WINTER TEST DRIVE

[thespaceopera]

THE WINTER TEST DRIVE MEME
(Or Summer Test Drive for you Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player!

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

December's Star System

Game Details

Test drives are posted SEASONALLY, so the next one will be in March!

Comments

Kubo | Self-Titled Movie with Two Strings

[shamisens]

[ a: the shopping hub ]

[ Kubo didn't know what to make of this large hotel with all its various attractions. But he understood the lull of the crowd, the tourist's interest in new and shiny things. And thankfully, he was able to procure a shamisen from the music room, promising to return it later.

Setting the paper (and his bowl) on the ground, close to one of the shops, Kubo begins his introduction. ]

If you must blink . . . do it now.

[ He'll give them a show they'll never forget. ]

[ b: phaser tag ]

[ Watching the kids run into the hallways, laughing and smiling, Kubo was eager to try it out for himself. However, once they gave him the gun and walked off, Kubo struggled to figure how to make it work. Finally, he gave him with an expression of disgust before approaching the person closest to him. ]

Excuse me . . . do you know how to turn this on?

[ c: wild card ]

phaser tag

[catonthefence]

[The person shrugs then a voice speaks.]

You need to flick the switch on the side to activate it. And then it will let you squeeze the trigger. It's a power conservation method.

[No, not there. Look down. The white cat is watching with a sharp, brilliant green gaze. The pink tongue darts out to wet its nose again and then it rubs behind one ear with a paw, making the little silver bell on its red leather collar shift, silent and glinting.]

[shamisens]

[ Surprisingly, Kubo doesn't blink at all when the cat talks as he turns the rifle over in his hands, looking for the trigger . . . while pointing it at himself. ]

This switch?

[catonthefence]

[The cat sighs.]

No. That's the trigger. That will make it shoot. The bit sticking out with the hand grip is the hand grip. Hold it by that, point the long tube away from you. You're going to shoot yourself at this rate.

[Helping idiot children has become second nature to Mogget over the centuries. Even with games.]

[shamisens]

[ Kubo sits down politely, his knees under him as he flips the gun over and tries to hold it like he did with Beetle's bow. Running his left hand over the gun, he grins. ]

I think I found it. Thank you, Cat.

[catonthefence]

[Mogget lets him run with it. He'll work it out eventually. Not like he was going to kill himself.]

Mogget. You can call me Mogget.

[And then he offers out a paw to shake.]

[shamisens]

You have a name.

[ That's interesting. But he smiles, with a quiet shake of his head. ]

You must have a story behind it.

[catonthefence]

I have several names. Not so many as I once did, but I have far fewer forms than I once had.

[He starts licking a paw and rubbing behind his ear, cleaning in slow, lazy movements.]

Possibly. That might depend on the story behind your name.

[shamisens]

What were your other forms like?

[ Even though his tone is polite, it doesn't disguise the eagerness of a child wanting to know more.

But Mogget asks a question that stumps Kubo. He brushes some of his long hair back. ]

The story behind my name? I'm afraid I don't know it.

[catonthefence]

[Mogget hums and flops onto his side, stretching and then curling up, eyes falling to half mast.]

Infinite and varied. Both my forms and names. I was many things and often not any one thing. But that was a long, long time ago.

What is your name, human who wants stories?

[shamisens]

I have time!

[ No, Kubo. ]

My name is Kubo.

[catonthefence]

Kubo.

[Mogget butts his head up, inviting a scratch or smooch of some kind.]

Mogget comes from a slang word for a domestic cat of no particular pedigree. Probably. I've been Mogget for so long that I simply am, now.

[shamisens]

[ Kubo quickly obliges, scratching under Mogget's ears. ]

You must be really old.

[catonthefence]

I've been Mogget for over a thousand years.

[He leans into the scratching, head going heavy in Kubo's fingers.]

You are... twelve? Maybe thirteen?

[shamisens]

Twelve.

[ A thousand years. Briefly, Kubo wonders how old his mother must have been, living in the heavens. Easily a lot older than she looked. ]

Was there something you needed to do as Mogget? Some kind of quest?

[catonthefence]

[Mogget screws up his face, because he has to actually answer that honestly.]

No. I'm bound. My collar forces me to be less things. To serve. Sometimes my masters removes my collar, but they always put it back on before I can have my revenge for my centuries of enslavement.

[shamisens]

Oh . . .

[ Revenge. Dimly, Kubo thinks of his grandfather. ]

Do you think it'll be worth it?

[catonthefence]

Hm.

[Thousands of years of Charter magic burning around it, forcing it to be a single thing at a time, to help those who enslaved no matter what...]

Yes. Yes, I think it will be worth it. If not this Abhorsen, maybe the next. Or the one after. Eventually I will be free and take my revenge for the whole line.

[shamisens]

And then what will you do?

What's there to live for?

[catonthefence]

Fish.

[Mogget says this with the sort of smug self satisfaction only a cat can manage.]

I will hunt and eat fish. And laze in sunbeams. And be whatever shape I want.

[shamisens]

[ Kubo can't help it, he grins. ]

I think fishing should come first. It's much more satisfying.

[catonthefence]

Hunting fish.

[The time honoured tradition of rod and line and bait isn't easy with no hands. And Mogget has been Mogget long enough that it forgets, sometimes, that it will have hands then. If it wants.]

Smacking them out of the water and chewing into them.

[He licks his chops.]

[shamisens]

You really like fish, huh?

[ So does Kubo. It's one of his fondest memories - and he doesn't have that many. Idly, he continues to scratch under Mogget's chin. ]

[catonthefence]

Mm. Yes. I like fish. Raw and cooked and lightly marinated and mixed into a light broth...

[Mogget leans forward more, pushing Kubo's hand down to his chest more for rubbing.]

[shamisens]

[ He chuckles softly. ]

I think I got the idea, Mogget.