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acatalepsy_ooc2018-08-20 11:54 pm
acatamods) wrote in acatalepsy_ooc2018-08-20 11:54 pm
Entry tags:
test drive meme # 3
 test drive meme #3 It happens in the blink of an eye. One moment, you are home. Perhaps you are with your family, perhaps you are at work. It's a completely normal day . . . and then, suddenly, your stomach drops. You are overcome with a sudden sense of vertigo. You cannot see up, or down, or where you are. All you hear is a voice -- light, bubbly, warm, soothing, in your ear: Don't worry, darling. This won't hurt a bit~ ♥ For those who recognize the voice, it will sound a bit strained. Possibly tired. But the moment happens so quickly it's hard to pin down, and once that moment is over, you fall flat on your face. It's bright, warm, and humid. It takes a few seconds for you to gain composure and catch your breath. You think, for half a moment, that a hand is on your back, rubbing between your shoulder blades in comfort, but when you open your eyes, no one is there. You are surrounded by ancient stone buildings, with carvings you do not recognize etched into the stone. There's a sense of nausea, overwhelming and sudden, when you realize you aren't in Kansas anymore. Even worse, it looks like the tinier inhabitants of the Forest of the Fey are acting a little cheeky.  THE TEMPLE OF BEGINNINGS. Welcome to the "Home Base" of Astoria's Circle. What the actual name of the base is called is lost to the ages, and there's no sense of where you could find it, unless you started asking around. At any rate, this is a central hub of the Circle, a place of powerful magic and mysterious energy. It is a scattering of ancient stone buildings and for the most part, it looks abandoned . . . except for what seems to be a few items, some rooms taken, items moved or organized, even a small garden planted. These are just the smallest hints that there are people here that have been here before you arrived. Overall, it's fairly beautiful. However, it is definitely not modern. Upon exploration, you find that the buildings are kept up by some kind of magic. Some of the rooms have items, things from other Circle members already settled, and others appear to be unclaimed. Pick your rooms, explore the grounds, see the beauty and wonder all around you in such a magical place. However, be careful -- the sprites that reside within the Forest of the Fey seem to be exceptionally active, today, and tricks abound wherever you look. KINGS AND QUEENS.  Typically, the sprites of the Forest of the Fey remain within the protective canopy of the surroundings. However, there seems to be something different in the air, and these little bastards are flitting about and giving out flower crowns to everyone. They are beautifully made, intricate and gloriously decorative, and most people would be happy to adorn one!There's just one problem, though -- they don't come off. No matter how hard you try, those damn flower crowns are stuck on your head, and you cannot remove them no matter how hard you try. Hope you enjoy being a fairy princess for a day. And, if you are alighted with a flower crown, your skin turns the same color as whatever flowers now sit upon your head. A wreath of blue roses? Congratulations, Violet Beauregard -- you're now as blue as a blueberry. The effect wears off in about an hour, and you can remove the flower crown then -- but have fun being every shade of the rainbow as the sprites take their time to torment the new arrivals. BALLOONS FOR EVERYONE.  Normally, there are some animals that wander within the ancient stone buildings of the Temple. Tiny little white bats, sheep that grow on the vine . . . that sort of thing. However, the sprites have elected to add a little bit more flair the Temple, and balloon animals have invaded the living space. Where the sprites got the idea for balloon animals, no one can really be sure -- Astoria seems to think the sprites are waltzing through the spirit realm and seem to have garnered an idea there, whatever that's supposed to mean.So, no matter where you go, there are balloon animals. Little dogs, brightly colored fish, dinosaurs, giraffes . . . except they seem to move, and make noise, and act like their real counterparts. Tiny balloon dogs nip at your heels, balloon fish flicker about in the waters that sprinkle themselves throughout the Forest, and balloon birds float through the skies. Bonus? If you pop them, they explode into (biodegradable) glitter. DECAYED DECADENCE.  Despite the shenanigans from the sprites, however, there seems to be something happening within the Temple that may be cause of concern. Flower crowns and balloon animals aside, there seem to be odd spots of the Temple that suddenly wilt . . . flowers that bend over and wither at a moment's notice, saplings that seem to creak as if suddenly dried from the inside out . . . and it seems, oddly enough, that it happens whenever you, an Arrival, get closer to the wild life. Astoria seems to think that something is wrong . . . perhaps something the Circle members brought back from their last trip. An illness, or something more? Care to poke about and see how far you're willing to take it? Or does your magical gift enable the protection of plant growth? Try out your green thumb and see if you can help. COMMUNICATIONS.  Upon arriving, you will notice on whichever is your non-dominant hand, you will have a fairly simply screen. A smart watch, if you will. Upon exploration, you will find that it has a directory of all those here with you at the Temple of Beginnings- names, and access to a direct message to them. The watch also has video, audio, and text capabilities, as well as what looks like a collection of messages sent to everyone who wishes to open them. This is your 'network', and also how Astoria can reach out and communicate with you. There is nothing keeping you from removing and/or losing your watch! But remember that you will not have access to this network without it. OOC: Also feel free to join us and other possible players on our discord server! enjoy! ♥ |
no subject
what with being a huge tsundere) but the absurdity of the situation.... 2B surrounded by little balloon birds with herself and Pod doused in this shitty glitter that she's pretty sure is in her eyes (how was she supposed to get it out of her eyes???) is undercut by the absolute shock of seeing the other YoRHa unit here.One of the little balloon birds flutters over to perch on one of her shoulders. Another lands on her head. She'll shake them off of her eventually, but for now she focuses on studying 2B.
It is always odd, to see this mirror of her face. She thinks it won't ever stop being jarring. She's half-expecting a fight, but then 2B speaks and...ah. She knows. It's a relief. A2's shoulders slacken, her own posture relaxing by degrees.]
So you remember.
[This is weird. She doesn't know what to say, what to do. Whenever they ran into one another, there was violence involved, borne either out of survival or mercy. Truces were still hard to navigate.
Maybe...]
...He's here too. [She doesn't see the need to clarify.]
no subject
More than anything, she simply doesn't want to fight. A failure in programming for a type-B unit, to be sure. Having a regular conservation might actually be harder than fighting disarmed in this case. The relationship between the two of them - if it can be called that - is murky at best. She knows that she doesn't hold ill will towards A2 at this moment - not after learning about YoRHa and humanity, not after what she did for her. As for what A2 is feeling towards her? She can't begin to guess. ]
I know. Someone else told me. [ she's looking for him - she's sure she doesn't even need to tell A2 that. But the fact that he's here at all is important enough, as is the fact that she told her about it. 2B is silent for a good few moments. ] Thank you.
[ he's still alive. 2B doesn't know what their relationship is like. She did not tell her to protect him - nothing so explicit. But she gave A2 her memories; she saw what she held in her facsimile of a heart, and she respected that, at the very least. And there are other things to thank her for, too - for rescuing her, for hearing her out, for taking on her will and her Pod. For finally ending her suffering. For showing her mercy. She does not expect to encompass all these things with simply two words, nor in this moment alone. But, perhaps, she can convey at least some piece of those complicated feelings to her. ]
no subject
Hm. That was a problem. But with 2B here, maybe it would be a little easier to avoid him. She didn't blame him for not wanting anything to do with her.
...Hearing a "thank you," of all things, makes her falter some, causes open surprise to flit across the careful flatness of her expression. She's caught more off guard by that than the sight of 2B being alive and well.]
...
[A third bird lands on her unoccupied shoulder.] Mm. [Then, gradually the coldness that marked so many of her interactions thaws a little, she starts, hesitantly:] You don't have to...
[Thank her. For killing her, ending her suffering or otherwise. She can't finish this thought. Instead she motions some, to Pod, to the sword on her back. The balloon pigeons fidget on her shoulders, but don't move.]
You can have them back. [...Her gaze drops.] They belong to you.
no subject
Most of all, she didn't have to, just like A2 said. But that empathy of hers always has her doing needless things. When A2 motions to return the sword, she finds herself shaking her head before she realizes it. ]
I don't need it. [ the sword, at least. Pod... Well, she does miss Pod. Thinking about it suddenly makes her realize something, however -- before, back with Hathaway, it had been with her the entire time. How is it with A2 again now...? Come to think of it, it was the same with her sword. ] ... How long have you been here, A2?
no subject
Time tends to get an odd sort of sameness with A2 — she's spent too long with only herself for company to really care much about keeping track. But her routine has been broken up by this new environment, and so now she has specifics she can recall in the time she's been here.
She answers after the slightest of pauses.] ...About a month. [It feels strange too, to be referring to herself as part of a group (again), but:] We were transported to another area. Just got back.
no subject
It's strange, to simply talk to A2 like this. There's a tension in the air, the feeling that this shouldn't be happening, and she isn't sure if it's because she should be dead or simply a result of the E-type programming commanding her to kill all traitors. 2B ignores it as best she can. ]
So... there's been another time distortion. [ great. ] Pod 042 was with me until a few hours ago, according to my memory data.
no subject
[It's odd. This is the longest she's spoken to another YoRHa android in...well. Years. So long there had been nothing but running, and killing. Conversation was a luxury few in their position could afford to have. And yet here they were, in this unlikely and impossible situation. She feels that tension too, the low hum of it in the spaces between this polite and practical conversation, and she ignores it too. She doesn't have enough experience to recognize it just yet, but this is a step forward. Progress, when there had been nothing but the empty repetition of her existence before.
Perhaps it is that which makes her say, after a moment:]
...There's someone who knows you here. [a longer pause.] 9S too. His name is Simon.
[She does not say she'd been mistaken for 2B when she'd met him. It still bothers her.]
no subject
She lets the thought go, pushing the emotions down and shifting her focus back to A2. There's nothing to say - nothing she feels able to say, at least. ]
I know. I saw him earlier. [ he hugged her like she was a human friend, not a battle android. She's still not sure what to think of it. ] ... He worked with me and 9S on the other ship. You met him?
[ there are a lot of things she doesn't say - that he wanted to help her learn about humans, that he thought a lot about machine life, that he said he'd be there for her when she needed it. She doesn't know how much A2 knows about him. She doesn't feel able to say those things, either, even though A2's already seen into the depths of her. ]
no subject
This new topic is easier to navigate, anyway. She doesn't know how to talk to 2B yet (still), but she decides to ask a question that's been eating at her.] Do you trust him?
[Is he a friend, would be the more normal question to ask, but hey.]
no subject
[ perhaps that makes her vulnerable, but she does. ]
He used to be a human. [ a pause. That's not the reason she trusts him, though - not after everything she's seen and the things she knows now. ] He's been helpful to me.
[ another pause. Then, more quietly. ]
... He's a good person.
[ A2 can trust him too, she thinks - although she also has to wonder what Simon thought of her. He worries so much about his individuality, as a human, and the sight of "another" 2B might have upset him. Even if, technically, she's the one who's a copy of A2. ]