central_librarymods | Test Drive Meme

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The Central Library

Test Drive Meme

You are in The Central Library… anything can happen here. In fact, the possible can become actuality while you stay here. Things are always changing. Some for the better, some for the worst… it really all depends on one thing. You.

Take a look around, visit the worlds through the book portals, and slowly bring it back to life. The more you do, the better life will get. But be wary, not everything is a fun story and not everything is harmless. Sometimes you will have your life at stake and others you will simply have to enjoy your stay.

You can use RNG to pick a scenario below… or you can pick your own! Whatever delights your fancy and makes you feel at home within the walls of The Central Library.

1. Arrival – You wake up in the main hall. The reception desk is behind you and you know you heard someone whispering “Save us” in your ear… but where are you? The hall gleams and there are many doors amongst the shelves of books. It is rather huge and a walkway circles a second floor… where are you? Well… you might want to ask.

2. Market Place – The Central Library has turned the large conference room into an open gateway to a market place. It shifts and changes along with the Library, but food is always available to those living there as long as the portal is open. Step into a Parisian market of modern day, an open market of the Dark Ages, or even a trading post in the Old West. Go shopping, take a stroll… your imagination is your only limit.

3. Go Out to Dinner – There aren’t many places to go out to eat in The Central Library, in fact, it is best to keep food to the living quarters. But when you go through portals in events, you experience whole new worlds from every era and every place. Possibly you may sit in at the Mad Tea Party or even dine in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. You pick. You decide…

4. Non-Fiction Immersion – It’s raining. Inside. You’ll find that Non-fiction has a way of ruining your day to day life in the Library. Some book in the Non-fiction section has burst open letting out a monsoon of types that only gets worse as you get to that section. Find it, close it… or we all just might float away.

5. Fiction Invasion – Sometimes things slip through. Little things or big things. After all, monsters do hide in the dark corners and in some sections of the grand structure. But this time… the problem is small, small size that is. Pixies have invaded. They are troublesome things… they love to cause problems and make life a little miserable. You need to catch them before they steal you blind… and possibly cause you too much mischief. You may need a net… but please, try not to kill them.

6. Cleaning is Necessary – You are stuck here, you might want to make it home. Being in such disrepair, it needs a little love and care. I’m sure the janitor’s closets have some tools and no harm in trying to pick up books and shelve them. Just be careful… they are rather testy about where they go.

7. A posse ad esse – Anything is possible. This is your Wild Card. Have fun with it!

This Test Drive is Closed. A new Test Drive will be posted soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hello." A man wanders into the lobby. He's wearing a leather pilot's jacket with insignia for the Galactic Republic army, a blaster and a lightsaber hanging at his belt. Other than that he looks perfectly normal. "Welcome to the Library."

Barbara takes in the outfit - the insignia, the blaster, the lightsaber - but she doesn't make a comment on any of it. Then again, she can only surmise what he's thinking looking at her, all dressed up in purple, yellow, and black.

"Thank you," she said, smiling politely at the well-armed man. "Would you mind telling me which library it is that I'm being welcomed to?" It wasn't Gotham or Metropolis, of that much Barbara was certain.

This isn't well armed. It's normal arms for an soldier, yes? Well, maybe not the lightsaber, but whatever. The girl's clothing is a bit strange... but it's a strange galaxy where he grew up. If Kale were to be wondering about everything strange he'd never be doing anything else.

"That one is a bit hard to explain. It's sort of the library of libraries. It's not on any world you know of... I'm not even sure if it's on an actual world. It's sort of... the place where all stories are. I think..." He puts his hands in his coat pockets.

"It's sort of quaint, in a way. I never saw a library with actual physical paper books before here."

It wasn't like she didn't have a ton of weapons in that utility belt slung around her hips, anyway.

"Hold on," Barbara said. "You mean, this is where all the stories ever are kept and stored?" Some people would be shocked by this, others mystified. Some wouldn't believe it. A few might even have thought that they'd gone crazy. But Barbara Gordon had seen and heard of things that most others would have thought impossible.

She did pinch herself, though. Just to make sure that this wasn't a dream or an imaginary tale.

"That's...I mean, that's incredible. But it doesn't explain why I'm here. Or why you're here." He couldn't be the librarian, could he? "More of an ebook guy, are you?" She was too. That way, you could take all of your books with you everywhere.

Exactly. You can't be a member of the bat family without being ridiculously over prepared.

"Yes. As far as I know. Apparently something is happening... the stories are fading or being destroyed and the normal librarians have vanished, so the three remaining ones have been bringing people here that they felt could help."

Kale as a librarian is a particularly ridiculous idea, but she doesn't know that.

He blinks at the ebook comment but quickly figures out what she means. "I suppose everyone where I'm from is one since we don't make books out of paper any more, at least for regular sale, I'm sure there are a few people who'd want them."

From the way Kale says that, he clearly thinks those people are crazy.

The Batfamily is probably the only group out there more prepared than the Boy Scouts.

"Wonder if they fell with the first wave of stories to vanish or be destroyed." That was the good thing about being a Bat. You jumped right into the mystery. The other stuff could be figured out later. "Are these three remaining librarians reachable? I'd like to talk to them, if so." Because why not, right? Might as well start at the source and then work one's way down.

"And hey. Printed books have their merits." They looked damn good on a shelf, for one thing.

Probably.

"Honestly? I don't know and the Librarians aren't talking about it. They just want our help fixing things. And they are reachable... I just don't know where they are currently. It's a big place and they could be anywhere. But, they should be around to give you an official welcome eventually."

Kale glances around them at all the printed books and fails to see any merits... even if they do look good on a shelf. "If you say so."

He holds out a gloved hand, "I'm Corporal Kale Delvar."

"Under most other circumstances, I think I'd be thrilled to find myself here," Barbara says. She looks around at the books again, but doesn't go to pick one up. Instinct tells her it's better to avoid opening any just yet. "Trust me," she says. "I worked in a library for awhile. I know what I'm talking about." She turns back and gives Kale a smile, taking his gloved hand in her own and shaking it. Her grip might be surprisingly strong. Or not, given that she is dressed like someone who does physical-fighty things. "Batgirl is me, Corporal Delvar. It's a pleasure."

"Never been much for reading in general, but I get what you mean." He doesn't appear to be too surprised at the grip, and his is decently strong, the name however...

"Your parents must have been very strange or very drunk when they named you. I mean my name is pretty bad but I believe yours takes the cake."

Superheroes and code names? What superheroes and code names?

"I was a voracious reader as a kid," Barbara replied. "Well, when I wasn't training in the ballet studio, at least." Barbara chuckled. "Well, my parents did name my brother and I after themselves, but no. Batgirl's not my real name. It's just what I'm known as when I wear this." She didn't walk around her university with the cowl on her head.

Well, not unless she was fighting crime. "Kale isn't terrible, though. You're a very trendy food item where I come from."

"Trev was more the reader than I was. I really like mucking about with machines," he said before hesitantly asking. "Dare I ask why you wear that then?"

Because really... why...?

"Kale isn't terrible until you end up getting called Cabbage Boy by the other kids in class and end up getting into fights and breaking a kid's arm and then getting detention..."

Call him Cabbage Boy and you die.

"I was always the reader in my family. My brother...had other interests." The way she said that made it seem as though she wasn't too keen on what those interests were.

Barbara looked down at her costume - the yellow Doc Martens, the purple and black leggings, the utility belt and leather jacket. The short, scalloped cape. People may have thought her new look was ridiculous, but Barbara loved it. She could breathe easy in it. She couldn't remember the last time that had been the case.

"To fight crime," she replied. "While protecting the identities of those I care for." Her father was the police commissioner, after all. It wouldn't do to have it be known that his daughter was moonlighting as one of Batman's sidekicks.

"So, no green leafy nicknames for you. I think I can manage that, Corporal."

There is an utterly bemused look on Kale's face when she explains her reasoning. He's trying to process this but...

"Is this how all your police dress?" is the only thing he can come up with. Kale really is trying on that one. Because Superheroes? Are totally not a thing in his world.

"And thank you. I appreciate that"

"What? No, no. I'm not police. I'm...this is..." Barbara grasps for some word here that works. "Freelance? Like. I do this because it's the right thing to do." And given certain spinal injuries, she's not sure if she'd qualify to join the force anyway. Even if she did, her father absolutely wouldn't allow it.

"We're, you know. Heroes and crimefighters, doing the right thing. Because it has to be done."

"And you can't do that as a member of the police or other service? I mean... my brother ran off to join the army because he didn't like the idea of sitting around doing nothing with the war going on even though our father wished we wouldn't," Kale said. He's so confused. "Ideally he'd join the Jedi, but we're both too old for that one."

She looks perfectly healthy and okay to Kale! So he sees no reason why she couldn't!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive Meme - closed

Re: Barbara Gordon | Batgirl

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I love bouncing such different cultures off each other...

Ha, me too!

It's so entertaining