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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[ Out comes the mock sigh of relief as he presses his hand to his chest. The world has been saved from Natasha Romanoff poisoning them through sweets. He's pretty sure she'd put salt in a pie instead of sugar. That's how talented she is. ]

Yeah, but Steve looks better in the apron. He's got the hips for it.

[ If he can make fun of Steve as well as Nat it's a good day. ]

I saw a one armed man steal a tin of brownies. [ His brain is still processing it. ] Ya know. The usual.

[ She raises an eyebrow at the comment about Steve's hips, in a 'well, they don't lie' kind of way, but they both go up at his anecdote about the one armed man. ] Was Tommy Lee Jones chasing him, too?

[ ...It feels good. This. The banter, the ease with which they slip back into it, like they never stopped. For all the abnormal things going on in this place, it's nice to have some sense of that normalcy. ]

You could be. This form of communication presents unique legal challenges.

[ Huh funny how the rest of that sounds vaguely menacing if you squint... must be nothing. ]

I'm always careful, Mr. Pierce. [ He's literally never careful. ] Saturday it is then.

Isn't it?

[ maybe england was odd for not having this rule and all other places on earth have it? now charlie's worried, too. ]

Hello.

I'm from Sheffield. In the United Kingdom.

[ he remembers this being a lie because humans might not look too kindly on aliens walking amongst them. he remembers preciously little else, and most of it not really good. ]

Sometimes the odds are just too wildly stacked against us. Currently the stacked odds are this excruciatingly boring place

[ it hadn't taken long for annabeth to be up and out into the forest - instinct the driving force, technically, but it made sense. for a girl whose entire life had been, and will continue to be, dependent on her head, the idea of waking up and having no idea what's happening was not good.

so annabeth went to the woods. ducked into the trees, far enough away from the town, and stopped.

she needed to think, she needed to figure out why, she needed to know how and then how to fix it. she doesn't know how long she wanders in the trees before she starts hearing voices. voices she's pretty sure she recognizes, but she's not sure from where, or why. annabeth takes off running anyway, ducking between each of the trees, trying to find where it's coming from and why and how-

when she finally breaks through the trees to where the voice is coming from, she stops. frozen to the spot upon seeing the other figure there. there's a moment of watching - quiet, cataloguing, understanding. before- ]

Percy?

wow that's pretty specific

sounds like you came from pretty far away

if this is America

and it feels like it is

[ Aaaand there it is. Okay, so he'd been pretty worried about the guy but maybe it's an overreaction.

Still, he's going to be cautious. ]

throwing yourself out of a tree is never the answer

unless that specific tree in question is on fire maybe

or there's a bear trying to get you bc it thinks you're honey

Edited (added more bc percy's a loser) 2017-04-30 16:15 (UTC)

Where you not looking for a specific answer?

no, no that's good

it's just a little surprising because I feel like there are a lot of details I can't remember

something specific to hold onto is a plus

There's a lot I can't remember, either. But I remember that.

[ Hearing his name is honestly like a balm; he never knew how much he wanted to be recognized and remembered until that very second. Someone who could call his name meant someone he had a connection to, someone from before all of this.

It's more than that, though. It's who the voice belongs to - that tone, the way she (she) says his name ... it's a memory that reaches into his chest and wraps tightly around his heart, belonging just to him.

Annabeth Chase.

Of course it could be a trick. He's been through enough scrapes and near-death experiences - he remembers that much - to consider that someone could be using that voice, that voice calling his name, in order to trap him.

But gods, at this second, he doesn't think he cares. For even a second's worth of time to see her face, he'll take it.

He whirls around. ]

You're Annabeth?

[ Please be Annabeth. ]

you think that's common too?

like the hospital thing?

[ Percy wonders if the two things are related. Did they experiment on him or something? ]

Maybe? If it's happened to both of us it might be. But maybe it's just a side effect from the accident.

accident ...?

I don't

oh

Edited (LMA go me i didnt even read the first paragraph my b) 2017-04-30 17:45 (UTC)

Oh?

[ saying his name had been off more than instinct than anything. she can't figure out from where, or why, or what it is that his name means, but she knows it. knows that he is percy, and with his name - and his reaction - comes a certain level of...relief? excitement? hope?

she turns, because that's her name and when she sees his face she knows she was right. that's him, and for all she doesn't know (and it's killing her), she knows at least that much.

you're annabeth.

there's an odd sense of deja vu. ]

How do you know my name?

[ she doesn't step towards him, despite how every inch of her is screaming to do just that. despite how her entire body seems to gravitate in his direction, the louder part - the logical part - tells her to wait. ]

every time I try to remember an accident my head starts to hurt

probably not a good sign

No, that does not sound good. Perhaps you should talk to a doctor?

Ugh Jyn hates offering her name, which is seemingly absurd because why does she hate it so much?? IN ANY CASE, her nose scrunches but at least he didn't offer to shake her hand because she wouldn't be here for that either.

There is a lot of stuff Jyn isn't here for.

"Jyn. Are accidents with memory loss common here?" Do they need to have a trained medical professional come in and Erin Brockovich this memory loss like it's dirty water?

not sure they'll be all that helpful

they haven't been so far

I think that caf is the very least amount of prep that we need to do.

[ Percy exhales.

So this is Annabeth. He knew it. He's not even sure how, but he knew it, and just like that, something small clicks into place. It's one less thing to feel hopeless and lost about even if it doesn't seem like much in the bigger picture of this place. ]

It's the only name I remember really clearly. [ His confession is quiet and he frowns while he considers how to explain the whirring confusion in his head. ] It's this feeling I get, like whatever happened before I got here, she's - you're - really, really important.

Option 1;

The hospital staff had been friendly, almost too friendly, but entirely unhelpful. Helen was left with more questions than answers, and they'd given her the runaround so long she had a headache. Or maybe she'd had the headache before. Apparently, there'd been an accident. Either way, she had no intention of staying where she was.

She freed herself of an IV, gathering the flimsy hospital gown around her, and slipped out the door and into a quiet hallway. Moments later, she'd made her way out into daylight. Someone had mentioned the sheriff's office, and once she's put some distance between herself and a hospital bed, she asks a nearby local to point her in the right direction. She'd rather not wander the streets in the inadequate hospital gown any longer than necessary.

The small stack of clothing is only vaguely familiar to her, but it was familiar enough and she felt much more herself once she was properly dressed.

Now it was time to figure out what exactly had happened to her.

Option 2;

When she hears the scream, her first reaction is to run toward it. It's instinct. And she almost can't believe that she's the only one willing to help. Whoever or whatever it is, they're clearly in trouble.

There's an undeniable feeling that she should be armed, that ordinarily she would be, but Helen shakes off the feeling, pushing forward. She's gone a decent way into the forest, finding nothing to suggest where the scream might have came from, when she notices her energy waning. Odd. It's a mix of curiosity and concern that drives her further into the trees. She only just makes out the line of a fence before she's compelled to turn around.

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