bumfuckidaho | TEST DRIVE MEME, APRIL 2017.

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TEST DRIVE MEME, APRIL 2017.

TEST DRIVE MEME

There was an accident. That's basically the only thing you know for certain. Maybe a car wreck - metal and broken glass everywhere, and the sirens and the screaming. Or maybe there was an explosion. Maybe your bike hit a rock and you careened uncontrollably off a mountain path. You can't can't quite make out the details, not who was at fault or why. Try as you might, the chaos is all you can remember.

It's also the last thing you remember from before you wake up here.

When you open your eyes, the accident is gone. Instead, you're in a hospital bed – the nursing staff greets you with a cheerful smile.

Welcome to Wayward Pines, they tell you. You'll make a full recovery here.

option one
WELCOME TO WAYWARD PINES

The hospital staff had seemed very friendly, but ultimately unhelpful when it came to answering your questions, insisting you shouldn't worry about such things, and that it was smarter to just rest until you'd fully recovered.

That was some time ago. You've since managed to leave the hospital – either via escape, or simply by waiting patiently and filling out paperwork until they finally agreed to release you. Now you've found yourself in the small but hearty town of Wayward Pines, Idaho. It's a charming little place, and the people there are all friendly enough, more than willing to greet you on the street, or give you directions if you need them.

Unless you're asking for directions out of town, of course.

Some will simply smile and give you a hearty pat on the shoulder and ask why you'd ever want to do a thing like that? Others will get quiet for a moment, and direct you to the nearest sign posted near the doorway of every building.

Don't bother taking the road, either. Whether you walk or get your hands on a vehicle, you won't get anywhere. The road simply takes you away from town for a short while before looping around and bringing you right back in.

There's no use questioning things, and it seems pretty useless to try to leave. So really, why not stay a while? Everyone's convinced that you'll find something to love in Wayward Pines.

(For the purposes of this test drive, you're welcome to handwave the existence of basically any local business or activity.)

option two
INTO THE WOODS

You've just heard a scream from the woods.

I mean, it could've been an animal. There's bound to be some kind of wildlife amongst the trees, right? But then again, it did sound awfully... human.

Though all of the locals nearby conceal a flinch at the sound, they'll assure you it's nothing, if you ask them. Why, you're probably just hearing things! (But with an anxious undertone of stop asking questions.) If you're curious, though, and brave enough to go see, they won't make any move to stop you from going into the wooded area surrounding the town.

The trees are tall, and their branches are thick enough to block out a significant amount of sunlight from breaking through the canopy, leaving the forest floor a little dimmer and cooler than the streets of town.

Whatever the source of the scream was, you won't be able to find it out here. An experienced hunter might notice some signs of a struggle, and a few faint boot prints, but they don't really seem to lead anywhere in particular.

What you will find, if you walk far enough, is a fence. A big one - at least 30 feet tall, made of metal and concrete. It goes on quite a ways in either direction as well; follow the wall far enough, and you'll see that it connects with the steep, sheer cliffs that surround the rest of Wayward Pines, effectively boxing the town in.

In actuality, you'll probably feel it before you see it. A full 500 yards from the wall, when it's hardly a shadowy smudge through the trees, you start to feel a little bit tired, a little bit weak. Trouble is, the closer you get, the weaker you feel - like the wall itself is sapping the strength out of you, and the closer you get, the worse it feels. Any powers you may have had grow weaker in kind as you make your way to the fence, but even ordinary humans will find their strength sapping away. By the time you're close enough to read the signs and to feel the crackle of electricity radiating from the thick wires criss-crossing the wall's metal surface, you're too weak to stand.

Do you crawl closer still and risk electrocution, or do you crawl away and assess the situation once you're far enough from the fence to be able to stand?

option three
PTA BAKE SALE

It's that time of year again. The time when everyone digs into their wallet, ignores their diet, and spends a little time supporting the local school bake fair. You know, for the good of the children. And it doesn't hurt that Linda's Blondie recipe is honestly to die for. The school PTA has pulled out all the stops this year in the hopes of encouraging a good community turn out, posters advertising the sale plastering every street corner and stuffed into every mailbox for a solid week leading up to the event, and today is finally the day.

There's at least two dozen different tables set up with all manner of delectable treats, even one or two offering vegan alternatives for those inclined, not to mention a few others catering to some of the townspeople's more... unique palates.

Maybe you've got your own table set up with your wares, or maybe you were simply lured to the park today by the appetizing scents wafting through the air. Either way it seems like the whole town has come out to show their support today and why wouldn't they? Children are our future, aren't they? Or maybe it's just Linda's Blondie recipe.

Yeah, that's probably it.

option four
ON THE NETWORK

Though it's not as high-tech as you might be used to (or hell, maybe you're ren faire and it's centuries beyond anything you've seen), but Wayward Pines does in fact have a network to accommodate its citizens.

Go ahead, post a network post! Just note that the network currently has two basic functions. The first is audio-only and can be accessed from the telephones in each character's home. If an audio-based medium doesn't suit your needs (or aesthetics), be sure to take advantage of the Wayward Pines Message Board from your brand new laptop for the chance to communicate with your fellow townspeople in a text-based format instead!

( a few notes )

Welcome to our third test drive here in The Pines! Just one important thing to note:

Upon arrival in Wayward Pines, characters find themselves struggling to remember entirely who they were or where they came from. Memories return progressively over the next two weeks. You're welcome to play with this mechanic in any of these prompts, but it's definitely not mandatory! For more details on this temporary memory loss, see our FAQ.

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Poe twitches, the movement as good as a recoil. The thought of someone getting inside his head, convincing him of something as important as family, makes him sick. There's another part of him that remembers the shadow of the First Order interrogator sinking threads of darkness into his mind, forcing his own thoughts to turn against him. He'd fought that, too, and failed.

Even with this much open space around them, it's suddenly a little hard to breathe.

"I'd say we would cover more ground if we split up, but that seems like a bad idea." He hesitates, then offers the man a hand up. "Poe Dameron. You?"

[Leia had very few people whom she disliked among the staff here at the school. There were teachers whom she'd found too lask and teachers she'd found too tough and of course teachers who probably had no business being around children in the first place. However, Emma wasn't one of those teachers, and the blond was greeted with a teasing smile.]

If you do that, [she began gesturing a bit with the clipboard that she was holding.] I think you may need to fight Han for them. He always gets grumpy if he has to sit here all day and has nothing to show for it at the end. [Her words are spoken with a soft fondness that she wouldn't share with someone whom she wasn't comfortable with, and Leia found herself more trusting of the blond before her for some reason.]

But I suppose if there's anything that you particularly have your eye on, we can put your name on it instead of mine.

You should know, Mr. Kent, that hiding behind me might lead to more problems than it solves.

Nyx studies him for a moment before taking his hand. It's a lot of information to unload at once, but he's honestly surprised they've had this much privacy. The man's taking it well, all things considered. "Nyx Ulric. Sorry for earlier."

Then I suppose I'll get what I deserve.

['General.' That was something that kids at the school had started calling her as a sort of joke, but it had stuck and had passed into generalized (pun intended) usage. So it wasn't uncommon for someone to be yelling it at her in order to get her attention.

What was uncommon was the way that the voice felt both familiar to her and not familiar all at once. She'd heard it call for her in a similar way many times, but she'd also never heard it before in her life. One hand touched her temple, and she closed her eyes for a second as she tried to gather some peace around her from the air. That was something that she'd always known how to do, and something that was a bit of reflex.

But she was jolted out of it by the addition of Organa. No one really knew that name. No one here should know that name.

And then there was the awful, awful thought that she shouldn't know that name either.

Now that she remembered the name, however, she remembered the voice that went along with calling her it. When she spoke it was soft, and she subtly waved a hand in his direction, so at least they weren't on the street while she was attempting to place her thoughts in order.]

Poe.

Well, that will definitely work then. What's your name?

He's good at pretending to take things well. For the most part, he's very good at it.

"Earlier-- oh, earlier. Don't worry about it." Poe slants a smile at him, both ironic and good-humored at once. "Don't do it again, but don't worry about it."

He chafes one wrist lightly with the opposite hand, remembering the feel of oversized cuffs sealed around his forearms. "So, you'd know better than me. Which way do we go?"

He touches the spot at his hip where there should, he realizes, be a holster. Then he mimics Dom's choice, picking up a branch of his own and stripping it as he keeps pace with her.

"So. What do you remember?"

"Deal."

Nyx glances around. It's easy to get lost in a place like this if you're not careful, especially when the sun start going down. The trees are thick enough that mid-afternoon starts to get a little gloomy, but he's not too concerned. They've got time yet.

"So long as we've got the chance, we might as well keep going." He nods in the direction they'd been walking, moving to lead the way. "So what do you remember, if you don't mind my asking?"

It would work in his favor to teach me how to cook. [Only years of experience dealing with Izzy and Jace keep him from flushing at how couple-y he's being. It's something he never thought he'd have and he can't help smiling at the idea.] I don't know if it's adorable, but it's freeing. No one here cares if I do couple-y things with Magnus.

[Whenever he thinks about it, it's in relation to the Law and something called the Clave that he hasn't figured out yet. And their parents, but they're still vague memories that Alec hasn't sorted out yet.]

It seems like the wait period is just town policy but - [He shrugs, glancing around to see if anyone might overhear.] it's stupid since either one of us could use baked goods for weapons.

[Knowing that any further comments about baking will hurt Izzy's feelings, Alec refrains from stating that no, she really shouldn't be allowed in the kitchen.] You're probably a hunter too, Iz. Or we both really like tattoos. Maybe we're in a biker gang. It'd explain the leather.

"I'm a starfighter pilot, presumably under a woman named General Leia Organa, I've got an astromech with the designation BB-8." He ducks a branch, scanning their surroundings continuously as they move. He might not be a tracker, but he's used to terrain with limited sight lines. "That's about it."

Those facts and the images that come with them aren't it. They aren't even the most visceral of his memories. But he's not about to spill about torture and escape to a stranger. He's not going to spill about it to anyone but those who require him to make his reports. "And I know those things are true."

Not a single one of those things sounds familiar to Nyx, so he's got no reason to doubt Poe's conviction on the truth of his memories. They don't sound much like the fit inside of the little box Pines has built for its prisoners, either.

"You woke up with more than I did. I had faces, a name, and a title. That's it." Well, that and the fact that he should have died, but funny how that's a bit difficult to bring up in conversation. He knows the events that lead up to it now. It makes sense, for all that it doesn't, but when he woke up? It had been an unnerving certainty that made that world off center for awhile. If he hadn't had Jack...

Sometimes he's grateful for the memories he's been given. Dangerous.

"Pilot? Like an airship?" There's genuine curiosity on his face when he looks back.

[ He makes his way out of the school exactly on time, and then he's looking around for... well, they probably should have discussed what they looked like or some sort of sign. But since he's one of the first out and there's a girl that looks about his age, he heads for her. ]

Hey!

Have you ever done Model UN before?

Noticing how she was breathing, Alec wasn't sure if he really believed her. Something was going on even if she wasn't the one that screamed. As he moved closer, he looked up through the branches above them for some sing of what might have caused the scream before starting to study the ground.

It looked like there had been a scuffle of some kind, but the tracks didn't make sense. Neither did the way Alec's lungs burned when he knew that his rush through the forest shouldn't have winded him. Magic or something worse was effecting him. No, them, if she was having trouble breathing too, then it wasn't just attacking him. "I'm not going to hurt you, but we need to get out of here. There's something wrong with this place."

"Starfighter. Interplanetary." Then, as it comes back: "Modified T-70 X-wing."

What he wouldn't give to have a flightstick in his hands right now. It would make the world feel a little less sideways.

At least he's got BB-8.

"I'll count myself lucky, then. Didn't remember my own name before they told me what it was, but it's starting to feel right again."

They haven't been walking long enough for him to start feeling tired from it. Unless he's more drained from that infirmary stay than he thought, weaker from whatever happened than he thought.

Ma'am.

[ He follows her silently, knowing her signals without fully knowing why. It's enough to realize that she knows him, for now, and that she's here means things aren't as bad as they could be.

Or they're worse than he thought, but he'll stick with the positive spin for now. ] Is everything okay?

[ He immediately smiles at his own question, knowing very well that it's not. ] I mean are you.

"Interplanetary?" Nyx pauses long enough to raise an eyebrow. It's not like he doubts him but the idea is beyond alien to him. The word 'starfighter' makes a little more sense in that context, though he's still blanking on what an 'x-wing' could be. "You fly through space?"

Exhaustion's been almost a comfortable friend to Nyx since he woke up in Pines, so he doesn't notice it right away, but the longer they walk the more he feels like he's been worn down. Like he's cast too much magic at once and his stores are low.

"Where I'm from doesn't have anything like that."

[ He laughs, amused both by her ramble and her question. Knowledge comes to him as she talks, what TV is, what reality shows are.

That they aren't his memories, not his knowledge, turns his stomach. ]

You're not if I'm not. Poe Dameron. You?

That's boring. Don't you want to have some fun? Or are you the fun police?

glad you see it that way
so, where at?

i don't know
but from what i remember, they're the same thing

I don't think so. Do you?

"Hey, cool it with the violence against shrubbery shit! You're giving me a headache."

The voice comes from a tall dude with dark hair, who happens to be leaning against the other side of the tree Mia kicked.

Ash has already tried to force his way through and it didn't work out well for him, so he'd leaned up against it to think.

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