Test Drive Meme #9

[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 May 24th, and apps are open June 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:
I'VE SEEN ENOUGH HENTAI TO KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING
[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 malboro, from the Final Fantasy video game series.

These plant-like monsters are essentially comprised of long, tentacle-esque stalks- sometimes with eyes on the ends- and large, gaping mouths. Their breath can be poisonous and literally make you sick to your stomach, and- just your luck- they're carnivorous. Happy hunting!]


C O M B I N A T I O N

SCENARIO TWO: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME
[You're so tired- at least you've got a reasonably safe place to rest your head at while you recuperate, right? After all, nothing can go wrong when you're asleep.

Aaand that's where you're mistaken. For this event, all characters who fall asleep will either be Hosts or Visitors in their, or someone else's dreams. All dreams are inflicted by one of the four gods (Hope, Delight, Rage, or Fear), and will have their presence influencing the events within your dreams in order to harvest their desired emotion from you.

The sky is essentially the limit, so long as your dreams correspond with one of the four gods. Happy sleeping!

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


D E L I G H T

SCENARIO THREE: JUST SAY NO
[On your kitchen table the next morning is a blue pill. Just the one pill, along with a glass of what seems to be water. There's a note in elegant script next to the pill that merely says 'TAKE ME'.

If taken, the pill can have a variety of effects. You can hallucinate, you can get uncontrollable giggles, you can feel drunk, you can feel like colors all have textures and shapes and the world is looking at you through a kaleidoscope! The drug can have whatever effect the player desires, as long as it's pleasurable or fun.

So: do you take it? Can you hear someone who already took the drug, stumbling down the street? You, uh, might want to help them, and do be careful. There's no telling what kinds of monsters are still out there.]

Comments

Newt Geiszler | Pacific Rim + Previous Game CR

[fortunefavored]

ONE

[Newt is used to living in a place where there's a constant threat of getting disemboweled by monsters. Or eaten. Or otherwise mentally traumatized. Heck, he's even dealt with killer plants before. None of this should be new. Other than, well, the venue and the surprising constant supply of food and shelter; as such, he might suppose it's a step up from Haven. Though, really, that's not saying much, considering Haven was about rock bottom. Hadriel, in so far, has been an...interesting experience. Not exactly because of the place in and of itself, but mainly for the adjustments Newt has been making. Suddenly waking up to find himself in a gladiator ring with a giant monster hadn't been the most terrifying thing to ever happen to Newt, but it certainly ranked up there. Fortunately he had immediately done what he did best and ran the fuck away. To his great relief, the monster hadn't pursued, and Newt had managed to reach something like safety. So now here he was a week later, venturing outside for the first time since arrival. He's still reeling about the change of scenery, but in an attempt to get his mind off of, well...things...he's finally decided to venture out of the apartment he's been holed up in.

He lifts a hand to scratch at the scar on his face, gruesome and stretching from ear to ear, meeting at the corners of his mouth, with a casual idleness. He's a bit wary of walking around; old habits, after all, die hard, and so he's can't help but nervously tuck his hand into the pocket of his jeans to curl around his switchblade. Not that he's terribly effective with it, but he can sometimes be effective enough at this point that it could be useful.

Sort of. If he doesn't cut himself with it.

Unfortunately, despite the amount of time he spent in a hellhole worse than this and the hyper vigilance he's retained from it, at the end of the day Newt Geiszler is still only human. He doesn't have advanced hearing or smell or spidey sense or whatever. So he's completely unprepared as a vine lashes out from the shadows, curling around his ankle and yanking his feet out from under him. He goes down with a yelp, hitting the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of himself. Thus it takes a moment for him to realize he's being dragged into an alleyway.

At which point, he immediately starts freaking out]

Help--help, someone help me--!

[yeah, that's definitely some frantic screaming that's happening right about now as Newt's fingers scrabble at the ground, trying to find something, anything to grab a hold of]


TWO - Host/Hope

[Hello, welcome to a dream. Newt will be your humble host this evening, whether he likes it or not. And because we don't want all of this entire TDM post to be absolutely doom and gloom, this actually seems like a nice dream? By all appearances, anyway.

There's a small kitchen in a small apartment. The TV in the apartment is completely stripped of parts, but for some reason the kitchen seems to be functioning fine. Newt himself is sitting at the kitchen table, tinkering with something or other. It looks like a circuit board of some kind attached to some wires. He should be farther along on it on all things considered, however, as it is, his attention is diverted.

Newt is not alone in this apartment. No, there's another man in the apartment, his back turned toward the table and towards the rest of the room as he stands at the oven, cooking something on the burner. It smells like pasta, maybe, canned tomato sauce and all. And Newt? Well, he simply sits at the table, swinging his legs, elbow on the table and his cheek resting on his fist, watching the other man's back with a soft smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes. It even makes his scar less gruesome somehow with the way it tugs at the corners of his mouth. Either way, he definitely hasn't noticed your presence yet.]


THREE

[There was no way in HELL or anywhere else that Newt was going to ingest that pill. Not yet, anyway. He had enough strange substances forced on him in Haven; he wasn't about to take one willingly. No, instead, he's pulled out his strange slap-dash microscope, which is essentially a very high-tech projecting tablet from Tony Stark combined with a specially crafted lens (thanks, people with superpowers!!) So you'll find him in whatever parts-strewn workshop he's managed to create, probably in an empty apartment, making an attempt to extract whatever is in this pill so he can put it under a microscope and study it.]


WILDCARD???

[I'm p flexible and open, so HMU??]



Final OOC Note: So Newt is coming from a horror game and carries with him some obvious visible scars from it. If you'd like to see what exactly those scars are, you can do so over here! You can also find me at nikkernoodle or by journal pm if you need.

two!

[inappropriatelaughter]

[ Which is something, considering that Gojyo's been standing there for about ten seconds. He's behind both of them, hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. Being ignored is something he's used to but not something he's really in love with, so he creeps up behind Newt and leans (rudely) into his light, squinting at the circuit board. ]

Wow! That is, uh—what is that? It looks like junk.

[fortunefavored]

[Newt really wasn't aware of Gojyo's presence at all, thus when he seems to suddenly appear over his shoulder, blocking his light, well...it's a bit of a shock. He jolts, startling pretty badly and with a high pitched screech of surprise, automatically swinging his fist to punch him.

It's probably not a very accurate punch nor a powerful one, but yeah. That's a thing that happens]

[inappropriatelaughter]

[ He lurches just out of reach, relatively unfazed, and lifts his hands. He's unarmed! Don't nerdpunch him!! ]

I've been standing here for like an hour, dude!

[fortunefavored]

[Okay, so, not a monster, that's a bonus. Newt blinks, once, realizing it's a person--before he scowls]

Then you should've just said so! You can't just sneak up on someone like that, man! [it's squawked, as he spreads his arms wide] Also? Standing around somewhere for an hour watching someone is super creepy!

one

[asoulatpeace]

[Genji has been exploring as well, and is running along whatever elevated surfaces he can find more often than not. The noise of of a struggle draws him across the roof to the sight of a struggling, panicking man caught in the grasp of a tentacle.

It's not even a decision to male, he leaps down, drawing his shorter blade, and slices through the oddly vine-like tentacle.]

You should be more careful.

[Even after so many years speaking English, his Japanese accent is abundantly obvious, though his words are still clear and precise. His attention is drawn down the alley as the large body the tentacle came from emerges from wherever it was hiding.]

[fortunefavored]

[Newt yelps in surprise as that tentacle is cut but takes no time in scrambling to his feet once it's off, stumbling back away from the alley. Once he's at a slightly safer distance (that is to say, whoever rescued him is closer to wherever that tentacle came from than he is,) he glances over at his rescuer....at which point he blinks.]

Woah. What are you?

[except then there's the body that the tentacle belonged to to contend with, and that jerks Newt's attention back to it's proper target and has him asking a perhaps more pertinent question:]

What the hell is that?!

[asoulatpeace]

[There are times when Genji would have been offended by such a question of 'what' rather than 'who'. But he takes it in good humor now, his attention barely on the man he rescued as he answers.]

I am the man who is helping you.

[The second question is a good one, and Genji doesn't have any more a definite answer to it.]

I suggest giving it more room.

[He has only a limited number of Shuriken at his disposal, and he's not entirely sure any used here will be retrievable- or usable if they can be retrieved- so he weighs his options before adjusting his stance.]

[fortunefavored]

Dude, you don't have to tell me--[--twice, but he doesn't really get the chance to finish that sentence as the monster attacks with a screechy sound, tentacles sailing towards them from down the alley. Newt makes a startled squawking sound but, seeing as he's actually prepared this time, manages to hit the deck and roll out of the way. The tentacle makes an impact in the dirt, and Newt's scrambling to his feet, grabbing for the switch blade in his pocket. At that point this fight is just so out of his league, and the only thing keeping him form turning tail and running is the fact that he doesn't want to turn his back on it. He is quickly starting to shuffle backwards though.]

Hey, man, you-uh...you've got this, right? [his voice wobbles a little, uncertainty, going high in his distress]

three at long last

[cashlin]

[Lilith, on the other hand, trusts Delight. A little too much, probably. She'd taken her pill, tripped out for a few days, and eventually wandered around in search of another she could swipe from someone who hadn't used it already-- and inevitably she's stumbled upon Newt's makeshift workshop.

She promptly stumbles over some piece of equipment in the doorway trying to get in and makes a big ol' bang. whoops. At least she catches herself.]

The hell? Is somebody here?

[fortunefavored]

[Newt jolts in surprise at the bang, yelping loudly in surprise and nearly falling off his chair. After some flailing, he manages to steady himself, before turning on his chair to glare in that direction. Clearly SOMETHING has happened to some of his parts, which is enough to get newt off his stool and storming in that direction. He's scowling as he rounds the corner to find a rather unasked for guest]

You could've just knocked! [Already moving over to pick up the parts she knocked over] Do you even look where you're going? You coud've damaged it!

[cashlin]

Uh, do you even put things not in the middle of your doorway? Yeesh.

[This looks like a new face, though... she's been in Hadriel enough to have a vague sense of who's here and who isn't, and Newt most certainly isn't.]

Sorry I tripped on your thing. What the hell are you doing, though? Trying to box yourself into a house?

[fortunefavored]

I dunno, do you ever look where you're going before you take a step? [said the pot to the kettle. Anyway, Newt's moving to set the parts about two or three feet away, amid another pile of parts, before he straightens, arching an eyebrow at Lilith as he puts his hands on his hips.] Uh, I'm setting up a lab, obviously. [ Duh, Lilith. Also, there are so many parts.]

three;

[deetslslater]

[Delightful. An actual person who isn't as gullible as he is. Now Herbert's scientific methods are quite old school compared to the somewhat technological "flashy" set-up Newton has; using paper, pens and various glassware to contain whatever it was he was concocting.

Thankfully he narrowed down his RPG inventory down to (two) notesheets, (one) pen inside his shirt pocket and (one) mysterious pill.

He slams his own pill right next to Newton's workspace.] What do you know?

[Also he doesn't know what in the fuck personal space is. This guy may be a little too close, Noots.]

[fortunefavored]

[Listen. When Newt starts working on something, he gets pretty absorbed. Hyper focused, if you will. Therefore Newt is completely unaware of Herbert's presence until he's slamming the pill on the table. At which point, he reacts instinctively, and this consists of two stages: 1.) making an unholy screeching noise and 2.) taking a swing at whatever it was that started him. So now you've got one of Newt's nerd fists coming at you, Herbert]

[deetslslater]

[The fist makes impact with the side of Herbert's torso. Not enough to have the wind knock out of him but it does gets a pained grunt out of him. His glasses nearly slip away from his face.

Let's start this over again. First by taking several steps back. He coughs.]

Is this how you communicate with others?

[He fumbles to put his glasses back on.] Please be honest. It would be useful to know if I must prod you with a stick to make sure you are tame enough to speak. [There are a few noticeable smudges on his lenses. How vexing.]

One!

[sisterincrime]

[Good idea, Newt. Screaming like a Hyperion accountant that just got finger-gunned is actually a really good way to attract attention. And since he's already got the monster's, what better to help than a human.

Sasha immediately plants one boot firmly on his chest, ignoring any discomfort she's causing, and her SMG is up and firing at the tentacle. Each hit causes a splurt of goopy blood and a bright electric shock, that collectively run down the length of the now Newt-less tentacle as it recoils and light up the cavernous mouth, full of teeth and roaring furiously.

Now Sasha lifts her boot, backing away to fire at another tentacle that wants to take a swipe at her.]

Rise and shine, sleepy head!

[fortunefavored]

[excuse u Sasha if Newt was in an epic finger-gun fight, he would totally be the nerd with the finger-rocket-launcher. Except he would win. Yeah. Really, he would.

Unfortunately, whatever finger-gun fights he may have tried to start in his time (and only being unsuccessful in this venture due to Hermann being a boring no-fun you-just-broke-that-beaker-pretending-to-snipe-at-me-from-your-desk-desist-immediately-before-I-file-another-complaint kinda guy,) this is rather unlike the aforementioned hypothetical situation. For one, it's real. For two, he doesn't have a rocket launcher, real or imaginary. Instead he's got a boot in his chest and a tentacle wrapped around his ankle, except that the latter has released him and the former is removed from his chest, which is great because hey breathing that's fun--

--and he sucks in a gulp of air in reaction, before scrambling quickly to his feet. You don't have to tell him twice to get up, because he's definitely getting as far away from that thing as possible. That is, he's going to start to run away ~~~~ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ]

[sisterincrime]

[Please, he thinks Sasha would trust him with a rocket launcher? She barely trusts Rhys with a stun baton, and she like-likes him.

She's impressed at Newt's turn of speed at least, and immediately goes to follow after him when the tentacle stops being an imminent threat. She's a bit slower since she's weighed down with a huge-ass gun and a broken limb she's trying to be careful with, and she doesn't get as far before she has to stumble to a halt.]

Hey, hold up! Some of us have broken limbs!

one; l m f a o

[verinumeri]

[ A lesson, perhaps: nerds in number were not remotely more formidable than individually when it came to confronting beasts. Yet, without any other source for help, it seems Hermann is in the unlikely and highly unwise position of being Newton's only viable chance at not being killed by a tentacle like vine.

Once Newton's yanked down, Hermann jumps and stares for .05 second of horror, then jerks into actions, babbling, ]

Oh no, oh no, oh dear, oh damn you no you don't--

[ And follows, at an uneven run as he uses less of his cane, his hand fumbling in his pocket for that odious knife. Happily, Newton's efforts at grabbing the ground seem to be impeding the speed of his drag, so Hermann can get the knife out and open while keeping pace.

At which point he has to actually do something, so to get at the vine, and Hermann thinks quickly, squares his jaw, and dives to the ground.

He meant to land on and cut at the vine.

Instead he lands on Newton's leg, but in pretty good position to reach his ankle, so rather than regretting his poor jump, he busies himself with... trying to help. His cane's left behind as he grabs at Newton's calf with his left hand, for support, as his right tries to saw at the vine just past Newton's boot.

After all, if he went for the bit around Newton's ankle, he might cut him, too. ]

Let go! Off! Get off him you nasty little creeper!

[fortunefavored]

[There's barely a time between one second and the next to process. One moment he's being dragged towards a killer plant, the next there is a weight on his legs, helping to slow him down, and there's an ear-splitting shriek in reaction to--to whatever it is that Hermann's doing. Which Newt tries to see over his shoulder, twisting, heart still hammering in his chest because as he DOES manage to look over his shoulder, that thing is starting to come towards them, seeing that its current strategy of dragging Newt in isn't working.

He makes a strangled, garbled, terrified sound in his throat, before jerking his leg hard towards his upper body and--thanks to Hermann's sawing--the part of the tentacle wrapped around Newt's leg rips apart with a terrible rending sound. It jolts him, slightly, to suddenly be free, but that's more than he needs to try and scramble to his feet, already reaching for Hermann, to drag him up with him--]

Okay--okay, we're good, let's go--!

[they are not, in fact, good, considering that the plant is still coming towards them very rapidly, and will probably be reaching for them soon]

[verinumeri]

[ Of course the body to which the appendage had attached would be exponentially uglier.

Of course Hermann hasn't got time to do more than observe that. No, once the vine tears from his knife and Newton's yank, Hermann's rolling off him, reaching naturally for Newton, as if knowing he'd already be frantic to his feet and reaching likewise. (He hasn't even the time to be pleased himself for managing to help, or to notice how badly he'd probably bruised himself by throwing himself down.) So he's upright, they both are, in quick order, and it surges. ]

Yes, yes, go--

[ Nothing else for it but to turn and run, leaning on Newton until they reach where he left his cane and he's having to stoop to try and quickly grab it. ]

two; i forgot to put previous cr in my thing w/e

[verinumeri]

[ Presumably he is the exception in this scenario. That is, surely Newton has noticed his presence, unless Hermann is to be treated with watching Newton watch... himself.

Nine minutes and he's switching off a burner, draining the pasta into the sink with a careful tilt of the lid, replacing the pot and tipping the sauce into the noodles. Stir, nod, and spoon some out onto two waiting plates.

His cane leans against the counter, but it's only a few steps. He lifts the plates, one in each hand, and turns, walking to the table to set them down, one in front of Newton (well, a bit to the side, given the circuitry), one in front of another chair. Focused on all that, he hasn't noticed the smile.

Sinking into that chair, heavily, he sighs, lifts a fork, musing. ]

You know -- I'd be fair naughty, I think, for a bottle of Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier.

[fortunefavored]

[Newt nudges the circuitry aside, reaching for his plate and pulling it closer once it's set down, and gets about as far as picking up as fork before he pauses, when Hermann says that. Which at that point, that smile is gonna morph into a smirk.] Well, if that isn't motivation for me to find a way to brew beer, I dunno what is. [and then he waggles his eyebrows. Isn't he just charming?]

[verinumeri]

[ He's twirling his fork between his fingers, spinning the spaghetti, when the nature of Newton's smile changes.

And those eyebrows.

Hermann snorts, though damn him, he can feel his cheeks warm. Newton isn't charming, not a bit, what a moronic expression -- but his cheeks are warm. ]

Please don't. You'd poison us first.