test drive meme, may 2017

[officialnotice]

TEST DRIVE MEME

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.)

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

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.

Comments

9S | Nier Automata

[idealog]

ONE - COME ONE, COME ALL NINES

[ He doesn’t remember the crash at all, much less getting into a flight unit. While his body was fully operational - no severe injuries, no logic viruses, no remaining physical damage - his scanners were picking up all kinds of strange readings. He couldn’t remember what most of them meant, but the ones flagged as important (like machine lifeform activity - whatever that meant) were all green, but he was picking up life signs from everywhere. Once he steps out into the town, he understands why.

There are humans everywhere. And not just humans, but all kinds of living creatures he didn’t recognize. Some humans had four legged creatures on leashes. It was wonderful and somehow upsetting all at once. He wasn’t sure why.

9S is currently wandering around Wayward Pines. He’s not really looking for a way out of town - he’s too fascinated by everything he sees. One might notice he’s carrying something that looks like a blindfold. It’s his visor, which makes the readings he’s picking up make a heck of a lot more sense, but the townsfolk think it’s weird when he walks around all blindfolded.

One might catch him in front of one of the notices - given how curious he is, he’s been pointed to them more than once. ]

Do not discuss the past, huh?

[ Something about that seems especially off. ]

TWO - NOT A SHAKESPEARE REFERENCE

[ Someone is in danger. 9S is not equipped to do much - is he missing something? He has his pack and his visor. What if something dangerous happens?

He can go find information, maybe help a search party if one is out there. He wanders around the forest, checking for signs of life. There’s a lot to choose from, given the amount of fauna, but nothing distinctly human. Of course, the further he gets, the harder it is to tell. His systems are starting to malfunction piece by piece. He’s not sure what all of them are - wouldn’t the person who made him have included an easier way to run diagnostics?

Eventually, he gets far enough that he can see a fence. Maybe? His vision is pretty distorted right now. He probably should turn back, head to the auto body shop to run diagnostics, but that’s not the mission. His mission was to help whoever was in trouble out in the woods.

Leaning against a tree with no way to defend himself, that person might just be a lonely android. ]

THREE - BATTLEFIELD TRACK

[ Having been banned from the tug of war (he’s a few hundred pounds heavier than an average boy his size), 9S is sulking on the bleachers. He’s watching the various sports, trying to find one he can fairly do. ]

Man, this looks like so much fun.

FOUR - COME IN OPERATOR (NETWORK)

What is your favorite thing to eat?

[ He doesn’t have a favorite food that he can think of, but he’d like one. Maybe someone on the message board would have some ideas. ]

FIVE - WILDCARD

[ Tag him? I’m up for anything. ]

Four

[babyhunter]

Hands down, it's pizza.

[idealog]

[ Aren't there different kinds of ingredients? ]

What kind of pizza?

un' ArtGeek

[babyhunter]

It depends. I remember getting this soy tofu pizza a lot but I think it's because my friend was vegan. I think cheese over all.

that is... certainly a flavor.

[idealog]

Soy tofu? That sounds pretty different. Cheese seems to be a popular choice.

It's actually in the book series. IDK WHY!

[babyhunter]

It does seem different doesn't it. I don't think it takes bad. Cheese is a standby, that and I think it's very hard to mess up cheese pizza.

[idealog]

I'll have to try it sometime to find out, I guess. It doesn't seem to go well with pepperoni or sausage, huh?

[babyhunter]

Let me know how that goes. I don't like the pizza place here.

[Though she can't remember why.]

[idealog]

There's got to be another place that sells pizza.

[ Like, uh... ]

[babyhunter]

Small town like this? There is usually just one of everything.

[idealog]

So that leaves either the pizza place or someone who can make the pizza themselves. Not a lot of choices, I guess.

three

[bird_thing]

[9s might not have noticed the red-tailed hawk perched a little higher up on the bleachers, also seemingly watching the events out on the field. when 9s speaks up,
however, the hawk coasts down to land a few feet from him and turns to look at him with sharp eyes as the voice of a young boy is mentally projected to him.]

< Why aren't you playing then? >

[idealog]

[ He'd registered multiple lifeforms in the area, but had focused on the humans. He's noticed the hawk land nearby, and he wonders why it's so close.

A transmission? Well, not really. 9S decides to respond out loud. ]

I uh, wasn't a good fit for the event I've tried. I'm not really sure what I can compete in.

[bird_thing]

[transmission is close enough, honestly. the hawk tips his head to one side to pin 9s with a piercing hawk stare (don't take it personally or anything, that's really the only way he can look at things).]

< Why weren't you a good fit? >

[at least for tobias it's sort of obvious why he isn't suited to the games.]

[idealog]

[ He's fascinated more than anything. 9S doesn't recall talking with a bird before, but he's not afraid to try it. ]

My body is made of metal, so I'm a lot heavier than anyone else here. Doesn't really work for a lot of the team-based stuff.

4!

[dendrites]

Chocolate truffle cake, I believe.

[idealog]

That sounds fancy! How often do you get to have it?

[dendrites]

I don't quite remember, which is strange to say. I do know that I am very fond of chocolate things in general.

[idealog]

I think I get what you mean. There's a lot of stuff that's just kinda fuzzy after my accident. But I don't remember ever having chocolate.

[dendrites]

Well, we cannot have that at all! You simply must sample when you are able.

What do you remember?

[idealog]

I'd love to try it sometime!

Not a lot. The guy at the autobody shop said a lot of it didn't make sense. I remember 2B though - I worked with her a lot.

[dendrites]

Perhaps we can meet, reorient ourselves with the town.

Her name is 2B?

[idealog]

That would be really great!

Yeah. Mine is 9S. We're a little different.

[dendrites]

It is nice to meet you, 9S. I am Elsa.

[idealog]

It's nice to meet you too, Elsa! I look forward to working together.