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collectedmemes2020-06-12 05:51 pm
collectedmods) wrote in collectedmemes2020-06-12 05:51 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE #1
TEST DRIVE #1
Hi shoppers! Welcome to the first Test Drive Meme for COLLECTED. A few things before we get started:
» For the time being, our TDM’s are closed to those eligible to apply based on our invite system. This means that you must be on one of the mod’s plurklists, or invited as a +1 by someone on those lists. Thanks for understanding!
» TDM Threads will NOT be canon.
» Because of that, feel free to assume/handwave CR, and assume your character has been in the setting for a little bit.
» When the game opens, characters will be able to try their hand at going outside. But, during the TDM, all doors and windows to the outside will be locked, and characters will be unable to venture out there.
» These prompts are not exhaustive - feel free to make up your own within the setting of the mall! Anywhere on the Second Floor of the mall is free game. And if you have any questions about what you can and can’t do (or about anything else) reply to the QUESTIONS comment below, and we’ll get back to you soon.
Most importantly, have fun! And thank you so much for your interest in Collected; we’ve been so stoked over the turnout!! 🧡
PROMPTS
I.
There’s one big problem about getting around the Mall - and no, it’s not the bottom floor that’s flooded.II.
The other huge problem that the dilapidated infrastructure causes aside from making everything smell weird and leaving tons of crumbled debris around is that at some points in the mall, it’s impossible to get across large gaps in the flooring where it’s fallen through to the waters below. In fact, to access the side of the mall across from where you are right now, there are no paths that are safe for walking across. But there is one way.
One attraction of the mall has stayed (mildly) in tact - and that’s a Hi Wire Bicycle. The one way across to the other side of the Mall is this rusty, dusty bicycle attached to a thick wire, with signs around the attraction describing how much the fare used to be to ride across - if you were daring enough, that is! Obviously, no one’s ridden across this thing in years - much less for the overpriced payment required.
More than that, it seems a little… less than safe. The net that probably provided mall-goers with some degree of self-assurance has aged, sagging and unraveling at the junctures of some of the knots. If you were to fall onto it, would it still catch you…? The wire affixed to the bike doesn’t seem too steady, either, not to mention how hard you’ll have to push against the rusted pedals to get them to move. As it stands, though, it’s the only way across to get to the Second Floor’s other half of stores. Luckily (or maybe unluckily?) there’s a seat for you and a friend. So, at least you won’t go down alone.
To make it across, you’ll have to be brave, be creative, and most of all, be lucky!
A.III.Near the heart of the food court, decorations for what used to be Santa’s village are still laid about. How many Christmases ago were these left here? By the looks of things, a lot. A thick coating of dust has settled on the nooks and crannies of what is supposed to be the elves workshop, alongside the seat where Santa must have sat to take pictures with children.
In the Elves’ Workshop, you’ll find a massive amount of animatronic elves. They’re all positioned to be working on toys, putting up decorations, or singing from carol books - it looks like these little guys were put here to perform for kids, not unlike an interactive (and more Christmas-y) version of It’s a Small World. There’s even un-opened (and therefore okay-to-eat!) boxes of chocolate chip cookies that must have been for the Mall-goers around Christmastime stashed inside an open cabinet, which was most definitely only for employees to access.
The only problem is that once you enter and make your way inside the workshop… something strange happens. Is something grabbing onto your clothes? Your hair? Maybe a stray finger? It’s the little wooden hands of one of the elves. Your first thought is that you just brushed past it and got caught on it - but, on the second thought, it’s not letting go. In fact, it’s grip is getting tighter. Painful, even. All while it smiles blankly ahead, eerily still aside from it’s tiny hand squeezing you. Take your eyes off these cheery boys and girls for too long, and you’ll realize they’re not staying put like good little elves - they’re moving closer to you only when they’re out of sight.
If you’re unlucky enough for several to latch onto you, you’d better ho-ho-hope someone can break you free.
B.Outside the Workshop, more towards where the line to meet Santa would be, there’s a big snow machine. Unluckily for you, the machine’s sensors, which would have known to start putting out snow whenever people walk by, seem to still be working despite the Mall’s run-down state. As soon as you get near the thing, it starts spewing out tons of fake snow. It’s completely unlike the delicate sprinkling you’d find in a shopping center: it’s plain blasting you with the stuff, more like a hose than anything else. Too bad that the part of the machine that broke was whatever controlled the volume and speed of the snow instead of the sensors, right?
The fake snow is sticky and old, and will stick to you and the floor the more you get caught in it - better hurry and stop that machine!
C.There’s a huge, luxurious chair that was most certainly reserved for the Santa employee in the center of the village area - tall and wide enough for at least a few people to clamber onto. Even though the paint is chipping off parts of the throne, and the wood is decaying in places - it still doesn’t look too bad, all things considered. Even the camera is still sitting in front of the chair, balanced on a tripod as though there were kids coming to take pictures with Santa today.
You’ll find that walking into the frame of the camera with more than one person causes the camera to go off. The camera will even print your picture, and never seems to run out of film - no matter how many times it fires. Did it catch your bad side, the first time? Feel free to try again! Dress up, find props, take pictures with your newfound companions to your heart’s content!
The only thing to be wary of is that in every few photos, someone else is in the photo. It’s a smiling, bright-eyed child, despite their transparency compared to you and your companion in the image. Judging by the sitting pose, and the performative smile, the added kid is none other than a reflection of a child who had taken pictures here with Santa long, long ago.
With the size of the mall, and the variety of the stores inside, it’s only natural to think to forage for items that might be of use - there’s got to be something left behind here that will help you, right? Or a portal home?
Not too far from the department store you’d wandered in from, there’s a clothing store with an… interesting problem, for lack of a better word. The store has been overrun with rats. Big ones, too, scurrying about the floors and what’s left of the shelves, gnawing on what remains of the carpet and the remnants of cardboard packaging. Anyone sane would steer clear of this mess!
But, there’s something off about this store. Not only do all the rats somehow stay mysteriously contained within the walls of the store, never scurrying out of it, and with no signs of other stores being infested at all, but there’s also something that’s very familiar to you in this store. It could be a weapon, an item of clothing, or something as simple as your most favorite phone charm - point of the matter is, the rats have a hoard akin to a dragon’s behind the cashier’s counter, full of trinkets and belongings to all who have come through this place. They’ll work to keep their paws on what they have, too.
If you want your special something back, you’ll have to brave the vermin.
NAVIGATION
no subject
Yeah. Hang on.
[It's probably long out of date, but that's fine; Abbacchio unhooks it from where it is on the wall, tucking it under his arm.]
What's your plan?
no subject
I am going to draw them away. If it works, use it on any left. If it doesn't work, you will still be able to use it.
[Bash them. He's sure Abbacchio gets the idea.
Looking ahead again, he doesn't waste any time. There's no hesitation in stepping forward. He doesn't run, but his stride is long and brisk. The farther inside he gets, the more the rats begin to kick up a fuss. They begin to swarm after him, abandoning their gnawed floor and clothes, and even abandoning the hoard.
D weaves through what's left of the racks and shelves, heading for the door at the very back.]
no subject
Abbacchio stands up and heads in, letting the extinguisher sputter and spray. It's... not much, but it makes enough noise to cause the remaining rats to scatter. Moody Blues' foot emerges from Abbacchio for a moment to kick a stray rat away, the ghostly limb almost immediately disappearing after.
The pile has a lot of things, but the zipper pull is what Abbacchio snatches first, shoving it into his pocket. Stupid, so stupid, he shouldn't be sentimental, but what else can he do but yearn for familiar faces?
Secondly, he spots an amulet. Something, perhaps, that might belong to a tall dark-haired beautiful pale man that was just clutching at his neck like something was missing.
So he takes that too, hoping he's right about D.]
no subject
He goes inside, the rats following. Whatever he does, he comes out of the opening of the door jumping rather than walking, landing on his feet on the opposite side. He pulls the door shut, narrowly missing the end of the cloak, and holds it closed. All at once, the sound of a mass of rats hitting the other side thumps across the store. Any lingering ones on his side get very lightly kicked away.
His necklace is missing, but he thinks he knows what might have happened to it.]
If you have what you need, you should leave while you can. Hurry.
no subject
So instead, he makes a mental note of it.]
Yeah. I'm good. [Abbacchio holds out the amulet to D, letting it dangle by the chain on his fingers.] This is yours, right?
[He'll book it when that part is done.]
no subject
It is. [The look in his eyes, rather than the surprise of it somehow escaping his neck, softens at the fact Abbacchio has retrieved it. That Abbacchio knew it was probably his.] Thank you.
[Without letting the door go, he reaches his other hand up, turning the long fingers over to see if Abbacchio will return it to him.]
no subject
He pulls out the zipper and looks at it, then lets out an uneasy breath. Should probably get something for this to hook onto.]
Try not to lose that again. [He says that to D, as if he's the kind of person who takes his own advice.]
no subject
The amulet and hand is tucked away after briefly being looked over. He waits until Abbacchio is out of the store, and then he very carefully lets go of the door to head out as well.
His voice, while quiet, is very suddenly close.] Is it important to you? [The wide, dark clothes, and the cloak add extra bulk, but it's strange how a man so tall, with so much attire and a sword, moves so silently.]
no subject
[How the hell did he move so quietly anyway? Abbacchio stares at him, almost in disbelief, then sighs and puts the zipper into his pocket. There's the instinctive urge to tell D to mind his own business, but... well. Something about the circumstances including his own makes it harder to be as rough as he usually is.
So he doesn't. He's reluctantly forthcoming, which is progress.]
...Sort of. I didn't even expect to have it on me, but when I woke up it was there. Belongs to someone else I know.
no subject
The comment doesn't offend him. It appears not much offends this man who has the aesthetic of someone trying to keep most people away.
For now, he leaves many of the other questions usually asked unasked. It isn't he's not curious, but he is aware, more importantly, from someone who wouldn't be forth-coming initially, it isn't his business.]
Is this person here with the rest of us?
no subject
[For as much as he would feel better in Buccellati's company and following his lead, it wouldn't be worth it. Buccellati needs to be with the rest of their comrades, taking Abbacchio's last clue and working with it. Not keeping Abbacchio company because he's fucking sad.]
no subject
[Even if he doesn't know the intimacy of knowing someone well enough to not want them here, he knows he would not wish anyone he's met here at all. Not the humans, not any human.
And this place hasn't even given him anything exceedingly dangerous to worry about yet. Just the simple annoyance of being estranged from home, from family. No, he wouldn't wish it on any human.]
You can return it to him when we leave.
no subject
[He isn't optimistic on that front. But then... well. Who the fuck knows is going to happen. He doesn't.]
What do you remember? Before you woke up like he rest of us.
no subject
[It's almost reassuring in the solid way he delivers it. When they leave, because they will, because they can't be kept here. Because he won't allow that to happen.]
Being in a village. A girl there has been asleep for thirty years after being bitten by a vampire. She kept coming to me in my dreams.
no subject
Vampire. [Abbacchio huffs, not quite finding it humorous, more like well why not at this point.] I have no idea if that helps explain anything or makes it more confusing.
no subject
But I woke up here before I could help her.
no subject
[But not the most fucked up thing he's heard.
Abbacchio pauses, then looks at D.]
I died before I woke up here. Without question, I was dead. So I have no idea what brought us here or what kind of power there is that could revive me as I was. But it made me wonder if I was the only one or not. That maybe this was some shitty afterlife.
Turns out I think it's just me. Which, hey, that's fine. Better that than everyone else.
no subject
His eyes stay on Abbacchio's face; it's heavy, but not rude.]
Do you believe you should be in a terrible afterlife?
no subject
[The intense look D has on his face almost makes Abbacchio step back, but he holds his ground. The question makes him laugh quietly without any real humor to it.]
Yeah. I do.
no subject
[Life is already so hard. D knows that from ten thousand years on the Frontier. And not even knowing Abbacchio at all, D still can tell, somehow and some way, life has hurt him.
D's face doesn't move; it's only his eyes that grow a little softer in their stare.]
The man who was kind enough to return my amulet may deserve a second chance.
no subject
[No, it isn't. Life was already shit, and Abbacchio didn't have any love for the world. The only thing he concerned himself with was taking orders for what felt like so long, but because it gave him a sense of peace and he knew he could trust Buccellati.
Don't die bound by your past. It's hard not to when you've fucked up so much.]
One good act absolves someone from all of the shit they've pulled?
no subject
[He won't lie. There isn't any absolution in a single act or two. His eyes say as much before they look away.]
But I will give credit to someone who tries to be a kinder person. It's alright for people to make mistakes. If you learn from them.
no subject
[Abbacchio shoves his hands into his pockets.]
Look, it's got nothing to do with you. You have your necklace, and... we'll just call it good. Just keep the dead thing to yourself. I haven't really told anyone else.
no subject
[The brim of the dark hat lowers when he bows his head in acknowledgment. The dark eyes don't betray any kind of villainy; there isn't any.] Alright. [D has kept a lot of secrets, some he has watched people take to their graves. One more won't hurt.
He has no one toe tell them to anyway.]
Thank you for your help.