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

"Hm..." He rubbed his chin in thought for a minute. Had he ever actually used dance moves when talking to girls.

"Well it got me a girlfriend in high school. And a kiss from a boy." Hm... he wondered what Tyrone was up to these days. "Mostly I just have fun at dance clubs. And everyone else has fun too when they can meet someone who's excited for the same thing. Have you ever tried it?"

"I don't do clubs." Well, that was one way to shut down that line of conversation. She was being incredibly receptive to all of these advances, and she totally recognized it. But the problem was that she was focusing a little more on what he'd said before that question.

"You're bi?" she asked, her eyebrows raising just a little. Hadn't been expecting that from him. Still feeling like she had the power in this situation, she decided to ask a risky question—not because of what she said, but what it implied. "How long have you known?"

"Sure." Admittedly, Anna's focus on that did sort of have him sweating, but-- it's not like she seemed to be hostile about it (he knew some girls liked the idea of boys kissing boys just as much as guys liked girls kissing girls, but she didn't seem like the sort to be like that), so he just kept smiling. A bit less of a toothy grin, and a bit more bashful with the crease in his forehead.

"Maybe since high school? I'm not sure, but I was in my school's theatre all four years. A lot of the art kids were... experimental." He gestured in the air and chuckled awkwardly, aware that this was kind of officially crossing into 'TMI' territory. But, she had asked, so it's not like he wanted to leave her hanging. "I had a crush on one of the boys at school, but he wasn't really into dating. Though I did get that kiss."

"But I think some of the others were more into just being nonconformists." Haha. Awkward. "I think they were well-intentioned at least. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she lied, and took a second to process all of that. So maybe she was completely wrong about this—from the way he looked, she kind of assumed he was trying to be hyper stylish just to get attention, like peacocking or whatever. But he could've just as easily been a decent guy who just dressed like that for fun. Or on purpose.

After that second, she spoke up, revising the thing she'd been planning to say to shut him down entirely. "Took me 18 years to figure out I was gay." But she wasn't using the kind of tone she'd planned on. It almost seemed like she wanted to have a conversation. This was more interesting than the movie, suddenly. "I thought you were just some thirsty tormented straight dude. My bad."

"Hah!" It was hard to tell if he was laughing over being called a thirsty straight dude, or over the fact that Anna was apparently gay. Really, the latter wasn't that much of a disappointment though. The girl was clearly closed off, but she seemed nice enough.

"Don't feel bad. Although I am far from tormented, thank you. That's only for when we performed Shakespeare." He gestured himself with a hand flat against his chest, and his toothy grin was back. Unable to sit still, he leaned against the popcorn stand again and hopped back to sit on it. "So what took you so long? Please tell me you didn't go through the whole thing of having a boyfriend before you figured it out."

God, this was immediately a mistake. Now he was going to be friendly instead of just thirsty. Even if that's probably what he'd been doing to begin with. But she didn't mind it as much as she thought she would, really; she just had to make sure she only told him what he needed to hear.

"Fuck no," she said, forcing her face to twist in disgust briefly before returning to a more neutral expression. Maybe with a hint of a grin. "Don't be gross. It just wasn't easy to get into stuff like that before I moved here. I kissed a girl when I was drunk in college. Did it again when I was sober. We dated until we didn't." She shrugged. "Not much of a story. Didn't even have to dance for her."

Cyan snickered with Anna's immediate refusal, but especially moreso over the barest hints of her grin. "It was an honest question! I knew a girl who did that and she nearly punched him in the face!" She had also sort of almost punched him in the face, but that was for something completely unrelated.

"One of you move away? That's a shame. I can teach you a few moves for the next girl if you're interested. And I swear I mean that completely platonically!"

That sounded right. She might have been comparatively new at being gay, but she'd fought back that urge only by the grace of not wanting to get kicked out of that particular convenience store for life.

"Nah, she still lives in the city. It's a whole thing," she said dismissively. Whether it was a nasty breakup or just casual drifting or whatever, she didn't really want to get into it. "Are all your pickup artist moves as effective as these?"

"Ouch." He didn't bother to hide the sympathetic wince on his face. Whether a bad breakup or drifting apart, it still must have sucked to see your ex around and about.

"I don't know, were they effective on you?" He leaned heavily on the teasing tone as he brushed his fingernails on his shirt as if it had been a true job well done. "They work well in the clubs, but I... don't have an SO, if that's what you're wonderin'."

That was about as much recognition as it deserved. It was most of a decade ago and Anna's moved on, more or less. "What, really? You're still single?" she asked in the flattest tone imaginable. It was her own way of teasing, really.

"You're not bad, but that still did nothing for me." Which at this point shouldn't have been a surprise. "Not like you juggled a Vespa or anything. Look, I don't do the whole encouraging thing, but keep it up, I guess?"

"It would've been great if I were a girl." He declared as if it was something that necessitated grandeur, gesturing to himself with his fingers outspread and the tips pressed to his chest. He... frankly assumed the vespa thing was a joke. He let out a chuckle to diffuse his own antics, and braced his palms back on the popcorn stand so he could lean back.

"Thanks for the thought, but I'm not going to be feeling sorry for myself for being single during Valentine's Day or anything. I hope you won't be either~."

"Do I look like someone who mopes about not having a girlfriend?" she asked with an even flatter tone than normal. Naturally, she was well acquainted with that feel, and the last girl she'd even considered asking on a date turned out to have a partner already, but it didn't exactly dominate her life.

"If you were a girl, you wouldn't be single, but it definitely wouldn't be because of me. No offense." Sometimes people just weren't other people's types. If Cyan were a little stronger physically, then maybe.

JANUARY 2018 TDM

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