❪ test drive: #2 ❫ THE OVERFLOW

[natha]

ORIGINAL 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

hello katychans uwu!!!

[cykedelic]

[ Grabbing her arm is the worst, worst, worst possible thing to do though. The action takes her by surprise, even if she's facing him, and her body moves on its own to shift position into grabbing him and attempting to flip him. He might be able to see it coming and stop it if he works out that she's purely doing it on instict.

In fact, she hasn't even responded properly, like she's not aware she's even moving to do it. ]

[webdesigned]

( anyone else? probably would have hit the deck. and hard. in fact, it's pretty bizarre, considering how fast she moves, that he doesn't. he slides away from the grab, her arm still in one hand and the rest uncannily not where it was a second ago, his spare hand skyward as if to prove he means no harm, senses still ringing like an alarm clock he can't quite reach to put on snooze.

his eyes are quite wide, and he releases her a second late, the offending hand hiking into the air with his brother. please do not mention on how he managed to not be where he was a second ago, strange girl... hopefully they can both just be surprised by how weird that was and not talk about the fact he probably reacted and moved a little too fast to be normal. )

Uh, whoa. Gentle request not to do that either. ( the floor looks hard... he does not want to be thrown, even if he'd no doubt survive it.)

[cykedelic]

[ It's a lucky thing that he does have those superhuman senses. Her own strength is only human so it doesn't really compare, but the fact that she isn't thinking and is feeling the moment means she's quicker than some other people would be too.

Her own eyes widen just as much as she twists, letting go as he pulls his hands away--only for them to fly up to her face as though she's only just realised what's going on. ]

Ack...! Sorry! I don't know what happened...

[webdesigned]

( her senses are pretty quick, to be fair. anyone else would have eaten deck there, and Peter is mildly glad for his spider senses, for once. just for once.

he shakes his head, looking guilty at her confusion. ) No, that was on me... Sorry. I shouldn't have tried to grab you, it's just... they really get hairy around here, if you mess with the pods.

( so many would be murderers trying to turn off pods of the sleeping, not to mention, messing with them could potentially go horribly wrong and nobody wants that on their conscience. )

They're sleeping for a reason. We can't help them until they're healthy enough to come out.

[cykedelic]

They do...? [ Her surprise fades a little, but her hands don't drop from her own face yet. ] Who says that?

[ It'd help if she'd fully listened before just running around here like a headless chicken. ]

I mean, they look more like a cage than anything else.

[webdesigned]

The Orbiters. The... the ones that brought us here, the ones who saved all the people in here.

( she's right that it doesn't look like they're saved, and it's a little difficult for Peter to blindly believe it, but... he knows for a fact his world was destroyed, and that he woke up recovered. he has met a lot of people under the same circumstances. he wants to believe that whoever brought them here had a good purpose, even though he can't prove it. )

They look scary, but it's supposed to be helping them. Healing them. They're not ready to come out of the pod, yet, that's why they're where they are.

[cykedelic]

The guys who gave us a message when we woke up, right? But has anyone even met them?

[ She doesn't look like she's bought it just yet. ]

Where I'm from, we don't believe things until we're given the proof. Evidence is what really matters, and I don't think I've seen sufficient enough evidence yet to blindly trust them - even if what you're saying could be true.

[webdesigned]

They're around on the station.

( at least, he thinks so. there's a quaver of uncertainty there, which Athena has the capacity to hear. it's not that Peter is lying, it's just that he doesn't know for sure. still, he's willing to believe it, at least for the moment. )

You have a point, you do, but what if you are wrong? What if you try and break them out and they're sick and something bad happens? I'm all for finding out the truth, just... make sure you have it before you act. I've seen what that storm can do, I'm sure you have too. I just don't want anyone else to get hurt.

[cykedelic]

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.

[webdesigned]

( 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. )

[cykedelic]

[ 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.

[webdesigned]

( 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.

[cykedelic]

[ 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. ]

[webdesigned]

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.

[cykedelic]

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? ]

[webdesigned]

( truth be told, he's already been with his aunt for awhile. he's been more than long enough, longer than he needs to be when she's not awake or alert or even able to realize he's here. he hesitates, for just a moment, before he nods. )

Okay, sure. You had the tour of this place yet?

( not that there's a whole lot to see, but, he can point out the places he knows if she needs the info. )

[cykedelic]

[ More than long enough doesn't matter when this is all you have of them though, she can understand that. At least they're asleep and safe. They aren't lost to the storm. Visual confirmation of that is a blessing, really. ]

No, I haven't. I tried looking around a bit myself, but I doubt I covered everything.

we can wrap here ?? mebe

[webdesigned]

I can give the tour-guide thing a try, then, if you want.

( he's had more time awake and roaming the station than Athena, he's guessing, so he can probably give a little more guidance than she'd have just on her own. not a whole lot more, okay, but at least a little bit.

and it won't be so bad to explore together, either.

the station is far bigger than they're capable of exploring, and blocked off in places, too — but true to his word, Peter will show Athena around all the parts he knows, leaving the stasis pods behind them. at least, for now. )

wraps it up!!! ;u;

[cykedelic]

Then I'll be counting on you.

[ Because at least he knows where he's going, she'd likely end up on the opposite end of the station almost being sent out into space given how bad her sense of directions are. Besides, it's always nice to have the company. ]

Let's do this!

[ With that said, she follows him out and onto the tour of a lifetime. ]