( MEMES ) TEST DRIVE >> 6

[contagio]

THE TEST DRIVE




Like it or not, you've been dragged from your world into the sanctum. It's a pretty nice city, all things considered--sci-fi, high-tech, glamourous.... Except, of course, for the giant dome encircling it, and the threat of glitching, contaminated zombies at your door. Looks like humanity's built itself a fortress that looks suspiciously like a cage, too. Toss in the odd memory blanks and the everpresent logo of Bifrons incorporated and it's enough to make someone paranoid.

The object of this meme is to get people familiar with the world of the Sanctum, and to try to see if their characters would fit in a sci-fi utopia such as this. Here are your options:
1. Intro: Waking Up. Make your intro post, folks. You wake up in a strange place, and get a strange transmission to go with it. There's a pair of glasses connected to some sort of communications network, but otherwise not much else in the room with you. What are you going to do? 

2. Environmental Glitching. You know the story of Noah? No? Now you're living it.  Sealed portions of the districts are overfilling with water, flooding streets, fields, and select city blocks. Do you climb up to get to safety, shut off the water, or find a way to break down the barrier to the next sector over? 

3. Genetic Altering. What it says on the tin. Except...it's not quite gone right, has it? Are you supposed to spit acid when you hiccup?  Are your insides acid resistant? No? Oh dear.  Warped experiments gone wrong, your augmentation has twisted around on you for horrific or hilarious results.

4. Memory Glitch. No one knows your face. You don't exist on the network. In fact...you're not all that certain you are who you think you are anyway. Haven't you always lived here?  

5. Military Training. Everyone's got to start somewhere. You're training the green folks, maybe you're one of the newcomers yourself. Maybe you haven't even touched a gun before in your life. Either way, you'd better start now.

6. Outside the Dome You're out and about without an armed escort, suited up against the atmosphere and dysthropes.  It's supposed to be a green sector in this run down shell of what used to be a suburb, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong

7. Wildcard. Choose your own adventure or create a cocktail from the presented options! The choice is YOURS.

Comments

[colorfulapathy]

Her hand steadies when he grabs hold of hers and decides to be a tiny bit more serious since she's holding a deadly weapon in her hands. To start, it will be decidedly pointed at the target instead of wherever her waving was taking it.

"Can I pull the trigger yet?"

Isabela | Dragon Age 2 | #1, two prompts

[goodforsix]

SCENARIO A

[It was a dark and sexy night, and then it wasn't. Isabela awakens with a yawn and an indulgent stretch, taking in the unfamiliar clothes in an unfamiliar place. She observes, she learns, but she doesn't immediately jump at anyone's throat. It's a situation where little can be done until she gets her bearings, so she begins to look around for her clothing.

A futile exercise, apparently. So she looks over to the little device-glasses-whatever thing--she couldn't really put a name on it if she tried, and it doesn't look useful--and picks it up. Now that the situation is sinking in and she's getting irritated by whatever is on her back--she reaches back, touches them, frowns--it's time to get something done.

A recorded message blares at her, and that's new, and not good, really one of those things she'd like to avoid. But soon enough she understands (however one can) and starts... well, pressing the most likely buttons. It makes the thing happen.]

--like you can use it for anything I'd care about.

[There's a little bit of thunking as she tests various usages of the communication device.]


SCENARIO B
[Beautiful, dark-skinned, luxuriously raven-haired woman walking confidently down the street in her hospital gown. Discuss.]


[NOTE: I am playing her from DA2 atm, but should be getting my hands on the comics any day now.]

Linda-058 | Halo | 2 / 5

[gingerspartan]

2

[When it comes to disasters, Linda is a pro. Any Spartan is. Each and every one if them is good to have in a pinch. This situation isn't any different. She scours the district she's in one block at a time, looking for people trapped or too scared to venture out, ready to lead them to safety. There has to be a way to get through, to get out, and as she's been tasked with this just as much as she's tasked herself with it, everyone will get out safely. For a Spartan, their mission isn't just to fight, but to protect.

If you're floating and lost, expect a line thrown out to you, its end solidly anchored behind her or around her waist. If you're the more adventurous sort, you'll find her trying to turn a large wheel on a huge pump, still unaccustomed to generously provided nerfing of her abilities.

Is she helping you, or are you helping her?]

5

[Spartans are big. That's the first thing. Linda is tall and fit and with her hair grown out she looks about like an Olympic athlete. If she was one, her sport of choice would be clear, because as you see her off in the corner of the training area, she holds a very long rifle that could impress even the biggest weapons enthusiast. It's a sniper rifle, and though she's good with a great many things, the sniper rifle is closest to her heart, her weapon of choice, and the one she was most frequently tasked with bearing. She holds it now as she settles into a prone position on a raised surface, then pulls goggles down over her eyes. A few rapid, eerily quiet shots are fired in succession, straight at the makeshift target, and she looks impassive until she's finished. After that, she stands, looking the gun over with approval and pushing the goggles back up to her forehead. Addressing the crowd near her, the people she's ready to train, she holds the gun carefully.]

Any takers on round one?

[gitanes]

[The compliment gets to her, of course. She thrives off compliments because she knows they're true. It's obvious in the way she straightens up just a touch, head held high to draw attention to the curve of her throat. Yes, she knows she's prettier than you, Alec, thank you.]

[However: she's not stupid, okay.]

There are a lot of people here prettier than you. [Just because she's obviously the prettiest doesn't mean you get away with putting yourself in her tier, buddy.] No wonder you're so overcome.

Try again anyway. [Sing-song:] If at first you don't succeed . . .

... scenario B, why the hell not

[coppermarigolds]

[Aveline blinks. And blinks again. It's not like Isabela ever wears a great deal of clothing, but this is just going too far. Hand over her face, like so.]

Isabela.

[goodforsix]

[Just a smile. Just one little smile as Isabela puts a hand on her cocked hip.]

What? Is there something on my face?

[coppermarigolds]

That isn't... you can't...

[Look at her, at a loss for words.]

Please. Put some clothes on.

[goodforsix]

[Oh, how does she even react? So many possibilities. I mean, it's Aveline and she's a whole new world of potential every time they speak.]

This is clothing. I am clothed.

B

[havardr]

You might catch cold you know.

[ From somewhere off to Isabela's side there's laughter and Kallian steps out from the shadows. ]

It's good to see you again, though... [ A handwave. She's dressed in thin healer's clothes that aren't meant for the winter, either. ] Not here would be better, I'm starting to think.

[goodforsix]

I was just enjoying the breeze. Like the free winds of the open sea.

[She opens her arms in a mild sweeping gesture to illustrate the point, then essentially slinks over.]

It's good to see you in one whole piece.

[havardr]

[ Kallian can't help but smile at that. ]

They definitely created those shifts with breezes in mind.

[ However her expression is quick to turn serious. Familiar faces are well and good but now she suspects some sort of conspiracy is in the works. ] I believe we are far and away from Thedas. Have you learned much of how we came to be here?

[kissthatgoodbye]

He prefers that she's not stupid; he also prefers that she reacts to his compliments, and the smile settles deeper. He can work with this. With all of this.

He looks exactly where she intends him to, eyes flicking down to her neck and the line of her shoulders and back up, and then he laughs.]

I'm not actually blind. [A teasing remonstrance; of course there aren't a lot of people here prettier than he is. He knows that. That much he can prove.

There are three more shots in his clip and he takes them, sending one apparently haphazardly to each side of the target, and then clipping off just the very top left corner with the last one. It is getting boring missing every time after all, and lets him crow like an idiot.]

That one's for you.

[gitanes]

[She chews the inside of her lip, a tell of concentration, as she watching first him, the way he moves, and then the way he shoots, the way he misses and misses and misses and then - doesn't. She could almost believe it, but instinct makes her suspicious.]

[Best not to say anything about it. Not yet. Because to look at him, he could easily be from somewhere sharpshooting isn't a requirement for survival. He could easily just be some boy, not extraordinary in any way.]

[It's just that Lila doubts it at this point, that's all. The ego's a little wrong. Or maybe she wants a reason to watch him shoot some more.]

Thanks, but I don't want it. I don't accept gifts that aren't bulls-eyes.

[coppermarigolds]

Barely.

[Isabela, why you gotta be so... you.]

I am fairly sure you're not supposed to actually wear that in public.

[havardr]

"They've closed off the sky somehow. I suppose we'll have to leave the building and see for ourselves."

Kallian made a face and shrugged. "I only know what they told me, which wasn't much and made little sense beyond that. You can tell them to turn on or...look at them in a particular way. I'm not sure why all this magic is necessary."

[kissthatgoodbye]

[It's true enough: he's dressed like a playboy for exactly this reason, albeit the Old Navy, bike messenger version. It was a good cover, and the decision to keep it was easy. Most people have the same eyerolling or eye-grabbing reaction to a hairstyle that is designed to look nonexistent, after all. Either way, the high collar of his jacket hides his barcode, and that's all he needs.

He considers the target for a moment, then the empty gun in his hand before holding the latter out to her with an impish smirk.]

Show me how to reload it, and I'll see what I can do.

[stopmjolnirtime]

"Certainly." He flicks his shield off and sets his hammer aside, pulling a spare rifle up to his shoulder. "You brace it thusly and aim using this sight. Targeting is automatic for the most part unless that equipment is damaged."

Afterward one had to depend upon their own skills, such as they are. "You choose your target and your ammunition for your volley. This model offers ballistic, plasma, and incendiary. Once you have chosen your mark you brace for recoil and pull the trigger-"

He acts as he speaks, showing her every step of the way up until he squeeze the trigger- a round of plasma cracking through the air to strike the target. "Like so."

[gitanes]

[She looks at the gun, then up at him flatly. Show him how to reload it, her ass.]

You can't follow the instructions? It's not so hard. More importantly, I'm not your kindergarten teacher. Do it yourself or you won't learn.

[Or he could ask her very, very nicely, and she might consider it. But her instinct that he's full of shit is edging up to around 25% now, and besides, she hates being surrounded by inept people.]

[kissthatgoodbye]

I wasn't paying attention.

[Which is the truth; he didn't need to, he's been loading this type of weapon since the stock of it was almost too big for his hands, but that's the trick. Pick and choose what pieces of a lie, of a truth, to tell so that the words that actually come out are believable.

He turns it over in his hands, frowning at it, careless with where the muzzle is aiming only because he knows for a fact that it's empty. Even the chamber.

He doesn't know what kindergarten teachers do, either, but he can figure it out from the context and her tone.]

Show me on yours, then.

[antivanleather]

"I do try." He snorts softly under his breath and sidles up next to Alistair. This place is quick and strange, full of- flat men? Shiny. "I took it to be some manner of message left behind. There are tales in Antiva of mages that speak through mirrors- I assume it must be something like that."

Magic, far too much of it for his comfort. "Let me guess. You've the strange metal poured into your back as well? Marvelous."

[gitanes]

[. . . Okay, yeah, she can see him not paying attention. One point to Alec, who is enough of an arrogant douchebag on first acquaintance to get away with this. With an overdramatic sigh (the really good kind that have the side effect of blowing some hair out of her face), she stomps over to his side and knocks his gun muzzle-down in his hands, then puts the safety on hers and holds it in her right hand.]

You going to pay attention to me?

[kissthatgoodbye]

[He lets her push the gun away, doesn't fumble or drop it, but does pop another broad, bright grin at her question. It's so easy he almost doesn't take it.

Almost. Even so, he lets his expression and his tone do more of the talking than his words.]

Don't know why anyone wouldn't. [He doesn't actually wink, that would be too much, but it would be easy enough to imagine. Instead he transfers his own gun to mimic hers.]

[gitanes]

[She could, of course, have phrased it differently, but honestly she doesn't think it's worth the effort. She's pretty sure that this kid is going to take anything she says and turn it into a double-entendre with no effort whatsoever, so why fight it? Anyway: she's the one with the loaded gun in her hand. More power to her, very literally.]

[None of this stops her from rolling her eyes, but it does stop her from digging the heel of her shoe into the fleshy part of Alec's foot. Lucky man doesn't know what he's avoided.]

[She unloads her gun with no verbal cues whatsoever, trusting Alec to follow along. Once she's got her bullets in one hand - two left to his none - she nudges him.]

Yours is a little different, but the principle's exactly the same. You shouldn't need to be shown again.

[She drops one of her bullets into the chamber, displays the mechanism, does it again. Then nudges him again.]

Get more bullets and do it yourself. Then bullseye.

[kissthatgoodbye]

[And he does follow along, not quite so distracted that he lets himself forget to actually follow her instead of preempting each step, but close. If he doesn't know how lucky he is, it's difficult to tell just to look at him, but he's careful not to cross the line as he knows it into actually being aggravating about this.

His empty clip clicks back into place with a satisfied nod, both affirming that he's heard and that he accepts the challenge, teeth flashing again when she touches him.]

Yes, ma'am. [He can't help the way the words sound in his voice, engraved there through repetition when he can change the rest of himself to suit whatever he wants, so he slathers on the cocky tease of it and leaves to get more ammunition before he can be called on it.

By the time he returns - successful, in fact, at loading it himself - he's looking down his impromptu lane at his mostly untouched target, eyebrows raised.]

So. What's a bullseye get me?

[hellofist]

[She doesn't like to repeat herself because it tends to be a waste of time, but she'll make an exception just this once.]

Missed on purpose. Could have hit bullseye, but chose not to. Want to know why.