Test Drive Meme 008

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to our Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab some samples and start having fun!

1. Post with your character. I’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they have been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action!

3. Have much fun!

Happy testing!

Knight Quest

Upstairs in the games carriage there is a VR game set. There are enough headsets and controllers for four people to play. One of the games is Knight Quest!

A game that can either be played on single adventure mode or with the other three headsets in a campaign mode. It is a typical fantasy rpg about a young hero who is searching for a magical item to save the world. The story is simple but fun and engaging. The hero has a sword and shield and fighting in this game requires some physical skill, but practice makes perfect!

Games are a good way of gaining skills so team up and save the world, fighting monsters and practising fighting in a safe controlled environment! Just… Don’t bash into each other.

Making your own Fun

The standard coach doesn’t have all that much in it. Just rows of seats, though at the front of the carriage seats have been ripped up and bookshelves installed.

It’s a good place to read or write in their journals. Or annoy other passengers by climbing from one side of the carriage to the other without touching the floor.

Rehabilitation

The train has arrived at a collection of planets. That is good because your task is finding a place for the lindusi (large lizard creatures, recently rescued from a dying planet) to be settled and the more choices the better.

Team One

The first job is predominantly scouting. The scientists in charge of the lindusi relocation project have given the team a list of important features for a planet to have.

It’s like a scavenger hunt but for running water, certain types of plants, prey animals and other features. They have lent the void treckers some basic scientific equipment for testing the environment.

Team Two

Not all of these planets are going to be empty of hostile creatures. The second teams task is to accompany the first team and keep them safe. They have been given shielding devices, easy to use energy shields large enough to fit two people behind. They are handheld and a quick press of a button will activate the shield.

There are plenty of predators, from bears to strange flying aliens that want to eat you. Good luck!

Team Three

Once a suitable planet has been found the third team are to get the lindusi there. In shuttle ships. They aren’t too difficult to pilot, which is good because the lindusi relocation program is very short staffed.

Once they are safely landed it is a case of releasing them into the wild, in safe locations away from any immediate danger. The lindusi are still recovering from their trip through space after all.

Comments

Tobias | Animorphs | OTA

[bluetailedhawk]

Making your own Fun

A train is not exactly a bird-friendly environment, but that doesn't seem to matter to the red tailed hawk currently perching on the headrest of a seat. On the seat below, there's a book laying open, that he's staring down intently at. Every so often he hops down to an arm rest, flips a page, and goes back up to the headrest.

The hawk... is reading?



Team One

Tobias is flying high overhead, surveying the way ahead for the group when he sees something of note. He spills the air from his wings, dropping down to a height where he can actually communicate to the rest of the team.

Into the minds of anyone nearby, a teenage boy's voice speaks. <There's a stream up ahead, about a mile off. There's plenty of rodents, too, so maybe those plants we're looking for will grow there,> the plants are the only thing he really can't identify from the air.

He flutters down, dropping onto someone's shoulder and carefully holding on with his talons -- he's pretty good at doing that without hurting the person he's on, but they might get a scratch or two.



Team Three

Tobias is not a fan of using a human body, but this shuttle flight is supposed to be short, right? And he is familiar enough with alien technology to be able to fly the thing, if he can just reach the pedals. He knew he shouldn't have used his own body -- one that's still just thirteen years old -- instead of the adult morph he'd acquired.

"Hold on to your butts," he sighs, and the shuttle hops off the ground, shuddering a little as they start off in the correct direction. He manages, somehow, to keep his face completely neutral as the shuttle shudders and bucks and seems to resist every attempt to pilot it.

It would probably help if he turned off the auto pilot.

Making your own fun

[amery]

Amery stepped into the train car, caught sight of the hawk on the chair, and glanced around. He looked back at the hawk. Squinted. No, no, he wasn't seeing things. There was a hawk on a chair. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the hawk was...reading? He opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Closed it.

Clearing his throat, he stepped closer. "Ah. I...I beg your pardon?"

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias lifted his head to look at Amery, blinking once. <What? Haven't you ever seen a bird reading before?> the voice that speaks directly into Amery's mind is that of a teenage boy, young but bitter.

[amery]

Amery was downright spooked, though he didn't show it beyond paling a little. He glanced one direction and then the other, trying to make sure someone else in the car hadn't spoken to him. Then he looked back at the hawk.

"Er, no, I haven't. Not ever," he said. "I wasn't aware birds could read." Or talk, for that matter.

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias bobs his head in what can only be a nod. <Well, you're in luck, I'm the one bird who can,> he replies dryly. <You mind turning the page so I don't have to hop around again?>

[amery]

After a moment's hesitation, Amery tentatively stepped closer until he could reach the book, then turned the page. "How are you doing that, exactly?" he asked. "Speaking, that is."

[bluetailedhawk]

<Thanks,> Tobias replies, turning his attention back to the book. He doesn't read, just mulls over the question for a couple of seconds before he replies. <I'm not actually sure. It has something to do with the technology that turned me into a bird.> Back home, everyone knows that he's an Animorph, that used to be a human boy and is now trapped as a hawk.

[amery]

If Amery looked surprised, it was because he was. "Technology made you a bird?" he echoed. He would have assumed it was magic, maybe some sort of curse, but not technology.

[bluetailedhawk]

Bobbing his head in a nod, Tobias turns his attention back to Amery. <Yup. Alien technology. It lets me change into different animals if I want, or even human, but it's been a long time since I did that.> He hates his human forms, maybe even more than being a bee.

Team One

[cosmomemoryxiii]

The voice was a bit of a surprise. Nanaki hadn't gotten used to associating the teenage voice with the hawk over head quite yet. Moreover, the fact that it was a silent voice caused him some concern once or twice. He quickly got over it and angled his head upwards to see if he could catch sight of the hawk in the sky.

He was just quick enough to see the hawk swoop down for a landing which was lucky. He was prepared for the bird's talons when they sank into his flesh. Surprisingly gentle for he knew those claws were meant for killing blows and tight grips on thick branches. His skin twitched involuntarily but otherwise the big feline didn't seem to mind.

After a moment Nanaki started walking forward again, a bit slow as he wasn't certain how awkward the movement was for the bird. "It's the best place to start considering the information they gave us on what to look for," the red cat replied. "We could be there quickly; do you prefer to hang on or take flight again?"

He didn't mind either way he just didn't want to jostle the hawk if he wasn't prepared to hold on more tightly. Belatedly, he seemed to think of something. "Or would you like to enjoy the scenery for a bit?" A polite way of asking if the hawk-boy needed to rest his wings for a while.

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias was used to riding on shoulders, so whatever jostling there was, he seemed ready for as the big cat moved. <I'll fly. I wouldn't want to dig my talons in by accident,> it wasn't something that was likely to happen, but it had been a long time since he'd worked with others. Better to be safe than sorry.

He released his grip on the big cat's shoulder and flapped his wings, getting up to about twenty feet overhead. He was flapping a lot, and a bit slower than Nanaki, but it was still faster than waiting an extra two minutes for him to morph into a land animal. It was kind of gross to watch, after all, and he only had two hours to spend in it when he did. He preferred to save it.

[cosmomemoryxiii]

"Your choice," Nanaki replied, but he was only reoffering what he had already asked. He didn't mind a passenger. But when the choice was final, Nanaki waited a moment with neck craned as he watched the bird gain height. It didn't look as easy as it seemed like it should have but the feline knew nothing of flight.

He took off shortly after. The red feline was probably as fast as Tobias would expect, traveling at about the familiar speed of a tiger. But he clearly could keep up the speed for far longer than an earth cat's short bursts and thus appeared to have the endurance more akin to a wolf. And he certainly didn't seem to mind any gaps in terrain as he easily leapt over large obstructions without hesitance and even bounced off tree trunks mid-leap to clear thick foliage. He was used to this sort of thing.

The big cat didn't slow until there were clear signs of the water ahead. The sound was obvious to the animal's ears and the scent grew in intensity. Once he slowed his pace he could smell the rodents the bird had mentioned, too. This might very well be the place they were looking for, or at least one good choice.

Ignoring the vegetation for now, Nanaki padded all the way up to the stream and sniffed at it. It seemed safe. He lapped up some of the water cautiously. Still seemed fine. His thirst quenched, he turned to look at the area around the stream. Was it good for the lizards they were transporting?

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias was glad to reach the water, dropping back down again and gliding in for a relatively smooth landing next to Nanaki. It was always awkward, landing on the ground instead of a branch or a rodent, but he managed it without much issue. He ducked his beak into the water, giving it a little taste test, even though he didn't have the ability to taste it in quite the way a human would -- or Nanaki, for that matter.

<You sure you're actually a cat?> he asks, picking his head back up and peering around. His head darts this way and that, eyes finding movement. He's tempted, sorely, to have a little hunt, but he knows people wouldn't appreciate seeing that kind of thing.

[cosmomemoryxiii]

It wouldn't have bothered Nanaki. It was a natural part of life, after all. He'd hunted down worse things than rodents. He looked down at the hawk.

"I have been called and labeled as many things. A cat is fine." He shifted slightly, curled his tail in a little, tilted his head a bit. "I am the last of my species, as far as I know. Other than that..." He attempted what might have been a shrug were he human. A trait he had most definitely picked up from his previous travel companions.

[bluetailedhawk]

<That must be lonely,> Tobias replies, head tilting as he watches a tiny minnow-like fish wiggling its way down the stream. <You look like a cat, but you seem to have more stamina than they normally would.> He's half-tempted to ask if the guy's a nothlit, but he's pretty sure no one else on the train actually knows what that means. <So do you think these are the right plants?> he plucks a leaf off a nearby plant, as if Nanaki couldn't have seen it from where it was.

[cosmomemoryxiii]

"I have family and friends," he replied. But the truth was that his first thought was 'a bit' and that it was simply easier not to think about it. So instead he thought back to his adventures and the friends he made.

If there were anymore of his kind left out there he hoped he would find them in his continued travels. Perhaps one of them had escaped all of Shinra's horrible efforts at...all of their horribleness. His shook his mane out, clearing his head in the process.

"Hmm, let's see." Nanaki sniffed at the leave in Tobias's beak and then at the plant in question itself. Not that he actually knew what it was supposed to smell like, they hadn't been given that detailed of information, sadly Nanaki thought. But it was a familiar action and besides the closer his nose was to the plant the easier it was to see with his one good eye. "It could be. The leaves look similar to what they showed us."

[bluetailedhawk]

He knows that body language well enough to know he's poked a sore spot, and he makes a mental note to avoid bringing it up in the future. He puts the plant on the sandy edge of the water, pushing the broken end of it down into the soil, even though it probably wasn't going to save the plant. <I'm better at identifying animals than plants,> he admits. <And it's been a long time since I've worked with a team,> he hops, turning himself around to see if he could see the rest of their assigned group. <It probably wasn't a great idea to leave the humans behind, huh?>

Making your own fun

[blueberryprincess]

Evie's not here for the books already in the car. She's here for the peace the car offers, the quiet that allows her to work on the spells in Maleficents book in an effort to render them harmless.

But she doesn't know enough about some of the ingredients in some of the darker potions to find a good substitute, or some neutralizing agent to render them useless or alter the effect, so she's hoping to find something in the small library that'll help.

Unfortunately, there's nothing. Irritatingly so. She'll have to save up her points to try to order something.

Turning to leave, she spots Tobias and how he's reading the book. It's pretty fascinating how he's figured it out, but she can't imagine it's really any fun to have to interrupt your own flow, just to turn a page.

"Do you want some help with that?"

It's not like she can work on her own project without the books she needs.

[bluetailedhawk]

It's not exactly what Tobias wanted to be doing with his afternoon, but there are no rodent-filled meadows for him to perch over and observe, so he'll settle for a not-quite-sherlockian tale.

Mostly he ignores people, but when this young woman stops by his perch he looks up, blinking at her hair. He's only seen that kind of hair color in comics, but he doesn't say it. Instead, he bobs his head in the affirmative, not bothering to speak just yet.

It tends to freak people out here, and he takes a great deal of pleasure in startling them with it.

[blueberryprincess]

Oh, he'd have so much to stare at back on the Isle. Nearly everyone had wildly colored hair, and nearly everyone got it at the same salon. When the hawk bobs his head in the affirmative, Evie doesn't find it strange. She's from a place where a magic truth gummi gave her best friends dog the ability to speak. So if he were to talk to her, even telepathically, she wouldn't flinch.

She sits down carefully on the armrest, making sure she doesn't unbalance the hawk and she picks up the book, leaning back so he could read it.

"Just let me know when to turn the page, okay?"

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias bobs his head in a nod, and settles in a little more firmly on the headrest for his seat, wings shifting a little as he gets good and comfortable. He reads through a page, and when he's ready for it to be turned, he gives her shoulder a gentle bump with his beak.

He continues for two or three page-turns before he finally looks at her again. <Is it really not that weird to you, turning pages for a bird?> he asks, his voice going straight into her mind. It sounds like a young teen's voice, but that's just because it hadn't aged with him once he'd made the move to fill-time bird.

[blueberryprincess]

"It's really not," Evie says as she turns the page again. "One beings weird is another beings day-to-day."

Turning to give the red-tailed hawk a small shrug, she brushes some of her hair off of her shoulder absentmindedly and speaks again.

"My best friend can turn into a dragon. Her mother could, also, but because of a spell she shrank down to the size of the love in her heart for her daughter." A pause, a small frown. "She made a really small lizard. And one of my other best friends dogs can talk because he ate a magic gummi candy. This really isn't all that different."

Of course, she's also assuming that this whole situation is magic.

[bluetailedhawk]

He's slightly disappointed, that she's just taking it in stride like this. At the same time, it's a little nice, to be accepted as he is, without the shock and horror that usually comes with someone realizing they're talking to a nothlit. Not that most people even properly understand what it means.

<That's actually a lot different,> Tobias replies, his head tilting at her a bit. <I got turned into a bird by science, then ended up stuck. I can turn back into a human again for a while, but I always have to come back to being a bird,> and frankly, he preferred it this way.

[blueberryprincess]

"Really?" Not only is Evie aware magic exists, and is trying her hand at it, but she's also a damn good chemist and general genius, so what he said is intriguing. She turns to look at him, giving him his full attention and listening to him explain why it's different.

"Why do you have to return to being a bird? If that's not an appropriate question, don't answer."

[bluetailedhawk]

Tobias bobs his head in the affirmative. <Because I'll get stuck if I don't. It's why I'm a bird now. There were... unusual conditions that let me get the ability to change back. But if I get stuck again, that's it. That's what I'll be for the rest of my life.> He wasn't a fan of the idea, even if his hawk body was starting to get old, and he'd have to pick a new form soon.

Or die. It was always an option, but he didn't think he was brave enough for it. <Where I'm from, most people know about morphing, and who I am. Why I'm stuck. I'm another cautionary tale for the morph-capable. Stay too long, and you'll end up like me. A bitter old hawk in the mountains of California,> he manages a shrug with his wings.