saveournumbers | Third Permanent Test Drive Meme

Third Permanent Test Drive Meme

Welcome to the SoE TDM!

Due to the premise of the game, everyone on this testdrive must be the modern day reincarnation of the characters we all know and love. Please take a quick look at our navigation to familiarize yourself with the concept and setting of the game before you jump in.

If you have a relationship plotting post comment for your character (which is NOT mandatory to play in this tdm), please link to it when putting up a toplevel on the TDM. That way, other players can easily get an idea of what kind of character they will be tagging.

Other than that, you know the tdm drill - when commenting, please put your character's name and canon in the subject line, and write one or more threadstarters so others can tag you easily. Below, you'll find some prompts that you can use or discard at will to write those threadstarters.

1. The mighty cat spawn

One of your fellow Numbered echoed the ability to spawn cats. They don't know how or why, and they have very little control over it. The problem is that all those cats are a little magic, and all of them like to escape directly after they spawned. So all Numbered have been recruited to find the cats and bring them back to their home.

Find a cat and bring it home really sounds a lot easier than it is... At least they are easily recognisable by the little gemstones set into their foreheads.

2. Winter Wonderland

This far to the south, in the very maritime climate of England, there rarely is snow. And if, it isn't much, and it doesn't stick for long. Not so this Christmas. Snow as thick as on Christmas postcards covers Mossgate Council. Public transport has shut down, the roads are impossible to drive on, stores have closed down, and electricity is down in many places.

In Folkton and Moss Manor, the church halls are heated and offer mingling spaces. In Mossgate, people go sledding on the Greens. And in Tarwich, whole roads are covered in giant snowmen. All corners of the council area are in a special state of existence, and to be missing it, you'd have to be in deep hibernation.

3. Halloween is a bit extra this year

As in, very extra. Not only does every household wake up to a bucket of water on their doorsteps in which scary apples are floating, complete with a sign attacked to the bucket that reads: Have fun bobbing!

No, the whole of the council area is also covered in cobwebs, and the graveyards are covered with the skeletons of those that should normally lie buried under their soil.

4. Summer summer SUMMER!

There is a summer fête and a Pride to enjoy during the summer months. But one can also just lie at the beach, wade through the rock pools at the bottom of the cliffs to catch starfish, tiny shrimp, tiny fish, shellfish, and anemones. Or you can take a ride on one of the attractions on the Pleasure Pier. Or enjoy a concert on the greens. ...Or return from a trip to Spain and suddenly have all echoes come back to one at once. That's also an option, but probably less pleasurable.

5. Past tdm prompts

Feel free to use a prompt from an earlier tdm!

6. Wildcard

And, of course, the obligatory do-what-you-want option.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Walter is one of the people staring out contemplatively across the ocean, trying not to draw attention to himself.

That likely isn't good enough for an exuberant puppy, though, since he did remember to bring snacks... that he isn't eating.

Gizmo plants himself down on the sand right next to Walter and stares at him expectantly. He could smell that food and this person wasn't eating it!

Walter deliberately (not slowly) turns his head to stare at the dog.

He opens his mouth to say something, then thinks better of it.

I've already done this with Chad; I really shouldn't do it again.

Instead, he reluctantly pulls out the snack.

"I'm fairly certain you can eat this," he says, looking down at it, noting his own lack of hunger.

"But somehow, I expect someone's about to protest you running off in the first place."

The leash is telling.

"I can eat anything," Gizmo tells him. He smells the wrapper inquisitively. "It smells good! Can I try it?"

Behind him, Thom finally catches up and bends over to catch his breath.

"Gizmo! Don't run off like that!" He picks up the leash and gives Walter an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry! He took off running and I lost him. He hasn't bee bothering you, right?"

Walter only just restrains his reaction from hearing the dog talk. Dammit, he'd only been thinking of Chad!

Thom's arrival is very much welcome, though Walter is sure his expression is more wry than the boy deserves.

"No, though he seems to have run himself up an appetite."

He makes to hand the treat - still wrapped - to Thom.

"I wasn't going to eat this, anyway. But-"

He takes care to look around, make sure no one else can overhear.

"How long has Gizmo been able to talk. Do you remember?"

That second question is directed to the dog, because there's no point leaving him out of this conversation.

"Gizmo!", Thom moans. "I told you not to talk to people. What if the wrong person hears?"

Gizmo tilts his head to one side as his ears droop. "Sorry Thom. I was hungry. I can't remember anything when I'm hungry."

Thom frowns at Walter's question. "A couple of days ago. He just woke up one day and he started talking."

It takes a moment to get the dog's attention away from the snack. But when he does register the question he wags his tail and grins. "I don't really remember. But I like talking!"

It's more than a little funny, not in the least because Gizmo forgetting things due to hunger sounds very much like something a dog would do - or at least an overeager puppy.

Walter nods, once, shifting how he's sitting on the sand slightly.

"I can see why you would... do either of you have a Number you can't forget, by any chance?"

This is just to confirm a theory.

Thom stares at him with curiosity. "How did you know? I thought it was just something for school that I forgot."

Edited 2019-03-14 23:18 (UTC)

Walter gives a wry grin.

"I've met near to a dozen people with the same problem, as well as having it myself. Ever written it down?"

Thom shakes his head. "I've never tried that. I thought it was just stuck in my head."

Gizmo takes this moment to reinsert himself into this conversation. "What does write mean?"

Walter, internally, balks - then laughs at that same reaction, because of course Gizmo wouldn't know what writing meant, he's a dog-

This might quickly become aggravating, though.

"It's an action, for communication. You can write on practically anything, even the ground. Though," he adds.

"It'd be better to have a piece of paper or a tablet to write the Number on instead."

Having the earth itself seem to speak to you was more than Walter was comfortable with on most any day.

Gizmo continues to be confused. "Does the ground and paper talk too?"

He didn't really understand the difference between talking to someone and writing on something.

"Only in association with that Number," Walter says.

"If it starts happening without that, then would be the time to be worried."

"So the ground could start talking to me too?" Thom wonders. "But it would be okay as long as it has a number on it?"

"As long as you put that number there first. Though, you should be able to register whatever I get through mine; people without a Number don't seem able to notice when something's amiss."

With that, Walter goes fishing for his phone. It won't actually take him long, but if Thom or Gizmo have other questions...

Third Permanent Test Drive Meme

4! Snack is something safe for a dog to eat, obviously.

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... Timeline-wise, should this be after the flood?

makes sense! if they get in this week, then the flood could be a good time for their first echo

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