SEPTEMBER TEST DRIVE

[thespaceopera]

THE FALL TEST DRIVE MEME
(Or Spring Test Drive for you Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player!

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

September's Star System

Game Details

Test drives are posted SEASONALLY, so the next one will be in December!

Comments

[whatisright]

[He's right that Justice would be appalled. He cares about his new mortal friends (?) and the thought of being responsible for Anders' decline in health would horrify him. It would also horrify him to know that this information is being deliberately kept from him, but luckily, he doesn't know about any of this.]

This sounds ideal. I enjoy learning about mortals. [They are squishy and messy and confusing but he finds learning about them nothing short of wonderful. The breadth of their experience still catches him off guard with how beautiful it is.] And as long as there is injustice, then my purpose is clear.

[Overall, he's not as disturbed about being taken from his world as most people would be. He's already been forced out of the Fade. Everything else is only a mild change compared to that.] Is that why we are here? To right wrongs? [There was a disembodied voice chattering about 'reality shows', but he hasn't the slightest what that means.]

[apurrstate]

[He ran his hand over his jaw as he thought how best to explain.]

Not quite. The reason we're here...you know how spirits watch mortals through the veil? There's other beings watching all of us on the fleet similarly, except there's no way to communicate with them, really. In the meantime, we just have to keep living our lives day-by-day. Since the universe is always going to have it's flaws, there'll always be something to help with. On the last planet I remember going to, there was a group of people suffering from an unknown illness in their environment. Some of those on the fleet, were able to fix what was making them sick, others of us helped the sick get better. It was hard work but worth it.

[Perhaps a strange thing to hear from the mage who'd once only thought of his own best interests and goals, but Anders had never felt more at ease since Kirkwall than when he'd run himself ragged healing all of those people.]

We've also come across slavers who've needed...dealing with and I'm sure they won't be the last. You'll still have purpose, I'm sure.

[whatisright]

So creatures are watching us from the Fade? [Yes, that's what he got from that explanation, Anders.

Justice listens, his permanent frown not leaving his face as he does so. Anders, cheerfully discussing all the work he put into saving lives. No whining, no cracking jokes about hoping for grateful women to besiege him afterwards, and no demands that he be treated to something nice before he does it again. Justice has always had faith in Anders, since he's always known that the man had a good heart underneath the selfishness and sloth, but...]

You have changed much in the last decade.

[It's actually quite jarring. Good, but jarring. Spirits don't change that much. Maybe it's a mortal thing, but Riona isn't so different, though she has experienced a similar stretch of time. Did something happen? Or is this simply the natural process of growth and maturation that humans go through, and Anders was simply delayed due to his isolation in the Circle Tower?]

Maybe that is what I feel. [He says it more to himself than to Anders. A personality shift like this might be the cause of the strange change in Anders' presence. Justice isn't sure if that's all of it, but it's a better answer than 'he's tired'.]

[apurrstate]

Well...no... [Yeah, he should have known better.]

Creatures are definitely watching us, but the Fade is very far from here.

[That was really the best way he was likely to be able to explain it.

It slips from his mind, however, as he goes tense with Justice's words. Of course he had, he'd barely been only himself in these last ten years, with Justice removed from him, he found he'd changed a little from how he'd been with the spirit, but he'd largely stayed the same. The changes Justice's influence had instilled in him had long since just become who he was. And how exactly was he going to explain to that to said spirit, should he ask directly?

He doesn't dwell too much on the hypothetical when Justice's remark offers him something to focus on.]

Feel? What do you mean, what do you feel?

[whatisright]

The Fade is always far away. [It's across the Veil, which simultaneously makes it always with them and also far away. He doesn't know how this is relevant.

But that doesn't matter. Suddenly, Anders seems upset, and Justice isn't sure why. Did he say something wrong?

Justice's voice softens. The change wouldn't be much by most people's standards, but for Justice, it shows his concern and care for Anders' sake.]

Your... each mortal has a presence I can feel. Yours has changed. [It's an inadequate explanation of how he can sense people, how distinct each mortal's humming is and how it's easier to recognize mortals from that than it is to recognize their face.]

[apurrstate]

[He can feel a string of defensiveness coil in his chest in response to the explanation. The words drew anxiety and fear Justice would find out what Anders needed to keep hidden. At least until he knew how to broach the subject. But the spirit's words were soft, gentle in a way few could pick up on unless they knew the person speaking them. It was the same gentle care and concern that Justice had used when Anders had gone to him about the Templars in Vigil's Keep and his fears that they would come after him with the Commander gone.

With all of them gone. All but Justice, the only one who couldn't have been sent away from Anders simply from the fact he wasn't a true Warden, but simply there on his own terms. Anders had been singled out and isolated as each of their friends were sent on various other missions, and Justice had been the only wall to his back. He'd been a comfort Anders hadn't expected, a true friend when Anders asked for nothing from him except maybe to stop talking about how it was his 'duty' to help the other mages. Maker, he could practically laugh at the memory now.

But that concern made him feel guilt for even lying to his friend and especially what he ended up doing to him. What had nearly happened...No. Maker, he couldn't find out.]

People change, Justice, it's just one of those mortal-things you'll have to get used to.

[whatisright]

I suppose so.

[He's making Anders uncomfortable with all this concern, he realizes belatedly. That's not the effect he's looking for, but he doesn't know how else to express himself. He also doesn't know how to conceal his concern, because concealing his feelings is not a thing he has much experience doing.

He tries to tell himself that Anders is right, that it's just a natural change. Maybe it is. Maybe Justice just needs to wait a while and it'll happen to other mortals too. (But it didn't happen to Riona. Doubt gnaws the back of his head.)]

It is good that you are helping others so readily now. [He's not sure if all the change is good, but that is a good change. He is trying to make Anders less uncomfortable. 'Trying' being the operative word.] Your magic can do much good. Are there Templars here? [He hasn't found anyone with blood that sings like lyrium, which is generally a sign of a Templar, but he hasn't met everyone. Even issues of magic and mages aside, Justice is not a huge fan of Templars, since they are the most likely to call him a demon and want him dead. He's seen this even among the Orlesian Wardens.]