DANCE MAGIC DANCE

[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. 

Unfortunately, tragedy has struck today. It seems like the entire Heropa PD is parked out of a local, popular grocery chain. A huge crowd is amassed in the parking lot despite the best efforts of officers to get them to leave. They whisper about excitement and shame, and you don't have to ask if you just listen in a bit...

"What do you think he'll do to the employees? He sounded so serious..." "He really wants that pussy, huh?" "If I left my man for cheating on me, I'd take the damn cat, too!" "How does he think taking her and her coworkers hostage is gonna make her change her mind about him being a bad boyfriend?" "My wife is pregnant, please - if I don't get her favorite deli sub I might as well not go home!"

Domestic disputes! Tragic. The police aren't too sure how to handle this hostage situation, claiming the man only has a box cutter and isn't actually waving it around at the moment, but...are you an imPort? They'd really appreciate the help, okay. Get in there and counsel the unhappy couple. Or not!

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. 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, a company that manufactures tech-based educational toys—"Where Science Meets Fun!"—is running a demo of its latest project, Quincy the QuizBot. Filled with information taken from the curricula of many grade levels, Quincy is whirring through the streets to conduct pop quizzes! Answer a question right, win a prize, ranging from a coupon for a free soda at the local fast food joint to a $100 gift card, based on difficulty!

Except...something's gone wrong with Quincy's programming. An hour or two into the demo session, he starts to approach passersby and demand answers. "WHAT IS THE SQUARE ROOT OF 47284? CAN YOU LIST THE PHARAOHS OF EGYPT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER? ANSWER-ANSWER-ANSWER-ANSWER!"

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...

Despite the lack of gratitude that's in it for you, you may want to step in once you see a very, very sad supervillain wandering Maurtia Falls' streets. Dressed in a cape that appears to be a large swath of fabric purchased from a nearby sewing store, galaxy-themed leggings and no shirt is a man who runs right into your vicinity before striking a pose and yelling, "Everyone, stop before me and my wrath! I am Mister Mars, and provided you give me what I ask for, nobody needs to get hurt!"

At which point Mister Mars snatches an old woman's purse, loudly laughs in her face, and begins to float upwards. By the time he reaches the height of the tallest building in the area, he's beginning to look slightly panicked as he fails to really be able to move anywhere but up. Meanwhile, the old woman has begun shaking her cane at him and screaming quite an assortment of alarming expletives.

Maybe you should help one or the other out? If not, just lean back and enjoy the show.
 

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.

Today there's a big lemonade stand on one busy sidewalk, staffed by a group of industrious kids. Aww, isn't it sweet? Wait...is that a cookie stand a little ways down, also run by elementary-to-middle schoolers? Heck, the entire block is full of kid-run mini-businesses — a gathering of pint-sized entrepreneurs! And they have their eyes on you, hero, because as a celebrity imPort, your pockets are full of $$$, right?

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. 

Despite the weird constant hum and the creepy cultish bingo, Jeopardy is usually a pretty calm place. A safe place. But not today. Today, someone has released a couple hundred tiny praying-mantis-like robots into the city, and the place is in chaos. Shops are closed up early because though these little destructive creatures don't have bullets, they do have some weird arm appendages that like to just crunch everything in existence. Like a locus swarm of cockatoos, anything made of wood or plastic is being crunched up and left for scrap. But at less than six inches high apiece, rounding them up is proving extremely difficult. Luckily, the mayor in her wisdom is giving out titanium nets to any imPort who wants to help round up the trouble makers. And, in the spirit of the city, she's offering the imPort that catches the most robots a free meal for two in the swanky Radiation Galley - Jeopardy's top tier, five star restaurant. 

Get catchin', imPorts!

 

Comments

[tagential]

[It feels incredibly wrong. The lack of animosity makes him pause, considering those words before he answers. A planet outside of time? People taken from different times? It sounds bizarre.

Is Darth Jadus from before Edwon stopped him and his Eradicators?

If he is, he probably shouldn't bring that up now. Better not tip him off and give him a chance to improve his plans.]

You died, My Lord. I'm supposed to be investigating it. [At least lying comes easily to him.] You don't recognize me at all?

[jadus]

I do not. And I expect you to elaborate. [The phrasing implied his false death had just occurred. But he knew the agents that had been involved in the response to the terrorist attack. He had set the board for them. This was not one of them.]

[tagential]

Your flagship was destroyed by someone called "The Eagle." It was a show of strength. They want to threaten the Sith into cooperation, which in my experience has never worked.

[He doesn't really think that's what Jadus is asking about, not when Jadus is the one who orchestrated all of that. But he'll keep feigning ignorance.]

We met shortly before that happened. I'm one of your Agents. Cipher Nine.

[jadus]

[A dismissive wave of his hand.] Death will not hold me. But do not underestimate the terrorists. They are powerful--and there are those who sympathize with them. People at the highest levels of government.

[This was not the Cipher Nine he knew. That was either a lie, or another errant timeline, or both.]

I would have said as much to you then. What more was said?

[The man suspended above the street begins to descend, pulled downwards not by gravity, but by an unseen force.]

[tagential]

[Edwon tilts his head, like he's thinking back, though unfortunately his conversations with Darth Jadus tend to be difficult to forget.]

You said they were like children, wanting freedom without responsibility. And that you believe in the democratization of fear.

[The conversation had annoyed him then, and it's annoying to think back on it now. But more importantly-]

What do you mean, you would have said as much to me then?

[He's ignoring the man above them. He's a little bit surprised Jadus is bothering with him, but he's not important.]

[jadus]

[Accurate, to his recollection. It had been years, but analyzing his interactions with Cipher Nine had been useful at times. The memories were relatively fresh.

That conversation had been private. So. This was a Cipher Nine. Interesting.

Once the agent reviewed his public network presence, then Cipher Nine would already know that this was a charade. But until then, it was useful as an interrogation tool.]

Had we ever met. I know my own works, and they tell me this: You are withholding something, agent. You will tell me what more you know.

[tagential]

Is that a conversation you have with all the Cipher Agents, then?

[He knows that it isn't. It had been an honor, apparently, a reward for his successes. It had been because Darth Jadus had a use for him, because he was another pawn in his grand scheme, the very one Edwon had foiled.

So was Darth Jadus toying with him now? Did he actually know? Is that what he was hinting at here?]

Withholding information is part of my job. You told me not to trust anyone, and it pays to be cautious.

[If Darth Jadus was toying with him, he could do the same right back, by just being difficult.]

You said "death will not hold you," but that raises a lot of questions.

[jadus]

[He ignored the questions, pushing further.]

You have seen Eradication and more. What happened, agent?

[tagential]

[Oh, well, in that case.]

I defeated you.

[jadus]

[That felt like truth. A possible point of divergence. He could accept that if another capable agent had gained the designation of Cipher Nine, he might have underestimated them as well, to disastrous results. But it still did not truly settle the matter.]

You will tell me the last year you remember.

[tagential]

No.

[This again. Darth Jadus never asked, he didn't even give orders. He just stated your obedience as truth. But Edwon had won, and he wasn't here to satisfy Darth Jadus' curiosity.]

Tell me first: You talk about these events not as if you're planning them, but as if they've already happened. You're not surprised by anything I say. Yet you don't recognize me at all. What is it that you're not sharing?

[jadus]

[He would not be moved.] I will explain all, once you tell me the year.

[tagential]

[why u gotta be so annoying.]

It's the year 1338 of our Empire.

[jadus]

[Another truth.]

I arrived from 1350. And I have never met you. [The man behind them finally touches down, and continues to sink lower until he is forced to lie prostrate on the pavement.]

I commanded another Cipher Nine. One that accepted my offer. [One that still acted for their own ends, but had been of greater use to him.]

Time is not the only constant ignored by this world. You are not the first to truthfully report distinct and mutually exclusive series of events that have taken place in our galaxy.

[tagential]

[He doesn't immediately respond to that. It makes sense - he has no reason not to believe Darth Jadus - but it's still a lot to take in.]

So you got what you wanted. There are people out there insane enough to follow you.

[Because that did seem to be the exact method he used.]

My way was more satisfying.

[jadus]

[Disappointing. It seemed this agent's behavior mirrored those of the Dark Council--endlessly, pointlessly obstinate.]

I do not know how your galaxy will fare. The Emperor's plans would destroy all--and I discovered this with Cipher Nine's aid. [Ultimately a Jedi disrupted the Emperor's plans, but the situation was always more complicated than it appeared.]

And you will not receive aid in kind, once you return from the SIS.

[tagential]

And your destruction was preferable? [A pause.] Smaller scale, then?

If you discovered those plans with the aid of your Cipher Nine, then you didn't discover them until after your plan with the Eradicators. And your own plan didn't prevent the Emperor's. How relevant was your own mass destruction, then?

[At the last bit, he only shrugs.]

I'll be alright, but I appreciate your concern.

[He knows there's no concern.]

[jadus]

My plans are for the benefit of the living. The Emperor desired only death. Total and absolute. [It was a grand ritual, but a wasteful one.]

Without my elevation over the Council, the Emperor's plans would not have become known to me.

[That reply indicated the mission was not yet over.]

Then you are still ignorant of what Ardun Kothe intends for you. Or perhaps he has ordered you to remain silent? His means of compulsion are thorough.

[tagential]

You're not the only person capable of uncovering secrets, but your tendency to underestimate others was always your weakness.

[Not that hearing about the Emperor's plans doesn't worry him, he just doesn't feel like showing that in front of Darth Jadus. He doesn't want to prove him right in any way. His face is mostly blank.

--Until that.

He stops. Darth Jadus knows. Maybe it happened to the Cipher Nine he knew, as well, and maybe Darth Jadus helped him solve that problem. He doesn't know. But for a moment he's at a loss for words.

And even when he thinks of what to say, he can't say it. The words are blocked.]

He's a dangerous man.

[jadus]

[No. Occasionally he thought too little of someone, but his most persistent weakness was hope. He had too much hope for others and their ability to understand. To lift themselves up. Here was an example of that, standing before him. The other-him would have given this agent the same offer he gave Cipher Nine, and this one rejected it. Evidently the Eradicators had not received the full targeting codes. It seemed then that he had either fled, or died--he would likely never learn which from this agent. The waste was galling.

But that pause said more than the agent was capable of. It was satisfying, in a way. The Dark Council was ever-predictable.] Then you are still restrained. Intelligence knew, and they sought to hide this from me. And, evidently, from you.

[tagential]

[Intelligence knew?

Edwon is immediately angry, almost overwhelmingly so. He has frequent fantasies about killing Ardun Kothe and the people working for him, because no one before has ever made him feel so helpless. He has always been proud of his own strong will and independence.

But intelligence knew, and they’re not helping. Or maybe they don’t know how to help yet. Maybe they need him to finish his mission first, which he will do, and no amount of brainwashing can stop him. It doesn’t matter. He’s angry, and there’s no one here to be angry at except Darth Jadus.

He almost wants to pick a fight again.]

There’s nothing to hide.

[That’s also not what he wanted to say. Darth Jadus knows, and he still can’t discuss it with him.]

— I’ll have my revenge.

[jadus]

[The turmoil that inspired was... satisfying. A petty satisfaction, but one he would indulge in for a moment.]

Against who, agent?

[tagential]

[He couldn’t talk about it. He opened his mouth and the wrong words came out. He wanted to scream, and he wanted to fight, something to make him feel less trapped. He wanted control, in any way that he could take it.

He knew Darth Jadus was toying with him. ]

You can relax, you’re not on my list. I already dealt with you.

[Petty was the only option left to him when he didn’t have the free will to talk about this.]

You ran with your tail between your legs.

[jadus]

[He responded with a dismissive gesture.] You misunderstand the question, agent, and that implies you do not yet know. The Republic goes to great lengths to destroy its enemies, but they have never been skilled in mind control.

[The implication was obvious.]

[tagential]

[That had bothered him from the start. The Republic likes to claim to be above such methods, and while it hadn’t surprised him to find that had all been propaganda, he still would have expected to hear about research into brainwashing and mind control. It might have been done in secret, but Imperial Intelligence was good at secrets.

He’s not sure if he should be surprised now. He’s angrier than he can remember being. He feels betrayed, but that’s ridiculous, not when he never expected loyalty.

But still...]

Are you telling me this to shake my confidence? Or to turn me back into a pawn for you to use, someone you can point at a target when you need to spread fear?

[What did Darth Jadus have to gain from this?]

Are you gloating? Trying to prove I made the wrong choice?