natha: (Default)
ɴᴀᴛʜᴀ orbiters ❰ mod collective ❱ ([personal profile] natha) wrote in [community profile] elnyan2018-08-26 01:27 pm
Entry tags:

❪ test drive #7 ❫

YOUR STORY BEGINS    

The Storm came. You remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that.

You don't know how long you slept, but the dreams were short. You remember the expanse of stars and galaxies in your direct view. Every world and solar system ever known to man was present in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You also witnessed the Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. Your Earth and similar planets were assimilated by the Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of your world. That was when she told you what happened. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new. The details weren't clear, but you knew it was a part of a deal with the entity known as Darma - once, you might have been able to speak to her, but now you are only met with silence.

When you awake, you will find yourself in Thesa Station. Your body is still cold, you're hungry, and the halls seem frighteningly bare somehow.

EMPTY HALLS    

Despite the absence of Darma and the rest of the Natha Orbiters, the station is still managing to sustain itself. Those that dig within the station’s log will find that it’s currently in some sort of Energy Saving Mode. While Thesa isn’t at risk of failing any time soon, people will notice that the ship will appear more dim and desolate. Malfunctions will be common, and while none seem to be life-threatening (yet), they are notably inconvenient. Fortunately, it seems the Orbiters were prepared for the worst, and in a potential response to these concerning turn of events, they've prepared some help.

Hi! My name is Yppilc, I will be your assistant on the station! It looks like you just woke up. Did you need help?


The virtual assistant takes a wide variety of shapes, from adorable animals to metal paper clips with googly eyes. Regardless of what form they take, their mission is clear: to help in any way they can. It’s unfortunate, however, that they just haven’t been calibrated properly. Hence, they will appear at the strangest times— in the middle of dinner or an important conversation— sometimes they won’t even offer anything useful. Apparently they were designed after a program that existed once, but who really knows....

However, while they may seem like nothing but trouble at first, there are many occasions in which they can actually help. They are equipped with a whole wealth of information on how to keep the station operational. They can offer tutorials and step-by-step instructions on how to fix various aspects of the station and beyond. Their knowledge is extensive, and if they believe the refugee they're assigned to needs a different kind of help (a lesson in smiling or how to have adequate small talk being some of the many topics they're equipped to teach), well ... they're not against supplying it. Expect some invasive teaching.

The virtual assistants are also all synced together. Meaning, if there’s a big enough problem, they can ping one another and assign refugees to help with certain parts of the ship. The only problem is that prioritizing may not be their strong suit. What seems like a simple issue could be exacerbated into a huge ordeal. What someone thinks is a fire in the main hatch could actually be a plumbing issue near the Mess Hall. They also seem to assign people arbitrarily. One can only hope all the refugees get along.

SEND HELP    

While no specific parts of the station are necessarily offline, a lot of the tasks the station would normally complete on its own will need to be handled manually. Fortunately, the main functions of the station are more than accounted for, however everything else will be up to the refugees. As there is no telling when the Natha Orbiters will return, perhaps it’d be wise to take this opportunity to learn to be a little more self-sufficient on Thesa Station.

1. There are some areas the Station can’t automatically clean without exiting its current emergency protocols. Each of these areas will be marked off on the map provided by Thesa's very own virtual assistant, Yppilc. According to Yppilc, one of the key places that would benefit from a good wash down is the airlock. As a fair amount of foreign matter travels through these doors, special suits will be provided for those cleaning the area. The suits will have a built-in communications system and will also include its own oxygen tank. A helpful feature to have, just in case someone may be swept out into space. Which happens more often than one would think! Cleaning too close to the controls can trigger the doors to open… they’re sensitive. The oxygen tank isn’t equipped to last very long, so you can only help comes soon.

On the bright side, in the event that someone is stuck outside and running low on oxygen, rescuers can easily share some of their air with them. The suits are built to be able to connect to one another like an adhesive. To activate this oxygen-sharing mode, refugees will be required to follow several steps. Hand on one another's shoulders, eye contact, helmets pressed against each other— each suit follows a slightly different set of steps, but they’re probably not any less awkward. While it looks a little absurd and while maneuverability might be a bit of an issue, at least everyone is breathing!

2. Space is unpredictable at times. It isn’t uncommon for the station or its pods to occasionally brush against meteors or asteroids. While Thesa is well-fortified, it doesn’t mean that these asteroids don’t need closer inspection. A lot of rare materials can be mined from them, and while this domain would normally be handled by the Natha, it’s now the job of the refugees to procure pieces of it. You never know when this alternate source of energy and fuel could come in handy, after all! Refugees will be provided two-person pods to go and retrieve these materials. While they can physically descend from the pod once they get out there, they can also control the pods to drill and pick up these materials. Though, the controls are a bit difficult.

3. Without the Orbiters to operate the the kitchen, the Mess Hall will also experience a steep shortage of food. All the ingredients used in the cafeteria were actually conjured up by the Natha, hence without them— people will discover that there isn’t enough food for the new refugees. Old refugees will be pinged prior to their arrival at Thesa Station and the message is clear: bring and cook food for the new refugees. With the errors on the ship, it seems that many of them woke up hungry. For those that lack confidence in their culinary skills&Mdash; they say food tastes better when you’re starving.

GIFTS FROM THESA    

The Natha have bequeathed their will unto the refugees, the burden of watching over their dear planet not given without a token of trust. Everyone, those newly awakened and those already settled, will receive periodic urging from Yppilc to visit the VR facilities. These messages will grow more frequent, more frantic, the longer they go ignored - for the sake of sleep, it’s best to indulge the request.

Load into the simulation, and the scene is mired by the confusion of battle. You and another stand on a low hanging precipice, overlooking a failing front line. The location and conditions of the fight vary, drawn from the memories and fears of the participants themselves. Olympia and Wyver, locked in a caustic war - and your new home is succumbing. Or your homeland, entrenched in conflict from the past, or from a dreaded future. While the scene laid out before you is chaotic, one thing stands clear; your allies are fighting a losing battle. Comrades fall, innocents flee, and the wounded cry out for help. The program has determined what could best spur you and your comrade to intervene, though the more stubborn refugees may need additional goading from their partners.

Your next action determines more than the outcome of the fight before you. Choose wisely - this message is conveyed mentally in a garbled voice that sounds familiar and ethereal all at once. Jump into action and fight. Save an ally - perhaps even your partner in this simulation - from certain death. Or help those who cannot help themselves. Act, and you will find yourself imbued with a new power. Use it, and the scene will soon come to a close. Despite returning to the reality of Thesa Station, you’ll find this newfound power still within your grasp. A gift from Darma, to aid in the battles to come.

OOC Note: Feel free to give your character any one power that would be classified as a ‘major spell’ on the ACP rewards table. These powers can fall under any category (Unaffiliated, Natha, Olympia, or Wyver), and must be reported by existing characters and new applicants here under the most appropriate header no later than September 8th 11:59PM EST. Please include a brief description of the power you’ve chosen. You will receive a response within 48 hours if there are any modifications required.

SOCIAL-LINKED(in)   
By some miracle, there are still some quieter parts of the hall. This may be an appropriate time to check out your smartphone. Aside from the expected "Omage" app, there seems to be a new one called Social-Linked. There, you may find a profile waiting to be posted. The app allows for the user to fill it in, but there is also an auto-function! upon pressing it, it will generate a shockingly-honest answer based on the Natha's observation of your history. Roman will be your only friend in this app, with his very own profile:

●●●●○ THESA
ROMAN
@romannoodles (∞), Thesa

I WAS A: Butler! I still am, and I'm happy to serve all of the new arrivals!

I'M SKILLED IN: Cooking, cleaning, anything that involves making your life better!

I'M LOOKING FOR: Consistency!

ALSO, I'M: Not entirely certain if the "auto" profile function is to your liking. Feel free to edit if it is not to taste!

So, have you decided on making your own profile? Perhaps you used the "auto" function on accident? Regardless, once your profile is out there, it's out there. And like the Omage app, it will match you with someone. NOTE: Please use the form below to fill out a profile! Whether it's auto-generated or filled by the character is up to you!

PROBLEMS IN STASIS    

1. The ship’s malfunctions have reached the stasis chamber, a long feared outcome finally dawning on sleeping friends and families. Yppilc will be quick to notify all refugees aboard that the pods will need close monitoring. Whether you’re visiting to keep an eye on things, or simply there to see the face of someone dear, be careful. Bumping a control panel, or drawing a hand along the glass could trigger an emergency ejection. Lights blink and a mechanism hisses, and then the pod is gone. With the pod thrust into space, you’ll be left with nothing but a small screen displaying the chamber’s position. There are ways to retrieve it— such as climbing into a suit from the airlock or following Yppilc’s instructions. Regardless of approach, it’s imperative that you stay calm. One error, and you could eject another pod or cut off the view screen entirely.

2. The newly awakened won’t find a moment of respite. The errors that pervade over the rest of the station have altered the contingencies for resuscitation in a majority of the pods. Some may awaken with gaps in their memory, or an old injury yet unhealed. Some may be afflicted with new ailments, such as loss of a sense or severe nausea. Anything could happen, with the computer systems processing so inconsistently. Interfacing with Thesa in any way, from entering the VR simulator to accessing the medical facilities, can cause the same range of side effects, so even established refugees should take caution.

FINAL OOC NOTES    
As always, feel free to wildcard prompts within Thesa Station!

These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose. Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below.

Players may submit an AC-length thread HERE from this TDM for 2 Natha REP. The due date for submission is September 16 11:59 PM EST.

For this application cycle, there will be a cap of 60 and no reserves. Applications will be open on September 2 12:01 AM EST and end on September 4 11:59 PM EST. Thank you!

warhorns: (oh what a shame)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-08-29 12:28 am (UTC)(link)
Can I see them? Where are they sleeping? [Her hands as much as the ache in his chest keep him on the bed, but it's clear he wants to go.]
nineteenfortyfive: (WAX)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-08-29 01:02 am (UTC)(link)
In the place you woke up. They're not going anywhere.

[Hesitantly, she puts her hands on his shoulders to give him a push back. Bed is the best place for him now.]

It's been some time. They might look a little different from what you remember. And I imagine it's not just them from your family in stasis.

[Theon had given her the Greyjoy Tour, and she knows Ned Stark sleeps beneath the glass, but she's not looked for the other Starks herself.]
warhorns: (let's make the most of the night)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-08-29 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
[She pushes and he hasn't the strength to resist. It sets a scowl on his face.]

How do you mean, they'll look different? What's happened to them?
nineteenfortyfive: (SIXTIES)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-08-29 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
They're older. It's been at least several years, I believe. They've grown up.

[It had broken Ned's heart to see it, in Sansa especially. Claire might not have known them before their lives were turned upside down, but she always had a sense that they were so much older than they were.]

May I ask what you remember? Do you remember the Storm? And... before?

[The cause of the wounds, and maybe his death.]
warhorns: (oh what a shame)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-08-30 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Sansa and Arya grown up, perhaps even women now? Robb can't imagine it. Sansa's always been such a girl, dutiful and ready to grow but not there yet. And Arya?

Her question takes him by surprise. Robb knows all too well what he remembers. When he'd first woken, bleeding out on the floor in front of his pod, he'd thought it had been some kind of dream. But as he healed the recollection had fully returned to him.]
I- died. [He's not willing to say more.]
nineteenfortyfive: (RAISED)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-08-30 01:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[Poor boy. Claire nods. It's what she thought.]

You're safe now.
warhorns: (livin' hard just like we should)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-01 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Is that common here?

[He's not completely willing to take her word on how safe this place is. Not yet.]
nineteenfortyfive: (MIRROR)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-01 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[A moment, and Claire nods again.]

The... magic, or technology, that saved us from the Storm can bring back the dead. I've known a few in my time here.

[For better or for worse. Some people really should have just stayed dead.]

I've been awake for a year. I met your brother and sister [and you] soon after I came out of stasis.
warhorns: (while you're here in my arms)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-02 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
[He can't help the way his mind assumes the worst about what she's just said. His breath catches with worry, shoulders tensing again.] Were they also- [dead?]
nineteenfortyfive: (ONCOMING)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-02 09:09 am (UTC)(link)
No. [She replies as soon as the words begin to leave his mouth.] They were alive before the Storm. I know that. Arya, too.

[It's strange talking about his family with such familiarity when she's a stranger to him, but the poor boy doesn't deserve to worry over the fate of his loved ones. If it were her, she'd want to know the truth. All of it.

Claire presses her lips together, hesitating, but carries on despite her own discomfort. There aren't many people here who could give him answers.]


Bran as well, but I'm afraid the youngest boy wasn't so fortunate.
warhorns: (oh what a shame)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-02 09:17 am (UTC)(link)
[It's more than he could have hoped. His sisters alive, and Bran to. He's about to ask about Rickon when-

the smile growing on his face dies.]
Why? Why did Bran live and not Rickon?
nineteenfortyfive: (TALES)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-02 09:24 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know. But I do know it was the fault of Ramsay Bolton, and he died a rather unpleasant death.

[Both times, really, but she decides to let that be that. His ghost hangs around Theon enough that she doesn't need to give him power by talking about him overmuch.]

I'm very sorry. I know this is a lot to take in.
Edited 2018-09-02 09:24 (UTC)
warhorns: (runnin' till we outta time)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-02 09:31 am (UTC)(link)
Bolton. [There's hatred in his voice as he repeats the name, his head dropping to stare at his clenched hands. Gods, was it a surprise that Roose's bastard was as much a viper as Roose himself?

Suddenly he looks up at Claire.]
Is he here now?
nineteenfortyfive: (ARRANGEMENTS)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-02 09:34 am (UTC)(link)
Not any longer. The bastard returned to stasis shortly before Jon and Sansa did.

[It'd been a blessing, but she thinks she'd gladly endure him if it meant Sansa and Jon were back. Nothing's been the same since they went back to sleep.

They should be here now to see their brother again.]
warhorns: (wild childs lookin' good)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-02 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
A shame. [Robb didn't believe in meteing out vengeance on the children of his enemies. Innocents who had nothing to do with conflict couldn't be blamed for their parent's choices. But if the young Bolton was following in his father's footsteps, Robb would gladly have killed him too.

A moment passes while he gets his temper under control. He doesn't know this woman, he won't disgrace himself in front of her.]
Could you show me where Jon and Sansa are?
nineteenfortyfive: (SAIL)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-02 09:51 am (UTC)(link)
It is a shame.

[And Robb doesn't know the half of it. She wishes she could do all the terrible things done to Theon to Ramsay and then some, but that time has passed. He's gone. That has to be enough.

She takes a breath to calm her own temper before nodding. Yet once again, she hesitates.]


I could show you were your father is, too. He was awake. It was brief. He's there with them.

[She doesn't know if Robb had the chance to say farewell to his father's body or not. Either way, it might be nice to see him with his head still attached to his shoulders, she reasons.]
warhorns: (while you're here in my arms)

[personal profile] warhorns 2018-09-02 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
My father- [For a moment Robb looks more like the child he'd been once. His eyes grow wide, his voice is hushed. He hadn't thought of Ned Stark being here. Why would he? For so many years he's been focused on his sisters. There hadn't been time to mourn, to do anything when Ned had died.

But he can't think of that. His tears aren't for this woman, who he barely knows.]


How can you know my family so well, while I don't know you at all?
nineteenfortyfive: (GIFTS)

[personal profile] nineteenfortyfive 2018-09-02 10:04 am (UTC)(link)
[With Jon and Sansa, she never had any reason to hesitate when she saw they were upset. It came naturally to her to wrap Sansa in her arms or to sit and coax the worries out of Jon. That urge is here with Robb as well--she catches herself before she can reach out to put a hand on his, and instead folds them on her lap.

He doesn't know her. He's right.]


It's the nature of this place. But we can get to know one another, if you'd like. Sansa and Jon gave me somewhere to belong. Now it's my turn to return the favor to your family.

[Maybe not so much a physical place to belong given her full house, but...]

Anything you need, I'm here.