wellcome | 3.0 Test Drive Meme

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3.0 Test Drive Meme

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Welcome to Well! Characters arrive a little differently this month (see the first prompt). Your character arrives this month in the middle of the formless desert with only a handful of memories, clad in old west style clothes of your choosing, with no items from home.

Anyone is free to play on the TDM, but you need an invite to apply. Feel free to use these prompts, and interact with the arrival or locations. NPCs are around, but only say a certain set of phrases. TDMs can be considered game canon.

This TDM takes place from the first week of August onward, and can happen concurrently with other events during August and September. This will be the only TDM for August, September, and October.

Applications are open July 26th until August 1st, and August 27th until September 1st. Invites are available for friends of current players.

A Little Lost

Content warnings: heat exhaustion, feelings of unreality

You wake up in a sea of sand. It’s hot, and dry, and it seems to go on forever. You don’t remember much about yourself except your name and a handful of memories that most likely aren’t useful right now.

The sand slip-slides under your feet with every step. Sun beats down heavy and hot on your neck and your head. You’re so thirsty. How did you get here? How long have you been walking? Where are you headed? You can’t know. You feel like you’ve been walking forever, but the sun stays high above you, like it’s always noon. It may have been hours, it may have been mere minutes. What are those things circling in the sky above you? Vultures? That can't mean anything good.

Eventually, you find someone else, another new arrival, maybe, or a resident of the town who may have wandered a little too far into the desert. Maybe they have some water on them? Either way, company is exactly what you need right now, because there sure isn’t anything else in this desolate place. Not a cactus, not an animal, not even hints of a town.

Once you’re together, it seems a little easier to move forward. Time starts to move, too. The sun dips in the sky, your feet tread through the sand, and together, eventually you find the town.

If you take too long after you find one another, and the sun sets, be careful. Cacti sprout up closer to town, and after the sun sets, the cacti start to move, and they seem hungry for blood.

tl;dr:

This time, new arrivals wake up lost in the middle of a vast desert.
There's too much sun, too much sand, vultures circling and too little water.
Finding each other makes time start again, and lets you find the town.
If you don't make it back to town before nightfall, vicious living cacti appear to attack you.

Face Your Fears

Content warnings: hallucinations, reality shifts

In this town, fear soaks the hot, dry air. It lurks in shadows and the corners of rooms, waiting for their moment. What is it that you fear? Monsters? Disappointing your parents? Maybe you’re afraid that everyone you love will leave you, or that you’ll end up alone. Whatever it is, right now, there’s a chance of becoming very real.

It happens suddenly. Your mind drifts. You lose focus on what you were doing, and when you look up again, the world around you has shifted. What was a nice lunch with a new friend or a fun visit to the saloon becomes a nightmare. What fear manifests is totally up to you, and it can be different every time. The person beside you could become a monster you think is trying to attack you, or you could be suddenly alone in a cold dark space, desolate and empty.

Whatever horror your mind conjures up for you, it will feel real in all ways and with all senses including, of course, your perception of pain. As far as you know, you’re trapped in a nightmare with no way out.

Except, of course, there is a way out: you just need to figure out that it isn’t real. Maybe you’re strong enough to do that on your own; maybe you’ll need help from a friend or a new pal, reaching through the illusion to pull you back. After all, these hallucinations are entirely in the mind of the beholder: to everyone around you, it sure just looks like you’re yelling at your pancakes!

tl;dr:

You start hallucinating that the things you fear most are actually happening to you.
These fears feel like real, concrete sensory experiences, even though they're only happening in your head.
You can escape by recognizing that what's happening isn't real, either on your own or with help.

Bullrider

Content warnings: mild bovine coercion, alcohol

Come on, hot stuff. You know you want to.

Bet you can’t stay on for more than half a minute.

You don’t look too tough.

You think you can tame me?

In the saloon, you hear a voice in your head. It calls to you, the words seductive and enticing: you want to prove it wrong, you want to find out what it’s promising, you hate to lose. Whatever the motivation, you find yourself abandoning your drink and making your way to the new attraction at the back of the saloon: the bull.

It’s a big boy: a massive mechanical bull. Covered in spotted cowhide, with a bull head and big horns, this thing sits on a massive pedestal like a challenge. Around it is spread... relatively thin padding and a flimsy rope to keep the audience back an appropriate distance.

The compulsion keeps a hold on you until you’re on the bull. Maybe you’re on it with a friend, or a stranger, and it starts up with a mechanical buzzing. It starts to sway under you, and now you have just one job: stay on.

It starts easy, but gets harder as it goes along. It’s incredibly difficult to stay on for more than a minute. But during that minute, you feel amazing. You feel hot as hell, in whatever way that works for you: sexy, powerful, bold, in control.

Until he throws you off onto the padding or into the crowd! When you get thrown, there's a good chance you'll go flying into the crowd. Hopefully they're ready to catch you!

If by some miracle you manage to stay on for more than a minute and a half, the bartender slides you a bullrider special: a spicy whiskey cocktail with a hint of lime. Feel free to leave it up to pure chance, and have the mods roll a die for you to see whether you manage to stay on or not.

tl;dr:

There's a mechanical bull in the back of the saloon!
There's a strange deep voice in your head, coercing you into giving it a shot.
It's hard to stay on, but when you're on it, you feel powerful, bold and in control.
The padding's pretty thin and you'll get thrown hard when you do. You might hit someone!
If you stay on for more than a minute and a half, you'll get a fun little drink as a reward.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

…just sorting through a few things. [Dan Heng says as he straightens up. He shakes his head once and walks a few steps.

It feels like something has changed here but he can’t tell what.] Did you see anything in that direction?

[He motions to the way the other came from.]

[ That seems like a reasonable explanation. Talking to yourself is less worrying than talking to people who aren't there. ]

No.

[ Alec shrugs. It's all more sand and sky and swirling wings, and he doubts that actually counts as 'anything'. ]

It's all the same desert. I guess you haven't seen anything either.

[ Or, presumably, he'd be heading towards it, and he wouldn't be wondering about what's behind Alec. He's kind of pleased with himself for putting that together. There's a touch of satisfaction in his tone when he concludes: ]

That sucks.

[He looks around. A faint breeze. He spots something far off in the distance. From this far away he can’t make it out.] It looks like there’s something over that way.

[Dan Heng turns, hand still shading his eyes.] It’s worth checking out.

[ He can see it now too, when the stranger points it out. Alec shuffles slightly closer as he peers at the blot on the horizon. ]

Whatever it is will at least break up the sand.

[ That's something, even if there's no reason to get optimistic yet. ]

Mind if I walk with you?

I assumed we were going together.

[He says with the same calm he has presented since they met. Without another word he walks on, heading towards the blot on the horizon.

He stops a few steps away and looks back. Once they’re both moving he speaks,] Do you remember anything before the desert?

[ That does seem like a reasonable assumption, when the guy says it like that. Alec trails after him obediently, given there's no compelling reason not to, and it's safer to travel in a pair.

The question has his face screw up a little as he rifles through the memories he has available, which are of very little specific - except for one thing, but even if that's what he's interested in, Alec isn't giving them up to someone whose name he doesn't even know. They're personal. ]

Nope. [ He pops the 'p' at the end of the word. ] Probably lucky I remember how to walk and talk, if I'm honest. What about you?

Flashes. Nothing specific. [He takes point but, doesn't say more. He's not volunteering his memories either.]

It doesn't feel like I should remember this place. [Ahead of them, the blot slowly becomes the top of a building. Other blots appear, resolving into buildings in the town. As they appear, he looks to the sun in the sky.]

...When I was wandering before I met you, the sun never moved.

[ So the extent of what Alec doesn't remember isn't limited to him. That raises a lot of follow up questions that he neatly shoves into a hole marked 'problems for future Alec'. Present Alec has enough to deal with, like the disparity of grit in his left boot compared to his right.

This guy seems to be more of a big picture thinker. Alec eyes the way he walks across the sand, and there's...almost something at the back of his mind about it. Not something bad. ]

I wasn't paying attention. [ He admits, easily enough. ] That doesn't sound great - but it's moving now?

[ Hang on - ] That wasn't me, if that's what you're getting at.

I wasn’t. Such things are usually the work of a- [Pain hits him so hard he stumbles. His hands fly up to grip his head.

He takes a breath. For a second he thinks to grab the thread of thought tight. The pain increases as blood trickles from his nose.

He lets it go and the pain immediately stops. He wipes the blood away.] …Yes, it’s moving now. It was stationary in the sky. There wasn’t a breeze. Now, there is.

[ Alec goes still when Dan stumbles, staring blankly at his sudden fit. Underneath his poncho, his hands ball into reflexive fists. ]

That wasn't me either.

[ He informs him, with a note of defensive tightness. He takes a half-step back and to the side, wariness keeping his movements small and telegraphed. ]

...you good? [ A little late to ask, but better now than never. ] You're not having a stroke, right? Can you lift your arms over your head?

No. [He breathes in slowly. The pain is gone. He looks around. Nothing but them. There are the buildings in the distance.

He shakes his head once.] It isn’t a stroke. And I know it wasn’t you.

[Dan Heng starts walking. The afternoon sun bears down on him like a physical force.] I don’t have enough data to tell you what that was. But I think it’s safe to say we’re being watched from afar.

[ There it is again. Something, something intangible, just outside Alec's ability to grasp. It's not familiarity with Dan himself (he thinks, anyway), but how he talks, how he carries himself, his calm confidence in the middle of a fucked up situation. It makes falling back into step behind him feel easier.

Alec unclenches his fists and shakes off the clinging spiderweb of the reaction he had to Dan's nosebleed. They've got another problem, apparently. ]

Cool. [ That Alec's not being blamed, and it's not a stroke. ] Do you think it's the same people who dumped us out here? That'd make sense.

No idea. Can you repeat to me what I was saying when it happened? [The town gets closer. But it isn’t giving him any recollections. This is not great.

But he has the sense messy situations are his business. How good for him.]

[ It only takes a second to bring what he was saying back to mind. Maybe it's easy to remember because there's so little else taking up space. ]

We were talking about you noticing the sun wasn't moving. I was asking if you were saying it was me who did it, and you said 'I wasn't. Such things are usually the work of a,' and that's when you blew a fuse.

[ And only a little too late, a potential consequence occurs to him: ] Oh, fuck. Are you gonna do that again if you think about it?

[It hits him a second time but he walks through it as he lets the thread of thought go the moment it enters his head. He shakes his head once and there is an odd ripple in the air.

The air is damp and the scent of the sea rolls around before he shakes it off.] We’re being blocked from remembering anything.

Or at least, important things. One moment. [He focuses on the red eyes and the figure that chases him in memory. He reaches out to pull it through and the pain hits him so hard and so fast that he barely registers hitting the sand. He takes a moment, breathing hard as he lets it go.]

…I’m right. [He pushes himself up, breathing in.]

[ This time, Alec is anticipating a reaction. He doesn't flinch when Dan falls. He doesn't step in to try to help, either. If he wanted Alec's help, he'd have said something, wouldn't he?

Besides. Alec is preoccupied by a memory that swims up to the surface cleanly and painlessly, a memory that's nestled into his grasp of his own special set of tricks. ]

Fuck. [ He says, very sincerely, eyes wide and huge. ] Fuck.

Yeah. You're right. And we shouldn't go into that town just yet.

Do the words 'master-stranger protocols' mean anything to you?

No. [He looks off at the town then back at Alec. He pivots to keep watch on their surroundings as he says,] Does a train traveling the stars mean anything to you?

[Words drift up to the surface of his mind, too blurred to grasp. He doesn't grab for them. He waits. It feels like he has waited for things many, many times.]

No. But we've established that doesn't mean anything.

[ Alec is more visibly unhappy at this point than he's been since the two of them met. He paces back and forth a few steps, digging his fingers into his hair. He probes at the void of his memories tentatively, like a tongue exploring the edge of an empty socket, but he doesn't press hard. He likes his brain as unscrambled as possible. ]

Okay. So we're under a stranger type effect, and what that means is that someone is fucking with us, and that means we can't trust anything we think we can trust. Shit.

You got a name over there, Star Train?

Dan Heng. I serve as a guard. You? [He knows down to his bones that the glimpses he has seen mean something. And the sense of a sin committed is like a chain, shackling him to something he can't and won't name. There's no doubt that if he tries, he will bleed again.

When haven't I bled for it?

The question hangs in his head as he brings a hand to his chin.] Whoever or whatever is messing with us has to have a plan behind their actions. And the only way to know that is to play along.

[For now, his eyes say. The sun is starting to reach the sands, and the day is almost done.] If we can't trust anything we think we know. We can at least trust we both want to figure out who we were.

Alec. No idea what I do.

[ There's a hint in the shape of the knowledge bubbling up in him, the direction that it's aimed in, but Alec doesn't think he needs to muddle the situation with it. He could be wrong, anyway. ]

You can't trust that either. Not saying it's not a workable call, because it is, but you don't know that's actually what you want. It's what 'you' want, right now, but for all you know, you're in on this. I could be in on this.

Ugh. [ He groans and tips his head back, dropping his hands to his sides. ] This mindfuck stuff blows. Everything I can think of we should've done before we got hit, and for all we fucking know, we did! But if you can't remember the stupid passwords, what's the point?

So - fuck it, I guess. Playing along works. We're probably screwed, we might as well not be screwed dry. Let's go to stranger-town and get bent over a goddamn water barrel, at least.

[You could be in on this.

Sin. The guilt. The red eyes in the darkness. The sense of being hunted...

He stares off into the desert as he drops his hand from his face. ...could that be true? He walks on towards the distant town.] Whether we're involved in this or not, the only option for now is to seek shelter and answers. Time felt like it was holding still before.

It's possible it was. If that's what happens when we try to run... [Then what options are there?]

[ Alec kicks the sand before he starts walking after Dan again with hunched shoulders and a sour expression. This whole thing is annoying. Being stranded in the desert to maybe die, getting his head severely messed with, whatever is waiting for them in the increasingly less inviting looking town - he really would rather not, actually.

At least Dan still isn't being a dick about the whole thing. ]

We're stuck here. [ He sighs, loudly. ] With probably multiple people in on it, trying to work out a stranger effect from the inside, and I think I'm getting blisters from these boots.

This sucks.

It isn't ideal. [He agrees. After a moment he glances back out at the desert. Whatever he's looking for - even he doesn't know - he doesn't find it. The town gets closer as he says,]

Hopefully, whatever supplies the town has can help with those blisters. [He spots something out of the corner of his eye but he keeps moving. He slows enough to walk side by side with Alec. His voice goes low, the calm dropping away into seriousness.] To the left, don't look directly at it. What do you see?

[To the left on top of a sand dune where they hadn't been before are a group of cacti. They sway in the now evening breeze. They seem to be moving bit by bit, sharp needles turned towards them.]

[ There's a tiny perverse part of Alec that wants to look directly just because he was told not to. There's a much larger, less stupid part that tells him to relax his shoulders and keep his expression neutral as he checks the periphery of his vision.

Well. Great. Just wonderful. ]

Just some stupid scenery. [ He says, casually. ] It's funny how that stuff can look like it's coming closer, huh? Tricks of the light.

Completely unrelated, but I have a funny feeling we're supposed to be walking to town faster. Do you have a funny feeling like that, Dan?

[Dan Heng moves his hand, but the weapon he'd been reaching for isn't there. There is a sense of loss and panic in his head. Why was it missing? It couldn't be missing! If it was- He grabs the side of his head as pain stabs him.

The sudden movement turns the cacti shuffle into a full dash. Time to get moving!]

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