JANUARY 2018 TDM

[recollecters]

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!

Comments

Qubit (AU: Michael Quinn) | Irredeemable

[superposition]

[here's Q's workshop from last round, i forgot to do one this time around - only change is he's like 30.
tl;dr: IT guy at Recollé U., opinionated blogger slash sci-fi writer on the side, has vertical hair and ~glasses~]

prompt( 0, "under the dome" ) {

[So there's a huge, opaque dome stretching all the way over the city.

Yeah, all right, this is fine.

...

Only it's not fine at all. How the hell did he manage not to notice that? That's not an eclipse! And even if it was, what kind of eclipse lasts for two and a half weeks straight? Where did that horrible thing come from? Is that why inter-city calls aren't connecting? He's been getting complaints about that issue for months! HOW DID HE MISS THIS.

He takes off from work early, no longer able to ignore his internal screaming, and drives out as far as he can, until a solid black shape cuts across the road - in the dark, he hardly sees it until he's right on top of it, and only slamming on the brakes at the last second keeps him from plowing into it at fifty miles an hour. The car comes to a screeching halt just a few yards from the barrier.

Already rattled, Michael gets out to investigate, leaving the headlights on. It looks like he's not the first person who thought of this, however. Somebody else is already here. He spares them little more than a glance, though; his attention's fully on the dome.]

What the hell is this?

}
prompt( 1, "into the underground" ) {

[It's curiosity, again, that sets him in pursuit of the yellow lights. What is it? A remote control car? A drone? He can't tell in the dark. (It certainly couldn't just be a magic floating light, everybody knows magic is fake as shit.)

Oddly enough, it leads him to a subway station. Which, it appears, is mysteriously devoid of any and all construction equipment. He pauses at the entrance, hesitant about going down.]

They're not open already, are they? [he mutters.] They can't be.

}
prompt( 2, "guns and more guns" ) {

[And here we go with more curiosity. Are you starting to sense a theme here? This is going to be the death of him I swear to god.

Michael's seen a few of these barrels lying around, and he's finally decided to investigate, picking up one of the toy guns and hazarding a glance around. Is this like a Candid Camera thing?

He fails to notice the laser dots gathering on his back...]

}
prompt( 3, "movie night" ) {

[You know, he was going to ask about the unattended snack carts everywhere, but then the new Stephen King's "THAT" started playing overhead and

you know what. he just stands there watching the opening scene play out, arms folded.]

... All right, even I have to admit that's pretty freaking clever. [His expression's still pretty sour, though.] But that'd better not be the whole reason the dome is there.

}
bonus( 4, "ring ring ring" ) {

[What in the - he's just trying to read on his lunch break, come on! Let him have this! Michael squints at the person on screen, both confused and irritated.]

Who is this? I didn't accept a call.

}

3

[argone]

[He is not alone in his sour expression. Kara...Karen...couldn't help but overhear, and she grimaces at the opening scenes begin to play. Not her favorite movie, not at all.]

No kidding. I mean, it is clever, but this is ridiculously extravagant for a projector screen.

[Crossing her arms, her eyes narrow.]

And hell, there are kids in town seeing this. Whoever picked out the movie has terrible taste.

[superposition]

[Hey fancy seeing her here! Michael smiles, raising his eyebrows for extra facetiousness.]

Oh, this isn't a kids' movie? It's about kids. And look how happy the clown is.

[argone]

[Kara snorts and nudges him with an elbow, looking up at Pennywise's grim grinning face.]

You're the one that made me watch this one, remember? No way am I forgetting my newfound fear of clowns.

[Grabbing popcorn from a stand, she laughs.]

Can't wait to see the fallout from it in the papers though.

[superposition]

If there is any. That'd require them to acknowledge there's a dome in the first place. Which, by the way - elephant in the room - it's been here since the start of the month, hasn't it? Am I an idiot? [for not noticing it sooner, he means.]

[argone]

You are an idiot, but you're not wrong.

[She can't help it. And she is not sorry, at all.]

It has been here since the start of the month. I've gone back and checked through papers and news reports that were published since the first and that's the first time it appears in any photograph. Only, and this is the crazy thing, there's no mention of it appearing. It's like everyone just accepted it.

[superposition]

[FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE YOU........ but no he literally asked for that, he can't actually get mad about it]

Exactly! Or else they called it an eclipse, because those last for weeks at a time. Obviously.

[he's starting to get flustered just talking about it.]

How - just how? It's impossible! Somebody built this colossal thing literally overnight, and nobody noticed for weeks!

[argone]

[Oh he's not alone in getting flustered, she's just better at hiding it and making it more a sulk than anything.]

It's possible. Otherwise it wouldn't have happened. The question is more how did we not notice it.

[She pulls out her phone and points to the new icon there.]

Willing to bet that it's tied to this thing. Willing to bet a lot, in fact, given that I've already skimmed some of the past entries.

[superposition]

[He leans over her shoulder to check out the icon, adjusting his glasses. Surprisingly, it is an app he's seen before - on his own phone, just this morning. Without even starting it up, he'd promptly deleted it, run a full malware scan, and kept it off the RU wi-fi just in case...

But, uh.]

Okay, I'll bite. A malware app and a domed city have... what to do with each other?

[argone]

[She taps the app, bringing up the network, and tilts her phone so he can see exactly what is there.]

Not malware. I tried uninstalling it but it re-installed itself while my phone was disconnected from all networks. Yes, I tried that. No wifi, no data. But it's back.

Soooo, I got curious. Went through it, and realized it's a social media app. Some sort of covert network.

[Which in and of itself is not that unusual.]

There are multiple posts throughout the app that mention people without it as unable to recognize changes to the world. Almost like the app itself is a filter or lens that augments our reality. It sounds insane, but hell, I haven't exactly got a lot of proof to the contrary either.

[superposition]

[He reaches for her phone - bad habit - but catches himself at the last second and does not actually grab it. (It's not just her, Michael, literally everyone hates when you do that.) Instead, he gets his own phone out of his pocket and what do you know, there's that little spirograph...]

What in the hell... [He shakes his head.] No. There's got to be a logical reason behind all this. The app could've - could've backed itself up, reinstalled itself from local storage. I'll factory reset it, boom, gone forever. And there is no way - I mean - correlation does not equal causation! There could be - mass hypnosis, some kind of chemical agent, rendering our minds excessively vulnerable to suggestion -

[stop him. stop him, please stop him, shut him up, please]

[argone]

[Naturally, Michael gets a strong side eye like he always does. Kara is used to it, but it's still annoying.

And there he goes...rambling away like always, so she grabs his shoulder and gives it a rough shake.]

Hey, Alex Jones. No. There's no chemical agents in the water, no outside influence.
And also, I know a reset isn't gonna change it. I checked my shitty home tablet that doesn't have internet access and the stupid program's there too.

So the app is wrapped up in this crap too.

[superposition]

[ew, Alex Jones. That seems to snap him out of it, at least. Michael takes a deep breath and lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair.]

Okay. Yeah. No. We can't... [Another sigh.] We can't jump to conclusions, but we also can't rule anything out just yet.

[He leans his head back, absently looking up at the evil clown in the sky, which is not a sentence anybody can say comfortably.]

What we need is hard data. Nothing about this makes sense, and the only thing I hate more than being confused is being compared to that ... brainless, raging radish. [He gives Kara a plaintive look.] By the way, please never do that again. That ... that killed part of my soul, I think. I felt it die. [taps at his heart.]

bonus

[floret]

[ This would've caught him midchew--he himself is perched on a chair in some kind of multipurpose student lounge, eating a nutritious lunch of string cheese and apple slices--but, well, the whole song playing gives him a decent amount of warning. ]

Umm, this is Jamie Doh! Hello.

...If it helps, I didn't accept one, either.

[superposition]

[shhhhh i totally didn't completely forget about the unskippable song

He arches an eyebrow.] I'm Michael. It doesn't help much, but I'll take your word for it. Actually, hang on a sec - [he's just noticed] - do you have a little blue spirograph in the corner?

[floret]

It's nice to meet you, Michael!
Spirograph? --Oh. Yes, I have that. It's for Retrospec.

[superposition]

[Michael makes a face, and rests it in his hand, rubbing his forehead like he's got a headache suddenly. He is seriously starting to dislike that brand name.]

Of course it's Retrospec. Of course it is. Every time I try to get rid of that damn thing, it comes back twice as intrusive. [He pokes halfheartedly, but nope, looks like nothing is responding except the video call.] You're not involved, are you? Just infected?

[floret]

Uh...
I guess I'm not entirely sure how to answer that? I mean, I feel like I'm involved, but not really voluntarily...
Or rather, I guess it was technically voluntary, because I got this invitation to join the app and I did accept that, but I didn't, you know, have any idea of what it was actually going to entail. Or I probably wouldn't have.
Or, well, maybe I still would have, since it's creepy to not be able to comprehend abnormality even when it's objectively happening...
But I definitely wouldn't say that I'm happy about it. In general.

[superposition]

[Boy this guy can talk. Bless u jamie. :'D Michael starts nodding in a "get on with it" fashion partway through.]

Right. Okay, let me rephrase. I was trying to ask if you helped make it, but that's a pretty clear "no."

[He taps his fingers on the table, thinking.]

Jamie, right? As long as I have you here, do you mind answering me some questions?

[floret]

Sorry for misunderstanding, but you have to admit that "involved" is a pretty broad term...

[ He was just trying to answer the question thoroughly! ]

No, I don't mind.

[superposition]

Okay. First off, how long has this app been floating around?

[floret]

Umm.
Since sometime last year, as far as I know. I want to say March? But I didn't find out about it until late October.

[superposition]

[surprised] That long? Jesus. Has anything else... weird happened during that timeframe? Like the dome?

[floret]

Haha! Tons of things! Horses disappeared and were replaced with chocobos, a bunch of different types of fruit got faces and started dancing and jiggling... um... blue and green stopped existing... things stopped having flavors... There were ghosts and monsters and things at some point, I guess, too. Probably more things.

I remember that I was kind of dimly aware of a lot of it at the time, but it all just seemed normal. Like, I really believed that there had always been chocobos, and I didn't remember what a horse even was. But once I got on the app, I remembered, and I realized it was strange.

[superposition]

[He's remembering each of these events as Jamie mentions them, and growing more and more concerned with each one. The chocobos, the fruits, the gray outdoors, the tasteless food... and he just took it in stride and went about his life. That's what's really disturbing.]

So there's a one-to-one correlation there? You get the app - or the app gets you, whichever - and suddenly you notice everything wrong with the world. You notice it if and only if you have access to the app.