memestertrucks | MAY TDM

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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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Maggie glances down at the ground below them.]

Yeah, we're good. Pointed in the right direction. There's broken glass and other junk beneath us, though. We'll have to be careful - don't fall in it.

[She falls quiet for a moment as she processes what he says about the war and his age. How best to explain that to him, though?]

Well... It's not that I've never heard of the war, it's just that...

[She sighs, well aware that she is about to say something that is going to make one of them sound delusional, but perhaps under the circumstances, it's best to suspend disbelief for the moment, given their situation.]

Look, this is going to sound insane, and I'm not gonna pretend to know how it's possible, but the Great War - the first world war - that happened over a hundred years ago.

Noted.

[Edward grimaces at the news that there are hazards under their feet, but he can deal with some broken glass. He's wearing a pair of heavy boots so he doubts anything will get through them. He just needs to work on not falling.]

Can you keep hold of my hand once we land, please? My balance isn't the finest.

[There is plenty of suspension of belief Edward is willing to engage with; most of the war felt like a nightmare anyway, with all logic and rules about life thrown to the side so men could throw themselves into the meat grinder. He's rarely sure on what's real or not anymore. But she does say something that immediately catches his attention, something so huge and glaring that it blots out everything else.]

The first world war?

[Oh no, oh no, oh no...]

You mean... there's a second one?

[Maggie squeezes his hand reassuringly to reaffirm she is not letting go. She's not sure what they'll find outside, but it's likely something both of them are better off not facing alone.]

Don't worry, I've got you. We're in this together now.

[There's a pause as the realization sinks in that she's essentially just dumped on him that there's been more than one world war. She takes a deep breath and nods before continuing.]

Yeah. There was a second one, about... twenty years after the end of the first one, if I remember my history classes right. A lot's changed since then - but that probably goes without saying.

[Edward appreciates that squeeze, and her affirmation that she won't take off and leave him. He reaches out with his other hand, feeling the air, trying to catch both her hands.]

[He has a feeling he's going to need it, and then yes, he absolutely does when she drops that second bit of information on him.]

Twenty years?

[Oh god... Edward likes to think he's been coping pretty well today, with all the sudden changes and the new, frightening location, but this news crashes onto his shoulders like a lead shroud. Twenty years? After everything, humanity could only get along for twenty years before starting it all over again?]

[He doesn't realise it, but he starts sinking towards the ground.]

So it was all for nothing. [He makes a bitter scoffing noise.] Everything we did, everyone who died... for nothing.

[She sees him reaching with his other hand and grabs onto that one too once they start to descend.]

Try to get your feet under you.

[Maggie is no stranger to fighting and she's certainly found herself in situations where it's felt futile, but she can try to reassure him otherwise.]

No, that's not true. It's never for nothing when you're fighting for something you believe in. If no one stands up against tyrants, then they win, and everyone else loses.

[Edward shuffles his feet in the air, and his eyebrows lift in surprise when one boot touches down. He lands softly, still holding both her hands.]

Ah... have you landed too?

[Unfortunately, her attempts at cheering him up don't go so well.]

Forgive me, my lady, but I stopped believing in the cause years ago.

[What had the cause even been? British superiority? Showing the continentals who was boss? Colonies? None of those things were worth the massacre Edward saw at the Somme.]

[Maggie lands as he does, knees bent slightly in anticipation of absorbing the shock. She nudges an old discarded bottle clear of them with her foot, maintaining her grip on his hands.]

Yeah. I'm down too.

[A slight, one shouldered shrug follows. It's understandable to be disillusioned with fighting - she can only imagine the horrors he's seen.]

Times are different now, I guess. Every time I've had to fight, it's always been to protect myself. Or the people, or places, I've cared about. I've never fought for someone else's cause, it's always been my own.

[When she says she's landed too, Edward loosens his grip with one hand and starts patting gently up the length of her arm. He does this so he can loosely slide his arm into hers, linking them at the elbow.]

What time are you from?

[He half-smiles at the strangeness of the question.]

As you know, I'm from 1917. I was born in England and fought in France in the Great War. My name is Lieutenant Edward Courtenay.

[Maggie holds her arm out as he pats his way up to her elbow to make it easier for him to link their arms together.

She ducks her head and chuckles a little at the question. It really does sound absurd.]

I'm Maggie Rhee. I grew up in Georgia, but right now home's in Virginia. It's, uh, 2029 for me.

MAY TDM

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I'm laughing, this is the first time anyone has brought up WWII to him

Haha, I'm so sorry

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