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❪ test drive: #1 - the overflow ❫
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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 as you slept. 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 MESS HALL  It's fascinating to the Orbiters how such a dull room can be turned around so completely with people in it. All meals are served by Roman, and while all the food is delicious, some of it is a bit odd. Is that neon green soup? That’s hideous. If you happen to be in the mess hall at a particularly unlucky time, you and the food will suddenly begin to drift. Someone’s got jokes, and they’ve turned off the gravity control. Now it’s just you, your fellow refugees, and the floating sea of food. Wait, did that person just chuck a pie in your direction? 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. Be advised, however, that participating in one of the training modules will start you off favorably with the Natha Orbiters’ in terms of REPUTATION. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life and the dense foliage and forestry of a section of El Nysa will open up. According to one’s map registry, it clear to see that it’s miles from the outer gates of Olympia, but not as far enough to venture into any other territories. So, in that sense, you’re safe.
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: HANGAR STATION  You find your way to the hangar station. Here rests are a factory worth of docked mobile suits. You recall how the Orbiters had previously spoken of a "space frontier," but only after seeing this you realize how real their words are. Most machinery have marks of wear and tear, assurance that they have indeed been used before, and an assembly of others are going through repairs and maintenance. No one seems to care that you've just strolled in. In fact, there seems to be a couple of the aircraft that beckon you to take a closer look. Maybe you’ll only look on the outside, maybe you'll be greeted by the hand of a mobile suit extending toward you and welcoming you to its cockpit. You go out and explore SPACE!!! Unfortunately, that mobile suit should have warned you it only had 20 minutes of flight time left in its system. Or, perhaps, you’re a particularly ambitious pilot and you’ve strayed past the designated perimeter. Either way, the HUD display is now blinking with errors, cropping up with a single message: DISTRESS SIGNAL. 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... 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! A Training Module thread of AC length on the TDM may be submitted for 1 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINT after acceptance.
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o/
Ana feels herself tense, reflexive. ]
Angela? [ She's already turning to look. This has been the most difficult part of an extremely difficult day, but she manages to keep the strange mix of emotions - relief and guilt and grief - all contained to the way she says that name.
She shrugs after that, her expression carefully guarded. ] You're the expert in that department, so I suppose I have to take your word for it.
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You're here. Isn't that a good place... ( To start, she means to say, but her response now dies and she begins to mentally readjust for whatever it is now visible before her. Even if nothing really makes sense in this situation, Mercy can't understand what she's seeing when she sees the older woman's face, her hair. Mercy's brow knits and her smile fails her. ) Ana, what's happened to you? You were--younger, when you died.
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[ Ana folds her arms. Here she goes, into a conversation she's been trying to avoid for years. At least with Jack it had been easy - he had no room to talk about faking ones own death.
Angela is smart. Ana gives her a moment to connect the dots. ] I understand if you're angry.
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She's still trying to make sense still, but now of different things. Her hands clench, and that's surprising, because usually she can carry herself calmly. Then, the tension leaves her, and it's almost like she's vulnerable for a moment, as she shakes her head. A lack of trust for Overwatch, she understands; this is more than just mistrust. ) Will you tell me why?
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The vulnerability is worse, somehow, than anything else would have been. ]
If you want a reason to justify what I've done, I can't give you that. [ Ana glances away and exhales softly. ] At first, I just needed some time. I suppose there's a limit to how many friends you can lose before it becomes easier to simply cut yourself off from what little you have left.
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Thank you. ( Ana had done so much to protect everyone else; it seems only inevitable there would be a limit. Sometimes, when she's tired, Angela thinks that she's reached hers, and she has sighed and wondered why she even bothers. She doesn't resent people, it's just that no results can feel like a failure. ) I missed you, you know. And not just because it was hard to watch what ended up happening to everything and everyone.
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I'm sorry, Angela. [ It doesn't make up for anything but it bears saying, at least. ] I missed all of you, too.
[ She shakes her head. ] We knew it wasn't going to last, but I never thought things would go the way they did.
[ She'd never imagined it would go as far as what happened in Swiss HQ. Even Jack won't talk to her about it. ]
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There're a lot of things she's not sure how to feel about yet.
For now she steps forward, closer to Ana, and nearer the pod. ) No, you're right. Though sometimes I think the outcome ended up being better than what could've happened. Not everything was a loss.
( A pass, as she considers. ) Are you familiar with what all of the official reports said?
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She tries not to think about what could have or should have happened to Overwatch. It's gone, regardless of the opinions of those who used to be a part of it. As best she can, she doesn't get involved at all anymore, but she suspects that if everything they've been told is true she's going to have a hard time sitting on her hands and keeping to the sidelines.
She looks up as Angela steps closer. After a moment's consideration, she turns her shoulder, silently inviting her to pass and investigate the pod if she wants to. Maybe she can find a way to help Fareeha. Regardless of any mixed feelings between herself and Angela, she knows Angela would never begrudge her daughter any care she could provide. ]
We did some good work. It just wasn't enough. [ She exhales softly. ] Isn't everyone familiar with those reports?
[ The note of bitterness isn't directed at Angela, just the mess of a story that had become so widespread. ] Do you know more about what happened?
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She walks past, the only noise her heels' incisive clicking resonating in the quiet cavernous room. Very gently, with a measure of respect, she places her hand on the pod and wonders for a moment. So this is the woman that young child had grown into. A young woman Angela would be happy to rouse, if she knew how. )
I wanted to make sure you knew how I felt when everything was said and done. That I don't think, in the end, there would have been a way to salvage that organisation.
( After considering the last bit of what Ana said, she turns around and faces the woman. ) I laid my heart bare in those reports. ( 'My conscious is clear,' she would add, but that's already explicit. ) Do you know something, Ana?
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[ Not just Jack and Gabriel, but all of the people she'd cared for, who had been caught up in the collateral damage. There was no magical piece of the puzzle that she could have provided, and at the time she wasn't in any kind of shape to be anyone's support through the aftermath.
That probably isn't all of what Angela is asking about, but it's all that she's willing to say. That Jack and Gabriel are alive is - not currently relevant.
She turns to Fareeha, though she's still speaking to Angela. ]
Do you think there's anything you can do for her?
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( She's not suspicious, or accusing, she's just someone who knows better, now. Someone who wouldn't be surprised if not everything was as it seemed. Ana, after all, isn't dead, so what other ghosts, she wonders, might come back to haunt her, even though the world is supposedly over?
Then, more quiet: ) I hope there will be soon. One of them--Darma, asked me to help people. ...Even if we're not sure what's going to happen, do you want her to wake up?
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[ That's all there is to it. Whether Ana wants that or not isn't really relevant. She knows her daughter well enough to know Fareeha would want to be conscious to do what she could, no matter the cost in the end.
She shrugs. ] As for learning anything... Well, I'm the same fool now as I was then. You know what they say: it's hard for an old dog to learn new tricks.
What about you, Angela? Learn anything interesting these past few years?
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I will do what I can to help her, Ana. ( She means it as a heartfelt promise, to reunite a mother with her daughter as soon as she is able.
She gives a small laugh at the expression. ) Interesting is subjective, unfortunately. ( What can she say? She hasn't done anything grand, anything exciting, and her contact with anyone else has primarily been in the form of private personal communication. ) I've learnt to have an appreciation for sponges.
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Am I going to regret asking you to elaborate?
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( After that she smiles at Ana. Not an unfriendly one, but she's going to have a bit of sass to give. ) Well, if someone wanted to weaponise them, I think they'd be disappointed. Otherwise, they make impressively effective emergency wound packing. Like packing peanuts for the human body.
I think possibly for omnics too, though I am not sure how long they would plug up oil.
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I don't know, I might be able to integrate them into my rifle. [ She's kidding, mostly. ] Is that what you've been doing all this time? Still finding innovative ways to help people?
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Something like that. I was invited to Oasis, but I wasn't much use there.
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I find that hard to believe. [ Her brow furrows a little. Angela is probably being too hard on herself. ] What happened?
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She's quiet, rubbing her arm a moment as she gives it some thought. She's not sure how much Ana knows about Oasis, though she does know the older woman will see through any excuse immediately. ) I was too suspicious. Something that won't come as a surprise to you, I'm sure. Only this time, I was so rigid, I broke off the relationship before even signing a contract.
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She knows that she can speak her mind freely now that she isn't a reflection of Overwatch, but she still chooses her words when she speaks to Angela, out of habit. ]
I'm in no position to talk about how you use your work or don't. But I will say that if you had reservations, well... [ Ana shrugs. ] You have good judgement about these things. You should trust it.
[ Angela had her reservations about Overwatch too and, though Ana isn't particularly apologetic on that front, she doesn't think Angela was wrong. ]
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It's been over half a decade. She has saved hundreds of lives. And yet she can feel so small. It hadn't really occurred to her how poorly her decision to cut and run weighed on her until now. When she'd caught the faintest scent of corporation and potential patenting, she'd up and fled like a thief into the night into the safety of NGO obscurity. She had regretted it for a bit, before moving on and settling for what was her calling.
But could she have managed to do more? If she weren't so tired, so actually jaded, could she have sucked up her wounded pride and actually put up a worthwhile fight?
Whether Ana can help absolve her of this or not, it doesn't really matter now. ) That's what you did, isn't it? You gave up being stubborn against your own good sense? ( Oddly enough, she looks up now with a shrug. ) It is an interesting idea. I do try to be open-minded, so I might try it some time.
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It had almost worked.
Ana shrugs, noncommittal. She's never liked talking about herself. ]
You're a bright young woman. Other doors like that will be open to you - or you'll make them yourself.
can i get things i thought i responded to 500
As such, she just takes what Ana says and stands there quietly for a time, thinking about it. Eventually, she turns to the older women with something of a smile. )
You're right as always. ( No surprise there. Angela take a few steps away and begins to turn. ) I guess I will just have to see what doors I can open here. I will leave you to the moment I interrupted. ( The one shared with her daughter. Angela makes a vague gesture that isn't needed about this, it's something like a wave, but in the end it becomes nothing. She isn't sure how to say goodbye. Was it good to see her again? It's honestly hard to say. )
I will see you again, Ana.
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She'll keep an eye on her when she can, and not just for Fareeha's sake. Too many of the people she used to know have been lost to their own pain, or worse. She's glad that Angela isn't so fargone. ]
I hope so. [ She nods, instead of waving. It feels strange for her too.
When Angela is gone, she returns to her daughter. ]