uploadedmeme | Test Drive

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Test Drive

TEST DRIVE 001

-TDM threads can be considered game canon if players involved agree & if it suits any roles you may decide to choose for the current plot.
-Any reserving player that does not submit an app by Saturday morning will be subject to challenging applicants.
-Participation in the Test Drive is worth a flat 10 points per month rather than per thread, and you must have a minimum of 5 comments in that month to qualify for it.
-This TDM is good for the duration of the Mist setting. A new TDM will go up before the next setting.

The NETWORK for this setting is a voice-only walkie talkie system that can be used to communicate between all locations. The default channel will be open to all walkie talkies, but characters can change to an unused channel for private conversation.
of note: There seems to be something strange about these walkie talkies, in that there is no static. The quality is disturbingly crystal clear, like the person you're speaking to is right next to you instead of miles away.

CONTENT WARNING: Some prompts contain gore, character death, and substance abuse.

Reserves will open on Saturday, September 8 until Saturday, September 15
Applications will open Saturday, September 15 until Saturday, September 22

General Prompts

The lights above you are a blindingly, pristine white. The walls around you curve up into the ceiling like the inside of an MRI machine. Your hands, feet, and midsection are strapped to a clinical table, and minutes seem to tick by, with no clear course for escape presenting itself to you.

The curved white space above you flickers with color, and a perfect square like a television screen expands before your eyes. It pans over what appears to be a town, something small and simply populated.

“Hello, and welcome to your first setting,” a neutrally cadenced feminine sounding voice begins, riding the line between human and machine. As she speaks, captions of the text type themselves in neat and perfect Arial font. “The location is loosely based off Bridgton, Maine, United States of America, Earth. The year is 2007. You have been selected to participate. Obedience ensures an enjoyable and immersive experience for our audience. If you have been granted a role, instructions will follow. Do not talk about the role. Do not attempt disobedience. If you have not been granted a role, your objective for this round is simple: survive.”

After that, the shackles may release promptly and allow your character to roam free. Or perhaps not — perhaps they've been given a role to play, and if so, further instructions will play out upon the screen. Once suitably briefed, characters will be released to their own devices. Beware the mist.

CHECK OUT THE CURRENT SETTING PAGE FOR DETAILS ABOUT THE LOCATION.

learn from the mistakes of others

A pair of unperturbed mall inhabitants decide to chance the mist. They're the first of a handful to trickle out the front doors, and they seem to get by just fine. About a minute ticks by, and they disappear completely into the dense fog that presses in from every direction. It's so anticlimactic that for a moment it almost seems stupid to feel uncomfortable by the sight of it.

Until precisely one half of a body is hurled abruptly and with great force from an indeterminate point in the obscurity. It's not a top half or a bottom half; no, it's a cleanly sliced left half, head to toe as though a neat line were cut down the middle. It slams into the transparent glass doors and crumples before them, still and obviously unmoving, slowly leaking.

After a few seconds, a dark tendril of something reaches out, curls around the jutting left ankle, and drags it with painstaking slowness back into the fog.

At least the rest of them probably made it, right?

Right?

Hopefully you weren't one of the others to follow their lead. If you were, that dark shape seems to be closing in awfully quick.

eff this, let's bounce

A pair of car keys can be found discarded or perhaps dropped in their owners' haste. Braving the mist when it's at its lightest and pressing the key fob will cause a car to beep politely, flashing lights to indicate its location in the fog. Take anyone willing to go with you and pile in. Try to get the hell out of dodge!

An excellent idea....

Within five miles of the car's journey the battery will die and the engine will stall. Consider yourselves effectively stranded and with no one but yourselves to blame. Perhaps help will come if you wait long enough? Hours, surely no more than a few days... Maybe you should consider braving the fog to get back? Five miles can feel like a hundred in conditions like these.

Either way, it seems like you're trapped in the car for about as long as R. Kelly got trapped in the closet during that one unfortunate CD.

radio chatter

Characters in the library and the church will be able to communicate via walkie talkie radio chatter immediately! Characters in the mall will not have this ability until later in the month, so any network style threads with a mall character will take place during Week Two of the October plot or later, after most people have already been fully introduced to the setting and given time to adapt.

Roles

Employee of the Month (Multiple)

Some characters will be printed wearing a designated kiosk uniform, their name sloppily stickered in slightly crooked letters onto a Dippin' Dots badge, or whatever store they may happen to be assigned to. The cool voice that introduces them to the mist will carry on to tell them that they'll be playing employee # _____ in this month's immersive experience. Their motivations and objectives are simple: go to work.

Except the role seems to be bugged, because they can never not go to work. If they leave the five or six foot radius of their designated post they'll begin to experience consequences, which worsen in severity based on distance and duration. The role doesn't end at mall closing, it doesn't end on Saturdays, it simply doesn't end. Hopefully next month's code push will have a bug fix; we apologize for the inconvenience.

(If choosing to keep these threads as game canon, the role will wear off within the first in-game week)

Aggravated Assault

Congratulations, participant! You will be playing the role of a CONVICTED FELON having recently been released on parole. Your motivation for this month's immersive experience is frustration. Having undergone hard time, you'll find that we have increased your aggression and temper characteristics, and lowered your inhibitions. Your objective is to find and begin an altercation with Snuff the Rooster, who will be playing the role of the person who turned you in, NARK. Your altercation must take place in a public space with witnesses, and may not stop until Snuff the Rooster is unconscious, evicted from the mall, or someone intervenes.

Thank you for your participation!

Consequences for not completing the objective in this role can be moderate to severe.

Snuff the Rooster

Congratulations, participant! You will be playing the role of NARK. Formerly a close friend and ally of CONVICTED FELON from Aggravated Assault, you were quick to roll on them during police questioning in exchange for your freedom. Your motivation is to turn over a new leaf, and get your shit together. Your objective is to survive the altercation.

Thank you for your participation!

The Lovers (Duo Role)

Congratulations, participant! You will be playing one half of a partnership role! Please seek out (character 2). Your motivation this round is love, and the need to protect your partner from threats both inside and outside of the mall. Your objectives is to greet your lover with a kiss and place them above all others. Do not act like strangers.
Consequences for not completing the objective in this role or failing to present a convincing couple can be mild to moderate.

Pathological

Congratulations, participant! You will be playing a background character in our current setting. Your motivation is to tell lies; at least one third of what you say must be unarguably untrue. Your objective is to keep these lies from being discovered as false.
Consequences for not complying with this role can vary from mild to severe, with the compulsion to tell larger and larger lies growing as time goes on.

Scared Speechless

Congratulations, participant! You will be playing a background character in our current setting. You may choose one person, stranger or otherwise. This is the only person you may communicate with, either verbally or through writing.
Consequences for not complying with this role are severe.

Glitches

potency error

Someone seems to have miscalculated the relative strength of intoxicants; all inhibition-altering substances seem to have been cranked up to eleven. One shot has the strength of three, though the taste seems to stay exactly the same. One or two drinks will quickly creep up on you. One of the joints found discarded in the bathroom trashcans will easily green you out. God forbid you've got anything stronger.

greatest movie of all time

Settling in to the relatively nice theater found at the far end of the mall is a decent way to make the time go by. The projectors are automated, and there are six different theaters that show flicks at scheduled times.

Except that every single one of them is showing Spider-Man 3. Every single one, every single showing, no matter what is advertised, becomes Spider-Man 3. That's how you know this is a horror game. Hope you didn't wander in by mistake because the doors will shut behind you and leave you to watch the entire showing. Please keep your feet off of the seats.

please replace toner cartridge

It seems there was an error in printing someone this first time around; everything came through but the visuals somehow. Your character is flesh and blood, fully formed, wearing tangible clothes even, but are completely invisible. Donning additional clothing causes it to clip out and then promptly disappear. Taking clothes off will cause them to reappear. Hopefully this gets fixed in the next lite patch.

(If choosing to keep these threads as game canon, the glitch will wear off within the first in-game week)

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's good to hear another voice and to talk a bit more openly about how messed up this whole situation is. The pointless smalltalk of his role got old fast.]

"It should be closed." [He peers up over the countertop again in the direction of the glass doors. He couldn't quite tell through the faint traces of mist starting.]

"No one would want to watch the day I've had. So, what the hell's going to happen next?" [Paranoia sets in. It was bad enough to be trapped at a single point. What if he was trapped in that point and now something was going to happen with him? Something someone wanted to watch?]

I just want to find out how I was brought here.

[ Not that she particularly sees any reason to go back. ]

Otherwise, I don't see any reason to stick around. I'm going to take this car I'm in and get the hell away. Far as I can.

You managed to get outside? [He sounds surprised, as stupid as it seems. He realizes it sounds stupid, though, so he quickly explains:]

If I get more than a couple feet away from this stupid station I feel like I'm going to die.

I threw up... something that didn't look like anything I ate. [and it made him feel a little queasy remembering] If someone hadn't helped me back, I don't think I could have made it. I can't imagine how bad it would feel if I tried to get out to the parking lot.

I'm in a car. I don't know if I can get out to look at the engine though, and it's not moving.

[ Her voice shows her frustration with this situation. But she definitely doesn't want to end up like the guy she's talking to. ]

I found the keys to the car, and the lights flashed when I hit the button the key ring, but it won't start.

[They're all allowed to be frustrated, even if it only builds the sort of tension in the air.]

"I wouldn't know the first thing about getting a car to start... Maybe someone else listening can."

[He'd overheard his fair share of conversations. There were people all over, apparently. There was a world outside this mall. He just didn't get to explore it for now.]

"What's it like out there?"

Oh, I know how to fix it, I just don't know about being outside that long. Because it is a freakshow out here.

I think...people are dying out here. But I can't see much.

[People are dying out there. So, that was what the hell would happen next. If the mist was starting to creep in here, then would that start happening here, too? Was that the show? What about his stupid role? Was he safe because he was employee #649 or was he some sort of cannon fodder in a horror movie? There's a long pause.]

"Yeah... yeah, definitely stay in the car, then." [he swallows, trying to keep the uncertainty out of his tone] "Maybe it'll clear out in a bit?"

[That's too optimistic. Especially since, if it was coming into the mall, the parking lot wasn't going to clear out for a while.]

I don't know, but the next time the mist clears up a bit I'm running the hell back to the mall.

Hey, can I ask you something? Are you from this planet?

[He makes a face. What sort of question is that?]

You mean Earth?

I'm not from America or whatever this place is supposed to be but, yeah, same planet. [The ridiculous nature of the question lets him act a little more normal, less influenced by the creeping mist and dread.]

Earth, yeah. The civilization I'm from originated on Earth but I'm not from there.

Sorry for the weird question. I'm just trying to figure something out about who's being chosen for this whole thing.

"So you're an alien?" [Or... just a space human?]

"No way have we gotten far enough in space travel to have a whole other civilization out there." [But, then again, the space they were in wasn't exactly accurate either. It was further back in time. Well, things just got more complicated.]

Not an alien.

[ Which is sort of glossing over exactly what she is but she doesn't feel like explaining about AIs work. Besides, she doesn't know what she's doing in an actual body. ]

But where I'm from, Earth started colonizing planets about 300 years ago.

[Well, that's a hell of a time gap.]

"Huh." [There's a long pause there. So, in 300 years they'd all be in space? Well, not him specifically, but,]

"That's useful to know, I guess." [Or not really but it was still comforting to actually talk with someone and get responses with minimal hesitation.] "I guess even if you had some space weapon they wouldn't have put you in here with it."

Why, would you be worried about me using it?

[ She sounds vaguely amused at that. ]

With the stuff I've been seeing through the fog, I'd rather have something like that, to be honest.

"No, it'd be way too easy if you had that." [He's a bit of a pessimist but if something's killing people out there he's assuming it would get used for defense rather than murdering a poor, innocent part time employee.]

"I guess, since there is some audience, they want it to be a good show. Maybe, like, with a dramatic soundtrack attached to it or something." [It's a stupid idea but it's humorous enough to take a bit of the edge off.]

"I'll let you know if I start hearing scare chords in the mall."

You know, I think you're probably right.

[ It's a thought she finds disturbing, so she doesn't dwell on it long. ]

I think I'm going to try making a break back to the mall now.

[People were dying out in the mist, there were actual aliens and/or space travel, and whoever put them here was probably enjoying it. That's more than enough for him to think of, trapped at his station all night.]

"Got it." [He's not sure if he'd have the courage in the same situation. He doesn't like that.]

"... Let me know when you make it. I'll treat you to something at the food court of something. Do they have pretzels in space?"

I've never had a mall food court pretzel, but they do exist in space.

If I make it, I'll come down to join you.

"I'd say you're not missing much but...." [Then it's not exactly incentive to get back, is it? And he'd really prefer that to the opposite, even if it's someone he's just talked to over the radio.]

"You've got to at least try one. See you when you get here."

[When, not if. Maybe not the most realistic but he's like, 15, cut him some slack.]

All right then. I'll be the blonde in the leather jacket, just so you know.

[ She clicks the radio off then, not giving any kind of farewell— because she's coming, not going, of course. She'll be there. At some point.

In the end it's nearly half an hour before she arrives at the food court, but she makes it. She looks around for a moment, then calls out in a raised tone: ]

Hey! Who's the kid who was talking to me on the radio?

[Shinso kills time for a half hour. He's not sure if the person he talked to over the radio will show up or not. He just has to assume she will. It's kind of a relief to hear the voice out from over the food court.]

Here. [He leans out from his station. He's- well, he's definitely a kid. He's a teenager dressed in the store apron and looking very disheveled.]

Took you long enough. [that's deadpan teenager for "glad you're alive"]

Eh, well, I stopped to put my face on.

[ This is not true&mdmash;Tex is clearly not wearing any makeup, and wouldn't know how to put it on had she been asked to try. ]

So you're stuck here in the pretzel stand, huh? Are they any good?

[It's not like Shinso would know either- but he gets the point. They've exchanged snarky commentaries.]

They're not bad. I had a girl here earlier who said she was from the 1920's. They were pretty impressive to her.

[So, like, different strokes for different folks.]

You can judge for yourself, if you want. It's after hours so I don't think you have to pay or anything.

[During the day, he was more beholden to the strict rules of his job. Attempting to break them gave him terrible headaches. At least, even if he couldn't leave, he didn't have to be a "good employee" at night.]

I would never turn down free food.

[ Free anything, really—if she doesn't have to spend her own money, then she's happy. Especially seeing as how she doesn't have money at all here.

She looks over the signboard above his head. ]

I'll take a garlic pretzel with cheese, I suppose.

[Despite it being after-hours he still sort of instinctively grabs it for her. If he didn't, he'd be subjected to a huge headache just from the memories. Once it's handed over, though, he can refocus on what's important:]

So, what's out there? Were you able to see anything?

Test Drive

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