Test Drive

[uploadedmods]

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

Comments

katsuya suou | persona 2 | ryslig crau

[catsuya]

[NOTE: The premise of Ryslig is that characters who arrive there gradually transform into one of a variety of monsters and gain the need to feed on humans every so often, or risk losing their mind to hunger. Katsuya was there long enough to become fully transformed, so there will likely be references to past/current cannibalism and similar levels of gore/violence and body horror in his threads. Please let me know if you'd rather I avoid such topics when tagging you!]

[ arrival ]

[Katsuya wanders around the mall in a daze, as he has ever since he woke up in that strange, clinical hallway to cheerfully recited instructions. This isn't like any place or situation he's ever been in before. And it's alarming, to be sure, but there is one thing above everything else that makes an impression:

He's human again.

Well, almost. There are the vestiges of claws on his fingertips, his teeth are larger and sharper than any human's have ever been, and he can feel a dusting of claws around his cheekbones and on the back of his neck (thankfully largely covered by his hair) and who knows where else. And his eyesight is perfectly fine, despite his glasses, so it stands to reason those are unchanged from what they were.

But... he can pass, better than he's been able to in--it feels like years, though he knows it's been months. It won't last, of course. He can still feel the edges of that gnawing hunger deep in his gut, but it's not to critical levels yet--he can have this for at least a little while.

The first thing he does, before investigating in earnest, is go into a clothing store and borrow some sunglasses and a pair of gloves. He says a silent apology to whoever owns the place, promising to pay them back as soon as he can, but this is an emergency. He tells himself it's for everyone else as much as him: if they aren't used to monsters then it's more responsible for him not to alarm them.

That's what he tells himself. But the truth is he could cry with relief.]

[ ~*the lovers*~ (closed to the major) ]

[The strange voice had said: You will be playing one half of a partnership role. Please seek out Motoko Kusanagi. Your motivation this round is love, and the need to protect your partner from threats both inside and outside of the mall.

Which is absolutely the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard. What on earth is the point of playacting in a situation like this? Still, it could be some sort of hint, and if this Motoko Kusanagi is another abductee like he is, then there is no harm in seeking her out. It is his duty to protect civilians, and at any rate he has no other leads.

But finding her is another story; it's not like they all have nametags he can investigate. He'll just have to make sure he gets an introduction from everyone he meets until he finds her.

Simple. Totally not awkward at all.]

[ the mistakes of others, or: that sure is a convenient dead body right there (cw: references to cannibalism ]

[It's a testament to how much he's changed in the past several months that the quandary before him is more logistical than ethical.

He can feel the hunger still lurking beneath the surface. He'll need to eat eventually, and this person is already dead. His stomach turns over at the idea, the way it always does, but--it would be a waste not to, wouldn't it? If he takes advantage, he can stave off feeding again for the next month, maybe more.

You were a police officer, his mind screams at him. This was a person. They deserve justice; they deserve a dignified death. You can't seriously be thinking about this. But if nothing else, he's learned that struggling against the inevitable only makes it worse in the end.

So the question becomes how to do this discreetly; there's a panicky knot of people around the body, because of course there is, and he can't just walk up and take it away. He hates lying this way, but perhaps he can take care of two birds with one stone.

He strides with purpose through the crowd, stopping between them and... what's left of the body.]

We need to get this out of sight. Can someone help me move this until we can contact the proper authorities?

[...What authorities, Katsuya.]

[ potency error ]

[He'd also pocketed a pack of cigarettes when he encountered a drugstore. This mall doesn't seem to have much in the way of smoking areas--an American conceit, as he understands it--and the mist makes going outside... tricky, so he keeps to an out of the way corner to calm his nerves.

He's halfway through the second one when he realizes something is wrong. A split second after that he's vomiting into the nearest potted plant--at least he'd avoided the floor, easier to clean up this way--and has to kneel on the floor, fending off a pounding headache.

Maybe it's a side effect of... however they were all transported here, but it hasn't happened to anyone else that he's seen. Was it the cigarettes...? Were they maybe laced with something?

Either way, when he shakily gets back to his feet, he puts what's left of it out and doesn't light another one. No Thank You.]

[ wildcard ]

[Investigate the situation with a neurotic ex-monster cop! The buddy cop adventure of the century! Hit me up at cerebrah or on Discord (available on request) if you want to work out something else.]

Lovers, of course!

[majormalfunction]

[She's barely gotten here and already she's at the end of her rope. She can't exactly rule out a hack but it sorry of seems that the entire place is designed to test her patience. Or maybe she's just easily annoyed. Whichever. If only anyone was brave enough to say that to her face.

She can't get that stupid message out of her head either, although the mysterious entity behind it hadn't exactly been forthcoming on how she's supposed to locate this person. Katsuya Suou. Japanese, at least. That's one thing in common.

The longer she goes without finding him, though, the more...off she feels. She hasn't been able to get sick for decades and she can't even describe the feeling anymore. Achey, maybe? Nauseous might be a good word, too.

And then yet another person approaches and she almost gets annoyed until she hears him give his name. Then she gets angry but squashes it. It's hardly his fault, is it?]

Kusanagi. I take it you're looking for someone?

[catsuya]

[He blinks with surprise behind his sunglasses, and then awkwardly clears his throat.]

Motoko Kusanagi? I believe I... I believe I'm looking for you.

[Then he hesitates, visibly. The message had said that they... well, among other things, not to act like strangers, which might explain the sudden flash of dizziness he'd felt at saying that.

It had also said they needed to greet with a kiss, and he finds himself just hanging there dumbly, not able to take the initiative.

What should he say? What should he do? He can't just kiss her. That would be inappropriate.

The dizziness evolves into faint nausea the longer he hesitates, but that just makes him want to do this less. He'd never been good at acting at the best of times, and certainly not in... scenarios like these.]

Um. I've been, um. Looking all over for you, I mean.

[Yeah, his floundering is not going to get any better.]

[majormalfunction]

[She has to actively resist the urge to roll her eyes--really has he never had a girlfriend before--and she hesitates for a moment to try and judge how well he's going to take this or if his head will explode before she leans over and kisses him herself without so much as a single reservation about it. Problem solved.]

You too, dear. [She's never called anyone that and it probably shows. Oh well. At least the nausea is starting to subside.]

Where have you been?

[catsuya]

[He sure hasn't!! Or not a serious one, at least. Accordingly he goes beet red when she kisses him and stays that way even after she steps back.

He also may or may not be addressing the floor.]

Just--just investigating. W-We must have gotten separated. I'm, um, so glad I found you. Are you all right?

[This is all so convincing.]

[majormalfunction]

[Wow. He's acting like an embarrassed child who's encountered girls for the first time. Motoko raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest but says nothing. She can't, really, unless she wants to feel terrible again.]

I suppose so. I'm fine, but I'm not sure everyone else can say the same. What about you?

[catsuya]

[It's just not proper to behave this way with complete strangers, okay, and them being under some kind of duress doesn't comfort him much. Still, at least this is moving into less... affectionate territory, and it's easier to slip into a detective persona like he's giving a case briefing.]

The mist itself seems to be dangerous; I've seen a few people try to explore with... fatal results. [Putting it mildly.]

I've asked around some, but the people here don't seem to know any more than we do. Though some are more... articulate than others.

[majormalfunction]

[Everyone's a stranger at first. At least they're past the awkward bit up front.]

I think it's less the mist itself and more something hiding in it. The bodies I've seen were... disturbing, at best. [If she were back in Japan, her entire unit would be on high alert. But they'd also have all their cyberbodies' functionality and they could maybe do something about it.]

I can't even think of what would be able to cause damage like that and I'm not sure I want to find out right now.

[catsuya]

[He can't quite hide a squirm of discomfort. It isn't that he sympathizes with whatever's hiding in the mist, exactly, but... well. He can't help but wonder at the possible similarities.

It's only lucky that he somehow managed to look human this time around.]

Is it possible they can be communicated with? [A long shot, but...]

[majormalfunction]

To be honest, I haven't tried. And I don't you'll find anyone who has. Or who's survived to tell the rest of us.

[It seems to get that whatever is out there is more the type to rip people in half first and talk later ]

What would we even say? "Could you kindly stop murdering people?"

[catsuya]

[He sighs. Of course Motoko is right, and it was a stupid thing to bring up. He just felt obligated to suggest it, at least.

Now on to the next idea.]

So then what? We can't get rid of the danger without exploring the mist ourselves.

haha hey buddy one man's garbage, am i right?

[trettende]

You're absolutely right.

[ A concerned voice seconds Katsuya's comment. You know all you have to do is ask, pal. For all their animosity, a quick con is barely a favor. Hans is great at making bodies disappear, or at the very least, finding the "proper" places to dispose of such things. Even here, his easy charm had made his particular problem a simple thing to manage. Of course, being a vampire helps. ]

We can't risk letting children see this. This poor soul deserves some respect.

[ And hey, since no one else is stepping forward -- why not Hans? ]

Please. Allow me.

[catsuya]

[Hans. Of course, Katsuya shouldn't be surprised to find he isn't the only one here. Katsuya can only feel a weird mix of irritation and... relief, actually, to find someone he recognizes and can marginally tolerate.

Definitely would not have been his first choice, however. And the fact that Hans probably knows exactly what he's doing makes him burn with shame.

Katsuya pretends not to recognize him and bends over the body rather than meet his eyes.]

Just to get it out of sight of the crowd. We might be able to examine it, figure out what did this.

["""Examine""" it.]

[ the mistakes of others, or: you definitely want your little brother to see this, right? ]

[motorcycle_noises]

[ That sure is half a body lying on the ground.

Tatsuya's definitely seen dead bodies before— he's caused a few, though none with this sort of horrific precision. He's instantly on alert, eyeing that mist and trying to figure out what kind of risks there are, if anything will come surging from it to attack them all. He's ignoring the body— and the panicking knot of people around it— right until he hears some authoritative words:

"Can someone help me move this until we can contact the proper authorities?"

And the world drops out from beneath him. It's a voice he'd never expected to hear again, once he'd left to rejoin the Other Side. It's— ]

Nii-san?

rubs my face all over this like a weird cat

[catsuya]

[It's a sound so foreign at this point he almost dismisses it out of hand as a hallucination. It wouldn't be the first time, honestly, that he thought he'd heard Tatsuya's voice in a crowd only to find thin air--it was something he'd hoped and dreaded to hear for real in recent months, in equal measure.

But this time, when he glances offhand at the source--Tatsuya is there.

Katsuya goes numb. Dimly, he can still hear the cacophony of the chattering crowd, he's aware of the sensation of blood draining from his face, his jaw hanging open. His body is moving without him telling it to: mechanically, he grabs Tatsuya by the arm and drags him to the side, out of the spotlight, to the confusion of the people he was addressing--all forgotten just that quickly.

When they're out of sight, Katsuya grips Tatsuya by the shoulders and just stares at him, still not quite processing what he's seeing; all his previous momentum is gone and he's frozen. There are so many things he wants to say, what the hell are you doing here chief among them, but his mouth isn't working.

And then, finally, he pulls Tatsuya into a desperate hug, burying his face in Tatsuya's shoulder, and he doesn't have enough pride or energy to keep from crying.

It's been months. He'd long since given up hope of ever seeing his little brother again.]

[motorcycle_noises]

[ The reaction from Tatsuya is delayed. There's a number of things he never would've expected out of this interaction, but first and foremost is probably his older brother crying into his shoulder. There's a moment where he just stands there in shock before his arms move almost mechanically and he returns the hug. It's tentative, hesitant— he doesn't know what to do with this, but he's here for Katsuya.

It's not that he hadn't missed Katsuya: He had, fiercely so. But it had only been a day by his own measurement, and his brother had the Other Tatsuya (his Tatsuya) to keep him company in the new world, and again.... It had been a day.

But he's not blind to the pain his brother is in, and the grip of his return hug steadily grows firmer. ]

Are you... okay?

[catsuya]

[It's enough to make Katsuya let go of him and step back. This is getting out of hand--there should never be a situation where Tatsuya is the one needing to comfort him. He straightens up, takes a deep breath, and clears his throat before wiping his eyes as mildly as he can manage.

He hopes Tatsuya doesn't glimpse their strange color beneath his (black, unusually) sunglasses, hopes he didn't feel Katsuya's claws beneath the gloves.

He remembers, from Baofu's brief visit, that it's likely Tatsuya had no idea he was missing, and may even be from the future from Katsuya's perspective. Katsuya will need to tread carefully so as not to alarm him.]

Y-Yes, of course. It's just... surprising to see you here.

[motorcycle_noises]

[ Tatsuya hasn't noticed the unusual characteristics yet, was too busy being derailed by the surprise of seeing Katsuya again. It's likely Katsuya won't stay lucky for long— Tatsuya's already starting to recover from the shock— but he's safe for now. ]

I... wasn't expecting to see you either.

[ He pulls his zippo from his pocket and flicks it open and shut as he considers how much of an understatement that was.

He doesn't usually confront Katsuya, doesn't usually push him. But there's something wrong, something he can't put his finger on, and despite the strained relationship they'd had in the past, he still cares. ]

Are you sure you're okay?

[catsuya]

Yes, I'm fine. I'm just tired. Don't read too much into it.

[The old snap comes back into his voice, and internally Katsuya winces, but maybe in this case pissing Tatsuya off is better than the alternative. It's normal, and familiar, and maybe it'll get him not to ask questions.

He lets out another slow breath, and runs a hand through his hair. It's messier than normal, too; he'd stopped caring so much about appearances once it became impossible to pass for human anymore, but now he can again and he's only now realizing how unkempt it's become.

Suddenly self-conscious, he crosses his arms for some illusion of togetherness.]

I'd ask how you're here, but I assume it's the same answer as everyone else. [He pauses, then says, warningly:] You haven't been into the mist, have you?

[motorcycle_noises]

[ Why is he like this?

It shouldn't be a surprise, really, that Katsuya is still singularly capable of making Tatsuya go from zero to pissed in less than five second, but here they are. The scowl he levels at his brother is fierce and annoyed and probably nothing Katsuya isn't long-since used to out of him. ]

Of course I haven't. I've got better sense than that.

[ Even if a small, spiteful part of him was tempted to charge into it just to see Katsuya's reaction— but it's not worth dying over. ]

[catsuya]

[Katsuya nods sharply, which is probably the most approval Tatsuya is used to getting from him.] Good. Make sure you keep it that way. There are... things in the mist.

[And it's my responsibility to keep you from harm, he doesn't say.]

You should find somewhere safe to stay until we can figure out what's going on here.

[motorcycle_noises]

[ Tatsuya gives Katsuya in incredulous look. ]

You don't seriously think I'm going to do that, do you?

[ He was more than willing to fight Katsuya on this— there's no way he's going to just stand back while something strange is going on. Even if this wasn't the same problems he'd faced before... He just didn't have it in him to hunker down and wait it out. ]

[catsuya]

[It's so easy to fall back into old patterns. They've only been speaking for minutes, for the first time in months from Katsuya's perspective, and already a frustration headache is blossoming behind his eyes.]

You'll do it because it's the sensible thing to do. I can't be looking after you and investigating this at the same time. I can trust you to behave responsibly on your own, can't I?

The mistakes of others

[lochnessamonster]

[It’s not that Vanessa isn’t used to the strange and unusual. Actually, she’s well-acquainted with the strange and unusual. Probably (definitely) more so than the average person. But this whole thing is off the charts bizarro-world.

Strangely enough, a dead body, even one that barely resembles a human being anymore, is something tangible she can grasp. That most outside wouldn’t do anything but slip
Through her fingers. Whatever’s in the mist is dark shapes and strange noises. Comparatively, this is easy.

She’d gone to get garment bags from a nearby clothing store — there probably wasn’t a person anywhere who’d expected them to be used like this — and comes up behind Katsuya with a slightly grossed-out but steely and determined expression, unzipping one of the bags.]

“I brought these. Figured it’d keep the next person from stumbling over it.”

[It, because it was hard to think of the remains as a person.]

i am so sorry about the delay!!!

[catsuya]

"Thank you." He looks her in the eyes as he says it, so that she knows he sincerely appreciates her effort as a civilian. Not that he's a police officer here.

Still, he's trained to deal with cases like these... and by now would be used to them even if he hadn't. This women has not. Ostensibly.

It's not exactly protocol, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of security here... and this way it will be easier to discreetly move the corpse elsewhere, so he can't really complain. Either way, as he moves to kneel next to the remains, he's glad he's wearing gloves.

"Try to keep your distance. It's... an unpleasant sight."