( MEMES ) TEST DRIVE >> 7

[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. Pet Adoption. Maybe you have the perfect genetically engineered pet in mind. Maybe you found a stray little escapee--do you keep it or turn it in? There's a reward if you let Bifrons know where the potentially dangerous little bugger is at, after all.

3. Alterations. Feel like you need an edge in the city? Find yourself injured and looking at options? Why not consider genetic alterations or, better yet, upgrading to a better, healthier you? Be warned, some of the side effects can be a little unpleasant.

4. Network Glitches. Strange garbled messages keep trying to come through in audio and text, but no way to track where they're coming from. Do you try to make contact? Compare notes with others? Surely it's nothing to be concerned about, right?

5. Dome Glitches. What was that in the window? There, again, in the bathroom mirror! Is that another you, living another life? Or maybe you spot an ominous shadow lurking around in the corner, something like a dysthrope but...worse. You're not going crazy, are you? Others see it, too, don't they? Oh, I wouldn't touch that reflective surface if I were you, or you might end up thinking you're living in that strange other world.

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

[bothbarrels]

He doesn't sigh. His head just tilts a bit, resignedly. "Same thing happened to me, Wash. When I woke up here York found me and told me I'd been here before. I don't remember a thing about that first time, though. Just like you—apparently—don't remember the first time you were here." Duke has been exploring the room a bit, but he returns to snuffle against Wash's hand. "We'll get you set up, so you don't need to worry about any of that," North adds.

[beforeblue]

"What, are they screwing with our memories now? I've never been here before in my life." If he had, he would have remembered it, but it doesn't even look like any of the places he's been for missions. "Wait, York's here too?" How had they managed to get their hands on three Freelancers and why would they then dump them to wander alone?

He smiles at the dog when it approaches him, and pets its head while it sniffs him. "Set up? How long are you expecting us to be here? We need to get out." Wherever here was.

[bothbarrels]

"York's here. And they are capable of messing with our memories. They're capable of a lot of things. And so far that's also meant preventing us from finding any way for people to go back." He's quiet for a moment. "Actually, I don't think that it's possible. At least for people like me and York. The last thing we remember is dying."

[beforeblue]

"Who is capable?" Insurgents? They have enough enemies as it is and if they can fuck with your mind this easily, yeah, that's worrying.

But then North says that and Wash feels frozen for a moment, staring at North before he laughs, a strained sound. "That's impossible. I saw you a few hours ago, North. Just before I went to get my AI." Which he still can't hear.

[bothbarrels]

"You didn't watch the orientation video?" Now he does sigh, just a bit. "Things are different here. People can be brought from any point in their lives, or even from alternate timelines compared to the one you're familiar with." He frowns. "When you first arrived you remembered all these things. You survived after York and I were gone. I wonder why they took your memories back that far. Or maybe they know less about what they're doing than it seems."

[beforeblue]

"...no?" That creepy looping film in the room? Nope, he had caught about ten seconds of it and decided that it really wasn't worth his time. Probably some propaganda video. Apparently he should have done the homework. Maybe North would start making sense then, because the talk of different timelines is pretty crazy even by their standards.

"I haven't survived anything. You were right there. You can't have- have died in a couple of hours. There wasn't even an assignment."

[bothbarrels]

Denial. That made it harder. "Wash, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I wasn't on the ship with you when this happened to me. It was a lot later."

[beforeblue]

If he'd taken it easily, wouldn't that have been more worrying? Considering they were trained to be ruthless, paranoid people. He takes a breath, lets it out. He's not mad at North, but at this whole situation. He scrutinises North's face for a moment, like he'd somehow be able to tell. He looks tired. Maybe older. But it's hard to tell.

"So you're saying years have passed for you. Then... what happened?" Why did he survive when North and York were that much better than him, definitely higher on the leaderboard.