tdm 14

[hohnkai]

T E S T D R I V E

Survival is the exception "living is an act of courage." THROUGH THE INGRESS 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 rocky planet. Former crew of the Moira are there to greet you, and it’s a grim message they have to share. The Moira has crashed and is beyond repair, but there’s good news... the destination the crew has been heading towards for over a year? You’re standing on it. But before you get into exploration and survival, it’s best to deal with the effects of coming through a broken Ingress. ☄ slip and trip find your footing fast Coming through the Ingress has left your character with one of three changes - an age slip, a form of body horror, or an extreme weakness. The first, the age slip, will mean that the character is either older or younger and this change can’t be rectified during their first month in game. The second, body horror, comes in the form of an alteration to the character's body due to whatever they were carrying at the time they came through. If they were wearing a watch, it’s now fused to their wrist, clothes are permanent, knifes replace fingers, and many other alterations (anything goes) and it lasts the first month as well. The third, extreme weakness, can be a mental or physical decrease - weaker arms, legs, or the weaker ability to talk or do math. ooc: the choice of change is up to each player and this prompt can be game canon. ☄ introductions aren’t awkward as long as you don’t shake their hand too long A new planet. Physical and mental changes. Talk of a ship that crashed and a Hub that is home to the ‘creators’ of a technology you’ve never heard of. A lot is happening and the best way to sort through it is by getting to know the Moira’s crew. They’ll help you settle in and get you any care you might need, all the while informing you that the group is on its way to the center of the hub. Something that might seem mundane is an absolute necessity for survival. Ask a seasoned space traveling veteran for answers and guidance. ooc: this prompt can be game canon. ☄ dealer's choice just make the right one Characters have the option of coming through an Ingress that is any possible location on this planet. It can be inside a cave, at the top of a rock formation, etc. This means you can have your character have to climb or slide down, have them yelling for help, and have other characters see them and come to their aid. Your character's arrival is completely up to you, and since this is a unique situation that hasn't happened before, go nuts with it! ooc: this prompt can be 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

[buyeverything]

We do have people for that, but I've found that doing things yourself helps keep errors down. You know, easier to sleep at night and all that.

["Sleep", sure.]

So, any tips for not going stir crazy here?

[gainedlove]

Frisk's brows crease, confusion and heartache and guilt merging into a dark, sticky feeling in their chest. This...they never meant for this. They never...

"That's...that shouldn't be all you are. That's not right."

[inconsequence]

"Nevertheless, it is all I ever have been."

You have your answer, Frisk, or the closest you will come to it. If the fallen human is to accompany you, it is through this caveat. They have only ever lived to serve one purpose or another; a tool to be picked up and then put down again when it suits you.

For now, it seems it is their desire that Chara become of use once again.

[arcreact]

[ You freak out because you're dying one time and nobody ever lets it go!! Honestly.

By the time they arrive in the medical tent proper, Tony very carefully deposits Pepper on the first empty cot he can find. He may not be any kind of doctor, but he can at least fetch her one of their few water bottles, which he wastes no time doing. He counter-quips as he's passing it to her. ]

Is that a challenge? Just watch. I'm gonna pull out all the stops -

Uh, once I figure out which day is Friday.

[ The last few days - weeks? - have been a bit of a blur. Understandably. ]

[gainedlove]

They swallow thickly, trying to blink away tears and pull together some semblance of a controlled mask. A sniffle, some furious scrubbing at their eyes with one sleeve, and they look...better. It's a thin veneer, flimsy, but it's enough for now. Enough to let Frisk reach up and unhook the locket around their neck, and take a step forward to hold it out to Chara in both hands.

Back where it belongs.

[brokeassgoing]

Oh well...anyway, if you're hungry you've gotta get in line...its long as hell. And if you want info there're a few people who got their theories.

[inconsequence]

Their eyes narrow into scarlet slits as they survey the Locket, the chain pooled in the concave meeting of Frisk's palms. They don't need to look at it for very long to know what it says on the other side. The words engraved in it, the lies forever carved into front.

Best Friends Forever.

Or until someone better comes along, in any case.

One side of their smile thins, pulling upwards into a tight, skeptical look.

"99 DEF," they say. "Not terribly responsible of you, is it? Handing something like this over to a murderer."

[arcreact]

[ Y'know what, the Ingress can honestly get fucked. ]

2016. Great. So... subtract four years from that. That's me.

And as for this place, pick a random date and you'll be as close to a guess as anyone else. Maybe even put "stardate" in front of it, since this place improves only when you can pretend you're in an episode of Star Trek.

[ He slides closer so he can get a better look at the extent of the damage, mentally tutting. What the hell even did this? He's not sure he wants to know. ]

[purramedic]

[And after a moment he might raise a brow in concern.]

Are you feeling alright, Varric? You're asking more weird questions than usual.

[purramedic]

Oh, absolutely not. I wasn't made for manual labor. I think I've thrown out my back just thinking about picking any of these up. I'll stick to my staff being the heaviest thing I ever lift, thank you very much.

[shadowblends]

Uhm-- [Pauses, his little cheeks puffing out.] I don't know ... if I want to be going anywhere by myself.

[smol blueberry is smol, okay?]

[brokeassgoing]

What, I thought you were the big badass Sub-Zero?

[justice_from_above]

I would imagine all of us; I don't plan on leaving anyone behind.

[Fareeha removes her helmet and shakes out her hair in order to get a better look at the girl in front of her. There was something vaguely familiar about her but she couldn't quite place it.] You're new, aren't you??

[shadowblends]

Do I look like someone that comes off as a renegade?

[gainedlove]

Their mouth tugs into a frown, and they shrug. Why shouldn't they?

"It wasn't ever mine. And I want you to be safe." With everything that's happened, they don't want to take risks with anyone's well-being.

1/2

[inconsequence]

"Anticipate me getting into an awful lot of scrapes, do you?"

There's a more familiar sting to the words, reclaiming their stride in the same moment they realized they'd since lost it; lost it to the golden chain puddled in Frisk's cupped hands, the gold-spun lie cradled there.

He does not even need to be here, and yet here he is, already derailing everything they are.

They don't intend to hesitate, and yet hesitate they do. It's not Frisk's. It's theirs, by right. They were not even buried with the thing. They were buried in the clothes they wore, with bandages - "mummy wrappings" - bound around their mouth and nose and hands until someone else lifted them from their coffin and...

Their hand hovers an inch above Frisk's, above the offered Locket, the thing they can feel beating, pulsing with the quiet red light that is always - reminiscent of determination, and the action is painfully uncertain as they vacillate.

[inconsequence]

They take the Locket, wordlessly, and slip it over their head, the chain chill and soft against the back of their neck. It makes their throat clench in a matter that is also - painful. But they will bear it.

They bear everything that goes crawling on their neck, after all.

* Right where it belongs.

[brokeassgoing]

You come off as a little shit, for sure.

[he sighs, but gestures for Kurt to follow]

[shadowblends]

Well, I am little ...

[There's no way he'll agree to being a shit, though. He flashes a grin and moves to hurry after Badou.]

[brokeassgoing]

[the line is winding so long that it doesn't take them more than a couple of seconds to get to the end.]

Enjoy being here for ten hours.

[gainedlove]

"If I keep getting into trouble, of course you will." If the words hold any judgement, their tone certainly doesn't. The faint hint of warm affection bleeds through, and they breath a faint sigh of relief when Chara takes the Locket. They smile, and hesitate with one hand still held out before pulling it back.

They've asked enough for now. Shouldn't be greedy.

The flowers growing in Chara (and the blood left behind by those they've already removed) once again draw Frisk's attention, and they can't help but worry. "...you're really sure they don't hurt?"

[inconsequence]

"You do tend to attract trouble." For the first time, perhaps, their tone is slightly more conversational, slightly relaxed in comparison to the charged, overly formal distance they find so easy to acquire.

The Locket is warm over their chest. They do not need to hesitate before tucking it beneath their shirt. The edges of the petals tickle the backs of their hands, calling their attention once again to the fact that they seem to have come back a little bit wrong.

Ha. As if they were ever "right" to begin with. Hilarious. Best joke yet.

"Not unless I pull on them," says Chara, dismissive, tugging on one of the flowers indicatively. One of them comes away with remarkable ease. The others still bleed like sores.

That's fine. They're not averse to a little blood.

[neverheardofhim]

Yeah well, maybe if you hadn't crashed, you wouldn't be with this charmer here. [Varric gave the woman a loose bow, grin threatening to touch his earlobes.] Good with the bad, right?

[The image Hawke conjured up in his head was almost cute. It did little to ease the smile on Varric's lips, which by now was starting to ache. What he wouldn't give to see Dorian running around like that.]

[More importantly, he made a note to thank the kid. As much as Hawke wanted to think otherwise, she needed a watchful eye on her. Hell, even when he was around, she seemed to make stupid decisions.]

[But he wasn't going to think about that. Hawke was here now. Safe, along with a good chunk of the rest of his friends. That was good.]

You'll have to point me his way later. I need to do a little laughing at his new caretaker role. [If only Giselle could see him now.]

jfc nate, chill (same though)

[neverheardofhim]

[Well. That's one way to get Varric to stop grinning like an imp. He fixed a relatively sour expression on the man. Earlier, he might have said Nate was nice. Might have bought him an ale if he could find a place. Now? He crossed his arms and kicked at the ground some.]

You know Hawke. She never shuts up.

[He shook his head some. Maybe the details weren't completely accurate, but he was insulted on Hawke's behalf. He'd known her for years, and never once did he think she was anything less than heroic.]

She cared about Kirkwall. Don't know why, it's a festering shithole, really. [But then, Varric had been working for years to breathe some life back into it, despite his thoughts on it.] Besides, adrenaline does that kind of shit.

[hawkethat]

[His bemused expression changes to a smirk and he shifts his weight nonchalantly, adopting an outrageously flirtatious pose to match his equally outrageous response.]

Unless you're finally proposing to tumble with me between the sheets, I'm afraid you're just going to have to keep right on wondering, friend.