Test Drive Meme #001

[khuimods]

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #001

I. THE VERDANT SENTRY - Attention, New Recruits! It's clear that all of the city's law enforcement is handled by the various branches of the Sentry: from Mounted Division handling street patrol, to the Aerial Corps provided airborne support for tactical and rescue operations, to the Nautical Branch undertaking regular sea patrols as the first line of defense along the archipelago's borders. But everyone interested in joining up has to go through their basic training program, and that starts today with a general skills assessment. There's quite a mix of attendees today, spread across nearly every race represented in Aifaran and including other Dreamfolk, but whatever the recruiter is saying is getting lost in the two chatty Igheeri who seem to think they're too good to listen to the standard welcome speech... time to interrupt by signaling the person in charge? Take care of it yourself? Gripe about it to the person in line beside you? II. KIRIN RODEO - Place Your Bets! At the end of every month, the Mounted Division of the Sentry holds their skills competition. When they're not on the field, their steeds are often the subject of much admiration from children and more than a few adults. Astride many breeds of kirin, some lithe and fleet, some stockier and stronger, these off-duty officers demonstrate their control and bond over the notoriously strong-willed and intelligent creatures with complicated maneuvers. There's a surprisingly in-depth system for betting on one's favourite to win the various matches, and just about everyone's willing to explain the odds to newcomers. There's only one rule: all proceeds go to funding of the city's charities. (Bragging rights on winning are still yours to keep.) Two bells ring loudly over the crowd - last call for wagers! III. WE HAVE REGULATIONS ABOUT THIS - Munga on the Loose! Munga are ill-tempered, rat-sized spiky lizards with a gift for camouflage, and whose venom in their spines and teeth is also highly hallucinogenic. And... they're on the loose. Fortunately, keeping them is highly regulated, and pretty much everyone in Aifaran knows about them, but loose Munga are uncommon enough that the reaction is more likely to be startled flailing at a hint of spines and skittering. Today someone's exotic pet has slipped out of their hands, and it's trailing a harness and lead as it zigzags away, prickling and hissing and going for the ankles. It's given a wide berth, except by those who don't notice until it's too late or those too preoccupied by something else. Hopefully the proper authorities have been notified to catch and return the creature, but maybe someone helpful can keep it from getting too far away? IV. A SURPRISE WINDFALL - Officer, This Isn't Mine... There was a loud thud as someone tosses a heavy bag from the window of a dilapidated building. Five seconds later there’s smoke pouring out the windows and your holding what seems to be someone else’s luggage. Opening it, you find carefully wrapped bricks of some very illegal drugs, and someone down the side alley is pointing at you and yelling. A mounted Sentry officer is giving you a rather peculiar look as well while he calls in the fire brigade. And among the people fleeing the building, there are five Kin’nal looking at you, wide-eyed, as it suddenly dawns on them that they messed up. Take your new prize and split before reinforcements arrive? Try to explain the mistake? Take note that the building is still on fire? V. INTO THE UNKNOWN - Watch Your Back Out There The sea patrol discovered the new irregularity a few days ago, reporting that it looks like a series of tall and jagged stone towers rising up from the ocean. It's incomplete as these planar-shunted locations often are, as if something massive had taken a bite of some mysterious city and then spat it whole into the seas of Konryu. Having been chosen as part of the exploration team, you've been working your way through the complicated labyrinth of stone tunnels and dead ends, searching for what the Opara engineers had enthusiastically described as a potential new power source. "Trace the green glowing power lines," was their (sort of helpful) instruction. However the lean, dark and toothy thing you've just glimpsed should probably be a more pressing concern... warn others? Take it on yourself? Pray it hasn't spotted you? 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

[priforprince]

[ Hibiki spares a quick glance but keeps her attention mostly on the fact that she's being questioned. ]

Do you doubt my testimony?

[ It's certainly being given in a fully confident, authoritative voice. ]

Such disruptive occurrences are against my style. They depress me.

[ She frowns at the designated Bad Cop. ] I stopped you to tell you to clean it up!!

[ Yes, "order the police to put out a fire because she doesn't like looking at it" is definitely one of her better ideas. ]

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis smirked, "I could have."

But it would have been less amusing. Her gaze drops to the strange lizard, which seems to have given up its struggles.

"It's a lizard?"

By the way people had been avoiding it, the thing was probably poisonous in some manner or another.

[watchmewhippersnapper]

[...hn. Her eyebrow twitched for a moment, and she had to really stop and think. Taking all this at his word was utter balderdash, but he sounded as confident in what he was saying as that pointy-haired whippersnapper lawyer.]

[Think. There had to be a way to make sense of all this.]

I...see.

I suppose I've heard of cultures abroad that don't abide by the same wardrobe or technology norms as we do. Though I have yet to encounter someone who didn't at least know what it was.

[priforprince]

Take the bed, if you wish.

[ SHE WILL ALSO LET YOU EAT CAKE.

Hibiki lowers her chin. Before she was just making statements. Resistance, however, has her growing irritated. Was she not clear?! ]

But my quarters will not be shared.

[priforprince]

Not the best.

[ That would be hers. Hibiki starts moving through the crowd as if she knows exactly where she needs to go.

She doesn't. But instinct is good for this sort of thing. ]

[annihilist]

"Hallucinations, photo-sensitivity, that kind of thing," Devin answers, sounding for all the world like that's a boring problem. The munga tries to lunge at Eve's skirts, and he jerks it back before it can reach her. "You've just arrived, then; that explains the corset, but not how you speak. Have you been directed to the Dreaming Bridge yet?"

[priforprince]

It interrupted my afternoon!!

[ Definitely the victim here.

The munga is nosing around the table now, looking for more snacks. ]

Collect the creature and begone.

[corundrum]

[With a hearty laugh, Padparadscha grabs the other one around the middle so they're dangling out of their arm and just about dragging along the floor on both sides. There's a caution to the movement despite its roughness, since they've long learnt that just ramming themselves against organic creatures carelessly can do a disturbing amount of damage.]

Ah, so you're a little one who takes quick action. It's good, but it makes me think maybe you wanted to do this the whole time and just took me as an excuse.

[They still sound amused, though, so apparently it's no trouble to Padparadscha. Even though the Igheeri is now squirming and complaining loudly.]

[cirquedelalune]

Well, someone's going to... [Asaka accepts the food with a quick smile of thanks before turning her attention back to the lizard. Even if she's talking, turning her attention from it for too long is probably a bad idea.]

It does. [She steps back quickly as it snaps for her hand again.] Someone let it get free earlier. They should really be a little more careful about who they let keep these things. [Sure, there are regulations, but clearly they're not working all that well if people are still careless enough for things like this to happen.]

[cirquedelalune]

I don't know about that... [Asaka sounds doubtful, but also somewhat amused at the potential for where this is about to go. Either this girl finds a good seat beyond all odds, or they're all taken and she probably gets offended, considering the impression Asaka's gotten off her so far.

Both prospects that are a little funny, so she's willing enough to follow along and see where Hibiki ends up.]

[priforprince]

[ Things seem to be going rather well! Hibiki has indeed spotted a set of seats more prominent than the others, and smoothly works her way towards them. This....jostling....is unpleasant....but she'll manage--

Just in time to see a gate to the area start to close.

Hibiki blinks at this for a moment, then continues at exactly the same pace. It'll open for her. ]

iii

[corundrum]

[The lizard's spines flare out as it charges that person's ankle with a hiss. Padparadscha looks down with a slight sound of curiosity...

...and there's a faint "clink" as the spines rebound off solid rock when they touch their leg. The lizard actually seems jarred enough to stop for a moment, and Padparadscha bends down to pick it up with a look of amused curiosity.]

Well well, you're an eager little one, aren't you? Sorry about your attack.

[At that, Padparadscha looks up and only just seems to notice that the people around them are backing off and giving the lizard a wide berth. In fact, it's only the one who tried to warn them that's still fairly close, so it's him they address their afterthought to.] Ah, right, you're all soft like that...

ii

[manlyheart]

[ Kirishima suddenly looks very nervous. He's not old enough to bet and if they catch him, then what?! He doesn't mind breaking the rules if it's to save someone else but this wasn't that at all. ]

You think we can? Uhm. Legally?

v.

[manlyheart]

[ He's up ahead in one of the tunnels looking for the energy source when his team suddenly runs past him screaming about a monster at the top of their lungs. His brows crease as he stares back at them, counting them off when he realizes - ]

We had one more in group, didn't we?

[ No sooner does the thought sink in than he's taking off in the direction they'd just come from. ]

Hey man! Are you alright?!

[darkwingsofkilvas]

I suspect we'll all be encountering quite a bit of that in this land. You have seen the locals, haven't you? We ended up in quite the multicultural area, even aside from what our fellow Dreamfolk might be used to. Does anyone here even have access to tell-vision, I wonder?

[corundrum]

[Considering there's a distinct lack of anyone else in their group remaining at this point, Padparadscha assumes they're the one being addressed with that question. Holding their sword, which is almost as long as they are tall and shining like some kind of gem instead of metal, they glance back with a faint smile.]

Oh? I'm feeling great, actually. But it's a shame our patrol group is made of scared little pebbles. We'll have to handle this ourselves, huh?

[The creature moves slightly, and Padparadscha's sword is pointing back at it before the echo of the sound has even finished bouncing off the walls.]

What do you think, little one? How do you want to fight?

[cirquedelalune]

[This guy seems legitimately worried, so Asaka sets her hand and money down on the table for the moment, her smile lightening a little.]

I don't think it would be a problem. After all, we're not the ones winning anything, are we? It all goes to charity. So there's really no reason for someone who doesn't understand it to gamble their life away.

[Or at least, she assumes that would solve the usual problem with underage gambling. It's not as if she hasn't played her share of betting games herself even without being "allowed".]

[cirquedelalune]

[Asaka spots the gate a little after Hibiki does, and her smile widens a little as she glances over to her current companion. It seems a little late in the proceedings for the area to be freely open, so she's not very surprised to see the gate start to close.

It's definitely a sight to see Hibiki just continue walking as if the door opening for her is a given, though.]

Ah, isn't that a little inconsiderate? Even the privileged should have some care for when the doors are set to close.

[manlyheart]

[ He's running headlong through the tunnel heading straight for the larger chamber when the creature finally comes into view. ]

Woooah!

[ He instantly jumps back, raising an arm up in a defensive position. ]

What the heck is that thing?

[manlyheart]

My life?!

[ He was just thinking they'd put it on his record or something! ]

You really think they'd do that? Man, this place is hardcore!

[corundrum]

It's a strange-looking thing, isn't it? Almost like your... [Padparadscha taps their cheek for a few moments before rembering the word.] ...bones. Should we see if they break so easily?

[While they don't relish violence, Padparadscha is perfectly capable of recognising an unfriendly party when they see one. And it might break a human more easily than it would do to them, so perhaps it's best to break it first.]

[manlyheart]

[ Dude! It's not bones! It's his hero mask! ]

[ He grins. ] You're starting to talk my language. [ He turns toward the monster and slams his hardened fists together creating a spark. ]

I'm with you.

[colonelnope]

She jerks back from the munga reflexively, then scowls at it. Hallucinations would not be an ideal capstone to this day, no. "Buddy, there isn't anything that explains the corset without a hell of a lot of work."

Eve hates time travel so much. She actually likes the whole ensemble, but it's what she wears to be a statue for four hundred years, not what she wears to chase hallucinogenic lizards.

"I've heard the name, but I haven't gotten there yet, no." At least he's... trying to be helpful. Eve's bad day is her own problem, not his.

[colonelnope]

So she's going to be that kind of person. Fine, okay, Eve can deal with it.

"Lizard, I got," she says with some minor annoyance. "I was hoping for something a little more specific. Like, 'poison hedgehog lizard,' or maybe 'mythical murder lizard.' Anything?"

And where's its owner? That kind of lead means it came from someone. Eve glances around at people, scanning for someone who looks like they're either searching or guilty.

[corundrum]

Ah, well, some things are universal, it seems. [The bony creature had initially been lurking back in the shadows, but it seems to take Kirishima's fist-pounding as the threat it is. With a bizarre hissing sound, it emerges, bony appendages skritching along the floor towards them.

Padparadscha moves as it does, but as they reach its jaws, they plant their sword against the ground and leap over its head, flipping in mid-air and plunging down towards the creature's rear.

Bone. Hardness: 5. Corundum. Hardness: 9.]

I'll entrust its face to you, then!

[That's all the warning he gets before Padparascha's landing deforms and, after a moment, shatters the creature's pelvic bone, its legs skittering away across the ground. It doesn't seem to pain the creature, but it does stun it for a moment from the impact.]