Test Drive Meme #1 (cw vehicular crash, moderate injury)

[spoofer]

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

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

1. 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.
   
   
2. But like OOCly ask permission ofc.

Comments

little bro!!

[praecautio]

[ she's surprised.

( how, in the face of all of this, can anything surprise her? )

reyna does what she does best; she accepts that she's alone and she moves on. she isn't counting on any demigods materializing in front of her, so when nico does, she's momentarily taken aback. then comes the anger ( if you ever do anything like that again ), the relief, both in an overwhelming swirl. it hasn't been nearly as long for her. she's only been without nico for twenty, perhaps thirty minutes, but not knowing if he had made it out of their world and into this one was unbearable. the person she'd meant to aid shuffles to their feet, standing tall without any assistance from her. apparently, they just needed a reminder of what they could withstand. she smiles ( at what people can endure ) and doesn't bother to conceal what she's feeling.

her laugh is strained. so often she maintains her armor, both on her person and in the way she carries herself. nico manages to slip through it like an arrow, and she doesn't care. she actually finds it ... comforting. yes, that's the word. it's unfamiliar as of late, yet not unwelcome.

nico has her hand in his and it's enough ( should be, anyway ) but she hauls him in with an arm over his shoulder, fully intending to embrace him without reservations. he's already headed into a hug on his own, she simply steps into it at the same time. ]

Where else would I be? [ she shoots back once she can trust her voice. she pulls away reluctantly, but remains close. his being in her personal space doesn't unsettle her. ] The world as we know it needs saving. It seems our journey is far from over.

[deathkid]

[ reyna has always been a force to be reckoned with. as the praetor of camp jupiter, she's always come across as stern, strong, and serious. during his time as the ambassador of pluto, nico had come to learn this. there had been a distance between them then. at the time, he never would've believed if someone told him that reyna would become one of the most important people in his life. but that was then and one continent hopping trip later, he's never been happier to have traveled with her, relied upon her strength, and come to know the daughter of bellona. in many ways, they had a lot in common. the need to keep secrets, the habit to put up walls, the tendency to look at everything with a critical eye.

and it's not just that. reyna had experienced the full brunt of all the pain, hurt, and loneliness that nico had kept buried within himself for so long. she'd taken it in, accepted it, and in the process, accepted him. as a result, a bond had been forged stronger than celestial bronze and imperial gold combined. having her here in this strange new world brought a broad grin to his lips. despite the circumstances that have brought them here.

recalling that it should still be the same day he left camp halfblood in their world, despite his some six months in eudio, nico huffs a little. reyna should be at camp jupiter, but hearing that their world is apparently is still in need of saving makes him frown. the issue with apollo must have resonated as far across the country as the roman camp. ]

Clearly. When is it ever not in need of saving?

[ he takes a moment to give reyna a critical look over, realizing belatedly that he's grown in comparison to her. it's strange to not be looking up at her, but he figures he'll get used to it. much like he'd gotten used to being nearly the same height as percy. ( and the image of percy in his mind makes him shift uncomfortably because he's been here a few hours now, but hasn't seen hide nor hair of percy or annabeth... ) ]

Have you seen any of the others? Percy or Annabeth? [ his tone is nonchalant though a hint of color can be seen in his pale cheeks. ] Will and I tried to find them before things started getting crazy, but...