001. Test Drive Meme.

[sphererpmod]

TDM
FAQ | Rules | Taken | Mod Contact| Reserves | Application | Log Community | RP Community | OOC Community | Meme Community

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

The Council is well aware of how hard it is to get used to that whole kidnapping being brought to a new place you don’t understand is, and because of that, each month they host an open welcome party for all residents both old and new. The party and its theme and location vary by month, and November’s theme is funnily enough Thanksgiving. The location is in the market dome, and all of the stalls have been closed in favor of long, large and communal tables for sitting around and eating and talking. The Market dome is large, roughly three city blocks would fit comfortably inside of it. The stalls themselves are lined with bright lights, giving the activity within more of a carnival atmosphere than that of a normal shopping experience. Around you, the air hums almost, teaming with life and vibrancy among all sides. The way that the tables are seated encourages some intimacy despite the space, offering a large family sort of feeling versus something like a restaurant.

The people there are happy to see new people, that much is evident. People who one doesn’t know are greeted with smiles for the large part, and questions are eagerly answered, even if there is a slight ‘no one really knows’ vagueness to them. For the most part, of course. No city is ever a Utopia, and there are those who give newly arrived people flat looks, and answer questions with short and curt monotoned responses.

There are conversations happening at some parts of the table that aren’t meant for you to hear; they’re just whispered snippets of something about ‘Cruz doesn’t know what she wants.’ Or ‘Tearing is keeping it all under wraps of course, because that’s what she does.’ More common are grumbled complaints about ‘that bastard Tinder won’t stop just because…’ When they notice someone listening, they definitely glare at the listener. But whatever else, and however many secrets they may be keeping from the newcomers, the people complaining seem honest about it.

There’s a huge food table on one side that’s completely loaded with everything one could want. Turkey, and all of the fixings, including vegetarian and vegan options for those who would require them. (Though, someone leans over to mention, “the meat’s not really an animal anyway.”) The food is definitely sort of a potluck, given the variety of types of food in various sorts of serving dishes and states of presentation. Some of the foods include some weird stuff that looks terrible but is delicious. Probably. There are foods thee colors the likes of which only would be found on Earth if someone added an insane amount of food color to them.

Do try the grey stuff though. It’s delicious, ask the dishes. The blue milk? Less so.

However, food isn’t the only thing at the meeting. On the opposite side from the food, there are smaller tables set up with people sitting behind them. In front of the tables are homemade brightly colored signs that advertise things like jobs and clubs. The people and interests here in The Sphere are hugely varied and people are just so earnest to tell newcomers about them. They’re earnest to the point where they may just actually reach out and grab a person in order to force them to stop and to listen to whatever spiel they happen to be working on. Booths that are in attendance for jobs include: Agriculture: “help grow the food that feeds us all! Farming is life!”, The library: “No skill needed! We’ll teach you what you need to know!” The school system: “Teachers wanted! Education is the right of everyone!” Maintenance: “Help keep the domes clean!” As well as various restaurant booths looking for help for both servers and chefs.

For the hobbies involved they are even more varied. Book club: “we live in a multiverse, let’s read the books from it! With wine!” Garden club: “we want to grow stuff on our terms!” Sprinkled among are various skill learning clubs, among them: woodworking club, smithing, robotics, technology, first aid. It seems that despite the fact that no one is required to work in the City, people are still offering skills as needed.

As the night progresses, music starts, and there’s dancing and more adult fare. Liquor is broken out, of various sources from various worlds, including some that offer the Sphere’s own label on them. If discrete enough inquiries are made, a passcode to the Black Market hidden behind some of the stalls is offered. The entrance is hidden enough that someone needs to be looking for it, and there is a rather large bouncer guarding the door and asking for the proper passcode. The passcode of the day happens to be turnips.

Inside the black market is large, but much more dimly lit than the regular market dome that the welcome party was held inside of. There are various pockets of people clustered under bright neon lights. The lights, someone confides to you, are code for what they’re offering. And nearly everything is on offer if a person has the ability to make a trade. Things from home, character skills and even favors tend to be the currency here, but watch out: the hawkers within are shrewd and sharp. If they make a deal with someone, it’s nearly always going to favor them. Eventually.

There’s also a large and loud party happening inside. Think of a rave with a large amount of people who happened to be a bit out of their minds. Drugs aren’t given freely here, they’re too valuable, but should someone want to figure out what they’re rolling on, eventually someone will ask or offer. The drug that they are currently using is called ‘self’ and it’s something that affects your character in an intensely personal way. For some, it’s an experience like your favorite cocktail mixed with a vicodin, and for others it’s just like being drunk. For still more people, it’s like ecstasy without the side effects.

The drug has no physically addicting properties.

Welcome to my nightmare.
For anyone within the architecture dome, the library dome, the sunlight rec dome and any personal dome that people chose, around midnight people will have a curiously tired sensation. They just need to rest their eyes for a moment, or some may fall asleep for longer. No matter the length of time that the character is out, the nightmare infects them, and when they wake they will be filled with a curious but urgent sensation.

They have lost something. The loss can be a physical object, an emotion, a memory, a person or perhaps a sense of self. If the lost person is currently present in the game, they will be unable to be seen by the character who is experiencing the waking nightmare. Urgency will grip the character, because the longer the sensation goes on for, the worse it becomes. Characters can search and scrounge for their loss everywhere, but until the nightmare is over, they will not find whatever it is. Even if it is themselves. Instead, they may be frantic, angry, or just play old scared to death. They need to find this at whatever cost. Where they may find it is something that their own brains will settle on, but of course until the nightmare is over, they will not be able to.

The nightmare ends with either the character falling into a normal, restful sleep naturally or through some other means (someone might mention the infirmary has sedation medication just for the is purpose, or that there’s always a brick) or when they are woken with the intervention of someone else. The intervention of someone else is entirely up to you, and can come from a player character or a NPC, depending on how the player is feeling with the thread. By intervention we mean someone who is able to talk the person out of the nightmare, or to slap or shake them out, or to use some sort of trick that shows them that they are indeed inside of a nightmare. The knowledge that someone is affected by a nightmare must come from an external source, and should come from a character that your character would trust. After all, would you believe someone who told you that you were in a nightmare if you didn’t know that? That said, the best way to deal with waking someone is to remove them from the affected domes. Too bad you don’t know which domes are affected.

Harvest time

The Council hopes that you enjoyed the party the other night, because now it’s time to put out the call for volunteers to come in and help with replenishing the city’s stores from the fields and orchards in the agricultural domes. Your friend neighborhood councillor in charge, Annie Cruz has sent out a message that volunteers who come in to help out will be given payment in the form of lunch and beer and wine.

The jobs involved are varied, and involve harvesting crops such as corn, picking apples or grapes and handing out water or the boxed lunches provided. People will be assigned an area and given a bucket or basket in order to put the fruits of their labor inside of. Either way, there’s a festive atmosphere, and most people who have been there longer than your character seem to be old hat at this.

There’s even a large tub of grapes for people to smash with their feet (“but for fuck’s sake make sure they’re clean first!”). If asked about it, someone will explain that the city makes its own wine and brews its own beer every season! A good chunk of the things picked, you are told slyly, will probably end up drunk rather than eaten, “once the off the top happens.” If asked to explain it, a character will just touch their nose slyly and not say any more. It’s also explained that the grapes crushed with people’s feet don’t actually end up in the general bottles of wine: they’re not savages here!

So, jump in and help with something, or sit down and have lunch and just get to know the people around you with a glass of wine or beer. You’re all here for the foreseeable future, might as well!

Network!

In the Sphere, the network is neural, and accessed via touching the glowing golden circle behind your character’s ear. They can identify themselves with a screen name if you so desire, but messages should be one of three ways or a combination of them. 1. Audio. Your character thinks audible words onto the network. 2. Writing: Your character thinks text into the network. 3. Video. Your character projects a broadcast of a video of themselves onto the network. Replies are determined by the player.

The network needs to be accessed by choice, so character broadcasts are not automatically beamed directly into people’s heads. The Sphere isn’t that rude.

Private messages are allowed by pressing and holding and pressing and holding again as you picture the person in your mind. This can be an image or a name, err more on the side of things being more accessible than less.

Wildcard!
This can be meeting a possible roommate or dorm mate (if one is choosing to go that route), the use of a communal kitchen, waking up and dealing with the things that you were just told about the City, yelling at the sphere, or anything else that your little heart desires. Go nuts.

OOC note: if you feel that something requires an NPC interaction, please go to here and reply with a link and a brief summary of why you need it and the mod will try and be accomodating.

Comments

Richard Strand | The Black Tapes Podcast

[nobasisinfact]

Welcome ...

Richard had never been one for merrymaking or festivals. He had, of course, gone to them; he'd even gone to them with Charlie years ago when she was small. This strange free-range Thanksgiving was a bit more absurd than he was used to allowing into his life (not that he'd actually 'allowed' it in his life. It had been thrust upon him) however and he wasn't particularly pleased that this whole kidnapping ordeal had ruined the dinner plans that he had just made. After all, it was entirely possible that tomorrow he was walking into a trap and would be murdered by a megalomaniac of a cult leader who seemed obsessed with him. Something that, while he wasn't keen on, he wasn't about to attempt to escape by being trapped in an underwater prison of, someone's, making.

Still, he hadn't eaten, and he was hungry. Getting something to eat and listening to what people had to explain about this place wasn't the worst idea that had crossed his mind today.

Harvest

The fact that someone had asked Richard to help was completely ridiculous to him. Aside from a small few, no one asked Richard to help. Especially not with farming. It just wasn't an area that Richard was well acquainted with.

When he'd arrived, he had no intention of helping, but then there was the offer of wine and he did has a fondness for it. So, of course, he found himself in the orchards picking apples. In a full suit none-the-less.

Harvest

[customplates]

No one ever had to convince Aaron to give a hand in a shared community. He'd survived the apocalypse in one, he'd defended one more than once, hell, back home they were currently defending it again. Gathering and cultivating food was important for everyone and he wasn't afraid of lending a helping hand.

Aaron, though, was clad in warm but loose pants that afforded for ease of movement, what looked like hiking boots, and a slightly flannel looking shirt in blue plaid, sleeves rolled up and ready for work. He sat a basket at the base of one of the apple trees, being slightly over six feet tall giving him the ability to pick the low-hanging fruit without the need for a stool.

No one could avoid seeing Richard, though, and he smiled slightly as he watched the other man, clearly unaccustomed to manual labor, picking on the tree next to him.

"You're new to this whole orchard thing, aren't you?"

Re: Harvest

[nobasisinfact]

The comment takes Richard a bit by surprise. Most people have been avoiding him - either because of the fact that they think he's an idiot for picking apples in a full suit or because he has a very intimidating look (being over six feet tall and having a sour personality). So someone walking up to him and actually attempting to engage with him was surprising; maybe slightly concerning for the other party's sense of asshole. Still, he looked down from his perch on the ladder to see an equally tall man dressed rather casually.

"It isn't my first choice in recreational activities." It was, surprisingly, more engaging of an answer than Richard usually gave. If pressed, he'd blame it on Alex and being in this weird delusion that was clearly the cause of something that either Warren had concocted or had something to do with the wine and meal he didn't remember making. "I would assume that you have."

Re: Harvest

[customplates]

"Recreational makes it sound like not gathering food is an option." Which, from personal experience, it wasn't. While Aaron really hated applesauce, apples themselves were delicious, and a good source of vitamins when there weren't many to be found.

He nods at Richard's question though, smiling. "And yeah, I have. I do. Where I come from, going to the supermarket and swiping a card isn't really an option anymore." He nods in Richard's direction. "Nice suit."

Re: Harvest

[nobasisinfact]

Apocalyptic, it figured. The so-called 'demon apocalypse' had been on both his and Alex's mind of late - more Alex's, so of course there would be someone who was living through it in their delusion. Of course, there's a part of him that's curious about how far their minds had taken this (Alex's mind tended to run away with everyone in the room, so he could easily assume it was as far as this would let them), so he felt the need to ask. "Demons?" Not that he believed in them, demons weren't real, but Alex believed in them, so it wasn't a far stretch to have it here.

[customplates]

Demons? The question posed almost innocuously, caught Aaron off guard and made him pause in his apple picking and just blink at the man for a moment. Demons were monsters used by the church and other philosophies to explain the evils of man, and it has been his clear experience that 'man' is perfectly good at being downright evil all on his own.

Did demons end the world though? He shook his head. "No. Disease. The dead started to rise, they spread it by feeding. Society crumbled in weeks."

[nobasisinfact]

Well, that was a new concept for them. Demons, cults, math, all of those had been things pervading his and Alex's daily life. Zombies, however, had never come into play. They hadn't even watched a single movie or TV show with the concept in it. At least not together.

"I see." There wasn't much else that he could say about it. Delusion or not, it was still a horrible thing for someone to have to deal with.

[customplates]

The idea of meeting new people, of convincing them of the bastion they'd built at Alexandria? That's old news. Aaron was a recruiter for the safe-zone for over a year, but he never once, not ever, thought he would have to explain The End to anyone. It was unavoidable, after all. Everyone knew what had happened. They'd all lived through it.

He clears his throat awkwardly. "It's...okay." And then he chuckles slightly, shaking his head. "Well, it's not great, but we're surviving. That's what humans do, and we built a community. We survive together, so yeah, I'm used to it."

But that doesn't really explain Richard's initial assumption. "Why demons? That's...pretty specific."

[nobasisinfact]

Richard was well aware of how awkward the situation had just become; especially since he didn't believe in demons or the end of the world through a demon apocalypse. Of course, a delusion would ask though. It wouldn't be a proper one if it didn't.

So it was clearly time to change the narrative. "Not really." The comment is almost casual. After all, Richard was good at altering the truth to suit his needs. "Demonic can take on quite a bit, metaphorically speaking. Mutually assured destruction through nuclear war, for example. One might call those who caused such an end demonic."

Harvest

[11calls]

Of course if there was a call for help, Alex was going to come through and help if then, for no other reason, she likes to help. And of course she also likes to be able to talk to the people that they are helping in order to see if she can get any more information out of them. That's always important, after all. Especially when you still have no idea what the hell is going on in the circumstances that you've happened to be found within. So, her hair is braided down one side over her shoulder, and she's carrying her shoes in one hand. The white of her feet happens to be stained a dark purple, because if Alex is given the offer to try something she's never done before, she's going to take it.

No matter how stupid Richard thinks it is. She's not an idiot, and she knows he's going to think that was dumb as hell. Still was fun though!

There's a rather large grin on her face when she looked up at him, and the amusement is easily seen below her glasses as she watched him pick the apples for a moment before she mused aloud: "you know, if I didn't know you as well as I do, Richard, I'd be surprised that you're still wearing a suit to pick apples. But then again, I was there when you hiked up to a creepy cabin in one." Like an idiot may go unspoken at the end of that sentence. Because honestly how could it not?

Re: Harvest

[nobasisinfact]

Richard looked down, brow raising at the all too familiar voice of Alex Reagan. She was, shoeless, and looked exactly as one would expect her to look. Completely and stupidly at home in a place that more than anything else, probably didn't exist. Yet here she was, doing whatever she wanted; and what she wanted was to help with a harvest - and mock him for refusing the dirty his suitcoat by putting it down. "Would you prefer I removed it?" There's a tinge of amusement, knowing what the statement would do to her when she accidentally imagined it.

[11calls]

When his brow raised, Alex couldn't help the little smirk from forming on her lips, because he knew her, and honestly there was no way that he had to have expected that she'd do anything else with this. Yes, it was terrible that they were kidnapped, yes it was complete bullshit, but yet, they were in an entirely different place with technology that shouldn't be there, so if he was going to consider her delusional for accepting it, then he would. He couldn't change her mind on that, and she couldn't change his so the two of them were at an impasse.

Maybe that was really what happened when an unstoppable force met an immovable object.

Still, her eyes sparkled brightly at him for a moment when he mentioned taking his coat off, and she just shrugged. "I'm not a Victorian who's going to swoon at the sight of your metaphoric ankles, Richard. I have seen you in shirtsleeves before."

[nobasisinfact]

He had expected her to go deeper on that suggestion and it was a bit disappointing that she didn't, but then again, Alex was often more innocent to those sort of things than he expected. So of course, and especially because of her comment, he felt the need to clarify as he dropped an apple down to her.

"I meant the suit."

[11calls]

Oh, he wanted a reaction, and he got one. The smirk grew even as Alex's face grew quite hot and crimson indeed. In the end, she just laughed quickly, the sound ringing out in the orchid with abandon.

She definitely caught the apple, though.

"Oh please, Richard," she said after a moment, the color not receding quite yet even as her smirk lingered pointedly. "Like you'd ever get that naked in public." The unspoken statement there was that Alex, herself would, especially when she gestured with her shoes. Which of course were already off.

[nobasisinfact]

The reaction was a satisfying one. It was always excessively satisfying when he could make Alex shut up, even for a few moments.

"Some of us have dignity." There was the lingering implication that she didn't. Not that he'd think she'd disagree with the assessment after everything that had happened in the last three years.

[11calls]

"And some of us think that dignity is overrated." The comeback was reflexive and instinctive honestly. This was what they did, and what they had did for the last three years. People tended to think that it was far more cantankerous than it actually was--if someone asked her, Alex would have been glad to inform them that this was how the two of them flirted. and that it was fine.

Okay, better than fine. This was them.

Harvest

[arachnis]

"Well," comes the comment from directly behind him, just to the left. "I feel under dressed now."

She's standing at the tree just a few feet away, holding a basket on her hip. It's filled with apples, and while she's not exactly dressed for agriculture work (leather jacket, skinny jeans, knee high boots, aviator sunglasses perched on her head), it's significantly more casual than he is.

She hadn't really been prepared for any of this either, but she could get information about this place while helping out. Two birds, one stone, etc.

Re: Harvest

[nobasisinfact]

He turns to look back at the woman, appraising her for a moment and taking in her equally absurd attire. At least he wasn't the only one looking relatively ridiculous in this situation.

"I'd offer you my jacket to help, but you already seem to have one." Even while watching her he continued to pick the apples he was putting into his own bucket.

[arachnis]

She laughs at that, a short huff that comes mostly from her nose.

"I don't think yours would fit me," she says, a tiny smirk curling up at the corner of her mouth. "But I appreciate the offer. I'm guessing you were asked to come to help at the last possible minute?"

[nobasisinfact]

"I hadn't planned to help." He'd be the first to admit that he wasn't a helpful person. The sooner people realized that, the better. And yet, here he was, picking apples. It was a strange thing, even for him to fathom. Of course, he dismissed it as a need for wine and information.

"I assume you're in a similar situation - or are you the ever ready and helpful type in disguise?" There was a slight smirk as he said that.

[arachnis]

"What can I say? I'm a helper."

Natasha lifts a shoulder in a shrug, abandoning her tree to join him at his.

"Natasha Romanoff."

[nobasisinfact]

She didn't entirely look like the helper type, but he wasn't going to press her on it. It didn't matter in the end. Instead, he watched her move up into the tree, smirking slightly. There was a grace in her movements that couldn't be anything but admired.

"Richard Strand."

There was something about Natasha that was interesting. Maybe it was the way she carried herself or the fact that there was clearly more behind what she said than what was stated. It was a subtle dance that he understood too well. "Seeing as how you're not trying to tell me how wonderful this place is, I assume you're a newer arrival."

[arachnis]

"New enough," she replies, reaching up on her tip toes to grab for a lower hanging apple. Even in her heels, she's just shy of being too short, but she's also not about to let that stop her.

She examines the fruit before putting it into her basket.

"I assume you are, too?"

welcome

[otrazhenie]

Elena wasn’t afraid to try some of the more odd foods offered at the meeting; after over a month of eating strange alien cuisine, everything here was rather tame in comparison. A little too brightly colored in some cases, but that didn’t effect the taste. And taste was the only thing that mattered to her about food now; it was easier to eat things that didn’t taste completely terrible when the only reason for her to eat food at all was to keep up appearances. Normal human teenagers didn’t drink from blood bags, after all.

So, with a plateful of small servings of the various dishes, Elena turned to find somewhere to sit and promptly ran right into someone. The plate didn’t go flying though, and the man didn’t end up with one bit of food on him — thanks to vampire reflexes.

Re: welcome

[nobasisinfact]

Richard had nothing like vampire reflexes, but he did have the ability to move his plate in time to not end up wearing it during the collision. One he could only assume happened because of simulated curious distraction from this strange delusion. He had to admit that whomever Warren had paid to create this, or whoever had designed it and put him and Alex inside, had used quite a bit of detail.

He moved to the side to let her pass, after all, nothing particularly heinous had happened. "It might be beneficial to focus in front of you." There's no anger or annoyance in the words, just passing advice.