repeter | 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

[In fairness, Lin at least got an up close and personal view of how the dome worked this time. Though perhaps a bit too close, given the pain in his head as he opens his eyes and looks up to see that he's no longer alone.

His head turns and he looks at the phone. Huh.]

...yes, thank you.

[Much better than having to ask. He reaches for the phone.] I didn't expect there to be playback.

[ He lets the phone be taken out of his hands, video in his camera gallery instead of being posted online like he really should have, because this is the type of content that goes viral. The entire video only lasts a handful of seconds, depicting nothing very different from what Lin's already seen and experienced, aside from the third person point of view. His camera work isn't all that great and his hands shake, but at least it's something. ]

Wanted to see if I could learn anything about how the structure works. This way, I can freeze frames, rewind, watch as closely as I want.

[ In the hour that he's sat here with Lin's unconscious body, he's learned a grand total of!!! nothing. ]

At least I've provided some data while hurting my pride.

[That's a bright side isn't it? Lin holds the phone delicately, fingertips only, as he watches the video straight through, restarts it and pauses it a few times to look closer.

Well.]

Yes, it looks exactly like it felt. So whatever this is... clearly is capable of defending itself. I imagine it could have killed me, if it really wished. I wonder why it didn't.

[He might be talking about his own death a little too calmly, as he holds the phone back out to return it, holding it by one corner between his thumb and index finger.] Thank you.

[ It looked like it hurt, so if it felt that way too, Minato's not going to try it first hand anytime soon. He takes the phone back with a nod, holding it in his hands rather than putting it back in his pocket, idly looking over at the inner surface of the dome as if considering something. ]

I don't think it's sentient, to be able to do things like defending itself or choosing whether to kill somebody. Isn't something like an electric fence more plausible? Only triggered by a certain amount of force over a set threshold, or something.

No, you're likely right. But whoever created it has set it at non-lethal force as a defense, to begin with at least. I wonder if it would escalate further...

[He says this like he's considering how to find out in a way that doesn't wind up with his death being filmed instead. Lin is probably smart enough not to touch it again. For now.]

And if it's set to have a defense, does that mean it's vulnerable in some way to physical attack?

[ There are things that they can attack with at a distance, like a handgun, that might be out of range of that electricity, but they wouldn't be able to see very close up. Hm... ]

It felt like electricity, right? What do you think about driving a car into it? Faraday cage.

That's right. It was distinctly electric.

[Please don't ask why Linden knows what being electrocuted feels like; it's better to leave that story untold.]

Hmm. That is interesting. Of course, to generate enough force to make a difference, we'd have to worry about the impact being lethal rather than just the electricity -- and also the frame of the car holding up to preserve the Faraday cage effect.

[A pause before he adds like this is really the limiting factor,] Also I don't have a car.

...Maybe we should put that idea on hold for now.

[ Minato owns a car, but after hearing all the complications they're have to work out, he isn't confident enough with this plan to sacrifice it. Also his life. ]

Test some other things, like the range of its defense. If we shoot it, will the electricity arc out to reach the shooter, and up to what distance. Things like that.

Yes, perhaps it's best to work our way up to that. It's possible we may discover the necessary information before needing to resort to car crashes.

[But hmm. Shooting it. Lin doesn't own a gun either. Something to think about.] It didn't seem particularly bothered by thrown projectiles.

[And he can throw a lot better than it looks like he could.] But a firearm might well be another story. And that would allow for some distance in case it does trigger some defense.

[ Lin doesn't shoot down this suggestion as quickly, so that gives Minato a little more confidence that it'll actually hold. The problem is the same here, though: ownership of a gun. Minato has a gun, but it doesn't fire bullets; he does, however, have something of a downgrade: ]

It's not a gun, but I've got a bow. Could do a hundred meters, maybe.

It's a start. But asking you to be the one to fire it might put you in direct danger, don't you think? I'm not sure that would be a fair request.

[Getting zapped by the ticked off wall was not terribly enjoyable. Lin would recommend against it, as experiences go. That said, in order to figure this out, some risks are likely going to be necessary.

They usually are.]

Do you know how to fire an arrow?

[ If it's only the two of them involved, logic dictates that the one to who knows how to do it, should be the one to do it. He's curious as to what will happen too, zapping aside, so he's willing to take the risks in seeing it through. ]

Know how, yes. But not with any particular skill.

[It'd be sad. Don't let him try. They'll both have to pretend it didn't happen. And it they want to actually test this, it ought to be someone who can hit the wall and not the ground five feet away.]

[ Ouch. Unfortunately, Minato likes believing in others and doesn't think that Lin's lack of skill is that bad, so he gestures to the dome as a whole. ]

No problem, then. This is the largest target you'll ever get. No chance of missing.

[ Unless, yeah... it hits the ground before reaching it. ]

I suppose it is difficult to miss...

[Yeah it's going to go terribly. Lin knows this too, is fully aware. But he can give it a try. He's not worried about himself, but asking someone else to put themselves at risk feels a bit unkind.

It may come to that though.]

Whichever of us is firing, the other should film again, don't you think?

That works out. I'll let you handle the bow, and I'll take care of filming. I also know CPR, just in case.

[ Just in case...

Can't do anything in the case that Lin dies, but if he's even slightly alive after getting zapped a second time, Minato can at least keep his heart pumping until his hands get tired. ]

That's very comforting.

[Welp. He's going to die. Still, at least death in the pursuit of knowledge is... something.

Not sure what. But something. Though he did survive getting zapped without any ill effects (he's got a headache, but his vision isn't impaired, his thoughts are clear, nothing appears to be smoldering).]

JANUARY 2018 TDM

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