In the Night Beta Tester Sandbox

[scrapcap]

Hello, beta testers, and thank you again for offering to help vet, proofread, and test run our game! Feel free to use this open post as a sandbox/TDM of sorts to collect tag samples for your example application. We'll also be using this post to voicetest and practice donning our NPC hats before the game officially goes public, so again, we appreciate your help in this.

We do ask that, if you're planning to app your example app character for realsies, you update your real app with thread samples from the official TDM once it goes up on June 15. Thank you!

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Comments

[completelycrazy]

[He snorts.]

Easy. There's no way you're the most brilliant person here.

[It will occur to him later that just because it's not objectively true doesn't mean she thinks she's lying, which, ultimately, is the definition of the game, and it's her fault for cheating, as it were, so.]

But technically you can't be married anymore if you're dead.

[originallutece]

[She raises an eyebrow, not so much insulted as unimpressed.]

That's two wrong guesses, technically, as that isn't the reason I'm not married. Do you do two shots?

[completelycrazy]

[That gets a big frown.]

That doesn't count as two, and there's no way you're the smartest. That title belongs to me. Obviously.

[Obviously.]

[originallutece]

It does, in fact. I was never married. And I am, in fact.

[Her fingers trace over the rim of her glass, a patronizing little smile on her lips.]

But do tell. What things have you done, hm? Made a lightbulb shine via a potato and wires? Or something so mundane as splitting the atom?

[completelycrazy]

You are not.

[At first, that's the extent of his argument, save for the loud squawk of sorts that can't be strictly defined as words. But she asks him to cite his sources, so, fine. Here's his verbal resume, part one.]

I'm, like, the last line of defense between Earth and the aliens invading it. My research is the only reason we're still—

[...Right.]

That they're still alive, I guess. Plus I have six PhDs.

[originallutece]

[Her smug smile flickers just slightly, the wind taken out of her sails by that sudden jolt of memory. It is us and them now, isn't it?

But there's no point in lingering. Instead: she focuses on the here and now.]

Degrees are scraps of paper given out by old white men who think they know better because they themselves have been awarded those same papers.

You'll have to do better. Have you, say, opened a portal between one universe and another? No? What about multiple ones? Sustainable ones?

Hmm?

[completelycrazy]

[He balks, but also: She's right. As much as he hates to admit it. Goddammit.]

Well, okay, sure, I'll give you that. But I still earned them fair and square. I've put in my 10,000 hours.

[But, as to her question, he snorts. She says all that like she's listing her own accomplishments, but that's a stretch.]

I'm a biologist and a mechanical engineer. "Portals" and crap aren't part of my field, though I'm assuming you're gonna claim they're part of yours, huh?

[originallutece]

I'm not going to claim them. I'm simply telling you the truth. Believe it or don't.

[A beat, and she nudges two shots towards him. Had she ordered that? She did, yes, and don't worry about when it happened.]

Drink. You're not very good at this game, are you?

[completelycrazy]

You're not very good at this game. You don't even know the rules.

[He says, but then downs one shot after the other anyway. Whatever. It's an excuse to drink.]

Uh... Okay, fine, so, let's see... I speak five languages, I was the youngest person ever admitted to MIT, and I pioneered a bunch of stuff in artificial tissue replication before I got into the whole alien biology business.

[He waves a hand. He could be more specific, but he has doubts that she'd be able to follow.]

[originallutece]

[Her eyes narrow, because she likes to win, always, even with stupid drinking games with boys who think they're cleverer than her. Especially with boys like that.]

The first one. Five languages. You think you're brilliant, so it's likely you really were the youngest person ever admitted to MIT-- an American school, really? And the last one is far too specific.

[completelycrazy]

Hah!

[It comes out too loud because he got her and this is a great accomplishment at the moment.]

Nope. The MIT one is a lie. I was the second youngest.

[...]

What's wrong with American schools?

[Besides, like, everything, but also he's basically the 1%.]

[originallutece]

[Is she sulking over this as she reaches for her glass? Oh, assuredly. It comes out in the form of a glare, but there it is.]

They're American, for a start. What languages can you speak?

[completelycrazy]

Pfft. America's got a lot of problems, but MIT made me the best offer, so suck on that.

[He's got just the smuggest of smiles as he watches her take her drink. It's stupid, but let him have this.]

German, English, French, Japanese, and Mandarin. What about you?

[He's expecting her to top out at like, maaaybe two.]

[originallutece]

[Don't be so crude? Her expression curdles just a bit, annoyed by that expression.]

Four. English and French I can speak flawlessly, and I know enough Spanish and German to at least understand what's happening.

[completelycrazy]

[He laughs, and then says, in German:]

Then that doesn't count as four.

[originallutece]

[In French because I GUESS WE'RE DOING THIS]

Much like your doctorates, your grasp on competency seems to be based in numbers, not proficiency. How very masculine: if it's big enough, surely that will make up for any deficits in ability.

[completelycrazy]

[Well fine! He switches to French too, you brat.]

You're the one that said you weren't fluent, not me. I can speak a little Spanish too, but you'll notice I didn't list it.

[Luckily she doesn't know Japanese or Mandarin, which are his shakiest languages, so she can prove nothing.]

[originallutece]

[yeah lucky she wasn't a fucking WEEB newton

But she's smirking now as she takes another sip, not because she's lost but because that's so clearly a point in her favor.]

Now, then.

[English once more.]

I'm an only child. I'm religious. And I'm a very good dancer.

[completelycrazy]

[He sighs dramatically, but then gives her a good squinting-at while considering the options.]

You're definitely an only child... And if you're really from eighteen-whatever, you probably know how to dance, so the lie is that you're religious. Backed by the fact that you're science-minded.

[And then he glances at her like he's expecting praise for his ingenious sleuthing, but then remembers who he's talking to and straightens again.]

[originallutece]

Well done.

[She does not mean this at all, in any way.]

Religion is a particular sticking point for me, truthfully. I find it inane at best and highly dangerous at worst.

Your turn.

[completelycrazy]

Really? Why?

[He's just won a round, so he's back to curiosity trumping his need to one-up her.]

Not that I think you're wrong. Just, like, wondering.

[He'll get to his turn in a minute.]

[originallutece]

[Her eyes grow darker, but she doesn't hesitate for a moment.]

I've seen men destroy lives and justify it in the name of religion. They commit the worst acts and excuse themselves, denying it, because they think God is guiding them. They'll murder and rape and steal and torment, and when it's all done they'll thank their Lord, and sleep ever so soundly, comfortable and wealthy and so far removed from any kind of consequence.

It is a form of delusion. A lie, and a dangerous one, because it is believed by so many.

[completelycrazy]

[He's quiet for a moment. Hm, that sure was a tone shift.]

O-oh.

[He takes a drink just for something to do with his hands.]

Well that, uh, that sucks. Hey, if it helps, us ending up here means they're wrong and religion's just a racket.

[originallutece]

It most certainly is.

[Coldly said, although that tone isn't directed at him. She sits up a little straighter, sniffs, and sips at her glass.]

Now tell me two facts and a falsehood, please.

[completelycrazy]

[Two facts and a falsehood. He almost shoots beer out his nose. Holy shit. Who even is this woman?]

My dad named me after an amphibian, I've never met my mom, and I died trying to save the world.

[He rattles them off without thinking, but, hm, regrets. Whatever. It's fine.]