Test Drive 01

[cognitivus]

ɢᴇᴛ ᴄʟᴜsᴛᴇʀᴇᴅ

A Sense8 AU Sandbox

IN THE BEGINNING

It doesn't happen all at once — the world does not reorient itself and thrust upon you seven other cluster mates. No, it happens in stages. Snatches at a time. Moments, sometimes individually, sometimes in sets of two or three. Maybe you're reading a book, and you notice someone sitting beside you on the couch. Maybe you're surfing, and suddenly there's a second person on the board. Maybe you see them in passing, or maybe you both stand there, face to face, equally confused, wondering how you can both speak the same language when one of you is from Middle Earth and the other is clearly in Tokyo.

There's time to talk. Time to figure it out.

Unless, of course, there isn't. It's entirely possible that your first meeting is not during a calm, cozy, collected moment. Maybe you call on one of your sensates during a time of need. A fight, a chase scene, a moment of public speaking in the spotlight. A time when you're truly out of your depth, and you need someone with a particular, complimentary set of skills that can step in on your behalf.

It's time.

warnings : violence, psychological horror

GETTING STARTED

WELCOME TO THE CLUSTER!


On this TDM, don't worry too much about your official cluster pairing. This is for either workshopping different combinations, or different characters. If, in the end, you find you really like a certain combination, simply be sure to ask to be in the same cluster as the folks you've threaded with! For now, worry instead about playing out first meetings. It could look a little something like this:

Tag in with your character name & canon.

Set a scene by providing a variety of moments other characters can witness and jump into.

If you're going to tag into the same prompt someone else has already tagged into, consider making it a group thread; the premise eof this sandbox revolves highly around multi-person interactions. Don't be shy! These are your cluster mates, after all.

Or, if you're feeling especially daring and dramatic (and let's face it, we all are):

Set up a scene from an impactful moment around your intended canonpoint.

AU it to your heart's content. Maybe things go exactly the same as they did in canon, or maybe with a sensate cluster influencing things, it begins the path that deviates things wildly from the canon we all know and love. It's entirely up to you!

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NETWORK USAGE

Communication via text is still very possible!

Through the magic of the powers of the human mind, that group text across universes still totally exists. Maybe it appears as an actual text chain to you, or maybe it's freshly dried ink on that magical scroll that keeps writing itself the more messages are exchanged.

Whatever the case, your mind retains the communications written down by your cluster, and all correspondences to one another are visible — unless otherwise stated to be private, of course. Create a prompt on your top level with some inbox action, and do a little lowkey texting!

Be sure to specify if a thread is private, otherwise you may have a handful of other folks chiming in with their opinion on your back-and-forth exchange at any time!

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ANYTHING ELSE

Check out the info page for details, or post to the enable me please meme with information about characters you're considering bringing in! If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask me below, or on plurk!

Comments

[aperturesubject0001]

So you don't have to be alone. Chell blinks, surprised by the offer. Usually it goes the other way: people leave. Charitably, because they figure she's fine on her own; uncharitably, because they don't know how to handle being around her and her silence.

People leave. Or they're taken. Same difference, in the end.

Okay, she signs. Maybe she can do the same thing, and walk along with him while also standing still--? It takes her a minute to get the hang of it. She's motivated, though. It feels important to stay with Clint. No, important isn't exactly the right word. Just ... inevitable. Clint is important in the sense that your hand is important, and just as impossible to leave behind.

This? She hefts the portal gun, braces it with her free hand, aims it at wall beside them, and fires. One of the other portals disappears: the view through the new one is straight down from the ceiling.

[brandingproblem]

This is much more interesting than shopping. He's never even heard of anything like this. Is this some kind of secret Stark R&D facility? Maybe... Teleportation holes feels like that kind of tech.

"So if I were to go through it..." He reaches a hand out. Tentative. His hand crosses the threshold, and he can feel the bizarre change in gravity tugging at his fingers. He laughs a little, incredulous. "I'd land right on my head."

[aperturesubject0001]

Chell tsks, the first audible sound she's made with her mouth.

Sure, if you weren't careful.

Sounds like a skill issue!

It takes some getting used to, she admits. I had a few hard landings. This is communicated with a little pantomime, her hand indicating falling and then smacking the portal gun, along with a boof! sound with her mouth.

At the same time, she's keeping pace with him in New York, glancing around with obvious curiosity. The two-places-at-once thing, like jumping through portals, gets easier with time.

You're from here? NY?

[brandingproblem]

He laughs, to himself on the street and to her in the testing chamber, at her pantomimed falling antics. Yeah, sounds like the whole thing would take some time to figure out. But she did it. And he's impressed. Proud. A little worried, for her being where she is, but...

"It's where I've spent a lot of time, but nah, I'm not from here."

[aperturesubject0001]

Are people rude like that woman was all the time?

Spoken like a true, sheltered Midwesterner. Bless.

[brandingproblem]

"She wasn't rude." Maybe he shouldn't defend the behavior, but that was shockingly polite as far as he's concerned. "I think most people wouldn't bother to say anything, and those who would would be bigger assholes about it."

Though, now that he thinks about it... "You probably don't see many collars where you're at." Both underground laboratory and also midwestern nowhere.

[aperturesubject0001]

Chell looks blank, tugs at the collar of her jumpsuit, and then points at the collar he's wearing with a quizzical look. So is he saying that this isn't a fashion choice ... ?

[brandingproblem]

Oh...oh, she doesn't know about collars at all. Like Will. She's not from here-here.

"Uh." How does he even begin to explain a concept that is so basic and entrenched in everyday life? "Do you have second-class citizens? Third-class? Fourth--like, the lowest kind of citizen."

[aperturesubject0001]

This is, frankly, not a question Chell has put a whole lot of thought into in her life, and it probably shows in her expression. She's heard the term before, back in high school or something, and she casts her mind back to try and remember the context. Sociology wasn't really what she was ever interested in.

Like ... women?

hooboy sorry clint we swear this isn't The Handmaid's Tale but

Or criminals? Oh, she continues, understanding starting to dawn, are you a criminal?

[brandingproblem]

Maybe?? Maybe like women?? "No--not like that, but they could be criminals. Or poor people? Or anyone who isn't able to...I dunno, game the system in their favor, I guess." He's never had to just...explain it. He scratches at his chin and tries not to feel the weight of the metal around his neck.

"So it's kinda frowned on to say slavery..." But it's not not slavery.

[aperturesubject0001]

Chell's eyes widen, startled.

You're--?

Which is when a voice, digitized and vaguely feminine, echoes through her testing chamber.

"Although the Enrichment Center encourages you to find your own unique methods of problem solving, extended periods of inactivity can compromise testing outcomes. Continued failure to proceed in this chamber will be included in your testing record and may result in the introduction of additional incentives. But please. Don't feel pressured. Take your time."