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

[transient_specter]

"It's... difficult to explain, but essentially it can hold someone's soul and make a body for them."

Sort of. It's more complicated than that, but that's the basic explanation. It's not as if he wants to explain the entirety of the Ganma world to this person he doesn't even know.

... And who Takeru would have already tried to ask ten different personal questions of, probably.

[svensk]

"...And you have been in one of those but you're certain that now you're not?"

Because this guy looks pretty human. With how the wind blows, he can't even try to tell if he smells human, too, but that is what you have dogs for, right? A minor, hidden gesture, and the corgi-like dog runs off to circle Makoto and figure that one out.

[transient_specter]

"I'm very certain. I need to eat and sleep, for one thing."

He eyes the dog running up to him, looking at it a bit warily. He does smell human, though. A little nervous about the dog, but that's mostly because he doesn't have all that much experience with them.

[svensk]

The dog is a very well trained dog (okay, that's not the whole story, but that's what it seems like).

"Good sign, if not entirely conclusive. So do dogs.

...If you're hungry, there is a Chinese Restaurant down the street that does take-away until two in the morning."

He isn't hungry himself right now and this guy is weird, so he'll tag along for a bit and try to learn more. It's not like he has anything better to do, here.

[transient_specter]

"True. But people in Eyecons don't need to do either." If he thinks Makoto is weird, he should be glad that Alain isn't here, because that boy needs even more herding than Makoto sometimes does.

"... I could go for some food, but I don't have much cash on me." And from what he's seen, this place doesn't accept yen.

[svensk]

"I have coupons. Two for one, if you're up for a late snack and don't mind my tastes. I wanted to get something for later tonight anyway."

People get suspicious if a stranger offers to buy them food, but implying that he won't spend additional money for them typically helps. And food tends to be an excellent inroad into gaining peoples' trust.

"...So what exactly are those Eyecons?"

[transient_specter]

"Ah." It... sounds all right, then. It shouldn't be a problem. He nods and tries to think of how to explain an Eyecon. It's not like he can not mention it now that he's brought it up.

"It's a round object, a little bigger than... maybe a golf ball. Smaller than a baseball. It looks like plastic, but it's not. It can hold a soul or a spirit and let them project a solid body."

[svensk]

"Under what circumstances would it be used?" He starts to lead the way, directing the other man down a path to the next road.

His question is aimless, in a way. He doesn't see how it could benefit him, or endanger him. But then it is not. It only took life and Leif forever to instill in him the potential worth of any kind of information, but the message did sink in, eventually.

[transient_specter]

"It keeps your body in a safe place while you're in a dangerous situation... or your soul in a reasonably safe place if your body's been destroyed. The latter is far less common, though." He'd only really seen it done with Kanon, at least. There were a lot of examples of the former, himself included.

[svensk]

"So the only requirement to use one is the possession of a soul?"

It sounds like a casual question, curiosity in it but dominated by the wish to make small talk. Showing too much curiosity might be counterproductive.

They step out on a dimply lit street that winds through the green towards some houses. In a few, lights can still be seen, showing the way even to those that don't know the area yet.

[transient_specter]

"Somewhat. There's a process to transfer it... I don't know the details, since I was in stasis." Takeru had it happen, too, but... well. He's a special case in so many ways. Shounen heroes, why.

He looks at the streets suspiciously, and shakes his head. "Everything is so off here... but this isn't Japan, so I guess I should have expected that."

[svensk]

It sounds interesting, but also like this man neither has one with him nor knows how to build one, so Rasmus will drop the topic.

"How is it off, in your opinion?"

He has never been to Japan - he has barely been out of Europe, really - but he wonders just how different it can be, or if this guy is noticing something else. And besides. Small talk.

[transient_specter]

"The streets are different in width - and it looks like people drive on the other side. I'd forgotten they did. And the writing is off. The people... well. I guess I'm used to almost everyone looking Japanese."

He hasn't been out of the country aside from being in the Ganma World. It's not his fault.

[svensk]

Makoto is talking to someone who is still unsettled by everyone driving on the right side these days. Newfangled wrong-sided road usage. Of all the things to be a stickler about, right, but driving on the left just makes more sense to him still. So he hums appreciatively when Makoto mentions that part, but chuckles at the rest.

"It will certainly be harder for you to blend in here, then. Though there seems to be a number of East Asian looking people here, too."

They are coming near some houses now, one of them mounted by a neon sign advertising "Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant". Rasmus heads for the side of the building where the take-away window is located.