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

[ It's late, and Emil needs to go home. The time got away from him and now he's trying to sprint back before his roommates think he might be the sort of roommate to bring his drunk friends home at 4 AM for an after-afterparty, and spill beer on everyone's shared living space. Nope, that is super not him, so he's taking a few shortcuts and turns a corner into an alley when he--

--Trips over a large sack.

It is in fact not a sack, but a human.

Oh god, he just thought a human was a sack. He feels so bad. ]

--I'm so sorry!

[ He is the worst, he just kicked a sleeping homeless person, he's going to hell. ]

Are you okay??

[Somehow he never expected someone to come along and interact with him, let alone trip over him. Maybe he should have thought about his resting place more than not at all. A bench could have been an excellent roof, and there's a pang through his chest as he longs for one to teleport over to him so he could hide under it.

Enough pining, though. He has to give this stranger the sleepiest death glare.]

You assaulted me. [DO YOU THINK HE'S OKAY??

he's fine]

I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to! I just... didn't expect someone to be sleeping on the ground like that!

Are you... hurt anywhere? I could take you to the hospital?

[ Oh no, he hurt a defenseless homeless boy... ]

I could buy you something to eat...? Err, do you maybe want a blanket...?

Lots of people sleep on the ground. [Not that Lalli knows any other than him, and his way wasn't at all related. He chose to abandon his bed freely.

Wow, this idiot sure is panicking. Lalli watches him mildly for a while, scratching at where the sweat was making his scalp itch, but the mention of food gets him to push himself up to his feet and stretch a bit like that will magically relieve the burning in his legs and lungs.]

It's too hot for a blanket. [Crazy boy???] You can feed me.

[ Emil tries very hard not to poke his head around to make sure there aren't any visible injuries, because he thinks that might not be a welcome gesture. But at the idea of feeding the homeless, he gets a sudden memory of his offer to feed some other homeless guy (wait, who was that again?) in exchange for staring into his eyes in the hopes that he might be able to see blue again.

Maybe this is the hobo he's looking for...! ]

Um, sure! Anyplace that's... open, really?

[ How is he going to explain to his roommates that he spent his night hanging out with a homeless boy? At his rate he might as well pretend that he went to a party, that's a situation he'd much rather try to talk himself out of later! ]

But are you sure you wouldn't rather get checked out? I really didn't mean to hurt you.

[Very good thinking, Emil, because if any of those fingers had gotten near Lalli's head, he would have bit them off.

And in the worst parody of Star Wars, this isn't the hobo you're looking for. Though his eyes could be mistaken for having been blue, once.]

Mmn. Not a lot of good places. Just cheap junk.

[He's pretty used to the night scene, even if he didn't interact with it much. He suppresses a sigh and glances over, wondering if this is really worth the effort. What effort? So much effort.]

No one's ever tripped over you before. [An observation based on the fact that if someone had, he'd know it isn't hospital-worthy in the least.] I'll come find you again later if I think I have internal bleeding.

[ Listen, this is the kid that thinks he might get cancer from a bruise. He's really not thinking this through all the way. And besides, he has been working out lately, and his kick is getting pretty fierce!

There's a record-scratch in that tiny little brain of his, and he runs in front of Lalli to stop him from moving forward. ]

Wait, you might get internal bleeding?

Okay, I think I need to take you to a doctor. I'll bring you food to the hospital, don't worry about that, but the more you move with your injury, the worse it'll be!

[ He definitely read that somewhere. ]

Let me call you an ambulance.

[mistakes have been made]

Um.

[The prospect of free food had been really appealing, but now Lalli had to weigh two possibilities: that this dude is fucking with him to get out of paying or that he's actually insane and stupid and believes Lalli is going to die. Neither of these possibilities are good... But that second one couldn't be it, right? No one was that dumb. No, he had to be being a weasel.]

You want to pay for an ambulance instead of a burger and a milkshake?

[ So Emil keeps forgetting that Americans don't have universal health care, because his doctor visits are all paid for by his taxes. So he has no idea how much an ambulance ride even costs. Like twenty bucks? ]

I said I'd bring you food.

Wait. Are you even hurt?

[ Cause like, he is totally not acting like he's remotely in pain, the more that they interact. Maybe this was a scam, pretend to be homeless and hope that someone running by late past an alley will trip over you and then not get an ambulance, and then sue them for gross negligence. Yes, he's heard Americans are litigation happy (and this dude is so American, clearly.) Emil narrows his eyes, because this boy is also not terribly dirty and he looks decently well groomed and doesn't smell too bad. He also doesn't seem to have had any belongings with him. ]

Are you even homeless?

[ WHY IS EVERYONE PRETENDING TO BE HOMELESS TO GET EMIL TO FEED THEM!!! ]

[This sweet summer child...

Meanwhile Lalli is looking like the dead of winter over here, because he never stated either of these things and it's not his fault Emil made these assumptions. That's actually kind of rude? What the heck, boy.]

What made you decide I was homeless?

[ Wow, this is awkward ]

Um, you were sleeping in an alley...

[ Who the hell does that if they're not homeless-- Oh, right ]

And you haven't had anything to drink.

[ --So that takes "sad and drinking by oneself" out of the running for possibilities. ]

...A lot of homeless people are alcoholics.

[That point kind of backfires, in his opinion... But he was indeed sleeping in an alley, which he has to admit is strange (to himself, at least -- this guy doesn't need that sort of validation).]

I was running and I sat down to rest.

["sat down" he was definitely at least half-asleep]

...You were definitely sleeping.

Like a hundred percent.

[ He stares. ]

Where do you live? I'm calling you an uber if you're not going to go to the hospital...

[ This kid definitely shouldn't be out this late. He clearly can't handle himself. Emil should call his parents or something. ]

That's resting.

[Technically!!! Anyway, Lalli is really regretting this whole thing, and takes a step away while looking around for an escape.]

I don't need to go to the hospital and I don't need someone to take me home. If you hadn't said you would get me something to eat, I wouldn't have kept wasting my time. Annoying...

So... let me get this straight, I tripped over you while you were sleeping in the middle of an alleyway dressed like a sack of potatoes, and you tried to make me feel guilty about it all so you could get a free meal?

[ Wow what the hell

This guy must be really hungry ]

...There's a diner around here that's open 24 hours.

[oh my god??? awesome about the diner, but first:]

You made yourself feel guilty before I even said anything. What do you mean sack of potatoes?

[ UH

did he say sack of potatoes, like are those really words that came out of his mouth like no, definitely not, he definitely did not say Lalli was a sack of potatoes

Play it cool Emil ]

Listen, do you want this burger and milkshake, or not?

[ Cucumber on cream cheese. ]

[He narrows his eyes suspiciously, but... Hey, free food. That meant just a little more time on the clock before he had to go to a grocery store -- and it's been ages since he ate something that wasn't out of a frozen box or a can.]

Pfh. The one on the next block, right? [You're on his circuit, man. He might not know a ton about the city, but he knows where things in this area are.

So he'll go ahead and start walking in that direction, though he keeps an eye on Emil just in case he thinks he can squirm out of this one. He just figured it would put the worry of asshole homeless kid stabbing him after messing with his mind.]

[ Emil is not thinking anything of the sort when he walks Lalli to the diner, and slides into a booth with him, head buried into the large menu immediately even though he already knows what he wants, mostly just hiding behind this thing as he frowns deeply, because what did he get himself into?

He hopes Lalli doesn't order much more than a burger and a milkshake, though Emil isn't really actually hungry so he thinks he'll just get a side of fries. It would be rude not to get anything, but he honestly doesn't have the money and it's very late, and he doesn't need a treat. ]

So... I'm Emil.

[ He eventually puts the menu down. ]

[Yes, here we go, this is the good stuff. Mmm, look at that menu. He'd already settled on his meal the instant it left his mouth, but he still makes a big show of looking the choices over because he's kind of a jerk. And this guy needed to chill out.]

Hn? [He glances up, then away again and carefully sets the menu down.] ...Lalli. I'm not homeless, since I never actually said that.

[ Ok, well they already argued about why he was asleep in an alley? So Emil thinks it wouldn't be nice to bring that up again ]

Oh. Well.

Do you live close to here?

[ The waitress comes over and Emil orders fries and... thinks about ordering a coffee but orders a water instead. ]

[This is not the hour for coffee, you disaster teen... Why would you even consider that... Anyway, plain cheeseburger and chocolate shake for this dude, not that he pays the waitress much mind.

He picks up the salt shaker and slides it in front of him so he can focus on that instead.]

Close enough. [mmm, as much as he doesn't want to, maybe he should make this slightly less awkward.] What are you doing out this late?

[s-slightly...less awkward...lalli...]

There was a concert in the park. I didn't realize how late it was.

[ But then he yawned and laid down on someone else's picnic blanket, and they woke him up because they had to leave. Still, he'd had a good time, and he thinks they might even still be going... ]

What about you? What are you doing out here?

[ Thinking about a yawn, he has to stifle one. It's really past Emil's bedtime... good thing it's Saturday tomorrow and he doesn't have to work. ]

[He wrinkles his nose at the idea. Concerts were loud and had lots of people... If he'd known, he might not have even left his home tonight.]

Running. Needed air.

[Lalli turns the shaker, adjusting it in a way that comes off as obsessive and calculated, but it's just a bit of fidgeting. Talking to someone in person was weird...]

Are you far?

Pretty far, but the bus runs late tonight. And I could catch an uber.

[ Please don't make him catch an uber, he'd rather walk if it came to that. Anyway, he drinks his sad water. ]

Oh, actually...

[ He takes his phone out and plugs it into the wall. In case he really does need to call an uber. ]

Do you need to charge?

[ He's got two ports. ]

hunt for hungry hobos

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