THE TEST DRIVE MEME: MARCH - APRIL

[checkingin]

THE TEST DRIVE MEME

SO YOU WANT TO JOIN THE CREEPY HOTEL BRIGADE.

Well, welcome potential apper! Here we have the handy dandy test drive meme so you can get a feel for how your character might react to the game setting. This post can also be used to cultivate some of those required sample threads for the application.

Feel free to play any scenario you so please. However please note that TDM threads cannot be used for Activity Checks (for existing players) and will not be considered game canon unless transposed comment for comment into logs in checkingout. We also recommend avoiding playing the initial arrival, so that the intro log doesn't become repetitive and boring for you. Other than that, go wild.

Here's a few additional useful links:

PREMISE | THE HOTEL
TAKEN | RESERVES | APPLICATION

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS.

No time for losers, because we — have waffles and pancakes and crepes and delicate bowls of ripe bananas and juicy oranges. We have bacon and oatmeal and cereal and milk; we have coffee (that's really hot and will burn you quite spectacularly) and tea (that, on the other hand, is miserably cold and bland). And we have orange juice (that might just kill you)!

Basically, every component one needs to start the day off right. Which is good, because this is the only meal ever served in the hotel. So come one, come all — get it while it's hot and try to pick among seats amidst the crowded circular tables, or stand along the wall. Bemoan the lack of hashbrowns or fight over the last fork. Mix, mingle. Have "fun".

DON'T YOU LOVE MY TASTE IN MUSIC.

What starts as soft, subtle musical notes wafting out of unseen speakers?

Yeah, that quickly manifests into blaring, loud, aggressively high pitched notes — so distorted, and reverberating so magnificently in the main lobby that even those impenetrable windows rattle in their frames.

And what's more, there doesn't seem to be an off switch anywhere in sight. Good luck finding one.

GOING DOWN.

Right by the stairwell in the lobby is an old timey elevator, the sort that really ought to be manned by staff to insure that it's in decent working condition and won't kill you. But it's usually not. And usually doesn't run.

But today, your ears are treated to an oh-so pleasant ding, and the doors will slide open, offering a ride to the floor of your choosing. Finally, no more calf workouts on the stairs, right?

...well, you probably should have taken the stairs, because three seconds in the entire carriage shudders, screeches to a halt, and refuses to move.

Then the lights begin to flicker.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE.

Don't see a scenario that appeals to you here? Make up your own. Get crazy with it! Good luck getting outside.

Comments

[facemyenemies]

[You are already too close for comfort, Skye.]

[In all honestly, she wanted to shift to Skye Face and scare the girl, if she could. Mimic her, repeat everything she was doing or saying but...]

[No, she wont give that ace in the hole away yet. Instead she relaxed forward as well, reaching up to take her sunglasses off, tucking them into her pouch pocket of her hoodie. Brown eyes stared back. If she knows who she is it wont matter. 'Do not engage' Ward told her, but hen they were this close you couldn't run off.]

[She stayed relaxed, smooth and cool, no heat in her words as she said lightly]

Subway, perhaps. Though I would think if you had seen a face like mine you'd remember it.

[hacker]

[ There's enough. Her voice twangs, metallic, like a glitch, but it couldn't possibly be more familiar. May's voice is as familiar to Skye as a mother's might be to their child. That, combined with her words—a face like this—is enough to spark the memory.

The skirmish hadn't lasted long; Agent 33 was (is) the better combatant. Especially given that Skye's been sedentary for two months now, trapped in this hotel and miserably trying not to aggravate any negative emotions that might set her off. ]

No. I guess you're right; I wouldn't. [ She takes a drink from her orange juice, smiling through her gulp before quipping, ] But when we were in Vancouver, that's not what your face looked like. Well. Part of it was.

[facemyenemies]

[Do you know how badly she wants to switch faces now? To smile that dumb smile back to the other. The girl she had been so sure for so long was the only person Ward would want. Now she knows better. Or so she thinks.]

[Instead she looks back to her plate, eyes glazed over, calm. The woman knows, as does she. It doesn't matter.]

People change. [as does her face, when it works] Is there a reason you came over to talk, or did you just want to gawk?

[hacker]

[ Now that she's sure it's 33? Yeah. There's a few things. ]

What I wanted was … to say that I'm glad you made it out.

[ Despite their altercation. Everyone and their mother knows that HYDRA used brainwashing technology on 33. If Gill could shake it, so can she. It has nothing do with (it has everything to do with) her guilt over seeing Gill's ghost haunting her for two weeks.

Taking them out isn't the answer. Especially not when she's had two months of nightmares of being on the wrong end of her scope. ]

Of San Juan. I know things got bad there, but you're okay now. You're safe; you can come back to SHIELD. We can help you.

[facemyenemies]

[No point in hiding it when she had so many others around here. Someone was going to figuring it out sooner or later. Especially as she hung around Ward most]

[Her comment though, that she was glad she got out, took the woman by mild surprise. What kind of tactic is this? She lifted her head a bit more, her face more easily seen now as she stared at her. Eyes narrowing just a tad in suspicion.]

Why would I return to SHIELD? Why would they help me at all? [she drew back a bit, looking at her plate again, fork poking at her food, a look of annoyance on her face. SHIELD, if they had wanted to help and fix her, would have come looking for her. They didn't, so why bother with them? Ward's the one that fixed her.] There isn't anyway they could help me anyhow.

[hacker]

Because you're one of us.

[ An agent. An ally. They don't have a lot of those, these days. She knows Coulson would want her to reach out; he'd see that it's the right thing to do.

He'd have to.

If she can't convince herself of that, there's no hope of convincing herself that he won't slap Skye on the Index, stuff her in a box, and be done with her once he finds out what she's capable of. What she can't control. ]

Say you're right: we can't help. Isn't it better to try and know for sure? Whitehall's dead; you don't owe him anything.

[facemyenemies]

[One of us. Ha.]

[She doesn't remember that part of Kara. She doesn't remember being that agent still. Fragments are there, nightmares to haunt her, but never to get close.]

[She almost said something to that, but the comment of Whitehall being dead felt like it burned through her system. A tingle at her face, was it a blush or anger or just the mask reacting oddly? A reminder of her complete FAIL at her job.]

[her hand tightened into a ball around her fork, and she could see herself flipping her plate as distraction, twisting her wrist and planting the fork into the girls neck.]

[She could see it and could make sure she didn't. That wasn't what she wanted anymore. She had no allegiance to Whitehall. There was only one person she needed to worry about, to trust. And it wasn't this girl or her group.]

[Her hand relaxed on the fork before she spoke.] Whitehall is dead because of your Coulson. [Calvin was mad about that too, but she didn't care about him either. He wanted Whitehall dead too aft--damn it. It's not ABOUT Whitehall. She took a breath and held it a moment, looking back up to Skye]

I will give him credit for freeing me to that extent, but I don't want anything else from him or your group.

[hacker]

[ For a moment, she wonders if the blame means 33's going to go after Coulson. Skye bristles in her spot, closing one hand into a fist. Her glass could be a weapon, if she played her cards right. But she doesn't grab it, and she's glad for that call a moment later when Kara notes that it freed her.

There's no masking Skye's sigh of relief. Her fist unclenches, and she sits back in her chair. ]

Why? [ She shakes her head, unable to parse the rationale there. ]

[facemyenemies]

[She would have welcomed another fight with her. But she promised not to do anything drastic. Just wait. Us against the world. SHIELD was not to be trusted. That was all there was to it. They had not cared for her. Ward had.]

Because SHIELD is not as strong as you want to believe it is.

[hacker]

[ Whether she meant it to or not, that strikes a chord in Skye.

The agent blinks, disconnecting from the empathic urgency with which she'd plead at Kara's loyalties. Dumbfounded surprise parts her lips, and she sits there in a beat of silence searching for an argument to the contrary.

It plants a seed of doubt—more accurately, it preys upon the one her father planted. SHIELD is not what she hopes it is. They will not understand her, will not have a solution. SHIELD cannot save her from what she is.

Her gaping ceases abruptly as she replies, ] It's as strong as it needs to be.

[ The statement lacks vigor. Startled, uncomfortable with the obligate navel-gazing this involves, she scoots her chair out and rises to her feet. There, she stands awkwardly a moment, obviously still wrapped up in whatever 33 managed to stir within her. ]

[facemyenemies]

[She picks up on the changes, the small ones. She's struck a chord and she has to admit (to herself) she's surprised. Was the girl finally done blindly following SHIELD? Had her father gotten to her at last?]

She simply watched, studied her as she stood to her feet. Her statement was not strong.]

It is as strong as it can be. Will it be as strong as you need it to be when the time comes?

[hacker]

That sounds an awful lot like HYDRA brainwash talking.

[ Not her. Not a loyal agent. Not the Agent 33 they'd tried to scramble to recruit, only for HYDRA to get there first. ]

[facemyenemies]

Is that something you say because you'e scared I'm right, or something you truly believe? Because its best to be honest with ourselves, and if I were to be honest? HYDRA didn't bother looking for me anymore then SHIELD did.

[That she knows of. She and Ward had hidden pretty well, but for two mega groups and neither found two assassins/former spies? Hmm]

[hacker]

Things got rough down there. [ Not to defend HYDRA, but like, ] We had no way of knowing who made it out and who didn't.

[facemyenemies]

You're making my point. Even SHIELD managed to track Bruce Banner or the Black Widow when they needed. The old SHIELD. How strong is your little play group when they can lose Grant Ward so easy? you shot him. Four times. No one was the least bit curious to find the body?

[she showed a bit of annoyance when mentioning ward] Busy or not, that's intel someone should have considered.

[hacker]

[ Hesitation.

Showing up here is one thing.

Proof that he got out of San Juan is another entirely. Plenty of people had showed up here who were doomed in their own world—like the guy plummeting into the sun, for instance.

Skye does a double take, sharpening her gaze on 33. ]

... You're with Ward? [ Or more importantly, ] He got out?

[facemyenemies]

[She would have learned, sooner or later anyhow.]

[Kara leaned on the table now one hand propping her head up by the chin. the burn scars on her face, over her cheek and eye, forehead and nose, down her jaw, all visible now. Sharp brown eyes stare back at her.]

I helped him. In return, he helped me, when no one else could.

[hacker]

Yeah, well, take it from me, Ward doesn't help anyone but himself. If he did something for you, it's because he's up to something.

[ Every time he'd saved them, every time he'd fought with them, it was all a lie. One great lie. Betrayal roils in her chest, renewed by the suggestion that he might get someone else with it. She can't say for sure if that would be better or worse than the notion that he might be doing it out of some genuine altruism because she won't entertain the notion. ]

[facemyenemies]

[She looked up at the woman still, chin resting there as casual as can be. Skye had tried to be the casual one when this started, now she felt mildly amused at the agitations.]

[her point was a valid one though. Kara had considered that, often enough. Lay awake and wonder what the big plan was. What Ward would want with her in the end. She had talents enough, and the mask. She felt she was valuable enough in those regards.]

[So far he had yet to -ask- for anything. Just helped her because she helped him.] Have you ever played with a mistreated animal? One that has been caged and forced to follow orders, attack or else? When that animal is free they do what they want. Maybe you helped heal it's wounds, but it doesn't forget the bad things. It might be loyal to you for the help and help you out when you need it too.

The thing to remember is that animal now knows freedom and refuses to be caged again. It knows you as the one who helped, and it knows you can help it get farther in life. Maybe some day he will turn on you. Maybe he's just using you to get what he wants, but so long as you know this, things are good.

[she shrugged at that, picking up her fork again and poking at her egg. What she said could be really he applied to either she or Ward]

Honestly, I'm fine with it, if all Ward needs is my talents. He deserves that much for all he's done for me. [So long as he stays. She isn't sure what to do on her own...]

[hacker]

Mistreated.

[ She laughs. Outright laughs. ]

Don't tell me he got you on his sob story too. [ For a moment, Skye looks like she genuinely pities Kara. As though she understands what the other woman's going through, has been in her shoes. ] Did he tell you about the well? Make you feel sorry for him, like you could fix him?

[facemyenemies]

[The Well? She tilted her head to that, unsure of the reference. The look of pity however is not a welcome look. Her head tipped a bit, questioning, though she spoke]

First of all, there is no 'fixing' people like us. He didn't have to tell me stories to make me help him. Someone shot him four times when all he wanted to do was help. To keep a promise he made that person. He didn't have to make me feel sorry for him. You did that for me.

[hacker]

[ The blow strikes. Like most, Skye takes it like it glances off of her armor, barely shows the chip. But barely showing is a big step for her, and that speaks to just how much is still digs at her. There's a reason she believed she'd been seeing his ghost with the likes of Donnie Gill and Trip.

Instead of engaging with the mess of conflicting emotions and moral gray area, she stays focused. Plants one hand on the table and leans in, intent. ]

Agent 33, I'm trying to help you see what he is because we couldn't, when it counted.

[facemyenemies]

[there is a small feeling of satisfaction somewhere inside, knowing she's getting to the other. She shouldn't be this way, but she's kind of still broken in some ways. Ward is all she has, even if he isn't hers.]

[When Skye leaned on the table to say that, Kara leaned both arms on the edge of the table as well, leaning in as if to be sure to hear her. But her reply came coolly]

Who says I haven't seen what he really is? Perhaps I'm alright with him like that...

[hacker]

[ When she speaks again, there's a warning in her voice. Crisp and ready to accept a recant. ]

You're picking the wrong side.

[facemyenemies]

[She smiled faintly, the scars of her face pulling a bit around her lips. Settling back she took another bite of bacon and shrugged one shoulder.]

The only side I am on is the one that looked after me. That bothered to fix me. I owe a lot to that. If SHIELD picked you up from a place in your life that was missing and helped fill that in, wouldn't you feel indebted to them too?

Or does that not work that way for you?