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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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no subject
No - it's fine if you want to rest first -...
[Ah, she's already going, isn't she? He did a dumb.
But he looks inside the buildings all the same, one by one. They're mostly as empty as everywhere else, though the tallest building has a hole in the roof for some reason. Strange... Transforming his legs, he jumps up there. Nothing mission-worthy around, but it sure is a nice view. He walks to the edge of the roof, to check on Alisaie. Hope you don't mind your partner suddenly with overgrown white tiger legs, because he's kind of forgetting how that isn't normal. Still, from that angle, the claws and such may not be that obvious.]
Everything okay down there?
no subject
at any rate, yes, she's gone, striding down a little dirt lane. there's really not much to find - it seems an ordinary enough village, with ordinary buildings and ordinary carriages and ordinary crates. it's the details that are missing - the crates are empty, no food or footprints, no people, or movement, or noises. and no.. emblems. that's strange enough. alisaie only realizes it once she approaches what must be the main hall of the village; the long flags that hang down its front, snapping in the wind.. where normally the mark of a tribe or city-state or organization might gleam proudly, they are utterly blank.
frowning, she thumbs at the frayed edge of a flag when she hears his voice, and squints up into the sunlight. is that.. his legs look.. different?? but it's difficult to see just how from this angle. at any rate, she nods, then calls up. ]
Yes, everything is empty.
no subject
Hang on, I'm coming down.
[It's the highest building in the village, but still not high enough to be a serious threat - and going back in through the hole wouldn't be much better. So Atsushi jumps instead, whipping up dust (and hopefully not his "skirt") as he lands, crouching; and then he transforms his legs back, because he doesn't really need them anymore.
... Only then does he realize what he did. He's so used to working with people who know - and he doesn't especially like being "special" in any way in the first place.]
Ah. That's just... my ability.
no subject
it's.. interesting, to say the least, and alisaie takes a moment to look him over from head to toe and back again, before placing her hand on one cocked hip. ]
It seems useful.
no subject
... It is. [He gives her an awkward smile, because what is saying something remotely positive about yourself?] It's hardly the most useful ability out there, though.
Are there ability users, where you're from?
no subject
Well, that's a broad sort of question. If you're asking if I've known anyone who can do what you do, the answer would be no. But Hydaelyn has no shortage of mages and warriors and people with all range of talents.
[ a tilt of her head. ]
Are you a beastman?
[ omg alisaie you can't just ask people if they are beastmen ]
no subject
That question makes him blink, though.]
Yes? No... I'm not sure?! [WHAT IS THE RIGHT ANSWER?] I'm just a human with an ability... but that ability is turning into a tiger, so I suppose it's not far off from being a beastman.
[There's a "beast" in his ability name and everything. He just doesn't know what 'normal' beastmen are like, so it's hard to be sure what she's thinking of.]
no subject
[ he says he's a hyur -- err, human -- after all, and it seems he's unfamiliar with the term. alisaie shrugs, it's not as if it matters, really, she's never been particularly judgmental of races, just of people. ]
Where I come from, beastmen are a tribal people. There are several types, and most look less like man, and more like animal, but you can change at will. I've not known anyone able to do anything like that.
[ save for becoming a primal.. but that's quite a lot to explain, and it's obvious that that's not what this is, anyway, so. ]
no subject
[Especially when he still has limited control over it. Sometimes he feels he's only now starting to realize just how few of its possibilities he's using.]
Mages, huh...? There's magic in your world?
no subject
Of course.
[ alisaie looks a little surprised, and then she's patting the item at her hip, several purple crystals encased in steel, that match the rapier worn opposite to it. ]
I use it myself. Do you.. not have mages, at home?
[ while not everyone can use magic where she's from, it's certainly common enough that imagining a place without it is just.. odd. like a world without rain, or sound, or air. ]
no subject
No, we don't. As far as I know, there's no magic at all.. even if some abilities come pretty close.
[It's strange, but even knowing that things like abilities exist, he'd never thought magic might be real. He's discovering a lot of things since coming here...]
Can I ask what sort of thing you can use it for?
no subject
but, well, the universe is a vast, vast place, she's coming to learn. ]
It's used for all number of things. Travel and transportation, repair, healing.. I use mine in combat, as does my brother.
no subject
... Is your brother here, too?
[It's probably a tricky question and he knows it, but he can't ignore his curiosity.]
no subject
a shadow passes behind her eyes at the question, however, a faint and subtle worry, likely more emotional sensitivity she's shown at all since they met. a crack in the veneer, so to speak. ]
Yes. He has yet to awaken, however.
no subject
He'll wake up, definitely. That he's here in the first place means that he's saved.
[It could be worse. Not everyone seems to be in those stasis pods.]
no subject
at any rate, now's no time to cry over spilled milk. ]
I suppose. He always does take an inordinately long time to get anything done, I suppose this is no exception.
[ lighten the mood with scathing insults, that is her Way. ]
Nevertheless, it seems we've distracted ourselves. Did you not find anything suitable to wear?
no subject
Ah - no. It's as empty as everywhere else in there. The only unusual thing was the hole in the roof...
Come to think of it, the only unusual item anywhere was that piece of paper, wasn't it?
no subject
Mm.. well, more than likely it was meant to be a clue as to what we were expected to accomplish.
[ craning her head, alisaie looks back up toward the building beside them, gesturing at the plain, empty flags. ]
This is a simulation, yes? An arena built to a purpose. It stands to reason that there would be a skeleton to work with, so they needn't build it anew every time. Like as not this place is meant to be an outpost for a particular faction. If I were to venture a guess, the enemy one.
[ she lifts both hands, palms out, and shakes her head. ]
But alas.
no subject
While I'm glad not to be stuck in enemy territory, it is kind of frustrating, having nothing to do.
[This is supposed to be work, after all: he wants to do what the Orbiters ask of him, if that will ensure his loved ones are safe, or even increase the odds of them waking up by a fraction.
Looking around, he's about to suggest moving further down the path, on the off chance they'll find anything there - but, as he looks in that direction, something strange happens. For a split second, there seems to be some pixelation in the distance, not unlike the crude censorship of his body. Then something changes, almost like Tanizaki's ability at work. It's barely started when Atsushi responds, jumping at Alisaie to push her to the ground behind the nearest thing that can serve as cover - or into the cramped space between two houses, if there's nothing to hide behind. He's barely in time: halfway through the move, there are suddenly sounds everywhere: people and animals and who knows what else. It's not even that loud, but after all the silence? It's ear-shattering.
Not to mention that they probably are in enemy territory, and he's not entirely sure they avoided being seen. Damn!
On the bright side: the censorship of his body has vanished. On the less bright side: he's still only got his improvised skirt for clothing.]
no subject
alisaie hardly has a moment to react before he's leaping at her, his reflexes quick, and with a gasp she's tumbled into a tiny little alleyway, hardly wide enough for her to fit at all. seizing one of his elbows for support, alisaie pulls in a sharp inhale to steady herself - damn it all, the only way this timing could have been worse would've been if they were standing in the open square itself.
.. no one seems to take much notice, though, and even after they're safely jammed in this cramped little alley, there doesn't seem to be anyone following. her heart thumps quickly with surprise, but her composure remains steadfast. ]
Mayhaps this error was a stroke of luck. We've gotten into the village without having to pass through the main gates, and thus, under the eyes of the guards.
[ so maybe it's not all bad. even if he's still in a skirt. ]
Your paper. Has it changed?
no subject
Right - the paper!]
One moment...
[He pulls it out, and sure enough, what was blank now has writing - though Atsushi isn't sure he understands it.]
Something about a crystal... "The sacred prism must at all times rest in the sun, in order not to lose its power"? [But who would keep something so important out in the open..?] No way - that building with the hole in its roof?!
no subject
So we've got to steal it? Or destroy it?
[ makes sense, she supposes, if this is an enemy camp. but she's also all about being aggressive, sooooooo she could be wrong, who knows. ]
no subject
[The paper doesn't say, but he figures it's meant to serve as a hint more than instructions. They did just happen to find it along the way.]
Stealing seems the safest bet. There's no need to waste a powerful artifact - and should we need to destroy it, we can do that later.
[Which leaves the choice of how to get it.]
Does your magic work, here? [He raises a finger to his chin, pensive.] Regardless, we don't know how much security there is in there...
Perhaps it would be smartest if I went in to extract the crystal, then go on the roof and throw it to you before distracting anyone who may attack us?
[On the one hand: he's starting to get better at tactics. On the other hand: his tactics still consist of being canon fodder more than anything. But since he heals fast, that only makes sense, if you ask him. If anyone has to get hurt, better him than her.]
no subject
[ it's like asking if she can still breathe here, or talk here, or exist. granted, she hasn't tried to use it here.. but it's all panned out fine in other simulations, so she can't imagine it won't here as well. even still, on the off chance it wouldn't, she always has her rapier. fighting her way out of a crowd is the straightforward approach she's always liked best.
his plan, however, has her planting a hand right onto her hip. ]
That leaves you doing more or less all the work, you realize.
[ and she's not keen on that. she's also not keen on foolish sacrifices, either, simulation or not. ]
Not to mention, there are only two of us, and we've no idea how many we're up against. You said it yourself, we're blind on their security. I'd rather stick together.
no subject
[At least: that's not how he intended it. It was just a practical approach, in his opinion. If anyone has to be at risk, he'd rather it be him.
But... that's a little selfish, he supposes. If he respects her, he should expect her to know what she can and can't do, and take her word for it.]
Very well. [He smiles, though: earlier suggestion aside, his agreement is not reluctant.]
You said magic is used for transportation, didn't you? Can you get us onto that rooftop?
[Because he can jump there, but that's a lot more likely to attract attention. Besides, if she transports them up there, he can be sure that her magic works. She did say magic can be for healing, as well...
But, failing that, he can definitely jump them up there. It will just kick up more of a fuss, giving them less opportunity to see what they'll be jumping into once they go in through that hole - unless her magic provides a distraction, maybe.]
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