June Test Drive Meme

[tabularasa_mods]

Test Drive Meme #2 New Locations ▲ Scenarios ▼ Comments Welcome to Tabula Rasa's Test Drive Meme! This meme will be structured the same as an event or intro mingle so you can get a feel for how the game will be after it opens. Anyone is welcome to use this meme whether you plan to apply or not, and we will not be policing what characters or canons choose to play on here. Use it as you'd like and have fun!

Please note that none of the locations and changes described below will be included in the game when it opens. To help create an accurate impression of the game, we have included several imprints suggested by prospective players from the TDM Imprints Submissions. These prompts and locations are only for the TDM. A new arrangement of imprints will be picked when the game opens, which will likely look completely different from the TDM. Please keep this in mind when applying to the game in the future.

As this is our second TDM, you can find more detailed descriptions of the TDM-only locations on TDM #1. Feel free to use prompts from the previous TDM as well if you missed out on it!

Threads from the TDM may be used as samples on your application. TDM samples must be 2 threads with different characters, each with at least 5 comments from your character. Responding to other players on the TDM will also be part of an AC bonus, so we encourage anyone who plans to app to tag out to other players as well.

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New Location: The Fendt Hope Library
Across from the USJ dome stands an enormous six-floor castle. The entrance boasts a large open room decorated with hanging bird cages, colorful teddy bears of varying sizes, and books. Many, many books, filling shelves that line every wall of the room. Traveling further within, there are hundreds of rooms and hallways arranged almost like a hotel, except every room is its own miniature library. Each room has the same layout, including a desk with a lamp, a round table with chairs in the center, a ladder, and rows of shelves on every wall. Teddy bears have been placed around each room, some of them sitting in chairs or on top of shelves and stacks of books. Many of the rooms feature large square windows with gold curtains drawn.

On the first floor near the entrance is a small tavern-like area with a bar, also surrounded by bookshelves on all sides. There are several wooden tables with chairs for guests to sit, though teddy bears have been placed in some of the seats. A large person-sized bear is seated behind the bar. The only shelf that isn't full of books is instead filled with old wine bottles.

There is a staircase that goes down to the basement, where more hallways and library rooms can be found. The basement rooms are much dingier with gray stone walls and no windows, though otherwise look the same as the other library rooms. Notably, the doors in the basement rooms can only be locked from the outside.

outside ▲ library

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Scenario A: Think Positive!
The world has been filled with many things - animals, plants, people, objects... and among those objects, something has stood out. Objects that demand a greater purpose, to be filled with energy that they cannot themselves create. They have not gone unnoticed, and so, too, does the world notice. Machines are more complex than blocks of metal and plastic. Lights are more than wire and glass. What is it that breathes the life into them that people have come to expect?

Finally, the answer has become clear. Anger, disappointment, frustration: these are all feelings that have been poured into these lifeless objects. Energy, such as electricity, must surely come from those emotions.

That isn't to say making electricity is a simple task, or one that can be so easily controlled. A strong emotion can be quite shocking, but that strength must be maintained to power something for more than a few seconds. But you don't want to be electrocuting everyone you come into contact with, either, so with a bit of coordination, a group of people will have much better luck than one person by themselves.

A crowd in the Heavenly Blanc is enough to make the lights flicker, and you might even be able to get the jukebox going. The music sounds a bit strange, with titles and lyrics that almost seem jumbled together from several different songs, but a tune is still a tune. The lighthouse arcade is especially lively, machines buzzing and blaring with noise the moment anyone steps in, though you'll need a friend or two to play along if you want it to get the game to start. The games, too, seem like a bit of a jumbled mess - or maybe Initial DANCE Taikoaster Versus is just ahead of its time.

Most electronics will now function, provided they have the energy source to do so. More advanced functions may not work correctly, such as long-distance connections. The more complex the device, the more emotional power you'll need to use it.

Scenario B: Take A Look, It's In A Book
With the addition of a another library, books have become an important feature to the world's landscape. Words that were once a jumbled mess have been reformed, arranged into something that can now be understood. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of content to fill every book in the world - most of them are identical copies of the same few books, though there may be slight variations between copies.

Geography contains an accurate map of the known world, including detailed descriptions and sketches of important landmarks and buildings. Any observations that people have made thus far have been noted here, including a few direct quotes. It also describes some of the flora and fauna, though it doesn't go into much detail beyond where they can be found. Each copy has a chapter at the end titled "The Rest Of The World" containing hundreds of blank pages.

Regional Pokédex is a bestiary of all the creatures currently residing in the world. There are only 5 entries, with the rest of the book filled with the same image of a large question mark in a circle at the center of each page. Some of the copies of the book use different names for the same creatures, but the first four entries in each copy describes fireys, jellyrabbits, ghowls, and the Eiffel Tower in the style of short observational notes. The average height, weight, and footprint shape of each creature is also listed. The fifth entry has no title, but lists the average height, weight, and approximate footprint shape of every single person in the world as if they were a single species. The descriptions on this page are much more disjointed and contain wildly different information across copies, but all of the entries list observations and physical details of individuals that have arrived in the world.

Questions Vol.1 is a book of questions. Every question about the world that someone has voiced thus far has been listed somewhere in this book. Some questions are detailed and specific, while others are single word questions like "sleep?" There are no answers provided, but some of the pages have handwritten theories underneath that vary between copies. All of the theories match what people have discussed among themselves so far.

Drinks is a recipe book. It lists several recipes for simple drinks one can make with water, alcohol, coffee beans, and tea leaves. Nearly all of the recipes have an alcoholic variant, even when it doesn't make sense. Each recipe includes step by step instructions on how to prepare the ingredients without electricity. This book also details everything people have observed about the world's water supply and its relaxing properties.

Scenario C: Lucky Buns
Luck might seem a simple idea on the surface: if you have good luck, good things happen to you, and if you have bad luck then bad things happen. Where, however, does luck come from? Everyone has different ideas and different superstitions surrounding the concept. One such superstition is tied to rabbits, which is like a fluffy, tentacled creature that swims quietly through the air. A rabbit's luck is tied to its feet. However, touching this particular creature's feet tends to sting and hurt people. On that basis, then, touching the jellyrabbit's feet is clearly bad luck, and so anyone who has felt that sting will experience other forms of bad luck. Whether this comes in the form of trips, falls, getting lost or similar kinds of misfortune relies entirely upon what one's individual idea of bad luck is.

Conversely, touching other parts of the creature must be tied to good luck. Many people do quite like to pet soft and fluffy creatures, after all, so it's only natural that doing so would gift them with good luck. Perhaps they might find things more easily, meet people with similar interests, win games of chance more often, or find a $100 note in their back pocket - money might have no meaning here, but if this is what people consider 'good luck', then that is what will happen.

Once a streak of luck, good or bad, is triggered, it does not wear off on its own. It can only be replaced by luck of an opposing nature, or removed entirely by touching one of the other local creatures.

The creatures' tie to luck is not immediately apparent. Once people learn and understand, however, the information will soon find its way into a copy of the library's Regional Pokédex.

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

Goro Akechi | Persona 5 Royal

[simulatio]

1. Library!

a.
[To say that Goro's unsettled upon reading Questions: Vol 1 is an understatement, to say the least. Though it's certainly not a thought unique to him, it's frighteningly similar to the notes he'd been taking back in Heavenly Blanc. Single-word prompts like sleep? lack of thirst/hunger? accompany other word-for-word observations such as "cognition: fire is hot, however, fire does not burn."

The normally-charming smile on his face seems rather fixed as he takes a seat at one of the tables in the middle of the tavern-like room of the library, carefully going over both his own handwritten notes, and what's contained within the newly-discovered Questions book. He can be found with that book, or any of the others, meticulously taking notes. If anything, he almost looks like a normal student working on homework.]

b.
[Or, perhaps a little later, you happen to find what could be mistaken for a grisly murder scene. That is, if the victim in question were filled with fluff and strings rather than blood and gore. The teddy bear murderer isn't hard to find; Goro's standing nearby, unconcernedly picking bits of fluff off a flashy-looking dagger. If anything, he looks almost disappointed as he flicks the knife to dispose of any remaining fluff before slipping it into his inner jacket pocket.]

c.
This is a prison.

[It's a mild observation given by the young man with his hand on his chin as he surveys the basement with a sharp-eyed gaze. As if to prove it, he moves forward, opens one of the doors, and examines the locking mechanism. Gloved hands test the door's latch, then he nods to confirm it.]

While the layout may be mistaken for a hotel, these only lock from the outside. These are to keep someone, or something, inside. I wonder why these are different from those upstairs...

[And then he seems to notice his audience, and covers his mouth with a gloved hand to mask a polite laugh.]

My apologies. I've found that speaking aloud helps me gather my thoughts.

2. Heavenly Blanc

[The jukebox is running, though it's not anything Goro's familiar with. Something still seems strange, though, as he works his way around the crowd of people in the bar and goes to examine the player itself. Just a few hours ago, it was dead and lifeless. What's changed? Power doesn't seem to be consistently "back."

After a beat of studying the machine, he bends down and abruptly pulls the plug. And yet, thanks to the emotions of literally everyone else in the bar, it stays playing music. With a bit of a disgusted frown, Goro stares at the limp cord in his hand and shakes his head before letting the cord fall to the floor.]

Curious...

3. Wildcard!

[Akechi will be generally investigating and causing a minor, if polite, nuisance of himself. Feel free to write another prompt here, or discuss something you'd like to do with me! I'm also still tagging his TDM #1 prompts if something there catches your eye!]

1b

[forethinking]

(Akechi said he'd be at the library, God knows how long ago. Time?

Ren searches - not at the tables, not looking for a book in any of the shelves... But the trail of fluff on the floor catches his attention. Following it, he finds Akechi with his dagger and he instinctively patted himself in his confusion. When...??

That's not the most important thing here. What he sees is Akechi and his innocent victim, to which he gazes, eyebrows almost fusing with each other as he puts the scene together.)

... Seriously?

[simulatio]

Ah, Ren.

[As if there's nothing strange about this scene at all, Goro switches his grip on the knife to hold the blade, then extends it to offer it hilt-first to the other boy. Maybe he hadn't asked permission to use it, but he had told Ren to meet him in the library, so it wasn't like it was missing from his person for that long. Clearly he hadn't even noticed, so no harm, no foul.]

They're quite odd, aren't they?

[The teddy bears.]

[forethinking]

(He's more than happy to take the blade, putting it back on it's holder while his gaze switchs from Akechi and the bear a few times. He's unsure what the other tried to accomplish, so he takes a seat next to him to further inspect.)

The entire world is odd right now.

(He takes the poor assassinated plushie into his hands - he could probably put it back together, should he have a needle and a thread... Sewing shouldn't be too hard to figure out?)

What were you looking for?

[simulatio]

[He huffs an amused snort through his nose.]

Well, isn't that an understatement.

[As Ren takes a seat with the remains of the mutilated plush, Goro chooses a section of wall to lean against, watching him with a critical eye. It seems Ren is still holding up well in this place, though of course time will tell how his strength will persist. At the question, he flicks a hand as if to dismiss it as unimportant.]

It's possible there was something hidden inside. It's more efficient to check it out for myself, don't you think?

[At least he hasn't gone and tried to cut apart every bear in the please, just to see.]

[forethinking]

(Inside a teddybear? But there are so many. Why this specific one?

He puts it aside, somewhere easy for him to find it later, should there be a sewing kit provided later on. Ruffling the already messy hair, Ren just takes in the sight of this gigantic library. It's not surprising that Akechi is taking refuge in this place.)

There are others, but let's avoid making a massacre out of them.

(... Ren only brought one knife, right? Right...)

1c

[gitgudprincess]

"It's no trouble."

[Hornet had been conducting her own investigation of the basement, though her methods are rather less robust than this young man's. Mostly, she's checking that there aren't any monsters waiting to jump any unarmed fools. So far, there haven't been any, but you never know.]

[Standing across the hall, it would be easy to mistake Hornet for an oddly dressed human— if you don't look too closely at the legs. Then again, the blank mask and massive bladed weapon probably count as creepy whether or not the person wearing them is a bug. Regardless, she continues speaking in a polite tone.]

"I had the same thought. I imagine this building must have been repurposed at some point."

[simulatio]

[Unfortunately for Goro's sanity, he is rather observant. The figure with the mask hadn't escaped his attention, though he's admittedly startled that it can speak coherently. In his experience, Shadows tended not to speak very well until their masks were removed...

Still, he isn't about to attack preemptively. Again, in his experience, Shadows resembling this figure aren't intelligent enough to plan any further ahead than "intruder, attack," and the more intelligent ones tend not to wear a mask at all. Holding a normal conversation with a normal Shadow without first making it beg for its life is all but unheard of.

For now, his voice is carefully neutral as he addresses the strange figure directly.]

Yes, though I do have to question the tastes of those who repurposed it. Normally I would expect a library to hold a greater variety of stories... or, at the very least, decor. The bears are quite odd, no?

[gitgudprincess]

"Are they?" [Hornet tilts her head, the motion exaggerated by the size of her horns.] "I'm afraid nearly everything about this place is alien to me. The... bears... didn't stand out."

[She's not about to admit that she has no idea what he means by 'bear'. The shelves, perhaps? The bricks? The toys are a little odd too, she supposes, but some cloth toys left lying around are far less concerning than the unfamiliar architecture.]

"I'll confess I didn't think to look into the books. There are bigger concerns, I fear."

[simulatio]

Is that so?

[Curiouser and curiouser. Goro crosses his arms and brings one hand to his lips, head slightly tilted as he regards the person(?) in front of him. Interesting that they would be able to infer this was once a prison, if repurposed into a library, and yet didn't take time to look at the books, nor find the plethora of stuffed bears strange.

He lowers his hand with a polite laugh.]

Well, I suppose you're quite right about there being bigger concerns. Ah, forgive me: where are my manners? My name is Goro Akechi. If you're investigating this place as well, perhaps it would be best to team up?

[He says "team up" pleasantly as if he thinks it's a genuinely good idea, but in reality, he'd rather just keep this strange person where he can see them, at least until he knows more.]

[gitgudprincess]

"Hornet. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

[Not that pleased, but she does have manners, and telling someone you don't care about them in the slightest is generally considered 'extremely rude, Hornet.' Not that that stops her, but she doesn't feel any need to turn this conversations to blows just yet.]

[With that out of the way, she glances over the hall and makes for the next door down.]

"Accompany me if you wish. An extra pair of eyes couldn't hurt."

2

[mrsinisterphd]

Wily sketched another robot design, a giant frog-like mech with a gun inside its mouth and two exhaust pipes on the back, as well as a cylinder on top containing a humanoid figure. He heard a voice nearby, and turned to see a young man holding the power cord of the jukebox, a frown visible on his face as the jukebox continues to play music. Had this boy also not know how the electricity in this place worked? He didn't want to have more overloaded lightbulbs rain glass upon him, so begrudgingly, he began to speak to the boy. "It is the anger of everyone here that's powering this place. Don't get too angry, or you'll cause another lightbulb to blow," he told the boy, eyes narrowed as he did so. Wily turned away from him and continued to sketch more robots, beginning to draw a robot that resembled a steamroller.

_.

[simulatio]

"Our... anger," Goro repeats uncertainly, gaze flicking between the man who'd spoken, and the useless cord on the floor, then back again with a quirked eyebrow. While he personally has enough repressed anger to power a city block, he'd never expected it to be taken quite so literally.

"You're quite certain it's that emotion, specifically?"

[mrsinisterphd]

As Wily added razor-sharp metallic hair to the steamroller robot sketch, he hear the boy speak up again, paraphrasing what he had said. He ignored the boy, adding spikes to the shoulders of the robot, pausing as he heard the boy ask him if it was specifically anger. He didn't want the boy to blow the lights out with disappointment or frustration either, so he may as well tell the boy.

"That, and disappointment and frustration," Wily replied, as he added cylindrical knobs to the back wheel of the robot sketch, causing it to resemble a gear. He was reminded of the Double Gear System, and how Dr. Light got it shut down, as well as how Mega Man had defeated him with it, his own invention turned against him. His eyebrows narrowed, and the lights started to get a bit brighter.

[simulatio]

"Negative emotions, then."

He glances up as the lights brighten, eyebrows still quirked with interest. On a whim, he reaches up with one gloved hand to touch the bulb itself, though only for a moment.

"The elements still heat up, though the source isn't electricity. Thus they can be overpowered and popped by a surge of emotion, as you say." He sounds like he's mentally taking notes, just repeating them aloud.

He lowers his hand and brings it to his chin, thoughtfully surveying the area. "Extremely odd, wouldn't you say? Ah, forgive me, where are my manners?" He smiles. "My name is Goro Akechi." He trails off, waiting expectantly for the stranger to give his name in return.

[mrsinisterphd]

Wily paid no mind to the boy's words about negative emotions, or his decision to touch one of the lightbulbs, instead putting the finishing touches on his sketch of the steamroller robot. The boy's ramblings about what he had just said went ignored, until Wily heard him pause again, before apologizing and introducing himself, waiting as if expecting Wily to introduce himself as well. He decided that me might as well. He needed to start making his name known soon anyways.

"Dr. Albert Wily," Wily responded, as he started sketching another, bipedal robot, with a triangle-shaped torso tapering off at the shoulders into towers tipped with spheres, complete with a lightning bolt in the center of the torso, and two eyes peeking out of a hole in the top.

1c

[forwearemany]

(They speak to themselves in Geth-itvtranslates to something that might be understood as an affirmation.

And then, because they are not aware that they are understood, they switch to an organic language to address the stranger before then.)

Apology unnecessary. Your observations are likely correct.

[simulatio]

Thank you.

[Honestly, Goro doesn't quite know what to make of Legion; the gratitude is more out of habit than anything else as he studies the being before him. He doesn't allow himself to stare for very long, though. He doesn't want to see rude when he's only just met this... person(?). They remind him of some of the more Lovecraftian or Zoroastrian Shadows he's encountered in the depths of the Metaverse, but they don't seem at all hostile.]

Ah... have you investigated this area yourself, then?

[forwearemany]

Yes.

(They look around.)

These rooms are inadequate for long term habitation.

(Even prison cells tend to have things like toilets and sleeping areas.)

[simulatio]

Normally I'd say you're correct, however...

[Goro brings his hand to his lips thoughtfully, resting back on his heels as he studies Legion.]

I've yet to experience exhaustion, hunger, or even thirst. Have you? It's possible whomever remodeled these rooms did so with the thought of prisoner enrichment, without taking into consideration normal necessities.

[forwearemany]

Geth do not require sustenance.

(So they wouldn't notice the difference, because they're never thirsty or hungry anyway.)

...Acknowledged.

(After a moment, they wander into one of the "cells" and start looking at the books on the shelves.)

Enrichment minimal: these cells contain the same four titles found throughout this world.

1b

[memorate]

[ Cloud himself enters the (crime) scene a little late, only witnessing the aftermath when Goro is cleaning his deadly murder weapon. While it's not that odd to see some kid with a weapon, especially when they need to protect themselves, he does wonder what the teddy bear did to warrant such a violent response. Should he be worried for others? ]

...Am I interrupting something?

[ SO JUDGING. ]

[simulatio]

Not at all.

[Goro doesn't seem all that concerned about being caught in this particular crime scene. He simply gives the stranger a pleasant smile as he tucks the knife away into his jacket.]

Given the content of these books, I thought it only prudent to start investigating more thoroughly in search of recording devices. Surely you can agree? As a detective, I simply cannot overlook the fact that we are being monitored somehow.

[memorate]

[ Recording devices? Monitored? This kid sounds on edge... or maybe Cloud's just too used to being watched over by some evil corporation. Monitored or not, he'll still do whatever he's going to do. ]

Let 'em watch. I don't have anything to hide.

[ But who could be watching them? That's the curious part... ]

What makes you so sure that we're under surveillance?

[simulatio]

[Spoken like a fool. Everyone has something to hide, in Goro's experience; the severity of its exposure may change, but there isn't a single person who doesn't have some kind of secret.

But he simply smiles and crosses to one of the bookshelves, pulling out one of the copies of the Regional Pokédex and opening it to the fifth entry, the one containing descriptions of each of them, mushed together as if they were all somehow one thing.]

Someone, or something, is very dedicated to ensuring these books are full of our information. I'm certain if you'll look, you'll find something about yourself listed here. Or perhaps- [he sets the Pokédex down on the table and takes a copy of Questions Vol. 1,] in this book here, you'll find a question you asked someone about this place, or your musings on the state of things. You'll note that my observation about fire being hot, but not containing the property to burn things, is listed in this book.

[He sets that down on the table as well as if presenting evidence, quirking an eyebrow at the other man.]

Surely you can see my concerns?