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August-September 2025 Test Drive Meme
August-September 2025 TDM
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not.
All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain a canon item from home, especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore.
and then... you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Perhaps you follow the falling stars on your own, or perhaps the Fox simply teleports you there, but it appears you too will be part of this.
Content Warnings: Vampiric creatures, forced emotions, forced memory sharing/experience, potential physical dangers (lost, combat, drowning, etc)
New Star Children—and new Star Children only—arrive in Exile. Usually on solid ground. Usually with a sense of belonging and ease navigating within this region. If there's something particular the Star Child needs—food, clothes, shelter—something opens up and makes way. Anyone with hunting or gathering abilities may fend for themselves, a moss cloak may slough itself off a tree for a cool or cold Star Child, and a shack shudders up from the landscape when they grow weary. It's enough for anyone self-sufficient.
For those who want or need something more, they find a chittering scurry of squirrels around peat fires with tents set up. The squirrels provide nut based meals (bark substitute available), simple waterproof woolen clothes, and the use of the tents (two Star Children to a tent, no more, no less) for a small small price: a small prick of the finger and a few drops of blood. They have sharp teeth that can delicately pierce veins, for they are vampiric squirrels. It's the warmest welcome Exile has given to Star Children, not that new Star Children may know that. At least one wherein Baba Yaga—the iteration, the school, take one's pick—cannot be found.
New arrivals who wish to leave Exile and old Star Children who wish to enter Exile to greet the new arrivals shooting down over Exile face… challenges. The land does not want to let go of these newcomers. Nor does it want the old treading its paths, not even those previously welcomed in Exile. An uncomfortable mist filled with dread and rejection hugs borders. Those feelings manifest in a physical presentation of a difficult time in Star Children's lives. It's a time when Star Children had to make a choice: one that could get them exiled in some fashion.
A Star Child traveling alone will move through that memory exactly and must choose exile to pass. Those who made that choice before may have an easier time choosing it again. Or perhaps not.
Star Children who travel together or who come near each other in the wilderness face recreations that are not exactly the same. Their memories merge into one. In this shared false memory, both Star Children must choose exile to pass.
Star Children who pass find it easier to navigate Exile, whether to enter or to leave. Star Children who fail face further difficulties. Exile becomes confusingly similar in all directions. Star Children may be led to face the cunning creatures within Exile, with only basic weapons sticking from trees or held by skeletons to help them, or may be led to the Swamp of Sorrows, to drown under the weight of what bothers them. Whatever the exact challenge may be, it threatens Star Children's lives, and survival only means that: survival. They must retreat or face their memory again to move forward.
New Star Children—and new Star Children only—arrive in Exile. Usually on solid ground. Usually with a sense of belonging and ease navigating within this region. If there's something particular the Star Child needs—food, clothes, shelter—something opens up and makes way. Anyone with hunting or gathering abilities may fend for themselves, a moss cloak may slough itself off a tree for a cool or cold Star Child, and a shack shudders up from the landscape when they grow weary. It's enough for anyone self-sufficient.
For those who want or need something more, they find a chittering scurry of squirrels around peat fires with tents set up. The squirrels provide nut based meals (bark substitute available), simple waterproof woolen clothes, and the use of the tents (two Star Children to a tent, no more, no less) for a small small price: a small prick of the finger and a few drops of blood. They have sharp teeth that can delicately pierce veins, for they are vampiric squirrels. It's the warmest welcome Exile has given to Star Children, not that new Star Children may know that. At least one wherein Baba Yaga—the iteration, the school, take one's pick—cannot be found.
New arrivals who wish to leave Exile and old Star Children who wish to enter Exile to greet the new arrivals shooting down over Exile face… challenges. The land does not want to let go of these newcomers. Nor does it want the old treading its paths, not even those previously welcomed in Exile. An uncomfortable mist filled with dread and rejection hugs borders. Those feelings manifest in a physical presentation of a difficult time in Star Children's lives. It's a time when Star Children had to make a choice: one that could get them exiled in some fashion.
A Star Child traveling alone will move through that memory exactly and must choose exile to pass. Those who made that choice before may have an easier time choosing it again. Or perhaps not.
Star Children who travel together or who come near each other in the wilderness face recreations that are not exactly the same. Their memories merge into one. In this shared false memory, both Star Children must choose exile to pass.
Star Children who pass find it easier to navigate Exile, whether to enter or to leave. Star Children who fail face further difficulties. Exile becomes confusingly similar in all directions. Star Children may be led to face the cunning creatures within Exile, with only basic weapons sticking from trees or held by skeletons to help them, or may be led to the Swamp of Sorrows, to drown under the weight of what bothers them. Whatever the exact challenge may be, it threatens Star Children's lives, and survival only means that: survival. They must retreat or face their memory again to move forward.
- New Star Children arrive in Exile! All are treated warmly (for Exile).
- Old Star Children are not teleported into Exile. All are treated coldly.
- Vampiric squirrels provide basic needs for those who need it in exchange for a little blood.
- Mist full of dread and rejection encircles Exile, and it must be traveled through to enter or to leave.
- In the mist, face a recreation (pure or mixed with someone else's) of a time Star Children had to make a choice that could result in some form of exile.
- If everyone picks exile, travel easier through Exile.
- If not everyone picks exile, face further dangers: misdirection, fights against clever creatures, the swamp of sorrows, etc
Content Warnings: Explosions, Wild Environmental Changes, Small or Large Forced Physical Changes, Potentially Permanent Changes, Forced Proximity
The cracks that wracked Folkmore have been sealed, but the Encantado remains uneasy. The river threw itself farther into Exile to avoid cracks creeping along its banks. It abandoned many gems in the river bed and flows across new ground—both to curious effects. The magic in the gems has nowhere to go. It builds and builds within until cracks begin to show. If left untended, these gems explode in a bout of chaotic magic changing the land around them and perhaps even nearby Star Children. Enjoy the new hair color, the longer hair, the brighter eyes, the galaxies of freckles, and more. They're permanent unless another Star Child can help. The new flowing magic within Exile changes the land around it. The trees grow and grow until they seem a century old or older. Their branches intertwine across the river, and their roots sing. Wood taken from them has magical properties, raw and unrefined.
Magically inclined Star Children, Star Children of great mental reasoning, or any other pertinent skill may observe these effects and determine how to address them. Whether Star Children come up with the solution on their own or get nudged along by a slight dark fox spirit, there are two primary solutions: restore the river to its original path or help it along this new one.
Star Children may work to restore the river by carrying its water from the new river banks and pouring it onto the old river bed. The water can be carried in any vessel, and it's safe so long as the water is not spilled. When water spills, it changes the environment where it hits. A small mound becomes an enormous hill. A small dip becomes a deep ravine. The trees web together. The weather stoops to head level. It's wild magic, and in its wildness: dangerous.
Star Children may work to establish the new path by carrying its gems from the old river bed to the new river stream. The gems may be carried by any means: wrap them in cloth, wear gloves, or move them with telekinesis, or any other mode preventing touch. It is safe so long as gems do not touch skin. When gems touch skin, it changes the Star Children greatly. They may turn into a tree or be made of bark. They may lose the ability to speak and instead yip like a dolphin. They may turn into water and be unable to move themselves. It's a great change, and in its greatness: dangerous.
Both tasks are easier achieved in pairs and small groups. The magic in the water, the magic in the gems, can flow into the Lore generated between Star Children. Traveling together, Star Children may see Lore as motes of light or glowing threads or flowing water. The effects of spill and touch are lessened and split but present a new element: affected Star Children must remain near each other for some hours. The greater the spill or longer and larger the touch, the more hours. Travel farther than a few feet and hit a solid wall. It's impossible to move further without magically dragging the other Star Child along.
Either or both options shall settle the wild magic into its place. Star Children cannot work at cross purposes, only determine how much one way or the other.
One time—and only one time—upon successfully bringing water or a gem to the other side, a gem will split open and reveal an item from home. It may even may even be a weapon or magical item. Oh, and it may be from one's partner's home. The magic is a bit wild.
The cracks that wracked Folkmore have been sealed, but the Encantado remains uneasy. The river threw itself farther into Exile to avoid cracks creeping along its banks. It abandoned many gems in the river bed and flows across new ground—both to curious effects. The magic in the gems has nowhere to go. It builds and builds within until cracks begin to show. If left untended, these gems explode in a bout of chaotic magic changing the land around them and perhaps even nearby Star Children. Enjoy the new hair color, the longer hair, the brighter eyes, the galaxies of freckles, and more. They're permanent unless another Star Child can help. The new flowing magic within Exile changes the land around it. The trees grow and grow until they seem a century old or older. Their branches intertwine across the river, and their roots sing. Wood taken from them has magical properties, raw and unrefined.
Magically inclined Star Children, Star Children of great mental reasoning, or any other pertinent skill may observe these effects and determine how to address them. Whether Star Children come up with the solution on their own or get nudged along by a slight dark fox spirit, there are two primary solutions: restore the river to its original path or help it along this new one.
Star Children may work to restore the river by carrying its water from the new river banks and pouring it onto the old river bed. The water can be carried in any vessel, and it's safe so long as the water is not spilled. When water spills, it changes the environment where it hits. A small mound becomes an enormous hill. A small dip becomes a deep ravine. The trees web together. The weather stoops to head level. It's wild magic, and in its wildness: dangerous.
Star Children may work to establish the new path by carrying its gems from the old river bed to the new river stream. The gems may be carried by any means: wrap them in cloth, wear gloves, or move them with telekinesis, or any other mode preventing touch. It is safe so long as gems do not touch skin. When gems touch skin, it changes the Star Children greatly. They may turn into a tree or be made of bark. They may lose the ability to speak and instead yip like a dolphin. They may turn into water and be unable to move themselves. It's a great change, and in its greatness: dangerous.
Both tasks are easier achieved in pairs and small groups. The magic in the water, the magic in the gems, can flow into the Lore generated between Star Children. Traveling together, Star Children may see Lore as motes of light or glowing threads or flowing water. The effects of spill and touch are lessened and split but present a new element: affected Star Children must remain near each other for some hours. The greater the spill or longer and larger the touch, the more hours. Travel farther than a few feet and hit a solid wall. It's impossible to move further without magically dragging the other Star Child along.
Either or both options shall settle the wild magic into its place. Star Children cannot work at cross purposes, only determine how much one way or the other.
One time—and only one time—upon successfully bringing water or a gem to the other side, a gem will split open and reveal an item from home. It may even may even be a weapon or magical item. Oh, and it may be from one's partner's home. The magic is a bit wild.
- The Encantado River needs its magic stabilized either by restoring its path or establishing its new one (both is good).
- Gems in the riverbed explode, affecting people. Environment near the new path changes quickly.
- To restore its path, carry water from new to old without spilling.
- Spilling water causes large environmental changes.
- To establish the new path, carry gems from old to new without touching them.
- Touching gems causes large magical/physical changes to people.
- Effects are lessened when working in a group. However, messing up forces people to stay in close proximity for hours!
- After one (and only one) successful run, receive an item from home or your partner's home. It may be a weapon or magical item.
- Link your threads to impact where the Encantado winds up!
iii.
Gideon gets thrown sideways, and the water bottle drops. In what feels like slow motion, the sort where you see a disaster coming but can do nothing to halt it, Gideon watches the bottle arc toward the ground. One edge of the bottom hits the ground, and precious magical river water of the DO NOT SPILL variety jolts out and hits the ground. The bottle wavers and falls onto its side. Gideon's not party to the whole horror movie of water pouring out its contents because the ground rises before her until she's atop a ledge with a sheer drop to the river below. It juts above the trees so that she can see the canopy of Exile around her.
Great. Great. Just great. She leaps off the cliff, consciously ignoring the way the top of it resembles a certain ledge in a certain House. Her great skeletal wings spread behind her and carry her back to the river. There she picks up the bottle and glances in the direction of the explosion. The land there resembles glass. Beyond it is someone Gideon's never seen before.
"Did you touch one of the gems?" Gideon asks, "They really should have a 'do not touch' sign."
no subject
(Fuck, this is why it needs some fucking drones, it can't see shit. And it really wishes it had a drone right now, because the human also has Stupid Useless Appendages and sure as hell doesn't want to use it's own eyes to stare.)
(And where the did that cliff come from? It just checked its recordings, that was not there 43 seconds ago, what the fuck.)
But before it's able to stop panicking for long enough to answer the human's question, it is suddenly and unceremoniously dragged across the glassy ground. There's an invisible force pulling it, one that it can't fight, until suddenly it's dumped on the ground several feet away from the human.
(It does not look at human. Anything even remotely close to risking eye contact would be too much right now. But the human can probably see that the SecUnit is very much making An Expression right now. It's an expression that very much suggests that it is having the exact opposite of a good time.)
no subject
"The good news is I know what's happening and why. The bad news is what's happening," she declares to the person not looking her in the eye. Not the first person to do that, so she doesn't comment on it. "I haven't seen you before, so I'm assuming you're pretty new. Probably one of the people who arrived in Exile, yeah? I'm Gideon, I've been here over three years, so I'm used to this bullshit.
"So, the bullshit. The river here scurried itself away from some bad shit going down. Magic river. It can do that. However, it left all these gems behind. That's what went boom. We don't like it going boom, so that's why I was carrying river water here. Yes, I know you can't just move a whole river a bottle at a time, I'm not that big an idiot, buuuuuuuuuut magic river. Magical rules.
"Okay, so maybe you don't care about any of that. Point is, your explosion knocked me over and spilled the water I was carrying. Our punishment for touching the gems and/or being so clumsy and unable to keep water from being spilled while being tossed about like a bag of bones is to be new best friends for the next, idk, insert number of hours here."
Gideon sits next to the new person on the ground and looks at the river. "Damn, and in Exile too, unless we want to go through that damn mist. My teleportation ring will NOT let me take you with me."
no subject
There's just so much to take in, that even the SecUnit - a machine intelligence who has been designed specifically to process and analyse large amounts of data - is thrown for a moment. (Probably because it makes no fucking sense, and contradicts several of its education modules). But while Gideon is sitting down, it manages to pull itself together to run several different processes at once.
First: Gideon. The feed is weird here, but it's enough for the SecUnit to work with. A quick look of the human's feed activity brings some basic information: Gideon Nav, she/her, tends to share a lot of images that humans tend to find funny. Some basic analysis doesn't reveal anything suspicious; she has several Standard years of activity, and that level of history is difficult to fake.
Second: Quietly panicking. There's lots to panic about. The magic fucking river, the exploding rocks, and - worst of all - the fact that apparently it is now stuck with Gideon, an unknown human, for an unknown number of hours. It is, quite frankly, the SecUnit's idea of hell. It'd be inclined to think that this all must be a malicious code attack that's making it hallucinate, except for the fact that none of its systems are showing any signs of attack. Also, it tracks with the bullshit that was the Weird Talking Fauna.
Third: Making very sure that its ActLikeAHuman code is running properly. Because if it really is stuck this close to Gideon, then its risk of being identified as a SecUnit is uncomfortably high. It can't let her realise that it isn't human. Which means it's probably going to have to look her in the eyes sometime (fuck), when they're no longer sitting like this.
When all those processes are done, and Gideon is sitting next to it, it lets a few seconds pass. Wraps its arms around its legs and hugs them to its check. Hopefully, Gideon will think that it's just a human having a mental breakdown. (Which, it is. It's just not a human having one.)
"I'm...Rin," it says. Humans always want to know each other's names. Rin would do. And then it finds itself being unexpectedly honest, maybe because it hasn't any idea what a human should say in this situation. "This planet fucking sucks."
no subject
She gives the person some time. It's a lot to take in, and somewhere in there is probably something that contradicts the rules of the physical universe as they previously knew them. Basic day one overload.
Gideon glances over when they talk. Rin, wasn't there a Rin here at some point? Gideon's not sure a hundred percent, but she's pretty sure this isn't that one. Even if they were, they'd be a version that doesn't remember being here before. "I get it. You're seeing the ass out end of the planet," Gideon agrees, "but there's some pretty fucking good stuff too. Like, talking and interacting generates Lore than lets you buy or summon whatever you want. You can read or watch whatever media you want on your relic. Housing is free wherever you want it, as is transportation. While weird shit happens regularly, people die here a lot less frequently than they did where I'm from. That's not true of everyone, only some of us.
"I've been on worse planets. Actually, maybe all the other planets I've been on were worse. And the space station. Just make that everywhere."
no subject
It makes another face when she mentions generating Lore by talking and interacting with people (no, just...no) but at the mention of media, its eyes glance in her direction. (It still avoids eye contact. Even if it should try and meet hers, at least once, just reinforce its human disguise. But it can't bring itself to do that right now, so instead it just glances somewhere near her chin.)
"...What media do you have?" If she's got anything new, maybe it can share its own collection in exchange...
no subject
"I haven't paid attention to anything from home in a while, but I have a whole bunch of novels and magazines. Funnily enough the tropes that are soooo common where I'm from aren't entirely the same as other universes. I've spent more time here with Earth media. So movies, tv shows, books, generally ones with interesting female leads or at least major characters. I could send you a list. As soon as you have the names, you can get them on your relic too. Love that feature. Any book, movie, show, or whatever you've ever heard of... at your fingertips."
She decides not to mention the titty mags. Most people don't consider that media, strictly speaking. The artistic skill in the drawings, however, should not be underestimated. Nor the skill at putting words together that's so evocative.
"I'd probably cry if I went home and lost it all."
no subject
(But if the device could also store media, it needed to bump up that timetable. To right now. It starts the scan while Gideon is still talking.)
"Yes please," it says, to her offer of a list. It's body language has shifted, now; still not looking her in the eye, still clearly not wanting to be close. But its ActLikeAHuman code has it loosening up, making it less closed off and curled in on itself. A sympathetic expression even crosses its face; certainly it would have a complete emotional breakdown if it ever lost access to all its media.
(But please don't send it the titty mags. Just...no. No no no.)
no subject
If she really wants to watch something, she wants a larger screen than a computer gives her. Again, limited use because she's more likely to wear herself out having fun with swords, but nothing like a good fight scene on a large tv.
She clicks through the settings in her relic, so it generates a list of all her media. Since the ttity mags are physical, they're not on the list. She saves a file, titles and authors/whatnot only, not with the actual media (because again, not needed, love that), and searches for nearby devices. One pops up. "Assume that's you. Here ya go," Gideon says. She hits the send button, and if it's someone else their day is also about to get better. "Sent."
Gideon sighs. "Guess it sucks we don't have a device with a larger screen. Watching something together could be fun, though actually now that I think about it, we should probably move away from the riverbed. More gems could explode anytime, and I'd like to stay a ginger."
no subject
(It can't see its own expression, but Gideon will see a confused look flash across it. Visibly, it doesn't seem to have touched the device at all - and yet the sudden arrival of inexplicable media files has apparently baffled it.)
And then she reminds it about the exploding fucking rocks, and it's a terrible SecUnit because it's been sitting here doing absolutely nothing instead of protecting the human. (Fuck, its Risk Assessment module really is shot right now. Fuck.)
That changes now though, as it immediately stands and places itself inbetween Gideon and the riverbed. "Move now," it stays, hovering close by in a way that suggests it might be about to start trying to fucking herd her.
(This is also the point where - now that the SecUnit is standing - it will become clear that it is very, very tall.)
no subject
Gideon's barely blinked after a moment of temporary envy when the person's leapt up in front of her to... what physically shield her from rocks? Total cavalier behavior, except it's entirely inappropriate directed at her. She's a cavalier! Hello? Hellooooooo indeed. Sitting down, Gideon has to crane her neck real far to see their face. Not worth the pain. She cracks her neck and pushes off from the ground.
"Yeah, yeah," Gideon says casually. Impressively, once standing, they're still taller than her. Not too many people can say that. Gideon can honestly remember a time when she was tied for tallest person in Folkmore. It's been a good long while since that was the case, but still. Not too many people are taller.
Gideon eyes the nearby cliff, the shore near it, and somewhere along it her water bottle. She can be fast, thanks to a gift from a trial, faster than any human can be. Under other circumstances, she might nyoom to get her water bottle before her erstwhile cavalier could do a thing. Unfortunately, that would only drag them along with her, and they don't deserve that for trying to protect her. With a sigh, she leads the way further into Exile. "I'll have you know I'm really bad at dying. It's my dump stat."
no subject
There's a beat, before it feels the start of that invisible tug (and it hates it, hates it so much, even if it's not the sting of the governor module that's controlling it this time) and follows her.
"What, you actually follow proper security protocols, do you?" it says flatly. Its only just met this human, but somehow it very much doubts that she's one of the sensible ones that stay nice and safe.
no subject
"There's no security protocols here that can withstand a trial, if Thirteen's put her mind to it," Gideon says. She also cannot help but remember dozing off in a room in the First House that she held the only key to, only to wake up to her companion murdered not ten feet away from her. Security protocols were more of a suggestion than proven fact, much as she tried to follow them. Though at least she wasn't so stupid as to attack the priests that were hosting them. Not something to keep her thoughts on.
"I've learned how to figure out how to go along with trials, which is the surest way to stay safe during them," Gideon says. She waves a hand. "That's not what I meant, anyway. I'm just really really bad at dying. Dropped from outer space. Poisoned. Stabbed by an enormous stinger. Drowned. You name it. Bad. At. Dying."
no subject
(It can try and run some analysis - and it is already trawling through the feed for any and all references to 'Thirteen' and 'trials' - but right now it doesn't trust it to be able to make an accurate Threat or Risk Assessment. So it's going to have to - ugh - ask the human for information.)
(Also its malware scan on the mysteriously appearing media files has revealed that they are clean. It takes a moment to be baffled by this, before shoving a bunch of files towards Gideon's device in return. Next time she looks at her relic, she's going to find it filled with a lot of new media. Like, really, really a lot. Though absolutely none of it is porn.)
Now it's making another face, because it is not at all reassured by Gideon's claim to be 'bad at dying'. "What the fuck were you doing for all that to happen to you?"
(And yes, that does sound like an accusation. Because it is. Because at this point the statistical likelihood that Gideon is in fact even more recklessly stupid and likely to endanger her own life that the average human has gone way, way up.)
CW: references to murder, murder of children
"Thirteen, the talking fox who led you here yes, brought us here to help us (sparkle text) achieve our potential. Now, you let people sit around having to do nothing more than interact to meet all their needs with nothing to challenge them besides differences in cultural norms... and that change is going to be pretty slow. So she urges it along with trials. Sometimes it comes with an invitation from her. We had a fighting tournament one time, where the loser progressed instead of the winner. Agrona invited everyone and offered rewards for everyone who participated. Other times, it just happens. The biggest clue is that like her name, they generally start on the thirteenth of the month. Always expect weirdness that day. Aaaaaaalways."
Gideon motions behind them, not to the river but beyond the river. "Right now, you have to do a trial to get in or out of Exile. Being in Exile, well, it's not literally a trial, but it's one of the most dangerous parts of Folkmore. The creatures here are smart and dangerous. There's a swamp that will kill you if you're not careful, and the forest can get hostile. So it's your call what you'd rather deal with."
She's not looking at her relic while walking. Gideon stays aware of where her companion is behind her, but her attention remains on the woods around them. Exile never should get taken for granted, not even the times she lived in a little run down cabin. She's not sure where it's ended up with things moving around, but Gideon tries to guide them that way.
"Don't look at me that way. I was one day old when I was kicked out an airlock. My mother was, technically. I survived, she didn't. I was a year old when the nursery I was in was poisoned. And shortly before I came here, I was on a space station getting attacked by enormous space insects, while almost everyone else aboard did reruns of their old interpersonal drama until at least one of them was dead and the space station was crashing. None of that was my fault."
Technically her eyes set people off. Grumbling, Gideon mutters, "Not my fault my genes and very literal presence revealed who was banging who twenty years ago, and it was worth killing over."
no subject
In the end though, it only has one thing to say in response.
"What the fuck."
(It's not really a question. More a general statement on just how it feels about all of this.)
"Your station security was shit." (And it does, begrudgingly, acknowledge that she's is clearly actively on the lookout for threads. Not that she needs to be; the SecUnit's already well on alert. (Although it really, really wishes it had some drones.))
(And then she mentions people banging twenty years ago, and it starts making an entirely new face. Please do not tell it about the sex humans had in order to create Gideon. Please no.)
no subject
"God was it," Gideon agrees. She gives a wry chuckle at the use of god for reasons she is not going to explain in the moment. However horrified her new companion might be about everything on the Mithraeum, at least it wouldn't tear their religious beliefs apart the way it would millions others. Gideon isn't very religious, so thankfully it didn't upset her on those grounds.
"So, I'm currently taking us further into Exile, but I can lead us out. Your choice. A dangerous hostile environment or your first trial," Gideon turns around to look at the newcomer. She struggled a lot with being forced to do things when she first arrived, and they're stuck together for who knows how long. The least she can do is give Rin some choice in what happens to them.
"I'm game either way."
no subject
It's just...going to very obviously scan the environment for potential dangers so that it doesn't risk looking back at her. Which it was doing already, sure, but now it's going to really concentrate on scanning the landscape far, far away from Gideon's eyes.)
And fuck, she's going to see it make another face, because it absolutely does not want to take a human into a dangerous hostile environment. Humans should stay away from those.
"...Trial," it says shortly.
(Please stop looking at it. Please.)
no subject
So nothing personal, but the way Rin says trial quickly draws Gideon up short. She expected more hesitation after the whole 'stuck together for hours' thing, but sure, okay. Gideon turns to head closer to direct north, an extreme turn.
"All right," Gideon says, "We'll head north until we're past the branching in the river. Bypass the explosions, then out via fun fun trial times." The last is said dryly. In all likelihood, it'll be the opposite of fun. Her stomach turns slightly. Figures Thirteen would find a way to make Gideon face it again and again instead of cheating with teleportation. It's fine. Gideon can be sure Rin gets somewhere safe before they part ways. She can also offer them a better meal than they could get in Exile. Eating while being wary of ambushes takes away from a meal.
"So, were you about to die when you came here or anything? I was in a deadly situation myself. Crashing space station, like I said. Seemed like a good idea to get out of there and go anywhere else."
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"...No?" It says, faintly baffled by the question. How often does the stupid fauna bring people here from the middle of deadly situations? "I was...on a ship."
Well, not just a ship. On ART, getting ready to finally leave the fucking planet with the Adamantine Colony. The SecUnit had been looking forward to it, in fact.
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Point being, they were fine. They were fine, and they chose to come here. It begs the question, and Gideon not one for resisting all her urges follows up. "So why'd you come? People come here for all kinds of reasons. Stay for them too. The food alone would be reason enough for me. Much better than what I grew up eating."
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It hadn't had any reason to do so. Except maybe to assess the WeirdTalkingFauna - now relabelled 'Thirteen' - as a potential security threat. But following a potential security threat until it gives you extra limbs and dumps you on a planet was really, really fucking stupid, so...why did it do that?
(It knows that it did choose to follow; it hadn't been forced to. Reviewing its own logs made that clear. But nothing in its logs gave any kind of real explanation. They didn't explain why the SecUnit hadn't just immediately realised that what had been happening was completely impossible. It just knew that at the time, it had somehow all made sense.)
"I don't know," it says, sounding bewildered and mystified at its own answer.
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"That's fine," Gideon says. "You can decide what you want out of being here now you're here. My first month I ate as much free good food as I could. There was lots of it, and it tasted even better than what they served at the First House. So it was good living. Course you get used to that eventually and have to come up with other reasons to do things."
Like avoiding being an undead zombie-like version of yourself. Gideon knows it happens. Whether or not she ever goes back, it happens to a Gideon Nav (she's met a handful, thanks to Thirteen). It flat out seems to suck. Who wants to walk around as a corpse?
They reach the river, with flowing water and few gems sparkling at the bottom. Gideon grows her skeletal wings again and nods. "Over the river we go, best not touch the water, and we'll be halfway home."
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The SecUnit stays quiet though, on the topic of what it wants out of being here. It knows exactly how big that question is. It's one that it's really only just started figuring out the answer to.
It's not something it wants to talk about with a human it just met.
"No touching the water," it agrees. Then it glances towards Gideon's bone wings, before quickly looking way lest it risk the dreaded eye contact. "How the hell do you get rid of those?"
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"Lots and lots of practice," Gideon says, "Most Star Children I've known have been able to learn some form of control over their Role features, whether that's when they turn into an animal and back (or which animal) as a Familiar or when their various physical features show themselves as a Legend or Myth. It's... a mixture of skill and luck. There's the odd person who can't hide their features. Or so they've said. It might be they didn't care enough to work to control them."
She looks at the robotic wings, clearly on the technological rather than natural side of things, and their design. "Practice using your wings, so they feel more like an extension of yourself, is the first step. You have to be able to sense them and be aware of them, the same way you are an arm or a leg. You can't pull your arm to your side if you can't move it."
As a demonstration, she pulls her wings as tight against her back as she can and stretches them again, a couple times in a row. It's kind of like pulling them back into her back, even if the way Gideon does it is nothing like the way Harrow controls bone. Her limited "necromantic abilities" pertain to her own body. Would Harrow hex her if she called it that?
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