Test Drive Meme #003

[khuimods]

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #003

I. AROUND AIFARAN - Getting The Perfect Shot! This month in Aifaran, there's a contest being held on the popular social site Xa Xa, which Earth-based Dreamfolk may recognize as vaguely Instagram-like -- it's all about the pretty pictures! With a top prize of 500 Rhinn per category, lots of people are getting into the game. Prizes will be handed out for awards like Best Composition, Most Creative Angle, Best Use of Lighting, etc, and this means that it won't be uncommon to see people in unusual places (even some risky ones) trying to score the perfect shot. Maybe they're bumping accidentally into you on the street, or slipping off the edge of a rooftop, or not paying attention to that train heading their way?? II. BE A GOOD NEIGHBOUR - Surprise Petsitting?! Success! You've scored a quiet day, and you're just about to settle in for a marathon of your favourite Tears of the Ocean Heart episodes when there's a knock on your door. A very distracted looking Castian is standing there, talking away on his yimo, and beside him, a very fancy Inan on a glitzy harness and leash. "Right, right," the Castian says to whomever he's talking to. "I'm just dropping Ruqhina off at the sitter, I'll be there in ten." Shoving the leash at you, he announces, "Thank you again for agreeing to watch my darling Ruqhina, I really appreciate it. Don't forget to exercise early in the day, she likes eating energy of active people only, I don't want her on a lazy person diet. Did you change your hair, I thought you had blue hair? Well nevermind, I have to get going, I'll be back in a week. Goodbye sweetheart, Daddy misses you already!" And then he's gone. III. TALENT IS A MISNOMER - You Didn't Need That Wall Right? There are a lot of Dreamfolk in the city, and all of them are dealing with their own newly gifted Talents in their own ways. Some, especially those who are used to extraordinary abilities from their own worlds, have some idea of how to train on them safely, learning the ins and outs of their new gift. And then you have some whose only exposure to "magic" is through stories, fairy tales, or really entertaining TV, and pointing a finger-gun at a target and saying "boom!" has never actually worked... until now. "Uh," the other Dreamfolk says, staring dumbly at the car-sized hole in the wall, and then glances at you who just happened to be the closest person. "That's... new. Yikes. Should we run? Wait, I've got a better idea--" Cue loud voice and frantic pointing in your direction. "IT WAS THIS ONE! THEY DID IT!" IV. SHADY BUSINESS - It's A Shakedown You're in the right place at the right time (or the wrong ones, depending on your point of view) but you're entering a shop just in time to see some Beika punks accosting the shopkeeper, demanding protection money, which they owner is stammering that they've already paid this month. Upon your entrance, the shopkeeper looks over at you with help me plainly written on their face, while the Beika thugs look very unhappy at being interrupted... V. BEACHFRONT CLEANUP - Oh That's Nasty... It's not a pleasant task, but it does pay volunteers pretty well: following a massive storm, several dozen dead Giant Jellyfish corpses have washed up on the shoreline, and they need to be cleaned and disposed of before they start to decompose. It's dirty, smelly, and slimey work... but the promise of two weeks worth of rhinn for one day's work is hard to pass up! You're assigned to teams and given some shovels and a wheelbarrow, but as you reach the latest jellyfish body, you're surprised to see that this one appears to be covered in... burns?? Is this something you should report? VI. WILDCARD - Because You're Not The Boss Of Me Anything else that doesn't fit the above prompts is welcome, just keep it within the game setting please! Applications • Reservations • Taken List • Game Navigation

Comments

[amaskofmyownface]

[ Jack pulled back reflexively, but the cat boy's sword collided with his shields. It made a painful clanging sound on the force field's surface and depleted it a good amount. ]

You bitch! Alright, that's it! I'm having cat for dinner! [ His cloaking device slithered down from his head to his feet, concealing his location, and sprung four holographic doppelgangers, each noisy and taunting to be disorienting. The real Jack backtracked to the back, still invisible, and started shooting his gun's entire clip at Konoe's direction. Stupid! He was trying to save bullets here! ]

[whattail]

[Konoe's eyes went wide when he realized what was happening, his ears flicking back and forth when the man disappeared and suddenly cloned himself. Crap-is he a magician? I messed up.

His eyes were darting back and forth between the strange clones, but oddly enough he couldn't sense any emotions from them. It was only when he almost stumbled from the feeling behind him that he realized where his opponent had gone.

Konoe was already moving when the first bullets shot out, but a few of them still gouged his skin out as he bolted. The sudden noise and flying bits of metal terrified the cat, driving him to the nearest shelter he could dive behind, curling up into a tiny ball and trying not to try and bleed everywhere.]

[afoolsgold]

[As Jack straightens to his full height, the Fool doesn't come any closer to him. On the contrary, he gives the strange man a wide berth, his slender arms folded across his chest. (He doesn't look like he's the type to scuffle anyway.) At that question, however, the beginnings of a sly smile curve up the corners of his mouth. It's not a particularly friendly expression, but one couldn't call it threatening, either.]

What if I was a ghost? [He lifts a slim finger and taps it against his chin.] What if I could tell you that yes, you will die alone? What comfort would your women and money bring you then?

[He's bluffing. Probably. Don't worry about it.]

[amaskofmyownface]

[ Jack stops the barrage when the guy bolted to a corner, probably to do something about those awful wounds he just gave him. Jack spins the handle of his gun in his hand and slides it back into its holster, the doppelgangers disappearing at the exact same moment. Jack's body trembles with excitement, voice dropping to a whisper, ]

Ohhhh. Not so tough now, are you, kitten? Well... [ He straightens up and flashes a grin at the thugs ] The name's Handsome Jack, boys. Remember it when you go back to your bosses.

[ He stalks towards where Konoe is, fingers itchy ]

[whattail]

[Konoe had dived behind some sort of trash bin, and he was pretty sure if he started running, the crazy man would just shoot bits of metal at him instead. Konoe just tried to lick his wounds the best he could-literally, cats did that-and his ears were on full alert as he heard footsteps come towards him.]

I've never seen a weapon like that in my entire life. Are you some kind of sorcerer??

[amaskofmyownface]

[ Wise guy, eh? Back in the day, Jack just shot cryptic assholes in the head. Is there anything more annoying than stupid introspective bullshit? He didn't think so.

Jack knows exactly how he dies, and it's not pretty. It didn't make him remorseful or want to reconsider his bad actions blah blah blah. It made him angry. ]

Don't try and Armchair Psychology me, wispy, 'cause it's not gonna work. But since you're so persistent, I'll let you in on a little secret -- I'm smarter than those guys in there, and I'm smarter than you, and if you're smart... you know that the bigger your goals are, the more you have to risk. It's one old man for now. And it's gonna be a few more people eventually, I dunno. But if I get in their ranks, slip my fingers under their seats of power... ohhh, those bandits, their little empire, it's aaaall gonna go down in flames.

I'm not some filthy lowlife. I'm a goddamn hero. I know what I'm doing, so get out of the damn way.

[amaskofmyownface]

I'm worse.

[ Jack kicks the trash bin away and makes a grab for the pretty boy's neck. ]



[ ooc: fade to black /o/ ]

V

[blinkandshoot]

It's not just you.

[Inga looks it over.]

Looks like burns. [Unfortunately, she doesn't know enough about the ecology of this place to know if it's entirely natural, but considering it's the only one so far...]

I'd rather not attract the attention of the Sentry right now. How much does it worry you?

[spiralpatterns]

[Zephyr shrugs, a little offhandedly, and leans in again to get another look. Shame it's kind of hard to tell shape on something so gelatinous.]

One could be a freak accident. I'd worry at more than one, but less than many.

[So helpful.]

Come on, let's take a look around.

[Neatly ignoring what they're supposed to be doing in favor of investigating this aspect.]

[blinkandshoot]

[A freak burn accident in the water? But Inga's been getting sick of the smell, anyway.]

Trying to find burns biases your results, you know.

[...Not that they're doing a vigorous study or anything. Still, it could be good to know.]

It's the first one you've seen, right? I haven't seen any where I was working. [So, his area might be a good place to start.]

[choiced]

The handsome kind.

[Said without missing a beat. Then Zelos actually thinks about it, and looks the other man up and down, and decides he needs to differentiate himself by something other than 'handsome'.]

The kind who knows what they're doing! Goddess, I miss home. How do people stand getting questioned all the time? [He thrusts his yimo out.] Think you can do better?

[spiralpatterns]

And what, not trying to find them helps me find them? We didn't know to look for them before. Now we do.

[Not that he has it out for science or anything, but that just seems overly complicating.]

[He settles after a moment, waving his off-hand to indicate the area vaguely behind him.]

Yeah, first one I've seen. I was back this way. Hey, what do you think these burns are shaped like?

[spiralpatterns]

That doesn't sound especially useful.

[He can't help himself. Zephyr looks out the outthrust yimo and gives it his best unimpressed look.]

I probably can, yeah, but since it looks like what you were doing was trying to get yourself killed... what were you actually trying?

[blinkandshoot]

Means you might miss something while you're looking for something in particular. [But engineering and robotics, the field she'd assisted with, would be a different field if they weren't focused on identifying and fixing very specific problems that arise, it's true.]

[She glances at the burn as she passes the jellyfish to go where Zephyr had indicated.] Got something in mind?

[choiced]

[The only reason Zelos doesn't immediately and vocally object to being handsome not being useful is that the next part catches his attention first.]

For the last time, I wasn't trying to get myself killed! [This... is actually a bit of a sore point, with him. He's being good, damn it.] I have wings, and even if I didn't have wings, I'm naturally athletic and graceful. There's no way I was going to fall.

[He waves the yimo.]

What I'm trying to do, Mr Arrogant Model, is win the train photo contest. What's a better picture of a train than one that's coming right at you? Especially if it's a high-angle shot!

[spiralpatterns]

Weren't you just warning me about looking for something in particular?

[Zephyr's entirely a little bit smug as they start off.]

I'll try to keep my mind open for things that aren't burns. It's the weirdest thing I've seen about these jellyfish so far, that's all.

[spiralpatterns]

[Considering stare.]

Then why weren't you using them in the first place?

[That seems like a better idea than precarious teetering? He'll address the problem of what wings conceivably mean later.]

That'd probably get you a better angle, anyway. Something most people can't get.

[Putting aside also the issue of why do you want pictures of trains in the first place.]

[Almost as an afterthought:]

Zephyr.

[It's less of a mouthful than Arrogant Model.]

[blinkandshoot]

[Heh. There's a grin on her face as she shoots back—] Weren't you lecturing me about how pointless it would be not to?

[Well, they're good plans either way. Maybe they should both stick to their own proposed methods; might catch more that way.]

So, do the burns look like something to you?

[spiralpatterns]

Heh.

[Would you look at that. They both have reasonable arguments.]

[Zephyr shrugs it off.]

Kind of looks like teeth, if something had teeth that big and on fire. I wouldn't say it's likely.

[choiced]

Because I --

[... hm.]

-- you know what, I don't know. I guess 'cause they're still new.

[They still feel weird, and unfamiliar, and like a strange reward of a struggle Zelos still doesn't believe he really won. And what's a bridge to someone with a basic exsphere, anyway?]

Zephyr what? Zephyr gingham? Zephyr Arrogant Model? [Eyes widen.] Oooh, that's your name?

[spiralpatterns]

[Hah. Zephyr is not taking any points away from the idiot column.]

No, just Zephyr. Everybody got a family name where you come from?

[What is this man's fixation on Zephyr being a model.]

sorry for the delay!

[blinkandshoot]

Flaming teeth?

[It's true, she doesn't think it's very likely. Would have to be some strange teeth. Then again, she's here now, isn't she?]

It would have to be pretty strong if it happened in the water, wouldn't it?

Look, here's another one. [She heads over to another of the jellyfish.] Do you eat jellyfish where you come from?

[...Then again, if the flaming-teeth creature was trying to eat the jellyfish, it must be a very picky eater.]

no worries, it happens

[spiralpatterns]

I said kind of.

[When you put it like that, flaming teeth on a submarine creature don't sound very likely.]

[He's... heard stranger things, though. Zephyr trails her to the other jellyfish, bending low to nudge it with the end of his shovel.]

[There's some quivering. He's not sure he likes the smell.]

Well, I don't, but I'm pretty sure you can get people to eat anything if you call it gourmet long enough.

[choiced]

[You know what, that's entirely fair.]

Pretty much, yeah. They don't where you're from? Why not?

[Off in the distance, there's the rumble of another approaching train, and Zelos holds up a hand, immediately distracted.]

Oooh! Hold that thought. I need to get this picture.

[spiralpatterns]

Not enough Zephyrs where I live to need to tell them apart.

[This is completely true. Zephyr prefers to tell the truth and save the lying for the big parts that really need to be believed.]

[There's a tiny eyeroll.]

Are you actually going to use your wings this time?

[Calculating what he'd need to dive after the man this time.]