riverview: test drive meme

[riverviewmod]

riverview test drive meme

Welcome to Riverview's first test drive meme! Feel free to dip your toes in on the test drive meme to try out your character in the setting, play out a mission, and get samples for your application at the same time!

● Reserves are currently OPEN.
● Applications open on March 1st.
● All threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon once the game is up and running.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points.

Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own scenario. The setting is built to be flexible, so feel free to make things up as you go.

information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● navigation

prompt i: batten down the hatches

If the sky has seemed a little more yellow-green than usual for the past couple of days, there's a reason for that. Meteorologists have been warning of a particularly nasty storm blowing in from the direction of the Delta in the Southwestern part of the Abandoned City.

The Quarantine is about to be hit by a nasty typhoon, and there's a lot to be done. Whether you're helping sandbag the banks of the river, which is bound to be swollen by the storm and flooding, weatherproofing your building, or just huddling indoors for warmth and helping reassure your friends, family, or partner that everything will be okay, it's time to take action!

prompt ii: monster madness

There's been a lot of talk around the Quarantine about the various predators and monsters outside the fence, and how they've been getting steadily more active, crowding the fences, trying to leap over them, seemingly driven by some kind of mania. There have even been increasing instances of predators that normally mind their own business attacking the fences wholesale, slamming into it over and over as if they're trying to find a weakness.

The good news? The fences have been holding. So far.

The bad news? They won't be holding for much longer.

The Perimeter Guard is in a bad way, and it's all hands on deck. They've also sent out a few of the Perimeter Guard Cadets to post up flyers around the city asking for temporary help in fighting off the beasts. So pick up whatever weapon you're best with, hop onto a truck transport, and head on over to the fences to help drive off the monsters and keep the Quarantine safe.

prompt iii: hold your lover close

With a storm rolling in that's going to keep everyone indoors, that might cause power outages, and is just frankly pretty scary, a lot of the clubs, restaurants, and hotels are doing special events to keep everyone's brains occupied and flooded with endorphins.

There are flyers around the city advertising various couples activities: speed dating, dance classes, overnight pool parties, and all-expenses-paid lovers' nights in.

The catch? The great deals only count if you're a twosome. So if you don't have someone to love, hit up speed dating in the indoor courtyard of Riverview's largest mall, or grab the first person you see and take the opportunity.

prompt iv: solution

After a day or two of storm activity, things are definitely not getting better: the rain is torrential, the monsters are attacking with increased energy and decreased rest times, and the distractions are starting to wear thin. Power outages happen off and on, a very rare situation in Riverview Quarantine.

The government has put out an all-points-bulletin imploring anyone with an exploratory spirit to help.

From what government science techs can tell, the storm isn't natural - after all, even the meteorologists were saying that the pressure systems seemed extremely strange. They've managed to narrow the cause to an area in the delta where the storm seems to be originating from, and are broadcasting the general location so anyone with the guts can head out into the storm and try to find the source of it.

Any characters who decide to penetrate the jungle in search of the source will find a device in the shape of a pyramid, with glowing blue edges about a day's walk into the Abandoned City. The pyramid is a malfunctioning weather control device that is causing wild pressure fluctuations and causing the storm as well as making the animals in the jungle aggressive and erratic. Characters can destroy or deactivate the device to end the storm.

This mission can be threaded out however you would like, in groups however large you would like, and more than one team can accomplish the goal.

prompt v: wildcard/network

Whether you're looking for help with a mission or just want to get to know your fellow new arrivals, your character can make a post to the network.

Or you can choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!

navigation

Comments

[signifies]

[ She doesn't seem the type to be dishonest on purpose. Losing her world, and trying to make sure he doesn't lose the one he has left. It's a very deep wound, and he knows how it feels on one's shoulders.

No point dwelling, so he keeps walking, now in complete silence. ]

( yes, I'd love to c: )

[pundemic]

[It's comfortable. Ellie's learned to wear silence like a second skin.

But eventually her curiosity makes itself known and as she's stepping over a fallen log,]

What's it like? Kansas. In 2013.

[signifies]

I'm from a small town. Everyone knows everyone else, works hard, and pulls together.

[ Smallville had been his next stop after Metropolis. The community had already raised two-thirds of the money to rebuild. A little help from Superman didn't hurt.

He pauses to brush away the last few fronds, so she can stand next to him and look over the city. ]

It's not a place people stop in if they were heading somewhere else.

[pundemic]

[The thing is, all of that could just as easily apply to Boston. Small zone, everybody knows everybody. They work hard because there's no choice, it's that or you starve.

But there's something soft about how he says it. Boston was her city but it was never her home. She never had one of those, not any physical place. It was something she could grasp at when she was with Riley, and later with Joel. But this... this is more like listening to Henry talk about Harleys.

She steps up beside him and glances out across the ruins as the dying light withdraws its burnt fingers like a living thing being dragged away. She shivers.]

It sounds nice. I'd've stopped there.

[signifies]

[ He smiles down at her. She'd be welcome at his house. His mother has a soft spot for strays. ]

I have a shelter just over there, and it has enough space for two. You can stay if you like.

[pundemic]

[She shrugs.]

Sure. I'll shoot you if you pull any bullshit, though. Just fair warning.

[She's not one to hesitate. Not ever again.]

[signifies]

[ Clark smiles and nods.

The shelter itself can hold off wind and rain, has a narrow entrance. Inside it's wide enough for a fire. It's cosy inside, and Clark takes his spot closest to the forest, as their first line of defence. Ellie has clear shots from her end.

Clark's had time to scrounge up blankets to make it seem homelier. He busies himself with a stack of firewood. ]

So where are you from, Ellie? Do you know the year?

[pundemic]

[She tucks herself into a corner with her back to cold stone and watches as he starts a fire. It doesn't even occur to her that it might be strange that he knows how. Some life skills are just... necessary, to her. Knowing how to hunt, to trap, to kill. She can rationalize a time when they weren't integral to survivor but she can't really imagine it.

She sets her rifle beside her, careful not to point it an anything but the ground or the sky, and draws up her knees.]

I'm kinda from all over. [Boston doesn't own any piece of her heart, but that doesn't mean she wants to talk about it to a near stranger.] And it's June, 2034.

[signifies]

[ She's twenty years ahead, a world paralysed by this plague she's mentioned. This place must be like an alien planet, another feeling he's familiar with.

Once a fire's going, Clark takes out some homemade skewers, and a bowl they can use to heat the soup in his backpack. He spreads it out between them. ]

Here, help yourself. I have enough for a few days.

[pundemic]

[She... has Issues taking food from other people, and she's not hungry enough that she really needs to eat. It's only been around ten hours since she had anything substantive but she's been snacking on and off throughout the day on some of the local edible flora.

She considers it. Then she tucks her hands into her hoodie pocket and comes out with a kerchief wrapped around some a decent amount of blueberries.]

You're planning on being out here that long by yourself? Do you hate people or something?

[signifies]

[ He smiles. ]

I grew up on a farm. The most I saw of other people were at school or when we went to town for supplies. I've moved to a big city, but I'm not that used to it. Sometimes, it's just nice to be somewhere quiet, don't you think?

[ Where there's only her and not an overwhelming number of sounds to keep track of. Clark lives two lives now, and he's seeing the lengths people are willing to go to when they want to know about Superman. It's not going to stop. ]

[pundemic]

[She'd been out in the middle of nowhere because she wanted her own company. Because she's mad and hurting and she doesn't know how to manage the pitch and yaw of her own loneliness. But this is-- it's nice. He seems nice, anyway, and he's not really setting off any of her instincts as someone she should be wary about.

And he's wearing plaid. Fuckin' Joel.]

I think I can get that.

[A pause. She reaches out to take one of the blueberries from the kerchief.]

Listen... about what I told you. Don't-- tell anyone else, okay?

[signifies]

[ Clark raises an eyebrow. Then, he nods. ]

You have my word.

[ It will help her feel more safe. ]

[pundemic]

[It's her story to tell. And if she runs into other people she feels might be at risk for the whole... bullshit, she wants to be the one to tell them personally. It should come from a survivor, not a stranger.

She rubs at her arm, smooths down the fabric over it.]

Thanks.

[signifies]

[ She's been picking at that sleeve, and it doesn't smell right. Clark focuses. There's some kind of fungus on her skin. It's in her blood.

Is she staying out here because she's contagious? He doubts it. She would have left him if she thought he was in danger from her. ]

Ellie? Do you mind if I ask you some questions about the plague?

[pundemic]

[She startles a little, like he's pulled her out of some reverie. She looks at him, and then to the fire.]

Yeah, sure. Whatever you wanna know.

[signifies]

[ It's a thousand yard stare.

She also hasn't touched his food.

Clark pulls a small notebook and pencil out of his backpack, and opens it to a fresh page. ]

What are the symptoms of an infection? How long does it last? Is there any way to contain it?

[pundemic]

[She swallows.]

There are two ways to transfer it. At least... that I know about. One, you get... bit by somebody, or... you know, blood or saliva transfer, so if one of them bleeds on you, in your mouth or on a cut or something, it's-- well, you're pretty fucked. The other way is, uh... the fungus releases spores, so if there's a dead infected body around you need to watch out for that. Thank fuck they aren't microscopic, you can see them in the air. But breathing them in, that turns you too.

[She exhales, and shifts around until she's sitting cross-legged. One hand is back in her hoodie pocket, gripping tight around that knife. The other reaches for a handful of blueberries. She chews thoughtfully while she thinks about how to describe it.]

So you've got somebody that's bit. The bite starts lookin' real bad in just a few hours. Obvious infection along the veins and arteries, you know? The skin turns this-- burnt red. Fever. Can't walk or talk real well. And whoever it is-- whoever got bit, they stop being a person. The fungus takes over, and then they're just... they're gone.

[She looks up at him, meets his eyes. She doesn't shy away from this.]

There is no 'how long does it last'. It's not like a cold. It's terminal. Every time. [Not always, but that's personal.] And as for containment... best you got is to kill them before they kill you.

[signifies]

[ He writes this down. If it spreads in the blood would amputation work as a last resort? Death is a final solution. To think they use it first is a desperate world. ]

Was anyone working on a cure that you know of?

[pundemic]

[Marlene. The Fireflies. There had to be more people. All across the world, who were trying. That's what humans do, isn't it? They keep trying?

But Ellie sets her jaw.]

No. They stopped.

[signifies]

[ He keeps writing. Whatever her world is like, he doesn't think humans would give up.

Something has happened. ]

If done fast enough, does amputation work? What about cauterisation?

[pundemic]

No. Nothing works. Trust me, it's-- it's all been tried.

[It's a hopeless fight, but she's not a hopeless person. It's hard.]

[signifies]

[ Clark closes his notebook. This is a difficult subject, and he'd rather not let it drag. ]

Thank you for telling me. If I have any more questions, I'll ask you.

[ He picks up one of the granola bars, takes a bite, and chews thoughtfully. ]

[pundemic]

Yeah, well. You know.

[She flaps her hand. Tries for a smile.]

Open book, and all.

[signifies]

[ Open book, huh? ]

Not feeling hungry?