spellgrinders | ( TDM #7 )

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( TDM #7 )

TDMs can be used for anyone interested in the game and/or testing out a new muse.

Test Drive samples are encouraged to be used for your application sample, though they are NOT a requirement.

Feel free to use one prompt, multiple prompts or make up your own!

These threads can be considered game canon upon game opening if you so choose.

Telepathy and magic can be used at any point in time on the TDM, from Prompt A to your wildcard prompt. A specific prompt exists, however, that makes sure all characters have an equal chance to use this mechanic within the TDM. You're encouraged to have characters use telepathy and their magic accidentally or even purposefully on any TDM prompt.

If you aren't set on your character's power yet or want to try out a few, you're still able to use the test drive. Maybe your character is a late bloomer and hasn't fully unlocked their intuitive drive yet. In the case of multiple powers, only prompts that contain the power you choose for your application will count as potential game canon threads.

While only one character can be apped or reserved during a cycle, feel free to post with more than one character if you like! This is for those who are uncertain of their first choice or who would like to try out different characters within the setting.

IMPORTANT: This world is low-frequency. No canon powers or abilities are allowed! Also check out the setting information for more info about Shehui.

You blink and that's all it takes. At first, the picture doesn't come in clear, like you're waiting for a screen to fully load -- more aptly, it's like you're waiting for a camera to focus so you can find image clarity. Before you happened to rapidly close your eyes and open them, your life was normal...well, normal for you, anyway. Fighting an alien, making a quesadilla, dying. And then that blurry picture suddenly takes over.

There's a lot to take in here -- you feel weird, your surroundings are weird. Everything is just weird. For starters, there's that new piece of jewelry inserted in the space above your chest. That certainly wasn't there before you opened your eyes.

aren't

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[ There's that feeling again. Thoughts appearing in her head that are not her own. Her immediate reaction is to turn sharply and look behind her, but everyone is going about their business. It's not a voice she recognizes and she doesn't much care for the use of that particular ability without her permission. Most people seem to be occupied with their partners. Except that guy on the bench. She approaches, hands in her pockets, peering down at him from behind the scarf wrapped around her. ]

Was that you broadcasting that message just now?

[There was nothing along the lines of magic in their own universe, so the eventual coming to terms and then to grips with what they had been bestowed would be something gradual and clumsy (not to mention overwhelming), like a blind man suddenly finding himself being forced to acclimate to the sight of the world around him.

For now, that sense is still profoundly dim for him; there's no sense of communication until he finds someone addressing him — right now, in person.

He sits up sharply, setting the short blond woman in a gaze that was equal parts confused and discerning.]

Uh, [mumbled very intelligently, of course,] No? I haven't been broadcasting anything.

[What, does he look like he's plugged into a comms unit to her?]

Huh? But that voice I just heard sounded just like you. The one saying "what the hell is going on?" Did you hear it too?

[ Now she's confused. Maybe she's just remembering it wrong. She's still getting used to this too. It could be somebody else making vague mass voice messages. But what's the point of that? It's a little too personal to bother people directly in their heads like that without anything really useful to say. ]

[As she speaks, his expression descends more and more into complete bafflement, though the fact that she could perfectly quote what he had just thought a moment ago seemed to give him a little bit of a shock.] Well, yeah. [He leans forward a bit, eyes wary.] Because I just thought it. You're telling me you were able to hear that?

[He can't even act like this is the strangest thing that's happened to him since he'd come to. He's stranded in a place where he doesn't understand full of people who don't seem to behave in a way he could anticipate when he should be on the path back to Mars right about now. Not to mention the weird jewelry he'd been retrofitted with (at least the other hardware he'd had injected into his body he'd agreed to) and a nagging feeling that there was something else he was missing...]

Listen. [His hands splay across his knees as he leans forward a bit, tone serious.] I've had nothing but unanswered questions for the last hour, so if you've got some, I want to hear them.

[ So it was after all. That answers that question. Must have been a mistake. She could leave now, but he seems to still want to talk. Having no reason not to, she sits down next to him. Somebody had been there to help her when she was new. Though it's not something she'll do for just anyone. She can see this getting old real quick. She touches where her signet would be to demonstrate. ]

These things allow us to communicate with our thoughts.

[Onboarding got old really fast. That's why Orga had gradually started delegating those duties to Eugene and Shino and others when they had started to take on more fresh-faced recruits into Tekkadan, after their return from Earth. So he certainly wouldn't fault her for the frustration of having to go through the efforts of getting someone caught up in information; he's simply grateful when she decides to sit rather than walk away, like the dozen or so other people he'd approached in the last half hour.]

Oh. [Well... it explains at least one thing, though whether it would be convenient or inconvenient in the long term was up for interpretation.] I see. I'll be more careful in the future.

[Without thinking he lifts a hand to the signet settled in the hollow of his throat. Well. He supposes it's not completely outside the realm of understanding that someone could be embedded with something that could give them powers outside that of a typical person. He's pretty familiar with that.]

I assume it means something, then? [He glances to her out of the corner of his eye, gesturing to where he assumed she had the same device at her own collarbone.] That we both have these things, I mean.

Right. We all work for some mage now in some energy harvesting scheme. If you want to try out whatever special ability she gave you, it'll have to be in private.

[ She can't really be mad. The first time she tried using telepathy, her message was sent to Mikazuki of all people rather than her intended target. Since then she's improved enough that it doesn't happen anymore. She has confidence in him too. The scarf is nice for keeping her nose warm, but she has to pull it down to bring her hot drink to her lips. ]

[This is a lot of really weird shit you're saying all at once, Juli, so just give him a minute and let him sort through each piece of information one at a time.

1) "Working for some mage." Okay. Weird. Definitely not something from anything he'd ever known, because if magic was flying around in interplanetary space, things might be a little more interesting (and messy). But these powers definitely seemed like something out of some fairy tale you told a kid to get them to rest at night, so he accepts this, begrudgingly.

2) "Some energy harvesting scheme." This one is actually easier since, from what few things he knows about how economics in the universe run, energy and power and resources is always at the center of it. The "how" is a little more intriguing to him, but he'll get to that soon, he guesses.

3) "Special ability"? He hadn't even really been aware of the sudden telepathy until recently, but... now that she mentions it, he does feel something. He doesn't have a clear grasp on it yet, but it doesn't seem very... easy to grasp, regardless. The only clear thought he as on it is that it's not something he can just use. It's something he can use at a certain time, under a certain circumstance, but neither of those is now.

Okay. Now that he's worked through all of that, he gives a slow nod.]

Alright. [He slowly pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing.] Well, I don't think the power's going to be an issue, so there's that.

[Onto the other question he had...]

This... "energy harvesting" thing. How're we supposed to be doing that?

I don't know, it's magic. I've been a part of this coven for a couple months and I'm still figuring things out. You're a lot more likely to find out more once we return to our base.

[ Maybe that's enough for now anyway. It looks like he's overwhelmed or something. Unfortunately she lacks the experience to be of much more help. As usual she'd focused most of her time on training. ]

Ah.

[Just because someone had a few answers didn't mean they had all of them.]

Alright, then. [A beat.] Sorry.

[He assumes it's all pretty overwhelming for anyone involved, even if a few months go by. Space had felt that way, even after days (or even weeks) of acclimation. Earth hadn't been much better. Human beings were an adaptable creature, but it didn't mean there weren't growing pains associated with that.]

So if this isn't our "base," what's up with this city, then? Downtime? Shopping?

[He indicates the steaming beverage in her hand, a small smile on his face. If he's poking fun, it's in a friendly way at least.]

That's all we can do for now. I think I've spent most of my money on food here.

[ As far as she's concerned it's worth it. There isn't much of anything she can think of that she really needs. The important thing to her is keeping up with her training. ]

[A single laugh.] There're certainly worse ways to spend it.

[Orga sighs, a long and slow exhale. It meant it'd be pretty boring for him. Shopping didn't do a whole hell of a lot for him - it's why he usually delegated such things, like requisitioning, to others. But surely there'd be something more interesting to find in this city.]

Right. [He rocks to his feet, his moment of frustration passed; he feels a little more galvanized to wander around and explore then, now that he has at least the framework of an answer to what the fuck had happened to him.] Guess I'll have another look around now that that's all sorted.

But, thanks for the help, uh -

[Name. Right. He'd traipsed into her mind, but he hadn't managed to figure something like that out by this point.]

Julieta.

[ If he's going to stand then she will too. It becomes abundantly clear just how tall he is. Though she doesn't think much of it, being something she's so used to. She might actually consider offering to help more often. It seems to be a good way to get to know people. Maybe even make friends. Now that is a foreign concept to her. She extends her hand to him stiffly. ]

[And how abundantly clear how small she was... well. A lot of people were small by Orga's standards, so he's not necessarily thrown off by it either. Just a passing acknowledgement.]

Nice to meet you, Julieta. I'm Orga.

[He accepts the handshake, returning it. His grip is firm yet not to an overwhelming degree.]

If we're stuck in each other's heads, then I guess I'll be seeing you around then. [Said with a broad smile.

And sharp irony, that it would be far sooner and closer to home than he might have originally thought...]

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( TDM #7 )

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