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returnjourneymemes2022-02-01 02:13 pm
returnjourney) wrote in returnjourneymemes2022-02-01 02:13 pm
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TEST DRIVE 002
RETURN JOURNEY: TEST DRIVE 002
Welcome to the Return Journey's test drive meme! We appreciate your interest. Our TDM features a small sample of events your character might encounter in game, which you're free to embellish or improvise with your own ideas as desired. Don't worry if you haven't read everything yet; while we recommend skimming our FAQ for relevant questions, critical information should be contained or linked within the prompts themselves!
TDM threads can be used as samples for applications. Players can mutually keep threads as game canon after being accepted into the game, though threads featuring non-canon squalls or events may need to be adjusted.
We suggest putting your character's name, canon, and potential role (warden or inmate) as the subject. If you're not sure which role you want to choose, feel free to try your hand at both!
If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask here.
1. Welcome Aboard!
Welcome aboard the SFS Peregrine, a ship in the Admiralty's Transformative and Penal Reparation Fleet. It is presently circling the outer perimeter of the Oos Ring Galaxy.
Wardens have been approached personally by the Navarch with a job offer: Come aboard the SFS Peregrine to assist in the redemption of an inmate, and receive a miracle known as a windfall as payment. Even if you don't ask as many questions as you should, every warden will be treated to a short Warden Orientation video explaining their expected duties and conduct.
Inmates have died and been placed aboard the SFS Peregrine as candidates for reformation. You may have come willingly, offered a choice between death or redemption, or you may have been collected against your will. Inmates are also treated to an Inmate Orientation; you'll find you have less privileges than a warden, but more motivation for...latitude. Violence? Chaos? Bribery? Blackmail? Well, no one said the path to redemption was without a few bumps along the way.
Given staff shortages, some wardens may be asked for a favor. Rather than leaving directly for the Peregrine, you've been asked to pick up an inmate from the limbo between death and redemption. During this mission, wardens will have clearance to enter a snapshot of sorts, where the inmate died (so devoid of other living beings). You either have to talk them into willingly coming along...or bring their unconscious, fresh-from-death not-corpse with you in the Avro provided. Better hope they don't wake up on the way!
Inmates, in this case, you'll be presented with the choice of death or redemption from a warden rather than the Navarch. Or possibly not provided with a choice at all, if death has rendered you unconscious. Good luck when you awaken to find yourself in a small ship, with someone you've never met. Try not to cause any trouble.
2. Pairings
Pairings are a critical aspect of the dynamic between warden and inmate. While interactions between wardens and inmates are not restricted to those in pairings, this relationship is a bit more...inescapable. Inmates test the limits of a warden, whether they take a more typical or unusual approach to matters; likewise, wardens learn what makes an inmate tick (and hopefully cooperate). Chances are, your values will clash.
A pairing of any sort is as varied as the individuals involved in them. And today, courtesy of the Navarch's monthly announcement, you and your sorry partner have been paired. Temporary or permanent, with a warden for an inmate or an inmate for a warden, it's your first day together — out of at least a month, so good luck setting some ground rules and figuring out each other's breaking points.
3. Life on the Peregrine
Hey, inmates! Ever gone to summer camp? Had a sibling? If so, you might see where this is going. If not, welcome to your first experience with shared sleeping arrangements!
The dorms are lined with bunks, though maybe they're better described as pods: futuresque capsules stacked two high, with sleek white paneling and cool blue LED lightning. Each bunk can be closed off with a sliding door privacy and boasts a bladeless fan for temperature control. Bedding is adequate. If such modest conditions do not appeal to you: consider not committing crimes against other people.
And just like with siblings or summer camp, you don't get a say in who your bunkmate is. Maybe you'll luck out and get a light sleeper who doesn't toss and turn in the night. Maybe you won't, and you'll end up with someone who will kill you if you snore. Whoever you get is who you're stuck with until further notice!
Wardens get much more hospitable quarters, but they may want to keep an eye out on the inmate dorms. Just in case an inmate does try to kill their bunkmate.
4. Squalls
Occasionally, the ship passes through squalls, the equivalent of cosmic turbulence that can mess with little things like, say...the fabric of reality. These are shipwide effects, though who they hit is variable. Sometimes you might fall victim; other times you might be the one standing by, exasperated, as you deal with those affected.
(In other words, it's up to player discretion. And feel free to make up your own squalls!)
This time around, the squall comes with an interesting side effect: whenever you lie or someone lies to you, you experience an immediate rush of anger — whether you consciously know someone is lying or not. Think of it as a temporary lie detector, but instead of being hooked up to a machine, you might punch someone in the face.
5. The Peregrine
The Peregrine's layout and protocols have been designed with its intended passengers in mind, who are primarily Earth humanoids and inclined towards certain social and cultural practices. If you're wondering why you are on a ship of Earth humanoids despite not being one yourself, please understand that all ships in the Admiralty have a population capacity. At times it may be necessary to assign other species to a ship of this type, based on availability.
As a warden, you have full run of the ship map. Inmates...less so, but that's nothing a little creativity can't fix, right? Just remember, if a warden catches an inmate somewhere that inmate shouldn't be, it falls on the warden to handle the matter. And if the warden turns a blind eye...well, let's hope neither of you get caught. While it won't result in anything as extreme as a demotion, wardens can expect to get a stern dressing down; inmates, meanwhile, will be reprimanded by the warden who found them.
6. Networking
Now that you've powered on your CommLink for the first time and sat through the short tutorial and appropriate orientation, you're ready to explore the wonders of messaging. Video, audio, or text, the world is your oyster and you surely have opinions on it.
There is no anonymous option and IDs must be some variation of your name. (IC, characters will have to try their luck and see what the communicator will or won't accept when they register; OOC, it's up to players to decide what name to use if the character has multiple names or aliases.)
Wardens have access to a group network filter, something that inmates lack, and can track inmates throughout the ship with their CommLink. Inmates, best avoid getting your device confiscated or monitored.
7. Wildcard
If it's in our game pages, you can use it as a prompt! The sky's the limit.
Counselor Aiden Price | Red vs Blue | Inmate
[Price feels a certain uneasiness knowing that he has to share a sleeping space - he was in prison just before arriving to this new one, he knows how dangerous people can be. The good news is that it is scientifically proven that sleeping in the same room as someone else will strengthen your bond with them, so it's all about starting on the right foot.
He inspects the pod with his hand: the inside feels cozy enough, and the sliding door works properly for now. Oh, someone just walked in.]
Greetings.
no subject
Hey.
[He isn't one for handshakes, so he just heads right to his storage trunk, which he begins rifling through for a shirt.]
New guy?
no subject
[His eyes quickly scan Travis's figure. The young man seems to have an interesting style, which Price appreciates, he likes stylish people, although he has been sticking to uniforms for about a decade. He's recently managed to get one that looks like the one he had in Project Freelancer, a very unflattering grey colour, which is convenient since he doesn't like to be the center of attention.]
I am Dr Aiden Price. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.
no subject
Travis Touchdown. You a doctor-doctor or a smart-guy kind of doctor?
no subject
[Which probably qualifies as a bit of both.]
Are you new here too?
no subject
[He pauses to sniff his pits. Did he wear this shirt since he last did laundry? No. Phew.]
You're a counselor and they've got you in here? [He gestures around them at the dorms.] Shit. What kinda malpractice they get you on?
no subject
[He shrugs, an apologetic smile on his face.]
That's on me for believing him.
[There. He gets to blame the Director - as he should - and to look sociable. It's the way Felix would approach this, he thinks.]
What are you in for? If it's alright to ask.
no subject
That sucks. [Without shame:] I'm an assassin.
no subject
[Price is pleased. This feels like a familiar enough territory. Of course going with a Felix-like attitude would work. It's a nearly universal way to connect with people this ratty.]
Business or pleasure?
[He smiles. He doesn't necessarily have bad intentions.]
no subject
[Money's nice, but it's just not the same as the blood rush.]
People who kill for business are sick in the head.
no subject
I have always thought that was very interesting, the difference between assassins and active military: they both kill for a living, but for the military it's legal and they get medals for it.
no subject
[He says, shrugging himself into a hot pink jacket emblazoned with anime girls.]
no subject
[Price nods. He is an overall very supportive and cooperative person, he doesn't mind rules themselves, but he doesn't see the point in obeying them when it doesn't make sense to do so. There is nothing wrong with doing what is more practical and convenient.]
Although many people do find themselves at ease in a regimented environment. How have you been holding up within this structure?
no subject
They’re gonna run out of places to shackle me. Fuck their rules.
no subject
[Which he thinks is practical, but kind of messed up to do considering that those who were meant to use that function were 'moral'. No psychology textbook has ever successfully helped him shake off this feeling that there is some discrepancy that he cannot fully comprehend.]
You might want to watch out for a similar system. It would be unwise to provoke the authorities into using such device.
no subject
[Shrug]
no subject
[Price gets pensive.]
What do they do to those they deem as lost causes?
no subject
Ritual execution? Cage fight to the death? A lifetime of eternal torment in some storage crate here? Who the fuck knows, dude.
no subject
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
[ Dismissive, reflexive. A growl without bark or bite. Joe doesn't turn to look, nose flaring — then wrinkling sharp. He stoops to unhook the latch of his trunk. It sticks. ]
What're you waiting for?
[ Another rattle at the latch, the frustrated toss of his head, back and again. Doesn't lock, but now it's gonna stick? ]
no subject
[Price is confused.]
Do you need help?
no subject
[ Yes, but. He digs an elbow into the bunk as a brace, starts prying. ]
Said what're you waiting around here for? Like a statue.
no subject
[He gets on the other bunk, proceeds to close it effortlessly. He stays still, he's curious to listen what this other man will do.]
no subject
Metal creaks. Plastic groans. Something a little like foam makes that soft, squeaky sound that drives hairs all up the back of his neck; virus grabbing the frequency and shaking it like a rat.
Behind the shut door, something pops loose. It's not the latch. Cursing, muttered and muffled low — then the heavy sound of a boot into trunk. Unseen, Joe scrapes the floor for his fingernail, smears wide streaks of red along the floor. ]
no subject