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Test Drive Meme #1 (cw vehicular crash, moderate injury)
Test Drive Meme #1
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
You don't need an invite to test
but please remember we're currently invite-only
but please remember we're currently invite-only
CRASH LANDING
Exit one dimension, enter the next. It was chaos: pressure against your ears, light bending in an impossible, unimaginable way. The very molecules of your body vibrating against one another. If you have windows, the view outside makes no sense. Even if not, your hands, your face, your feet seem like an uncertain thing. It's the feel of reality itself tearing apart, reshaping, reconnecting, thread by thread.
And suddenly, there's a beach— or ocean, whichever you land in. Smoke. Fire. Salt water churning up, fizzing around.
Maybe you crash, in a ship wrecking into sand. Maybe you merely stumble out of a portal, a ragged wormhole in space. Or maybe you fall off the back of an incredible steed, some creature that carried you into this place. Either way, there's pandemonium around you. Incredibly, severe injuries are far and few between— nobody's screaming about the dead. But you might have to help pull someone free of wreckage, or move quickly to salvage burning belongings from the landing craft. Maybe it's the crafts themselves, that you're trying to salvage.
Likely, you don't know them, these other strangers who arrived here[1]. Maybe you don't trust them— you just came out of a dying world, after all. But you all have one thing in common: you're here now.
When you get a second to breathe, maybe you'll see it. The brilliant green forest across the sand. Beyond that, the glint of a faraway city.
INTO THE WOODS
Your first night at Xistentia does not feature five-star accommodations, but as the sun begins to set, the forest offers everything you need to survive. By now, you may even have met your daemon, who'll help guide you through this. There is fallen wood to make fires for warmth and cooking, any number of rabbits, deer, and fish if that's what you're into eating. Those very same animals also provide guidance as to what vegetation is edible, including a variety of vine mushrooms, fruits, and flowers. If you're the kind of creature that mostly eats other sentient creatures, well. Technically, there are a lot of those hanging out too[2]! Now and then, you'll see tiny, winged humanoid creatures the height of a finger dart in and out of view.
A resourceful group, the multiversal refugees have determined ways to create shelters, using wreckage, supplies, and basic survival knowhow. There aren't enough blankets to go around, but the weather is mild and the fires seem to keep out any aggressive creatures.
Things get quiet. This could be a good time to meet the others under less fraught circumstances. Maybe you'll see some familiar faces and reunite with others who fled from your dying world; maybe you'll meet someone new.
Try not to seek out and fight any Rock Trolls. It's still early.
ENTER THE CITY
The city is beautiful, even with the vines covering everything, the streams running down half the streets, the massive white deer leaping off under the highway overpasses. The architecture of the skyscrapers is incredible to look at, modern and sweeping. It's clear that terraced gardens were part of the building design, and some of the greenery that lines the street had been part of the original city plan. This is a city of great potential.
And it knows you're here. As you walk by, beacons like streetlamps begin to emit a gentle glow, registering your presence. No doors are locked, though you might find yourself chasing out nests of silver-winged birds and bug-eyed rabbits.
Here, you can claim empty shops or the clothing and other sales items inside of them. Apartment complexes aren't difficult to find in a range of sizes; nor are standalone homes, brownstones, loft studios. Penthouses may not feel like penthouses when there's a thin layer of dust growing on everything and a flower growing out of the sink, but you know what? Maybe that little bud is gonna be your first roommate.
It's the strangest thing. After a few days, the lights begin to work and the water begins to run, fully operational within the unseen sewer system. At some point, the keys to your house or residence are going to turn up. Your daemon will help you find what you need. F.A.TE.S. welcomes you.
NETWORK
By now you've settled in. You have some time to explore the city, the woods, and your new kit.
Chances are pretty good that your daemon is not a phone or a computer or a wax-sealed piece of parchment or a Howler, nothing with a convenient camera or a keyboard; it probably isn't even a pocket sized. Likelier, it stares at you with eyes that contain the lenses-- or powers-- of a camera, and some part of its body projects a holographic keyboard into the air. For those of us who are not accustomed to manipulating intangible light prisms, it's about as intuitive to type on as shaping a cloud with your fingers.
But here's your network access. Accessible to all your fellow travelers in XISTENTIA.
Misfires, typos, and blurry video footage are likely. Time to feel like a Luddite!
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE
hells yeah
Footnotes
- Some of these can be nameless, plot-device NPCs to facilitate interactions! But even in this case, please avoid gore in describing their current state of being. Anyone dead or catastrophically injured will have disappeared by the time your characters make it to Xistentia. There are no corpses or dying here.
- But like OOCly ask permission ofc.
no subject
And he's still kicking and moving and being so utterly Matthew, which means that Ronan's magic must still work, even here. The thought is relief, and also terrifying; what if something happened, to either of them? Stomach knotted tight, Ronan brushes sand off of his shirt before meeting Matthew halfway, his large hand wrapping around the back of his brother's neck, forcing him to look up and let Ronan check him for any other injuries than on his leg and cheek. ]
Are you okay? How the hell did you end up here?
[ Ronan had gone through a tear in Cabeswater, but Matthew hadn't been with him. He was supposed to be in DC, with Declan. Was Declan here, too? Fuck. ]
Haven't seen him.
no subject
Don't be mad, [ he asks, briefly touching Ronan's forearm in a small attempt to calm him down, offer some comfort. ] I don't really get it. Everything went all weird like the whole world was falling apart, and then, umm, I guess I passed out or something.
[ Or something. His nose scrunches. It was very weird, like reaching the part of a video game where it asks "Do you want to continue?", so he selected "Yes" and then there was a cutscene and now he's here. Except he doesn't totally remember what the cutscene was.
(In actuality, having no magic of his own, or the technological resources to create his own escape route, Matthew just piggybacked his way here on his dream connections. That's what we're going with.) ]
And when I woke up I was on the beach. And this huge butterfly started talking to me.
[ Because that's normal. Said butterfly has crawled its way up his shirt and is now chilling on his shoulder, looking at Ronan with its thousand butterfly eyes. The daemon is almost a little creepy, but there's also a dreamy, otherworldly quality in its colors and markings that make the thing more pleasant. ]
If we're here, Declan's gotta be, though, right? We just have to find him.
no subject
[ Not at Matthew, anyway. At the world, at this virus infecting everything they knew, breaking apart everything around them? Yeah, at that, he's fucking fuming. But not at Matthew. Never at Matthew.
He points at Chainsawd, nodding. ] I got one that looks just like Chainsaw. [ Which, go figure. The only difference really is the robotic glint in her eyes, and the fact that, well. She speaks. And not in just strident cawing.
There's a part of him that's not really all that bothered about finding Declan. He's more worried for Gansey, Adam, Sargent - but he can't just let Matthew wander in search of their older brother. This - Declan - matters to him. Ronan is reminded of the three of them on church pews, uncomfortable and angry at each other, Matthew a ray of sunshine between them. ]
Yeah, maybe. C'mon, let's search the shore at least.
no subject
But seeing his older brother upset is terrible, and part of Matthew always wants to help fix things. Ronan, however, is very complicated, and his little brother is very simple, so all he can do is try to be okay. It helps that everything that's happened is far enough over his head that the reality of it hasn't quite sunk in yet--their world infected, being destroyed? Nope, still processing.
He blinks at the raven, surprised. ]
Whoa, I thought it was her. [ But now he can see the difference, in her eyes. ] Wild.
[ He reaches for Ronan's other arm, a bit childlike, ready to start the search. ]
My guy--
Daemon [ the butterfly interrupts in a passive voice that is neither obviously masculine nor feminine, while scrubbing at one of its antennae with a front leg. ]
Right, yeah, he said there was a city, too.
no subject
He starts moving, Matthew by his side, looking at the expanse of the beach ahead of them. ]
Did it give you its name yet?
no subject
Oh yeah, something weird, um...
Somnid, [ interjects the butterfly, again keeping its commentary to a single word. ]
That's right, [ Matthew says with a little snap of his fingers, his eyes still scanning the beach. He doesn't understand the significance of the name, but he also never took Latin. That's Ronan's thing. ]
He said we're here to fix everything somehow.
[ Does Matthew sound like he has any idea how to do that? Nope. Does he sound worried about it? Also nope.]
no subject
[ Well, shit. Ronan clenches his jaw, and then his fists, resisting the urge to grab the weird looking butterfly and crush it in his palm. He's not going to let this get to him, he can't. Not when Matthew's looking at him like this, not understanding why it would upset Ronan. ]
Mine is called Chainsawd. Not very original, huh?
[ He nods at the mention of fixing things. ]
Yeah. Let's fix things, so that we can get you home. Don't want to miss church on Sunday, huh?
no subject
The corner of his mouth turns up in a grin when he hears the name of Ronan's, and he lets out one bright ha! of laughter. ]
At least that one's easier to remember.
[ He brings a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the bright sun as he continues to look around the beach for any sign of Declan, but he's hearing Ronan's every word, and feeling safer by the moment. ]
Right, yeah! They're letting Mrs. Pugh do the flowers this week; she said I wasn't allowed to miss.
[ One of Matthew's old lady church buddies, who never misses a chance to pinch his cheek or pat his curls. There's nothing in his demeanor to indicate that he's talking about anything less pleasant or more exciting than a forecast of nice weather, but the hand on Ronan's arm grips a little tighter for a second.
Matthew hopes Mrs. Pugh will be able to do the flowers. ]