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

( arrival )

( she'd tried to pull away, altogether surprised, no jumpy by the sudden arrival of this stranger, uncomfortable by the strange hands on her. but they hadn't relented so eventually vanessa had, not bothering to fight as she was pulled to the transport, sitting uncomfortably still as she was checked.

she has no fight left, no effort to ask the questions that should be buzzing around her head. where am i? what is happening to me? instead she's unresponsive, almost as if she doesn't hear the message over the pa. almost as if she hasn't noticed anyone else in the transport with her )

( the night of )

( vanessa gets outside to simply breathe. it's all overwhelming, once some of her senses begin to kick in. being ushered along again after the transport starts to wake her and she takes in a little of the information given, though understands none of it. the feeling inside her begins to build, the confusion, the fear, almost until vanessa feels like she's suffocating.

though she goes outside to escape, to try and breathe, it's still overwhelmig. this place looks like nothing she's seen before and, even though she isn't overly familiar with constellations, these don't look like her stars. a few names prick at her memories but she doesn't recognise them.

it has her nearly stumbling as she walks, trying to move herself away from any of the friendly locals. what vanessa wants is peace -- a quiet, isolated place. but even outside there's too much information -- outside is something new, something harder to handle than a closed off room. there's even more stimuli and it shows in her expression. surprised, confused. overwhelmed.

vanessa looks lost, feeling it deeply. where am i? what is happening to me? )

( welcome to the 409 )

( one night of sleep, though how much vanessa actually slept is debatable. a small segment of the information had settled in, though it still took her brain a few moments to remember that she was in another place when she looked around.

with everyone ushered about it doesn't take long for someone to send her on her way. and that's when the gunfire occurs. vanessa had made it outside just in time to see something fall, hearing the first few shots. she's frowning, not properly able to see what it is, but curious all the same. she barely says the words aloud before a gun is pushed into her hands and vanessa is pushed along.

she knows how to shoot though the gun that ethan had taught her with was very different from this one. despite the surprise, she's still walking along, though the gun remains limply in her hands rather being put to use. it's all too fast and too weird. vanessa doesn't know how to respond, her brain lagging behind a little, trying to catch up to all of the information.

and then another noise has her turning, jumping as she does )

What is happening?

( was this normal? there was such a response as if it had happened before but-- no, that was just strange even by her standards )

( wildcard )

( hit me up with something else or pm me and we'll figure something out! )

[ Goodness, some of these people accompanying Croix don't seem like they'd make it past Sunday. She sits across from the catatonic woman with one leg thrown over the other, simply observing her and the other passengers in the shuttle. Is the woman conscious? She seems to be, at the very least, though at this point it's anyone's game.

Might as well give it a shot. No business relationship ever got started without an extended hand. She smiles gently, though with a gleam in her eye. ]

The med techs seem to have passed you, but are you sure you're alright? We had quite the spill not long ago.

( there's recognition that she heard the question though it's a little while before vanessa actually responds. she turns her head in the direction of the woman though her eyes don't meet, vanessa purposefully keeping her gaze low )

I'm fine.

( though she's clearly not. her voice is low, words easy to miss if you weren't in the conversation. she hates the question, always has. it's one that requires more honesty than she'd prefer to give, almost like handing over a piece of your soul )

( it doesn't take long for connor to find his own way outside from the cabin he's found himself in. keeping up with what's going on isn't difficult per say, not for an android, but connor finds himself struggling to connect things in a logical way the same as back home. all of his databases are built on earth; the idea of life on other planets is still a foreign concept even in 2038. this kind of stuff was just never planned for when building the rk800 prototype and when he walks outside it's to view a wholly unfamiliar sky.

nothing stands out. looking around he could almost think they were back in a park back home. the moment connor looks up and stares at that night sky with a concerned brown gaze is when the reality comes crashing back down. that isn't the sky he's programmed to recognise. if he's finding it hard to connect the dots, connor can only begin to suspect what the humans are going through.

there's one nearby looking completely lost and unsure of where they even are. it seems to be a default state for a lot of people today and connor wanders on over, keeping his expression completely neutral.)

Excuse me. Do you recognise any of these stars?

( when connor speaks vanessa doesn't expect him. if her senses were controlled, if vanessa weren't overwhelmed she would have seen him coming but she could barely handle herself.

she jumps with the surprise, instinctively shying away. his words still hit her and, with how calm they're spoken, they're easy to take in. it's just a question -- a request of help.

there's a few seconds of silence, vanessa trying to calm herself, before she responds. she can't quite bring herself to look over at him but she does manage an answer )

No. ( her voice is low, the response a little brusque even as she elaborates ) I've never seen them before.

( connor doesn't expect such a shocked reaction and when vanessa jumps he can't help but watch, wondering if there was a better way to have approached this whole thing. it doesn't look like the woman is going to fall over or anything so there's no attempt in making sure vanessa stays upright or stable.

instead the stars just get another look as connor wonders just who these stars even belong to. someone around here will know. for now he'll just carry on with conversation as if he hadn't just gotten the jump on someone. )

That's a shame; I haven't seen them before either. It would be useful if someone around here knew. They are normal looking enough stars, but they aren't mine. ( connor pauses, considering his options before opting to just go for it. even now his voice is even, calm and not at all as stressed as he ought to be sounding.) You seem preoccupied. Do you require assistance with anything?

( he's persistent, or perhaps he simply talks a lot. some of it registers though much of what connor says just washes past her. she wants him to leave, just by the simple fact that she doesn't know how to handle being around someone, even though his presence is remarkable non-threatening )

No. ( vanessa is about to leave it there but, other than it being a terribly horrible lie, she also isn't that rude. as much as she may not know him, as much as accepting help is a terrifying thing at the minute, she'd already admitted to mr lyle that she needed it

it culminates in a small-- ) I don't know where we are. ( she's heard the name of the place but it means nothing to her )

Edited 2018-08-01 13:39 (UTC)

( it really doesn't take a genius to realise that vanessa isn't so keen on talking and connor takes it without issue. he'll just continue looking around, slowing staring at the scenery around them as if the answers they need will suddenly materialise out of nowhere. if the woman next to him says she doesn't need anything then that's the end of it and the silence from connor is nowhere near uncomfortable. it is what it is and he's not going to push.

apparently the conversation isn't as over as he deigned it to be, so when vanessa speaks again his eyebrows raise a little; he wasn't expecting that.)

They don't tend to let people know where they are exactly when it comes to a hostage situation. I haven't spoken to anyone who was brought here that understands where we are, myself included.

( the fact that connor doesn't push almost helps. his voice is steady and though vanessa wants to be alone having something to focus on is actually more useful to her. the sound distracts her from how she feels, pulling more focus to him and away from how overwhelmed this experience makes her feel. just a little.

but it's enough to, slowly, get her to look in his direction. she doesn't meet his gaze but it's a little more responsive )

Do they typically leave people free?

( "free". they weren't caged but if this place was so unknown were they really free? )

( connor would be lying if he said it wasn't useful to have a fresh point of view on things. even if they're questions they're still welcome and connor gives it some thought as he folds his arms. as he speaks he glances over at vanessa, almost apologetically. )

Not normally. In most hostage situations they don't allow people to roam around unattended. But in this place we've been brought here without any warning or request given, there is no other way to describe it at present.

( it would be good to know who was responsible, to be able to figure out how it was done. the idea they're in a different part of the universe is such a big concept even an android is having issues grasping it.)

I should know where we are, but I don't. There isn't much here that I can look at and recognise.

( his thinking made sense even if vanessa didn't like it. being kidnapped and held hostage? the only adversary in her life was defeated. no one else could wish to do this. no one that she knew of.

she manages a frown at his statement ) Nothing is familiar to me.

( and that was the problem. it wasn't just the place that was unfamiliar but even simple things as structures, how the people dressed, acted. the objects. nothing was familiar )

They should have done something. If we are here for a purpose--

( and that was frustrating. the first emotion that vanessa had locked onto since being discovered here. frustration. a slight hint of anger. she felt something, still )

( he wouldn't assume to to be anything else right now; they've been taken from home to somewhere else that they can't leave. until something proves otherwise, it's a bona fide hostage situation and he's not going to sugar coat that when talking of it either.)

Maybe we are here for a purpose and it just hasn't been made completely clear yet. I doubt that they would go through so much effort just for nothing to happen in the end.

( he can understand the frustration, even if he doesn't feel it to the same degree. not a lot of things are making sense right now and it appears they'll be slow to even get that way.

time to maybe shift the topic a little. connor slowly extends his hand for a shake.)

My name is Connor, by the way. An android from Cyberlife.

( she had half of a response formed when connor began to introduce himself. her hand slowly reaches out to shake his, only by sheer drilling of her social decorum, though his latter words earn a slightly baffled expression from her )

Vanessa Ives. I'm sorry-- an android?

( her question should have had more finesse to it but there it was )

It's nice to meet you Vanessa, even if the circumstances aren't good.

( the question gets a slow blink. it's not exactly one connor has ever heard before; everyone in detroit knows what an android is so hearing it out loud is unusual enough that it makes him pause.

maybe people here were from different worlds as well as places. how was that for a big thought? definitely something to pick at and unravel later.)

I'm a machine, built by Cyberlife. I'm a prototype RK800 model and I've been working with the Detroit City Police Department. Originally it was to help them investigate any crimes that involved a Cyberlife android.

( connor isn't sure if that is going to make sense or not and he debates throwing the next part out there before deciding that it would probably clear more things up.) I'm not human.

( it's a very good thing that he clarified it as so many of the words go past her understanding, and the rest feels like mindless conversation that vanessa would normally pay attention to but-- she's confused by a lot of things. too much for her attention to be picking up on enough.

she took her hand back, folding her arms again. it was in part a barrier to distance people, mostly a comfort to herself. keep tight and controlled, keep protected.

had she been wrong before when she'd assumed he wasn't a threat? vanessa didn't instantly believe now that he was, he seemed confused as she did, but not knowing what he was made the situation feel more dangerous )

That's not possible. You can't be a machine.

( machines were large mechanisms that certainly weren't shaped like people )

( connor can honestly say that today has been a day of firsts, this whole conversation included. he knows he's a machine but connor is also coming to terms with the fact that he's alive. it's a delicate situation all around but at the end of it all connor understands he's not human and is made of components.

perhaps it's best to look at this from a different angle, as just stating facts doesn't seem to be helping much. at least connor's demeanour remains calm, not at all ruffled by the fact someone is telling him he's not possible.)

I can assure you I am possible. Why do you believe that I can't be a machine?

Edited 2018-08-02 08:33 (UTC)

( vanessa doesn't answer immediately, not quite feeling foolish though given that he seems to be determined that it is true-- she almost doesn't want to be wrong but this is what she knows and vanessa isn't certain that she could believe anything else. it just isn't possible )

They have a limited purpose. And they do not look as you do.

( machines were built for a job. what job would one have to look like a human did? and how would it be made, be able to think? )

You're not wrong, androids do have certain responsibilities. Some are gardeners, some look after children, others were created with the purpose of military work. It's not quite that way now, but you aren't off the mark in thinking that way.

( connor briefly thinks to all the androids he's known and spoken to in the few months of his life. some seem to be fine with branching out and finding new purpose whilst some felt lost, directionless in a larger world.

so, this human vanessa ives has never met an android it seems. vanessa can't be forgiven for thinking he's human, the only thing that really gives it away is the flickering LED at his right temple.)

We were created to look as human as possible. Does it bother you?

I don't know.

( though if vanessa did think on it she would probably find that it did bother her. it seemed unnatural, a web of lies for something to be possible. and she didn't understand it )

Does it matter? Will it help to free us?

( an honest answer from vanessa. connor will give an honest one back as he folds his arms again, his own actions more casual and thoughtful than anything.)

If we were back home I would say instantly that yes, it would help free us. Everything here is new so it may take a little bit longer for me to compile the information needed to get us all out of here.

( he's definitely going to have to start spending a lot of time just info gathering, but that's fine with him, perks of being an android is not needing to rest a lot.)

Where are you from?

vanessa ives ( penny dreadful )

arrival!

no subject

( the night of )

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

409.

no subject

no subject

no subject

the night of.