cracktheearth | Fall 2015 Test Drive

Entry tags:

*test drive

Fall 2015 Test Drive

Hello, and welcome to the test drive for Fall, 2015! Similar to last time, one of our test drive prompts is the same as an event presently going on in the game! And that's not all; both players in the game and out of it can treat everything that happens with these prompts as canon to the game, and that they happened concurrently with what's going on on the main community. So, if you're looking to apply to Raise the Earth, here's a chance to get in on the ground floor of what's happening in-game!

[A - Factor Industries Charity Event]

Even for Benjamin Factor, arranging this charity event had been something of a challenge. Just as he held great influence in Gateway City, Thunder Corp's influence in Locke was great as well. But with time and money, all things were indeed possible in this case, and the Memorial Dance Hall was playing host to the night's events. It was a glamorous affair: politicians, captains of business, dignitaries, and celebrities had been invited. For whatever controversy that existed, the world legitimately wanted to heal the wounds left by the invasion, and that meant there were a lot of people who wanted to use events like this to either advance that cause, or to make themselves look good.

But they weren't the only sorts of individuals who had received an invitation.

Benjamin Factor had also made it so the Numbered would be invited to his little party. Arrivals through the teleporter would be greeted by drivers at the community center, and the same courtesy was extended to anyone who might live in Locke. The only stipulation? Was that anyone who came make an effort to make themselves presentable. If that was a problem, or anyone arrived without knowing, they had clothes on hand for people to change into.

Indeed, it seemed that the Numbered would be well provided for tonight. That being said, their presence would get people to talk, given the presence of news crews making live coverage. Nevertheless... "getting people to talk" seemed to be exactly what Benjamin Factor wanted to happen.

[This prompt is the same as this current event. You can have your character start a general mingle thread, but we ask that your character not serve as an event speaker for the test drive, as that's a rule best suited to characters already in the game.]

[B - Pest Control]

Beta testing. "A trial of machinery, software, or other products, in the final stages of its development, carried out by a party unconnected with its development." A crucial, important step in ironing out the "kinks" in something, to ensure it's ready for whatever it has been designed to do.

In the last weeks of October, someone is beta testing. Just what are they testing, you might wonder? Diminutive little robots with powerful, fangy jaws. They appear to be designed for pest control, and their hardware includes tracking software. Indeed, they're apparently being deployed in secret, acting autonomously in Gateway City, Locke City, Woodend, Christchurch, Tokyo, and even Shepherd's Haven. No one would see who is setting them loose, beyond nondescript men and women who disappear as quickly as they first emerged.

The robots are autonomous. They seek out their prey with zeal, without being controlled by a central source. Alone, a single machine is far from a threat, but they have been loosed in sizable groups, making them fairly dangerous. And it seems there's a bug: all animals are targets for these things, and they're not all. It seems they're capable of identifying another, more unique target: Anyone who might be Numbered.

[C - Sudden Storm]

Rain wasn’t planned today. The forecast had called for sun and minimal clouds, and a warm breeze. Instead, the falling drops seem to sparkle in the sunlight peeking through the clouds. Out a window, strolling down the street, sitting at a bus stop, it’s hard not to feel the drops coming down. And should you stop to stare at the rain for a bit, something seems to shift. A hollow feeling, a certain vertigo, that passes in a moment.

As it clears, something changes. A new memory, from a life that isn’t familiar and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense; a tingling at your fingertips of some new energy; a certain knowledge of the world that shocks you with the new information it provides; something in your hands you weren’t holding before. Maybe you’ve already had an Echo somehow, and you recognize the feeling; maybe you haven’t, and it brings back memories of the people talking about “pulses” on TV, what seems like forever ago. If the latter’s true, the fading sense leaves behind a number, that seems to worm its way into your mind and not leave. Does this mean… you’re Numbered, now?

[D - Network]

The number stuck in your head refuses to go away, so to work it out of your system, you decide writing it down on something is a good idea. Maybe you punched it into your phone; perhaps it’s on a piece of paper, or a mirror, or almost anything else.

The thing it’s on comes alive, filling with text and images. None of it was there before, and you can interact with it. Hundreds, maybe thousands of posts, all tagged with a number that looks similar to your own. Tales of fighting, of betrayal, of loss and sacrifice; stories of heroism, of gain, of victory and the elation attached. Questions about life, about the network, about the future of the Numbered. Idle conversation, videos of stupid things. Three years of history, from the beginning to the original incident on April 1, 2013, through to today.

You could add something. Clearly, it need not be profound, and if you don’t put a name, a face, or a voice to your number, nobody would ever know it’s you. It’s there, at your fingertips. What would you say…?

[E - Wild Card]

Don’t feel pressured to stick to our prompts - you’re welcome to do whatever strikes you. Lighthearted, serious, dangerous, mundane, spectacular… Raise the Earth is a game designed around everyday life getting a lot more interesting in a hurry. Play around with things!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do you?

[He sounds a little more surprised than is probably polite, but social skills were never Lazarus' strong point, even before he started echoing back the champion of not caring about them.]

Is helping people that important to you? It's very admirable, if so.

[Good thing Micah's more or less used to that sort of reaction; he shrugs it off.]

I guess. It's a better use of my time and talents than sitting around waiting to get put back on full duty while a bunch of doctors and administrators dick around with paperwork. I've never done well with just sitting around. Idle hands, you know.

[Again, he shrugs.]

I guess I figured - kids on the street. I used to be one of 'em. Kinda makes me an expert on the subject, right? Why not.

["I guess" doesn't sound particularly committed, but it sounds honest, at least.]

Yes, I know.

[Probably better than you think or can guess.]

What would you be waiting for the doctors and administrators to d-- do? It sounds like this is something you're doing to pass the time and not your normal vocation.

Well, it wasn't, until a few months ago. I used to be a firefighter, until this happened.

[He gestures to the left side of his face again, half-frowning.]

They said it was probably faulty equipment in the investigation, but they couldn't really find any evidence of tampering or defect. And they put me on medical leave and refused to take me off. I got bored. So I quit. Found something else to do.

[Micah says all of this in a fairly matter-of-fact manner, but there's a sharp edge to the way he speaks the words, a slight narrowing of his eyes. It's a situation that's irritating at best, infuriating at worst.]

[There's a silence of a few ticks.]

I'm truly sorry. I know what it's like to be barred from the job you want. It's probably the worst feeling ever. At least you didn't let your boredom control your life and paralyze you; that's a very real risk no matter how strong you are.

You know that from experience, huh?

[He's said as much; repeating it is Micah's sideways manner of inviting more detail, if Lazarus wishes to go on.]

Yeah, well. Like I said, I don't do well with just sitting around. Being unproductive makes me feel all antsy. Bodies were needed; I was available. Seemed like a no-brainer.

[What Micah doesn't say, though, is that he truly does find satisfaction in helping others. It's never something he's been inclined to explicate in thise exact words, but with what his life handed him, he knows there was an element of luck in how he was able to turn circumstances around and do better. He knows a lot of people never brush up against that kind of luck, and if he can help create it - well, there's a certain kind of power to be found there.]

It was a long time ago, but yeah. I wanted to be a cop.

[Any bitterness in his voice is indiscernible, although this would have been a very different story a couple of years ago. He held that grudge for a long time.]

How long were you homeless, and how did you get by during those years?

A cop, huh? That's a pretty noble calling - "protect and serve," all that. Bummer.

[There's a note of genuine sympathy, despite the semi-flippant response he gives. Having your dreams held out of reach is a difficult reality to reconcile.

Micah regards the camera with a bit of a wary eye at the next question.]

Do you really want to know my whole dumb life saga? I don't mind talking about it, I just don't get why it would be of interest to you, past lives or otherwise.

I think it's one of life's great ironies that we tend to admire the things that we're ill-suited for, because what seems remarkable to a man is often what he sees as unattainable for himself. It might have been like that.

[Lazarus thinks he can pick up on that genuineness; though the young man affects carelessness, there's something sincere underlying it. That's probably why he says as much as he does about a past that is pitiful at best and mortifying at worst.]

Lives are of interest to me. I think they make a person who they are, and regardless of what happened in another life, every Numbered was a complete person even before they got their first echo.

[Well, almost every Numbered. Lazarus can't honestly claim that he doesn't see himself as an empty, nihilistic void that his echoes granted form and purpose.]

Yeah ... what's that thing people say about God's sense of humor?

[He shakes his head, smiling grimly. Everything about the Numbered speaks to direct opposition of everything he's ever known about God. A puzzle to be unpacked at another time, perhaps.]

All right.

[It's as good an answer as any, and Micah meant what he said earlier - he doesn't mind talking about his past. It's been the subject of Quill House promotional pieces for years.

Micah takes a deep breath, bows his head, considers where to begin. With the question Lazarus asked, he figures - that's as good a place as any.]

I was homeless, as in living on the streets, for about six months, when I was fifteen, but I hadn't really had a home for three years before that. It's not really your home when you're in foster care - you're just visiting.

[Which is a point he'll circle back to. First, the other part of Lazarus' question.]

What I did was ... well, what most people do in that situation, I guess. You find places to squat, dig through dumpsters. You steal what's necessary to survive. Sometimes you run scams, though that usually takes more effort than it's worth. Some people panhandle, but that wasn't really my style.

[He sucks on his front teeth, silent for a moment as he runs backward through his memory.]

How I got there ... like I said, I was in foster care for a few years. My dad died when I was two, so I never knew him, and my mom ... she was all right, except for getting hooked on meth. Said she needed a little help working two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. Things weren't great, but we were doing OK, until she got remarried.

[Here his expression darkens, mouth forming a thin line, jaw taut.]

He was a drunk, and he was an asshole besides. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of him beating her up. He got sloppy with me, though - CPS got involved when I started showing up to school with black eyes and bruises. I was twelve when they got their parental rights terminated.

I wouldn't know. It's been years since I've spoken to God and gotten any kind of an answer. His jokes haven't been kind ones so maybe I stopped listening.

[It's unusual for someone to be such an open book about such raw and personal things. Maybe they're not raw anymore, calloused over and cold, or maybe Micah's just the type to face his demons stark and staring. Lazarus can appreciate that, but he's still respectfully silent as Micah recounts what actually could be considered his life story.

A hard life, but a survived life nonetheless, and the nature of it makes him wonder if he's like Nathan and resents those who are weak to the vices that turned the adults in his life sour before he was through needing them.]

Micah, do you see or hear from your mother these days, or otherwise know what became of her?

She died, actually. Car crash. Roger was driving - drunk, of course. Happened when I was seventeen, but I didn't find out until I was eighteen. The House was pretty insistent about no contact with her, and ... well, I was pretty angry with her for a while. For not leaving him. For not protecting me from him. For being an addict. That kind of stuff.

[He shrugs. It still weighs on him, sometimes, though he's mostly come to terms with it.]

I was pretty angry about everything, for a long time, so it wasn't a far stretch.

[Another orphan. It makes it seem so poignant somehow, knowing that Micah is already parallelling the life of his other so symmetrically. Not good or bad, maybe, but poignant. Does this kid have any clue what he's in for?]

Aren't you angry anymore? You make it sound like this is in the past, but deep hurts leave deep scars, you know?

Well, yeah. Of course I still get angry, sometimes. But not like I used to. It's not so much about controlling the feeling itself, or stopping it from happening, it's what you do about it. Father Kelly used to say to me, "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." It's a quote from somewhere, I can't remember exactly, but the point of it is that holding on to your anger isn't healthy or productive. I had to learn that. I can choose to be angry at my dead mother, or Roger, or God, but what good is it to me? All it does is make me want to put my fist through a wall or something. So I get angry, but I accept it, and I try to let it go.

[He half-smiles, because he knows exactly how all of this sounds.]

I may've seen a therapist or two.

[He's nodding in agreement or support, but it's impossible to tell while he's still not showing his face.]

Father Kelly? So you're Catholic? Also, if you're curious about that quote, it's allegedly Buddha who said it...

[Trailing off. Knowing that someone said something and believing that philosophy are two entirely different things.]

You're right. It's a mature viewpoint to see it that way, even if it's not always an easy one. And therapists are underrated in my opinion. I owe a lot to one that I had in particular so I would never discount the advantages to seeing them.

[Forget that the ethics of that particular situation were questionable at best; he's also trying to let it go.]

Yeah. [Again, his mouth quirks into a dry half-smile.] I know Catholics get a lot of heat for being nuts, but we're not all like that. Father Kelly's the guy who ran the House while I was there. Really good guy. He pretty much saved my life, actually. Working with therapists was part of the House program, something he'd put into place. I wasn't thrilled about it, at first, but it was better than the alternative. And I guess it worked.

[Micah snaps his fingers and nods.]

Buddha. That's right. Smart guy, by all accounts.

Catholics get a lot of heat?

[Resisting inappropriate and off-color joke about that burn. Lazarus has a quick wit and a sense of humor but he also has a tendency to step all over sensitive subjects like so many doormats.]

I might have seen worse, but then again, I wasn't raised Catholic.

You said that he ran the House while you were there, but what about now? Is there a new headmaster, did he...?

[Retire? Die? Vagueness might be gentler here.]

Edited 2015-11-12 19:13 (UTC)

Yeah, you know - crazies screaming about everyone burning in Hell, yelling about how all the shit going down in the last couple years is God's punishment for humanity's sinful ways. That sort of thing.

[Micah shakes his head, crossing his arms against his chest.]

"Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." It's like we didn't even read the same book, I swear.

[He shrugs, mouth forming a thin line.]

Father Kelly died a couple years after I left the House. Heart attack.

Oh. Right, I guess that is the stereotype. I also understand that there's some criticism for the treatment of children as well as skepticism on the importance of symbolism to the point where it arguably borders on idolatry. That being said I understand the value and comfort in talismans.

[Just not why a bloody and tortured man hanging from a cross brings so many people comfort, perhaps.]

You must have had top marks in Sunday school. It's impressive; I haven't memorized that much religious text in a long time.

[A pause after hearing about Father Kelly.]

I'm sorry to hear. I thought it might have been the case. You have no family and your mentor has died, so do you have many friends, or is your work essentially your entire support system since then?

You can find criticism with any group. Even the Numbered aren't immune from it.

[He's entirely factual about this, not hostile, like some might be. Micah isn't naive; he knows religion isn't appreciated or even respected by a lot of people.]

Micah 7:18-19. I have a good memory for things that interest me. I actually got pretty good scores at everything, once I got focused.

[A smile briefly flashes across his face, something like a secret. He worked hard at his studies, and he succeeded. Another thing he's proud of.]

Neither, really. I guess you could say I mainly support myself.

Edited 2015-11-12 23:42 (UTC)

[A mirthless sound like a laugh, but not quite managing to get that far.]

The Numbered are far from immune to it, no matter what approach they take. You can't meekly sit back and take it, but you also can't bully your way into having friends. But religious criticisms are older and have had the time to put down deeper roots, so... it can be helpful to compare and draw what parallels you can.

[He must have gotten good scores, Lazarus thinks wryly, if they're from the same place and Micah's role was what he's led to believe.]

You've chosen isolation, or there just isn't time for pursuing relationships?

[Micah goes thin-lipped and silent for a moment before he takes in a breath and answers.]

Let me put it this way - I know I can count on me. Can't really say the same for anyone else.

Well, the nice thing about Numbers is they're sort of...

[Terrible joke. Don't finish.

He bites his tongue.]

I used to feel that way too. I know how it is.

Yeah? Something changed your mind on that?

It took a long time and a few fortuitous deaths, but I met some good people who were worth the risk.

pretend that didn't happen

i saw nothing c8

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cw domestic + child abuse

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