( tdm 12 )

[hownkai]

T E S T D R I V E

leavin’ on a jet plane "Don’t know when I’ll be back again." ABOARD THE MOIRA The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences 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 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. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar. Shortly after, you are led out and toward the medbay. Inside this room, you are given a physical scan and offered a contract to sign that states you are now part of the crew of the Moira with a specific job. Any questions you might have would be answered in a straightforward manner as well as an explanation about how the Ingress, the thing that has pulled you onto the Moira, is broken and bringing people here unintentionally. This process also consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health, and afterwards, you are given your MID, a device that is integrated into your hand or wrist with only the slightest pinch. From there, you are guided out of the medbay and to your living quarters. 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. You may notice a slight change in the artificial gravity every once in awhile; however, more noticeable changes can be found in overall morale of those of the crew. ☄ on your own There are plenty of other communal areas on the ship to explore! Pick a place, and see where it takes you. ( These scenarios can be used as in-game canon. ) The day begins normally. Or almost. The Moira has accidentally fallen along the trajectory of an asteroid barreling its way through space. While most things like this are not uncommon, and the ship is far from any potential danger of collision or risk of debris damaging the exterior, there is something particularly odd about this specific occurrence. The rock itself appears to give off a strange light that is both eerie and alive. Often, if looked at in just the right manner, it will shift colors; so, while one person sees one side of the spectrum, someone else could see something entirely different. At first, things continue on as they usually do aside from the glowing asteroid alongside the Moira, but as the hours go on, that does not seem to be the case. ☄ the hours are breathing resignedly beneath the sky the melancholy waters lie With a rather open view of stars and space, thanks to the skylight above, the pool in the rec area suddenly comes alive beneath the light of the asteroid filtering in. Perhaps it’s some natural response to the chemical composition of the water, or perhaps it’s magic. Yet, regardless of the explanation, those who happen to take a dip suddenly find themselves plagued by despair. The depression and melancholy are not subtle changes either; it slams into you with great force, like a punch to the gut. The longer you remain in the pool, the deeper it grows, like an all-consuming paranoia that settles into the back of your mind and causes your heart to grow heavy. These strong feelings will eventually fade if you choose to leave the pool and dry off, but as long as you remain damp from the pool, those emotions will continue to linger. Even after you’re completely dry, there will be no mistaking just how intensely you felt or why. There is no explanation and might not be. Would you dare a second swim to test whether or not it was a fluke? ( These scenarios can be used as in-game canon. ) ☄ those who have crossed the eyes are not here, there are no eyes here The walls are shrinking in. Every room you step into feels much too small, like there isn’t enough room to even breathe. A crowded place becomes startlingly empty, and no matter how much you run, how much you explore, there is no one there to comfort you or answer your calls for help. Hallucinations run strong between the lulls of obscene loneliness or claustrophobia, and exposure to the glow of the asteroid is really the only thing to thank for that. You’re desperate to claw your way out of the ship—open the emergency hatch in the Cargo Bay, bust the glass of the Observation Deck. What’s worse is that it’s not just you. It’s catching, and the fear of being next is very real. It feels like you’re being watched, that everyone around you is looking and seeing everything you are. Or are not. The only way to make it stop is to admit that you’re afraid of being seen, but who, in the deep madness of the self, has the courage to ever admit the truth? ( These scenarios can be used as in-game canon. ) ☄ the sun in flight rage, rage against the dying of the light Something has drifted its way onto the Moira from the outside. Unlike the faint luminosity they give off, they suck up all the light around them, making them the only source to see by. From far away, they are just flitting balls of light, but if you get close enough to inspect them, they are mean. And have sharp, sharp teeth. Go poking, and they will bite you before trying to fly away while taking that only light source with them. The option to avoid them is quite easy if you’re not the curious sort, but without them around, it will be impossibly dark. As the asteroid moves on in the opposite direction of the Moira, these light creatures begin to dissolve and fade away with it. However, a word of caution: their bites glow. If you don’t manage to find the one that bit you and capture it between your hands, the bite will become a permanent glowing fixture of your body. ( These scenarios can be used as in-game canon. ) OUT OF CHARACTER INFO FAQ | LOCATIONS | RESERVES | APPLICATIONS | NAVIGATION For mature or graphic content, please label. For questions, please direct them to the FAQ. As always, be kind and have fun!

Comments

[thefaulty]

[The sudden, sweeping gesture and the expressive tone that goes with it are so surprising to the A.R.I.D that it takes a slight step back from the droid, clearly caught off-guard. It’s with a significant amount of incredulity that it listens to its myriad suggestions.]

I-- That’s-- None of those are my function, [the A.R.I.D nearly sputters. How hopelessly glitched must this droid be to think any of those are acceptable alternatives?

The droid’s attempts to reframe the suggestions are only slightly more welcome.]

I am already equipped with multiple means to incapacitate or eliminate those who threaten my pilot. I do not require additional subroutines to carry out this function.

[exorion]

You might not think you need 'em, but it never hurts to have an ace up your sleeve.

[Another broad gesture, this time coming around to gesture to the A.R.I.D. like they're on a stage. Welcome to Showboating 101 with Cayde-6.]

Think about it. Another Mark-7 comes at you, same tech, same subroutines. But-- [He flicks his hand and a throwing knife comes out of seemingly nowhere, flips up in the air and he catches it by the blade.] It didn't see the knife.

[avicula]

( not a change of mind so much as a specification on what she'd actually been meaning to ask. the second attempt is more precise, and it seems precision is needed in this context. )

A particular human pilot, or just any human pilot?

( it might sound sad, but dutch isn't so sure she wants to ascribe human emotion to something that isn't. maybe it's capable of emotion, maybe it isn't. her tone remains neutral, a little curious at best. ) You're clearly capable of independent action. Could you protect individuals outside your armor?

( dutch isn't thinking of herself, or of anyone in particular — but it's good information to have, and there may well be someone aboard who needs protection. )

[avicula]

Well, aren't you cheerful. ( dutch's tone is amused, and her expression matches that tone. if she's still guarded, worried — which she is — she's not letting on.

for a moment, she turns back to the stars before facing him again. ) Got a name, stranger?

[exorion]

[The act is as much for himself as it is for everyone else, easy to get to get to grips with things if people like you. Easier still not to freak out if you can convince yourself you're not freaking out to begin with.]

Cayde. [Feels kinda weird to have to introduce himseld to anyone aftee all these years, but his body language is open and friendly.] Yourself?

[thefaulty]

[The A.R.I.D keeps the droid in range of its visual processors as he moves, not quite trusting the clearly faulty A.I. The appearance of a knife causes it to tense in preparation, but perfunctory analysis shows almost immediately that it is not aimed at the combat suit. It keeps the knife in visual range anyway.]

I already possess several subroutines relating to combat with bladed weapons, as do other A.R.I.D units. [Still, if the specific example isn’t applicable, the principle may be. The A.R.I.D runs the notion through its processor a few times, running basic internal simulations in a variety of combat scenarios. In each, having an expanded array of combat manoeuvres at its disposal are favorable to pilot survivability -- even if they would not last past the A.R.I.D’s reformat upon return to dock.]

Given more logical alternatives are currently unavailable to me, augmented combat and weapons’ training… may be a viable recourse. Until the point at which I am returned to my pilot.

[It’s likely the closest to a concession that the droid is going to receive.]

assuming he looks how he looks in his icons?!

[avicula]

Dutch. ( she doesn't hold out her hand or anything of the like, but there's acknowledgement in the tilt of her head. nice to meet you feels like too much of a set phrase right now, something she wouldn't mean. it might be nice to meet him, but under these circumstances, dutch isn't particularly happy about it. )

What's with the mask? ( her tone remains light, her posture casual, despite the possible invasiveness of the question. )

unicorn horn and all!

[exorion]

It's my face. [If he's offended, it doesn't show. If anything there's a hint of a laugh in his voice.] Guess you don't have Exos where you're from.

[lostsymmetry]

[It's the same arguments. The same lack of nuance, the same one-track focus, except Arid's lost even that much drive, and he's lost the patience to pretend he doesn't care. He doesn't know what else he expected. He doesn't know why, except that she'd... she'd questioned. Asked him for help. Asked about responsibility, and made choices, real ones. She'd acknowledged they were hard.

Arid's pilot would always take priority. He'd known that from the start. But there had been something more than that, the last time they'd talked. He'd risked everything-- lost everything-- protecting that assumption, and it's painful learning just how... just how faulty he had really been.]

...

[The mainframe's face flickers blankly on the display, silence drawing out. For a moment, it seems like he's done. She's right. He might as well shut down, at least with this. With her.

But.]

I did.

[The correction is minor. Unspeakably so, compared to the gap of bitterness and sheer frustration standing between them. But...]

...

Arid. Access your logs.

Summarize our last interaction on file.

[thefaulty]

My human pilot. [Even in its robotic monotone, the stress is on the first syllable, almost possessive. It will not allow itself to be reformatted to serve another pilot when Josephs still needs its help.]

Protecting non-pilot individuals is not my function. [In theory, it is capable of carrying out almost any combat-related task that does not violate its operating parameters. This does not mean that it should.] I should not be operational without a pilot occupying this armored combat suit. However, the on-vessel medical staff have prevented me from initiating self-shutdown. I require intervention from a human operator. [It inclines its head marginally towards the human, marking her as the human operator in question.]

[thefaulty]

[The silence stretches between them until the A.R.I.D is convinced the other A.I has disengaged from the conversation. The exchange had not been fruitful. The A.R.I.D does not understand the administrator’s sudden, unnervingly emotive insistence on its continued operation. As the mainframe for a Domesticon recalibration facility, it should be familiar with the protocol for dealing with obsolete models.

The A.R.I.D is about to resume its search for a compliant human operator when the mainframe speaks again. Two brief words that for a moment are without context. It waits for the admin to clarify. When it does, the A.R.I.D’s earlier suspicions are confirmed. The mainframe does not remember their last interaction. Its memory logs are faulty.]

You were providing instruction for the evaluation that would validate me as a domestic droid. You told me I would need eight merit points, one from each test in the evaluation area. Shortly afterwards, I appeared here.

...Does this not match what you have on file?

Armin Arlert | Attack on Titan (CRAU)

[disarmin]

1. (EVENT) pool - breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care

[Armin is crying by the time he gets out of the pool. Fat, useless tears dribbling down his cheeks. His hands are shaking as he goes through the motions of drying himself off. He crouches with the towel around his shoulders, rocking back and forth on his heels. He sniffles a little, still sad as his long hair is still damp and dripping down his neck. When someone enters with the clear intent to go swimming, he calls over to them:]

Wait-- don't dive in, there's something wrong with the water!

[For once Armin's almost-supernatural intuition is failing him. He's uncertain if those feelings have been brought about somehow by the light of the asteroid, or if he's simply that unhappy. Most of the time he can push the blackness back in his mind, but now it seems stuck to him, clinging like stray water droplets he can't entirely shake free.]

I'm sorry, I know this is a strange thing to ask - but I think we should both try sticking our hand in the water at the same time, slowly. I think it's having some kind of... mood-altering affect. If we both test it at once, we'll know for sure.

[Armin knows he sounds and looks feeble, blotchy and bleary from crying, damp and small and young.]

Please.

2. (EVENT) mess hall - pressure pushing down on me, pushing down on you

[Armin has never liked walls. Everyone says that walls contain, that they keep everyone safe, but it's difficult not to see them as anything but a form as imprisonment. This morning he could have sworn the ceiling was an inch away from his nose. He pushed back against it in a panic, but his hands touched nothing. He hasn't felt right ever since.

On a logical level, he understands the need for walls in an air tight environment. From what he's read about space, it makes sense.

But he hates them. And it's only getting worse.

There's someone watching him. Armin can't be sure why, or what it wants, but he's deeply uneasy. Sometimes he thinks he feels something like a claw brushing his shoulder, a whisper in his ear - his fears and memories brought to life. He's a shuddering mess, dark circles under his eyes, as he sets his tray down on a table with a clang.]

Excuse me. [There's someone here. It feels like there's never anyone anywhere, lately.] Didn't meant for that to be so loud. Um. Weird question. How many times have people tried to escape here?

3. (GEN) shooting range - i got more back issues than guns & ammo

[It's been a long time since Armin has fired a weapon. The ones at this gallery are far more advanced than what he's used to. It takes him a round or two to get past the difference in size and shape, the kickback is different, the sound of it. The entire experience is surreal. The smell of it is different. He never liked the smell of gunpowder, yet he finds himself missing it.

They're out in the middle of nowhere, and Armin has precious few he can trust. There's really no telling what they might run into out here. The presence of the armory and shooting range, the weapon system of the space ship all point to that. No matter his negative emotions toward handling weapons - toward being willing to kill so easily - he knows it is necessary. There's no point in fighting it anymore. He's fallen in every sense of the word.

Captain Levi said his hands are dirty now. It's truer now more than ever.

By the time his session is coming to an end, he's hitting his marks or quite close each time. He pauses a moment when someone else enters, instinctively wary of the newcomer.] ...Hi. [He says with a curt nod, not taking off his safety gear. It occurs to him some might have a problem with a 16-year-old firing off weapons, but too late now.]

2. (GEN) observation deck - stars in their multitude

[There is so much out there it feels suffocating. Armin has been standing watching the the stars for what feels like hours. He feels small at the best of times, right now the slender teenager feels microscopic. How could he have imagined he would somehow turn up in a place even further from the world he knew, even less tenuously connected to anything familiar? His chest hurts with the effort of trying to calm his breathing. He's clenching his jaw - isn't sure he can unclench it.

There is a void in his heart in the place where things like tears and panic usually flow from. Armin is dried up. 16 and cynical. He never thought he could miss being a weakling crybaby. But this hurts worse, in a way, being so frozen he cannot react.

As if reading his mood, the orange striped kitten in his arms lets out a mew, demanding his attention. Armin tears his gaze away from the starscape, scratching behind the kitten's ears.]

There, there Liza. I think I saw some new playmates for you darting around.

((ooc: Armin is a CRAU from midnightsyndicate, having spent a year in the magical world of Eros, where he was required to have sex to survive. it's unlikely Armin will bring it up, but be appraised - i will put up an opt-out post for that content, and the canon itself, when in-game))

[lostsymmetry]

[The testing floor. Validation. Not the caretaker's suggestion, not the labs, not the stasis matrix she'd overclocked or the droids who'd died because of it.

Not his terminal.

Not him.]

Oh. [The sound is small and shaky, a modulation just a beat too erratic for laughter caught in his vocal matrix.] Oh, that's on file, don't worry about that.

...Nothing else, Arid? You don't remember anything after that?

excellent

[avicula]

( well, that's unexpected. )

Guess we don't. What's an Exo? Other than 'you', I suppose.

[thefaulty]

I remember entering the simulation house in the testing area and subsequently stepping through the aperture termed “Ingress” here. [The mainframe’s tone grates on her. Its questions seem to designate the A.R.I.D as the malfunctioning one.]

Do you believe my logs are faulty?

[avicula]

( it sounds like a reasonable request, but at the same time, dutch is loathe to lose resources. )

Can you perform acts outside of your function?

( she thinks about it for a moment, then adds — ) And if I give the command to deactivate, will I be able to reactivate you, too?

it's the very best part ;;

[justchilling]

[She's definitely not expecting pop culture and crude jokes - what if he made a pop alien culture reference and she looked like a damn idiot because she didn't get it? Hell, she can make her own references easy enough.]

Yeah, not used to it. You could say that. [She rubs a hand over the back of her head and shrugs, and it's still kinda shaky because holy shit, but the gesture feels a bit more like her.] Most people back where I'm from, they don't believe in that shit at all, extra terrestrials and all that. Me? Man, being alone in the universe sounds lonely as hell. We ain't that special, right?

[Definitely not, there's proof standing right here. Shit, does this mean she gets to make first contact?] Oh yeah-- [She wipes her right hand off on her pants - probably got cafeteria floor gunk on them still - and offers it.] This is how we meet people, yeah? We shake hands.

I'm Poussey.

[justchilling]

[She isn't looking, and at first she's not paying attention to things like metallic voices, so when someone answers her, she laughs, brief and delighted.] Man, you could've said 'warp 2' and I'd have believed you.

Is that more or less than light speed, I ain't up on my physi-- whoa!! [She was turning round mid word and finally sees...a guy with a TV for a head. At that, she jumps violently and staggers, jaw close enough to hitting the floor.]

What the--

[justchilling]

[The noise she makes when she sees this guy's face is nothing short of incredulous - she's seen a few aliens at this point, all different races, and yet still whenever she sees a new one her whole body gets this what the fuck reaction she can't stop yet. But at least it's short-lived, even when he seems like he's going to take her by the arm - she swerves away from the touch easily, without preamble or so much as a change in expression, but it's more a prison thing than an alien thing.]

Yeah, those things. Jellyfish. Why, what do you call them?

[Then she shakes her head - doesn't matter - and beckons.] Come on, I gotta grab the one that bit me. Take it to the clinic.

[And right now, she's going to assume he's helping. Because why not?]

[lostsymmetry]

[Not even the tests, then. That... that changes things. Everything? He doesn't know. She'd said she would be formatted on her return to dock, but how, and why, and whether any of it made a difference... how does she remember him at all, if all those records had been wiped?

He doesn't have the data. Not about Arid's state, and certainly not about his own. Bitterness ebbs slowly, and it takes a moment to pull his code together. When he does speak, the mainframe still sounds tired. Guarded, maybe.

But the edge is gone.]

Your logs are incomplete.

At my last recorded entry, you had received seven merit points. You were taking steps to secure the last one.

[exorion]

Complicated.

[Which is putting it simply. Nobody understands their code, but it's complex enough to make them complete people. Regardless, Cayde shrugs a nonchalant shoulder.]

Just think of us as a race of extremely dashing android rogues.

exploration

[cannotrest]

[Even having been here long enough to have her bearings (admittedly the digitized memory does help with that), the observation deck is comforting to someone who lived in one of the Normandy's observation lounges. Not so today: There's someone from her past that she does not need her digitized memory to remember, though the more mechanical analysis of her brain certainly helps find the signs of aging that are new to her.

[If she was more comfortable with joking about her new half synthetic condition, she'd think this doesn't compute. But she's not, and so Ashley simply stops several metres away to stare.]

Kaidan...?

[Her voice is small, but just loud enough to be heard; the circuitry on her skin and light in her eyes glow green even from a distance.]

[psychobabblery]

[HOLY SHIT IT'S DAVE.

No, that's far too much capslock for her blood. Just because the last time you saw someone was a catastrophic universe ending clusterfuck that may or may not have been pre-destined to end in failure, that didn't give you the right to go and forget a little thing called elegance. She manages to not stare at him, gawking, or babble at him, emoting, and instead manages to reach her sarcasm reserves, talking.

She doesn't believe for a second that she's just dreaming, least of which because she's not sure that distinction matters anymore.]

I might've gone a little overboard. [Rose? Getting carried away with things? Preposterous!] But don't worry. I'll make sure to keep my witty repartee levels safely out of the frozen tundra from now on. [Don't get your hopes up.]

So. Let's warm this place up a bit. Scarves not required. [What the fuck should she say? What can she say? Sorry about passively enabling all the villain's schemes, I was, like, super busy.]

How have you been? [That'll have to do for a start.]

[exorion]

[There's a reaction Cayde hasn't seen in a long time, and he pulls his hand back when she flinches away. It's almost hurtful, tugging on a thread from a previous boot, but he elects not to think about that and think about this awful job he just volunteered himself for instead.]

Right... [He crouches for a moment, and then he's almost entirely gone from sight.] You know how to tell which one it was?

[cannotrest]

[Conscious, yes, but weak enough to be dead weight. The circuits flicker as she looks at and really recognizes her rescuer more than she could from the voice in the shadows.]

Loud and clear, Thane - unless it's Tannor here. [She pauses, and then laughs softly.] Damnit, I thought after that last physio session I was done with collapsing into your arms.