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HYPERJUMP | a panfandom sci-fi game. ([personal profile] uplink) wrote in [community profile] hyperlinks2018-08-01 05:17 am
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test:drive_01.

TESTDRIVE_01



THE ARRIVAL.

You wake up, wet and bruised, in the water.

You don't recall falling, but you recall a flash of bright light, and the next thing you know you're washing up on the shoreline. You can see two moons and a planet in the sky. Directly abovehead is a slash of oscillating lights that flash painfully bright with every passing second - and you witness a handful of silhouettes getting spit out of the lights, falling into the water with a loud splash.

It's a surprising sight; just as surprising is the fact that you're not alone.

A stranger you didn't notice approaching hauls you up onto your feet, checks you for injuries, and then you're lifted into a shuttle, where you're healed by the med techs on board. There are others like you who were pulled from the water and the sand, and they're in various states of healing. You're all soaked in seawater - and by the look of things, you're all equally at a loss about your situation.

An automated message keeps repeating over the PA system in English: "You are currently in Caius Allied Territory. Welcome to Alexandrina."

Where the hell are you?

You're now in Alexandrina, and we hope you enjoy your stay.



NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE.

It isn't your lucky day.

Something, somewhere along the line, goes incredibly wrong. Rather than keeping you at the shores of Alexandrina, the rift pulls you in and spits you out in a place that's a lot less watery and clear. The first thing you come to is the taste of dirt and grime, and the hustle and bustle of a city that doesn't have an off-switch.

Overhead, there are high-rises and towers that go up further than your eyes can see. It seems neverending, and natural light struggles to filter through the metal. The shock only starts to fade away when you hear the sounds of a struggle not too far away from where you landed. Investigating will lead you to a group of Caia Maxus harassing a few Terrans on a back alleyway. The Terrans are trying to sidestep their way out of this (they'd rather not get involved in a fight), but the Caia Maxus far outnumber them and all escape routes have been blocked.

No one else is stepping in to intervene. If anything, the rest of the onlookers seem to be encouraging the rough treatment. So now you get to decide:

OPTION A | YOU STEP IN LIKE THE HERO YOU ARE. You step between the two parties to try and avoid an escalation. You don't want to start trouble, or maybe you do and this seems like a good reason to fish for a fight.

OPTION B | YOU LOOK THE OTHER WAY. This isn't your problem really, so without saying a word, you head for the other direction. The Terrans weren't asking for help anyway, so maybe they could handle it. Best hope nothing will let you regret your decision.

Choose wisely. You'll feel the effects of your choices sooner than you think. Regardless of what you decide though, the Hypatia Rescue Fleet 409 will locate you a few Terran hours later. They'll tell you they have no idea how you ended up in Koriba, that's never really happened before, but they're glad they managed to find you before anything major happened.




THE NIGHT OF.

It's a lot to take in. You're on an alien moon, looking out to a planet that looks a lot like Earth but isn't. You can see the storms swirling around, the deep blue of its own seas, as you listen to the crash and pull of the waves not far from where you stand. The stars are different here too - there are no constellations that you recognize immediately.

Some of the older locals are lingering outdoors with you, and they nod at you as you make your way around the cottages. Are you headed to the beach? You might find a few couples having a moment there. Are you headed back into the cottages? If you peer into some of the windows, you'll find entire families sitting together, or parents tucking their children to bed.

If you're headed into the woodsy areas that extend away from the beach, you might hear a rustling sound or two - from something too large to be another person.

Careful where you walk tonight. There's a reason for lights out being a thing.




WELCOME TO THE 409.

It's the morning after your quick orientation into the Alexandrina settlement, and everything looks dewy and homey — until you start hearing loud splashes, followed by shots firing off nearby. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a bunch of eldritch horrors falling from the rift abovehead. They stand at roughly ten meters tall each, lumbering out from the water with angry screeching and flailing limbs. They're already kicking up a mess at the shorelines, and upending some of the makeshift outposts lining the beach.

The locals are shooting at them to keep them away from the settlement borders. Most of them are adults, but some of the shooters are as young as fifteen or sixteen, and clearly used to the kickback of the firearms they're carrying. One of these shooters pushes you forward, tells you to get moving. Another hands you keys to a vehicle and points you in the direction of the fleet — every able adult needs to help in manning the patrol lines, they say. The keys fit into a hoverbike, which in turn is armed with blast guns up front.

"Get up in the air and help the guys out," the stranger urges you. "We don't have as many men as we used, to. Get going, get going!"

...Maybe those bikes come with a how-to manual? On the bright side, at least you're not alone in trying to figure these bikes out.




NOTHING WASTED, NOTHING THROWN.

The beach is saved! You're drenched in monster blood, there's sand in places you didn't realize you even had, and your bike is in some form of damage after those first few crucial minutes of getting the hang of riding them.

Now comes the cleanup, and your character is armed with large chainsaws and buckets. The creatures need to be chopped down to smaller sizes before they can be properly incinerated, and everyone's kindly asked to suit up and get to chopping!

There are small stalls and tents lined up along the beach for various purposes to help with the process. There are refreshment tents for when the sun heat gets to be too much; there are portable incinerator ovens, which burn the creatures' parts down into fertilizer (no point letting it go to waste, hey!), there are shower tents for when you're done with the hacking and sawing, and at the far end of the beach, away from the gore and the carnage, is a beach barbeque bonanza.

From the way people act, this is a normal day in the 409.

So why not grab a saw, chop up some monster flesh, and have yourself a nice beef-flavored something? You've earned it today.




HYPENET.

C̪͇̜̞͇̲a̮̠̝͍̩̦n̪̣ a̦͖n̕y̯̪̪o̟̭͞n҉̩e͢ ̱̜̠͎̖̤h̘̝͔͓̳̪̠e̻̲̦̯ͅa̵r͈̜͙̣̜ ̧m̩͇ḙ͓͡?̩͈̲ͅͅ

H̷͖͇͈̮e̲͖❚❚͓͈̥̤̺͔ͅ—͍ N͎̦̫̯͔̯o͖̖͎̠̣̮ ̹̝o̬̦̠̫̮ͅ❚̱͈̺̝̥͞❚͏ ̳❚͉͎͜ş ̨͚̲͓͚̣̫s̙̥❚̮͚̻͠f̟̪̲̳̕e̥̞̲̝̝͟—͈̖


Whoa. What was that?

This is the first thing you hear as soon as you try connecting to the network. Something tells you this isn't something that happens often, but asking anyone who knows more about this place than you do isn't netting you any answers. The more people start looking at you like you're crazy, the more you're tempted to brush it off...

Connecting to the network again will trigger its original default message:

Welcome to HypeNet, DefaultUsername[xxxx]! You are now accessing the Hypatia Mass Network. You may input your personalized username and start chatting now!

Time to get some answers. Maybe someone else must have heard it too, right?



OOC NOTES.

Welcome to the first TDM of HYPERJUMP! We're trying something different with the Koriba prompt, so please bear with us. Cast your vote here! Both options have their own sets of consequences that will affect the first intro log of the game, so choose your actions carefully!

Additionally, the interactions in this test drive can be game canon if the parties involved agree to it. Everyone is also encouraged to use test drive threads for samples in your application. We are super excited to have you here, and we hope you like what you see. ♥


283: (pic#10690428)

[personal profile] 283 2018-08-06 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
["Caleb" is less sexy than Widowghost. Gotta say.]

My job as in do I get paid for it? No. A girl can dream, though.

I'm a gun for hire at the moment. Well, guns, whips, whatever.
badassassin: (pic#11222809)

[personal profile] badassassin 2018-08-06 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[Athena's not one to brag about... well, any aspect of her life, so she lets that comment go. Yes, she's formidable, but no, it wasn't grunt work.]

Nice to be able to call Handsome Jack a dangerous psychopath in public, right?
poisonpetals: (look)

[personal profile] poisonpetals 2018-08-06 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm?

[ Maggie looks up. Ah, there it is. She does not have any particular reason to not do it but she still refuses to do so. Just because she can. ]

No way. I'm not doing it for you. Do it yourself.

[ She gives another light kick to the girl's side in an attempt to get her more active. Though, she glances up once more at the appealing item in the tree. ]

Actually...I'll only get it if you let me have it. Just to play around with, of course.

[ It'd be something cool to add to her collection of Things She Will Certainly Not Return. ]
proto: (6)

[personal profile] proto 2018-08-06 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[The look is simply a confirmation that Luna-Terra is, as ever, blind and deaf to the cadence of the narration that Pluto and Saturn are privy to. She might have a premonition, sure, the precipice of a sort of dizzying vertigo that accompanies a brush with déjà vu which forms a frame before the indentation of Pluto's presence in the script of spacetime. But she would've just called it a hunch. They always found one another, after all, circling in their own self-generated microcosm of personal gravity.

They were still unmended. Time had pulled back to them some of the pieces they had torn off of one another, but others were more stubborn. That is what keeps the sharpness in Luna-Terra's eyes, the electricity along the lines of her posture, for just a moment longer than perhaps she should. But then it fades, dissipating into empty space like a human would, untethered by gravity or Culture.

They've fought so much. They've fought enough.

Luna-Terra takes a cursory step closer to her, matching her gesture with a conciliatory wave of a hand. There's the faintest hint of a smile on her face, so much so others might have missed it. But Pluto never misses anything, least of all with her.]
That's easy. Surrender.

[Without her Ship-Self, Luna-Terra is very little. She's lived more years of her life with it than she had without. But Pluto hadn't been made to house the power of the Krun Macula; no, it'd been the other way around. Even separated from everything that had made them powerful enough to stretch the laws of physics, she still has the gravitation of a star.]
kanyounot: (016)

[personal profile] kanyounot 2018-08-07 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
That's what I'm thinking. No doubt our "gracious hosts" see and hear every message sent on this network, unless we can find some kind of encryption they can't break.
kanyounot: (020)

[personal profile] kanyounot 2018-08-07 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ Kanan is intent on making their escape, on not getting pummeled to within an inch of his life hopefully, and the kid just has to keep asking questions???? ]

Yeah that would be a great first impression on the locals.
tropism: (pic#9530726)

[personal profile] tropism 2018-08-07 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ username GG ]

As kids we were told that the rabbit lives in the moon.

In general, however, the moon isn't exactly a place for people to live in. Not like this.
sketchery: (006)

network

[personal profile] sketchery 2018-08-07 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
fancypants: oh my gosh

caleb is that you???????

well i guess it can be like, another guy named widogast

hi i'm jester!! it's nice to meet you
fullylicensed: (000012)

[personal profile] fullylicensed 2018-08-07 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
[!!! An android and not an AI? As Poe himself would say, this is very exciting.]

Yes. Somewhat. Not the accommodations I would prefer, but I suppose when one's body is a multi-storied building, one must be willing to take what one can get from the locals. I've been enjoying the less limited mobility, somewhat.

Would you like to come enjoy some less limited mobility with me, off this dreary interface, in the real? I imagine you and I should have plenty of things to talk about.
fullylicensed: (11)

[personal profile] fullylicensed 2018-08-07 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
[He pauses minutely, taking in her appearance for what it actually implies, finally. Ah-- time, then, has no bearing on this world. It makes sense.]

Mine, perhaps, although I do very strongly doubt I could be- if you'll pardon my vulgarity for a moment- hacked so thoroughly without my notice. No, in the data stream. In the network. The worlds-wide-web.

[He looks at her for an extended moment, lips pursed, then,] Am I making sense?
fullylicensed: (11)

[personal profile] fullylicensed 2018-08-07 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
[If he had a gun or five, he could do well enough, but all by his lonesome-- well, no, he's a bit useless. So he stands there and looks vaguely perturbed, perking up at the sight of his savior.

Ah—]


Gentlemen- I presume- I do believe she knows precisely how to cause a great deal of discomfort with that, so if I were in your suddenly less than advantageous position...

[He is about to get decked again, for sure.]
fullylicensed: (000348)

[personal profile] fullylicensed 2018-08-07 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
A special circumstance, you say? Do go on. Special circumstances are a specialty of mine, if you'll pardon the wordplay.
fullylicensed: (22)

[personal profile] fullylicensed 2018-08-07 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
And you've had better, [he can't help but add, with a totally unnecessary wiggle of his eyebrows. Specifically from the Raven, he doesn't need to add- so he's a little one-note.]

My walk, on the other hand— [His brow furrows, the immediate impulse to wax poetic about the joys of being liberated of the Raven's walls for the first time ever buried under just how quickly he can foresee walking around being tedious. Not just that, but cut off from the net with only the ear cuff to let him in—] Not to be crude, Mr. Kovacs, but I'm feeling rather impotent about the whole affair.

[This is why he's never actually wanted to be human, despite his overwhelming love for mankind. Study? Superb. Friendship? Fantastic. Walking on sand? Detestable.]

I'm deathly afraid I'm beginning to understand your attitude. But besides the drinks, how are you?
glitchinthesystem: (Are you sure that's legal)

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2018-08-07 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ Consider this the interview process for Glitch hiring you as a mutual ally. Terms include being a meat shield. ]

Who said anything about making a good impression.

[ Finally, he reaches the top of the escape ladder and hoists himself onto the roof, scrambling up onto it and away from the ledge. They would be high enough up here where those guys couldn't see them. With any luck they'd just pass by and not bother looking up here. ]
glitchinthesystem: (Default)

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2018-08-07 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
im still under the assumption this is some big hallucination dream so Im going with that wasn't a real tree.
glitchinthesystem: (Are you sure that's legal)

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2018-08-07 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
well, sounds fancy for you. we had our food dolled out. some weird veggie porridge and bread. that's pretty much it.
eyeofassault: (Don't forget me)

[personal profile] eyeofassault 2018-08-07 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
ok that makes sense

except if youre dreaming + im dreaming = whose dream is it?

i dont normally dream about humans anyways. trees make more sense
glitchinthesystem: (Default)

[personal profile] glitchinthesystem 2018-08-07 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
...you. you are the dream in my dream.
eyeofassault: (Default)

[personal profile] eyeofassault 2018-08-07 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
should i take that as a compliment?
therewillbeorder: ([76])

[personal profile] therewillbeorder 2018-08-07 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
They would have to consider that could also make us less than willing to assist them. It could also prove to be a liability, in some cases. I doubt everyone will be so calm in a situation like this.

I am from the outer reaches of my own galaxy called the Unknown Regions. It's a vast part of the galaxy encompassing many systems.
possidetur: (ᴛᴡᴏ ᴏʜ ɴɪɴᴇ)

[personal profile] possidetur 2018-08-07 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
( where normally vanessa might smile as a little mask of her confusion the impulse doesn't quite make it into action and instead she gives a small shake of her head )

I'm afraid not. How could something have-- ( she tries, though the word feels strange in this context ) --hacked your head?

( it looked in one piece )
collaborates: credit: <lj user="bungalows"> (Default)

[personal profile] collaborates 2018-08-07 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
No, not everyone would remain calm. However if the "captors" are the ones in control of such things as food and shelter, most would soon follow the system for the time being.

I am not familiar. Though, if there are those of you who live there, then why is it down as "Unknown"?
collaborates: credit: <lj user="bungalows"> (pic#12449400)

[personal profile] collaborates 2018-08-07 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
If one was a multi-storied building then it explains the earlier questions and requirements. And of course, you must be used to multi, large scale interfaces instead of just the one.

I think I would like that very much. I can't say I have ever spoken with a hotel AI before now and it would be a lie to say it wouldn't be interesting.
collaborates: credit: <lj user="bungalows"> (Default)

[personal profile] collaborates 2018-08-07 06:56 am (UTC)(link)
RK800: I do, and what I don't know I can learn quickly. Which, I must admit, would be a lot of it here in this place.
warfares: <user name="na-i-cons"> (pic#12153219)

[personal profile] warfares 2018-08-07 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[ so, someone had a run in with whatever passes for the local wildlife and got scared. fascinating but hardly his concern. ]

I'm armed.

[ it's more of a statement than a threat. not that he's not proven himself capable of shifting quickly from the one to the other as needed. ]

The warning, while appreciated, is unnecessary. [ he moves to push past Connor. ]

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