TEST DRIVE MEME

[nolandmod]

NOTES:

IF BOTH CHARACTERS APP IN AND AGREE, THREADS USING PROMPT 1 CAN BE COUNTED AS GAME CANON.
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PROMPT 1: ARRIVAL

You awake laying on your back in an, admittedly comfortable, pod. You can't move anything but your eyes, can't even feel your body yet. How you got here or why is a blank. You may have been in the middle of your day, asleep, or even- for what you remember- should be dead. Then a screen directly in front of your face flickers to life and in crisp, black and white displays: DON'T PANIC. The following video then plays:

Watch on YouTube

The screen flickers again and reads: CONGRATULATIONS ON PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE! WELCOME TO VAULT LIFE, CITIZEN. WELCOME TO YEAR: [ERROR]. YOUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS ARE LOCATED IN [FILE CORRUPTED. SEE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR]. ENJOY YOUR STAY AND THANK YOU FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT VAULT-TEC.

The pod then unseals and you are able to, unstably at first, climb out of the pod. Your body may feel foreign for a moment- perhaps entirely foreign if you suddenly find yourself a human, ghoul, or super mutant for the first time. But whatever your form, you have two items on: a bright blue jumpsuit with the number 66 in yellow on the back, and a mechanical device known as a Pip-boy sealed onto your arm. If you click on the buttons it takes you to an instruction screen.

You look around to find yourself in a room of other pods. Some are just opening, other people looking as confused as you climbing out. Others remain closed with the status of 'STASIS' on the screens attached to the pods. The rest of the room is less than impressive. Computer systems that seem out of place compared to the technology level of the pods are scattered across the room, apparently running the chambers. Trying to access them, even for the most talented hacker, will simply result in SEE OVERSEER being displayed. There is large metal door leading to the rest of the vault, a lever on the wall next to it that will cause it to open.

Welcome, dweller, to vault 66.

PROMPT 2: SETTLING IN

The living quarters of the vault leave something to be desired. While the current occupants of the vault have made some improvements, it's hard to ignore the pile of skeletons placed into storage (it’s a pretty impressive pile) and the mildew on the beds. It's clear that whatever happened to the last occupants of the vault, whoever they were, it wasn't exactly a peaceful end. The medical wing has some of the worst blood splatter...but that at least you can pretend was from needed medical interventions. Right?

Thankfully, the Vault has power at least. The juke box in the recreation area cheerfully pumps out some jazzy tunes and the refrigerators are happily humming along. There's also clean, if very mineral tasting, water in the sinks, toilets, and showers. There's a pool table if someone can relax enough for a game and doesn't mind the fact it looks like a pool cue shoved in the eye socket may have caused the death of a couple of the previously mentioned skeletons. Further, the kitchen is stocked with some food! It's all pre-apocalypse or some newly collected ‘meat’ (ask the current residents if you want to know), hyper preserved canned goods and sugary cereals that somehow haven't gone bad yet, but it's something.

Today all the local robots have been recalled by the newly found ‘Captain’ to undergo mandatory repairs and maintenance. They’re locked away in the Overseers office, leaving only the human residents to great the newly awakened dwellers. Or to do any of the other day to day tasks in the vault, like make food or keep things tidy. The pool table was cleaned before Louis took off, leaving a fine game open for people to try.

PROMPT 3: A Literal Exodus

The Vault opening earlier in the month lead to a few unintended side effects. First, of course, were the giant mirelurks and their young that had to be fought off. A few weeks later, though, there's a new one: frogs. In the now standing two feet of radioactive water in the entrance area, what used to be eggs in the water turned into tadpoles, then turned into frogs. Not super huge killer frogs or ones that shoot acid, mind you. Just somewhat ugly frogs, occasionally ones with two heads or eight legs or some other small mutation. And without their normal predators around (radroaches don't swim), they're starting to venture into the vault at a somewhat biblical plague level.

Dwellers can find them everywhere, in the food stores, in their beds, merrily croaking in the toilets. Sometimes they can gang up and take out a radroach or two (good for them), but more often or not the roaches will win, meaning even more of these insects are venturing into the open to snatch up these free meals. So the occasional radraoch in the bed may be happening too as they chase down a froggy snack.

Captain Simmons has requested the frogs be herded back into the entry way and that dwellers start working on a way to drain the radioactive water out of the area, but it's not much of a priority. For now, enjoy the newest Vault pets- or eat them, race them, or just get used to waking up to them bouncing on your pillow.

PIP-BOY CHATTER

Post text or audio messages to the pip-boy network to get to know your fellow dwellers!

Comments

Miles Matheson | Revolution

[disinclined]

Settling in

Waking in what amounted to something he'd have seen on any sci fi show before the blackout is hardly something he'd have expected and while it only takes him a few moments to get dressed, his entire demeanor is on edge, gaze taking in the room. The information on where he is, Miles files away before he slips out of the room to start exploring.

For all the dust and grime, the fact there's actually power is something that has him faintly disoriented when he does reach the recreation area and stops dead at seeing the jukebox before heading into the kitchen to find the refrigerator.

Which means, anyone who comes in will probably find him with a bowl of cereal and a cold soda beside the bowl. If it kills him, well, it's been a long time coming and there are worse ways to go than actually having something he hasn't seen in going on two decades.

"..So how long have you been here?" will be the greeting to anyone else who comes in. Not the best conversation starter but it's something.

[Also open to wildcard. He'll probably be in the gym, the rec room or just around. He's a bit of a grumpy jerk but not a bad sort.]

[wildguardian]

"Couple months," Yunlan tosses back, and goes for the water and the kettle. Among the many advantages of a working electrical system: hot water. Maybe they'll find some herbs that can approximate tea at some point, and until then, he'll just go with the truly pathetic option available.

At least making hot water is an important bachelor skill that he mastered shortly after the first time he'd declared his teenage independence.

"So," he continues in a cheerful tone, setting the pot to boil and turning towards the newcomer, "I'm guessing your answer is measured in hours? Welcome to the Vault."

He holds out a hand to shake. "I'm Zhao Yunlan."

[disinclined]

"Miles Matheson and yeah, something like that." He does shake the man's hand, gaze drifting to the kettle, before his lips quirk faintly.

"What do you want me to call you?" Because the way he introduced himself probably means it's safer to ask before he does something stupid and American. Not something he's even had to think about in decades, but it's still there.

[wildguardian]

Well isn't this guy polite. Yunlan's lips quirk in amused echo, and he shrugs, hoisting himself up to perch on the counter while he drums his fingers against his knee.

"My friends call me Old Zhao, but I'm not a stickler. What about you, friend?"

[cicadashell]

"Dunno. I lost count."

He's not keeping track. It doesn't matter anymore from Jiro's perspective. He looks annoyed, and sounds annoyed, and there's a two-headed frog sitting on his shoulder. He grabs a can of soda from the fridge, but it's not for him. He sets a small plate on the counter and pours the soda into it. It's for the frog, who he places beside it. Do they like soda? He doesn't know.

"You've been here just as long anyway, only in a fucking coma or something."

He's pretty sure people aren't being teleported into the pods.

[loveyoudarling]

"Oh? Me?" Wait. Was this a new person? Chocolat was pretty sure she never saw someone like this guy hanging around the vault before. Did that mean that more people were emerging from the pods at a more rapid pace?

Note to self: Check around later to see if Darling is awake.

"Oh I don't know. About two months I think? Although it's pretty easy to lose track of time down here. Why? How long have you been wandering about?"

[princeofcentipedes]

A literal Exodus

Well, this was certainly an unexpected development. Sure, he had died twice already, however, he had never expected to awaken in what looked like something out of a science fiction novel. How peculiar, but he was never one to complain about something so very interesting happening.

If one can get over his rather ghoulish looks, they would see him crouched over the corner of the recreation room, racing several mutated frogs across the floor. He had even made a makeshift racing track using some of the discarded cereal boxes available. Most of them had multiple legs, but one had an odd number of them.

"Ah don't allow them to beat you down Leggy, you can give us an underdog victory!"

If someone would approach, he would offer up one of the frogs to them. A race was more fun if there were others to play with after all.

(Also open to any other scenarios should you wish!)

[wildguardian]

The hunched, decaying figure with the frogs in the corner of the rec room took Yunlan by surprise when he wandered in looking for a cereal box to snack on. His hand flew to the grip of his baton before he took a deep breath and let it fall back to his side.

Whatever that guy was, he was talking. Sensibly.

"Hey," he said, approaching at a casual stroll, and then at the offer of a frog, "--sure! Why don't we make this more interesting? What do you want to bet on the winner?"

[princeofcentipedes]

The response made him look up excitedly.

"Ah! A gambling man I see! That certainly sounds fun"

He sat back tapping on his chin thoughtfully. The frog wriggled in his hand as he finally spoke after a few beats.

"The question is now, what to bet...I'm afraid I just got here and have nothing of real value. I suppose I can part with a body part if that is what you want.. But I cannot say I'm in the best of condition, either." He spoke pretty casually about dismemberment.

"What do you have to offer?"

[wildguardian]

"Keep your body parts! I don't have anything to use 'em for." Yunlan waved a finger at the stranger, who was indeed very strange. "No, let me grab some cereal. We can use it as a placeholder, and the winner gets to snack."

Suiting action to words, he heads over towards the kitchen, picking up one of the half-empty boxes of cereal and a few bowls to avoid getting too much frog slime on them.

[loveyoudarling]

"Umm," Okay, this was most certainly a sight. Chocolat wasn't sure what was more off-putting about the ordeal that was laid out before her. Was it the fact that the frogs suddenly seemed to be somewhat useful within the vault as a form of entertainment, or was it the literal zombie that seemed to be catering said event. None the less the small red-head seemed to be looking over with interest, her confused expression only under overshadowed by the fact that she seemed to be not wearing any shirt at this particular moment. "Did-- Did you train them? What's to stop them from just hopping over that and escaping?"

This is so dumb.

[princeofcentipedes]

The young prince looked over the newcomer, a single thin eyebrow arching up at her lack of shirt. He had a hard time keeping his eyes on her face.

"Punishment.

I didn't train them per se... Only dissuaded them from leaving." he gestured to a few dead frogs hidden by a cereal box.

"Once they knew the consequences, they are so much more willing to cooperate...

Perhaps we can make a maze and grant freedom to the escapee." That sounded fun as well.

[cicadashell]

Jiro's going to ignore the offer of frog racing, though he thinks it's some kind of unethical practice or animal cruelty, but there are more important topics at present. Like the ghoul thing.

"Gross! What the fuck happened to you!?"

[princeofcentipedes]

"Wow. How very rude! Didn't your mother ever teach you not to judge others on their appearances? Do you wander around making fun of the infirm for their infirmaries?"

He placed his head in between his hands in a rather dramatic gesture. His teeth all the more visible under his crackling smile.

"It's a skin condition. I'm very sensitive!!! How cruel!"

It was pretty obvious he was being facetious about it.

Guri | Star Wars Expanded Universe

[marvelous_murderbot]

She has always been very fast. And before her pod's door has even opened fully she has punched a hole in it, ripping it from its hinges, and leapt down to the floor, with the door ready to use as a shield or a club, whichever is necessary. She has never had to suddenly wake up before. And with her robotic strength, there's not any good explanation for how she got here.

After a moment to scan the room, she puts the door down, turning her attention from the current threat level - apparently none - to the machinery that is, apparently, now bonded to her directly. She tries, immediately, to peel it off - but it is bolted directly to her reinforced, artificial arm bones. She'd have to detach the limb to get it off. Interesting.

She had just been getting onto her own feet, too, finding her way in the universe. The only Human Replica Droid who can fight, or kill. And just figuring out who she was away from the malign influence of Black Sun.

Time to explore, try to find whoever is responsible, and see if she can't hammer her way to freedom.

[makeadragonwannaretire]

"Are you done? Because if you still plan on using that door to hit someone I can wait out here."

Azula had made a habit of walking the length of the vault each day, memorizing it's layout, the little nooks and crannies that might be useful to her some day if she should need to stage a mutiny, or an escape.

As it happened she heard the noise and came to investigate. She peered her head around the door, sharp eyes studying the newest member of their ragtag little community.

"And before you ask, I'm not responsible for any of this. I woke up in one of those pods same as you."

[marvelous_murderbot]

"Almost," she replied, her voice calm. Almost unnaturally so.

She picked up the door again, and without any apparent effort ripped the inner layer away from the outer. She spent a few moments trying to identify parts, to scavenge what she could. But it was all so...foreign. Nothing made sense. Aside from a few tiny power sources, which she picked out, just in case. Waste not, want not.

"I doubted you were," she finally replied, standing tall again, "you don't seem the type."

She doesn't elaborate on what that means. But more that her advanced scanners are pretty good at picking up when baseline humans are lying. It doesn't work so good on Hutts. But then again, they're almost always lying. They get nervous when they have to tell the truth.

Wu Xie | The Grave Robber's Note Series

[gravescholar]

Arrival
It shouldn't even surprise him about waking up in an entirely new place any more. Sure his days of adventure and mysteries was far behind him, but there was still a large part of him that knew that the adventures were only on hold. He was from the Hangzhou Wu family after all. They may have declined but they still held power.

Still, he wasn't exactly thrilled by this either. Wu Xie had given up on adventures after all. He was tired of all it and just wanted to spend his days pretending he didn't owe his Uncle Two enough money to buy himself an island. But no, someone had to sneak him out of his room to wherever this was and stuff him into what felt like a... coffin?

As that thought hit, Wu Xie's eyes fully opened and he shot upright, looking around quickly before looking down and - oh, he didn't remember having any clothing like this before. It was almost uncomfortably like a wetsuit in a way, complete with some kind of device on his forearm. Frowning, he smacks it and the loud screech of static had him let out a startled yelp as he slapped at the buttons to shut the thing off.

Then he pulls himself out of the pod - what kind of weird tomb was this? - and heads for the nearest way out. Which means there's a good chance a rather youthful looking man of Chinese decent is stand confused at a tunnel knocking a code into the nearest wall that sounds a bit like modified Morse code.

[wildguardian]

Yunlan's recently back from his expedition out of the Vault; he still smells vaguely of swamp, despite scrubbing himself for a solid hour in the shower, three times. It's probably his rat-leather jacket. He's not giving that up, though. Every little bit that makes him feel like he's actually himself, he's hanging on to as hard as he can.

There's little enough.

He skids to a stop as he comes around the corner of the tunnel to find a stranger. The man's turned away, knocking industriously at a wall in some kind of weird code. Zhao Yunlan's pretty sure he'd remember that mussed hair. Had he made his way out of the pod and out here? Somehow?

"If you're trying to pass on a message, my friend, voices work better!" he calls.

[gravescholar]

"Actually we've found that talking in code is far easier than yelling down halls, especially in unfamiliar systems, though -" Wu Xie pauses, looking up at the ceiling and huffing "- this isn't a tomb like normal."

And then he realizes he just started talking to someone coming up behind him and he knows that Fatty and Kylin would both give him various levels of grief for being so utterly trusting to let a complete stranger come behind him, so he turns around quickly, pressing his back against the wall. It limited his movements somewhat but at least this wall isn't like others where things sat in tiny holes waiting to grab him.

"Hi?"

Zuko | Avatar: The Last Airbender

[burningdownfate]

arrival.

Breathe. Just breathe. In and out. Just...

... he's not breathing right. It's not working. Zuko is standing outside his pod, eyes wide as he stares back at it. (Well, one eye. The other, right in the middle of an obvious burn scar covering most of the left side of his face, is mostly permanently narrowed.) He's got a hand over the thing on his wrist, pointedly not even trying to deal with that one just yet.

If this is a dream, it's the weirdest one yet and he's had some odd ones.

"...what..." Ugh, is that his voice? Even in the midst of anxiety (he's not panicking) he's annoyed with himself for that odd whisper.

settling in.
He's going to go exploring. Really, he is. He needs to find ways to defend himself. (Apparently firebending doesn't exist here and he'd be more annoyed by that if, one, he had more energy, and two, he hadn't spent literal months hiding that he could firebend.) He needs to figure out what's going on. He needs to meet people, do some networking.

Figure out how to get home because he has a nation to run.

Instead, he's sitting in the recreation room with a bowl of dry cereal. He's tossing more of them into a bowl a few feet away than he's eating. (It's cloyingly sweet.)

He really should get up and do something...

Zuko picks up a bit of cereal and aims it at someone walking by; he doesn't throw it but he's sorely tempted.

arrival

[wildguardian]

"Hey there! Just take a deep breath."

The panicked look in this boy's eyes is getting more and more familiar to Zhao Yunlan -- well, the look in the eye that's easier to read, anyway; the other's in the middle of a scar that looks worse than Fire's. That's a hell of a thing to see. Kid's lucky he didn't lose the eye.

Yunlan steps away from the door, spreading his hands, open and empty. He's in a blue jumpsuit, twin to Zuko's except for the mud stains and a few unmended rips, with a jacket of home-tanned, sparsely furred leather over it.

"This place is a lot to take in, I know. But we're all friendly here. What's your name?"

[burningdownfate]

The greeting has Zuko jumping back, his right fist pulled back high, as if he's ready to throw an odd punch from roughly shoulder-height. He stands there for a moment, tense, until he takes in the raised empty hands. Slowly, he drops his fist.

"What's going on?"

Deep breathes, yeah. That's a good idea. "Zuko." He says it abruptly. "My name's Zuko."

Settling in

[makeadragonwannaretire]

Azula was still not sleeping well.

Months now and she had scoured this Vault for secrets but still...still in the dark of the "night" she would find herself starring into the darkness wondering who was watching them.

Perhaps it was time to accept that this place, this world was not some kind of hell to torment her specifically. The connections to her own world were tenuous at best.

Yes clearly it was time to take a breath, accept things as they were and move forward. She collected her daily items including her sword and found her way to the Rec room...

Where she promptly froze in place, eyes wide in shock. She felt her heart skip several beats.

"You..."

[burningdownfate]

Too late, he realizes who he's actually aiming at. For some reason, while his mind is racing at the sight of her, he tosses the piece of cereal in her general direction. He can't firebend and he has no weapon so might as well make use of what he has. Cereal, it is. Maybe it'll distract her long enough for him to...

... to do something. She's armed and that's not great.

He stands up, bowl still in hand (because he can throw it if all else fails.) "Stand down, Azula."