TDM #1

[goneawaymod]

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.

Comments

[credit_not_blame]

The thinking and impulse-control was not strong with this one. Stacia could work with that, especially once she figured out what he was good at. She wondered if he was as tight-lipped about everyone else's secrets as his own. Something to pick at later, maybe, when they weren't still involved in their first conversation.

"Well," she said, keeping the huff in her voice. "I make every effort not to engage in cannibalism, thank you very much. Any other questions, or are you satisfied with North American Werewolves 101?"

[somnioergosum]

Ronan had a lot of questions but he was smart enough or at least not stupid enough to ask them. Plus there were some things that were just too awkward to ask someone, especially a girl.

"I've got no intention of passing a class now." Ronan settled back against the wall of the elevator. Stacia's indignation did the opposite of set Ronan on edge. He reveled in it. "You can fail me now."

[credit_not_blame]

Oh-ho, that's how she calmed this asshole down: let him think he was getting under her skin.

Stacia leaned against the opposite wall of the elevator.

"All right, so if you don't have questions and I'm not allowed to ask any, what do we do now? We don't have the props for most slumber party games in here."

[somnioergosum]

"I'm done with werewolf questions." It was important to clarify. Otherwise she'd think he was some kind of liar the next time a thought cross his mind. For instance... "You got something wrong with silence?"

It was one of his favorite things. The heavy weight of a long silence, the pause of an awkward conversation (as long as it wasn't one that embarrassed him), the sweetness of staring at Adam--

That last part definitely wasn't relevant.

[credit_not_blame]

"Nothing wrong with silence when there's something to do or something to look at," Stacia answered with a shrug. "But we're stuck in the elevator and I'm not about to ask you to take off your shirt."

Even though he has a tattoo that he got for 'other people to see'. Seriously, who does that and then gets all weird when people ask about it?

"Oh, and just to head it off at the pass? You're not my type."

[somnioergosum]

To be fair, his assumption was that people would see the tattoo and then leave him alone. The problem with living in a conservative town...

Before Ronan could even comment on that, Stacia-- said that and he choked. He sounded like he'd swallowed a bug. He looked like he'd swallowed a bug.

"I have a boyfriend." Then, cause he knew that fact didn't always mean that girls were off the table for people, he added, "I'm gay."

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia busted up laughing at his expression of utter horror at the prospect of finding her attractive.

"Congratulations," she said when she could speak again, though not without giggling. "So do I. Mine likes to cook and doesn't mind me showing up at his place at three in the morning. What about yours?"

[somnioergosum]

Ronan scowled at Stacia but it was more perfunctory. There was less anger at her laughter and more indignation. A little. Also relief that this wasn't a big deal or whatever.

"Uh." Ronan tried to picture Adam cooking and he just thought of him at Harvard, eating take out or ramen or whatever while playing games with his crying club. His heart hurt thinking about it, even now that concerns like college and Ronan not joining him were dwarfed by other worries. "He's brilliant. Really smart." And minds me summoning monsters at three in the morning but who wouldn't? "Goes to Harvard and everything. He understands me like no one else does." The change in Ronan's disposition was not just noticeable but palpable. The (partial) unwinding of his tense muscles, the softening in his voice and gaze all pointed to one fact: Ronan was clearly in love.

[credit_not_blame]

And just like that, Big Tough Ronan Whatever melted like butter in a double-boiler. Such a cupcake.

Stacia smiled. "Wow, Harvard. That's really impressive," she said, with nothing but sincerity in her voice. Dollars to donuts that Ronan would shut down tighter than before if he so much as thought she might be making fun of him while he was having a genuine feeling. "Mine gets me, too. Even when he drives me crazy."

At least he'd finally stopped hunting alone and started taking backup with him, like a person with basic survival instincts. Ugh.

[somnioergosum]

Ronan tried to think of a time when Adam drove him crazy during their relationship. Frustrated, sure, but nothing extreme. And with that he came to the unsettling and not unsurprising conclusion that he was the one to drive Adam crazy. Some things never changed.

"Yeah." And there was the awkwardness lurking within the tough guy facade. Ronan didn't know how to talk about things like relationships. "It wouldn't be as interesting if he didn't."

[credit_not_blame]

"No, it wouldn't," Stacia agreed. "Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon, yeah? And not here."

[somnioergosum]

"He's here." Ronan should feel worse about that fact but it was a relief. He'd been scared to death not knowing where he was, just that Ronan was on his own. But it also sucked to know that Adam was in the same position he was. With that thing inside him. The shift in his thoughts showed as he went from breathing deeply to clenching his jaw.

"His name's Adam." And there, he began to calm down again. Slowly. "Have you met him?"

[credit_not_blame]

Whoops. Well, at least the boyfriend -- Adam, she'll have to remember that -- seems to keep him calmer.

"No, I don't think so," Stacia says. "What does he look like? Maybe I've seen him around."

[somnioergosum]

Ronan almost started to describe Adam as he'd been before college. It was hard to update his mental image of him when he'd barely seen him recently.

"Brown hair, thin, tan." But not as tan as before, right? "Taller than you."

It was easier to taunt someone else, to try and forget about the uncomfortable, nameless feeling by getting a rise out of someone else. Maybe that's what a psychologist would say, but not Ronan. He'd say it was second nature.

Just like it was second nature for his mind to go on, thinking of all the beautiful ways to describe how Adam looked, none of which he cared to share.

[credit_not_blame]

"If he was shorter than me, he'd have to have a growth hormone imbalance," Stacia says dryly. She hasn't grown an inch since she was thirteen, she's come to terms with it.

"I'll keep an eye out for him." She winks. "I promise, I'll tell him that you sent me instead of letting him think I'm psychic."

[somnioergosum]

"Hey, I'm not sending you. Just letting you know who he is." Important distinction. He didn't want Adam to get the wrong impression like Ronan had made a friend or something.

Funny she should say psychic though. It almost made him smile. "Do you know any psychics?" The question was genuine and not snide although that tone was coming back into his voice. But that was just standard Ronan. Provided, of course, he wasn't talking about his boyfriend.

[credit_not_blame]

" 'Hi, you must be Adam. I'm Stacia, I got trapped in an elevator with your boyfriend. His tough guy act is adorable'," Stacia says, pitching her voice higher and batting her eyelashes.

"Define 'psychic', I guess? I know a few people who might fall under that umbrella." A few of Stacia's gifts might too, under the broadest definition. "Like, are you asking about mind-reading or seeing the future or what?"

[somnioergosum]

Ronan huffed at the imitation but he knew he knew he was powerless to stop her. "It's not an act." And with that the edge started to come back to his voice.

He stretched, cracking his neck. "And I don't know. Mind-reading, seeing the future, all of the above and more. I don't know if there's some kind of special terminology for psychics."

[credit_not_blame]

Stacia didn't push the teasing, just waved off his protest that it wasn't an act (it so was).

"I know a couple people who read runes," she says. "A few who can find things or people. No proper I-can-read-your-mind telepaths, though. Why?"

[somnioergosum]

Ronan rolled his eyes at the wave, silently resigning himself to having his reputation here butchered.

"You're the one who mentioned it." Very mature. "I've known a few. I figured if you're a werewolf, maybe where you're from you've got like psychics who don't run hotlines for a living."

Or maybe they do. He shouldn't judge. He judged anyway.

[credit_not_blame]

She'd offered to help with your reputation, Ronan. It's your own fault for not taking her up on it.

"I don't think I know anyone who runs a psychic hotline, but maybe I should suggest it," she says. "It'd be a good way to make some money without having to interact with people in-person."

Maybe she ought to start checking out missing child notices when she gets home. You know, in her copious free time.

"I've known one or two werewolves who write erotic werewolf fantasy stories, is that better or worse?"

Share her pain, Ronan. Share it.

[somnioergosum]

Oh, look at that blush. It spread across Ronan's cheeks, once again incongruous with his sharp, angular look and "tough guy act."

"What?" At least he was in control of his voice. "Worse. Definitely worse. Do you go around telling everyone that? Jesus."

[credit_not_blame]

That. Is. Adorable.

"Normally I don't have to," Stacia says, trying not to laugh. "They tell people all on their own, with no provocation from me at all. One of them invited my boyfriend and me to his book release party."

The other guy though...the less they talk about him, the better.

[somnioergosum]

This was not helping the blush. Ronan tried to get it to go away but his efforts proved just as successful as any other time he'd try to command his blush to leave and never return.

"That's just wrong. You're younger than I am." Wasn't she?

Were werewolves immortal? He thought that was just a vampire thing but what did he know. He only dreamed for a living.

[credit_not_blame]

The blush is absolutely delightful and Stacia wishes it many happy returns.

She shrugs. "He probably figured that if I was old enough to fight monsters, I was old enough to read whatever I wanted. The invite was more for my boyfriend than it was for me though, and he's legal-to-ogle."