Test Drive Meme 019

[voidtreckermods]

Welcome to the Test Drive Meme! Here is the place to see how your character might fit the setting, grab samples and have fun!

1. Post with your character, including their name and series in the subject. We’ve written out some prompts but feel free to make up your own, you have a whole train to play with!

2. Assume they've been around long enough for threads to jump right into the action.

3. Have lots of fun.

Happy testing!

Winter Wonderland

Experienced Voidtreckers will be the first to recognise when the announcement of a stop comes over the speakers: “Arriving at world 9126110 in ten, nine, eight…”

The doors don’t open, the train doesn’t stop. Instead, it slows, and the garden carriage opens its curved, clear roof as though it were a convertible, both sides folding back until the carriage is open to the air. The world is a picture of snow-covered mountains and sparse conifers, and within minutes the garden’s fountain and streams have iced over, soft snow coating the cobbles and benches.

The stop lasts all day, the vending machines dispense free hot chocolate, and the dressing carriage is filled with thick coats, wooly hats, and warm gloves.

Void Santa Is Coming To Town

It’s a day like any other, except that the morning announcement has a rider.

“There are packages in the luggage car for all passengers. Enjoy. ”

And indeed, it seems that something has visited during the night - the carriage at the back of the train is unusually neat, the piles of empty luggage stacked carefully near the back to make room for a huge array of wrapped objects. Void Santa, maybe? The difference between Void Santa and, say, one of the many Earth Santas or the Gyueran Spirit of Generosity, is that Void Santa doesn’t give you what you asked for.

It gives you something you wouldn’t have dared to ask for. That nerdy figurine that you eyed in the window of the store, the dress you weren’t brave enough to try on, the device you decided was too expensive. The poster of your favourite holostar, the latest risque novel from the local printworks… the list goes on.

You’ve got a present in here, better find it before someone else does!

Animal at Heart

Seibairen, world #671155003, is a world of dualities. Technologically advanced but also deeply mystical, its population is currently suffering under the rule of a nameless arcanist, a genius of artificial intelligence and magecraft who seeks to elevate her own mechanical brethren above their biological creators. Unfortunately, she is far too powerful to face directly.

Team One

The arcanist holding the world of Seibairen in thrall is particularly skilled with polymorph spells, and her first move as the Voidtreckers enter the conflict is to cast one over a wide area, transforming almost half of the force into various animals. The spell seems to be mildly incompatible with void-travellers, as those affected have turned into creatures from their homeworlds, if possible, rather than the local wildlife. The fight is still on, no time to panic!

… Or maybe some time to panic, it’s looking permanent for now. Still, the civilians need the Voidtreckers’ protection, animal or not, and it isn’t like they’ve lost any of their abilities.

Team Two

The monks of the deep peaks, trained in anti-magic combat and able to counter the arcanist and her forces, are the best hope for turning the tides. Unfortunately, their remote stronghold is blockaded the moment the Voidtreckers arrive, trapping them under a shield of pale metal and harsh light. There are several ways they and the unlucky early Voidtreckers might be freed: the power sources of the barrier, held in the centre of the arcanist’s camps, could be destroyed or sabotaged. Alternatively, the barrier could be overloaded or even broken from the inside by an ancient artefact held within the inner temple. The monks are able to guide the Voidtreckers through a telepathic metaconcert, but hurry, time is running out...

Team Three

A thaumatologist somewhere within the capital is rumoured to be able to reverse the arcanist’s strange spells, which would give the Voidtreckers a fighting chance against her directly. Several different people are claiming to be this thaumatologist, and they all have a list of ingredients they’ll need for the protective ritual and/or devices they’re offering.

At least one of them is sure to work, but there’s going to be some experimenting before that happens. Alternatively, force would find the correct researcher fairly quickly, but it would also attract attention.

Comments

[stopstaring]

[Olivia cannot help but frown. How does she know what her future self is like? Of course it'd be ideal that she didn't marry someone who wasn't good to her or to her future son, but...

Well. Things aren't always ideal, are they? Olivia may be an optimist (for everything that doesn't involve her, anyway), but she isn't a fool. She isn't wilfully blind or ignorant. If wishes were pegasi and all of that.]

I'm... still having difficulty imagining myself marrying anyone at all.

[Her gaze drops from Inigo once more and she sits on those words a bit, knowing they're more truthful than she wants them to be. The last time she talked about marriage where Inigo wasn't involved was having to recount the nobleman that Basilio had rescued her from.

A situation like that leaves the thought of marriage a rather heavy one, even for someone like her.

Regardless, Inigo manages to lift some of the weight resting down atop her shoulders when he explains. But at the tail end, she can hear herself in his words and her heart aches at the thought. She knows how she perceives herself. She's never wanted Inigo to fall into the same patterns.]

No. You aren't. [She begins gently.] You exceed what anyone could have expected of you. You surpass all of that. You're so much more important, so much more wonderful than you can ever know. Maybe you haven't heard that nearly as much as you should, but it doesn't mean it's absent.

[She can't change his past. She can't undo whatever a future Olivia might have done, or whatever his father did or didn't do. But she's here in the now, and maybe... just maybe, that counts for something.]

[flatteries]

[ Inigo feels the tips of his ears starting to burn as he listens to those words. The praise heaped upon him so easily. It's overwhelming, and it kind of feels like he doesn't deserve it. How much does she really know about you, the usual insecurities in the back of his head whisper, and he kind of feels like they're right. Isn't Olivia just saying that because she doesn't know the full him? Because she doesn't know the many times he screwed up, the times he couldn't be as kind as his mother, couldn't be as strong as his father?

But he can't fully discard the compliments when they come from her. He can't fight them. All he can do is try to accept them for now, even if they may not truly soak through to his heart just yet.

Even if all he can do is force himself to smile up at her in appreciation and gratitude, his hands still gathering snow, though more slowly now. ]

It's alright. You don't have to worry about that.

[ The difficulty with imagining it, that is, not all the things she's saying about Inigo! He can just.. gently.. go around those with a biiig turn and instead focus on her, right. It's for the better. ]

Things will fall into place eventually. You shouldn't force anything, or worry about anything. They'll happen as they come, no matter when it is. [ He shakes his head, though makes sure the smile doesn't fade. ] I wouldn't ever want my existence to be something that forces you to do anything.