TDM #2

[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?! MOVE OUT!

Well, hell, that was fast. Basically as soon as orientation's over, everyone gets shuffled into armored vehicles and a few boxes of gear are tossed in after them. Motion detectors, flimsy medical face masks, and... guns. Guns with flamethrowers. Even for the old hands at this, that's a new attachment, but the boxes all of the gear is in has electronic locks that refuse to open.

Before anyone gets any ideas, the doors are closing. The last view they get inside the Rig is a pair of medical workers dragging someone out of the 'interview' room, a tall muscular man in mismatched combat fatigues. Even without the twitching, the way he hangs limply in their arms leaves little doubt that whoever he was, he won't be joining them for cake. One of them carries his removed helmet, the other carries a removed body armor. On the chestplate a skull and crossbones can be seen, on the backplate are the words "contents under pressure."

When one of them sees them staring, she says, "Epilepsy, it seems, no doubt aggravated by Stuff exposure. We'll be taking good care of him."

Right, because the military lets epileptics in all the time, don't they.

They will never see him again. If asked about him later, they'll say he was transported to the Livable Zone, for the very best care in a proper hospital. Of course they wouldn't hire someome with health issues for a potentially stressful job like theirs, they aren't monsters.

The truth is he will get more coherent later and start complaining of a stomach ache, scans will verify something alarming, and he will be quietly killed with sedatives and quickly incinerated.

Before it's too late.

a) TAKEN FOR A RIDE
They're left to get to know each other, with the driver (in a separate compartment) informing them that they'll be at their destination in about four hours.

Meanwhile, for their viewing pleasure, there's a marathon of The Nutshack. Working media in the Gone-Away World is sometimes...lacking.

b) A LATE EASTER
...Blissfully, it's interrupted some three hours later. The boxes all click, allowing the unfortunates to grab the gear, and the Nutshack ends abruptly as the face of a harried middle manager takes up the screen, people walking back and forth behind her with the faked urgency of people who know the boss is watching. "All right, New Hires. I know some of you have just been hired, but we here in Jorgmund like our people to be able to hit the ground running." She smiles blandly, in that corporate way where no muscle above her nose so much as twitches. "This mission should be a milk run for you, though, a good way to stretch your legs and show what you're made of. It's just a bit of a delivery job, that's all. You'll be making your way to the old Pilton town, recently the site of an Incursion. To go with the milk, you're grabbing us some eggs."

Suddenly, her image contracts to the lower left corner of the screen. The main screen is filled with a single image, rotating slowly. "Our resident biology experts think that the life forms that hatch from these will be very useful in advancing various areas of science, plus they might be able to resist Stuff storms. We want an unhatched egg, drone footage shows that there's a good number of them are already empty."

Another image, this time of some kind of glowing box. "The engineers say that this will keep the eggs, and their cargo, in a kind of stasis. Just get one in there and it's mission accomplished. Easy, right? Makes me wonder why we even hauled you guys out of orientation for it." She shrugs, tossing a folder aside and glancing at a paper someone's just passed her. "Oh, right. Pilton's a write-off. They rejected our offers of help with this whole mess when it started up, so they're probably all infected with Stuff or some shit anyway, so safeties off and fire is free. Don't kill each other but anyone else is fair game. You're probably doing them a favor somehow anyway, we don't need mutants mucking up the place."

She sets everything down and leans in, filling the screen again. "Yeah, and just so you newbies know the drill, don't run. You remember what it felt like during orientation." They've already felt the first bite of the nanochains. "We got trackers in you and we don't appreciate it when our boys go AWOL after we go through all of the trouble of saving their lives from the Wilds." The transmission ends and all that's left is a map of Pilton displaying, with the cartoon's audio still playing in the background.

The vehicles all clank to a stop and open the doors. Pilton looks to be a mid-sized town, might've been home to a few tens of thousands of people once. Curiously, a tall, thick wall surrounds much of it, but something's knocked holes in it. It's in front of one of these gaps that the trucks have stopped. Inside, a thick mist obscures all but the tallest buildings, half-ruined by some disaster. Lots of shorter, squatter buildings just barely poke over the top. But some of them seem to have some sort of newer additions, a black, shiny, organic support for a few buildings. Hard to see details, though, because of heavy mist obscuring vision. The map suggests that there's a subway system... or possibly just an oversized sewer. It's hard to tell, but the way the drivers honk, so they can leave, they're not giving any more time to decide.

Motion detectors on? Locked and loaded? It's time to go. Just ignore the feeling that you're being watched.

c) THIS WAY FOR SENSITIVITY TRAINING
Well, it turns out that those eggs? They hatch sometimes! If you're lucky, this side will be all that you see. If not, well...

The radios crackle and the manager's voice comes back on, for everyone. "We're seeing some funky bio readings. Yeah, the Science department thought that one or two of you might get jumped. It's fine, just don't lose whoever that is. Pop your stasis box around them, it'll expand, and drag them back to the trucks. You can try pulling them off, I guess, but they want to see what happens when someone gets up close and personal."

There's a pause.

"Oh, uh. Don't try to pull them off. Got a report from another crew that it'll tear and dribble acid over everything. Well, we at Jorgmund appreciate the lengths you all are willing to go for the company and it'll reflect in your quarterly performance reviews." That's small comfort for anyone who's at risk of being down a man.

Then again, at the noise, there are moans from the walls and ceilings. There's a few people stuck in there, some with those creepy things wrapped tight around their necks and faces... some with with them lying dead at their feet. Some of them aren't making so much noise on account of the massive, gaping hole in their chests.

Something's hissing and writhing around your ankles, by the way.

About to spring.

d) YOU DONE KNOCKED OVER THE ANT HILL
Did you get lost? Not to worry, if those motion detector pings are anything to judge by, you're about to have lots of company! They're big! They're fast! They're black, shiny, and can climb on the walls!

Oh, and these guys bleed acid too.

The manager's voice on the radio blares out loudly. Too loudly. "By the way, it sounds like you guys have company! Did we mention that Jorgmund has excellent medical benefits and a highly trained staff with the latest equipment? Don't be afraid to get into a bit of a scrap! And remember, teamwork makes the dream work! So fire up those flamethrowers and show them how Jorgmund takes care of the competition!"

As bad as everything is, at least you can hide from them for a bit. And, hey, that civilian stickied to the wall who got all chummy with the alien babies? The one you might not have managed to seal into the box correctly? They're waking up now! An extra hand to fight these guys off will be handy! Especially since the monsters seem to be trying to guide you away from the exits, pushing you further into the hive.

e) MEET THE NEW BOSS, SAME AS THE OLD BOSS
So, a heartless, soulless, people-eating monster who doesn't care who suffers as long as the numbers go up? Boy, that sure sounds familiar.

Whether it was a tactical withdrawal, a blind rush, went in to rescue a pal, or you were dragged into a lower chamber after being snatched up by a batch of drones, you're now in a vast chamber filled with eggs. And there's the Queen hissing her displeasure at your company. And you thought the regular guys were huge.

She's lounging on the wall, attached to a pulsating ovipositor that stretches the length of this massive room, surrounded by smaller drones caring for her and the eggs surrounding her. But, luckily, it looks like before the bugs... adapted this whole mess to suit themselves, it was a construction site, and the hive resin hasn't quite covered some of the equipment.

Or some of the barrels with explosive warnings written on them.

Whatever you're going to do, think fast. This lady's no pushover, and she's the kind of boss who likes to get her hands dirty to show the troops that she still has what it takes.

Due to Stuff shenanigans reality will glitch, making this fight one that must be accomplished possibly quite a few times before reality allows her to be dead.

Because she doesn't believe she would die that easily.

Every time she dies, she'll come just a little closer to being gone for good.

f) HOMECOMING KING
Maybe you were there for all that. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you actually did your job. Somebody must have, because you're out there in the open air. The wind is sweeping through the ruins of Pilton, a refreshing rain washing away all of the evil that's been committed there. Even the manager's voice, congratulating everyone on a successful mission complete, ordering everyone back to the armored vehicles, seems upbeat and chipper.

Gather your wounded. Pick up your trophies. Usher civilians you may have saved against orders into the transports. It's time to go home. Your team's about halfway there when thunder booms menacingly in the background. Seems to be a messy storm coming, so it'll be a relief to be inside.

...Funny, that thunder just now. Thunder's supposed to come after lightning not-ah. There it is. Maybe it was an echo of a flash you didn't notice.

But don't echoes get quieter?

That's when a big fella comes around the corner. It turns its head, looking dead at your group, and the hiss it makes is a nightmarish mingling of a bull crocodile and one of the drones from inside. And then it roars, charging towards your group, massive tail smashing part of a building to rubble as it goes.

Bullets aren't going to be enough for this tyrant.

Even worse: the ground suddenly shudders even more, rumbling and shaking in a great cacophonous outpouring of sound...

And you see that the smaller version of the creatures aren't the only ones that travel in packs.

g) ON THE ROAD AGAIN
That was awful. But it's over now. The ride home is quiet, with the dulcet tones of Bob Ross filling the air on the way back. Rest, relax, drink some water, have some rations, and check up on your friends. Because after an experience like that, what else can they be?

If any New Hires have saved a civilian against orders, hopefully you're not in one of the unlucky trucks where they're starting to groan and clutch at their chest, face contorting in agony. Hopefully that's not a fellow passenger for you, and you can just ride home.

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. Apps are rolling apps that have a wait queue if the cap has been exceeded. Currently the cap is 23 of 30 players.

Comments

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan raises his eyebrows at Counselor Price, then goes back to making Gowan comfortable while he talks.]

I'm aware of the rules. I just don't intend to follow the stupid ones. The plan is get him stabilized, get him cozy, and hand him over to the first safe, civilized town we cross, since the Jorg ain't gonna do shit for him.

[For Gowan's part, the combination of stress, exhaustion and the pain medication Dan's administering has him barely conscious. He's not an active participant in this conversation about his future.]

If you're opposed to this, why were you giving him water?

[myagents]

[Now one cannot even try to waterboard people in peace? Empaths are so tedious. He answers with his usual flat tone.]

I was merely voicing my concerns. Any way you would like me to contribute to said plan?

[hallelujahjunction]

I think we'll hold off on the water now. I don't think he can safely swallow it.

[Well, helpful is better than not.]

Can you check...something, I don't know, anything, to see if there's non-rig civilization nearby?

[myagents]

Of course.

[He gets up, deliberately leaving the bottle there, staring down at Dan and Gowan before he walks away to check the windows.]

Get well soon.

[hallelujahjunction]

[When Counselor Price is looking out the window, Dan rolls his eyes a little and whispers "sorry about that" to Gowan, even though it doesn't seem like Gowan can hear him through the sedation. He gives Gowan another once over and then decides that he's done what he can, and now he just needs to stop fussing and give the man space to rest.

He's taken about two steps back when suddenly Gowan starts to convulse hard enough to nearly fall to the floor. Dan leaps forward to catch him. Gowan clutches his sternum, and Dan's mind races through what it might be, a seizure, cardiac arrest-

He wishes to hell he had someone besides this particular compassionless new guy backing him up.]

Counselor! Counselor, I need you to help me restrain him-

[There's a splash of blood that seems to appear from nowhere on the front of Gowan's shirt, which is stretching tight over some fist-sized shape that's pushing its way out of the man's body.]

What the fuck...

[myagents]

[He promptly gets back on the spot and holds Gowan to restrain him.]

I'm here.

[He says calmly, then notices the stain of blood on the man's chest. Something is spawning out of it. Aiden opens the shirt and prepares to stare down at it.]

Stay back, I will take care of this.

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan already feels the wave of resignation starting to come over him. He doesn't know what this is, but he knows it sucks, and he can intuit that Gowan's chances of getting out of here alive are slim at best. He takes a step back, but first he grabs Counselor Price's arm.]

Don't kill no one unless it's the only option, [he hisses. Then he lets go and gives them space.]

[myagents]

[He uses his power, the laser vision. He is capable of producing freezing rays, and so he does on the creature crawling out, quickly grabbing it and removing it from Gowan's body.]

We shall take this back at the rig to study it further. We have some time until the ice melts.

[He looks down at it now as he sits down and places it in his lap, as if he's petting a puppy or something, then distractedly nods at Dan.]

You're welcome, by the way.

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan's so preoccupied trying to figure out how to keep the patient alive that he barely registers to laser eyes; he only really realizes what just happened several seconds later, as he's rushedly examining a still-hot corpse to see if there's any chance of resuscitation. The absolute slop of innards that followed the creature out of Gowan's chest emphatically says no.]

Yeah, thanks.

[He knows it's not the Counselor's fault. Gowan was likely dead the instant the creature broke through what appears to be Gowan's lungs.

Still, there's a difference between trying to cooperating to try and save someone with someone who cares about the same things you do, and not. Dan closes Gowan's eyes and covers him with a sheet. Let the poor guy have some dignity, at least.]

God damn it.

[He doesn't want to talk to the Counselor, so instead he stares at the wall. It's going to be a long ride back home.]

[myagents]

[Price eyes Dan with genuine confusion. Did he really expect he was going to make it?]

Circumstances were unfavourable. You did all you could.

[He pauses and stares in mild annoyance. Kind of ungrateful of Dan not to notice that the creature could've killed him too had Aiden not frozen it.]

Sadly, I already had the suspect he wasn't going to make it.

[He shrugs, strangely speaking from actual confusion rather than passive aggression]

I suppose you felt it was still worth to try.

[hallelujahjunction]

[It's a cold comfort, knowing he tried. The fact that he tried his best doesn't mean anything if this civilian had a family, or had hopes and dreams, or hell, just wanted to see one more sunset in his life. Something irreplaceable has been snuffed out of the world. That's how it is when people die.

But it's no use to rebuff someone's attempt to offer that cold comfort, and Dan chooses to think that the Counselor's trying to be friendly here. Or, at the very least, trying to develop a cooperative relationship, as they'll likely work together again.]

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't try. Guess I'm wired that way. [He wipes blood off his cheek with the back of his hand.] I appreciate the help.

[myagents]

Mhmh.

[He nods, then eyes Dan with an enigmatic look. Wired that way, he says? Something must've wired him that way for sure. Most likely, an experience. Letting someone down, not preventing something bad from happening, and all the guilt that come from it. Inadequacy to the situation, which later causes guilt. No matter how much he has studied the human mind, he knows deep inside that all 'morally pure' things come from selfishness. Thus are rooted in hypocrisy.]

You seem to be motivated to perform better by your mindset. That is always a welcome outcome.

[Now he has to follow with something that doesn't let Dan's stupid monkey brain make the connection that Gowan's death was a welcome outcome - well, it was, but not for the reasons that he would deduce and figure out in outrage.]

The mere fact that you attempted to do this says a lot about your priorities. I'm not aware of the amount of people you did save, but I'm sure that you have had your fair share of successful missions.

[Dan tries to speak back, but he quickly interrupts.]

"Not enough", I know.

[He's pleased with this prediction, he gives him a smug, not so benevolent smirk]

...Still.

[hallelujahjunction]

[For a moment, Dan softens, lets the Counselor make his assessment. It's fascinating to listen to people explain the way they think. The themes are often the same, but each one is unique, and that's why every so often someone will surprise the shit out of you. People are like the ocean; you can know what's in there, you can know it's mostly salt and water, but it will always be more vast and complicated than you can fathom, and there will always be trenches full of secrets.

When the Counselor's smirk gets smug, Dan's face hardens again slightly, just the smallest twitch of muscle to draw his teeth tighter together, tension in his tongue.] It's never enough until you can save them all. Maybe if everyone else got on board with that, we'd be doing a better job of it.

[Dan knows you can't save them all; he's not an idiot. But each one that gets saved is worth it. When his family was hunted down, all eight in yearly succession, sometimes he thought that he would have to become jaded at some point, that despair would turn into a hardening of the heart. But each death hurt just as much as the last, because it wasn't reliving the same loss over again; it was a new tragedy each time.

That's how he knows each person matters; that's what wired him. Not guilt, but reverence. The kind of reverence that leaves your soul an open wound.]

[myagents]

I agree. Cooperation would certainly lead to better results.

[He doesn't really know anything about Dan, as he has just met him, but he is quietly amazed by how the emotional vulnerability shines through him. It makes him glow, in some way. As much as Price is unable and even disgusted at the idea of genuinely being emotionally vulnerable, he admires it and wishes he could afford it too. Many times he has performed the role, but it was nothing past that - a performance to lower someone's guard and obtain what he wanted.]

I suspect, though, that your...Urge to go into action might have backfired on multiple occasions. Sometimes losing gracefully is better than... [He gives a semi-genuine pitiful look to Gowan's body] Prolonging one's agony.

[He looks back at Dan, right in his eyes, attempting to make his own look watery although they might look very much glassy still.]

I must say...I am glad that pain hasn't hardened you yet.

[hallelujahjunction]

It's backfired plenty, [Dan says bluntly. He doesn't carry guilt for the missions gone wrong, per se, but he feels like it's important to be honest about it. It's how he honors the memories of the collateral, whether he knew them or not. He doesn't regret trying to save Gowan, no matter what the Counselor thinks about losing gracefully.

He gives the Counselor a long, measured look.]

Has it hardened you?

[He suspects not. He suspects the Counselor's coldness, the near-reptilian pragmatism, has always been there. Some people are just like that; Dan doesn't begrudge them it, not really. It must be difficult to exist in the world always looking at it as if behind glass. It must be lonely not to feel the spark of joy of just seeing others exist around you.]

[myagents]

[He is not sure why Dan is asking that question. As much as he seems to be a caring person, certainly he wouldn't care about Price's response. On the contrary, he's probably judging him, isn't he?]

I cannot tell...But I suppose it doesn't matter.

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan isn't, in fact, judging - or at least, he doesn't see it that way. He always likes to think he's just assessing. Judgment implies something condemnatory and pejorative. Dan just wants to know people and leave the jury out for eternity.]

It might could matter. [He shrugs and leans back against the wall.] Or it might could not. I won't go prying into your life if you don't want me to. I just like people. Knowing people, hearing people talk about themselves.

[myagents]

[He responds softly, but deliberately only to the second part of that sentence.]

Me too.

[He looks down at the creature he froze]

The effect lasts an hour. I could freeze it again, but hopefully it will not be needed. I can't guarantee I will be fast enough...

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan figures he might end up quite disappointing to the Counselor, because Dan's seasoned at giving as little real information about himself away as possible. People can usually read the edges - the Counselor likely already has - but Dan hoards his details and stories to himself.

He doesn't particularly care about the frozen alien, and his efforts to look like he does are halfhearted.]

We could put it in a box.

[myagents]

We should. It could buy us some time in case the ice melts too soon and the creature attacks.

[He says as he nods. Noticing that Dan is going quiet, he decides to continue the conversation by revealing what is actually a well known fact in a couple of planets, pretending to make it personal. He could use the Director! That will really come in handy. Everyone agrees the Director was a tool, anyway.]

You know, the organization I used to work for had the goal to end the war with alien species and save humankind. Unfortunately it didn't work out as planned. I am one of the only three survivors.

[...Among the people that actually matter, at least. Time to pout a little bit and feign innocence.]

The Director was very passionate about this project...But he couldn't cope with the loss. I was always by his side, but he refused my help and...Well, after the circumstances separated us, he decided to end it all. I couldn't come back in time to stop him, so...I know it is not pleasant.

[hallelujahjunction]

A box that latches. [Dan takes a breath and takes the medical kit from his side, starts to empty it out. It's got a metal latch, the kind lunchboxes do, but it's likely the best they have for the moment. Maybe they'll set it under something heavy. It's not like there are any civilians left to use the contents of the kit on, and Dan needs to wipe some disinfectant over his cuts anyway.

He stops what he's doing when the Counselor continues. ]

Three survivors of the human race? [Dan's not sure why it matters, why he asked. One of the only survivors of anything is traumatic, whether it's a plane crash or a team or a species or, in Dan's case, a family curse.] Sorry. I'm sorry about your...about the Director.

[He's not sure if the Counselor's referring to a friend or just a colleague, but one way or another the tale is sad.]

[myagents]

Three survivors of our army. [He corrects, then shrugs. Anyone under the tenth position of the leaderboard hardly mattered, anyway, so...] The human race did fine. After all, life goes on.

[Which is a hilarious thing to say when remotely linked to the Director. What a silly man. Price misses him sometimes.]

So that's good. Our people died under other circumstances, but... [He shakes his head, pretending to be upset] We are here, now. That's all that matters.

[hallelujahjunction]

Always got to ask. Different worlds and all. I hear the whole species has been wiped out in some worlds.

[Dan slowly nods. He wonders what's going on in there, if the Counselor says these platitudes to avoid feeling the weight of what he's saying, or if there's no weight to feel.]

Can't change the past.

[myagents]

Mh-hm.

[He flutters his eyelashes and then nods towards the still ongoing programme with Bob Ross]

One can still create a new image for themself, I suppose. I'm sure that many forget that behind that wholesome demeanor that is still a military man, from time to time.

[His expression too gets wholesome, devoid of any mischief that was previously there, looking very much adorable as it pairs with his soft features, and yet he says:]

How many people do you think he killed?

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan raises his eyebrows.]

Bob Ross? Seriously? [That's...a bit of a buzzkill, honestly. Dan always thought of Bob Ross as like Mr. Rogers or Ira Glass. He bought the persona entirely, it seems.]

Hard to tell. Some folks in the military never take a life. Some wipe out towns. I suppose that's a conversation between him and God. [He takes a breath.] Do you have a kill count?

[It's not the kind of question he'd usually ask, but Price seems almost the type to take him more seriously if Dan moves the conversation this way.]

I've killed a hundred and thirteen people.