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!

--

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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OUT OF CHARACTER INFO

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Comments

[skelepun]

Didn't feel that long to me. [He admits, a little franker than he probably should be with a kid, but Frisk was always different that way. For better or worse. Often for worse.] But time's a flat circle, you know that.

[He moves to shuffle an arm around them, before remembering Toriel's anger and remaining still.]

How'd it feel for you?

[gainedlove]

[Something tugs at their mouth when Sans holds himself back, a tiny quirk that's there and gone, easily missed. Not that they expect Sans will--he's always clever like that, seeing more than anyone else ever did. Knowing what they were from the moment they step out of those heavy doors.]

[Frisk shrugs and picks at their sweater, still dirty and stained, clearly not washed in quite a while.]

Dunno. Knew I'd see you again.

[Even if it wasn't this Sans, they'll always go back. It's how it is.]

[skelepun]

Yeah, same here, kiddo. [It's how it is.] Same here.

[Now that the shock is wearing off, Sans takes a moment to really look at the kid -- seeing them, and not the million versions of them tucked away in his memory. This one looked healthy enough, but dirty and unkempt. To be expected after a fall down into the ruins of a pyramid, sure, but there was more to it somehow. Stains needed time to set, after all.

No matter how bad things were, Sans couldn't imagine Toriel letting her kid walk around like that. Suddenly, a new and unsettling version of events lodged in the back of his skull. One he really hoped wasn't true.]

How long've you been down here?

[gainedlove]

...hour.

[They think so, at least. Without any outside light it's hard to tell, and the clock on their phone hasn't had the right time for quite a while--days on Thisavrou don't quite match up to home.]

Was just lookin' 'round.

[skelepun]

Interested in the big prize, or is curiosity hunting cats?

[Can't blame a guy for repeating himself, dialogue trees are a bitch.]

[gainedlove]

[Oh, how they are, indeed.]

[Frisk frowns as they consider that. Really, both are true; 'valuable' could mean it would help with fixing the Ingress, but they also want to see what it is. But there's only one response they'll get here, so...]

I need th' G if I wanna get an inklin'.

[skelepun]

[Sans blinks at them for a moment, before picking up a nearby loose stone and handing it to Frisk.]

Hey, can you do me a solid and hold this for me?

[gainedlove]

...?

[An odd request, but Sans is a little weird sometimes, anyway. Frisk takes the stone and nods, holding it firmly in both hands.]

[skelepun]

[Aaaand another rock.]

This one too.

[gainedlove]

[Oh, is this where he's going with it? They're not sure if they can balance them all stacked up, but it's worth a shot. The second stone is taken, and Frisk's smile starts to peek out.]

Okay.

[skelepun]

[Sans' grin has a little more warmth to it when he gestures to the pile of rocks Frisk is now carrying.]

Dang, buddy, looks like your hands are full. [He flicks gently at their mop of hair.] Guess that inkling's on the head.

[gainedlove]

[Frisk giggles and beams up at Sans, their head canting slightly to one side.]

Guess so! What's th' first inklin'?

[skelepun]

Welp. [He lifts a hand, letting it rest against the door with a soft clack of bone on stone.] I don't think this is solvable with just one person.

[gainedlove]

[That would definitely count for an inkling! Frisk giggles again, and leans forward to get a better view of the puzzle set into the wall.]

'Cuz it's so big?

[skelepun]

Maybe. [He holds up a hand again, pushing it. Once more, it doesn't seem to budge.] But speaking from experience, growing up around this stuff, I bet there's a switch somewhere that someone has to activate while the other person moves this bad boy.

But that's just another guess.