dankmemes | Test Drive Meme #40

Entry tags:

!test drive

Test Drive Meme #40

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open January 24th, and apps are open February 1st. Please remember that there is an app cap of 20 apps.

Two quick points here as well:
1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: SLURP SLURP
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

What's that on the ceiling? Who's that skittering along the wall? Why, it's none other than the the Licker, from the Resident Evil series.

The licker crawls around on walls and ceilings and can easily avoid all attacks with their creepy crawly acrobatics. Watch out for those tongues, though- they can whip you with them and catch you off balance. They love waiting in dark corners to jump at you and slash you with their oversized claws, as seen here. Luckily, their brains are exposed and they're quite blind- move quietly and avoid their notice, or attack them in their weak spot to get away safely. Be careful though, they tend to travel in packs...]

T R A N Q U I L I T Y

SCENARIO TWO: CABIN IN THE WOODS
[It's nice outside. There's a heat to the air that permeates through the muggy interior of the cabin, but at night, it's cool enough that you can relax and see all the stars in the sky. The hot tub is a nice contrast to the chilly night air and the possibilities are practically limitless!

So cook something up on the grill, go hunting, or just relax and definitely don't get murdered, because you do happen to have a bit of an odd cabin mate. Why are the two of you sharing this cabin? Well, that's up for you to decide, but whether you're close friends who decided to take a vacation together or random strangers stuck together by circumstances, you're here for awhile so you might as well take the time to relax and get to know one another up here in these mountains!]

R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: MONSTER HOUSE
[It seems like you've just misplaced a few items at first- but after awhile, it becomes apparent that the items are misplacing themselves. Weird, right?

Maybe not that weird, because soon afterward, items of all shames and sizes start to move around, now well within sight. Their intent is clearly to annoy or even harm you, depending on how dangerous the item is... maybe a deathly pair of pants, to a set of keys that keeps running away from you, to a house consumed with the desire to- well, consume you.

Be careful of everything, be suspicious of items that may be trying to lure you in with their stillness, and have fun! This event is based on Hadriel's It's Aliiiive! event this month.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Oh. Shit.... Drake is more upset by the fact he woke her than the gun pointed at him, honestly. He lifts both hands to show he isn't going to reach for his own sidearm, or the axe that hangs from his other hip. When the blanket falls away her armor isn't quite what he expected but it is familiar, and he's pretty sure that gun is Ephemera's, not just the same model. Okay. She's definitely not a squatter or anything, he brought her home (probably because she's from his world) but forgot to tell her someone else lived here, maybe didn't realize she'd be asleep for so long, something like that. No big deal. He can get out of this without getting shot. ]

My name's Drake, I live here too. Ephemera didn't mention me? If he's home he can clear all this up.

[ His expression softens a little when he realizes how long she must've been asleep. What happened to her to wipe her out so badly? ]

You don't have to sleep in your armor here, you know. It's safe enough in the housing most of the time. I had to talk him out of living in his, too, when we first showed up.

Prefer it if you didn't shoot him, kid.

[ Ephemera steps into the room casually, hands at his sides. He's out of armor and dressed in civilian clothes, jeans and a sweatshirt, both flecked with paint. Should've called Drake to give him a heads up, yeah, but it's too late to regret that now. Gotta deal with the situation in front of them. His voice is calm, and there's no tension in his shoulders. Silva - or should he call her Chyler? - is well trained. Strong trigger discipline. She won't shoot unless she's given a reason to. ]

This is Drake. We live together. I should've mentioned that earlier, and I'm sorry. You still hungry? I was gonna put some coffee on.

[ Chyler lowers her weapon now that she has no reason to keep it at the ready.

She sheds the blanket and stands, reengaging the safety and snugging the gun back into the holster at her thigh. It fits, barely. The holster wasnt made for the model Ephemera gave her, but it serves.

An awkward moment, and then, to Drake: ]

I apologize.

[ She looks Ephemera's way. ] Coffee would be wonderful, thank you.

[ Drake just smiles, looking completely unbothered by the gun in his face... that happens to him a lot. ]

And I'm sorry I woke you. I'd come shake your hand but....

[ He glances at his palms as he lowers them from the 'look I'm harmless' stance; they're pretty bloody. ]

Once he stitches me up, we can worry about manners. What's your name?

[ 'Kid' isn't going to suffice. ]

Aw, shit.

[ Ephemera hurries over for a closer look, frowning at the cuts. They're bleeding more than he'd like, but they look manageable. Still - ]

Coffee might have to wait a few minutes. Let me get the first aid kit. Don't kill each other.

[ The last part is said with a faint smile, something to lighten the mood. Ephemera isn't worried about it. Drake's solid and Ephemera has a good feeling about the kid. She can introduce herself, in the meantime. [

[ Chyler's not sure what it says, that she hadn't even really noticed the blood Drake is covered in. She looks down at herself, realizing she's smeared with dried gore. She probably got it on the couch and the blanket, too.

She'll just have to help clean it up, that's all. There's nothing else she can do.

In answer to Drake: ] Freshman Cadet Chyler Silva.

[ And then she stands there at a loss for several seconds, because somehow, in the past twenty-four hours, she's forgotten how to talk to people. There's been running, screaming, shouted orders, but no conversations. Nothing but the essentials. She's not sure how to switch back from that, to chat with someone when outside this door, outside this city, this place, everything she's ever known has been turned upside down and inside out.

She says the first thing that comes to mind. ]

An axe isn't particularly efficient.

Oh, we're being formal -- Drake Holloway, Seattle PD. You're UNSC?

[ He asks like he's not certain, like he's guessing, which implies he's probably never been one of them. Just knows enough to recognize them. Since Ephemera's gone to fetch the first aid kit he comes closer to disarm himself on the dining room table -- the axe and sidearm are set down, then he's pulling off his shirt for a better view of where the licker's tongue slashed him. Despite how deep they seem, they aren't bleeding all that much. Only bled as much as they did because he was still fighting, still keyed up on adrenaline. Now that his pulse is back down it's all but slowed to a stop. Strange.

Chyler's comment about his choice of weapon has him laughing, the sound soft and amused. ]

You're not the first one to have said that. But this guy over here suggested it when I showed up without any weapons at all, and I got attached. Ammo's hard to come by -- I've learned a few other weapons, too, though.

Edited 2019-01-23 17:46 (UTC)

You say that now, [ Ephemera drawls, returning with the first aid kit. There's no hesitation in the way he and Drake move around each other. It's easy, thoughtless. Ephemera hums to himself, reaching out to bump his forehead against Drake's briefly, before opening the kit. It's a quick, intimate gesture. Something only the two of them do. ] But everything's got its use. Even armor like mine is vulnerable to a strike from close quarters, if you can hit hard enough. Sometimes old weapons work even better than a gun.

[ It was one of his captain's earliest lessons. Never underestimate the past, or its weapons. There's a reason the Covenant still uses swords. Laser swords, sure, but still. ]

Kid's a good shot, [ he adds, starting work on the deepest of the cuts. Drake heals fast, but it doesn't hurt to get things stitched up. Speed up the process, make everything smoother. ] Never ran with anybody outta the academies, but I heard they're rough. Survival of the fittest and all that.

Hubris. [ It's said quietly, with Chyler looking blankly at a spot on the wall. She blinks, coming back to herself, watching the pair of them as Ephemera goes to work. ] I've only been trained with knives. Nothing with the kind of weight that can do real damage to armor.

[ She glances down at her useless rifle. A knife would be worth finding.

After a moment's hesitation, she starts unstrapping her armor. She lifts the breast and back plates over her head and sets them gently next to her boots, revealing the Corbulo Academy t-shirt she was wearing when it all went bad. ]

Yes, I'm UNSC. And they're meant to be rough. They should be. If we're meant to fight, never mind win-- [ Her pale skin goes waxy white as she thinks about the bodies of Marines mixed with the white uniforms of cadets. She clears her throat. ] If we're meant to make any kind of difference, the weakest parts of ourselves need to be ground down and broken off. A warrior is only as good as the officer in command, and Corbulo is for the best of the best.

[ SCHOOL PRIDE. ]

[ Interesting, Drake thinks, Ephemera would show any affection in front of a stranger, even briefly. He lets it happen, unbothered himself, then holds very still for the medical attention. Chyler will notice he's tough -- doesn't watch but doesn't complain either, not even a hiss as the needle pierces his skin over and over again. She'll have to watch close to see his face twitch at the pain, the only giveaway that he's having wounds cleaned and stitched up. ]

It won't damage the armor but if you aim right, a knife can do damage to the person in it. Right in the joints, the neck, like that. But most of the stuff we fight here isn't in gear. I'd rather face a whole bunch of what usually comes through the door than go for more than a spar with someone in power armor. No contest.

[ He isn't certain what to make of her next statement. About how she goes pale thinking about whatever it is they're fighting against... probably the Covenant, right? With that expression? Drake knows the stories, and how Hadriel pulls people from all through time and space. Unless she's from the future instead, and something worse happens. He's not sure how to ask. ]

What do you consider the weakest parts of yourselves, that needs getting rid of? I've never heard anyone describe it like that before -- losing something rather than just gaining new skills.

Boot camp mentality, [ Ephemera adds as he works. He's heard it before. Believed in it once. ] Soldier can't flinch, can't hesitate, doesn't question. Only thing that matters is that your drill sergeant's god. Then you graduate and your commander's god and you see it done. Keeps the universe simple.

[ For better and worse. It doesn't make the orders right. There has to be trust, and that has to be earned. ]

Believed that all through basic training, then got it beaten out of me in jump school. Gotta know how to make your own decisions, too.

[ Chyler has a moment to be impressed with Drake's stoicism before Ephemera speaks, and then she's straightening up, squaring her shoulders, not quite coming to attention but snapping into the kind of position that screams military precision. ]

You get rid of selfishness. Arrogance. Fear. It's not obedience for the sake of obedience, it's obedience for the sake of the soldier next to you, and the one behind you. [ She purses her lips, not glaring at Ephemera exactly, but it reminds her so much of something Tom would say--

And the last time she saw Tom, he was dragging General Black's body out of his warthog. Chyler licks her lips, settling a little. ]

We're training to be officers. We're going to have lives in our hands. Yes, we will have to make our own decisions. And yes, sometimes we take orders without hesitation from those we follow ourselves. But we have to learn what it's like to be the followers before we have any right to call ourselves leaders.

[ She looks away from them both, bending to unbuckle the armor around her thighs and calves. ]

I'm not stupid and I'm not blind. I know what soldiers do. I know how their lives can end because of a bad command. [ She sets the leg armor to one side and goes to work on her arms. ] But that doesn't mean what we learn by listening without question isn't worthwhile.

[ Out of respect, Drake listens carefully to how she sees it. And in his opinion, from this very limited conversation, he feels like she's actually got a good balance to it all. Except for one thing. ]

It seems like you've got a handle on it. I remember being taught a lot of the same things except that at the academy I went to, they told us a little fear is good. You can't let it rule you, but it can keep you and others alive. Instinct like that is important. Not hesitation, but trusting yourself.

[ Hnn. Doesn't back down when she's got an opinion. Ephemera nods just once, grudgingly. He doesn't like officers, that's true. But there have to be some good ones out there. Some of them make good leaders, in the end. ]

Just keep your eyes open.

[ His reasons are his own. No need to spell that out. He ties off the suture, then starts on the next. ]

Almost done. They were nasty this time. Hate it when they try to bite.

[ She settles down, satisfied that she's made her point, willing to hear theirs. She doesn't argue with either of them--they're older than she is, more experienced than she is, and she's a guest in their home.

All factors she didn't take into account when she lost her temper, but nobody's perfect. She clasps her hands behind her back, fiddling with them out of sight. ]

Is there anything I can do to help? [ Ephemera has the first aid well in hand, but she looks toward the kitchen. ] I could make the coffee.

[ Another little flinch, but he's almost finished. Drake exhales, letting the pain ebb away again. ]

At least they weren't poisonous or anything.

[ As for Chyler... It's about perspective, Drake thinks, and the fact that she's willing to listen to theirs shows a great deal of maturity. He's already thinking of her as more than a kid -- she reminds him a little of Tinya, actually, another about this age that he's taken under his wing despite not really needing to. He smiles at her. ]

Coffee'd be great, Chyler, thank you. It's in the cupboard right above the microwave.

Small favors.

[ It's true, though. And poison is one of the few things that can really wreck Drake's day. Ephemera hums to himself, working the needle. His hands are steady. It hurts and he knows it hurts, since their positions have been reversed more than once, but it needs to be done. Neither of them complain. ]

Go hard on the sugar for mine, [ he adds. Because black coffee is for heathens. ]

[ Right. Coffee. Coffee! She can make coffee. It hasn't been that long.

Except this machine is like nothing she has ever seen before. She suspects that water goes in somewhere, that coffee grounds go in somewhere else, and that coffee comes from some third and unseen place, yes, though beyond that....

It takes a little doing, but she figures the thing out and the coffees just ready as Ephemera finishes stitching Drake up. She carries two mugs back over to them, offering the one that's got (what she thinks of as) a generous amount of sugar in it and taking a sip from the second mug herself. To Drake: ]

You should wash the blood off first.

[ Do as she says not as she does. ]

We both will, thank you.

[ Right, Ephemera? No accidents with the biohazard, please. But he looks at Chyler again, considering her size. Liv left some clothes behind from the week she was here a few months before, that Drake didn't bother bringing back to the store... ]

Do you want to change into something clean? I have some stuff left from a friend about your size -- she's a little taller but not much.

Yeah, yeah. I'm getting there.

[ If he were really on top of everything, he'd be wearing gloves. Still, Ephemera's fairly confident in his ability to avoid stabbing himself with the suture needle. But he gets up and stretches, waiting for his turn in the sink. There's coffee waiting for him. Motivation!

....he still adds more sugar when he gets to it. There's no point to coffee unless it's sweet. ]

You wanna shower, you can do that too. Got hot water and everything.

[ Something clean. A shower. She stares at them for a moment until what they're saying registers properly.

Chyler looks down at herself, seeing for the first time how filthy she actually is. She can feel her ears going pink. She can't tell if she feels more stupid or embarrassed for not realizing it. ]

That... That would probably be a good idea.

[ Drake finishes washing up quickly at the kitchen sink, and grabs himself a mug for some of that coffee. ]

No rush. Have your coffee, I'll be right back with some clothes for you to choose from, then you can hog the shower as long as you want, okay?

[ He vanishes down the hall to their room, and will be back ~~next tag~~ in a minute with a stack of Liv's clothes. Nothing fancy but at least it'll fit Chyler better than borrowing anything of theirs. ]

[ Ephemera leans against the counter, watching Silva. She's got some color in her now. The sleep definitely helped. ] You feeling better?

[ She takes a deep breath. Better is relative, she thinks. But she is. Than she was? Much better. ]

Yes. [ A pause. ] I'm sorry I pointed a gun at your partner.

[ At least she didn't shoot him...!

God, it doesn't feel right being out of her armor. ]

So did he the first time we met.

[ Drake's grinning when he comes back with the clothes for Chyler, setting them down on the table and reaching for his coffee mug again. ]

See if there's anything you like in there. It's cold on this planet. And don't worry about the gun, really.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject