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TDM #1

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Welcome to Glencola Reef's first Test Drive Meme! This is a place where anyone interested in applying a character - or just curious to see how their characters might interact with the setting and others in the game - can mingle with one another. General prompts are provided below for inspiration.

TDM GUIDELINES

Please read the rules before posting to the TDM. These still apply here and will be enforced, up to and including deleting tags/toplevels and prebanning.
Posts from a TDM are required to apply. At least three tags across any number of threads within a TDM, posted within the last 6 months, must be provided in every application.
TDM threads can be used for AC. Note that new characters only need to check in for their first AC cycle, but established characters can use TDM tags for their AC.
TDMs are not considered game canon by default. This is mostly for logistics reasons - due to how characters travel on the map, it's unlikely that non-network threads that take place here will actually happen in-game. However, I won't stop anyone from working out how to make parts of threads game canon if they really want to.
New TDMs will be posted every three months. Keep checking back into the current TDM for new toplevels!

I. ARRIVAL

You awaken on a tropical island beach, soaking wet, powerless, and without any idea how you got here. Were you carrying something important, or wearing powerful armor? How unfortunate - it looks like only the most basic clothes, items in your pockets, and simple weapons managed to make the trip with you. Are you even physically the same as you remember? If you had superhuman abilities tied to your physiology, you might be stuck in a completely different body that lacks your usual senses. You might've been whisked away from a tense battle or a near-death experience and wake up delirious, or even injured.

Thankfully, against overwhelming odds, you're not the only one to wake up on this particular stretch of beach. You and your companion have a lot of puzzling out to do.

II. NETWORK

Even if you weren't lucky enough to wake up near someone else, at least you've arrived with a military-grade radio transceiver gripped tightly in your hand (or mouth, or other vaguely opposable appendage of choice). The clunky walkie-talkie will start buzzing and crackling for every public message that starts coming your way. Answering them back is as easy as pressing the "talk" button on the side of the device and either speaking into the receiver, or using the keypad to type into the message box that appears on the screen, then pressing the button again to send. A list of ongoing conversations with responses that are less than 24 hours old can be found by scrolling through the menu, identified by the callsigns that are participating in them. It seems that you've been assigned a callsign, too - it shows up in the top right side of the screen, format AB123C. The letters and numbers picked are...probably random.

This is your easiest avenue to communicating, or coordinating with, or complaining at the other people stuck on this island; how you decide to use this tool is up to you.

III. EXPLORING

For a place that appears, by all signs, to be an equatorial island in the middle of a tropical ocean, the local environments are surprisingly diverse. Beaches range from idyllic white sand to storm-swept pebble crags to cliffs with waterfalls cascading off the edges; the interior forests can be thinned from sandy soil or dense jungles full of prickly underbrush and with towering canopies; and the central mountain peaks, perilous enough to climb on their own, terminate in ravines and sinkholes that are hidden by thick foliage until you already have one foot over the edge.

The animals that make their homes here are equally as varied, and sometimes just as dangerous. The standard Earth fare of tropical fish swim right up to most shores, especially where reefs have grown, and a multitude of seafaring and jungle birds make their homes in ocean-facing cliffs and trees. Any one of these creatures would make for an easy snack. But you're not the only opportunistic hunters here; sharks prowl the waters, big cats stalk the jungles, and feral boars raid any camps that smell enticing. And that's just the stuff that looks like it came from modern Earth. Your improvised fishing rod might have captured a trilobite, or maybe that deer you were stalking has rounded on you with a set of alien mandibles full of sharp teeth. Or maybe, among the plants and animals completely foreign to you, you've stumbled across one that's strangely familiar to your home and no one else's.

There's a lot to figure out about this place. At least, in this instance, you aren't doing it alone.

NAVIGATION

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There's a bit of a pause before he shakes his head, putting on his best poker face. He doesn't expect telling her why he's here, specifically, would be a good idea. Not until he finds Jon, at least. "Not that I know about. Jon's really- He's the only important one between the two of us. I don't think anyone would bother with me. Not to drop off on a random tropical island.

"It feels like they're setting us up for some sort of reality show or something."

"So he has enemies, but you don't."

That sure sounds like an equivocation to her, but then again, it's not like she's planning to tell him about her enemies, either. Especially since they should, in theory, all be dead or otherwise neutralized. And especially since she can't imagine any of them doing this to her, either. A reality show, as unlikely as that is, seems more plausible.

"Come on," she says with a sigh, turning to head into the jungle. "I might hear fresh water up here."

Martin shrugs as he pulls a face at her assessment, then starts heading into the jungle, itself. "Wish I had my backpack with me. I wonder if that's washed up somewhere else on shore. I had canteens and a thermos."

He glances around as they're walking. "We could maybe make a little scoop for the water with one of the palm tree wooden bits..." Martin's tone turns speculative.

"Me, I just wanna wash this salt off," she says, slowing as she pushes aside a particularly gnarly tangle of vines. "Then step two is finding civilization. You have a walkie, right? Those had to have come from somewhere."

Walkie. "Ah... this thing." He does have one of those that he pulls out briefly before tucking it away again. He'd picked it up as he was standing from the beach. Not his cell phone, but something technological. Rather retro, as well. He likes that sort of thing... mostly not in this context, though.

"That makes sense. I don't... know how that got near me." Is it like one of the tape recorders, maybe? Oh, god, if the Web is following him around here, as well, he's going to be really very annoyed. Martin shows some bushes aside and the sound of running water grows louder. "We've got to be close. But... ah, I think before we go into any water, we should probably check it for, like... crocodiles?" They're in the Nile, right? And that's vaguely near the equator. Martin's pretty sure America has them, as well. And Australia.

"Good luck checking a whole body of water for crocodiles," she says, shooting him an unimpressed look - and then picking up the pace. That is definitely a waterfall, and a big one too, by the sounds of it. "Just keep your wits about you."

That said, he gives off major civilian vibes, so she adds, "Don't worry too much. I'll keep an eye on you."

Martin waits until she's looking away to make a bit of a face. Maybe he's not the scion of the apocalypse or some sort of military lady, but he thinks he can probably spot a crocodile big enough to cause them problems in a water body. The little ones aren't what he's worried about. But he keeps that thought to himself and smooths his expression as they press onward, finally breaking through the vegetation to an impressive little fall. The cliff it's coming off of must be 15 or 20 feet above them, and while it's no Niagara, it's a respectable amount of water pouring over the edge and thundering into a large basin below.

His eyes are on the water immediately, searching for anything that looks like eyes, whether that's for crocodiles or snakes or... anything else, really. "It looks pretty slippery over by the falls," he says, raising his voice to be heard. "But I think it'll be safest if we're closer to it. Leeches could be a thing here, too. Or piranhas?" He has absolutely no idea where piranhas are found.

"I hear piranhas aren't so bad as most people think," she says, picking her way over a rockier bit of the lagoon's shoreline - though admittedly, she doesn't exactly have personal experience with them, either. "But I don't want to be messing with leeches right now. How good are you on your feet? You okay with slippery terrain?"

"I'll be careful." It's not really an answer to her question, but he follows her slowly, picking out his steps with serious consideration and a bit of testing. Martin's learned to walk with a quiet step in spite of his size, and he's not about to make himself a liability by falling suddenly into a leech-infested lagoon. If that's actually a thing. Maybe not? But he'd really rather not find out. They're too much like worms.

"If you wanted to wash your clothes and yourself off, I can stay over here a little ways. Keep a lookout."

Edited 2023-05-02 17:56 (UTC)

"You shouldn't go too far. We don't know who or what else is out there, and my gun's not in optimal shape right now."

But yeah, the last thing she wants to do is deal with a skin rash from walking around all salty, so washing off needs to happen sooner rather than later.

"I'll be quick."

"Not planning to move much from here. I just, um... y'know? I want you to have some privacy." He can't give her much, but he can offer that. Of course, once he's truly alone again, the sound of water muffling everything, he's reminded of a different, much colder and colorless place. The sea lapping gently, the mist over everything. His own domain had featured rain over the ocean, but it was still an oppressive, quiet place.

Somewhere you could sit with your thoughts. He loses time as he stares out at the jungle, not actually seeing anything with his focus turned inward. From the outside, he looks like he's staring off into the middle distance, but there's a loud slop of water nearby that isn't from the waterfall, and Martin finally breaks from his reverie to see that a deer is stooping to drink from the lagoon.

Perhaps it's nothing to get excited about, but he does like animals, and having one come this close without apparent fear is a delight. He watches it for a few moments before it lifts its head and turns to look at him. Where its face should be are a set of mandibles, opening and closing. He realizes the splash it had made was due to the claw-like structures wriggling on its hind legs.

It stares at him. Martin stares back for several seconds, and then proceeds to shriek in a thoroughly undignified way as he reels back from the monstrous creature. The deer goes shooting off into the woods and Martin falls into the shallows of the lagoon.

Edited 2023-05-02 21:28 (UTC)

It's a nice, chivalrous sentiment, if one that's ultimately unnecessary, because Shaw couldn't really care less about stripping down to rinse off in front of this guy. But as long as he sticks close enough to let her keep half an eye on him, she won't argue the point - though she also won't bother to wait until he turns away before she starts hiking up her t-shirt.

She is, as promised, quick about it. Leaving her jacket spread out on the shore (salt water may be bad for leather, but dunking it again would just make the problem worse), she strips out of the rest of her clothes, letting them soak while she quickly rinses off her skin. The water is nice and cool, the lagoon is beautiful, yadda yadda yadda. As far as Shaw is concerned, not a single one of those things matters right now. She's not here for sightseeing, she's here for-- well.

She doesn't know what she's here for. And that is entirely the problem.

By the time Martin screams, she's finishing up, in the process of redressing and no longer buck naked - which is a good thing, because she sure isn't going to take the time to put anything more on. Wearing nothing but her sports bra and boy shorts, she zooms over to where Martin is standing-- no, scratch that, to where he's fallen on his ass in the lagoon.

"What?" she asks, her eyes sharp and alert as she looks aroun for danger. "Did you just slip, or--"

She spots the tail end of the deer disappearing into the trees - moving too quickly for her to notice the claws, and facing the wrong direction for her to see the teeth. Spinning back around to look down at Martin, she gives him the most unimpressed look.

"Tell me you didn't just freak out because of a deer."

Martin's sputtering a bit in the shallows as he gets himself to sitting, looking in terror in the direction the creature has fled, then around for more of them. "That was not a deer!" He knows he's squeaking up into his upper register, which can't be convincing, but he can't help it. "It had- There were- Oh, god, and you're naked!"

He looks down and away, putting a hand up to block her out. She might not have a sense of propriety, but he certainly still does. At least with strange women he meets on beaches.

"It wasn't a normal deer. It had claws and-and like a crab face. With little pincers." Some sort of Flesh monstrosity seems very likely. "Except they were giant pincers. Mandibles. Whatever they've got on their faces."

Oh, for fuck's sake.

"Pretend it's a bikini," she says flatly, and that unimpressed look of hers is only deepening, because she figures there's no way this guy actually saw some sort of mutant crab-like deer. "Sometimes in stressful situations, people panic and see things that aren't really--"

It's at this exact moment that a small herd of them chooses to step out of the trees, mandibles on full display.

"-- Oh."

Everything about Shaw's body language continues to scream This is annoying rather than This is scary, but she starts slowly backing up all the same, sidestepping so that she's between Martin and the threat.

"Stay behind me."

"What, are you gonna punch a crab-deer in your underwear?" He doesn't mean that to sound quite so incredulous as he struggles to stand, now sopping wet. "Sorry. Just-just maybe we should- um..." They can't leave her clothes behind. He wouldn't be able to deal with that, and it just feels like they really need those. "Throw rocks? I can throw things. Crabs and deer both run from threats." So, maybe a crab-deer would be doubly inclined to do so?

Honestly, yeah. She'd rather shoot a crab-deer in her underwear, but her gun is working like a piece of shit right now, so punching seems like a better bet.

"Is that what scared the other one away?" she asks, still slooooowly backing up.

Martin does his best to back slowly with her, moving through the water and toward the falls. The crab-deer move to the edges of the pool as they watch. "Think that was more me falling in the water and screaming. I-I could scream again?"

Edited 2023-05-03 16:38 (UTC)

Smiles from Shaw have never been all that common, and these days, they're downright rare. But at that suggestion, the pale ghost of one crosses her face, if only for a moment.

"Give it your best shot."

This is stupid. He feels stupid. Is this really going to work? It was his idea, but he shoots a mildly suspicious glance at her around his hand, all the same. It's hard to tell if she's making fun of him. If she is, this really isn't the time for it, but on the off-chance she's not... well, it had worked for the first one. And animals do tend to be skittish if they thinks something's attacking them.

Martin sucks in a lungful of air and lets it out as more of a shout this time than a scream. He splashes in the water at the same time, sweeping his arms in an arc across the surface to send a spray of it toward the herd. There's a beat, and then they're fleeing the lagoon, as well. Thank whatever powers exist here.

The man slumps a little. "Did you really think that was going to work?"

That faint smile is definitely still there - but she wades up to her knees into the water, offering him a hand to help pull him up and out, if he'll take it.

"Maybe. Figured it was worth trying."

Something in him recoils at the idea of touching people apart from Jon. Or being touched, but he knows that's probably... lingering influences from the Lonely and everything else they saw in the apocalypse. She also looks so small compared to him. His movements are a bit mechanical as he reaches out a hand to take hers. He pulls himself out mostly, keeping his eyes averted, and lets go of her just as soon as it seems polite to do so.

"Guess there aren't any piranhas in here. Then again, if everything looks like it's come out of a mad scientist's Chernobyl laboratory..." A small shrug. "You-you should probably gather up your things. No fun running around in wet clothes, but at least they won't be salty. I just want to wash mine out a little more, then we should probably get going. I don't know if those things are meant to be-to be carnivorous."

Small as she is, there's clear strength behind her grip - though she mostly lets him just use her to pull himself up, then drops her hand from his as soon as he's on his feet.

"I'll keep an eye out for more," she tells him, heading over to grab her t-shirt (she's going to wait as long as possible before she struggles her way into her uncomfortable wet jeans). "And I'll keep my back turned."

Honestly, civilians and their silly hang-ups about nudity.

"Unless you get into trouble, anyway; if that happens, no promises."

"That's... fair." He's really hoping the worst they have to deal with are skittish crab-deer. Once she's got her shirt on and put her jeans wherever she's going to put them, it's Martin's turn to make his way toward the falls. He turns his back on her, as well, and pulls off his shirt before awkwardly wiggling out of his jeans. Everything gets held under the waterfalls and wrung a few times to make is the least awful it could be.

Martin is fine until he does a check on himself and discovers a pair of leeches attached to one of his calves. Screaming again isn't an option, but he lets the waterfall drown out his whimpering as he tries not to have a panic attack. He manages to yank the horrible, disgusting creatures off and chucks them into the waterfall. Rinses his now-bloody leg off, and pulls his wet clothes back on.

Hopefully, nothing terrible has happened for his companion in the meanwhile.

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TDM #1

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

TDM GUIDELINES

I. ARRIVAL

II. NETWORK

III. EXPLORING

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