repeter | JUNE TDM

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! tdm

JUNE TDM

TEST DRIVE

JUNE TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé. The kids are out for the summer and the weather's just fine. The sun's shining brightly, not a cloud in the clear gray sky. Everything seems at peace and citizens are out and about, smiling to one another and enjoying each other's company.

Oh, and this thing (complete with cardboard cut-out) has currently taken the place of the founders' statues in Recollé Square. But that's probably not a big deal.

What will you do today?

I.
What is this thing? Why is this thing here? For those of you in Tribunal Terrace today you may wish to investigate the five-foot-tall spinning wheel. How did it even get here? And where did the statues of the founders go? Even if you cannot answer those questions, it's hard to ignore the urge to give it a spin.

Check out those colors go 'round and 'round. Depending on what number you land on, you will find a notification pop up on your phone with a short list of…words. Are these supposed to be qualifications? Weird. That was a waste of time.

However, the moment you walk away you will find yourself accosted by various recruiters wherever you go, congratulating you on your impressive resumé and leading you to an office in Chata. Their offices have been equipped with tabletop-sized spinning wheels much like the one in Recollé Square that will spin 'round and 'round, determining the position you qualify for. Are you ready to show how these traits make you the perfect applicant? It looks like you have time to consult with your fellow candidates before your turn comes.

Or perhaps you've managed to resist spinning that wheel. The recruiters absolutely love your willpower and determination and want you to join their team! For those who can resist, they will still find themselves whisked away by recruiters to the same office and thrown straight into training to prepare for interviewing their neighbors. Recruiters will set up pairs of interviewers and applicants, leaving them alone to ask the hard-hitting questions and pick the most qualified candidate. Do your best and beat out the rest! It's your time to shine.

II.
Just because school is out for the summer doesn't mean Apparassage is quiet. Students and faculty alike are bustling about already preparing for the next school year. Campus tours of Recollé University run every two hours, and there are open house tours of the local elementary, middle and high school. Perhaps you're a future student exploring the campus and getting to know your future classmates. Maybe you're faculty or a student guide wrangling the kids and keeping them in line. Or you just might be one of the unfortunate ones who have found yourself with six weeks of summer school.

However, no matter where you find yourself in this district things get a little tricky when you're ready to leave for the day. The sidewalks outside of the buildings have all disintegrated, revealing a large void leading to nowhere beneath your feet. Without a clear path it seems impossible to escape, but stacked at the entrances of every doorway are large tiles with the letters of the alphabet carefully printed on them. When you look across the devoid path, you may notice you have a partner in a similar position with their own stack of letters.

Get ready to expand your vocabulary. Building a bridge of connecting words may be your only chance of getting home before sunset. Strangely, as the letters are laid out they seem to suspend mid-air enough to hold your weight as you make your way carefully across this pit. Balance and precision are key in this game. The stack floats along behind you as you cross the void, letters seemingly adding to the pile to provide more materials to build.

But like all games, there can be only one winner. Those who clear their letters first will arrive outside of the district safely, free now to come and go as they please. For those who do not clear their stack in time, you might have luck jumping from word to word to cross the finish line. Try as you might, if this is the method you follow, the moment you land on the winning word to leave the district the letters will glitch out, sending you plummeting into the void and landing on a long slope down to the bottom. Upon landing, you will see a series of chutes and ladders one can use to climb back up. Some ladders lead back to Apparassage. Some lead straight into Tisse, and some even lead to unexpected places. Where will you end up? The journey is up to you now.

III.
The days are longer, the nights are shorter, the sun is shining and it's noticeably warmer. Isn't it a perfect time for a summer potluck? The citizens of Recollé seem to think so and have all gathered today in Hollingberry Field with friends and loved ones to share food and fun. Kids chase after each other in friendly games of tag and hide-and-seek while other attendants mingle with one another, piling plates of food and sharing with their neighbor.

Why, even Mayor Mayer is out today for this summer kickoff with his lovely red Chocobo, Seabiscuit.

As the evening begins to wind down, however, there's a startled cry from the Mayor as he realizes someone has kidnapped his beloved pet from right under his nose. Was it you? How about you? Everyone has become a suspect and it's up to you to solve whodunnit. The Mayor provides everyone with a pen and a pad of paper divided into three sections for a suspect, a method, and a location. Grab a friend (or even a group of strangers) and get ready to interrogate each other to crack this case.

(With a little looking, however, it's easy to see that Seabiscuit's merely wandered down the hill away from the park. But maybe it's better not to tell the Mayor. He seems very adamant about this game.)

For anyone who manages to solve the case, the Mayor will be immensely grateful and reward you with a valuable prize! Congratulations! However, for anyone who fails to solve the puzzle, or even anyone found guilty of this heinous crime, by order of the Mayor you will be subjected to jail time for a full half an hour. (The Mayor can't stay too mad at his citizens. He loves them all.)

IV.
A nice, leisurely stroll through the entertainment district of Tisse seems to be in order. Summer sales are aplenty and now's the perfect time to shop 'til you drop. On the other hand, that doesn't seem to be the only thing dropping in Tisse. Do you hear that? Perhaps it is easy to ignore the sounds of stone crashing to the ground. Construction isn't unusual in this district. You think maybe you passed an ongoing demolition on your way inside a shop. But the crash happens again, and again, and again, a loud string of booms growing closer and closer.

Are those buildings tipping into one another? Or is it your imagination? You may not have time to answer while the string of events is put into motion. A crane swings overhead, knocking into a well-placed boulder that begins to roll down the street. Cranes, pulleys and wires move in sync as the ball rolls right toward you. Will you run? Will you collide right into the next set of traps? You may recall learning about this type of experiment once upon a time, coming to realize the elaborately planned Rube Goldberg machine spans the entirety of the city.

Maybe you're one of the lucky ones and you find a safe shop to dive into to escape. Or perhaps your sole focus is to run and get as far as you can, failing to notice that the large boulder herds you right to the end of the district and into a caged-in area. Make yourself comfortable. Someone from the outside will have to free you. But hey, maybe you aren't alone in this trap. Misery loves company, doesn't it?

BONUS.
The Retrospec app is at it again, just as useless as it's always been. After downloading to your device and allowing you to upload a profile picture, the app seems to take over your phone. Any time you open your phone to use it, a splash screen appears prompting you to pick one of the brightly colored wedges (or one of the two grayed out ones.)

It's time to exercise your brain and buff your trivia stats. Answering a question from your selected category will allow you to use your phone once again, but if you get it wrong? Retrospec will encourage you not to give up and try again.

...or, you know, you could ask someone to help figure out the answer. Hey, that person looks like they're bursting with knowledge! Perhaps it's best to see if they can help you stop this madness.

As usual, any attempt to get the company to reply are futile. Once a question has been answered correctly, phones will return to their usual functionality until the next time it settles into idle mode.

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!

Your June TDM directory is here, and your AU workshop is here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Blinking at him, Yukiko watches her kouhai spell out the long form of eelgrass. It's a little bit ridiculous, and she cannot help but laugh as the letters begin to shake ominously. Having already fallen down and climbed back up a ladder, she's a little less concerned about where they'll end up, but then...if they fall would they make it back before sundown?]

I think you have to use English words, Akira.

[Gesturing to the lengthy word.]

You might have an easier time with using those letters to spell smaller words than Otohime's hair

[ It was worth a try to burn through his letters and win? He stops pretty early when he sees how unsteady the tiles are. Good decision because they fly back to the top of his stack. The foundation under him shakes, telling him he needs to make something quick. Let's go with "adscititious." ]

These kind of restrictions are raining on my creativity.

[ Huh... ]

I'm missing a t. Would you be interested in trading?

[ Before he falls into the dark abyss. ]

[Oh, well she's going to reach out and grab him if he looks like he's actually falling but since he's quick enough to move back, that's good. A start.]

A T? I can trade a T, if you have an L or an M.

[Holding up that letter, she spins the T around in her palm. This is just another one of those things. It's strange, but given life lately? Not that strange.]

I have an M.

[ So he's quick to let the tile float to her in exchange, however his expression (whatever it is) falls as he sees how natural she is at this. How normal this seems to her.

Akira is relatively new to all of it. Actually, he has been thinking that this is some hallucination of his—not that he has dabbled into that kind of darkness yet. Granted, it's fun, but there's something deep inside him that finds it... worrisome. ]

... This isn't a dream, right?

[Tossing her own tile over, Yukiko carefully collects the M and begins laying out the letters for her next word. Luminousity begins to wind a path ahead over the void and she takes a step onto the L, testing it to see if it'll hold her weight.]

I wish I could say yes to that.

[She knew better though, with all the insane things that had happened lately. Being shrunk was just the tip of the iceberg, though that had certainly been the most trying experience so far. This was troublesome, but more of an inconvenience than anything as dangerous as being six inches tall.]

It's not though. I wish it were. [A pause, another step out onto the next letter, then another as they appear more solid.]

Can I ask you a strange question?

Since you already asked a question, I don't see how one more can hurt.

[ To add onto her word, he spells transmission. Their bridge is looking pretty good with at least some time left to spare. They only need another word or two. As he feels the letters on him shake, he takes a faithful jump to the next.

Stability has been gradually going down, pressing them to spell faster. This situation is weird—as weird as sentient fruit. ]

What is it?

[Don't be a brat or she'll kick you into the void, kouhai.]

Okay.

[She pauses long enough to set down more tiles on top of transmission, This time spelling out troglodyte and using her last L and T. These feel stable and she steps out onto them, moving quickly once she realizes just how wobbly her legs are getting. More that than the letters. She's not the most athletic, after all.]

Have you...well, have you had an app install itself on your phone, or your computer lately? Something called Retrospec?

[ THE SASS SLIPPED... don't hurt him. He makes sure to follow diligently after her, watching her carefully in case she slips. They may not be close, but he should still look out for his upperclassmen and be an upstanding kouhai. When she reaches the end of the word, he does his part to help pave the path. ]

I haven't checked, but I'll take a guess that it's related to all of this.

[ He was living an honest student life earlier, so his phone went unchecked for some time. The letters are no longer stable despite forming valid terms, now shaking with even a pound of weight on them, as if struggling to keep afloat. He acts quick by scrambling as many words as possible with his leftover letters. ]

Run.

It is. It's how it...

[She cuts off as she realizes what's happening, immediately breaking into a run, fingers practically flinging letters into place but not fast enough. Chip, Prod, Rat, and suddenly she's out of letters that can easily and quickly form words. The entire bridge seems ready to collapse, shaking and quivering, words falling into the void behind the two of them and leaving them stuck together on a rapidly shrinking island at the corner of Prod and Troglodyte.

Looking down into the inky void for a half second, she reaches one hand out for Akira.]

...I can get us out of here. Take my hand and trust me.

[Which is asking a lot because they aren't close but why hide this? The sleepers are going to forget it ever happened anyway. They always do.]

[ Akira has been doing his best to prolong their survival. He hasn't had the great experience of seeing the bottom of the abyss, but that unfounded fear and thrill drives him until they're down to their last letter—nowhere near the opposite edge. This is when his heart sinks, but he looks over to Yukiko, already calculating that he can toss her over the distance and guarantee her safety.

He doesn't even know her that well and yet... If he can at least do one thing, it would be to make sure at least she makes it. She seems like an upstanding student, brimming with potential and ready to change the world. What was he?

But she catches him by surprise. His eyes widen as he looks at her open hand. His rational mind tells him this won't help them. What will holding hands even do? Will she sprout wings?

They barely know each other, but for this single moment he trusts her and takes her hand. ]

[When he takes her hand, she gives him an intensely confident look, no hesitation whatsoever. This is something she can do, and while he may seem nervous, confused even, his trust isn't misplaced. Her other hand extends, and while her grip on his hand tightens, blue flames ripple down her left arm and a glowing card forms in the air.]

Come Forth! Sumeo-Okami!

[Her fingers crush inward, and with a sound like breaking glass, something appears in the air behind her. A feminine form made entirely out of golden metal, with long, flowing hair and a featureless visage, with two swords sheathed at her waist. It moves with startling speed, scooping the pair of them up and leaping high into the air, carrying them over the pit. The descent is slow, giving them ample time to watch the Scramble tiles falling into the inky void.

It also gives him time to scream, if he's so inclined, but that's not what Yukiko expects. Not really.]

[ What... is even going on? Akira's eyes widen as he's met with an illuminating light, gleaming so radiantly despite the void beneath them. Awestruck, dumbfounded, you name it—his mouth parts, wanting to say something, but he's left speechless, even enamored by this ethereal figure.

This has to be a dream... Amagi is a student. He's a student. This is Recolle University. This is all his imagination, a over stimulated daydream.

Despite that, there's something in him that wants this to be real. His spirits feel lifted seeing this, experiencing it. Cradled in the Persona's arms, he can only look up before he snaps out of it. ]

This is...

[ Frightening? Surreal? Does he even have a fear for heights? He doesn't remember, but his heart is pounding so fast. This might even be love. ]

So cool.

[The golden woman's expressionless face looks down at the two of them, and there's a distinct noise in the air that could be taken for a laugh, if the being had a mouth. she does feel pleased, at least, shifting her grip a little as they come in for a soft landing on the far side of the abyss. Yukiko immediately slides out of her grip but the Persona lets Akira take things at his own pace. She can afford patience.]

I was hoping you'd say that.

[It's perhaps a lame answer on Yukiko's end, and more or less what she'd expected from him. He didn't seem the sort to freak out or overreact like Yosuke had. Something about him was more...muted.]

We're safe now, if you want her to let you down.

[ He usually doesn't play the role of the princess, but he would let this figure carry him any day. Taking a little longer than Yukiko, he continues to admire Sumeo-Okami before he snaps out of it. Despite lowering his gaze and looking over to his upperclassmen, he... reluctantly drops onto his feet.

Hope he would say that though? There's a lopsided smile as he tries to readjust, but his eyes are drawn back to the glowing presence. ]

Thanks... [ To think he got his ass saved by something totally unknown. ] What is she?

[Once he's dropped and safely on solid ground, the Persona flits away to hover protectively around Yukiko. Golden wings wrap around her possessively, prompting the girl to smile up at the creature and nod. It...she...fades away without a trace, save a lingering scent of chrysanthemums hanging in the air.]

She is...a part of me. It's a little difficult to describe, but she's something like a guardian angel. I don't really know why I can call her, but she comes when I do.

[Looking around, ignoring the odd void that still splits the ground behind them, she considers how much to actually say. She didn't have any reason to hide what it was from him, but did he really have a reason to know? Silence lingers a moment on her end before she continues]

It's a power called Persona. I haven't remembered how I got it, or where it came from, but it's tied in with all the strange things that are happening lately. Some people, myself included, have been having visions of themselves in some other life and my Persona is a part of that other life. It just...followed me here. I think? I'm sorry, I know this sounds pretty insane, but you asked.

[And she explained, overexplained, as always.]

[ ... Akira is quiet? All the fluffy warm feelings that swelled in his chest when the event happened disappeared as Yukiko overloads him with information. A guardian angel. Those exist? There's an awfully dark emotion that stirs in him, wondering if angels existed, then why—

Another life? ]

So in your past life, you were some kind of summoner. Or some person that can manifest themselves into this... Persona. [ That's the gist of what he got from it? ] Several people are getting visions of their past lives and tapping into their old powers if they had any.

[ It's definitely hard to stomach, but after what he saw he can't write it off as a lunatic's speech. Amagi is also a trustworthy individual by reputation alone. Stroking his chin, there are so many questions to ask and it doesn't seem like she even has answers to them. ]

It's weird, but I'll believe it. You're almost like a superhero.

[That's ultimately what she was counting on. That he wouldn't write it off as crazytalk because he'd seen. The first person who'd seen it without having one himself, or having been present in some of her memories. They may not know one another well but there's something about him, a kind of magnetism that's hard to deny, and even harder to avoid opening up around. At least a little.]

I guess? I'm not sure, and I sure don't feel superheroic. But I definitely know that things have been shifting around here lately. I don't have all the answers, but it definitely has something to do with that app. The people who have the app are subject to those changes and flashes of memory, and those that don't have it feel almost asleep.

[Sleepers, that's the word she and Yosuke started using for them.]

It started back around Founders Day, in February. And I know it's a lot to take in, but I don't want you being unprepared for it. I like you, and you deserve to know what's happening so you're better equipped for it than I was.

Asleep?

[ So his life before this feels like a dream? Some kind of narrative written up by beings unknown, fogged from seeing the truth. He's not sure how to parse or digest it just yet, but he takes her words for now, even though the "I like you" part shakes him.

... He's not sure what's there to like about him, but he digresses. Rubbing his neck awkwardly, he thinks over what to say. ]

Thank you, Amagi. Is there something I'm supposed to do when I get these memory flashes? Should I sign myself up for a support group?

[ It's meant to be a joke, but after seeing her Persona... He may need it. ]

[If she was asked, she'd say it was because he was honest. He said what he meant, if not always in spades. But, she wasn't, and she knew it was a lot to take in so she quietly let him process without saying anything.

Until he cracks that joke, and her composure breaks down a little, a giggle starting in the back of her throat, building into a happy, cheerful laugh but not quite crossing the line into one of her gigglefits. She's getting better about those, and she doesn't know him that well, so just belting out with one feels like something she shouldn't spring on him quite yet.]

Hah...you know? I wish there was a support group for it, but the closest thing is just the community itself. [She sighs, forcing her stomach and the laughter to quiet down, getting at least marginally more serious.]

My advice is when they do come, tell people. Don't hold it in. We may find common threads, like I did when I found other people that remember Personas.

[Oh how little she knows.]

And even if you don't, it helps. At least then you know you're not alone.

[and not going crazy like she'd thought at first.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

JUNE TDM

II

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And here is where it gets crazy...

good crazy is the best

Well he'll never see this coming.

you gave me a spoiler so

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