monstertruckers: (Default)
monstertruckers ([personal profile] monstertruckers) wrote in [community profile] memestertrucks2025-05-15 04:31 pm
Entry tags:

MAY TDM




Things are a little stranger than usual at the gas station and garage. Namely that gravity just isn't working as it should. Objects float, pieces of the floor float... Even unlucky new arrivals can also find themselves floating! It's going to be a challenge to get around without any scrapes or scratches... Though at least there's what looks like a hospital nearby? Granted, it's an upside down hospital, but it's better than nothing.

















01: SUMMONING CIRCLE


Drifters come to with an odd floating sensation hooked into their stomachs, and instead of laying on the concrete find themselves drifting a foot or two above the floor. An unfortunate few may be stuck on the ceiling. Whether they crash down hard into the floor (and the various vials, daggers, and broken glass scattered about) or remain floating in the air is a coin toss.

Still, it might be best to lend a hand with pulling them back to the ground, and hoping gravity will work as normal in another breath or two.

Once they make their way out, they can see a gas station and garage located in the midst of strange, floating rocks… And an upside down hospital close by, for those who had a rougher landing.

02: START UP
New arrivals will have a similar experience to before; a Convoy waiting for them, and a collection of vehicles, one of which feels like it belongs to them. The key to the vehicle may already be in the ignition, on the dashboard… It may have even been on their person, ever since they woke up in that garage. Either way, Drifters have the keys to the vehicle now.

…But there’s a few rough edges on these vehicles. Flat tires, cracked windows and mirrors, maybe some stuck doors and locks; all of them the sort of thing that requires two pairs of hands and supplies. The garage can take care of the (sometimes floating) supplies… Now it’s just a matter of finding some extra hands.

And hopefully no one's vehicle has decided to float. But one can never be sure in a place like this.

03: HUSKS AND HAUNTS
The inverted hospital seems to have trouble deciding the exact formation of its hallways, whether the new arrivals should be walking on the ceiling, floors, or walls. But one thing that is certain: this place isn’t entirely deserted. Warnings of “Beware the Husks” have been spray painted on the walls. Metallic bodies line those same halls, some of them broken open. A wet trail leads from the broken Husks to the rafters… Where several odd monsters wait to drop down. Some look like they’ve merged with the hospital equipment, while others look like they’ve been cobbled together from different body parts. And all of them look ready to turn the newcomers into a corpse, or part of a specimen collection.

Strange, malformed chimeric creatures that are Unknown stalk the hallways. Unknowns come in three different colors, red aligned with fire, green with poison, and purple with lightning.

Adding to that are the various screens flickering on, and diagnose new arrivals as infected. The screens declare the infection seems to be contained, but requires further study… And if the monsters aren't enough to worry about, there’s also the restraint systems trying to activate and tie the new arrivals down.
04: TESTING (CW: Needles)
The deeper someone plunges into the hospital, the more the building reacts to them. More defenses are deployed, treating them as thieves or intruders. Traps and monsters alike wait for them, with syringes melded into the forms of attackers, or lining places where someone might step or reach for. The syringes make a quick bite on skin… But it’s only a few minutes later where the effects become clear. Something in those syringes is now in the blood and forcing monster transformations. There might be an antidote amongst the supplies… Or the newcomers might need to rely on each other, in order to stay anchored.

The needles can also force temporary Swarm traits, along with:
+Group Mind: compelled to link thoughts with other Drifters, to share emotions, memories, and achieve cohesion.
+An increasing reliance on telepathy/empathy/etc in place of speech.
+Increasing collectivist mindset. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; this becomes more evident during high stress situations.
+Compelled to hunt and share their prey with others.
+Gravity Affinity: If possessing wings or the ability to wall climb, may freely hunt/traverse corrupted gravity areas.
05: LONG WAY DOWN
A portion of the gas station breaks away with groan and a rumble. And it is slowly pulled up and up, taking a portion of new comers with it! They (and anyone watching) will need to act fast, as gravity starts to go weird the further they rise. They’ll need to find a way back down, taking any supplies from the now-floating garage that they can grab.

What’s more, they are drifting closer to the broken moon, and that seems to be having a strange effect on those stranded on the new floating ruin. They may start to feel their control fray, and their forms shift, the higher they rise.

In terms of getting back down, there’s a handful of tow lines in the ruin that might work as ropes. There’s also a few pieces of rock that are floating up more slowly, and could work as stairs back down… Or there’s just jumping and falling fifty feet and hoping for the best.
06: PSYCHIC ECHOES
There's one last quirk to this area; a few scattered bits of odd plantlife, and the odd dead brain monster. While these things aren't a threat on their own (beyond being unnerving) they still pack a psychic punch; mainly in the form of temporary psychic abilities.

It's possible that after coming in contact with either plants or corpses, newcomers will find themselves gifted with either empathy (projecting or receiving emotions) telepathy, OR the ability to share their dreams with others, and having their dreams influenced by others in turn. This effect fades in just a day or so, but is still capable of causing mishaps.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Broadcast: The garage contains a few burnt out monitors. But a handful of them are playing a message over and over again on loop, filled with static. It’s a recording of important looking people in lab coats advising people to remain indoors and avoiding all objects falling from the sky. Especially “moon shards.” They insist that they are working to contain and cure the infection, but the safest action is to remain inside.

Warped Air: As seen in Long Way Down, the air overhead has strange warped pockets in it. There seem to be slightly different shards hanging suspended in the air, looking more silvery than the surrounding rocks. Almost like it could have fallen from the broken moon overhead.

Medical supplies: Most of the medical supplies found in the hospital seem to consist of healing salves and potions, a handful of healing herbs, and a few antidotes for poison or sickness. As for reverting transformations… It’s advised that new comers be careful of taking any experimental medicine. It may revert a change. It may also leave them hallucinating nightmares and fears, and they’ll be wanting someone close by to help administer the drug.

NAVIGATION || RESERVES || APPLICATIONS













phantomshow: (love in technicolor)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-25 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
Ren nods. That's as good an explanation as any; he hadn't necessarily thought of Personas as magic, but they do use spells.

"Something like that." He smiles. "And different Personas have different magic. Most of the enemies we fight have some kind of weakness or resistance to those different types of magic, so the trick is to pair the right magic with the right enemy."
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-25 12:46 am (UTC)(link)
"I, uh, I guess that makes sense. I don't really know anything about magic. But, um, as long as it helps you survive here that's great."
acrocanthosaurus: (09)

[personal profile] acrocanthosaurus 2025-05-25 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
[she tries to rub her forehead. Right. Arms too short. Patience is aware that if she crimps her neck down just right she can just about get her cheek but forehead is Not happening.]

So there was a gas leak or something months ago, right? A bunch of kids collapsed and when they got up they acted weird. One started writing about all of them going way back in time but I don't know why, it was intangible or whatever and they all were ghosts and possessed dinosaurs.

[she pauses for a few sullen beats and spreads her arms out to the sides. Her feet are hanging, toes slightly curled and birdlike.] Apparently it wasn't a story.
bufudine: (Default)

[personal profile] bufudine 2025-05-25 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
And that's the part that rather bothers him. Many others were gaining changes that came with natural weaponry. He... is not. If anything, his changes are making him more vulnerable. The wings impede his movement and make him unable to wear armour. The magic at his fingertips leaves him reeling and weak.

Serph allows Heat to grasp his wing, calmly staying still so he can examine it more closely. Unlike most feathered wings, theh are also missing an extra layer of feathers, immediately identifying them as non-functional to anyone with knowledge of bird wings. The feathers themselves feel no different, the ones on his body and closer to wingbone having that comfortably soft texture of down.

"Varuna is always with me." In many ways, it's a relief that he has his demon to fall back on. His long term goals might necessitate Varuna's eventaul demise, but that doesn't mean Serph resents his demon's presence like Argilla or Gale. "This one doesn't have a name I know of. It doesn't have a voice."

No hunger. No urges. As far as he knows.
iron_stomach: (pic#17860750)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
He doesn't know enough about real birds' wings to know the difference, his assessment is more primitive, automatically categorizing weakness that someone might choose to exploit. It's interesting, it's soft, and if he burrows his fingers in its warm. But it's also utterly without any kind of protection, no hidden scales or scutes or claws buried in the feathers. "Huh."

No voice. So it's more like.. a changed default state than a new demon?

Eventually he lets go, frowning. "I don't like it, that's a lot of new targets." Not a matter of appearance, that part was fine and he wouldn't really mind seeing how far the feathers went.

At least there was still Varuna. Serph wouldn't BE defenseless, and anyone underestimating him would find out how badly they erred. "... It looks okay," he adds with reluctance. "Sera's seen it yet?"
guidemyway: (Volume9-Ruby-9)

[personal profile] guidemyway 2025-05-25 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. I know so.

[Look. She had all the confidence in the world, and she was willing to lend some to her new friend if she had to.]

I've actually got just the thing for that.

"Don't mind her as she pulls out a massive red scythe with a rifle built into it.]

I use this to control my falls all the time. Might be a little rough carrying the two of us, but it should do the trick.

Think you can hold on?
serialmurderbot: (alert)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-25 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
The more Heat smirks, the more SecUnit's expression goes deadly still, its eyes actually fixing on his - it might hate eye contact, but it makes exceptions for proving how serious it is. "I'm not making threats," it says. "I'm telling you the reality of the situation. You're the newcomer here."

(Assumption, but a well-grounded one - it has a good facial recognition index for every Drifter, by now, and it would absolutely have a profile on this asshole.)

"Your Tribes don't exist here." (Technically true, given that it doesn't know how Heat might be connected to Serph and it isn't going to throw the AI-turned-human under the bus.) "There's the Convoy, and then there's the entire planet that wants to tear us apart. And if you want to threaten to eat anyone here, I'll do to you what I did to the last person who tried to threaten me."
serialmurderbot: (this is stupid)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-25 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Okay, what the fuck.]

You're a human child posssessing a dinosaur.

[This sounds like a great plot for one of its shows, and a really, really shitty lie for real life. Even having lived out the creepy fucking transformations this place puts them all through.]
iron_stomach: (pic#17860750)

Cw: ableist language

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
There's a certain fearlessness that comes from either being incredibly overconfident or simply incredibly oblivious, and either could fit Heat well enough. He is indeed terribly new here ... but so far he hasn't seen any evidence things didn't work the way he expected it to. Case in point, in a paradise where nobody needs to hurt each other, someone's already drawing weapons.

This pleases him. "Then everyone who's come here before now is a moron." It's slow, when he begins closing the distance between himself and SecUnit, step by casual step. "Sounds to me like turning into 'monsters' and devouring each other is still on the table. How do you know which ones to shoot and which ones to protect if you're not part of a tribe, if you don't have tag rings and aren't even wearing your tribe's colors? Guess and hope you don't kill someone you like when it's dark and demons are everywhere?"

This place is the same.

It's just brighter. There's a sun. There's plants and things. Little scurrying creatures. A bug. He's sure he saw a bug, he's still pretty sure he's hearing them. "No wonder your own guys are threatening to eat your candy ass. Who knows what side you're on."
Edited 2025-05-25 04:44 (UTC)
serialmurderbot: (named murder)

[personal profile] serialmurderbot 2025-05-25 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
SecUnit would love to say that Heat started it, by declaring he would eat it. (Yes there was an option there, but 'join my team/company/tribe or I'll kill you' isn't much of a choice. It's very familiar with that kind of "bargain.") It could argue any number of things - that the last people that had threatened to kill it were alien remnant-contaminated humans, not any of the people trapped here. Or that there's no feed any anyway humans couldn't read the ID markers without interfaces, which very few of the humans here even seemed familiar with. It could argue that it knows exactly how to keep track of the humans under its protection, thank you, it's not a fucking amateur.
All rational, all feasible. All potential paths to deescalation. Hell, it could even admit that some sort of marker for Convoy members would be a good idea.

But SecUnit knows the kind of person who does this, throws around their weight because they know they can get their way by force, if the first answer isn't the one they want to hear. And it doesn't have to put up with anyone talking condescending shit to it because they think it can't/won't fight back.

Instead, it says, "No one ever gets to brand me ever again." It doesn't even twitch, as Heat comes closer. It doesn't raise those gun arms. The only thing that moves are its eyes, still boring holes into Heat's face - metaphorically, because unlike the shit in Valorant Defenders it doesn't actually have laser beams in its eyes. "And definitely not you or your 'Tribe.'"
cantgetoverit: (pic#17835504)

[personal profile] cantgetoverit 2025-05-25 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that's a pretty good general rule of thumb back home too. Just sometimes you got to go it alone anyway.

[She didn't know what to expect exactly, but it certainly wasn't a small hoard of actual monsters crawling on the ceiling. She glances back to where SecUnit is holding the door thoughtfully, trying to formulate a plan for escape.]

SecUnit, huh?

[Her eyebrows raise as she studies it curiously; the relative safety of the room allowing for more time to process at least some of what she's seen so far. Whoever her rescuer is, its certainly unusual.]

That sounds more like a what than a who. Do people really call you SecUnit?

[After a beat, she adds:]

I'm Maggie.
acrocanthosaurus: (04)

[personal profile] acrocanthosaurus 2025-05-25 01:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Fuck no, I'm eighteen.

[she is in fact fifteen. eighteen is a special age, a beckoning point where everything will change and something, finally, will get better and she won't have to rely on and inevitably be betrayed or let down by anyone.]

I'm a human adult possessing a dinosaur, and very aware of how stupid it is.
iron_stomach: (pic#17860759)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 01:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"Guess that means you die then." The red haired man shrugs as if it's not really a big deal if SecUnit joins or not, and maybe it isn't. Eating comrades is strictly forbidden, reinforced by every single surviving member of the original tribe, followed by most of those conquered. "If you're not one of us, you're the enemy."

He's working on starting it. There are rules for this kind of thing, ones he's spent a lot of time working around as much as he had to, like 'don't kill the weak' and 'don't attack unprovoked'. Without any bead on SecUnit's power, it could well qualify as one of the weak for all its bluster, and thus ... he waited, and prodded a bit verbally and with presence to see if it would fire first. That would count as provocation, and he could retaliate as he wished, to any degree he wanted.

Heat wouldn't bother, if he didn't think his tribe and leader were here, if he believed that the laws handed down by Serph didn't need to be obeyed (...to the best of his ability, within reason, while he wanted to).

Unless SecUnit steps back while he approaches, it's not going to be much longer before Heat is in melee range, where he fights best and ranged capabilities become less reliable. He is counting on SecUnit being willing to fight back, and being able to be prodded into hitting first.
iron_stomach: (pic#17860757)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"You sure about that?" He's not stopping; the downside of making noise is smaller monsters tend to run, and Heat's pretty sure this guy can't tackle anything bigger than a pony. "Everyone's healthy and stable, is that it? Gonna stake lives of your comrades on it, or you just don't care?"

Heat's tone says everything about what he thinks about that. Stupidity. Raw, unmitigated ignorance. Nobody could fight the demon inside off forever. Sooner or later, the instincts won.

If they didn't have another target, they'd find a target. "I can respect a guy who doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself."

What happens here isn't ... quite the same. Moon Warps have ended in terrible violence many times, but he doesn't even know the moon warps are a thing yet.
solitarysoul: (hmph2)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-25 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"About the food? Yeah, the convoy generates bland stuff and there's no shortage of monsters. Unless you count the turning into monsters ourselves everybody seems to be healthy." Stable was another thing, though.

He rolls his eyes. "This place is hard but its not every man for himself kill or be killed hard."
iron_stomach: (pic#17860752)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
The red demon pauses, then swings around, both mouths curved slightly in a frown. It's not easy to do, those shark teeth are perpetually bared whether he wants them to be or not. "The more you flap your gums the more obvious it is you're clueless," he growls. "I should let you bungle your way to an early death."

Except Levi might take others with him. "The point of being together is so it's not every man for himself. If it was kill or be killed, you'd be a snack right now."
solitarysoul: (Unimpressed)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-25 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Levi snorts and flicks an ear. "Go ahead and leave then. You'll find out you're not in your world sooner or later.

"But if you're going to try to eat me it'll be a lot harder than you're expecting."
iron_stomach: (pic#17860750)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"You're in my hunting grounds, ignorant little mouthful," is the immediate response. "You want to act like you're the badass loner who knows what it's all about, you can walk away. You're lucky I'm feeling generous enough to listen to the rules today and let you."

For now. Heat's temperament wasn't great even BEFORE he first experienced emotions. It hasn't gotten better since.
solitarysoul: (hmph)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-25 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Levi scoffs, flicks Heat off and heads away from him. At an angle, so he's not turning his back to the other.
iron_stomach: (pic#17860761)

[personal profile] iron_stomach 2025-05-25 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
A low, grinding, gutteral growl follows Levi's leaving. It's the orange shirt that ultimately saves him from being attacked, and those sharp teeth and claws put to their terrible bloody purpose.

The color and nothing more.
propatriamori: (questioning)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-05-25 05:31 pm (UTC)(link)
A pleasure to meet you, Maggie.

[Georgia... Edward knows vaguely where that is. It's the part of the United States closer to Mexico than Canada, if he recalls correctly. He blanches at the year, though.]

2029?

[He stops whatever forward movement he might have made and turns his face towards her.]

Truly? That far in the future?
propatriamori: (questioning)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-05-25 05:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah, so everyone travels together." That makes things a bit easier, if everyone moves at the same time, in the same direction. As for the revelation that there are monsters out there, Edward doesn't even flinch. He's seen monsters; they have stars on their chests and send young men out in buddy regiments to be slaughtered on barbed wire.

"What kind of vehicle do you have?"
propatriamori: (scars on his eyes)

[personal profile] propatriamori 2025-05-25 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Edward hears the tread SecUnit makes as it approaches, and he turns his head in its direction. He hears its greeting, which is then cut off, and he tilts his head.

"Hello? Are you still there?" He doesn't realise he just blasted SecUnit with WWI Emotions, and wonders if something happened to whoever was approaching.
solitarysoul: commisioned art (Default)

[personal profile] solitarysoul 2025-05-25 05:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Levi is very familiar with that sort of monster. He's not actually sure if that sort or the sort here is worse. Probably the generals.

"A motorcycle...I don't have a sidecar so I don't think I can offer you a ride but I'm sure someone can. Most people have cars."
phantomshow: (i got my cloak and dagger)

[personal profile] phantomshow 2025-05-25 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Revan. [Is what this place is called. But the name is all anyone really knows, or so he's been told.

Ren hesitates a moment before taking her hand to gently return the shake, but that has less to do with how the gesture isn't common in Japan and more to do with the memory of the last person who'd offered him a handshake abruptly shoving itself forward in his mind. Akechi, in the TV studio where they'd first met, nearly a year ago, the sound of broken chains ringing in his ears as the bond of the Justice arcana was born.

Akechi, who is ... well, saying it's complicated is a bit of an understatement. Ren can't stop himself from sending out an aching pulse of anxiety, uncertainty, fear, and regret.

Deep breath. Count to three. Remember the meditation training. Get it together! He shakes off the lingering unease and releases her hand.]


The Convoy. [He points in the direction where the others are stationed for the moment and waves for her to follow him.]

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