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Mods ([personal profile] modblob) wrote in [community profile] redmarsshit2020-02-21 07:33 pm
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test drive meme: february 2020

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. a more colloquial situation with a few robo-friends.

Something odd has happened overnight. A plant stalk, festooned with flowers and crowned with an enormous bud the size of a minivan, has grown up out of the center of the park and almost to the top of the dome. And down below, at its base and in the field around it, there's a whole lot of commotion.

The robots are at it again, and by at it again, we mean they're gathering in the park and adorning tables with... robo-treats. There are cups of lubricant, motor oil, a "massage" table for repairs. The terrible robo band has gathered again, and they seem to have been practicing, because they're rolling out some good tunes, some for waltzes and some fast-paced jams that are more along the "throw yourself around and pretend it's a dance" line.

The robots, in fact, are dancing. Sometimes in pairs, sometimes in trios, but they're trading partners and showing off their moves in what appears to be a bot-run robo-celebration.

Of course, Anchorites aren't excluded. Though it might be a Bring Your Own Food kind of event, the bots have left a table out for people to do just that. There's even water and a ton of orange juice available courtesy of the bar bot, who seems to be enjoying a day off at the repair table. Maybe it'll be good for him.

And if you seem to want to dance but can't find yourself a partner, a bot is likely to volunteer with a sympathetic, "Ah, meatsack, you cannot find a corresponding fleshbag. Allow me to partner with you."


b. weeds & flowers.

There are also cushions scattered around in loose circles, each one centered around a hookah. An inhale from some will make dancing look fun. From another, and affectionate kisses might be in your future. Some are packed with herbs to instill calm. Take a deep enough inhale and you might find yourself settling in for a nap on those cushions, looking up at the flower-covered stalk of the plant with its huge leaves. It's shedding petals gently and almost constantly, turning the clearing around it into a delicate flurry of shades from deepest blue to bright orange.

There are flowers almost everywhere, in fact, in bouquets, yes, but also in little pots meant for those who want to spruce up their personal space with something bright and beautiful. The petals come in every imaginable pattern and shade, from delicate white-edged purple flowers that look like roses to clusters of tie-dye daisies. Go one, take one - they all smell lovely, and are hardy enough to survive the brownest thumb.


c. the city and the beanstalk.

For those uninterested in the party, there is another option: scaling the monstrously huge plant that sprang up like Jack's beanstalk overnight. It's possible to climb out on the enormous leaves where they protrude from the stalk, if you just feel like going up high to take a nap away from the noise. Of course, the more adventurous or curious might want to take the opportunity to get a closer look at the dome that protects and powers the city.

A better look at the dome, and a better look at what's outside on the horizon. There are normal outcroppings of rocks, the remains of the ship that crashed and threw Santa through the windshield, the slowly growing martian strip mall, and some bits of things left behind by the red shifts here and there. A part of a car. An old transistor radio. A pulsing green gooey thing that you might want to stay away from - even odds on whether it's acidic or poisonous or both.

Look farther, though, and there's a vast smudge on the horizon. Using telescopes, binoculars, or special abilities will give you a better look at what it is.

A city, seemingly dead, seemingly empty, stretching almost from horizon to horizon. It's too far to make it on foot, and if you took one of the vehicles out of the garage it would get you there--but not all the way back. Of course, you can try to get there anyway, but a sandstorm is bound to whip up somewhere between here and there, a precursor to a proper hallucinatory red shift. Wouldn’t want to be caught out in that, would you?


d. 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 to take out the toothy voids? 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: (→09)

C

[personal profile] mustact 2020-02-29 08:53 am (UTC)(link)
It's not too unlike climbing a tree. In a way, it's easier, because the leaves are frequent and as firm and steady as branches. Ratonhnhaké:ton only needs to pause once or twice on the way up to consider the best path, and when they finally reach the top, it takes a moment for him to start taking in what he's actually seeing. He's not sure he's ever climbed quite this high, and at first he's amazed at the vastness of the wasteland around them.

If this were home, the wind would likely be strong up here, but the shield blocks it.

When he finally registers the city, he frowns deeply in confusion, surprised to see it. Is Anchor not the first to be built on this planet? Is the city older or newer? Is it inhabited?

He shakes his head.

"I don't know."

Truly. What precisely do they have available to them for transport? Going by foot is surely impossible.
nothinglikefather: made by peaked (055)

[personal profile] nothinglikefather 2020-02-29 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
Jacob has a bright eagerness in his eyes, an urge to go and find out what secrets that City is hiding. He can't help it, Anchor feels like a cage. Yes they can leave, yes there is a lot to explore still but he doesn't have full freedom to go where he wants. So much is locked away and he can't get to the answers.

And he can't sit still for too long.

"We have to go." He says, looking to Connor before his attention is inevitably drawn back to that distant urban skyline. "There must be way to get there, some vehicle we could take."

And if there isn't, Angel must be able to build something, modify something. Or instruct them on how they could do so.
mustact: (→24)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-01 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Must there? He frowns slightly, but doesn't actually express the doubt in words. He truly doesn't think the city has to be there for them to get to. I might have been built before Anchor, or after, and even if it might have been built simultaneously it could have been completely independent of each other. From Angel's explanation of how dangerous and volatile it is out there, he highly doubts they were ever meant to go that way.

But he can't deny that he does want to go. That he wants to try.

"Perhaps. I would not know." He pauses for a moment, and sighs quietly. "We should not rush."

They both have a tendency to do so. In this case, however, he thinks Jacob has to rein in that eagerness.
nothinglikefather: made by peaked (Default)

[personal profile] nothinglikefather 2020-03-02 08:58 am (UTC)(link)
Jacob doesn't think it was but there for them. He doesn't know what it is, apart from there, tempting him. He doesn't care about what they are meant to do, because as far as he can see there is no purpose to them being here. Unlike the City, this place seems utterly devoid of anything apart from the people it's brought here. And a few nasty monsters.

"No, but I think those of us who want to go need to organise ourselves pretty sharpish. Make use of this plant while it's here, try and calculate that distance."

Then they can put together what they need to get there, what they do when they get there, and how to get back.
mustact: (→53)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-07 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
He makes a quiet sound of thought, and narrows his eyes slightly at the outline. The distance?

"Angel could."

This probably wouldn't be too difficult for her to climb either, provided she's not scared of heights. He couldn't imagine she is.
nothinglikefather: made by peaked (079)

[personal profile] nothinglikefather 2020-03-07 10:55 am (UTC)(link)
"She almost certainly could." Jacob agrees. "If you can get her up here, I'd be interested in what she has to say."

She is used to travelling huge distances after all, right? Space and planets and what-not. She could help them figure out how far they would have to go, and what they could use to get there and get back. Maybe she'd even want to come herself.

It would be an adventure.
mustact: (→67)

[personal profile] mustact 2020-03-09 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think she could climb it. The leaves are sturdy."

Of course, he wouldn't let her do it alone, but he's certain she could. With time and care.