There was an accident. The details are hazy and obscure, but it's still the first thing you remember. Maybe a car wreck — metal and broken glass everywhere, and the sirens and the
screaming. Maybe your bike hit a rock and you careened uncontrollably off a mountain path. Maybe something less mundane, even impossible seems to have happened to you. You can't quite make out the details, not who was at fault or why. Try as you might, the chaos is all you can truly remember.
It's also the
last thing you remember from before waking up.
When you open your eyes, the accident is gone. Instead, you're in a hospital bed, and the nursing staff greet you with cheerful smiles.
Don't worry, they tell you. You'll make a full recovery here. Where is here? Why, home in Wayward Pines, of course!
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 | TRACK AND FIELD DAY |
With the current school semester coming to a close and summer vacation on the horizon, school administrators have elected to end the year on a high note with an invigorating Track and Field Day at the park, in order to better foster fitness and health in the children (outside of their government mandated physical education classes, anyway).
The event is, of course, open to the community at large, whether you have a current affiliation with the school or not. Because, well, everyone could stand to get up off their couches for an afternoon of running around in the sun. Or, in the case of residents with a particular sun allergy, under the shaded tarp canopies that dot the field here and there with healthy snacks, drinks, and some of the less expansive games available today (such as, oh, a nice sedate beanbag toss).
Wayward Pines thrives on the inclusion of all varieties of people, after all. Even those that aren't, strictly speaking, people at all.
All of the most recognizable games are available, of course: sack races, relay races, three-legged races, any sort of race you can think of, really; flag football and dodgeball with soft spongy balls to keep anyone from getting
too competitive (the school nurse is on hand just in case though); a massive tug-of-war rope that spans nearly the entire field; and water balloon and blanket tosses. If you're not too sure what the latter is you can ask Linda at the makeshift juice bar and she'll be all too glad to explain for you.
Actually, on second thought, don't ask Linda anything. Don't give her the satisfaction.
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), 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!
( a few notes )
Welcome to our fourth 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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bumfuckidaho2017-05-17 09:14 pm
TEST DRIVE MEME
this icon is what ryan looks like inside his own head
but he doesn't remember, and thus akmazian is safe. for now. ]
There's not going to be any mutant bears, that's completely ridic — [ well, actually, with screams like that and half forgotten memories in the back of his mind about explosions, operating on people who didn't look super people-y
(xenophobe), mutant bears doesn't actually sound that weird. frustrated, ryan suddenly stops and turns back around again, scowling. ] You know what, if you're coming with me then first you're going to tell me why you called me "doc", back there. You can't possibly know that about me, hell, even I barely know that about me.ryan please.......
[ akmazian starts, like he's about to pull some excellent excuse right out of his ass, before he kind of flounders and just shrugs. ]
I know what I know. Not sure why I know it. Took a pretty solid bump on the noggin, from what I'm told, so here we are. Anything else I can try to answer for you, here?
no subject
stares
at
him. ]
That... was not even remotely close to anything resembling an answer. That was just words in a sentence, plus a handy excuse. [ like ryan can really talk, he'd have pulled "hit on the head" as an excuse too, but he likes pretending he has the high ground. ] God, this place is just... augh.
Fine. Answer me this — if we come across something to use as a weapon, a big rock or whatever the hell you mentioned. You gonna be any good with it?
[ is it worth bringing u along, basically ]
no subject
[ with a look of utter mock sincerity, akmazian will just step a little closer to offer his bicep.
for science, of course. ]
no subject
[ ryan is as insulted by the name as he is incredulous that the word was used at all. he flaps an irritated hand at akmazian's offered arm. ]
No — no, I don't want to check any guns out, I don't want you following me, or calling me stupid names, you goddamn cowboy, just go away!
[ and as ryan tries to continue onwards once more, he immediately trips over a tree root. because he sure as shit hasn't got any hidden awareness of how to deal with forests in his subconscious. ]
no subject
(and admirable, too. brave. the way he's charging into the woods here to help out someone he's probably never met, stubbornly risking himself, and that stirs something familiar in him, too.)
he moves to his side, leaning down to try to take his arm and help him up. ]
Hey, c'mon. I'll play nice and stay quiet, I promise. Just let me help out.
no subject
I'll stay quiet, says the person laughing at me. Sure.
[ but at the very least, he's stopped arguing.
and very firmly stopped talking, maybe to see if the stranger with the sultry voice will do as he says and stay quiet.
this woodland is starting to look kind of dark around them. ]
no subject
eventually, he stifles a yawn into the crook of his elbow, coming to pause at the base of a large tree. ]
You sure we're headin' in the right direction?
no subject
except, ] Well. No, not really. I don't know if we even started in the right direction to begin with.
[ when akmazian stops, so does ryan. he bites at his lower lip thoughtfully for a moment, staring forth at the foliage, all if it starting to look very same-y. ]
I just know it came from... somewhere here. Somewhere deep.
no subject
[ and this is all starting to feel like a very dangerous, futile effort. ]
Come on, doc. Let's turn around.
no subject
[ he sounds firm enough about that, but — ]
Or it means something, someone, might be waiting to ruin someone else's day.
[ although ryan doesn't disagree with the assessment that they should turn around, he also... doesn't. he just keeps looking forwards. ]