Test Drive Meme 019

[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!

Winter Wonderland

Experienced Voidtreckers will be the first to recognise when the announcement of a stop comes over the speakers: “Arriving at world 9126110 in ten, nine, eight…”

The doors don’t open, the train doesn’t stop. Instead, it slows, and the garden carriage opens its curved, clear roof as though it were a convertible, both sides folding back until the carriage is open to the air. The world is a picture of snow-covered mountains and sparse conifers, and within minutes the garden’s fountain and streams have iced over, soft snow coating the cobbles and benches.

The stop lasts all day, the vending machines dispense free hot chocolate, and the dressing carriage is filled with thick coats, wooly hats, and warm gloves.

Void Santa Is Coming To Town

It’s a day like any other, except that the morning announcement has a rider.

“There are packages in the luggage car for all passengers. Enjoy. ”

And indeed, it seems that something has visited during the night - the carriage at the back of the train is unusually neat, the piles of empty luggage stacked carefully near the back to make room for a huge array of wrapped objects. Void Santa, maybe? The difference between Void Santa and, say, one of the many Earth Santas or the Gyueran Spirit of Generosity, is that Void Santa doesn’t give you what you asked for.

It gives you something you wouldn’t have dared to ask for. That nerdy figurine that you eyed in the window of the store, the dress you weren’t brave enough to try on, the device you decided was too expensive. The poster of your favourite holostar, the latest risque novel from the local printworks… the list goes on.

You’ve got a present in here, better find it before someone else does!

Animal at Heart

Seibairen, world #671155003, is a world of dualities. Technologically advanced but also deeply mystical, its population is currently suffering under the rule of a nameless arcanist, a genius of artificial intelligence and magecraft who seeks to elevate her own mechanical brethren above their biological creators. Unfortunately, she is far too powerful to face directly.

Team One

The arcanist holding the world of Seibairen in thrall is particularly skilled with polymorph spells, and her first move as the Voidtreckers enter the conflict is to cast one over a wide area, transforming almost half of the force into various animals. The spell seems to be mildly incompatible with void-travellers, as those affected have turned into creatures from their homeworlds, if possible, rather than the local wildlife. The fight is still on, no time to panic!

… Or maybe some time to panic, it’s looking permanent for now. Still, the civilians need the Voidtreckers’ protection, animal or not, and it isn’t like they’ve lost any of their abilities.

Team Two

The monks of the deep peaks, trained in anti-magic combat and able to counter the arcanist and her forces, are the best hope for turning the tides. Unfortunately, their remote stronghold is blockaded the moment the Voidtreckers arrive, trapping them under a shield of pale metal and harsh light. There are several ways they and the unlucky early Voidtreckers might be freed: the power sources of the barrier, held in the centre of the arcanist’s camps, could be destroyed or sabotaged. Alternatively, the barrier could be overloaded or even broken from the inside by an ancient artefact held within the inner temple. The monks are able to guide the Voidtreckers through a telepathic metaconcert, but hurry, time is running out...

Team Three

A thaumatologist somewhere within the capital is rumoured to be able to reverse the arcanist’s strange spells, which would give the Voidtreckers a fighting chance against her directly. Several different people are claiming to be this thaumatologist, and they all have a list of ingredients they’ll need for the protective ritual and/or devices they’re offering.

At least one of them is sure to work, but there’s going to be some experimenting before that happens. Alternatively, force would find the correct researcher fairly quickly, but it would also attract attention.

Comments

[gentle_jim]

"Me too. Thing is, I just sorta ended up in it when I got here, so. No clue who made the damn thing."

[He shrugs.]

"Hell yeah they do! Too bad they aren't like, different colors. Pink and blue and shit. Maybe I should have a talk with the manager."

[sciencegirl]

Really? You didn't have one before? Were you an important AI? Did you get to be in charge of a ship or anything fun?

[Because, well, while a body is a nice thing to have, there are some pretty great alternatives she thinks would be a lot of fun to be. Darla seemed to have a lot of fun as a ship. At least it seemed that way.]

I've not had the fun colors since before I went to the Fright Zone. That feels like ages ago. [She crosses her arms in thought.] They got a kitchen area on this thing or do I have to wait for the train to feed me.

[Because, by god, she'll make marshmallows if she has to.
Or just empty out every cabinet until she finds one.]

[gentle_jim]

"Nah. Wasn't always an AI. But I've always been really freaking important. And yeah, better than some shitty ship- I was a space station, baby!"

[He spreads his arms wide and laughs.] "Huge and super deadly. Ahh, that was so awesome." [Small frown] "'Til some little assmunch had to ruin it."

[Raises a brow] "Fright Zone? That some kinda horror club or something? And yeah, pretty sure there's a kitchen somewhere. If not, there oughta be."

[sciencegirl]

Were you a flesh and blood person?! I'd love to be an AI! Sure they can mess up sometimes, but imagine having that kind of control over your thoughts and memories and being able to line up goal directives! That's so exciting.

[She claps her hands, her hair hefting her up off the ground so she can move around him on very active pigtails to get a look from every angle. If he ever wanted to genuinely impress someone by existing, he's pulled it off. He's the neatest thing she's seen lately.]

Space is amazing, too! What sort of weapons systems did you have? Lasers? Explosives! That sounds like so much fun.

Oh er... [she taps her chin, still holding herself off the ground] Fright Zone is the place on Etheria where my friend settled. [Hordak is still in friend territory, though sometimes she really wishes she could call him boyfriend. Or something like that. He's such a creative guy! Even if a little stubborn.] It was already pretty scary, but he made it way more intense, what with the really cool robots and tanks and things. [Sure he was a little bit of a war criminal and those were oppressive inventions, but still, you know, creative!]

[gentle_jim]

"Sure was. And being an AI is pretty sweet...but there's things I really miss about the old flesh and blood bod, if you know what I mean." [Now this is the kind of attention he deserves. It makes him miss being the feared and adored CEO of the biggest weapons company in the galaxy. Thank goodness for excitable young nerds.

...With magic hair? His bewildered gaze follows her as she circles him, trying to figure out the trick. Robotic implants?]

"Lasers, explosives, moon shots, the whole shebang. It was the coolest shit ever. Even got to shoot up some dumbass employees inside." [He mimes guns with his fingers, closing one eye and going 'pew pew'.]

[He's never heard of a planet called Etheria. But the universe is vast and it doesn't really phase him.]

"Robots and tanks? Hell, sounds like my kind of guy. Nothing beats sending in a hundred or so Loader bots to raise a bandit camp to the ground." [He says wistfully.]

"So. Explain the hair thing to me. What kind of alloy you using in there?"

[sciencegirl]

[She should probably be more bothered by the 'shooting up employees' thing, but she's been on both sides of a war and she's seen what people do to win. It happens.]

Most of my employees are robots. I have normal servants to cook because robots don't have very good tastebuds, but I'm sure one day I'll figure that out!

He was really good at that whole thing. I think he'll be taking a break from it but he'll get to focus on science for a while and he's even better at that.

[Oh right, her hair. She takes a lock to twirl around her finger. The end of it squiggles independently of being touched.] I'm a Princess, so my hair is embued with Etherian energy, enhanced by Old Ones Tech. Some Princesses can do all kinds of things. Control water, plants, are super strong, teleport. Me? I move my hair. Which is great for multitasking. [She's fine with a fair to middling power. She builds machines strong enough to make up for it.]

[gentle_jim]

"Yikes. Used to be fifty-fifty over at Hyperion, but I got rid of all the ones that didn't explode or shoot lasers and stuff. The little office ones were the worst. Trust me, they sucked - super annoying. That's the problem with programming office chumps with an AI. They always come out stupider than the human ones- and sometimes that is sayin' something."

[He rubs the bridge of his nose, well aware of the irony of an AI complaining about the quality of another AI. He really prefers not to put himself in that category at all. He was a flesh and blood brain once! It's totally different.]

"Might be nice to have a robo-chef though. Tell me if you ever figure that one out."

"Hey, breaks are important. Some 'me' time really refreshes the old 'will to live' thing."

[Okay, what? Old Ones... That sort of reminds him of the Eridians. He's not sure what to think about the princess part though. Wait a minute- ]

"Oh!" [he snaps his fingers] "I get it- you're a siren. That's all you can do, huh? Guess there are worse powers to inherit. Princess though- that's cute. I like it."

[sciencegirl]

Well, it'd take a lot of chemical composition scanning, the texture is where the real issues start. Robots aren't that great at knowing the right softness for bread.

But man, if your AI is based on a real person, and you already obviously have great tasts in marshmallows, I bet there is all sorts of programming you could cook up to help me out!

[She wouldn't ask to know his new robot body's functions without knowing him better. That kind of deep dive schematic work on a sentient being either requires consent or a serious emergency where you kind of have to.]

Sirens, huh? That's a pretty tough name. But yeah! I'm a Princess! Princess Entrapta of Dryl.