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thirstology2018-04-01 12:05 am
futurologists) wrote in thirstology2018-04-01 12:05 am
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TEST DRIVE MEME
FANTASTIC MR. FOX  Welcome to Azeria, a small single-biome planet covered almost entirely by deep, mossy forests. The natives of Azeria, a sapient foxlike species called Vulphytes, have reached out to Hathaway for help in repelling a planetary invasion. Other Vulphyte tribes have sent word of dangerous aliens descending in silver machines and laying waste to the forest, killing and capturing Vulphytes and animals in their wake. Hathaway analysts have calculated that the Merging is to blame for this sudden invasion; before, these two nearly identical universes didn't see each other, but now that they are one, these strangers are suddenly planetary neighbors. The aliens, seeing a new planet, must be searching for colonization prospects, while the Vulphytes are helpless against their spacefaring weaponry. ▸ FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS.On greeting the Hathaway agents, the Vulphytes will initially be very awkward and surprised, or as awkward and surprised as sapient foxes can appear. The Vulphytes speak telepathically, and eventually a spokesfox explains the cause of their discomfort: the invading aliens are humans, just like most of you. ▸ PROMPTS Your mission is simple: protect the Vulphytes, forests, and native animals from the invading humans. It's not necessary to kill all the invaders (unless you want to), simply keep them from taking the planet for their own and do a good enough job to persuade them never to come back. Of course, the invaders are a bit... forceful in their methods, so it's up to you.   The Vulphytes live in a cluster of burrows which are unfortunately not large enough for anything human-sized to visit, but the presence of non-aggressive aliens (that's you!) is enough to get the majority of them to pop out and curiously observe. The Vulphytes are variably black, grey, or red, with fur transitioning to moss along their backs; animals you might see in the forest, including deer, rabbits, and owls, have a similarly moss-covered look. The Vulphytes will take awhile to warm up to anyone who is human (or those who visibly look human), their telepathic tones suspicious as they ask questions about their loyalties, where they're from, and what their homeworlds are like. Those who are clearly not human will receive a much warmer reception, the Vulphytes asking curious questions and the Vulphyte kits trailing behind in fuzzy little rows. When the invaders' silver machines -- spaceships -- become visible in the sky, through breaks in the tree canopy, the Vulphytes look skyward and begin to howl. It's a pre-battle ritual, one of them explains, and characters are invited to join in: howl to the sky, to your enemies, and get ready to fight. TWO ▸ THE INVASION. The silver spaceships of the invaders crash down through the trees, sending animals fleeing in all directions. The Vulphytes stay put, snarling in the direction of the noise and waiting for the invaders to come to them. If you'd like, you can rush forward and head them off -- or stay and fight alongside the foxes. Just as the Vulphytes claimed, the invaders are human. They are dressed in armored space suits, the visors on their helmets obscuring their faces and reflecting the forest all around. Their weapons are various types of laser guns, though a few are holding axes that have laser blades, which they use to start chopping down trees as their compatriots march toward the Vulphyte dens. The invaders are surprised to see people here, but they're not interested in talking: they open fire on anyone they see, not recognizing any of the recruits as their people and thus pegging them immediately as enemies. Though they're aggressive, they're not suicidal; if a single invader encounters too much violence or are outnumbered, they'll run back to their compatriots for reinforcements, so it's best to dispatch them quickly (or prevent them for running for help in some other way). Once the invaders reach the Vulphyte dens, the foxes fight viciously, swarming individuals in a flurry of claws and snarling teeth. Kill the invaders or simply give them enough trouble to make them retreat for good, it's up to you. But either way, look after your furry/mossy hosts; despite their telepathic way of communication, the Vulphytes don't possess any magical abilities, so they'll need to be looked after in the face of laser weapons. THREE ▸ BABYSITTER'S CLUB. The baby Vulphytes are in the greatest amount of danger from the invading humans, being entirely unable to defend themselves and uncertain of what's actually going on. Hathaway has been tasked with rescuing them from their dens and whisking them away to safer areas away from the fighting where they can be cared for until the fighting is over. The only problem is that baby Vulphytes are... well, babies. They're quite upset by all the ruckus, yowling in a way that resembles crying, and aren't exactly happy to be taken away by strangers they don't know. In fact, some of them might try to make a great escape, so you'd better be quick! Those who make it to a safe area will need consoling and, once that's done, entertainment. They'll also need their caretakers to make sure no invaders sneak up on them -- since some are hidden in the woods. It's a big job, but you can handle it, right? FOUR ▸ VICTORY CELEBRATIONS. Once the invaders are finally chased off, everyone gathers together to celebrate. The Vulphytes bow (as well as a fox can) as the team enters and apologize for their uncertainty before; they see now that many of you are nothing like the aliens who threatened them, despite your similar looks. They'd like you all to stay and celebrate, if you have time. The celebrations are... a bit different than most might be used to; it's definitely not a human party. There are games with handmade balls of packed moss, which the Vulphytes seem to love. In fact, they go crazy for Fetch, a game they were never introduced to before due to their tragic lack of opposable thumbs. They "sing" for the team in howls, a rare example of adults not communicating telepathically. As for the team, they receive a congratulatory message from Imogen on their magitek suggesting they take the rest of the celebration to meet and greet with the unfamiliar faces. There won't be much time to do so back at Headquarters, I'm afraid, she adds. Drakstaden awaits, darlings! FIVE ▸ CHIT-CHAT. It's your standard network option. Make battle plans, chat about how cute the foxes are, or share good hiding places. No matter what, you get one username to identify you and one only -- if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the jewelcomms can be found on the devices guide. SIX ▸ WILDCARD. Do whatever the heck you want! Go pick wildflowers. Climb a tree. Hunt animals. Loot innocent fox dens, you monster. The world is your oyster. ▸ OOC NOTES Welcome to the second test drive meme of Futurology Season 2! This test drive will function as an optional mini-mission for both new and current characters, similar in feel to the missions we have in-game but on a much smaller scale. Threads on this test drive are game canon by default unless one of the participants would like to retcon it. Current characters may use TDM threads for non-!plot AC proofs. Both test drivers and current characters are welcome to top level! While current characters are allowed to tag other current characters, we ask that you please make an effort to be welcoming to test drivers as well! Since incoming characters currently don't have official specializations, we have no specialized prompts. However, feel free to play as if your character is level 1 of whichever specialization you would like to choose. Questions about the game in general can be directed to the FAQ. If you've been with us before, you might notice things look a little different around here. Make sure you check out the welcome page for the basic rundown of how your character joined up with Hathaway. For further information about the game, the full navigation has all the links you'll need. ▸ Upcoming Events (Futurology runs on timezone UTC): |
one
[ 9S both looks and sounds sheepish when she calls him out; it's safe to say he's a generally nosy guy, so at the sight of a new recruit whipping up some new gear for the Vulphytes, he's decided to stand aside and watch for a bit.
She catches him before moving on, however—not that he was making any great effort to hide what he was doing. At least she doesn't seem to mind. ]
No, no, these little guys are gonna need that a lot more than I do.
[ He doesn't look much beyond your typical kid, though. A kid wearing a uniform that is definitely not Hathaway's, and a blindfold tied over his face. ]
no subject
You sure? That blindfold's not going to do you any favors when fighting breaks out.
[ Never let it be said Catherine is subtle, or tactful. She has the blunt, benign interest of a scientist, hands working even as she answers, idly. ]
no subject
The mild annoyance in his expression stays hidden, though, thanks to it. ]
It'll do me a lot more than you think. They're my goggles—I'm not blind.
no subject
Goggles, huh? Could you describe that a little better for me?
[ She's a naturally curious person, and as a scientist she's always interested in things that she doesn't understand. ]
no subject
What, like what they do? [ Well, here goes again... ] It's basically a visor with a HUD that I'm able to view my data through, that's all.
no subject
What kind of data would that be?
[ Catherine's learned better than to make assumptions at this point. ]
no subject
Well, like system performance– [ His own, that is, but he mostly glosses over that for the time being. ] –enemy and combat records, mapping data... You know, more or less.
no subject
[ She'd be less inclined to make this leap if she weren't, well, a cyborg herself now. What a thought. Catherine's been internally bemoaning her lack of a deeper interface with the body she'd been given. She's used to being able to have data and readouts on all of those types of things herself-- minus the combat information, of course. ]
no subject
[ He's kind of impressed she was able to nail it so quick, if his tone is anything to go by; it's surprisingly rare that anyone makes the connection. Ironically, though, if only he knew who he was talking to... ]
I'm an android, if that helps make sense of it. [ Because not everyone knew what an android is, though 9S suspects that may not be the case this time. ] Seems like it's not all that easy for anyone to tell.
no subject
You're the first one I've met, aside from myself! I'm Catherine. It's... actually new to me, being in a body like this one. I wish I had system performance readouts.
[ She sounds openly wistful. ]
no subject
[ Now it's his turn to invade her personal space, surprised eyes sizing her up from behind the blindfold. ]
Oh. [ It doesn't last long. In the next moment 9S puts distance between them again, stepping back with a sheepish air about him. ] Jeez, I didn't even—sorry, you don't really find other androids around here. It's mostly humans on our team...
[ A stark contrast to the days he was surrounded by nothing but androids and machines with nary a human in sight. Some days, it's still somewhat surreal how much it's flipped around now, but he's mostly grown used to it—to the extent that 9S was hardly expecting this moment. ]
You weren't in that body before?
[ Leave it to robots to casually talk about swapping bodies. ]
no subject
Nope! I didn't have much of a body at all. I was mostly stuck in this small personal device called an Omnitool. It was alright, but I've never had independent functionality like this. I'm more comfortable inhabiting station-wide system servers.
I wasn't really expecting to find other androids, either. It's nice to meet you! [ There's a pure basic sincerity there that is all pure Catherine. ]
no subject
[ She sounds rather peppy about all this, but hey, he gets it. It is nice to meet a stranger who understands over being baffled about your existence, for once. ]
And, er... 'Grats on the new body? [ Does she prefer this, or... ] It's gotta be better than hanging around in some device or server all day.
[ Granted, his experiences with getting stuck in a server before were not great, so. Maybe there's a little bias here. ]
no subject
[ She sighs, out of sincere frustration, but it's a shallow sort of annoyance that is overshadowed by Catherine's legitimate curiosity about her environment. This kind of planet... She'd never thought she'd see it again, and there's something singular about experiencing it as something humanoid, with full senses, rather than strictly as a program. She can't deny that. It's helping her acclimate faster. ]
9S-- is that a model number? [ The lack of a human name implies he was created as he is, not scanned off of a living human. That's the sort of technology Catherine hadn't reached yet when she'd devised her scans. He has the emotional complexity of a real human, though, she can tell that already. Nothing like the malfunctioning artificial sentience she's used to. It's fascinating to see it this way, complete, a functioning person. ]
no subject
—Hm? Oh, yeah. [ Bless you Catherine for being the first to know what it is without explanation. ] I'm a Number 9 Type S model, but it's easier to just call me 9S. The whole thing doesn't mean much to anyone around here, anyway.
[ Including her, he'd presume. Catherine didn't recognize him as a YoRHa unit, although he shouldn't expect her to. It's a vast multiverse out there. ]
no subject
That's fascinating, [ she says openly. ] We weren't at that level of A.I. development where I'm from. It's why I was so surprised to be put in a body like this. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to talk to you more about it sometime. I specialize in coding intelligent systems.
[ Catherine has an honest intellectual curiosity and excitement for the subject, but she's a rational, level-headed individual, and the idea doesn't overtake her or make her pushy. She saves her bossiness for other things. ]
no subject
Sure thing. At least, I can try my best... Creating artificial intelligence isn't my specialty and all, but I'm sure there's some things I might be able to answer.
no subject
She gives him a ready smile despite his caveats. ] That's fine! I'm just happy to have someone to talk to about it! Simon gets kinda spooked when I bring it up. [ That's an understatement. Catherine announces this with the unconscious long-suffering familiarity of a person who is used to having literally one other person to talk to. Simon needs no context or explanation. It's Simon. ]
no subject
[ There's a name he wasn't expecting to come up in the conversation. Especially since she's a new recruit, yet she drops his name and more with... yes, long-suffering familiarity. Even without the tone, her words alone imply well enough that they haven't only recently met. ]
You know him?
no subject
[ Catherine seems utterly unperturbed by his surprise. ]
no subject
Then that means you're like he is. [ After a brief pause, he adds uncertainly: ] ... Right?
no subject
Like him how? [ There's so many possible things he could be talking about. ]
no subject
He said he's human. Or that he used to be one, anyway.
no subject
Oh! Sure, of course. We're both still human, we're just digital now. It's not technically accurate to refer to either of us as artificial intelligence-- no one created us. We're scans.