test drive meme

Ingress travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of initial Ingress travel forces your body into unconsciousness.

Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.

You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. A medical tech is always present to explain what’s happened before giving you some clothes, a TAB, and a guide that discusses things in further detail. This entire process also consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health in order to obtain your signature—a specific frequency that will allow them to hone in on exactly where it is you’re from in order to get you back there. You spend your first week on the Ingress Complex while other accommodations and arrangements are made for you. The techs and others in the facility seem strangely frazzled and tired, but if asked, they reassure you that nothing is wrong, the danger has passed and everyone is all right now.

welcome to thisavrou

escoria

⋆ Escoria is classified as Exploration Class (EC), and travel through the Ingress is mostly smooth except for one issue: anyone with powers or abilities will find that the distortion between worlds has temporarily caused problems accessing them. Essentially, it has left all travelers depowered. Another similar issue comes in the form of the location of Escoria’s Ingress—seemingly in the middle of a vast ocean, the Ingress is balanced precariously on a set of buoys connected to a small floating dock. Once on this dock, it is clear there is no getting anywhere without some transportation. Testing the dark waters will find it unbearably cold, though not cold enough to form ice, and far off in the distance, between the mist and ever-constant gray light - where’s the sun? - some might even notice what looks like an island.

⋆ The boat that eventually comes to your rescue isn’t very big, one of a fleet used to transport visitors from the floating Ingress platform. Only a few passengers are allowed on each one--a maximum of six. The boat’s captain is quite insistent that each group remain small, handing out blankets to those who did not come prepared for the chill. It isn’t too much trouble as there are a great many boats and plenty of natives to pilot them. The weather is cool, the skies are dark with rain that might fall, but for now things seem alright. Leaning out on the rail, you might see some shark-like sea creatures breaching the surface to breathe. Of course, you might also see quicksilver figures darting underneath the water from the corner of your eye, which is then followed by a sharp rocking of the boat. Did something nudge the vessel? Maybe you ought to make sure people stay back from the sides in case they fall in...

⋆ Despite the calm appearance of the sky, the worst has happened. A storm hits at just the right time to drive your boat against one of the multitudinous reefs, roughly jarring its passengers, and then, the waves continue to batter the ship against it until it falls to pieces. You get lucky and find a piece of debris to hold onto to keep your head above the water until the storm passes, although it’s some time before even a calm comes. Once it does, you have to deal with the facts: you’re stranded with minimal supplies, all alone except for the other people who were on board with you when the ship went down in the waves. And what’s worse, the water isn’t getting any warmer. What do you do to survive until help, hopefully, arrives? Will you make an attempt to swim to shore or wait for someone to send another boat?

⋆ The few who manage to weather the storm and make it to one of the few islands of Escoria are, indeed, lucky. What lies beneath the surface of those dark waters is much more dangerous and deadly. Distant cousins of Thisavrou’s native Gorgona of Region Four, these nameless creatures are ruthless as they hunt. They slither the shallow surfaces of the reefs spread out across Escoria, waiting for even the slightest ripple of water to alert them to their prey. At first, looking into the water reveals nothing. Then, the closer these things come to the surface, the faster it begins to change and look as if something familiar, something you long for is calling to you. It can be a person, alive or dead, or it could be something intangible like a goal waiting to be fulfilled or an object waiting to be touched. This is how they lure the unsuspecting below the surface, and once they have their claws in you, it’s very difficult to escape. The urge to be with them is impossibly strong regardless of the fact that no one can hold their breath for that long or survive the deep cold of the water for longer than a few minutes.

Your only chance of escape? Someone who might have noticed that you’d suddenly slipped under without a sound. Or, if by chance, you manage to snap off a piece of the coral in the reefs. It changes with the shape of the holder, and that, if you’re lucky, might be the very weapon that saves you.

OUT OF CHARACTER INFO

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For mature or graphic content, please label.For questions, please direct them to the FAQ or the Feedback page. Any scenarios listed (unless otherwise indicated) can be used as game canon. As always, be kind and have fun!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Show me? Now you have me curious.

[ She doesn't see any point in wasting time, or being coy, or anything like that. She strips her helmet from her head and switches the feed to video. ]

I only ever had a robot to use at home. But here the Ingress gave me access to a human body. A clone, as far as we can figure. So...this is me.

[Video switches on, and when North's does, it's clearly his armor. And then, just as clearly his voice.]

Well, well! I knew you'd be a pretty one. How's it feel?

[He'll ask the why and how later; it's North. His first priority in a situation like this is to touch base with his teammate on how she's faring in territory she might not be as familiar with.]

It's definitely different from using my robot. I can't hit as hard when I'm using this body as I'd like. But I have my reasons for sticking with it.

[ A small smirk spreads on her face, as though she can't help it. ]

Mainly it's that...I've got a boyfriend.

[Now his head tips up, almost like he's been hit.]

Stop the presses, everybody, Agent Texas has found love. And you don't wanna kill him?

[ She snickers at his reaction. ]

I can truly say I've never had homicidal feelings in his direction. So no. He's, ah...

[ Tex isn't big on actually talking about this part of her life, typically. North is a friend, though, and she feels he ought to know about this. But being less likely to talk about this stuff means her cheeks are actually beginning to redden as he little smirk grows into a genuine smile. ]

He's a great guy.

... Y'know, Texas, I think this is the first time I've actually heard a smile in your voice. Seeing it's one thing, but hearing it?

[He inclines his head in a way that says he's impressed.]

This place can't be too bad if it's found a way to make you happy.

No, it's not a bad place. Better than home, in a lot of ways.

[ Her smile softens. It's definitely better for North to be here than to be killed so heartlessly by the Meta. ]

I'm glad you're here.

... Y'know, I'm starting to think it's better that I'm here.

[He looks around the room, stares at Maine for a moment. He doesn't say anything about him, though.]

My sister's not here, is she?

No, she's not. Never has been, either.

[ She doesn't figure she'll say anything more on that matter. ]

Alpha was here. Twice.

The past tense is a little ominous.

[The "care to elaborate?" goes unsaid.]

[ She sighs. ]

Before we arrived on Thisavrou we were on a ship with a mobile Ingress. It would malfunction a lot and people would just disappear from the ship. He came and went twice. That's all.

[ If North is perceptive—and she knows he is—he'll realize from her expression that it isn't as simple as that for her. ]

[He does recognize it. And this is why he doesn't ask further, doesn't prod at the wound. She was hurt. He doesn't need to know the nitty gritty of hard-won "I love you"s and the loss of the same.]

So, tell me about the new guy. Gimme a name, I wanna know details so I can kick what's left of him if he ever messes up.

["What's left," because he knows joking about Tex being a destructive badass will reset the mood. He doesn't wanna push her right now, especially where they might be monitored.]

[ Good man. She smirks again. ]

You'd be kicking a puddle, I think, by the time you got your turn in.

He doesn't like giving his first name out unless the person's a really close friend, but he typically goes by his last name. Ryuuzaki. He's not a military guy, so I really wouldn't have expected to fall for him, but... Well, he didn't listen when I asked him to get a haircut.

[ She gives a slight chuckle. ]

He's kind of quirky, and, you know, kind of shy, I guess, but he put himself out there enough to snag me. Which is a big point in his favor, obviously.

Quirky and shy... Opposites attract, I suppose.

[His teasing tone says he likes Tex just the way she is.]

But hey, as long as he's good for you, I'm happy. Is... there anybody else here I should know about?

[ Here they are, talking about her personal life, when she's been neglecting to tell North about the others. She sobers up a bit. ]

Yeah. Wash, York, and Carolina are all here. They are all from later in the timeline from you or me.

Well, looks like I'll have some catching up to do.

[But he is so relieved that York and Wash are here, and that...]

... Wait, Carolina's from further? [She's alive?]

Yes. Apparently she had some tricks up her sleeve all those years after we thought she died in the crash. Stayed way under the radar.

Apparently. You know York would have been looking.

[And he knows York would realize that if Carolina wanted to see him, she'd have found him.]

He was, yeah. So was I.

[ She reaches up then, touches her mouth with her fingers, rubs her lips briefly. ]

A lot has changed for her.

... I can imagine. I don't think anyone would have taken the fall of the program harder.

[We were her family, he thinks, and he can tell Theta is saddened along with him.]

Right.

[ She doesn't comment further on that track. ]

I think we should all get together.

If you're sure.

Give me a time and a place and I'll make sure me and Theta are present.

tdm 19

test drive meme

welcome to thisavrou

escoria

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