repeter | AUGUST TDM

TEST DRIVE

AUGUST TEST DRIVE
The city of Recollé.

...yeah. Yeah, it's just sort of a mess...

What will you do today?

I.
What the hell happened here? Perhaps you're new to the city, or perhaps you've finally started to notice just how bad the damage is to the beloved city of Recollé. The convention center is still crumbled in pieces and several local shops have boarded up windows and doors to prepare for reconstruction. Vendors on the street try to urge residents to purchase monster insurance for all of their home and vehicle needs. But the moment you step outside, you'll find yourself greeted by a member of the Recollé Restoration Committee as they thrust a hardhat into your hands and eagerly chatter about your new assignment.

Whether you find yourself in Tisse and assigned to haul pieces of stone around or you're placed over in Apprassage to pour cement, you'll find you aren't alone in these tasks. It's nice to meet your coworkers, isn't it?

II.
But really, what caused all of this? This is completely insane and while some of you may be willing to help rebuild the city, others might wish to solve the mystery. Poking around the various districts, NPCs will explain that monster attacks "sometimes just happen" which seems pretty strange in and of itself. Monsters shouldn't "just happen", should they? And where are these alleged monsters anyway?

Careful what you wish for, though. Exploring too much and straying off-task will lead to finding some things you may not want. These creatures will immediately hone in on new Retrospec users and begin to chase them, though they won't outright attack. While the smaller ones may be destroyed with a bit of effort, it might be wise to either cut your losses or find someone with a bit more experience to take on the larger creatures. Don't worry; there's bound to be someone to help.

III.
By now, you may have heard the rumors from some of your fellow Retrospec users that several members of the network have disappeared. You may even hear the rumors that those members are lost in "unreality" and that the city itself is a bit...unstable. But they're just rumors, right?

Everything seems fine as you go about your day (monsters notwithstanding.) However, any time you pass from one district to another suddenly a list of names scrolls past your line of vision . As the list comes to a halt and lands on one name, you may recognize it as a friend or a stranger. If you're lucky, you may get a holographic video connecting you to someone still in the city. If you're even luckier, you may find someone speaking up inside your head due to a telepathic connection. Go ahead and say hi. You just might get some answers from those who have been lost and those you haven't met yet.

IV.
As the night begins to set upon the city, a warm sleepy feeling rolls through. Whatever you're doing, it's hard to fight off the urge to curl up under a shaded tree and take a nap. After some time it's nearly impossible to ignore any longer and no matter where you are, you'll instantly fall asleep. Strangely, even

The place that you wake up, however, may look very familiar to you. You've seen this place before. In fact, you've lived through this very scene before. Maybe it's the little league game you scored your first home run, or maybe it's your high school prom. These are your memories played back to you, and glancing back you may find that again you aren't alone. Any Retrospec user has the ability to pass through these pockets of time and can stumble right into your memories. The memory pockets can appear no matter where a person is, and they'll be able to view and interact with the memories they see. Take a walk through your childhood neighborhood. Sit through the nightmare of your college entrance exams. These memories are yours as you've lived them. However, try not to change anything about the past. Memories can be quite tricky if meddled with too much.

BONUS.
While the makers of Retrospec are a bit scattered and busy at the moment, it seems as though they have failsafes to keep their systems up and running. The latest update push operates on its own and begins to download to your device. Your profile remains the same as always (your name and your photo), but it appears you won't have access to it until you apply one of the brand new filters to your picture. Seems easy, right?

Maybe you should have given this a second thought. As soon as the filter's applied to your photo, you might find that people are stopping and staring at you as you go about your day. They may or may not comment, but what's evident is that something's going on that you're unaware of. A quick glance in your phone's camera, a storefront window or a mirror will reveal all. That fun filter's now applied itself to your face with no hope of coming off for a while. Have fun!

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 continuity's sake, for the first time we will be stating that the TDM is dated IC 8/17! This is all in one day. Potential applicants/characters on the TDM will revert back to NPC status on 8/18 and will not remember the events of the TDM until the mod-posted Retrospec post goes up 9/1.

Members of Group 2, since the TDM can be considered game-canon, prompts III and IV are open for you to tag around to new players while stuck in your locations outside of the city!

For Prompt III, members of Group 2 may telepathically connect to someone even if there's a video option, but their faces and surroundings will be obscured! Other members of the game + potential applicants may use video if they wish.

For Prompt IV, please remember these are memories from your AU and not your canon! Should characters deviate from these "memories" too much, they will find themselves thrown back to the beginning of the memory to start over!

And finally, the filters provided in the bonus are just examples and you can swap in any others you want.

Your August 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

[ Erased?

Ritsu lets the words sink in, and he doesn't... mentally speak for a while. When he finally speaks again, it's reluctant, but calm. ]

"That may be for the better."

[ Not that Gall can see it, but Ritsu folds his arms. ]

"I wouldn't have wanted to torment him with disappearing for a little over two weeks. This isn't the first time his memory's been cleared of something." [ There's a bitter edge in his voice. ] "That's what Retrospec does. It messes with our heads. I'm sorry you're... probably involved with this now too."

"...Better to be involved in this than to let people simply go through, whatever this insanity is, alone. At least I know I can do something about it."

[As ever, Gall wouldn't simply let something like this occur idly. His moral compass was too strong, and so if he could do anything about the situation, even if it meant being dragged down into hell, he would do it in a heartbeat.]

"But that means... if your guardian has forgotten you exist, then when you get back to Recollé, you will have to create new boarding arrangements."

"Oh."

[ But was this memory alteration permanent? If it was, then their time together would just disappear like that. Ritsu felt... not necessarily sad, but somewhat hollow at the idea. Admittedly, their conversations have felt a lot emptier since he couldn't confide about the stranger things that happened (which were the only things that happened over summer). To have their tie like this severed.

Was this really okay?

He puts a hand over his chest, resigned, but not letting weakness show in his voice. ]

"I suppose I might. I'll contact my parents and figure something out."

"...Well, if you wish, I could take you in myself. My manor has been feeling a little... empty."

[And it has for the past five years. There was a void of his that hadn't be filled. And maybe, just maybe... this would be a chance to fill that. Not to mention that Ritsu had bene in this situation with Retrospec for longer so, maybe he had some form of useful information.]

"Eh? Seriously? It's not going to be some kind of trouble...? You did say manor, but..."

[ That would've just stopped at "Eh?" if this wasn't a telepathic connection. Damn it Retrospec, don't reveal to the world how fake his stoic persona is. ]

"Not at all. I have multiple spare bedrooms, after all. I could have you take my daughter's room. I would, however, prefer to refurnish it a bit first."

[I mean his daughter was also dead but you know LETS NOT MAKE THIS MORE AWKWARD.]

"Anything particular you'd like?"

"Wait wait wait, we're really going through with this just like that!? What about rent and payment plans?"

[ Need a verification on if this is truly a 13 year old, stat. ]

"That can be worked out formally when you're back. Given that you are currently in a swamp heading towards a mansion, I do not want to trouble you with working this out, since thigns are likely very stressful for you.

"But we are doing it when you're back asap."

[Smooth, Gall. Smooth.]

"I-- Um."

[ Words, Ritsu. You know them. ]

"Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. Your generosity's caught me completely off guard."

[ Because it wasn't obvious with saying wait three times. ]

"It's not an issue. I already have dealt with kids your age before. Even if they did n-"

[He cuts off the thought from transmitting once he realizes it is, but that's inevitably going to pique Ritsu's curiosity, if he's anything like Gallagher. But... it's not exactly a subject he should be talking about, or one he likes talking about.]

"...Ignore that last part."

"... Did what?"

[ Because one way or other, Ritsu should know what toes to not step on. And as irony would have it, he has to know those first. His voice... mind voice, whatever, was cautious. ]

"I do not want to bring back unpleasant memories with my presence. I'll understand if the earlier offer was kind measure on an impulse."

"No, my offer still stands. If anything, the memories you'd be bringing back would be pleasant ones."

[A way finally for him to move on from the past. Which, he'd done somewhat, but he still had some things that he needed to let go. And this? This would.... definitely be helping him int he final steps of that process.]

"I... I see."

[ A little white lie. There's no way he could understand the feelings of a father, or an adult for that matter, as maturely as he liked to carry himself. Whatever it was must have been complex, but that'll be a story for another time. And if Ritsu never found it out, then he'd accept that lot too.

For the moment, they were still strangers, but with a promise of sharing the same roof. ]

"I'll look forward to meeting you in person."

"Yes. I will make a note of it as well."

[Good thing you have that note too Gallagher because you're gonna forget about this entire conversation! But that's fine knowing you. He's probably just gonna be like "oh I must have forgotten about this plan oh well it's likely important" and go through with it anyways. That's the kind of man he is.]

AUGUST TDM

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject