Test Drive

[snowblindmods]

TEST DRIVE MEME

If you'd like to apply to Snowblind and would like to test the waters first or get a sample set up for your application, this meme is for you! We've even provided some prompts for you to use if you want (but feel free to make up your own). Here's how it works. ✭ Reply to this entry with a character you're considering apping into the game. You can include the name of your character and the fandom in your subject line. ✭ Comment around to others on the meme, whether you're in the game already or not. ✭ Now you have a sample ready for your application! ✭ So go reserve and apply when reservations and applications are open. ✭ Seriously, do it. Network Prompts ONE: YOUR COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED When you wake up, you find that a new application has been downloaded to your tablet. It's titled "SURVEY" and is exactly what it claims to be--although there's no explanation to why it's appeared or what it is for other than the note that claims the survey is not opt-out and that your cooperation is appreciated. And more troubling, the questions become more sinister the farther in you answer. Such questions as, "on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your stay?" and "have your needs been met in a timely manner?" become more akin to, "if you had to chose between the two, would you eat your hands or your feet to stave off the hunger?" and "are you sure you are not the last one still alive?" Perhaps someone on the Network would like to discuss what this could mean--and if there are any consequences behind finishing or refusing to take the survey. TWO: NOT SO HELPFUL AVATARS Every tablet has the option for a customizable avatar that will talk to you and keep your tablet in order. Maybe you set it up, maybe you never checked it. Either way, it keeps popping up unrequested and being sort of... Odd. Flickering, talking in strange, mechanical voices, offering advice that's unhelpful at best and actively harmful at worst... Maybe it's even telling the entire network some things you've been doing you'd rather everyone didn't know. Time to call tech support. Unfortunately, the best option is other people on the network. Good luck. Action Prompts THREE: SPIDERS IN THE WALLS Somehow you or your travel companion injured themselves. A quick call to the admin fixed this, but now you can't help but be gripped with the burning curiosity of where the helpful spiders she deployed have gone. You saw them scramble toward the vents, but by the time paralysis wore off they'd completely disappeared. Only now you can't stop thinking about them. Where do they go to? How can they be trapped or followed? You swear you hear little mechanical pattering inside the walls. Maybe you can find some sort of tool to help you break into a vent around the house. Or maybe your companion can convince you to rest before you hurt yourself. FOUR: SCHOOL DAYS You've ended up in the elementary school. Maybe you're grabbing more food, maybe you're exploring. Either way, this place is creepy; the atmosphere is the sort that gets the hair on the back of your neck rising (potentially metaphorically, if you don't have hair or a neck). It's not long before strange things start happening. The sound of running and screaming children, doors slamming in far off or nearby hallways, pianos playing... What's going on? It's hard to tell what's really happening from what isn't happening. Maybe someone who's also exploring has some idea.

Comments

Tony Stark | Marvel 616

[definingfuture]

2 - @notreallyhere; voice

Whoever designed these things has the design sense of a five year old.

[A five-year-old from a horror movie. He decides that saying so might invite too much trouble, though. Considering.]

My virtual navigator is possessed. You'll probably want to disregard any messages that seem off coming from me. You'll know which ones.

3 - action

[The initial injury was an accident. He'd gotten caught in the high snow and didn't see the hidden drop in the actual ground. He had barely managed to make it inside, primarily thanks to the help of his now companion, and the spiders had done their work. But now he's sitting in the corner, staring at the walls of the building where the robots are supposedly residing.]

My kingdom for a power source.

[He's healed, but still seems unsteady, and he may or may not be talking to his fellow companion as he searches the interior of the building for something sharp. Maybe even on the person that he's with. Don't worry, he's not going to pat them down.]

Oh, well, we'll just have to improvise around it. They aren't that big. We can trap them without blasting them first. You don't mind a little blood, right?

[He says that conversationally, like this were a question he could ask any casual passerby on the street. Maybe he's not quite as recovered as he looks.]

@hotstud_xxx; text

[rubikscomplex]

design sense or sense of humor?
and possession's about par for the course here, bro
be careful when you're talking to it
don't want to upset the ai feefees or you'll have angelcakes yelling at you

[definingfuture]

Well, if this is supposed to be humor, I think I missed the joke. Yours, on the other hand, I'm assuming is much better. Dawg.

I'm not worried about its feelings, because it doesn't have feelings. It's glitchy.

[He says that with a dismissive air, but mere seconds after that a text message pops up.]

i'm sorry i took it. but he wasn't using it.

[rubikscomplex]

sure is, hep cat

and w o w
tablet racist much?
what if it does have feelings?
even i'm offended
on its theoretical feelings' behalf

i'm also assuming that little message is from the ghosts in the machine and not you

3!

[redrooms]

[Natasha didn't really care for getting the spiders involved in this, because she still doesn't know enough about them to feel comfortable. She has to admit, though, they did do a good job patching Tony up. He still seems a little off, so of course that means Natasha is keeping a close on him subtly.

She raises her eyebrows at his question and at the search, producing a shiv for him. It's a sharpened butter knife, because it's Natasha. Of course she's already made a million weapons.]

Is that an honest question you just asked me?

[definingfuture]

[Tony is up, picking up random objects and looking them over, apparently debating if he can use them or not. They aren't that helpful, but he doesn't need anything too complicated for what he has in mind. He looks over his shoulder at Nat, grinning at either her dry comment or the makeshift shiv she produces for him.]

You're right. My mistake. So, we're going to need to catch one if we want to figure out how the nanobots work.

You think you're fast enough to get us one?

[redrooms]

Now you're just trying to rile me up.

[It gets a smile out of her, though, so she must not be too upset.]

What are you thinking?

2! @enhance, voice

[plundering]

"Virtual navigator"? Is that what they're called where you're from?

[Sounds lame.]

And, uh... Are you being literal about the possession thing? I... can't tell.

[Look, AI possession is a thing! He can't be so vague!]

[definingfuture]

I call it junk. But I was trying to be polite.

Sure. Computers can be possessed. I've seen it. It's not pretty.

[That is completely out of context, but why dash a girl's dreams?]

It's just a sensationalized why of describing a takeover. We do it all the time where I'm from.

[Another voice pipes up in the feed. It's very similar to Tony's, but flat, like a recording played back over speakers that distort it to something almost official.]

But we can't do it anymore.

Shut up, you.

[plundering]

Uh-huh. So, let's say, hypothetically, someone accidentally transferred an AI into a... data port installed in their brain, and then it lodged itself into their cybernetics. How would you get rid of it?

[It's Rhys. She's talking about Rhys, and if he's read back through the network archives, he'll probably pick up on that.]

@Ecks | text

[ecks]

Have you seen possessed messages from other people? There was a night when the network malfunctioned and it looked like everyone was saying and doing bad things.

[definingfuture]

Oh, really? Doesn't that sound like a fun party.

[He chooses to keep responding to the text messages verbally. It's easy enough to read and reply, and he likes being listened to.]

What did they say you were doing?

[ecks]

[And she will stick to text, though several people have told her now that her typing is as strange as her speech.]

It does not sound like a fun party. It made it look like I was going to kill a child and cut her open, and then the child tried to kill me.

3

[acrobatism]

[ The most important thing here, Dick has found out, is staying dry. Which is why he's currently in the process of switching his wet clothes out for dry ones. He seems to have no issue with stripping, though he does it in a very quick and brisk fashion, in the bathroom. The door's open, though. Tony's a guy, it's fine.

Dick is a little worried, though, and it's that last question that has him raising his eyebrow and peeking out around the door. ]

No, I don't, but I'm not going to be disappointed if there ends up being none. Should I be expecting it? Because I really think I've had enough blood on the outside after today.

[definingfuture]

Mm, well, I'd love to know where she gets those helper bots from.

[His comment is innocent enough. Tony is looking at all corners of the open room that he's in while Dick changes clothes, scanning the corners for weaknesses at the edges and paying particular attention to the vents. Too small for a human. He looks back at the open door of the bathroom.]

But I guess we can't go to them. We'd have to get them to come to us.

[acrobatism]

[ There's a pause, and then Dick leans around the door to give Tony a very firm Mom look. ] We're not cutting off any limbs to see if the spiders come running.

3; bats lashes

[empireofrats]

I don't think blood will come out of them. [It's just an observation, as casual as Tony's question had been.

At first, she had been sitting on her legs between his ankles while he sat on the floor, waiting for him to recover. She doesn't think he has, honestly, because he's acting awfully silly.] Do you have a spider trap?

If we catch them, then what do we do with them?

precious child

[definingfuture]

[The observation the young girl makes, so matter-of-fact, actually gets him to pause at least for a moment and remember who he is dealing with. But maybe it isn't quite enough of a deterrent to his plan.]

We'll have to build a spider trap. But we can do it. We won't need too much...

When we catch one, we'll figure out how they work.

[That sounds fun, right? Tony thinks so. He abandons his trap plans for the moment, just to get Emily on board with him.]

I just want to get a good look at it.

[In pieces.]

[empireofrats]

[It sounds pretty fun. And dangerous, and she quite likes the idea of things being dangerous.] I think a spider trap could work.

But what do we put in the spider trap when they are metal spiders? Metal bugs?

What if they don't eat anything?

And didn't you just get hurt, Mister? Maybe you should still rest even if the spiders fixed you. Just in case.

3

[advanced]

[Bucky still doesn't want to spend time around anyone, and of the people he doesn't want to see Tony Stark is somewhere near the top. That doesn't mean he was prepared to just walk on by and let him bleed to death. He's not a monster. He's not a killer any more, not even by default.

He glances up when he's spoken to, still huddled into his scarf and sat near the locked door.]

People have tried to catch them before. It doesn't work.

[definingfuture]

[So, admittedly the guy looks like he could use some more time getting used to him. Or people in general, really, given the way he's been skulking around. But Bucky also helped him out, which means he's a decent man at heart, and really that's all Tony needs to work with at the moment. Sympathy is in slightly short supply on his end at the moment. He'll regret that later.]

It didn't work. That doesn't mean it won't work. We just have to do things differently than they did.

[advanced]

[He does have a point, though all Tony gets in a blank sort of stare instead of any look of approval.]

I might be able to pin one down, if you have a means of keeping it caught.

@sciencesquad; video (#2!)

[imgonnatouchit]

Five year olds where you're from must be pretty smart, ha-ha! [Starting out with a terrible joke, always a winner.]

So, just to be clear, those parts where you said "everyone proceed to the nearest open space for lockdown", those weren't you, right? Or maybe this part isn't you? If your navigator is possessed, how are we supposed to know it's you telling us to disregard things, and not the tablet?

[definingfuture]

[He keeps his transmission to audio only to start with, just to feel out the situation and get a good look first.]

Some of them are. It's almost upsetting what someone who doesn't reach past your knee can do these days. I'm actually starting to feel like they want to replace me.

[That's Tony's return joke. Which is definitely a joke and not using bits of truth. Yup.]

It depends. How serious did I sound? I actually take my lockdown procedures very seriously. This is really me, though. I'm telling you this as a safety precaution, but I don't want you to ignore me. Nobody likes that.

[imgonnatouchit]

Oh, well, they probably are trying to replace you. Eventually, of course. Our generation doesn't last forever, you know. [Hange shrugs.] It's not a bad thing, it just means there will be someone to take charge when us older folks get eaten or something. Not that I'm planning to get eaten, contrary to popular opinion. Or, wait, is that not a problem where you're from? Anyway, I think it's good for the youth to be inspired.

[This time, worryingly, it isn't clear whether or not this is a joke. Or... series of jokes?]

[Moving on.] I wouldn't say you sounded serious so much as possessed. Do you do that frequently? Or, hmm, maybe you are possessed? I don't normally put much thought into the supernatural, so I'm not sure how that would work.