ataraxioff | TEST DRIVE MEME 001

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TEST DRIVE MEME 001

T E S T D R I V E M E M E

A R R I V A L
You wake up, alone in the dark. There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Through the fog you can see shadows of movement, the muted sound of alarms crying. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're suddenly dropped several feet onto the opposite wall.

It takes you several minutes to catch your breath and gather strength in uncooperative limbs; more time still to climb up through the debris to the hole in the outer wall high above. You emerge in bright sunlight, surrounded by an immense jungle. As your vision clears, you realize you stand on the hull of a colossal spaceship, crashed on an alien planet. There's a shout behind you, and as you turn, figures climb over the curve of the ship towards you: your rescue party, weathered and scarred by the efforts necessary for survival.

B A S E C A M P
A ramshackle spread of tents and shelters built out of resources salvaged from the ship and gathered from the jungle. Not sleek, not clean, but alive: people coming and going from tent to tent, heading out into the jungle or returning with freshly foraged food. Some are working to build more shelters or improvize working tech out of parts salvaged from the ship; some are cooking; some are just taking shelter from the sun for a while. Whether you find somewhere to help or apply your skills, it's probably a good idea to get to know your neighbors.

E X P L O R A T I O N
The jungle is dense and green, teeming with life, high calls and cries of strange animals and birds, the low buzz and murmur of insects. There are no paths or notable markings; go too far into the trees and you may not be able to find your way back. Dangers hide in the shadows but there's also food, water - or perhaps you're looking for more, pushing further in a search for answers about this planet you're now living on.

Or you can turn your attention to the crashed ship, the huge bulk of it balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff. It creaks and groans in its delicate position, audible from a distant but all the louder should you venture inside. Dark corridors made even more dangerous by the damage to the internal structure, debris and obstacles blocking progress, and any wrong step could cause it to collapse in on you, or send the ship over the cliff. But finding any tech, resources or supplies might just be worth the risk.

C H O O S E Y O U R O W N . . .
Hunt or flee from strange creatures in the jungle, take a try at rock-climbing down the cliff-face, or practise in-game gained abilities. Ataraxion is currently without a network until one is built, but test-driving on a prospective one is also totally fine!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

By now, AJ had stopped in her tracks and had turned towards Algidus again. She sets her hands carefully over her chest, canting her head just a little as she considers him. "That river," she says, thrusting her chin out, "we could follow it up stream. Find a place that looks good, easy to spot, but out of the way. Nobody's gonna be coming up here anyways. That shit's impossible to touch. We could turn that mocking shit to our advantage."

"Could be worth a look. There doesn't seem to be much else this 'river' can offer us." This is still said with a hearty note of disgust, but at least Algidus doesn't allow himself to get sidetracked into more ranting this time around. "I'd hack a path through the jungle for you, but I don't want our steps to be easily traceable."

"Do I look like some fucking princess?" AJ squawks, but she's thinking back on the days and days of pouring rain when Glacius would hold his icy arm over her... over Jolene's head to keep the water off. She scowls, feeling a rush of frustration over the misplaced fondness. Algidus might find this coincidence of their finding one another potentially useful, but if it's going to be like this, AJ isn't sure that it's more inconvenient than it is worth.

"Aliens first," she prompts, mostly because she wants to see how he and his wide-arcing spines are able to handle the dangling vines and overgrowth that seems to edge in on the water's banks.

Algidus snorts, more amused by the human's indignant retort than anything else. He doesn't seem terrible concerned by all of the plant life that's dangling from overhead; he isn't trying to skirt around them as he walks, but rather cutting right through... often times literally. If the points of the large, tough spikes that curl up from the back of his bulky trapezius don't cut through on their own, then the alien shifts one of his hands up into a small sharp point to sever them. Meanwhile his green eyes stay locked ahead to make sure the path he is taking is still a viable one.

And for the most part, even if it's a scramble, it seems as though the trees and plants are dipping right out over the water, which means that they are able to follow along at a pace that is somewhat better than agonizing. AJ doesn't say much, but she splits her attention between watching Algidus blaze trail and the jungle around them. Despite it all, and even for a hot-blooded creature, this place is muggy and hot and awful. She winds up trying to cram her sleeves up. The rags she's wrapped around her feet need to occasionally be re-done; there's no great way to avoid stepping on the occasionally awfully prickly plant, and they weren't doing great from her escapades running across a sun-soaked metal ship hull the first day she'd arrived.

If she'd looked half-way reasonable when she first arrived, by day three or so she's a pit-stained, rat-nest tangle of hairball who looks about as miserable as Algidus has been during the worst of his tantrum... but it's a slow burn. AJ's going to develop a permanent scowl before she's twenty-five at this rate.

Eventually a boulder juts free from the jungle growth, projecting out into the water. A single twisted, miserable little tree is growing from its top, its roots winding down the boulder's surface, vines swaying from its unusually large and pithy leaves. AJ throws another branch at Algidus from behind, too hot and tired to talk and grumpy enough that she feels it is a worth-while method of getting his attention. "Here, fuck. Stop here."

Speaking of tantrums, the horrible weather bearing down on them seems to be giving Algidus half a mind to throw another one. The shade of the canopy provides some respite from the bright hot sun, but absoltuely no defense against the sticky humidity. It's the absolute opposite of the brisk, bracing cold air of his homeworld; it makes him feel like he's trying to push his way through some sort of thick fog in addition to all the plant life. He's doing his best attempt to remain composed, but the longer he has to keep chopping his way through the more aggravated his motions become, and the longer they keep walking the more his breath starts to hiss through his gills.

It's why, when AJ throws another branch at his back, the dark icy alien's hackles go up immediately. He whips around, his brows drawn together and his pupils contracting to slits so thin they're barely visible against the green glow of his eyes. "Stop... doing that," his words start out sharp and then tail off into a lower growl; despite his frustration over literally everything right now, he at least seems to have the sense to realize that exploding on someone who's just offered to help him is one of the most counterproductive things he could be doing right now.

He also realizes that the human trailing along behind him looks... almost as terrible as he feels. His pupils dilate again and he seems to actually looker her over... it makes him feel a pang of something that he detests, and he spends a good couple of moments trying to grapple with it, to push it back down. When that fail to work he caves in and decides to go with the next quickest way of dispelling the unwanted feeling. "Come here," he grumbles.

"I'm not getting over there, you're going to shove that stick up my ass," AJ snaps back, bare moments from flipping her shit. "Listen, this is the fucking place, alright?! We'll meet here, we don't go any further, fuck this planet and fuck that shitty little shanty town and all the fucking miserable fucklords in it! Fuck you, fuck me, fuck all of this!"

That outburst made the alien's head rear up indignantly, never mind the fact that it was exactly what he wanted to be doing right now, too. This was why he hated associating with humans, this was why he hated trying to be--ugh--helpful. He let out a mighty huff. "I simply the cold of standing nearby me might be a welcome reprieve, but fine! If you are going to be so ungrateful then melt in the heat for all I care!"

With that he folded his arms and parked his ass in the stupid green grass. Tantrum engaged.

"Ugh, you're fucking impossible!" She throws her hands up and, all but vibrating, gives him a 'what the fuck are you doing!?' stare-down, feeling at once ashamed and confused under the simmering rage. Why in fuck is he trying to let her into that space, they barely know each other, this place is fucking horrible and for all he knows maybe she's out to carve his icy flesh out, too.

...He doesn't know about that, does he?

AJ drops her arms and pinches her lips fiercely, feeling awful. "If I stay with you, we'll be getting nothing done." Though the niggling worry, 'I might like it' crept into her mind before she locked it down.

"I only meant for you to take reprieve for a little while," he grumbles-- arms still folded, back still hunched. "Are you expecting me to have you latch onto me for the rest of our stay on this miserable planet? Pah, I feel like I can barely stay cool enough as is!" And, truly, his microweave was flowing over his body very quickly, a warning that he was in dangerous territory, that it was working overtime to keep him from beginning to melt. At least all the bright rays of the sun were providing it with ample power to do so; his species' engineers truly were brilliant ones...

"Do what you will, human. I have made my offer and you spurned it."

AJ looks like she's beginning to vibrate with all of her barely contained frustration. It doesn't help that she's feeling heat-sick and exhausted and hungry and thirsty and there's an alien made out of ice water who could relieve about three of those things without much work who is offering at least one solution but he's so fucking scummy she can't bear to come closer.

She'd throw another stick if she had one.

"Listen," she spits. "I just don't want you thinking I'm coming over there because I'm fucking weak. I'm not! I'm only doing this because you and me know the shit that gets pulled when you go off on your fucking own in the places we've been through. I'm just doing this because we should stick together!" And she's been stepping closer, plunking her ass on the undergrowth nearby, scooting the rest of the way like an angry little dog.

"You think if I had a patch of ice right now I wouldn't jump on it? It's about survival. You've been in--and under--the Box. You know how it is." Yet despite that, Algidus still was somehow not expecting AJ to actually cave in and sit next to him. Then he realized that he had somehow talked himself into a metaphorical corner; now what did he do?

Nothing, apparently. Ever since his differentiation he had never just sat with anyone before. The alien actually fell silent, thick plumes of freezing mist billowing from his uncomfortably dry gills as he breathed.

For a while, AJ sat with him in incredibly awkward silence. She'd crossed her arms over her knees to glare out over the rush of the water, to glare out over the roots of the tree that dangled into the damned drink like it was fresh as new spring flow. She arched her head up towards the over-jutting canopy, glaring up at the thick, ropy vines that seemed to beckon to some kind of Tarzan instinct in her. If she wasn't feeling like so much shit right now, this sort of place looked like it could be fun.

She opened her mouth slowly as she thought, eyes following the path of the vines as they draped and wrapped and disappeared into the jungle. She raked her gaze down to the roots of the tree in the water again, then surged to her feet. "Gotta go," she announced, brazen and immediate and without explanation. She didn't even thank him for the cool patch he'd left, breathing on her in a disgusting but refreshing mist, she just bolted.

If Algidus was willing to hold still for ten minutes, he'd eventually hear something rushing and rattling above him. AJ had managed to shimmy her way up one of the trunks. She was sawing on a vine from high above, maybe forty feet up. When it finally came free, AJ grabbed it before it could swing away and gave it a hefty tug, careful to keep her legs wrapped in a vice-like clamp around the trunk. It snaked down violently until it was completely taut, but that gave it more than enough length to dangle it within reach of Algidus, should he stand and reach. "Grab this!" she hollered down. She couldn't saw the top half open until he had taken the broken end or else she might lose her grip trying to fight that much tension.

For Algidus' part, he didn't even look after her as she got to her feet and departed; he just waved a hand dismissively, as if he hadn't really been expecting a thank you from her in the first place. He considered leaving as well, but right now he was feeling so hot and miserable that moving really didn't sound all that appealing. He continued to fume, as if just hating his circumstances enough could get them to change.

The sound of the foliage being rustled above him drew his attention immediately. He finally rose to his feet and titled his head up to get a better look, hoping it was some sort of wildlife that he could finally hunt down and torment. AJ was lucky that she called out to him; his hand had tensed as he prepared to lob a jagged ball of hail staight upwards. Instead, when he extended his hand it was simply to grab the vine as she instructed.

"What are you doing," he grumbled, voice sounding weary. Some sort of inane human game? He should've just stalked off when he had the chance.

"Just..." She paused, busily sawing now. "Trying something out! Heads up!" The vine snapped now, rich, full coils plummeting to the ground with more force as its weight tugged it down.

She shimmied quickly down the tree, squawking indignantly once when she nearly slipped, and then carefully placed her feet on solid ground again. "The vines weren't burning us when you cut them open," AJ reckoned, hefting one end up, poking it it with her bare finger. "If there's anything wet, it's going to be in the plants, like you said. I'm just seeing which ones give us the most without having to drill into the middle of those massive trees."

She plunked her ass down nearby him and began to whittle the vine's fleshy bark away, carefully touching bits of it to her skin, waiting for some kind of burn or sting or itch. "You know what? If nothing else, the fibres in the middle here could be braided together for shit. I bet you anything they'd make a decent rope."

"I suppose so," the alien followed along easily enough, watched AJ carve up the vine with a sort of veiled interest. He sidled up next to her before sitting down again, taking a length of the thick vegetation in his ochre-colored hands. The alien looked it over briefly, and then made a face as he imagined jabbing his finger into this to try and suck some hydration out. They really were scraping the bottom of the barrel here, weren't they?

Well. It was about survival, like he had said earlier. Algidus shifted one of his fingers into a long, thick needle and then jabbed it right into that fleshy bark, shifting his finger around as he tested it for similar acidic properties. Nothing to report there which was at least a relief. "Rain on this damn planet can't come too soon," he grumbled. Then his head cocked up as if he'd just had a thought. "...You don't think that will be acidic too, do you? Surely the plant life is all too lush for such a thing?"

"Fuck us both if it is," AJ snaps distractedly. "Wouldn't put it past them. Outside of that ship was pocked up to hell and back when I was running down the side, but who knows if that was from rain or something else. Fucking space ship, a whole fucking thing! Jesus christ," she grumbled, allowing her mouth to wander as she continued to cut and fiddle with the exposed innards of the vine. "What fucking idiots manage to crash an entire shit heap in the middle of fucking nowhere?!"

Algidus bristled, his grip on the segment of vine tightening. "The gravitational pulls of planets can be unpredictable, especially if you do not have solid intel on them!" Realizing that he was letting this all get too personal and not wanting to own up to his mistake, he blinked, then tried to smooth himself out. "Besides, we have no idea how it happened. Maybe those damages were from other craft. Maybe they were shot down onto this planet; we don't know. Anyways, knowing how hard-up you get for this sort of thing, I thought you'd be more excited." The alien only realized the familiarity that had bled into his tone when the words were out of his gills. Blinking again, he kept his gaze locked on the vine in his hands, pulling his shifted finger out and testing another point.

AJ, about to make some snide comment, is side-lined by his mockery. Already feeling frustrated with the wait it is taking to see if she can cram the damned vine-meat in her mouth for some sort of sustenance, she throws it on the ground and throws the knife after it. At least it sinks satisfyingly deep into the loam of the jungle floor. "Are you fucking kidding me?! I'd be in there right fucking now but unless you're fucking blind with those dayglow squinters of yours, that thing's on the edge of a fucking canyon and it's just ready to fall right in! This place might be a dark green shit-stain on the back of the cosmos' empty asshole, but I'd rather be sweating out than crushed under billions of tonnes of metal and glass and shit!"

She glared at him for evoking that sense of loss, broadcasting for a moment loud and clear the scent and feel of engine grease off of a half-constructed engine, and the feeling of thwarted nostalgia there. She didn't even realize she was doing it, for after a moment of mantling and huffing, she reached for her knife and the vine again, glaring daggers into her work. The only thing that was stinging right now was her frustration; so far the plant seemed more than fine. She dabbed a bit to the tip of her tongue and then made a disgusted face; it was bitter in the way that old, tough plant matter could be, but with a particularly acerbic tang that suggested something... something almost lemony, without the sweet.

"Calm down, stop squawking," the alien huffs, never mind the fact that he'd been doing every bit as much of that earlier. "I saw it, and I heard it creaking too... but there were a bunch of beings running all over and throughout that damn thing just a few hours ago. Maybe it will stabilize somewhat; there's a good portion of it still on solid ground, might provide some counterbalance. What I'm trying to say is that you might still get a shot at its innards yet. Patience."

That made him pull a face; he was starting to sound like his damned double. But the fact of the matter is that Algidus very badly wants to take a look around inside for his own reasons. If there was any communications technology at all still intact in the ship, he wants to know about it first so he could extract it for his own purposes.

Edited 2015-08-28 21:59 (UTC)

AJ glares at him, though this is more an unbroken chain of various kinds of glares, and guesses promptly, "yeah, I'll bet you want in there. I'll bet you'd rather send me in than risk yourself, too. Too bad I don't know more than paleolithic fucking combustion mechanics and electrical currents powered off of oil and coal like a god damned neanderthal, or I'd be a pretty good fucking pawn to you."

"Risk myself? That thing goes over the edge while I'm in it and all I have to do is liquidize. You can't crush a puddle," the alien crowed, as usual trying to play off or dismiss any sort of threat. He could likely survive, it's true... but it's still not a danger he wants to flirt with. He's not stupid. "What I'd rather do is send someone in there who knows exactly what they're looking for and how to properly utilize it... then... persuade them to part with their technology and expertise."

"You want that, you gotta know who knows that shit," AJ agreed. "Which means you want me talking to assholes who like to talk. Fuck."

She laid the vine across her knee and splayed her toes, picking at one of her toenails now with her knife-tip as she thought. "Fuck, alright, I guess I better get my friendly fuck-face on. You think this is going to be easy?! The turd-piles in there know when shit's going down, they all seem like they've been through a million years of what we were... you know, built for. I'll bet none of them is going to make it easy."

For a moment she thought in silence. "What do you want to know about specifically? You want to try for it... you know, the message bullshit?" She couldn't help but think, here we go again.

"Now you're using your head," Algidus chuckled, going through the process of shifting his finger a couple of inches more down the vine. He must've been getting some amount of water from it if he was still going at it--if he hadn't thrown it away in a huff by now. When she brings that up with that tone of voice, though, it gives him pause.

"I don't... know," he admitted unhappily, rubbing at the uppermost of his gill arches. "All of the plans that I had crafted... they've hit a hitch with this latest development. Attempting to reach my people is the only thing that still feels viable." But even then, it was suddenly going to take a whole lot more doing, and he knew it.

"You still want to try it after this mega-ship bucket of bolts got knocked out of the sky by something?" she asked, voice raising a pitch to show her uncertainty in the matter. "What happens if you manage it, and they send someone, and that someone gets knocked out of the sky, too? You willing to risk some other miserable ice-hole on this gamble?"

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