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
From your mods:

Please remember to mark your content in your starters or subject lines as material comes up. The threads on this meme can be used as game canon. Feel free to thread out arrival style meetings as well! If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment below. Have fun!

NAVIGATION

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Comments

[kiljoy]

[A... time travelling alien? What? He frowns and has to read the message a couple of times before he can parse it, looking up and shaking his head. No, he most certainly is not a time travelling alien. Why would she think that?

He quirks an eyebrow at her, typing back:]

Do I look like a time travelling alien?

[What is it with aliens and looking human anyway? It's very weird.]

[bossily]

[His reaction makes her smile, though she tries hard to hide it from behind her hand. He's definitely not the Doctor, but the resemblance is uncanny. ]

You look identical to my best friend. So yeah, actually. You do.

[Or a version of him anyway, though she's not about to get into that mess with someone she's just met. It's enough that he knows he looks remarkably like someone important to her, which hopefully explains her initial burst of cheer when seeing him.

There's a little rock back on her heels after she sends along the message, and she takes the time to not so discreetly look him over.]

[kiljoy]

[Huh. That's possibly the strangest thing anyone has said to him and she just asked whether he was a time-travelling alien so the bar is pretty high. He's puzzled but also intrigued. She's cute though, her eyes sweeping over him, and he takes the revelation in stride.]

Must be a handsome chap, your friend. What's your name?

[He's looking over her with an admiring eye too. His identical counterpart has good taste.]

[bossily]

[Gesturing for him to hold out his device so it can watch her and translate, she uses British sign language to spell out her name. C-L-A-R-A. But just in case it doesn't pick things up and translate, she sends her name over the device to him too.]

Clara Oswald. What's yours?

[kiljoy]

Kilgrave

[He types it quickly to show her and then holds out his hand to shake, mouthing Nice to meet you.]

So where are you from? You're not a time-travelling alien too, are you?

[bossily]

[Kilgrave's unique enough that it shouldn't be hard to memorize. Her hand takes hold of his and gives it a little shake. Nice to meet you, she mouths back.
Then her hand drops away and she quickly types out a response.]

Time traveller, yeah. But I'm also a schoolteacher from London, so not so much with the alien. Unless we're not actually on Earth in this pocket universe. Then that makes us all aliens, I wager.

[kiljoy]

[Wow, that is quite the story. A schoolteacher who also happens to be a time traveller? He looks suitably impressed as he responds:]

We are on Earth, though not like the one I know. France, to be specific. Do you teach history? I imagine the time travelling would help.

[bossily]

I've always hated history, actually. I teach English. Literature, mostly. Time travel does help with that, in case you were wondering.

[She rocks back on her heels, nodding a little as if to emphasize her point. Feeling that subject's gone just as far as it can, she changes direction.]

Do you know if there's proper tea around here someplace? Or anything decent to eat. Peckish doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now.

[kiljoy]

[That is an excellent question, Clara, and one he's very happy to give a positive answer to.]

I've got Earl Grey over at my place, actually. If you're interested.

[bossily]

[Aha. Here's a decent gentleman with good taste. Her face lights up with a smile and she nods. With a motion for him to lead the way, she rests her hand against his arm so she can walk along beside him. The urge to talk still fills her, but it is only her first day here. That's going to be a hard habit for a chatty person like herself to break.]

[kiljoy]

[A decent gentleman with good taste. Yes. That's how he's acting right now at least, taking Clara's offered arm and giving her a quick smile before they both head off back to his house. They're not alone: Louis is good enough at his job to spot Kilgrave before he gets too far, though he's also courteous enough to give them a bit of distance.

Louis won't accompany them inside the house either; his job is only to escort Kilgrave when he leaves the premises, so he simply nods at Kilgrave before turning to leave. Kilgrave nods back, a silent acknowledgement, and leads Clara to his porch, carefully opening the door.

Stepping inside, he holds the door open and signs at her:]

Welcome. Come on in.

[He's got the place nicely furnished too, almost homely. He closes the door behind her and then exhales.]

This house is soundproofed. We can talk here, as long as we're quiet. It's good to hear another person's voice, isn't it? How do you like your tea?

[He gestures her over to the lounge as he talks, where she's free to take a seat on the couch or either of the two armchairs.]

[bossily]

[She can appreciate a nicely furnished home. As someone that likes everything to be perfect and in place, she feels right at home here. After looking around a little, she goes to sit on the couch and lets him know how she prefers her tea. At this point, she's willing to take anything. But he's presenting her with the chance to be picky so she'll do just that. Once he's prepared it and they're sitting slowly drinking, she relaxes back against the couch without losing her prim posture. ]

Right so, figure we ought to get the awkward question out of the way. Why did that man follow us here?

[She knows that it's nice to have casual conversation, but it's more important to use this time to learn about this place. She wants to get to know him better too, but can do that while getting information. ]

[kiljoy]

[They're having tea. Isn't this civilised? And she's lucky that he's actually learned to make tea in the past few days because before this Kilgrave had no clue. He sits next to her on the couch and looks puzzled for a moment before he realises who she's referring to.]

Oh! [He waves a hand.] That was Louis. My escort. Bodyguard, I mean, not a date. We try not to travel alone around here. Anyway, don't worry about him. I want to know more about you, Miss Time Traveller. How does a school teacher from London start travelling through time?

[bossily]

[If there's one thing Clara likes talking about, it's herself. So she takes his explanation of Louis at face value and moves on to something more interesting.]

It was back when I was nannying, before I started teaching. A man dressed as a monk showed up on the family's doorstep one day. He was looking for me and knew my name. It was a bit stalkerish, really.

[Her nose wrinkles up as she laughs, fondly remembering her first meeting with the Doctor.]

Next thing I know, I'm caught up in some crazy adventure with an alien. I must've passed some sort of test, because he invited me to travel with him in his grumpy old cow of a time machine.

[kiljoy]

[Huh. He's intrigued; it's an interesting story. Especially in what it says about her. He's an attentive listener, only taking his eyes off her to occasionally sip his tea.]

And you chose to go with him? You must have been confident.

[Or reckless, even. Getting into a time machine with a stranger.]

[bossily]

[That makes her laugh, and she arches both eyebrows as she fixes him with an amused look.]

Can't say I disagree with that assertion. [She pauses just long enough to take a sip of her tea, choosing not to look too much into the why she agreed to go. It's too complex to get into with a stranger.]

But I didn't just hop into his snogbox and run off with him. I made him wait a week before coming back to ask me again.

[Clara's too much of a control freak to say yes on the Doctor's terms. It's always had to be her own.]

[kiljoy]

[He smiles at the term 'snogbox', that's cute.]

You like playing hard to get, eh? I like that. So, how does this story end? Did you fall madly in love?

[bossily]

In a manner of speaking.

[How does she hope to explain her relationship with the Doctor? It's a little hard to do, when he's switched faces on her and regenerated into a new man that's nothing like what she knows. But she can't focus on that now. She needs to keep the conversation going.]

He's my best friend, and I'd do anything for him. But it's not like that.

[Her tea is set aside, and she gives a little shake of her head.]

Not with him, or anyone else. Suppose that's on account of my playing hard to get.

[kiljoy]

[He nods understandingly.]

I get it. You're picky. Like you are with your tea. Did I pass the tea test, by the way?

[He gestures at her cup. Is it all right? (The correct answer is yes.)]

[bossily]

I'm not picky. I'm particular.

[She points out, before looking down at her tea. The fact he's made it for her has helped her relax and make her feel less apprehensive about being here.]

You passed the first test. Not too sure how well you'll do on the others, but I think you're the sort who might surprise me.

[kiljoy]

[Isn't that basically the same thing? He smiles though. She's charming. Then he finishes the last of his tea and puts the cup down before looking at her, intrigued.]

I might. What other tests do I have to pass?

[Because he'll skip them if he gets bored. It's only fun to play as long as she keeps entertaining him.]

[bossily]

I'm not sure yet. I have to decide what sort of man you are first.

[People are like a puzzle that need solving. She has to figure out what everyone's missing piece is so she can figure out how to best use or befriend them.

She picks back up her cup to finish it off, before leaning in to set hers next to his for an easier go of clean up.]

Though if you wanted to help me so I can figure that out faster, I'm looking for information on what sort of school system is in place here.

[kiljoy]

[Uh huh. And he supposes he needs to decide what sort of woman she is, although as far as he can tell so far she is susceptible to his powers. Then she asks about school and he remembers that she's a teacher which is the least interesting thing he's learned about her. Even if he could tell her in detail about the school system here, he'd get bored before he finished the sentence.

Kilgrave shrugs instead.]

You'd have to ask someone else about that. [The job he's been assigned here is teacher. He has done no teaching.] Say thank you for the tea, Clara, you've had a lovely time. I hope to see you again very soon.

[This is clearly a goodbye so he stands up and reaches over to take Clara's hand, lifting it up for a brief kiss. She's lucky that he's letting her go, but he's already under house arrest and he doesn't want Jessica coming after him for a third time. For now, he hopes that Clara will depart with her gentlemanly impression of him intact.]