❪ test drive: #2 ❫

[natha]

OVERFLOW POST

THE PROLOGUE     Many people in stasis seem to be medically sound enough to wake up, brother. Are the preparations ready to go? Yes, I've long prepared myself for this. Watching them everyday has been truly rewarding. ... Right. Yeah. Okay, let's get them ready to wake up. We should keep their minds active to ease the transition into consciousness. A simple VR program should do the trick, I think. I will boot one immediately. There! All systems are green. Their consciousnesses are linked. However, their minds appear to be too active... They may be over-stimulated, brother. Huh? How can that be...? Can we pull them out safely? Not from my end, no. This may be too large for us to fix alone. Do you think...? Yes, I think so... It will have to be done organically. Can you send out a message to our refugees? Of course, brother. I will send one swiftly. We must be sure to fix this before Darma returns. There is urgency in the Orbiters' request. Refugees currently in El Nysa are asked via mass message to please return to Thesa Station virtual reality area immediately. Zasere tells them that the next set of Refugees are scheduled to wake, but there's been an issue. On Thesa, refugees will find that the people in stasis are still apparently trapped in slumber. Most of them are complete strangers, but there's a chance you may recognize a familiar face or two. Normally, these people would wake up from their pods without issue, but due to a malfunction caused by the unforeseen force during The Descent, they have to go through extra measures to make this possible. Those in slumber require extra stimulation, something to keep their minds active. What better than a simulation of an area of El Nysa? Keeping their minds active requires an extremely involved simulation. Those subjected to the VR (prospective characters) will find themselves completely immersed in their new environment, believing themselves to be native Olympians. To wake up from the simulation, characters must work together to accomplish a certain objective(s) in the icy tundra. Characters in-game will be aware that this is a simulation, but this is good practice for properly interacting with El Nysa natives, isn't it? An AC-length log thread on this TDM may be submitted for Two (2) Natha REP points HERE. Please read the OOC note at the bottom of this post for the terms. PROMPT: WINTER CAME     The wind in the icy wasteland is bitter and frigid. You are wrapped up in a winter coat, but even still, the cold bites at your skin and leaves you yearning for a warm fire. Perhaps you're a merchant from the city, here to make a delivery, or you're a royal guard, sent to patrol the area. Who are you? The sky is the limit. One thing is certain — you won't snap out of your new identity until you finish a task. 1. Due to the vast diversity of the creatures on El Nysa and the fact that new ones are constantly being discovered, an important objective is to carefully chronicle different species. Unfortunately, to research these new species, they happen to need more than just a visual. More than just fleeting glances in over a snowy hill. Researchers are constantly looking for ways to secure... You guessed it! Blood and stool samples. The supplies for the former will be given. Supplies are offered in a small box; one per person. In this box is a small dart that will automatically procure a small touch of blood, and easily shaken off so the creature will be able to securely escape. As for the latter— well, they'll give you a plastic bag if that counts. Look, sometimes to get a job done, you have to get your hands dirty. Specifically, they seek samples from a newly recorded rare beast known as a Klep. Kleps spend much of their time hidden in caves, so hitting them with the darts will be tricky. They are also nocturnal, but you may be able to lure them out of the cave with fish as bait. When struck with a dart, you must grab the dart and escape immediately, as they will charge you, and killing such an endangered species is illegal. As for stool samples, well... Once you find a pile, you will have plenty of sample to work with. 2. It's cold, to say the least. Too cold to continue forward. Whatever you were doing, you must stop and seek shelter. Looks like your goal is clear, at least. Get warm. Not finding a way to sustain heat, whether it be seeking shelter, building a fire, cuddling up, or all of the above, will likely end in serious consequences. 3. You are stuck in a dilemma. On one hand, you are set to work for Olympia. One the other, you're not completely sure what is really expected of you, or who the man who gave you this mission truly is. You and your partner are meant to protect precious trade cargo for them. You were told that these were essential supplies for one of the outer colonies. They assured you it was mostly food. In loading the cargo onto the supplied wagon with your partner, however, you noticed something inherently off about it. The weight and even the sounds of some of the contents inside definitely don't sound like food. Moreover, some boxes are more obviously more concealed— draped in black sheets and reinforced on all sides. You've also caught wind of rumors that you are potentially being utilized to supply advanced weapons and other contraband to Wyver terrorists in the colonies. But what do you do? Refuse to make the delivery, and people in the colony will surely starve. Try to remove the weapons and only deliver the food, and you will be killed on sight for being too suspicious. Make the delivery as-is, and not only will Olympians die at the hands of terrorists in the future, but you will betray your country. Decide quickly... 4. There are many dangers associated with traveling in such an isolated, harsh environment. You must help each other to survive. Perhaps someone has fallen on thin ice, and requires a rescue. Maybe someone is on the brink of starvation, and you must share what provisions you have. When you come to, you will awaken in Thesa Station. All will be explained to you by Zasere or Sael via telepathic link. Your world is no more. The Storm has consumed it. We offer proof in the Observation Deck if you desire it, but it won't be an easy thing to stomach. We offer you a new life, in our planet of El Nysa. We just ask for your help in maintaining the vitality of El Nysa. What can we offer you in exchange for your help? PROMPT: STASIS UNIT     You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to access this part of Thesa Station, but refugees are warned that it may not be for the faint of heart. Here, in large pods that nearly cover every square inch of the space, are all of the people the Orbiters have managed to rescue. Your loved ones, your greatest enemy, your next door neighbor— you might find them here. These people are in a state of deep cryosleep. Due to the damaging effects of The Storm, their bodies are not yet ready to be awoken. PROMPT: GET REKT     The Orbiters have noticed that some of the refugees really miss their video games. The technology in El Nysa could be much worse, but it definitely leaves much to be desired. Which is why, after expressing relief that everyone awoke safely, the Orbiters have decided to provide a little fun in the form of video game competitions. Anything from old-timey arcade machines to state-of-the-art computers, consoles, and VR headsets (though you may be a little tired of VR right now...) is available, and yes, they have your favorite games! Enjoy PAC-MAN, Starcraft 2, or perhaps Dance Dance Revolution! Teach a friend how to play. Get unnecessarily angry and competitive. Most importantly, have fun. Keep fourthwalling to a minimum, please. Recommended playing: QWOP PROMPT: OMAGE     Upon receiving your mobile phone, you will be asked to set a username. Voila, you can now access the network! You can choose to send a message to the entire network, specific usernames, or you can try out the Orbiters’ service, Omage, which connects you to a random user. They thought this might be a good way for their new guests to make friends with each other... Connecting to server... Looking for someone you can chat with... You’re now chatting with [username]... Say hi! PROMPT: WILDCARD     You are welcome to write any scenarios in Thesa Station! Characters have been granted temporary access to the Observation Room, and are encouraged to study it carefully. FINAL OOC NOTE     Please give toplevel priority to prospective characters! Current characters wishing to thread these scenarios with other current characters are encouraged to create separate logs. However, threads between 2 current characters are not eligible for Natha Orbiter REP. 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! A TDM thread of AC length may be submitted HERE for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS. Current players may submit their thread at any time, and prospective players may submit a thread after acceptance. Please note that threads must contain at least five (5) log comments from your character. A toplevel counts as a comment. Network threads are not eligible. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[buildindreemz]

[ His concern is noted - enough to actually get a huff of a laugh out of her. ]

Aw, you're sweet. I mean - it's all right. Everything is still tingling for the moment. Well, my nose is a little numb, but that's always the first thing to go, right?

[granularity]

[ He considers that for a moment before pulling off one of his own gloves. He turns to do something... and holds it out for her. When she touches it, she'll note that it's surprisingly warm, as if fresh out of the microwave. The hand that had been in the glove was stuffed firmly in his pocket. ]

Hold that to your nose, in your hands. It should stay warm until we get there.

[buildindreemz]

[ She looks a little surprised, but gives it a shot - why not, right? It's not like it can make things any worse. ]

Thanks. You know, you're not as bad at being considerate of your partner as you seem to think.

[granularity]

[ It WILL stay warm the entire time. In fact, it won't even cool down. And his hand is going to stay FIRMLY in his pocket. ]

I'm out of practice having a partner. And usually, she's tougher than I am.

[ Honestly, debatable, but Powergirl certainly gave that impression regardless. ]

[buildindreemz]

[ Okay, that maybe was the slightly wrong wording... ]

I'm tough. Just because I'm not impervious to cold...

[ She gives him a wry look. ]

[granularity]

[ He blinks for a moment, going over the conversation in his head, and realizes where he'd been insulting. ]

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything.

She was impervious to just about anything, is all I meant.

If anything, you're tougher than I am. You're the one dealing with the cold, after all.

[buildindreemz]

Better.

[ She gives him a faint smile. No harm, no foul. ]

I read somewhere once that women have a higher threshold of pain tolerance than men.

[ At this point, conversation is more for distraction purposes than anything else. If she's talking, she's not thinking so much about the cold. ]

[granularity]

They do, on average. Though of course, gender is a complex subject and gendered studies tend to be publicized as being more definitive than they could possibly be.

[ He glances over at her. ]

Sorry. I know a lot of scientists, including said partner. You hear that schpiel every other time you click on something, it sinks in.

[buildindreemz]

[ She laughs a little. ]

Luckily, I'm just an engineer, so you won't have to hear all about it from me.

[granularity]

And that's the other half.

[ He's amused, that's all.]

So engineer. What do you do? Electrical, chemical, structural, computer... I know there's a lot of variety on that one.

[buildindreemz]

Structural.

[ She gives him a faint smile. ]

I have to assess this area for shelters and habitation. If I don't get frostbite first.

[granularity]

You won't. That glove's still staying warm, isn't it?

[ It should be. ]

[buildindreemz]

Yeah, it's - it's good.

Wanna tell me how you did it?

[granularity]

How I'm doing it, sure.

[ He looks over at her thoughtfully.]

And I'll tell you once we get in. I promise.

[ He'd just rather not have an argument or a freak out before they get to shelter.]

Right now, I'll tell you that it isn't magic, no demons were involved, and no one was harmed to accomplish it.

[buildindreemz]

Okay.

[ She gives him kind of a weird look. ]

Did you think I was going to assume you're a satan-worshiping black magic practicer or something?

[granularity]

I figured I'd cover all bases on what someone might object to.

[But he points out the cabin in the near distance.]

Come on, almost there.

[buildindreemz]

I wasn't planning on objecting. Just curious.

[ Like, literally, that's just her schtick, she wants to know everything about everything. ]

Oh, good, my fingers are starting to tingle.

[granularity]

You never know.

[ Translation: technically, what's in that glove is his 'hand', in sand form, being kept warm by a deliberate flexing of his own abilities to manipulate earthen materials which, when used to extreme, can transform a city street into a lava flow. His wrist is stuffed in his pocket so as not to disturb anyone. ]

Sorry. I'll get a fire going as soon as we're in. Promise. You want to check the integrity of the building, make sure we get any holes stuffed so we're not bleeding heat right out?

[buildindreemz]

It's not your fault, don't apologize.

[ She runs an expert eye over the exterior, and waves them inside. ]

Building integrity is my specialty.

[ She starts poking around, and also checks the ceiling for any obvious signs of leaks. It actually seems pretty sound, all told. A crack in one window gets stuffed with her scarf, and that's about it. ]

[granularity]

Even if it's not my fault, I can be sorry it's happening.

[ He lets her get to that before looking around to see if there's any firewood; nothing for the moment, but a quick glance finds him a few logs under an awning. They're a little damp on one side, but the other ought to burn all right. He puts them in the fireplace, then takes off his glove to heat his fingertips enough to get the fire going. Once it's done, he pulls back to let it start up proper. ]

All good?

[buildindreemz]

Yeah, it should be fine, for one night anyway.

[ She wouldn't want to live here, but it'll do well enough to keep them out of the wind and the cold for a few hours. She runs her hand along an old wooden wall and wonders who built this, and why, and how long ago. Ariadne wonders things like that about buildings. She wonders if someday something she built will stick around long enough for some stranger to find it and ask those questions.

At this rate, maybe not. ]

Is there anything for a fire?

[granularity]

Just a couple of logs but they're damp on one side so they ought to burn slow.

[ He looks around for a moment, finds no furniture that looks dependable, and sits on the ground. He holds his hand out for the glove, since there's a fire now. ]

[buildindreemz]

[ She offers it back to him, eyebrows raised. ]

Being out of the wind is better than being in it.

[granularity]

Thank you.

[ Which is when he holds the glove up and pulls the wrist of his jacket out of his pocket, letting the sand flow from inside of the glove to reform his hand, which he stretches a couple of times before tucking the glove away. ]

Geomorph. Made of earth, and I can control it, including the state of matter. I just kept carefully heating it towards glass without getting there.

[buildindreemz]

[ Hey, look at that, he offers up the explanation without any further prodding on her part! This is a little unusual for Ariadne.

...Also did she just literally have this guy's kinda-severed hand pressed to her face for like fifteen minutes? Okay. ]

Well... That's... useful, I guess. ...Not sure I'd want to be made of earth, though. Do you still have, like, nerve endings?