elnyan | ❪ test drive: #2 ❫ THE OVERFLOW

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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.

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Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, you're one of those heroic types, right?

[ She was like that once. It ended horribly. ]

So what have you been doing ever since you came here?

Have I ever let you down?

[ at least not when it comes to food. or alcohol, which is really what they share more often than food. it's odd, to her: this conversation is so normal, yet their world is gone and she hasn't seen him in months. the latter isn't necessarily a strange occurrence: there have been other times when they've gone weeks or months without talking or seeing each other, but he's never been stuck in a stasis pod and she's never been so unsure whether he'd wake up at all. ]

[ ~~i guess waiting for two months on a stasis pod does beat six tense seconds by a vat of water under spring hill~~

the smile is the one dutch usually seems to be able to get out of him - small, a little extra air coming out with it, like his amusement pushes it aside to make room. ] Not once.

[ he likes to think he's generally pretty tolerant and open-minded, but he's still not sure he wants to put whatever that brightly coloured grainy thing that looks like it might have been cheese? once?? anywhere near anything else he's picked up so far. mostly he's picking up what look like maybe-vegetables and one thing that might be a... fish? bread? he might eyeball what she leans towards as a sort of barometer - definitely keeps track of what she stays away from. ]

[ it's... a little too good to be true, to be honest. these kind of deals — there's always a catch, because life isn't that kind, or at least has never deigned to be so in her favor, and so she spends a good long time just squinting at him suspiciously, trying to find a crack in a mirror he's already gone and shattered in front of her. is there truly anything left to see if he's showing her all the flaws himself?

eventually, finally, she lets out a sigh. one heavy and weary and full of resignation. ] Fine.

[ it isn't some grand fanfare, her agreement, but that's just how she is.

after a moment, though, she quirks a brow his way. ]

What's the most embarrassing thing that's been done to you in your dog form?

[Definitely too good to be true, though in this case it's more than just a intentional move to trick her. First and foremost, he needs to earn her trust -- and this was simply a means to that end. There was definitely a hidden trap within the stated terms of the agreement... but all things considered, he hopes there won't be a need to use it.]

Then it's a deal.

[And he grins-- at least, until she asks her question.]

[.....no???]

[This is not something he wants to answer??? Why is she starting of with something like that!? Surely there are more important things she could be asking??]

[Well, congratulations Izumo. You've managed to shame the demon right off the bat. It's pretty damn clear in his expression that he doesn't want to answer... especially given what his answer has to be. He can't lie...]

...being mistaken for a female dog by other, larger dogs.

[Please don't ask him to elaborate, he might actually die.]

Then I'll keep a look out to ask them questions of my own.

[ The rest of it has her putting her hands on her hips, getting a little frustrated. ]

I stopped trying to open them, didn't I? I'm talking to you instead. If I still planned on trying to open them, you'd already know about it.

[ truly, it's his own reaction that hers takes its cue from. she's not completely heartless, after all, and had he been less embarrassed, she might have even been horrified for him...

as it is, his current expression (combined with the somewhat dead-eyed look of a man starting to regret his choices just seconds earlier) is enough to get her coughing around a bubble of laughter. one hand comes up, demurely covering her mouth as she looks away, but it's too late, the damage is done. she's totally laughing at him. ]

I... see.

[ ...yeah no there's no way she can keep this up, she is going to bust her guts open soon at this rate. hastily, she turns around, beginning to walk out of the stasis unit. ]

Well..! It was a pleasure, but I should be going now... [ she makes it all the way to the door before she slows, lingering just at the threshold. what's this? could she possibly be apologizing—? ]

Sorry for, ah... putting the heat on you like that.

[ ...

yeah nope, not even close. she definitely splits after that, hand falling over her mouth again, and that's her muffled laughter trailing off after her. ah. ]

[Oh my god???]

[He's just gonna let her go, not even raising from his spot on the ground in his little personal bubble of shame. But that last quip has him practically wailing--]

Don't say it like that!?

Ah, you’re not the first I’ve encountered from there. I hear tell our stars had some things in common.

[ X’rhun cants his head a little at the observation, giving a playful flick of one ear. ]

Before you ask, I am miqo’te. I may be the only one awake, at present.

[He could have had his dignity. But truthfully Athenas feelings were far more important. His shoulders slumping forward slightly as he sighed out and shook his head.]

No... You're fine. I never actually got around to deleting them so--

Just don't go around flaunting those to everyone when we see them again okay? Like, some people are fine, but-- ah who am I kidding you show one person and word will get around anyway.

[Fine then! Let's just suck it up and be an adult about this!]

Athena! I gladly leave my reputation in your hands!

( well, that's true. he breathes out and tries to relax his posture, though considering the stakes for him, it's not exactly easy to relax. )

You are. Sorry. I just... I get where you're coming from, I do. I just don't want anything bad to happen to my aunt. Anything worse than what happened to get here, you know?

( he nods at the figure sleeping behind him, his very personal and very selfish motivation for insisting nobody mess with pods. he'd have had a problem with it even without a personal connection, to be frank... but it's even worse when it's his only family left. )

[ Her eyes move down to the phone in her hand, looking back up at him after. It's a bit of a surprise because she'd been certain he'd managed it.

Instead, she lets a softer smile form on her face, her hands press over her heart. He definitely made this ten times better. ]

You don't need to worry, Boss. I'll keep them extra safe.

[ She gets it, she can feel the worry coming off him in waves... and it's a little nauseating how strong it is too - too much at once. She has to bite her tongue this time though, because he's assuming that she doesn't know what that feeling is like.

So far she's found one or two people in here, friends who have now become family because she doesn't have any. It doesn't feel right to do anything with that and she doesn't want him to feel worse. It's why she pushes a smile onto her face, even as Widget's screen switches to a sad smiley face. ]

Don't worry, I know you're only putting your family first.

[ She's not sure if that's supposed to be encouragement or some good old fashion dissing from the dumbest fox she's known. Maybe both. There's a small oof— as she stands, stretches out the joints that had been cramped together for the last little while. Not that stretching out makes her any bigger, just slightly less tinier, but now she comes up to Yusuke's shoulders instead of his hips, so. That's something. ]

Hah. [ One chuckle in response for another, complete with her hands on her hips. ] You mastering virtual reality? You barely know how to use your computer on a good day. [ And she's probably exaggerating ( or she's not, who knows ), but the point is there. Slowly building back up to her usual demeanor by taking one step forward, then another, until she's standing right in front of Yusuke again.

It's almost easier when she doesn't have to worry about anything else. Purposely leave the sleeping Sojiro out of her line of sight, ignore the harsh grey metal all around her. As if they were back in their headquarters, casually bickering their time away until someone told the two of them to cut it out. ] I don't need to be a gracious loser if I'd beat you every time, Inari. [ Except despite how harsh the words are she speaks in almost a gleeful, sing-song voice, just off around the edges as she recovers. But Futaba's trying, putting up a front, because maybe if she puts up a front for a little longer then she'd start believing it for real. ]

[ the wounded look hurts as much, if not more, than the echo of their final confrontation. harry didn't inflict that. eggsy did. he made someone look at him with a devastation that he knows intimately. royally fucked it up, once again, it seems. eggsy has had scant hours to consider all the things he should have said before harry's death, how to apologise to him now, and how to broach the subject of his untimely passing. alan's words come to mind: is it better to tell him or spare him? he doesn't know even now, with the decision barreling towards him. selfishly, blurting out you died and opening up the story of eggsy swooping in to save kingsman may alleviate some of harry's disappointment.

but it might bring forward that look of hurt, too.

he thinks he would cry, if not for the twenty-four hours after harry's death. you don't channel your grief into killing the head of an international espionage organisation without toughening up, if only a little. 'course he's a fucking spy now, and he still falls for the hat trick, reaching out with a blessedly steady hand to clasp the brim yet unable to resist the pull closer. he wonders how he can be impossibly near harry despite the chasm between their understanding of each other in this moment. somehow, harry still offers him everything he wants to hear. no, more than that. apologies and something else. ]

You asked about me? [ awed and haphazard. ] I asked for you. [ again, his words come too quickly, running together and barely retaining their shape, although perhaps harry will still notice the distinction in that phrasing, 'about' versus 'for.' harry didn't ask because of you comes the voice in his head. harry asked because he owes lee unwin a debt, even if the man's more idea than a person at this point (traces of him must be in eggsy, preserved like an utterly cheap imitation; neither finished their training, but once chose sacrifice while the other refused to give). regardless, it doesn't change how much it matters that harry cares for eggsy at all. dean's kicked him out for over the smallest shit. his failure, followed shortly by his betrayal, warrants a worse punishment, doesn't it? ]

God, Harry, get up. [ no, that's too harsh. on impulse, he gives up on his hat to wrap his fingers around harry's wrist, pulling upward in an effort to correct their positions — and leaving only the barest physical distance between them in the process. ] No, I mean — fuck. I'm the one who cocked it all up.

[ harry returns from the dead, kneeling before him like a knight, offering his hat like it's an olive branch after eggsy fucking went and snapped at him. christ, he would've wasted his second chance with someone less eloquent and persistent. ]

I was nothing until you, and I — [ there's something to be said about transformation here. maggots and butterflies or whatever. no, worms? he doesn't have the metaphor down yet. he only wishes his voice didn't sound so small or remotely tremulous. ] — I should be begging on my knees, Harry. I'm so sorry.

( is she a hero? Diana wouldn't name herself so, but she has a duty that is beyond herself. if that makes her heroic to some, so be it. )

I have been trying to understand this new world. It is not much like the one I left, nor even the one I had been in before the darkness claimed both.

( she wraps her arms around her chest, visibly uneasy — a bit of a rarity for the amazon, but not impossible. )

( he is, that's the truth. Aunt May is all he has left and he guards her zealously... blindly, even, considering he doesn't know much better than Athena what will happen if they disturb the pods. )

If we can figure out that being in stasis isn't helping them, trust me, I will help you get everyone out of here. I just gotta be sure. ( a sad breath, before he tries to echo her smile, attention deviating only for a moment to Widget — he wants to ask, but maybe it's not a good time to nerd out. ) Peter, by the way.

[ It's only fair though, given the circumstances. She isn't as roboticist like Aura was, she doesn't know the ins and outs of how the pods work. She just knows that it feels like they're caged when they don't know for sure what the Orbiters said is true. ]

Then I'll try and find out as much as I can, promise. [ She nods her head, punching her fist into her other hand. ] Athena Cykes, ready for action!

[ Of finding out things, that is. At least it means with her jumping to this Widget is back to its normal blue yet neutral face. ]

Athena Cykes.

( that's kind of a funny name, but someone that goes by Peter Parker has no room to judge, so he doesn't comment. the pose is also kind of weird, but again as someone that goes around wearing a red-and-blue latex suit, he still has no room to judge. ) Nice to meet you, Athena. Maybe crappy circumstances, but still.

That's it, yup!

[ She flashes him a peace sign, trying to pick the mood back up again now they both hit below 0 on the happiness meters. ] You as well, Peter. I know you were probably here to visit your Aunt but... do you want to go for a walk, maybe?

[ Partly because she'd feel bad if he stuck by his aunt now and unloaded on her when she might be able to hear him. You never know with these pods, okay? ]

I would tend to agree with that statement. But who are you? Not one of my siblings or you would have revealed your identity sooner. Or do you worry that I wouldn't know your name from all the other residents of Winterfell necessary to run the entire castle?

[ Bran didn't want to be the first to reveal his true identity but truly wondered who his conversation partner was. Someone from a long time ago if they were talking about his father. ]

Apples.

[ It's a quick response, and it sounds cliche, but ... the forests of Quel'thalas were enchanted. It was always autumn there, and thus the apple harvest was always robust. Always fresh.

He can't access that memory now, though, not within the confusing confines of the simulation. So he offers no explanation. Just keeps staring at the fire, frowning slightly. ]

Not long.

[ He shrugs. ]

But if they come for us, I will deal with them.

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❪ test drive: #2 ❫ THE OVERFLOW

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