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Entry tags:
TDM 001
TEST DRIVE MEME 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore.
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The rescue mission prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, but the other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about consequences for altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. On this test drive meme, please reserve this thread for clarification and setting questions.
On the first day of reserves (May 10th), only players who participate in the TDM will be allowed to reserve. You must link an AC-length thread from the TDM for early access. Starting on the 11th, any prospective player may submit a reserve. Our hope is that this will avoid overwhelming our reserves.
Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.
Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.
The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?
Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.
The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.
A few notes:
Please note: FOR THE FIRST 24 HOURS AFTER 'HATCHING', CHARACTERS WILL FEEL WEAK AND ANY POWERS THEY HAVE WILL NOT WORK.
Test drive meme threads can be considered game canon for players who are later accepted and wish to keep their CR. The rescue mission prompt will be a TDM-exclusive, but the other prompts that you see here will also appear on our first game log. There will, of course, be more going on that week.
Please reserve questions about consequences for altering or meaningfully investigating the setting for the first log of the game, where we will have a Mod Questions thread at the top of the log. On this test drive meme, please reserve this thread for clarification and setting questions.
On the first day of reserves (May 10th), only players who participate in the TDM will be allowed to reserve. You must link an AC-length thread from the TDM for early access. Starting on the 11th, any prospective player may submit a reserve. Our hope is that this will avoid overwhelming our reserves.
❀ HATCHING
Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.
Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.
The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?
Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.
The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.
A few notes:
☆ Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning.
☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?
☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!
☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. The mods will not facilitate escape-plots/etc on test drive memes. However: if you app and are accepted you are more than welcome to chat with us about the possibility of having escaped or attempted it.
☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?
☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!
☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. The mods will not facilitate escape-plots/etc on test drive memes. However: if you app and are accepted you are more than welcome to chat with us about the possibility of having escaped or attempted it.
❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP
On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.
Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?
You're being allowed to mingle with the others. The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.
You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.
Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?
(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)
After a meal — it's hard to say which one you'd call it, since the whole crew is on rotating schedules — you may decide to wander the basecamp. Folks in every department could use a hand. Those willing to help out may get friendlier reception than those who play the tourist. For more info on what else you might find, check out the LOCATIONS page.
During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.
A few notes:
Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?
You're being allowed to mingle with the others. The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.
You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.
Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?
(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)
After a meal — it's hard to say which one you'd call it, since the whole crew is on rotating schedules — you may decide to wander the basecamp. Folks in every department could use a hand. Those willing to help out may get friendlier reception than those who play the tourist. For more info on what else you might find, check out the LOCATIONS page.
During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.
☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.
☆ PCs will be warned about going beyond the shade of the dragon's wings. For the sake of the test drive mods will not be facilitating plots that deal with characters going further; we ask that players with an interest in exploring this wait until the game is fully open.
☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything they see that seems 'human made' will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.
☆ PCs will be warned about going beyond the shade of the dragon's wings. For the sake of the test drive mods will not be facilitating plots that deal with characters going further; we ask that players with an interest in exploring this wait until the game is fully open.
❀ RESCUE MISSION
"There's no time to waste," the woman says breathlessly as she grabs your arm. She pulls you to an augmented reality sand table and you will find yourself standing alongside some of the others you may recognize as having 'hatched' with you. There are murmurs by the Adamant's survivors as they pour over data. Maybe you remember Captain Childe from the stern interrogation she gave you a few days ago, but in any case but she's standing at the edge of the sand table looking at the distance scaled between the enormous huddle of HUD badges — the Adamant's survivors — and a tiny pocket of pulsing green some fifteen kilometers away.
"They knew better," Captain Childe says, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "They should have been back hours ago."
"Fucking scientists," says a man with a faintly French accent. He is scarred and battle-worn, and looks properly pissed off. He's also sporting several fresh injuries, one of which seems to have warranted the use of a crutch. "They'd lose their heads if they weren't attached. Let them wait out the storm."
"No," the captain says. "They're too close to the Rat Nest. We don't need a repeat of —" she trails off, as if seeing you for the first time. She looks you up and down, and then: "You've been told by now that everyone here has to pitch in. If you know how to fight, be ready in ten minutes. You're our rescue squad." She turns and walks out, and there's an awkward moment where everyone present is looking at you to make a choice.
Ten minutes really isn't a lot of time to get ready to walk into danger. Or maybe you aren't a fighter. Maybe you just don't care. But either way, there are people looking to you. To see how you'll react. To see what you'll do. To see if you belong.
What'll it be, hatchling? Fight or flight? Maybe you ought to start coming up with a plan.
FIELD WORK
There's a cadre of scientists cut off by acid rain. From their last transmission, they were driven into the Rat Warrens — and you've been tasked with rescuing them. Too many members of the Security Team are themselves injured, and none of the remaining ones have experience leading a fire team. Let's hope you do — or at least that you can fake it.
Maybe you've hand-picked your team. Maybe you're just stuck with whoever else was closest. Either way, your companions are some of the people you might recognize as fellow 'hatchlings'. If you know them already — good, you've got a head start on what they might be capable of out in the field, and you can chat about the little things. You know, like the weather. Acid rain, gotta love it.
Either way. You're given few small slabs of surprisingly lightweight alloy that has a sheet of — is that hide from the Leviathan? — stretched across them, to divide up amongst your team. "Helps with the rain," Ensign Porter says, trying to sound cheerful despite the grim set to his jaw. "Just come back in one piece. I kinda feel responsible for you guys, you know?"
Before you know it, you're outfitted for the trip. Weapons (if you didn't have your own) and maybe some medical supplies, handed over with a grimace by Doc Sunya.
So then it's just you, your tiny team and a fifteen kilometer hike. Oh, and the acid rain. Luckily, the shields seem to be keeping it off, but it's hard to hear anything over the impact of the drops. Anyone want to play I never?
Or maybe you think you should make a break for it. This is your first time being outside the Leviathan unsupervised. You've got supplies, and other people with as little to lose here as you do. Maybe you should talk.
THE RAT WARREN
You've made it to the last transmitted location of the scientists. What you find doesn't bode well — one of them seemed to have an arm torn off — at least, you think it's an arm — the way it's been disintegrated by the rain makes it hard to tell.
One thing's certain, though. There are bloodstains leading into the nearby maw of a hole in the ground. There's a putrid odor wafting from it, and the sound of frantic scrabbling.
You have an idea of what might be down there. 'Giant rats with tentacles', Porter had said. Don't let the tentacles grab you, they leave chemical burns that usually result in amputation if they can't be treated immediately. But there's a chance the scientists are still alive, and you need to make your choice.
If you and your small team venture down into the darkness, what happens next is up to you. You'll be encountering hoards of these monsters. The scientists are still alive, but will they stay that way? And more importantly, can you get them back to the Leviathan in one piece?
PCs versus the local fauna, round one, FIGHT!
A few notes:
"They knew better," Captain Childe says, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "They should have been back hours ago."
"Fucking scientists," says a man with a faintly French accent. He is scarred and battle-worn, and looks properly pissed off. He's also sporting several fresh injuries, one of which seems to have warranted the use of a crutch. "They'd lose their heads if they weren't attached. Let them wait out the storm."
"No," the captain says. "They're too close to the Rat Nest. We don't need a repeat of —" she trails off, as if seeing you for the first time. She looks you up and down, and then: "You've been told by now that everyone here has to pitch in. If you know how to fight, be ready in ten minutes. You're our rescue squad." She turns and walks out, and there's an awkward moment where everyone present is looking at you to make a choice.
Ten minutes really isn't a lot of time to get ready to walk into danger. Or maybe you aren't a fighter. Maybe you just don't care. But either way, there are people looking to you. To see how you'll react. To see what you'll do. To see if you belong.
What'll it be, hatchling? Fight or flight? Maybe you ought to start coming up with a plan.
FIELD WORK
There's a cadre of scientists cut off by acid rain. From their last transmission, they were driven into the Rat Warrens — and you've been tasked with rescuing them. Too many members of the Security Team are themselves injured, and none of the remaining ones have experience leading a fire team. Let's hope you do — or at least that you can fake it.
Maybe you've hand-picked your team. Maybe you're just stuck with whoever else was closest. Either way, your companions are some of the people you might recognize as fellow 'hatchlings'. If you know them already — good, you've got a head start on what they might be capable of out in the field, and you can chat about the little things. You know, like the weather. Acid rain, gotta love it.
Either way. You're given few small slabs of surprisingly lightweight alloy that has a sheet of — is that hide from the Leviathan? — stretched across them, to divide up amongst your team. "Helps with the rain," Ensign Porter says, trying to sound cheerful despite the grim set to his jaw. "Just come back in one piece. I kinda feel responsible for you guys, you know?"
Before you know it, you're outfitted for the trip. Weapons (if you didn't have your own) and maybe some medical supplies, handed over with a grimace by Doc Sunya.
So then it's just you, your tiny team and a fifteen kilometer hike. Oh, and the acid rain. Luckily, the shields seem to be keeping it off, but it's hard to hear anything over the impact of the drops. Anyone want to play I never?
Or maybe you think you should make a break for it. This is your first time being outside the Leviathan unsupervised. You've got supplies, and other people with as little to lose here as you do. Maybe you should talk.
THE RAT WARREN
You've made it to the last transmitted location of the scientists. What you find doesn't bode well — one of them seemed to have an arm torn off — at least, you think it's an arm — the way it's been disintegrated by the rain makes it hard to tell.
One thing's certain, though. There are bloodstains leading into the nearby maw of a hole in the ground. There's a putrid odor wafting from it, and the sound of frantic scrabbling.
You have an idea of what might be down there. 'Giant rats with tentacles', Porter had said. Don't let the tentacles grab you, they leave chemical burns that usually result in amputation if they can't be treated immediately. But there's a chance the scientists are still alive, and you need to make your choice.
If you and your small team venture down into the darkness, what happens next is up to you. You'll be encountering hoards of these monsters. The scientists are still alive, but will they stay that way? And more importantly, can you get them back to the Leviathan in one piece?
PCs versus the local fauna, round one, FIGHT!
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to put player characters 'in charge' of the planning/logistics phase. If another PC tags into your thread, you and that player can decide which PC will be 'leading the charge'.
☆ Your character will have: a mini-railgun, a spear (if they don't have their items/weapons from home), a first-aid kit, the acid rain shields, ration bars (that are essentially condensed protein bars — they do not taste good) and one of the smartwatches, which will have a mini holographic HUD displayable on its interface. If your character is the sort to request other things, feel free to assume they received them (within reason — please remember that resource scarcity is the name of the game — feel free to be creative here!).
☆ There are fifteen kilometers to cover. If your character has an ability like superspeed/etc, please keep in mind it will work, but you also have your allies to consider. Normal walking time over this distance, given the difficulty of the environment (steep hills, acid rain, unknown territory, etc) would translate to several hours to an average person.
☆ Feel free to use the NPC scientists however you'd like. If you want your character to find some dead, you can. If you'd prefer they be rescued, that is also acceptable. These are essentially 'your' NPCs that you are using to facilitate the story at this point — the sky is the metaphoric limit!
☆ Your character will have: a mini-railgun, a spear (if they don't have their items/weapons from home), a first-aid kit, the acid rain shields, ration bars (that are essentially condensed protein bars — they do not taste good) and one of the smartwatches, which will have a mini holographic HUD displayable on its interface. If your character is the sort to request other things, feel free to assume they received them (within reason — please remember that resource scarcity is the name of the game — feel free to be creative here!).
☆ There are fifteen kilometers to cover. If your character has an ability like superspeed/etc, please keep in mind it will work, but you also have your allies to consider. Normal walking time over this distance, given the difficulty of the environment (steep hills, acid rain, unknown territory, etc) would translate to several hours to an average person.
☆ Feel free to use the NPC scientists however you'd like. If you want your character to find some dead, you can. If you'd prefer they be rescued, that is also acceptable. These are essentially 'your' NPCs that you are using to facilitate the story at this point — the sky is the metaphoric limit!
❀ BOOZE
A week. You've been here for a week.
By now, you might have tried to venture out of Basecamp Leviathan and experienced firsthand the acid rains that the security officers warned you about. Or you might be teaching the kids at the schoolyard how to gamble. In any event, Thorkil seems to take pity on his disoriented new friends and taps his distillery for a little help.
Invitation passes by word of mouth to meet at the memorial wall. Moonshine of questionable quality is passed around in tin cups — hope no one's afraid of germs — as Thorkil explains the great relief it is to be gaining people instead of losing them. This settlement isn't big, and they aren't overburdened with hope or supplies, but there's been a lot of loss in the past three years. Some people might be willing to look at the arrival of these newcomers as a sign that things are turning around.
Bottoms up, hatchlings, and ... Happy Birthday?
A few notes:
By now, you might have tried to venture out of Basecamp Leviathan and experienced firsthand the acid rains that the security officers warned you about. Or you might be teaching the kids at the schoolyard how to gamble. In any event, Thorkil seems to take pity on his disoriented new friends and taps his distillery for a little help.
Invitation passes by word of mouth to meet at the memorial wall. Moonshine of questionable quality is passed around in tin cups — hope no one's afraid of germs — as Thorkil explains the great relief it is to be gaining people instead of losing them. This settlement isn't big, and they aren't overburdened with hope or supplies, but there's been a lot of loss in the past three years. Some people might be willing to look at the arrival of these newcomers as a sign that things are turning around.
Bottoms up, hatchlings, and ... Happy Birthday?
A few notes:
☆ Feel free to turn this into an impromptu party. Maybe you're celebrating getting all the scientists back alive! Maybe it's something like a wake to remember them in the sad event of their passing. Either way, many of the engineers and other NPCs may join you in this moonlight drinking session, as well as whatever PCs you tag out to or are tagged by.)
❀ OBLIGATORY NETWORK
Welcome people of all kinds to Basecamp Leviathan! I'd give you a hand moving in except...
I have no hands.
Because I'm an AI.
Get it?
It's a joke.
My name is Cartagena. But anyway, this isn't about me or the Adamant for once. This is about all of you. So if you would kindly fill out the following questionnaire to get to know each other; it would also be very helpful for my systems.
NOTE: Participation is MANDATORY.
That was another joke. It's all voluntary. You people and your free will.
1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What's your favorite smell? Please describe it as you would to a person without a nose. Because I do not have a nose.
4. If you could be any animal in any world, what would you be?
5. How old are you?
6. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?
Thank you for your participation! Please enjoy the rest of your stay here at Basecamp Leviathan.
I have no hands.
Because I'm an AI.
Get it?
It's a joke.
My name is Cartagena. But anyway, this isn't about me or the Adamant for once. This is about all of you. So if you would kindly fill out the following questionnaire to get to know each other; it would also be very helpful for my systems.
NOTE: Participation is MANDATORY.
That was another joke. It's all voluntary. You people and your free will.
1. What is your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. What's your favorite smell? Please describe it as you would to a person without a nose. Because I do not have a nose.
4. If you could be any animal in any world, what would you be?
5. How old are you?
6. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?
Thank you for your participation! Please enjoy the rest of your stay here at Basecamp Leviathan.
no subject
You?
[ she does not answer the first question. alina can't even begin to process how not alright she is, and certainly not with a stranger. she's been looking for quiet corners since she got here, but has yet to find a single place she could have a moment to break down about it. ]
no subject
It was nice to have something warm, but I think we might be better off just heating up the water.
I'm Nina, by the way. I feel like I should come meet you - countrymen together in a strange land, and all. Maybe we can exchange tips for how to get egg goo out of our hair.
no subject
Well.
I'll explain when I see you.
I was going to have a look at the theater. Do you want to meet up there?
no subject
[ She doesn't think Alina will have a problem finding her. She's wearing the red kefta of her station, having rescued it from the gooey egg, along with a few other useful things from home. She hasn't worn a kefta in ages, and the security of the fabric in a strange land is not something she's going to turn down, even if it does make her stand out, well, Nina Zenik has never been known for blending in. ]
no subject
this is familiar to her.
she spots nina because nina is alone — although she looks much more comfortable than alina is, but then, she has the disposition of someone who could be comfortable anywhere — and because she's wearing a kefta. alina, too. the black and gold kefta still has gunk in it, but it's protection from the people here, and it's protection from kirigan's suspicion. ]
Nina? [ she doesn't look ravkan. she looks like she came right off a boat from the wandering isle. but alina understands that feeling, too. her lips part slowly as the implication of the red kefta comes over her. ] I'll bet they were glad to have you in the aid station.
no subject
She stops short, her eyes widening, when she sees the colors of Alina's kefta. Black and gold. There is only one Grisha who wears those colors.
Or there was only one Grisha who wore those colors. The fact that the girl in front of her had obvious Shu ancestry didn't even register as important in the light of... that. ]
My goodness, [ she murmurs, coming up to Alina and deliberately flicking her gaze over the other girl's kefta. ] It looks like I have been out of the loop.
[ She shakes her head, as if dismissing the impact of that black and gold, and simply offers her hand. She's had enough of being treated like an object to last a lifetime, she's not about to do the same to someone else. ] Nina Zenik. Pleasure to meet you.
no subject
[ her nose crinkles. it's not just embarrassment. once, that look from the king and all of the people at the winter fete had made her feel warm and wanted and powerful. now, she feels something else entirely. ostentatious. owned.
she presses one hand to the kefta has if to lessen it somehow, and shakes nina's hand with the other. ]
It's good to see a friendly face. [ she smiles, but it's a little limp, like she's not quite convinced that grisha are friendly. alina would consider herself stealthy, but the truth is that she's painfully easy to read. ] Oh. Don't tell General Kirigan I said that. [ it would seem like calling him unfriendly — and, well, he is. ]
no subject
General Kirigan is the exception. She does not think she can talk him into anything. She can try, but there is no guarantee.
Maybe she and Matthias will have to run after all. ]
You say that like the general's here. [ Tentative, disbelieving, impossible. What are the chances that so many from home would wake up in a strange place, far from their whole planet, surrounded by others from different worlds, that the general would be here?
(That's not to say that she doesn't notice the limpness of Alina's smile, the way she blocks off some of that gold embroidery, the shrinking of herself -- the other girl has the look of someone who's being hunted, and Nina likes that not at all.) ]
no subject
[ she works hard not to let her expression move, but it can't stop the slight darting of her eyes. the way her chest stills with the effort of controlling her response.
the way her heartbeat quickens. doubly so, because alina knows how hard it is to lie to a heartrender. ]
He's not the only one. [ she seizes on this not only to change the subject before nina can examine her reaction, but to earn some good will. ] I saw a Fjerdan with a wolf. I hadn't changed back into my kefta yet. I don't think he knew who I was. But ... [ she looks nina over. they won't be able to hide for long on this base. ]
no subject
A pause as she tilts her head to the side, as if listening. Part of her, a very strong part of her, the part of her that is a soldier and recognizes Ravka as the one place even remotely safe for her and her people, wants her to go find the general and report in. She has to strangle that part, because personal loyalties aside, this place is not at war. And she'll fight to stop it from turning into one. The smart move, she thinks, is to go to the general first anyway, assure him of her loyalty, work... something out.
But she remembers the look on Matthias' face when he saw her in her kefta and... she has no idea how these two loyalties are going to be resolved.
There's a third possibility, though she doesn't know yet what it is, because she can't ignore the way the girl who is wearing the general's colors responds when talking about him. There's a lot more going on here than she knows, and Nina might be loud, and Nina might be lewd, and Nina might be Too Much, but Nina is not stupid.
She moves to come alongside Alina and plops down, sitting with her back against the wall and staring out against the rest of the world. She doesn't really see anything, she's thinking too hard, but the shift in her alignment is a clear message. ] He must be thrilled to be here. And the war at home... without him... that's not a happy thought.
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We can't worry about the war until we're back in Ravka. We need to focus on surviving long enough to return.
[ one problem at a time. the druskelle, kirigan, then this leviathan. ]
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She couldn't. But if she took Matthias with her...
There are no Grisha here, she'd said. No Drüskelle. Will he forgive her if that turns out to be a lie?
She knows this: she will not turn against him here. Nina makes up her mind. She turns her head to look at Alina. ]
You're right. Our focus needs to be where we are. I have a long story to tell you. But first -- will you tell me why you're wearing the general's colors?
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[ her skin feels warmer, trying to defend it though, because it feels like trying to defend what they'd done on that desk. there was a reason she'd turned them away at first, and it wasn't just mal.
yet here she was. ]
I don't really belong in the other Grisha orders. [ zoya, among others, had made sure she knew that. ] And neither does he. The gold was for the sun summoner.
[ she picks at the embroidery a little. she should have worn the blue one. he'd have hated it. he'd have asked why. she can't do that until she has a path out. saints, it's enough to make her wish baghra was here. ]
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You're a sun summoner? [ She could leave it there; she refuses to. The girl next to her does not need worship or reverence, and that will serve neither of them well. Instead, Nina whistles between her teeth. ] Saints, no wonder.
[ No wonder Alina's wearing the general's colors. No wonder she looks like she's being hunted. The right people would guard Alina with their lives, just because of what she can do; the wrong would give everything to take her life and for the same reason. ]
When did you find out? I haven't been gone that long.
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[ since she last saw mal, heard from him. but she starts ticking on her fingers the actual time and settles on, ]
But I guess it's been about six weeks. You ... haven't been in Os Alta, have you?
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I've been away, on a mission. In Kerch. [ And then... yeah, no, not yet. Soon, though, she'll have to. She looks away from Alina for a moment, staring back out into nothing. ] Crazy how the world can change in such a short amount of time.
[ A sun summoner. Would Matthias feel like he needed to... act about this? She couldn't allow that. But it wouldn't rest easy with him, she thought.
Just like taking his side over her general wouldn't rest easy with her. So again, they were even.
And Alina was right -- worry about the war in Ravka when they were there. First, they had to survive this. ]
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[ it had been an instant, when baghra had pulled her away. the second time in as many months that it felt like the world shifted under her. ]
How old were you? When you first went to the Little Palace.
spitballing her history here based off the wiki, lalala
[ At the orphanage where she'd grown up, she hadn't needed to be tested. It was obvious that something had changed when the ones who had been bullying her were cowering from her instead. The scrape had only been confirmation. She wasn't the only orphaned Grisha brought in that year, and there had been a certain comradery to that.
She hated turning her back on them. But they weren't here, Matthias was, and keeping him from being hurt was not treachery.
Allowing Alina to be hurt... would be. She turns to meet Alina's gaze. ]
And you were undiscovered, all this time. What was that like? Did you even know?
LMAO I'M SORRY I REALIZED AFTER I POSTED IT
[ she shook her head. ]
I had joined the First Army with — [ mal. mal. how can this planet be full of grisha and druskelle and no mal? she tries to imagine seeing him again. it only makes her want to shout — why didn't you come with me? why didn't you respond to my letters? ] With a friend. We were in the Fold when it happened.
No worries!
That must have been something.
[ And she doesn't miss the hesitation - with a friend. She can't help but wonder -- when she'd been eleven, taken away to the Little Palace, it had been hard, but it had also been like a fairy tale. Suddenly she was surrounded by people like her; she had a purpose; her gifts were recognized, honed. It wasn't the lap of luxury that it could have been, there were military restrictions, but it was a sight better than the orphanage. She'd grown strong, there. She was Grisha to her marrow.
Alina was a young woman. She'd have had a life before going to the Little Palace. She'd have lived all her life as being just like everyone else... well, except for the Shu heritage, that might have given her some problems. Going to the Little Palace as an adult... somehow, Nina doubted that was like a fairy tale. Even if it must have been amazing to see her power unfold and split the dark.
Nina makes up her mind: She's going to tell Alina the truth. It's her best weapon anyway, and she doesn't want the other girl to have to be afraid of something that won't happen. She knows very well that the druskelle are nightmares. ]
I'd love to see it sometime, when you feel it's okay. [ Here and now, in public like this... doesn't seem like a very good idea. ]
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that feels like a lie, now. she thinks of aleksander's smile. ]
Inside the theater? [ she's eager not to think too hard about it. indulging in this ritual of belonging with nina will provide a solid excuse to stay out of her own head. ] I think there are fewer people.
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Sure - if you want to.
[ Because the crazy thing is - Nina's believed everything Alina's said to her, as impossible as it is. (Would anyone crazy enough to wear a black kefta without a reason like this?) This isn't her asking for proof. This is her, well, wanting to see the miracle that is, finally, someone with the power to destroy the fold.
She moves to stand up. ]
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she slips into the theater room. only two adamant crew members are in here, adjusting the projector. alina nods her head towards a couple seats, and goes to occupy the space with nina, somewhere that they could feasibly huddle together.
it feels strange, hiding it. but she doesn't trust a soul here. they're behind enemy lines. ]
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It's tempting just to use her powers to encourage the crew to leave, but she's learned to be a bit more careful with how often she manipulates others with her abilities. There are other ways of getting them to go, most likely, and one of them is loudly asking: ]
This is a strange place. Shouldn't a theater have a stage?
[ She sees a crew member tap the other and look at the both of them before he heavily rolls his eyes. Nina wasn't as great as driving off attention as she was at attracting it, but she could tell when two men did not want to get involved in a long conversation about the nature of a theatre and just wanted to do their jobs and move on with it. She decides not to risk an Excuse me, because really, sometimes men just couldn't help themselves when it came to explaining, and she'd rather not have to drag this out. It's a good call, and they're soon moving on, engrossed enough in their clearly very important... whatever they're doing, and then moving into another room. ]
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only when they have fully excused themselves does she ask, ]
Did you do that on purpose?
[ that kind of ability to read and react to people is absolutely what alina is going to need if she is going to stay alive without kirigan realizing what is going on. nina has just become a great deal more interesting. ]
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