test drive;

[thecommissary]

The game cap is 30 players. We currently have 22 players in game. TDM Guidelines 1. We strongly encourage you to post to the AU Workshop before posting here, just to get your concept out there. Feel free to link to your workshop post in your tag for easy lookup purposes. 2. Threads can be game canon if both players agree to it. 3. No one is late! Consider this a permanent test drive (until captcha is hit, if that happens). We'll be tracking top-levels and drawing attention to new posts. 4. You don't have to use any of the prompts below; feel free to create your own! 5. Don't worry about cell block assignments for the purpose of the TDMm if you haven't chosen one - feel free to keep it vague or retcon the threads a bit later. Prompt 1: Common Room The common room has books, magazines, newspapers, cards, and board games. The television has been out of commission for a while, but oh! Look! It seems like a new TV has been mounted on the wall! And this one's a 32 inch flat screen, a nice substitute for the old broken tube TV someone broke over a Monopoly dispute turned violent. If you decide to watch the TV, the screen cuts to static a few minutes after you start watching and a strange voice starts to speak. It's a soft voice, but with the occasional distortion as if spoken by a person standing too close too a microphone. "Hello there! You must be [CHARACTER NAME]. I think it's about time you got to know somebody a little bit better. Why don't you..." (Choose one of the following options:) "Tell someone something you don't want them to know. It doesn't have to be terribly juicy, as long as you'd prefer not to have told them." "Give one of your fellow inmates a nice hard slap across the cheek." "Be nice. Ask somebody if there's anything you can do for them. Anything at all." "Find someone with a snack, and take it away from them." "Go up to someone you don't know, and ask them what they did." "If you decide to ignore me, or you tell anyone you're not acting of your own free will, the guard beside the magazine stand will send you strait to the SHU for two weeks.. Your choice." No one else in the common room seems to hear the voice except you - although the aforementioned guard sure seems to be staring you down. The other people watching TV continue to react to the show that was playing. Prompt 2: Lockdown Uh-oh. Something bad must have happened, because the entire prison has been put into lockdown without bothering to herd everyone back to their proper blocks. You've been herded into a cell with someone from ANY block, and who knows when you'll be let out. You have a set of bunk beds, a table and chair, a toilet and sink, and two shelves where the inmates who actually reside in that cell have put anything that belongs to them. Now's a good time to get to know your new temporary cellmate. Or pray that you're on good terms, if you already know them. Prompt 3: The Yard It's recreation time! Your daily opportunity for a couple hours of fresh air, if you choose to take it (or if the indoor guards are sick of you and decide you're going outside whether you like it or not). The guards here are primarily concerned with preventing your escape, so if you're not lingering around the fences you'll be watched less than if you were inside. If you're new, weak, or don't have a solid group of allies yet, that also means it's less likely that anyone will help you if someone else decides to pick a fight. Be careful. The outdoor guards to a careful, meticulous sweep of the entire area every night, trying to keep...something out. It seems they were slacking off a bit yesterday: the tiniest sliver of obsidian rock has made its way into the yard undetected and - ow - you've brushed up against it, embedding it somewhere on your body. The shard has imbued you with one of the following effects: The next person who makes eye contact with you can read your thoughts, and you can read theirs. Careful, it might get hard to tell who's who after a while. You suddenly feel frightened and timid, as if everyone in the yard is bigger, stronger, and out to hurt you. You are overcome with the urge to dig into the ground with your bare hands, looking for more of the rocks. The next person you see fills you with rage, and you want to attack them. You become exceptionally suggestible, and will do whatever you're told. You feel a strange euphoria: regardless of how you felt before, the prison now feels like the very best place to be, as if you're at the center of the universe. Regardless of the effect, the shard will slowly start to burn hotter and hotter, compelling you to remove it.

Comments

[violenti]

Hadn't he given her his name...? Maybe not- it's hard to remember what's what.

"David Rook- I go by either of those." A glance towards the ceiling. "Well, that makes two of us." A life sentence, with possibility of parole. Some days that sounded nice, and he was hopeful. Maybe if enough time passed, folks would forget what he did, the sting would heal, and he'd be granted parole. Other days it felt like 'with' or 'without' sounded the same, and didn't matter. He'd spend the rest of his life behind bars.

[keeperofkeys]

The possibility of parole seems like a far away star for Fran. There, visible, but just out of reach. She'd have to show genuine remorse, and it's hard to regret something you don't believe you've done.

"No you did say that, didn't you. This lockdown has me all sorts of turned around.

David, then. I'd say welcome, but I'm relatively new, myself. So I'm not sure what I'd be welcoming you to."

[violenti]

"It's alright. I wasn't sure myself."

His tone lightens, an attempt to ease both their discomfort. "Welcome to this cell, maybe. For however long we're here." Nevermind that in reality, there's not much to welcome someone to, here in prison. Unless it was some sort of sadistic 'welcome to the rest of your life' or 'welcome to hell' kind of thing. Fran doesn't seem the type.

So... two people that just met, stuck together unwillingly for... probably at least the next couple of hours.

"So, Fran. Feel like telling me about yourself?"

[keeperofkeys]

"I wouldn't mind at all. Though I suppose it depends, doesn't it? On what you want to know. I could just start talking, but you might not learn anything that you want to learn, and instead learn a lot of things you never wanted to hear at all."

[violenti]

Rook considers for a moment, head tilted thoughtfully. The young woman has a strange manner of speech, but he doesn't find it off-putting.

"Well, that's what I get for asking, isn't it?" He smiles, corner of his mouth quirked in good humor. "Tell me what you want to share, I'll be satisfied with that."

[keeperofkeys]

"I have a cat, at home. Mister Midnight. He's been my friend since I was very young. He lives with my friend, Alice, now. I think she'll take good care of him, but I worry. It's hard to leave your best friend behind, but I wouldn't want him to be in here, either."

She tries to smile, to not look so sad over the loss of her cat. But Mister Midnight has always been important to her, and she misses him very much.

"You should tell me something about yourself, now."

[violenti]

Mr. Midnight. Rook can't help but smile at that. "I'm sure she will. He must miss you, but it sounds like he's in good hands."

It seems only fair he give her something animal-related about himself in return. Maybe it will make her feel better.

"I had, for a while, a cat named Peaches. Well - I say a cat - she's a full-grown cougar. Wild as anything, but she couldn't resist freeze-dried meat. She'd purr like a kitten for that. There was a grizzly bear, too, strange as that sounds. His name is Cheeseburger. A lot more docile than Peaches... most of the time. You can probably guess his favorite food."

He adjusts on the bed, sitting back against the wall, legs crossed casually. "Your turn."

[keeperofkeys]

"Cheeseburger and Peaches! How absolutely wonderful. Was his favourite food honey? Like Pooh Bear." She looks utterly delighted at the thought of being friends with such majestic animals.

"Oh let's see now. I love fairy tales. I have dozens and dozens of books about them, at home. I like reading about girls like me going on grand adventures and defeating wicked monsters."

[violenti]

"Y'know, I'm not sure if he liked honey or not. His favorite was cheeseburgers- they found him as a cub in a dumpster eating one- but his handler said he'd gotten diabetes from eating too many. Well, to be fair, he said 'the di-uh-beet-us'—" he drawls the word out for effect. "So, he probably wouldn't be allowed honey if he did like it. Strict salmon diet for him, now."

It seems bizarre to be having this conversation with a woman in prison where she's also an inmate. She reminds him of Faith, a little, whimsical and in ways, child-like. Remembering what Faith was capable of sobers the thought.

"Have you red the Chronicles of Narnia? You might like the Redwall series, too. They're technically children's books, but still good. Science fiction is my favorite genre, but I'll read most things."