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

so is this a date or

[its_dad_sanzo]

Looks like a good pick to me!

[ Koumyou boops the correct buttons -- he's done this before, after all -- and then drags Devero toward whatever seats look best. ]

I saw one in here one time about a super hero named Action Man! It was very exciting. So much drama!

dev's not even in the game yet! boys you are moving FAST

[subcircuits]

Oh, I love super hero media! I used to stream Neohumans every week when new installments dropped. [Which statement reminds him that he's at least a season behind on Neohumans. That gives him a moment's pause--

No. He shakes away that melancholy before it can settle.] Hopefully you'll like this one as much as the one about Action Man.

and one's a priest, the scandal!

[its_dad_sanzo]

Never heard of it! I wonder if the train has any of it?

[ You never fucking know, after all. ]

Or you could buy it with points, I bet!

[ He only stops chattering when the opening scene starts. Instant drama hook, go! ]

dev's just leading him down the path that ROCKS, that's all

[subcircuits]

Huh, I didn't even think to look. Might even have some time to catch up, now...

[Lifting his hands above his lap, he signs in a quick note to self to look into that later. But for now, movie time!

The Governator is every bit as schlocky as its listing hinted it might be. The acting is overblown, the plot convoluted and non-sensical, and the effects-- okay, those are actually really good. The cyborg politician is very convincing visually, even if everything else is hilariously bad.

Hey, at least it's entertaining schlock?]

his VIRTUE!! ! wherever that is

[its_dad_sanzo]

Wow!

[ Koumyou is as enthused and thrilled by it all as can be, gasping audibly at all the schlockiest of dramatic moments, and even standing up at the end credits to applaud the screen. ]

That was great!

dev could help him look for it but that would probably be counterproductive

[subcircuits]

[The other man's reactions make the movie more entertaining than it really is, honestly. Dev's streamed tons of media since he was a kid, so this flick, while entertaining, isn't really anything special. Sanzo's delight, though? That is.

He covers his mouth to hide a chuckle as Sanzo gives the screen a standing ovation.]

It was fun, that's for sure. And I can now tell you, with surety, that I am not remotely like the cyborgs in the movies. --Well, that movie, anyway.

it's probably stuck between some couch cushions anyway

[its_dad_sanzo]

What?

[ Koumyou turns to look down at him, pouting. ]

Not even a little bit?

he'll find it the next time he goes fishing for spare change

[subcircuits]

[He spreads his hands and shrugs.] No prosthetics here, sorry. They are available, where I come from-- my boss has an augment arm and leg like the, hah, Governator ended up with, but I've never needed one.

All I've got is wires and transponders inside.

and it's probably not even his couch lbr

[its_dad_sanzo]

Wires? Inside?

[ Koumyou glances over said spread hands, like he might see them poking out of Devero's skin. ]

You know, that sounds like it would hurt.

[subcircuits]

[Sorry, nothing nearly so obvious visible there. He does have faint white scars where some of the biggest pieces were implanted, but those are few and far between.

He wiggles his fingers.] They're very, very small wires. But, here-- [He squeezes the tip of one of his pinky fingers with the other hand in demonstration.] You can kind of feel the transponder in this finger, if you squeeze hard.

[And he offers that hand out to Sanzo.]

[its_dad_sanzo]

[ Well it's not like it's out of place, with all the hand holding they've done since meeting just... what, a few hours ago?

Koumyou reaches out and pinches. Carefully. He's way stronger than he looks, and he's as bad at restraint as he'd said earlier, but he's trying not to squish anything. ]

...What's a transponder?

[subcircuits]

[Deep in the pad of Devero's finger, he'll be able to feel a very small, very hard node, like there's a tiny bead stuck in there.]

Think of it as a tiny radio. When it gets certain signals from my body, it sends an little electronic transmission to here. [With his other hand, he taps the Interface perched on his ear.] Depending on what app I've got activated at the time, that transmission tells my Interface to do something.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Signals?

[ Koumyou finds it after ramping up the pinching just enough, lingers for a second as though trying to figure out what that is, and then lets go. Huh. ]

Like... your pulse? Or... oh! Like that mudra you tried to do, when you gave me your name?

[ And he demonstrates the hand gesture he'd seen, because it had been enough of a curiosity to stick in his memory for at least a little while. Middle finger to thumb, and a flick. ]

[subcircuits]

No, the one that monitors my pulse is here. [He draws his hand back and turns it over, tapping the center of his wrist.] Well, one of them.

Mudra? [He tilts his head, brow furrowing-- then his expression clears when Sanzo imitates his gesture from before. He shifts a little self-consciously.] Oh, that. Well, yes, actually; I was trying to send my public cookie to the Interface that you don't. have.

[its_dad_sanzo]

I was slightly confused when you didn't chant, and when nothing happened.

[ Koumyou admits it easily, and then something dawns on him and he claps his hands together once, enthused. ]

You use gestures like for spellcasting, to use your technology!

[ Is that neat or what? ]

[subcircuits]

Unfortunately, I'm still getting used to nothing happening when I do that. [He shakes his head.] It's so automatic.

[His face lights up when Sanzo draws that comparison.] I never thought of it like that!

[its_dad_sanzo]

How fun!

[ Get high enough in technology, and maybe the lines between it and magic started to get a little bit blurred! ]

What other gestures do you do that usually does something?

[subcircuits]

[It's almost like there's some kind of platitude from Before about that-- not that Devero would know it.]

That's like asking what functions of my body usually do something. A lot of the gestures repeat; it's what system you're networked with that interprets them. [A laugh.] But since the only network I've got right is with this--

[He taps his interface, and then heaves up out of the cinema seat.] Let's see... This activates low-light mode on the forward camera, this switches it to no-light, and this resets it back to normal. This to playback from the video buffer, this to clip and this to save, this to start active recording...

[Each this is accompanied by a movement. Sometimes it's as small as just the fingers on one hand, sometimes of the hand and arm together. All the gestures are quick, and back in his home reality would be subtle. Maybe not so much in places where people don't use their hands to control the technology around them, though.]

[its_dad_sanzo]

[ And Koumyou watches with full attention, so curious it's almost palpable. The gestures really are quite similar to some he'd seen other monks use in the past, but not exactly. That would have been a little too weird! ]

Oh! That one's similar to making a fire!

[ He remembered that one! Even if he'd never needed it, himself. ]

And I understood... some of those words!

[subcircuits]

[This is all so mundane to him that Sanzo's interest almost makes him a little uncomfortable. But turnabout is only fair play, and it wasn't too long ago that he'd been just as intent on learning about the other man's magic.]

Huh! This one? [He repeats the gesture in question, which once again triggers the last 20 seconds or so of his video buffer to play back in his eyes screen. A quick wiping motion with the same hand clear the image away again.

He taps his Interface.] Basically what that all means is I can see in the dark using this, and I can record videos of things I see. Is that any better?

I just wanted to start a fire in a (non) crowded theater

[its_dad_sanzo]

That is! That sounds very useful, if also maybe a bit troublesome.

[ Gods know Koumyou has little reason to ever want to play back anything he's seen. He's usually doing his best to forget most of it as quickly as he can.

But maybe in some situations? Like during all that shit that had gone down during the Nion mission. How much easier might it be, to just post a video to the network and let everyone figure out for themselves what was so important about the futile, botched attempt to rescue Halo, or what her strange SCA had had recorded on it for them to find.

Koumyou certainly didn't feel up to the task of explaining it. Good thing there had been four other people there, each with more context at their disposal than the last!

But he shoves all of that out of his mind just as fast as he shoves most things he doesn't want to dwell on. ]

--See, the one the other monks use is like... this.

[ And Koumyou makes a gesture that's similar to the one Devero had just repeated. It's not the same, but the basic idea is there. And he holds it in place. ]

And the chant is um... how did that go...

[ He's really visibly wracking his brain, here. ]

On taritsu tabori-tsu para-boriysu shayan-mei shayan-mei tara-rasan-tan... uh... raeinbi... so... sowaka?

[ And the back of the seat Devero had just vacated earlier, suddenly lights up in flames! Really big ones! Oh, shit! ]

[subcircuits]

It's been pretty useful for me.

[Devero stands back and watches with interest. Interest enough, in fact, that he triggers the video recorder on his Interface Eye to record the demonstration, in case he wants to relive how cool this is review the footage later.

So his Eye records the gesture-- similar indeed to the one he'd made-- and records Sanzo's struggle to remember the chant, and records--]

Shit!

[--as Devero jumps back from the sudden flames.

Recording forgotten, Devero stares shocked for a second at the robust fire consuming the top of the seat. Then his Guard training kicks in and, without really consciously deciding to, he strips off his shirt and hoodie in one motion and rushes forward to try and smother the flames.]

Tell me you can turn this off again!

[its_dad_sanzo]

--Ah...

[ Koumyou hesitates, and then points a finger up at the fire sprinklers overhead. Just gonna borrow some water, here.

In a hurry, too. So.

So not only does a loudly-roaring Eastern dragon made out of water come speeding down from the ceiling to drench the fire...

And maybe also Devero and his very possibly also-on-fire shirt and hoodie...

But then the water keeps coming down in a sporadic spray, the sprinkler head hitting the carpet with a loud thump. ]

[subcircuits]

[Yup, Dev is absolutely in the splash zone where the water dragon comes down. The impact of the water actually knocks his Eye off his face and staggers him back from the cinema seat.

He backs off further than that, stunned at first by the deluge. His eyes are a little shell-shocked when he turns to face Sanzo-- and his hair is plastered over his eyes and his tattoos are on full display and his muscles are-- Anyway.]

...Ah. Well. The fire's out.

[But he pulls himself together, looking up at the spitting sprinkler pipe in the ceiling and then around for the head. He walks over and toes it where it hit the carpet, then looks up at Sanzo.]

This is what you meant about restraint, isn't it?

[its_dad_sanzo]

...I'm really bad at it!

[ Koumyou shields his eyes with one hand, and squints up at the burst sprinkler line. A second to think about it, and he raises a hand to make a sharp grabbing motion at the hole in the pipe.

The metal kinks shut, just barely dripping now. ]

...Might be time to run, before someone comes in and finds us!

[ Time to not get in trouble! Maybe! It's more fun to at least try. Which is why as Koumyou goes sprinting out of the cinema carriage, he's already laughing. ]