Test Drive #13.

[powersthatbe]

Welcome to the Synodiporia Test Drive Meme! Below the cuts there are two new prompts, and here are the prompts from previous test-drives, which you’re still welcome to use in this post. When you comment, be sure you specify what prompt you want to play with, and please put up your own threadstarter - it makes for a much more friendly environment that a forest of bare toplevels! OCs are especially welcome! Please take a quick look at our Directory & familiarize yourself with the concept and setting of the game before you jump in.

Our upcoming app round runs December 18th-31st. Our next Jaunt, Escape from Junkworld, is a space opera romp where humans, aliens, and androids work together on mysterious scavenged, malfunctioning ships to outrun an interstellar disaster. Our next Walkabout (a more casual alternative event, for those not interested in the Jaunt) will revisit Heartbreak Academy, a shoujo anime setting where high-schoolers use Social Technology to bring shoujo special effects to life, from glitter to roses, transformation sequences to sad rainclouds, these cartoony powers are at the height of education for those who want a career in media or diplomacy, or some other means of big-stage self-expression. Both Jaunt & Walkabout will begin January 7th & run for approximately six weeks.

Prompt #37 is set in the Escape from Junkworld jaunt, as an advance taste of the fun available there.

Prompt #38 is set in a created landscape within the Telepathic Network all Travelers can access, and features characters facing their inner demons and traumatic memories together.


Prompt #37

The Coronation's coolant system has sprung a leak somewhere in its kilometers of pressurized tubing - near enough to the diagnostic centers to short out the readouts, meaning half the crew is up to their elbows in the decking, ceramic floor plates scattered along the corridors like loose shingles, making traveling between workstations like a game of holy grail hopscotch between the tiles and the potholes they left.

Besides that, the leak leaves the entirety of the ship smelling like a cross between pond scum and burned espresso, and set the radiation alarms to a distracting buzz - not enough for klaxons, just a constant, low-level warning that set the teeth on edge.

In the ship’s simulator chambers, anyone visored and gloved to work in virtual space can ignore it - but the computer environment may experience glitches in its programs, whether functional or recreational. On the bridge, other systems are experiencing occasional failures - from sensor shadows hinting at unreal pursuit and activating automated combat routines, to the translators in the comm system shorting out and creating a momentary babel.

Meanwhile, between evacuating irradiated areas, crawling through the conduits looking for the problem to fix, or quietly shooing smuggler-snails full of contraband out of the way of the search parties, there’s something for everyone to be doing...


Prompt #38


Sometimes someone’s issues lead to them being swallowed by a dungeon in Liminal Space and forced to confront their darker side, their repressed issues - but you can’t always wait for an arbitrary interdimensional force to kidnap you. Here in the Mind Palace, the world is simply a vast, blank white space, and glittering glass cubes float in the air, each holding within it a freeze-framed memory of a traumatic moment, something you’ve chosen to face here together with your companions. Maybe only one of you is going through this gauntlet, or maybe you’ve opted to face your fears together, but whatever this captive image is, you’ll have to explain it or let it play out, and come to grips with what it means to you - whether a happy memory you’ve lost, something that makes you sad or afraid or angry, or even a piece of your past that had been buried or forgotten until now - there it is, in front of you, waiting.

What happens next?

Comments

37

[failgoyle]

"What do you mean, 'this way?'" Why, no, no, that way is the exact way Jules doesn't want to go. "'This way" is a way to certain radioactive doom, thank you very much!" He's now insistently pointing in the opposite direction. "But that way means away from certain radioactive doom. It's much better, really. I bet they even have, I dunno, cookies or something. Puppies, even." That's how you try to get a kid to stop trying to be a hero, right? Heroes get killed. Jules has no interest in getting killed.

He also probably feels a little weird in the Force. The magic that's clinging to him is strong enough to make him look perfectly human, even if he isn't anymore.

[forcechanic]

Puppies? Boy does he ever have the wrong twin here. Not that she disliked puppies, but they were a far more effective bribe for Jacen. "I mean 'this way' is the one where the problem actually gets fixed."

She gives him a slight puzzled look at what she senses while trying to figure out what's got him so on edge. "I'm really good with machines." It definitely explains her plan here.

[failgoyle]

"Machines are one thing, dying's another, why go running towards certain death!" So the idea of maybe fixing things before everyone dies is not one that exactly resonates with Jules. "Let someone else fix it."

[forcechanic]

"It's not certain death." Dangerous, sure. But she was used to danger. There had been danger for most of her life. And now, she was better equipped to do something. "If everyone just waits for someone else to fix it, nothing will ever get done."

There's a stubborn set to her jaw. She probably gets that from her mother.

[failgoyle]

Jules is also used to danger, albeit in a way that has made sure that he never wants to come across it again ever as long as he lives. "Okay, how can I put this...radiation is really dangerous and makes people grow extra limbs or glow in the dark or flat out die, and you're just a kid and I'm just incompetent, and there has got to be a better choice of people to go in there and fix the thing. Whatever the thing is."

There's a kind of thud from right behind him; he's standing a little too close to a wall and his tail, which should be perfectly invisible right now, is lashing in agitation. He's just going to roll with the noise. "Okay, see, and whatever that was, that probably wasn't any good either. So we should go. And not die. Not dying's my favorite."

[forcechanic]

"I've been doing spaceship maintenance since I was old enough to not eat any bolts." Which translated to longer than she could actually remember. She knew alarm levels inside and out. "I know how to lock things down before it gets anywhere near a dangerous dose."

Her hand goes to her lightsaber automatically at the thump. And then pulls away because she hasn't figured out how much it'll stand out in a place like this. She reaches out with the Force, trying to find out if that's actually anything to worry about. Nothing. "Probably just some equipment shifting around. I'm not planning on letting you die."

[failgoyle]

"Spaceships since you were..." Oh, Jules has a headache now. "Well, I've never been on one, and alarms are generally a universal sign of bad crap, get the hell out!" And yes, yes, a kid telling him she won't let him die is so reassuring super reassuring, who is he kidding, this is not at all reassuring.

[forcechanic]

"It's just a warning signal." If this was the actual alarm she would be very concerned about the people running this place. You didn't demand immediate evacuation with buzz like that. "If the levels were going to be lethal any time soon it would be a lot more obnoxious. This is just to let us know there's something that needs fixing."

[failgoyle]

"It couldn't just say that, then? Because where I'm from, it's all or nothing. You get out or you don't." He pauses. "Unless it's like the Check Engine light coming on, but even then, it's not like the Check Engine light makes enough noise to scare the sh--ship's passengers into a panic!"

Oops, almost cussed around the kid. Nice save. Good save. Patting himself on the back for that one.

"But everyone on board doesn't need to know there's a colossal problem that's likely to get everyone killed!"

[forcechanic]

"Sounds like a check engine light is exactly what it is." Jaina's never seen one of those, exactly. But she's familiar with all sorts of warning lights on the Falcon's consoles. Some are a lot more serious than others. One or two seem to be permanently on but she still flies like nothing else.

"It's enough of a problem that we need to know, but it's nothing to panic about. It's only a... well, I don't know what their coding system is yet, but it's definitely not red." Red was the standard alert for threat just about anywhere the dominant species had red blood. A simple thing, really.

Time to try out that good old lopsided Solo grin. It worked pretty well, a lot of the time. "Besides, you're with me."

[failgoyle]

"Then why would a check engine light be loud enough for everyone? It's not like your cab driver starts playing a little siren when his oil gets low." Jules does not seem to be buying it. Especially not since he's built up such a fine bit of panic steam.

"But I'm the adult here! I'm supposed to do the...looking out for crap!" So no, the "you're with me" does not seem to be having the desired effect.

[forcechanic]

"Whole crew needs to know though. This is faster. It's no like it's a siren or flashing lights or anything." She's pretty sure the locals are familiar with the alert sound. At least, no one seems to be panicking. Concerned, yes, but not panicking.

"You might be the adult but I'm the spaceship expert Jedi." In training, but given everything she'd handled in the past year, she was pretty sure she could just count it. She's absolutely confident that in this situation, she's the one who needs to be in control of the situation regardless of age.

[failgoyle]

"Je--" Wait. Wait. He knows what that is, even if it's from a very different place than what she's thinking. He's got his face in his hands now. "Please tell me you don't really think you're a Jedi."

Because that's just what he needs here, a kid caught up in a very thorough game of make-believe.

[forcechanic]

She's a bit surprised that he even knows the word. Most people didn't, here. One of the many strange things here. "I'm a student at the Jedi Academy." It wasn't like she was going around claiming to be a full blown Jedi Knight or anything. "A pretty advanced one though."

That did make her realize she'd skipped something important though. Her mother would be appalled at her manners. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jaina Solo." She's guessing if he knows what a Jedi is that might just mean something. The Solo part, even if he wasn't up on the names of politicians' kids.

[failgoyle]

Well, Jules has seen enough movies in his time to be aware of the word. Quite aware. "You...you mean like Han Solo?" And now he's got his head in his hands. "This is not happening, this is not happening, this is not happening..."

[forcechanic]

That grin is back. The one that makes her look so very Solo. "He's my dad." A fact she's really proud of. Who wouldn't be? Her parents had basically saved the galaxy. And her dad had always been there to teach her about machines. Even if he still took her mom's side on the ship thing.

The grin fades at the rest. She's used to people knowing her parents. Kinda hard not to be, when they're both highly public figures. Even she showed up on holonews from time to time. That shouldn't be giving anyone headaches though. Unless he's from the Second Imperium but this whole conversation would have gone differently in that case. "Are you okay?"

[failgoyle]

"Oh, I'm fine, fine. Super. Just peachy. Peachy, I tell you." Well, he's not going to go out and say anything about fictional characters. You just don't poke that sort of thing with a stick. Working around that issue seems safest. "Just when I think this day can't get weirder, here I am, running into Han Solo's kid."