TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[space_aces]

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

Your journey only happened because of your benefactor, so it begets that it starts at your benefactor as well. SUPERBIA, which is as much of a location as it is an entity, is where everyone's search for Fortuna begins.

There's not much of a welcome party: shortly after their fateful encounter with SUPERBIA, in which they swore to join the quest to find Fortuna, the new Privateers will find themselves afflicted by a sudden change in perspective. See, teleportation is a tricky process, so from SUPERBIA's point of view, why not make the target destination none other than itself? One highly disconcerting moment later, and the Privateers find themselves inside the belly of the beast.

The vast mega-structure is shockingly lonely, void of anyone other than the Privateers. Those who look off the metal satellite and to The Network for intelligence (or take a skim at the Space Wikipedia article) will find out that the surrounding space is clear for lightyears; rumors have it that the place is cursed. It won't take long to understand why.

1

Overclocked

The innards of SUPERBIA are that of an impossibly scaled up computer, and the Privateers start right in the middle of it. You are the spider living in the dusty PS4. Literal rivers of coolant, transistors the size of mountains, landscapes made entirely of circuitry. The sky, bounded by a distant metal ceiling, is constantly alight with coursing electricity that cracks the sky with lightning storms. It can be assumed that the Privateers are the first living things to set foot here, because such a place is not ever meant to be traversed by delicate, organic, mortals that worry about things such as "temperature" or "voltage". SUPERBIA needs not lifeforms to continue its operations; why design for them? Traversal itself is difficult: unscalable walls and perilous drops are common to encounter. The only company the Privateers will find are oddly adorable maintenance robots, which sadly seem too occupied by their directives of maintaining the massive machine to offer any assistance (or even acknowledgement of their new guests).

It is immediately clear that the most urgent priority is to get the hell out of here. Before your adventure ends at the starting line.

2

Skeletons In The Closet

If one stays inside SUPERBIA, either by getting horribly lost or losing all common sense, one will notice a peculiar pattern emerge as one gets deeper into the bowels of the mega-structure. Passages shrink and become more level, and the incredible hostility and danger of the surroundings fade away, until one comes across areas which were definitely intended for humanoid organisms to use at one point.

The construction of these areas is cramped, unfurnished, and dreary; they are reminiscent of artificial environments meant to handle harsh external conditions like a submarine or bunker, but they are entirely livable. One can eventually find distinct rooms, but everything in them has crumbled to dust and their original purpose is nigh impossible to discern. Deeper investigation may reveal the few items that have stood the test of time. While it is more plausible for life to have existed here, that doesn't seem to be the case now. What happened here?

3

The Shipyard

In the opposite direction, when one finally reaches the outer edges of SUPERBIA, they will be rewarded with the place to pick up a spaceship and a stunningly beautiful view of outer space. The outside of SUPERBIA has no atmosphere to get between you and the stars, and they shine brightly, like a beacon calling one out into the first steps of adventure.

The shipyard is already filled with countless space ships of every size, form, and function, all autonomously constructed by SUPERBIA's factories over the countless years. What's the harm in taking one or twenty out for a spin? Even if one has no intentions of permanent ownership of the vehicle, it's not like SUPERBIA will miss it. For a Privateer with a more specific vision, however, there are kiosks around the yard which will allow one to design their very own space ship down to their exact specifications. When the process is done SUPERBIA's matter printers will have it out and space-ready right before your very eyes.

If a Privateer has a ship, vehicle, or large item that they intended to bring with them, they will also find them here, neatly parked in the Shipyard. Why didn't SUPERBIA extend this courtesy to the pilot's themselves? The answer is revealed as soon as the owner makes a closer inspection: the inner contents have been rearranged, like a whirlwind was unleashed inside and assorted loose items thrown around. Now aren't you glad your transportation was given special attention, and the same didn't happen to your innards?

4

Hot Crewmates in Your Area

But how will a single Privateer man an entire space ship? No worries: when one steps into a ship, the strangely endearing maintenance robots will suddenly take acute interest. The robots will follow inside and immediately start assuming the duties of a spacefarer, eliminating the need for extra hands on deck.

Even still, there's just no eliminating the want for a human touch, though. Thankfully even that dilemma has a contingency plotted by SUPERBIA.

Communication devices are easily available on every space ship. They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from huge stationary consoles to portable smartphone-like screens. But whenever a Privateer attempts to access the Network, a pop-up will appear, obscuring the whole screen.

Tell me a little about yourself. Are you a LEADER or a FOLLOWER? What is your best feature?
The device will be rendered unusable until one relents to the pop-up's demands and provides answers to its questions. What will these be used for? The mystery will be solved when a social media app mysteriously installs itself on the same device, with profiles preemptively made for every Privateer. Each Privateer's profile consists of their given answers, paired with embarrassingly candid photographs. SUPERBIA has eyes in many places it seems.

Comments

[astrogator]

[As they walk, she nods at his explanation.] Tradeliner ships are well-armed, but there are others - little merchant clippers built for speed, passenger liners, and that sort, which have few if any weapons. They usually have a Tradeline escort if they're going to be flying a particularly dangerous route. My captain said that-

[But what Arilanna's captain said will have to remain unknown, because in that moment she caught sight of what to her looks like nothing more than a giant robot. A giant, very well protected robot. Her eyes widen in delight at the sheer novelty of it, and she looks it - him, she corrects herself - up and down carefully, appraisingly.]

He's magnificent. [There, that's the simple verdict.] We certainly don't have anything that compares, not in space or on the colonies. Let me see, you fire - from the shoulders, there? [Ari has a good enough eye, even for an unfamiliar machine.] And there, lower down? But you said a mobile suit - does that mean that the pilot sits inside, and isn't flying remotely - I take it that they do fly, if they're spacefaring. What sort of engines do they use? [It's a lot of questions, but she's genuinely interested.]

[crystalmaster]

"The Doctor?" Radley said in some surprise. "Of what?"

He stared at the ships again. "Maybe, if people are being pulled from all universes."

IV

[astrogator]

Your name's Winner? I like that. Not a bad leadership philosophy either, and I'm with you on keeping it a peaceful and fair competition.

CW: Brief references to torture

[crystalmaster]

"War? You're a soldier then?" He seems too young for that. But on another world, or another time, apparently not. And even in the wars Radley knows about, often not.

He grimaces at the imagery. "Yeah, those are pretty gruesome deaths. But being killed slowly is no picnic either. You don't always get to come back from that, and even if you do, sometimes a part of you stays back there, being killed again and again."

[retributing]

[ Gaelio pauses, hand outstretched in mid-motion. For a moment, he is still. Then, his hand retracts slowly to his side. Another moment of stillness.

A breath in, out. He does not know if there are any right answers, but he can only imagine there are a hundred wrong answers. A minefield in front of him, and he is blindfolded.

Gaelio rises, and turns to face a man he has called both friend and enemy. Which version of McGillis is this? Will his reply change that? ]

McGillis. [ He meets the other's gaze, expression and tone both level but grave, with a seriousness rare for the man as the other knows him. ] Tell me truthfully- do you really not know? [ That McGillis is lying- or has somehow forgotten without being reminded of his crimes- are both easier options to accept than the idea that this McGillis is from Gaelio's past. Faster than light travel is a feasible concept, if not yet realized. Time travel, though? That remains the realm of science fiction and fantastic speculation (admittedly, so does teleportation). But up close, even Gaelio must admit that if either of his theories are true, McGillis has not aged a day. ]

1

[dreyeye]

Despite some misgivings, Reines makes her way over to the throne. She's aware that this isn't a bad setting for an assassination, and there are many mages with reason to dislike her, but on the other hand those reasons are usually not strong, and... this situation is bad, right? She's fortunate enough in that she usually travels with her own food and drink, and she has Trimmau for protection - among its other uses, mercury is conductive enough to make a decent lightning rod of - but those feel like small comforts against the vast and hostile terrain that surrounds them. Finding someone who knows where to go seems worth the risks.

Even if this girl makes her eyes itch.

"The words 'failed teleportation' conjure up images grimmer than this, but even so... it does feel improvised."

Reines is not, by nature, as much of a complainer as you might expect of someone with her terrifically cynical personality, but their awesome and awful surroundings impress themselves indelibly on the mind and conversation.

[fourhope]

It's my family name, yes.
A combination of philosophy mixed with my own lived experience. Someone who always insists upon being the leader, isn't someone I'd trust with the position. Would you agree?
I'm not intending to lose, but I suppose it's a rare occurrence that someone starts a venture knowing it would fail..

[betelgeuseblast]

"It looks like there's air. What else would it be, water?"

None of Iseul's powers run on accurate physics and he's too dumb to know they don't.

[astrogator]

Peace and prosperity to you. I'm Tayrey. Lieutenant Arilanna Tayrey.
I'm not sure if I agree with you in all circumstances. If a person is in a formal leadership role, then that's their responsibility, and they shouldn't abdicate it. Fulfilling their duty doesn't make them untrustworthy. In other circumstances, though? More flexibility is needed.
Probability says that most of us are going to lose, and that maybe all of us are going to lose. But we're all still here, so we all think we have a chance. I'd prefer to win, but I don't mind losing honestly. Just like a game of cards, right? It's all a gamble.

[retributing]

[ Good thing she's interested, because Gaelio is ready with all the technical specifications she Arilanna could ever want. He keeps it simple though... mostly. ]

Ah. [ He nods in confirmation.] Most of the firepower comes from the lance- [ Gaelio points to an absurdly sized lance stored a little out of the way, which looks nearly as tall as the Gundam itself. ] It is equipped with special KEP bullets- the launchers are electromagnetic; [ That is, basically a railgun. ] -as well as a drill, and two two-hundred millimeter guns. I am better suited to close combat as a pilot, but there are other suits with longer ranged armaments. The openings you see at the top of the knees are pile bunkers. The other ports are gas vents. If the lance is inoperable or the opponent is too close, Kimaris also has a sword that mounts behind the left side armor. You can't really see it when it's put away.

[ As for how it's powered and how it flies, hoo boy. ] Gundams are unique among mobile suits - aside from their frames - in that they have two Ahab Reactors. [ Oh right, he had met the other woman who didn't know what that was, so best explain: ] Ahab Reactors utilize the transformation of artificially created vacuum elements. This creates a great amount of energy. They're virtually indestructible as well. The particle emissions from the reaction allows for gravity and inertia control, but there are also thermal phase transition thrusters as well.

[ Gaelio smiles, almost apologetic. ] I'm a pilot, not an engineer, so I can't tell you much more than that about the Ahab Reactors.

2

[topothefoodchain]

"Not just lost, but going in circles."

Nothing to ward off the blues like a shot of adrenaline, right? And that, Ahri's likely to provide. The slit-pupils on gold, the easy way she saunters out of the dark, the amused voice, all of them carry something of the air of a predator that's spotted an easy meal. She followed Vikala's trail to help, but except for the last couple parts 'search and rescue' and 'hunting' have a lot in common, right down to the apprehension she can all but literally taste from her... quarry.

"You needed to go the other way. No one has been here in a very long time."

[statictunedintoreason]

Tok blinked, tilting her head. "Well. You go up a really tall mountain, or fly up high in't sky, air gets thin. Not enough of it. Stands t'reason, you get far enough away from't ground, there's no air left."

She hadn't been to space before, but this was sound logic based on observational evidence and a few testimonies from very unintelligent mages who'd teleported far higher than they should've.

[statictunedintoreason]

Tok fought the physical urge not to squeal.

Can't blame you for wanting your privacy. It's just something like a personal

project isn't quite strong enough. Something I've been looking for most of my adult life, more like.

Do you know how it is you were made? Are there other people like you, where you're from, or are you unique?

[fourhope]

And to you as well.
A formal leadership role still means knowing when to defer leadership to someone else if a given situation calls for it. Though someone being in a position doesn't always mean they deserve it or are capable of holding it. Just because someone is supposed to lead, that doesn't mean they should.

[A pause.]
It appears I have a lot on my mind on the subject of leadership. My apologies, Miss Tayrey.

Probability is a fickle thing.
Regardless of what the future brings, I wish you good fortune.

[statictunedintoreason]

Her face fell, slightly, and she frowned. She'd never been the best with words; in fact, she knew she was pretty bad at them. "I don't think anybody gets to decide that, 'Ermes. It's sort of thing you either have or you ain't conscious enough t'ask. An' if anybody else told you that, they were wrong."

[astrogator]

Thank you.
A leader should know his or her own limitations, and when to take the advice of experts in particular fields. They still maintain ultimate responsibility for the outcome, and so they still have to lead. If someone is incapable of leadership, they shouldn't be in the position in the first place.

It's fine, honestly. I like a good debate. But it's Lieutenant Tayrey. Or Citizen Tayrey, if you want to be Rican about it - or just plain Tayrey, I don't mind.

[Rica is a planet in her sector whose inhabitants deliberately reject the use of any and all ranks and titles, save citizen. She's trying to be as sensitive and accommodating as she can, just in case.]

You're very kind. I'll wish for probability to shine upon you, too. [But on her just a little more.]

[mech_and_mutt]

"Ya got that right! Champion and unbeaten," he was sure to append while giving the DAHAK a pat on the back of its pilot seat. "We saw a lot of action together over the years."

Though he did seem to mentally sputter for a second at the question of its maker. That wasn't the easiest question to answer plainly.

"...A good friend," he eventually answered, as he pulled himself out from under the panel and slammed it shut. "And their work held up. Everything's in place."

The panel slowly creaked open again. He pushed it back down, a little more insistently this time.

"...everything's in place on the inside. I'll check the seat. And lemme know if you find a rubber mallet up in there."

[somuchshipping]

Hermes simply shakes his head. "I'm a fictional character for a computer game made for the entertainment of human people in the real world. It's not really what the players say, but what NPCs like me are supposed to do for them. If they want to help us, they do it. If they want to murder everyone on a planet, we can't stop them."

Hermes has such a defeatist attitude about this, but it's because he's learned that whatever the players want to do, they do it.

[wresting]

( McGillis straightens, adjusting a step or two for he and Gaelio to speak.

— but he remains off balance, Gaelio holding all the cards. for a moment, long and hard, an inexplicable anger flares, detectable (at least to Gaelio) in the set of McGillis's eyes, a lean, hungry, hurt light sharpening the green there. McGillis chuckles, a breath through his nose, eyes closing, head bowing. the humor is brief and purely performative. )

I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Gaelio. ( attention returning: ) When we last spoke, machine implants disgusted you. ( after all... ) Humans must be natural. That is a value of Gjallarhorn.

[braidedwonder]

“Literally? No. But it doesn’t really matter to me.” They all talk to their gundams even though they don’t necessarily speak in return. In a way he feels more attached to the gundam than most actual people, though, if only by virtue of all that they’ve been through together.

He tugs at a covert something behind a dark panel, leaning against Deathscythe’s foot at he waits for his lift.

“Sometimes Deathscythe’s so fine tuned I feel like he anticipates me anyway.”

[fourhope]

I wish that were so, but someone being unfit for a position does not instantly remove them from said position. History is full of unfit leaders and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon sadly.

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with what being Rican is, but it's clear that the manner of address we are accustomed to is very different.
If you insist, then Citizen Tayrey it is for now.
Seeing as your organization isn't here. Any meaning that title held where you're from means very little here I'm afraid and as I'm not from your organization referring to you by a title of authority would feel insincere on my part. As I do not recognize you as having any at this time. You understand.

[Given his history as a rebel fighting against a military organization, his refusal makes sense in a way. It's not personal. He'd have the same reaction to anyone who insisted upon such a thing right now.]

I do try to be kind, when I can.
[Not agreeing or accepting her decision. Very carefully so.]
We might be in opposition, but opposition does not mean I wish ill things to befall you or anyone else.

[engineers]

I wonder if there's a drawing function on this communication device?
If not, we'll have to change that! It might be useful - a map is a smart idea. At least until we can figure out how to get it to scan the area and generate one based on imaging, but drawing is a start.
It is a bit eerie, but maybe the place has been reestablished for human contact only recently - if so, one has to wonder what happened to make it this way in the first place.
It could be anything, but I think you're right; I doubt it was just a pleasant vacation.

And you, lieutenant, have got a deal. :)

As for the drive, that sounds pretty similar to our technology, so I wouldn't be surprised. There are mapped transfer points all over the universe that our ships and mechs are able to jump and warp through, some more difficult than others. It's a bit like the old Ancient Earth game, whack a mole? Where ships can come popping in and out sometimes. Haha!
It's even similar with the sickness. This is so interesting - maybe our universes are even more parallel than we thought!

And that is just fascinating. So that must have been you, is that right? Did you know you wanted to be an Astrogator from the start? And it's amazing to imagine such a large ship. So many of our mechs are piloted one to two at a time, but a whole fleet can be controlled by one person if he's powerful enough mentally and physically. I know someone who can wipe out a fleet in a minute with his neural network. It's incredible!

You'll have to tell me about your crew, as well! It sounds really lively. :)
And 140 - she must be a very pretty lady!
Haha.
I'm only 30! Still a young and vibrant young man with a lifetime ahead of me, to say the least.
Adulthood is just stretched out, if that makes sense. We grow and mature around the same as ancient Earth humans, and then stay that way for a while.

I see, I see!
An interconnected world of independent places... I definitely see what you mean.
You're right, about an inefficient military in that regard, too; that's interesting. It's a place where maybe we are only just learning to catch up with you.

I live in the Eighth Galaxy. It's a place full of character, the last galaxy at the edge of our universe - vibrant and loud and lively. A little bit of a slum, but that's okay.
Most recently, it also became independent from our Union - it's a good change.
The people there are good people. I recently even built a house there!

That's very kind of you. I hope so, even if it's a little by the seat of my pants, right now.
And they'll be alright. I don't really have a second, per se, but those little chicks have grown up quite a bit. I think they'll be happy to have some time free of the nest.
Besides, there are plenty of others around who watch after them the way I have; they're under the watchful eye of their training corps with the Silver Ten anyhow.
I feel like I could talk your ear off, at this rate! Or type it, at least.

[braidedwonder]

Duo huffs a laugh at that balk. Wufei’s theories about time and the like is feeling more and more likely, but Duo doesn’t want to begin thinking about what that means for him considering what Heero’s already told him.

But colonies and the like are easier to talk about. Less loaded by a mile.

“There’s a lunar base on the moon and, you know. Mines for the gundanium. Colonies L1 through L4 these days since L5 chose explosion.”

Re: 4

[hattersgonnahat]

You lost you're hat?!

That's not okay at all!!

3a

[heeroics]

Heero is just minding his own business, looking for a suitable ship, when he is addressed with a question.

His lips tug into a subtle frown, confused.

"None."

After all, convenient amenities have nothing to do with spaceflight. Wing Zero's birdmode has zero bathrooms, and it flew remarkably.