( MEMES ) TEST DRIVE >> 003.

[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.

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. What are you going to do?

2. Failed Upgrade. One of your upgrades is more wrong than right. How will you cope? What exactly is different? Who will help?

3. Mission outside the dome. You've come under fire. The strange things are coming towards you. Luckily, you have your suit, your teammates, and a lot of firepower. Or are you stranded on your own, looking for someone to come to the rescue? Perhaps you're the rescuer.

4.Infected Something bit you. Now you're turning into them, and all you can hear is a high-pitched squealing in your head, like a frequency you just can't quite hear. Do you tell your loved ones, or do you wait? Do you trust your doctor?

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. Chance encounter makin' my way downtown walking fast, faces pass--you get the point. You bump into someone! Shopping, or strolling in a park? Maybe just lunch in a cafe?

7. Glory to the Network! Network post. Text with general queries, say what you have to say to the entirety of the whole city.

8. Wildcard: Whatever you want. Mix and match, switch and swatch, make something else up entirely!

Comments

[dreor]

[ Russian. a language he didn't learn by choice, and it's associated with so many things. the other men, grunts and meatshields the lot of them, it was all they spoke. it was programmed into him, one of the easiest ways to control him.

no wonder he recoils when he hears it now. if she speaks Russian - why the hell was she with that other man anyway? a double agent? not one to be trusted either way.

he steps back, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. if she's one of them, there's no way he's getting any closer. as much as he wanted to stop hurting people moments ago, he can easily make an acception if it's someone meant to take him out and drag him back to the chair. ]

You're lying.

[ it's the same language that falls off his tongue, but steeled and grim. she'll either turn and leave on her own, or he'll make her leave. ]

You were with him. You were part of the mission. I've never given orders to you.

[sklent]

Where I come from I don't lie to you.

Can't.

[ He can take that meaning for what it is; a compulsion energized by a command in her head that she didn't put there and hasn't tried to remove either. Some things stay with you.

The recoil doesn't go unnoticed and she wonders just how much she is making this worse. For him. For either of them. Is she supposed to care? Or is this a grandiose selfish gesture? ]

Never? Your memory must be better than mine to say 'never'.

[ She won't leave. She won't step closer either. ]

Where I am from is not where you are from. Where we are is not either place at all.

But he's here. The man you couldn't kill.

[dreor]

[ can't. he's more than familiar with it. there were plenty of things he couldn't do either, for the past-- however long it had actually been. he can't disobey orders, he can't fail a mission for fear of the punishment, he can't go out and see the world and be a normal human being when not on a mission.

weird, that it sounded the same, coming from her. but she wasn't like that, wasn't she? she'd been part of the mission, one of his targets. she was with--

the man you couldn't kill.

he stops, his aggression and apprehension fading, turning into something more along the lines of ... well, hopeful. afraid still, about what it may potentially lead to, but. he's here, and that makes him lower his guard, unintentionally but probably for the best. nothing else of what she said made any sense, until that last part. ]

...

Where?

[ he straightens, knowing full well it could be a trap but he finds he doesn't care now. if she can at least tell him where that man is, then, that's something. it's a step in the right direction. ]

[sklent]

[ That's probably what she should have said first, she realizes. Instead she gave him information he may not be ready to process, but everything is a learning experience. She'll make mistakes. She has room for error, now, so she might as well.

Natalia just hopes this mistake won't cost him much in the long run. ]

His housing is here, in this district, amongst these people.

[ She doesn't think he's home, has only bugged a view of the front door so as not to intrude too much. ]

I can stop talking, if that helps. You can make those demands, now. There's no one to try and stop you.

[dreor]

[ he's here. somehow, he's here along with him. how long he's been here for, or what he's doing here, or if he's still same person from before, he won't know anything until he finds him.

and while she can't explain anything herself (which still doesn't make sense but he doesn't have time to press her for anything now,) she at least helped that much. but that all depends on whether or not she is telling the truth. he knows she can be very deceptive.

it could just be a trick. but he can't risk it, either.

he starts marching towards her, intent to make his way past. the housing districts can't be far, and he'll find him if he has to barge in every door. ]

If you're lying to me, I'm coming back for you.

[sklent]

Is that a promise or a threat?

[ She doesn't move out of his way until the last moment, stepping aside and then falling into step behind him. ]

How would you even find me?

[ She takes the communication glasses out of her pocket and puts them on. ]

[dreor]

[ he ignores her first question. it's whatever she wants to take it as, really. but just because he isn't that same weapon of Hydra anymore, that doesn't mean he's above getting her back for lying to him.

instead he carries on, searching for anything that would be a possible hint towards where that man would be. he's not sure what to look for, exactly, but that won't stop him. ]

Won't stop until I do.

[sklent]

[ A sigh. Her life could be so uncomplicated. She could've stayed out of it. But no. Here she is, chasing the Winter Soldier like they're children on a playground and he's decided he doesn't want to play anymore because she's not the man he's looking for. ]

You're going to get lost. [ Abruptly switching to English because why not? Russian means something to her. It means something to him. They don't mean the same thing by any stretch of the imagination. ]

There's no guarantee he's home. Are you going to just sit there and wait for him?

[dreor]

[ back to English. he finds it easier, less troubling. though he doesn't understand why she insists now, nor any of the things she said that were different from what he remembers of her, at the very least she provided him with a step in the right direction. it's something. if it works out, he'll think better of her.

true, he might not be there. seems a bit of a stretch to call this place "home," but alright, he won't question it. he just keeps going, moving on forward, because that's all he can do. ]

I'll find him. With or without your help.

[sklent]

[ Well. At least he admits that she can be helpful. That is...something.

She's going to just end up following him at this rate, casually pointing out when he's gone in the incorrect direction until they reach the housing for the Immune and she points it out to him. ]

There.

[dreor]

[ it's more than he can say for most people, so she should consider herself pretty lucky tbh.

her directions, while aggravating, seem to work well enough. the city is definitely strange, and it's true that he'd probably have initial difficulty navigating around it on his own. especially when he was searching for someone he wasn't 100% certain he wanted to find. which means that, once they do arrive at the right place (it had better be, anyway--) he's suddenly unsure, feet slowing to a full stop only moments after she points ahead.

it takes some time, but with a brief glance back towards her - warning, confirming, he's not sure - he takes that next step and moves on forward. he might be nervous, but it won't be the worst thing if she's wrong about this. ]