>> FEB. TEST DRIVE

[majoritymods]

TDM

Welcome to Majority Rule's first Test Drive! If you did not visit our App This Please, here's the rundown: your character can "arrive" in one of two separate situations on this test drive. While you are welcome to play from both on the TDM if you like you will need to choose one version of initial setup at the point of application and interactions as a member of that crew will be considered game canon. The two "start points" are waking from a sleeping pod on the Yggdrasil on this test drive itself or waking from a cryosleep pod on the Caduceus three months prior. We plan to always offer different starting points and situations on our test drives and in our application rounds in order to keep things interesting.

Specifics about these situations can be found in the prompts below. If you have any questions please feel free to hit up our questions toplevel on this post. You may also report character actions or get investigation/exploration information at the actions & investigations toplevel.

As a note we have also posted a poll test drive post to sort of make it easier to find/vote on things for the purposes of this for anyone who would like to mess around with trying out polls. We're drastically shortening the run length of polls for the purposes of the test drive and will be applying any relevant changes from them every other day or so. This is as much a stress test for our systems as it is for you.

To see what changes have occurred you're going to want to check out the "Ship's Log" section at the tail end of this post. Every event post in Majority Rule will have this section which we will periodically update as any polls or character actions are reported to us that would change anything or that we simply feel everyone else should probably know about.

You find yourself in a graveyard amongst the stars.

One way or another you have found yourself on or around the derelict and ancient Keros station. How? Well...

Majority Rule Navigator R33500 "Rhys"

1

Wake.

You wake slowly from cryogenic sleep inside of a cryosleep pod. While most of these pods are located in cryogenic chambers on the Lethe some may have been set adrift during that long ago battle or passing time. All will be within habitable areas of the Lethe or the Keros station - unless you enjoy danger and drama and have a plan for surviving otherwise.

You remember what you were doing back at home but you can't figure out how you got here. Things feel jumbled. You're in familiar clothing and anything you had on your immediate person is still on you...unless it was somehow gamebreaking in the "dimensional portal back home" or "destroys every game problem with the press of a button" sense. Ask on the questions part if you're unsure.

The glass of the pods is frozen over and difficult to see through and you feel as though you have been plunged into the deepest part of winter. Scrolling across the inside of the glass are almost too fast letters and numbers. You think you've only caught the middle bit or the tail end of it as you start to focus.

>> Protocol: Majority Rule loading...
>> Loading...
>> Majority Rule locked.
>> Initializing...
>> Sys.Admin poll query release cryosleep locks active voters y/n?

The final line lingers until you put in an input. Yes or No? You can hit "no" on purpose or on accident. Luckily for you if it was on accident...

>> Loading results.
>> Poll query release cryosleep locks: majority y minority n.
>> Locks releasing from active voters.

Active voters? Yes. If you abstained from putting in any input you will find the lock on your pod did not release. You can either get someone else to manually release you or figure it out on your own. Or you can try to convince the Navigator to undo the locks. He might just advise you to run your own vote for release though.

Whether you are released or still trapped in your cryosleep pod the network bracelet will chime as a new notification comes in. The username is Sys.Admin; no other character can register this username or any other beginning with "Sys."

>> Attention all crew. Unidentified Yggdrasil-class hospital ship has entered this quadrant.
>> Please be advised scans indicate the ship is damaged with several lifeforms on board.
>> Some escape pods have been detected. Recording trajectory...recorded.
>> Unidentified hostiles are in pursuit of the hospital ship. Sys.Admin advisory incoming.
>> Loaded. Sys.Admin advisory: rescue operations are suggested. Fleet Protocol prohibits combat engagement from medical crews.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: engage hostiles at will.

Occasionally Rhys will make advisory statements. Characters and players do not have to listen to them - they are the Navigator's advice but the choice of how to proceed is up to them. They can listen, do the opposite, or do something else entirely. There are no current restrictions on the actions of the Lethe crew. The only time Rhys will actively impede characters is if blackmail or violence is used to force votes in any direction. Rhys will consider attempts to murder other crewmembers as violence impeding votes.

What you do next is up to you. Prompts in Majority Rule are just that: prompts. Until vote results come in and are tallied there are no other restrictions on crew operations for the Lethe. As restrictions or courses of action are charted by the Majority Rule protocol Rhys will alert the crew. Action poll results will be strong compulsions the Lethe's crew cannot resist - but they can democratically change anything they dislike, so there's that? Once released from their pods characters may explore the Lethe or proceed out into the Keros station.

The Lethe is currently in the process of booting up. Only the lowest levels of life support are online. Gravity is only turned on in cryogenic chambers, the bridge, and engineering. Everywhere else is currently a free-float area. Oxygen is only being filtered through the areas the crew has accessed. Many areas are closed off currently due to heavy doors locked down beyond which life support hasn't yet initiated. Priority will be given to any areas the crew accesses - it's up to them to prioritize what they're trying to do.

2

Jumper bay.

>> Please be advised the Lethe is not combat ready.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: restore power to non-essential areas.
>> Suggesting jumper bay priority.

The jumper bay is located mid-deck. There are 20 short-distance craft currently in vaious states of fueling. Each craft can fit up to four people and are suitable for making small trips to and from planets or other nearby areas. They have minor combat capabilities and are mostly meant for recon and short-distance travel. They can be used either to rescue Caduceus crew members or to engage the enemy combatants. Or to fuck off and do something else? Currently all ships are locked down. To take them out characters will have to work together to get things operational.

The jumper bay has a few space suits to each jumper which can alternately be used to traverse areas where life support isn't on or to space-walk. Or to go inside the Keros station where life support isn't really always a thing. These suits will adjust in size and shape to fit any crew member. They have no special capabilities beyond allowing you to breathe and not die in space for a while. The suit charges last roughly 48 hours when fully charged but none of these suits are fully charged. Some are dead and need charging and a few have anywhere from five minutes to three hours of energy. Probably someone should do something about that.

3

Weapons bay.

>> Please be advised weapons are currently inoperable.
>> Scans from weapons bay...inconclusive.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: send teams to examine situation.

The weapons bay is located near the top of the ship, close to the bridge but currently blocked off by a hell of a lot of fallen debris and one gaping open wound to the stars. They can...maybe fix that? Ignore it? Up to you. The weapons bay contains the armory as well as various defense systems. There is currently no power or life support to the weapons bay.

Once characters get into the bay they will be able to acquire cool phaser guns that...aren't charged. Yeah, might want to grab the melee weapons instead until you fix that. Or grab some of the trap mines and trip wires and other such gadgetry. Maybe you can lure some pirates into traps on the Keros station or on board the Lethe. If it's on the Lethe maybe try to mitigate the damage. Or don't.

4

Bridge & loading bay.

>> Most ship transporters offline.
>> Active transporters...one.
>> Sys. Admin advisory: fix transporters?

The Lethe bridge is currently mostly operational. There's life support and gravity - what more could you want? At the center of the Bridge is a holographic display that currently is showing the current spread of where the Lethe, the Caduceus, the Keros station, and enemy ships are in relation to one another. The viewport also gives a pretty decent view of...a lot of dead ships. Eventually it will also give a semi-decent view of some of the action.

There's a working transporter on the bridge to the loading bay. It's currently the only working transporter on the ship...and it only works one way. So if you used it, you're going to find yourself all the way down at the bottom-back of the ship instead of the tippy top. Enjoy the hike back!

The loading bay is currently connected to the Keros space station and is the easiest way to access the station. You can use less easy methods if you want, though.

5

Botany & Agriculture deck.

>> Critical alert: gravity offline in Agriculture.
>> All livestock unsecured.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: send teams to secure livestock.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: restore gravity functions.

Yeah, so. The Agriculture deck takes up an entire deck of the ship and is currently overgrown with some dead plants and a lot just wildly tangled. Lights are flickering on and off. There's oxygen, but there's no gravity.

There are, however, animals. Animals without gravity who have freshly escaped from their own cryopods. These animals are livestock such as: two...cows(?), a flock of particularly angry chickens(?), a pair of incredibly displeased cats, and a solitary and very confused dog(?). The horde of animals also happens to include character pets and companions if they, you know, have any of those. Floating around. Freestyle.

All of these animals are distressed for obvious reasons. Rhys will kindly advise against turning on gravity functions for this deck until the livestock is safely secured. Enjoy spacewalking to grab some animals who really don't want to be grabbed. This probably isn't the highest priority issue with pirates around but apparently Rhys felt it was worth noting. And the animals involved would probably feel it was priority one, actually.

Hippocratic Protocol Navigator A71355 "Alyce"

1

Wake...a few months ago.

You wake slowly from cryogenic sleep inside of a cryosleep pod...three months ago. As per the ATP, some characters found themselves waking from sleep aboard the Yggdrasil-class Hospital Ship Caduceus three months before the start of the TDM. Similarly to those on the Lethe, characters would wake slowly from cryosleep. They were in familiar clothing and similar to the Lethe crew anything they had on their immediate person was still on them...unless it was somehow gamebreaking in the "dimensional portal back home" or "destroys every game problem with the press of a button" sense. Ask on the questions part if you're unsure.

Unlike on the Lethe Caduceus crew did not have to submit a poll for freedom. Instead they were greeted with a very different methodology.

>> Protocol: Hippocratic Oath loading...
>> Loading...
>> Hippocratic Oath locked.
>> Initializing...
>> Cryosleep pod locks released.
>> Please report to the Medical Bay for recommended health examinations.

The crew of the Caduceus was able to get their ship fully operational while working together and learned from the Navigator, Alyce, that the Hippocratic Protocol had two main rules. First, do no harm. Second, treat harm where you find it. This Protocol prevents the crew of the Caduceus from attacking or injuring other people - if they try to do so they instead pass out. It also requires them to render aid if it is in their ability to do so, manifesting as an intense desire they can't shake. All crew of the Caduceus is bound by the Hippocratic Protocol and will be unable to break either of these laws until they become crew of the Lethe by the end of the TDM.

A71355 was unable to give the crew much information about how they found themselves on the Caduceus and no other lifeforms aside from the characters who woke there were anywhere to be found. The AI was initially shy and uncertain but was openly willing to answer any questions asked to the best of her abilities. Her memory was found to have been significantly damaged by a long hibernation and all the prior crew logs were deleted. The only information remaining were many medical logs, details on her Protocol, and the crew manifest. The manifest held the names of every character who awoke on the Caduceus along with some others.

2

Travel.

The Caduceus has been traveling ever since. After some time on the journey A71355 requested that the crew refer to her as "Alyce". Obviously a lot more than this happened in those three months. Characters visited two different worlds together and likely fell into learning how to work with one another and got to know Alyce as they sought answers together. Create as many noodle incidents as you'd like - this is just a basic outline to work with about what they'd have experienced and what they might have done. The two worlds that characters visited, in order and briefly, are:

Baatera, a large planet with two moons that is mostly comprised of huge tropical rainforests. The planet is near enough to the sun to be hotter than most are used to but not so hot that it can't be endured. Of the many species on Baatera there are two the characters would have had notable experiences with based on their landing site. The first are the Sashute, a small catlike folk known for being friendly and hospitable to strangers who live in elaborate treehouse villages. The second are the Vecialae, a large reptilian species known for their warmongering tendencies who live in underground caverns and tunnels they dig out. The Vecialae frequently attack the Sashute and anyone else who happens to exist in their vicinity.

Teclite, a smallish sized ice planet with no moons at the far edge of the star system Baatera is part of. Teclite is home only to the Tecra, a mammalian species with two legs and four arms who grow venomous spines over their body. Their "religion" is cybernetics and even their young children are made over into cyborgs. They are wary of anyone who doesn't have some form of cybernetic enhancement but allow certain visitors. They permitted the Caduceus to land after the hospital ship responded to a distress signal sent out by the Tecra due to an outbreak of illness in one of their smaller colonies.

3

Attack.

In the present day your crew was traveling to a new world after leaving Teclite. Well-stocked and somewhat familiar with how everyone worked together the mood was likely high right up until the attack came while in transit. While the crew experienced some friction on Baatera from the Vecialae the Sashute were well practiced at evading and repelling those attacks and the danger was "acceptable" in that no one died in the expedition or was grievously injured beyond healing. This moment right before the TDM started? That's when their luck ran out.

The familiar chime that comes before Alyce communicates sounds more harsh and frantic. A soft klaxon alarm as the Caduceus shakes with a series of small hits. The ship swerves as Alyce attempts to initiate an evasive pattern and they fall out of hyperspace.

>> Warning! Damage detected on the hull of the ship.
>> Hostile craft are in pursuit...
>> Please immediately fall back to bridge and escape pods.
>> I need to divert all available resources to shields.

Unfortunately The Caduceus has no offensive capabilities and under the Hippocratic Protocol characters are unable to cause harm or fight back. You hear Alyce's repeated warnings to retreat to safer areas as she shuts down life support and power to every other location once the crew is clear, diverting as much power as possible into defenses.

Unfortunately, some of the hits are heavy. Alyce does manage to steer them into the starship graveyard around Keros but the ship is floating dead by the time it comes into view. Characters may be injured from the attack or trapped in certain parts of the ship flying free. Characters who fell back to the bridge will hit the Keros station dock with the remnants of the Caduceus as pirates prepare to board.

>> Ȩ̵̛̛̝̖̥̪̭̱̘̝̯̣̦̹̣̜͎͖̩̣͓̩̬̻̳̯͉̳̬̭̼̱̪̫̮͎͔̬̭͇͚̝̯̉̊̐̈͊͛̀́́̉͐̓̌̅̌̈́̏́̉̒̓̏̓̈́͠͝͠ͅͅṽ̶̧̢̧̡̹̻͇͉͓͈̮̖̤̼̹̳̤̞̗̹͇̻̠͆͑̏͆̓̐͌͝ͅà̴̧̡̢̛̬͚̺̘̗̳̱͚̰͖̝͓̳̻̱̻̞̜̟͔͚̭̪͚̘̻̤̻̝̼̯̬̤̈́͑̃͐͒̀͋̾͗́̀͛̿͆̂̀̊́̃́̎̑̋͂̒͂̄͋͌̎͜͜͜͠͠͝ͅc̷̛̛̛̱͋̓̓͆̃̀̌̉̊͋͋̽͐͂̊̂̇̽̽͗̀̾̕̚̕ų̷̧̞̯̼̣͓̞͈̺͍̠̯̠̖̪̫͎̥͉͈̞̘̜̣̙̥̠̦̭̗̮͎͚͕̟͓̑͒̑̔̇͊̐͗̆̐̑̂̓̽̾̈́̃̐̓͒̒̄̀͒̏̒̀̄̓́̇͛̉́͛͆̀̋̚̕̕͜͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅą̸̡̟̹͓͔̠̙̥͙͉͉͚̭̯̗̪̻̘̪̼̖͎͕̞̫̫̯͓̙̻̮̀͐́͆̈́͐͌͠ͅt̴̨̡̡̧̛̛͇͍̹͍̼̪̥͕̳͈̩̳̬̜͚͕͉͎͇̭̤̣͚̜̥̬̱͇͚̳̑̄̋̅̓̈̐̔̇̃̒͒͗̌̔̔́̏̕̚͘̕̕͜͜͜͝͝ȩ̷̢̡̨̛͙͖̗͙͎͎̟̺̲̪͉͎͙̙̗̣̬̺̬͎͔̭̰̱͕̪͍̺̻̓̽̇̅̍͊͌̃͆̕͘͝.̶̢̧̧̧̨̨̢̰͇̤̱̲̺̟̗̗͚̪̼̲̲̖̲̳̗̩̺̪̻̲͉̰͎̫̲͚̝̙̠͍̥̱̻̆́͆͒̓͂̈́̈́̇̋͐͑͋̂̔͐̚͘͜͝͝͝ͅ

With every heavy hit as the ship accrued damage, Alyce's messages became harder and harder to comprehend. Her usually clear and helpful responses are mostly garbled and consist of frantic entreaties to stay safe. With the ship dying and gutted Alyce's functions are limited and she is "dying" in every sense of the word that matters but true to her programming her first and only concern is her crew.

4

Boarding.

As the crew scrambles to evacuate or chooses to stay put after the crash they will find the assorted Reaper spacecraft closing in are preparing to board the Caduceus. Alyce continues to urge the crew to leave but cannot force them to do so. If they choose to stay, or to try to figure out what the Reapers want...it seems they're pirates and scavengers both. And Yggdrasil-class ships are apparently very rare. One of the goals of the reapers is to take Alyce's core located in the depths of the ship below the bridge. If they are able to retrieve that they will next attempt to take Rhys's core, or will retreat with whatever they can grab.

The reapers are mainly this species but some other types of aliens can be found as well. No humans seem to be among their number. Actually, you haven't seen humans on any other planet so far...the reapers are armed with an eclectic variety of tech-y guns and less technical melee weapons. They will try to capture alive some of the crew but only seem to want a few captives. They're actively trying to take out anyone else.

5

Escape.

While some escape pods managed to make it to a nearby planet (these characters do not exist for this TDM but will be appable next round), many of the escape pods were lodged on Keros or are floating in space. One unlucky(?) pod managed to hit the weapons bay of the Lethe. The crashed Caduceus is lodged on the Keros station and characters who were trapped on the trip can get off as long as they've managed to put on one of the ship's space suits. The Caduceus's suits are white in color and each comes with medical kits and capabilities. Health scans, basic operational tools, that sort of thing.

Starship Graveyard

The Keros space station is a huge ringed structure with docking for several dozen large craft and hundreds of smaller craft...or it was. Abandoned so long ago that few remember the place exists the station is now in intense disrepair with many huge scars of damage open to space. While there are several ships still docked many are entirely nonfunctional or barely functioning. There is notable damage from a long past battle to the station and many of the ships and wreckage drifts around the station in a huge minefield. Some of the combatant ships from that long ago battle are part of the drifting wreckage. Since what does function includes ancient mines and some functioning weapons locked into defense mode few dare to go anywhere near Keros these days.

The Lethe has been sleeping at Keros for a long, long time. And now it has woken up as the Caduceus came flying through the debris to crash into the station, the Reapers hot on its tail.

1

Ancient defenses.

Currently some of Keros station's defenses are still active. Unfortunately for everyone these defenses are active against everyone, pirate and crew member alike. These include: laser turrets attacking incoming ships and escape pods; detonation mines within the station itself; chambers that quickly fill with paralyzing gas and so on. You can make up your own sci-fi traps within the station as you choose. It's a dangerous place that clearly thought it was going to be attacked or boarded. And it was obviously correct about that. Getting through the defenses and taking over the station would be hugely helpful in repelling the attack if you feel like doing that.

Currently the station is home to no lifeforms other than those that just woke or entered: the Lethe crew, the Caduceus crew, and the Reapers. The reapers are mainly this species but some other types of aliens can be found as well. No humans seem to be among their number.

Oh, and there's the monster in the station trash compacter area. But as much as that wants to kill you it wants to kill you just a little bit less than the pirates. Maybe.

2

...Trash compacter monster?

Much like the scene in the original Star Wars trilogy there is a huge room full of various space trash (ancient space trash even) on the Keros station that also houses a large...thing. Under the water and trash. You probably are best off if you never get a good look at it as it will try to drag you under and eat you if you're close enough. It can be scared off if you do real damage to it though.

The room WAS inactive, but guess what? It's one of the traps you can fall into. Ancient garbage and moldy gross water and suddenly you can hear a grinding sound and walls start to close in on you. So, like, have fun with that?

3

Crew swap?

Upon contact with any Lethe crew member Caduceus crew members will be offered the chance to officially join the Lethe crew once things are quiet enough that Rhys can voice the offer. Generally after any rescues are preformed. To accept Caduceus crew members must link their network bracelets to that of the Lethe crew member's for an uninterrupted minute.

>> Alert: I cannot contact the Hippocratic Navigator.
>> Sys.Admin advisory: suggest bringing crew under the Majority Rule protocol.

This will free them from the Hippocratic Protocol so they can fight but immediately put them under the Majority Rule Protocol. They will also no longer be able to contact Alyce on their devices until and unless something is done about Alyce's current situation and status.

4

Downtime & resupply.

Eventually the Reapers will either be defeated and scared off or will head out with their spoils in victory - that's up in the air dependent on player actions. Either way one thing is certain: characters will eventually be able to regroup and attempt to resupply the Lethe, preform repairs, and explore Keros and the ships docked there. Characters can kind of choose their own adventure for what they'd do next at this point.

The TDM will be flowing into our first in-game event in March, which will consist of landing (or crashing, or something else) on our first planet. The first planet is pre-determined in order for us to have the first event and TDM written well in advance but every planet after game open will be decided by vote as per our FAQ.

Wildcards welcome.

We aim to let players take creative lead for themselves when possible. Don't feel constrained by the above prompts. They're guidelines to help you get a feel for things - we're cool with people making shit up as long as it isn't making up an interdimensional portal home or something like that. Use common sense and "yes, and" away. We encourage use of our investigations and questions and will be trying to get to things in a timely manner. Most of our responses will come in the evenings.

Ship's Log.

This section of the event will be updated regularly with a brief outline of what's going on that everyone should know about. Just check it every so often if you want to be up to date!

Pursued by Reapers the Caduceus fled to the starship graveyard that was home to Keros station and the sleeping Lethe. As soon as the Caduceus was within sensor range the Lethe and some of its crew awoke. Some short time after the Caduceus crashed into the station after jettisoning several escape pods.

Alyce's core and several servers were removed from the Caduceus by Izuku. The remaining servers were removed by Alhaitham.

NAV • LOGS • NET • OOC • MEMES

code

Comments

[violetlies]

[You truly are the closest thing Kokichi has to Miu Iruma, girl genius, these days, Roxy.]

That's what we need in these tough times, Rox! Optimism!

[And then they get to the bridge. Everything is falling apart. And on fire. Kokichi can faintly hear Alyce's cries to stay safe - and he swears.]

She sounds like...she's dying.

[And then through everything else...he can faintly see some unfamiliar figures.]

And we might be next.

[shit.]

[voidkafree]

[she sure does sound like she's dying! and roxy doesn't like the sound of it. it makes her uncomfortable and sad because, well. alyce feels like any other online friend she's made. knowing someone through more than a screen has always been more a luxury than a requirement for roxy lalonde. her eyes widen, the pink of them seeming more red in the lights.]

We've gotta get you into one of the suits! Come on! [she's not worried about herself because again. she can breathe in space. she'll be ok maybe.]

[violetlies]

What about you--?! Get yourself into a suit too, don't risk death on my behal--....

[Those figures sure are approaching at a steady pace.]

...Okay, yeah, where are they. Where are the suits?

[He's been scared for a while now, but things are just getting worse and worse.]