Test Drive Meme # 1

[hadrielmods]

Welcome to Hadriel's very first 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 September 24th, and Apps are open October 1st.

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!

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: ANYONE GOT A LIGHT?
[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.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something on the rooftops watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to separate you from your group and tear you into pieces. In this instance, the door has managed to grab something truly horrific, and it's definitely out for blood (and brains) tonight.

Smokers are enemies in the video game series Left 4 Dead, who use their prehensile tongues to capture unwitting people and either drag them away for consumption or hang them up to strangle them. With all of the activity of characters trying to find out what's going on and where they are, there are more than a few of them, lingering in the shadows and waiting to try strike at anyone who may be lagging behind.]


SCENARIO TWO: YOUR HEART WILL GO ON
[You awaken in a windowless room, the walls strangely curved. The door, when you try it, is quite firmly locked. No amount of force is able to break through, so it seems to be sealed by supernatural means. Next to the door stands a slender pedestal, about as big around as a large man's thigh. At the top of the pedestal is a indentation, as if something were meant to go there.

But you're not alone in this room. There are two things with you: a person and a corpse. Pinned to the body is a note: Place a heart on the pedestal to leave. Tucked neatly into the corpse's pocket is a letter opener, small and not particularly sharp.

Did you have weapons or tools on you before? You don't now. But look at it this way: what better form of bonding is there than helping a friend or stranger dig a heart out of a corpse with nothing but a letter opener and your bare hands?]


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: HAVE YOU HAD YOUR BREAK-IN TODAY?
[You're standing outside a storefront, colored glass set into intricate designs. It's beautiful, artistic, but more importantly - there's definitely food inside. Good food, too, by the glimpses you can see through the window. In fact - wait a minute - isn't that your favorite dish in there, just waiting for you? You've been searching for food for hours, it seems, and the city is bare. Your tummy is getting awful rumbly. What luck!

You try the door. Cruelly, it is locked. The food taunts you, just out of reach.

The glass is lovely, intricate, but it's just glass. Or maybe you know how to pick locks. Or maybe there's a back way in. Or maybe some passing friend will be able to help you. There's a lot of options here, if what you really want is a mouthful of the finest... whatever it is you like.]

Comments

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ Isaac watched with fascination on the man's arms and hands as he pulled those ribs apart with ease. The metal, the mechanics of the arm and how the digits responded with what he would perceive to be the same neurological responses that went from the man's head to his body. It was really incredible and he would much enjoy watching the other, learning more about him, and learning about the tech that the other was equipped with. ]

Yeah. [ He said without too much conviction, he was far more interested in this guy's body than the corpse. ] Hm.


[ Isaac then moved his attention to the corpse to remove the heart with his filer to rip at the strings attached to the heart. ]

Alright then.

[ Isaac stood with a frown to his lips and walked over to the platform designed for the heart. ] Here we go.

[deus_machina]

[Adam had noticed the other man looking at his arms and hands but didn't say anything. From what he knew of this place, augments weren't really common. He was mostly done with being self-conscious about them now but still, the looking was noticed.

He also noticed that for how disgusting their butchery/operation just was, this man was remarkably calm. Either he had a stomach of steel or had some kind of experience with blood and maybe even guts before. Maybe he was a butcher?

With some skepticism Adam watched the man put the heart on the pedestal. A few overly long seconds passed before there was a hushed noise and the door opened. Adam sighed with relief and picked up his coat carefully with two fingers and slung it over one arm.]

After you: you did the gross part.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ Isaac stood with a frown facing the door as it opened. An interesting air then drifted in, it was cool but heavy with a smell of something chemical. ] What is that.. ammonia? [ Isaac glanced over to Adam before he slowly stepped toward the door. He didn't think there was going to be an easy way through the building on the account on the difficult ordeal they had to endure to even make it out of the room. ]

You know, I don't think it's going to be that easy.

[ Isaac slid back a few steps and then turned to focus on the corpse. He hoisted the corpse up and walked it over to about three feet from the door and with all his might threw the corpse out into the hallway. Then he waited... ]

smooth transition to scenario one~

[deus_machina]

[Adam watches with interest, not sure what the point of moving the corpse is but he isn't going to complain or judge the other man for being cautious. Cautious takes a little of the randomness out of luck fucking you over, after all, and it's not like he hasn't moved around his share of corpses for his own purposes.

He presses his lips together as he watches, and waits, and a few seconds later there's a sound that could only be described as ominous. It's a strange sort of moaning, not quite human, and followed by the sound of either cloth moving or feet shuffling.

Out of instinct he reaches for a gun only to be reminded that all of his weapons have been stripped off and taken. A second after that he's startling and practically jumping backwards against the wall: a long appendage whips out from the side hallway and wraps fast around the corpse, which is pulled back into the hallway with an ease of great strength]

Shit-- [Adam whispers as he glances at Isaac and then back to where there's a smear of blood where the corpse was a second ago. He extends his arm blades, realizing he'll probably have to do the gross part this time around.]

It's STOMPER time.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ Isaac wasn't expecting to see the appendage whip out like that. It was enough to make him jump just as much as the other guy. But he had a good hunch that something else was amok. It probably more had to do with his past experiences which was why he didn't ever walk too close to the walls or hang out by any vents.

He nodded once at shit but then he quickly looked around the room to see what he could use, if anything, as a weapon. Though he was lucky to find anything at all, the small wooden door to the cabinet beneath the sink was better than nothing but still a sad choice.

Isaac rips the door off its hinges and walks back to the doorway. ] Sounds like one of those things.. looks like one of those things. And it'll die like one of those things. [ He said with as much enthusiasm as any last liner would give a man facing the odds before he lead the way out into the hall. ]

[deus_machina]

[He has to hand it to this guy, he's resourceful, even if a cabinet door makes a piss poor weapon. Adam gives him a nod before he lowers his chin slightly and looks at the wall. He activates his cranial software that allows him to see through walls, and while he sees something vaguely human shaped it's off. A guttural instinct of fear comes over him and twists his stomach with doubt, but he moves forward slowly and cautiously.

When he gets to the corner of the hallway he presses his back against the wall, takes in a quick breath, then peeks around the corner. Adam only has a second to process the horror standing there desecrating the corpse before it notices him.

Just as it had a moment ago, the humanoid creature whips its tongue out towards him. Adam quickly slashes with one arm blade and he does manage to hack off the end of the tongue, but this only causes a disgusting spray of black blood to whip across his face and torso. The monster starts moving quickly towards them both.]

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ Isaac could only expect the expected which meant that this monster-thing would be high-tailing it back toward a fresh kill. It always worked like that in the past with the monsters he's dealt with, why should it work any different here? Isaac steps into the hallway and assesses the situation. It would be nice if they had some weapons but whatever means they had to defend themselves here were left at home.

Isaac managed a few weapons to protect himself through found parts, but it wasn't anything high-tech or impressive like the equipment he had back in his world.

Sticks and stones here, sticks and stones. But they made do, it's not like he hasn't seen some familiar faces, and vice versa. But, in any case, back to the present; Isaac flanked the monster, made a grunt at the spill of dark sludge-type blood and while the monster was recuperating from the blow the other man gave it, Isaac made use of this opportunity to give it another blow.

Isaac runs up to it and kicks in the thing's shin and sends it to one knee. The good thing about the reanimated corpse-like creature was that there were weak points on it which made taking it down tactfully possible. Rather quickly too. Isaac let out a huff, puff, and loud grunt as he assaulted the monster's head with his cabinet plank -- until the thing finally shred at the fourth assault. ]

[deus_machina]

[This guy is crazy. Adam watches as the other runs out waving his damn cabinet around like it's a goddamn chainsaw and not a weak piece of wood. Of course he only watches for a second before he runs quickly behind him to help out, slashing at the tongue in particular but also stabbing its torso.

By the time him and his accomplice are done, the thing is a sorry mess of gore. Adam sighs as he makes an unhappy face at it, then looks down at his now filthy clothes.

He moves back quickly and retrieves his coat again, this time saying fuck-it mentally as he slides it back into place before he returns to the man.]

You're uh, pretty good with that cabinetry.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ When the piece of wood splinters into nothing Isaac starts using his boots to stomp at whatever he could put his sole onto. It wasn't too much longer before the two of them were breathing heavily and staring between the quite dead mess of gore and then to one another.

Isaac gave a dry chuckle and shook his head. After a breath Isaac stands up a little straighter and looks ahead down the hall. They were both covered in horror and he wondered at the nearest shower and shop. ]

C'mon, lets figure out exactly where we are. Are you new here... I mean, you didn't ask the obligatory questions of a new person.. but I've never seen you around before. My name's Isaac.

[deus_machina]

I haven't been here long enough to get used to this.

[Adam's frowning down at the mess before he looks up to Isaac, glad to have a name to the face.]

Then again, maybe it wouldn't be healthy if I was used to it.

[He sighs as he thinks about having to clean his arm blades later but he's more upset by the gross feeling of blood on his face. Unbeknownst to him his thoughts are similarly aligned with Isaac's: he wants a place to clean up, and soon.]

Name's Adam Jensen.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

[ Isaac brings a hand up to examine then lowers it to wipe off at his thigh. He was sure used to this sort of thing, but it's not something he enjoys or feels like it's just getting better and better. It's even more a mystery how he was so lucky to trade one gore for another gore-filled life.

Also, at a slightly less advanced world to boot. It was alien and somewhere in the back of his mind Stross was asking him: do you see the symbols? Do you see them? Have you seen them yet? HAVE YOU?! Isaac shakes his head and looks to Adam suddenly with alarm as he's now just noticed he's missed whatever the guy may have said between used to this and his name.

Unless he hadn't said anything, Isaac can't ever be sure. ] Okay, Adam.. lets go.. we might as well make progress and get attacked then go no where and get attacked.

[deus_machina]

[The guy spacing off is only noticed a little bit. It would be no wonder after what they just went through, and unfortunately or them there is yet more to come. It ends up taking them nearly an hour to work their way out of the complex they were somehow dropped in. Along the way, he wonders how they were even put in here -- he assumes they were drugged and pulled it, but why? Just for the amusement of this God or whatever it was?

He doesn't have a whole lot of time to ponder the meaning of their current situation though. Most of their time is taken up not in walking or exploring, but in fighting or recovering from their fights. Luckily Isaac is not squeamish, and Adam is silently impressed with what a ferocious fighter he is. They find a few more bits of furniture along the way that he's able to use, whereas Adam relies on his arm blades.

They kill another half dozen of the long-tongued zombie-things before they make it out. By the time they do, they're both so covered in gore and unmentionable muck that their shoes make squelching sounds as they make it out onto the street.

Adam takes a minute to catch his breath and take a look around to get their bearings. He points to the south east.]

There, that tower. It's only about a mile. My apartment is a few blocks south of it. We can head there.

[full_of_bad_ideas]

Okay. [ By this time he felt just as great as he smelled. The fortunate outfit in space was that the suit kept as a layer separating him from the gore. Here he was covered in it, and though he did manage to bring along his suit when he was brought here, it wasn't feasible to wear the thing everywhere he went. ]

I've been here about a little more than a month, what about you? [ He asked as Adam showed the way. Hopefully they wouldn't run into anymore of the monsters. He was beginning to feel exhausted and his clothes were stiff from the drying gore on him. ]

[deus_machina]

About the same, not too long.

[Adam feels about as fresh as Isaac does. For some time after that he's quiet, not exactly in the mood for small talk after what they've just been through. And, truthfully, it's not as if he's ever been great at idle chit-chat. How someone could talk about the weather after ripping a giant tongue out of a zombie is beyond him in this moment.

However, about halfway to the tower he does speak up as the silence becomes introspection and replaying of the horror they just went through. Talking seems better after all.]

So, you handled yourself back there like you're used to fighting. You a soldier?