TEST DRIVE MEME #8

[penancemods]

ARRIVAL

You remember a dream.

Or maybe nightmare is more accurate.

It was full of hellfire nipping at your skin and a sensation of being pulled down no matter how much you struggle or cry for help. There's a voice that feels like it's coming from all around you at once. Contrasting with the nightmare unfolding around you, it's smooth as silk. It makes you want to listen with every bit of attention you can muster in the moment.

"Judgement has come upon you, but not to worry. It can still be undone."

The voice promises you redemption for your sins. It promises you a better life and everything you could ever want, if only you just stop struggling so much.

And so you do.


Everyone wakes up in the same room initially. The room is done up in red with a cushy bed, a window, an old TV in the corner on a desk, and a few Hieronymus Bosch paintings lining the wall. There's a bathroom to clean up in and any belongings will be sat around the room to be gathered later. There's a duffel bag provided for your convenience.

After feeling a sensation of falling or dropping onto the bed, characters wake up feeling like they've just slept for a week. Their body will feel heavy and stiff, they'll have a massive headache at first.

They'll quickly notice the list of their sins written with their blood on a bedside table on an old piece of parchment. This will mean the list is tied to them and can't be changed or tampered with. They'll also receive their device to connect with others and the network. It won't be anything terribly fancy. As a matter of fact, it looks like a very old Blackberry type phone.

Once characters are ready to leave the room, they'll head down long, winding halls. They're dimly lit and ominous feeling. They may encounter fellow sinners or demonic staff that will direct the newcomer down to the lobby to get their actual room key to settle in. They may be pushy, they may border on courteous. It really just depends on the mood of the staff at the time and how they're treated in return. Eventually, everyone comes to stairs that lead downward.



Once down to the lobby, you'll notice the front desk manned by a demon who looks bored out of its mind. To the side of him is the door to the kitchen where guests may help themselves. To the right is a small duty free shop that seems to have a surprisingly normal, expected stock of items. Look around a bit further, there will be a tiny bar tucked in through a corner door. It seems pretty well-stocked and best of all, self-serve if you want to get away from your demonic hosts for a bit. Of course there's some seating, bar games, and a jukebox tucked in the corner if you'd rather stay and socialize a bit.

Please note that all the songs on the jukebox are appropriately hell-themed. Hopefully Sympathy for the Devil is universally loved.

STAND YOUR GROUND

Prompt I

The cold is still biting, but the heat is (mostly) working within the hotel and other establishments again. It's enough to take the chill off for the most part. Coats and extra blankets are being passed out to those who need them as well.

Unfortunately, the food shortage that begun a few days ago will continue on for a few more yet! All food will be rotting or covered in maggots and mold, so new and old arrivals alike should probably steer clear of it if they can. If asked, the staff will insist it was entirely unplanned. Totally. Honest.

It will let up before the month is over and then fresh food will more than return! In the meantime, guests are able to bargain for a morsel of food someone else might have hidden back that hasn't rotted or try some of the bizarre fruit sprouting up that ranges in looks from a Durian to Jackfruit.

Just be aware that eating them before they're ripe enough may result in severe nausea and other decidedly not fun issues. Get them when they're perfect though? Unlike their earth counterparts, the insides seem to range from the sweetest, most delicious fruit you've ever had to something that may appear to be human blood and guts to something oddly... pork tasting, and everything in between. Food's food though, right? Don't complain, just eat.

There's increased security around the stables where animals are kept around the hotel, just in case anyone decides to eat Lucifer's prized animals. That will be a firm no. For any guests with pets of their own, there will be small rations of non-spoiled food to feed them, but it has very little nutritional value to humans.

The theatre has also changed the movie lineup to now include: Christmas with the Kranks, The Ref, Jack Frost, Holiday in Handcuffs.

Go forth and enjoy the way the holidays even seem to invade Hell.

The hotel bar's jukebox also seems entirely overrun with horrible festive songs now, pushing holiday shenanigans off the playlist. Try to enjoy it while you get drunk! Or hope someone actually gets up to indulge in karaoke to drown it out. The music has seemed to put the demons in a rather sour mood if anyone bothers to listen to the complaints.

Prompt II

[One day, on the network, sinners will be greeted with Lucifer's face. He'll smile brightly from every phone or computer in Hell, before he speaks:]

I thought it may be fun to include an icebreaker of sorts... Get you lot mingling and bonding with each other before the loneliness eats you absolutely alive. I want there to be something to redeem after all... a shriveled husk of a person is hardly that.

[Lucifer seems to find his own joke amusing at least.]

So, here we go:

What pleasant memories help you through the tough times?

Or alternatively, what are some of your favorite hobbies to distract yourself with?

[Lucifer may not respond, but rest assured that he will eagerly be watching others share their answers and talk amongst themselves]

REACH UP HIGH

Prompt I
Warnings: cutting, blood, torture.

Whether you've been here for months or you're freshly arrived, your demonic overlord expects some participation. You can try and shirk the responsibility, of course. You can bargain your way out of it for a while. But eventually, you may find yourself trapped in a room just off the gym that's been fondly dubbed the torture room. It has all manner of equipment in there, along with an iron maiden even.

But don't worry about any of that right now. It probably won't be used.

You can try the door, but even with super human strength or every lock picking skill in the book, you won't be able to open it.

It soon becomes apparent what you're supposed to do soon enough when someone else is eventually shoved in with you. Both of your lists of sins will appear on a table that's been placed in the center of the room with two handy knives. You can choose to guard these or not care at all that they're on display.

"Know that honesty is a good place to start on your road to redemption. Sure, it can be terrifying at first, but that's why you've been given a partner in this journey. Pick up your knives and carve at least one sin into each other's flesh. Help in the journey to be candid with everyone you should meet here!"

The voice echoes all around you again, just like in the nightmare, and once again there's the pull to give in. This voice really does seem like it has your best interests at heart.

"If you need a bit of encouragement, we'll be giving it shortly."

It isn't a lie or idle threat either. The longer you wait to do what's been requested of you, the more shallow cuts that will appear on both of your bodies. Are you really prepared to endure this pain when giving in would be so much easier?

And more than that, are you willing to let another suffer along with you?

Eventually, the cuts will stop if you suffer them long enough, but you'll have failed this challenge and sustained more damage than if you'd just gone along with it. Satan will also be very disappointed in you.

Prompt II

"I know after such a food shortage, all of you may be eager to overindulge and sate your hunger... or even hold food back, just in case. But this isn't the act of a good person. It isn't how someone who is truly selfless, as my Father desires all of us to be, would act. So I ask all of you to turn to whoever is nearest and simply share what you have. It doesn't necessarily have to be food, but it must be an item or act that will make their lives easier," Lucifer's voice rings out, sudden albeit encouraging and warm as always.

Sharing is caring, apparently. The request seems simple enough, doesn't it? Just share a bit of food or anything else that might seem useful to someone else and you'll have done your good deed for the day! Of course, should the guest ignore this request, they'll find their insides burning. It will grow steadily worse until it becomes unbearable. Nothing a guest drinks or eats to soothe it will help either. These feelings will persist a full night or until they cave and do as requested.

FOLLOW ME DOWN

Prompt I
Warnings: Alcohol and drug abuse, potential non-con/dub-con.

The club, as it turns out, isn't quite ready to give up its party from the previous month, but they have put a new twist on it. As before, once a sinner enters the establishment, they'll be greeted with almost entirely nude (to fully) incubi and succubi servers. Their trays are full of aphrodisiac-laced treats that show no rot, as well as drinks and drugs of all sorts. There are dancers and other performers enticing their audience to stay, and plenty of free stages for sinners to put on their own show. Sex machines, bondage equipment, or toys are freely available for these performances.

Poles, cages, and everything else one could want are also on offer.

But this particular party? It's a bit different. No one is allowed in unless they are appropriately dressed in lingerie. Don't worry if you came overdressed! The demons will helpfully provide it at the door and even offer a room for sinners to change in! If refused, entrance will be denied (forcefully, if necessary). If guests aren't sure what to put on, the staff will be more than happy to choose for them (again, with force if necessary)!

Tonight is about being daring! Never done drugs off someone else before? Now's your chance!

Never even been drunk? Well, just let the demons help take care of that.

It's also about experimentation with something new. This can be someone who is generally outside your usual preferences, an act you'd never considered in a thousand years, to anything else under the sun.

Guests may also know screens set up around the establishment, but oddly enough, they appear turned off for the moment. If asked, the staff assures they will be back as soon as a few kinks are worked out.

Prompt II


A fall festival seems to roll into town one day overnight, and it seems to be centered around the hell fruit that's springing up on lifeless, dead trees. It's bustling with demons of all sorts and will last one week.

There's a tempting wine that's been made out of the fruit that can vary in taste, but seems to be stronger than most other liquor available anywhere else. It tastes so good though... like the forbidden fruit it most certainly is.

While most will feel just drunk off it, others may find it harder and harder to resist. They may selfishly crave more and even develop a desire to hoard it back.

Much like the apple the serpent tempted Eve with, one may find it offers a certain... clarity into one's situation after they've had enough. Knowledge one may not have wanted, but cannot deny any longer.

Or perhaps it simply just makes others entirely too happy, or too horny, or any number of possible ways. Take a sip and find out where the wine leads you!

Other than that, a few vendors are peddling jams and pies made out of the fruits. There are also a few selling items from earth ranging from electronics to clothes to weapons, and anything in between. Some may be selling actual earth animals as well, mostly small ones kept as pets, but they'll insist they make the perfect meal. They even have areas ready to butcher and cook them right then and there for those who are interested in buying.

If sinners decide to save Fido or Mr. Floppy from their ill fates, they should make absolutely certain that they can care for them though. Pets aren't easy and the demons find them more delicious than endearing

There are a few games to play, as well, reminiscent of the earlier carnival. Darts, tests of strength, and even a dunk tank with a demon who yells embarrassing stuff at the guests that seems oddly knowledgeable. How did they know you wet the bed until five? Probably best to not question it.

Besides that, there's a ferris wheel that provides a nice view of your hellish surroundings (that may occasionally breakdown and trap unsuspecting sinners on it for a while). It could be the perfect place to go to get some alone time with that honey of yours though.

It may all seem like a relaxing thing after starving for so long, but those who linger may begin to feel a need to hoard items. Food, weapons, and anything else they can get their greedy little hands on. Perhaps it's still the starvation talking, but sinners may find themselves feeling almost too irritable if anyone tries to take what's theirs. Potentially, this could even extend to possessiveness over other people as well. Oh, well, hopefully sinners will manage to control all those pesky urges!

When the skies darken to what is probably night in Hell, there will be a special fireworks display taking place. They seem almost magic, taking shapes most people wouldn't think possible. One might see Lucifer's face up in the sky once or twice, drawn in brilliant flames. There are blankets to sit out and watch, plenty of wine or warm drinks to go around, and no end in sight.

MISC.
Thanks for joining us for our eighth test drive meme, sinners! Reserves are now open for the upcoming app round on December 1st

If you have questions, comments, suggestions, etc., go here.


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code bases by tricklet

Comments

[smokedout]

Dodger raises a brow at that; all things considered, he almost expected that John would talk about wanting to save them. He likes this answer better.

"If you need a hand, I've got some experience."

Skinning a rabbit can't be too much different from cleaning a fish, or flaying a human. Probably.

"Call it a payment for getting me out of my head."

[conjobs]

Yeah, he's not really a hero. Not the lifesaving type and certainly he believes that a man's gotta eat. That's higher on the priority list than liberating animals that will just make the strain on the sparse food resources worse.

"Yeah?" John's not going to say no to someone offering to do the dirty work for him. Only, he needs to bleed them first.

"If you give me ten minutes and come by mine, you're welcome to give 'em a go."

[smokedout]

A man after Dodger's own heart, truly.

"Sounds like a date." He winks subtly, and before John can say anything else he disappears completely without any trace.

He isn't gone, though, just invisible. He'll be following John out of curiosity, only given away by the very occasional pop noise when he teleports out of the way from something. The invisibility won't mute his sound, or get rid of his scent, but he's well adept at muffling himself and surely, the smell of gasoline is just in John's head.

CW RIP rabbits

[conjobs]

He turns to say something back but then Dodger is gone and John looks around, over the other shoulder just to be sure. That's a big guy to just vanish like that.

Blowing out a sigh and shaking his head, he trudges back to his room, picking up the pace a bit in case Dodger's idea of ten minutes is more like three.

He shuffles quickly into his suite, leaving the doors open as he releases the rabbits onto his bed. They flop down limply, unresponsive as he first moves off to shed his trenchcoat. With his hands free he goes back out to close the doors.

He's got two white rabbits already in a cage on the floor. The two on his bed aren't so lucky. With a quiet sigh he scratches one of their heads with a finger and moves to grab a bowl.

"Sorry love," he apologises quietly. At least he's already rendered them unconscious and he's keen to make it quick and painless. With a quick, firm twist, there's a snap, one and then the other, and he works quickly with a knife to drain them. John doesn't try to refute any assumptions that he's just some deadbeat private investigator nursing an early midlife crisis chasing cheap, unsafe thrills in public loos. But he also happens to be able to leave the knife in midair hovering in perfect balance without it dropping to the floor with a clink. Maybe he's got a part time side hustle as a magician.

In the wardrobe where he goes to hide the bowl, there's well overdue library books about ancient rituals, folklore and other matters related to the occult, next to bottles and bottles of salt, some bones, some feathers, gemstones and playing cards. The blond could be running a New Age store out of his closet but it's probably not that simple.

"...right. Let's get you fellas into the kitchen."

[smokedout]

Dodger stays invisible as he creeps around, inspecting the room and the man carefully. There are rabbits in a cage - so he does like them, he just needs the new ones for something important. He has experience killing them, or at least a strong sense of determination for the task. That knife hangs in midair - a mutant, maybe, but everything else here reeks of the occult.

It isn't until he sees inside that wardrobe that a shiver runs down his spine. He's had some of his own experiences with the occult, and they were never good. Even his own rituals tend to spike his anxiety, just for the memory of how he learned them.

But he can shake it off, for now. He'll just have to keep the man at arm's length, and that's fine. It's fine. He'll just follow John to the kitchen, moving ahead of him just in time to appear seated on the counter, looking as if he had been there the whole time.

[conjobs]

"Whoa. You got here fast mate." Just as well he's rushed through what he needed to do. Holding the lifeless, drooping rabbits by the ears in each hand, John flops them down in front of Dodger. The knife he'd used earlier is suspiciously nowhere to be seen, but as John walks around the kitchen counter to the sink, he turns on the tap and appears to pluck the rather clean, wet knife from beneath the water flow.

"This good enough or you need something sharper?" The enchanted knife looks and feels mundane, it's not like there's any weird vibes or bad auras coming off of it. At least, if there is, John can't feel it. His mere presence might ooze bad juju for all he knows.

cw: gutting/skinning rabbits

[smokedout]

Dodger sure isn't equipped to sense bad vibes - as if he'd listen to his instincts - but he does hesitate to take the knife. An irrational thought crosses his mind, wondering if there's some sort of magical trap on it. But why would there be?

"Should be fine."

He takes it and flips it over in his hand, cocking his head as he inspects it. He's still watching the blade as he picks up one of the rabbits, and working on cutting into its neck. He hasn't worked with a rabbit before, but it's the same basic principle... sliding the knife down its chest and stomach, he moves the rabbit over the sink and sets the knife aside to drag its guts out. Once it's emptied he moves on to push the knife between the skin and muscle, following the grain of the fur and, well, slipping up a few times because there's a big difference between rabbits and fish.

Notably, he doesn't seem to care at all about the blood on his hands. Even when it starts soaking into the gauze covering his wrists, he has the same look as an artist with a drawing pad.

"Got a plan for cooking these?"

Re: cw: gutting/skinning rabbits

[conjobs]

John doesn't read too much into the hesitation. It is wet after all, if anything he's attributing it to not drying it off first.

There's not as much blood as there should be since he's already drained them, but he didn't bleed them dry so at least there's a bit of an illusion that they're mostly intact. He seems rather impressed by the quick work Dodger is making of them, hovering close looking in from the side since Constantine isn't quite tall enough to look over his shoulder. He'd have spent hours himself trying to separate the furry hide from the meat, and probably stabbed his own hand in the process.

"Chop 'em up and chuck the pieces in a stew? What do you reckon?" Quick and easy way to get rid of the evidence.

[smokedout]

He does notice that they aren't exactly pouring blood, but he already knows the reason for it. There's no point in asking questions and making the other man feel awkward, when he doesn't want to know anything about the blood anyway.

"Sounds good to me." He shrugs, "Don't know how to cook, so that's all on you."

The second rabbit gets butchered just as quickly, only taking a few minutes before they're both skinned and he's carved the meat away from the bones. The meat gets piled onto a cutting board, the carcasses go in the sink, and he makes equally quick work of slicing the meat into roughly equal cubes.

"There. All yours."

[conjobs]

John borrows the tap to fill the pot with just half an inch of water and put it on the boil. Come to think of it, he's maybe only cooked two or three times here, more out of sheer laziness and having someone do it for him than anything else. Given how this food shortage has come upon them all too quickly, the blond doesn't think too much of having to put in the work to get a feed, even if he's got company to share it with.

"Ta. So, talk to me, or I'll get performance anxiety," he jokes while he mills around the kitchen throwing the stew together. "Are you a city lad with a passing serial killing interest or did you learn that from experience?" Lord knows he doesn't want to press Dodger for any uncomfortable 'are you okay?' talk. But he doesn't want him sitting there in silence staring at John's bony arse either.

[smokedout]

Dodger moves to go wash his hands, finally pulling off the dirty bandages from his wrists and leaving them carelessly among the rabbit bones. Underneath there are tattoos, along with an intricate pattern of scars that take up both wrists, filling the entire area he normally covers with a houndstooth pattern across his skin. It's healing slowly, but they're clearly very recent - a few weeks, at the most. If he's focusing on it, John may also notice square scars across Dodger's left knuckles, matching where his right hand has letters tattooed on. Apparently he has some experience on the other end of the carving knife.

"Worked as a fisherman for a few years. Started when I was seventeen." He teleports, reappearing in a flash of sparks to perch on the counter next to the stove - best seat in the house for watching him cook. "It's dull ass work, can't recommend it. But it's coming in handy, I guess."

The smell of blood is still in the air, although he's trying to ignore it... he can't help the way his eyes light up when he checks his hands, and the scent of iron is still clinging to them. Maybe it just looks like he's recalling a fond memory.

[conjobs]

It would be a lie to say that the markings don't pique his interest. Many things about Dodger actually do pique his interest. He's like an inquisitive but reckless moth drawn to the air of mystery surrounding the bloke and every little detail he latches onto just brings up more questions, more intrigue.

Of course, he wasn't expecting him to just vanish and reappear, so he almost drops his spoon when Dodger teleports. It- does explain a few things in the cold and sober light of day, but it also made him jump a bit.

"Jesus fffffffuck me," the blond exclaims. That's gotta be handy, but. Seeing as Dodger's still stuck here. Probably not as handy as John imagines it must be.

[smokedout]

Dodger doesn't even blink at the reaction; even people who are used to his teleportation can be startled by the sudden flashes. He just tips his head, watching John with a look as if he's trying to solve a puzzle.

"What about you, what was your day job back home?"

While he talks, he's casually reaching into the pot... fishing out a scrap of rabbit and popping it in his mouth, as if wasn't just in boiling water. If it bothers him, neither his face nor his skin show any signs of it.

[conjobs]

"I... have been travelling, actually." He doesn't go into detail about his time with the Legends. It's not so easy to explain the Waverider and time travel and his own dabbling in and out of his version of hell.

"Suppose you can say I'm a consultant. Investigating... strange things. Things the police can't figure out, you know." Is that too vague? That's probably too vague.

"Hey." John resists the urge to slap that hand. He has zero paternal instincts and he doesn't care so much about people doing whatever they like in the kitchen, but he doesn't want to deal with explosive diarrhoea in his suite. "Don't do that mate, it's probably still raw on the inside."

[smokedout]

"So, what, a private eye?"

There's a bit of distaste in his expression; before he'd come here he'd been bumping shoulders quite a bit with a private investigator, and he'll be very happy when he gets a chance to beat her head in with a baseball bat.

He shrugs off the warning, continuing to chew the scrap of rabbit. "Already died of food poisoning, I can take a second one."

[conjobs]

"Something like that." Only he's just as likely to be the one sleeping with the supposedly cheating spouse as he is to catch them in the act.

John busies himself stirring the stew together, adding some basic herbs and thickening the gravy. He tends to keep it simple, hearty. None of that fancy stuff. He's not really a fancy sort of bloke.

"'ow many times 'ave you died?" John asks unapologetically. Since they're on the subject, he's feeling a little bolder talking about it.

[smokedout]

"Who is John Galt." Whatever he means by that, it seems to be the only answer he's giving to the death question.

While he watches John cook, Dodger takes out a pack of cigarettes and selects one. He snaps his fingers to tip their tips on fire, and lights his cigarette before waving the flames away. After a pause, he offers one to John as well, and he'll light it for him if he takes it.

"What about you, you died before?"

[conjobs]

That's-... not really an answer? At least, not a straightforward one with a number that John was expecting. The blond is no stranger to a few unhealthy self-destructive tendencies but Dodger's obsession or propensity towards death is something else.

He gladly takes one of the proffered cigarettes and leans in close to light it. John takes his time puffing on it before breathing out a contented sigh, over his shoulder away from the food.

"Not yet. Been on long walks upstairs 'nd downstairs though." As in, heaven and hell. His version, at least.

[smokedout]

He raises a brow at that, but he'll take it as an answer. Someone who can do magic, and has been to heaven and hell... that's interesting, but he can't think of what to do with that information.

"Downstairs... was it like this? In your world?"

Not like Dodger knows what the afterlife is like in his world, he can't compare. Somehow, miraculously, he never got himself killed there.

[conjobs]

"No. It's uh..." John tilts his head over the pot and waves a wooden spoon around in mid-air absently, trying to think of how to describe it because it shares much more similarities than differences. "More city-like, y'know. Wee bit grimy and smoggy, few different folk, but otherwise. Just another night out on the town." Where everyone happens to hate him. Not too different from the kinds of places John would choose to live in, apart from the fact that he'd rather be loved or at least go about a little more incognito, which might come as a surprise to some.

"This is uh. Bit more fire and brimstone and all the rest of it. I'm sure you've seen the paintings and read the scriptures." It's not all that common for him to run into someone who doesn't at least have a concept of going upstairs or downstairs depending on whether you're on the naughty list or not.