Test Drive Meme #8

[hadrielmods]

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 April 24th, and apps are open May 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, 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: DEAD FLESH BUFFET
[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 lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to swarm around you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in a group of rotfiends, from the video game The Witcher.

These unpleasant-looking creatures are necrophages, meaning they feed on the flesh of the dead, and if that flesh is in short supply they are happy to add to it. Normally found in groups, they are fast and difficult to corner. What's more, when on the verge of death, they have an annoying tendency to explode into a flammable cloud of poisonous toxins. You left your torch at home, right?]

R A G E
SCENARIO TWO: MMM WHATCHA SAY
[There you were, just walking along the street, minding your own business like a good underground hell-city citizen, when all of a sudden you saw someone. It was like love at first sight - if by 'love' you mean 'deep burning hatred'. You've never wanted to kill someone so much, and why? Well, you're not really sure, but there's probably a reason! You'll just have to figure it out. Or not. Who needs a reason for murder, anyway?

Or maybe you're the one someone else has targeted. Maybe you know they're after you and you're desperately trying to watch your back. Why do they hate you? You don't even know them. Or maybe you do, maybe they're your best friend. Either way, this is a super awkward situation, and someone might end up dead. Hopefully not you!

This is a mini version of our Assassin event this month!]


H O P E

SCENARIO THREE: SCRATCH OFF
[This morning, you received a scratch ticket in the mail (who knew Hadriel even had mail?), addressed to you. The instructions are clear enough - scratch off three matching icons, and you win a prize! Sure, okay. But here's the grand prize: a one-way ticket home.

Unfortunately, try as you might, you aren't gonna win that one, but keep hoping! And hey, just think of all the other GREAT PRIZES you could win: an inflatable duck, a plastic ring to give your sweetheart, an empty can of Red Bull, a cell phone charm shaped like a strange green creature with a boner.

So what if you didn't win that ticket home? You got something almost as good: a shitty prize! Thanks, Hope!]

Comments

[atlasio]

[ While the query about Vaughn's running speed goes unanswered, the following 'I don't know' provokes a stronger reaction. ]

What?! How-- [ That's as far as he gets before the subsequent blast knocks them from their perch. He's marginally luckier than Fiona, landing on his shoulder instead of his more important spine or head. Count his arm as a dead player though, it's not going to be getting much use for the time being.

Recollecting his thoughts, and pushing himself up with his good side, he thinks: Run. That's what the plan was, right? Fiona had hit one of them - the evidence disgustingly clear and coating them both - but what about the rest? Vaughn didn't get to see what happened after they fell.

He makes it all of two steps before he hears his name. 'Wait,' she says. That is the exact opposite of running. Though it appears that Fiona isn't up for escaping without help, and while Vaughn might be (ex-) Hyperion, he's not a complete asshole. ]

Fiona, we have to go. [ He kneels down beside her so it's a little less awkward. ] We have to go! Those-- those things, could be coming for us any second.

[ HE DOESN'T KNOW WHERE BUT ANYWHERE IS BETTER THAN HERE. ]

[bluffed]

[ SHE'S NOT AN EXPERT ON THOSE THINGS, BUDDY. She doesn't know what the pulsating, throbbing flesh meant. As it bubbles through its own skin and explodes - it was forever her favorite. Why? Because it took out all of its little friends too.

She can't quite see over the pillars and broken bits of wall, but the gurgling stopped. The insane muffled noises - like choking on blood or vomit - stops. She hears her name ring out. It takes her a minute before she's sitting up fully and he's repeating - ]

I heard it kind of the first time!

[ Sorry, she's going to take the time to twist her body and reach for her hat.... ]

I think I know where I came from - [ Of course, all the hallways and open passages were confusing, after all. ] - C'mon.

[ Fiona's up and definitely at them - a bit wobbly as she gets priorities. Her hand dusted off really quickly the muscles of the rotfiend and adjusts her hat on her head. Fiona takes lead with a powerwalk, her pistol still clutched against her palm. She didn't fire the bullet (and she kind of regrets it) but she'll be ready again. ]

First douchebag loot chests, now these things? I'm staying away from this place next month.

[atlasio]

[ Look, she's Pandoran, she deals with murdercreatures every day, right? SURELY she knows more than Vaughn. How he is supposed to know that 1) they aren't on Pandora and 2) Rotfiends aren't even from their universe. He just got here! C'MON GIRL.

Anyway.

Vaughn shuffles along with her, making sure to give her enough space if she stumbles. The weight of his arm pulls on his shoulder and he has to support it at the elbow to relieve it. Thankfully, for as much as it sucks, this is not the worst thing to happen to him since leaving Helios. Although it id definitely going on his laundry list of reasons of why leaving the space station sucked in the first place. ]

Wait, wait-- next... next month? Just how long have you been here?

[bluffed]

[ SORRY, SHE'S JUST... KIND OF DEALING WITH ALL THIS NEW INFORMATION? It finally soaks in that he's gone back to the Hyperion look - but the lightbulb doesn't go off quite yet. ]

A month. Give or take. I've been kind of losing track of the days. What with... being in a giant cave. Even in Hollow Point, I still left it occasionally.

[ But, she's going to try and lead them out without running into those damn rotfiends again. ]

I mean, long enough for your beard to start growing out again. Don't know why you shaved it all... just to get the douchey goatee back.

[atlasio]

[ Vaughn glances back on occasion, partially to pretend to be a noble look out and partially because he's paranoid that a rotfiend will, in fact, reappear. ]

Uhh, okay, no you haven't. I just saw you like, a few hours ago. [ Although that statement does have a bit of a questioning inflection.

He regards Fiona with some confusion and suspicion until he mentions the goatee. Then he gets straight to be confused and offended. ]

Hey, I'll have you know I've had the douchey goatee since college- it works with my facial features. [ Said matter of factly. ] I really, really don't get why you felt the need to comment on it. Have you not been paying attention, or like, visually impaired or--?

[ Words cannot describe the intense amount of "???????" he's feeling. ]

[bluffed]

Bullshit! The last time I saw you was before I walked through the vault door like a Grade A dumbass with your bestie.

[ Okay, he's weirdly defensive about the goatee...I mean, she gets it. The hat has a special place in her heart too - she's not going to really judge the guy for it. He's chiller than Rhys would ever be about his tie-belt....

But, she's twisting her neck a bit to look back to him in confusion. ]

Okay, well.. that's nice but - what about the beard? The wild man oddly worked for you.

[atlasio]

What are you talking about? [ Confusion has upgraded to exasperation. ]

Nothing you just said happened, or make sense, or, or anything! [ He tries to gesture for emphasis, but tweaks his shoulder, which results in a quiet "ow."

That gets him to settle down a wee bit, if nothing else. ]

You... you're really still Fiona right? The same grifter we met on Pandora?

[bluffed]

Wh -

[ Nope. Sorry. Feet stop working and she's absolutely going to keep this to herself. It's stupid for her to burst out with this. She has a lot of stuff going on that she's not too keen on letting Rhys or anyone else know about. Man, it sucks with all these stories and time shenanigans and not being able to share it with someone. ]

Yeah. It's me.

[ WILL ANYONE REMEMBER THEIR CRAZY SPACE WESTERN? No. Not at all. Fiona clenches onto her gun a bit tighter. ]

You cost me 10 million dollars, so yeah. Definitely me.

[ A bit colder, Fiona tips her hat down as she hears a distant, low growl. ]

Uh - yeah, let's just keep going.

[atlasio]

[ The shift in Fiona's behavior is enough to take whatever wind is left in Vaughn's sails, so to speak. The edge in her tone and the unwelcoming sounds in the distance push his mood further towards his usual awkward, unsure self. ]

I- I had to make sure. You were saying a lot of crazy stuff.

[ He's just about to quip about how it was actually he and Rhys who were out the ten million and a vault key, but thinks better of it. This is not the time.

And don't mind him as he makes more of an effort to stay with her pace, because he is not keen on getting into anymore monster fights chases. ]

So, hey, you remember The Dome then, right?

[bluffed]

[ Look, SHE'S PROCESSING A LOT. There's some really weird feelings that Fiona has for these jerks - it was enough for her to give them a playful middle fingers when they were reunited. It was all in good nature. She looked out for them too many times to count.

So, yeah, she's going to make things less complicated and push things to the side. Right now - they needed to get out of here. ]

Why wouldn't I? [ She mumbles something about Athena and Sasha, but she tries not to really...clue in on it. ] One of the many majorly dumb choi -

[ She was ready to ease his worries when there was a sudden explosion in the distance - a few bits of yelling from someone sounding human and that gives them a bit of insight... to maybe not go that way? ]

Uh... Shit.

[ She mumbles. Quick time event - follow the sounds of human screams or... go the opposite direction?! ]

[atlasio]

Well, y-- [ He's cut off by the explosion (sorry for trying to talk over you, Fiona, but only kind of). With a quick glance to Fiona to asses the situation, he makes his own decision pretty quickly: ]

Uh, no, no, nope, we are not going that way. I've already had enough of this exploding monster death cave weirdness!

[ Halfway through his sentence and he's backing up, trying to seek out an alternate route. Of course, there's the matter of if he'd be brave enough to run away by himself - but considering what they put behind them, and who knows what lies ahead of them - he's almost, almost willing to take a chance to book it in a completely different direction.

Just. He is already so sick of monsters. ]

[bluffed]

[ Fiona doesn't have an entirely pure reason for wanting to follow the voices. If anything, the only reason she would want to pursue that is to find a way out quicker. A scream and explosion are rarely partnered for anything good so of course, she agrees with Vaughn to not pursue that option. ]

Agreed - no arguing with that. Did you really think I was going to suggest us to go rescue people amidst the exploding guts and gore around every corner? No thanks.
[ Look, she's not going to go playing hero, but she definitely is going to keep an ear out. ]

C'mon. This way.

[ Let's take passage #2 and see where it takes them. Off they go, venturing carefully into the darkness. If Vaughn wants to follow, sure, he'll hear the explosions are more frequent, but a bit more distant. Good sign, right?! ]

WWAD... WWAD... [ Fiona muses to herself. What Would Athena Do............ don't judge. ]

[atlasio]

You stopped! Like you were considering it, I dunno! [ His tone is strained, a clear indicator of how stressed he is.

It only eases ever-so-slightly when Fiona does the rational thing and leads the way to the alternate path. The explosions not stopping = Vaughn's stress staying. ]

I- I- I can't believe this, it's just not enough for Pandora to have literally everything under the sun try to kill us, now we're in a cave with things that want to kill us!

[ Fiona's musing goes unnoticed as Vaughn enters Blabber Mode. ]

What's next? Flying death bats? We haven't had anything dive bomb us yet. Or, or maybe, cave psychos - yeah, it would be cave psychos.

[ This is the part where they dial down his audio because he just doesn't stop and there's more important inner monologue to be had. ]

[bluffed]

[ A degree over 72f would stress the guy out. Fiona's trying to be sympathetic here but the whole - well, not-strangely-buff-bearded-Vaughn was what she came to expect. This was new. She had Hadriel to thank and it entirely pisses her off. ]

Okay, just a second before you objected to the idea! Your job is voice of reason - good reason, not Hyperion reason. Think of yourself as captain of the S.S. Don't Die because that's exactly what we need.

[ In the most dramatic-but-hushed voice possible. ]

Aren't you use to your co-workers trying to kill you over promotions or assigned seating? Pandora's a bitch, but it's the same everywhere. I guess.

[ Can she please just get teleported to a tropical island with a cold beer? That would be nice. No, instead she's shuffling through some ancient ruin with exploding rotting monsters and no sign of Sasha. ]

There aren't any cave psychos! Trust me, I checked. Only psycho I've seen is Rhys wearin' his stupid tie-belt again.

[ Did she relieve him of any stress? Did that truth bomb make him feel better? She hopes because here comes a fucking rotfiend and the first thing she thinks to do is pin Vaughn to the wall with her hand over his mouth. It passes by the intersection of the hallways, stopping briefly with a pack of four. No sudden movements.... and they move on. ]

[atlasio]

[ The truth bomb is something he really, really needed to hear. He doesn't really even need time to process it, just hearing Rhys was enough to get Vaughn to think THANK GOD. His motor mouth doesn't get to follow up on this thought, however, as in the next second he's against the wall.

This is incredibly awkward for all the wrong reasons. ]

Ffhnbn? [ He can't see around her too well, due to not only the circumstance he finds himself in, but also the dimness of the cave. Their saving grace being that his muffled words couldn't carry.

Nothing is happening. This is good, but why also are things not happening? Vaughn wants to ask, but 1) He knows Fiona isn't stupid and 2) She literally just asked him to not be stupid. He has to be reasonable.

Doesn't mean that he's digging the whole half-smothering thing and when she lets go, he lets her know that. ]

Some warning would be nice next time. A signal, or something.

[bluffed]

[ Yeah, she'll definitely pull her body away from his at that point. The second the rotfiends lurk off away, she's pressing her fingers to her lips. Just, better safe than sorry...

A few moments pass and she finally relaxes a bit. ]

A signal to you would be a signal to them as well. Sorry. Better than getting blown to bits?

[ There's a reassuring shrug! Sorry she saved your life, bro. But... she doesn't dally. Onward and then - aha! There's the fucking exit. She sighs a bit of relief, finally giving him a motion to follow her more quickly. ]

There seems to be the biggest focus of them here - once we get into town, we should be fine.

[atlasio]

[ Vaughn makes a small distressed sound, sort of like, 'aaugh.' It's unclear if it's because he has to hotfoot it behind Fiona that he finds frustrating, her apology that isn't really an apology, or something else all together.

Regardless, it's a benign sort of thing and when he closes the distance between them, and she mentions the town? Hello, attention shift. ]

Okay, let's back up here for a minute. I'm excited as anyone else to find a town that isn't swarming with exploding corpse monsters but-- but you said, Rhys is here. Right? Is that where we going? Is that were he is?

[ The eagerness in his tone is palpable.

PLEASE WHERE IS HIS BEST BRO??? ]

[bluffed]

[ Thank the Lord and all that is holy. There's no real complications as they exit - the rotfiend suicidal exploding left behind them. Far behind them. The only thing to worry about was weird feelings? Reunions? Human contact? Not looking forward to it, but here she as.Vaughn stops her and she's literally STEPS from the entrance. w h y ]

I didn't think that far ahead. I was thinking 'anywhere but here' was good enough.

[ Sassy McSass Sass. But, she shoots him a reassuring smile. ]

He's in town, but we gotta look for him first. I don't have a GPS beacon on him, sooo... just follow the inevitable sound of whiny screams.

[atlasio]

[ There are no weird feelings on this end. Well, they're kind of mixed, straddling the line between 'still utterly terrified' and 'yay my best friend.' It's a very stark and confusing contrast. At least for Vaughn. His tone still seems more on the 'hesitant and ready to something to devour me' side. ]

Wait, I thought you said this place was safe? [ Sorry, Rhys, he can't even defend the whiny screams comment.

Though Vaughn isn't exactly one to pretend he isn't in that same boat. ]

[bluffed]

He always finds something to whine about.

[ That's all she'll touch on. She can't be sure if the city itself is safer. Like, hello, she was greeted with giant hungry rats when she arrived... Either way, she's going to try her best to help him out. To get him to Rhys in one piece. ]

The city is safe.....r.... than this place. I can't really say - shit hadn't hit the fan when I went up here. [ She sighs a it, pushing her red strand of hair out of her face. ] I came up here thinking Sasha might be here too.

[atlasio]

You can't really blame him, this place is all decrepit and unhygienic and-- murdery. [ If Vaughn had been here longer, he could probably come up with an exhaustive list of things to whine about. Even for a Pandoran. Maybe. Like now, the musty damp smell is already a huge whine-worthy turn off. Pandora stinks too, but at least there's some semblance of air every once and a while. ]

Oh, great, so when we meet our doom at the hands of those exploding carcass monsters, at least someone will be able to find our bodies.

[ See, he's already whining, too. ]

[bluffed]

What place isn't murdery nowadays?

[ She can't comment on the decrepit and unhygienic parts, okay. There's no denying that. But, the air was getting far more crisp - a faint musk only rising due to their murdercave enclosure. Fiona relaxes her shoulders a bit and shoots Vaughn a reassuring smile. ]

Hey. We aren't meeting our doom any time soon. See? It even rhymed. [ Lame.... ] I won't let you lose out on your epic little reunion. He'll be glad to see you.

[atlasio]

Oookay, fair point. [ But Helios has a different kind of murder culture that's somewhat easier to ignore. Alas, Vaughn still can't defend it. ]

Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, but that did not rhyme. [ His expression finally lightened; it's hard to feel one hundred percent reassured, but still, having a tangible, positive goal to focus on helps a lot. ] But I suppose it helps. Thanks. I hope Rhys is having a better day than we are.

[ For the record, his shoulder still hurts. It sucks. ]

[bluffed]

It did rhyme.

[ Don't tell her these lies. Shes finally going to lead Vaughn into the city - the distant chattering of people far more reassuring than the screams and explosions, right? She sees a small group of people with weapons reinforcing a shop window that seemed to have gotten smashed during an attack, but... hey, it's all new to her too. ]

As long as Rhys remains as delusional as ever, he'll have a good day. Probably shaking in his At- ...Hyperion socks.

[ Frown face. She has to catch herself, okay. ]

[atlasio]

It did not! 'M' and 'N' aren't the same letter. [ #pedantry ]

[ The thing about the city- for as run down and ruined as it is, it still seems different from Pandora. Maybe a more naive, Episode 1 Vaughn wouldn't care about the differences and lump them all together under ramshackle shit holes I never want to visit again, but now-- it doesn't bother him nearly as much to see a broken in store front and people with guns. Just. As long as they aren't pointing at him. Of course that doesn't undo his earlier trauma with the rotfiends and it's not like he's eager to see scary people with guns, but sadly, there's only so many people with guns that he can see before the shock wears off. Now it's settling down at a sort of general 'unease.' ]

Can you really blame the guy? It's just one thing after another trying to kill us; it gets pretty wearing on your mental state.