etcelsior | sure, jan

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sure, jan

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

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[ There's a small hoverboard parked not far from that bike, though with its floating panels facing down towards the wall, it probably doesn't look like it hovers at first glance. That hover-bike is way more impressive.

But there's something special about that hoverboard. Mostly in the fact that belongs to a scrawny little teenager inside that shop now, talking his way into buying some soldering equipment. For some reason, shopkeepers are a little bit leery of selling that kind of stuff to a kid who looks closer to twelve than fifteen. But Hiro convinces him in the end, so out he comes with a bag full of promising little boxes. He is already loving this whole "work for Tony Stark and get paid way more money than he knows what to do with" life.

Slinging the bag into his backpack, he twists his way past the parked hoverbike and towards his board. In fact, he nearly bumps into Tadashi as he reaches for it. It's only when he turns to offer a casual "sorry" that he realizes that he recognizes the person standing next to him.

All the blood drains from his face. The bag drops from between his suddenly nerveless fingers, crashing against the ground in what is probably a fatal crack for his new soldering iron. But that's the last thing on his mind here, staring up at his brother like he's seen a ghost. He can't even form words at first. His mouth has gone utterly dry. Is he dreaming? This has to be a dream, right? There's no way - he can't possibly believe that's - ]

Tadashi?

[Working in a small lab with lots of fast moving folks his size got Tadashi pretty much in sync with staying out of people's way. He gave a small wave when the person got past him and got to his feet having fully inspected the bike to his liking but--

It's the bag dropping that got his attention. Tadashi looks down at it, then from the feet upward at the kid who dropped it and-- ]

Hiro?

[ Okay so that's ... One big relief off his mind, Hiro being here and not home where he himself isn't. But that means Hiro's mixed up in all this too. And why does he look like Tadashi just came back from the dead? He bends down a little, nothing but concern on his face. ]

Are you okay?

[ He's too overwhelmed by seeing Tadashi alive again to even wonder why Tadashi is having a surprisingly muted reaction to seeing each other again. Not exactly convincing him that the Tadashi in front of him ISN'T some kind of terrible shapeshifter monster. But - but he finds that he doesn't care. Not really, not when it's been over eight months since he last saw Tadashi alive.

He rushes forward abruptly, putting both arms around his brother and squeezing hard. ]

Whoa--

[Not that hugs aren't welcome or anything, but there's usually conversations that happen before that? This is out of nowhere as, far as he's concerned, and it makes him worry even more for whatever... this is. He returns the hug, maybe not as tight as Hiro's side of things, but he is happy to see his little brother safe here and the feeling's there.]

Hey... It's all right. What's gotten into you? You're all right?

[ Okay Hiro Hamada, get it together. It's just your dead brother that you're hugging right now. No need to get choked up about it. That doesn't stop him from wiping at his face with a hand then, stubbornly trying not to cry. And god, Tadashi asking if he's all right ... He can't help but laugh a little hysterically. ]

I should asking you that, knucklehead.

[Okay, he's name-calling, he's fine. Hiro Hamada is okay everyone. Tadashi smiles, ruffles his hair a little and gives him another squeeze before carefully untangling himself.]

I'm fine, just y'know. Got lost around town and then got a little distracted here.

[He glances back at the bikes then back at Hiro, unspokenly asking Can you blame him?]

[ Totally okay. Super okay. He follows Tadashi's line of sight and can't help but laugh again. Smaller, still kind of hysterical, but - of course his brother notices the hoverbikes. That proves it. ]

You can buy them, y'know. They're everywhere.

[ He keeps looking back up at Tadashi in return, trying to see if there's any burns or other traces of the fire on him. Hiro's only changed subtly in the months after Tadashi's death, himself. Certainly he's not any taller, but he did lose weight during that summer when he was too depressed to eat most days. He's still skinnier than he was the last time Tadashi saw him, despite having regained some weight recently. ]

[He definitely noticed when he hugged his little brother, but he'll ask about it later. He wants to know what's gotten him like this; it sounds like Hiro's been here a lot longer than just a day or two.

But for now, touchy-feely bro-talks can wait. He looks at the street where more cars go by.]

Yeah, I've been seeing them! It's... This is amazing. [And his eyes are back on Hiro and the small board he'd been about to grab.] That one's yours?

[ Oh right, they're still on a street corner. And his bag of supplies is still sitting there on the ground. Reluctantly, he takes a step back to scoop up both the bag and the hoverboard, one under each arm. Still not entirely convinced he's not dreaming. ]

Yeah. They were giving them out a couple weeks ago. ImPorts are real popular around here.

[ A pause. ]

-- I can tell you more at my place. I'm in a house with some other guys in De Chima.

Your place.

[He deadeyes his brother, shifting weight onto one foot watching him carefully. He'll get to the De Chima part in a minute but--]

You have your own place.

[ God. Every time Tadashi does something - anything, really - Hiro just wants to burst back into tears again. It's been so long. He settles for his voice wavering a little as he picks up their old conversation rhythms. ]

I've been here for a month, stupid. No way am I living on the streets when they set up a nice house for you and some roommates.

How-- How have you been here for a month. I've barely been here a day. [He doesn't disbelieve him but he has a hard time believing it all the same. Probably a scientific explanation if he had the chance to sit and think about it. For now, he'll start walking and hope Hiro leads them along in a minute.]

And I'd hope you wouldn't sleep on the streets, least you learned something.

[ He does just that after a few steps. Tadashi was mostly heading in the right direction - Hiro just makes sure they're angling towards the Porter and not off in the middle of nowhere. ]

It's like Narnia or something. You spend all this time here but none passes back home.

[Once Hiro's in the lead, Tadashi follows after him easily, folder under one arm and hands in his pockets. His mind's already trying to work out how that's possible with the possible theories.]

Maybe... Porter's definitely involved, so. Wormholes aren't a thing [are they?] and I don't think this is proper alternate universe protocol [He's trying to joke. Mostly.]. Time displacement has to come from somewhere, though...

[ Ha ha wormholes. Hiro is not quite ready to tell Tadashi about the time he ended up on the other side of one. Just focusing on getting them back to the house for now. ]

Could be dilation. If this place is somehow stationary compared to other universes...

[Better to not ever tell him about that.]

Maybe. A fourth dimension, maybe?

[That somehow feels more logical and real than anything like an alternate universe.]

Fourth dimension is time, dummy. Fifth dimension is a tesseract.

[ Said in his usual know-it-all tone, but it's not like HE has any better ideas. Speaking of portals, though: they're drawing up in front of one now. The other side is beautiful (and unpleasantly snowy, at least for Californians) De Chima, Virginia. ]

[You know what that tone gets?

Hair-ruffle! He had to test you, lil bro, make sure you were still up on your sci-fi game. But at the portal he stops and stares.]

Through there?

[Are you serious.]

[ Oh. Head ruffles from Tadashi. He doesn't even make a face or duck his head away for once; instead, he just gets quiet. Yet another thing to add to the Hiro Is Acting Weird list. ]

Yeah. It's safe. People even commute through it.

People just commute through a portal like it's totally normal. Unbelievable.

[And yet here they are about to do it, and here Tadashi is, taking note of every out-of-the-ordinary thing Hiro's doing. Like get quiet; Hiro doesn't do quiet unless he's working.

He gestures to the portal.]

Lead the way, Captain.

[ He smiles a little at that. ]

Hold onto your hat.

[ The passage is anticlimactic in the end. One moment, they're in Florida; then once they step through, they're in De Chima. Simple enough. Hiro stands on the other side not a few feet away from Tadashi, and yet technically hundreds of miles away. ]

[Tadashi watches, making sure there's no weird after effect or anything before stepping through himself. Once he's through, he stops to look himself over for any changes or mishaps, like did he leave half a butt back there? No? Good.]

Little tingly. Not bad.

Right? You get used to it. You get used to a lot of things here.

[ And he is looking over Tadashi just as thoroughly to make sure he didn't, I dunno, spontaneously combust or something. He starts walking again, this time heading for his house. ]

[He looks back at the portal with a grin, then back at Hiro. Seriously? This is cool. He's getting over the away from home and sworn to a military faction and joining the This Is Cool mindset as he follows him.]

I'll take your word for it. So who're these folks you're staying with?

[ Hiro, meanwhile, is relaxing a bit. Just a little bit. No way he won't be cagey and keeping an eye on Tadashi for a long, long time.

And wow, how to explain the Persona 3 crew ... ]

Uh ... they're all highschoolers. One's a sports nut and the other one cooks really well.

[ And also threatened him with an axe. ]

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