VoidTrecker Express Mods (
voidtreckermods) wrote in
voidtreckerooc2022-01-17 06:02 am
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Test Drive 032
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!
Culinary Containment
Every month, the train's stores are filled with crates of ingredients for use by its passengers. And every month, one ingredient is the focal point of all recipes. Potatoes, cinnamon, seaweed… but as the train pulls away from the station this month, there seems to have been a blip in the system when it comes to deciding on a biologically-appropriate foodstuff.
Spilling out from the storage carriage and into the kitchen are hundreds of live frogs. They're in the sinks, they're in the ovens, they're hopping alarmingly close to the transgates that link the area up to the sleepers...
Vote-Rigging
At the behest of its passengers, the train has instituted a voting system to allow for more carriage options and upgrades. Passengers are able to submit new ideas, or crowdfund those already suggested...
It's the night before platform, and all through the train, no one was stirring... Apart from your group, with your stockpile of a thousand points and the luminous voting panel you're all currently pouring them into. Bouncy castle carriage? Funded! Fishing carriage? Funded! Clocks? Eh... You have the points. Funded!
Then it's simply a matter of waiting for the morning, and seeing the chaos you've caused to the layout of the Voidtrecker Express. What new delights have you discovered?
Repo Train
The Void Ministry have another task for the Express: locating and repossessing the contents of a number of minor storage craft in an old mercantile zone. The coordinates are given, a small fleet of space-worthy craft and sufficient hazmat gear has been deposited at the meeting site for Voidtrecker use.
The main area is cushy enough, a round communal area surrounded by living pods renovated for basic Voidtrecker requirements. The hangar above allows for groups to head to the next assigned storage location, or to return with their piles of lawfully impounded gains.Team One
High-risk storage locations are this team's priority. Potentially explosive material, artifacts or experiments without the requisite paperwork explaining how or why they were made, sometimes living creatures, the kind that shouldn't have been left in a large metal crate habitat for a decade. Opening these areas is a study in initiative and dealing with unpleasant surprises!Team Two
This team are the back-up for the first group - once the artifacts, creatures or hazardous material has been made safe and brought back, they have to be recorded. Scanned. Studied, and compared to the extensive lists of potential contraband or lost goods. Sometimes, they're not quite as safe as you'd like.Team Three
Some locations, rather than being used for the storage for which they were intended, have been repurposed by sapients who have developed within the system since the depot was created. Short, furred people with clever, webbed hands and high voices, they've turned crates and ships into cramped, partially-submerged warrens. This team is cleared to assess the damage done, and, if the current official owners of the stores will agree, process the change in ownership to the Su Samuru. Not all owners are happy with their squatters, however...
no subject
He doesn't push further than that, doesn't make it overtly sexual so much as a strange sort of affection. He knows that Ronan is more than capable of letting him know if he doesn't like what he's doing, even with his weird hybrid dogsheep in his arms. He hums thoughtfully, looking down at the other boy.]
You know I'll help you if you're planning on smuggling that thing.
[He'd thought he was alone here. Without Proko or any of his boys or anyone that gave a fuck about whether or not he existed. He can't help being glad that Ronan's here too, even if he knows that's shitty. But Kavinsky has always had a selfish streak: it was the only way to live when you grew up with parents that didn't give a shit. And the idea that they might be away from where Gansey could reach was a strange relief.
He doesn't know how the fuck to even begin to say something like I'm glad you're here. So instead he just stands there by his side while the other boy allows it.]
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I want it to have a good home. [He knew that was nice of him and 'nice' wasn't usually how he presented himself, but-] I'm not sure a train is it.
[What he could do though, was march right up to the people who expected this sheepdog thing and demand to know what they were going to do with it. In time, anyway. Right now he was too busy watching the animal sniff at his shoes while he also watched Kavinsky out of the corner of his eye.
Sometimes, he wasn't sure what was more mind-boggling; space travel on a magical train or the fact Kavinsky was here, alive and well. Both were things that seemed like they must be impossible.]
no subject
Nice might not usually be how Ronan presented himself, but it slipped through the cracks, sometimes. The other boy was emotional, affected even when he didn't want to be. So the sentiment doesn't exactly surprise him. If anything, it's the fact that Ronan is willing to trust him to see it. That he doesn't disarm it with a barb or an insult. It wasn't the rules that they usually played by, but Kavinsky isn't going to be the one that pushes them.
He considers Ronan's conclusion for a moment and tilts his head slightly as he regards the other boy]
You wanna hand deliver it with some very stern words?
[He'd offer to be threatening, but truth was that Ronan had that handled pretty well all on his own. K was scary because of his connections, because of his attitude, because he was careless and back in Henrietta he could do anything that he wanted, and even the police would play along. Here, well. He was still figuring it out, but he was too skinny to play muscle.
He looked down at the thing as it seemed overly interested in Ronan's shoes, but then his gaze slid back up to the boy's face and he watches him through his shades, currently slid part of the way down the bridge of his nose. His smile is sharp, but there's a heat to it.
He doesn't even know that he's supposed to be dead. He just knows that they're both here, and that's-- he can figure the rest of this shit out.]
no subject
The truth was, if he'd been nicer in other situations, Kavinsky might not have died. Ronan wouldn't have to keep looking at him half like he expected him to just disappear. What did he want? To make up for the shit that had happened before. How was he going to do that? He didn't know. Could you make up for someone's death?
He rubbed a hand over the back of his head, watching as the sheepdog moved on to sniffing Kavinsky's shoes, now. Probably, it hadn't had anything new to smell in a long time.]
As if they're going to care about what I have to say. But yeah, it's worth a shot. And if it fails, we punch them, take it, and run.
[He grinned, pretending his stomach wasn't flip-flopping from the way Kavinsky was looking at him.]
no subject
But maybe it's just the closest that K knows how to get to saying the words outloud.
There's something about the strange little dogsheep that gets to Kavinsky, mostly because Ronan gives a shit about it, he's sure. Certainly not because he had a fucked up childhood and he'd always wanted a dog. He wouldn't argue, even with one that was badly in need of shearing. So he lets it sniff at his shoes, and shoots Ronan a vaguely amused look.]
C'mon, man. This stuff is all fucking- unlawful experiments with no paperwork. That container is animal neglect at best. You can probably throw around some other bullshit, too. Tell them you'll be remotely monitoring or something. I'm sure there's some sort of interstellar bureau of shitstacks you can threaten to report it to if it sounds like they wont play nice.
[He grins, shifting so that he can lean into Ronan's personal space, look up the few inches into his blue eyes. He brushes his thumb against his cheekbone, like there was something on his face, and it's not just an excuse to touch him.]
Though I still vote we punch 'em, take it and run.
no subject
He wasn't sure what he felt, not when he was still torn up over Adam--and Declan and the Moderators and having the people he loved betray him. He was pretty sure 'sided with the people trying to kill you' was grounds for a break-up, but... he still loved Adam. Things were just so complicated.]
Alright. So how would you suggest we smuggle it back to the train?
[It didn't take much to make him cave, sometimes. Especially not when he'd already been leaning towards taking the animal back to the train to start with.
He wasn't necessarily the best at planning though, and his previous attempts at smuggling things places had involved muck boots. He was pretty sure four little boots on this little guy would still make it obvious what it was. Kavinsky seemed like he was better at that kind of thing.]
no subject
First thing, would be to dream some shears. Think you can manage that, farm boy?
[He's pretty sure that he can pull this off. He's pretty sure that Ronan's already hooked on the weird thing. And K's never been able to resist the urge to do something stupidly complicated just because he thinks it'll make Ronan happy.]
It's not that complicated. This isn't the only animal on the list to requisition -- just the only cute one, far as I can tell. Most of the things we're recovering from the storage units are getting taken back to the hangar and then to the train. We just gotta sneak it in with us instead of into holding.
[It's at least half a plan. And better than muckboots, at least.]
Which oughta be easier when it isn't covered in ten pounds of wool.
[What could go wrong?]
no subject
I can handle dreaming shears.
[He had a sleep mask with him, though it felt like some kind of betrayal to use it instead of the green pills he'd used before that. It hadn't felt like betrayal before he'd been standing here with Kavinsky, but-
There was a lot that could go wrong with this idea, but odds like that had never stopped him before. He glanced around, making sure there was no one around out of habit, before reaching into his pocket for the mask.
Maybe he could dream something to throw over the animal too when they were smuggling it in, something to make it not-really-invisible-but-kind-of.]
You'll keep watch?
[He didn't say it in so many words, but he was trusting Kavinsky with this. He could count on one hand the number of people he trusted with dreamer things like this, and K was now one of them.]
no subject
[Kavinsky raised a slight eyebrow at Ronan's confidence that he could handle dreaming the shears, but he didn't question it. He certainly seemed more confident in his dreaming than the boy Kavinsky had last seen, but in his opinion this wasn't a bad thing. Just a little bit- different.
Sure, there was a lot that could go wrong, but Kavinsky couldn't imagine that they'd get in trouble for it ... Or at least not much. The Void Ministry seemed strangely tolerant of fuck ups, or else Kavinsky wouldn't be here in the first place. Or that was how he looked at it, anyway.
At the question he smiles, not harsh- just honest- looking at Ronan intently, and maybe a little too long as he takes a step back.]
Course I'll watch. I'd say get comfortable, but this isn't exactly the backseat of the Mistu, is it?
[There's something vaguely suggestive in how he says that. Not overt, but a slight way that his New Jersey accent lingers on the words. He doesn't really know about Ronan and the mask yet, so he slips one of those green pills from somewhere, holding it temptingly between two slender fingers that bob in the air.]
no subject
There was something about Kavinsky saying he'd watch that- Ronan had literally asked him and yet- he didn't pursue that thought. Instead, he pulled the sleep mask out at the same time he saw the green pill.]
Oh.
[Of course, he should have expected Kavinsky to be prepared. This still felt like betrayal, somehow. Even if he remembered Bryde telling him he shouldn't eat dreams. He'd taken Kavinsky's pills for so long after he'd been gone, like he was clinging to his memory.
He stared for a moment too long, not at the pill, exactly, but Kavinsky's hand, the lines of his fingers, the shape of his knuckles. Then he averted his gaze, looking down at the mask.]
I've got this.
[He sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the opened crate. The sheepdog took it as an invitation and immediately climbed into his lap. He petted it for a moment before looking up.]
There's- [a lot we need to talk about.] Fuck. I'll see you in a minute.
[He slipped on the mask. Within moments, he was asleep. The sheepdog settled happily on his lap, even though it wasn't being petted anymore. The minutes crawled by and then all at once, Ronan was awake again. At one side of him were shears but at his other side was a scattering of book pages with a single word repeated on every page, front and back--tamquam.]
no subject
He is curious about the sleep mask, though. Something in how his eyes linger on it, sharp- like he's still trying to put the puzzle of it all together, even when Ronan holds most of the pieces. Asking isn't his style, so he doesn't. Instead he makes a grand gesture with his other hand, a smile teasing at one edge of his mouth.]
Be my guest.
[He settles down near Ronan, close but not touching, alert but easy as he watches him. It's easier to scrutinize the other boy once he's sleeping, mask over his eyes. Same idea as his pills, he supposed- probably a gentler drop into dreaming; he couldn't blame the other boy for that. But when had Kavinsky ever done anything the easy way?
There's something in Ronan's face that he can't quite put his finger on. Like in sleep he looks less worn, more like the boy from the dream field and his substance parties, and K can only see the difference because of the absence. Because he's alert and looking for it, now. Not just basking in the feeling of having him here with him. He reaches out and pets the dog-sheep-thing a few times. Yeah, okay, the fucking thing was pretty cute, he guessed.
And then there was the shears, and the pages, and Kavinsky has one of the pages in his fingers as Ronan jerks awake.]
Ex vita ita discedo tamquam ex hospitio, non tamquam e domo.
[He wasn't as good with Latin as Adam and Latin, but he wasn't bad at it, either, even if his pronunciation is maybe a bit off. But he'd had a B+ in the class, until their teacher had been wanted in connection with murder and vanished under mysterious circumstances.
It's the wrong Cicero quote, though: I depart this life as if from an inn, not as if from a home. But it's one that Kavinsky remembered.]
no subject
If the sheepdog hadn't been sitting on his lap still he would've flung himself to his feet, maybe punched something. Instead, he took a deep breath, looking over at Kavinsky and then the page he was holding. He wasn't going to tell the other boy what tamquam was really part of in this context. Not yet, at least. He frowned at the other pages scattered next to him like they'd personally ruined his life before picking them up one by one, aggressively crumpling them into balls, and throwing them as hard as he could.
Unfortunately, the sheepdog thought he was playing and lifted its head before dashing off after one of the paper balls. When he was sure the animal was actually coming back, Ronan picked up the shears he'd dreamed, turning them over in his hands. They looked alright, and they'd worked in the dream, so. He had confidence in them.
Glancing over at Kavinsky again, he muttered;]
Errare Humanum est.
[To err is human. He knew he'd fucked up a little, but he still had his prize.
The sheepdog came back over, dropping the crumpled paper next to Ronan, looking at him expectantly.]
No, we're not playing. [He told it.] Hold onto it.
[The last part was to Kavinsky, though he didn't actually look at him when he said it.]