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: TIME TO CHECK WEBMD You've found the pharmacy, which is really convenient, since you're not feeling that great. Actually, you're feeling terrible. Maybe you have a fever, maybe you're coughing up blood, maybe you're vomiting... Whatever it is, you should probably try to get some medicine for it. Well, if you can figure out what it is. Maybe someone on the network can help you out? Alternately, you know exactly what you have--but for whatever reason, the medicine here isn't something you can easily understand. You have to choose between a couple of options, and you don't know the difference. Hopefully someone on the network can tell you which will heal you and which will probably kill you. 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: 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. FOUR: SUPPLY SCRAMBLE You've just walked into a house, and look, there's fresh fruit sitting right out on the counter! How long has it been since you've had some of that? It'll definitely help provide some much-needed vitamins and maybe it will ward off scurvy and the like. There's even more than one piece! ...And there's more than one person here, too. So, what are you going to do? Are you willing to share, or are you prepared to stab someone over a pear? Time to find out just how badly you want that food.

Comments

[armoured]

[Al doesn't mind the silence. He lets his strides fall into a steady rhythm, the crunching of snow beneath his feet providing the only staccato bursts of noise. He risks a quick glance backwards every ten minutes or so, only slowing down when it seems that they've managed to get a good lead. He doesn't go as far as a walk, but this jog is easier to maintain than a run.

He's startled out of his reverie by House's voice. He had almost forgotten there was anyone with him, and the lights of his eyes flare briefly in embarrassment. He should have been paying more attention...]

I'm not sure, I guess I don't know what the clues are until I find them.

[Perhaps that's not helpful, but it's all he has right now.]

My brother and I are used to finding the clues hidden in cryptic information, it's just finding something first that's the issue.

[He's been here a month and the sum total of their clues are some blood, some frozen corpses, and a lot of flawed mathematical equations.]

I knew the school was dangerous, Lea told me about the monsters and I know Tim has been hurt there, but I didn't want to risk passing potential evidence by.

[rubikscomplex]

Evidence for what, though? Are you guys looking for a way out? For info on this 'admin'? Where those things came from?

[He has to at least have a question in mind. House likes puzzles, but he likes puzzles that have some kind of boundary he can grasp at.]

[armoured]

All of those things.

[Al isn't the type to limit himself, not when there are so many questions to be answered.]

The main goal is to find a way home for everyone, obviously, but there are other important things that need answers too. Like who lived here before? How are they bringing people here? Why? It's no good to find a way home if we just leave it so other people can be trapped like this in the future.

[Why yes, he does have a protector complex about six miles wide.]

[rubikscomplex]

Seems perfectly good to me as long as it isn't us. [He's watching the flare of light in those eye sockets closely. Protector streak or not, this guy has to be getting something out of this. So what is it?]

So, why do you care about people you'll probably never meet?

[armoured]

Why wouldn't I?

[He knows that's not answer enough, so he hesitates a moment before trying to explain.]

After experiencing this place myself, I don't think I could forgive myself if I just went home and left others to be trapped here. If I didn't try then I would be as good as helping to make them suffer, and I'll never do that.

[He doesn't realise House is watching his eyes so closely, but there's a lot to see for the close inspector. They flare and dim with varying intensity, brighter when he's determined or passionate. Not to mention that up this close, the metallic and slightly hollow ring to his voice would probably be more noticeable.]

Could you just walk away from people and leave them to suffer? Even if they're strangers?

[He said he was a doctor, right? Surely he understands that.]

[rubikscomplex]

[He's a doctor, not a bleeding heart.]

Depends.

Are they suffering from something terminal? Why bother? They're going to die, anyway.

Do I have the supplies to spare to help them? Maybe I'd help. Is there anything interesting about them? Probably. Do they look like they might be useful? Always a fan of fair trade. You don't get something for nothing, kid.

And people don't throw themselves on the sword for anybody and anything without a reason.

So where did you screw up? Who did you not help that one time? Because doing all of this isn't going to fix that.

[armoured]

[Ow.

That hits way too close to the truth and Al can't help the small involuntary flinch that accompanies 'who did you not help'. Because isn't that part of why he tries so hard to help everyone? Isn't that why he promised not to let anyone else get hurt while he could prevent it?

Nina... Martel... Mom.

The lights of his eyes almost dim into non-existence, though his voice remains calm and firm.]

Why do you have to have a reason to want to help people? We're all trapped here together, we should be looking out for each other without wondering where the reward is for each of us personally.

[And his estimation of House goes down quite a lot. A doctor, in his mind, should want to help everyone - like Winry's parents had done, like Dr. Marcoh was trying to do now.]

Besides, who knows when those people you help might help you one day in return? Not because it's a debt to be repaid, but just because... because it's right.

[rubikscomplex]

[It's likely not finished dropping. House has a captive audience. One who is, in his eyes, being an idealistic moron.]

Everybody's got an internal ledger sheet. Just because you try to keep your balance in the black doesn't mean everyone does. Karma is crap. If someone's helping you, it's because they're getting something out of it. Even if it's just something to feed their ego and savior complex.

[A particularly significant glance up at Al.]

Free life lesson for the day. And if you 'believe' anything different, you're going to get taken advantage of. Case in point, you're not going to put me down. You should. You don't know me. I could be lying about being a doctor. I could be a serial killer. I could be a spy for the admin, playing up the cane to gain your sympathy. Did you think about any of that before you helped me, or did you just see the poor old doctor with the cane to save?

[armoured]

You're right, I didn't think about if you were a serial killer or working for the admin.

[Really? Really?]

But I didn't see a 'poor old doctor with a cane' either, just someone else who was in danger from those creatures. And even if you were either of those things, I'm pretty sure I could defend myself in a fight against you.

[He sighs, why must he meet so many cynics? Aren't Max and Tim enough of a burden of cynics already?]

You didn't ask if I was trustworthy either, you know?

Hope this is okay! Lemme know if you need me to change. House is just assuming about Al's armor!

[rubikscomplex]

[Clearly, Al's cynic quota is lacking.]

You're a twee kid piloting a suit of armor. You're not that good an actor, Elric. Where are you keeping the speaker in there, anyway? Sounds almost like the chest.

It's absolutely okay! I love when characters come up with theories about the armour

[armoured]

[Piloting? Speaker? He literally misses a step in shock and nearly goes sprawling into the snow, only managing to right himself and keep House in his arms thanks to the rigorous training Izumi put him through when he was younger.]

W-What? I-- uh, you've got it all wrong, I'm just a normal kid!

[OH GOD! OH GOD!]

[rubikscomplex]

Jesus! [House wraps an arm around Al's neck to keep himself from falling. If this idiot lands on top of him... Thankfully, that doesn't happen.]

Seriously? That's the line you're going with. The seven foot fifteen-year-old whose voice never dropped with lights for eyes and a hollow ring in his head when he talks is just a 'normal kid'?

[armoured]

[He is edging on the fringes of panic now. People have obviously been suspicious before, but nobody has really said things as bluntly as this.

House's arm around his neck suddenly seems a little sinister, but at least his helmet only unlatches from the front now.]

Yeah!

[Huff. He sounds equal parts irritated and frightened.]

I can't help I look or sound, just like you can't, that doesn't mean I'm not normal.

[rubikscomplex]

Yeah, that's a lie.

[Sorry, Al. He's not buying it.]

What the hell are you freaking out for? It's impressive, okay?

Excellent job missing out words in the previous tag, Fossil...

[armoured]

[Impressive?

He's really not sure how to feel about that, especially when it comes paired with the assumption that he's some kind of robotic thing. This guy is a jerk, a big jerk. This is even worse than the 'are you a eunuch' fiasco with Tim.]

Thanks, I guess. But I really am just a normal fifteen year old kid, I'm not a robot and I don't have speakers, okay?

[Thank you for teaching him about robots, Tadashi.]

[rubikscomplex]

You might be a normal fifteen-year-old kid. This body isn't.

[Once he latches onto something, he's not letting go. This is a stupid argument and House isn't just going to let something this idiotic slide.]

You seriously need to stop playing video games if you're starting to think of the POV character as you. I'd say go outside, but yeah, don't bother. Still, wise up, Elric. No one's going to believe that. Not unless they're brain dead.

[armoured]

[This is way too close for comfort. If they were over the tablets then Al would be making some excuse and hanging up, but he can't even walk away because his comfort doesn't come ahead of House's physical safety.

For a minute it looks like he might shout. His grip gets a little tighter, and the lights in his eyes blaze, but then he tries to go for a diversionary tactic instead.]

I don't even know what a video game is.

[Weak, but hopefully enough if this annoying jerk can TAKE A HINT.]

[rubikscomplex]

[The tightening grip does have the benefit of reminding House that while Al can't escape this conversation... he can't, either. He doesn't think Al will drop him, but if he does, that would be bad. House decides to back off.

For a moment, anyway. Let the kid think it's dropped. Watch him flail when it isn't.]

What rock did you crawl out from under, or were your parents Amish?

[armoured]

[Oh, thank God.

His grip loosens again as relief sets in, although the awkwardness and tension of his voice haven't quite leeched fully away yet.]

I'm sorry, I don't know what Amish is either.

[Your world is strange and confusing, good sir. But in case parental jobs are actually relevant here, because Amish is totally a job, right...]

My Dad was an alchemist, and my Mom was... well, I guess she was a Mom, she didn't have a job.

[rubikscomplex]

Housewife. [He supplies without thinking about it.] She was a housewife. [Like his mom. How nice.] And what do you mean he was an 'alchemist?' Turning lead into gold, was he?

[House isn't going to bother answering what an 'Amish' is, or explaining that it is not, in fact, a profession.]

[armoured]

No, alchemists aren't allowed to create gold, it's one of the main rules that they live by.

[Partly because it was just unethical to use alchemy to make themselves rich, and partly because of the massive impact that would have on the economy.]

Alchemy is the science of changing one thing into another, though. It uses the principle of Equivalent Exchange - so... if you have an object with the same chemical make-up and mass of something else, you can rearrange those chemicals to create the new thing.

[He sighs, a little frustrated.]

I'd be happy to show you, but my alchemy hasn't worked since I got here.

[rubikscomplex]

... Uh huh.

[Have some skepticism Al. Have a lot of skepticism.]

Funny how transmutation just suddenly disappears when you have to do it in front of other people. Performance anxiety, Elric?

[armoured]

H-Hey! I'm telling you the truth!

[Wow, House, such a jerk.]

I'm not the only person here that has abilities that are missing, just ask about on the network. Besides how do you think we were all brought here, anyway?

[His bet is totally on an alchemist using portals of truth, horrific as that is to contemplate.]

But I guess that means there are no alchemists where you're from either, huh?

[rubikscomplex]

Take off that helmet and look me in the eye when we get to a house. I might believe you.

[He won't. He just wants Al to take the helmet off.]

And I can say I shoot fireballs from my nipples, kid. Unless you actually see me doing it, I'm probably lying. We got here by being drugged and carried. Simplest explanation. This is either an actual town some evil organization created in Siberia, the most advanced virtual reality simulation not on the market, or a mass hallucination... probably drug-induced. I'm really hoping for the drugs, personally.

[He's not even going to deign to answer Al's last question. It's stupid and he can infer from the rest of what House has said.]

[armoured]

[Dream on, because that helmet comes off for nobody. Especially not strangers who poke and prod like this.]

I don't understand anything you just said.

[Seriously? And he thought it was bad talking to Steph with her world references, but House seems to be ten times worse. He can't frown physically, but it's amazing how obvious it is that he would be doing that if he could.]

I don't know where Sibera is or what virtual reality simulations are, but I'm certain it's not a drug hallucination. It's too coherent and prolonged to be any kind of mass hallucination.