testdrive | welcome to the new age.

[geistnet]

testdrive meme.

1. First Day At Falner
You have just arrived at Falner Estate, a sprawling, beautiful, 400-hectare co-located space between Britain, Germany, and the Philippines, and the main base of Netsach. The flora and fauna in the area gives both a sense of familiarity as it looks at first glance like things you’ll find on Earth, and a weird sense of otherworldliness. Given the size of the place, the Estate is less of a compound and more like a town unto itself. The older buildings within the estate are gothic in their construction, and clear throwbacks to 19th Century Europe. The newer facilities, however, sport cutting edge contemporary designs that were clearly inspired by Fourth World architecture and technology.

If you want a better idea on what can be found on the estate, you can refer to this link.


2. A Day On The Job
You are pushing papers at Methuselah, doing research at the Arcanum, or going out on patrol -- whatever it is that you're doing, it's just another day for you as a Hunter of the Vigil.


3. Let's Head Down to Haven
Find yourself itching for a night out on the town? Why not head over to Haven, the classy nightclub that looks like a large, monolithic black building with no visible windows from the outside and the name of the club emblazoned in bold, white letters on one side.

Haven is located in Makati City, and is open to the public (especially the local supernatural community), but you might want to prepare yourself to wait in line for a very, very long time – unless you’re a Hunter, of course.

Falner’s Maenad Division holds office on top of Haven, as does Ordo Daywalker. Some of Haven’s staff also live above the night club.


4. The Awakening
Want to tag out your character's origin story? Set the stage and let's see where things go.


5. Choose Your Own Adventure
If none of the suggested premises hit the mark, feel free to set things up and let's do a tag round.


Instructions for the Testdrive:
1. Specify your chosen scenario number on the subject line.
2. Should you wish to tag with a specific character already established within Waking the Dead, indicate who. The current list of available NPCs can be found over here.

Comments

[icarusalsoflew]

"All right."

Smiling her again, albeit briefly, before glancing back towards the servant. He fires off a few instructions telepathically before focusing, once more, on his companion.

"Elaine is a nice little girl, but she's nice in the sense that she lets this universe move as it will together with all of the creatures in it." He pauses there, looking thoughtful. "What do you know about your family, Sophie?"

[bloodsinger]

That whole telepathic thing goes right over her head, so she'll be in for a nice surprise when the food comes around.

"Well if something screwed with the status quo she might want to keep a better hold on things." It's a ridiculously thing to demand from freaking God, she thinks, but nobody said she had to be perfectly agreeable the whole time.

"Well...we Morgensterns have never been too many. Never twins, and as far as I can remember the families were usually made of three people. Also, I can't remember the last time there was a female other than me, my uncles all married whatever gold digging bitch would let them keep screwing their secretaries. They had boys only, too." Sophie leans back, suddenly fighting tears she so not wants to have, not for those people. "I mean, everyone that was a Morgenstern was in the house, so you can imagine how few we were. And then there was one."

[icarusalsoflew]

"Ah."

Pursing his lips together for a moment before going back to his cigarette.

"Sorry, I had to ask. I'm going to have to ask another question too." A beat, and then: "So you don't really know much about your history past, let's say, your grandparents?"

[bloodsinger]

"Um, they were all businessmen? The family business started with watches I think. Fun fact: the Morgensterns were among the first families to reach America with the rest of the Pilgrims."

She pauses for a moment, memories flooding her brain. "No relation with the Morningstar corporation. Well, other than shady business partners I bet. Also nothing to do with that Morningstar, I hope."

ooc: i figure this has the history of the will and the whole djinn thing!

[icarusalsoflew]

"No, there doesn't appear to be any connection between you guys and the Morningstar corporation. Unfortunately, your family's tied in with a different group."

He's saying that as he's bringing out his tablet. Give him a moment: he's fetching some files. Once he's done, he's handing it over to you. It's a rather extensive dossier on the group that he mentions in his next breath.

"They were called the Will. They used to be connected to the Methuselah."

that makes sense!

[bloodsinger]

"Wait, what?"

She picks the tablet and reads. And reads. And keeps on reading. It's a lot and it seems to extend centuries in the past. By the time she reaches the details of how The Will wanted to use a Bloodsinger (and she also notices mentions of Hikaru there, but most of the details concerning him are conveniently missing) she's half expecting it. They did something horrible on top of all the other horrible things they had done, and now she was cursed?

"A Bloodsinger that targets the females of my family?" She looks up to Hikaru. "And the whole wish and the curse...my family has done some pretty shitty things."

[icarusalsoflew]

And in the time that Sophie spends reading, Hikaru's working through his cigarettes and occasionally glancing over to check how far she's gotten on the file. By the time she's done, servants have already come with their food: two lacquered boxes, sake. Small but fine Japanese meals. He's pouring sake for them both when Sophie speaks again.

"They did what they thought was right at the time. Their real mistake was that they did not bother to think of the consequences." He tilts his head, appraising her. "So now you can kind of see why you're a different cut from the Bladians that we usually get."

[bloodsinger]

Sophie just stares at him, her breathing getting stronger and stronger as she tries to pace herself, but emotions start colliding inside of her. She had been calm until now, eerily detached as usual, but this is just too much. She doesn't even notice the food at first.

Pushing the tablet back at Hikaru, Sophie stands and starts walking, feeling like she's going to pass out anytime soon. She can feel it now, as it stirs within her, as her blood suddenly feels like a living thing under her skin. Like echoes from another time, Sophie can almost hear the screams of women, feel their pain, fear, anger. She's there and she's somewhere else at the same time.

"What am I?" She hears the words, but it's almost as if someone is speaking for her.

[icarusalsoflew]

"You're a Bladian with an interesting history."

Saying that quietly and firmly. Yes, it's a big deal. Yes, it makes things a little more difficult. That doesn't mean, at least in Hikaru's opinion, that it makes things impossible, or that it's going to be a problem that none of them can fix.

"The people here can help you. I plan to, at any rate."

[bloodsinger]

"Why would you?" Her tone is a bit strong, but she's starting to regain control, the Bloodsinger lying down again. "If I read that right it could get you killed." She moves a hand to her hip without noticing; that's where her katana usually hangs, but she hasn't seen the blade since she passed out. Once again she thinks it probably got left behind, and that saddens her.

Sophie walks back to him and sits down. "I mean you can't just undo the curse, or else you would have done it ready, right?"

[icarusalsoflew]

"It's not going to kill me, and even if it was, I can't just ignore somebody who needs help."

He isn't shitting you. There are people who leap into things with all the recklessness that comes with good intent and bleeding hearts, and there are people who talk big.

Hikaru isn't either of those, at least not anymore. He knows precisely what he's capable of, and he also happens to have a lot of people who can help him get all sorts of jobs done.

[bloodsinger]

She stares at him for a good while, almost expecting to find a crack, to see him falter, but nothing of the sort happens.

"What do you want me to do, then."

[icarusalsoflew]

That makes him smile.

"Honestly? I want you to focus on whatever will make you feel better. We can work out an arrangement that suits you, given the situation at hand." He turns away then, to put out his latest cigarette and open his bento up. "I've got a tentative plan of action in mind in order to mitigate the effects of the curse you have on you while we're working out a solution."

[bloodsinger]

Sophie looks down to her food, only now remembering he mentioned it before. "I'm a Bladian now, so I guess the sooner I get good at being one, the better. That probably involves lots of training, right?" She wants to ask about that solution, but on the other hand, she might not like the answer. "And if you can keep me from ruining other people's lives while at it, I'll owe you big time. I already do, I guess."

[icarusalsoflew]

"You don't actually owe me anything," is his immediate and gentle response. "This is what Keepers like myself do. As for your training..."

Hikaru trails off, considering the options at hand. It would be logical, of course, for him to ask her if she was interested in hunting. He is, however, concerned about her well-being. She did, after all, just have her life turned upside down by things that she didn't ask for, and circumstances well beyond her control. Then again, what else was there? And he wasn't about to coddle her either. She didn't seem like the type who'd appreciate that.

"Would you be interested in joining the Vigil? It's quite different from what you're accustomed to, but it might just serve your purposes at the moment."

He's big on choice. Might as well discuss the option with her at length.

[bloodsinger]

In a way, Sophie knew he was going to say that, but it surprises her all the same. "A hunter? It would make sense...right? There are...things I need to figure regarding my life back home though. Most people might think I'm dead, and my family's company needs management...and I'm too sober to think of that. Fucking hell." She's going to help herself to that sake now.

"I mean, I don't want to run the thing, but I would like to know someone is trying to set it straight."

[icarusalsoflew]

"We could help you with that, regardless of whether you decide on becoming a hunter or not."

He takes a downs the contents of his cup on his own end, and looks right about ready to pour Sophie another serving once she's done.

"Might as well make sure your World of Light things are in order before we even begin to talk about the other stuff, right?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie thinks for a moment (in which she drinks two more glasses and starts attacking her food) before she nods. "I need to make just one phone call to tell the family lawyer than I'm alive. I now own more than 60% of the company, so I can appoint whoever you want to run things for now; I guess there is a lot of cleaning up to do.

And I never really had affairs in the World of Light. I'm your regular filthy rich hermit."

[icarusalsoflew]

"Sounds like you fit in fantastically with us."

Inasmuch as he's joking, it's also at least half-true. He even has statistics to prove it, if she asks.

Enough of that, though.

"Anyway, Netsach may have been the ones who found you, but you've actually got a choice if you're planning on joining the Vigil."

[bloodsinger]

"Great."

A little bit dry, but she manages to smile wryly.

The next part gets her interest again though. "Come again?"

[icarusalsoflew]

"This group isn't the only conspiracy in town, right?"

He leans forward, folding his hands together, smiling at her.

"The Kaiser has already told me to let you decide and make all of the necessary arrangements once you do."

[bloodsinger]

That makes her rise an eyebrow. "That's awfully considerate of the Kaiser. So exactly what else is out there, then?" She has some idea, but assuming at this point would be silly.

[icarusalsoflew]

"Hold on."

Hikaru picks up his tablet again and opens up all of the primers on the different compacts and conspiracies. Then he's handing it back to Sophie.

"The Methuselah's the main controlling body of the Vigil since they're Pax Deorum's watchdogs... one of their most basic functions for the bulk of their operatives, though, is police work. The Midnight Riders work hand-in-hand with them by patrolling the roads and any space between two cities. Netsach's the supernatural army at Pax Deorum's disposal, and Zangyaku - my group - is their black ops equivalent. Aegis Kai Doru primarily handles the study, creation and acquisition of Relics, so hunting, for them, is more of a matter of self-defense than anything else. As for the others..."

He chuckles a bit, as he immediately begins to imagine what it'll be like to have someone like Sophie in the Dragon Spires, or doing the rounds in Vatican City.

"Well, you're not eligible for Rhiannon or the Thrones at this point, and I doubt that you're interested in being a nun or anyone even vaguely religious, so that knocks the Brotherhood of Violence and the Order of the Mani dello Spirito Santo out."

[bloodsinger]

There is just silence on Sophie's side, with the eventual nod or scoff as Hikaru speaks. That's a lot of important information coming her way really quickly and she doesn't want to miss one bit of it. Even after he is done, Sophie is still checking the tablet, eyes going from it to Hikaru's face, almost as if she were expecting him to start laughing and tell her it was all a joke.

"So," she says tentatively. "If I was interested in, say, Zangyaku...what would I need to do? From what I can gather it's pretty exclusive." And suddenly she felt like the kind to be excluded. She was a nobody after all.

[icarusalsoflew]

"I'd tell you that I'm very pleased by your interest, and that you're going to have to spend at least six months training here with Netsach at Balamb Academy first. If you graduate as one of the top ten students of the special cases class for your age range, then I'll let you join Zangyaku."

This one does, after all, really believe in choice. It takes a different sort of person to say, right on the fly, that they wanted to join his conspiracy.

"Does that seem fair?"