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

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday frowns. "He had to take over a whole planet to phone home? Was this some kind of "and don't come back until you've conquered a whole planet like a real man" sort of deal?"

[heterochrocatic]

"Oh, he definitely thought it was," Catra says, shaking her head. "But no, the planet was like, stuck in this bubble outside of normal space. I don't really get it, and Entrapta isn't here to explain it so that's the best you're going to get right now." Ha ha, just casually mentioning a friend she betrayed. Ow.

"Basically he needed the power from the planet to get back to where he came from."

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday nods, understanding. "Oh, yeah. I got stuck in a place like that, actually. Not Eternia, though. That's where I was before I ended up here."

She frowns at the next part. "So he was gonna, what, break it apart? What do you mean?"

[heterochrocatic]

"So, there was a lot of magical power in the planet that usually got channeled through the princesses? But also First Ones technology? And he thought that by harnessing that power he could open a portal back home. Never really got it working, though," Catra does her best to explain what little she knows of how it all worked.

"It might have hurt the planet, maybe? What he wanted to do? The first time we tried opening the portals it almost destroyed the planet." Oops. Totally not Catra's fault, she promises.

[wheyoftheadept]

"...why didn't he just ask the people already using it for help? Did he know it was gonna hurt the planet?" Saturday is clearly puzzled. "I mean, seems like asking the experts is less risk and effort, and then you can always backstab them when the job's done, if you don't care about your rep."

[heterochrocatic]

"I think he did, but he didn't really care. Getting back to where he came from was more important." Catra shrugs. It's just the reality, and thinking back on her part of it is... wow, kind of awful? But this conversation helps put some distance between then and now, especially since Saturday has no idea who she is.

[wheyoftheadept]

"...which kinda brings me back to why not ask the locals for help."

[heterochrocatic]

"He did, sort of. I mean he recruited at least one of the princesses into the Horde. Somehow. It was before I was around, pretty sure. He also wasn't exactly... diplomatic? Liked to brood and yell a lot." Catra does her best to explain.

"I dunno. By the time I was growing up, we just got told they were bad, the Horde was good. That was that."

[wheyoftheadept]

"Thought he recruited you when he showed up?" Saturday is confused about the timeline, now. "Or had he been around for a while before you joined? And heck, why did you? You sure don't sound invested."

[heterochrocatic]

"He was around way before I was. I think he was there when the world got sealed off from the rest of the universe? Which was... a really long time ago. Like, a thousand years, I think?" Catra says. She isn't really sure exactly how long, when she thinks about it. Ages. Adora would probably know.

"And I was an orphan. I was a baby when I got, uh. Recruited, I guess." She isn't sure what other word to use here. Recruited makes sense? Her brow wrinkles as she thinks.

"Well, when you lose it gives you some perspective on things," she adds. That and a shape-shifting theater kid telling you exactly what is wrong with you might cause some self-reflection.

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday raises an eyebrow, giving Catra a look that is, well, a little horrified, but mostly concerned.

"I don't this a baby can be recruited into anything. It's not like you could have made a choice at that age. Were you allowed to, later on? Could you have left if you wanted to?"

[heterochrocatic]

"I dunno what else to call it. All I know is that was a baby, I never knew my real parents, and I grew up being trained by the Horde," Catra explains before she answers the next question.

"Pff. No." Catra shakes her head. "Not like, openly. You were a Horde soldier and you stayed a Horde soldier."

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday nods, taking this in. She takes a slow drag on her cigarette and releases the smoke into the night air.

"That's a little messed up, Catra." There's that soft sympathy again.

[heterochrocatic]

"Yeah, well..." Catra's nose wrinkle a bit at the scent of the cigarette smoke.

"...well, I knew it was messed up and then I stayed in even when my best friend left. For stupid reasons. Or maybe they weren't stupid. Didn't feel stupid at the time, but..." She trails off and shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about that."

[wheyoftheadept]

"All right, then." Saturday is going to protect this child with her life. "I've been giving you the fourth degree - got anything you wanna know about me?"

[heterochrocatic]

Catra is a young adult! She's only two years younger than you, Saturday! But she does deserve protection.

"I don't know," she admits to the question asked of her. "Where'd you get a name like Saturday?"

[wheyoftheadept]

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]

"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.

[wheyoftheadept]

"Catra from Etheria," Saturday says, as if she's thinking. She's mostly just getting used to the words - they feel odd in her mouth. But so did Thera, and she adjusted. She always adjusts. "Pleasure to meet you, Catra."

[heterochrocatic]

"First time I've heard that," Catra says and she means it. She doesn't think anyone has ever been happy to meet her, genuinely. Except maybe Adora, when they were kids.

"Nice to meet you too, Saturday."

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday doesn't think much of Etherian manners, then.

"I'm gettin' chilly. Want me to smile you in to the mess so we can get some coffee? I know I ain't sleepin' tonight."

[heterochrocatic]

"Coffee?" Catra has... not had coffee. So this is a new experience. "Sure, why not." As she turns to find the hatch back inside, she glances over to Saturday to continue speak.

"I probably won't sleep either, but I'll just find someplace to malinger where they can't find me tomorrow. Catch a nap." Like all cats, Catra has a sleep schedule which is esoteric and strange.

[wheyoftheadept]

"Careful with that. I'm tougher than most, but those shocks still stung. You gotten any demerits or whatever they call them around here, yet?" Saturday drops down the hatch with a grace that equals Catra's own.

[heterochrocatic]

"I had to deal with something like it growing up," Catra says bluntly. "You just have to be careful and know when not to push too hard." She starts heading down the hallway, hands shoved in the pockets of her oversized jumpsuit--for some reason, she had been given one that as meant for someone a bit more filled out than her. Or just intended for someone with a masculine frame. She'd even had to cut her own hole for her tail.

"Trick is finding the line, you know?"

[wheyoftheadept]

"The line might be farther in here than you think," Saturday cautions, feeling like an older sister. "Just - watch out. You encountered the Stuff yet?"