Test Drive 032

[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!

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...

Comments

2/2Re: Sneaking a tag in between sleepsRe: Wildcard

[oracle_for_hire]

"The moral of all this, Bruno, is that the more you know, the better chance you have of helping people chose the right path. But sometimes there isn't a path they can choose any more that is right. The sooner you see things happening, the more options you have. The more options you can see, the more options you have. But none of us, not even us Seers, are ever going to be perfect, are ver going to be able to keep every single ball in the air at once. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. It means we need to learn more. Be better prepared for next time. It also helps to have a person you can confide in. Because sometimes just talking to someone, even if they don't understand, can help you work things out for yourself. For me, at first, it was my cat. And while he wasn't much help with things like mathematical potentialities, ethics, or basic spell forms... he was good at listening, and sometimes his grounded practical view point was exactly what I needed when I was too convinced that every path was a path of doom. Later, Luna took that role on more and more. She understands more of the fundamental roots of magic, and is frankly brilliant. Just talking to her can help me see other paths. I did not talk to her about Jayden because I was afraid she would push Jayden and that would lead to one of the bad ends I had seen. And because Jayden had been her friend for years. One of her few friends when she was at her lowest. I admit I didn't want to break that. I should have spoken to Spark. I didn't. I probably wouldn't have found a petter path, had I spoken to him, as I said, by that point it was too late. But perhaps I could have been better prepared for the fall out."

"And I am losing the point, for you, I suspect. I appologize. The point is this. All your life you have had, as near as I can tell immutable A and B visions. Starting at point A, ending at point B, with all the in between being vague. Now that your power is growing and evolving, you need to learn and grow with it. And you will come to a point where you will have to choose... to act on your visions, or hide them as you have tried to hide yourself. You've already seen how well that does and does not work. But if you want to use the visions to help people? If you want to actually guide them to positive things, rather than just tell them the inevitable things? You need to expand your horizons. To learn. Not just to practice Seeing, but to devour every bit of knowledge you can come across, no matter how seemingly inconsequential or random. When you go home, if your Encanto has a news publication, read it. Every issue, every day. If not, then talk to Delores regularly. Ask her to repeat things she's heard. Not just what she thinks is important but odd things. Anything that could be of use. Are there issues with the crops? Has someone been complaining that their neighbor's house suddenly seems to be casting more shade over their own home? What kinds of things are people asking Luisa to do for them. And then you need to figure out why. If someone's house is tilting, sure she can fix it. But how much better would it be to understand that the tilting house is caused by erosion because she was asked to shift the river? If you saw the house tilting, Luisa told you that someone asked her to fix their house, you could research a new route for the river that satisfies whatever need caused the request to be made, without it wearing away at the foundations of homes. Or you could have seen it even further back maybe and stopped her from moving the river, or even further back and you could make sure that when the house was built, the foundation was built such that the water won't wear it away so easily. The more you know, and the more you look into seemingly small things in your visions, the more good you can do."

He sighed and leaned back. "I never used to give such big speeches before I became a teacher. Sorry about that. It is just... Some of the things you saw for people, that they blamed you for... those things are inevitable. You saw the progression of time. If the villagers had bothered to use the half a braincell they seem to share, they would have realized that goldfish have short life spans, that someone whose father and grand father and uncles are all bald is likely to go bald, and while bullying your little niece Mirabelle isn't the cause of that one guy growing a gut, I frankly wouldn't have told him that he wa going to get one because of his eating habits, just out of petty revenge for how he treats that poor girl." He shook his head. "You don't need visions for any of that. So if, in the future, you see a vision of someone's goldfish dying... you can just tell them the obvious thing that you now have confirmation of... or you could, in the words of your niece, see more. Look further. Because nothing happens in a vacuum. If you want to give happier fortunes, then find silver linings. Maybe the girl who lost her goldfish was able to get a cat after that, when she never did before because she was afraid the cat would eat the fish, and maybe that cat becomes her new best friend. Then you can frame it that way. "Not all will be lost, when your friend the fish is. For on the other side of that pain, one will find you who will need you as much as you will need him, and you'll never be able to imagine your life without him again. Or something like that. For the man who lost his hair, instead of telling him he will lose his hair, talk about how good he is going to look in a wig, and talk up all the interesting things he can do with a wig that are better than being halfway to balding. For the man worried about growing a gut... you could always tell him to pick on people his own size, and that that size is only going to get larger."

Look, someone has an issue with bullies, okay?

[persona_non_ratta]

"Yeah, about that cat...", Bruno said, seeing a good spot to bring it up. "Could he always talk? Or is that something you or someone else magicked him to be able to do? I mean, I know little Antonio can talk to animals now, but none of the animals can talk back to anyone else."

"As for Julieta, I don't know if her gift is something she could teach to others. I'm sure she could show them what she does, like the cooking process and everything, but I don't know how much of it is actually part of that and how much is just her unique gift. Though even if they didn't learn to heal, they'd at least become really good cooks; her arepas are the best. And there's nothing like a big bowl of her ajiaco after a long day too." Bruno would always be glad to sing the praises of his sister's cooking if an opportunity arose.

He'd never really heard the term 'theater kid' before, but it fit somehow. There was a great deal of difference between telling a made up story and talking to someone about things that would happen in their real life, at least for him, but he understood the principle at least. "Theater is one thing, but having conversations with people is different," he said. "Or at least, it feels different to me. If you're putting on a show or telling a story, then it's not really you you know? And everybody knows that. But when I'm having a conversation, I'm just... me. Talking to the other person. And even when I think it's fine, a lot of the time it comes out wrong or the other person misinterprets it. I mean, look what happened with Pepa's wedding." They'd gotten past that particular incident, thankfully, but it was still a good example of how even a comment made with the best of intentions could go horribly wrong.

And if he was being completely honest with himself, Bruno knew that much of the ritual probably wasn't strictly necessary. But it did help him get into the right mindset for a vision, and that was necessary. Plus the circle let him include others in the vision as well, which had proved important with Mirabel. So he held off commenting on that for now, just giving a small nod and a noncommittal sound of acknowledgement.

And then Dominic launched into his story. Bruno had to wonder if the wording was deliberate at the beginning- a conspiracy was afoot after Dominic has lost his leg- but didn't want to interrupt. Though as the story went on, he privately wondered if maybe he should have gotten a snack first. It was all very exciting, what with knights, treasures, demons, intrigue, and betrayal all involved, but he didn't really see what any of it had to do with him. It really made it sound like Dominic deserved the title of 'oracle' though, being involved in all those big, far-reaching events. And made him even more certain that such a title would never really fit him.

All in all he was glad when Dominic got back to the point. Bruno nodded thoughtfully as he talked about learning different sorts of things. "I guess that makes sense," he said. "Honestly I was kind of doing the opposite though, before I went into hiding. I'd kinda learned that most people didn't want to talk to me, so it was easier to just.... not talk to people that much rather than trying to force thing, you know? And my rats might be my friends, but they can't really tell me thing like they can Antonio." Though that was another thought; animals might have information that humans wouldn't be aware of. Though he should probably wait til Antonio was a little older before trying anything with that; animal perceptions filtered through the understanding of a five year old might not be the most reliable.

As for the last bit though... "Nah, I wouldn't say that to Senor Trujillo. He's not a bad guy, honest. He's just... really not much in the tact department sometimes." Which, yes, he should probably work on, but that wasn't Bruno's job to fix. Which was a good thing, because Bruno wasn't always the most tactful either.

[oracle_for_hire]

Dominic chuckled, at what Bruno chose to start with. "Spark is a special sort of animal from my world called a Talker. They're not common, and they have much longer life spans than other animals of their kind. Spark's been with me since childhood, and we'll probably be in our dotage together. The trick with Spark isn't getting him to talk, it's getting him to talk about something other than fish," he said with a laugh. "There are actually laws in my land about talking animals, one of which being that their testimonies are not admissible in a court of law, because they are by nature food focused to such a degree that it is easy to get them to perjure themselves, even if they feel strongly about what they would have said otherwise."

"I for one cannot heal, at least not physical ailments, but I would always be interested to learn new recipes. I am especially looking at more vegetarian dishes these days as I have been having more and more orcish guests." Yes, orcs are real. And vegetarians.

"Even if you aren't comfortable putting on a character to talk to people - and many people do that as a coping mechanism, there is nothing wrong with it if you do - there are still lessons from theater we can use. Rehearsal, for one. Decide how you want to start the conversation and practice it alone. Or with someone you trust. Run lines. Anticipate how the other person might react and prepare lines for multiple reactions. Being prepared is an Oracle's greatest tool, and it lends confidence as you practice with it. Competence breeds confidence which breeds competence. And if you want to know how someone will react to what you are going to say...?"

Dominic grinned and lifted up his crystal ball. "I for one, hate surprises. So before I asked Luna out the first time, I checked to see how she'd react. She said yes," he added with a fond smile. "Big decisions, you can't see like that. When the world goes grey in the way it does when a Seer is close to someone struggling with a choice that could alter their lives forever, that you can't see past. You can see possible paths, but that is a moment when everything is in flux. Other from that, however... with our powers people become predictable. But as you start using your powers to predict people, you learn that they are actually predictable without Seeing. Because the more you know a person, the better you understand how they are likely to respond to something. That is a skill that anyone can learn. We have an advantage, of course, but reading people is not intrinsic to what we do, Bruno."

He set down the crystal ball. "Other habits from theater that you can adapt are things like projecting confidence even when you do not feel it. Modulating your voice. You don't have to fully be in a character to borrow from a character." Do not ask Dominic's thoughts on honesty, you probably wouldn't approve, Bruno. "For example, if you once played the role of a confident young man who always had a glib answer for every scenario... in preparation for that role you probably did a lot of improv as that character with fellow members of the cast, who helped you to brainstorm how that character would react to moments where you were stuck. Put yourself halfway into the mind of that character when talking to people, and then you have his confidence... and you can consider what he would say and choose not to say it, but to use ideas from it for what you do say."

"Which leaves gaps, yes. But Bruno... there is no shame, no harm, in getting into the practice of thinking before you speak. How will they react if I say this? What would this character I want to be more like or this person I admire react to this. And as a Seer, we have an excuse for dramatic pauses when we need them. Work them into your persona and then you can use them for visions as well as for every day interactions. You'll find that just an extra two seconds before you speak can make a world of difference to your social anxiety as well."

"Speaking to people is like any other skill, Bruno. It takes practice. And if you avoid it, you fall further and further out of practice. I will tell you this, you can always practice on me. And on Spark. Spark is blunt and will tell you if you tick him off, but he won't leave forever because of it. He's cutting at times and well... catty...," pause for the pun, "but he is also a good weathervane for how people might take things at their worst or weirdest. And if you can navigate talking to him without devolving into puns or being talked into feeding him, you're ready to talk to nearly anyone. Trust me, I'm a former hermit myself. Or I tried to be. For years I lived alone, just me and Spark. I'd occasionally check my See-mail, but other than clients and the occasional odd thieves, I was more or less alone. And trust me, my clients did not want to speak to me socially and that was very mutual."

He leaned back. "I had been bullied a lot as a child," he said with a shrug to show it no longer bothered him. "Which made it easier to prefer to not talk to anyone outside my family. And then... Well we went our separate ways. Left home. I wound up in Lynnsbrook. Found pretty much one person in the whole town worth talking to, and after friendship became dating, and then we broke up... And then it was just me and Spark. And I was happy. Or so I told myself. Told myself I didn't need anyone but my cat. I stopped checking in with old friends like Szark and Dejah. Stopped contacting home. Just... stopped. I was in my twenties and already becoming a grumpy old man." A small faint smile.

"Then Luna. She was one of the few surprises I don't regret. She wasn't in my visions because every path I had chosen she had already been dead. I actually stopped her from dying when I stumbled upon her by accident. The point isn't how I missed seeing her, the point is that once I had her in my life I saw how empty my life had been before. I had to relearn all my social skills. It was difficult, but worth it. Don't become like I was, Bruno. You've been isolated too long. Use your time here with the train to practice. Be involved with people again."

He let the thing about Trujillo go, because there was little good that would come from arguing. Dominic still had a sore spot when it came to bullies, and should the man ever cross paths with him... well, Dominic could take care of things on his own. And if Bruno wanted to know.. he could get better at scrying.