TEST DRIVE MEME

[eluviomods]

// TEST DRIVE_ Welcome to Eluvio's first Test Drive Meme! Whether you'd like to try out a character in the setting, get some samples for your application, or just mess around and have fun, this is the place to do it. If you're getting samples together, remember that you need at least four comments made by you in the thread for it to count. Test drive threads can be used as game canon if both parties agree and the thread fits with what's going on currently in the game. Pick any of the scenarios below or make up any of your own. This is space! There are infinite worlds and possibilities. If you'd like to thread out hijacking a ship, it might not be eligible for becoming game canon but it would still count as a sample. The most important thing is to have fun! ➣ SCENARIO 001. It's a normal day aboard the Eluvio. Maybe you're on your way to work. Maybe you're hanging out with friends. You can even be up to nefarious misdeeds. Whatever the case, you're having a relatively uneventful day. And then you see it. From a distance, it looks like a ball of fur. Up close, it looks like a ball of fur. If you touch it, it will chitter at you. It will vibrate and purr. Where this is coming from is anyone's guess because even if you turn it over, there's nothing to see but more fur. It's pretty harmless, though. Leave it there. Take it with you. The choice is yours. As you continue about your day, you'll begin to notice more of these little furballs. On the ground. Sitting on tables. Here and there at random intervals. By the end of the day, they're fucking everywhere. Good luck! If you get overwhelmed, maybe go talk to that bald starship captain who showed up last week. He might know something about the furry invaders. ➣ SCENARIO 002. Congratulations! You've been selected to be part of the team being sent down to the planet around which the fleet is currently orbiting. Initial scans of the surface show that oxygen is in abundance, temperatures support carbon-based life-forms, and there aren't any large quantities of poisonous gases that might pose problems. Your mission is to secure a landing site, set up a camp, and locate edible flora and fauna. Stores aboard ship are running a bit low on food and it's projected to be another three weeks before the fleet reaches a station large enough to replenish supplies. Once identified, larger parties will be sent to the surface to help hunt and gather. The good news is, scans show fruits, vegetables, and animals are plentiful. The bad news is that once your ship lands on the planet, everything goes sideways. An unexpected ion storm sweeps through the solar system, shorting out communications between the fleet and the team. It wreaks havoc with the electronics planet-side too, temporarily shorting out the smaller craft's navigational array. Until it passes, about six standard days, you're stuck down there. And the bountiful harvest isn't without its dangers. Even the most docile looking animal will attack. Sampling the fruits and vegetables will cause temporary paralysis, hallucinations, and psychosis. Inhaling pollen will bring out a person's baser instincts. The planet itself is predatory, you see. Everything on it has evolved to entice visitors from nearby systems and kill them. And the fleet's unwittingly taken the bait. ➣ SCENARIO 003. It's been a rough day. Everything's going wrong. Machines are breaking down everywhere. The owner of your favorite business wasn't there today and the store was closed when you stopped by to pick something up. A coworker didn't show up for work, leaving you with an interested workload. And now it feels like you're being watched. It started about ten minutes ago, but whenever you turn to look, there's no one there. The feeling doesn't go away, though. No matter where you are, it feels like eyes are watching. Did you hear something? A quiet, scuffling scratching sound just for a second? Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't. But it came from the misshapen monstrosity that just punched a hole through the bulkhead right beside you. The creature makes a low, wet gargling noises and darts toward you: six to seven feet tall, vaguely humanoid, and covered in strange growths over which is stretched bubbling grayish-brown skin. Maybe you notice tatters of familiar clothing hanging off of it. Or there's enough left of its eyes to recognize the shape and color. Or maybe something about the noises it's making sound familiar. It's your missing coworker and it looks like the unfortunate soul ran afoul of that weird slimy creature the science team brought back from that jungle planet a month ago. The good news: you can kill it. The bad news: it can kill you. It's fast, it's hungry, and it reproduces at an alarming rate. A single bite can transfer the parasites in its bloodstream to you. Then you'll be just like your buddy. And that shop owner you like so much. And all of the people on Level 12. And... ➣ SCENARIO 004. You're welcomed and encouraged to make up your own scenarios. As you can see, there will be a wide variety of the types of things your character will encounter in this game. So feel free to make your starters as horrific, sexy, lighthearted, action-packed, or slice of life as you'd like. Make up a planet, make up a location on the Eluvio, make up a ship in the fleet, fight off a zombie alien invasion, NPC Captain Picard, there's no limit to what you can do on the TDM.

PLEASE USE OUR NEW TDM HERE!

Comments

Koumyou Sanzo | Saiyuki

[straycloud]

Scenario One
[ The most serious question is, of course, whether or not there's some kind of terrible infestation happening and how they could solve it. The excess of fluffy cute things that seemed to probably be pests could be a problem.

But that would be a question for much more grounded and practical minds.

Koumyou has made the choice of gathering a few of them instead. They are cute and furry, and the high priest may have tucked one up the sleeve of his white ceremonial robe to take back to his room. He'd never been one for pets, but they're also kind of pleasant. It's a reasonable enough diversion for now, at least. ]

Ah, that one's cute, too. [ He casts around blindly for someone to engage on the matter. ] Would you like this one?

Scenario Three
Whoopsie! [ Metal twists and gives under impact, and Koumyou trips out of the way. It doesn't quite sink in what he's dealing with at first, and he stumbles out of the way of a blind charge after him before recovering his balance. For all that he moves clumsily as he avoids a vicious beating, he's doing a decent job of not getting torn limb from limb. ]

Be careful! [ It's a statement more directed at the rampaging mutant, it seems, rather than any other bystanders. ] That's dangerous, isn't it?

(OOC: I'll gladly match format!)

oonnnee

[remainingtwin]

[Mio eyes Koumyou warily at being addressed, looking from him to the balls of fuzz in his arms]

...Does it do-- [TRICKS?] Anything? [She looks a little skeptical at the usefulness of a ball of fuzz, but... Okay it is kind of cute. Mio's still weak enough to cute things.]

[straycloud]

They make little noises and purr, I suppose. [ It takes a moment of shifting the little purring fuzzballs around before he can hold out a fluffy white one for her to take.

No, really, just take it! ] It's very soothing.

[remainingtwin]

[Flatly:] Therapy hairballs. [Great.

--Fuck. It is cute though. They're purring! They're making little chirring noises! Mio looks like she's trying very hard to be aloof for all of 5 seconds before she gives in and takes the offered fluff, holding it out awkwardly like she's not sure what to do with it.] ...It is kind of soothing. I guess. But--

[Does she hug it? What if it eats her face?? She starts turning it over in her hands, which doesn't seem to distress the creature at all. Does it have a 'back' or 'front'?] Where's its' face?

[God Mio you can't just ask where something keeps its face!]

[straycloud]

[ Beaming at her, he nods right along to her first statement.

The question gives him pause. Just a little, though. ]

You'll make it self-conscious if you ask things like that. [ It seems insensitive! Or, well, not really. It's questionable if they have any idea of what's going on around them. ]

[remainingtwin]

[For a brief moment Mio looks honestly startled and concerned about hurting the fuzzball's feelings, ad she looks at it in panic.

The tribble continues to purr affectionately and she makes a sour face] I don't think it even has ears. How is it supposed to eat? What does it eat? [THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF TO KNOW WHEN OWNING A PET, OKAY. She flips it around again and nearly drops it, fumbling slightly but managing to catch it before it actually really falls anywhere.

...It still continues to purr uninterrupted and Mio slowly shakes her head.]

[straycloud]

[ Koumyou smiles at her mildly, not particularly interested in getting too riled up. Everything will work out, obviously. It's fine, they're fine, and the impending crisis of an infestation is fine.

It's good living an unattached life. ]

They're not picky. [ He waves it off with a laugh. ] Look, it likes you. That's what counts.

[remainingtwin]

[Mio'll have to worry and fuss enough for the both of them .Good thing she's already sort of used to doing that!]

That didn't answer my-- [is this guy for real. She frowns and looks skeptically at it] It never stops purring, how can you even tell that? [There's nothing to like about her anyway, and she's not about to take a hairball's judgement of her character to mean anything!

...Is what she tells herself. But if something like this can like her, then maybe there's something redeemable about her. Mio frowns again, but her expression softens after a moment and after a moment's hesitation she starts petting it] ...They say animals are a good judge of character or something. I guess these count...

[straycloud]

They make other noises. If your character wasn't likable, I'm sure she'd be very indignant.

[ It's probably a she, anyway. Most of them seem to be, given how prolific they are. It's a safe bet. ]

[remainingtwin]

[She wants to say something like 'don't act like you know anything about me,' but she's not at that level of hostile yet. Instead she just shoots him a mildly irritated look, like somehow his more-or-less agreement that she might be a good person somehow offends her, and cradles the tribble in her arms, eyeing his collection.]

Are you planning on keeping all of those?

tthrrreeee

[existentialcrisis]

It's really dangerous!

[ That's for the benefit of the mutant friend, of course, in case it needed a second opinion.

Half of Ukoku's dodges are effortlessly agile, but the rest are almost imitations of Koumyou's stumbling. He's also throwing various well-timed objects in the thing's path: he could just end this right now, but making it trip over and over again is obviously the superior solution. ]

[straycloud]

It's a problem! [ Koumyou figures it can't hurt to reinforce that point.

When it staggers over a chair, there's one flailing blow that he doesn't dodge when he catches sight of earrings he knows he's seen before, blocking it with a forearm and absorbing the blow without losing his footing. His eyes widen briefly, and then he shoves away to put up some distance as she tries to bite him.

Oh, that's no good. ] Do you think a doctor would do?

[ It's probably not an option, is it? ]

[existentialcrisis]

[ This is the kind of situation that might be salvaged, but not that way—someone around here would probably really like to have this thing heavily sedated and set up for study. If Ukoku had a lab…

But he doesn't, and Koumyou's here. There are more interesting things to do. ]

As a doctor, no, I don't think so.

[ Not That Kind of Doctor, but who cares. He ducks a segment of heavy pipe—the mutant's throwing things now, in addition to just kind of menacingly advancing—and stays mostly behind Koumyou as he backs up. What to do about this isn't his decision (and he's not as strong, anyway). ]

[straycloud]

[ No doctors then. It's a disappointment, but he wasn't expecting this was the sort of thing an herbal tea and some medicine might fix right up.

And if the grumpy lady with the earrings that looked like cats is like this, well...

The faint smile on his face is out of place, and he comes to a decision even as his compatriot is avoiding getting his head knocked off by a stray pipe. ] Ah...

[ She makes a choked gurgling sound as she starts to charge at them again, head suddenly lolling as if there's nothing to hold it up. Down she goes, hitting the with a solid thump, and he didn't lift a finger to do it. ] That's too bad.

[existentialcrisis]

[ For a few seconds, out of some ersatz approximation of respect, Ukoku is still. He reaches for Koumyou before the silence can twist completely into something else. ]

Let me see your arm.

[straycloud]

[ Koumyou glances at his own arm, snapped out of his thoughts. That reminds him, actually, and he holds it up with a sudden pout. There's no danger just then and what was done was done, so it's fine to complain some. ] I think I broke it. Ow, ow, ow.

[ It's not actually broken and there's no sign of real damage or any weird alien encroachment, thankfully, but it smarts a bit. In hindsight, he could have avoided getting hit altogether. ]

[existentialcrisis]

[ It's so not actually broken, but Ukoku takes his arm anyway, checking politely. (The lack of any space mutant discoloration or other weirdness is a worthwhile thing to look for.) ]

Does it hurt if—

[ He interrupts himself, listening, expression gone smooth. Voices outside—three or four of them, concerned and excited, coming to see what all the noise was. ]

[straycloud]

Owwwww- [ But he stops the whining and cocks his head like he's listening. ] What if we just went this way?

[ There's more than one way out. There's the hole the dead lady tore through a wall, and he's pretty sure he knows where that goes. He pulls away and, after a second of thought, abruptly grabs for Ukoku's wrist so he can lead him along.

The reality is that their presence here wasn't about to go entirely unknown, but it's easier to dodge people for the moment. He'll shamelessly avoid complications if he can afford to, and the possibility that he didn't have a willing confederate doesn't occur to him. ]

[existentialcrisis]

[ It doesn't really matter where the hole in the wall goes—Ukoku could get himself, at least, out of anywhere at any time—but it's gratifying to see Koumyou take the path of least effort.

Wherever they're going is eerily quiet and probably full of more mutants waiting for the perfect jump scare timing, but that's fine. Ukoku's just letting Koumyou drag him wherever. ]

Your arm is not broken.

[ It's not an argument; it's a professional opinion, cheerfully delivered. ]

one

[lastbird]

Thank you for the kind offer, but Nono has enough already...

[In fact, she's covered with so much fluff it looks like she's wearing a coat. Nono's body vibrates subtly as the creatures purr and she has some trouble standing up staright. Every time she removes one, it seems like two more take its place, so she figures it's easier to stop trying.]

[straycloud]

Are you sure- [ Actually, you know, she's probably right. Koumyou marvels at the fluffy little beasts and their apparent attraction. ]

Would Nono need one less instead?

[ Because, sure, one would clearly make all the difference here. ]

[lastbird]

[She looks at him from under the fluff, smiling gratefully.]

Yes please! [She plucks one from her shoulder, with some effort.] It was flattering at first, but this is getting too much. Nono is ready to give up this newfound popularity and live the quiet life!

[straycloud]

Don't let the stress of celebrity weigh you down. [ With all due seriousness, which isn't much at all, he takes the one that she offers. It's not going to do any good, but he's not going to point that out. It's the thought that counts in this case. ]

Ah, you might be right. I'm starting to think there are quite a few too many of these.

[lastbird]

[The thought totall counts. Though she does hand him a couple more.]

Exactly! Nono's starting to suspect they plam to take us down by assulting us with their cuteness. What devilish, cunning plan!

[straycloud]

That's serious. If it's a weapon, we're not going to stand a chance.

[ He does take a moment to examine one in a faux-worried sort of way. ] You'll have a head start on the rest of us if they do take over. You can blend in with them if you wear them, right?

[ This is totally taking them seriously. ]