❪ test drive #9 ❫

[natha]

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. Exploring the halls brings you to the transporter room, which will give you easy access to and from Nadril... Getting there is a quick process that leaves you feeling vaguely nauseous and out of your own body, and you can’t travel to the rest of the planet just yet, but the space station and the icy colony are yours to explore. A FORCED AWAKENING (THESA STATION)     ... But that is, of course, assuming that your awakening was a smooth one. In the best case scenario, nausea might be the worst you'd feel. For many others, the newly awakened won't be a pleasant one. In the past, the refugees will only wake when they are mentally and physically prepared for it. After all, they are in a whole new galaxy, and dimensions and time were trampled with to make the Intervention possible. Those who witnessed the storm before it devoured their own world would know as well that the Intervention hadn't been a graceful one, and it's exemplified by the way you wake. Alarms on the station will be blaring when you finally come to, siren calls and flashing light invade your already disoriented senses. You'll find yourself face-planted on the cool metallic floor among many others with you. Some, just as confused and unstable as you; others, still sleeping — they're alive, but no matter how much you try to wake them, they will not gain consciousness. Or maybe some will. It seems the best way to approach those in stasis is to put them back into their chambers in hopes that the glitch hadn't disrupted their recovery. Thesa Station has changed though, seemingly overnight. The space that surrounds the station is now in near-total darkness. Where there were once stars across billions of lightyears, it appears as though they're fading — some would flash right before your eyes. This is especially true for those with access to the Observation Room. Alarms will continue to ring as you find your way there. Once inside, you will see visible glitches in the hologram of the multiverses as a ghostly, dark fabric begins to blanket over the shining dots that represents the many stars across many galaxies. As it gathers the stars, it moves even faster. Somehow, you may feel that it's getting closer now. The impending doom of the Storm is now upon the little corner of the universes where Darma found her planet. It's only a matter of time now before the Storm finally, finally, finds El Nysa. THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT     Nadril will remain accessible once you've established footing — it may seem like a welcome change to the steel, alarms, and artificial gravity. Once you've teleported down, your devices will pick up the message from the one and only Nurray, the leader of Nadril. The sensors we enhanced with Natha technology are picking up on some... rather confounding readings coming from the edges of the galaxy. I've checked the archives, and it seems similar readings have been detected at five different points in this planet's history, since the Natha began observing it. We have loaded these virtual reality consoles with data corresponding to those points in history, but there are only so many of us, and there is a lot to look through. If you could assist us in examining these events in more detail, perhaps we can figure out what exactly it is that caused it and how the Natha were able to repel whatever is responsible for these readings in the past. True to her words, the city square where you've teleported will have been furnished with a new piece of technology. Those who are familiar with Thesa's ins and outs would recognize it as a version of the Virtual Reality machines that can be found up there, but it is made for far more people. This foreboding machine has a shining gate that allows users to simply step through it and disappear into space. However, what you're really doing, is stepping right into the past. I. Burning Dawn — You can hear the piercing screams even before your surroundings finish rendering. Once they do, searing heat, choking smoke, and flickering flames greet you — you find yourself in the midst of a burning village, at the center of the town square. The streets are swarming with people, both peasants who seem to live here fleeing for their lives and the heavily armored troops who have fanned out throughout the village, armed with torches and spears. Those who are running speak of safety in the forest — a place of refuge, somewhere they can be protected even from these outsiders with their blades and their fire. But reaching the forest means getting past the invaders who are stationed throughout the village and at all the exits. Fight your way out, sneak your way out, or find some other solution — but to escape this simulation you must find a way out. Should you find yourself killed by the invaders, you will respawn back in the village square again, right where you started. There does not seem to be any other way to end the VR session. II. The Escape — It is bitterly cold. You find yourself as part of a caravan — and though no one explicitly says so, you know instinctively that you are traveling north. Snow crunches underneath your feet and soaks through the material of whatever it is you are wearing. There are cliff walls and caverns visible further up ahead, and the path you need to take is a long, winding road that leads to the top of those cliffs. On the horizon are dark clouds, and murmuring around you makes it clear that you all expect a storm. You have perhaps half an hour before it is expected to hit. What you do with that time is up to you, but should you fail to prepare properly and succumb to exposure, the next thing you know you find yourself within the caravan once more, a chill in your soul as you stare out at the approaching storm. Thirty minutes... III. Crime — "Catch!" Someone calls that word out to you, and a moment later, a small wrapped package is dropped into your arms. There is a flurry of movement from somewhere behind you, and suddenly, men garbed in Olympian insignias — older than the versions worn in Olympia these days, but still recognizable — appear, brandishing swords at you. "Stop! Thief!" If the guards catch you, the scenery around you will distort, and you will find yourself back at the start of the simulation, with a package thrown into your arms. But if you flee, if you evade the guards for long enough through the twists and turns of the Olympian markets of hundreds of years ago, and manage to lose them... When you come out of the VR session, you find yourself gripping a small trinket of some kind — an antique bracelet, or perhaps a goblet, or some other bauble of Olympian make. It is very old, and it is yours to keep. IV. ...And Punishment — The rattling of chains fills your ears as the walls of some kind of cell form themselves around you. There are shackles around your wrists, connected to chains which are bolted to the stones hemming you in. There are others chained here with you, and as you begin to process what you're seeing, someone enters the cell. It's a large, imposing man with scale-like skin, and he takes one of the others in your cell and hauls them away. Minutes later, from outside, you hear screaming — and then utter silence. The man will return in thirty-minute intervals, dragging the inhabitants of the cell away for execution until he gets to you. If you do nothing, you will meet your end in a variety of ways — beheaded by an axe, perhaps, or drawn and quartered, or boiled alive. Should that happen, you will awake in the cell again, until you find a way to free yourself and escape. V. Castaways — The tang of sea salt fills the air as the image of the ocean builds itself around you. You find yourself on the deck of a ship, sailing away from the isles of El Nysa, toward the thick, thick fog that has kept everyone fenced in for so long. "It's never been done before, crew," shouts a man with a thick beard, wearing the clothes of a captain. "But today, we'll be the first! Full speed ahead!" The ship sails directly into the fog, and it seeps in around you, obscures your vision and becomes so thick that it's almost hard to breathe. But you can hear the waves breaking on the ship's hull, and everything is fine. Until it's not. Until the sound of the waves breaking is the sound of waves crashing, until the wind whips around you and howls but does not clear away the fog. There's a sickening crunch as the mast cracks and twists and falls, shattering the deck and sending you and everyone around you into the icy cold depths of the sea. The isles are back the way you came, but can you make it? Try — because should you sink to the depths of the sea, you'll only find yourself on the ship's deck again once you open your eyes. INVISIBLE WIRES     While there are no apparent seasons in the everwinter of Nadril, the diverse flora is not all year round. Now, with the coming of the most distant moon of the year, there grows a beautiful red vine. It snakes upwards from the ice, bright red against the glowing scenery. Growing along houses, coiled up tree trunks, and spidering over the ground, the plant is resilient and quickly adapts to any terrain. It's quite the sight to behold, but get close and the veinlike roots fade, becoming entirely invisible. Like this, the vine ensnares its prey. A small tendril wraps around your finger, your neck, or burrows into your chest to entwine your heart. Each plant chooses two hosts in this way, binding them together with a sharp ache that becomes more severe the greater the distance between them grows. You may be alone when afflicted, left to suffer the night wandering to find your other half to soothe the pain. The vine withers after about 24 hours, leaving behind no trace, however, resisting its pull has been known to draw blood from the most stubborn obstinate victims. FINAL OOC NOTES     As always, feel free to wildcard prompts within Thesa Station and Nadril! 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 two (2) Natha REP. The due date for submission is January 20th, 11:59 PM EST. Due to the plot-relevancy of this TDM, current players are able to play these prompts in-game in their own logs. However, only threads involving a perspective player may be used for Natha REP. For this application cycle, there will be a cap of 60 and no reserves. Applications will be open on January 2nd at 12:01 AM EST and close on January 4th, 11:59 PM EST. Thank you! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

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Jamie Fraser | Outlander

[seventeenfortythree]

[ When he comes out of stasis face-first on the ground, the first thing Jamie’s aware of is having no clue where he is or what anything is. Pushing himself to his feet, he glances around, frown deeply etched on his face. The second thing he realizes is that his wife isn’t in his direct line of sight. He’s in trousers, his shirt, bare feet. It doesn’t make any sense; how he can be here when he knows for a fact he was tending to his wife.

Then, the alarm registers and he has no idea how to get out of this room, whatever it is, but the noise causes a panic to swell in his chest. ]

Claire!

[ She’s his priority.

She was right there with him.

Swallowing past the fact that his stomach would rather twist itself into knots than be calm, Jamie makes his way forward and continues shouting his wife’s name. Nothing else matters, truly, but finding her. When he makes it to Nadril, that doesn’t change. He needs to locate his wife. ]


The Butterfly Effect - P U N I S H M E N T

[ Of course, he’d somehow try to find a way to help. If it benefits the family he has here, small and precious as it is to him, then he feels he needs to.

What he didn’t expect was to be back in chains. It isn’t the first time but he hardly ever expected it now that he’s settled with his wife, trying to live a good, honest life in the Colonies. Or they were, until this. He knows he isn’t alone but he can’t tell who he’s with in the dark. ]

Mo chrech. I dinna ken how she’ll blame me. But my wife will no doubt kill me for this if I canna manage to get out myself.

[ The screams are terrifying and when it finally comes to him he tries to find a way out, a way to escape the noose. He has many times before.

Not this time.

When he wakes again in the same cell he curses in Gaelic. ]

When he comes again, it will be my chains around his neck once he begins to lead me. But...

[ He looks around at his cell mates. ]

I’ll need a way to get behind him. A distraction.

[ Jamie will deal with the fact that he 'died' later. ]

[ ooc: feel free to wildcard me!! Feel free to ping me on plurk propernice ]

NADRIL, LONG ENOUGH FOR JAMIE TO WORRY (more)

[nineteenfortyfive]

[Nadril is not preferable to Olympia, but Claire's only here because the new arrivals are. She's long given up hope of seeing another familiar face--Fergus and Bree are it, it seems, and she's more than happy with them. She knows she's lucky to have those two with her. But, of course. She can't help but look amongst the faces for Jamie's. She hadn't seen him up in the station, nor had she thought to look because every five steps there was someone else who needed her.

So, when she has a thought to go find one of those red vines she's heard about, she first hears her name. It freezes her to the spot. Nadril is cold, but the city is kept warmer than the wildness outside, but she thinks her blood's turned to ice. Does she dare turn around? It could be a trick of some sort. Things do get strange when people begin to wake from stasis.

Oh, but she can't help it. Before she can consider stopping herself, she's turning towards the sound of Jamie's voice, hurrying towards it.]

Jamie? Jamie!

it's a CONSTANT STATE OF WORRY where claire is involved

[seventeenfortythree]

[ He has no idea how long it's been.He's cold, he realizes he feels like he's starved, but unless or until he lays eyes on a very specific curly haired lass, he won't be stopping for anything else.

And then he hears her voice, like a call he can't resist. Turning, he scans the few faces he sees until Claire's comes into view and soon enough he's pushing toward her. ]

Oh, Christ.

[ Once his arms go around her it's like they're crashing together and he pulls her in, pressing his face against her neck. ]

I found ye, Sassenach. Are you well?

[ He pulls back, only to examine her, hold her face in his and study her eyes. ]

[nineteenfortyfive]

[She's the most well she's been in a very, very long time. Just by the way he looks at her, holds her, she knows this is her Jamie. Not twenty years too young, not missing so many experiences they shared together. It makes her laugh, a strange little unhinged noise, but as she feels her eyes well with tears she manages a nod.

And then she pulls his hands away from her face so she can grab his and kiss him with absolutely no care about anything else around them.]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Well, he won't question his wife when it comes to matters of kissing. His arms envelope her fully, one hand cradling the back of her head. He pulls back, kisses her again, then presses his forehead to hers. ]

I dinna ken where we are. But it's all right now, mo chridhe. Bithidh e glè cheart.

[nineteenfortyfive]

We're in Nadril. It's okay, it's okay, Jamie. [She's been here long enough to be able to let him know what's up, but she's breathless right now, unsure as to where to start. Christ. Bree. Bree. But perhaps, more importantly--]

What do you last remember? Before waking up in the station?

[seventeenfortythree]

[ He takes her hand, placing it on his chest, over his heart, then covering it with his hand. ]

We were home. I gave ye a new -

[ And here, Jamie stops as he runs his thumb over her ring finger and glances down, frowning. It's her old ring, the ring that was lost and the confusion washes over his features. ]

How did ye get this back, Claire?

[nineteenfortyfive]

Home?

[Lallybroch is what comes to mind first, but their time there was so brief after she returned to him. Brief, and rather unpleasant. Of course, it's where they meant to go after rescuing Ian, but that storm landed them far from Scotland. Her confusion only grows when he looks how she feels.]

What? My ring? You got me a new ring?

[What happened to the one she has in her possession now? Claire pulls her hand away so that he can see the iron band on her finger. Right where it's been for two decades and some change.]

[seventeenfortythree]

Aye, after this one was stolen.

[ He'd been deeply disturbed by what happened to her at Bonnet's hands, but now he feels as though he should be asking her the questions. ]

How can ye not ken it, Claire?

[ Mostly, Jamie is concerned for her now, and one hand goes to her head as if examining for a bump or injury. ]

nadril AFTER claire and jamie reunite I GUESS

[claudel]

[ Fergus has left Olympia, too, to help the arrivals. He's heard tell that this time the waking up has been most unpleasant, and all he can hope is Marsali is all right whether she still sleeps or she's awake. But he knows, too, what it is like to be a refugee under better circumstances. So he'll help, like Claire, if he can.

The news of Jamie being awake makes his heart full. Fergus hurries up helping a couple more people into warmth and homes before he goes, to seek out Jamie and see him with his own eyes. There's a hug before any words are spoken. ]

Milord! You really have come back to us.

SON

[seventeenfortythree]

[ To see Fergus is very different than only knowing. He still has the same knot of apprehension surrounding seeing Brianna as he did when Claire first told him she was awake. He thought it best to let her talk to the last first rather than simply show up, a surprise.

Seeing Fergus and knowing this reunion is easy at least makes things easier somehow, and Jamie claps him on the back. ]

Fergus! Aye, I suppose I have. A more permanent escape from stasis this time, I hope.

[ For the sake of his family, he prays. ]

DAD!!!

[claudel]

I am very glad to see you. It is not the same without you here.

[ After all, Jamie has always been a presence in his life since that day Jamie shook out his pockets. Fergus had found it strange to be without him suddenly, but with Jamie's arrival comes a degree of relief. ]

I hope you are settling in all right. When I first awoke, I had to go to Nadril as well. It was quite a journey.

[seventeenfortythree]

Finding Claire at the end of it made the journey worth it.

[ He would certainly go through more for her, for any of them had he known Fergus was even in the same vicinity. ]

Claire said the last thing she remembers before waking was the Artemis. Is it the same for you, then?

[claudel]

Yes, very much. I remember the ship being hit with a storm and that is it. And you, milord?

[ Fergus knows that things can be funny here. Claire had been here a year before Fergus arrived, and he's heard of people who know one another remembering very different times upon waking up. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

It's quite some time later.

[ He knows they can't get back to that life right now, so he truly wonders if it would be helpful to tell Fergus of his own life, or the one Jamie remembers. ]

We've settled. In the colony of North Carolina. I own ten thousand acres of land and my hope was to build for you and Marsali. For yer growing family.

[ He looks at Fergus knowingly. ]

[claudel]

[ The news that Marsali survives the storm brings obvious joy to Fergus. He's been to see her in Stasis many times, but the thought that in their world she might have died had been a source of guilt for him.

His smile falters, just vaguely, in an attempt to not be too hopeful. ]

Growing family?

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie reaches out, a barely contained smile on his face as he squeezes his shoulder. ]

Aye. A bairn, just born by my recollection.

[ He has no idea what that means, here. ]

A son, Germaine. Ye've made me a grandsire and for that, I couldna be more grateful.

I have no idea when this is but here we go.

[givingback]

[ At least this time, Brianna had the opportunity to know ahead of time that she would be seeing Jamie. It feels more reassuring to walk into an arranged moment to see him.

Walking into the room, she takes a breath and clears her throat, looking at him, at the way his hair is less coppery, at the way he holds himself. She isn't sure what to say, not at first, letting him have the first words. It seems like the right thing to do, considering he's never been able to speak to her in his life. ]

shhhh it's perfect idk what i'm doing either.

[seventeenfortythree]

[ The moment he sees her, his eyes take in every feature of her face, the way her eyes slant a bit like his, the fire of her hair, the shape of her lips. Not a bairn, but a grown woman before him. He has to reach out to steady himself, tears making his gaze a bit glassy. ]

Brianna.

[ He steps closer to her, reaching out, hand hovering as if he wants to touch her cheek but stops short. ]

All these years, I imagined ye. But yer more perfect than I could have ever thought, lass. I ken it's your decision. But I would verra much like to hold ye.

[givingback]

[ Brianna's doing much the same thing, but at his request she does stop closer, smiling just a little. ]

It's okay. I know from mama how much you've always wanted to meet me. She's told me so many things about you, too.

[ And then she bridges the gap between them, making the gesture to hug him. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ With no hesitation, Jamie's arms come around her tightly, closing his eyes at the idea that she's his and he can live in the truth of it makes his heart ache. ]

Mo leanbh.

[ But she isn't a baby, not anymore, and when he raises his eyes just to look at Claire across the room, there's no hiding the fact that tears are wet on his cheeks. Christ, he's a mess, but this is his daughter, the one he sacrificed ever knowing so that no harm would ever come to her. ]

Bidh gaol agam ort fad mo bheatha.

[ Words not said in English yet, but that Claire knows because he's whispered them to her time and again. I will love you my whole life. He can't imagine not loving Brianna despite never knowing her, never tending to her, never seeing her before now. He's loved her from the moment he knew she wasn't even able to flutter in her mother's belly. ]

[givingback]

[ Bree has no idea what any of that means, but his arms are wrapped around her and she has to admit she's imagined his hugs, wondered what they would be like, if they would feel like...

If they would feel like home.

She has no idea what to do with the fact that it does. ]

[seventeenfortythree]

[ If it were up to him he'd never let her go, but as it stands, he does step back, hands resting on her shoulders as he looks at her face, seeing pieces of Claire there, too. ]

I reckon yer the bonniest lass I've ever seen outside of yer mother. And I have to tell you, it's as if my own mother were staring back at me. Christ, ye look exactly like her. Our red hair, she's where we got it from, ye ken.

stops what i'm doing because you texted me to tag

[givingback]

[ Bree smiles softly, ducking her head.

Something she does when she's thinking or guilty or upset and hiding her expression. But when she looks back up, she meets his eyes. ]

Mama's told me. She's told me everything she can think of. And if there's any part of you that feels guilty, don't. That you sacrificed a life of raising me to be sure I could even be born says more about you than you need to try and say right now.

I mean, what else are you doing

[seventeenfortythree]

[ Jamie looks at her like she's impossibly wise, and now he reaches out to touch her cheek lightly, thumb stroking her temple. ]

Ye have your mother's wisdom, then, we'an.

[ She's far from a little girl, too old to be referred to as such, but he never had the chance to call her that. So, he needs to get it out now ]

If you say it should be so, then I willna bear anymore guilt. It's only that I've dreamed of you for years. What your eyes would look like, if ye ever had the same interests I did as a lad.

[ He makes a noise in the back of his throat. ]

I dinnae want to overwhelm ye.