LET'S [test] DRIVING

[cava]

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, YOU KNOW THE DRILL. Here's a few options, all stolen shamelessly from previous iterations.

> The Park. Man, what a nice day out. Why not enjoy it? I'm sure -- shit, yep, there's some echo monsters or whatever they're called.
> The Mall. Exactly what it says on the tin! Dodge the hordes of teenage mallrats or take part, whichever suits your tastes.
> Rainy Day. Agh, it's fucking awful out. And is it raining those vermilion things?? Now you've got an Echo to contend with on top of everything else. Find some shelter, quick!
> Arts and Crafts Fair. WILL THE KITSCH OVERWHELM YOU


or make up your own whatever this is basic and just for the purposes of getting a new test drive up.

Comments

[cava]

[THANK FUCK FOR THE MAGIC OF TEST DRIVE MEMES AND NOT NEEDING ECHO REQUESTS

because guess what just hit him.

he takes the hand lightly, shaking once. may as well. that frown stays.]

... Not Masato Jin?

[sucrosity]

[SHE WILL.]

Yeah, I remember just fine--!

[ARGH. Ignoring her is unfair, though. She looks around for her map of the place, which fell with the rest of her stuff, and balls it up.

Then she throws it at him.]

[amajin]

[He shudders, overwhelmed by an unpleasant feeling of deja vu, especially at the forbidding expression on the young man's face.]

No. No. Jin's my first name. Masato? Haha, what an old man name...

[He rubs the back of his head, intensely uncomfortable.]

No one would ever call me that, no way.

[sucrosity]

[She doesn't let go for a long minute, wracking her brain. Had they gone to school together at some point? WHAT WAS THIS. She doesn't think that's it, somehow.

Finally, she lets go, tugging nervously at her jacket sleeve.]

I'm Yoko. Yoko Aznable.

[Then--] Ah! My stuff-- [She turns to start picking up anything in danger of being stepped on.]

[sucrosity]

Yeah...? They're old, though.

[Not that a year and half had that much effect on them, realistically--but she'd milk this, if she could.]

Man, you'd think 'I build robots for a living' would be more exciting!

[synchronous]

[ He has no desire to mess with this kid, thankfully. He's just afflicted by a pesky sense of sympathy.

He gestures back behind himself. ] This way.

[sucrosity]

Then we've got a deal. Where're you set up?

[Wow, this girl is super enthusiastic! Even moreso than Yoko herself. She likes it.]

They're at school? [Unsure.] Where do you go? [Not LCA, she doesn't think. Locke High?

Maybe she was a college kid? She didn't look that old, though...]

[amajin]

[He raises an eyebrow but he's vain enough that he has a few pairs of his favorite shoes.]

All right, all right, Doc Martens. Those are supposed to last forever, or something, aren't they? So you better not ask for another pair next week.

[He laughs]

C'mon, my robots save lives, that's pretty cool.

[sucrosity]

[Day saved by dad's ego, hell yes.]

Yes! [She shrugs.] They're supposed to. I'll wait until your next paycheck!

[Said with a smile.]

It is, but when do you built the terminator?

[amajin]

[He rolls his eyes. But he's also well aware of his weakness to begging.]

I'll just sell the old ones on Ebay the next time you want new ones.

[He shakes his head]

From my own child... Skynet built the terminators. And the guy who built Skynet blew himself up to stop that from happening. Do you want to see that happen to your dear old dad?

ECHOES, ECHOES EVERYWHERE

[sucrosity]

No! [):<]

I know, I know! You could make the not evil kind.

[Thinking about Jin dying makes her blanch, and she stops in her tracks, looking at him for too long to pass off.

She wants to cry, suddenly. Her voice is thin when she speaks.] No, I guess not.

[She turns on her heel to walk forwards.]

[rabbunctious]

[He stretches to look, then threads one arm back through his sleeve in order to tug his hood further down his forehead.]

Thank you. You don't have to walk me there. It's only a block.

[amajin]

[He pauses, looking after her with a confused tilt to his head. What's wrong? Is she really afraid of that? Poor bun...]

Aw, bun, don't worry about it. Your dad's too selfish to sacrifice his life, right! I'd have weaseled out of it somehow.

Plus, I'm not gonna make Skynet. Stuff like that results from trying to make something absolutely perfect. You have to give your programming room to grow and change, right? Especially if it's an AI.

[synchronous]

Yeah, but I have an umbrella and you don't. You'll get your weird novelty hoodie wet.

[ He nods in the direction he's headed, holding his umbrella slightly away from himself for Sang-joon to fit under. ]

[rabbunctious]

[Well, okay. Sang-joon slips under the umbrella, relieved to have more shelter than the awning.]

It's already wet.

[He rubs the fabric of one ear between his fingers.]

But thanks, again. Maybe like this Mom will only worry I'll catch a cold instead of walking pneumonia.

[synchronous]

Thought you said you were waiting for your dad.

[ He just says it casually as he leads the way to the bus shelter. ]

[rabbunctious]

[His tone is equally casual.]

That's what you're supposed to say when strangers start talking to you on the street in a big city.

[He shrugs.]

My dad's still in California. Probably.

[synchronous]

Fair.

I'm just a high-school student. I'm too old to beat you up for lunch money but too young to kidnap you, so statistically speaking I'm cool.

[sponsorigami]

[ He thinks accepting those answers makes her worlds different than the people he normally encounters. ]

Yes, ma'am. Don't walk and write at the same.

[sucrosity]

[I'd have weaseled out of it somehow--that cold, heart-stopping feeling again, then:

What'll happen to you if we do this? I figure, I come up with some kind of last second genius--He lies!

She whips around, lifting her hands to grab at his lapels. She searches his face, looking for that wannabe casual expression. She doesn't find it, right away. Don't say that.

[Her grip loosens, and she tilts her head down to stare at his tie. She scrounges up something a little less weird.] Everything's better with some imperfection, right?

[rabbunctious]

Don't you know? High schoolers are the worst. A bunch of them beat up a homeless person near where I used to live, and with these ears, I might as well be wearing a target.

[He may not emote much, but it looks like he's not the kind of kid that can stay still. He works his other arm back through his sleeve and tries to put the pencil case in the front pocket of his hoodie. When it doesn't fit, he sighs and tucks it under his arm.]

You're probably okay though, since you don't seem to have a pack.

[edhwierfan]

[When it looks like Aeron's about to decline, he gets a good look at Iwan's face and pauses. He's almost certain he's never met him before, but there's a familiarity about him that makes Aeron rethink his previous answer.]

I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Rather daft to be sitting outside while it's raining, though.

[He pointedly keeps the umbrella above the both of them after he's taken a sit.]

[femmefashionaire]

[it was as if willy wonka himself had just handed her the golden ticket. She delicately folded it and put it in her bag, trying not to let her excitement show too much.]

Thank you, really. Here, it looks like you've got your tail back. [She cuts the thread and ties it off, then holds up the jacket like a prize winning fish. It's as good as new.] What else do you have to do today? Maybe I could help. [She really has no life.]

[rabbunctious]

[He brightens at the finished repairs and puts the jacket back on immediately.]

Thanks so much. Um, let me see.

[He reaches into his other pocket and digs out a folded note: another rabbit, but this one is pink. His mother's writing slides in and out of Korean, but what's there in her bubbly English is clear and precise.]

Mom wanted another mannequin to put in the window. A little one, for kids' clothes. [He lets out a little huff of a breath.] And then she didn't notice, but we're out of breakfast food, so I thought I'd go to the grocery store if I had enough time.

[synchronous]

[ DJ raises an eyebrow as he glances down at the kid. ]

So what's with the ears, then?