help minimized the damage, or do your very best to calm down and coach these new metahumans.
STRANGER THAN FICTION
As the energies fueling this Confluence reach their conclusion, something smashes through the local library's roof, gleaming in the moonlight. Smoke chokes the air, made thicker by magic. Perhaps that is why you struggle to process the cybernetic dragon clawing its way free of the wreckage. It lets out a mindbending scream and lurches skyward, and in its wake other impossible storybook creatures follow suit. Ghosts, goblins and - Pinnochio?
The frightened folks of Little Love freeze in place and the creatures careen towards them, intent on causing mischief and mayhem.
And as the dragon soars above your heads, each flap of its wings send a shower of glowing words falling down upon your heads. If one of these words touches your skin a digitized voice begins to speak — once upon a time — and the world around you flickers like static. The town falls away and is instead replaced with a watercolor landscape. As the narrator continues, the story takes the shape of a children's book of your choosing, and you've been thrust into the role of the protagonist.
Only it doesn't seem quite right. Did Hansel and Gretel's witch always wear form-fitting spandex? Did Little Red Riding Hood always have a plasma rifle? You're fairly certain The Little Mermaid didn't take place in outer space! Yet all around you, these modified, blockbuster versions of traditional tales spin to life out of voxels. The stories each follow their own winding tale, but one thing is consistent: it's a classic you know, but with a sharp sci-fi twist.
Mercifully, you're not alone. Whatever this is seems to have grabbed people in pairs, and so you've got a partner to work through this. Perhaps you can use your knowledge of the original tale to speedrun it to its conclusion, or perhaps you'd rather just blast your way to the end using your newfound abilities.
If you were lucky enough to be untouched by those letters, congratulations: you're left watching those unfortunate enough to be touched blink out of existence. This leaves you and whoever else got out unscathed standing before a horde of cartoony sci-fi villains intent on wrecking havoc on the already ravaged town. The townspeople don't seem to have any real defense against them, leaving it up to you and your fellow fallers to protect what little town they have left.
The dragon makes its way back to the library, landing with a thunderous boom and roaring again. Clutched in one of it's mighty clawed hands is a glowing book. If fairy tales have taught you anything, it should be that beating the dragon and grabbing its mcguffin is the only guaranteed way to save the day. Go forth, heroes!
AFTERMATH
All the monsters have been dealt with. The people who were caught under the book's spell stumble free as the illusion breaks, either because they finished the tale or because the dragon was felled. Those who helped save the day are celebrated. People cheer, eagerly shake hands and embrace you, expressing their gratitude at simply being alive.
Just when you think you’ve got a handle on your new situation, there's a flash, a rush of energy. You find yourself standing in a large white room. Around you are the other fallers and the townspeople who had just displayed a sudden burst of abilities. All look equally alarmed. Anyone injured in the library fight will find the injuries tingling as energies within the space begin to stabilize you.
A robed figure slumps against the outer side of the glass doors, their hand pressed to the surface and faintly glowing. A second later, a man materializes out of thin air and bends down to check on them. He straightens up and presses the intercom button:"My name is Atomight, and you're at Alliance HQ. You were all caught in a Confluence and as a result, many of you have developed metahuman abilities. There are power nullifies in place so please don't worry about losing control. And the space is enchanted and will give you whatever comforts you ask of it.And then he's gone.
"We won't keep you here long. I apologize for this, I truly do. This is not at all the way we want to welcome new metas. But we need to ensure that your condition is stable, and there are far more of you than we could ever have anticipated... This one wasn't on the books. I've got to go back to help, but I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise."
The room responds to sentient intent, materializing whatever you wish from thin air and rearranging the space to fit whatever is brought in. Before long, a massive spa-like bathroom fills the far corner. Rows and rows of doors spring up, leading to little cubbies sporting beds as soft as dreams. A chest of drawers spits out the most luxurious clothing you can imagine. Tables spring up groaning under incredible amounts of food.
Ask it and it provides. The only thing it won't give you is an exit.
The room will keep you safe from outside forces and put a cap on those new hard to control abilities. It will also stop you from killing each other, should that urge be one you struggle with. The room is attuned hostility and responds to the intent to harm. The moment you think to lash out at someone, you'll find yourself hauled away into a quiet time out corner.
Might as well grab a bite to eat and mingle a little. Ask the room for a magical puppy to pet so you can calm down a little, or ask a stranger for a nice warm hug to cope with a very strange and stressful day.
Atomight eventually returns. This time, he steps inside. Evidently, you're all safe. His smile is warm and apologetic, but he's here now to answer your questions and ask a few of his own to gain an understanding of what has happened.
WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
You're not going home anytime soon. That becomes all too clear in the hours following your arrival. Reports are coming in from across the world - dimension hoppers can't open portals back home, time travellers are temporally locked to this point in time. Something is wrong and it's going to take a little longer to fix it. A week at most, they assure you, refusing any offers for your help.
And so 24 hours after your arrival, the Guardian Alliance makes arrangements for somewhere less... well, like their gym.
The Diadem Hotel is a luxury hotel usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. It's 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 Alliance feels it only fair to offer you a little comfort on their dime. Everything is complimentary, and everyone gets an alliance credit card to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards appear to have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back.
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 latest Mystic Mike movie, a franchise wherein a fictional male stripper gets magical powers and begins fighting crime using a pole as a staff.
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.
CLIFFNOTES
Your character has been dropped into the farming city of Little Love, Kansas. Characters may lose control of their powers. You're free to destroy as much of the town as you'd like. A giant cybernetic dragon rips out of the library, freeing a ton of sci-fi infused storybook villains. The villains start destroying the already wrecked town. Characters can step up and stop them, or take advantage of the chaos to do something nefarious. The cybernetic dragon holds a magical book that is the key to releasing the characters trapped in those twisted tales. We won't be threading this battle out, but please feel free to assume it falls and 'powers down' multiple times. Characters may also get pulled into classic children's stories if they are hit with the word shower from the dragon's wings. These stories have a sci-fi twist to them. You're free to choose whichever classic tale you'd like and warp it as you go along. They'll be released from the story if they reach the proper conclusion (eg. Hanzel and Gretel escape the witch's candy spaceship) or break it in a fundamental way that means it cannot continue along the intended route (eg. you shoot the witch with a ray gun before she ever gets her hands on them). They need to get to the end of the story to escape it. Everyone will be released when the dragon is destroyed. NPCs arrive on the scene just after the dragon falls. Player characters (and the residents of the town who have gained powers) are magically transported to the Guardian Alliance's headquarters. They will be held in a magical room for a period of about a day, and then will be transitioned to the Diadem Hotel. Characters are given luxury suites at the hotel, and a credit card with an unlimited balance. They're free to mingle, eat, shop, and check out the world they've been dropped into. You can talk with Atomight here. While we will not be directly threading the encounters out, we will summarize any answers and responses he will give. The threads in this Test Drive Meme threads can/will be carried over into game canon. If you do not get a chance to tag into the test drive, don't worry! The game's opening event will be a Confluence taking place a week later.
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B
Such as the gun that had appeared to him safely hidden away in his synth leather jacket.
He should be home, with his pack. With Jenna. Instead, he found himself in yet another world, surrounded once more by complete strangers.
His eye caught something from across the room. Not entirely.
Judd slips silently through the crowd until he makes his way to where the food had materialized. If it was who he thought it was, he could have just 'pathed him from where he stood, but his time in the past world had shown him that even a familiar face could be a stranger. He had to be certain.]
David.
no subject
So you didn't make it home then. Coffee?
no subject
In truth, they should both be back with their families, Judd amongst the forest of the Sierra Nevada, David in New York. The fact that they were being held captive in this facility instead did little for his mood.
Which brings him to the actual question.]
No.
[The fact that anyone, let alone someone as smart as David, would do so is beyond him. There were so many dangers to imbibing anything in this room.]
What is your assessment of this place?
no subject
My assessment? It's a bit early for me to decide that, given I can't reach into anything here for knowledge. But right now I feel like a fish in a bowl, watched by a cat.
no subject
You aren't wrong. There's no way they aren't assessing us right now. I wouldn't be surprised if this... [he's loathe to say the word.] magic isn't another form of test. A test of integrity by seeing what is wished for and by whom.
[A bit hypocritical from the man who wished for a gun, but if their captors didn't think some of them would arm themselves, they were terrible at their jobs. It might even serve as a suitable distraction from his true designations, if they didn't have a file on him like the last place.
No, definitely no file. If they knew what their captives were capable of, they wouldn't be held here for observation.
So he at least still had the element of surprise should it be needed.]
no subject
You think they can watch that many people that minutely? That's troublesome on its own. But it does let you see something of a person and without violating mental boundaries with a telepath. No offense to telepaths, but it could be a way to satisfy their morals. That said, I doubt what we get from here will be allowed to be carried away.
[Still, he had to wonder. Was there something that could be learned about them that they weren't expecting just by watching?]
What's your read?
no subject
Not without assistance, but this world doesn't seem short on technology.
[A twitch of his lips at the comment on telepaths. He knew all too well how little morals telepaths could possess. They weren't all like his brother. Far too few were...
...himself included.]
That we are an unplanned accident that the powers of this world--or at least, this part of the country--are currently deciding if we're a threat to be eliminated, or something they can transform into assets. [A pause.] If they decide upon the latter, they're more likely to try bribery first, and should that fail, they'll turn to force.
Assets are more useful when working voluntarily, but you can still find uses for those who have no other choice than to follow orders.
[His voice maintains its cool, even tone as always, masking his true thoughts. That he was intimately familiar with both methods of persuasion, and while he wasn't proud of it, he would use either again in a heartbeat if it meant protecting his loved ones.
In that vein, he couldn't fault this Alliance for reacting the same way. It was what any sensible Psy would have done. As for the Changelings, they were extremely territorial, but he doubted any of the packs had a contingency for outsiders from another world suddenly dropping from the sky. The unofficial motto of the SnowDancers, "act first and ask questions of their corpses," would hardly apply in such a situation.
It brings up a memory of what seemed like a lifetime ago, but had only been closer to 5. One he wasn't one to talk about.]
It's exactly what SnowDancer did to me and my family.
no subject
I'm going to hope you're wrong because, well, anything else is too stressful. I think I hate that theory more than I hate how we were just short of worshiped back there.
[But to hear something like this had happened to Judd before made David frown. That wasn't fair. None of this was ever fair, was it.]
Your world was a hard one, my friend.
no subject
I will not disapprove of being incorrect in this situation. Walker, Hawke, or the other SnowDancer lieutenants might be able to see it differently and come up with a better solution, but they are all better people than me.
[Over time, they've made him a better person too. But he will always think like a soldier first. Perhaps he'll outgrow it with time, perhaps he never will. No one around him seems to mind anyone either way.
Judd wasn't going to say anything further on the subject, but he notices the look of disapproval on David's face. It makes him feel almost... obligated to defend his pack.]
Though we weren't changeling, we purposefully broke territorial law. If we were human, we perhaps would have been roughly escorted to the perimeter and warned never to return, but we were not. We were Psy, in a time before fall of Silence, when those on the Council were trying to vie for supremacy among the three races. The very idea of 5 Psy hiking through the woods was unheard of. Psy stuck to the "civilization" of cities and left nature to "the animals".
And yet 2 cardinal Psy and an Arrow suddenly appeared in their territory. The Changelings were distrustful, rightfully so.
Exactly the way Walker and I had expected they would be.
[He glances over at David.]
I don't expect you to understand, but Walker, Sienna and I went there to die. SnowDancer was known for their ruthlessness to outsiders, but were territorial of their young. We were certain they wouldn't harm Marlee or Toby on sight. At 16, we were unsure where Sierra would lie in their hierarchy, so we could only operate under the belief they would view her as an adult. Sienna knew as well. We all had no choice.
Instead, the wolves decided to use us for ransom. Unfortunately for them, there was no one who would pay for us, unless it was to put us directly back into the position we had tried to escape from. Hawke was put in a no-win position.
And he let us stay. He blooded me to Lieutenant. Brenna saved me from myself. I saw Sienna smile for the first time. Marlee and Toby are happy, with no trace of Silence remaining in either of them. Walker is mated to the pack's healer is going to be a father again.
Walking into SnowDancer territory changed our lives in ways we will never forget.
I can say with certainty had the roles been reversed and Hawke had been taken by the Arrows, we would not have been as merciful.
no subject
My people, we had conflict not just with humans, but with another group of people. They were known as the Inhumans. They had a special quirk of their genetics that, when exposed to certain mists, they went through something called Terragenesis and changed. Gained powers, changed forms, something like that. Except their mists? Fatal to humans. Because of an incident, the mists were released and young people who were known all their lives as humans discovered they weren't. But my people? We were dying. A war started over the survival of our species, until some people found a way to make peace.
no subject
He wasn't expecting that.
Because he felt David wants him to say something, he replies.]
Neither side at fault, but emotions running high all the same. And yet war could lead to the eradication of both species. [It almost reminds him of the territorial wars, where Changeling pride almost wiped them all out. It gives him another thought.] Was the arbiter an unrelated third party?
no subject
No, no arbiter. Baseline humans would have happily seen us all dead. We had to figure it out for ourselves. And it wasn't easy.
no subject
What happened?
no subject
Is that really a story you want to hear? Of war between my people and the Inhumans while the humans cheered it on, in hopes that we'd kill each other?