TEST DRIVE 01

[modmachine]

Test Drive meme Welcome to the first Test Drive for Hex! Unlike most test drives, the scenarios included here also feature things that you can investigate with mod interaction. If at any point in your test thread, your character(s) want to investigate something further, please put a "HEY MODS" in your subject line to make it easy to find. Don't feel limited to the scenarios presented - make up your own prompts as much as you want! Reserves will open on the 7th and Applications on the 15th. scenario one - the tree In a grassy square in the Central District, wedged in between dorm halls, there is a tree. Far wider than it is tall, its leaves are just beginning to turn from yellow to orange, with a few green stragglers near the top and a growing carpet on the grass beneath it. At one end of the tree's reach, there is a picnic table, the sort with benches built in to either side. Anywhere under the boughs, a distinct ticking, like the sound of a clock, can be heard. Moving about makes it clear that the sound is loudest nearest the trunk. Numerous small gears stick out of twists between branches, though they do not appear to move to the naked eye. Someone has hung a string of orange lights in the branches for Halloween, along with some cotton spiderweb. No matter how closely you look, there doesn't seem to be an end where the lights plug in to anything. Otherwise, there is nothing unusual about the decorations. In the center of the table, half-covered by leaves, there is an iron plaque that has not been particularly well-treated for rust. Some of the writing on it is almost legible. It is chill to the touch. Someone's carved their initials and a date into the end of one bench - scenario two - the wrecking yard Abandoned vehicles are by no means an unusual sight in the Sixth District. Abandoned buses are slightly more unusual. This particular bus has boarded up windows, a black light string hanging over the windshield, and the words HAUNTED HOUSE written along the side, where the old inoffensive public-transit advertisements have been painted over. The front door serves as the entrance; the back leads into the wrecking yard and the haunted "house" proper. A girl in her late teens in slightly unsettling gothic lolita sits in a cheap folding chair around the front of the bus. She doesn't charge admission, though there is a candy bowl labeled for Donations on the card table next to her with a few bills and some change in it, in the center of a group of candles that burn in skull holders. She reminds everyone who passes her to please not touch the actors or props inside. Occasionally, mist from a smoke machine on the other side of the wooden fence billows around her ankles, almost seeming to form caressing fingers running down her legs. Across the street from her, two men sit in a beaten up old pickup truck, the much taller man smoking cigarettes with the windows open. The shorter man fidgets almost uncontrollably, constantly glancing in the direction of the girl and her bus. Their voices aren't loud enough to hear distinctly from the haunted house side of the street, but the woman at the bus entrance shoots them occasional looks none-the-less, alternating between pleased smiles and blank stares. Painted along the sides of the truckbed, in much dirtier letters than those of the haunted house, is the phrase NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH. scenario three - the party downtown In a bar downtown, it's not much different from any other night of clubbing, except that everyone is wearing masks. Ranging from the elegant custom work of a nearby boutique (conveniently open even after sundown tonight, if you need to pick one up) to cheap colored paper held on with elastic handed out at the door of the bar, masks are the must-have accessory tonight. Indeed, many of the parties won't let you in if you don't have one. Those paying careful attention might notice little dots of red on the necks of some of the partiers, especially those who seem a bit pale and have called off drinking for the night. Aside from that, though, it doesn't seem like anyone's really getting hurt; it's just a fun time for everyone. Except for the poor guy who made the mistake of wearing an owl mask and yellow contacts, anyway. Just within hearing range of the beating bass of the clubs, a young woman in a red jacket holds a mask in her hands, turning it over and sometimes holding it to her face to look at in a window reflection. The long face of it calls to mind some kind of black dog, perhaps a Doberman or German Shepherd. She isn't dressed at all for an evening at the clubs, and has a canvas bag slung over her shoulder with the shape of heavy books straining the fabric at the bottom. scenario four - the playground Not everyone seems to be getting into the spirit. A playground near the center of the city has precious few decorations - save for a spiderweb on one of the swingsets that seems to be natural, not man-made. A pumpkin or two have been left near the edges, but they're all smashed, the orange guts running along in a streak that seems to blend into a thin line surrounding the entire perimeter. The see-saw looks like the board's been freshly painted, but otherwise all of the equipment looks almost lonely and old. The rust on the metal stains everything an orange-red, and the slide in particular seems the worst hit. Still, everything is at least standing, and those who attempt to play on it will find it sturdy and warm in the cool night. ... Except for the merry go round. That one seems to be bent, as if someone very heavy sat on the edge. It still turns, but it wobbles dramatically, with horrible squeaking noises. Still, it's usable, for anyone who would like to play.

MADE BY TESSISAMESS

Comments

Kitty | Shadowrun

[runs]

1

A black kitten is lying on the table in the afternoon sun, basking lazily in the warmth. Unlike someone specifically checks with magical means, the only unusual thing that one might notice about her is that she seems to be quite a large breed of house cat.

Instead of watching the surroundings, as if she's spotted a squirrel up there. If anyone approaches, she will however turn around and watch them instead. But for the moment, she won't get up. This place is no more or less unsettling than any other place in the city in her eyes, and she is comfortable and will only leave it if she perceives an actual threat from someone coming up to her.


4



This playground looks intriguing. She's of course seen ones before, but only in trideos and one time on a run that led them into a zaibatsu residental district. She's never played on one, they just aren't a thing around her home and derelict as this one looks...

She'd like to know what being on a swing actually feels like. The children in the trideos always look like they're having fun while adults seem to get sad when sitting on them, so who knows.

Without even a thought about safety concerns she skips over to the swings and tugs at one to make sure that it won't fall before sitting down on it and starting to experiment with the movements for it.

What did they do in the trideos? Legs up... and down?


bonus



A girl is walking around Hex, sticking to downtown and the sixth district, and looking very disoriented and distressed. She stops every once in a while as if expecting to see something around, just that she seems to come up empty every time that she does so, and moves on, rubbing her eyes every so often as if she hopes that that will somehow fix it.

At times, she will also stop to watch people, standing almost perfectly still as her dark eyes follow a stranger go about their business. Still searching. Perhaps that stranger is you?

4

[modmachine]

Kitty will see something odd - there's something misty-purple hanging around behind a tree near the swingset. It's not doing anything, just hanging there and being generally gaseous... but it does, somehow, seem to have trained its attention on her.

[runs]

It turns out that using a swing is a lot harder to figure out than she thought it would be, and after trying for a little bit she abruptly abandons it, putting her feet on the ground and acting as if she never intended to do anything with it except to use it as a seat.

...At which point she notices the feeling of being watched.

By... something. An undefined being of a vague colour, but it is definitely there. She watches it back. It has no eyes, but she can still try to have a scaring contest with it. The one who moves first loses, or something like that.

[modmachine]

Well then. If she's going to be like that, it continues to watch her. There's a vague feeling of unease that it practically projects, but it's not moving.

You're the one who started it. It can stay like this all night.

[runs]

She would like to pretend that she can stay like this all night, but she really doesn't have the attention span for it. So after this going on for perhaps twenty minutes, she abruptly gets to her feet and walks towards the thing, though she doesn't do so in a direct line. She rather goes a bit to the left, then to the right, but in the end she steadily approaches.

[modmachine]

It watches warily, but doesn't move away. The sense of unease seems to increase as she gets closer, though.

[runs]

Should she continue? This thing could be dangerous.

...And she could be dangerous, too. Ivokat had pointed that out to her repeatedly. Usually while reenforcing that she should not let anyone know about her magic abilities unless she was also forced to use them. Because everyone knows to shoot the mage first, and also because unlicensed magic is quite unlawful in most places and avoiding registration in any way is the key to freedom and life to someone who would not even be able to get a permission due to not being considered human enough for a citizenship. What you can't make you can fake, but with magic the licenses are a lot harder to fake than with guns of IDs. Administrations just are a lot more twitchy about magic because of that danger, and thus look a lot closer.

At least back home. This isn't home. And nobody is looking, anyway.

Her ears twitch slightly and her lips move as she prepares a spell - not enough to throw it yet, but she would be in the right mind now to cast it faster.

[modmachine]

As it drifts closer to her, there's an aura of pure misery around it. Enough that, if she doesn't push back strongly, she's going to start feeling doom and gloom practically on her skin. It's not attacking, not yet, but it's sure feeling awful!

[runs]

...It sure would be useful if she could put up mana barriers, because she's getting the feeling that they might be more useful here than physical ones.

Which might be without any use at all. Should she still try? ...Should she even still approach?

"I'm not here to hurt you."

[modmachine]

It doesn't speak. The feeling is just sort of... hanging there, emanating from the being. It's not hard to see that it's really just kind of a ball of purple mist, more formless than anything.

[runs]

Kitty considers this whole thing, grins, and then concentrates and holds out a hands towards the thing, fingers spread wide. Her ears twitch and her lips move, and then a globe of darkness - a field inside of which just no light exists - engulfs the purple mist. She stands back and watches it, waiting for what will happen. If it can't be cooperated with, she can still play with it.

[modmachine]

Oops, it looks like it didn't like that. It thrashes around, trying to escape, doing its best to slip away from the material world back across to the world of spirits.

[runs]

Her eyes open wide as her perception follows the path of the shapeless spirit, because she now assumes that's what it is.

THERE IT IS.

She almost squeals in joy to know that the astral planes are still there, even though they are not here, and leaps into a run, intent to follow the spirit.

...To which end she has to dissolve the globe of darkness, briefly before she reaches it. She'd rather not render herself half blind.

bonus!

[closetometal]

It's the fact that she looks so young and so lost that gets him. Nick has been holed up in his office in the Sixth for hours now, scribbling notes in his files and it's just luck that he chose to take a walk as she passes by. At first, he wondered if it was any of his business, but she just looked so distressed and watched him so intently he couldn't help himself.

"Hey, you okay, kid?"

[runs]

She tenses when he addresses her, not running but clearly spooked by the attention.

Nothing is okay. It is all wrong. This place seems to be not only spiritually dead but also is one giant matrix hole. Both factors would be worrying by themselves, but combined they are a whole new level of not okay. She feels blind.

But the people around here are.. odd. In general. She hasn't seen a single person with cyberware yet, the fashion is strange, everything looks.... antique. This guy looks weird too, but he doesn't fit into the theme of the rest of this place.

"Why do you look like that?"

[closetometal]

He can tell she's spooked, its written all over her posture and face, so the detective stays where he is. Instead, he briefly looks down at himself, at his torn trench coat and skeletal robotic hand. If she can see what he actually looks like, she'll be the first he's run into. Still, it's not unusual for people to comment on or stare at his worn clothes, so he errs on that side of judgement with a joke. "Well, it's been a heck of a week."

With that, he brings his hands together, fingertips barely touching as he looks down at her. With the way she was earlier, it wouldn't surprise him if she was a new arrival and he says as much.

"You new to the city?" Nick asks carefully, not wanting to scare her off. After all, if she is, god knows she's probably confused, maybe even terrified.

[runs]

"I'm not from these parts, no. But I can take care of myself."

It's a sharp little roadblock placed on the metaphorical ground in front of her to stop right there everyone who thinks that she needs a group to run with or a person to attach to. She'll figure this out alone and return home.

"And you look like you need a cyberdoc with better design skills." It's a weird design, but she assumes that that is what is up with him.

[closetometal]

A cyberdoc? That's a new one to him. And it tells him she can see him--which is also new.

Nick holds up his skeletal hand and asks, "You can see this? Huh, guess I'm not alone now, am I?" With that, he lets his hand fall to his side, "It's not a design, kid. I'm just lucky my mechanical parts still work."

He takes a second, then adds, "But if you know a guy, don't hesitate to give me his info. Might not be a bad idea to get a tune up."

[runs]

"Not here. I don't need one, so I had no reason to find one."

But she has ...friends, is what she calls them. Not necessarily what they call her, but she's found that it is the easiest descriptive term to use... who might need one if they get hurt, so she made a point of snooping around and knowing where good ones can be found. Good ones for street docs, anyway.

"...Is it really old?" It looks really old to her.

[closetometal]

Its not surprising that she doesn't know one here he supposes. Wasn't really counting on it anyway. Most of his maintenance he can do by himself at this point and with this being, what, later in time or something, it just doesn't make sense to him that there would be.

Her question makes him pause though.

"Probably," the detective settles on, "It's been about ten years since I woke up like this, who knows how much longer this has been around." He taps his chest, to signal the body. "I wasn't in the best state to begin with though."

[runs]

It's good to focus on something else, it pushes the disorientation back. Not that she realizes that that is what is happening, but it helps.

"What happened before you woke up?"

[closetometal]

At this point, Nick thinks its a good guess that the girl in front of him isn't from around where he is either. The simpler story is probably better. Still, her curiosity is sweet in a way, and it seems like she might be feeling a bit better herself.

"Well, before that I was a cop in Chicago." Kind of anyway. The human who's memories he possesses was. "Little bit of a confusing transition to tell ya the truth." There seems to be a laugh in his voice at that, but he sobers up, even with the smile still half on his face. "It's good to know I didn't wake up in a different body again, I was starting to worry."

[runs]

That is strange. She can't make heads nor tails of it. The guy seems to imply that he got an entirely new body, but that he had a human body before that? And he slept in between?

She narrows her eyes. There was this very unpleasant extraction that they worked a few months ago... "Your body didn't belong to anyone before that, did it?" The question may be very blatant, but she's found that she still looks young enough for that to not be considered offensive by many, and that way it is a very useful thing. Sure, looking older would have a lot of other upsides, but this one is an advantage of looking young.

And with all of that in mind the reactions to it can be quite interesting.

[closetometal]

That was a very specific question, and it threw him off for a second. That thought hadn't occurred to him before, or maybe it was something he was actively trying not to think about. The less he thought about what his synth body was doing in the Institute where it got made, the better in his book.

"I woke up in a garbage heap in tatters, so suffice to say if it did, they didn't want it anymore." he says, gesturing a bit as he speaks. "I'm not sure anyone's ever asked that one--most people are more concerned about whether I'm going to explode or something."

He pauses to gauge her again before continuing, "You've got a good head on your shoulders, so what was worrying you earlier? Maybe I can help."

[runs]

Well, that's good enough. He sounds like he is alone in there, if nothing else. That prevents some issues, at least. "You don't look like a fanatic and are sentient, so there's as big a chance that you explode as everyone else ...is there?" The worry that he might explode hadn't even occurred to her until now. Why would people think that?

...As for what upset her... Well, if anyone can be trusted with her worries in this place, he might be a good candidate. He seems trustworthy enough and more than that he quite clearly doesn't belong to this place, either.

"It's ...incomplete. There is no matrix and no astral plane." Or at least she cannot access either, which would be equally worrying.