TEST DRIVE 005

[returnjourney]

RETURN JOURNEY: TEST DRIVE 005

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 ports 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.

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The Peregrine

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. Dorm Life

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. 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.

5. 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.

6. Wildcard

If it's in our game pages, you can use it as a prompt! The sky's the limit.

Comments

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS.

[returnjourney]

Villanelle | Killing Eve | Inmate

[looksdevastating]

2. Pairing

As soon as she found out about the files, all the fun went out of everything. Well, most of it. A lot of it.

She's going to miss doing accents, is the main thing.

So when her new "warden" (lol???) sits her down, she doesn't put one on. She sprawls in her chair, throwing a leg over one arm of it to demonstrate just how over it she is. Her head flops backwards for a moment before she sighs and looks up again, eyebrow raised.

"You know, I've had arrangements like this before," she observes, sticking her chin out defiantly. "They didn't go well."

3. Dorm Life

Okay, no there's some fun to be had here. And it can be nonviolent! Mostly! Not that she's against it or anything, it just seems like the Big Girl thing to do, being nonviolent. For now. Better save her energy for the Big Girl violence that will get her out of here, yeah?

But she can spare a bit of time and attention for this kind of thing. After all, it's like this inmate was asking for it. Leaving their bunk unlocked and the blankets all piled up. It was inevitable. She was just the first person who thought of it. Probably.

It being curling up under the piled blankets and waiting for the inmate to return to their bunk. When she hears them approaching, she has to hold her breath to keep from giggling, but it's worth it. As soon as they start to move to get inside, she reels up like a corpse raising from the dead and used that saved up breath to shout "BOO!" at the top of her lungs.

Classic.

5. Networking

u know, as someone who has committed many many crimes i think the worst crime of all is the fashion around here
and i mean both the fact that you all dress like idiot hobos and the fact that i only have like 12 outfits
i am suffering and you are all to blame
when is the next port so i can take you all shopping
also can the port be in paris
ty
xoxoxoxo

2.

[metalflower]

Aloy has known many colourful characters, and each and every one of them has put her on her toes in some way or another, but this one is different. This one, she knows, she cannot turn her back on. A future depends on it. It puts her on edge anyway. Who sits like that? Who acts like this if they don't want a fight?

She sits down with Villanelle with her jaw set. She's a wiry and athletic girl, dressed in bright silks and leathers, but she carries herself like she's much bigger than she is.

"I think you'll find me a little different," Aloy replies curtly. Still, she's curious: "What happened with the last one?"

3

[oinks]

On any given day Amanda would be the one hiding in gleeful wait for somebody to happen upon a hiding spot of her own, and she didn't ever consider it could happen the other way around. The shriek Villanelle is treated to is high-pitched, almost squeaky, and turns on a dime to furious instinct in a less than a second.

Amanda reaches out to grab her throat with one hand.

pairing 💞

[revie]

"I know."

Eve has never felt more vastly unqualified in her life. She makes a gesture with her hand, swirling, like there should be a glass of wine in it, and a bubble of nervous laughter escapes as she scans Villanelle's file from top to bottom. She's blank-faced at the details she already knows but honestly, they flip her goddamn stomach over.

This has to be some kind of joke, right. She places her CommLink gingerly down between the both of them, and twists her hands together.

Admits, "This is kinda awkward."

network; $windblade

[voxtitanis]

How many outfits is it normal for someone to have?

5.

[goty]

UN: ellieee

whats paris like

2/3 combo....

[pittance]

He jumps. Like, a foot. Smashes his shoulder on the opposite bunk, comes off it with a laugh.

"Shit," Hand to his heart, voice dropping the way they always do, when someone's trying to sound sincere: "You got me."

Beverly Katz | NBC's Hannibal | Warden

[schrodingerskatz]

1. Welcome Aboard! - Inmate Pickup

Beverly has been having ... quite a week. The Muralist, corpses full of bees, Hannibal fucking Lecter and his basement. And now, moments after what she's pretty certain was her death at Lecter's hands: a job offer.

But she believes in making the most of a bad situation. So when the Navarch asks her to go pick up an inmate due to staff shortages, she shrugs and agrees. "Can't get funding even in space, huh."

Which brings her here, to this odd snapshot of a moment. It's not the first time she's walked into the scene of a death, but it's the first time she's been tasked with conversing with the victim. How very Will Graham of her.

"Hey," she calls. "How're you doing?"

3. Dorm Life

Beverly does have her own cabin, which is lovely. It just also feels a little lonely, at the moment. Being the new kid at school with no roommate, you know? And as long as she's supposed to be taking responsibility for an inmate, she figures it would behoove her to have some sense of how they're living.

She's wandering along the aisles between pods, just soaking in the surroundings, when she makes eye contact with one of the current tenants. Her chin lifts a little, a greeting that's riding the line between confident and challenging. "Nice digs."

5. Networking

un: KatzB
What's the best place to get coffee in this place? Does anyone make it by hand or are we too futuristic for that here?

[ ooc: Please note that Bevery comes from a pretty gory horror series, and her canon point is after her violent death, so. Content warnings abound! ]

[raisindetre]

You can get it from the mess hall. It comes out of a machine. I don't think you can tell it what you want, you have to take whatever it puts in the cup.

5

[homeostatic]

You'll want the Mess Hall for that. It isn't the worst, but it's a step up from some of the replicator varieties I've had.

3

[aforethought]

Unpeeling the rope is a bit of work. Her fingers scratch lame against the hemp, stained dark-and-fresh-again. New blood speckles the braid, where a nail's bent itself half back, torn away -

It's a bit of work, with one arm. The stump's old, healed clean, clean as anything here in this rotting little shack. Air's thick of earth, damp; and shadows eat the edges of the room. Past the door, they unhatch themselves, nothing beyond but Arvo and Void.

This scene has been preserved only in snapshot: Tissue under glass.

"You know," Cracked along a contused throat. She shouldn't, by rights, be able to speak. The knot, the drop, wouldn't break a neck - and strangling is slow. Sucks the words right out of you. But, "I been fuckin' better."

1

[subject_013]

The death scene in question was a rocky cliff on which a tall, blond man who looked like Hannibal's bodybuilder brother clad in more black leather than an over-zealous Matrix trilogy cosplayer lay sprawled on his back. At her words, he emits a guttural snarl and his literally glowing red eyes flip open, staring up at her.

"I've had better days, dearheart," he replies, with a straight-across grin worthy of a beast ready to bite out her throat at the next chance it gets.

Pietre Carvel, Utopia (2013) Warden

[raisindetre]

HELLO MY NAME IS:

Pietre makes for a quiet match save for the sound of his slow, heaving breathing as he scrolls through his CommLink. Give him a moment, he's reading. Slow at that too. But the concept of having a job isn't new to him and he's been put onto orders like this before. 'Cept in the past it would have been a kill order, and now it's...

Talking, together. Figuring things out. It could be a lot worse.

"Right." His voice is halting. He speaks like he's considering every word, and places his CommLink away to really consider the person sitting in front of him, hands clasped between his knees.

"I guess we'd better introduce ourselves first. My name's Pietre. What's yours?"

ALL THIS MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Anybody happening upon the mess hall is more than welcome to sit with Pietre as he makes his way through an order of breakfast. He's chewing with plenty of appreciation, his hat on the table beside him. His table manners are fair to middling.

"These are vegan." Did you know? He brandishes a sausage on the end of his fork, chewing. "Made from plants, not meat. I can't tell at all. They taste the same to me." Not bad. He misses the usual fry-up he'd get from his local, but as it understands it that's long gone now.

NETWORK: A CONFESSION

Quick question:

Do you think they ever make a mistake when they're deciding if you're supposed to be a warden or an inmate?

(network; un: $windblade)

[voxtitanis]

I think no decision making process is 100% infallible, but I choose to believe that the ones about those aboard the Peregrine have been made with good intentions.

hello!!

[jqm]

Prison. Prison is new. A little exciting, if only for the novelty of it. Once that wears off, chances are Julian won't have much a reason to stick around this place. But until then, he'll entertain, well, all of this.

The fact that he doesn't exactly have a choice doesn't occur to him.

Slow seems to be the word of the hour, because Julian's gaze is as slow as Pietre's breath as it passes over him. One gaudy, exorbitantly dressed leg uncrosses and crosses over the other.

"Maan. Charmed, I'm sure... Warden."

all this modern technology.

[goty]

Ellie is sawing through her own scattering of red-grey sausage. She selected 'Breakfast' out of morbid curiosity, and ended up with tiny portions. Figures.

"Did vegan stuff taste different?" Did. Does. Vegans still exist, Ellie.

tofurkey

[searchengine]

A low buzz, somewhere between consideration and agreement. TOE considers the plate, screen flickering onto the page of some obscure bestiary.

"Your people don't eat them?"

There's no plate before his own setting, though a mug of coffee curls thin steam; fogs his display. The image obscures white.

Scott Summers | Marvel Warden

[notrosecolored]

Inmate Pick-up:
[ Scott's not really an imposing figure. He's tall, but dressed down to faded jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. Nice (expensive) hair-cut, clean nails that look manicured, and sunglasses.

He is, however, really not in the mood to deal with shit so he's pretty direct in saying:]

To borrow a cliche line: We can do this the easy way or the hardway, but we're doing it. How's up to you.

The Peregrine

[ Scott spends a little time getting acquainted with the ship and it's layout, meaning he can be found just about anywhere at least briefly. He certainly wants to get a feel for the space, but most of those visits are very brief.

The only places he can be found for any length of time are the Resource library and observatory.

And, of course, the Mess hall. Guy's gotta eat, after all. ]

Network:

My name is Scott Summers. Yes, I am new.
Yes, I wear sunglasses all of the time. That is for your protection, not mine.
Leave them alone.

And if you recognize the name - I'm sorry.

network | c.fraser

[nineteenfortyfive]

Why would you be sorry for someone recognizing your name?

[hasapoint]

Much as I hate being the old woman going 'What?' it's likely better to ask. Sunglasses?

ser coupe | OC

[faine]

[ All prompts OTA to inmates or Wardens ]


1) PICKUP

[ inmates intro *or* Wardens retrieval on a mission / while injured or whatever ]

"I am as a river in winter," Quiet, caught interior: If this is a mantra, she thinks it unobserved. "I will still the currents,"

Steady. The world bobs beneath your consciousness - face-down, limbs dangling from a shoulder's rough hoist. A buckle digs uncomfortably into your gut.

"I will lay the road safe to walk. I am as a river in -" Movement stops. Stumbles. A hiss of breath "- Fuck!"

Whoever's carrying you lurches to the floor, fumbling, a tumult that can't quite break either of your falls.


2) INMATE PAIRINGS / PRETENDING TO BE AN INMATE

[ inmates, or ur warden is pretending to be an inmate for some reason: maybe to secret shopper your fellow wardens, or maybe both sides know and it's a teaching exercise, or something. sky's the limit ]

"Let us speak plainly." A deep voice. Vaguely French - the scar that curls about her neck merits its rasp. Coupe folds her hands behind her back: "You should be dead."


3) NETWORK - ser.c @ the entire network


G&S. Where is the Armory?

2.

[goty]

Ellie looks up from the wrapped sandwich she brought with her from the mess hall. She still isn't sure what the meat is supposed to be, except, apparently, not meat. Honestly, she's just glad she has something to do with her hands.

"Um, yeah," she murmurs. "So they tell me."

the one electronic | overside | warden

[searchengine]

DORM LIFE - ISH

He doesn't sleep. Unnerving, he's been told - seldom in so many syllables. Not Cal's style.

Dim light flickers in the hall, a turn or two past the dorms themselves. The same cold radiation of any ship's lamp. Easily mistaken for it, until one's close enough for the swivel of screen up.

TOE regards them: Inmate, Warden, equally impassive.

"A solitary mission?"


LIBRARY

Face-to-face -

What passes for it. Archimedes blinks and preens, serene to be observed. Every now and then, he offers a prompting Salutations, Warden, Can I help you?

"No," Each time unmoved, his screen turning a slow kaleidoscope of grey. But now: "What did you come to ask?"

A newcomer. His back yet faces the door, gloved hands gripping the perch-rail.


NETWORK - TOE @ all

Where have you traveled?

network - xXxbethxgreenexXx

[littlemissfutility]

georgia
why????

beth greene | the walking dead | warden

[littlemissfutility]

fetch an inmate.

Well, that sure is a corpse in front of them. Beth has no idea where they are, only that they're surrounded by more noise and neon than she's seen in years, and she can't read any of the words lit up in the night. And while there's a whole lot of blood soaking into the pavement, none of it is near the head.

"Is this the right one?" she asks, a few steps back from the body. She's not quite reaching for her hunting knife, but there's a kind of tension threading through her limbs. "It's gotta be the right one, right?"

pair an inmate.

"Hi. I'm Beth." And as wardens go, she's probably not the most imposing anyone's seen: skinny and scarred, wearing a messy ponytail and a neat little sweater set. But it's kind of a weird ship, full of people who don't seem like they belong. She's kind of counting on that to work in her favour. "I think I'm your warden for a while."

The I stretches out just a little, the slight touch of a southern accent colouring it.

rest.

She's sitting on a stool in Warden Command, in the little medical area, squinting in a mirror while she holds a set of tweezers in one hand. A pair of medical shears is on the counter in front of her.

When she furrows her brow, the scar above one brow furrows along with. The one on her cheek opposite doesn't. With an uncertain hand, she tries to grab a stitch with the tweezers - the better to hold it in place while she snips the thread - but it's clear that doing it while watching the backwards version in the mirror is easier said than done.

If she notices you before you speak, she'll ask, "You know anything about taking out stitches?"

If she doesn't - well, try talking first. We'll see how that goes.

wildcard.

[ Start us off someplace else. PM me if you'd like to discuss beforehand. ]

pairing

[aluminumandash]

Her inmate slides into a seat across from her, glances at her once and then away. Cohle is a quiet prisoner, if not a model one—hands and thoughts to himself, not prone to outbursts. He has a tattoo running the length of his right forearm—a screaming bird, its skeleton visible—and dresses so it's on display. Hits wardens up for cigarettes now and again. One fight in the showers, no witnesses and over quickly.

“Cohle.” This month's biographical snippet supplies that his first name is Rustin, alias Crash, his age is 34, and he has stolen cocaine from an evidence locker. In his time on the Peregrine he has made no mention of being a cop, has been known to spit at the mention of police.

His hands disappear under the table; he rocks back in his seat until the chair balances on its back legs. Until he's staring her in the face, his gaze stark and sullen. “What's your miracle, Beth?” He too has a sticky Southern drawl.

Will Graham | NBC Hannibal | Warden

[this_ismydesign]

I. - Pairing

He's got a file sitting in front of him, which he is dubiously eyeing. Will's still not entirely sold on this whole situation, for so many reasons.

There's the fact that he is fairly certain he should be dead, in which case all this could just be some manner of synaptic shut down as his brain dies. If he isn't dead then there is the question of who in their right minds would appoint him as some sort of role model for another damaged person?

He's sure he asked the Navarch at least four times if they were absolutely sure they had his designation right. Not that he didn't appreciate the room and all that but ... really?

Speaking of the room, on a space ship. He was on a space ship; a space.ship. This circle of thinking was what usually brought Will back to the whole 'must be dying' thought, which was why he probably looked like a deer in headlights when someone actually walked into the room and joined him.

"If this is what comes after death, I want my money back."

No. No he really can't seem to say 'hello' like a normal person.

II. - Networking
-audio-
Having come to the conclusion that this is not some manner of chemically induced mass hallucination, I am forced to accept this reality as my own. [ Nope. Still can't say hello like a normal person. ]

I regret being forced to admit that I never found much pleasure in reading science fiction novels, which leads me to two questions.

Is there a basic manual for how best to survive on this ship, and is it always so damn cold?