test drive meme: april 2020

[modblob]

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.

▶ SPECIAL NOTE: We're only a month off from the 1 year anniversary of the first TDM, and we received this request for a fancy dress ball, so we thought it would be funny fun to run with it! This TDM will only have one prompt/event, as the monthly log with a bit more plot-related stuff will be going up on Friday May 1st.

a. an invitation.

There are ears everywhere in Anchor. A maintenance bot here, a surveillance AI there. SINI, restlessly pacing the dark digital hallways as she watches over the things that still matter to her. It doesn't take long for word to get out about Starscream's expedition plans. It takes an even shorter time for that news to circulate amongst Anchor's robo-population.

They know when you're unhappy. They always know.

It's why residents will start waking up one fine day to find gorgeous clothes laid out for them to wear and an invitation to a formal dinner taking place down at the plaza at Anchor’s base. The clothes aren't particularly specific to a character's gender, species, or culture - it's all about what the bots think your character would like best. Even if they're wildly off the mark, the clothes are still made to fit and fashioned beautifully. The invitations are marked "TOMORROW, STARTING AT 6PM LOCAL TIME." A smaller note underneath instructs attendees to see the tailor bot adjacent to the spa if they are unsatisfied with their assigned clothing, and also that the spa bots are on high alert, prepared to beautify anyone who wants some extra pampering and a dash of makeup.

Just be careful. Some of the makeover bots are really fond of glitter.

b. quite the spread.

True to the word of the invitation, the plaza is closed off under large white tents and guarded by bots who encouragingly steer you elsewhere should you try to get inside. They're nice, polite, all the things they've been programmed to be whether they like it or not, but there will be no sneaking by them into the party area.

At 6pm on the dot the day after the clothes arrive, characters will find music playing on all levels of Anchor, broadcast from the musical robots who have been practicing ever since that first tiny party almost a year ago.

Invitations will be taken by a bot in an impeccably tailored suit, and characters will be welcomed onto the red carpet that curves around the edge of the park and into the area cordoned off for festivities. The flashbulbs and cheering of bots that line the carpet echo through Anchor, broadcast along with the music until it sounds like the entire place is full of faintly electronic cheering. Each arrival is greeted with a fresh wave of enthusiasm, their image projected larger than life against the interior of Anchor's dome.

The sides of the tents have been rolled up, revealing the absolutely decadent set-up within.

Rows upon rows of buffet tables laid out with the most extravagant and strange dishes for residents to try. All of it delicious, though not all of it will appeal to every palate. There are sweet dishes, savory, spicy, whatever you can imagine. Appetizers of a hundred different kinds. Fruit plates formed into works of art, showing places and events from around Anchor. There are spun sugar reindire. Tiny plates of hors d'oeuvres that depict the faces of residents, both current and former. One particularly large dish is sculpted in the shape of what looks like an explosion emanating from Anchor's base, near where the locked and flooded rooms were found.

There's a cake near the middle of it all, frosting painting an image of a young, smiling man. Anyone who's seen him will, after a moment, recognize the whole and handsome features of a much younger Creepy Joe - the words on the cake say LET'S CELEBRATE OUR OLDEST LIVING RESIDENT!

While most of the food is at least recognizably from the general stores and from the agricultural level, there are other plants and garnishes that look entirely foreign. If asked where they came from, the bots will simply insist they're part of Anchor’s available resources.

There is also a full-service bar, but...not manned by the usual bartender (for anyone who might ask, the other bots will kindly inform them that the usual bartender is on sabbatical for stress). Instead there's a freshly-built bot serving drinks of all kinds, taking requests for old favorites and mixing up new cocktails based on guests' stated tastes.

The only thing not on the menu is a tequila sunrise.

There's a table full of hookahs and little treats that have various light, pleasant effects. These range from simple mood lifts to treats that will leave characters blissed out and relaxed.

c. dance, our residents, dance!

After people have finished arriving, the band picks up and guests' attention is directed upward toward Anchor's dome, where there's a truly magnificent light show being projected with musical accompaniment. It's spectacular, haunting and beautiful...and it shows more than just lights. It also shows celestial bodies in motion across the planet's dusk-red sky, meteor showers, strange northern lights. The show itself is almost an hour long, and ends with words unfurling across the apex of the dome.


HAPPY ∞ +1 ANNIVERSARY ANCHOR #3, THE LONGEST RUNNING COLONY.

STAY HERE, STAY HAPPY!


The show fades away and the music picks up again, encouraging guests to dance.

Go on, dance.

It’s a party after all.

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.

Navigation.

Comments

[towhatmatters]

Now? Honestly, Jacob, calm down. Arthur stares at him for a second, and scoffs.

"Hell no. I'm gonna enjoy more drinks before we shoot up anything."

At least finish this whiskey bottles. He's only just started!

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob shakes his head. "Alright old man, we'll wait for you."

And so he'll settle back down and drain another long swig of beer, relaxing in his seat next to Arthur.

"You settling in? Got yourself a place to stay? Been up to see the horses?"

[towhatmatters]

Old man. Sure, Arthur won't try to claim he doesn't feel like one but, honestly, the audacity. He rests one arm on the bar top, and turns to Jacob with raised eyebrow.

And here's Jacob trying to just move on.

Hm.

"Sure."

Yeah. That's all he's giving.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob notices the change in the atmosphere. He had no idea what has changed, what he has done to upset things, and he frowns at Arthur, setting down his drink.

"What?"

He really doesn't know what he said to earn that disapproval.

[towhatmatters]

He's not angry or upset, or even particularly offended. However, if Jacob is going to go and call him old, well ...

"I'll drink you under the table, boy."

[nothinglikefather]

"Sure you would try." Jacob chuckles, "But you're ahead of me on the hard stuff already."

He nods towards the whiskey. "That stuff can't be doing much for your aim. You sure you don't want to switch to something lighter? Like beer? Or neat vodka?"

[towhatmatters]

"S'just one bottle."

Not enough to screw up his aim enough that he can't shoot targets that aren't even moving. No sweat.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob snorts, and gestures for Arthur to pour some of the whiskey into his empty glass. "Alright then, I'm game."

He's not actually ever done this before. He's seen it done, but he's never actually tried to out drink someone. And not someone who clearly has more years of drinking behind them. But what could go wrong? Charles is somewhere, so is Connor and Angel. He can't get into that much trouble.

[towhatmatters]

"That's the spirit."

He grins, and pours whiskey for both of them. Get smashed and then smash some bottles? Sounds like a great plan.

"More whiskey!"

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob will toast to that, and then raise the glass to his mouth, knocking it back while watching Arthur, making sure he keeps pace with him, and slams the glass back down on the table as fast as he can, trying to beat the cowboy.

And trying to ignore the burn of much stronger booze running down his throat. Jesus.

[towhatmatters]

The bartender eagerly brings over another bottle, as Arthur empties his own glass, then proceeds to empty the first bottle by pouring them both another.

It's been quite some time since he's been able to do this, indulge in it. Enjoy good drink and good company, and probably make mistakes afterwards. He'd been too sick back home, and before this party there wasn't actually any good booze in Anchor.

So he downs the next glass just as eagerly.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob has always been a bit of a drinker, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad, but mostly it's because that's just what you do. He prefers to do it with people than alone, a social creature through and through.

Keeping up with Arthur isn't really a chore, even if he'd not choose whiskey himself.

"We were going to start brewing this stuff ourselves, you know. Bloody sick of tequila."

[towhatmatters]

"Should probably still do it. Maybe they'll bring back the tequila."

Maybe it's just for tonight that they get treated to something else. Since it's apparently some sort of special occasion, it wouldn't surprise him. He does wonder who exactly arranged this, and with what supplies. Was all this made through what is growing on the Agricultural levels?

Ugh. Thinking too much. Not drunk enough yet.

He pours again.

[nothinglikefather]

"I hope not. I might liberate some bottles before the end of tonight. Tuck them away somewhere safe to enjoy later." Charles will appreciate that, when they have a tough day. And it might work as a currency in the future too, if any of them are as desperate for proper alcohol as he had been.

"If we do, you going to be an official taster?"

The third glass goes down more easily than the first two, and he gestures for another.

[towhatmatters]

Oh, he'll pour. He'll pour until Jacob tells him to stop or either of them need to give up. Wouldn't do for them to pass out before they could do any shooting, and the idea is growing on him.

"Sure. Better make sure you don't screw it up. Ah, but--" He turns a little on the bar stool. "Is Charles helping?"

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob drains the glass, and gestures for another. He can drink, and he can drink, and he can drink. At some point he'll probably collapse, but not yet.

And not when Arthur mentions Charles.

Jacob can't help the pull of his muscles into a smile, the way his mood lifts even higher as he thinks about Arthur's friend. It might be obvious to those who know about Charles and Jacob, hell it might be obvious to those that don't, but an excuse to talk about Charles is one he'll grab with both hands.

Part of him knows that Arthur doesn't know. He should be subtle. He shouldn't wax poetic about Charles' calm and gentle method of mentoring. He shouldn't sigh dreamily about how Charles offers his asstance at the drop of a hat, how he's always willing to do everything he can for people, without reward and often without thanks.

He has to fight that back, because the whiskey tells him to talk about Charles to anyone willing to listen.

"Yeah. Charles is- Charles helps. But he doesn't know about whiskey. He thinks we're just doing bear. Beer. He thinks we're brewing beers. It's gonna be a surprise."

[towhatmatters]

The smile is very obvious, but Arthur doesn't think much of it. Charles is a very good person, reliable and kind. Anyone who is reasonable would be happy to know him.

More whiskey!

"I'm sure that'll be a pleasant surprise."

[nothinglikefather]

"If we don't make a pigs ear out of it." Jacob slurs, before he says, before slapping Arthur on the shoulder. "Which is where you come in, cowboy."

[towhatmatters]

"Ohh, okay, I'm following now. Taste test it to surprise Charles with later. Works for me."

In fact, he'd be glad to. Charles deserves good things. That man hasn't had an easy life. Sure, more or less no one in the gang had, but if anyone deserved better, it was Charles Smith.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob grins, ear to ear, unashamedly pleased that he's recruited someone else to help him with this little project.

"I'll drink to that!" He says, and swallows the rest of the glass before putting it down again heavily, and this time he pours the drinks.

"Gotta ask you somethin' 'bout Charles. From back in your time. You and he, you were really close, right? Con-fee-dants?"

[towhatmatters]

Arthur will happily drink to that too, and immediately have the next drink Jacob pours.

"Confidants? Sure. Always been able to trust him. Turns out he's one of the few I've blindly trusted in my life that actually deserved it."

Where's that bottle? It takes him a moment to find it, because his vision is starting to swim, but then he fills his glass again. And Jacob's, if Jacob's had the time to already empty it again.

[nothinglikefather]

Jacob preens. He can't help it, a compliment to Charles is like a compliment to him. Charles is good, honest, kind, brave, and handsome to boot and when other people recognise it and say it? It makes him feel good.

But even though the whiskey haze, he knows this isn't about him, it is about Charles. Arthur is an old friend, Charles cares for him, loves him, but not like he loves Jacob. Still, Charles needs to know people feel this way about him.

"You ev'r said that to... to him?"

[towhatmatters]

"Sure, uh ... Think so. Maybe not with those exact words, but I've always made sure to tell him he matters."

Although, that had often been about how much he helped the gang, what an asset he was on the job. Had he told Charles how much he appreciated him as a sort of confidant? Maybe he hadn't. Probably should.

[nothinglikefather]

There's another pat on his back, not quite sober, a little heavy.

"Might appreciate that. Is a good man, but doesn't often get told it. Not that he matters to people."

Charles will say it doesn't matter, that it isn't about being thanked, but Jacob knows that it's important to say these things. To make sure people know how much they mean to you.

[towhatmatters]

"No. You might be right."

Something to tuck away for later. Were they getting drunk enough? Maybe. Finish this whiskey bottle. Maybe a beer too? Then it would be enough.