❪ 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

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ There's no simple way to answer that. So she answers with a question of her own. ]

Are you a Vault Hunter?

[rhygret]

Me? No. Or well. Not technically? I did help find and open one like I told you before when you were being a bit of a dick.

Seriously who is this? Vaughn? Fiona??

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ She'd never heard of a hunter named Fiona before, that must have been after. But the hunter circuit is pretty close, they stay in touch even when not working together, share safe houses. If this person knows this Fiona and she's in with the rest of them, then there's a high chance she knew something about the Warrior and it's Vault. Whether she told this stranger about it, that was still uncertain. ]

You wouldn't know me, even if I told you. But I promise, we're from a similar place. Are you Pandoran? That and it's moon were the only places with Vaults that I was familiar with.

And like I said, I'm sorry. About before.

[rhygret]

[ A lack of a name is definitely suspicious, but there's no doubt at all here that whoever this mystery person is, they're from the same place as him. And now that he thinks about it, it'd be kind of dumb to assume it was one of his friends since the first thing they'd probably do is insult his username and not call him a liar.

This is someone else from Pandora. Or Elpis. Or Helios? ]

Apology only marginally accepted because you're still being really suspicious about all this. But if you mustknow, no. God no, if I was from that skaghell of a planet I'd probably be

[ ...Dead, actually. ]

Anyway I'm not from Pandora. But it's where we found the Vault so you're not wrong there?

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ Throughout their conversation she's been slowly connecting the dots, for instance; no one hates Pandora like Hyperion hates Pandora, and if this guy is a Hyperion who's been there, then he must have been stationed at Helios. Which would explain the mannerisms that had made her suspicious in the first place, Jack's underlings all wanted to be just like him after all.
Perhaps this guy was one of the unlucky souls Jack sent down to Pandora as punishment, or worse under the guise that it would earn him a promotion (that would never happen, because those people never made it back.) Was he a plant within the Vault Hunters, or had he defected from Hyperion? ]

So you're not a Vault Hunter, but were working with them? Did they tell you anything about their past conquests?

[rhygret]

There isn't exactly a lot of tiem for story-telling when you're fighting a giant teleporting monster you know.

[ Which is ironic considering the circumstances which led to fighting it in the first place. Two solid days of walking and talking, although admittedly had professed to being a Vault Hunter. Rhys thinks the life suits her.

She's tough, smart, had a mean elemental pistol. She's practically set. ]

After we won it was more about the loot and the Vault than sharing stories.

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ Well, that tells her nothing. ]

I see. So if you're not a Vault Hunter, and despite working with them know nothing about them, then where do you fit in to all of this?

[rhygret]

I don't know nothing okay? I know plenty! We just didn't exactly go around sharing stories about ourselves.

If you must know I was the brains of the operation.

Sort of. I mean technically speaking we couldn't have found the vault without me since it was linked to my bio-signature or whatever?

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ Vague bragging is not a valid answer, Rhys! ]

That still doesn't answer my question: where do you fit into all of this?

[ After a few seconds because, Angel realizes, maybe this person isn't trying to obscure information. Maybe he's just terrible at basic reading comprehension? Hyperion hired plenty of less-than-genius employees for the grunt work, despite presenting an image that said otherwise. Maybe this guy is just kinda an idiot. ]

As in how.

[rhygret]

[ W O W ANGEL. Thanks!! Where's the faith? Maybe Rhys just has a lot of dialogue options here huh ]

I know what you meant okay. It's called exposition. It helps.

[ ok!! ]

That and I still don't exactly trust you. But I guess it can't hurt to tell you that I was the one who found the Gortys beacon in the first place and that's what led us to the Vault.

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ Oh, the Gortys project. Angel remembers the files on that, although the plans on acquiring it never fully came into fruition during her time. More importantly, they were planned for after releasing the Warrior. And from the sounds of it, Pandora was still a pretty unpleasant place, which could only mean one thing: Jacks plan hadn't worked. Or at least it hadn't worked like it was supposed to. She can't put into words the amount of relief she feels right now. Though that's cut short by all the new questions this answer leaves in it's wake. ]

I've never heard of that.

[rhygret]

Gortys? It was some old Atlas project before Jack took over.

[ Notice the complete lack of his "Handsome" title, Angel? ]

Poor suckers never even got it off the ground before they went under.

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ She does! But at first she's so thrown by even seeing the name that it takes her a moment to notice the missing honorific. Did...did this guy work for Jack? More than that, were they somehow close? Angel is back to being fully on-guard, maybe more so then she was before. ]

Jack?

[ Could this mean that though his plans for the Warrior didn't succeed, that he lived on to complete the Gortys project? That the Vault Hunters failed to stop him entirely? She supposes so, with his intact body sleeping beside her. Fuck. ]

[rhygret]

[ If only Angel knew...

Actually it's probably better for them both if she doesn't. That would be an uncomfortable conversation for sure. ]

Jack? Handsome Jack? Are you really saying you don't know him??

[ Jack's been dead for years now and his name is still known far and wide across the galaxy. The guy made a legend of himself. Hell, even Rhys had idolized him after his death until he actually wound up meeting the guy's AI. ]

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ HA. Of course she knows him, probably better than anyone else ever did. ]

I know of him. Generally people don't exclude the "Handsome" part of his title.

[rhygret]

Trust me, all the good looks in the world couldn't save that asshole. His ego didn't need the help.

[ Rhys is trying to divorce himself from the idea that he and Jack were Involved, because that ended well for no one. He's moved on, totally past that. That ECHO eye is as good as gone. ]

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ Angel is getting seriously mixed signals here. This guy is- was Hyperion, of that she's sure, but no one loyal to the company would speak about Jack like this, at least not out loud. If you weren't kissing his feet you were keeping your head down. That he emulated Jack-like mannerisms and speech patterns...perhaps old habits die hard? After all, she still spoke like Guardian Angel. Then again- No. She still needed more information.
Whether they had been close enough to be casual, or the dropped honorific was an act of disrespect, this was personal. ]

You sound as if you know him.

[rhygret]

[ Angel has no idea the can of worms she could open with this line of questioning. There's a lot of baggage around Jack that Rhys hasn't unpacked or processed yet, and he doesn't have any plans to either. Jack's dead and gone and he's got other things to focus on now.

He'll have time for therapy after he's become a billionaire. ]

Who didn't?? The guy was famous even after he died.

[ "Famous." Not "infamous." ]

can u hear that shoe dropping

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ There isn't an answer right away because Angel just nearly dropped her phone in shock. She hasn't even registered the describing word, all she can do right now is focus on died.
She looks back and forth between Jacks sleeping form and her phone a few times, as if she must be misinterpreting one or the other. ]

Died?! Are you sure?

sounds like skagskin, rhys is down

[rhygret]

[ Rhys notices the extra-long pause there, but doesn't really care. What it looks like to him is someone finally grasping the gravity of his awesome and tragic circumstances. Whoever he's talking to has to be either very poorly informed or just simply not from Pandora if they don't know about Handsome Jack's demise. It's hot news for over a year now.

This poor soul clearly lives under some sort of rock. ]

Oh yeah, definitely. That guy is gone for good.

[ Rhys made sure of it when he crushed his ECHO eye. There aren't any traces of the man behind now but billboards and beheaded statues. ]

rhys you pos

[r3f4c70r3d]

[ More like some sort of- anyways, bad joke.
Ever since Angel woke up she's been plagued by the question: what happened to her? Her last memories - before she woke up here - are of pain, the incoming storm and then...nothing. She wasn't sure if she had died, because it's not like anyone could tell you what being dead feels like, or if she had simply fallen into a coma. She had even considered the possibility that the storm had hit moments after the Vault Hunters had freed her, the loss of her powers gone with her universe rather than her life alone.
There is an even longer pause this time between messages. She doesn't know what to say, the confirmation that she died, the fact that she had been revived- but so had Jack. What was she going to do? What was she supposed to do? At some point she had crouched down, leaned forward with her head between her legs and gone into having a full blown panic attack. ]

Sorry.

[ She can't think about whether to tell this guy that Jack is very much not gone, isn't in the right mind to carefully pick her words and approach, she needs to get out of here before anything else. They can talk again once she's calmed down. ]

I'm sending you a friend request, please accept.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED A FRIEND REQUEST FROM S1R3N ACCEPT Y/N?

:D he's helping

[rhygret]

[ It takes so long to get a response this time that Rhys actually considers the conversation over and goes to do something else. Maybe this mystery responder of his got distracted, maybe they lost interest. Whichever the case, Rhys winds up heading back to the room he's staked out for himself.

The reply pops up in his ECHO eye a few minutes later and surprises him a little, seeing the request there and lifting a brow. He doesn't really have any reason to accept the request. He hasn't been especially endeared to this person other than by the fact that they come from the same place, but that in itself is probably a pretty good reason to.

Rhys sighs and hits 'YES' before giving his response. ]

Who are you?

[r3f4c70r3d]

YOU HAVE ADDED S1R3N. YOU MAY NOW VIEW THEIR PROFILE.

S1R3N
NAME: A.
AGE: 19 UNIVERSAL YEARS
GENDER: N/A
FAVORITE FOOD: ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

[ For her part, Angel had made her way to the most secluded corner of the space station and holed up there to calm down. Maybe try out some of those breathing exercises she had found for Jack- not that they ever worked.

It's been about an hour when her next reply comes ]

Thank you for accepting. My apologies for being so abrupt, but I think it's imperative that we stay in touch.

[ And then, to answer Rhys's question. ]

I suppose simply calling me S1R3N would be a bit awkward

[ But she still doesn't trust this guy as far as she can throw, well, anyone (it's not far.) The amount of people Jack had told about her she could count on one hand, the amount alive she didn't have to count at all. Still, it wasn't worth the risk right now, no matter how small a risk that was. ]

You can call me Angie, for now.

[rhygret]

[ Is it sad that above all else what sticks out to Rhys is the fact that her favourite food is ice cream sandwiches, and that he would kill for one right now? It's been forever since he had some actual ice cream, the monstrosity of the mess hall not included.

Maybe he should go back there and try again? Phrase his request more simply so that their chef has an easier time of it. ]

Angie?

[ That's a name he doesn't recognize. Hmm. ]

What do you mean "for now"? Is that a fake name or something?

[r3f4c70r3d]

It's my name. Which you're asking a lot of questions about without having introduced yourself.