❪ test drive: #1 - the overflow ❫

[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 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. 1. Or you could have been, but unfortunately the wilderness is home to various types of beasts and monsters hailing from different universes and galaxies. On the bright side, perhaps one of them will be oddly familiar to you. Or maybe someone else who is currently synced is willing to give you that extra helping hand. Fortunately, if you’re powerless, there are options. From telekinesis to flight, there are strange abilities one can adopt and “test” out in the virtual reality. Granted, you’re only limited to one at a time. They say in the near future, some of you may be granted these abilities under certain conditions. But, please practice some caution. You aren’t alone in the system, after all. 2.. Who do you fight for, the VR system will ask you individually before you enter the module. The righteous Olympians, or the free-spirited Wyvers? Whatever your choice, when you enter El Nysa, you will wholly and truly believe your allegiance. A. Working together: You now have to suffer the consequences of your choice, as you and your partner have been captured by guards of the opposite faction. Now jailed and soon-to-be tortured, you must find some way to negotiate your release. Perhaps you’ll find some means to escape without detection. Maybe you’re the “fight your way out” sort of people. B. Facing your enemy: That person you stepped into the VR with? They’re out to capture you. Or maybe you seek to capture them. 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. 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: 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. 1. You’re the poor sap who happened to chill around the Observation Deck. Unfortunately, everyone seems busy with the influx of mobile suits out and about, and the only one who can answer this distress signal is on the Navigation System, well, you. Hope you can figure out the controls fast enough. Guide the pilot back to the safety of the hangar using the most efficient route possible. Keen Navigators will find an instruction manual that provides a shortcut to automatically return a suit back to base. 2. You’re actually sitting in a two-seater mobile suit. Funny how that works, isn’t it? Maybe you were unwittingly dropped down a hatch, or dragged along for a joyride by your ambitious co-pilot. Either way, it looks like help is going to take some time... 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! A Training Module thread of AC length on the TDM may be submitted for 1 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINT after acceptance. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

Erik Lehnsherr | X-Men films

[exothermia]

a. stasis unit

[Erik is no stranger to survival, to adapting to difficult circumstances. And yet he finds there's a particularly alien feeling to all of this, beyond the mere fact of aliens being behind it. It's the evidence in the stasis unit that chills him the most, seeing all those bodies frozen, waiting for their time to awaken. If they ever would. He clenches his teeth slightly at the thought. It reminds him, absurdly, too much of his own confinement in the Pentagon cell.

He walks through the array of pods, scanning the faces, looking for something familiar. Mutant, human... though he realises he may not be able to tell, unless he comes across someone he knows. Someone from the Polish town he'd been hiding in before the storm, someone he had known before that. Raven. Charles. Even Hank or Logan would be welcome enough, to prove he wasn't the only one retrieved from their world. He's used to being alone, and yet he's not familiar with the feeling being so absolute. All of his expectations need to be rewritten.

Reaching the end of yet another aisle, he stops and presses a fist against the metal casing of the last pod, a hiss of frustration escaping him.]

This is pointless. [He mutters it to himself, though it echoes. What can he gain from wandering the entire length of this room? Other than a spark of recognition, which he resigns himself to seeking out.]

b. training module 1

[He isn't powerless, not by a long shot. But if he's going to relent and use the training modules, he's going to use these other power functions to see what, exactly, the extent of them is. What these beings consider a 'power' worth being trained in. Telekinesis was familiar enough in concept to his own magnetic ability for him to choose it, and appropriately test it. In theory this could be done in an orderly manner.

In practice, it becomes Erik snatching up and pitching rocks at an approaching giant lizard, aiming for the eyes but with only moderate success. If a rock happens to zip past your ear, well, that's not his problem. He's got a skill to master.]

That's not the best place to stand right now.

[Especially as the lizard whips its head from side to side, croaking at both offending intruders.]

c. mess hall

[He's eaten worse looking things than this, and knows better than to turn his nose up at a meal based on appearances. Still, Erik does watch his fellow passengers for a few moments to ensure the food is edible before he takes up his own plate. He had only just taken a seat when the gravity quits. The ridiculousness of it all quickly overcomes his surprise. So much for having a moment away from the situation.

With a sigh, he clamps one hand to the bench below him, and magnetises his fork to the plate, effectively holding everything in place. He places a thumb over the fork as an afterthought, habitually covering his tracks. Batting aside a floating dinner roll, he turns an exasperated look on the one who let it drift into his orbit.]

You'll need to react faster than that if this happens again.

[ stasis unit ]

[axiomed]

[ Charles comes back here regularly, hoping to eventually find his students. The teachers. Hank. Raven. Erik. He keeps his hope close, even though he doesn't discuss it with anyone else. He can't handle that kind of conversation. There's an edge and Charles is all too aware of it.

But he stops short as he sees a familiar man standing there. ]

Erik.

[exothermia]

[He's clearly not paying attention, to not sense the wheelchair approaching. Part and parcel of being aboard such an immense ship, humming with all kinds of magnetic materials. The voice though cuts through immediately, and Erik turns to see -- Charles. There's that recognition he'd been trailing after in these pods. It manages to take him by surprise all the same. He hadn't really been that hopeful.]

Charles.

[Circumstances couldn't be more different to how they had last parted. History scratches at the back of Erik's mind, though it's never been far away, even as he threw himself into his fake identity with everything he had. He shifts on his feet, removing his hand from the pod.

After a moment of silence he lets out a breath, shaking his head slightly.]

I didn't expect to see you here.

[Or anyone else.]

[axiomed]

[ No, the circumstances hadn't been pleasant but there have been worse partings. Charles won their last game, after all. He's not above that. ]

What did you expect?

[exothermia]

Nothing.

[That's the honest answer. Despite the promises made by these beings and the evidence of others being salvaged, Erik hadn't dare assume that he would locate anyone he knows. Though his presence in the stasis units proves it was at least on his mind. He folds his arms over his chest, surveying Charles in silence for a moment.]

You look well... circumstances aside.

[axiomed]

[ Charles blinks before smiling softly. ]

Thank you. You do too. How long has it been? Eight years?

[exothermia]

[Erik blinks, taken aback, and scrutinises Charles more closely. That wasn't an answer he was expecting.]

It hasn't been nearly that long.

[It might have felt like a lifetime ago to Erik, but the reality is hard to argue with.]

[axiomed]

Hasn't it?

[ That's odd. It certainly was that long for Charles. ]

What do you last remember?

[exothermia]

I remember it being 1985.

[There's little point being more detailed. None of Erik's current life would be familiar to Charles, so it's useless as a reference point. A frown settles over his features. The other man is certainly more cleaned up than he had been the last time Erik had seen him (not difficult - bloody and dusty in the wreckage of Washington) but that doesn't speak to how many years it's been.

He adds more forcefully:] And I remember that storm taking over everything. [Because that has to be a common point between the two of them.]

[axiomed]

[ Hmm. Time discrepancy? No matter. Charles puts it aside for now. ]

That's quite a while back. I managed to get the school going. It has a decent number of students now.

[exothermia]

[Erik turns his head slightly, and just watches Charles sidelong. The school isn't familiar to him. Nor is the claim that he hasn't seen Erik in eight years. It's not adding up. It may not concern Charles, but it does concern him. The constant state of alertness he's lived in for years wasn't destroyed along with the world.]

[axiomed]

[ Charles notices and turns to him with a benign smile. There's still steel in his eyes though. ]

You might as well say what's on your mind. I can hear those gears moving from a mile away.

[exothermia]

[The look in Charles's eyes doesn't faze him. He merely turns his head and regards the pods again.]

You're awfully unconcerned by the idea that we remember different dates, considering the cause.

[axiomed]

My concern is better left to other things rather than dates. We have had strange encounters with time and future events, as you may recall.

[ His tone is smooth, polished. He's a far cry from what he was years ago. ]

At any rate, it's not my concern yet. That may change.

[exothermia]

As though I'm likely to forget.

[Especially now that he knows they were fighting for a future they would never get to have. He can't even consider his last couple of years in hiding to be a waste, knowing that. He drops his hands into his pockets, turning something over in one of them.]

What does concern you?

» training module

[clobbers]

Uh. ( What was that for? Sheesh! ) I'm not standing, though. Per se.

( In fact, she's hovering some fifteen feet off the ground, ready to face the lizard alongside him. The rock hadn't hurt, but it's clear that he's inexperienced with... whatever. Power he's got.

She'd ask about it, but the lizard's about the size of a dinosaur, and lifting one of its large, clawed feet to take a swipe at them. Venom drips from its forked tongue, neon green like the mess hall's soup of the day. )

Gross!

If you pelt that thing with little rocks, I can try and shut that stink down.

( Whether it's the poison or the creature's breath, the reek is bad. Her eyes are watering, even. )

[exothermia]

[Well, it's enough to have him flashing her a quick look in between snatching up the next rock. If the reptile wasn't busy trying to slice them to ribbons, he would be more interested in what manner of person she was, and where that ability to hover came from. He makes a mental note to ask later.]

Figure of speech. [It's... not an apology, but it's not a further snipe. Working together would be more sensible here. Erik steps back swiftly as the lizard claws out again, scowling at the maw of venomous teeth. He hefts the rock with more accuracy, looking up towards Kara as the projectile hurtles into the creature's red eye, prompting a hissing roar.]

I assume you'll go high, and I'll go low. [As he speaks, he pulls a knife out of his belt. The rocks had been an interesting experiment before this thing showed up. Now it was time for something he was far more skilled at.]

Mess hall

[songofdeneir]

-=the person who let his dinner roll go adrift is currently floating calmly, his food drifting up off the tray. he's also singing in a language eric will not have ever heard before. his hands move in precise motions, and then in a small circle around him gravity seems to right himself and both he and his food topple back to the table with a yelp=-

O-oww...

[exothermia]

[Reflexively Erik leans back out of the way as the man comes thumping back down to the table. So much for a courteous word of advice. He has to grip the bench harder not to keep drifting in the opposite direction, and it makes his comment a bit thornier than before.]

You'd have been better off staying up there. It would have been less messy.

[songofdeneir]

I doubt for long.

-=he mutters as people and food are already starting to collide as they continue to float about. liquids being the worse offenders. cadderly looks up, brushing his unkempt curls from his face=-

I can extend the area I believe, so you need not cling so fiercely to the table?

[exothermia]

I'm fine, thank you.

[It's a bit terse. If he needed assistance, he would ask for it (maybe). Casting a critical look at his tablemate, he does continue with more curiosity.]

And what is it you're 'extending'?

[The man has some kind of power, it's clear.]

[songofdeneir]

-=cadderly gives him a look that clearly says he doesn't quite believe that, but he doesn't press the issue=-

I reworked a spell that relocates gravity to work in a contained area rather than merely a point. That is what took me so long.

training module

[hannya]

[Majima follows the sounds of fighting like a siren call through the woods, eager to find what else the place had to throw at him. Somehow, the rock is unexpected. Fortunately, his reflexes allow him to dodge quickly, and he watches it smash into pieces against one of the nearby giant trees. He scoffs as birds scatter from the higher branches, then turns to size up both the lizard and the man facing it.]

No shit.

[He doesn't even question the other floating rocks. Majima hadn't picked out a power for himself, but he's seen enough bizarre wildlife so far that everything else seemed par for the course.

The lizard rounds on him and hisses. Its breath sends a rancid scent into the air, and whether it's supposed to be incapacitating or not, Majima nearly gags on it. Hell no, enough of that.]

Guess I'll find somewhere else.

[Majima darts forward and lunges at the lizard, grabbing one of its large scales with one hand to hang off its side, and plunging his knife in between more of them with the other. Dark blood erupts from the soft underskin, and while it's unclear how much this actually hurt the lizard, it's pissed off enough to ignore Erik and give him a better opening.]

[exothermia]

[Getting straight to the point is a virtue Erik can respect. The rock was an accident, but at least it was a minor distraction at most. And, he supposes, best that it didn't hit this newcomer. There are bigger concerns right now though. His brow furrows as the lizard opens its maw, reassessing what it might take to incapacitate it.

When Majima makes his move, Erik steps smoothly to the side, away from any reflexive movements the lizard might make in its pain. When it screeches from the knife blow, he hurls his last rock into its mouth (a much better shot than his last) and pulls his own knife from his belt.]

Watch for the tail - it whips around.

[With that said, he takes the knife by the hilt and throws it dead-straight into the lizard's knee-joint, aiming to hamper any further movement.]

[hannya]

[Majima's fist trembles around the handle of his knife as he holds on for dear life; the enamel almost cracks against his grip. He grits his teeth and drags the blade farther along the lizard's scale, threatening to tear it off completely. When Majima looks up to see the rock smashing into the lizard's mouth, he grins savagely. Serves the damn thing right.

However, Erik's warning comes just a bit too late, and the lizard's tail comes from Majima's blindside. It swats him off like a gnat, and sends him skidding across the clearing floor. Majima coughs and struggles back to his feet, glad to at least see the big bastard wasn't about to run over and step on him. He still had his knife in hand, lucky enough not to fall on it.]

Yo! [Majima yells back to his sudden comrade in arms.] That power work on people?