memepatheias | TEST DRIVE: April

Entry tags:

*test drive

TEST DRIVE: April

— TEST DRIVE: APRIL —

Welcome to

empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

Date reminders. Reserves open March 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on April 1st. Apps will only be open for four days!
OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus, those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!
Transfer to in-game. If accepted, you can assume threads made on the Test Drive happen in-game if the scenario can reasonably fit. These threads do not count toward AC.

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!

PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...

• Prompt D: The Verens Emergency Response Teams are running drills to make sure that the Verens populace, natives and Otherworlders alike, are prepared for any and all emergencies. This means large scale obstruction of public areas, traffic delays, businesses closing their doors temporarily in the name of professional cooperation... and, best of all, Otherworlder participation!

Alpha Lava: If you asked Team Alpha, they would say they drew the short straw. They are in charge of the volcanic eruption preparedness drill! This includes cordoning off sections of the merchant’s square and residential district to conduct the following tasks: evacuation drills, where random houses are the "willing participant" of loudspeaker announcements telling them they have thirty seconds to escape their homes before they die; dunamis training exercises, to determine who would be most able to hold back or freeze incoming pools of lava; and, most helpful, the role of victim mannequin. Posing still as a statue for several minutes at a time to simulate being encrusted by molten lava is a thankless job, but someone has to do it.
Epsilon Epidemic: Team Epsilon's emergency preparedness drill is outbreak of a deadly disease! For this simulation, they will be rounding up helpful Otherworlder volunteers and distributing signs for them to wear around their necks. Following that, instructions are varied. Perhaps some people end up in quarantine, informed that Team Epsilon will shoot to kill anyone who escaped. Perhaps some people are under strict instruction to act out their sign to the best of their ability, and will be penalised if they don't! (What's the penalty? It's quarantine, or no gift bag, or both.) Perhaps they are simply dead and have to lie in the street all day. Yes, that's very boring. No, they don't have a choice. At the end of the simulation, all participants are given a gift bag filled with handmade cookies (courtesy of Team Epsilon's very own multi-talented Agent N) and gift certificate for a spa day for two. Most importantly: have fun!
Gamma Grandstanding: Team Gamma ended up with the newest preparation drill. Its official title is "People With Indeterminate Motives" (PWIM for short) to keep from throwing a wrench in the Briarlan trade deal and offending sensibilities, but make no mistake: it is about knowing exactly what to do if pirates invade Verens and conduct a hostile takeover. Some Otherworlders will be placed specifically in local business - restaurants, independently owned shops, even the zoo - and trained how to protect them from PWIM. Some businesses will be targeted; others will be ignored entirely (hope you brought a deck of cards!). Other Otherworlders will be asked to play the pirates - sorry, PWIM - themselves, complete with lame costumes (eyepatches, fancy hats, fake parrots to sit on a shoulder, itchy peglegs) for the sake of immersion. Arr! Aye, avast!

• Prompt E: Despite the rain and everybody coming down with colds during the month, everyone in Verens is still doing their best to get ready for next month's Flower Festival. And Otherworlders are definitely expected to help with prep work. After all, it's everyone's festival, so everyone should help make it the best it can be! So here's a few ways to help!

Sign Me Up: The Festival needs signs! Lots of signs. And lots of signs need lots of painters! Or one incredibly overworked painter, but in this case, they've decided to go the teamwork route, pairing up Otherworlders and having them make signs advertising various games at the festival! Sounds easy, right? But with emotion based paints in play, be careful. Too much negativity between partners and the wording will change, the paint could run, go too far in the other directions and the signs will be practically glowing, but possibly lead to claims of false advertising!
Special Delivery Flower Festivals need lots of flowers, and people to transport those flowers! And thanks to handy tech exchange with Briarlan, this year there's some fancy containment units for transporting them. They're really just crates with some fancy looking meters attached, meant to open up when they reach the festival grounds. Unfortunately, these new inventions probably could've used some additional testing and are prone to opening randomly sending flowers all over the place! Try and collect as many as possible and bring them back to the grounds, the festival organizers would appreciate it.
Flower Round Up! Or maybe painting signs and boxing flowers aren't your thing, so how about...corralling them? With all the good vibes in the air, it seems some of the flower arrangements have literally pulled up roots and are running around the festival. And you can't have a flower festival without flowers, so do your best to try and get them back where they belong before they run off to start some sort of flower civilization in the woods*.

*They probably will not form a flower civilization in the woods, but you never know.

• Prompt F: With Verens trading with more and more cities out there, some shopkeepers have gotten an idea to try and increase sales by encouraging both citizens and Otherworlders to shop local by promoting a tour of various business in the merchant district! Though the crystal has been a little negative, they're still hoping the tour goes off without a hitch! After all, it's too late to postpone it.

On the Clock: The first stop is Click, Clack, Clock, a clock shop that offers delivery to anywhere on the island! Unfortunately, due to the poor weather, all of the delivery staff are out with colds, so they're looking for volunteers! And yes, you're on this walking tour, but don't be surprised if you're handed a bicycle and a clock and sent on your way to deliver a clock. Hopefully they remembered to tell you where to go before shoving you out the door.
Shine On: Assuming you haven't been conscripted into the clock store's delivery force, the next stop is at Verens' very own Restoration Works, an establishment for restoring old antiques and making them look good as new. They've set up an interactive demo for everybody, so partner up and practice using your emotions to bring some shine back to some dull scraps of metal! Sorry guys, they're not going to let you work on anything really valuable during the tour, but if you show some promise, maybe they’ll hire you on in the future!
Polg-Oh No: Finally, the tour will end with a nice relaxing meal at the Sweethearts Cafe. Or it was intended to be relaxing, anyway (who would've thought the antique store would be the calmest part of the tour?), but it seems no place is safe from the Polgo plague. Better keep an eye on your plates, otherwise the second you’re distracted, the small kitten-sized blue bugs might scurry up the table and try and run off with your food!

Even if you’re paying attention, they might give it a shot anyways. So be on your guard and ready to give chase if it happens!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include blueberries and/or buckets.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It's very alarming that he doesn't understand, that he's continuing to ask these questions. She doesn't know why, but she feels unsettled, uncertain, the ground under her trembling faintly, the grass, once deadened, now spilling about with sickly life.

Still, she maintains her composure, even if she can't keep the emotion effects around her still, because it was him, and so the report steadily continues after that brief interruption.]

We are in an unknown world, and so we can only discover the possibilities by testing them. Testing the boundaries that this world has given us and surpassing them, for the sake of knowledge. As it is, these monsters... these pets, of mine, they gather information for me, studying areas that I cannot access myself, if they are not destroyed in the process. If there is a way to harness this knowledge... if this place is, truly, party of an alternate reality, then it can only benefit you, my lord.

[He continues to approach her, although at an unhurried pace. He hasn't seen any reason to be worried. On the contrary, he's intrigued, and more so with each passing moment.

He's aware of the trembling of the ground, but it isn't severe enough to concern him; he's been here long enough to have a general idea of how this place works.]

Doesn't it make more sense to gather that research yourself? It surely has more value if gathered directly. These monsters have been seen in inhabited, easily accessible areas.

[However, she does make a good point. The more he knows about this place, the better. He's been studying it himself, if from a strategic standpoint rather than a scientific one. He's not going to accuse her of anything before knowing all the details.]

I don't doubt that further knowledge is to my benefit.

[He really didn't like her monsters, did he... she's a little concerned about his noticeable approach, but for the moment, she doesn't change her location, instead watching him, waiting.

And continuing the report:]

Ah... indeed it is, my lord. However, while they are out scouting, I can use the opportunity to run other tests and observations of my own. Eventually, I will be able to compile all of the data, and check up on anything else myself afterward.

[In other words, tactical time management, from what she felt was the best of her options. It wasn't as if she trusted anyone to aid her... and then there was the Other problem, a group that she was both avoiding and keeping an eye on all at once.]

[...again, she makes a fair point. Never let it be said that Zarkon doesn't listen to reason. There's something about her that's rather convincing, and he accepts her explanation for now, without much skepticism. He doesn't stop his approach, but it's measured enough that he hasn't drawn close to her yet. He's studying her face fixedly—what he can see of it from here.]

So—research assistants.

[Monsters as research assistants are a new idea to him, but it's not a ridiculous notion, if she can control them so well. In fact, it's an impressive feat. Yet he still has a concern.]

Then perhaps you're unaware that the creatures have been causing alarm among the populace. That's why I came to find you.

[A soft, affected sigh.] I had noticed, that some of them do not return when they are meant to. It has been regrettable to lose them.

[And perhaps more concerning that she hadn't picked up on his presence up until now, when he came searching for this place... for that, of all reasons.]

My apologies, for you having to get involved in such a way, sire. It seems I may have to make some changes to my methods after all.

[Particularly if he was displeased; she could make compromises if they suited his desires as needed. Even if this was all yet still so strange. The lack of acknowledgement could only mean... no, she wouldn't think of it. Orders. Orders were what she understood.]

Is there anything else you would have me do in addition to all of this? Now that you're here, it will be easier to serve you directly.

I understand. I'm sure you didn't intend any harm. It's not that I don't appreciate your innovations, but you'll have to be more careful. We have others to consider here.

[He feels sure that he's made himself clear, and he's glad he was able to resolve the problem. And that this was all just a misunderstanding. As the leader of the Galra, he's familiar with the kinds of culture clashes that can lead to misunderstandings. Even the other paladins don't always understand his people's traditions.

He should feel satisfied by his successful diplomacy, yet when he examines his feelings, he realizes that he doesn't. In fact, examining his feelings makes him feel confused again, and his breeze of frustration springs up again. It winds its way around his limbs and through the surrounding area, blowing among the leaves and into the decrepit farmhouse.

He doesn't move any closer to her now, but he's still watching her carefully. There is something he wants, now that she mentions it.]

Tell me your name.

My name --

[Then, he did not know. He was truly from... a time before memory. Her voice breaks off, her throat inexplicably dry for reasons she couldn't even understand. At least he had halted his approach, but...

The ground shook again. Her head, it was spinning, dizzy. Her name... name. Which name, even. That he would not know, that he would not dare to guess. But there it was all the same, she had asked, and that was the response. ]

Ah...

[Composure. Steadiness. Her head bowed, as she tries not to think too hard, about the puzzle he just shoved into her brain. It was one thing, never to introduce herself to those who asked here, those who didn't already know, but...]

... you... I promise that you already know it, my lord. The name of one... who has been at your side.

[She knows he wanted a direct answer, but she can't. She can't right now.]

[Zarkon frowns when the earth shakes again. This tremor seems more severe than the earlier one. He's upset her. For some reason, the thought pains him immediately and deeply. He didn't mean to cause her any discomfort. She's clearly loyal to him, and he has no ill will toward her. If anything, he's more fascinated than before.]

I don't doubt you for a moment. I know—that I know you.

[The words come from him automatically. He can't ignore how strong the sense of familiarity is, now that he's not focused on any other problem, like his worry about the monsters. He has his suspicions, but something is keeping him from arriving at a conclusion. Something's wrong.]

I'm coming closer. Stay where you are.

[He announces his intention first, since she's been keeping her distance from him. He doesn't want to upset her any further. Yet that stay where you are is another order.]

[There's almost a moment when she almost feels that she wants to disappear. To leave that area, find a new place, pretend that this hadn't just happened.

It's his voice that keeps her there, keeps her grounded. She hadn't ever turned away before, and she couldn't start that now, even with, this ... this rift that divided them... she felt alarmingly fragile.]

... yes, my lord.

[Even if her head was so lowered that she could no longer see his face, or see him crossing the distance between them. That dizziness remained; she waits silently now, her breathing a little heavier, but at least she was able to subdue the ground tremors.]

[With his usual, ground-covering strides, Zarkon quickly reaches her side, but he stops short of making physical contact with her. Her head is lowered and she still appears to be in obvious distress. He has no desire to alarm her further, and seeing her this way only upsets him further. He's rarely this flustered, and he can't understand it. He lowers himself, until he's closer to being on her level.

His emotions usually affect the environment around him by causing wind and cold, or even ice, but the force of his concern is suddenly heating the air instead—it's the first time he's created warmth here, but he doesn't even notice what he's done.]

Tell me, what's the matter?

[Her thoughts haven't gone this rapid fire in a long time. She's at his side again, where she ought to be, but it feels all wrong.

In the pause between trying to find her answer, that's when she notices it, that warmth. Something she could barely recall from her few memory shards. The Zarkon she had known... hadn't been warm for a long, long time.

She wills herself to respond.]

My lord, before I can even begin to answer that, please, I must know. What is it that you last remember, before arriving in this world?

[He feels a sense of wrongness too, but he also feels oddly better, now that he's closer to her. Of course he cares for his subjects. Especially here, far from Daibazaal, his people should band together and assist each other.

It's a straightforward question, and he doesn't find it difficult to answer. He does so without hesitation, the warmth of his concern still radiating from him.]

I was on a mission with the other paladins of Voltron when I suddenly appeared here.

[He had been in contact with them, and then—he'd been abruptly cut off.]

They're not here.

[He'd tried to contact them, of course. His first thought had been that his displacement was yet another of the strange things Alfor's creations were capable of. But no, apparently not.]

Voltron... I see.

[That confirms a few things. He was still a paladin--The Paladin, he was unaware of the presence of the new paladins and potentially unaware of why there were new ones in the first place.

And the thought assaults her, even standing so close like this; he doesn't know her, but he does, but not enough to guess, not without her providing any other clues, and should she? Her memories are barely there, all she has is what she could see through his, like trying to catch tiny bits of cloud on the wind.

What to do. What to say, even? He would only have more questions. She hadn't dared before, not when he was restored to the throne, further away than he had ever been, despite all of her intentions. But here, he had come back... in a sense, but this place... wasn't in their reality. That ache, the ground trembles again, she hastily tries to quell it again by focusing on another report of sorts.]

Your paladins are not here, my Lord. However, this world is already capable of the impossible. It brings people here from different points in time.

[He doesn't straighten to his full height yet, remaining at her level. He hasn't failed to notice that she isn't exactly answering his questions, despite having indicated that she's one of his loyal subjects.]

So—you mean that they could arrive? I see. King Alfor would like this place.

[Much more than he does. The emotion-based powers irritate Zarkon more than they impress him, and the world's technology seems more backward than interesting. But Alfor enjoys that kind of thing, he knows. Still, Alfor isn't his concern now. She is. He's come to accept her reasoning regarding her research (a little more easily than he usually accepts such explanations), but that doesn't change the fact that she remains a mystery to him.]

You haven't told me your name. Look at me.

[He's being relatively careful with her, but he's not the most gentle of the paladins. In fact, he's probably the least gentle of the paladins.]

[She finds herself wincing at his request, unable to supply a verbal response for all that her throat had gotten surprisingly tight. She should have known that he wouldn't stray from his original line of thought for too long. Even if she had narrowly missed handing him a can of worms--trade one for another, anyway-- and now... she could hardly dance from it further without running.

That quiver in the ground around them.

The thoughts, rapid fire, spinning, insistent, he shouldn't see -- not like this, barely her own voice, or was it? That pressure. And yet, he already had, in a way, hadn't he? He was already there, so near, so close, so -- oblivious, to everything, The Empire and yet. A name. What name. What name? She felt so inexplicably jumbled, but briefly, finally, she glances up, not quite fully, but more than she had during his entire approach, eyes wide and that uncertainty.

Her hood hadn't come down yet, but unconsciously, she had already altered her appearance: a face closer to one he might know, one he might not run from. ]

[Zarkon stares at her revealed face. And of course, he had known, in a sense. But he also hadn't known, not completely. Now, he can see her for who she is, in spite of everything.]

Honerva—

[This answers some questions, but raises others. For instance, why is she so changed? Why is she so upset? This isn't like her. But it is her. He doesn't question that any more, and without thinking about what he's doing, he leans forward, his arms moving to embrace her. He's not the most demonstrative person, but she's upset, and he doesn't enjoy that. She shouldn't be upset—the thought of it upsets him, and the heat surrounding him almost glimmers with the intensity of his feeling.]

It's you.

[He has questions, many of them, but what's most important to him right now is that it's her, and she's here with him.]

[She couldn't even remember the last time they had contact like this, aside from the care she gave at his bedside which hardly was the same. He hadn't... initiated, in all the time the other her had known him, and her memories hadn't covered that. They hadn't covered much of anything besides a vague sense of longing that she couldn't quite understand, haunting her like nasty puzzle pieces when things were too quiet and the empire was falling apart, and work--

But strangely, in this instant, all of that didn't seem to matter. The air was warm. Zarkon was warm. The rest of her hood slipped back, as she found herself leaning into his embrace, dazed, but... he had said it, a name she hadn't heard from him directly save from that memory, and that... longing.]

Husband... [It's a murmur, her voice softer, losing that rasp.] You came for me.

Of course I did. I always will.

[Zarkon says this without stopping to consider anything that might possibly prevent him from joining his wife—it's unthinkable to him that any such obstacle could come between them. Whatever's wrong, whatever the explanation for her altered appearance, he's sure he can make it right. Or can at least help her to make it right. He doesn't suspect her of anything or care for her any less.]

I'm here now. I should have known sooner.

[It hadn't been long, but he should have immediately known she was present, and he should have gone to her side at once. That's where he belongs.]

I'm glad you're here.

[Being without her had been one of the worst aspects of coming here. Being separated from her in the course of a mission is one thing. Being separated from her against his will, with no knowledge of when he might see her again—that's much harder to bear.]

[Those words... she closes her eyes tightly. He was different, from a time when he knew those words, when it made sense for him to say them. Was this what they -- lost? That aching emptiness, was this what it wanted? What she... all those years. Being held like this felt so foreign but she needed it.]

... You're here and that's what matters.

[It's more of an echo of a thought that she doesn't quite grasp, but it felt right. She could feel his heart beating, solid -- but how real would this place remain? How long would it last? She felt the dregs of paranoia, trying to claw at the back of her mind, there was never any relaxing, any peace.

He was... glad...?]

I missed you.

That is what matters. I missed you, too.

[It actually hasn't been that long since he'd seen her at home on Daibazaal, but he'd felt the lack of her presence keenly nonetheless. He'd never felt about someone the way he feels about Honerva. He doesn't want to let go of her now. Especially when she's upset like this, for whatever reason.]

I know—people don't always understand your work like I do. Is that what's wrong?

[He pulls back, not all the way, but enough to look at her face again. He realizes that it's changed from the last time he saw her, but it is her.]

You don't have to be alone out here. You know I'll support you.

I know...

[There's a sudden harsh laugh, at the back of her mind, and she briefly presses her hand over her lips, not wanting it to come out. It wasn't funny, of course. It was the question itself. Too much time had passed, and she certainly couldn't tell him about it. Not when he was like this, so far removed from it all, and young again, and... it ached.

He had supported her. If he hadn't... she wouldn't be there right now, with him. She had always been at his side, regardless... but did she know him now?]

You've always supported my work better than anyone.

[As much as he had questioned her when he first arrived... but he hadn't known who she was then. It seemed almost irrelevant, now that he knew who she was and not who she had been.]

But there is a problem. One I can't explain, and that's... there's just so much I've forgotten. So many things I haven't realized I've lost.

[Zarkon frowns. He's sure there's something, or more than one thing, that he's missing here.]

I believe in your work.

[She's brilliant, and he wants her to succeed. That's important to her, and also to him.]

Forgotten—? That's all right. You'll have time to remember.

[He is concerned, though. What could have caused her to forget?]

I'll stay with you.

[Now that he's found her, of course he won't leave her, no matter what the problem is.]

[That was also part of the problem. She hadn't even realized she had forgotten. She only was aware of a gap when she ran right into one. With Zarkon being so near, so down to earth, it was the first time she could get a sense for those gaping holes. The wrongness of it.

No need to worry him too much with the details. Already, she felt she had said too much.

Meanwhile, from that tangle of grasses and weeds by their feet, colored begonias slowly begin to emerge from them. Cautious blooms, some colorless at first, before shifting, some to red, to purple.]

... I'm glad you're here.

[Echoing him, in a way she's not certain if she knows what the feeling truly is. But it's clear she's experiencing something, that she hasn't felt in a long time. That she hasn't known how to.]

If there's another location you've found to reside at, husband... we can go there.

[The farmhouse wasn't meant for a Galran Emperor. The livable rooms were mostly geared for experiments. There wasn't even a bed or a proper kitchen set up. That wouldn't do. What a strange thought to have. But... Zarkon's needs were different now. Those things would matter.]

I was about to suggest that we leave, myself. If you're feeling unwell, you should rest. You can take up your work again later.

[Zarkon is deciding to ignore the marauding monsters for the time being. If anyone has a problem with Honerva's work, he's going to have a problem with them.

He's aware that whatever's wrong with her won't be a matter that a simple rest can cure, but rest can't hurt. It might do her some good.]

I do have a place to stay. It's not a tall like home. It's much more rough, but I think of this as being away on a mission. It's natural that conditions would be less favorable, isn't it?

[Aware of movement, he looks down to see the flowers blooming. That seems like a good sign, and he's heartened, telling himself she must be feeling better, even if she looks weakened. He's not used to seeing her this way. She's always been very strong.]

We're on a mission together.

[Rest... that was something he'd had to encourage her to do, because otherwise she would keep going. Even now, she had hardly done so since arriving, having too many things to be cautious about, too many things to learn, at any given time.]

A mission together... I like that.

[It gave purpose to being here, perhaps even a new angle for some of that research. Of course there were still the other things, the darker things that he didn't know. He was a different person, and so was she.

Barely a person. Or so it felt. Still, together, as she nods to his words. ]

As as long as we're together, it can be home. Even if it's... different.

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