test drive meme 21

[savmods]

NOTE: The locations in this test drive are placeholders and do not fit with current game events. Due to ongoing changes as we shift to arc 3, contents of this test drive as they related to specific areas or activities are unfortunately not able to be incorporated as game canon, though if it is possible for a particular thread, you may assume conversations took place similarly in a different setting once the changeover happens ICly. Test drive threads may of course still be used for application samples!

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Ingress travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of initial Ingress travel forces your body into unconsciousness.

Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.

You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. A robotic medical tech is always present to explain what’s happened in a rote fashion, though his programming does not permit him to answer specific questions. He provides some clothing, a TAB, and a guide that explains the basics of Ingress travel and why you are here. Outside the room, you'll find you're on a space station that is staffed only by other robots; the only other organics there are those who recently arrived with you, or perhaps your predecessors, who are strolling the halls in search of an observation deck or the tech they've been sent here to fix. Why not introduce yourself and say hello?

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phanos

* The planet Phanos is not as it was during the last visit there. Storms of dark energy swirl across the sections of the world, though they do not yet overwhelm it. The temperature is cooler now, but sandstorms still kick up with great frequency, making cooperation an important part of survival as groups make their way across the landscape, investigating the changes. The pyramid forest remains, but the griffins who live there now venture farther down from their nests, and around a third of them have been twisted by the storms' energies into even more aggressive, monstrous versions of what they once were. Do not take one on alone, or it may be your last mistake.

* Inside one of the tallest pyramids, the lab remains intact, and rumors speak of a locked chamber in its heart that contains valuable material—but is that in the technological sense, or does it hold something monetarily precious in the right market? Maybe you don't care and you're just nosy. Either way, the vault is sealed away behind a series of complicated sliding puzzles that have just one catch—they are not possible to solve without two people operating the locking station. Are you here with a friend? If not, better hope the next guy to come along has a sharp mind for this stuff.

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Comments

[sonywalkman]

[ Peter huffs and straightens as if that'd make him seem suddenly tougher than he is. (You spend a lifetime thinking bullshit appearances matter, it's a tough habit to break.) ]

Well, I don't know what part of the galaxy you're from, but where I come from, you don't just sneak up on folks.

[intrepiding]

I wasn't trying to sneak up on you, man.

[ But he can't hold his laughter in and it comes out halfway through the statement. His hands go to his hips, shrugging. ]

Maybe you just can't hear with that mask thing you got.

[sonywalkman]

[ He glowers...and then remembers that it doesn't make much difference where no one can see it. Peter switches the mask off--the guy in front of him looks human enough and doesn't seem to have an issue breathing at least--and as the electronics fold up into their earpiece, he continues to frown. ]

I can hear you just fine, genius. Happy?

[intrepiding]

[ Oh hey, this guy's human, too. Or human-ish. And after seeing a lot of Vulcan glares, your glower pales in comparison, Peter. ]

Not really. You still haven't figured out the puzzle for this lock.

[ He points up to the lock before them. ]

[sonywalkman]

[ He wouldn't care, even if he knew. He's mad, damn it. Accept that. He continues to frown at Kirk. ]

Oh yeah? If it's so easy, show me how it's done, dungeon master.

[ The sarcasm is meant to bite more than it does, especially when he pairs it with such a non-threatening monicker. Of course, he isn't truly angry, it's only his pride feeling a bit bruised, and he's never really learned how to hide it. But he does mutter an aside: ]

I only do this for a living, it's fine.

[intrepiding]

[ Kirk rolls his eyes and makes no effort in hiding that. By this point in his career, he's a little more willing to talk things out instead of throwing punches or instigating fights. So, progress?

He doesn't say anything else to Peter as he looks back up at the lock before backing away to get a better look at it. He steps forward again and moves one of the outer rings - which is surprisingly hard to do on his own - before stepping back and looking at it again. He smirks some, satisfied he was right. ]

It's a picture. You have to move the rings to make the picture. Once you get that, it's unlocked.

[ Or it should. ]