Test Drive

[travelagency]

Test Drive Ladies and gentlemen and others, robots and augments, cybernetic lifeforms and entities of all sorts, if I may please have your attention for just a moment, we at the Blackstaff Resort need your assistance. Our lovely little town is under threat of attack, but with your help we can both prevent further harm. These artificially spawned creatures could be described as zombies, and unfortunately they are infectious to the indigenous populations of this universe. You brave souls have the great fortune of being immune to their bites. Therefore, your assistance would be most invaluable in this endeavour. You could potentially save the poor citizens who have already been bitten and succumbed to the illness, return them to their healthy state, as well as the ones still attempting to lead normal lives. In return for your service, if you should volunteer, we will finance your room and board throughout your stay. Moreover, we will arrange for a specific request to be granted at the end of your contract. Should you wish to go to a universe where your parents still live, should you wish a custom home built to your specifications, should you wish to meet your favorite famous personality (current or historical), we will arrange any of this for you. So valuable to us are your efforts. Please speak to a travel agent if you might be interested, and thank you for listening. This is the Test Drive for the Last Resort. This test drive will be canon both if you're accepted, or if current players want to acknowledge a thread as part of their in game canon (almost like a 4th wall post). For more information on what's going on, here is our news broadcast and OOC post. If you get bored and want to follow up on some of the history? Check out the news tag. Test Drive starters are required on applications. Prompts Recruitment People need to be recruited from their home universes, so current and would be travel agents should stop in and convince them to come along for the ride. Because, really, who wouldn't want to deal with zombies? Wrangling Being able to one day save the infected, the ones that were once people, seems very likely according to the scientists in the lab and in the clinic. Therefore Jeffers has offered a sort of sancturary: rooms in his resort in a cornered off section specifically meant to hold those zombies so they don't walk out into daylight and die. Imports have yet to catch the infection, or show no symptoms of having done so even months after being bitten. So during curfew hours the few straggling villager zombies (though they're often unfortunate criminals who were trying to sneak around or absent minded idiot vacationers) need to be captured intact. If they don't look like spawner zombies, then they're to be treated with care and moved to one of the rooms. Before dawn, of course. Extermination Spanwer zombies, however, are fair game. And like with all hostiles in the world, they have a bounty on them. They're not much of a problem during the day, but outside the walls at night they litter the countryside as the spiders, the skeletons, and the creepers do. Time Off The odd thing is, during the day? The village doesn't seem to care that they're in constant danger. The sense of community is strong, and people seem bizarrely obsessed in coming and seeing the dangers. Tourists and sight-seers do business with the locals who are very happy to have it again. Senseless though it seems with the trouble of occasional shambling aggressors or quiet toodling green grenades, the people of blackstaff are conducting their lives as normal outside of their curfew. Navigation

Comments

BETTER WAY TO PHRASE IT

[most_feared]

Accepting people to security is Jeffer's job. [And while he's reasonably sure Jeffers would take recommendations Kay isn't going to offer one up in this case, for obvious reasons.]

But I mean that I will equip you with a capture device.

Use it on me and I'll take that "light bee" of yours and I'll knock it off a golf tee using the south end of a northbound sheep for a hole in one, but I'm going to give you the tools to help out [and not accidentally blow up a wall.]

[arnold_j_rimmer]

[He needs a bigger light bee. One that won't fit up the nether end of sheep, big enough to not be able to be flushed down the bog or fed to a flatulent cow. Maybe with a bigger light bee, he'd get some respect. Maybe girls would like him more if he had a big light bee. People say that size isn't everything, but what do they know? People who say that are morons, with fewer active brain cells than a crack addict tit mouse.

But Kay's warning is an effective one, and when a superior gives an order there's only one thing to do.]

Yes, sir!

[Hand circles at the wrist, then the elbow, then snaps into a salute.]

[most_feared]

[Kay watches this, and even after Rimmer is done with his display regards him with an expression that very clearly says, "The fuck was that?" Except Rimmer seems to be unable to pick up the subtleties of searing eyebeam lasers.]

You should probably be evaluated for some sort of mental condition that affects your ability to interpret people's emotions, you know that?

[Kay will advise that, before he meanders off towards the security center. He pumps the shotgun again as he walks and fires off to the side, and a zombie falls to the ground from around the corner of a building, now missing its head.]

[penumbral]

What heartening news, [Saïx drawls, with the smug satisfaction of someone who thinks they're being clever delivering an inside joke they share with... themselves.

But his curiousity has been piqued, and he's hardly one to squander the opportunity to ask.] Is it known what qualities he does seek in recruits?

[most_feared]

[There's not much reaction to the pun other than silence. That sort of "is this an inside joke?" sort of thing, but he moves on quickly.]

I think he has his reasons. They have something to offer. Just sometimes not protection.

Boone and Linda are both very capable.

[penumbral]

[Saïx doesn't respond to the lack of response, doesn't take it as an invitation to explain. He just leaves it where it is.

Hm. So if it's known why they're chosen, it isn't well-known. He still has his suspicions, that the resort isn't all what it seems. But his experiences thus far point towards it being exactly what it advertises itself as. If there is something else going on, it's being kept well under wraps. He will simply have to remain vigilant until it is clear.]

It is good to know those assigned to security are well-suited for it, [is what he says, though, and mildly.]

[most_feared]

I'll take that as a compliment. [Whether or not it was intentionally meant, as Kay had just commented on the ability of fellow officers. But almost as soon as he spoke, there was the skuttle of tiny feet that had his gun back up.]

[He didn't see anything yet. But it was there. He could hear it. One of those tiny monsters.]

[domesheriff]

[ruthless is not a word that can generally be used to describe Linda, but if something--and even to an extent someone--has become a danger to the general public, her natural sympathy can swiftly disappear]

Got it. [her tone is no-nonsense, and she immediately turns toward him, using the motion tracker to find the offending creature. she'd question his gun safety decisions if it were bright enough for her to see them clearly, but as it is, she's too focused on the task to pay him any notice. she fires, watching as the creature crumples. but hearing a rustle behind her, she swiftly has to spin and deal with a spider that was sneaking up on her] Damnit!

[that done, she wipes her brow with a sigh and before quickly moving to reload her own gun] What the hell's got them so riled up tonight? There aren't usually this many...

[domesheriff]

[Time Off]

[after a long night on patrol, followed by getting less than enough sleep, Linda has decided to visit Mog's Malts--mainly because it's one eating establishment she never visited during her first soujourn in Blackway. also when waking up tired in the middle of the day, what sounds better than sugar? so she's quietly sipping at a chocolate milkshake at the counter, looking tired and thoughtful as she people-watches]

[being the social person that she is, though, if anyone joins her, she'll be all too glad for the chance at conversation]

[most_feared]

Something happened. Lights must have gone out somewhere.

[They definitely need to go looking for that, a part of the village bathed in darkness minus the safety of lamplight.] Come on. [They need to find it before it gets even worse. If the spiders are showing up, especially.]

[At least there's less innocent bystanders than usual. Very helpful in this case.]

[una_persson]

[Una sits down at the counter. She looks decidedly dusty and worn around the edges, and her clothes are somewhat the worse for wear. She's just back from a recruiting trip that went less well than was entirely desirable, and has come in directly from the office for a quick meal. She gives Linda a tired smile.]

Evening.

[domesheriff]

I guess that must be it... [she nods at his order, immediately following]

[but soon there's a rustle from behind her, and she stops, spinning back around. straining her eyes against the darkness, however, she can't see anything, and whatever it is, it's stopped moving for the moment. not sure whether she was hearing things or there really is an enemy there, she asks in a low voice:] Did you hear that?

[most_feared]

[Kay slows his step and tips his head, listening for what she might have heard. Then he hears it, a higher pitched moan. One of the smaller zombies is in the shadows. A fast one. And he doesn't know where.]

Watch your back, this one's going to come quick. [He warns.]

[domesheriff]

[Linda smiles back at the sight of her friend] Hey Una. [and since it would be difficult not to notice how rumpled she looks at the moment, she adds curiously:] Busy day?

[penumbral]

[Saïx doesn't have much of a chance to confirm or deny his apparent intentions. He hears it, too, and he stops walking. He stands very still, fingers curled under his long sleeves. His narrowed eyes scan the area near where the sound came from.

... still nothing. And considering that Kay hasn't started shooting yet, he must not know where it is, yet, either. Saïx summons Lunatic, the large weapon appearing in his hands in the same flash of light it used to disappear. But he doesn't move when he calls it, and doesn't move once it's in his hand. He just waits.]

[una_persson]

[Dryly:] It would have been better with a lot fewer explosives.

[She orders a sandwich and a coffee, then, back to Linda:] I hope things are going better for you?

[domesheriff]

Ready. [she tenses, holding her weapon in preparation as she listens carefully, squinting into the darkness]

[but as it turns out, it's Kay who needs to watch his back. Linda catches only a glimpse of movement as it lunges toward him. despite the darkness, she immediately takes a shot at it] Watch out!

[domesheriff]

[her widening eyes show that Una's answer is even more intense than she was expecting] What!? You don't mean creepers, do you?

It's been better than that! [she shakes her head--the minute Una mentioned explosives there was no contest] I mean, nothing's really happened today yet. I had to work overnight on our infection problem yesterday. [she makes a face. it's not that she minds the work; she knows it's important. but having to deal with the infected residents is disturbing to her. she much prefers pest control] But nothing really out of the ordinary happened even then. [no less ordinary than guiding shuffling diseased hulks of people out of danger of being burnt alive by the sun, at any rate]

[una_persson]

[She shakes her head at the mention of creepers.] Recruitment trip. A much too interesting one.

Sorry to hear you had to pull an all-nighter. Especially with that problem.

[domesheriff]

[she winces] Did you get the person you were looking for? [because after all that, she hopes Una at least got to bring back some help]

Don't worry, I got some sleep after. And... [she shakes her head, sighing] I mean, it's not like there's anything else we can do. If we left them out there at dawn...well, they'd never be able to get back to their families.

[because she likes to think of the infected villagers as still being the people they once were--and, in her opinion, will be again. that way, even though she'd rather be completing the easier task of guarding the fence, it makes the late nights worth it]

[una_persson]

Are we any closer to figuring out why the hell this is happening? Because, well—to be perfectly honest, that turned out to be a deal-breaker for our would-be recruit. She's got enough similar sorts of crap in her own world. [A gesture at her clothes.] Hence the mess.

[domesheriff]

[Linda shakes her head] It's like it came out of nowhere. But I mean, it's basically the same thing again, isn't it? Those spawner things bring in something dangerous, and everyone who lives here has to pay the price... [her expression is dark] It's kind of scary to hear something like this has hit other worlds, too. Back on Earth, this kind of thing was basically just the plot of horror movies. I never thought I'd actually see people suffering from an infection like that.

[looking in concern at Una's clothing, she adds:] But I'm glad you made it back okay.