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.)
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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bumfuckidaho2017-04-17 06:22 am
TEST DRIVE MEME
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Ignoring it, she just took the drink from Poe with a little smile. It was the distracted one Leia gave when she had ten thousand other things on her mind, and right now it was only attempting to master a few. 1. This world wasn't hers. 2. She knew Poe and trusted him explicitly. 3. She could feel things around her that she didn't normally feel and she didn't know how to lock them out and 4. Ben was here somewhere, which was where he was supposed to be and definitely where he wasn't]
Thank you, Poe. [Then as if more information came from her head she added:] Poe Dameron, the best pilot in the resistance. My most trusted operative.
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[ But she remembers him. That's the most important part. She remembers him, and she remembers him the way he's supposed to be. The way they're both supposed to be.
What would he have done if she didn't?
It doesn't matter. He's more concerned with how shaken she seems. That shakes him. ] Ma'am. Don't kill me for asking, but do you need to sit down?
no subject
(Often it happens at the same time when it comes to her husband.)
But the statement about not killing him allows Leia to gather up some of the steel that she'd used her entire life, steel that her real father taught her, and she had some hatred towards the man who wasn't her father, even though she couldn't place who that was at the moment. Drawing herself up to her full (but minute) status.
She needed to wear her hair higher again.]
Poe Dameron, have you ever known me to need to sit down?
no subject
He does stay at attention, though. When General Leia Organa says your name like that, you look sharp. ]
No, General. But. [ His alertness softens, broken by concern. ] These aren't exactly ordinary circumstances.
[ And, because Poe can't help himself: ] For one thing, you're in a kitchen.
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[The sentence was left hanging as Leia looked through the kitchen with fresh eyes, seeing all of the little memories that belonged to the place but didn't belong to her. Oh, her family presented quite strongly in them, but they weren't her family. No, there had never been a Thanksgiving with Luke, or a Christmas around the tree with Han putting on too many lights and blowing out the power couplings.
Or the fuses.
There was an anger in her as she focused on one corner of the kitchen, where it led to the living room, and Leia practically seemed to march over to it. Faint pencil marks measured off the starting height of a growing boy and then kept going and Leia knew that if it had been her, she would have used something more permanent, something that would have kept those markers less faded.
Which made her very angry.]
What do we know? [The anger wasn't in her voice as she looked at the marks, and then turned to look at him. It was General Organa, trying to figure this out rather than a mother who was mourning the son that she knew wasn't real.]
no subject
There's a wall to the west that extends to the cliffs in either direction. Some kind of energy field around it, too. Weakens you the closer you get to it. The very charming signs on the wall say 'risk of death, return to Wayward Pines, beyond this point you will die.' Didn't get close enough to see if they were being serious. They're heavy on surveillance here, and the locals seem pretty willing to report anything unusual.
[ He pauses, licks his lips. There's pain, and a bleakness in his eyes as he goes on. ]
They're also able to implant false memories. But. I'm guessing you realized that part already.