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January 2024 Test Drive Meme: Our First!
| Welcome to the Simulation: Our First Test Drive |
Full Navigation Reserves open 01/27/2024 @ 12:00 AM EST |
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Summary: 🌼 Content Warnings: Optional light alcohol, isolation, bad weather via thunderstorms, feeling of being watched and taunted, false information, mental manipulation, memory manipulation, memories or depictions of murder and torture There is a knock at the door. You mustn't answer the door. It has been a long, long, long day, hasn't it? You don't even remember sitting on the couch and you certainly don't remember dozing off. But that strange broadcast certainly woke you up and now...You are here. In an unfamiliar house with outdated wallpaper and dirty carpet. The weather outside seems frightful. Torrential downpours with clashing thunder and flashes of lightning chase even the most persistent shadows in the house. Was the lady on the TV serious? Did you just have to wait in this lousy place for the storm to blow over? Or, wait, how did she word it? Wait while things finish configuration. Damn, your head is hurting and you could use a drink. Hopefully, the tacky yellow kitchen has a stocked fridge. Luckily for you, it's filled with fresh food and some fresh booze. There is a knock at the door. You mustn't answer the door. Unluckily for you, there is another person in this house with you. They might have woken up on the same couch as you or are bumping around upstairs. Either way, the freak in the polka-dot dress wasn't wrong: You're not alone here. When you and whoever else in this house finally join up, you will notice that the house seems to become a bit more lively. The pictures on the wall change to feature you or your companion. Some of the pictures are genuine from back in your homeworld, but others...Not so much. Others look like false memories of you with families you don't even remember or at a school you never attended, but they are all so real you can't help but think maybe Daisy is telling the truth after all. There is a heavier knock at the door. You mustn't answer the door. There is a radio in the house that suddenly begins to declare an emergency announcement: "At this time, we urge all residents of Sweet Acres to seek shelter immediately. The wind is picking up and we anticipate this storm to last the rest of the night - Oh? A heavy booming knock lands three times at the front door. Let. Me. In. The pictures around the house begin to change. Now it shows you and whoever you're sharing the house with doing some...terrible things. Maybe some of it is true. Some of it may be completely false. Will it matter when the pictures seem so terrifyingly real? What happens when the TV glitches on and starts to play sketchy home videos of one of you doing something terrible? What happens when the radio starts to play terrifying audio of you confessing to an atrocious crime? What happens when the person you're stuck in the house with might just be the stranger the radio warned you about? Or will you have the sense to realize that something is very wrong here and that you're both being played a fool? The knocking at the door is only getting louder. So loud it cracks the door. The storm worsens. What should you do? The madness will only worsen the longer you stay. You may even be driven to defend yourself from each other, you may come to develop false memories of crimes you didn't commit. You may just... Decide to open that damn door already. It turns out, that's what you needed to do the entire time. Because the moment you do? You open the door and see a beautiful, sunny day outside. No rain. Not a single gray cloud. Certainly no horrifying stranger either. But now you're left with whatever you did or thought from the house. For some people, the terror may slip away as easily as the rain, but for some of you, you might be stuck with paranoia and suspicion. Welcome to Sweet Acres. |
| [ The Bot Problem ] |
Summary: 🌼 Content Warnings: Forced sexuality, optional sex, aphrodisiac style computer virus, dubious consent, hunted by machines, use of bombs, guns, and shrapnel. Possible character death or maiming You will notice that there are still some errors in the system as you go out and about exploring your new town. There will be an occasional glitch that opens up a screaming void of bottomless darkness before it blinks out of existence. Those are unsettling enough, but at least they don't seem harmless. The bots, on the other hand, are a different story. They glitch into the town, cracking through this carefully structured reality like breaking through a window. It seems like Daisy has a lot of work to do on the external firewalls of Sweet Acres! In the meantime, you're going to have to deal with her incompetence. A lot of the bots can easily be mistaken for other residents in town. These are model-gorgeous women and men who almost seemed like caricatures of stereotypical beauty conventions. Big lips, huge hips, large muscles, chiseled jaws, perfect hair, pearly white teeth. These beauties flounce about and no matter who or what you are, if they look your way, they are immediately approaching you. "Hey, sexy. I'm single, horny, and lonely. I just turned 18 and I've got my daddy's credit card." "I've never seen a person more beautiful than you. I'm the CEO of at least three different six-figure income businesses. How about I take you on a night out in my Ferrari?" There isn't a single thought behind those eyes or in those smiles. If you have the thought to rely on your Daze, you can just block the Sex Bots and they will blink out of existence. Alternatively, you could probably just smash them out of existence with a good punch or the swing of a weapon...They will just vanish into a cloud of corrupt coding. But if you're a bit more gullible and still catching up on the strangeness of this place or can't figure out Daze, you might make the mistake of responding to one of these bots. The Bot will immediately scan you for all of your information and warp its features into something that you actually would find to be the ideal beauty. "This is better, right?" It's hard to deny...They even sound like the ideal beauty in your mind. A gentle hand on your arm and then they are leading you away. Except they aren't leading you anywhere. You watch helplessly as coding goes up your arm and begins to consume your body. You can't feel anything but a prickling sensation. The Bot vanishes, but you are left rewired. Now it is you with the dramatic features emphasizing your most attractive parts. Regardless of your personality, you suddenly feel the urge to walk up to just about anyone anywhere and flirt with them. Whether stupidly or sincerely. It's hard to remember yourself with the bot's virus wreaking havoc on your Daze. Worst case scenario? You wind up sleeping with someone because of this bizarre virus, but you will also ironically get it out of your system this way and feel completely normal after. Alternatively, you can find someone who is a bit more tech-savvy with the Daze and who might have an idea of how to hack into your system and get rid of the virus for you. This might involve some personal line of questioning, but hey, at least you're not walking around asking for sex from total strangers anymore! The Sex Bots are a dream compared to the other virus attacking the system of Sweet Acres. One will begin to see small metal robots trotting about, no bigger than a backpack, with lethal determination. These metal dogs scour their surroundings for anything organic or anything that doesn't belong in the space. This means they are actively ripping up plants and destroying trees, which is tragic enough, but just be glad they haven't seen you yet because it turns out that Daisy's Sweet Subjects are the metal dog's top priority. The moment they notice you, they will begin a neverending chase. These robots can catch up to a speeding car and resist an enormous amount of damage. They are waterproof and run on their own network completely disconnected from the Daze, so good luck trying to hack into them- it won't work. They can see just as well in the dark as the light and have sensors that allow them to pick up on body temperature as well as any vibrations you might make. They are not gentle creatures: their goal is to terminate all organic beings and Sweet Subjects in the area. If they catch you, they will immediately attempt to blow your head off with a small gun they can form. Alternatively, they will expel a shrapnel bomb if you catch them off guard. They also have paralyzing fog bombs. Metal dogs can be destroyed, however. With large explosions, armor-piercing weaponry, people with extreme super strength. Or you can get creative! Maybe you know a spell that can turn them into a stuffed animal or melt the metal. Maybe you have control over metal beings. There are ways to destroy these things. But don't worry. If worse comes to worse, Daisy is going around to destroy them for you. But do you really want to owe her your life? |
no subject
[Hopefully. He cannot handle being propositioned that many times in a row.
Then, almost sternly:] Nobody's dying. Nobody's going to die here. [That -- isn't what that meant at all, but Koby's spent the past several hours in a state of "oh god I'm gonna die", so maybe he's just trying to reassure himself.]
no subject
Just think really hard at them about them vanishing or some shit.
(Which sounds like an absolute lie. He's about to go into some lame explanation when the guy suddenly sprouts that. Dirk stares at him blankly, and then, rather robotically:)
If we are in an actual simulation, which I'm pretty sure we are, then it is incredibly unlikely anyone will ever actually die in any real sense of the word. We might undergo a similar experience as death, but I'd bet my left nut that we'd just snap back into this reality.
no subject
[Then, shoulders scrunching up towards his ears, Koby busies himself with smoothing out his (dumb, dorky, slightly bloodied) uniform.] I guess that makes a horrible sort of sense. People like this Daisy person wouldn't want to lose their toys as easily as that. [Koby's already fairly sure that the whole experiment thing isn't real, which just means that they're being punished somehow. Or just played with.]
Okay then. How do we get out?
no subject
The metal dogs need to be put down with force though. So, don't attempt that on them.
(Or else he probably would die.)
Nah. Manipulators get off on the long haul of their own bullshit. Otherwise, it's not really worth it.
(Ask him how he knows! He looks at Koby, silent for entirely too long before replying very simply:)
We can't. I tried.
no subject
You tried. Just now? Or...how did you try? [Listen, you're very tall and capable, like most men he knows, but Koby is going to need a bit more proof.]
no subject
Dunno. Just tried flying off. Then I hit some sort of force field. Tried breaking it. It didn't budge. Kinda fucked my head up though.
(He proceeds to float up into the air by a few inches. Then, because he has absolutely zero tact, he scoops Koby up into his arms and proceeds to just...Throw him up into the air. It's not a playful little throw either. He literally throws him like a projectile.
Before Koby can come to any real damage or harm though, Dirk's appears out of thin air and catches Koby effortlessly.)
I'm technically a god. This shit is usually a cakewalk for me. But if I can't bust this shit down, no one can. You catch my drift, babe?
no subject
Koby nods thoughtfully, mouth already open to question the "flying" thing, but then Dirk's demonstrating. Dirk is hands-on demonstrating by levitating, then easily scooping Koby up off the ground. His indignant squawk turns into a much sharper, horrified shriek as he's then hurtled into the air.
There's not even room for Koby to feel relieved that he's been caught -- he's immediately trying to scramble free.] Put me down! Right now!
no subject
I don't think you would want me to put you down right now from here.
(Smartass.
He glides quickly back to the ground and sets Koby down. He stays hovering, impassive about the screeching.)
Better?
no subject
I guess if -- someone like you can't get out, there really isn't any way. Not through force. [A ferocious scowl, up over the tops of his glasses.] You didn't need to prove it, I would've believed you.
no subject
(He winds up floating like a leaf down beside Koby, folding his legs up and resting his elbows onto his own knees.)
Nope. And this kind of situation is my specialty too.
(On the actual technical level. He falls back, folding his arms up under his head, and stares up at the sky.)
I'm trying to figure out which moving pieces here are essential. Daisy, obviously, and whatever she technically is. Knowing what she is means maybe knowing her weak points. But how the glitches work here too. And the cow.
(He's rambling now, thinking outloud more than actually talking to Koby.)
Man, this is lame.
(He had just tried to die and here he was, in another dumb cosmic fucked up situation.)
Yeah, I know, but now there's no doubt in your mind. Saves me a lot of time.
no subject
Hugging his knees to his chest, Koby frowns a little, perplexed.] Your specialty? How so? And how did you figure out how to block the...sex bot things so quickly? [It doesn't make any sense to him, but if Dirk has that fundamental understanding...he could be a lot of help. An ally. Part of Koby's mind never stops analyzing that, the potentials, the possible ways to defend or attack.
Then, sitting up a bit straighter:] You saw the cow too? In the -- field, with all the stars? [Even now, the memory makes Koby's chest ache, remembering the sound the two-headed calf had made as he'd disappeared into the light. The way the warmth of it in his arms still feels so much more real than anything Daisy's said or done.] Was it okay? When you left?