TEST DRIVE MEME.

[futurologists]

A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME Welcome to the Viridian Sea, a rolling body of water populated by a small number of islands and an even greater number of pirates and merchant ships. Sailing, rum, and high-seas adventure is the name of the game for this mission: after the freshly-recruited volunteers (that's you!) are welcomed into Hathaway, they are sent via controlled interdimensional rift to deal with a certain pirate ship that has been causing a certain amount of trouble. The crew of Red Scream, a murderous band of Mako pirates, has been reaving a path of destruction through the sea, scuttling ships of merchants, civilians, and other pirate bands alike. They have also kidnapped a governor's daughter, asking an exorbitant ransom to return her at all, let alone alive. If this wasn't enough of a reason for Hathaway to intervene, Red Scream's current goal is firmly pointed at a legendary treasure buried in a crater somewhere in the Viridian Sea. Hathaway analysts have studied the crater and found that it was definitely caused by a temporal shard cast off from the Merging. And if Red Scream gets its hands on the shard, it'll be bad news. The crew of Little Squid has reached out to Hathaway for help reaching the treasure. The ship and crew are both small, but they are an optimistic and hardworking bunch, and are willing to equally split the treasure with Hathaway as a reward -- they just have to reach it first. ▸ PROMPTS Your mission is simple: reach the treasure before the Mako pirates. If you have the time, you can try and save the governor's daughter -- it's not why Hathaway has been hired, but her father will likely be grateful enough to grant a reward. ONE ▸ GOING ROGUE. High-seas adventure not your cup of tea? The tropical islands dotting the Viridian Sea are flush with distractions, including pirate havens replete with gambling, food, and liquor. It's a hedonist's paradise -- if you can avoid displeasing the heavily-armed locals. TWO ▸ LITTLE SQUID. Ever been on a brig before? The crew of Little Squid are happy to show you the ropes -- literally -- and teach you how to be a master seafarer in no time. The only food on board unfortunately consists of salted meat and hard bread, but there's plenty of rum to go around. Life on the seas is tough, especially during rough weather; unfortunately, they have no cure for seasickness, so if you're afflicted, you might want to head below decks and wait it out. But the view during calm waters is unlike anything else. THREE ▸ RED SCREAM. It was bound to happen: Little Squid runs smack dab into Red Scream on the race to the treasure. Board the enemy ship or wait for them to come to you, but either way, you'd better be ready for some close-quarters combat. The Mako pirates of Red Scream are humanoid sharks with teeth to match, so in addition to their cutlasses and blunderbusses, you'll want to avoid being bitten. If fighting isn't your specialty, you could always hide below decks of Little Squid and hope you don't get noticed. Or, if you're feeling bold, you can board Red Scream and look for the governor's daughter, who is being kept in the captain's quarters -- she's about six years old and ready to fight, so get ready to have your hands full. FOUR ▸ THE TREASURE. Finally, Little Squid reaches the island where the treasure is. There are caves throughout the island where more standard pirate treasure is found -- gold doubloons in rotted old chests and the like -- but there's also a massive crater formed where the temporal shard plummeted to the surface. The crater is a wide hole with sheer walls, so you'd better find someone who can fly or brush up on your spelunking skills. The further down you go into the crater, the darker it gets, but somewhere on the bottom an eerie blue light is glowing. The source is the temporal shard: make your way through a winding tunnel system to find it and retrieve it. But beware -- the shard has attracted temporal insects, ravenous, time-eating bugs that can slow or hasten the flow of time just due to their appetite. Find yourself in their presence and you'll be moving in slow motion or you'll suddenly be aged 50 years. The only way to stop the effects are to kill the bugs and retrieve the shard. FIVE ▸ CHIT-CHAT. It's your standard network option. Maybe you've got a little downtime and you're bored. Or maybe you got lost in the caves and you think you saw a g-g-ghost pirate. Maybe you're just trying to figure out how the hell this magical jewelry thing works! No matter what, you get one username to identify you and one only -- if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the jewelcomms can be found on the devices guide. SIX ▸ WILDCARD. Do whatever the heck you want! Explore the jungles and waterfalls of the islands, have a party on the beach, try to befriend a dolphin. The world is your oyster. ▸ OOC NOTES Welcome to the first test drive meme of Futurology Season 2! Because the season hasn't started yet, this test drive is meant to be a mini-mission, similar in feel to the missions we have in-game but on a much smaller scale. Since no characters currently have official specializations, we also have no specialized prompts, but plan to in the future. However, feel free to play as if your character is level 1 of whichever specialization you would like to choose. Please be aware this test drive is game canon. Questions about the game can be directed to the FAQ. If you've been with us before, you might notice things look a little different around here. Make sure you check out the welcome page for the basic rundown of how your character joined up with Hathaway. For further information about the game, the full navigation has all the links you'll need. Apps will reopen to the public on 6 January, with early apps for returning characters opening on 4 January. Apps will close when we reach our 60-player cap or on 15 January, whichever happens first. We hope to see you then!

Comments

[reposing]

So you claim that my existence is impossible, yet here I am.

offended that i never got this notif!!

[gotbit]

Hey listen, I know what I'm talking about, vampires are dead and can't make little vampires. Unless they bite a kid, I guess. Anyway that's common knowledge, so come up with a better story. Why would you even lie about this?

[ yeah ... why would he ... what a great question that she should ask herself ]

not my fault!!

[reposing]

My father is certainly far from being dead. Vampires can be created in many ways, and he was not turned by another vampire; no one can claim to be my father's sire. In the rare instance a child is born from a human and a vampire, their half-breed is often referred to as a dhampir.

Which is what I am. What I have been all my life. I would be fascinated to know how you deem yourself an expert on such things.

skeptical noise

[gotbit]

Ugh, of course you're going the dhampir route, but everyone knows that's stupid.
It doesn't even make sense. Vampires are undead, that means corpse.

Anyway I've watched basically every vampire movie out there, so I know about pretty much every interpretation ever.

[reposing]

[He has no idea what the hell a movie is, but it sounds similar to... what, a play? Theater? Stories.]

You sound like a babbling fool than being well informed. You base your knowledge upon tales rather than from proven sources. Typical. I know how deeply humanity favors their fictions and rumors than fact. This conversation is pointless, clearly.

[gotbit]

Oh my god, you sound like such a hammy movie vampire. Okay, fine, prove it for me.

[reposing]

Why would I indulge you. You have been nothing but short of frustrating.

[SERIOUSLY.]

[gotbit]

Because I'm a sunny, friendly person and you'll definitely love me if you get to know me. The kind of person you'd want to do a favor for. It's like a favor advance.

[reposing]

[Thankfully this conversation is in text because Alucard is SIGHING, really really hard right now.]

This seems entirely pointless, but very well. I will indulge your curiosity.

Would turning into a bat satisfy you?

[because he's not going to suck someone's blood for your jollies]

[gotbit]

Uh. [ curse this thoughts-typing thing, she didn't need that errant uh in there >:| ] Yeah. That should do it.

[reposing]

Fine then. Where are you?

[gotbit]

In one of those pirate bedrooms. [ "sleeping quarters", whatever ]

[reposing]

Step out into the hallway, if you don't mind.

You will find me there. I will be wearing a black coat with gold detailing.

[gotbit]

[ What, just like that? Well, fine. She goes, pulling open the door with the only wariness she's ever displayed in her life. Usually, though, she's not asking weirdos to meet her in the dark hallway underneath a pirate ship, so it's a bit of an abnormal situation already. ]

[reposing]

[Alucard is there, looking irritable with his arms crossed. As she approaches, he beckons her closer with a hand.]

You are the one who demands proof, yes?

[gotbit]

[ Okay, so, he kind of looks like a vampire. Her resistance to the idea is starting to feel stupider and stupider. There's a second or two where she even reconsiders approaching him, but ... man, hasn't the worst already happened? She heads nearer. ]

Yep, that's me. Pee-ryan, the expert skeptic. Let's see your stuff, Mister Alucard.

[reposing]

Very well then.

[His form suddenly shifts, like he's composed of mist until it reforms into a new shape: that of an unusually large bat, flapping in mid air.

Screeching at her. Probably being Very Annoyed with her.]

[gotbit]

[ Oh, shit. Her eyes go immediately wide, and yeah, that's pretty irrefutable evidence, isn't it? She doesn't look fearful, though, just — excited. ]

How the hell did you do that? [ She steps closer, ducking in to try and see any... strings, screens, whatever. ] What the hell happened to your clothes? Wait, can you even talk?

[reposing]

[The bat flaps over and lands on her head for a moment, shrieking again. As if to say guess who's a fucking vampire.

He does do her the favor of not staying perched for long, taking off and transforming back to his normal form.]

Most vampires can shapeshift into a bat, at least. And no, I cannot speak in that form.

I hope this was enough for the sake of your curiosity.

[gotbit]

[ Okay, thanks, that's a little gross. She ducks back again when he lands on her, and she's quick to fluff her disorderly hair back into its usual rightful chaos when he's gone. There's no less amazement for it, though, and when he turns back she lifts her own hand to inspect it curiously. ]

I should be able to do that. I think. Bat, wolf, fog, dust, that kinda thing. [ She frowns. ] But I can't fucking make it work!

[reposing]

You? Why would--

[Oh. He should have realized. If he'd just listened more closely.]

You're a vampire.

[gotbit]

Yeah, tada.

[ This is her first reveal of this to anyone, it feels like should be a little more dramatic. Or at least ostentatious. She adds some jazz hands, and maybe it helps. ]

Pretty new to it, though. [ One of her jazz hands retires to rub absently at her neck, and the side of it still bears two little white pin pricks, about an inch apart. The bite had healed fast, at least. ] I didn't think it'd be this hard, movies make it look easy to do that stuff. You made it look easy, even.

[reposing]

My father taught me most of what I know.

So you were... turned. Was it by your own free will?

[Usually, that really isn't the case. Though it certainly does explain why she felt so arrogantly informed about the nature of vampires.

Though if she only knows things based on rumors and stories at best... Well. This changes a lot.]

[gotbit]

Genetic vampires, that's so weird. [ She makes a face. ] Did you do father and son games of vampire baseball, throwing bloodbags around in the yard after work?

[ Okay, wait, that's not what's important here. She reels herself back in with some effort. ]

And, uh — no. It just kinda happened.

[reposing]

I-- no. We didn't do such things.

[Not that he had an unhappy childhood, but he'd really rather not talk about all of that right now. Better get to talking about her!]

So someone tricked you?