Test Drive Meme 004

[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!

Crisis On… A Zoo!

The train has recently gained a game carriage and the VR video games are proving popular. A good way to relive boredom as well as teaching some good skills.

Crisis on...This game can be played with two to four players. It is essentially a crisis simulator mixed with an escape room. You can chose the scenario (the bridge of a space ship, a camp in a jungle, a high rise building, a sailing ship etc) and you are thrown into the middle of a crisis of some kind. Teamwork and a cool head are important as is using the surroundings wisely.

Ready? Your team is at a zoo where someone is sabotaging things. Animals keep escaping from their cages and you have to figure out ways to lure them back and make the pens secure. All that whilst finding and solving clues to find the culprit before the lions escape and it’s game over!

Dressing Up

Your upcoming mission involves infiltrating a courtly function so combat trousers and hoodies will not do! Fear not though, the dressing room provides.

Ball gowns, fancy suits, wigs, splendid capes. These are perhaps not the most historically accurate costumes but let’s hope no one notices the stitch is slightly wrong!

Be as fancy as you wish or try and keep it subtle, you are meant to be infiltrating after all. Help figure out fastenings. There are even some instructions for fancy hairstyles if you want to go all out!

Courtly Chaos

Someone is trying to assassinate a king at the biggest event in the kingdom. Your job, voidtreckers, is to stop this from happening. You are at court, there is a party. Food and wine are plentiful but you have a job to do.

Team One

Someone knows something. Investigate, question, follow suspicious characters. Be subtle but try and make contacts and foil this plot before it comes to fruition.

Team Two
Can the knights even be trusted? The king needs to be protected whatever the cost. Stay close. Try not to be too obvious. Watch for threats and try not to attack any innocent courtiers who approach the king!

Team Three

Almost as important as protecting the king is protecting his reputation. The show must go on, the courtiers must not know the king is in danger. It would cause panic, distrust, could rip the court apart.

Your job is distraction, keep the party goers’ attentions so they do not notice the work of the other teams!

Comments

if you don't have a weapon, you can't have mine (Dressing Up the Angry Man)

[afterburner]

Uldren was not the only person who was unhappy. Renee had never been cut out to wear ball gowns. She hadn't even gone to prom back on Earth! And yet here she was, shoving herself into one. And all the accessories. Really, she probably looked halfway decent, but she'd never believe you if you told her that.

But as ball gowns went, the puffy-shouldered, low-cut emerald one she'd chosen wasn't a bad decision. Still, she had to get the one they'd partnered her with into his monkey suit. It was probably going to end up like bathing a cat--you pissed off the cat and only got wet and bloody for your troubles...

A mission was a mission, though. "All right, here." She rummaged through the racks, pulling out--black. A lot of black, actually, though the vest and tailcoat she chose for him was more the black of a grackle's head than flat and unadorned--though the rest of the suit was. Knee boots, black as sin and butter-soft with a soft sole as well--Renee knew who was the better of them at sneaking. A bolo tie of rainbow obsidian, set in gold. Gloves in the same fashion as the boots. Renee had no idea as to how they'd managed hair jewelry with raven feathers, but it was going to work for him, too.

"Put all that on--except for the hair thing, I've gotta braid your hair for that."

you know eventually i'm gonna just play i wanna hold ur hand by the beatles

[forsakenprince]

Uldren had admittedly not been paying attention to Renee as she did her thing - he hated that he was assigned someone. He picked who he worked with or he worked alone - having to be grouped with someone like this was less than optimal. He only bothered to look at her as she spoke. What she wore was impractical and gaudy, but the color was nice on her at least. He didn't wholly disapprove.

As she looked for clothes he shook his head, already starting to disagree. "There is no way you will manage to convince me to wear any of this pre-Golden Age garbage. I'll wear armor or noth--" His voice died as she turned back to him, holding the clothes she was. The frown he wore was deep, but he was inspecting the clothes much like a cat trying to decide if it was worth his time. He said nothing as he snatched it all up and left to change, seeming to pass inspection.

He returned not long after, dressed in everything except for his tailcoat, gloves, and the hair adornment, his frown still present as he tugged the vest down to make sure it lay flat. It seemed to fit over his muscular form quite well. "It is still quite a bit garish." He acted as if it looked poor on him, but the way he kept fidgeting with the collar, the vest, his sleeves, etc, suggested he was perhaps quite pleased and investigating himself. "But I guess it will have to do, as I have no other choice." His tone was more than annoyed and quite dramatic, but it was clear he was at least somewhat willing to work with her. Really, it was the boots that placated him enough to at least be barely pleasant. He likely would keep them if they got through without too much wear and tear.

"I am not sure I agree with you having to braid my hair." His gaze shifted to Renee, looking at her through the mirror's reflection as he his sneer came through his words.

he doesn't wanna hold anyone's hand for reals tho

[afterburner]

Renee wasn't terribly thrilled either, but she figured that with the roles it looked like they were getting handed, she was supposed to be the decoy. She wasn't a fan of makeup and wasn't really good at it, but in this case, she thought it didn't much matter if she looked tarted up. And really, who was here to see her but others from the train who were on a similar mission?

"I'm not going to braid a lot of it. One lock in front, use it to hold most of it back a little. Just so I can fasten this barrette in it." Much like she'd pinned part of her own curls up, so she could wear a truly ridiculous skullcap with a gigantic peacock plume on it. It went with the dress and the earrings and the fan that she was going to have to wear with it.

"You do look good." Renee knew she'd done good work, but really, Uldren cut a fine enough figure that all she did was gild the lily, so to speak. "Don't roll your eyes at me too much though if I act empty-headed and over the top, though. It's to try to make your life easier, okay? I figure you're plenty competent, but my job is to be a silly little social butterfly trying to climb her way into the King's good graces."

Even if any other day Renee wouldn't be caught dead at such a function.

[forsakenprince]

Honestly? The expression on his face made him look as if she might as well be beating his pet dog in front of him. The irritation, sneer, disgust. He did nothing to hide it. There was a minute where he seemed to be thoroughly debating how much he was going to fight with her, but the plume on her head made for a tough argument. If she was so willing to make a fool of herself, then he should be willing to let her do this. If he could be friendly towards her he could make an ally of her, she'd be willing to talk... It dawned on him he could recreate his crows, with a little luck and a lot of patience he just didn't have.

"Fine." He spat the word, but pulled up a stool for him to sit on so she could easily work on his hair. His hair was well kept, soft, with a shock of silver at the front. He was very still as she worked on it, looking up into the mirror once she stepped away. It was no peacock plume atop his head by any means - it was subtle, but quite attractive. The feathers reminded him of his old armor and, though it was an accident, he almost appreciated it. Almost.

He stood and pulled the tailcoat on, buttoning it as he muttered. "Of course I look good." She must have seen him bristle as she said she was going to act vapid and make his life easier, the glint in his eye coupled with the way his lips started to curl. He seemed to calm down as she explained it was her job. He pocketed the gloves for now as he turned to her, all together too serious. He almost told her that the King on this mission wasn't the one she should concern herself with, but he held back as he got a good look at her makeup.

He shook his head. "I've seen many a Guardian with questionable choices for face paint, but this takes the cake. Come here. Sit." If she tried to reassure him it was fine he would haughtily cut her off firmly and tell her to sit her ass down.

[afterburner]

Of course Uldren's hair would be fucking perfect. Renee grit her teeth and did her best to get through her job--making him look a proper court dandy. The shades of black were just to make his job easier. Probably didn't hurt though that every time she moved, that damn peacock plume bobbed ridiculously.

"It's an act. Mostly." She figures he's probably heard that she's been dumb in the past. She punched the train. Renee wouldn't deny that. There's too much stuff with time/date stamps as evidence, if he cared to look. Hell, with her luck, he probably had. Just one more reason he didn't like that he was stuck with her. Well, she didn't care for it much either, thanks!!

"You don't have to like it, but it's our fucking mission to make sure this King keeps his head, for whatever reason. So that's why I'm here. I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure that this goes off for you without a hitch. So don't bust my brass balls because you aren't happy. You can do what the rest of us do and bitch about the fucking conductor we can't throttle." She grumbled just a little when he ribbed her about the makeup.

"I fucking hate it. Fine." Obviously she didn't like it, but Renee sat her ass down and shut up, mostly so that she'd hold still while Uldren messed with her makeup, such as it was.

[forsakenprince]

If he were to be honest he hadn't bothered delving too deeply into the people here - it was hardly worth his time and effort. These weren't his people, they hadn't been through what he had (on any count), and they weren't worth the effort. He almost seemed as if he wasn't going to respond: "To wear a mask is a useful skill. It's one thing to sneak, it's another to be someone you're not." Deception was more subtle. Something about the way he said it implied it was a skill he valued.

Uldren looked her over and gave a very judgmental disapproval, fetching a damp cloth. "Close your eyes." Once she did he got to work cleaning her face with a surprisingly gentle touch. "I remember grand balls from the end of the Golden Age." It felt like it was ages ago. It seemed he wouldn't say more on the matter unless she asked about it.

"It is clear to me that yelling about a conductor you can't see hasn't worked well for you. What an idiotic waste of time." He returned to in front of her, taking another moment to look at her critically. For a moment the grand show he put on faltered and he spoke a little more candidly, his gaze focusing on hers. "You all focus so much on the past and where you're from, the why to being here. Why? Focus on the opportunity to go to new places, learn new and interesting things." Find his Queen, perhaps. Or even just find a piece of something to garner her approval once he returned. He started to apply her makeup with care as his expression turned hard again.

"Not that I'd expect humans to understand." He spat the word and he knew it was unfair. He was human once too.

[afterburner]

"It's easy. You make a shell. Easy to draw whatever you want to on the surface. Still hides what's inside. Like a hermit crab. You need something different? Just move on." It was more of a murmur at that point, to not mess anything up when Uldren was clearly working intently.

Renee grunted at that a little bit. "Probably not the time for it now, but grand balls? There's a story there." One she wouldn't mind listening to, clearly--if he actually cared to tell her. Hard to say. Still, there was evidence of interest.

"When all you have is time, it's easy to waste." She shrugged her shoulders a tiny bit at that. Last thing she wanted to do was wreck what he was doing. It'd probably piss the prissy prince off that much more if she did, and he was so damn touchy already!

His comment about humans made her jerk back and grab his wrist. Renee's eyes narrowed, even as her pupils glowed red. That grip was dangerous, but she shoved his hand away gently, even as she snarled at him. "Do not lump me in with humans. I'm a mutant. Get it right."

[forsakenprince]

He made a quiet noise of disagreement at her assessment. "Shells and shields break. They wear away over time. You want something more evanescent, like a dream you wake up from that you can't quite remember." Something more transient, so it'd be gone completely when finished. He had no desire to be tethered to one place.

"Uh, yeah." He sounded a bit distracted, all of the nastiness in his voice replaced with a low tone as he thought. "There is much I don't remember. The transformation was traumatic. I remember they were ostentatious affairs." He stopped what he was doing for a moment, his gaze going through Renee as he searched his memory for it (should she decide to peek and see why he stopped). "There was one for the mission, I recall. Before we left. I'm not sure why I remember this." He didn't choose to, but the manner of dress must have drudged up these flashes of memories. He could see a human Mara and his mother for a brief moment. He shook his head a little and got back to work, that edge returning to his voice. "Yes, affairs for show. Extravagant, money and technology thrown about wantonly. I imagine this mission we will be on will be similar." That wall slammed back up quick.

All he did was exhale with irritation at the comment of wasting time, but he deigned no reply to it. His jaw set as she grabbed his wrist, his gaze first going to the wrist, then to her eyes. Her snarl just made him even less pleased as he rubbed his wrist. "You're from Earth aren't you? You can try to make your eyes like mine," in reference to the red glow in her pupils, "but at the end of it all you're not the one who has to deal with these whispers at the back of your head, with these visions that come to you instead of dreams, and you don't have to sit here and count the centuries as they go by." Really, counting the failures of his attempts to surprise Mara as they tallied up - the years mattered not. His voice had risen as he made it through that. He wasn't yelling quite yet, but it was clear that something about this struck just as deep a nerve with him as it did her.

[afterburner]

"Evanescence isn't gonna protect you from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," Renee grumbled. Leaving no trace was good--she did understand what Uldren meant. She just didn't quite agree with him.

Renee did crack an eye open--okay, that's definitely a prissy prince who's lost in a memory. She closed her eyes again, and just listened to him as he spoke. "Transformation? You don't have to answer that, but...huh." That was curious, but Uldren said it was traumatic. Renee knew enough about trauma to not poke that particular bear, regardless of whether or not she wanted to...but she did want to.

"I'm not making my eyes do anything. It's a tell." You jackass, she wanted to say, but didn't. Instead, she laughed. "Oh yeah. Believe me, if there was anywhere else to be from in my time? I'd fucking emigrate. I don't like it, but it's still a backwater, when I'm from." Renee snorted at that, but even if she didn't open her eyes, her expression softened just a bit. "Now, that, I'll give you. Watching centuries go by, mostly solo? Yeah. That sucks. So that part, I'm sorry about." That apology, for all its bluntness, didn't even particularly sound insincere. But there was a clear undertone of but about the rest, fuck you left unspoken.

[forsakenprince]

The response to the lack of protection was to get good and keep your gun close, but he said nothing to it. He understood her point of view on the matter and respected it, even if it was not what his first choice.

It was her asking on the transformation that caused Uldren to focus back to things, his gaze snapping back to Renee before he shook his head and continued what he was saying. He did not elaborate - Renee would get a sense she'd need at least a level 6 friendship to unlock that part of his backstory.

"Oh, I see, you're from some little spot on Earth that's backwards and not as enlightened as the Last City, and so poor you." As he said poor you his voice turned from anger to pure condescension. She sounded as spineless as many of the Guardians - unwilling to do as they please, always listening strictly to orders. He knew he tended to do anything Mara said, but he just as equally ignored what she said and did what he wanted. "It'd be just like a human to complain rather than just stand up and leave." He knew he was digging into it just to be an ass.

"Your pity is wasted. My life was spent serving my Queen and that's all that mattered." Until it wasn't, and he was trying to get her back. And then he was going to be killed. He pushed the thoughts away with a sharp exhale, though his hackles seemed to go down as he sat back a moment and looked at Renee wordlessly. His expression was hard, but he was simply reading her face rather than waiting to pick her apart.

If Renee glanced in the mirror she would be able to tell he was done, or damn close. He'd mimicked the original look that Renee had done, but made it less face paint and more of an actual look someone may put on for a ball. It was by no means perfect, but it would likely be okay for the mission, given the quality of the clothes they were wearing.

[afterburner]

Renee opened her eyes. She glanced at Uldren, at the mirror briefly--and then, like a striking snake, lashed out her leg in a sweep kick. The mission was important, at least for now, so she wasn't about to break an asset she might need later, but she hooked her ankle around the chair he sat on and yanked it out from beneath him, kicking it aside even as he fell.

She got to her feet to look herself over in the mirror, nodding in satisfaction. For all that he was a giant flaming douchecanoe, he did do good work! "Looks good, thank you! Much better than I can do." Just as if she hadn't just knocked him on his ass. Renee had absolutely no plans to continue the fight, but he'd started it with his words and she'd be damned if she was going to let him flap his jaw at her when she hadn't been trying to actively piss him off.

Then again, if she had been, all bets would have been off.

[forsakenprince]

He landed on the ground unceremoniously and felt rage swell in his chest, but he gritted his teeth and stayed there for a moment. He could respect someone who spoke this language and could actually surprise him like this. He was shamed, but he deserved it for not noticing the shift in her weight, the movement building up. So he swallowed that anger, and he swallowed that shame.

Uldren stood and straightened himself out with an annoyed expression, crossing his arms as he loomed behind her, giving her reflection a final examination. "It'll have to do." Nothing snarky, no insult. He was definitely examining her, but it was clinical: he was making sure the details were in place.

"It's all so impractical, isn't it?" This seemed to be his olive branch. He wasn't one to apologize, and apparently he wasn't going to comment about the stunt she pulled. His tone wasn't as harsh as before... but he still was not friendly.