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riverviewooc2017-03-20 10:20 am
riverview: test drive meme
Welcome to Riverview's 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 April 1st.
● Providing all parties are amenable, threads on the test drive meme can count as game canon, as the plot in the prompts presented is game canon.
● TDM threads do not count for Activity Check, but they do count for Activity Bonus Points, so long as all characters involved are accepted into the game.
● Since this particular TDM is plot-heavy, current players are welcome to do their own top-levels to interact with the plot. However, since it is still a TDM intended to help potential new players get involved, there will be a special additional +25 Activity Point bonus for any thread submitted by a current player that involves a potential new character rather than focusing on existing CR, for this TDM post.
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. Thanks to player-created plots, this month's Test Drive is set to effect the game setting for the next few months, so please enjoy!
information resources
premise ● arrival ● setting ● ask a question ● calendar ● navigation
plot overview
After just over a week of increasingly serious blackouts and brownouts around the city, the team in charge of the structural integrity and defense of the wall has found the source of the problem, and posted a network entry explaining that the issue is caused by a large quantity of lizard-like monsters that have compromised the underground infrastructure of the city, and requesting volunteers to help do a full-scale manual extermination of monsters and assess the damage and do urgent repairs.
The most urgent request presented is for people to help clear out the monsters in the underground tunnels - and there are a lot of them! With estimated monster numbers in the area of 500-1000, ranging from adult to juvenile, there's a lot of work to be done to clear out the underground infrastructure of the city. The Perimeter Guard will have a steady stream of transport trucks going to escort any fight-capable residents who want to volunteer out to the tunnels. They will also provide weapons of various varieties as well as short training sessions on how to use them safely in a confined space for anyone who doesn't have their own.
Whether you fight with a weapon, your fists, magic, or poison darts, your help is more than welcome down in the tunnels. The only real request is to keep seismic or explosive abilities or attacks on the mild side, and to be careful not to poison the city's water supply! Other than that, go wild.
Clearing out monsters is all well and good, but they have definitely done some damage to the city's infrastructure. So it isn't just the brawn that needs to step up to help the city, it's the brains. There's a call for anyone with any kind of special ability that would help with emergency repairs. Whether it's engineers, chemists, anyone with first aid, runners to distribute supplies, or any other special ability that would help out in the underground tunnels and fix some of the damage that's been done, anyone is welcome to help. And if you think it's just scientists who are needed, think again - magic is a well-known if not-well-understood facet of life in Riverview Quarantine, and some of this stuff works on a more arcane level than a mundane one.
And, of course, all of these brainiacs are going to need a little backup, so any bruisers to act as escort and protection are also welcome.
Not everyone has the skills or desire to head out into the jungle and fight for the city, and that's perfectly fine. Inside the Quarantine walls, life is carrying on as normally as it can. That is, aside from the ongoing blackouts.
Wherever you might be in the city, you run a pretty decent risk of getting trapped somewhere for a short period of time. Whether it's trapped in an elevator, a tram car, a store, the housing you share with someone you barely know, or anywhere else in the city, it could happen to you. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship or a meet-cute to tell your grandkids about...at least, that is, if you get along with the person you're stuck with...
Whether your character is posting up a silly word game to distract people from the dangerous mission going on, trying to get hold of a friend, or putting out feelers for people to go out into the fray with, the network is going strong.
Alternately, an offer for a new, free app is popping up on people's devices - Friendr is a friend-finder and/or dating app. If characters choose to install it, they will fill out a short bio and parameters for what they're looking for, upload a snap of themselves, and then proceed to browse for matches. This is a typical swipe-left-or-right type app.
Many thanks to
mistojen for coding this especially for Riverview!Choose your own adventure and do something else in the setting!
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Hanzo hasn't changed at all. once he might have even considered change to be nothing more than a ruse, but Genji has changed so much, and perhaps, then, Hanzo is the one that is simply incapable of it. ]
Did you. [ it comes out thin, pained. he shakes his head as if to disregard it, and goes on in a more level tone: ] I suppose someone had to succeed in teaching it to you eventually.
[ it's not biting, or bitter — it's a miserable thing. because Hanzo, of course, had failed. he has known that for a long time now; that the blame for how things ended between them lies with him alone, because if he had been able to bring Genji into line, if he had been able to make him understand... but he hadn't. Genji's death is his burden for more than the fact that he was the one to wield the blade, and now Genji has finally learnt what Hanzo was too weak to make him see. ]
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It really isn't fair at all, is it? Genji has always had people around him wanting to help. Of course he wanted nothing to do with it for the most part, but even in Overwatch there were people who tried. Amari, Morrison, Reyes... it wasn't until he stumbled into the path of his Master that universe started to make sense again.
And his brother has always had nobody but himself. There is a surge of self hatred so sudden in his chest that it almost gives him whiplash— if he hadn't been such a brat, his brother would not be in this pitiful state — he steadies his breath and presses it back down. There was no fixing it then. Only way to move was forward.
So Genji laughs again, a light and airy noise. ] It was not an easy feat. [ He drops his hands and rests a palm on the hilt of his wakizashi. ] Shall we get moving then, brother? We will not accomplish much just standing here. [ A slight pause. ] I doubt it smells nice down here.
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Ah — of course. [ he collects himself, tries to crush the nostalgia and the grief that is filling his lungs, his head spinning faintly. it's impossible to think that he'll be able to distract himself from anything when Genji is right here, more of a distraction himself than the monsters could possibly be, but he can at least keep himself together until they part ways. when he's alone again, he can be as weak and pathetic as he feels right now.
Hanzo straightens, steeling, and turns to walk back the way he came. ] There is a path in this direction that I have not taken.
[ he falls silent for some distance as they walk together and he keeps his gaze stubbornly ahead; he would claim that he's keeping an eye out for more of the lizard creatures, but in truth, he wouldn't even see one if it crossed his path. he just needs not to look at Genji. something that Genji had said is sticking in his mind, though, a question that feels more like self-punishment than curiosity. he finally manages the fortitude to ask — and he glances sidelong at Genji first, hesitates, swallows a hard lump in his throat: ]
Are your senses diminished? By the mask.
[ it must have some kind of respiratory capabilities, since it's close-fitting and he keeps it on all the time. he can breathe through it. but Hanzo can't quite imagine what that's like. ]
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Genji nods. ] Very well, I will follow.
[ He keeps himself a few paces behind him, watching his shoulders and listening for any tell tale signs of another beast approaching. Genji watches those tense, broad shoulders and he suddenly remembers when they were children, when Genji was probably barely five years old and toddling around the gardens after him. "Come play! Play with me! Wait up!"
Shaking his head, he takes a heavy stride so they're side by side as he asks that question. ] Hm? [ He was so lost in memories he almost doesn't register what he asked. ] Oh, no. Enhanced actually. [ He reaches up to tap at the round coverings where his ears would be. ] It just filters the air.
[ He's quiet for a beat. ] I breathe and eat with no trouble.
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[ an utterly inadequate response, but what else is he supposed to say? I am glad. not only is that banal, but Hanzo has no right to feel relief for any aspect of Genji's life. how can he say that he is glad for anything when he's the one that did this? whatever fortune Genji can find in his current state, it cannot abate Hanzo's guilt.
he turns to look properly at Genji instead of taking glances from the corner of his eye, and he studies him in silence while they walk together, trying to find any pieces of a brother that he would recognise. in his manner, his movements — Hanzo thinks about those neon green lights all over the cyborg body, thinks Genji would have liked that, and then abruptly turns his head away. his breathing shudders unsteadily as he exhales. his hands are shaking.
it would be better not to speak at all, even though there is so much to say and so many questions that he desperately wants answers to. but he suddenly finds he needs something to fill the space. ]
You told me to join Overwatch. Was it them that — [ he gestures with the hand holding an arrow to encompass Genji's body ] did this?
[ he hadn't exactly kept up with the news of Overwatch, after fleeing. everyone around him in the clan had always viewed Overwatch with disdain, their showmanship and the naivete of heroes, so the distaste had stayed with him in his exile. they might have boasted gladly about the technological innovation of a cyborg addition to their ranks, and Hanzo would have no idea. ]
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So he stays silent and waits for his brother to speak. He will not force any conversation out of him. And when he speaks he turns his head back to him.
Genji nods again. ] They did. [ A slight pause. ] Well, provided the funds so that their lead doctor could do it is more precise.
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It seems an expensive procedure. [ understatement. Hanzo had half of his legs replaced, so he knows very clearly how high the cost to repair the amount of damage he did to Genji would have been. warily: ] What motivation did they have to go to such lengths to save you?
[ their decade apart is only a blur of grief and guilt in Hanzo's memory of it; he knows that the family had suffered a significant blow, but he had been trying so desperately at the time to distance himself from it all. he doesn't know what caused their fall, nor is he thinking right now of the timing of it. but it's suspicious nonetheless that Overwatch would make such an investment in Genji, of all people. he knows he's missing something here. ]
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Genji can't help the faint little snort that comes out of him at the question. ] Overwatch of old did many great things, but they were not entirely altruistic when it came to me. [ He crosses his arms. ] They wanted me to help them dismantle the clan. [ Or be left to rot in jail is the unspoken end of that sentence.
He never doubted that Dr. Ziegler saved him out of the goodness of her heart, but he was ultimately still a means to an end. He knows they would not have rescued him if they'd had another way to get at the Shimadas. Why would they waste all the time and money on a criminal, after all? ]
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Genji betrayed the clan. sold them out to Overwatch, helped to destroy the family that had raised him. it was a deal made to save his own life, yes, a life that Hanzo took from him, and Hanzo had abandoned their home too — but to betray them? he feels sick at the very thought of it. (it's fear more than it is love or loyalty, nauseated by the impossibility of going against the clan.) aside from that, the ingratitude of it, Hanzo is the one to blame; to have done that and to leave him alive here makes no sense.
he wants to ask right now, why have you not killed me yet? and yet it seems weak to be the first one to give in. ]
How— [ he doesn't seem to know what to say. how could you? he thinks, and with the hand that holds the arrow, he combs his fingers harshly through his hair, frantic to clear his head. does he have any right to be angry? he should have been there to stop it; he shouldn't have been there, it was the right decision to leave. ] It was Overwatch, then. That brought down the family.
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He nods. ] It was. And truthfully I was not terribly upset about it.
[ He never wanted it, their empire. What he actually wanted then, he didn't know. He'd grown selfish with the ease of living, with knowing he could damn well near get away with anything but— did it make him happy? No.
He knows now though; he wanted a family. A real family. A real place to call his own, where he could be himself without expectations. Where they both could be free to do as they pleased. Genji had found his freedom and if he could help his brother...
Genji's quiet for a few moment before he continues, his voice noticeably softer than before. ] You left. That surprised me the most.
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That was... [ even though it's Genji, and he means no accusation by it, shame wells in Hanzo's chest. he feels the absurd need to defend his actions, as though he is nothing more than a child before his elders in the clan again. the only thing that comes to him is honest: ] I could not stay.
[ the aftermath is perhaps the most unclear memory Hanzo has of that time. he can recall the fight in bits and pieces; his horror at what he had done; even the moments before, the days of tension leading up to it and the awful meeting that was held when the elders gave him the order. but there are weeks missing after it, and looking back on it now, he cannot remember what it was that tipped the scale and pushed him to leave. ]
They wanted to erase what had happened. You ceased to exist, and I was expected to carry on as if everything were normal.
[ the words come to him slow, halting. these aren't things he's often thought of; he's always clung to the guilt of his actions, not the details surrounding it. he's certainly never had cause to say any of this aloud, and he finds that it's difficult to sift through, to verbalise.
he turns his head to look at Genji, his gaze meeting the strip of light on the visor — there's no eye contact there, and even so, Hanzo's eyes flick just a little lower as if he cannot bear to hold it. ] I remember... very little of that time. But I could not stay.
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He just nods. ] I know. I was not surprised to learn they had all but erased me from the family tree.
[ Hanzo Shimada, the only son and proper heir. Of course. He'd been so furious becaue, of course! Isn't that what they'd always wanted? What his dear big brother had always wanted? For him to not even exist?
But no. His brother could have stayed and had everything he ever wanted, the entire world at his fingertips and he just. Left. His chest still gives a squeeze when he thinks of it.
Genji meets his eyes and is glad for it. He nods again. ] I could not stay either. In Overwatch, I mean. When they no longer needed me for taking down the clan, I ran as far and as fast as I could.
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so he's relieved, but he doesn't understand. he can't predict Genji at all, now. still, he keeps his attention on him as much as he can without walking into anything. ]
How very like you. [ it slips out so easily, as though Hanzo can make such jabs like he has any right. there's a flash of dismay across his expression, and he quickly changes tack: ] Where did you go?
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He tries not to snort at the comment. It's entirely true because if there was one thing he was good at before, it was running away from everything. He ran away when their mother fell ill and he just... never stopped avoiding dealing with anything.
At the end of the day however, it seems they were not so dissimilar in that regard. ] Everywhere and nowhere. I traveled with some Bedouin for a while and I eventually ended up in Nepal. [ His tone change is noticeable, sounding calmer just a the mention of the place. ] I found peace there.
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if he had been trying, he would have done something more like Genji did, wouldn't he? why would he be excused for doing less?
but he can't admit that to Genji. can't open his mouth and say I didn't manage to do anything. I'm sorry. I failed you. instead, he gives Genji a searching look, like the cyborg chassis might be able to show something of this drastic change in attitude he's gone through, and he takes a different path of honesty, less raw. ]
I cannot picture the brother I knew finding any solace in temples and meditation.
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And yet. ] I met a Shambali monk by the name of Zenyatta. And I cannot tell you exactly how it happened, brother, but the things he said to me eventually made sense. One day I woke up and my mind was just— calm. Like a river. No more storms.
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[ perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised; Genji had been newly forced into a cyborg body, essentially an omnic himself to look at him. it could be that there was kinship for him there, with the Shambali. it's reflexive of him to recoil, though, because for him and Genji both, their early childhood took place during the Crisis. they were raised to feel nothing but disdain for omnics, as most were. Hanzo has never before had cause to challenge that view.
he still doesn't, really, but he has no desire to start an argument about it. there are a great many things he and Genji could fight about, past and present differences, a dozen unsolved problems of their youth. the fact that Genji was able to find peace with himself isn't one of those things. ]
—No. [ it's said with a sharp shake of his head: an indication to disregard his outburst. instead, his voice softer and fiercely honest: ] I am glad, Genji.
[ he wants that to be known, before Genji eventually strikes him down. even if he can't admit that he's proud of his brother, too many years of conflict and seeing him as a disgrace, he can say this much. this is how things should be; Genji is alive and whole, and Hanzo has sunk like a stone with the weight of his sins, unsalvageable. better left to rot.
so although it's sincere — because of the context in which Hanzo means to say it, the words come out unusually grave. ]
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I had much the same thought but I had nowhere else to go at the time. They welcomed me so easily. [ Genji shakes his head a little. ] It was the only place that ever did. Even Numbani did not feel as welcoming for me.
[ He's getting lost in his thoughts and he snaps himself out of it, chuckling a little self deprecatingly. ] I still talk too much, don't I?
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I suppose there are limits to how much a person can change.
[ still. a monastery, of all things. one day, when Genji himself isn't a wound in Hanzo's chest, he'll laugh at that.
for the moment, he's saved from agonising over the familiarity growing between them — wondering whether he should be colder, distance himself so that perhaps Genji will stop toying with him already — by a shuffling noise further down the tunnels, claws scuttling across stone. Hanzo pauses and nocks the arrow he has in-hand; looks to Genji. ]
Would you like to deal with this, or shall I?
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[ He hears the noise at the same time as his brother and the change in his posture is instant, grabbing for his wakizashi and turning his head. His tone gets a little cocky, a little more youthful. ] Why not side by side? It will go faster.
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and in light of that— ]
You could not possibly trust me so easily.
[ whatever ease Genji had managed to bring out of Hanzo is gone, tension creeping back in, his expression pained. Genji letting his guard down like this, the two of them talking together, is one thing; to let Hanzo fight alongside him, especially to watch his back with a bow and arrow that could be turned against Genji in an instant — there is no way. he cannot be that naïve. ]
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Geni turns his head to him and looks for a few heartbeats. ] Brother. [ He says it seriously yet gently, knowing he feels cornered. ] At Hanamura, I had my blade at your throat.
[ He turns forward again as the sound of the lizard rustling and rumbling about gets louder. ] If I had no hope or if I thought you were dangerous, that night would have gone much differently.
[ "You are not worthy to speak his name." had been when he's fully cemented his decision, his impression. That his brother would demand respect to some no name assassin... there was a part of him that was still young, with bright green hair and demanding attention at all times that felt vindicated. ]
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he had been relieved.
you should have killed me back then. the compulsion to say it is so vivid that it feels a physical thing caught in Hanzo's throat, his breathing restricted by it as if he could gag on the words. he's only held back by the shame of his own desperation. he has disgraced himself enough; to admit aloud that at times he wishes Genji had slit his throat would make it a very real thing, another dishonour on Hanzo's head, and he will not show himself to be such a coward. ]
Then your judgement is still as poor as ever.
[ but in one swift movement, he draws back the string of his bow and fires an arrow down the tunnel, where it strikes with a meaty thunk! and a creature's shriek. ]
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[ With that, Genji sprints ahead in a burst of green light. The creature yowls as he slices into the flank of it, Hanzo's arrow causing it to lose its senses and stagger in place. No point in letting it suffer any longer. ]
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Hanzo looses another arrow, this one through the neck of the lizard as soon as its head is turned away from him. he calls out to Genji: ]
I have my doubts that my assistance was needed to make this any faster! You seem to be more than capable yourself.
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