bumfuckidaho | test drive meme, may 2017

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test drive meme, may 2017

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.

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She grinned back, enjoying the weird Viking vibe they'd latched onto, and gave a short laugh.

"Only behind closed doors. Where they that small when you put them on?"

"Good to know. Nakedness behind closed doors only."

He shrugged, looking down. "They do seem a little tighter now." He squinted down at them.

"You like em?"

"Was that ever a question?" Despite herself, she looked down and rolled her eyes, scoffing. It was her own embarrassment. He was... quite the specimen and Devi didn't have a lot of practice handling open appreciation of strangers.

"If they get any tighter, I'm going to have to mug someone for ones."

There was the Nurses station, the island of safety away from what just fell out of her mouth, and Devi leaned on the counter-top, lifting on her toes a little as she looked left and right behind the counter.

Green eyes turned back to him. "Do you think they'd shoot me if I just ran? They can't keep us, right?" There was no reason for Conner to know, but she asked anyways.

"Yes. I don't know what you like or don't like, and so I asked." He canted his head to the side and facepalmed. "Sorry."

"They could try. Why not run?" He poked her. "You're it." Then he was off, slowly, because he had started off before her, but going.

"You didn't ask if I liked nudity, plant boy," she said, glancing down at his poke with amusement. But the endorsement only helped solidify her grin; he was fun. Fun and cute was rare.. made her wonder what was really wrong with him. There was always something.

Leaning over the counter only long enough to grab a Wayward Pines Hospital printed pen, Devi jogged the few steps it would take to close in on him and match his speed. "You probably shouldn't leave until you're a hundred percent, ya know. I don't trust doctors but I do hear they know something about the human body and what it's doing."

Edited 2017-06-03 01:41 (UTC)

Conner grinned at her tone and words. "What do you like, oh shield maiden of Chronic Sarcasm?" She'd caught his curiosity.

Conner shrugged. "Too late now." He pointed one way to a security guard who was now looking their way, and the other way to the door. "Time to go."

"Not alerting the five-oh by sprinting," she said, walking backwards towards the exit. "Well, not til he does." All it would take was a 'Hey!' to have Devi sprinting towards the door like thief, or the challenge of a race.

"Think you can keep up?"

He sauntered at her side, then. "Okie dokie." He grinned at her, cocking his head to the side.

"Glad to try. I never bet against you."

Flashing a not so innocent grin at the security guard, Devi turned on her heel, facing the same direction as him with a little bounce in her step.

"You're going to lose a lotta money. My luck is shit."

The security guard's steps were faster now, and the expected 'Hey' came.

Devi put a slowing hand on Conner's arm. "Wanna ditch the IV? Just a suggestion, but arrest for stealing hospital property probably isn't going to look good."

"Good idea." Conner nodded and quickly pulled the line, letting the pole go as they continued, wincing for a moment, but then shaking his head.

"Let's get out of here. I want some fresh air."

"Then tag," she said with a light backhand to his upper arm. "You're it." And with that, Devi sprung into a surprisingly long strided sprint that didn't show the weight of the big black boots that carried her slender frame the fuck outta dodge.

To be honest, she wasn't sure why she was running, she hadn't done anything wrong, but it was fun. He was fun, and yeah, maybe she was echoing back to some teenage internal freedom but damnit, she'd just been in an accident.

Better to live for the day, right? Nevermind the half laugh that bubbled out of her as she hit the hospital doors and burst out of the ICU.

Conner laughed and followed her, catching up and keeping pace, as they swept down the hall and outside. He glanced around, then spotted a wide alleyway across the street and beyond it a clothing store.

"We can head that way. What say?"

"Lead the way," she said with a grin. "The sooner we get outta sight, the better. You're kinda conspicuous."

Says the girl with vibrant purple hair.

Conner grinned at her, reached out to poke her hair, then led the way across the street during a lull in traffic. he leads her on a few twisting and turning streets and alleys, quickly finding himself sure of his direction as the faintest of memories of knowing these streets lets him quickly get them out of sight of the hospital.

"I heard all our things are waiting at the Sheriff's station. Should we try to get it or figure something else out?"

She laughed at his swipe, batting his hand away as it catches one of her locks on it's way by, and settling into his stride.

"Nah. I don't trust the five-oh but it's not like we're getting robbed and need them. Plus, I don't remember any outstanding warrants for my arrest. They better have my jacket too, or I'm going to get the stiffest grass I can and cut them with it." She glanced over her shoulder at the clothing store.

"Unless you're wanting to update your threads. Maybe you can pay with the promise of heavy lifting."

"I sincerely hope they have all my stuff, even if I don't remember what that stuff is." he smiled lopsidedly as he glanced at a street sign, reoriented himself, then waved down the closest street.

"Well, new clothes would be good, but no money." he chuckled. "And I have no idea if I can, or when I will fall over again." he shook his head. "I'd rather have my own things."

"Don't worry, it was just a joke. I'm too pretty for jail or petty crimes," she said, flipping the hair she didn't have over her shoulder, lips curving back into a smirk. "Well.. except maybe vandalism.

But I know what you mean. I don't know how I got mine but I'm not looking any gift horses in their mouths." She gave him another considering glance. "And I'm sure I could lug you the rest of the way if I had to but you look like you'll weigh a stone, so if you could not do the passing out thing.."

"Oh, well." He wasn't himself, normally, but he nodded to her words.

"I don't feel like I will. I actually feel strong. and bouncy." he grinned wider at her, and poked her lightly.

"Lets go get our stuff."

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