TEST DRIVE MEME #001

[reachguide]

Test Drive Meme #001
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Shut The Window
Content Warnings: spores, illness, death

Living on the reach has its highs and lows. Life in the tower can be claustrophobic at best, and time drags on at an achingly slow pace. The coalition is in a constant state of "planning" the next expedition, leaving reachers to do nothing but wait for word that they'll finally be allowed to explore beyond the tower. It's Wednesday, 3 PM, and Anthony, cook and coalition guide, has a pot of stew going on the stove. An average day, and the scent is as overwhelming as it always is within cramped quarters. There are very few windows in the tower, one right above the kitchen sink, and Anthony, taking pity on the reachers, cracks it open.

Everyone eats. Everyone is fine.

Thursday comes and goes. Friday is sweltering hot but passes uneventfully. Saturday morning arrives, and everyone wakes with a sore throat. Easily brushed aside at first, the day ticks by and daily chores are finished before the first reacher succumbs to a fever. The guides usher everyone to their rooms for quarantine, locking the door behind them. The sickness is slow to start, but after the fever hits, symptoms show rapidly - shivering, exhaustion, aches, the skin turns a pale green and paranoia sets in. Death is a sudden thing, taking everyone out until only two are left. By this time, the coalition has discovered the source of the sickness and created a limited amount of medicine to stall the symptoms until a cure can be developed. A small envelope is slid under the door. A note says one hour.

There is one syringe. Who gets to use it?

Know Your Place
Content Warnings: violence, starvation, death

The haze is acting up, swirling plumes of color arching out and circling the island. Touching tree, plant, and human alike. With it comes a change in temperature. The standard eighty or above drops below zero in a matter of hours, trapping everyone inside as snow falls and ice forms over every surface. Learning from previous mistakes, the guides have everyone spread out into separate rooms, and while sleeping, lock the doors to keep all reachers inside. Using the communication devices, the tower guides inform everyone of two things: don't try to come out, and be patient, it'll pass soon.

That was two days ago, and the little bit of supplies stored in each room has been used up.

Showing more evidence of sentience, and cruelty, the haze briefly envelopes the tower and gives each person a nudge - this comes in the form of a violent, uncontrollable urge to get free. Reachers will learn, if they attempt to break out of their room, that they are met with no resistance. Traveling down to the kitchen and common rooms, there is no noise and no sign of anyone else. There's a noise behind you on the steps, and that urge shifts into something deeper, uncomfortable. Hunger. Two reachers are left in the tower. You and another. Options are limited. Go out and brace the subzero temperatures, or find food elsewhere. What choice do you make?

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OOC INFORMATION
These prompts are to simulate what kind of events might come up in game. Players are more than welcome to thread out arriving, living in the tower, or general exploration if they'd like. Please mark your top levels with content warnings and if something comes up later in a thread, please put the content warning in the subject line of a comment. The threads on this meme may not be used for canon this time, but future tdm's may allow it.

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Comments

> know your place

[chargedblade]

[ She isn't the only one defiantly breaking the room door and out towards freedom. Ky has done the same, taking similar steps towards freedom. Or what's supposed to be freedom. He may be able to walk around and investigate the area now, but the silence and lack of everyone begins to fill him with tense dread as he wanders around the rooms, knocking on doors to receive no answer, and moving on to the common and kitchen areas.

It's actually a relief when he hears the cacophony coming from the kitchen. A surprise, absolutely, but also a relief. He watches Mei for a moment as she flutters about the area in a panic. Part of him can't blame her for her reaction at all; his stomach pangs with disappointment and hunger as his eyes confirm the empty cupboards. ]

Is there nothing left?

[endothermeic]

[Being caught up in her search, the voice behind her has Mei whirling around with a gasp. Without thinking she grabs whatever is closest, a frying pan, and holds it up as though to defend herself!]

Oh, I could have sworn I was the only one left! Sorry, I'll just...

[Lower the pan now. Yeah. Whoops. Though Ky showing up was a clear shock, knowing there's someone else around and she isn't completely alone is definitely reassuring. Not that company does much to help with how hungry she feels.]

I'm sorry to say it but we're completely out. I'm tempted to check this entire place again in case there was a little snack or something hiding from me. [Though she knows full well there isn't.]

[chargedblade]

[ Ky instinctively reels back, holding an arm up for defense, just in case. It isn't a bad thing to be ready to defend oneself when caught off-guard, but he'd rather not add 'pummeled by a cooking pan' to the list of unfortunate events that are already marking this cold day.

He relaxes his stance when Mei lowers her makeshift weapon. ]

If you're going to double-check, please allow me to help, [ he offers. ] It will be quicker with another pair of eyes... and it will also be my apology for surprising you.

[ It might be a waste of time, but maybe it's also better to be sure. Perhaps it's a thought fueled by denial, but he just can't believe nothing remains in the kitchen when they were all locked away. ]