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TEST DRIVE ∞ May 2025
Test Drive ∞ May 2025
The First Collision
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.
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:
TDM threads can be canon if characters are accepted. Top-levels made to the TDM should be open to all.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
> 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.
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.
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.
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.
Main Navigation ::: ⇅
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no subject
Drive fast, follow me. You understand? [ He slams the door shut. By the time he's kicked his bike into gear, the glass is beginning to crack, spiderwebs forming across its thin surface. He doesn't wait around to see it break, just takes off with a glance back to make sure she's behind him.
And yeah, sure, he's never met her before, doesn't know who she is, but none of that crosses his mind, the facts and logic of it. He's just thinking: she was in trouble, he could tell she was freaking out—that stutter in her heartbeat and her breath—and that meant the choice was obvious. High chance she might not even follow him; wouldn't blame her if she'd rather go off on her own than trust a stranger who showed up outta nowhere. But he can hear her car behind him as they speed down the empty highway. The diner fades into the distance. He aims north where Panorama sits. A pick-up passes the opposite way, a few motorcycles. Nobody who gives them trouble. Eventually, they pause for a break outside a well-lit spa that's got a holographic poster in the window. ETERNAL BEAUTY, it promises. The place looks deserted. He doesn't go inside, doesn't wanna risk what might be lurking, but he does pull up beside her car and taps on her window to ask if she's still okay.
She is.
They're not so far from the city they can't make it back in couple hours. He's not sure where she's been staying, though he figures, like the rest of them, she's just been grabbing whatever room's available that's least shitty. He ends up stopping in front of a corner store that straddles a midpoint between the Pavillion and the Blocks. ]
You good now?
no subject
she's sure she ends up nodding, somewhere along the way. something that cements the fact she hear what he's saying. the door slams shut and Karen sits up in her driver's seat, shakily putting the keys in the ignition and the truck roars to life. she hears a crack, and when she looks up, the glass is cracking, spreading across the panes, and the man's motorcycle roars to life.
karen punches the gas and skids a bit as she books it out of the parking lot, holding her breath as her eyes glance to the rear view mirror a few too many times as they speed away. she doesn't know where they're going, and it's a bit of a ways into the drive - when her heart rate finally starts to slow, when her breathing starts to feel normal - that she realizes how dangerous this could be. she doesn't know this man, doesn't know anything about this place, and he could easily be leading her into a trap. that would make sense, wouldn't it? one person goes out to try and save the idiots who don't know better than to go searching through abandoned buildings, save them from whatever monsters are there, lead them away somewhere where the rest of their gang is waiting...
she slows down at some point, but she's not yet sure if that's just because the adrenaline is fading or if she actually considering veering off somewhere else, even if she doesn't know where she would go.
it's right around then there he pulls them off in front of what looks like some kind of spa. karen feels... honestly, Karen feels exhausted - the combination of everything finally weighing on her on top of a tense drive. when she puts the car in park and exhales for what feels like the first time since they left the diner, the tap on the window ends up making her jump, and then smile, apologetically. she's fine. it's fine.
and then he takes her into the city - this city, panorama, that everyone had been talking about back at the medical tent. karen feels a little like she had a couple years back, when she's first driven her car into new york - overwhelmed, alone, lost. the man pulls his bike off to a corner store and comes to a stop, and Karen pulls in right behind him, her eyes up to the buildings that somehow look just similar enough, though unsettling. off. she puts the truck in park and finally opens her door, looking around.
you good now? her attention turns back to him, and Karen realizes she is getting the first actually look at this man since the diner. he's tall, built, looks like someone who would know what he's doing around here... she lets out a breath, the exhaustion clear in the set of her shoulders.
is she good? no. but that's not really what he's asking. ]
Yeah- [ not convincing, but oh well. ] Thank you, by the way. For... everything.
no subject
But she looks damn lost, too. That's the first thing he notes when he gets a clear look at her.
Logan straddles the Harley. He oughta go. He got her here in one piece. Whatever happens next, he's sure as hell not her babysitter. He's got his own people to look after. Charles. The others. Plus lately, humans haven't been high on his list to lend a hand to. Wasn't always that way, though. There used to be good ones. It took being with the X-Men for him to really understand that, but there did. First ones wiped out, too.
Funny thing is, this world hasn't put him into pure survival mode the way he's sure it must've for some others. He's only gotta watch his back a normal amount. He can walk into a diner and get a cup of coffee. Nobody cares who or what he is. No anti-mutant graffiti blasted over walls and billboard.
Never thought he'd say this, but he misses being able to hide in plain sight. Here, he can do that. For now. Maybe that's the reason he caves into the part of him that wants to keep helping her. ]
I'll take you the rest of the way.
[ To the motels, he means. Just to keep any assholes off her tail 'til she's indoors. It doesn't occur to him she's brand new to these parts. Hasn't even been to the Blocks, never mind gotten herself a room. ]
no subject
for a nightmare, even just for a dream, this is pretty out there. pretty...insane, even for her. but who knows.
still - from what she can see of the city, it doesn't feel impossible. dangerous, sure. just as any big urban center will be. she's carried her pistol on her since she moved to new york for a reason, and that is something she can handle. whatever it was that had made that noise back at the diner? that is. something else.
the man from the diner is still sitting on his harley, and doesn't look like he plans on getting off. karen notices him watching her and suddenly feels a little... naive. young. I'll take you the rest of the way. and it dawns on karen she hadn't even realized there was further to go, that they weren't even there yet. ]
You don't have to. [ she says, initially, before something in her shoulders deflates. ] But I'd appreciate it, if you did. [ her eyes go back to the skyline, the buildings, the weird flashes of neon lights. it's not even night, but the color pops stick out to her as she slides her hands into the pockets of her jacket, just sort of... watching. for another second.
it just all feels a little too impossible. beyond impossible, almost. karen knows she has to keep putting one foot in front of the other. even when faced with what almost feels like some eighties gritty sci fi set.
another moment, and then she turns - fully - back towards him, and her own car. one foot in front of the other. ]
I'm Karen.
no subject
He keeps expecting her to turn down his help, and she keeps accepting it. It's...hell, he doesn't know. Surprising, that's all. This place doesn't exactly lend itself to trust. Neither does he. But she followed him for miles, hasn't really asked who he is or where he came from. How he could take on a bunch of shadowy freaks without a scratch to show for it.
Yeah. Alright. He can do that. Still, they've also been riding for three hours straight. Figures they could use a break, since she's out of her car as it is.
So he shuts off his engine and leans back against the bike. His arms fold across his chest, ankles crossed. Karen, huh? ] Logan. Where're you stayin'?
[ And what the hell was she doing out there this late? Exploring? Looting? She doesn't seem the type to do looting runs. Doesn't seem the type to head out in the middle of the night, either. ]
no subject
and sure, maybe she should be more suspicious. maybe she should turn down the help of someone she's never met before, who just showed up and survived whatever creatures had very nearly killed her only a couple of hours into this whole thing. but the truth is- karen doesn't know if she has that freedom here. doesn't know if she can afford to turn it down. and there's something about this man - logan, his name is logan - that she recognizes. that she can't really ignore.
he didn't have to help her. and he did. and now he's brought her all the way back to civilization, the city, and- well. the longer she's here, the more she is starting to realize that risk taking might be necessary. required even. and logan feels like a risk she can take.
maybe she is still a little out of it - she hadn't even realized how much she's just been standing there, how he had been sitting on his bike, ready to leave, and she just didn't notice. it's not until he parks his bike and stands up off it, leans back against the seat and crosses his ankles, that she picks up on the fact she's just kind of been hovering. processing. (she needs to not be in that truck for a minute.) ]
Staying? [ her eyes glance back to the skyline, then return to logan. she shrugs. ] Um... I don't know. Is there somewhere I should be going? They only told me to head to the city.
[ and here they are. only one wrong turn and a diner full of nightmare creates later. ]
no subject
Jesus. Alright. He glances between her, the store, the lights that cast a permanent halo around the city's grime. Despite the late hour, it's not quiet. Not as busy as during the day, but there are people on the streets, some wasted jackass shouting from a rooftop somewhere. The rumble of too many engines.
He prefers his quiet. But he's spent enough time drifting through cities, too. ]
Cheap hotels are east. Shopping's out west. And whatever's over the gates north, I don't know. [ When he's better settled, he'll check it out. See if it's really all they say it is or if there's more to it. He studies her for a second longer. His brows wrinkle.
Ah, fuck it. ]
C'mon. You're gonna need some stuff. Those rooms haven't got shit in them.
[ Store's open 24/7 for a reason. Logan tugs on the door, pauses when it won't budge, and then pushes it in instead. The overhead bell chimes. The clerk behind the counter ignores them. Fine by him. The shelves are no different from anywhere else in this place, a mishmash of items that must've been looted outside the city. Or maybe from inside the city. Who the hell knows? Somebody's made a bit of effort to clean off the bottles, at least, but he can still glimpse the mud and dirt on some of them.
From the back of a shelf, he digs out a semi-squished tube of toothpaste. He offers it to her. Hey, she's gotta get started somewhere. ]
no subject
probably not.
logan glances from her to the city, and she gets the feeling he's considering something. maybe whether or not to tell her the best places to stay, maybe there's some glaring difference in neighborhoods. maybe he's going to turn back to her and tell her that her best chance is back on the road, in which case karen will really need to evaluate her chances here. on what's ahead. there's something comforting about the city lights and the distance, the distant echo of voices. people. and while people also bring in other complicates, other dangers, it's also...
she'll take whatever the city holds over what they saw out in that diner any day. ]
Don't know as in haven't checked? Or there's something going on? [ even now, as exhausted and unsteady she feels, there's something in the way he says that that piques her curiosity. but no- now is time to focus, cheap motels, shopping. it feels a little strange for those to be the things he points out in a city this large, but she supposes there's a reason.
she doesn't expect an answer, but it does have her attention - if only for a few moments. enough that by the time he says c'mon she has to blink herself back to the conversation, to the fact he's pushing up off the bike and heading towards the store, and- ]
I don't have- [ money, she wants to say. but then she cuts herself off, glancing at the car she has on loan and the street around them, on the reminder that she probably shouldn't just be saying this aloud. so instead she bites her lip and follows him to the door, waiting for him to figure out the push, and can't stop herself from the quirk of her lips it brings as they step inside.
they head down an aisle, and Karen takes in everything she can - the bare shelves, the dirt, the selection of items for sale. it's no fancy manhattan grocer, but she supposes it's better than nothing at all. she stops somewhere midway down an aisle, trying to read the packaging on something that looks like...cereal? before she notices him reaching into the back of a shelf to pull something out. ]
You really don't have to do this. [ she mutters, watching him pull out a semi-squished tube of toothpaste. her eyes go from the toothpaste, to him, before she takes it from him with a small smile. ] Thanks.
no subject
He wants to figure out if he broke the universe.
And apparently, what he's also doing is helping Karen buy toothpaste. Logan shrugs when she says he doesn't have to. Nah, he doesn't. But something in him won't let him leave her by herself without a scrap to her name. He doesn't think about it too deeply. She's got a look that says she could desperately use a hand but would probably grit her teeth and take care of shit alone if she's gotta. Something about that makes him stick around. Besides, she's...
Nice, is the word his brain fills in, but that's not entirely it.
Anyway. ]
So, [ he leans against a pillar while she browses, ] where were you before?
[ You know, before she landed on a dusty highway. So far, nobody's he's run into has been completely alien, but Karen is especially familiar to him: speech, clothes, even how she carries herself. ]
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interesting. karen files that away for later, as well as whatever else she... well, she doesn't see anything there, exactly. but if there's one thing she knows about people, it's that their stories- the real ones- are usually tucked back away behind the bravado, the calm. something tells her logan is one of those people, but she'll have to check later to make sure.
for now- she follows him into the store, watches him check the shelves with a kind of practiced look, like he does know what he's doing here. karen wonders if he's a local, if he's from here or if he wound up here like she had, however that was. however it happened. karen can't let herself start falling down that rabbit hole just yet, so instead she starts looking through more of the shelves. reaches in for what she'd thought might be a towel of some kind, and then promptly decides to leave it where it is once she's touched it.
his voice draws her eyes back to him, leaning up against the pillar, and her brow lifts just a little bit. ] I'm guessing you mean before the med tent and the masked loan shark. [ she wanders down the aisle, checking through a couple of stacks of things, picking up some essentials as she finds them. ]
New York. [ she says after a moment. ] Hell's Kitchen. [ another moment, as she picks something up and looks it over before setting it back down. ] You?
[ it isn't so much that karen't noticed it, not yet at least, but it is worth noting that the sheer normalcy of this exchange is making her feel better. something grounding about him, and how nonplussed he is about the entire ordeal.
it makes karen feel a little less like she's a single gust of wind away from shattering. which is nice- given her day so far. ]
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Logan takes a beat when the question bounces back to him. Funny, when that's how these exchanges go; he knew she'd ask him, too, but he still has trouble coming up with an answer he wants to give. DC? Northern China? Nineteen-seventy-fucking-three? Jesus, it sounds insane, laid out that way. ]
Westchester. Settled there the longest before...
[ He plucks a razor off the rack for himself and lets her fill in the blanks. Before they rounded up every mutant they could for extermination. Before he was sent fifty years into the past. Before he landed on this godforsaken planet. He suspects she might see it, how it doesn't entirely line up, how nothing about him screams he's the kinda guy who'd hang out in Westchester, of all places, never mind live there. How there's more he obviously isn't saying.
He's not pretending otherwise. Figures if she wants to dig, she can dig. Maybe he'll even decide if he wants to offer more or not.
He could ask what she remembers before she crashed into this dimension. So far, nobody's got a damn clue. (At least he's not the only one having recall problems, for once.) But like her, he doesn't want to disturb the pocket of normalcy that's suddenly sprung up. It's not as though he needs it or anything. God knows his life's been one chaotic bullshit incident after another. Just—a short break from it all isn't the worst thing. Bet she could use the same. ]
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logan pauses at her question, enough that karen notices, glancing back to him just in time to hear Westchester. her expression is incredulous, though she doesn't have as much of a right to react that way as someone who actually grew up in the city. but she's absorbed it enough, heard enough. ]
Westchester? Really? [ and yes, she is trying to hold back the smile. the way she almost says you don't seem the type. but that might be a little too on the nose. still, when she looks at him now - with that information included - she can't help but think that isn't everything. there's nothing he's said actually confirms anything, but there's something about him. something she wants to try and pick at, that doesn't sit quite right. she tilts her head a little, looking a lot like she's trying to decide if she wants to dig or if she wants to let it sit, before she seems content to go back to searching. ]
Before all this? [ she finishes for him, turning around the next aisle and either assuming he'll follow or at least will stay close. not that it matters too much, with how the aisles don't quite go up to their eye level. if she wanted to, she could look right over the top to see him. ] How long have you been here?
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Sometimes, [ is all he ends up offering. It still doesn't clear much up. ] I moved around.
[ He stays one shelf back, watching her over a stack of canned tuna and some off-brand pop tarts. Or, he thinks. Nothing on that box is written in English and the expiry dates mean nothing, so Logan sniffs at it first before picking it up. Smells fine. Guess these things are supposed to last forever, anyhow. ]
Couple of weeks. [ After a minute, he turns the corner to join her. Decides not to mention that he's met some who say they've been here years. Just settled down, had a kid and everything. He doubts she needs to hear that right now. ] It's not so bad here.
[ Comparatively. The bar's not that high, from where he came out of. ]
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For work? [ is her first question, even when she has a feeling it's not the answer. ] Or something else? [ she watches him pick up a box of poptarts that she very much left behind for a reason. her face scrunched, looking from the box to him, before huffing out a quiet laugh of her own as she keeps moving on down the aisle.
couple of weeks. that stills her for a moment, frowning mostly to herself. a couple of weeks. what does that mean for her? what does that mean for any of them? she closes her eyes, breathes in once, and then out again before moving to the next shelf.
the it's not so bad here draws her eyes back towards him, looking suspicious. or- maybe not suspicious. incredulous, for sure. ] This isn't so bad? [ she snorts, shakes her head. ] Westchester must've really gone downhill since I last drove through it.
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(Would she be casually buying cereal with him if she knew what he was?)
In the end, he lets the question slip by. ] Those potholes'll drive anyone crazy.
[ He can't remember the last time he rode through Westchester. The school's shut down. The graves are endless. So nah, this place isn't so bad. He still wants to go back to where he belongs. It doesn't matter that the world's gone to shit, that it might still be like that. That's where he's needed.
They reach the end of the aisles. The small freezer section sits in the corner. He pulls from it a bag of frozen peas. ] Found everything?
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( he might be surprised by the answer to that question, if he did choose to ask. )
potholes. is that right? she ends up just sort of smiling to herself about that as she finishes making her way down the next aisle, finding a few more things she may, or may not end up needing. truth is, she has no idea what it is she's supposed to be preparing for. a motel room? a few days stay? they make it to a kind of freezer, and Karen eyes a frozen pizza and decides what the hell. ]
I guess? [ it's probably not nearly enough, or maybe it's too much. she doesn't know. but as they're standing there, near the freezer aisle, and she's looking down at everything in her hands... she just kind of stops. ]
Does everywhere take loans? Cause I don't have money for any of this.
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Good question. Do they? For a frozen pizza and some cereal? ]
Uh— [ There's a reason Logan's got no idea, but he decides it's best not to say it with the clerk in earshot. He digs out his wallet instead, one of two things that came with him into this dimension. ] I got you. Just— [ His gaze flicks to her face. She's not smiling anymore, but she was a second ago. Somehow, that's what his brain is stuck on. ] —buy me a beer sometime.
[ Or something. He doesn't know why he's offering. It's not something he does, except apparently it is. After a second, he realizes he's looking at her a little too long. (God, he needs more fuckin' sleep.) He holds out his hand to take the pizza from her to free her hands. If she wants. ]
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but then he's pulling out his wallet, and Karen feels... guilty, in a way. even when she knows it was exactly what she'd been wondering, or that she'd assume would be what would happen. he looks to her again, and it feels a little like he's watching her for something. like he's trying to see, or find, something there.
her head tilts a little, looking at him curiously, and then he says buy me a beer and Karen flashes him another smile. ]
Thank you. [ she says, and then laughs - a little sheepishly. ] Once I find some cash, I will buy you a beer. I think I can manage that.
[ it's another moment that she also realizes he is still looking at her, and her smile turns vaguely questioning. but then he holds his hand out, and she does hand the pizza over to him, following him to the cashier counter. ]
Anything else? [ she says as she lays the items on the counter in front of the still-not-paying-attention cashier. ] You're buying.
[ so yes- in case logan is looking, she is still smiling. ]
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He chuckles. ] Is that how it is?
[ He counts his money, scrounges up a few last dollars—or joolies, whatever they call it here—and catches the clerk's attention one last time for a couple of single cigars. He doesn't appear to have any hangups spending every last dime he's got, isn't especially concerned about it, either. He stuffs the cigars into his pocket and gathers up Karen's things, carrying it back out the door for her. She pops her trunk; he puts her groceries inside.
Then he's leading the way eastbound. He rides slow so she can follow, keeping one eye out for any cars who look like they wanna make trouble. With his bike alongside hers, though, nobody tries to bother them. Eventually, the stores give way to haphazard buildings, cheap and dilapidated. He pulls up beside her window for the third time—and by now, she's probably figured out that means he's got something to tell her. ]
Pick your poison. [ He nods toward the random vacancy signs that dot the landscape. As he's discovered, they're all about the same level of crap standards. The nicest room he's found was a little up north, where the hot water runs pretty good in the mornings, but frankly, something tells him that was a fluke during his stay more than a guaranteed benefit. ]
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I think so, yeah.
[ she notices the way he scrounges around for the last few bills, and whether or not he seems worried about it, she immediately is. her eyes go from his wallet to the bills in his hand and then to his face, looking a bit like she's going to say something. step in. logan just moves on through the steps - pays for the items and a couple of cigars, grabbing it all and heading out the door before she can say anything about it. she looks from the cashier then to the door before hustling after him, popping open her trunk to let him load it all in there.
karen follows him eastbound, slow enough that she can try and take a look around but keeping her main focus on where he leads her - through streets, around buildings, into neighborhoods both overpacked and empty, somehow in between. where logan watches for other cars or people watching them, Karen watches the lights, the signs, the buildings that look ready to fall over she's never seen before. she loses track of however long they spend driving until he's pulling up to her window and taps on the glass. she lets down the window and looks around, not sure what it is she's supposed to be looking for.
it's not that she's overwhelmed, exactly, but she just. doesn't really know where to start. she takes a breath, huffs a little, taps her fingers on the steering wheel. ]
Got any recommendations?
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She isn't just alone. She looks lonely. That's what he's thinking when he watches her. Might be he's projecting or whatever, but...
Maybe there's something to it, too.
He shifts his weight. The engine putters beneath him. ] There's a room three doors down from mine. Emptied out yesterday. They'll let you put a couple nights on a tab.
[ Temporary if she wants, in other words. She doesn't have to stay there for longer than it takes for her to figure out where she wants to be. But he won't complain if she decides to stick around. ]
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when she asks for his recommendations, she doesn't know what she had in mind. maybe a direction, a street that he'd seen was safer than others. what she doesn't expect is the way he shifts, and then says there's a room three doors down from mine.
she looks back to him with a curious look, like she hadn't quite heard him. ] Really? [ and maybe it sounds a little too hopeful, to which she tries to pull back the excitement. ] I mean- only if that's okay.
[ please she almost says. but maybe her small smile says it all.
she glances back to the rows of vacancy signs and lets out a breath. ] I'm not a bad neighbor, so I've been told.
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And that's that. He rides with her to the hotel's open lot, parks alongside her car, and gets her a set of keys. Carries her groceries inside. The room's three doors down as promised. He doesn't introduce her to anybody, doesn't even tell her he's staying with a friend, though in the days that pass, she might notice a man in a wheelchair come and go. Might catch Logan doing stuff for the two of them, bringing home laundry and takeout and whatever else he can get his hands on in this godforsaken place.
He doesn't go out of his way to bother her. He can't help checking up on her, though, and he walks past her door once or twice just to make sure she's inside when it's late at night. Inside and not...missing, somehow, or gone.
He was out for a walk, anyhow.
By day five, he's driven to and from the Scrapyard three damn times before he comes up with the oil filter he needs. He doesn't like hanging around that place, so he'd put down a bottle of rice liquor, borrowed a couple of tools, and promised he'll return with the equipment intact or they can keep the booze. It's late in the afternoon when he reaches the hotel parking lot again. That's what she'll find if she walks by: oil-stained rag, tools laid out on the concrete, and Logan crouched on the cracked, rain-puddled ground with a toothpick between his lips in place of a cigar. Ran out two days ago.
He smells her coming, hears the clink of bottles, but it's not 'til she says something or stops right in front of him that he looks up. A beat as he studies the sun glancing off her hair. Then: ] Hey, Karen.
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but then that is that. logan takes her to the motel, helps her get checked in, carries her groceries to her room and checks to make sure all the basics are working (the water, the shower, the lock on her front door) and then as he leaves, Karen thanks him, again, with another bright smile. she watches as he walks those three doors down to his own place, and as he opens his door, they meet eyes again, and she waves - maybe a bit unnecessarily - and finally closes her door.
she doesn't sleep that night, despite the relative confidence she has in the locked door, sitting curled up at the headboard of her bed with her head in her hands and the overwhelming feeling of sinking further, and further, and further away from where she's supposed to be. by the time morning comes, she's taken a shower and pulled herself together, and she decides to go and figure out more about the city.
they carry on for a few days like that- sometimes seeing each other from down the hall, Karen noticing the man in the wheelchair and logan more often than not. she gets a temporary job at the pavilion, starts slowly learning her way around the neighborhoods, smiles at logan from down the hall or across the parking lot when they happen to be passing by each other.
it's those few days later (five, actually, since she is counting) that she finally ends up getting enough of that brightly colored money to grab a six pack from one of the twenty four hours marts. it's probably a little more splurging than she should probably be doing right about now, but she's only been working at the pavilion a couple of days now, so she's not quite used to the way things go there, or that she probably could have walked out with the six pack if she'd been subtle enough. still, when she pulls into the parking lot after her shift and shopping trip to find logan set up, surrounded by tools and car parts, she can't help but feel like it is some kind of sign.
she's standing right over where he's crouched under the car when he finally says hi, tilting her head a bit to try and look at whatever it is he's working on. ]
What're the chances you're ready for a break? [ she clicks two of the bottles of beer between her fingers. ] I owe you a beer, after all.
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When Karen tilts to look, Logan straightens up. His bike's propped up with a makeshift stand on the other side; from the oil draining into what looks like a brownie pan (he's working with what he's got, alright?), she can guess what it is he's doing. It's still coming out in a steady flow—meaning, yeah, he can take a break while he waits for it to empty. ]
Good timing. [ He moves to sit on the parking curb, leaving room for her next to him. Probably comes as no surprise to her that he's got a bottle opener on his keys, an old one that came along with him into this dimension.
He gestures at the name tag pinned to her shirt. ] I like that, it's nice. Official.
[ Came off shift from the store, huh? Makes him wonder what she was doing back home. He didn't have much of a life to upend; it was already in chaos long before the world collapsed and after, well. You know.
But everybody else? What were they doing when they fell out of their lives? Jobs, families, kids. All of it, just left behind. ]
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