THE SKY WENT OFF-WHITE.

[wastemods]

WHO: Anyone and everyone.
WHAT: Our inaugural test drive meme.
WHERE: Anywhere in the world core.
WHEN: Whenever your character arrives.
NOTES: Expect surreal horror and possible violence. Please use common sense when warning for other content.

Art by Basile Godard

THE SUNLIGHT SPLINTERED.

You reach the end of the ash-gray hall at a run, hands fumbling for an antique door handle. And then you stumble, fall, tumble—any number of adjectives, depending on where, exactly, the door opened—into a radio station.

The equipment is old and dusty, but devoid of cobwebs to the observant eye. And it's dark, save for whatever light makes it through the windows. They display disjointed locations; perhaps one shows an upside-down tower, while its neighbors frame the crumbling pavement of a rotting car park and the stripped out interior of a sewer. Whatever the case, peering through one window reveals a landscape that impossibly doesn't connect to the next.

The door is still there, the only exit to this grubby room. It opens somewhere, anywhere else in this distorted world. And once you leave, it no longer leads back whence you came.

Where do you go?

THE LIGHT, DIVIDED.

A sun on one horizon, a full moon on the other. They're luminous but unreal, like they were plucked from a sky and pasted to a flat, starless backdrop. You can see only one, depending on which side you entered; it's essentially random. Both "sides" overlap like alternate dimensions and you can't see anyone who isn't on the same side as you. Light or dark, you walk in the light of a muted sun or an overbright moon. It never feels quite real.

Neither star nor satellite seem to move from their position. The passage of time is at a standstill.

Regardless of which side you're on, you'll find signs that you aren't alone. What someone does on one side affects the other, so moving an item or writing something down will translate to floating items and mysteriously appearing letters. Speech doesn't travel...unless there's a radio. Radios may turn on and off, with voices audible through the white noise. And if you walk past a mirror, the reflection isn't your own. Instead, it acts as a window to the other side.

In-character observations:

• Anyone sensitive to time, space, and related dimensional shenanigans will feel they're distorted. And it isn't something they can fix, at least not with powers.
• It's possible to cross dimensions if a character has related powers, but they'll suffer backlash and significant stress from the transition. Successive jumps aren't gonna fly.
• If a character is affected by the sun or moon, they'll find neither holds sway over them here; e.g., vampires can walk in daylight and werewolves won't shift in the full moon.

TL;DR: Whatever this is, it isn't natural.

THE SHADOW REALM.

Outdoors, there are shadows on the prowl.

Silent and eerily insubstantial, they trail after you like blind spots given form. Staring at them too long is unsettling but, for the most part, they're content to watch you back...if they can watch. They don't seem to have eyes.

When that isn't enough, however, they attack. Stealing the shape of monsters from other worlds, they may lack special powers, but that doesn't keep them from being dangerous. When in doubt, you're safest indoors.

But maybe that isn't good enough for you. Or maybe you just fucked up. Either/or.

RADIO WAVES.

If you aren't wondering how you got here, you're probably at least asking why. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone around who can answer your questions. Everyone else is as clueless as you.

But, some time after you arrive—whether it's days, hours, minutes, or seconds—the dead air stirs. The atmospheric pressure drops and playhouse lightning arcs across the facsimile of a sky. It's a storm that warns of what's to come, as an earthquake shifts the ground beneath your feet. Around you, buildings flood, and water pours out in falls only half aware of gravity. Wind hurls debris at such high speeds, it turns into shrapnel. Rain pelts you from above and below as the temperature plummets. It starts to snow.

Somehow, the sun and moon remain visible through the turmoil. A collection of mirrors scattered through the world don't reflect their light; instead, it passes through them and illuminates the other side. These specific mirrors, all set in ash-gray frames that match the halls, are untouched in the unfolding natural disasters, and standing before them will shield you as well. Consider them havens in the chaos, proverbial eyes in the storm.

In the dark, a radio turns on of its own accord. Is someone—something—talking to you?

INTO ALL OUR DARKEST FEARS.

Welcome to THE WASTEYARD's first test drive! Some quick things to remember:

• Our TDMs tie into the game plot. As such, any applicants can keep their TDM threads as game canon.
• The network is exclusive to in-game characters. TDM characters can only use radios.
• There is a language barrier, so please mention what language your character speaks somewhere.
• We don't have a fixed day ratio; instead, you pace yourself at your discretion.
• Characters may face backlash when using any powers.
• Mark if your character is on the sun or moon side of the divide. The choice is yours as the player.
• If you have any questions, please direct them to our FAQ!

And that's all, folks. So take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!

NAVIGATION.

PREMISE
RULES
FAQ
ACTIVITY
APPLICATIONS

TAKEN
HIATUSES & DROPS
CANON UPDATES
REWARDS
TPC CLAIMS

WORLD
EXPLORATION
DEVICES
QUESTS
INFORMATION

CALENDAR
SUGGESTIONS
MOD CONTACT
SETTING INBOX
CODEBOOK

Comments

[snikthatch]

I.. [ He pauses, figuring out her words. He's never had problems tracking her through the pathways of her unique thinking process, but his head feels like it's still waking up.

Ten minutes past her. So she hadn't known, hadn't figured -- ]

Ah, kid. Shit. I'm sorry.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

Yes. I know. That's why we have thank you, yes, have to go back. [Mr. Summers won't find her message if she doesn't leave it, and Mr. Logan won't be able to jump into his fight. If they stay here, everything will change out there, in ways she can't begin to predict--and wherever this is, it'll continue to eat away at what they still have.

The latter concern is why she asks:]

Do you feel sick?

[snikthatch]

[ Logan frowns. Now he's over his shock, he smells it on her. Bile and blood, sweat, fever. Illness rolling off her in waves.

And when he stops to think about it, there's something.. not right. The pain in his hands, the way his head spins a little when he moves. Feels familiar, just like it did right before Reed gave him the bad news.

Shit. ]

Yeah. I guess I thought it was just side-effects of bein' brought here. What's goin' on, Ruth?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

Something no, something doesn't like us. [Mutants, that is. She hasn't met any humans who're falling apart at the seams.] Wants us here. Pardon. But not our powers.

[Worse, in some ways, than the world they'd both fallen out of. Ruth had been trapped, but she'd known what by. She could see how to slip the noose they were trying to lead her with.

Arms crossing around her middle, she falls quiet.]

Sorry. Don't get hurt.

[snikthatch]

[ Logan glances down at his hand and flexes his fingers, as if he can feel the pull and tug of his skin over the metal. Don't get hurt. Easy enough to say. ]

You're.. you can't use your powers at all?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

I can. Yes. But it hurts.

[In more ways than one. There's an overwhelming sense of betrayal that comes from realizing she can't manage things that were second nature by the time she was seven years old. She shrugs, turning her head away slightly.]

[snikthatch]

[ She looks so young, then. Just another one of his kids, the ones he dragged from Utopia and put right back in harm's way, despite everything he tried. And she'd had it harder than most. Outcast among the outcasts, through no fault of her own. And now on the edge of a dark place he was all too familiar with.

He takes a step towards her, reaches out to touch her shoulder. Letting her know he's there, if she needs a body to lean against for a time. ]

I'm sorry, kid.

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

[He reminds her of a boulder sometimes. Hard hands, a jagged cliff face of a head, an indescribable sense of immovability. The last, most important one isn't actually true, of course: stones crumble away with nothing more than wind and water and time, and even the steadiest people stop getting up when they're knocked down.

But for a moment or two, standing there and knowing he's there with her, she can lie to herself.]

Thank you.

sobs my heart

[snikthatch]

[ Logan gives her shoulder a brief squeeze, then lets her go. Exhales a cloud of steam onto the cold air; glances around, up at the weird broken sky. He's feeling every inch of the post-arrival fatigue, every damn step he's taken to end up here. ]

How long have you been here, kid?

[sorrypardonyesthankyou]

[She has to think before she answers. Counting the days has been...difficult. Not a priority.]

A week? Pardon. Maybe two.

[A pause.]

Doesn't count, no. The sun doesn't rise here.