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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The human isn't a particularly large individual, which makes him easier to get a hold of and haul backwards. He does, however, let out a startled yelp and tries to strike out with one elbow, which may not connect with his rescuer's flesh.

However, he glances over his shoulder, dropping his gaze, chastened. "I'm sorry for that outcry: you startled me," he replies. Then looking back and up to the fence, he adds, "What is this place? Some kind of social experiment? A cult's compound?"

No, it wasn't that complicated. I do understand. Memory is a tricky thing and it only grows more so when other people stick their hands in it. I suppose in an ideal world we'd be left to our own devices, but it seems that isn't allowed anywhere.

"I've noticed."

She mumbles this, not bothering to look up from where she's crouched. She just keeps awkwardly hugging herself on the spot, bouncing lightly on the heels of her boots.

When she finally springs up to her feet, she lets out a sigh and a rather defeated-sounding "Fuck..."

yeah

you're one of my best friends here

you know that

[ Besides the other teeny tiny fact that there are times when Percy wonders what it might be like to maybe kiss him too. ]

That's a relief, to find someone who understands this predicament.

I have a feeling, a splinter in the mind, if you will, that I've had dealings with people of this very mindset - not asking too many questions, that is - but of course, along with everything else, I can't know for the life of me why I have this idea.

Now that's a feeling I understand. And certainly not one is wish on anyone else. I'm sure they think the torture is quite creative, too, blissfully unaware that it's been worn to death by somehar else.

Ash eyeballs her, rubs his chin, stares at the fence before them.

"So. I take it entrapment fucks with your head too."

I do know that. And the reverse is true, too.

[ especially the bit about kissing. ]

[ Continuing here. ]

I'm sure they're doing this "for our own good", and it might be worse if they're true believers in their own ideas, fanatics, even. Microcosmic gods in tiny worlds of their own making. The kind of people at risk of believing themselves to be sent by God or a god, or that they themselves are deities.

"For our own good" hardly makes it better.

If they have to tell you "I am God" then they aren't, really.

If anything, it only makes it worse. Who are they to tell us what is good for us and what isn't, when they won't tell us the reason for it. Compare that to a surgeon operating on a patient without informing them of the reason for the procedure.

How very familiar that sounds. Why should they tell us anything when we can learn from the secrets?

There is that. It challenges one to figure it out. Except that they discourage that very behavior, no matter how it may put us more at ease or satisfy our needs to know.

I've never enjoyed that kind of teaching.

It's not a method of learning that suits everyone, I would be the first to say that. But I suspect, somehow, it's something I'm no stranger to.

It seems to be distressingly common. More mystical bullshit to make some damn teacher seem smarter than he is.

Your tone, even in this dry means of communication, suggests you're all too closely acquainted with 'mystical bull shit'. Care to elaborate on it?

It's the same as always. Half-concealing truth to make you look for it instead of just coming out with it. Creating some magic to hide something that has no business being a secret but somehar wants to look powerful or intelligent or wise. The ridiculous words of "wisdom" that amount to little more than breath and yet somehow make you feel as if you've come away enlightened.

All of it is shit.

That's rather oddly non-specific, but it's a form to which any number of situations could apply. If you choose to leave it there, I can honor that.

Also, it seems like a scenario that I've experienced, but I can't place where, unless my mind is creating the reaction to fill the void.

It's both specific and not.

Either is possible, I suppose. I couldn't say without digging and I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate that

"I don't trust this place. I want to leave."

She hasn't been here long - at least, she doesn't think she's been. The feeling she gets, though... it's anything but comfortable. So yeah, some would say entrapment fucks with her head.

A moment later, she's quieter and less hostile than before: "...Are you sure?"

Fair enough, though my mind wants to chew on that. I'm not sure if I have some form of monomania or it's some professional hazard. Or both.

'Digging'? That's an interesting choice of wording. Does that mean you have some form of telepathy, that you're a mind reader?

That I couldn't say. Perhaps you'll find out one day and if you should, I'd like to know.

After a fashion. Most humans find the whole thing unsettling.

I'd be interested in a scan, if you're willing to undertake it. After the week I've had, I don't think anything could unsettle me more. I almost think I'm becoming accustomed to it.

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