repeter | AUGUST TDM

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! tdm

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

Everyone who isn't a part of this gets to live what they see as a normal life. They've adapted to about everything that happens, even when we were all barbie size. But they sure don't get mocked or hassled.

[ . . . ]

Your girls will be fine, I promise We'll make sure of it.

[ She exhales and... makes to stand. She'll off a hand for her friend too, nudging up her sunglasses with her elbow. ]

If we're going to talk, let's do it somewhere nicer than the street.

[Knowing her girls aren't a part of this is... complex. But it's hardly a stretch to call it a metaphor for being an adult, and Brianna remembers faking her way through just enough college lit to draw that parallel. She's dealt with plenty of things that her daughters will, hopefully, never know about. What's one more?

She takes Elda's hand, squeezes it gently as she's pulled to her feet. Elda's a little stronger than she remembers, but when she's back on her feet she has to look down at her friend - Brianna has a good seven or eight inches on her - and that's a comforting sensation in itself.]

I'd invite you inside the shop, but it's a little... [Ruined. Besides, it smells like oil even on a good day.]

We can go to your home, or mine - funny, I think yours is actually closer to the shop, isn't it? [And then, when she thinks about Elda's home, she pauses, taps her finger to her cheek.]

Is Toshiro...? ['In on this.']

Edited (html messup!) 2017-08-18 05:35 (UTC)

Yeah, mine's closer, we can just go there and I can give us some snacks while we talk it over. It's not like the manor's got anyone bustling around it-

[ . . .

And then Bri says her son's name. And two conflicting things play out, the need to clarify that both Toushiro and Silver (as close to a second son as she's ever had) are both in on, but-

there's something more important here. She looks up at the other and in a very, very soft voice she sounds - pleased? amazed? disgusted that she is pleased? all of the above? She has no idea what to call this emotion. It takes her breath away. Toushiro (and Silver for that matter. And Wesker. and Jaeger. Most of the fixtures of her life) vanished two weeks ago, and she's not seen them in all that time. and all the NPCs had forgot they ever existed.

She- ]

You really remember him...

[--

That reaction sparks something in Brianna. She's - still confused, yes, this has been the most confusing day of her life, but more importantly Elda's...

Elda's hurting. She doesn't quite know why, hasn't put everything together, but that's all that matters.]

Shh, shh. [So despite Elda actually being older than her, Brianna moves over to her, reaches down to properly hug her.]

I'm sure it must have been hard. Toushiro - Silver, too - are so lucky to have a mother like you. Who could put up with all this for them.

And whatever is going on, I'm sure we'll work it out. For our kids. Alright, Elda?

Don't you do this in public, Bri.

[ Her tone is scathing, but it's not backed up by her actions.

She's talking to her best friend again, for the first time in... well it's been over a month, hasn't it? Even beyond that, it's the first time it's felt real since she joined retrospec, back when she called her that first week and told her about the insanity of how everyone thought bugs were normal pets and she just when along with it.

She holds onto her friend's top, and it's all she can do not to cry as she pressing her face into the other. ]

Just be grateful I'm not patting your head.

[It's wry, quiet teasing - Brianna's always been a very huggy person, and Elda - well, is Elda. Not quite opposed to it, but definitely 'don't you do this in public, Bri.'

She lets Elda cling to her, strokes her back reassuringly.]

I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for you before now. I'll try to make up for lost time.

My hits'll hurt now even if I hold back, you know!

[ . . . No, she's definitely crying a little now, she wants to scream and rage at everything she's experienced this whole time. But if Brianna is here, on Retrospec... she's going to suffer through madness from here too. Plus the hug and the press and the crying caused her sunglasses to shift on her face, almost dislodging them. ]

I'm sorry you're on this now. But good, you better.

They hurt before!

[Brianna's laughing about it, though. Gently, Brianna reaches up to adjust Elda's sunglasses - if she doesn't want to take them off just yet, Brianna won't make her, so she just pushes them back onto her face.

They hug for a while longer, Brianna squeezing her very tight before, reluctantly, pulling away.]

We should get somewhere private, though. Something tells me this is going to be a very long conversation.

To the manor then.

[ It's true, it will be long.

and so, her eyes still stinging a little, once released, the smaller woman takes her friend in hand and marches her back in the direction of her manor. They can sit in the foyer or something. The place looks gloomy now, perhaps more than ever before. the front rooms all have their curtains drawn to block out the sun, and every room in the house has had the lights replaced with lights that give off red light, much easier on Elda's new eyes. The effect is that the place feels like some strange, almost otherworldly place now - not helped buy the antiques all over, the numerous (at least ten) cats, or the old design of the building. Not to mention the size put in contrast to how many people live in it.

Two, normally. But right now? One. ]

Take a seat. Do you want to talk this over tea, juice, or wine?

[The manor's always been eerie, in the way most big, old buildings are, but now it seems positively otherworldly. The lights, the windows - she almost wants to ask about it, but she imagines they'll get to it sooner or later, and she doesn't want to be rude.

Still, at least she remembers the layout. She brushes her hand across a seat, sits down as offered.]

It's a little early in the day for wine, but... [She's feeling more and more like she could use a drink.]

Just a small glass.

It is, [ she agrees, ] but I wouldn't hold it against you. I've been slipping on that bit of propriety too.

[ she at least didn't offer beer or anything from their youth! But she'll be back soon enough with a bottle of a ... surprisingly expensive wine and two glasses. She'll be working to get the cork off as she sits, but now in the house, she's taken off the sunglasses to reveal her red eyes. ]

Was the shop that badly damaged?

[That bottle looks expensive - too expensive for its own good, really. Especially since she'll probably be too focused on the conversation to really taste it.

She doesn't protest, though, and when Elda's sunglasses come off - well, she's obviously surprised, but she doesn't comment. Elda's Elda, and that hasn't changed. She's probably self-conscious about it, anyway.]

Not... too badly. [She does have to take a second to catch up to the actual conversation.] It's the kind of damage I could fix myself, with enough elbow grease. Though that dragon probably scratched up the roof...

If you need a loan then I'll give it. I wouldn't want you to get messed up just because Retrospec is being awful.

[ She exhales. She doesn't makes to pour the wine, letting it breathe for a little bit once she gets the cork free. She settles back in the chair, exhaling.

It really is nice to not wear sunglasses inside. She does feel bad that the lighting must feel weird for her. ]

Don't worry. Well... we'll see how bad the damage to the roof is, but everything else I can probably handle out of pocket.

[The lighting is strange, yes. She glances between Elda's eyes and the walls, and finally, decides to make an assumption instead of asking directly.]

Are the sunglasses because of... [She gestures, vaguely, to her own eyes - pointing at Elda's would feel way too rude.</small.]

[ She hums a little, nodding. and for that second part though, ]

Yes. [ She reaches a hand up, toying with some of her bangs... ] My hair too. Toushiro's as well, if you've seen him recently. [ What with his white hair. ] Retrospec changed them out. My eyes are red now and really light sensitive. I can see in the dark now, though.

[ She knows how insane that all must sound, and she sounds somewhat sheepish to admit it. ]

See in the...

[Yes, it does sound insane. She puts her fingers to her chin, again, thinks it over.]

Does that kind of thing happen to everyone who's on - Retrospec? How many people are involved in this, anyway?

[Wait, if Toushiro's involved -]

How many of them are kids...?

There's a few hundred total and honestly it feels like more than half of them are kids. Seems like everyone I meet who's on this app's less than thirty. Few outliers, but not... less than there ought to be.

[ Mmm. ]

... Everyone gets strange memories. Some other fanciful lives and such - I don't think everyone get changes to their bodies, but some people get strange powers. There's this kid named Shouto I met who could light part of himself on fire and be fine.

Like a comic book character or something?

[And kid. More than half of them. She sighs at the thought, reaches up run her hand through her hair.]

Those poor kids, though. This seems like it's been hard enough for you. I can't imagine dealing with this and everything else that comes with being a teenager.

[ To be fair by kids she meant "younger than 24 or so" but... yeah. It's a lot. She nods ]

I mean, you saw how strong I am now, right? That came out of a box.

[Look, she's still thinking about Toushiro, and her own kids - and, at least in Brianna's case, she's pretty sure she didn't stop being a hormonal mess until a couple of years after her husband died and she realized what she had to do.]

Y, yes, I did... [It's hard to believe that Elda - Elda, who she's known for half her life - could do all of that. Could change so suddenly. Brianna was starting to feel that middle-aged sensation of being too settled into her life, but this is way too far in the other direction.]

... Well, if something like that happens to me, at least I'll have you around to talk me through it.

But what do you mean by 'out of a box?'

I mean literally out of a box! The eyes and hair both just suddenly happened, but as for the strength I opened a treasure chest that appeared in front of me because I scanned some QR codes. It zapped me and then bam, I'm super strong, I have a little bat following me around an oar.

[ H...hahaha. But... she nods, firmly. ]

I'll be here for you for everything, of course I will.

[Brianna knows she shouldn't laugh, but - the idea of Elda opening a chest and getting super strength is - funny? Not really, but Brianna's desperate for something to lighten the mood, so she does chuckle a little, bring her fist up to her mouth to cover it.]

Of course you will. [Brianna's expression softens at that second thought, though.] It goes the other way around, too.

[ But you weren't before now. Still holding that against her... that would be cruel. Instead, she nods and smiles, finally going to pour out some wine for the both of them. Bri's entered a harder life now, so while she's grateful.. well, it's not something to precisely celebrate either. ]

So I've jumped around a lot, did you want to start somewhere else?

[The wine's been sitting out for a while, but it still tastes good when Brianna raises it to her lips, takes a small sip.]

... Are you okay? [That's the most important place to start.]

[ Of course she'd ask that... ]

... Not really, no. Forty or so people up and vanished two weeks ago. Me and a lot of others have been working to get them back.

AUGUST TDM

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