TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025

[thediadem]

Test Drive ∞ May 2025

The First Collision

©

Jump ⇅ :: Arrival — Panorama — Fringes — Invite Request

The Diadem is an invite-only panfandom game set in a retro-futuristic world where uprooted souls find themselves deep within an eerie wasteland of roads and highways frequently assailed by cosmic storms. Three united strongholds keep the population. Its capital is Panorama, a large metropolis at the planet's center.

Soon, you realize you aren't alone. Calling themselves fluxdrifts, the "locals" have similar stories to you, either for themselves or their ancestry. You speak to an old woman who claims she hailed from another star. You meet a young man who says his great-great-grandfather knew a strange language everybody spoke "back home." As you explore, you stumble across a coin you recognize or your sister's locket. How did it get here? What does this mean? That's for you to discover.

But first, you need to find a ride.

No invites needed to play on the TDM. Everyone's welcome! Use the Invite Request thread below to request an invite from another player.

∞ Summary ∞

IC-wise, arrivals are scattered throughout the month. Events described on the TDM are also ongoing throughout the month. If you'd rather jump right into the action, you're free to begin in media res with your character having already been on the planet for several days.

Post-impact, characters will wake up in a med tent by the Scrapyard. From there, they must accept a vehicle on loan and make the 2-hour drive to the nearest city, Panorama. If they refuse the car because they don't want the loan, they'll be in debt for medical bills instead...so just take the car. It'll come in handy.

Some things to keep in mind when bringing in your character:

• Pick an injury. At minimum, they got knocked out; at most, whatever they can recover from. Medicine is decently advanced so they'll heal faster if not painlessly.
• Decide items kept. Reasonable items on their person only: photos, keys, clothes, costumes. No pets or animal companions. Wildly out-of-place tech and personal cell phones will be damaged beyond repair.
• Select a weapon. Do this only if eligible. Guidelines about weapons and powers are on the FAQ.
• Choose a vehicle. Decide whether your character gets 2-3 options or if they're stuck with something they hate. Players can pick directly from our collection or source their own images. Anything under a similar aesthetic will work. If your character needs accommodations for driving, they can have them. Ask us for details.
• Get a phone. Characters have to obtain a phone (and a SIM card) themselves. If they've got one from home, it's damaged beyond repair. Phones are cheap. It'll only take a couple of weeks to afford one. You need to know the number before you text or call anyone. Read about phones and the Forum before you hop on it.

TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.

TDM Questions? Here — Game Questions? FAQ

Setting — Taken — Reserves — Applications ::: ⇅ Top

Fluxdrift

Arrival & Introduction

Date: Throughout May

You've tumbled over a cliff. You were fighting for your life. You're on the cusp of death. You slipped in the shower. Whatever the catalyst, you struggle to cling to consciousness. As darkness overtakes you, a swirling vortex warps light and shadow in a way that defies all physics. A dark wail etches into your very bones. You couldn't describe it if you tried. You can barely comprehend what it is.

Then you open your eyes.

Through the figure's mask ©, you swear the face is grinning down at you. The tent you're in smells of antiseptic, and scratchy blankets line your cot. Injuries you've sustained have been bandaged. In the corner, you spot a MedBot that's fixed you up. Depending on the extent of your injuries, the doctor on duty might give you some painkillers before you go. Thankfully, your belongings are by the exit. Sorry if anything's damaged. Your landing was pretty rough.

You follow the figure outside. They are Yom Crook, here to lend a hand to fellow fluxdrifts like yourself. Their car's parked beside them. Actually, there are lots of cars around, but Yom Crook's stands out with its painted shark mouth. They explain they found you, unconscious, in a diffusion zone and brought you here. The nearest city is a 2-hour drive northeast. Forget about walking. You'll never make it. Also, you owe the doctor a lot of money for patching you up. But you're in luck: they've got some wheels for you and if you accept the vehicle on loan, Yom Crook will cover your medical bills. That's a good deal, right? It's not the shiniest car or motorcycle, but it'll do. If fortune favors, you'll get to choose between two or three options. Plus, if you need accommodations to drive—like adjustments to your seat height or modified controls—you'll receive all that for free.

Take the vehicle. (And the loan.) Yom Crook assures you that you'll have six months before collectors come around. Any time you're ready to pay a part of it down, return here to the Scrapyard. You'll get a receipt and everything. Paying off the loan in six months isn't impossible, but it will take a lot of work. Just don't get too lax. There's a good chance you'll be juggling multiple loans as you try to get by.

You either know how to drive, or you'll have a bare-bones manual to get you started. Road rules are more a suggestion than enforced, so just hit the pedal and go. The car has some basic features. The built-in compass will help you navigate.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: a flat tire; a body on the road (is it a trap?); a fender bender

⇅ Top

Panorama

Explore & Settle In

Conditions: Warm spring temperatures, light showers

After 2 hours on the road, you find civilization. The largest of the strongholds, Panorama is where the economy thrives. Massive power plants glowing red make it visible from a distance. The city is divided into three districts. For now, you can access the Pavilion and the Blocks. Don't worry about the Sanctum; they're not letting you in.

You only need to know two things about Panorama: 1) it's big, the size of a modern metropolis, and you'll need your car to get around; 2) anything goes as long as you don't pick a fight with the wrong person. Street smarts will get you far. Despite its geographical size, the population isn't huge. With roughly a million people in a city designed for over twice that number, Panorama is far from deserted, but nor is it overcrowded. It's a good thing. Resources are limited as it is.

The Pavilion: Free Samples

©

Like any large city, Panorama features a couple of supermarkets. The stock's not as consistent as a proper supermarket. On occasion, shelves can remain cleaned out for a week or two. Regardless, the long tradition of free samples remains. If you're not already shopping, you'll notice the crowded parking lot and clusters of lines inside.

Try samples, push through the crowds as you shop, or give yourself a five-finger discount. If you're cautious, you can pocket a few small items without consequences. The Pavillion doesn't have the infrastructure for surveillance; unless someone sees you, you won't be caught. Steal from the store or pilfer someone's wallet. Maybe you even make a new friend if you bump into another fluxdrift. Or, start a fight with somebody who cut you off in the cheese line. Don't make too much of a ruckus, or you'll be thrown out.

As you look around, you'll see posters advertising temporary positions for the cash register or graveyard shifts in the warehouse. Seems they might've lost several employees recently (how'd that happen?), which is good for you! It's just a 6-week position, but it'll get you on your feet. The city has temporary positions like this all over. Permanent ones are harder to come by when you're new.

Samples include: steamed cabbage dumplings, synthetic cherry juice, cheddar cheese, and chocolate-covered alien eggs (it's crunchy and weirdly tasty). They're served in the usual throwaway paper cups with little toothpicks.

The Blocks: Power Outage

©

Power's finicky in Panorama, especially in the Blocks. Saint Margery's Hospital, located in the same area, has priority for power so the first to go are the motels. Maybe you've been in your room for a couple of weeks, maybe you just got here—and by the way, every motel desk is happy to put the fee on your tab if you don't have the money upfront—but all the motels on the east side are in a blackout, leaving only the west side motels up and running.

What do you do? You have three choices:

• Risk leaving your room and head to the other side where there's power. Knock on some doors and negotiate with another to share the room. They might shut the door in your face, ask for a favor in return, or be nice enough to help you with no strings attached. There's no guarantee your unattended room will be untouched, though, and you'll be on the hook for any damages an intruder causes.
• Sit in the dark and deal. It's not the worst idea, but the TV's down, the vending machines are powered down, and with the entire place plunged into darkness, you risk getting robbed. If you struggle with defending yourself, you might want to find some trustworthy company. You can also sneak out of there and let them take your leftover pizza. It's not like you've got a ton of valuables, right? Plus, clobbering someone in the face with a frying pan sounds great until you realize you've gotta do something with the body. And what if this person's got a friend waiting?
• Get in your car and drive (or grab a friend for a road trip). If you scroll the Forum, you might notice reports on diffusion zones southward. Besides, these motels are hardly your forever home. The city can only provide so much. Why not go for a ride and see what you can find out there?

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: clean up on aisle 3 (what is that goo?); a knock at your door but no one's there; you hear screaming or a commotion down the hall

⇅ Top

©

The Fringes

Quad 3: Lockdown

Conditions: Stormy, with flooding roads

Felix Bjurstrom
> Date: 125-05-17
> Time: 02:15:57

> Emergency road lights have been reported in Quadrant 3! Please, can someone go see what's there? When last we chasers investigated emergency lights, a whole truck filled with sour candy had tipped over. Our stores were stocked for weeks! Oh, be careful - reception looks bad in that zone.

Whether you end up here on your own or you were following a tip on the Forum, the outcome is the same: you come to a stop in front of a 2-story office building that's flooded several inches deep. Emergency lights from a roadblock flicker through the stormy night. Stepping out of your car, you're soaked within seconds. When you check your phone, you don't have any bars. No calls in or out.

Through the open windows, a computer awakens and displays a cheerful smile. The lights inside switch on.

Pick your scenario role below. Your thread partner doesn't need to take the opposite role! They can join you in the same scenario (i.e. trapped together). Players are also free to create a generic NPC for the other side to facilitate the thread.

After characters escape, they'll find one bottle of antibiotics in their pocket or car, whether they remember taking it or not.

A: Sealed In
As you peer through the windows, you see crates of medicine floating around. Antibiotics in the diadem are valuable. Hospitals and doctors are always buying. You can keep it for yourself or make a quick buck. Or maybe you're compelled to help somebody back in the city who's in need. Whatever the reason, you decide to take the risk and step inside.

Water splashes around your ankles. The lock buzzes behind you. If you try to break the windows, you discover they're unnaturally resistant to shattering. With the whole place locked tight, the water begins to churn. Then the computer lights up again.

Warning, it flashes in large, bold text. Quarantine in progress. Release code required for exit.

• To find the code, you'll have to search. Duck under the water, go through sopping envelopes and sticky notes or pick the locks on the filing cabinets and desk drawers. You can also try hacking the computers. Use your computer knowledge or fall back on the age-old trick of seeing who wrote down their password.
• The files, notepads, and emails start innocuous, but as you look through them, disturbing phrases jump out at you—a dark thought you've had or a cruel taunt from someone in your past. The longer you're fixed on the terrible words, the higher the water begins to rise. Only another can break you out of your trance.
• With the rising water comes fear. And the more you're afraid, the more the water also rises. You begin to see faces in the water, bobbing like balloon heads. Do you recognize them? If you move to take a closer look, they will sink back beneath the surface as if never there.
• If you manage to swallow your panic, you can eventually find a triple-laminated binder with the release code and instructions. Bad news: you need someone on the outside to punch in the 6 strange symbols in order. The instructions explain that the code panel is located at the back of the building.

Let's hope a friendly face comes along.

B: Set Free
As you peer through the windows, you see not just the crates of medicine but someone trapped inside. They look like they might be in trouble, and from your vantage point, you notice that the water is bubbling strangely. It's definitely not normal rainwater. As you watch, the water rises unnaturally, stopping and starting. It's as if the water level is responding to an external stimulus.

• The glass is soundproof. You can't hear what the person inside is saying, so you'll have to communicate with each other another way. Try charades, typing on your phone, or whatever you think of. Eventually, you determine that they're stuck and that you need to enter some sort of code onto a pad located—according to your trapped partner—at the back of the building.
• Around the back, shadows swallow your surroundings. The panel must be pried open, but a slippery substance makes it hard to get a good grip. Each time the substance touches you, you grow uneasy. You swear you see eyes watching you, though when you turn around, nothing's there.
• You can't seem to keep the instructions in your mind. And those symbols...they burn into your retinas. Through them, you glimpse an incomprehensibly massive figure unfurling in the darkness, pulsing as if in a deep sleep. When you snap back to reality, you realize you've injured yourself, slicing your hand on a sharp edge or a bruise you can't remember getting.
• Once you manage to release the doors, the water inside the office drains upward into the sky as though sucked out by a giant hose. The darkness spreads. Get out of there fast before the shadows drag you or your partner into the void.

Of course, you don't have to help anyone. You can leave the individual there, make a deal, or outright extort them. But remember, you're not the only person on these roads. You might want to play your cards carefully, even if altruism isn't your first instinct.

Main Navigation ::: ⇅ Top

Comments

[carmesi]

( it's a darkness that she knows lives inside her, but she's managed to, so far, not look directly at. it's impossible to look away, now that it's right in front of her, and it terrifies her.

of course there is loneliness in her, too. a vast ocean rages inside her, with uncontrollable waves, pulling her under with every break. she can never keep herself upright, she can never fully ever be safe from this grief that permeates her entirely. right now, the darkness spills underneath her, the depths of her ocean of grief black, as this thing comes to eat her whole.

just as bob, back in the real world, holds onto her arm, the magic she doesn't know she has reacts—lashes out against the void and its attempt to swallow her whole. red spills out of her, and wanda screams, only to be shoved away—

into a different place altogether; a smaller space, a room. the small room she and her brother shared in the old school-turned-orphanage; one of the very last places she ever felt safe in. wanda is coughing, panting, as if she was forced to drink too much water in one go. one her hands and knees, she tries to catch her bearings, and there's a hand holding onto her arm.

but it's gonna be okay.

she glances up. a name pops into her mind, strings of her telepathy haywire, catching onto so much without her wanting it to. )

B..ob? What's...

( all this? )

[didthedishes]

[ The darkness encroaches, crawls up her ankles like a famished, loving embrace. But when she's launched away from this memory, this place, they follow and something in the Void's eyes harden and flare as he tries to give chase before before flung backwards. He lets out a scream that reverberates around the concrete buildings watching enraged as he's left behind.

Inky blackness shifts like jagged static over Bob's face and he feels it, gripped momentarily by the bitter acridness of a mark lost. But it happens in tandem with Wanda's chaos and he yells – confused, terrified – causing his grip to tighten around her arm through the ridiculous looking costumed tentacle. He knows the feeling of drowning and falling into the depth all too often well but he can't, he can't. He can't allow it to happen here to all of these people who have no idea what he carries with him. Panic bubbles up in his throat as he fights to stay here, stay present, stay Bob but the pull of something else that tastes like loneliness and pain and loss clashes and mingles with a yearning that would be so easy to be swept away in.

But then he hears his name and the world quiets. And the tether still between them has her name spelled out for him in his mind's eye too. He doesn't want to talk about what just happened because he doesn't really know what happened even if the feeling of discomfort clings to him like an ill-fitting shirt. Finally he releases his hold on her swallowing and shaking but trying to still his racing heart. ]

...Wanda? A-a-are you okay? [ And then he glances around them. The room is unfamiliar. But the clothes he wears are. ] Where are we?

[carmesi]

( later, she'll wonder how he got her name. later, she'll wonder about why he is here at all. right now they have a bigger problem. why are they not in the backroom of the store?

(unbeknownst to them, her dormant chaos magic and the void left quiet inside bob are not a good combination, feeding off each other.)

she finally glances around, to the old bedroom she once occupied with her brother. with some effort, she stands, moves away from bob and goes to the bedside table, picking up some toys that belonged to pietro—a toy race car, a plastic horse figurine. )

I... lived here before, after the bombings, with my brother.

( taking the toy race car into her hand, she turns back to bob; her hand curled into a fist, holding it fast against her chest, nervous and anxious. her eyes are bright, brimming with tears. her voice breaks when she speaks, so different from when they were in the store, her annoyance and steadiness clear. )

I don't — know what's... what's happening...

[didthedishes]

[ In hindsight the question about where they are is a stupid one. Despite having very little recollection (read: none) of what he had done, he had had no reason not to believe the Thunderbolts when they had recounted the damage he'd done to the city. Nor did he have any reason not to believe them when they gave him a full run down of what he was capable of. The last fourteen months had been as much about working on his mental state as it had been about self-discovery.

All of which is to say he knows why they're here and how they're here but there's something distinctly off about this place. Like some part of him knows this isn't just something he can chalk up to an accident or even something he'd done purely on his own accord. Because how had he learned Wanda's name? This isn't a memory. This is an empty room. One that is nonetheless precious and important to her.

Confused and worried he remains sat on the floor trying not to slip down the slippery slope that this is his fault. Again. And it would be easy to let himself sit here and fester in that feeling were it not for the fact that Wanda turns around right when she does. Bob snaps back to his senses. He can't let himself do that. Not when she looks as frightened as he does. ]

Uh, I, [ He scrambles to his feet looking very much like a newborn foal though he very much keeps his distance between them. ] I know it's scary. And it might be my fault. I'm not sure. But I've been here - well not here before, but we can find a way out. Together.

[carmesi]

( his fault?

bob doesn't walk towards her, but wanda does, closing the distance between them. she holds onto his arm with her free hand, feeling the soft sweater under her fingers.

this place — it scares her. not because of what room they're in, because of in its entirely. it doesn't feel stable; it feels like something, someone, is looking for them, and wanda doesn't like not having the control right now. if this is something that might be his fault, wanda can't help but wonder if it's something that he control through his mind, some kind of power. )

How do we get out?

[didthedishes]

[ Wanda being the one to close the distance comes as a shock and it shows plainly on his face. Bob's eyes widen with a spark of something that can only be described as panic as his body inadvertently tries to keep the distance only to be held firmly in place by the soft grip she has on the sleeve of his sweater.

This is not usual for him. To be the one who is less scared, the one with a little more of the answers than someone else who is probably more capable than him. It takes him a moment stumbling over his tongue as he tries to recount how to get out (the memories are fuzzy perhaps by design and frankly he's working on second hand information). ]

There's different rooms. [ And suddenly, where there hadn't been a door before, there is now. Will it be safe though? They can't stay here forever. Which means there's only one way to find out. He looks to her for quiet confirmation before walking the short distance to the door. ] We just have to find one that leads us back out.

[carmesi]

( why are there rooms, and what's keeping them from just leaving? what caused this, in the first place? the sharp edges of the race car sting against the soft skin of the palm of her hand.

as he starts walking, she lets go of his arm, but walks close by. it's the closet door of this room, and wanda reaches out for the knob, turning it, and pushing the door open.

it's dark at first, and she moves to stand behind him. because, even if it's dark, she can already tell what it is; faint lights illuminate the falling snow, the dust that settles. are they really forced to step into the bombed apartment where she lost her parents? debris atop a couch cover the bodies of her parents, and wanda's not ready to face this.

(darkness draws closer, at every open scar, at every ounce of desperate loneliness, hurt and pain.) )

...a different door...

( she says with a shaky, quiet voice.

but there is no other door, and there's one across the other room. )

[didthedishes]

[ Bob unfortunately doesn't have the answers to these questions - but he wishes he did. That there's still so much unknown to him about himself and his powers gnaws at the self-doubt and low self-esteem he's been battling his entire life. And while a part of him wants to know more (knowledge is power, or so he's read in one of the countless books he's read over the last several months) the knowledge is equal parts terrifying.

There's no denying that it would be useful here though.

So without really knowing, what else is there left to do? They have to press on. He has to try to be brave. He has to help this stranger - Wanda - out because she had helped him first. His eyes take in the scene before them and flickers of memory (her memory) overlay what he sees: rubble falling, terrified children, the sounds of despair echoing around them so loud that it would have been impossible to drown it out. For what is not the first time, he wishes that there was a way for him to prevent this - this being having people relive less than pleasant parts of their past - but the only way he knows how is by finding a way out.

Well, finding a way out and staying by her side. Pulling the sleeve of his sweater over his hand he holds it out to her. ]

We'll find one. I know there's one in here somewhere, even if it's not something you'd think would be a door. We might have to bust through some rubble but...

[ They can cross that bridge when or if they get to it. There's a pause. ]

We don't have to talk about this either.

[carmesi]

( wanda looks down at his offered hand, the sweater that covers it just to avoid the physical contact. it's not because of her, but because of him, and something inside her caves in at the realization that he's putting on a brave face for her, that he's trying so hard to help.

it robs her of any hesitation she might have in taking hold on his hand, squeezing tightly. )

Thank you.

( though she speaks in a whisper, she holds his hand so very tightly, needing him to know that she appreciates this. that she knows they're both scared, and she appreciates, infinitely, how much he is doing for the both of them.

there is a door in the broken apartment of her childhood, just across all the destruction, so she just has to be a little brave herself, too. )

I — I can do it.

( walk through this traumatic memory, find a door out. so long as he doesn't let go of her hand. )

[didthedishes]

[ Through the fabric his fingers curl around hers reassuringly. And he hopes that that will be enough to distract from the the slightest lift of his lips and the whirl of worry in his gaze. ]

You can. I know you can.

[ The source of his worry doesn't have anything to do with his disbelief in her. Rather, it has far more to do with not knowing what lies on the other side of any of these doors. His memories of 14 months ago were hazy still, but he can recall the feeling of confusion and uncertainty. Of just wanting to find a safe place. He recalls that he had been ready to let himself stay in those rooms forever - until Yelena and the others had come for him.

He has no idea where these doors will lead. But he knows that if they're together then it will be better than being alone. And still holding her hand tight, he leads them out of her childhood bedroom. ]

[carmesi]

( and into the apartment where the stark industries warhead had decimated her life in an instant. sound of gunfire, of more explosions, of confusion and shouts ring around them, just outside the apartment. that infernal ticking of the remaining bomb on the rubble, a source of nightmares for wanda as a kid, rings ever so loudly.

but there's a door, she remembers, the front door that leads out of the apartment.

hand holding tightly onto bob's, wanda tugs him towards it, forcing herself to not look anywhere else but there. the knob turns as laughter from the broken tv screen playing a glitched sitcom scene bursts forth, and they're tossed out and through—

a warm, red velvet envelopes them, as they float momentarily, between rooms, and wanda gyrates to grab onto bob, wrap her arms around him because she's scared of the darkness beneath the red. but while the dark, the void seeks to keep them there, the red of her magic (this, something she doesn't know) seeks to expel them from this mindscape.

and that much keeps wanda and bob from experiencing any further than those two rooms.

she reels back into the real world, in the back room of the store, and looks up at bob, looking halfway ridiculous with his octopus suit, like nothing happened between then and now. her hand is still on his (sweaty) arm, but nothing else happens, even as she keeps the physical contact. her magic, unknown to her, working on overdrive to keep them both from fading back into the nightmare. )

...are you okay?

( perhaps he was about to ask her that, but. )