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TDM 1

AUGUST TEST DRIVE MEME

ABOARD THE MOIRA

Whether adjusting to space travel has been difficult or not, there is always something to be done. From working to leisure, the Moira offers a multitude of opportunities to get to know your crewmates a bit better. Exploration of the ship is highly encouraged, but as another planet grows closer to being docked, things start to get a little hectic. You'll notice a slight change in the artificial gravity as the Moira is pulled into the planet's gravitational field; however, more noticeable changes can be found in the overall morale as you prepare to descend.

☄ on the aft:

Offering an unobstructed view, it's quite easy to see stars that are still light years away. Like your own personal observatory, things are relatively quiet since other members are busy. While visiting, your steps may feel lighter as the ship's gravity is affected most here, but don't worry! The barrier surrounding the aft will keep you from floating away. Take note: if you happen to find yourself alone, no matter how brief, you may hear a distant echo — like a voice calling to you. For the most part, it's harmless. However, those curious enough to attempt to heed those words may find themselves suddenly jettisoned into space through a momentary lapse in the Moira's safety systems.

Hopefully you're wearing your thermals! The MID relay will alert the ship of this emergency, but who knows how long it will take for someone to retrieve you.

☄ in the mess hall:

It's breakfast time! On the buffet lining the back wall, you'll find an assortment of hurriedly prepared foods, but it's not the rations you've been accustomed to since the last port. There are stacks of green pancakes that taste like stale yet metallic bread. Are those eggs? Yes. Do they taste good? Probably not. Since supplies are scarce, there isn't much else to eat. The water might seem a bit brown, but is that really water you're drinking? After a while, depending on how much you've drank, you start to feel lightheaded... That's some strong space liquor right there.

☄ on your own:

There are plenty of other communal areas on the ship to explore! Pick a place, and see where it takes you.

PLANET EXPLORATION

Welcome to Hyacintho!

WARNINGS for possible psychological trauma, suffocation, and hallucinations.

From the outside, Hyacintho appears to be devoid of natives. Its landscape is sparse of vegetation with many slow-flowing streams tinted a murky blue. Craggy rock formations jut up randomly from the ground, hinting at abrupt development and are razor-sharp to the touch. Upon further exploration, dome-like structures can be found and appear to be abandoned settlements. Some are smaller and clustered close to the ground while others are elevated and connected by swinging bridges. Watching your MID here is critical; it monitors atmospheric composition with steady beeps that signal hazardous conditions. Staying on Hyacintho's surface for extended periods of time is ill-advised.

☄ the dormant volcanoes:

Scoping Hyacintho's peculiar topography leads to the discovery of inactive volcanoes and lava tubes. Some are easily accessible while others take more effort to reach—it's a steep climb to the vent. The ground shifts under your feet and can make walking difficult. Yet, the closer you come to a particular one, you may notice subtle changes in temperature and the air smelling faintly of sulfur. Perhaps this planet isn't as latent as you first thought.

Around midday, vibrations are unexpectedly felt and whatever light from Hyacintho's suns is blotted out by ashy clouds the same color as the ground. Small pockets of blue lava seep from those sharp rock formations, and that light sulfuric smell has now become increasingly overwhelming. Time to make a quick escape back to the Moira!

☄ the delirium:

When something terrible happens, sometimes it leaves a trace, a wound that acts as a knot between two timelines. It's like an echo repeated over and over, waiting to be heard... Like a scar or a pinch that begs for a caress to relieve it. An itch under your skin or a memory fading before your eyes.

The faint sound of your MID has grown unreasonably loud. In the back of your mind, you know what it means, but you're too lethargic to attend to its warning. Where once you believed Hyacintho to be absent of life, it is now overrun. Falling back to the safety of the ship is now much too difficult to do quickly. Your limbs are heavy, the natives' faces blurry and unrecognizable as if they're a great distance away, but you swear you can feel them breathing on your neck, dragging their hands down your arms and back. You struggle, falling over yourself and are swayed by the delusions you are rapidly succumbing to. Yet, somehow, the Moira is just ahead. Within reach. Are you at the door now? Are your friends with you to drag you inside? Are they even calling to you?

You ask yourself why you're breathing so heavily.

You aren't.

OUT OF CHARACTER INFO

FAQ | LOCATIONS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS | NAVIGATION

For mature or graphic content, please label. Test Drive Memes are not game canon but can be used as samples in applications. For questions, please direction them to the FAQ. As always, be kind and have fun!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[A. The Moira; The Aft]

[ For as long as Chloe can remember, the world never seemed to be bigger than the distance she could drive in her truck. Sure, the world existed outside of Arcadia Bay, beyond the distance her shitbox could drive on a tank of gas, but she could never really picture the scale. The world was as big as she could see with her own two eyes but now... now she was staring out into fucking space as a planet almost the same color as her hair slowly got bigger and bigger.

She'd never felt smaller in her life. A shiver runs through her, nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the unsettling knowledge that she didn't have an out for this. Max couldn't rewind them back to Earth with a twirl of her hand.

But even through it all there's a thread of excitement winding through her chest. This isn't LA but it's crazy amazing all the same. She's in space on some weird ass space ship. ]

That... is hella fucking cool.

[B. The Moira; The Bow]

[ She misses having her own room, the luxury of privacy and a window to prop open so she can smoke without getting caught. Having roommates means she has to go elsewhere to get her smoke on. It takes a little wandering but eventually she finds her way into the gardens. Satisfied by the space available she lights up and wanders the room, stepping through empty plant beds until she finds herself at the base of the center tree. ]

What the hell are you even doing in space?

[ Last thing she ever expected to find in space was some giant ass tree. Kind of cool, though. She settles down at the base of it, legs stretched out before her as she savors her cigarette. Her supply is limited now, she'll have to try and stretch out her supply until she can get her hands on a fresh pack. ]

[C. Hyacintho; Exploring]

[ The chance to stretch her legs, be out under a real sky instead of endless hallways, is welcomed with open arms. Who cares that the entire place kind of smells like bad eggs? Chloe is out the door and exploring the place the moment she's given the option. She walks across the unsteady ground with arms out wide to keep her balance. At some point she'll look over at whoever is nearby with a grin. ]

I wonder if this makes us the alien invaders. Like, if something lives here I bet we look hella freaky to them.

[ The exploring keeps up and she gets it in her head to try and see one of the volcanic vents. If the entire place is dead what could it hurt? Except as she finally gets close to one her MID starts to chirp in a shrill tone. Time to get out of dodge! ]

[D. Hyacintho; The Delirium]

[ Chloe runs as hard as she can, tripping and stumbling over the unsteady landscape. Her sides feel like they've been stuck full of glass and she can't get her breath. Why can't she fucking breathe?! There's an awful certainty in her that whatever's behind her is gaining. She doesn't want to die, not on some weird-ass planet. There's no superheroes to save the day now. She risks a look back and regrets as her foot catches on rock.

Her hands end up scraped bloody on the ground and she gasps as she gets another lungful of what feels like more sulfur than air. Somehow she gets up again, forcing herself to run even though a small part of her wants to give up.

When she hits the ramp she loses her strength, falling again as she tries to get breath. ] Help, please...!

[He doesn't eat with the others. Too many strangers, too many watchful eyes, and too many people eating without any regard to table etiquette whatsoever. It's disconcerting and as a result, he skips it altogether. Damian moves in and out of the shadows of the room, trying to make his way out unseen and only halfway succeeding. No matter, most people don't give much more than a passing glance to a small child weaving his way among them, especially when he isn't wearing anything as conspicuous as his uniform.

He finds a dark corner and sits, a plate of green pancakes balanced carefully in his lap. He's a third of the way through his grimy glass of water before he even considers taking a bite of the "pancakes." The water, however rank, is non-negotiable. He needs to be hydrated for his morning workout. The pancakes on the other hand...

His eyes narrow as he pokes his fork into the top pancake and something silver oozes out. No. Unacceptable. He had trained in the wilderness and survived off of bugs, swallowed more sewer water in his life than he cares to think about, and once even tried something his father had "cooked."

But this? This is an outrage and he will not stand for it. With a dramatic flip of the hand, he neatly sends his plate crashing to the floor, glaring unrepentantly at the offending flopped over green chunks of something. He stands, crossing his arms over his chest and setting his shoulders. If he feels slightly flustered and maybe a little hotter than normal, it is definitely because he is so outraged and not at all because that water he was drinking was alcoholic and he's now a tiny drunk ten year old former assassin.]

[ Bean notices. Partly because it's Bean's nature to notice everything, and partly because this boy was the only other person remotely in his age range that Bean had seen aboard so far. So he's already making his way over to the shadowy corner when the boy throws his tantrum. Maybe Bean's initial assessment had been wrong. Maybe the boy was just another child after all.

Or, he reassesses as he eyes the half empty glass, the boy hadn't realized the drink was alcoholic, a fact which had been obvious to Bean. He had therefore avoided it.

He stops his approach about fifteen feet away, crossing his arms over his tiny body. ]

Ho. Something wrong with your food?

[Damian swivels, eyes narrowed to evaluate the newcomer. A child around the same age, asking if there is something wrong with the food.

Well, Damian supposed that in theory it was probable that somewhere in the multiverse pancakes were supposed to be green and ooze liquid. Probable and horrible. He would take dealing with every villain in Gotham over a universe with food like this.

Ho. What kind of greeting was 'ho?']

Tt. See for yourself. [He motions to the turned over plate, nudging it with one boot.]

mess hall

[It doesn't matter what the food is. It will be coming up later anyway.

Uta has to eat it to keep up appearances. Otherwise he might be easily pointed out whenever someone disappeared from the crew. Porting the ghoul onto a ship like this had been poor planning on someone's part. Did those in charge even know what he was?

The problem will be finding a way to kill and eat his prey without leaving any obvious evidence that they'd been devoured. Hopefully he could make it look as though they'd accidentally been sucked out an airlock and no one would know about it until days after the fact. It will just take some planning, and he has some time yet before that becomes necessary.

For now, he ignores the way the smell of the food makes his stomach churn as he sits down at an empty table, though thankfully this particular meal isn't making most people look all that happy today. ]

the delirium

[It's been a long time since Uta has experience anything remotely like what he's feeling now. He knows some of it isn't real, but it's becoming harder to distinguish what is from what isn't.

He swipes out at whatever's surrounding him with attacks that would tears flesh from bone if he was actually capable of putting the usual amount of force behind them. The figures seem to keep following him all the same.

Is that really the ship he's getting near, or is this just another illusion, a mirage taunting him with the possibility of escape?

He falls to his knees, closing his eyes in an attempt to regain some clarity, but this isn't helping. It only becomes harder for him to breathe, and he realizes that whether or not the ship is actually ahead of him, he can't stay here any longer hoping whatever this is will pass.

Stumbling up, the ghoul takes a few clumsy steps before dashing toward possible freedom as fast as his legs will allow.]

the aft;
[ He's no stranger to being alone. At least, that's the feeling he gets when he's not around stupid Yato or distracted by how nice Hiyori looks. Still, it's a completely different thing to be right up under the stars, looking through that transparent barrier and wondering if it was better to stay here than go home. Home was better, right? That's what he was supposed to think. It didn't matter if people never saw him or forgot about him the second they looked away. It didn't matter if he was Yato's shinki. It didn't.

This was beautiful. He feels... almost alive. Not so cold.

There are a few other people with him, so it shouldn't matter if he stays right where he is and just stares up at all the stars. No one'll notice. They're not going to see him reaching out in an effort to touch the thing keeping all the space out, up on his toes because he's a bit too short to actually reach. In fact, maybe they don't even see that, when the ship lurches some, the gravity goes and sends him floating right off the ground... ]

dormant volcanoes;
[ This is dumb.

Yukine picks up a blue rock - why is it even that color? - and tosses it at one of those sharp rocks towering taller than he is. When nothing happens, he retrieves another and throws it even harder, frustrated and annoyed and-- ]

What are we here for!! [ Ugh. He picks up a third rock, and when it hits the strange formation, there's a sharp crack that seems to resound out across the emptiness. Yukine blinks, awkward standing for a second or two before realizing he'd just broken something. But he doesn't look as if he's about to stick around, dusting his hands off and shoving them into the pockets of his uniform. If someone happens to be around, he practically turns his nose up at them and wanders right on by. ]

[ He'd already starting missing all the food Kofuku had back at her place, but he didn't know how much until he's staring at whatever the hell that stuff is supposed to be on the buffet line. Yukine takes one look at those green cake things and thinks he's going to get sick. Gross. Who even does that? Is there even someone to complain to? Cheeks a bit puffed in annoyance, he grabs a cup full of the brownish water and plops down next to Uta with his bowl of eggs.

Where's the rice? The fish?

Yukine peeks curiously at the person next to him, trying to judge whether or not he should say something. Normally, he probably wouldn't have thought about it, most people couldn't see him anyway considering he's dead, but it's different here. He gets attention when he doesn't want it, and gets left alone when he needs attention the most. Eventually, he just sighs, taking a sip... and immediately makes a face. ]

Even the water's bad! [ Grr, grr. ] Have you tried it yet?

It's alcohol.

[He hasn't even tried it yet, but he can tell that much from the smell alone.

Uta doesn't even look up from his plate right away. He has to focus on getting down a piece of egg without much of it touching his tongue, following that up with fake chewing. He might find human food colorful and interesting, but that unfortunately doesn't help with the flavor.]

Or something fermented. I wouldn't drink it.

[The place doesn't even have decent coffee. Hopefully they had actual water around somewhere so the crew didn't start suffering from dehydration. Having that many grumpy people stuffed in one location never ended well.]

✪ the aft:
[Nice view, yes. Pleasant and open, a bit disorienting if you were the type to be disoriented by such a thing. He's not. No, he can't be bothered to worry about something so small as the possibility of being flung out into space with no way of being pulled back. He's got more important things to do. Like, patrolling the aft. It's not technically Nicholas' job, he wasn't assigned this, but here he was.

Making certain everyone was doing what was right and not hinting at doing what was wrong.]

Stay away from the divider.

[Hands clasped behind his back, lips pinched into a firm line.]

Really, too close and you might fall out.

[Or up. Or away. No need for specifics, they'd know what he meant.]

✪ the mess hall:
[Cranberry juice. That's what he wanted, but that's not what they had. Water that looked as if it came from a rusted tap, nothing else. He swirls the cup, frowning, takes a light sniff.]

No.

[Nicholas gestures to the cup in the person's hand queued directly behind him.]

Unless you plan on getting pissed before ten am, I would stop.

[He sets his plate of green pancakes down. Who here was trying to get them all drunk?]

✪ the delirium:
[Nicholas hadn't gone far from the ship, The Moira, why would he? If they required him to explore, to participate in manual labor, he would. If it were necessary, but he believed his skills were better utilized here. Especially now that there was a ruckus, crew stumbling back towards the ship in varying states of distress.

Wide eyes. Sweating. Disoriented.

He notes their states, disheveled and slow, and quickly rushes forward to help. One after the other, waiting in between.]

Here, let me assist you.

Edited 2015-08-05 16:56 (UTC)

[ Alcohol?????

Yukine stares down at the liquid sloshing around in the cup and... isn't too sure whether he should believe this guy or not. Something looks a little off about the way he's poking at his food, but with how it'd been dumped onto the other table, he'd feel the same way. He doesn't even know if he's going to eat those eggs. It'd be a waste, but he didn't want to get some weird space sickness and end up in the medbay.

There's a huff, and he sets it down next to his bowl. ]

What are we supposed to drink then? [ That's right, Uta. You just got handed a fourteen year old kid with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. ] I thought they were supposed to have all the stuff we needed. [ And they needed water, right? He'd heard that from someone anyway. ]

[A: The Moira, Mess Hall]
[Despite the rather lackluster food, there's still a man at the breakfast buffet piling a plate up with the green pancakes and odd-tasting eggs. He's wearing his thermals and uniform pants, the top just tossed over his shoulder, and his hair is still damp from the shower. In a uniform, he could be just about anybody with that forgettable face, nondescript short brown hair and brown eyes, but for the fact that his left hand is shiny and silver, instead of flesh-toned.]

Could have done without this reminder of my army days. [It's a mild comment as he makes his way to a table with a fork to eat. It tastes bad, but he's had worse, judging from the way he shovels it into his mouth with only small grimaces about the flavor.] Think I'd rather be back on C-rations, actually.

[B: The Moira, Gym]
[Bucky Barnes likes structure and order. He was an Army boy growing up, through and through, and his entire life he's been a soldier. He wakes up at the crack of whatever passes for dawn on a space ship, grabs a towel, and heads down to the rec area in his thermals for a daily workout. He's read horror stories about degradation of the human body in space, he's not going to let that happen to him if he can help it.

He strips off the top of his thermals, baring his scarred chest and bionic arm, and drapes it over the arm on a treadmill to get started on his morning run. You might walk in when he's getting started, or when he's cranked the thing up to max and is working up an actual sweat, feet thudding against the path as he full on sprints.

Or maybe he's done with his run, and your character is catching some rays in a UV bed, he might peer in briefly and ask if the next one over is taken.]

[C: Hyacintho, Volcanoes]
[He knows something's wrong with this little expedition as soon as the scent of sulfur hits his nose, sending him reeling back, a hand at his face to try and block it out a bit. Dormant volcanoes don't always stay dormant, after all, doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. Brown eyes narrow as he peers up at the sky, at the ashy clouds that start to form, blocking out light, and he looks back abruptly to whoever might have come this far with him.] We gotta move, back to the ship, double time!

[Yeah, if you're not running, that metal arm might just reach out to drag you along with him.]

[D: Choose your own adventure!]

[So the first thing you do when you wake up is have breakfast right? The mess hall is where Steph heads, stomach gurgling comically loud as she wonders what kind of food there will be. With any luck waffles. Of course it just figures that what she gets is pancakes and eggs, and.... is that what they're trying to pass off as "water"?

She can be found sitting at a table, poking idly at a green pancake and making faces. Steph knows her breakfast foods and pancakes are not supposed to be this sort of green. And that egg, does not taste like an egg. The snozzberries are definitely not snozzberries aboard the Moira. This is an absolute travesty to the very idea of breakfast! And you can bet your ass she is personally affronted by this.

Later after that disaster of a meal (somehow she managed to choke down at least half a pancake and a whole egg) she'll make her way to the aft. She's just going to stand and stare out into the abyss of space, letting her thoughts get the better of her. How far they must be from Gotham. How incredibly vast space actually is. There's no end in sight, and it's actually a little (okay a lot) terrifying.

Aaaaaand that's just about enough of those thoughts there. Yep, moving on.

And what better way to distract yourself from an existential crisis than to explore an alien planet! Steph's going to be heading out onto Hyacintho and looking around. Especially toward those abandoned settlements. Maybe she'll actually find an alien? Let's hope it's a friendly one.]

(ooc: feel free to catch her anywhere at any point)

Edited 2015-08-05 10:13 (UTC)

moira - aft;

[one thing about being in space is that you can't beat the view.

she's on her way to somewhere else entirely when she finds herself stopping here, taking the time to admire it. up close to the stars, yet still far away, floating in nothingness; in spite of everything, there's a sense of peace that fills her, one that isn't usually so easy to come by. it doesn't negate red ledgers or things not being what they seem, doesn't negate the fact that she's blown all her covers and her next steps remain uncertain, but for right now, in this isolated pocket of time, all of that can seem small.

at some point, a faint smirk starts to tug at one of the corners of her mouth, and she mutters to no one in particular - ]

To boldly go... [at that, she trails off, because there's no need to finish. you know the rest.]

hyacintho - volcanoes;

[there's a certain script that these things follow; natasha has seen enough movies to know the general pattern. at the point they least expect it, some strange alien species will appear of the shadows and ambush them. maybe the methods of attack will vary, but the main point is that outsiders aren't welcome, and will inevitably be pulverized.

turns out, however, that late-night netflix binges haven't set much of a precedent.

the planet is as devoid of signs of life as some of the more remote corners of siberia. domes occasionally pop out of the barren ground, but by the looks of them, they've been abandoned for years, and there's no real flora or fauna to speak of. none of this, though, means that the planet is quiet. near one of the volcanic vents, before the MID goes off, there are tremors under her feet and the overpowering smell of sulfur, and she knows - ]

We have a problem. [there's nothing but a set to her jaw, and she doesn't even take the easy opening to add "houston." yes, there's really a problem.]

wildcard;

[have something else in mind? i've got a blank space, and i'll write your name]

A: The Moira; observation deck

[Tony is all for getting a good look at the systems as they travel. There's an approaching planet, apparently, and he's up on deck looking through the transparent window, taking in the sights. The distant stars and strange clusters look like nothing from home--on the plus side, they also don't seem to be holding any military fleets. For the moment, that means they can enjoy the trip, right?]

I don't really like being forced to take an intergalactic road trip, but it is pretty so far. The view's nice.

[Any fellow traveler who happens to be on deck with him gets a slight grin.]

You don't happen to recognize anything, do you?

B: The Moira; mess hall

Uh. Ew?

[He sounds unsure, because he's still staring at the plate of food in front of him. Those pancakes are green. And distinctly green, not vaguely-suggestion-the-color-green. The pancakes are green and the water is brown. Tony pokes some of the eggs with the tines of his fork, but they were touching the pancakes and he doesn't trust them.]

Is starving an option? I think I might take that one. It's not the one I want, but... Who wants a drink? If you start convulsing I promise to help you find a doctor. They probably have one.

C: Hyacintho; The volcanoes

Who thought this was a good idea?

[Tony just got knocked on his ass in the last tremor. He's clambering to his feet just as the blue molten rock starts oozing out of the so-called dormant tubes.]

Guys, I know things are different when you go to a new planet and I'm not an expert, but I don't think these are dormant.

[Jokes aside, though, the ash is coming down from the cloud above and the situation is just getting worse. Tony grabs hold of a nearby explorer and heads in the direction of the Moira as the next tremor hits. Sorry if he nearly pulls you over in an attempt to help.]

Yeah, okay, sightseeing is over. Time to move.

wildcard

[Open to any ship exploration or ideas you have! If you want to do something else, I'm open to other prompts too.]

[1. Moira; Mess Hall]

This isn't so bad.

[Rhys is speaking about the 'water' that he knew was mislabeled the second he grabbed a cup of it. The scent is pungent, the color is brown, putting two and two together has been a strong point of his since early childhood. They make four and this is space booze. Coming to understand that early on did not stop him from drinking three cups of it, but there was awareness in the act. He's warm, now, enough so that he'll loosen his tie (which reaches all the way down his front, tucked into his pants). After everything, he knows he deserves a chance to drink up. Besides, to stomach the sham of a stack of pancakes he was given, alcohol is the only way to go about it. Now that his tongue is fuzzy, doesn't matter that the dough's under-cooked and the flavor is coppery.

Small favors.]

[wildcard]

[open to anything, just too lazy to do a lot of prompts. also v tentative.]

Edited 2015-08-05 15:43 (UTC)

[ He eyes the food. Sorry, kid, he's been eating specially curated nutritional protein slop for the past three or so years. And before that, he ate whatever he could get his urchin hands on. This boy is looking more and more like a spoiled brat. ]

It's food. What does it matter what it looks like, it all comes out the same.

[Bucky drops his own plate on the table beside Tony unceremoniously, slides into a seat and picks up his fork, raising a brow at the other's reactions to the food. He gives him that 'really?' look and takes a bite out of his own dubious breakfast, chews thoughtfully for a moment, swallows, and shrugs.]

Eat your pancakes or I'll eat 'em for you. [As bad as they are, he means that. Bucky is steadily working through his own plate with only the occasional grimace. Army life will do a lot to kill your tastebuds. When he takes a drink of the brownish 'water', though, he makes an exaggerated face.] Woah, that booze'll peel paint.

i. the mess hall

[ Fiona knows scarce. She knows whatever the total polar opposite of gourmet meal is, and she remembers sucking up squeamishness, just so she'd get her stomach to stop growling. Hasn't been that bad for 'em in many years though, but that's only half the scowl on her face.

Thing is, you struggle with empty plates on Pandora, you start picking up on the kind of last resorts you can dig into, and the ones that are gonna kill ya much faster than hunger would. Like the kinda mushrooms that can make the best and last meal of your life. It's like the saying goes, the devil that you know--

--is better than green pancakes. Green pancakes, what kinda critter did they milk for that? ]

I wanna say that anyone who goes through that much trouble to get people here alive won't actually poison them first chance they get, buuut... [ Fiona pokes at the stack on her plate with one finger. They're definitely dead, guess that's half the battle, but it's gonna take a little more to psych herself up for the taste test. ] ...that might be the hopeless and really hungry optimist in me talkin'.

[ Behind her someone else takes their seat, and she turns around to look over their shoulder. ]

Hey, you got anything better? Swap ya for a whole glass of, uh... lightly chocolate-flavored water, if you're lucky.

ii. the dormant volcanoes

[ Yeah, this whole scenario so far? Not really digging the part where their contracts didn't have a What The Hell, I'm Not Leaving Without My Sister, Get Her Here Right Now Or Take Me Back, You Assholes clause, despite her asking about it in the very polite and calm sort of way that definitely didn't give anyone a black eye, and definitely didn't get her sent on planet exploration duty Or Else.

All that's gonna take some tweaking to set right, but she's already working hard on a solid plan, and what better way to do that than with some cathartic meditation kinda crap, like long walks near too much freaking lava, or... looting, actually. Yep, definitely looting. Might be on to something there.

Fiona looks up at the narrow plateau ahead, just our of reach, something glimmering bright on the slope above it. ]

Hey! Hey, you there! You see that rock thing up there? Gimme a boost, will ya?

iii. ???

[ throw your own starter at fiona; anyplace, anywhere, anytime! ]

I'm-- not entirely certain.

[Liara is busy frowning at what appears to be eggs, although the smell of them has her wary. She's fortunate, she supposes, that she has no special dietary needs like human biotics or dextro species. She frowns, pursing her lips slightly before offering Fiona her full attention.]

If I had my equipment, I would analyze it first. Unfortunately, it would seem that our options are limited.

[Even when under attack by Reapers, Liara isn't used to scarcity.]

[ Bean is no stranger to gravity fluxuations. He trained in zero-g combat and spent months on Eros, an asteroid whose gravity is different from that of Earth. So he really doesn't need someone telling him what to do, even if he is only eight. And small for his age, at that.

He scoffs. ] Any ship with the possibility of "falling out" is unworthy of spaceflight.

[x] the aft;

[Living on a ship under anxious and uncertain conditions had become normal, expected, and familiar to Lee. Truth be told, as much as he longed for a beach - even a simulated one - and the sun on his bare skin, water lapping at his toes... The environment of a ship had become a sort of comfort to him. He understood the way ships ran, from the mechanics of the thing itself, to the people who ran it. He had grown secure in the understanding of everyone in his life, living day by day, hour by hour, and sometimes, minute by minute.

The idea of suddenly being in the open, somewhere unfamiliar and organic, caused surges of anxiety he stubbornly swallowed down. It was only partially a desire to protect that motivated him to stay on the Pegasus when just about everyone else had gone planet-side to start a new life. Partially anxieties, largely related to Kara Thrace, some simply do to a love of what could be managed, simply, with one's own hands.

Or their fist. It depended.

This place brought a lot of the discomfort back. He was somewhere utterly unknown, but it was a ship, and the barriers erected around him and functional equation of the whole process comforted him like a blanket, for the same reason it caused panic in many. It was a similar psychology to why some people loved, and some people hated winters.

What he did not enjoy was the utter unimportance of his rank, his experience, and knowing absolutely no one had had encountered thus far. He tried to comfort himself with thoughts that somewhere out the in the universe (was it even the same one?) at least the fleet had Kara back. She'd be able to take care of them while he was stuck here.

He couldn't help but admire the view. The Galactic had been a stuffy old scrap heap, causing claustrophobia at the very least in most of her occupants. Windows like this would have made a significant impact on crew and civilian attitudes. Maybe if he ever had a chance, he would work on functional ship designs, based on his intimate experience spending years aboard intergalactic space crafts.

For now, he just wanted to feel nothing. To imagine he was out there, part of the beautiful swirls of color and clouds of gas.]

Edited (derp) 2015-08-05 19:26 (UTC)

[ He isn't alone in the gym when he walks in. Bean is in there even earlier, doing calisthenics (the machines aren't built for his tiny eight year old body). It's important not to let your muscles atrophy while in space. He barely looks up at the other man when he comes in, merely continues doing his crunches. ]

a) on the aft.
[ Exploring his new deployment has been a thoroughly baffling experience. Joker knows ships. Or he thought he did. Back home, there was rarely a model they came across that he didn't have some idea what it was capable of - or what his baby needed to be capable of to outmatch it, if things came to that. And let's be real, piloting the Normandy for Shepard meant that there was always a 50/50 chance of things ending with something exploding. Or a lot of things exploding. He liked to think he was usually up to the challenge, more at home at the helm than he was anywhere else.

Nothing made that home seem so far away as standing here staring out at unfamiliar stars, feeling a ship hum beneath his boots with an unknown resonance. One he didn't know how to interpret yet. None of this was even remotely familiar - the tech, the people, even the space they were inhabiting. This was worse than flying blind. This felt more like an out of control free-fall and where he'd hoped getting a clear view of the sky might be calming, soothing, instead it just has a tight knot of anxiety and panic clawing at his insides as he braces a hand carefully against cool, thrumming metal.

Shit. So much for a calm relaxing walk among the stars. ]

b) in the mess.
[ Military rations were rarely anything to write home about, but this was...

...something else entirely, Joker decided as he was handed a tray of what was passing as breakfast today. His skeptical look only grows as he carefully makes his way to a nearby table and slides down into an empty seat. He starts talking to others seated around him without bothering with a greeting, tone heavy with wry sarcasm. ]

Is it just me or have things gotten decidedly desperate in the food department over the past few days? I'm not even sure this is food. Are they supposed to be that color?

c) the delirium.
[ He knew leaving the ship was a bad idea. It was almost always a bad idea. He'd avoided the volcanoes, because duh, but he'd thought checking out one of the abandoned domes might give him some answers that nothing on the ship had provides yet.

He'd only spent a short while out there when he'd begun to suspect it was a mistake. An edge of dread had crawled along his spine, sending goosebumps along his flesh. That tense, paranoid feeling of being watched had made him abandon what he was doing and start to head back, but the feeling had only grown instead of diminished and now he was seeing things out of the corner of his eyes, flashes of movements, flickers of forms that were never quite there when he turned to look.

He's moving as fast as he can - any faster would be a death wish, because whatever's stalking him only needs to use his own handicaps against him, if he gives them the opportunity. But it's getting harder and harder to put one staggering step in front of the other as he pushes towards the bay left open for those who'd ventured out planet-side. His lungs burn with the need for air, something he can't seem to get enough of as sweat trickles an icy path down his spine. The ship isn't exactly what he'd normally consider "safe" but right now? Anything is better than out here. ]

d) ota.
(( Find him anywhere else! Starter of your choice. ))

Edited 2015-08-05 18:16 (UTC)

[ Bean was just passing through, but he stops when spoken to, turning to look out into space. He shakes his head. ]

This isn't Earth's solar system. Nor is it Bugger space.

[ It doesn't resemble any of the Bugger worlds he'd seen. ]

Young man, I don't think falling out is anything to scoff at.

[A brow raises, voice firm.]

It's not my ship. If I had created it there would be better safety precautions.

[Well, maybe not. He wasn't completely on the up and up when it came to spacecrafts, but he liked to think he could manage at least that.]

The captains will be hearing about this. Really, the divider should be solid, leaving no chance to float off into space.

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TDM 1

Chloe Price | Life is Strange

Damian Wayne | DCU | canon or CRAU (Haven)

no subject

no subject

Uta | Tokyo Ghoul | ota

yukine | noragami | ota

mess hall

right before I run off to bed

Nicholas Angel | Hot Fuzz | ota

psshh sleep is for the weak

Bucky Barnes | Marvel 616

Stephanie Brown | DCU | ota

natasha romanoff | mcu

Tony Stark | Marvel 616 | ota

rhys | tales from the borderlands

no subject

B

Fiona | Tales from the Borderlands

i.

aft; I love you

leland j. adama | battlestar galactica

gym

Jeff "Joker" Moreau | Mass Effect

observation deck

no subject