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Entry tags:
❪ test drive #9 ❫
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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.
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! |
3/3
What... can't you recognize your own wife?
that was beautiful
and then--
oh. oh. fitting to form this regeneration is still just as ridiculous. but, honestly, it makes her relieved. the response going from concerned threats to acceptance. it makes river chuckle a little and had something not been currently tangled around her heart she may have leaned into that response a little )
I don't think that now is the time.
( but for as much as she chides that fondness is still ever-present in her voice. if she had to be tied up with anyone... well, she knew who she'd pick every time )
Top left pocket.
( someone has to have a sonic. if her wife dares to reach inside her jacket )
hEH c:
She also appreciates having a clearer idea of what needs fixing now, though, and shifts her focus to the more pressing issue at hand, ]
But if you're you... what's our vine-y friend up to? Don't tell me the plant's into a bit of matchmaking.
[ She does, in fact, dare to reach inside (no sonic trowels need apply.) ]
no subject
( in fact, what the doctor does find in that pocket is not a sonic trowel (relief!) but a sonic screwdriver. there's one key to her point in time before consulting the diaries.
joking aside, though-- )
I didn't get a chance to ask. ( nor would it probably be able to give an answer ) It seems to have released a little but...
( but, as much as it's no longer painful, not with the two of them so close, it is still burrowed in )
no subject
It's bound us together. [ A considering pause, ] Almost romantic, but mostly annoying and painful.
[ She gives it a buzz herself, squinting at the readings. Not... terribly helpful, that. ]
no subject
( this thing was too annoying. annoying and painful.
river leans across to see what it says )
Well?
no subject
[ Thank you, sonic screwdriver. She tilts it so River can see its irritatingly vague, yet painfully obvious assessment. ]
Could release on its own eventually, but beyond that... [ She lifts her hands, ] Stand still for a second.
[ And she takes several long, deliberate steps backwards, away from River, face soon scrunched in a wince. ] Ow.
We might be stuck for a while.
no subject
and it hurts. not as much as when they'd first been tangled but enough that she'd rather it didn't continue )
Then I guess we'll have to find some way to occupy that time.
( part of it wouod end up being trying to figure a way out. the rest-- they had a lot to catch up on )
no subject
Shouldn't be too hard. [ A line that might sound perfectly suggestive... coming from anyone who's not the Doctor.
But she's clearly got other things on her mind: ]
Let's get out of the woods first, shall we? Before anything else decides to attach itself to us.
—Oh, how well do you know the colony? I haven't seen much of it myself, 'cos I woke up a few hours ago, but I meant to have a look around. Have you been here very long? What do you make of it? Tell me everything.
no subject
I woke up almost two months ago. ( and she's spent the vast majority of that time on a mission -- find out everything that she can. it's been a challenge when the natives don't want to answer her questions but shes resourceful.
she leads them on, retracing her steps to take them back to the place that she's been living in )
I don't believe what we've been told. Most do but not everyone believes that there was a storm.
( she's seen the end of the universe -- twice. it wasn't a storm, not hitting every universe, not when theyre all from different points in their respective timestreams )
no subject
Two months isn't all that long, but it certainly means River will have all sorts of insights into this strange place. ]
Oh? [ Leaning in with a conspiratorial air, ] What do you believe, then?
[ The Doctor's not gotten much further than "woke up, heard about an apparent galaxy-eating storm, found a forest and a handsy plant." Not enough time to make up her own mind one way or the other about what's actually going on here. Truth, trick, lie, something else altogether? Discounting nothing, so far. ]
no subject
( considering how many pods there were it also had a 'bigger on the inside' feel to it. they couldn't truly hold everyone. but they also had people that were supposed to be dead )
I found you there. In one of those pods. ( and, for a brief moment, she allows herself to look troubled by this. it was all wrong ) Except it wasn't just you but every you -- every face that you've had was there.
( thanks to a little 'time lord' scanner that she'd cobbled together with jenny. it had made narrowing down the pod locations much quicker )
no subject
All of me? They can't have all of me! That's just...
greedy! And stupid.
[ She sounds perhaps less horrified and more offended by the notion than she ought to. Who'd want to steal fourteen-plus Doctors!?
(Quite a lot of beings, actually. Don't answer that.)
And then something even worse occurs to her: ]
...Are any of them awake?
no subject
They're safe. I made certain of that.
( and of course she would, and still would. no ome would be getting their hands on a time lord body )
How long has it been? Since you regenerated.
( she makes the quick decision to tack that on to the end. she's not certain that she wants to know how long it's been since the doctor saw her )
no subject
Er... [ She tips her head back, calculating it. ] A few months. Probably? Bit of a whirlwind, haven't kept track... this body's still new-ish, though.
no subject
( she teases, though river is also very curious to see what she qualifies that answer with. if she does )
It must have been quite the change. ( which is a very large understatement considering what regeneration was but this was even more different than any other change ) Finally seeing what the other side is about?
( her tone is still light and teasing. gotta see who this person is -- does her wife squirm or keep a straight face, how easily does she blush? )
no subject
Oh, yeah! [ That exciting new feature! ] My new gender! Should have done it lifetimes ago, honestly. Dunno why I didn't...
There was a slight adjustment period. [ And it really was, from her perspective, fairly slight; it's just another change, after over a dozen lifetimes of changing, and she reckons she's mostly got the hang of the whole thing by now. ] People call me "ma'am" or "missus", now! And I get funny looks if I mention having been a bloke.
[ Mostly.
She pauses. Something filters into her expression— not really shyness, no, but a shade of uncertainty, ] ...What d'you think of it?
no subject
( just to settle that quickly. it was what was inside that she'd fallen in love with, the outside was just a fun perk.
but, to also answer the question-- )
But I like what I've seen. ( implying, as she'd said last time, that she needs to see more. can't really say with just the head.
they're out of the forest now, olympia back in view )
Not too much further now.
no subject
[ But her attention's drawn to the city laid out before them. The sight's still new to her, and she takes a moment to admire it. ]
And where are you taking me, River Song?
[ Not that it really matters; she'd follow anywhere. ]
no subject
To where I've been staying.
( not 'home'. never 'home'. that's a concept that doesn't come easy to her but on an alien world she's been kidnapped to? never )
It would give us somewhere quiet to talk and figure out these plants.
no subject
[ She trails off, hit by a sudden realization. By something monumental. Something earth-shattering. She stares, stunned, wide-eyed into the middle distance. ]
I'll have to stay somewhere. Will— I have to live in a flat...?
no subject
( it was an offer, as temporary or as permanent as she wanted it to be. it was one that came easy to make, after all from her perspective they were just about to have 24 years doing this. 24 years that river is certain that her wife has already had. she'll know how that went )
For as long as you like.
( because after all for all the time that they've been married they've not been in one place for all too long.
though until her pardon she also had no place )