thespacebar | // TEST DRIVE MEME

Entry tags:

! tdm

// TEST DRIVE MEME_

// TEST DRIVE_

Welcome to Eluvio's Test Drive Meme! Whether you'd like to try out a character in the setting, get some samples for your application, or just mess around and have fun, this is the place to do it.

If you're getting samples together, remember that you need at least four comments made by you in the thread for it to count.

Pick any of the scenarios below or make up any of your own. This is space! There are infinite worlds and possibilities. If you'd like to thread out hijacking a ship, do it! If you'd like to get stuck on a remote planet with only one other person for company, do it! Take the wheel and guide your own adventure!

The most important thing is to have fun!

➣ SCENARIO 001.

It's a normal day aboard the Eluvio.

Maybe you're on your way to work. Maybe you're hanging out with friends. You can even be up to nefarious misdeeds. Whatever the case, you're having a relatively uneventful day.

And then you see it.

From a distance, it looks like a ball of fur. Up close, it looks like a ball of fur. If you touch it, it will chitter at you. It will vibrate and purr. Where this is coming from is anyone's guess because even if you turn it over, there's nothing to see but more fur. It's pretty harmless, though.

Leave it there. Take it with you. The choice is yours.

As you continue about your day, you'll begin to notice more of these little furballs. On the ground. Sitting on tables. Here and there at random intervals. By the end of the day, they're fucking everywhere.

Good luck! If you get overwhelmed, maybe go talk to that bald starship captain who showed up last week. He might know something about the furry invaders.

➣ SCENARIO 002.

Congratulations! You've been selected to be part of the team being sent down to the planet around which the fleet is currently orbiting. Initial scans of the surface show that oxygen is in abundance, temperatures support carbon-based life-forms, and there aren't any large quantities of poisonous gases that might pose problems. Your mission is to secure a landing site, set up a camp, and locate edible flora and fauna. Stores aboard ship are running a bit low on food and it's projected to be another three weeks before the fleet reaches a station large enough to replenish supplies. Once identified, larger parties will be sent to the surface to help hunt and gather.

The good news is, scans show fruits, vegetables, and animals are plentiful.

The bad news is that once your ship lands on the planet, everything goes sideways.

An unexpected ion storm sweeps through the solar system, shorting out communications between the fleet and the team. It wreaks havoc with the electronics planet-side too, temporarily shorting out the smaller craft's navigational array. Until it passes, about six standard days, you're stuck down there. And the bountiful harvest isn't without its dangers.

Even the most docile looking animal will attack. Sampling the fruits and vegetables will cause temporary paralysis, hallucinations, and psychosis. Inhaling pollen will bring out a person's baser instincts.

The planet itself is predatory, you see. Everything on it has evolved to entice visitors from nearby systems and kill them. And the fleet's unwittingly taken the bait.

➣ SCENARIO 003.

It's been a rough day. Everything's going wrong. Machines are breaking down everywhere. The owner of your favorite business wasn't there today and the store was closed when you stopped by to pick something up. A coworker didn't show up for work, leaving you with an interested workload.

And now it feels like you're being watched.

It started about ten minutes ago, but whenever you turn to look, there's no one there. The feeling doesn't go away, though. No matter where you are, it feels like eyes are watching.

Did you hear something? A quiet, scuffling scratching sound just for a second? Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't.

But it came from the misshapen monstrosity that just punched a hole through the bulkhead right beside you. The creature makes a low, wet gargling noises and darts toward you: six to seven feet tall, vaguely humanoid, and covered in strange growths over which is stretched bubbling grayish-brown skin.

Maybe you notice tatters of familiar clothing hanging off of it. Or there's enough left of its eyes to recognize the shape and color. Or maybe something about the noises it's making sound familiar. It's your missing coworker and it looks like the unfortunate soul ran afoul of that weird slimy creature the science team brought back from that jungle planet a month ago.

The good news: you can kill it.

The bad news: it can kill you.

It's fast, it's hungry, and it reproduces at an alarming rate. A single bite can transfer the parasites in its bloodstream to you. Then you'll be just like your buddy. And that shop owner you like so much. And all of the people on Level 12. And...

➣ SCENARIO 004.

You're welcomed and encouraged to make up your own scenarios. As you can see, there will be a wide variety of the types of things your character will encounter in this game. So feel free to make your starters as horrific, sexy, lighthearted, action-packed, or slice of life as you'd like. Make up a planet, make up a location on the Eluvio, make up a ship in the fleet, fight off a zombie alien invasion, NPC Captain Picard, there's no limit to what you can do on the TDM.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huh?

[As if to demonstrate Mio's point, a brown tribble the exact same shade as Goku's hair pops up on top of his head. Probably disturbed by him looking up at her. Ah, that unimpressed sort of look, he knows it well...]

I only had a few before! I don't know where they keep coming from!

[The corner of her mouth twitches, but she tries to remain stern] They just keep having babies, I don't think they ever stop. They're pests at best.

[The tribble in her arms gives a whirring noise and wiggles as if somehow it understood her insult, and Mio looks at it with mild distress.] Shh! Well, most of them. Some of these can't reproduce so they're safe enough. But those [Here she points at the one on his head for emphasis] are dangerous. You should just get rid of them. I'm sure there's an airlock or something you can throw them out of.

[She says it like it's easy to just toss the cute fuzzy purring things out into the cold of space.

It's not. She's a Huge Liar.]

[As a fellow cute, small ~~pest~~ animal, Goku is horrified by this suggestion and holds a bunch of the tribbles close. No, Mio??]

No way! They'll get cold! [That will be the least of their problems, Goku.] They didn't do anything wrong! It's not their fault they keep gettin' born!

[Monsters or tribbles, there's nothing wrong with wanting to live!!! Also, they're cute and he's a soft touch.]

[Mio looks taken aback a moment, and then uncertain, clearly struggling with what he said and what she knows has to be (should be?) done]

Well-- No, when you put it like that... [Dammit, don't give her feelings over moderately sentient hairballs!! She looks aggravated and stamps her foot a little]

But we can't keep them! They'll clog up the engine rooms and we'll-- fall out of space and die! [She has no idea if that's how it works but it sounds like something that would happen.] Or we'll suffocate because there'll be too many!

[Embrace your feelings, Mio, go with gut emotional reactions. They'll never serve you wrong (maybe).]

There's no way that'll happen! ... Right? [He has no idea. Now he's worried. But he is a committed parent to these 137 tribbles sleeping on his lap, he can't betray them.]

Isn't there somewhere else they can go? Where'd they come from in the first place?

How should I know? [Is her irritated response to all those questions. But she recognizes that this is really her fault--she should've listened to her asocial instincts and avoided this entire conversation to begin with. Mio fixes him with an accusing look, because somehow this is partly his fault too, before she crouches down, resting her tribble and her elbows on her knees, chin in hand]

Probably someone brought a wild one on not thinking about it. They're pretty harmless on their own--they don't even have teeth or anything. But I think someone said that after four days over a million of them could be born. Or something like that. If there's a planet around near-by I guess we could dump them on there.

...Or maybe start eating them. [it's a joke. maybe..........]

Edited (not the icon i wanted........) 2017-01-03 01:29 (UTC)

[Should have known better than to abandon that hermit lifestyle, Mio. Now you're talking to dumb monkey boys and caring for animals and it's only a matter of time before you start making friends or something.]

That is a lot. [Even Goku will admit that. He crosses his eyes to look up at the one on his head slowly creeping towards his diadem.] They don't look all that tasty though, they're mostly just hair.

[Not a joke. He's thought about it already. Look, it's fine, he decided against eating them.]

[God no, not friends. She already had a dumb priest hanging around her, she didn't need anything else.

She's not sure what does it--him going cross-eyed or the all-but-outright stating he's already thought through the logistics of eating one, but either way it makes a giggle slip out before Mio can think to stop it. She covers her mouth and clears her throat a little, trying to appear nonchalant about it.

Her mind works on how to respond, but it's like the giggle let open a gate because there's more now bubbling up as she attempts to choke out:] You could get a-a hairball. [A hairball that would likely be indistinguishable from the tribbles around it. That's gross, but she's gone now goodbye cruel world, she's going to die from giggling. It's not even that funny, but it feels like it's been years since she laughed last]

[What the heck is she laughing at- oh, it's a joke! She's making a joke! Goku laughs too, after the couple of seconds it took him to get it.]

That's gross! I'm not gonna eat 'em!

Not eve a nibble? [But her tone is teasing and she presses her hands to her face as her giggling subsides. It felt good to laugh like that again, a better way to move beyond the frustration and aggravation she'd been holding onto to get her through the day. It makes the ache of the bruises on her throat ease up a little too, as if in response to her relative emotional stability.

After a moment she peeks through her fingers at him, frowning. Alright, she'd been kind of rude, hadn't she? Probably she should apologize or something, even if she thinks she's been in the right here all along. There's just no easy solution to this pest problem, really, so...

She sighs and lowers her hands to her knees again, looking equal parts embarrassed and sullen] ...I'm sorry. [It's almost blurted out, like ripping off a bandaid, and she briefly lowers her gaze before peeking back at him as she continues.] I was... Um, kind of a jerk. Can we start over?

My name's Mio.

[She's laughing way too much at her own joke, but that's kind of charming. Goku grins up at her. Actually, she's being kind of cute right now.]

I'm Goku! Nice to meet you- don't worry, you weren't being mean or nothin'. [Goku has met some real jerks in his life. Mio is nothing.] You were just trying to help, right?

[At least, that's how Goku interpreted it. Even if her suggestions were weird, they were still just brainstorming solutions, right? There's nothing wrong with that.]

Yeah, I guess so... [When he puts it like that, it really doesn't sound like she was being all that bad about it. Somehow that kind of makes her feel worse?? She'll chalk it up to him just trying to make her feel better about it and not actually believing it.]

Nice to meet you too. Oh, and this is-- [She holds out the red tribble to him then pauses. After a moment she pulls it back and looks at it, brows furrowed.] Oh. I haven't named it yet, actually...

[Goku's best friends are meaner to him on a daily basis than Mio has been so far. She'll have to step up her game if she wants to upset him.]

You haven't? You should! [Names are Important.] I mean, I haven't really named any of these ones yet because they keep crawlin' everywhere and there's a lot of 'em but...

[Goku please get better fiends mio will get Concerned]

I think you'd forget who's who with that many anyhow. [She tilts and rolls the tribble around in her hands; it just purrs happily despite being flipped every which way and Mio huffs in amusement at it.]

I should, I guess, but... That'll just lead to getting attached to it. Who knows if it'll be around long. [things die and/or leave or disappear or whatever all the time.]

[what why his friends are great]

Maybe they can name each other and be okay like that... [They seem to like talking to each other. Goku picks one up at random and starts petting it too.]

Even if it's only a little while, it's okay, right? You can have fun and enjoy it while you can!

[Is Mio going to force him to make a friendship speech over a tribble...]

[Um source??

Mio purses her lips; it's almost like trying to physically stop herself from saying something that she knows isn't 'normal.' In the end though, she fails utterly, staring down at her tribble with an abnormally high bitterness. The black butterfly mark on its back that matches the ugly butterfly-bruising on her throat seems like a cruel mockery suddenly.]

What's the point though? You're just going to end up being hurt if you get too attached. So-- [Mio no.] So isn't it better to just not do it in the first place? Then it won't hurt when they go away. [Mio no.]

[Mio, no.

Goku pauses quietly for a moment, while the tribble in his hands chirps happily. He's pretty sure they're not talking about just the furballs anymore and he isn't sure how they got here, but this girl seems like a good person and she's so upset...]

... You're right, when you care about someone it can hurt a lot. They might get in trouble or you might upset them or they might go away. If you're together, you'll definitely see a lot of painful things but... You'll see good things too.

When you're always on your own, it hurts a lot more.

[The tribble in her hands squeaks slightly, forcing Mio to realize with a guilty start that she's been squeezing it too tightly. She relaxes her grip instantly and that flood of guilt and his words brings her back to her senses.

She blinks a few times as if waking from a dream and makes a soft 'ah' noise. He's not wrong, she supposes, and it's humbling in its own way to be reminded of that. Well, and embarrassing. Mio sits up on her knees and leans over to...

Press her tribble up against Goku's face, just a little. Her voice is quiet] Stupid... They're just tribbles. What are you talking so seriously for? [But then she pulls it down a little, enough that she can see his eyes and they can peek over the tribble at each other]

...Thanks.

[Mio, take it from the world expert on being alone: It sucks. Don't do it.

Goku scrunches up his nose when the tribble is in his face all of a sudden.] You're the one who started it. [Did you think he wouldn't call you out, just because you're being cute, Mio? Anyway, ignore the light blush on his cheeks when they make eye contact.]

... S'fine.

[She'll ignore the blush if he ignores her own in response] Yeah, well... [Shut up!!

She sits back and rests the tribble on her lap again, watching him a moment before she speaks again. Her voice is still soft, a sort of gentle curiosity.] You sounded like you had experience there. [being alone, she means.]

[Goku shrugs. It's not a secret and he doesn't mind talking about it, but it's not exactly fun. Especially when Sanzo isn't around.]

It's not a big deal. [He's fine now. He knows he's not alone, even if Sanzo and the others aren't within arms reach right now.] It was a while ago.

[Well, she's not about to push it, even if she's curious. He's not asking about her weird bitterness either. Still...]

Are your friends here?

[Goku falls silent again, looking down and fidgeting with the tribble in his hands for a moment. Then he shakes his head. No.]

It's okay though. [Looks back up at her and smiles confidently.] I'll meet up with them again soon.

[Mio looks away a moment, considering. After a moment she sort of sighs and nods to herself, as if reaching a decision]

It's fine. Because you're still not alone. [She fidgets a moment herself, feeling her face turning red.] Because... I'll be your friend too... I guess. [I GUESS!!]

Huh? [Blink blink. Then it sinks in. Friends. Mio isn't Sanzo, not even close, but still...

Goku smiles again.] Thanks. You're a really nice person, Mio.

// TEST DRIVE MEME_

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