sure, jan

[maskormods]

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.

Comments

[microbrobotics]

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. ]

[tadeadshi]

[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.]

[microbrobotics]

[ 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.

[tadeadshi]

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.

[microbrobotics]

[ 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. ]

[tadeadshi]

[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.

[microbrobotics]

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. ]

[tadeadshi]

[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?

[microbrobotics]

[ 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. ]

[tadeadshi]

[Okay, so Hiro making friends semi-close to his age and one that can cook, Tadashi'll take it. It's more than he had back home and he's glad for it, if a bit guilty that Hiro was here by himself. Not that he could've done anything to change it, but guilt all the same.]

Better than Aunt Cass?

[microbrobotics]

Pffft, no way. But he isn't bad.

[tadeadshi]

[He smiles at that, putting an arm around his shoulder and giving a quick little bro-hug before he pulls away once they get closer to the city proper. His tone lowers a bit as he talks again.]

Glad you didn't try to live alone.

[A beat.]

Probably would've burned the place down trying to cook ramen.

[microbrobotics]

[ The bro hug is nice. He's almost relaxed after that, like everything is normal and nothing hurts. And then Tadashi just has to make that poor wording decision. Hiro freezes up completely, abruptly blinking back tears. The calm brought on by having his brother here and alive again is awful fragile, especially when you say things like that. You monster.

Hiro swallows multiple times to try and get past the lump in his throat. But he still can't keep his voice from wavering badly. ]

Y-yeah. We don't ... don't want that.

[tadeadshi]

...Hey...

[ Okay, so something he just said struck a bad chord with Hiro, and Tadashi isn't sure which thing it was. Surely Hiro hadn't actually burned something that badly trying to cook had he? Oh his god what if he had and gotten hurt, crap.

He bends down to get eye-level with him with that comforting brotherly hand on his shoulder, apology knit in his brows watching Hiro. The kid looks like someone just died. ]

... What happened?

[microbrobotics]

[ Gee, I wonder. He'd kind of subconsciously figured out that Tadashi doesn't know the big spoiler of his own movie, but this is his first time realizing it. And realizing at the same time that he doesn't want to tell his brother. Maybe... Maybe if he doesn't, Tadashi will still be alive. That's how it works, right? ]

You don't know. [ that's all he can seem to manage to squeak out. His mouth has gone dry. ]

[tadeadshi]

No, that's... Kind of why I'm asking.

[ The want to fix whatever happened to his brother is burning in him and he can't fix it if Hiro doesn't tell him what it is. How is he supposed to know? He just got here and they've just found each other, haven't even gotten to the house Hiro stays at yet. It'd be impossible for him to know, really. ]

I can't know unless you fill me in.

oh my god you pun monster

[microbrobotics]

[ Tadashi 's right. He can't know if Hiro doesn't tell him. So... All he has to do is not tell him, right? Easy. No problem. ]

Nothing. Nothing happened. We just - [ He has to search his memory for the last safe point he can possibly tell Tadashi about. ] - we had the expo, right? And Aunt Cass was gonna treat us?

fire puns are easier than dead puns tbh

[tadeadshi]

Right, and everyone left.

[Okay, good, he remembers that. Did something happen to Aunt Cass??? He's trying not to get ahead of Hiro, let him talk it out himself and work up to whatever... this is that's got him so worked up.]

I had to tell you something so I pulled you aside.

[He will however spare him the dignity of reminding Hiro his fly was down the whole time.]

[microbrobotics]

[ thanks, bro. You're a pal. He nods slowly - he can work off that for a starting point. Now for the rest. ]

We talked. And - and after that, we heard the fire alarms go off. In the expo hall.

[tadeadshi]

What...

[Oh. Okay, so it was the fire comment that got to him. He files it away for things to never joke about again even before he knows where this story ends.]

Most everyone was already out, right? I mean, the expo was over and most of us left...

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro swallows. Trying to make his voice firm for this next part because this is important. ]

Yeah. Everyone got out. I had to start a semester late though. Really - really disappointed.

[ Strange how that doesn't look like disappointment on his face, though. ]

[tadeadshi]

[He notices. And he wishes they were already somewhere less crowded to talk about this. He gently gets an arm around his shoulder and starts guiding him somewhere quieter. He keeps his voice even; he's got to be the strong support in this talk and he will, dang it. ]

So everyone got out but you had to start a semester late. What happened with the school?

[microbrobotics]

[ Quieter is good. Better than trying to do this in the middle of the street. But Hiro isn't getting any less agitated - if anything, Tadashi's unconditional brother support is making his heart ache even worse. Lying to his brother, even for something like this, isn't easy. And already there's holes popping up. Because of course the expo hall burning down wouldn't stop classes; only the expo itself, and Tadashi knows Hiro cleared that. Think, Hiro. ]

I ... well, Callaghan was the one who got me the scholarship, right? He was the one who set the fire. To steal my microbots.

[tadeadshi]

What.

[Years of experience tell Tadashi that Hiro is leaving something important out, but that statement right there is enough to get his thoughts to stop in their tracks. Way to know exactly what to say to stall his brain. He kneels down, wanting to be absolutely dead sure he heard Hiro right, looking his face over for any lie in that. Callaghan wouldn't, he's... He's a professor, he's Tadashi's mentor, closest thing to a ... Maybe not a 'father-figure' per se, but something similar to that in his own life. And one of the smartest men Tadashi's ever met...

... Which means if he did want that, he could find a way... He swallows past the lump in his own throat, his brain working in the opposite direction now, fire and potential conversation forgotten.]

Why would he steal your microbots? You were going to enroll anyway, that... That doesn't make sense.

[microbrobotics]

[ Success for Hiro!! Kind of. Usually, when he lies, his eyes go all over the place, like he's searching for whatever he's saying next. But that part is the truth, so he meets Tadashi's gaze firmly. Almost angrily. Unlike Tadashi, he didn't have that mentor relationship beforehand; all he had was some idolism that quickly got overridden by this jerk accidentally killing his brother. No love lost for that man whatsoever. Just because he no longer wants to kill the professor doesn't mean he can't still hate him.

Hiro sets his jaw stubbornly. Now he's upset AND angry, good job. But at least the anger isn't directed at Tadashi this time. ]

There wasn't a good reason. I'd have given them to him if he asked! But he still - he didn't even care that he - [ And there go the eyes, because the thing on the tip of his tongue was "killed you"-- ] destroyed the expo hall. Krei had apparently gotten his daughter killed and he wanted revenge. I guess he thought it was still possible I'd change my mind and give the bots to him.