ateratooc | Test Drive

TEST DRIVE 004

Welcome to Aterat!

Here is our forth Test Drive Meme! There are a lot of areas of the city to explore, so please have a look around! In case you need a little help getting started, I've included a few prompts below, or feel free to start your own! Exploration and player initiative are the names of the game here!

Helpful Links to Get Started

Arrival & General Information | Locations & Bestiary | Residences & Housing Info | Businesses | Rules & FAQ (ask questions here!)

A. Crash into Me

Not exactly, but close enough. You have just arrived and received a strange satchel from a tiny, strange little man and are left more or less to your own devices (more information on what to expect upon arrival can be found here)! Follow directions to the north and check out the housing, or maybe have a look around the Historium and try to get some information from that giant glowing ball, see what you can waste your meager starter coin on in the Market District, or maybe just meet the neighbors.

B. A Winter's Ball

What brand new ballroom would be complete without a fancy new winter's ball to break it in? Things are a little strange at the ballroom (check the prompts) with mistletoe that traps you for a kiss with a random passerby, strange gray meringue that makes you willing to overshare, not to mention the fact that one of your strange possible overlords funded the whole thing. What's the worst that could happen?

C. We're all hanging out at the park, right?

The park near the Complex has become a glittering expanse of show! Children ~~and adults alike~~ build snowmen and even sled down some of the higher hills in the area. There are stands around the park selling hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and cider, as well as sweets and wrapped snacks for the day in the park. Speckling the park at regular intervals are standing fire pits designed to ward away the cold and allow for gatherings and conversation.

The pond in the park has frozen over as well, affording the abilities to ice skate as the ever-industrious Raimon is renting skates, and maybe even challenge people to a hockey game. How hard could it be to find some makeshift pucks and other accoutrements in order to play a game?

Tell Phone

The Tell Phones everyone are provided when they arrive are capable of voice transmission and texting as well and photo texts!

NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There was something more to it than what the kid was saying, but Biggs could respect that. He nodded, his expression softening. "Yeah, I got separated from my friends before I came here, too."

He moved closer, inclining his head in greeting. "I'm Biggs, by the way."

He nodded a little at the confirmation. Mono had thought as much, but it would have been nice to think maybe people could arrive together. The kid paused though, frowning a little under his bag when he realized Biggs had also been separated from his friends before arrival, “I’m sorry, it’s um... lonely when that happens.” He added with an honest tone.

And look at that, the kid doesn’t even shy away when Biggs steps closer. Progress, he’d definitely been making it. Of course, it also helped that the man seemed to have understood what it was like to be separated from your friend. It was something relatable. Instead, he raised a hand in a little wave as he responded, “My name’s Mono.”

Lonely was one way to put it. The last thing Biggs remembered, he was fighting for his life and the lives of everyone in the Sector 7 slums on the only pillar that supported the plate, and the next he was here, his wounds healed and with a strange little man handing him a sack and running off. Now he was trapped with no way home and no one to call friend or even ally.

Though he was starting to think Mono might count at least for the latter.

"It doesn't have to be lonely, I guess. Have you been here long, Mono?"

“I guess not.” He agreed with Biggs, tilting his head at some of the other people walking around. One thing that didn’t get old was seeing so many people just... looking normal, and— well, maybe not always happy... But they were living their lives. It was kind of nice, once you got used to it. “People try to be friendly here, at least.”

He has to stop and think about the question, looking down at his toes and trying to count the days in his head. It had been a while now, he just wasn’t sure how long a while was. He’d never really learned to keep track of time in the Pale City. No one kept to a. schedule there anymore. Days kind of bled into each other... But he wanted to be helpful and answer the man, so he tried to focus.

Finally he hummed, very much a sound of ‘I don’t know?’ before adding an uncertain, “Maybe a month?”

Biggs would certainly agree there. While the technology level here was less than he was used to, the fact that there was clean running water was already a plus in this place's column. It wasn't perfect, not by a long shot, but it had a lot going for it, that was for sure.

He nodded at the answer he received, smiling slightly. "Well, Mono, do you want to cut a deal?"

A deal? That made him tilt his head a little, not answering at first. Deals usually meant an exchange of some sort, and Mono really wasn’t sure what he could offer someone else. Most of the adults here seemed to do alright, after all. So he was more than a little curious about what Biggs meant.

The kid leaned forward, tone just a touch uncertain. “What kinda deal?”

He moved a little closer, lowering his voice almost conspiratorially. Kids were kids, after all, and they liked to feel important.

"I bet you can get around places and people don't even notice you, right?"

If there was anything that Mono had ever felt confident about in his short life, it was his ability to get around unseen. A necessary ability, and one he’d gotten incredibly good at. “Yeah, I’m really sneaky if I gotta be.” Wondering where Biggs was going with this, he continued. “Do you need me to get someplace?”

He shook his head at the question. "No, not yet, anyway, but I'd just like to know I can count on you if I need to. If so, why I don't I see about getting you some shoes?"

“Really?” Now that was an unexpected suggestion, and he can’t help but glance down at his feet again as he mulled the offer over. He hadn’t had shoes in a long time, and while it hadn’t been too bad in the pale city as long as he’d been careful...? It was posing an issue here considering the weather in this place.

If Biggs meant it, the deal would be well worth it in the long run.

So finally looking up, he nodded and offered a hand (that seemed official, right?) to agree. “Okay, it’s a deal.”

Just as Biggs had expected, the most progress would be made with the kid by treating him as more than just something to be protected at all costs. From the look of the little guy's clothes if nothing else, he was used to fending for himself. Treating him like a doll that needed protecting would just be insulting. In that respect, Mono reminded Biggs of himself when he was a kid, looking out for Wedge and generally just being an 11 year old 30-something.

"Really." He accepted the handshake. "Great. Let's head to the market and see what we can drum up, huh? Oh, and...can I ask a weird question?"

Mono was going to get along with Biggs well, being treated like a child that just needed protection was still such a strange idea to him... He already had a hard time with the idea of people giving him things for no other reason than ‘children shouldn’t have to go without some particular thing.’ Regardless of how true it might be, it wasn’t something that made sense to him and he was going to need more than a month or a few nice people to adjust to those things.

He was trying, because people sure were quick to offer things, but it made him feel like he was missing something important most of the time. Made him realize how strange his world probably was, and by default how strange he was.

At the suggestion of heading to the market now, Mono slipped down to the ground with a small hop and a ruffle of his trench coat. “Okay, I remember there were a couple places that might?” He’d only decided that using what money he had was smarter kept for food instead, at least until he could figure out how to make more.

Now, Mono tended to expect specific questions from the people he met here. The fact that most of them hadn’t been asked since he started talking to Biggs was a surprise, but he hadn’t ruled out that they’d eventually be asked. So... The request is met with a small rise of his shoulders. “Okay...? Might have weird answers though.” He responded in a very honest tone. A few people now had more or less indicated that his responses were weird. Even if they didn’t always come out and say it, he was a clever kid. He knew.

Test Drive - 004

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