TEST DRIVE MEME, APRIL 2017.

[officialnotice]

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.

Comments

[sirnyxalot]

Nyx grits his teeth, shaking his head. "I don't know. I woke up here two months ago and couldn't even remember my name. We can't leave, we can't ask questions, but we're provided for. If it's a prison it's not like one I've ever heard of, but it's as good a word for it as anything else."

Not that he's ever been at risk of being arrested. He answered only to the King, and their enemies didn't take prisoners.

[volitaunt]

"I've heard of some strange prisons. I wouldn't surprise me."

Another thing that feels true as he says it. Maybe he should just keep talking, if things are going to start coming back when he does.

Poe slows, giving their surroundings another, more careful inspection. "I'm starting to think we overshot. How well does sound carry out here?"

[sirnyxalot]

"I thought pretty well. This isn't the first time I've heard screams in the woods." He remembers that day. He had bruises for weeks from the hailstorm he'd end up running through. "I've never seen what makes them, but sometimes you can hear them clear across town."

Nyx squints up at the treetops. "Come to think of it...I don't think I've ever made it this far without being stopped, either."

[volitaunt]

"Damn."

He starts forward again, more slowly this time, focus on the forest floor. "So they could have been anywhere in here."

He's trying to ignore how his hackles and goosebumps have both been raised by Nyx's other pronouncement. This isn't the first time. "Who stops you?"

[sirnyxalot]

"The sheriff and his men. Not a lot seems to go on so it's easy to say they're just bored, but I can guarantee there's more than anyone else will tell you." He's quiet for a moment, bending to study what could be prints in the dirt.

"Hard to talk when they're watching everything you do. Downside is that's not the reason this town is dangerous."

[volitaunt]

Poe grunts, a noise of understanding and disgust.

He joins Nyx by the maybe-prints, watching the other man look them over. He's no tracker. It's all dirt to him. "So what makes it dangerous?"

[sirnyxalot]

Nyx isn't exactly a tracker either. He can recognize a scuffle, but if whatever had screamed had been here...he can't make heads or tails of where it had went. His frustration is clear.

"They make you believe that you belong here. They make you want it."

[volitaunt]

Poe doesn't mean to be derisive. He laughs, sharply, once, and then coughs into his hand.

"Yeah, not happening." He's a starfighter pilot. Why would he ever want to be stuck in a place with high walls and no wings? "What d'you see?"

[sirnyxalot]

"I walked home one morning last month, met a woman I'd never seen before, and knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was my sister." His tone is flat and doesn't even come close to covering just what that meant to him, personally. He still has that connection. They had sat, and talked, and reminisced. "I remember watching her grow up."

He flicks his fingers against some partially crushed foliage, then pushes the leaves out of the way to give Poe a clear view of the dirt. It's largely unhelpful, but that mark next to the flattened area could be the treads of a boot. Unfortunately it's the only one, and Nyx stands up after a moment of looking around. "Something probably landed here, but there's no blood. Nothing to say where it went."

[volitaunt]

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?"

[sirnyxalot]

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."

[volitaunt]

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?"

[sirnyxalot]

"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?"

[volitaunt]

"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."

[sirnyxalot]

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.

[volitaunt]

"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.

[sirnyxalot]

"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."

[volitaunt]

"I fly through space." He grins at the very thought of it, standing a little straighter. Nothing can lift Poe's spirits like flight.

He keeps pace with Nyx, trying not to show how the effort wears on him. He's still not recovered from the working-over he got from the First Order. Everything ached to start with, but now it's hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other. "You wouldn't be from the only pre-flight planet I've heard of. Never been to one myself, but it happens."

[sirnyxalot]

"Probably a good thing we're grounded," Nyx amends. As much as he'd love to see the stars up close and personal, there's a single glaring problem. "The closest people to discovering that kind of technology are ones I'd never trust with it. Emperor Iedolas is not a good man." Understatement. Nyx can't say he wouldn't murder the man in cold blood if he ever caught him unawares, but he's not the only one Niflheim has hurt, either.

They don't need to dream about the existence of other planets. The death toll would be unacceptable.

Nyx pauses, taking a moment to study the other man. He should have recognized the signs of exhaustion sooner. If Poe's anything like the rest of them, he probably was in the hospital until recently. He's going to have to remind himself that this isn't the Glaive. He has to step back. "Are you hurt?"

[volitaunt]

"Emperor. It's always Emperor or Supreme Leader, isn't it?" Through the strain in his voice runs a thick thread of scorn. "I guess there are bad men everywhere, too."

He flashes Nyx a smile. "And good ones."

Poe is ready to change the subject, ignore the question, when his legs give out under him and he hits the ground on his knees with a wince. "Maybe a little."

[sirnyxalot]

Nyx snorts as he moves to kneel next to him. "We haven't hit 'supreme leader' yet, but since the last thing I remember was the only place left to stand up to them being destroyed I don't suppose we're far off." It's easier to make jokes when he doesn't have to look at it. Doesn't have to think about his own role in Insomnia's fall.

"I've got a..." Brother. Son. "...friend who can fix you up when we get back. I should've thought about it before we came out here." He digs a bottle of water out of his pocket for him.

[volitaunt]

"Fix me up?"

The thought of being repaired like an X-wing is perversely amusing. Poe hauls himself back to his feet, stubborn to a fault, before he accepts the water. He takes a swig and dribbles a little more over his face before offering it back to Nyx. "Thanks. I'm all right. It would've taken too much time. Whoever was screaming might still be out here."

[sirnyxalot]

"He can heal you. It'll help." Nyx has no small amount of envy for Jack's ability to use restorative spells. He pushes himself to his feet and holds still for a moment at an unusual wave of lightheadedness. He frowns, tensing his fists for a moment as he finally notices the weariness in his own limbs.

[volitaunt]

"I'll be happy to let him, once we're done here."

But there, Nyx's reaction tells Poe he's not the only one feeling off. He lifts a hand, planning on steadying the man, and then realizes he might just take Nyx down again with him. "What about you? You all right?"

[sirnyxalot]

"Five minutes ago I probably would have said yes." He doesn't ask if Poe's sure he wants to keep going. He figures if he wanted to go back he would have taken the chance already, and he's not wrong. There is a possibility that whatever is out here is still in trouble. It's unlikely, but if they can help, they should at least try.

But often there's more going on than they'd otherwise realize, and it wasn't all that long ago the whole town was laid low by an infection that could have killed them. "Something's wrong. I didn't do anything today to feel like this."