repeter | JANUARY 2018 TDM

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! tdm

JANUARY 2018 TDM

TEST DRIVE

JANUARY TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé...

What do you mean the city's behaving for once?

I.
The large opaque dome enveloping the entire city continues to stand tall and firm, though this may be the first time you've noticed the dome itself rather than believe it's simply an eclipse effect. Faintly reflective in appearance but blocking the outside world, the dome still allows the warmth of the weak winter sunlight to seep through. It isn't hard to breathe, and the flora and fauna seem to be responding just as naturally as always. But the city of Recollé is pitch black except for the light citizens shine themselves.

The dome stretches incredibly high over the city, but anyone who can get close enough to it will find that they can briefly see themselves in the surface. Upon touching the dome, it appears to be smooth and almost rubbery in texture despite a shell-like shield appearance. Soundproof and unable to provide clues to what's happening outside of the city the dome is also harmless for those who wish to touch it and examine it, causing it to bounce a few times under light impact. However, do be careful not to trigger its defense mode! Should anyone attempt to damage the dome itself, it will light up with a bright, sickening blue color for three seconds before delivering a shock to its attacker and rendering them unconscious for an hour. Perhaps you'll get lucky and you'll only deal with the too-hot-to-touch surface that self-activates when the dome is threatened, or the spikes that appear at the source of impact. The dome seems to have a temperament of its own. It may be best to treat it the way you want to be treated.

II.
Going about your normal day, the darkness seems endless aside from whatever light can be shed via flashlights, cell phones and interior lights inside buildings. However, as you wander the streets of the city, under your feet a swirl of yellow light appears before darting ahead, bouncing and bobbing its way over snow and concrete to create a clear path for you. It's a little convenient to have a guide to follow, but you're not the only one. Others around you are following their own lights and they all seem to gather right at the entrance of the old subway station. Perpetually under construction for as long as you can remember, the station appears to be wide open for anyone who ventures in.

The light will guide you for roughly twenty-five feet before it dies down again. You're allowed to turn back, of course. There's nothing stopping you...except for the vine that suddenly snakes along the ground and wraps around your ankle, hooking onto you and beginning to drag you further into the tunnels. Now would be a good time to start calling for help.

III.

Back in the city itself, it's hard to say who, exactly, is to blame for the first hit. People are minding their own business and moving on as if everything is perfectly natural as usual. However, in addition to the hustle and bustle small barrels appear on every street corner with an assortment of colored guns. The moment you step up to investigate one of these barrels it becomes a little more clear what, exactly, is happening here.

A bright red, green, or blue dot appears on your skin as the laser light hones in on you. Someone's decided to make you their next target in a city-wide game of laser tag and you have precisely ten seconds to run. For anyone tagged by the guns, a confetti-effect of red green and blue dots will appear all over you lasting for up to fifteen minutes before you're back in the game.

Will you grab your weapons and join the game? Or will you dodge as long as you can?

IV.
As the evening sets in, there's a smell in the air. It's not the usual winter-y scent of peppermint or warm soup or anything like that. No, you soon realize that the smell is buttered popcorn and now instead of the barrels of laser tag guns there are carts containing popcorn machines, bottles of soda, candy and more. These carts don't move and they do not seem to be manned by anybody so feel free to take as much as you'd like! At precisely 7pm, the street lights dim a little and the dome above you starts to...glow? It glows and a picture stretches all the way across the sky as a movie begins to play for your enjoyment. Maybe it's the first of the Galaxy Fights series, or it could be that crazy archaeologist turned fortune-hunter Kentucky Smith. The movies will rotate one after the other for the rest of the evening until 7am when the street lamps come on, but for now grab some blankets and a good seat. There's always time for a movie with some friends.

BONUS.
Of course communication to people outside of the city is still out of the question. Of course it is. There are absolutely no signs of that changing anytime soon no matter how many times you call or text or email. Snail mail is nearly impossible and don't even think about videochatting.

On the other hand, it seems as though the powerlines above are beginning to spark, pulsing in patterns of a bright blue color visible to the naked eye. What's up with that? Trying to get a closer look will only reveal a thick, crackling sort of energy that is surely not dangerous in the slightest and is nothing to worry about.

The energy won't leave the powerlines at all, but instead the next time you use your phone for anything a song activates instead. It's loud and it can't be shut down, but once it ends you may find yourself in a video chat with a fellow Retrospec user. Say hi!

Welcome to the

recolle test drive meme! All characters will be begin in-game AU'd as Recollé residents. You may use any of the above prompts for ideas or make up your own depicting your Recollé AU! Prompts do not have to be set in the districts listed above. You can review our list of locations for what's available. Please note that TDM threads can be used as samples, can be kept as game canon, and can also be used for bonus points for future item regains. Share a few minor details of your AU, tag around, and have fun!

For current players, please remember that TDM threads can only be used for bonus points, not regains.

Please note: you will need a reserve to apply, and current characters must have full AC posted at the time of their reservation.

Your January TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here! Our mod questions thread for this TDM is over here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[His workshop thread is here, and I'm totally open to more CR/Brainstorming if anyone wants to hit it up late!

Also, despite his icons, he will have a normal nose..... It's still larger than normal but not near the handsome specimen it should be.]

I.
[Usopp is not pleased about this whole dome business. He was, at first, scared of it, because who wouldn't be? This was some scifi crap here and for all he knew they were all running out of oxygen with every breath they took.

But after a couple weeks passed and he was sure enough they weren't about to asphyxiate he finally left his room at the bed and breakfast he had been at for only a few days before this dome shit happened. And, in fact, that's part of why he's displeased. He just arrived to the city, having moved away from his mother for the first time ever. And he had promised her he would call her every day, and now he couldn't leave the city let alone call her.

Which is why he's at the edge of the dome now, trying to figure this out. He was a smart cookie, right? He's solved loads of mazes. He could find a way out!

And obviously the way to figure it out is to poke at the dome, find it springy, then slowly push more of your finger, then hand, then hands, then face into it. For science. Not because it's a little cool and fun.]

II.
[Yeah, he was one of the suckers that followed the cute glowing orb out of curiosity only to be met with doom.

Live and learn, don't trust cute things or you'll find yourself dangling from a horrible monster vine far too high up in the air for your own comfort or safety.]

Help!! Help me, anyone, someone!!!

[He screams and basically cries openly as he flails violently, but impotently, in the air.]

III.
[Guns weren't his weapon of choice, as it were. Bow and arrows were more of his target shooting forté. He had dozens of trophies and prize money still in the bank to prove this fact.

But he was still quite good with a gun, and he picks up an orange one out of the barrel with the first look of glee since he was trapped in the city.

He turns around, holding the gun up, already peering down the site with an expert flare, despite the fact it was just a toy.]

Who's going down first!

BONUS.
[He didn't really mean to get so close to the weird, sparking powerlines but he had to pass under some in order to buy some cup of noodles to replenish his stock.

On his way back to the bed and breakfast he pulls out his phone in hopes he could finally call his mother, but as soon as he swipes to unlock it a crazy loud, somewhat familiar song blares out at him. With a shriek he drops the phone as he himself drops to the ground on his ass, hand going to his racing heart.]

What the hell was that about?!!

[He shouts, not noticing that a face of a stranger has appeared on his phone's screen...]

[ Minato still isn't sure whether he'd call the bow and arrows his weapon of choice, but it's the weapon he has on hand at the moment, string drawn back and tip of the arrow trying to follow the part of the vine wrapped around Usopp's arms, except he's moving far too much for Minato to get a good shot in. ]

Can you try holding still...

[ His voice is probably drowned out by Usopp's shouting, but hopefully his intentions are coming across, as impossible as it is for somebody to stop moving midair. A knife would probably work better to cut through the vines, but Usopp is dangling too high up for that, and close combat means Minato's weapons are in danger of getting snatched up by the vines, so... Pray Minato is a good shot. ]

[Usopp has fine tuned his ears to hear over his own screaming, of course, so he hears that, even when he's twisted around, his back to Minato.]

What do ya mean hold still??! Can't you see it's this thing flinging me around!

[He shouts, part in anger, part in terror, completely ignoring that most of his swinging is caused from his own flailing and not the vine. He gives one particularly hard flail of his arm at the end of his sentence, making him spin back around in the stranger's direction.]

--ah, that's...!

He starts, noticing the bow, but is cut off as the vine suddenly dips him low then back up even higher in the air.]

[ His arm strength isn't quite there to be able to hold the tension for very long, so when Usopp turns hard enough to turn this way, Minato startles into letting go— Usopp might have lost an eye if it weren't for the vine yanking him out of the way, and the arrow instead tears through part of the vine holding onto him- not enough to break it, but enough that several other vines lash out to support Usopp's weight in the air.

This is a bad development, but also a good one: with more vines, Usopp is more stabilized, like being caught in a spider's web. Minato grabs another arrow, but doesn't draw it just yet. ]

Please don't move. I won't miss this time.

[ Hopefully? Hopefully he can do this, even if everything about his posture screams amateur archer. ]

[Minato's stance was causing him more panic now than the actual vines themselves. The vines were just tossing him around a little bit, a guy holding a bow like that is a little more dangerous at the moment.

But when more of the vines had come out to grab him, one of them had wrapped around part of his face, namely his mouth so he can't saw or scream anything, just muffled shouts, eyes bugging out, sweat dripping off his forehead.

He's wiggling, but not a whole lot, so hopefully...he won't wiggle himself into the way of an arrow...]

[ He had some training with the bow, but none of it formal and only about a month and a half's worth of experience. It's enough that he can aim and hit his targets while standing still, so as long as none of the vines shoot out his way...

He said he won't miss, and that's because his target is that big: he lets the arrow fly and it hits the vine near the base by the wall— another- then a third, each of them sinking in deep but doing nothing to make them let go of Usopp because they're nowhere near the parts of the vines squeezing him to death.

Minato empties out his quiver of arrows like this, and then bounds forward to the nearest one, tearing out the arrowhead through the length of the vine like a knife slicing it in half. Bow and arrows aren't the best weapon for this, but he'll make do. ]

[He almost passes out in relief that this guy seems to have enough practice that an arrow would come wildly flying at him.

He can't really judge him using up his arrows, though, even Usopp didn't know where he would shoot a vine with an arrow to kill it. He's surprised when the other boy rushes toward the vines, disappearing into Usopp's blindspot, but the next thing he knows one of the vines suddenly let's him go--

--unfortunately, it wasn't the one wrapped around his shoulders and face, so now he's basically dangling by a jaw.]

Mmmph!!

[He muffled-shouts, legs kicking.]

[ Snapping Usopp's neck would definitely be a very bad thing, so Minato makes to get as close as he can, climbing as high as he can to hook his arm with Usopp's to take some of that weight while still leaving both his hands free to hold the vine steady and cut through it.

Maybe he should have thought this through, because when the vine gives, they have absolutely nothing to hang onto and save themselves from a 10 foot free fall. ]

[Usopp would much rather drop 10 feet than have his neck snapped so that was okay with him. He hits the ground on his back, the air expelling from him in a loud "WHOOF!"

The vines that weren't cut apart retreat, but it's unclear if they'd try to come back for them. However, all Usopp cares about his gasping for air, tongue hanging out.]

Usopp "Barreto" | One Piece

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