synodiporia_ooc | Test Drive #13.

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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rise's partner today? A student council member, vice president of the sewing club, an active presence in school life. Probably not something anyone'd have expected from him once upon a time, back before he'd come to this school...

A tall, smiling, dark-haired boy with white-tipped bunny ears to match. He's flourished, here.

"Hey," he says, letting a happy exclamation point pop over his head and giving her a cheery wave. "Keiji Tanigawa. And man, starting with the tough questions, huh?" He looks thoughtful. "Well, my usual interests are arts - especially textile work - animals, and cookery..."

There is something weirdly compelling about a giant dude with cute bunny ears, but Rise keeps that notion in reserve.

"Oh, cooking? I love cooking!" Rise says, sparkles rising around her meter, which ticks up a bit for interest and a bit more for more-than-usual honesty. "Not a lot of people know it about me, but I really love trying out cooking new dishes, especially foreign food. What do you like to cook, Keiji-kun?"

Her words are formal (aside from her usual casual disregard for the normal rules of honorifics), befitting another student she only knows by reputation, but she's genuinely interested, and hopes the little flowers hovering off of her at the moment convey that.

If there's a good time to be casual as hell, this is certainly it. Keiji gives a big grin, and there's a point on his meter ticking up. "Well, mostly more traditional things. Not quite as exciting, huh, but I've been told I do a mean teriyaki." He shrugs, hands spread wide, as a thought bubble creeps into being and pops in a shower of light - "Been thinking of branching out a little bit. Don't suppose you could share some ideas?" And there, a question mark of happy curiosity.

"Haha, well, I do love everything, but...when it comes to foreign food, it's all about bold tastes," she says, grinning...a little disturbingly.

"Subtle tastes and soy sauce are fine for Japanese food, but the gourmet taste in rich foreign foods comes from spiciness. Mapo tofu, Sichuan spices, habanero peppers..the hotter the better!" she exclaims, jumping a little as phantom images of food appear behind her as she lists the dishes off. It's not exactly an idol image, but hopefully it's cuter when she's talking about it than when she actually tries to serve it to people.

Also her Moe Meter might be catching fire like she's in the middle of a combo in certain rhythm and/or basketball games, and increasing on its own...

...welp. This was supposed to send the meter up, right? Not scare him? But - psh, nothing's going to put Keiji off his stride! He laughs - "Now that's the spirit!" he says, pumping a fist in the air, letting off a gleeful show of flames around it to match. "If you're gonna do it, let's do the thing in style!"

Scaring a guy Keiji's size doesn't really enter into her mind, bunny ears or no. His approval already has her up near 90% though, wow. Not many people get as hotblooded about cooking as she does.

"Hehe, thanks, Keiji-kun!" she says. "You know, I don't tell many people about how I like to cook. Everyone wants someone with a girl-next-door image to be more cutesy and reserved about it, but I'm really happy I could be a little more honest with you!"

Look at these musical notes scattering off of her. Clearly that's a good thing.

Keiji grins, and lets the flames simmer back down to a shimmering of sparkles and a music note of his own - his meter starts climbing again as he relaxes.

"Hey, it's something you love, right?" he says. "There's never any shame in being excited about something other people don't want you to be. I mean... look at me." He laughs, an ear twitching. "You expect someone like me to cook? Or sew? I say be proud of it!"

And with that, fireworks go off around him, in a show of hearts and images of food and many, many cute things.

"Heheh, you can't judge a book by its cover, it's true!" she says, applauding the display. "But I can tell you're passionate. Personally, I think it's great for a guy to be so honest about what he likes! So many boys are so caught up in looking cool you can never have a real conversation with them."

That's got his meter ticking on up again; he gives an honest grin. "I used to be one of those sorts. But ..." Another ear twitch. "I figured a long time ago that it's better to be true to yourself." The exuberance has died down a bit, now, and he's letting some soft music play around them. "Life's more fun that way, huh?"

"Personally, I think you're a lot cooler for being honest and not caring what other people think, Keiji-kun," she says with a heartfelt smile. She places her hands behind her back and looks up to him in a deliberately admiring fashion. Come on, heartfelt friendship scene...

Okay, he can work with this. The music swells, bubbles of light hover around them. "I'm glad you think so," he says. "And I'm glad you let me see some of what the real you's like here. Not just as an idol, but as - as the person you are underneath."

"I'd love to get to know you better."

Those earnest, heartfelt words, the promise of true companionship...Rise wants to blush and jump up and down at the same time and - for the sake of the assignment - doesn't hold herself back, her meter maxing out all the way at the positive end and shooting off a tasteful show of fireworks.

"Ah, Keiji-kun!" she practically shouts, "I'd love to too! Let's hang out for real after this, okay?"

Seriously, she's so happy right now she feels like a little kid. It's down to luck she never mastered a chibi form.

He laughs and claps his hands together enthusiastically, letting himself be carried along by her happiness, letting himself drift into it... The bubbles pop in rainbows, and while his own meter's not rocketing up like hers it still shimmers and sparkles its way up to the top.

"Now that's a deal!" he says with a wide, enthusiastic grin crossing his face, his ears perking right up to match.

Rise grins, and bows. "I mean that seriously and not just for the assignment, you know! We really should hang out."

Then she takes some deep breaths. "Ah, let me cool off for a second and get in serious mode for the next part...it might be harder for me, I'm just so used to playing the perky girl..."

As the special effects clear, Keiji nods and scratches his head. "Yeah, me too," he says. "Uh. I mean hang out. Not that it's easier to play the perky... heh." Okay, deep breaths seem like a good idea to him too.

He wasn't looking forward to the exam to begin with - solid student, he might be, but that doesn't make exams any more fun - but this next bit, he most definitely isn't.

"This isn't gonna be easy on either of us, huh?" she asks, trying to delay the inevitable. "Guess that's why it's school. Well, I guess it's good practice for dramas or tragedies, right?"

"Drama. Right."

More deep breaths, more swallowing, as he tries to let the emotional upswing die away. This isn't going to be so easy as finding happy common ground...

"Let me ... let me tell you somethin'," Keiji says. "A bit of a story."

Test Drive #13.

34 (infiltrator)

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