❪ test drive #3 ❫

[natha]

YOUR STORY BEGINS     The Storm came. You only remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that. All you know, perhaps, is that it was cold. You don't know for how long you slept, but the dreams were short, at least. You remember the expanse of stars and the universe that came in view. Every world and solar system ever known was displayed in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You have also witnessed The Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. It was a dark, thick smog; ominous in appearance and ever foreboding. Your Earth and similar planets were immersed in The Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of it. That was when she told you what happened, and how you can help. You knew that you'll be living somewhere new, even though you never asked for it. The details here weren't clear, but you knew you'd made a deal with Darma. Not long after, you'll wake at Thesa Station — Your body is still cold. It was all a dream, but somehow, you knew it wasn't — now, will you keep that promise you made to Darma? PROMPT: THE KITCHEN     Ordinarily, Roman is more than happy to cook up whatever the refugees desire to eat on any particular day. Today, however, just as a new wave of people have started to wake up from their cryosleep, the Natha Orbiter "housekeeper" is nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, those who have just awoken haven't eaten in a long time, and while there are many ingredients in the Thesa kitchens, there isn't any prepared food to go around. Now's the time to find your inner chef. The kitchens on Thesa Station are open for public use, and every ingredient you can possibly think of (or have never seen before) is just a fridge or pantry door away. Perhaps you'd like to prepare a meal with a partner, or show off your skills to a newcomer. ... It is possible for things to go awry and set off the smoke alarms, though. Do you have what it takes, or are you a culinary disaster? PROMPT: TRAINING MODULES     While it’s all nice and well to familiarize oneself with Thesa Station, it is most advised that new arrivals venture out a bit. Not physically. No one is quite prepared for that yet. However, there will be several virtual reality training programs set for those who dare to be adventurous. For those who aren’t and don’t dare, well— good luck, all the same. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life. 1. One of the newest programs installed by the Natha is one that simulates life just outside of Thesa Station. You're strapped into the cockpit of a mobile suit or a spaceship: take your pick. Perhaps it's even your own, from your home world. They know that the possibility of needing the refugee's help in space combat is inevitable, and they want everyone to be prepared. For now, there's no danger, and you are encouraged to have some fun with it. Enjoy it while you can. a. The name of the game is 1-on-1 combat. Use whatever means necessary to bring down your opponent's machinery. You will gain points based on the amount of damage dealt and how quickly you bring down your opponent. The battle ends when a machine is deemed too malfunctioning to continue, or the pilot is ejected, at which point the VR module will end. The damage you feel may not be real, but while you're in the simulation, it sure hurts like the real thing. b. If you're looking for a more relaxing yet still cathartic time, perhaps blasting meteorites to smithereens is more up your alley. The objective is simple: destroy stuff for fun. There are meteorites of all shapes and sizes all around you. Use weapons on your mobile suits, sheer force, or get creative and play some meteorite baseball. The more you destroy, the higher your score! 2. The simulation brings you to a lush area of Olympia. The intention here is to get you familiar with some of the local flora. What sorts of plants will you encounter? Do you find yourself under a Verillum Tree, suddenly compelled to be painfully honest and truthful in conversation with a complete stranger? Find yourself behaving erratically in the presence of Whistleweed? Or perhaps you'll have to break the spell of being trapped in a Vena Amoris' vines... with a kiss. 3. When you enter the virtual reality, things aren’t exactly how they’re supposed to be. Maybe that’s natural, especially if this is your first time, but the problems here seem a bit more fundamental. Maybe you find yourself under a parental safety lock, and you’re suddenly censored. Exposed back? Censored. Body suit? Censored. Or replaced with a mascot costume. Worst of all? You can’t sign out. Not right now, at least. A widespread error is one in which the module will appear to start, but it simply takes you to Thesa Station. The only difference is... whoever you entered the VR with is now completely invisible. Regardless, whatever it is— ridiculous filters, body alterations, or even body swaps with other users... you are assured it’ll all be fixed with due time. Zasere sends his humblest apologies and promises no more wire chewing, or so the announcement states. 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: 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     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! An AC-length log thread may be submitted for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS after acceptance here. Please submit by December 12th. We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for REP. There will be an application cap of 60, and no reserves. Please read here for more information. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[gekkajuu]

["Him"... What a plain description by comparison. Atsushi can't help but feel for the hard-haired man a little - not that he looks like he needs sympathy.]

T-That's good! Finding your best friend... [And "him", he adds mentally. It's awkward enough to make him feel a little tense, even with the people in question deep asleep.]

There are so many people here, it can take some work to find who you're looking for... though people from the same place are often sleeping pretty close to each other.

[eaudevamp]

[ Reign heard that stammer, but he'll let it slide. He'd made it quite obvious to his friend that he didn't like the human, not after what said human had put his friend through. However, he made Shell happy. So that was all it mattered in the end. ]

Well, better than not finding a familiar face in this place.

[ His lips twisted in a wry smile. ]

Maybe that's why they're next to each other. It took me quite a while to find Shell.

[gekkajuu]

Yes... If you're looking for someone and you can't find them, you can never be sure if they're somewhere else, or if they're just gone. [... Oops, that is a lot more depressing than he meant to be.] But they're probably just somewhere else! This place is really huge, isn't it? Haha...

[Someone save us from Atsushi trying to smooth things over. He's so bad at acting cool.]

That's an interesting name, "Shell"... What's yours? [Manners, Atsushi! Always introduce yourself, first.] I'm Nakajima Atsushi.

[eaudevamp]

[ That definitely was depressing. But Reign was not one to allow that to sink in too long. ]

Yeah, it is. I admit, I've never seen a place like this. So vast! Practically like a small city itself.

[ All right, now that got his attention a bit. ]

He has quite a unique name, right? Ah, I'm Reign. Reign Fear. Nice to meet you, Nakajima.

[ Welp, cultural discrepancies when it came to the order of names could be hilarious. Please correct him, because Reign really thought Nakajima was his first name. Wasn't that usually the case? ]

[gekkajuu]

[But calling someone by their last name is totally normal! So Atsushi doesn't even think to correct him.

"Fear" is quite a name... but then, Atsushi's own name is a little strange too, probably. That's just the nature of names.]

It's a pleasure to meet you, too.

I take it you're not used to giant space ships, either, Mr. Reign?

[eaudevamp]

[ At least someone was being polite!

Vampires from Reign's world had weird naming sense. Don't ask. It was probably meant to instil terror amongst humans. ]

No, not at all. The highest I've ever flew in is on an airship. Space? This is my first time. Ah, you can just call me Reign. "Mister" is a bit... [ He chuckled sheepishly. ] What about you? Been on something like this before?

[gekkajuu]

All right. Reign, it is. [Atsushi smiles brightly. He's gotten a bit more used to informality since coming here. The only problem is that he's afraid of being informal with someone who hasn't expressly given him permission.]

No... As it happens, the closest I've come was an airship, too. [Or an ability that happened to be a reinforced flying whale. Same difference.] It was a shock, for sure. And finding out that our worlds have been destroyed...

But as long as the people are here, I think that's more important than the physical place, as much as I liked it. Anywhere can be home, if the people important to you are there.

[eaudevamp]

[ Reign was a friendly vampire after all, and formality was something he preferred not to have. Not unless he was doing a business deal or meeting someone very important. ]

Really? There are airships in your world too? I sure would have loved to see it.

[ No, don't change the topic! Why, Atsushi? WHY??? Reign's smile was wry as he nodded in agreement. He couldn't imagine life now that his world was destroyed. Perhaps then a new species will appear, like how vampires did. ]

You're right. What's important is having the people you care and love by your side. As long as they're there, we can get through anything. What's that saying? "Home is where the heart is"...?

[gekkajuu]

I only know of the one airship! They've fallen out of fashion since planes were invented.

[Which he should probably explain, but... How is he supposed to explain planes... He's not a rocket scientist!]

Yes, exactly! [Atsushi smiles, relieved.] Even if they're asleep now, they could wake up at any time. I've seen it happen before!

[... With the one person he rather wouldn't have had wake up, but. That's scientific proof that it's possible, isn't it?!]

[eaudevamp]

Planes, huh?

[ He'll ask more details about that particular transportation later, because he'd a feeling that this will take a loooong time to explain. ]

Have you now? That's a relief. How long have you been here?

[gekkajuu]

Ah, they're... more or less the same as airships. Just a lot faster?

[That works as an explanation, maybe!? Ugh, he can just hear Kunikida yelling at him about the science of it all. (Speaking of people who still need to wake up!)]

Hmm... Four months now? No - a little longer!

Somehow it feels both much longer and much shorter than that.