Autumn TDM

[polymods]

✖ Test Drive Meme

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The island looks very much like a cute little seaside town from New England, the sort overrun with tourists in the summer. But it’s not summer anymore, is it? No. Even on warm days the air holds a secret knife-edge of chill. Autumn is here.


The gently rolling hills beyond the little town are alive with reds and oranges and yellows, a riot of fall colours just begging to be used as the backdrop for a Hallmark movie. The town itself is likewise picture-perfect, with a bandstand in the middle of the park at the center of town where sometimes bake sales are held during the day and local concerts in the evenings. Mr. Terwilliger from nearby Terror Lake is even going to put on a one-man performance of the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore! Is there a church painted white with a red roof? You bet your ass there is. There’s little restaurants and corner shops that will keep you happily fed, and all sorts of little tourist shops that will keep you up to your neck in shitty keychains and postcards.

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. These residents of the island are normal humans. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

4. Any food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.

5. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. PSL 4EVAH
The Coffee Shop AU is an alternate universe fanfiction trope; in most cases, one of two characters is the barista, and the other is or becomes their favorite customer.

Love it? Hate it? Too bad, you’re living it.

That’s right - succumb to the siren call of pumpkin spice and walk through the doors of C’Ya Latte and you’ll find yourself either in line like a normal customer, or suddenly and inexplicably behind the counter. Hope you know how to work that milk steamer.

Regardless of what role you suddenly find yourself in, you won’t be able to leave the coffee shop until a full shift has been completed. Not unless one of you notices that the tip jar on the counter is suspiciously radiant. Thanks for the tip! reads the sign in bubbly letters that actually sparkle, and yes, it’s a clue: if one of you offers up some heartfelt advice to the other, the coffee shop doors will unlock themselves.

Notes:
1. A full shift is eight hours, regardless of what time you may have wandered into the shop. Both customer and barista are trapped for the duration.

2. Yes, the barista gets free drinks.

---

Ⅲ. PUMPKIN PATCH KIDS
CW: Monsters, blood
If you wander just outside of town, you’ll find a road that is lined on either side with trees displaying their autumn colours. There’s a sign reading “this way to the PUMPKIN PATCH!” with a little arrow pointing down the road, and should you take a stroll you’ll find yourself at a quaint little farm. There’s a big red barn, some goats and chickens you can go and gawk at, an apple orchard, and of course the advertised pumpkin patch.

There is a little stand set up by the entrance to the farmyard, and as you pass by the kid manning it will hand you a cellphone.

“It’s for the scavenger hunt,” she explains with a smile, also handing you a list. “You and a partner have to take a picture of each of the things, and then you come back here and you get a photo prize!”

The list reads:

- one of you holding a pumpkin! :)
- you holding hands while one of you goes down a road/path!
- feet with autumn leaves!
- apple cider or hot chocolate (you can find these at our concession!)
- something you think is truly beautiful!

If this is a little too twee for your tastes, you can of course choose instead to wander the fields of pumpkins and apples. There will be children running around right up until the sun begins to set - one little tyke in orange footie pajamas seems intent on chasing after you as you walk, ducking out of sight whenever you turn to try and see him clearly. He appears to be wearing some sort of mask, which is a little weird.

As the sun bleeds out in the western sky, the shadows of the orchard grow long and longer. If you choose to wander out that way you’ll find that the neat rows of apple trees have begun to twist and turn, creating a maze that spirals inward. Sunlight fades from bruise yellow to purple, and in the twilight you find yourself at the center of the orchard.

There is a mound of earth here. If you walk around it, you will find it’s not just any pile of dirt: it’s a barrow. There is an old, nearly collapsed entrance there just barely showing above the ground. In front of this there is a stone into which the following is carved:

“Accept this sacrifice.”

As you read the words, you feel the ground shiver beneath your feet as the barrow splits open and a creature pulls itself from the stinking womb of the earth.

It is ten feet tall with an emaciated body and a grotesquely oversized head. The skull looks pulpy, and the face is a grinning nightmare of teeth and milky white eyes. Its fingers are nearly as long as its forearms, tipped with claws that cut through flesh as easy as butter.

Looks like it’s time for you to run.

But you cannot seem to find a way out of the maze… even if you can fly. You just seem to wind up back at the center no matter what you do. And the creature is always there, moving toward you as soon as you stumble back to its grave.

Accept this sacrifice.

What could that mean? Has someone given something up for you? Now would be a great time to acknowledge it. Have you given something up for someone else, and resented it secretly all these years? Maybe time to get it off of your chest.

Or maybe you’re much more literal. Maybe you carry a sharp object everywhere you go and don’t mind spilling a little blood… yours or your companions.

Whatever you do, you better do it fast or the creature will sink its talons into you and pull you back into its final resting place.

Notes:
1. If characters complete the photo scavenger hunt, they will each receive a photograph of an important memory.

2. The only way out of the maze is to either cop to a sacrifice - the character’s or another’s - or spill some blood in front of the creature.

3. You can try to fight the creature, but it is extremely difficult to kill. It also has a tendency towards not staying dead, and might pop up again later during your visit on the island when you least expect it.

4. No, you don’t get to keep the cellphone.

---

Ⅳ. CRAFT FAIR
There is of course a town hall in a town this quaint, and it of course is host to a craft fair! It is, after all, right before the holidays! What holidays? Well. All of them! Look, just come get your uncle some salmon rub and your mother-in-law a candle or something.

The hall has tables end to end, and there’s plenty to buy: jams and jellies, honeys, tea blends, and even locally roasted coffee. There’s jewelry and scarves and knockoff UGGS, knitted toys and home decor that reminds you to live, laugh, and love.

There’s also a row of tables near the back of the hall where you can actually sit down and do some crafts yourself!

There’s a few stations. A lot of locals seem to be making some sort of masks out of straw and twigs and burlap - there doesn’t seem to be any room for you there, though.

More accessible and less unusual are stations to make friendship bracelets at. There’s bright coloured thread and easy to follow instructions! It’ll be fun! No, really - as you work, you’ll start to feel quite relaxed and pleasant. Whoever you’re working next to will also seem super easy to talk to. Who knows? By the end you might have a new friend to give your bracelet to.

Notes:
1. You can purchase things from the fair, but if you can’t fit it in your bag it will not come with you off-island.

2. Eavesdropping on the locals making masks, you’ll hear them talk about ‘the holidays’ a lot, but that’s the extent of it.

---

Greetings, prospective Travelers! Welcome to the Autumn 2021 POLYMYTHOS test drive meme and thank you for your interest in our game! Our next application round will run from August 27 - September 3, 2021. For the Autumn season, we invite you to use this TDM to explore but one of many, many islands within the Endless Isles; use it as an opportunity to introduce and familiarize yourself with the game, form connections with other characters, and just have some fun. (Perhaps while also getting some solid samples together for your application!)

Use the prompts provided below as-is or feel free to write your own set within the environment detailed in each. You're even welcome to access the network via your character's ScryWatch. While there will be some inevitable changes, TDMs may count as game canon and some islands may be revisited in the future. Be mindful of your surroundings -- you never know how you and your fellow Travelers might affect this place in the long run.

Killer idea: pumpkin spice playlists!!

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

:D

[androidrevolutionary]

Autumn is not so strange to Markus, but it holds certain memories that are still bittersweet. As most memories with Carl tend to be. Carl liked to take walks in autumn, or Markus would suggest it when he was having a low day during that time. The colors always seemed to cheer him up. They are beautiful but unfamiliar here. They never did go to a pumpkin patch, that perhaps was a little too whimsical for his bittersweet father figure. He too is lost in his thoughts, trying not to focus too much on the reality of being so far from home.

His head whips around when he hears his name but his mind whirls and he knows the voice before he lays eyes on Connor. A familiar face. He had no idea how desperate he was to see one until this moment. He's grown too used to having allies. "Connor. It's me." Markus turns on his heel and walks over to him, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder, much like he did when he wished him luck at Cyberlife. Mismatched eyes focus on him.

"I haven't been here long, but I've been trying to find my way back." Detroit however doesn't seem to exist here, at least not in a way where any travel option seems to direct him. "We need to get back." Markus immediately reframes his situation. Not me. We. Connor is part of his family. It is that simple an alteration.

:D :D

[lickstheevidence]

Connor glances down at the hand on his shoulder, but he doesn't shrug off the touch. He's not fond of being touched, but there are people he'll make exceptions for, and Markus is one of them. Family? He would guess that's probably why. He listens to Markus calmly, knowing where this is going; he'd been the same way and said the same things when he first arrived. He's thrilled to see Markus again, but at the same time, not surprised by it. If anything, he's been wondering why others he knows haven't shown up yet.

"It's good to see you again, Markus. It's been a while." For Connor, anyway, it's been several months. Who knew whether time passed the same way back home in Detroit? He shakes his head, knowing Markus won't like what he has to say next, and he might even accuse Connor of giving up, but it isn't like that at all. Connor just knows a little more of the ways of this place.

"We can't get back, Markus. That's not how things work here. Walk with me, and I'll try to answer your questions." He gestures further into the pumpkin patch for Markus to lead the way. "I know this must all be confusing for you- it's still confusing for me. Still, it's also been an interesting experience. Don't get me wrong- I want to go home. But I believe that will happen in due time." There had to be a reason the scry watches changed color depending on what they'd learned about themselves. Connor remembers the paper he'd been given as he entered the field and pulls it out of his pocket, snapping it open.

"In the meantime, there's this scavenger hunt, if you're interested? It might be something fun to do in between your questions."

[androidrevolutionary]

Family is a concept Markus knows better than most androids, having been raised in love, albeit a twisted one with ownership in mind. But his fellow androids have easily become the true form of it, through chosen connectivity and belief in their cause. It focuses him to have Connor here. He drops his hand after the greeting is done, tilting his head in some confusion.

"I just saw you." How could it be awhile? Immediately before his eyes opened here, they were together in the snow, starting a new path for their people together. Markus can already tell with some sense of dread that he is not going to like the answers. They can't go back, that's not how things work. Well, Markus has pushed against 'that's not how things work' before. He hasn't let bullets or certain death stop him yet.

"I don't have time for an interesting experience. I have to be there." It is fear driving him then as much as anything else. It is not that he doubts his friends can handle themselves or step up in his place, but so much has been placed onto his shoulders as the leader of the revolution. Take off the head of the snake. It would be so easy for them to backslide. He has a responsibility. Focus, Markus.

He looks at the paper in question, running a hand across his brow. "Fine, let's find a pumpkin. Who is in charge here?"

[lickstheevidence]

Connor doesn't quite have the same sense of family that Markus does. He'd like to, one day. He feels close to Hank, especially after their shared experience in the Cyberlife Tower, but he doesn't have any illusions as to how other androids might see him. Chloe's been helping him come to terms with himself and his role in the revolution, and her forgiveness has meant a lot to him. But Connor is a man without a country, not fully accepted by either humans or androids. He's accepted it, mostly.

"Maybe you did. I've been keeping track of the time I've spent here since my arrival and by my reckoning, it should be nearly April by now in Detroit. But if you just saw me, then either time moves differently here, or you've been taken from the same point in your timeline that I was, one very close to the date of the revolution."

Connor shakes his head, understanding Markus's frustration all too well. He's spent most of his time here being confused, scared, or just plain angry at his situation here and how ineffectual he is at combating it. But he's also been here for almost five months, and nothing he's done or thought of has gotten him or Chloe home again. The only thing that's changed is the color of his scrywatch, slowly transforming from a deep orange to one so pale it's almost yellow now. That means something, and as a good deal of personal growth has come along with the color change, he wonders if it also means he's that much closer to returning to Detroit. If he wants to return, that is. Here, he's been Connor, with no labels or negative associations. Maybe he should stay?

"Markus, listen to me. If I was brought here from the night of the revolution, and you're saying you just saw me there, doesn't that mean that time doesn't work the same here? Like I just said, going by the months I've spent here it should be spring in Detroit, but you're saying it's still that night that for me was five months ago now. Detroit is out there somewhere, existing, and if the Ancient can bring us here from a certain moment I have to believe that they'll be able to return us to that same moment, especially now after what you've told me. Do you have a scrywatch?" The transition may seem abrupt, but there's reason behind the sudden question. He doesn't want to give Markus misinformation, but like his Hail Mary infiltration of the Cyberlife Tower, he's going with what humans would call his gut on this. "There are a lot of people here in the same position, people whose lives have been interrupted. We're all equally out of place and out of time, but I think if we play along and go through the hoops that have been placed in front of us, we'll all eventually get back to where we need to be."

He flashes Markus a quick smile, knowing that for now at least he's on board. "I only saw the girl who gave us the phones and papers, but take a look around, Markus. I'm pretty sure we can find our own."

[androidrevolutionary]

From Markus' point of view, once Connor deviated and did everything he could to support the cause, he was one of them. Understandably, some of the other androids were warier, but Markus has an instinct for people. Connor proved himself. Markus doesn't think their people should be fully accountable for what they did before they deviated. It's all a process, especially for those who have to do it on their own, without a helping hand to cross over. But he respects that Connor has his own demons to work out. It shows wisdom not to assume redemption because of a few good acts.

This is a great deal to process and none of it makes sense to a logical mind. "Five months." Markus' mind rejects this idea as impossible, and yet the reality is there all the same. Connor is not lying. He listens to Connor as requested, his expression fairly impassive despite not being so on the inside. Markus usually is able to mask his inner turmoil, he had to learn to do it every day recently, so no one would see their leader falter or question the path.

"We could be in a simulation." Their minds are not human, and while Markus believes them to be as free as possible, he cannot deny Cyberlife could always have an ace up its sleeve. A simulation where their minds are stuck and being controlled. There is nothing he can see around them that implies techology, when he broke out of his programming he could see the ties that bound him, but still. It makes more sense to him than the multiverse existing and being captured to another world. It also provides a potential escape.

He shows the scrywatch in question, assuming that is what he means, the color a pale green. "Connor, we fought to break loose of being forced to go through hoops for the power of another. I understand the logic of playing along for now but waiting for someone else to decide your future is a slippery slope. The only hands you can trust are your own." Markus sounds firm and sure, his eyes steady and alight with that inner fire of his. He can play along, but that will not be the rest of his time here. It can't be.

There are plenty of pumpkins the more they walk so he hefts one up and gestures for Connor to take a photo. He's very serious.

[lickstheevidence]

Markus is a lot more generous and progressive in his thinking than many of the androids who lived in fear of the Deviant Hunter, but Connor would appreciate the sentiment. Connor's demons are never far, lying just below the surface and always threatening to break through. No doubt Markus has some demons of his own, being responsible for not only the success of their movement, but in keeping the momentum going once they'd achieved their initial goal. Connor isn't unsympathetic; he understands how dedicated Markus is to the cause and how frustrated he must be to find himself unable to be there now at such a crucial point, when android rights are still so vulnerable to the fears of human politicians.

"Don't you think I haven't thought of that? I don't think so, Markus. I mean that- I really don't think we are. It's too complex, with too many variables that I don't think even Cyberlife is capable of programming in. I don't think I would be that easy to fool, and what would be the point? Why trap us here in a simulation like this?" Connor takes a few steps deeper into the vines, spreading his hands and looking over the field before turning back to Markus. "It's too..." Quaint? Fantastical? Whimsical? "Illogical. Cyberlife wouldn't program a scenario that includes magic, oracles, temples or zombies, and it certainly wouldn't program a simulation that includes an emphasis on self-discovery. The last thing they want is androids trying to figure out who they are. And why would they include people who claim to be from different times, different planets, different universes? Believe me, Markus, I've spent a lot of time analyzing everything I can, and- I'm convinced it's real. I don't think this is a simulation."

Connor notes the color with interest, his own a rich amber, caught between the orange it was originally and the yellow he's been working toward. It makes sense that Markus would be closer to self-actualization than Connor is.

"No, Markus. You don't understand. I'm not trying to defend this place, or what's been done to us, but at the same time I'm not sure I would have come to some of the realizations about myself back in Detroit that I have here, because of what I've gone through- it was the obstacles placed before us that helped me to come to some of that self-awareness. We're playing to outside influences, but the discoveries are our own, and we're all on different paths. Sometimes those paths intersect, and sometimes we have to come to our truths by ourselves."

Connor obliges Markus and takes the photo, but he still wishes he could find a better way to explain things to help Markus make more sense of this place. Markus is approaching this head-on, a series of tasks to accomplish in order to reach an end goal, kind of like Connor with his old mission. Connor's learned by now that brute-forcing his way through the lessons of the islands is a sure way to backslide.