Test Drive 018

[voidtreckermods]

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

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

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

3. Have lots of fun.

Happy testing!

Heated Debate

The spa carriage, the newest addition to the train, boasts sunlamps and loungers, massage tables stocked with fluffy towels and a variety of oils and lotions, an enclosed sauna… Soothing birdsong fills the warm, scented air, and the terminals offer several masseuse courses or a playlist of relaxing music.

In pride of place, a three-tiered heated bath in the centre of the room, each tier able to fit five people comfortably.

‘Comfortably’? Well, it could definitely fit more, but it might get a little awkward, depending on your feelings on personal space. Ditto with the sauna, really. But the important thing is, you got here first.

Didn’t you?

Getting Draughty In Here

The lower floor of this carriage is open and sprawling, with two wide, low tables and plenty of cushions and beanbags. The walls are lined with shelves and wooden chests, both filled with games. Board games, card games, you name it, though train themes feature heavily. On a shelf of its own sits a case of Duel Monsters cards.

The upper floor is split into two. One half has a pile of oversized games - lawn jenga, twister, giant connect4 - and the other, sectioned off with soft rope barriers, hosts a screen, a console, and a variety of video game controllers, including four VR headsets.

Perhaps you’re testing yourself in one of the VR Crisis simulators. Perhaps you’re learning the rules of a competitive card game a little too well, and your friendships are suffering accordingly. Perhaps you’ve convinced someone to play twister with you..?

Shiver Me Timbers

You are aboard the PNV Vexation, a first-rate ship accompanied by several escort vessels currently halfway through a voyage across the Sunsea of Yarra, AKA #59352110. The cargo she carries is of utmost importance, and must reach the Shining Port intact.

The pirates who sail the Sunsea have other plans.

Team One

The Vexation has several sloops in tow - the best of which are the Gemstone Heart, the Fallen Lord and the Duckling. Team One is split across the three sloops, and can use their greater speed to good effect in boarding actions. Your job is simple - sink every unmarked ship that approaches the Vexation. The captains are cooperative and daring, and happy to lend out boarding axes and pistols. The pirates are less happy.

Team Two

Back aboard the Vexation, it seems that either the crew are playing tricks, or something more sinister is going on - whispers of spirits roaming the deck at night, strange screams or whimpers in the hold. Lights off the starboard bow. The day holds no such terrors, and shipboard life is mostly ropes, deckwork and stints on the masts, but as the mission continues, the crew are getting more and more restless… Team Two needs to figure out the source of these strange events, before they incite the crew to mutiny.

Team Three

Unbeknownst to the crew, on the second day of the mission, the precious cargo is loaded onto the fourth and fastest of the Vexation’s escorts, the Sun’s Edge, and sent ahead, while the fleet remains as as a decoy. Team Three are sent aboard the Edge to crew the ship and keep the treasure - something sealed in a large, padded steel pyramid - safe. The pirates don’t notice the deception, but the sea serpents definitely do, and with just one serpent able to wrap its entire length around the Edge, the third day is a harrowing one.

Comments

Rose Quartz | Steven Universe

[lovelikeyou]

i. heated debate

Hi! Do you want to come in, too? It feels nice, doesn't it?

[Rose does not have a particularly strong sense of personal space! This is great! At somewhere around eight feet tall, she's naturally taken the lowest tier, but even so she has to sort of lounge to get most of her body in the bath. Half of her thick pink curls trail into the water, and her long white dress floats and flares around her legs - it seems like she didn't totally get the memo about what you're supposed to wear into the bath.

(She does have somewhat mixed feelings on the heated bath in general, but...well, it does feel nice.)]

ii. team two

[Rose isn't sure she really believes in ghosts. She's heard human stories, but...she would have seen one by now if they existed, right? She's sure she would.

Of course, that doesn't mean that much. Obviously something is out here bothering the humans, ghost or no ghost. So here she is, out here waiting for it. She's barefoot and in her long gown still, despite being on a pirate ship; she never really seems to change clothes. For now, she isn't armed. The gem on her stomach is glowing, emitting a soft pink light that illuminates the decks - but lengthens and deepens the shadows cast by sails and masts, wherever she isn't standing.]

What do you think it is? Oh, isn't this exciting?

iii. team three

[Rose really, really wishes the other gems were here. Alexandrite would handle this so easily - even Rainbow Quartz would be better than just - just her by herself.

But she is by herself. So.

She stumbles back as the sea serpent wraps one great coil around the ship. Oh no, that's really bad. Rose snarls in sudden anger - no, defensiveness. It's going to sink the boat! It's going to throw all the humans in the water, make them drown!]

Get off of it!

[Summoning her shield, she smashes it over the serpent with what looks like a great deal of force.]

heated debate;

[deferences]

[while sizhui isn't unused to sitting in a public pool, he's far more used to one, it being cold and two, having just a little more coverage than the pale blue board shorts he's currently wearing. there's so much of his legs showing, for immortals sake, what sort of modesty does this leave? blessedly, there are plenty of towels around, one of which he has wrapped around his waist for the moment.

this is why he'd been hoping there wouldn't be anyone else here, but the woman sitting on the bottom tier of the bath seems friendly enough. goodness, she's tall, far taller than even siebren! and he has to admit, he's glad he wasn't the only one uninformed by the bathing suits at first.]

So long as you don't mind? I mean, I could come back later, too...

[lovelikeyou]

Of course not!

[Things like this are more fun with other people! Oh, the fights she's had about that!]

I'm Rose. What's your name?

[deferences]

[cue a relieved sigh on sizhui's end, followed by a rather exuberant grin then he moves onto the first tier of the bath, shivering slightly at the sudden heat. while he'd agree, it is more fun, he does also understand some people not being comfortable with the idea of public bathing.]

It's nice to meet you, miss Rose! My name is Lan Sizhui. [a beat then,] But just ‘Sizhui’ is fine.

[lovelikeyou]

Oh! Okay!

[Rose giggles a little. She's never totally gotten her head around all the different parts of their names humans prefer to use, but that sounds like a nice one!

In something of a confidential tone, she says:]

I only just got here. I don't know very many people yet.

[deferences]

[ah, she's so friendly! what was he even worrying about before?

regardless, whatever it was, he's not questioning it anymore and even decides it might be okay to let himself relax just a bit more. sizhui slides the towel off his waist, drapes it around his shoulders instead and holds the ends closed around himself, carefully sliding down so he can sit on the edge of the step.]

Oh, really? [as if he hadn't noticed the new presence of an eight-foot-tall woman with bright pink hair.] That's okay! I haven't been here all that long myself, but if you need help with anything, I'll gladly give you a hand.

[lovelikeyou]

I think I'm okay for now.

[Any of the problems she has have already been covered, given that they're standard ones like "I should maybe be at home, actually". She wouldn't want to inconvenience anybody, anyway.]

But thank you. Is it hard, to get used to everything?

[deferences]

So long as you're sure. [it wouldn't be inconvenient for him, considering they're both right here already and sizhui doesn't have much else to do besides wander the train and find ways to entertain himself. although he won't insist if she believes she's got it handled for now.]

You're welcome! It's, ah... if you are familiar with trains and technology, it isn't as difficult? Where I come from, we have neither, so it was somewhat harder to adapt to such things.

[lovelikeyou]

Oh! That must have been hard.

[Humans did have such a hard time with Gem technology, back in the day. They still don't really match it, though Rose herself doesn't see why they should. Going out into space can't lead to anything good.]

We do have trains - well, humans do. I've only been on them once or twice. But I know how they work!

[deferences]

Somewhat, but people on the train have been very kind and helpful!

[another reason why he feels the need to pay it forward and so on— but wow, if sizhui knew anything about that, he'd wonder the opposite: why wouldn't they want to explore what's out beyond the stars?

a brief pause to consider then he shyly inquires,] You... are not human? [she sure looks like one! pink hair and enormous height aside, he'd maybe think rose was magical in some way, but much prefers straightforward answers rather than guessing or making assumptions about things he knows nothing of.]

[lovelikeyou]

Mmmm. No. I'm a Gem. We come from a different planet, originally.

[That's why you shouldn't go into space! There's bad stuff out there!]

[deferences]

A gem? Like an emerald, a ruby, or a sapphire? I never knew gems came from other planets, too.

[sizhui still doesn't understand what's bad about gems, especially space gems? like, wow, what a concept!]

[lovelikeyou]

[Rose giggles.]

Oh, no. I know a ruby and sapphire, but I'm just a rose quartz. My gem's right here, see?

[She gestures towards the gem in her stomach, turning a little so he can see it better. It's definitely not as cloudy as a typical rose quartz, but like, apparently clear ones can happen rarely and also she's a magic lady from space.]

[deferences]

Ah! Are they friends of yours, then? Being a gem yourself and all.

[when she gestures toward the gem, he scooches just the slightest bit closer to get a better look, eyebrows arched with curiosity at the sight. his first thought is that he'd like to touch it, get a feel and see if it's actually a stone, but that seems like overstepping a boundary.

so, instead, he marvels at the clearness of it, a faint smile curving his mouth before he inquires,] Are you a shapeshifter of some kind?

[lovelikeyou]

They are!

[Usually they're a singular garnet, but that's a little complex, maybe.]

Oh! Well - I can shapeshift?

[deferences]

That's amazing! [and he sounds absolutely genuine about this, despite what little information he knows.] Have you seen them here?

[wait, really? just nevermind how wide his eyes get.] What can you shapeshift into?

ii

[namethattune]

[There is something unnerving about this entire situation - not that Siebren is much of a believer in the supernatural, but his beliefs hardly matter if they do not coincide with the rules of the dimension.]

[It worries him, a bit. His skill set is not terribly applicable to ghosts.]

[But sleepless nights lend themselves well to keeping watch, and he finds himself on deck with a new teammate. She is certainly different, but as that's a description that generally applies to half the team, it's hardly worth mentioning.

[Though her light, somewhat counterintuitively, does not help matters; it only serves to make things that much spookier.]

That is not the word I would use, but the enthusiasm is...appreciated.

As for what it could be, I suppose that depends entirely on whether ghosts exist in this dimension. Are they real where you come from?

[lovelikeyou]

No! I mean, I don't think so. I've never seen one, and I've been on Earth for a while.

[She laughs, a little self-deprecatingly.]

But I guess they could be! Maybe they're just really rare! What about you? Have you seen one before?

I

[springforth]

That is a lot of clothes to wear into a bath but she can't fault someone for being comfortable. Besides, she's aware that privacy is at a minimum here. Even she's wearing a bikini. Tucking into the bath is easy, small as she is.

"You missed the hot springs on this one world we visited. They were amazing and I'm pretty sure they gave someone the idea to ask for these."

[lovelikeyou]

"Oh, that sounds fun!"

Rose draws her knees up and wraps her arms around them, eyes glittering. "How many worlds have you seen? I've only seen one so far - I just got here."

[springforth]

"Oh, I think five, maybe? Not counting my own," Persephone says, then ticks them off on her fingers, head tilted to one side as she digs back through her memory, "Space battle world, the ocean world, crystal flowers world, hot springs island one, animal preserve planet...Oh, there was a weird one where we only landed for a day and got spooked off."

"I missed one world that was a big slug through mud when I disappeared for a while. I can't say I'm that upset about it. I don't like being cooped up in the dark." That gets a quick shudder, based on what she heard about that whole mess. Open spaces preferable, thank you very much.

[lovelikeyou]

Rose listens with wide eyes, obviously captivated even by the outline of all of this. She loves Earth more than anything, of course. She still wants to go home. But she hasn't been here all that long, and the idea of exploring even more worlds with life on them is still exciting!

She even shudders along at the mention of being locked up in the dark, even though...it wasn't that evocative of a description? That's probably fine. "That does sound bad...oh, but all the rest must have been so pretty! Maybe not the space battle..."

She smiles ruefully, like someone who's really over being in space battles.

iii

[unfavorableinstigation]

[Nita came onto this ship armed - 'armed' - with two things; her Manual, and her annoyingly-useful linac - linear-accelerator.

It looks somewhat like a lance, and its tip is glowing in a particularly dangerous manner once the sea serpent makes its move-

But Rose makes it to the punch first. Blinking back her surprise, she shifts her stance to balance on the rocking boat and-]

Can you get me a clear shot-?

[There's a tremble, possibly the rudder suffering damage, and Nita's tone becomes seriously icy.]

/This is your last warning! Leave us to our charge, and the safety of this world, or the matter of your safety becomes an open question!/

[That second part being more obviously directed at the creature, not Rose.]

[lovelikeyou]

[Rose glances back, taking in Nita's weapon (and apparent plan?) with wide eyes. Can she? Well, she can try.]

Yes!

[This time, she draws her sword to slash at the serpent. Hopefully that will get it to uncoil a little, or at least rear up so they can aim for its head.]

[unfavorableinstigation]

[The sea serpent seems... pretty tired of them being in its way, all told. It roars, still plenty annoyed.

Not Nita's problem, though; Rose's jab does the job, and Nita doesn't hesitate on her end either.

How does a serpent fair against faster-than-light... light? It'll certainly end up with a hole in its hide, but does the hit get anything critical?

Nita holds her tongue, doing her best to bank on not jinxing this.]