time to put your face on

[maskormods]

T E S T D R I V E M E M E

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 someone else's thread, either!

And remember there's only one rule in Test Drive Meme Club: HAVE FUN ON THE TEST DRIVE MEME!

01.The city of Heropa is what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place, where locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to welcome you to their fair city.

The current craze sweeping the city and social media is getting people on their feet: the Camp Midnight Challenge! Based on a popular video game, the goal is to get the funkiest, silliest, most eye-catching dance sequence on video—with a twist! Successful completion of this challenge requires getting an imPort to join in a duo dance that incorporates their powers! Swarms of eager teens, tweens and would-be BlueTube stars are out and about on the sidewalk looking for newcomers to join in. If they spot you, you better come up with a good excuse or put your dancing shoes on!

02. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, with large numbers of citizens waiting to be awed by your very presence. Look at you! Organic wonder! Synthetic wonder! Whatever you might be, those words have meaning here. Science and technology are the lifeblood of this city, so you're likely to come across a good many locals taking your picture with the newest of devices or recently published PLoS papers. The imPort craze remains high here, and you may find yourself cornered by overzealous imPort fans, media wannabes and opportunists alike, shoving cameras in your face.

Today in De Chima, there's the unveiling of a brand new invention in the convention centre park! With a simple scan, it will print out your Closest Love Match of the other individuals present, along with your percentage of compatibility and a free coupon to get lunch with your new date if you match 90% or higher!

A little odd that it seems that nearly every couple has 90% or higher, isn't it? What's the probability that the scanner is broken?

03. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania has carried a reputation for ups and downs ever since imPorts began reappearing again, just those few years prior. Several imPort heroes have put focused efforts into cleaning up the streets of this somewhat infamous city, while a handful of others had swooped in to help the criminal industry thrive. More so here than the streets of any other imPort city, the battle between good and evil looks more like a war of escalation than a heroic tale. Everything from the classic bank heist to brutal bloodbaths can happen around the corner. You have to keep your eyes open and your mind sharp when you live in Maurtia Falls, and hostility against imPorts can spike. The emergence of locals with superpowers is hardly helping...

Local resistance to superheroes has made the city a popular gathering place for experimental engineers and scientists whose methods are misunderstood by the establishment, aka 'mad scientists.' Today, the latest creation of a former food scientist who used to work for Yell-O Desserts, is rising up in gooshy style!

From the canal that bisects the city rises a giant, gooshy, uh....thing. The blob slowly begins to ooze through town, growing larger as it consumes anything it comes across, absorbing it into its gooey depths. It's slow, but relentless, and doesn't have any obvious weak spots. Will you attempt to fight back and arrest its gelatinous progress, help the slow runners get away or make a break for it yourself? Or maybe see how good a dessert it makes?

04. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities; loud, busy and there's always some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement.

This month there's the release of a hot new movie about imPorts themselves, though in order to evade copyright, it seems that the imPorts on screen are simply amalgamations of several different imPorts through the years instead of staying faithful to one true story. They've got everything! Action! Romance! Death! Desire. It's a whole load of hooey, in other words, but it's hooey with a big budget. What this means, however, is that even the newest imPorts are being roped into this red carpet affair. Even if they're simply passing by on the street, an eager reporter may well step up to you, saying, "Oh, are you an imPort? Please, you must come in! No, I insist!"

If you succumb to their pushy ways, you'll find yourself in a gala, likely unprepared and underdressed for the flash of the cameras and an endless torrent of questions about what you want to do here as an imPort, whether or not you feel you'll find love in this place, whether or not you fear an inevitable port-out (despite the fact that you may have just gotten here!) and will be plied with food and, if you're of age, with plenty of booze.

05. Jeopardy, Nevada by all rights shouldn't exist. A glowing neon city smack in the middle of the desert, the only reason it's still here is that the central nuclear power plant has tapped half a mile down into a subterranean lake for its water supply. So though the desert around it may be barren, the occupants of this small city are happily self sufficient. Those weird figures you see out of the corner of your eyes? Don't worry too much. Probably just weird radiation after effects. Jeopardy has a lot of those.

You're in luck! You're just in time for Jeopardy's traditional Valentine's Race!

The premise of the race is simple: hogtie your lover, throw them over your shoulder (or back, if needed), and carry them from the bank of the train station (it's actually not a train station, it's a non-functioning movie set that's been turned into a museum, but it's still called "the train station.") While the tradition says "lover," as long as the person you tie up has consented to it, it's allowed!

At the end of the race, the Mayor gives a short speech about love, and movies, and tradition. She's also baked thousands of Valentine's and heart-themed desserts for all participants and audience members! They just happen to all be... shaped like the actual heart organ, rather than the symbol.

Comments

jerry redmond ( oc )

[pansophy]

[ He knows what it's like to wake up without knowing a number of hows and whys. He knows what it's like to be given a code and status, to be constrained by circumstances that weren't his doing, and to be sent on his way to live comfortably, so long as he complies. That's the concept that itches in the back of his throat: comply. But they know everything about him, apparently, and he has to wonder whether or not this is just the Institute, Part II, with a higher budget.

Needless to say he doesn't take it well, but he notices that the stress doesn't amplify any absorption of memories. That's a comfort, but it might not help him in the long-term, not if he wants to gain advantage and find his way out of here. So long as there isn't any medication being shoved down his throat to mute his power, though ...

His arrival at De Chima changes the tone from terrifying to disarmingly baffling. There they are: people who know what he is, but not who he is — he's not sure there's any comfort to be drawn from that — imposing themselves for a chance to have a picture of or with a potentially famous imPort. They all have potential, for better or for worse. And all these people are bursting with memories, threatening to overwhelm him both inside and outside. A couple of them approach to try and convince Jerry to try out the new invention with them — after all, there's free lunch involved! ]

N-no. Thank you. [ Does he force a smile? Does he claw out an embarrassing memory from their head to scare them away? ] Thanks.

[littlegodling]

[Efe can see how uncomfortable Jerry is and decides to have a little fun with the situation. She slides over next to him and makes a shoo-ing motion at those bothering him.]

Run along now, he's with me. [She turns to him and links her arm with his, grinning.] Isn't that right, bae?

[pansophy]

[ It takes him a moment to realize what's happening — it could be yet another opportunist swooping in to try and convince him to be her match, or it could turn out to be a knight in shining armor and platinum blonde hair, shooing all suitors ... as it turns out, she's a little bit of both, and she uses the word 'bae' to boot. That one's still pretty new to him. ]

Ah. No.

[ Softly blunt, if that's even possible, as he slides his arm off hers. ]

[littlegodling]

[It works, the would-be suitors walks away in disappointment leaving Efe pleased with herself. Her grin fades as he pulls himself away, though she lets him go without a fight.]

Ugh, would it hurt to play along? [She rolls her eyes, folding her arms as she cocks her hip to the side.] Besides, the little machine means nothing other than getting a free meal.

[pansophy]

I don't want to play along. Or —

[ 'Eat a free meal' doesn't actually make it past his lips, because that's untrue. Jerry does keep a distance, sufficient enough to let her know there will be No Linking of Arms, without completely turning her away. Will he regret this decision? 'Tis a mystery. ]

I don't even know what they're serving.

[littlegodling]

[Efe lets him keep the distance between them, but only because he's not outright rejecting the free meal to come.]

Well the only way to find out is to have a go at that machine, right? [She grins and keeps an eye on him as she heads that way, hoping he doesn't decide to slip off into the crowd.]

[pansophy]

[ He didn't actually say yes, he wants to note, stuck in place to watch her go and then debate with himself. Just the fact that he's thinking about it is huge. He's been alone in one world for long enough, and here he is, going through the same process in another. Being approached like this fresh out of the Institute would have caused some issues, to say the least, but he has a (slightly...is) thicker skin now. He knows how to navigate certain situations, and people. But the fact is that as soon as he sticks around someone long enough, memories are going to start to pour in and out. Jerry can't exactly turn it off, and he definitely can't talk about it. The latter is his opinion, anyway.

He still doesn't move, so — if he wants her to hear him, he's going to have to project his voice. ]

Or we could. Ask. First.

[littlegodling]

[She doesn't go far when she realizes he's not following after her or trying to disappear. She doesn't walk back toward him either.]

Why? If the place sucks we just pass it off to someone else. [She shouts back to him with a grin. She could care less about the free meal or the matchmaking game machine, she's just looking to mess with someone and he looks so out of place that she pegged him for a good target.]