hyperlinks | test:drive

Entry tags:

!testdrive

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. ♥

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

NOT IN KANSAS (OPTION A)

[not again is the groaned phrase that slips past kovacs lips as he comes too in another city that he doesn't recognize. the last was bay city, when he'd been resleeved after his stack had been in storage for two-hundred some odd years. this time isn't quite as dramatic — not the disorienting feeling of being placed in a new sleeve, of literally feeling uncomfortable in one's own skin for a hot minute — but he's getting damn tired of waking up in places that he's not familiar with and feeling the sensation like he's been run through the ringer.

this time he wasn't shot, at least he doesn't think so at any rate, which makes it a little more palatable that he's waking up face first in the kind of street grime that comes with densely populated urban areas. it makes him long for the woods on harlan's world. there's not time to dwell on past memories, though. not when he's still got his bearings (and intel) to gather.

the highrises stretch further than his eyes can see, obscuring most of the light coming from above, but that doesn't mean there's not the glow of lights from within the buidings, signs, and lamposts.

as he gathers his bearings and shakes the sluggishness from his limbs, takeshi takes everything in. from the sounds of vehicles passing by, to people's daily grumblings, to the smells of this strange place. total absorb, as he'd explained it to another person not so long ago, allowing him to carefully piece things together so he'd know how to proceed. it's this envoy intuition that leads him to head toward the faint sounds of a scuffle until he's come face to face with a mob of people trying to harass another set of people.

it's not his place, he's still working his way through understanding where he is, but if there's one thing he's not fond of, it's people who harass those who can't hold their own. whoever these people are, he doesn't much like them.

could he go in punch things first and ask questions later? of course. but he could also try the diplomatic approach, which with any luck will net him a few trusted allies in this brave new world.

the caia maxus don't seem to be letting it drop, though which leaves him with no other option but than to stand and fight. good thing elias ryker's sleeve is more than equipped to handle a few punches.]

Why don't you quit picking on people who can't defend themselves? Better yet, why don't I just make you.

HYPENET

[this cuff and the network it connects to isn't quite like an oni but it'll do. if only it weren't seemingly booting up with a glitch. he almost considers figuring out a way to rip the thing out before trying again.]

envoy: this feels like a serious downgrade from what i've gotten used to, but whatever. where's a guy gotta go to grab a decent bowl of food that isn't just tasteless flavorless nutrition packs?

WILDCARD

[hmu via pm. he's good with a gun and will be happy to f things up monsterwise too.]

[First of all: !!!!

Second: worry not, Poe is here to help. Also, Poe is here, somehow.]

theraven: The beach is currently host to a wide variety of beef-adjacent foodstuffs and other refreshments. While not, one would hope, the finest dining this settlement has to offer, it is better than nutrition packs.

[Which is the helpful part, sort of, and then the Poe(tm) part:]

Would you like me to accompany you? I would be happy to.

[well look what the ~~cat~~ rift dragged in. his presence, while surprising, is welcome.]

envoy: leave it to you to know where to find things.

[but perhaps more importaantly...]

did you get an upgrade since the last time i saw you, poe?

It is part of my job as a gracious and attentive host, regardless of our little detour to some unknown but very settled world. Hard to miss, besides.

And I would call it a downgrade, actually. I feel rather like I'm wandering around like a newborn babe.

[He doesn't have a single ceiling machine gun, it's terrible.]

Mmm. Welcome to the human race. It's a whole lot of stumbling around in the dark and trying to figure it out without a map.
I'm sure you'll be back in business before too long.

Where they have you holed up? Or is did they somehow drop the hotel off on the main drag?

[because even if his funds are considerably less, he'd rather have the comfort of the raven than spend another day in one of the communal cottages.]

I am not holed up anywhere at the moment, actually. For the first time in my life I am free to roam far and wide, city limits permitting.

[That part is actually very exciting, but the novelty will wear off. He wants... his guns back.]

But I am afraid they have pulled my brains out of my body and left me adrift, as it were, Mr. Kovacs. I cannot provide you with more suitable accommodations than these, but I can provide you with company.

Ah. Just as well. Not sure I could afford a real room without being bankrolled by Bancroft.

[Pity, because the bar at the Raven was truly his favorite thing. That and security really was for the most part top notch. There's silver linings though... Poe's company is actually welcome in this strange place.]

Guess you get to play gumshoe after all. If you're up to some investigating, that is.

[This is a dream come true, good heavens, he gets to play detective sidekick!! It has been actual decades since he last felt this kind of excitement. Ah.]

If I had a hat with me I would already be adjusting its brim to sit as jauntily as possible in anticipation of our great investigative journey.

Where shall I meet you?

takeshi kovacs | altered carbon

hello best friend

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hypenet ( UN: JUMPSAMURAI69. )

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hypernet UN:Glitch

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