modblob: (Default)
Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redmarsshit2019-12-24 10:36 pm

test drive meme: december 2019

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.

a. santapocalypse.

As the suns set over the unforgiving landscape around Anchor, a bright light flares in the sky, streaking low and fast across the horizon, throwing off flares of green, white, and red.

The impact...is not explosive. Just another flare of light, and then smoke to mark where the object went down. Whatever it was, it didn't come from the redshift. It came from within the planet's atmosphere, such as it is, and landed barely a few steps outside the city.

Characters who choose to investigate will find something strange at the bottom of the pillar of smoke. They'll find a small ship, one that seems to have been cobbled together with pieces of a dozen different ships from a dozen different universes. The cockpit is busted wide open, a red jacket caught on a piece of glass, with no other sign of the pilot. Except for, y'know, the red ringing the broken glass, but we'll just ignore that, shall we?

Scattered all around the vehicle, some of them scorched on the outside but otherwise unharmed, are boxes, boxes, boxes. None are bigger than a shoebox, and all wrapped beautifully with bows on top. Characters who start opening them will find box after box containing nonsense items that might be valuable to someone, but maybe not anyone here. But if they open enough, eventually they'll find something inside that could only be intended for them, it’s so specific, odd, or precious. Any other box they open after that will be empty.

Those that dare enter will find the ship appears larger on the inside. And it also seems to be mostly made of hallways. Hallways that lead nowhere, hallways that, from time to time, are filled with an ominous...jingling.

The source of that jingling is the reindire.

Twisted, monstrous creatures with talons in place of hooves, they will hunt whoever enters the ship through its halls and even back across the wasteland should characters attempt to run. Most of them can be calmed, even tamed. Eaten, if hunting for venison is your character's jam (have at, SSSSs).

Only one cannot be reasoned with, or easily defeated.

The largest of all the reindire, one with fangs and wings and a lust for blood. And a big red nose that shoots lasers. You wouldn't want it following you back to Anchor, would you? Best to defeat it out in the sands, where it can't do any real harm.


b. keep calm & carry on.

As characters have worked on improving the city, they've knocked a few loose screws back into place and rewired a few polarities that needed reversing and now, a new area has opened up. It announces itself with a loud screech as the bulkheads that kept it blocked off open up. The new space is huge, at first seemingly empty.

This space does what the VR rooms can't. It reads minds.

It won't show scenes from home, no, but it will create a facsimile of a place that your character would find most relaxing. And this isn't the simple visual experience of the VR rooms. This is full-sensory immersion. Characters will see, yes, but also be able to touch, smell, even taste what's on the air in their surroundings. If there is fruit, they can pick and eat it - it won't satisfy them, but they'll be able to taste what's there. If there's water, they'll be able to swim it in, and will even feel wet until they climb back onto the shore or out of the pool.

Some lucky souls will even get Anchor's therapy AI chiming in to their scenes, with suggestions like, "Talk to your anxiety the way you would to a friend. Ask it where it comes from, see what it’s doing for you, and redirect it into healthy self-expression." Or, "Have you tried yoga?" or, occasionally, "I think you really really need a nap."

The focus of the room is to help characters relax. Those rolling blackouts that have been happening around Anchor ever since the room opened up? They’re probably nothing to worry about. Right?


c. the network.

Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend to back you up on the reindire hunt? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?

Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.



mustact: (→27)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-08 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't. I thought it would be a waste to kill an animal without knowing."

And so he thought it best to test. He's glad for it too. There are plenty of hostile animals back home, but even then he doesn't normally attack them unless they attack him first.

If Hanzo hadn't been so keen on attacking, he might not have tested it at all. He doesn't take the matter of wandering into an animal's territory lightly.
nockturnal: (pic#13782972)

[personal profile] nockturnal 2020-03-09 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
It's more care than he would have given. It is an animal. Better to put one innocent animal down than to risk harm coming to people. But he's aware to say so would seem callous, to this man who puts such stock in the preservation of life.

"You must have had some certainty," he merely replies, cocking an eyebrow. "Or you are more foolish than you seem to be."

Because otherwise, the man seems fairly level-headed and reasonable.
mustact: (→59)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-19 04:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"I was concerned you would shoot it. I was, however, certain that I could react quickly enough if it were to turn hostile. I thought you would probably be quick enough, as well."

The way Hanzo moves and holds the bow shows confidence and experience. Ratonhnhaké:ton wasn't too worried for his own safety.
nockturnal: (20)

[personal profile] nockturnal 2020-03-20 06:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"You were concerned for the life of this beast. Yet it could have ended you."

It's a dubious mercy, but he's willing to abide by it. He's not unreasonable, nor a bloodthirsty monster. If the Reindire can be trusted to keep to their own territory and not harm anyone in the compound, that's good enough for him.

He would have rather made certain that they did not have the opportunity, but. Hammers generally have one solution, and it involves seeing everything as a nail.
mustact: (→66)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-22 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
He shrugs. Of course it could have, but it doesn't really matter. To him, that was worth ensuring it was no threat and that they could thus leave it along.

"I believe it considers the ship its territory. We should stay away, now that we know what it is."
nockturnal: (06)

[personal profile] nockturnal 2020-03-25 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"...if there is nothing else that can be taken, I suppose it would be for the best," he grudgingly admits after a moment, before nodding away from the Reindire's path.

There's nothing more to be done here. No reason to press the issue and risk fighting more of these things.