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Piper 90: Mods ([personal profile] goneawaymod) wrote in [community profile] goneawaymemes2020-04-04 10:47 pm
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TDM #1


TEST DRIVE #1


So it's your first day at your new job! Welcome to the Jorgmund Family™! It's time to settle into your new workplace on the Piper 90 rig, the coziest place of employment this side of the Livable Zone. A leader in its industry, Jorgmund is excited to have you join them in enthusiastically envisioneering team-driven paradigms.  

The Piper 90 rig's mission is not only an impressive undertaking in terms of impactful customer-oriented deliverables, it's providing a vital backbone to the Livable Zone by creating a safe region for citizens to live, work, and play. Jorgmund's "outside the box" thinking means they understand the importance of wisely investing in their human capital - you! You'll soon find that you'll take pride in this vital work - and the benefits can't be beat.

Rest assured, Jorgmund's multidisciplinary approach to our world's period of recovery means we know how to keep it real when facing this opportunity for restructuring and growth. Jorgmund: Even if most of the world has gone away, we can make a world of difference!

Synergy!

USEFUL LINKS
It is recommended you check out the following links first for info on the rig, rig conditions, game mechanics, and the intro and slideshow your characters would have to endure that takes place chronologically before the Test Drive Meme: 

Welcome/Arrival  | Rig Weather & Hazards | Rig Setting Page | Game Mechanics


SCENARIO #1 - MOVE-IN DAY!

After the bewildering and unpleasant onboarding process, you've finally been unleashed on the rig. (Well. To places you're allowed to go on the rig.) It's time to get acquainted with your new surroundings, process some of All Of That™, and meet your fellow captives - err, coworkers!

a) A BIT OF A MESS
Perhaps you're hungry? The mess hall food isn't amazing, but it does the job. Characters that have higher metabolic needs than your average human might be left feeling a little hungry, though. The worst part is actually the electronic sliding door: a small sign helpfully informs you that if you want inside, you need to smile for the camera! In addition to being patronizing, this may be a problem for characters who refuse to play ball, or characters with sufficiently nonhuman faces the door sensor can't read them. Remember, if then company doesn't see people like you, it's not discriminatory -- it's just indifferent! And that isn't legally actionable!

b) GOING NOWHERE FAST
The rig's elevators are a little off-kilter today. Overhead announcements mention this, but downplay the severity and are easy to miss -- which means you and your threadmate are stuck in here, somewhere between the fifth and sixth floor. You can complain into the emergency intercomm, but it might take from a few minutes up to an hour before the elevator gets rolling again. How do you pass the time?

c) SHOULD'VE TAKEN THAT LEFT TURN
You're really just trying to get somewhere else on the rig, but you've gotten hopelessly lost. Oh well, at least you're not alone! Did you run into your threadmate here? Did you lead them astray? Are they at fault? Even worse, are you somewhere full of AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY signs, mysterious equipment, and a worrying number of security cameras?

d) NEED A HAND?
You've been assigned a room and some relatively spare possessions to put in it. Unfortunately, it seems that the staff assigned to help move in new hires are all busy at the moment. Unless you want to wait around, you're going to need to lug and assemble your new assigned foldable den furniture yourself. Do you team up with another newbie? Do you try it alone and find yourself needing help? Do you come to the rescue of someone else who did that?

e) SPECIAL DELIVERY
Somebody in processing decided to give you two a quick little errand: you're supposed to take a couple boxes of files up to the executive deck. Unfortunately, a skeptical security staffer is giving you a hard time on your way there, on account of your funny-looking face, insufficient ID or sketchy-looking package. How do you deal with this and accomplish your task?

f) BLOW OFF STEAM
You're likely still a bit sore from Jorgmund fitting you with the nanochain, but you were promised a gym and you are going to use that gym, dammit. It looks like you're not alone in deciding to try out the training area. Do you train together? Spar to let some frustration out? Or are you gonna argue about whose turn it is on which piece of equipment and resent your lost solitude? You'll also find you have to contend with the communal showers when you're done.

g) NO REST FOR THE WEARY
It's the middle of the night on the rig. You're displaced from home, it's not very warm, your door doesn't shut because privacy is a "privilege" nobody has earned yet, and occasional mysterious clanging noises ring through the rig. You can't sleep, not yet, and perhaps you're not the only insomniac wandering the crew deck?


SCENARIO #2 - YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO PANIC

Around dawn on the morning of Day Two, something goes wrong. (Wrong-er?) You awake to the sound of alarms, and a voice over the speakers telling you NOT TO PANIC! A Stuff storm has caused a brief and contained leak onto Piper 90. You may encounter strange sights or sounds. Any anomalies should be reported immediately to rig security. Thank you for your cooperation!

The nature of the problem isn't immediately clear, but over the next handful of hours you find yourself embroiled in a bizarre fracas: a Stuff leak has caused numerous inanimate objects on the rig to come to life. Furniture and appliances small and large are roaming the decks. Some of them are docile, but others are aggressive (or just troublesome due to their size). Some examples:
  • A rogue photocopier spewing paper and ink
  • A mahogany conference table with old clawed feet and a brand new gaping jaw
  • A water cooler that scuttles the halls, squirting people with jets in varying temperatures
  • Small office supplies like pencils and paperclips that swarm in large numbers
  • Dressers and drawers that spit their contents at high velocity
  • A room's worth of folding chairs that hunt as a pack
  • An emergency fire hose that attempts to ensnare crew members in its coils
  • The angriest coffee pot you have ever seen
The objects can be dangerous, but are more strange, troublesome, and determined than deadly. If a foe seems to be incapacitated or "plays dead," even the aggressive conference table or hose will leave them with bruises and move on. Crew members who get in over their heads will be bailed out by security personnel as the incident dies down. Jorgmund staff stresses that the leak has been contained (so no new anomalies will appear), but after the initial surprise it's everyone's job to help hunt down and dispose of the Stuff-altered... stuff. It's gonna be a long morning, and you haven't even been properly briefed yet!

h) GOOD MORNING, PIPER 90
Rise and shine! There are alarms going off, announcements blaring, and people are scrambling around trying to figure out what's going on. You're one of them. Freak out? Spring into action? Team up with someone to shake down a staffer for more details? Run into someone new, perhaps literally?

i) INTERIOR WRECKORATING
You've been ambushed by an animate object that seems to have it in for you, or you've heard the shouts of someone who has and come running to help. What's ruining your morning now, and what are you going to do about it?

j) ON THE RUN
The folding chairs from Presentation Room B operate as a unit, harrying their prey through the halls with much scrambling of legs and flapping of seats. They're after you, at the moment. Can you escape, or perhaps lead them into a trap? Or do you stand your ground?

k) HERE'S THE PLAN
You and your threadmate have found somewhere secure (for now) and are deciding how to deal with a larger enemy. Are you hunting it, or is it hunting you? Are you planning to take it out of commission, or just how to get away from it? Or are you just gonna hide here and lay low until this is over?

l) PROP HUNT
Things are getting back under control, thankfully. Large disturbances have been disposed of, but that leaves the little things like elusive chains of paperclips, a small but vicious stapler, pens and markers that write rude words on walls, and utensils from the mess hall. These anomalies are stealthier, but must still be dealt with, and it's up to you to flush them out.

m) CLEAN UP IN AISLE EVERYTHING
The chaos has passed, and now you've been instructed to clean up a mess. Ink or loose paper from the copier, coffee from the rampaging pot, mopping up after a water cooler, scrubbing marker off a wall, etc. You might get roped into contending with the Yuck Puddle, which is a permanent fixture and not a new development, but someone's always contending with the Yuck Puddle.


OOC DETAILS

Feel free to play around with powers. If your character has powers from canon you want to play around with, go for it. If you'd like to test out possibilities for game powers, also go for it. Feel free to change it up from thread to thread if you need to. This can be handwaved as exposure to Stuff making characters' powers shift a few times before settling.

Potential players may use test drive threads as their log samples. However, at least one post in their thread must fit the requirements for apps, both in length (200 words) and in quality. If you do plan on using a thread as a sample, please make sure the writing throughout your threads is a good example of your writing skills and has some solid examples of the character's voice.

Players can eventually count TDMs towards AC. They can only count towards comment-based AC proofs.

Potential players can opt to keep these threads as game canon when they app in, or start over fresh, based on preference. The Stuff bringing them to the game universe can fog their memories, if players don't want their character to remember TDM threads when introing into the game.

The game is invite-only. Players without invites are allowed to tdm since some of them may know someone in game to ask for one, and since some people enjoy TDMs just for fun in games they don't plan to app into. But an invite is required during the apping process.

The game is at a starting cap at 30 players. Right now the current number of invitees is likely to not exceed the game's 30 slots, but if we go a few over they will still be allowed to app during this first round. Future apps will be rolling apps and will have a wait queue if the cap has been exceeded.

The first game round will be apps only, no reserves. Apps open: Sat 4/11/20. Game start: Fri 4/17/20.


turntex: (pic#10642697)

[personal profile] turntex 2020-04-06 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
[Dave just shrugs, hands going straight into his pockets and eyebrows arching slightly over the shades as he casts a slideways look at the dad-looking dude.]

Why me? I'm just doing my best out here, good of the company and all. I haven't seen shit. Not a single forgotten turd has graced my vision with its presence.

[Even through the shades, the look he gives the old guy clearly says no snitching motherfucker.]
wheyoftheadept: (Default)

[personal profile] wheyoftheadept 2020-04-06 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
Catra is an innocent baby. Saturday is now unshakeable on this point. Saturday made friends with a literal lovecraftian horror. Accept your fate.

"Ha. It's kind of a nickname - I do work where it's not always safe to let people know your real one."
heterochrocatic: (003 » Just can't get enough guy)

[personal profile] heterochrocatic 2020-04-06 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Makes sense." Catra scratches an ear and then yawns a little as a chilly nighttime breeze swirls around the pair. She streeetches and then hops onto the railing, balancing there in a crouch.

"I'm Catra." Right, she hadn't introduced herself.
stickypete: (038)

Re: A

[personal profile] stickypete 2020-04-06 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
"Boooo, bad banter. The patronage thing. Where are Statler and Waldorf when you need them?"

He follows though and sticks close to the kid because he looks young. Maybe, what, 20? Peter doesn't like that. He doesn't like a lot of what's going on, but he especially doesn't like the younger people being here that he's seen so far. The bad guys could've at least had the good grace to not do this to kids young enough to be his kid, please and thank you.

So his instinct is to hover a little. Especially since he can't shake the mental image of Miles or Gwen standing around with an ugly jumpsuit wincing and holding a hand to their chest.
shipoftheseus: (sensei stop lying)

[personal profile] shipoftheseus 2020-04-06 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
The concept of a Russian accept – or any accent, really – didn't mean anything to Phos. As far as they were concerned, this person just looked and sounded weird. But frankly everyone here looks weird, so it's...whatever.

The broken doors come first anyway. Suddenly, they understood why none of the doorways in the School had these stupid barriers to more thoroughly separate the rooms. Doors are clearly more trouble than they're worth.

"Wait, lemme just..." They frowned, peering at the door for a moment before pressing their fingers to the seam of the elevator doors. For a moment it looked like it'd be a futile effort, the edge along the gap far too narrow to get any solid grip, but then their fingers seemed to distend and seep into the thin gap in a very unsettling sort of way. Yeah, that's...kinda unpleasant to watch.
partiallysquirrelblood: (Chatting)

1b

[personal profile] partiallysquirrelblood 2020-04-06 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
<Maybe don't try to tempt fate?>

[Doreen takes a quick glance up at the chattering squirrel riding on her head. As usual, Tippy-Toe had a good point. Even if nothing worse happened, spending the time trapped in the elevator thinking up worst-case scenarios wasn't going to help anybody.

Least of all their fellow elevator-rider, who looked like he was having a minor panic attack.]


Good point Tips. We might be stuck here, but that's no reason we can't make the best of it.

My name's Doreen Green, and the squirrel on my head is my best friend Tippy-Toe. What's yours?
Edited 2020-04-06 06:12 (UTC)
ahtohollaback: (pic#13895174)

[personal profile] ahtohollaback 2020-04-06 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
No, Elsa has no idea what any of that means in context. It sounds terrible -- things like Controller and Abomination and not being free, much less unable to tell anyone his name make her brows crease in concern.

But she doesn't ask for context, or for more explanation than he's willing to give. This place is already uncomfortable enough without dragging up remembered pain. It doesn't feel like the time.

"I'm Elsa," she says. And, after a moment, she folds her hands in front of her, drawing her shoulders up in a shrug and adds like she's admitting it, "Queen of Arendelle." She hopes she says it with dignity, instead of the weight she's been trying not to feel under it. That's the only weight the title carries around here, but not saying it feels like hiding, and she doesn't like that. "It's nice to meet you, Alloran-Semitur-Corrass. It's kind of you to speak with me about why I might have heard that voice. I don't know what happened, but I'm," she says, and feels like this is safe, "glad you can tell me your name."
Edited (wordiiiing) 2020-04-06 06:02 (UTC)
garmr: (pic#13057894)

[personal profile] garmr 2020-04-06 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
"I see.."

He looks more puzzled than amazed.

"So is this machine we're on is similar to a shitty car, then?"

Between the clanking behemoth, the infernal smile-powered door opener, and now this, Guts isn't entirely too convinced that industrialization is something he will enjoy. Horses may be flighty at times, but why fix something that isn't broken?
cachedout: (4)

[personal profile] cachedout 2020-04-06 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
Cayde shakes his head, optic lamps breaking eye contact and sliding off in the direction he had been going. "That's alright, you go on while the getting's good, I can keep myself out of trouble." Some of it's bravado, of course it's bravado, but there's more than nothing behind it. Cayde's impaired, sure, but he's stable and he can figure out how to work around this.

He can sidetrack these things, he can sometimes destroy them, and he can lay a mean trap. He may not like this place or this company, but there are plenty of similarly trapped people all over this rig that will fare a lot worse with getting walloped by flailing furniture.

"You can take a Guardian out of his home universe, but you can't take the Guardian out of the- Wait, no, that one doesn't work. Nevermind." Cayde waves a hand and starts walking. His tone remains affable and business-as-usual, but his motions are slightly more guarded and determined as he tries to keep the limp down. See, it's fine, he's fine.
Edited 2020-04-06 06:19 (UTC)
likeits1999: (You'll never know if you don't go)

[personal profile] likeits1999 2020-04-06 06:22 am (UTC)(link)
Kevin squints, the skepticism ringing loud and clear. It's not that he wants to doubt that confidence, but uhhh...

"Like, meaning no offense, but how?"
takenalive: (Default)

[personal profile] takenalive 2020-04-06 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
Alloran watches her solemnly and raises his long tail from its low curl behind him to an angle of acknowledgment. The rank seems to disturb this young human. Evidently there are dark woods around them both, which don't need to be explored. Of course, he's willing to believe his are darker and hold worse monsters.

There are rituals for princes meeting. It's been so long, he can't remember much of how they go. They wouldn't really apply to aliens, anyway, especially ones without tails.

Alloran gives some partial acknowledgement anyway, his tail curving and sweeping without reaching forwards. <I am pleased to speak, and to speak to you. I was a war-prince once, and the rank was never stripped from me. War-Prince Alloran,> and there's much more weariness and regret than anything like pride in that.
likeits1999: (In the shape of an L on her forehead)

[personal profile] likeits1999 2020-04-06 06:24 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm way better at running than setting shit on fire, bro," Kevin replies, listening to the clawed feet click along the hall tile. "I don't even got a lighter or nothing."
cachedout: (11)

[personal profile] cachedout 2020-04-06 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
The tower's latest in two senses Hunter Vanguard is an odd sight without a hood and cloak, and made odder by some shallow gouges along one side of his head, but he's unmistakably himself.

"Got it in one." Alright, so it's Saint-14. They were never exactly close, but Saint's reputation is as enormous as his (currently absent) pauldrons, and Cayde's never been a particularly quiet figure about the Last City himself. On the list of confusingly dead acquaintances he could be totally lost with, Saint-14 isn't a bad pull.

He hisses just a little, unable to suppress it at the backslap. One of his knees can deal, but the other's in rough shape. He waves a hand as if he can brush it all off.

"Hey, little fella," he says to the Ghost, then turns his attention back to Saint: "It's fine, don't worry about it. I'm gonna get this all squared soon. Good to see you in one piece."

How, he has no idea. But sometimes just saying you're going to do a thing is good enough to keep rolling. The longer he can keep going forward and not looking back on the Prison of Elders and Sundance, the happier Cayde is.

Well, "happy" is a strong word. Maybe "less like complete garbage."
credit_not_blame: the new moon at night (new moon)

[personal profile] credit_not_blame 2020-04-06 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Stacia looks up at him through her eyelashes, and allows a smile to crawl across her face. It's not the smile of a nice, sweet, harmless girl who's somehow found herself caught up in this mess. Instead, it's the smile of someone who's been aching to destroy something since she woke up here, and while she won't be satisfied by a table, it will be a good start.

Normally she wouldn't be this cavalier, but Jorgmund already knows that she can shapeshift. They've seen her in Crinos, though some of them only very briefly. She's going to have to deal with that before she can go home, and she probably shouldn't be splashy with it, but she really wants to rip something apart with her bare hands right now.

"Short version is," she says, dropping the smile before it freaks him out too much, "I can get big and strong with bonus claws and teeth, and I'm really pissed off. I will absolutely fight a table if you distract it for me."
Edited 2020-04-06 06:56 (UTC)
likeits1999: (So much to do so much to see)

[personal profile] likeits1999 2020-04-06 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
"True," Kevin says as he trudges along, chin on box. He can't help but notice the aggressive corporate overcompensation on display, too. Is that a fountain coming out of that wall? Yes, a decorative little waterfall running off a metalwork sculpture between offices for no reason at all.

"It doesn't gotta look good so long as it looks expensive I guess. Damn dude but they got money up here," he says. It's nothing like the spare, utilitarian crew deck below.
likeits1999: (But your head gets dumb)

[personal profile] likeits1999 2020-04-06 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
Kevin considers. Kevin has seen many odd things, plenty of them before finding himself shanghaied onto a dystopian corporate bullshit convention on wheels, and he supposes this is not altogether implausible.

"Alright, done deal then, dude."

He extends his fist to pound it with just enough seriousness for it to feel like a handshake.

"We'll see if I'm as fast and you're as smashy as we think."
credit_not_blame: (Happy)

[personal profile] credit_not_blame 2020-04-06 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
Stacia glances down at his fist, then grins again (nicely this time) and taps it with her own.

"It's a plan," she says. "And afterward, we should talk sprinting verses cross country."

She falls back to give him room to either limber up or jump out, depending on his preference. Also so she has room to shift without throwing him into the wall.
stickypete: (042)

[personal profile] stickypete 2020-04-06 07:32 am (UTC)(link)
A very long time ago Peter had wondered what a normal college experience was like. He hadn't had one because he and May had been, well...poor. They'd definitely had to pinch some pennies to get by after his uncle died and his science scholarship hadn't covered everything. So he'd commuted from home and had to hustle for photographs to sell to the Bugle to make money. All while being Spider-Man, of course.

So there were times he wondered what it was like to live in a dorm.

Right now, he's realizing he didn't miss squat. Dorms are for suckers. Having your childhood bedroom in your aunt's house is where it's at.

But he's probably stuck with this guy. Jorgmund doesn't seem the type to take polite requests and he's trying to keep his head down so his digging around poking at all the rig's nooks and crannies goes unnoticed. He knows at this point in his life he doesn't look like much and he plans to use it.

"I'm Ben." Deep breath. "And I gotta say, I'm impressed with the sheer chaotic energy you've infused into this place like some kind of reverse feng shui."

Sometimes you just had to marvel at sheer catastrophe.
cachedout: (2)

[personal profile] cachedout 2020-04-06 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, huh."

The casual delivery means it takes Cayde a second to process what this guy just told him, and he has replied before it hits. It's just so given, like starting trash fires to find exits to buildings is something you do.

He's rounding that corner and opening his mouth for the wait, what? when he gets caught upside the head with the question.

"No." He's more bewildered than offended, really. That takes longer. Should he be offended? It's such a new stupid question to be asked that he has to decide, and he decides that yes.

"What do I look like?" he blurts, posture opening up and gesturing at himself in an echo.
cniht: (ing (26))

2I

[personal profile] cniht 2020-04-06 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ To tell the truth, trying desperately not to laugh isn't a problem Ingrid has often encountered in her life. She's self-righteous, preachy, too serious for her own good, and an incredible stick in the mud. It's not only a matter of disposition, either - Sylvain is her oldest friend still living and, despite his proclivities, she's never much enjoyed seeing him be disrespected. Having been accompanying him this entire time, they've had a few adventures with irritated office supplies now, but...

The sight of a permanent marker going to town on the wall, thoroughly denigrating the youngest Gautier in such crude terms, though - like Beauty and the Beast's magical items as if written by a scorned teenager - there's a low, distinct rumbling in Ingrid's chest. It's followed by an odd sound in her throat, as if she's clearing it one too many times.

Her expression is trying a little too hard to be even. What gives her away is the faint tremble of her eyelashes and the way her lips seem to thin out as she presses them together with just a little bit too much force. ]
auriferous: (pic#13381047)

1B / wildcard, let me know if this doesn't suit!

[personal profile] auriferous 2020-04-06 10:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ On the sliding scale of awkwardness, there's being trapped in an elevator with a stranger - minimally awkward, but there is the option to politely ignore each other and stare at your phones. Then, there's being stuck in an elevator with someone you ghosted months back under the incorrect assumption you could easily avoid them indefinitely - in that case, there's a very passive aggressive element to the whole 'politely ignore each other and stare at your phones' thing; mainly because you're both probably texting other people and discussing one another.

Then, there's the literal ghosting, for the girl who has everything runs off and dies in a spectacular display of, uh, bad screenwriting. It's a bit similar to the other kind of ghosting because it (a) involved an abrupt, unexplained cut-off of contact and (b) meant that they haven't seen each other in a while.

Well, for Nora, it's been a while. For Pyrrha, it's been a few hours; plus however long she's been here before getting into the elevator.

The real problem, of course, is neither of them have phones to stare at. ]


- you know, I could just open the doors magnetically.

[ It would be a casual offer, except her voice comes out a bit hoarse. It's crackling with disuse, maybe - or it's just being strangled by the elephant sharing the elevator with them. ]
somnioergosum: (Shake off that chill of heaven)

[personal profile] somnioergosum 2020-04-06 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
Ronan couldn't decide if he liked Stacia more or less now. His opinion of her had become a seesaw, tilting with each word, and then it fell with a thump when she started really asking questions.

There was always something unnerving about a person calling you out for your carefully maintained appearance. So what if that was exactly what Ronan wanted to project? You didn't just say it.

You're scarier than I expected. He couldn't push the words out of his mind.

Ronan's face before had indicated someone who was in a state of constant anger. But that was just his face. Now his lips thinned and his jaw tightened. Ronan stared at Stacia. His gaze wasn't icy (yet), but it was cold. "Figure it out yourself."
walkingballpit: (9)

[personal profile] walkingballpit 2020-04-06 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
He’s almost disappointed in himself for missing the joke. Even bad jokes need love, so he gives her a light chuckle. “Right, because you couldn’t see over the pile. Good one.”

Except that they collided at an intersection, so really, she couldn’t have seen him coming. “I mean, what’s more blind - you or that corner?”
becauseimacoward: (34)

[personal profile] becauseimacoward 2020-04-06 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[This guy whose job is to uphold the law at home for once sure doesn't seem like he wants to do anything about it here. Perhaps it's that he doesn't have any particularly warm feelings towards the rig and the higher-ups, but it's mostly that he would rather not see anyone in trouble with them, much less a kid. Who knows what measures they'd take against those they consider rulebreakers]

Indeed. They can't prove a thing.

[It's just a few words, but at least the meaning is clear: Dojima sure isn't cooperating with them]
walkingballpit: (2)

[personal profile] walkingballpit 2020-04-06 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
“I’m looking at Statler right now,” Robbie said drily. Everyone’s a critic. “Give me a break, I’ve been ‘on’ for five hours. If everything was a zinger, I’d be at Radio City. But I’m here, because I’m a mildly funny magnet for weird crap, and, apparently, this is my life now.”

He’s resigned to it, but Robbie really is trying to not freak out about being interdimensionally kidnapped. This is the least accommodating landing he’s ever experienced, and he’s been in a pocket dimension comprised solely of kinetic energy. Humour helps, no matter how weak the attempt is.

He grabs a tray and drops it onto the rails of a lunch counter that seems to feature grey as the main course. “Why are boomers from Queens the toughest room?”