TEST DRIVE MEME 001

[ataraxites]

T E S T   D R I V E   M E M E A R R I V A L You wake up, alone in the dark. There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Through the fog you can see shadows of movement, the muted sound of alarms crying. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're suddenly dropped several feet onto the opposite wall. It takes you several minutes to catch your breath and gather strength in uncooperative limbs; more time still to climb up through the debris to the hole in the outer wall high above. You emerge in bright sunlight, surrounded by an immense jungle. As your vision clears, you realize you stand on the hull of a colossal spaceship, crashed on an alien planet. There's a shout behind you, and as you turn, figures climb over the curve of the ship towards you: your rescue party, weathered and scarred by the efforts necessary for survival. B A S E   C A M P A ramshackle spread of tents and shelters built out of resources salvaged from the ship and gathered from the jungle. Not sleek, not clean, but alive: people coming and going from tent to tent, heading out into the jungle or returning with freshly foraged food. Some are working to build more shelters or improvize working tech out of parts salvaged from the ship; some are cooking; some are just taking shelter from the sun for a while. Whether you find somewhere to help or apply your skills, it's probably a good idea to get to know your neighbors. E X P L O R A T I O N The jungle is dense and green, teeming with life, high calls and cries of strange animals and birds, the low buzz and murmur of insects. There are no paths or notable markings; go too far into the trees and you may not be able to find your way back. Dangers hide in the shadows but there's also food, water - or perhaps you're looking for more, pushing further in a search for answers about this planet you're now living on. Or you can turn your attention to the crashed ship, the huge bulk of it balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff. It creaks and groans in its delicate position, audible from a distant but all the louder should you venture inside. Dark corridors made even more dangerous by the damage to the internal structure, debris and obstacles blocking progress, and any wrong step could cause it to collapse in on you, or send the ship over the cliff. But finding any tech, resources or supplies might just be worth the risk. C H O O S E   Y O U R   O W N . . . Hunt or flee from strange creatures in the jungle, take a try at rock-climbing down the cliff-face, or practise in-game gained abilities. Ataraxion is currently without a network until one is built, but test-driving on a prospective one is also totally fine!

Comments

[sicklesforsass]

Camp? But--

[ James lifts a finger like he's about to interject, but something about Hermione's tone makes him hesitate for a moment and almost go with her without question. At the same time, claiming to be in Gryffindor sets his brain buzzing with questions. He's fairly popular. And friendly. He's talked with everyone in Gryffindor at least once. Maybe not all the first years directly, but he's seen them, at least.

His eyes narrow slightly, and in doing so he's vaguely distracted.

James glances back over his shoulder, looking toward the rip in the hull he climbed up through. ]

Right. So I'm going to need you to hold on that thought a moment, and we'll come back to it. First. D'you think you could be so kind as to Accio my wand?

[frizzard]

Right. Of course. [ She's rushing him. And also probably not making sense, talking about spaceships and claiming she's in his house. She seems mildly chagrined at the realization, tone apologetic, then she's retrieving her wand from her back pocket and stepping closer to the mouth of the wreckage.

It's all unthinking, the way she takes out her wand and turns her back on him. Same for the way she speaks accio wand, which is met by a distant rattling around in the clutter below. She presses her lips together in mild irritation before trying again, this time more assertive, and a moment later she's reaching out to catch a familiar wand as it breaks loose of the ship. Well, familiar to him.

Hopefully?? Honestly, she isn't entirely sure she hasn't just stolen someone else's wand. She doesn't waste any time in turning back to James and holding it out to him; best way to find out. ] So what's second?

[ There's a hint of amusement there, sympathetic as it is. She can't blame him for being wary. ]

[sicklesforsass]

[ James stares intensely at the opening as he waits for a sign that his wand is, in fact, lost somewhere down below. And that he's just a bleeding idiot for not taking the time to look for it before trying to climb out into the sunlight. He bites the side of his lip when Hermione repeats the spell.

Finally, his wand. A grin breaks out as he takes it back from Hermione. Just having the weight back in his hands makes him more comfortable -- sure of himself. ]

Second, is getting the rest of my stuff.

[ He mutters an accio of his own, and waits expectantly. There's the hiss and sputter of broken wires and nothing else for a long moment. His glasses shoot up the moment he stops expecting them. They clatter somewhere off behind him.

...great. ]

Third, we find where those went.