dankmemes | Test Drive Meme # 1

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Adam does not think that both of them will make any difference, but he doesn't say that. It's clear from one glance that Noah is shaky and on the edge of panic, and Adam will do what he can to keep that under control. Even if he's feeling panicky himself, it'll be easier if he needs to stay steady for someone else.

He walks over, tugging at the door with as much strength as he can muster, but it doesn't budge. Of course it doesn't. He lets go, stepping back.]

I don't think it's going to let us out. We'll have to... do what it's asking.

But what if - [Noah legs go of the door, wrapping his arms around himself. He looks over to the body only briefly before looking back to Adam, leaning in close to whisper.] ... What if he's not dead?

[It isn't like Noah knows how to tell. Besides, people had all sorts of states between dead and alive where they last came from.]

[He looks at Noah, concerned for a moment, both by the thought itself and by Noah's obvious fear. Adam walks back to the body, kneeling down next to it. He steels himself for a moment, then checks - no breathing. No warmth. The limbs are stiff, the eyes blank and glassy.]

He's dead.

[Adam takes out the letter opener. He's going to do what need to be done, even if it is - awful.]

It's the only way out. Um - close your eyes, Noah.

[He should be braver than this. He shouldn't leave Adam to do it by himself. It's going to be awful and messy and Adam will never be able to unsee it, living on with that memory. They were told they'd be returned home without any knowledge of what happened but they aren't home and they can still remember so there's no telling what will happen when they return after all, if they ever do get back to Henrietta.

Noah will still be dead, though. However long he has to remember awful things, it will be shorter than what Adam has, his whole life ahead of him and then whatever comes after.

Noah knows he should volunteer to do it instead, and he opens his mouth to try to, to say something that will make it better or take responsibility and if only he had his knife with him that is still sharp, that could make this faster work.

He closes his eyes like Adam tells him to instead of doing any of these things, because he's an awful coward and a poor friend to rely on.]

[He doesn't think of Noah as either of those things. He's trying to spare Noah, keep him from having to do this thing. Adam has no doubt that it would weigh more heavily on Noah than on him, Noah who has been dead, who wasn't suited for this sort of thing even before he died, much less after coming back. As a better person, he says, but Adam can't say for sure. He just knows that this is one of the things that he should do. That Noah shouldn't have to.

The letter opener isn't very sharp. It takes force to get through the skin, the flesh of the body. It's disgusting, though the blood has congealed thanks to the length of time the body has been dead. That doesn't make it much less awful. Maybe a little bit more so.

He cuts a long slice in the flesh of the corpse, more or less where he thinks the heart is - where he knows it is, Adam is an excellent student and he aced biology. The problem now is the sternum, the ribcage, getting past all that bone. If he focuses on the problem, the sickening feel of human flesh beneath his hands is easier to ignore.]

[Looking at the corpse is was hard to not see his own face on it, to not wonder if Whelk stood over him and wondered if he'd have to - if he'd need pieces of Noah specifically or -

He doesn't want to remember what happened that day, the less he remembers the happier he is.

Eyes closed, he brings his hands up to cover his ears, trying to block out the sound too. It's awful work made harder by the dullness of the blade, but even if he blocks out the sight and sound there's still the smell of blood and gore and Noah tries to swallow and he can taste the blood in his mouth again, but it's just a memory, that's all.

It's still too much. There's thankfully nothing in his stomach to dry heave back up except bile, but he has to suddenly scramble away and to the corner instead as that comes back up. He's not even the one doing the actual awful work, so the sickness continues to be paired with condemning of himself for being useless.]

[He wishes he could comfort Noah, but comfort has never been something Adam has been very good at. And especially not now, when his hands are covered in gore, as he works the blade of the letter opener against a rib. Even if he could drop everything to help Noah, what would he say?

It isn't as if this isn't affecting Adam. His stomach is churning, uneasy, and though he's focused on his task, his hands are shaking ever so slightly. He's buried bodies before - Ronan's night horrors, Gansey's body, but he's never had to do this before. It's not something Adam could have been prepared for.

So he lets Noah take himself to the corner, keeps his eyes on his task and tries to think of something - anything - else. It takes work to get through the bone, and then there's another to saw at, and another. His hands are tired, and slippery and sticky from the blood. He doesn't stop.]

[Noah coughs up what he can, stays in the corner dry-heaving for a little past that, gag reflex working uselessly. All of him working uselessly. Adam is so much braver than he is, so much more equipped to handle living. That's why Adam's still alive though, the willingness to do whatever he feels he has to so that he can go on surviving.

Noah's not sure how long it is before he gets himself together, pulling off his Aglionby sweater and making his way back over with shaking legs. They're not in physical danger but he can't leave Adam alone with this. He can't. He'd be as bad as Whelk if he did. Worse than. How, he's not sure, but telling himself that helps push him into the action and keep him steady enough to hold his sweater out to Adam.]

For... um. Your hands. I can- I can take a turn.

[He probably won't get anywhere near as much done as Adam but it can at least offer Adam a chance to rest his sore hands, to let his mind not focus on the gruesome task for even a few minutes. Noah will be fine. This is fine. He just can't look at the person's face because then it will be a person and he'll lose it again.]

You don't need to do that. And you might as well keep your sweater, at least until I'm done.

[It's more than obvious how difficult this is for Noah. Adam is no good at comfort, but he can carry the burden instead of Noah. That's what he can do, so he will do it, and he isn't going to make Noah face something he's not ready for.

Beside, Adam is already a bloody mess. No point in Noah getting messy too.]

I'll - I'll use it after I'm done, okay? I just want us to get out of here.

[He wipes viscera off the letter opener, trying very hard not to think about what's on his hands, and bends back down to get the last rib out of the way. Only a little more.]

[Noah squeezes his eyes shut, breathing through his mouth. This is fine. It isn't like they're in any mortal danger here. So, it's fine. Only a coward would be upset over something that can't actually hurt them.

Noah's such a coward, though.]

It's going to get messy either way. You can at least try to - so you can get a better grip. There's a lot of sweater. Please.

[If he can't be helpful then Adam may as well have been in here alone.]

[That makes sense, actually. The letter opener is slippery in his hand, and he's afraid he might end up stabbing himself or breaking it. He nods, just once, and reaches out to take just the edge of the sweater, cleaning off the letter opener enough to grip it a little more easily.]

Thanks. That helps.

[And he means it - it does help. He bends back to his task, taking a deep breath first. There's another sawing and then snap of bone, the final rib. Now there's just - heart muscle.

That requires sawing too. Adam's hands aren't shaking anymore. He's almost done.]

Test Drive Meme # 1

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