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penumbramemes2024-11-16 04:50 pm
penumbra: test drive meme #1
TEST DRIVE MEME #1
↪ Test Drive Meme plot and interactions can be considered game canon as long as both parties in the game are accepted and agree to keep it canon!
↪ There are currently 50 player spots available!
↪ Threads on the TDM can be summarized for Activity Check
[art credit]
The last thing you remember is either simple or very complicated - you were asleep, or unconscious, or perhaps...you died. Whatever the circumstances, you closed your eyes at home and dreamed of a storm, and when your eyes opened again you were staring at the ceiling of your new home, injured perhaps, but with wounds bound and safe enough. For now.
Upon waking and exploring your new surroundings - a relatively nice, furnished apartment - you will discover a BlackBerry style phone, your apartment key, mail key, and a sensor for "buzzing" into the building, as well as a list of rules to live by in your new home:
The apartment you now find yourself in looks well-kept, the fridge is full, the lights are on, and the whole place looks as if whoever lived in this apartment before you simply packed up and left, minutes ago.1. don't use the elevator between 1:11 and 3:33 am.
2. you will receive mail from 'the building manager' shoved under your door. read it once and then burn it immediately.
3. if someone claiming to live on the fourth floor tries to speak to you, ignore them.
4. never enter the basement, or any area of the building below ground level
5. if you see a shadowy figure in the hallway, run.
If you leave that apartment, you'll find yourself faced with a dim hallway that leads to a small lobby with an elevator door. You're going to have to explore this new place sometime! Why not now?
Eventually, everyone will make their way to the lobby, the heart of the building, with its empty concierge desk and mail room. Like most of the other common areas of the building, the Lobby is a little dimly lit in a way that could be cozy or creepy depending on your perspective, with patterned carpet that hides nasty scuffs, and sturdy paint and drywall that's not likely to get broken too easily. All of it hardy and meant for a space that's open to the public.
One other major feature of the lobby of Penumbra Place is a large corkboard stationed on the wall behind the concierge desk. And on this corkboard is a large map of the city, burnt around the edges, torn and replaced with transparent tape in places, and scribbled on with large swatches of colour here and there. There are some pertinent places marked with these colours - the Dry Waste, Wet Waste, and the Chasm, as well as where Penumbra itself is located. See a picture of the markings here.
Underneath the concierge's desk can be found a small stockpile of supplies that looks strangely out of place in the dim lobby. The majority of the items look like they were salvaged or scavenged from the Dry Wastes outside, dirty and rusty and generally like a tetanus hazard from hell. The items cover a broad spectrum - shovels and pickaxes, makeshift weapons including a bat with nails driven into it, a large plastic waterskin half-full of stagnant water, first aid kits from the pharmacy that have seen better days. There are also a rather large stack of something that can't be found elsewhere in the apartment building - MREs, or meals ready to eat. These rations are light and shelf-stable for years, each providing a full day's food for an average human, and excellent for packing to eat on camping trips or expeditions.
How will you divide these spoils? Eat the MREs, or save them for an exploration mission? And what about that map?
Most importantly - just who left these items out for you to find?
There's a treat waiting for anyone who happens to venture outside and explore the businesses that are installed in the main floor of the building - Skidooch's Pub has a welcome banner above the open doors!
Echoing off the nearby buildings, all of which are collapsed and in ruin, is the sound of cheerful music, beckoning you into the dim, somewhat timeless interior of Skidooch's. The sound of the music contrasts sharply with the grey rubble and dead silence of the rest of the world, leaving it sounding a little tinny, and are there whispered voices somewhere in that recording or are you just imagining things? Best not to dwell on it, perhaps. Better to get into the mood for a party, because that's what's going on in Skidooch's!
Anyone who enters the pub will find refreshments set up, a dance floor cleared, and a huge very-spiked punchbowl ready and waiting at the end of the bar. There are delicate crystal plates and cups for the refreshments and punch. The foods are generally...a little old-fashioned. Some of them look quite appetizing, like the huge platter of completely normal deviled eggs; others are a little less so, like the ambrosia jello cake and towering aspic that stands in a place of honour at the center of the spread. Surprisingly though, if you take a closer look and the aspic doesn't put you off your appetite, there are quite a few good foods there, including stuff you might recognize from home. The punch is, as mentioned, heavily spiked, but has a lovely light fruit punch flavour.
Once you're inside Skidooch's, the music seems to lose that weirdly-echoing tinny sound and more just like lyricless jazz music, easy to dance to and also easy to talk through. The chairs and tables are comfortable, and the dance floor is beckoning. The longer you stay inside the pub, the more you forget your troubles, feeling them slowly ease away, ebbing and flowing until they become nothing, and you're suffused with a haze of nostalgic joy, whether you've been drinking or not. Why not sit down a while and get to know your new fellow tenants?
Just don't leave the party too soon, because if you come back, all you'll find beyond those open doors at Skidooch's Pub are discordant, repetitive old music, a spread of familiar food and drink that looks rotten, crawling with maggots and flies, and a complete lack of the people you just left there. The further you creep into the pub, the darker it gets, and you walk much further than you should to reach the full depth of the pub as it was before. Eventually, you'll find yourself in pitch darkness, with only that music playing.
Dare you continue walking?
Anyone who looks out of a window facing the "inside" of the U-shape of the building will see a gorgeous courtyard garden with winding paths to wander, trees and wildflowers, and gardening patches that are ripe for the taking. The only entrance to this area is a gate in the tall wall that protects the garden from the public on the opposite side of the bottom of the U-shape of the building, featuring the security of a small pad for you to use your individual sensor to "buzz" into the gardens. The words "Back Paths" are scribbled onto this gate in red spray paint.
It's understandable that you'd want to explore the gardens, when everything else in this world seems to be, for the moment, dry and in ruins, devoid of any life save the people in Penumbra Place. All that ruin and decay can get wearing on the psyche, if you're not used to it.
Upon entering the back paths, you'll find yourself at the start of that beautiful winding path. The gardens themselves are mostly grass and idyllic wildflowers, dotted with evergreen and deciduous trees, with wide grassy patches perfect for tossing a baseball with little Timmy, and the occasional garden plot. The weather in the back paths is always balmy, like a warm spring day just after the rain, the scent of loam and petrichor perpetually lingering in the air. It's a beautiful walk!
But...shouldn't that walk have been over a while ago? Haven't we walked much further than the visible length of the path as seen from the building? The path seems to go on and on, twisting and winding through the trees and grass, and have you seen that picnic bench before or is it just identical to the last one you saw?
Whether it's for an hour or 6 hours, you wander the back paths looking for the exit, until you finally, finally come to it. That gate, spray-painted in red on this side with the words "No Return." Stepping outside the gate, you find yourself back in the post-apocalyptic backyard of Penumbra Place. Walking around the building, you're captivated by how quiet it is, with no birds or animals making noises, no traffic, no signs of life. No lights in the windows of Penumbra Place. In fact, Penumbra Place has collapsed, with no sign of the building you left behind to come into the back paths.
The only place to go is back into the back paths. Any further exploring reveals only the empty ruin of the place. And once you're back in the gardens...how long will it be until you find the real exit?
The dawning of the second day of your new existence in Penumbra Place greets you with a song. A song that's stuck in your head, that is. It's a cheerful tune, melodic, a definite earworm, but one you've never heard before. It repeats over and over again, at first easy enough to ignore, but as the day goes on it gets louder and louder, drowning out the background noise of thoughts in your brain, eventually drowning out the ability for conscious, logical thought. It dominates your brainwaves, repeating over and over again, the music cheerful but the lyrics that you somehow know much more sinister:
The only thing scary is the void in my brain
Everything is burning, I am lonely every day
I'm just a tiny cell and my body is made of clay
The only thing scary is the chasm in my brain
Will you sing along?
As the night falls, the song abruptly comes to a halt, for everyone who can hear it at the same time. And then there are monsters.
In fact, to anyone who sang the song aloud there are suddenly monsters in the building, tall and with charred-black skin, looking as if they'd been burned and wearing crowns of moss, their mouths open wide and leering, full of sharp teeth, the long, crooked fingers tipped with claws that drip blood.
Or at least that's what those who sang see their fellow tenants as. Anyone who sang the song aloud will see their fellow tenants who didn't sing as monsters trying to chase and kill them, while seeing those who did sing as they really are. Team up with your fellow singers to slay the monsters! Or, well, if you didn't sing? Time to run from whoever did!
If your character sang the song aloud, please reply in this comment thread, as whether or not they sang will be very, very important during the game's first event.
no subject
[Which includes herself as well. She can make her clothes and items weight less giving her better agility and movement. Well, instead of explaining the full aspects of her quirk, she will decide to bring her hands together to trigger it which will have her feet getting off the ground for a few moments to float.]
See? Just like this.
no subject
She demonstrates and he takes a little step back in surprise when she begins to float, though his reaction is moderate enough it would also seem to imply he has seen supernatural feats before. Just, he wasn't expecting it in this case. ]
That's amazing. [ He means it! Because it's blurted out a little. ] How do you do that?
[ Innocence? No, it doesn't seem like it, she didn't seem to invoke the presence of anything. ]
no subject
That inquiry will leave Ochako a little...caught off guard. How to explain it...?
Wait, didn't she already introduce it as a quirk? Then...]
It's my natural ability to...ever since I was 4?
[This felt weird. How does he not recognize it? Everyone in the world knew about quirks, it was a very well-known fact in society even if there is 20% that are quirkless.]
That's why they're known as quirks. Most people have it, but it manifests in different ways.
[Bringing her hands together again, she will say the word "release" to get her to stop floating and return back to the ground.]
Don't you have one too...?
no subject
The way she floats down though -- its hits a sense of nostalgia in him that's very bittersweet. Their abilities are different, but Lenalee could dance on the air and seemingly float like a butterfly with her ability. The comparison hits him with a bit of a pang since... it's just been so very long since he's seen her. And reminds him that he probably never will again. His first friend. Well, first human one.
He shakes his head a little after a moment, and refrains from extending a hand to help her down, even if he has a very strong inclination to. ]
There is something I was born with, but... it's not like that. It isn't called a "quirk". And there are very few people who have it. [ And there's nothing natural about it, despite him seemingly being the only one ever born like that.
His tone is gentler in explaining. More somber and serious in a very calm way. ]
Most people in the world are scared of abilities like that. They think it's monstrous or evil. [ Another incongruity. ]
1/2
Ochako could only feel a pang at him referring to people like them as monsters. It wasn't the first time she has heard those words be uttered. She's seen many people call Deku a monster because of One for All. Her expression will soften as she thought about those scared people along with those who want those with quirks to disappear or the dooms day theory.
All she can do is nod her head.]
Fear has a way of getting the worse out of someone. As a defensive mechanism because they're scared of the unknown.
[If she could be honest, she was feeling anxious about their current situation because not only was she taken away from her home but so was someone else who doesn't know what quirks are. Either the other guy is living with his own circumstances and is from her world or....the other option was weighing her down. What was going on...?]
2/2
She can't allow this place or anyone to beat her. Instead Ochako will look up at the other boy with a small smile.]
What do you call your power...if you don't mind my asking?
no subject
But she looks so down, even if she so obviously tries to pull herself back together and put a smile on, when she had been so positive and energetic before that he feels bad and relents when rationally perhaps he should tap-dance around the question and not tip his hat in this uncertain situation they're in just yet. After all, he's a fugitive.
But maybe it's okay to share a little in this case.
So he smiles. Soft and a little bittersweet, too heavy for someone who seems barely any older than Ochako is. Before he quickly he glances about as if to confirm no one is eavesdropping or paying too much attention, then beckons her in and draws a little closer as if to whisper in a secretive manner. One gloved finger raised to his lips conspiratorially as if swearing her to secrecy, and his eyes bright with a quiet sort of mischief even as his demeanor is still gentle. Whimsical as some sort of wintery fairy and a little otherworldly, with just a touch of showmanship.
It's okay. Please be at ease. ]
Have you heard of Innocence?
no subject
Without thinking about it twice, Ochako will get closer to the other boy. Her own attention will be on those surrounding her, making absolute certain they weren't paying attention to them at all. Nothing to see here! Just two teens sharing secrets. His question will leave her perplexed because...]
I know what the word "innocence" means, but I don't think that's what you're trying to tell me.
[A pause as she places a hand over her own lips too so they don't get read.]
What is it?
no subject
She's right about that, that it isn't common at all where he's from, to such an extent that whenever he needs to ask he generally already knows the answer is "no." And he seems delighted in a very quiet and understated way that she plays along with the act, covering up her own mouth like they're children playing a game.
But whereas once he could give an answer he felt confident and knowledgeable in, that would sound dashing and noble even if he sees none of that in himself, the truth is... he's certain about almost none of it anymore. It might have all been pretense and lies he fell for, for all that he knows. Even if there's a core of him that still needs to believe in it.
So he smiles, not with assurance or coy showmanship, but gently and a little sadly. ]
A weapon.
[ But: ] One that lets me save the souls of those who have died and been corrupted. That have been reanimated against their will and turned into weapons too, that suffer and lament what they have become and only know to kill.
Without Innocence, those souls would just be destroyed.
[ That part, at least, he thinks he can still believe. ]
no subject
To save someone by killing them...?
[As someone trying to be a hero, knowing the value of other people's lives after having experienced everything she has this past year on her missions and exams, Ochako wasn't sure if killing someone can truly save them. She already had one person die in her arms because there was nothing else, she could do to help them further.
Some tears may form as she tries to understand the situation: if he doesn't use his weapon on those who were corrupted after death, then they will simply be destroyed...? Does that mean his weapon was holy...? Blessed? Connected to the afterlife somehow?]
Does it hurt them...?
[Using his weapon against those corrupted after death, does the sword hurt them? She couldn't help ask her question without thinking twice about it.]
no subject
But he's always wanted to be a destroyer who saves. ]
I don't think so. [ He says it very softly and honestly, with an air that's infinitely gentle and much older than his apparent years would seem to suggest. The weight of too much experience.
But this time, when he sees the tears welling he reaches out. Hesitating only for a moment before blotting them gently with curled edge of his gloved finger. So mindful and so composed it's also something he's had the unfortunate practice of having to do much more than once.
You have a really kind heart, don't you. ]
Usually... they just smile again when they're finally freed. Like they're at peace. [ "With this I am saved."
"Somehow... I feel really good."
"You exist for us, don't you?"
"Love me. Love me love me love me."
Allen's eyes hood lightly, lost in thought. Serene and gentle, yes, but with an unwavering sort of calmness that comes from conviction. ]
It's more like purifying a vengeful ghost so it can return to the afterlife it never should have been taken from.
[ But make no mistake, from the expression on his face... he finds it something so very painful too. It's just a pain he's long gotten used to living with. ]
no subject
Could someone truly save through death? The thought sent a chill through her, one she didn’t want to confront but couldn’t ignore. Her fingers curled into fists, nails digging into her palms as she tried to steady herself. She couldn’t imagine the kind of strength it took to face such a reality over and over again, to fight for someone’s peace knowing it meant their end.
When his hand moved toward her face, she instinctively stiffened but didn’t pull away. The gesture wasn’t invasive or overstepping—it was gentle, hesitant even, as if he were aware of how fragile the moment was. His gloved finger brushed her cheek, dabbing at the tears she hadn’t realized had already fallen. It caught her off guard, but she let him, allowing the quiet act of kindness to ground her amidst the storm of emotions swirling within her.
Her gaze dropped for a moment, and she exhaled shakily, her voice soft and hoarse when she finally spoke.]
Thank you for helping them.
[The words felt too small for what he carried, of what he’d done, but they were all she could offer. She wasn’t sure if she was thanking him for those he’d freed or for letting her see the strength in his resolve. Maybe it was both. ]