TDM #003

[bequiet]

TEST DRIVE MEME
You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.

Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits.

A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.

Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, a child hugging her leg, and a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.

This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message.

Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid. You're to settle into your new home.

Caught me unawares
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the happiest moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything good and sweet and fun. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restful and pleasant sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that dream from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the dream together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

Falling down the stairs
Content Warnings: Confusion, disorientation
Themes: Survival, horror, it's like groundhog day

The ending of the floor has caught me unawares. This must be the reason why I’m falling down the stairs.

That night, when you fall asleep, you dream of your life before The Quiet Place. At first it's the worst moments of your life played on repeat, over and over. Everything bad and sour and awful. The second night, it's much the same. You go to bed anticipating another restless and dreadful sleep. But on the third night it changes.

For everyone, it starts the same. There's a long hallway with a door at the end. You walk towards it with nowhere else to go. You twist the knob and when you step forward, the floor ends and you fall. Falling lasts for seconds, minutes, or hours and when you land, it's with a jolt and a cloud of red dust all around you. There's someone else next to you, stumbling, coughing and choking on that familiar dirt that coats your tongue and mouth. When your eyes meet, everything blurs and you're falling again - this time, when you land, it's inside that nightmare from the first night. Only you're not alone. They're with you. The only way out is to experience the nightmare together. And when you do wake up, for real, that same red dirt is on your hands.

OOC
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NAVIGATION

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Comments

[scarecrowed]

[ He wonders if she doesn't like anyone touching her things - even in a world that might not even be real - until he recognizes she's looking for something in the cards. As one for doing what he's told, he leaves the cards alone and leaves her to do... whatever it is that she's doing.

He wants to ask her what the judgement card means, but if he doesn't even know her name, he probably has no right to ask. ]

Then show me the rest of the house.

[ Something tells him they're not going to be allowed to leave yet. ]

[possidetur]

( in any other situation that request, from a stranger, would be particularly forward. but vanessa's a little used to it, the company she keeps being rather forward, and as anything could be happening-- )

Follow me.

( she leads him back through the door they first arrived through, avoiding the length of the hall in favour of the direction of the stairs. there's a scorpion on the wall, drawn (oddly) in blood, and a front door that looks, with its thick steel, as if it's meant to keep something out.

there's a brief moment of hesitation before vanessa ascends the stairs, memories running of everything that had occurred in the house -- especially recently. it's halfway up the stairs when vanessa stops, a hand stretched out to stop him )

I would take out your sword.

( something's there. invisible to the eye, hiding in the walls. they were supposed to be dead but this wasn't real. this was her nightmare )

[353]

A palace? Who lives there?

[ As for climbing, he probably won't be great at it. He's someone who tires of running easily and has probably spent an unhealthy amount of time playing games in his basement when he should have been outside, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to. ]

Mike, short for Michael. What's yours?

[scarecrowed]

[ Lucas doesn't think he's being particularly forward, but he's not afraid to speak his mind when he wants to and there's a certain air about him that suggests whoever dares cross him will get his sword straight through their chest.

And like she said, he's never been here before. She needs to lead the way.

The scorpion on the wall is a little unsettling, though something about the sight of blood doesn't make Lucas flinch the way any other might.

At her suggestion and with a hard look in his eyes, Lucas pulls out his sword, then takes a step towards her, as though to protect her. It's what he's good at. ]

nsfw link

[possidetur]

( the unspoken acknowledgement is all that vanessa needs. it's a few seconds more before her hand falls from him and then, as she's about to step again, comes a sound.

vanessa turns, looking behind them now for the owner of the noise but still, there's no one there, or at least no one perceptible. it's a bad time to ask if he believes in monsters, though no doubt the topic will arise when this is over.

seconds pass, vanessa remaining on the step, eyes seeking them out. it comes in the blink of an eye, the brief glance of a nightcomer at the bottom of the stairs, and then they're gone again by the time you've blinked once more )

un: fcpresident

[353]

Over two months.

[ Is it weird that he misses school? There's classes here but it's not the same. He doesn't miss the bullies but he misses Mr. Clarke teaching him cool science shit. ]

pretend i have a username here i'm indecisive

[possidetur]

Do you know if that's a long time for this place?

no problemo

[353]

I dunno. I do know I was part of the first group of new people in a long time to come here.

I've also seen the sound eaters. They're not just a story.

[possidetur]

Are they everything that we're told?

( not that they're told particularly too much -- everyone's too afraid. vanessa has many questions, though perhaps someone that was brought here like herself isn't the best person to answer them all )

[scarecrowed]

[ Does he believe in monsters? He hasn't seen any yet - at least not in person, though he's seen footage - but that doesn't mean he doesn't believe.

Lucas turns as well, readying himself to attack, but there's no one there, at least until there's a glimpse of... something. Something haunting. Lucas blinks afterwards, wondering if he imagined it, but from the way Vanessa is looking at the same spot, Lucas knows he didn't. ]

I can't hurt what I can't see. [ He warns Vanessa that his sword will be useless if whatever is stalking him only appears for a second at a time. ]

[possidetur]

They're there.

( they shouldn't be but they are. there were three before, how many of them were here? she thought they were dead. but then this isn't real so who knows how many there were really )

Their power comes from the dark.

( the night was where they were stronger, and every time that they'd attacked. they were fast, capable of camouflage. and moving still.

the strike comes and this time when they see her she's beside them, pushing at lucas with an inhuman strength, trying to isolate him and vanessa )

[353]

Pretty much.

There's a lot we don't know about them still but I can tell you they're as real as you and me. If you think being silent is some kind of joke, it's not.

[possidetur]

I don't. I believe the warning. Monsters are no joke.

[353]

You have monsters in your world?

[possidetur]

Did you believe in them before learning of the sound eaters?

( this is not.... avoiding the question... )

[353]

[ Mike sees what you're doing, stranger. He'll pretend like he's smart enough to realize she's evading. ]

Yeah. Monsters exist where I'm from. Different to the sound eaters though.

[possidetur]

Perhaps that is why you believed how serious this threat was.

[353]

Oh... okay.

[ He nods at her. ] Promise. [ And he starts to gather her into a hug. And because he doesn't want the hug to end once he starts talking, he'll keep hugging her while he speaks, his mouth against her curls because there's that small height difference between them now. ]

It might be a while until we get to be together again... [ Maybe another three hundred and fifty-three days... ] But I'll wait for you.

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama's expression is fierce and strangely protective. As much as he reminds himself this Akira is Kurusu-san, he can't quite help it. Not faced with the all-too-hated "I'm fine".

His lips press together at Akira's questions. He doesn't...entirely want to talk about this. But Kurama has no idea how far this nightmare will go and if they're trapped in it until it's finished, Akira deserves some answers.]

It was called the Reaper's Game. What we went through was not the usual version, but something of an...emergency training camp. They were in desperate need of new Game-runners, as the threat was spreading to worlds it never should have touched.

...None of us remembered that we'd agreed to it. Many of us were missing large swathes of memory. Akira and Goro had both forgotten the truth of why Crow joined the Phantom Thieves.

[It's almost like a cue as that is the moment the Dream Akira wakes up fully and looks around the room before he begins to scream in pain, grief, and rage, jerking the Dream Kurama to attention, who calls out to him and pulls him close. The real Kurama flinches and looks away.]

The survivors... They, and we, are planning to hunt for the source of the threat instead of continuing a mere holding action. We were beginning to scatter; some of us had business to attend to in our own worlds before returning. Some intended to remain and begin work immediately.

.....Akira and I were returning to Goro's timeline with him to assist in Shido's change of heart.

[eachother]

[ a dream. thomas wonders, briefly, if it's his dream or newt's. it feels to real to be a dream at all. real enough to be a memory, but the only thing vaguely familiar about it is the glade and the gladers. in a sense, he feels a little bit out of place, like he's intruding or interrupting, but there really isn't anything he can do about it, and thomas isn't the kind of person to just sit and wait for something to happen or for something to end.

wckd flickers through his mind again, lightning fast and thomas takes in a slow breath, trying to ignore it. maybe this isn't them, maybe this isn't their doing, for once — but also, maybe it is. thomas tries not to linger on the thought for too long, focusing on newt instead.

there's a strange sort of guilt that blooms in his chest, just behind his lungs. thomas doesn't miss the glade, but he'd only been there for a handful of days. certainly not long enough to miss the safety of it, not long enough to get comfortable enough with a place that the absence of it would strike something in him. but to hear newt say that he misses it makes him wonder if maybe he'd made a mistake in convincing the others to come with him, promising them freedom when it was never guaranteed.

thomas glances backwards as newt does, his eyes seeking out each person as newt names them off. it hurts, a little, to see some of their faces. some of them, the last time he looked at them, it was with tears in his eyes and a burning hole in his heart.

he isn't sure what to say. he wants to tell newt that he won't forget them, that he won't let him forget. he won't let wckd get their hands on him or anyone else if he can help it (but he can't, because he promised minho the same thing, and now look where they are, where he is). he'd sooner put himself at risk.

newt starts moving, and as if there's a string drawn between the two of them, thomas starts to follow almost immediately, only hesitating a moment before his feet start to move. he only glances back toward the maze once, just a quick look over his shoulder, and then he's catching up, setting his pace so he's right next to newt. ]

... I don't think you'll forget. And if you start to, I won't, uh— I won't let you, alright? If WCKD takes it all away, I'll put it all back.

[ he'll repeat their names over and over and over until they start to stick, until they start to wake up the faces and the memories attached to them, if he has to. over and over and over again until his throat is raw, if that's what it takes. ]

[eachother]

[ a restricted thomas is a frustrated thomas and all this back and forth over devices is already starting to annoy him a little, but for now, it's a low buzz that's easy to ignore. typing all of this out is such a waste of time, but what else do they have right now but time on their hands?

thomas chews at the inside of his cheek as he reads over the message, his brow's still ticked together. in the place of one answered question, three more spring up in it's place. that's how it always is, and it's a wonder thomas hasn't yet driven himself crazy. why would they lie about the monsters? what was it they were trying to hide, and to what point? in a place

he breathes out quietly through his nose, rubbing at his chin for a moment with one hand before he taps out his response. ]

Lying about the thing that could supposedly kill us if we so much as sneeze. Not exactly reassuring. I thought maybe you'd about the theater and the body since you were talking to someone else about it. I don't know what else they've told you.

[ that's not to imply that newt would keep anything from him, because he doesn't believe that he would for a second.

thomas makes a note to remember to check out this bulletin board, but right now, his priorities are elsewhere, mainly on figuring out if their friend is here, too. ]

We will. If he's here, we'll find him.

[ thomas continues to type something out ( i made a promise, ), but he backspaces and types something else out instead before sending. ]

I promise.

it's ok I'm dragging so much

[iisupergirlii]

They took all of ours too, but sometimes stuff from home just... shows up here. I wasn't even wearing this when I came here. It was on my clothing rack at home! Once they make sure your clothes can be silent, they might give them back, though. I'm sorry, I know that's not much help. :(

[iisupergirlii]

That's exactly what I mean! She's from my world. From what I know about her, she's an alien from another planet named Krypton. She's SUPER cool.

[Kara grins at Hunter, proud of herself for being able to play it off for at least a few minutes. Since everyone already here pretty much figures out her secret identity in about two seconds.]

Are there any superheroes where you're from?

[garrick]

[ A super cool alien going by the name Supergirl? Hunter may be returning the infectious smile, but even he has to wonder on it somewhat — and that's coming from a mad speedster called Zoom. Though in all fairness, someone else named him, he just took it and ran with it.]

That's a new one to me, but I'll take your word for it. And there are some, the one I've seen around is called the Flash

[garrick]

That's the spirit, kid. No point in anyone giving up just yet; there's going to be plenty to do here.

And a well-versed breacher? Nice to meet you. I guess no-one would willingly visit a place with such restrictions on it if they could help it. Not unless there was a way out.