interstellar404 | TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

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TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

☆WELCOME TO INTERSTELLAR
And welcome to our first TDM! We've got two types of prompts to use this time around: the first takes place while your character is in the process of being captured, and the second is during their first brainwashed rockstar tour. The former is designed to be considered 100% game canon if you make it in officially, while the later is more speculative and will only work if you get lucky during label and band selection.

☆THE TALENT SEARCH
These prompts are design to be kept as game canon after acceptance, and can be used as the official story of how your character was captured. Importantly, the kidnappers entering your timeline causes massive time distortions, which means that the outcome of this scenario will stagger and replay itself multiple times before settling on an outcome. This means that after the fact, you character may remember being captured multiple ways, or going in more than one direction, before the timeline settled on a final path. Or at least, they'll remember this until their memories are wiped shortly afterwards, but that's okay! That's what memory regains are for. Read this page for more specifics on this situation. Any powers the characters have will be weakened and prone to malfunction to the point of uselessness.

►A1) THE SEARCH: It always starts out this way, doesn't it? At some point in your life, you were just doing your thing, wherever you call home. Then, all at once, it's like you've been torn from your dimension by the roots. Time and space displace, and it's like you've been shifted one layer of reality to the left - like some kind of subspace where you can see your reality through it, like a rainbow surrealist image of your home. Even if you can see this ghost image of where you were, you can't interact with it meaningfully. Any friends or family are somewhere else. As you begin to wander, without any other options, you'll find that the scenery gradually shifts to ghost images of other places, other worlds. If you wander long enough, you'll even find other people, lost just like you are. But you probably won't have much time - you've been brought here for a reason, after all.

►A2) THE HUNT: It could happen almost immediately, or it could happen hours later - but, at some point, your dimensional kidnappers start to do their sweep. Space Men in black body suits and gas masks pursue you on foot and in small spaceships, trying to sweep you and the other displaced up like fish in a net. Their guns contain a weird pink gas that will knock out most with only a single breath - and for those more enduring, they have the heavy artillery, like electrical nets and guns. The fallen will be sealed up into stasis pods for transport and loaded onto the ships, which seem like the only way to get out of this place by choice. This is where it ends, but are you going to put up a fight?

☆THE MAGIC TOUR BUS
By default, these prompt aren't considered canon, but if after you are accepted and sorted they can be tweaked into working for you, it'll be totally okay to keep them as a part of your rockstar's personal history. They take place after being kidnapped and brainwashed, on your character's first tour under their new label. As it turns out, it seems like brainwashing aliens isn't the only thing the abductees have to worry about.

►B1) PLAY IT STRAIGHT: It's just another day on the tour bus, in between long stretches of highway. How do you fill your time? Do you practice your instrument, or do you take full advantage of the open bar? Do you sulk and try go to bed early? Do you yell at your bandmates for ruining the toilet? Do you troll people on Twitter? Tours being what they are, everyone is probably at least a little bit tired or cranky. Just don't do anything that will get the Manager on your ass, because that's always more trouble than it's worth.

►B2) THAT'S NORMAL: The Managers aren't here, as far as you can tell, leaving you in a moment of relative relaxation. Something about those guys just make you uneasy, and they're always shoving you around and making you do things you don't really want to. However, these moments of peace don't last long, because it stars to become increasingly apparent that your tour bus might be...haunted? Whether its the bus turning on without a driver and without a key, wine glasses falling off tables, or guitar static sounding like frantic whispering, things are starting to get weird. Yet, at the same time, something in your subconscious is strongly suggesting that you should ignore it, and that everything is normal and fine...

►B3) THEN WHO WAS GUITAR?: These weird experiences eventually culminate in a kind of phantom music bleeding in from the air around you. The source is impossible to discern but it's somehow...familiar? Like something that played at an important moment in your life, even if the event itself just won't come to mind. What's weirder, is that everyone seems to hear something different. It gets to you in a way that your programming doesn't like - but how do you react? Reluctantly take it in, or throw a fit until it stops?

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Not particularly.

[ He scowls briefly, peering through the haze created by his explosions. There's a brief moment of pause in their attack for now, it seems, and he lowers his cane to the ground once more. ]

And even if I was, I think I'd probably be a bit more worried about the men in black.

[ He turns on his heel, finally getting a good face-to-face look at the woman for the first time. ]

So whatever you can do, sooner would be much preferred over later.

Get real cozy and hang on tight, pretty boy.

[ Face to face works for this as she snakes an arm down to hook around his waist. As soon as he's settled and solid and she's mostly certain she won't drop him?

They shoot off into the sky. It's more of this rainbow colored acid trip, more of these shades of worlds that are and aren't hers- but it's far, far from the masked men below.

It's also a toll on her. Takes more effort than it should to clear the area and get somewhere that seems safe. ]

[ Well. It was one thing to see this woman in flight, but to actually be a part of it is kind of unnerving, he has to admit. But his train of thought follows her pretty closely in one regard - wherever she's going, it's away from those goons trying to catch them both. The ride might be a little awkward, but he's not about to complain as long as they're making a getaway. If anything, his free arm hooks around her middle to help keep his weight supported.

That, and she is still relatively a stranger. If she decides she can't carry him, he's not going to let her drop him.

He keeps his gaze down for a moment before lifting it to spare her a glance, eyebrow raised. ]

Sparky, Pretty Boy... before I let you come up with a hat trick of nicknames, Roman will do just fine.

Sparky wasn't all that far off, now that I've seen your cane trick.

[ Banter. Banter's good. Keeps her focused, keeps her flying. As long as she can stretch this is ideal- once she sets down?

Ryoko has no idea if she'll be able to take off again. Better to find a defensible position that she can fall back from and run later if they're overtaken. He's heavy. He shouldn't be heavy. He's human and humans are light, fragile, and noisy.

If sometimes entertaining.

The fact that hanging onto him could make her break a sweat is mortifying. ]

Ryoko, the demon caller.

"Demon caller", you say, with nary a demon in sight!

[ He makes a show of looking around with wide eyes, as if expecting to see one pop out of nowhere. Really, he's also keeping an eye out for anywhere that looks like a good place to land... but they're on enemy territory, if this strange mishmash of realities and timelines can be considered "territory" in any sense of the word.

Even now, floating well out of reach of those who sought to do them some form of harm, he's well aware that his goose might be cooked - but the more of them he can drag down with him, the better. He's nothing if not a troublemaker. ]

Then again I guess they probably don't get very good reception in spacial anomalies, or whatever this place is.

[ A beat, shooting her a quick smirk. ]

Charmed, though.

First thing I tried. First thing that didn't work. Something's off about this place.

[ She should be stronger. Faster. Her energy blasts do plenty but they should do MORE. She should be able to call her ship and get the hell out-

There's so much she SHOULD be able to do and can't. All it's doing is pissing her off. Fear will come later, if at all. It's so much easier to be angry. ]

Wormhole. Some sort of subspace network, probably- Usually you need to be in a ship to not be torn to shreds so this is new.

I've noticed.

[ A vague response, maybe just alluding to how messed up it all looks... but he's noticed something off about himself, too. His Aura, specifically - the energy in all living things that allow them to perform on a whole other level. It's still there, technically, but it's definitely not as strong as it ought to be. He could probably still summon up enough to deflect a hit or two, but nothing like he should be capable of.

Well! If nothing else, at least none of Vale's forces can see him in this state. None that he's spotted so far, at least. Especially not those bratty kids.

She actually snatches his full attention with that last remark, eyes snapping back to her inquisitively. So she does know something - at the very least, more than he does. Her usefulness might extend beyond just giving him a lift after all. ]

I guess new isn't always so bad, if the alternative is being turned to lunch meat. So does that mean we're actually heading towards some specific destination?

... And if it does, where?

[ There'd been a fort somewhere- a tower? Something with a useable bottleneck, a way out the back, and enough defensible structures to keep them from being surrounded. She could probably lay a few traps while they waited for them to catch up, but it's a stalling tactic at best, little better from what they'd been doing before.

They kept coming then, what was to stop them later?

What they needed was backup. A way to change off who was holding the line so the could rest up in between waves. That too was a stopgap at best. What the hell was going on here? ]

I saw somewhere defensible. We can't use any of the siege equipment there but we can use the landscape. Buy a little more time.

[ He's thinking again, so he doesn't answer right off the bat. They can stall and stall until their bodies give out, but the end result is the same, isn't it? It's satisfying to fight back, of course - it feels good to kick someone in the face when they're trying to catch you - but is that really their only option?

Or... have they been ignoring the best option? ]

I'm going to out on a limb here - you strike me as someone with a record. Ever break out of prison?

I'm not going back. [ Less a question of being jailed and more a question of being sealed in a tomb for 700 years. it does things to a person. ] It's hard to fight back when you're unconscious. Here we know what to expect. I don't know what happens to the people they knock out and carry away, do you?

Haven't the foggiest.

[ He shrugs, casting her a curious look. ]

But I haven't seen anyone killed yet, have you? That means they want to use us - which means they'll have to take care of us. At least then we can come up with some ideas while we're not running around like headless chickens.

[ He gestures vaguely to their surroundings with his cane, sighing in exasperation. ]

Let's be realistic, Ryoko baby - they've got our number here. We're not going to be able to pull this off forever.

Was there a part of 'you'll never take me alive' that you missed?

[ Ryoko the space pirate does not give herself up! She doesn't turn herself in. She fights to the last goddamn man and she wins. Failure is not an option.

At least the fortress is in sight, shouldn't be too much further. ]

You ever been enslaved, Roman?

[ Criminal he might be, but if he'd gone through what she'd had to endure? He wouldn't be looking at turning himself in. Not for a moment. ]

If you want to run off after we land and throw yourself to their mercy? That's your call. I'm not going to.

[ Hrm.

On one hand, no. He's never been enslaved, and he's sure it isn't something he wants to go through. But he also isn't ready to die just yet, and fighting to his last breath isn't really what he's going for here. Fighting to buy time, sure - time to think of his own endgame, before allowing these clowns to think he's part of theirs.

Once he's inside of wherever it is that they're ultimately taking him, he'll see it fester from the inside out.

But he can't do it alone, and Ryoko here is capable if nothing else. If she goes by her word, "never take me alive"... well, her corpse isn't going to be helping him much. He still has some time to persuade her, one way or another, but pushing the point right now doesn't seem best. ]

Maybe not just yet. I'm not completely out of ammo, anyway. Might as well give what I've got left.

[ He already knows they're going to take him - now he needs to buy time to figure out what to do about her. ]

[ Front gate is shut but there's a narrow window that should be just wide enough for them to slip into. That'll work in their favor. No way for the gate to get busted down without them hearing it. She tightens her grip around his waist and changes their pitch, angled down as they pick up speed. At least gravity is doing some of the work for her now. ]

Hang on. This might get a little tight.

[ Or, you know. Don't. Extra ammo is useful when holding a point. More ammo would be better but- an extra pair of eyes won't hurt. First thing's first: Get to a defensible position.

It's not so large an opening that she's positive they'll make it through- at least not at this distance. The closer they get, though- she's pretty sure they'll be fine.

Reasonably certain.

About sixty percent sure. ]

[ He can tell what she's going for as she changes her flight path - or fall path, as the case may be. It's not a bad idea! He respects it, even, except for the fact that if they manage to fit through it'll be by a hair's width at best.

And if they don't fit through, they'll make a lovely splat mark together on the wall. ]

Not that I have a choice at this point, but I really hope you know what you're doing!

[ He's just going to. Uh. Cling a little tighter. The less space their combined bodies take up, the better. ]

'course I do!

[ Usually at full power and she honestly doesn't want to test her ability to phase through anything- or help someone phase along with her. It's a tight fit but they get through!

With a little scraping. Mostly on her back. Humans are fragile, right? No need to break them on accident. It's always better when it's done on purpose.

Landing when so close together, though, that's hard. Especially when she'd expected a larger room TO land in. ]

Aw shit-

[ She flips them around, takes the brunt of the force against her back as she tries to slow them down. It makes what should've put her thought the wall something that just kinda cracks it.

Ow. ]

[ It's riiiiiight around the time that he hears "aw shit" that it occurs to him this is about to get bumpy, and fast. There's not much he can do about the crashing part - but hey, she's already flipping them to take the brunt of it, how sweet! - but he can at least mitigate how long they're skidding for.

As soon as they're through he twirls his cane to point the hooked end towards the window, thumbing a switch that sends the hook launching towards the ledge to grab hold of it. Yes, the cane is a gun and a grappling hook. The world of Remnant is full of weapons that are a (Blank) which is also a (Blank) and a (Blank). Multitasking is a thing, okay?

Thankfully, this means she doesn't hit the wall even as hard as she thought she would - the line pulls tight before they reach it, and while the hook slips free from the sudden tension on the line it does slow them drastically at the last second.

Doesn't do much for the fact that they're a crumpled heap when all is said and done, but hey! An unbroken heap. First things first - he reaches up to readjust his hat so it sits properly on his head. ]

Well I wouldn't give you your pilot's license if this were a test, but all things considered? Could have been worse!

[ Cane, grappling hook, gun, what the hell ISN'T that little stick? She'll make a point of asking later. When she's not about to be embedded in a wall-

Or.

Not.

Huh. Thinks on his feet, not bad. She lets her head fall back against the wall and gauges her reserves. Flight is probably not going to happen again for at least an hour. Not good. The odds of holding out that long aren't high. ]

Not bad. Come on, get off. You aren't exactly light you know.

You'll hurt someone's feelings with talk like that.

[ But he complies, rolling over to one side to lay on his back for a moment as he lets the day's events catch up to him. To be fair, it's not like his day had been that great even before all of this went down - he'd actually been in a cell at the time, so this was sort of a "out of the frying pan" kind of scenario.

He's just not sure what he's jumped into here.

Sitting back up again, he props himself against the wall a couple feet to her left, crossing one leg over the other as he lets out a long sigh, giving her a sidelong glance. ]

So what's the next move, General?

Bitch, bitch, bitch. Get off!

[ She gives his shoulder a gentle shove so she could have a little room to breathe. Nothing bruised, nothing broken, wall slightly dented. All in all? Not bad. They could be worse off. He could be a pasty smear on the wall. Which- well she wouldn't cry over it but it'd be a pain in the ass to keep fighting all on her own.

Extra hands, extra eyes.

She pulls herself up and twists, popping her spine to get out the kinks. The Plan. Right. ]

First floor has a courtyard, behind that? Some kind of bunker. It's a narrow hall to get to us so, shooting fish in a barrel. Also a way out the back when we need to bail.

[ Always have an exit strategy. Always. ]

[ He's rummaging in his coat as she explains, plucking another cigar from a pocket inside. He wasn't sure exactly when he'd lost the first one - sometime when they were in the air, he figures, a thought that brings a little frown to his brow. These were expensive cigars. Quality cigars!

Not that he'd paid for them, but it's the principle of the thing. ]

Uh... huh.

[ He's halfway to lifting his lighter up to his face when he pauses, eyes flickering up as a thought occurs to him. ]

Aaaaaaand if they've already taken up post there, won't we become the fish?

If you give me a second, I'm about to check.

[ Bossy. This- this she can probably still pull off. Most likely. She sits and stretches, flickering in place for a moment before a semitransparent echos of her split away in either direction, like an image duplicated and slid apart. All three flicker into being after a grimace of concentration works it's way over the face of the middle Ryoko.

There.

Backup.

The two additional Ryoko's stand and pop their necks, rolling out their shoulders in synch. ]

You, check the front gate, tell us when they're coming.

[ Ryoko two snaps a salute and phases through the floor, headed for the gate. ]

And you- check the bunker.

[ Ryoko three sweeps a bow and floats through the wall. Ryoko prime dusts off her hands and goes back to lounging against the wall. ]

See? I got it all under control.

[ There's a look of genuine surprise for a moment as the other Ryoko's materialize, and he nudges the brim of his hat up with his cane as if to see them a bit better (yet doesn't bother to move the chunk of hair covering his eye, because... aaaaaaanyway). She's way more versatile than he expected - energy blasts were useful enough. Energy blasts and flying, consider him a little impressed. Energy blasts, flying, summoning clones that can go through solid objects, and from what she said before - "demons"?

And yet she was still stuck here with everyone else, so fat lot of good that all did her.

He hums thoughtfully as she sets herself back down, puffing on his cigar and pulling his hat back to its original position. ]

A woman of many talents! What can't you do?

...

Other than get us out of this place, I mean. That, I've already noticed.

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TEST DRIVE MEME: THE SELF TITLED ALBUM

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