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memestertrucks2025-05-15 04:31 pm
monstertruckers) wrote in 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.
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.
…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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Edward Courtenay | Downton Abbey
This is not the hospital.
This is also not the front. This is nothing Edward has ever experienced before. He's floating, like he's swimming but without water, swimming in the air, and he doesn't like it. He can't seem to control where he's going, and this room isn't one he knows.
After flailing through the air for awhile, his hands outstretched and grasping in front of him, Edward manages to find a wall. He's somehow able to grasp it with just the pads of his fingers, clinging to it like a spider, and the strangeness of that won't occur to him until later. For now, he's simply grateful to be secured somewhere.
"Hello?" His voice is soft and polite, even here, tinged with an upper class British accent. "Is there anyone out there?"
Testing
Somehow, Edward has made his way to the hospital. It made the most sense to make his way there; he'd been in one before arriving wherever this is, and perhaps someone he knows might be there. There might even be a doctor who can treat his eyes, although that is an ever-dwindling possibility and he knows it.
But this isn't a hospital like Edward knows. It's messy, and chaotic, and dangerous, even more so than the field hospitals. The one thing is has going for it is that it isn't coated in mud, blood, and shit, and Edward is able to walk through it without mud trying to suck his boots away.
Unfortunately, even without the mud, there are still sharp things strewn about, and Edward winces when one of his wandering hands is pricked by a needle.
As he keeps exploring, his head starts to fill with little flashes, little tidbits that seem to be coming from somewhere else. Fragments of voices, images, memories, that aren't his own. It's troubling, and Edward tries to push them out of his mind. When he does, he unknowingly pushes out images and words of his own.
help
over the top
let's go boys, let's show the hun what we're made of
whistling, falling whistling
explosions, the wet smack of dirt and mud landing from great heights
wordless screaming, endless, cries for help, cries for mother
And colours, bold, ugly swathes of colour, rippling through his mind like waves. Dark, muddy reds; darkness that isn't empty, darkness that's full of shining metal teeth; khaki brown splattered with bright, arterial red.
Psychic echoes
There is so much to avoid here, so many dangers. Being unable to see them only compounds things. Edward eventually made his way out of the hospital, but stumbled across an insidious little plant. It wrapped around his ankle before he was able to rip it off.
Now he's sitting at a campfire that someone else has made, clutching a stick he found that he's been using as a cane. If anyone gets close, they'll be clobbered by the waves of emotion emanating off him. There's fear, bright and snarling and yellow, and a few streaks of a strange, deep green, which glimmers to the surface and then disappears. But mostly it's despair, huge and purple and overwhelming, suffocating, billowing out of his every pore.
[OOC: Edward is a WWI veteran who was recently blinded by a mustard gas attack. He's not adapting well to his new disability and can be short tempered about it. If anyone wants to probe at his emotions or temporary telepathy, they're going to get walloped with WWI imagery and memories.]
Testing
The dog eared, dog nosed and moth winged boy has his rifle in his hands when he comes across Edward. He's almost surprised the other isn't in military fatigues.
He clears his throat, "H-hello?"
no subject
Up close, his eyes are scarred over and blank, the skin around them pinched with very fresh, recent scar tissue. When he speaks, he has a lilting, cultured English accent.
"Yes? Who's there?"
no subject
no subject
He gestures at them. Blind! Scarred! A mess!
"I could, yes. Can you lead me out of here?" He holds one arm outward, offering it for Levi to take.
no subject
beans!
He cocks his head when Levi moves his rifle. That sound he recognises, and he's relieved, somehow, to know his new companion is armed.
The rough parts of Levi's hands don't pique his interest; he assumes they're calloused from rifle handling. He arranges his own arm in the crook of Levi's and nods when he's ready to go. "I will. If you see a long stick or something else I can use as a cane, would you give it to me, please?"
Re: beans!
Levi looks around a bit before starting to lead Edward back the way he came. "You're new here, aren't you?"
no subject
"Thank you." He lets Levi lead him through the hospital, adjusting his pace to whatever Levi sets. At Levi's question, Edward nods.
"It's quite obvious, isn't it? But yes, I've just arrived. I fell asleep in a rehabilitation hospital in England and woke up... here."
Wherever here is.
no subject
"That's what happened to all of us, I think, we were somewhere else then it was dark and we woke up here. In a garage with some sort of summoning or ritual circle."
no subject
He sounds bitter about it. It's the again part he doesn't like. He went from being a perfectly capable adult to something more akin to an infant, having to learn everything over like it's brand new.
"I didn't notice a summoning circle, but I woke up in a garage." It pleases Edward to realise that; he could smell the oil and rust, and it's nice to have it confirmed that that was, in fact, a garage. "I take it you've been here awhile?"
no subject
"A few months. We've been traveling...the message says its to Nirvana but really its just not safe to stay behind."
no subject
"What happens if you stay in one place too long?" That is a concern, along with another, more immediate one. "How are you traveling?"
Because if he's going to be stuck here, Edward needs to figure that out.
no subject
"Also its safer in numbers, I guess." Hm, but if this guy can't see...well, he can ride in the convoy itself probably. "Everybody has a vehicle, but I think some people ride on the big truck itself."
psychic echoes
But its internal risk assessment catches on a few things about Edward. The first and most obvious is the intensely nervous posture, the grip on the stick in front of him. The second is the signs of injury around his eyes. SecUnit has never spent much time around humans with these kinds of injuries, mostly because the mining outposts where it spent a lot of its functioning were not particularly welcoming to those humans.
It adds all that up and calculates that the possibility of making an already-jumpy human even jumpier by walking by without saying anything is a Bad Idea, and starts towards the fire, adjusting its tread to be a bit noisier on the ground. "Hey - "
And then it gets punched in the face by the wall of fear and despair and - wow, holy shit it feels like being back in [the company.] The intensity of it is enough to stop it dead.