TDM #004

[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. The bulletin board feed lights up so you can read about the history. 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.

Take a peep
Content Warnings: Possible animal-thing death
Themes: Slice of life, it's like gremlins... kinda

On the first of April, small piles of dust with brightly colored eggs at the center will spring up over night. After a few hours the eggs will begin to hatch and out will come the smallest and brightest bunny-like creatures (the only notable differences from regular bunnies are the colors, size, and that they make no noise). They're friendly and immediately attach themselves (bond) to the first person to pick them up. One of the natives calls them "peeps" because they don't make a sound. All with unique personalities, the creatures can be found nibbling on the dust and needing no other form of food, and will shy away from any and all water sources.

If, however, any of them get wet - there will be a sudden and brief rain shower at noon - the creatures fur will turn black and they will begin attacking the others that didn't get wet. Stopping them is key, and the black creatures will either dash away from the community if given the chance or will need to be stopped.

OOC: All characters can keep a Peep! Any color! They are palm-sized and never grow larger than an adult hand.

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

[brodakota]

[There's a small flash and a little holographic figure pops up. He's wearing armour and is a mixture of red and blue. He appears over a figure slumped against the wall, and starts to wave]

Over here.

I'm Theta. He's North.

[justbeingknife]

[ Majima raised his brows at the appearance of the hologram, but hell, plenty of weird shit around here. He approached North first; the one good thing about the jumpsuits given to new arrivals was that they were standard, and pretty shitty at concealing active bleeding. ]

Called for help -- d'you know what happened to your pal?

[ So in the meantime, he'd kneel down by North, try and see if he was still conscious, and check him for injuries. ]

[brodakota]

Before we ended up here, we were attacked. I think it's still injuries from then.

[North's eyes flicker a little and he seems to come round, Theta going off in his head to remind him to keep quiet and that this is help. He probably should have asked for a name.

North's injuries amount to bruising and evidence that he's been hurt. But the wound that should be there isn't.]

[justbeingknife]

[ Well... nothing much he could do if North's injuries were internal. ]

Attacked, huh? Sorry, but it ain't look like you're bleeding. Anything feel broken?

[brodakota]

[North pushes himself into a bit more of a sitting position, wincing but recovering. He takes over the device from Theta, who still hovers nearby.]

Not really. Mostly bruised, I think.

Can't say all this is doing favours for my brain either.

[justbeingknife]

Yeah, well. You and me both. I'll send a cancel on that request, then.

[ He looked up from his phone. ]

By the way, I'm Majima. You're in Reims, France.

[brodakota]

I'm North, the little guy's Theta. If he didn't go over it already.

Thanks for the help.

France...that's on Earth, right?

[justbeingknife]

I'd say you're welcome, only I ain't done anything for ya yet.

Anyway, yeah. We're on Earth. Since you're askin', I'm guessing you weren't in the neighborhood before ya came here.

[brodakota]

Not for a while, no.

[And he can't remember the last time he was on earth.]

Don't suppose you've got the year, as well?

[justbeingknife]

[ He shook his head. ]

Nah. Seems like it was around the early 21st century when all the cities went down. But now? Don't think anyone's kept track of the year.

Probably too busy just tryin' to stay alive.

[brodakota]

That part makes sense.

The part about me travelling through time, not so much. Kinda blanked on most of the explanation they gave.

[justbeingknife]

They ain't really give an explanation, least not to my group. They don't know how we're all from different times or different places, how we got here, any of that.

Or at least that's the story.

Some of us came in with acquaintances from different points in time. Shit's pretty fuckin' weird.

[ not to, you know. put too fine a point on it. ]

One good thing: you got a place to sleep for the night, 'cause they're so used to new people showin' up.

[brodakota]

Definitely an advantage, yeah.

How long has that been going on for?

[He shifts a little, trying to make himself a little more comfortable. Theta flashes nervously beside him.]

[justbeingknife]

[ Majima shook his head. Ultimately, he didn't know, but: ]

I been here a couple months. But it seems like it happens off and on.

Last dude we found from an earlier batch, he was from about ten years ago.

[brodakota]

Sounds like an interesting bunch, anyway.

Uh, I think I'm going to try standing...I assume there's a better place to be than this?