etcelsior | sure, jan

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sure, jan

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

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02.

[ Now, Garrus wouldn't say that he was one for attention. Actually, scratch that. He generally liked attention, or even a little acknowledgment here and there. You know, for saving the galaxy, fighting off Reapers. That sort of attention.

What he couldn't say he was hugely fond of was the sort of attention that involved humans poking and prodding at him (at best), or just staring and pointing. If this was what humans were like during First Contact, was it really any wonder that they ended up fighting a war with the turians over a misunderstanding?

Still, he supposed it could be worse. He could have not mysteriously woken up with shapeshifting powers and be stuck as a dextro-based lifeform with no way to eat anything, waiting for his inevitable death while people still gaped at him. ]

03.

[ The technology wasn't really anything to write home about (as a human might say), if he was being perfectly honest. For one thing, everything was either way too primitive for comfort, or just primitive enough that it almost seemed like something he was used to, only to find out that bullets don't work the same way as thermal clips.

But, as worrying as all of that was, it still managed to count lower among the list of things that Garrus was worrying about. Right at the top was the fact that he had to get used to five fingers. Seriously, what did any species need five fingers for? It definitely didn't help with aim. Staring at his hand intently, he started to wiggle them.

Seriously, what was the point?

There was also the whole issue with facial expressions. Humans might not have subharmonics or mandibles, but damn if they couldn't move every inch of skin on their faces.

So, instead of marveling (or rather: criticizing) at the technology, there was one very baffled man standing in the middle of the sidewalk, making faces at his hand as he wiggled his fingers.

Yeah. He was totally blending in. ]

or...

wildcard

Edited 2015-01-31 01:23 (UTC)

[All things considered, a crowd was hardly the worst that could have happened. At least everyone seemed rather well-behaved so far for meeting a Turian. Granted they could probably have given him a little space, but at least there wasn't any gunfire yet.

She may not have had much in the way of authority, here, but at least the metal shell was noticeable. And just intimidating enough to make most people take a step back, at least.

If she could be anything even close to approximating surprised, she certainly was as she got closer and realized just who, exactly, it was that the crowd was so interested in. Her expression didn't change much to show it, but then, it never really did.]

Hello, Garrus.

[ The gunfire would have to come later. After all, Garrus wasn't quite in any rush to start the Relay 514 incident a good... century and a half early. As tempting as some of the people might be making it.

But, there were more important things to attend to, like the humans actually managing to back off a little.

And... that would be the reason why. Nice to see she's gotten the chance to try out that fancy new body. Even... given the unusual circumstances. ]

EDI.

[ His mandibles flare slightly, and he might just breathe an audible sigh. ]

Nice to see a familiar face.

[ Or maybe... not-so-nice. Considering one of the last things he remembered before the whole "human government" thing was leaving Palaven to the Reapers, this might just be a hint that all of this is some kind of hyper-advanced Indoctrination thing.

But... one problem at a time. ]

There are several of the Normandy crew here. [Really, it's a wonder they're missing anybody.] However, there appears to be an issue with relative time-streams and universes.

[As blunt as ever. She probably could have led into that one a little more softly.]

There are-

[ Actually, maybe we should back this conversation up just a little, EDI. ]

Care to... elaborate on the relative time-streams and universes?

[ Because if that doesn't sound worrisome (at best), nothing does, and he should really stop worrying about the whole "working for an alien government 150+ years into the past" thing. ]

Several of the crew appear to have come from different points in time. Others remember events very differently. To some Commander Shepard was a woman, although I distinctly remember him as a man. This place may very well serve as a nexus of sorts wherein several alternate realities and timestreams converge.

[Does your brain hurt yet, Garrus]

[ Kasumi had just arrived the month prior; attending this whole shebang as a spectator is a new experience, but she figured she would check it out just to see if any of the new imPorts were interesting.

She hadn't quite expected spotting a familiar face, but it's welcome all the same. She silently makes her way over to the people bothering the turian and clears her throat before calling out, ]

Hey! Did you guys see the fire-breathing guy over there on the other side?

[ Sure enough, the interruption causes a stir with the group, and some of them disperse to find this supposedly fire-breathing guy, while the others simply follow the flock. With more space, now, she approaches Garrus. ]

Well, look who the Porter brought in.

[ Maybe it was the whole quaint, barely spacefaring thing that did it, but Garrus didn't remember humans being quite so gullible.

He gives a grateful look at his "rescuer", and... well.

Not exactly the first person he had in mind. But a friend is a friend. ]

I can't say I expected to see you [ or anyone but that's really beside the point. ] one hundred and fifty years into the past, but I guess it makes sense. You can steal things before they're even worth something, sell it in the future, and... [ a hand motion for emphasis ] instant respect among the... thieving community.

[ Yeah, that was so not how it worked, but can you blame him for lightening the whole "trapped in the past on a foreign planet" thing , just a little? ]

Edited (...let me just finish actually typing) 2015-01-31 05:41 (UTC)

[ She folds her arms and chuckles at the suggestion. You know, Garrus, that would be a splendid idea if they could leave this place, but they can't, and Kasumi's still in the process of figuring out how to make do with what she has. Like, no space travel. No extranet. ]

Please, Garrus. I don't need time travel and dimension-hopping to earn respect in the "thieving community."

[When Jacob heard word spreading through town that a new alien ImPort had shown up through the Porter, he had dared to get his hopes up that there was a familiar face arriving and headed right over. He was not to be disappointed.]

Garrus!

[Jacob shouldered his way through the crowd, trying to get to Garrus while motivating the turian's new fan club to back away.]

All right people, just clear out a little . This guy needs some space. I'm pretty sure this is his first time on Earth.

Jacob!

[ Somehow he'd really hoped other members of the Normandy crew would turn up here. Even if they didn't happen to be anywhere near the Normandy at the last few seconds he was on it.

Which, really shouldn't be possible, and the nagging idea of "indoctrination" won't quite leave him alone. He hopes Jacob doesn't notice that nagging hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Just in case. ]

I can't say that I have. Or that at this point in time, any Turian's been anywhere near Earth.

[ a pause. ]

I'm not going to cause any universe-altering paradoxes, am I?

[ Of course, if he's indoctrinated, then it doesn't really matter. He shouldn't be thinking that, but he's always been an "expect the worst" sort of guy. It's part of his charm. ]

[Jacob shrugged.]

Maybe. But my guess is, if any paradoxes were going to happen, the universe would have ended by now. Porter makes stuff like this happen all the time.

[Of course, if you believe the Cityverse veterans the universe did end up being destroyed. But Jacob's not going to drop that on Garrus just now.]

Welcome to the 21st century. It's quite a ride. How are you doing so far?

[ New arrivals normally meant new people. Interesting new people, for the most part. Most of them looked confused, or even a little perplexed. Either by the technology (or the lack of, in Kaidan's case) or the fact that they were still processing the whole "trapped in an alternate universe" thing.

People acting crazy in the streets was something else entirely. What was normal was a certain Major's extremely judgmental squint from the sidewalk across the street. It lasted a good few minutes, before he finally got fed up with watching the poor guy, and started to feel bad for him. After all, what if he was...another robot? A dinosaur? Who knew. He kept figuring out that people were different, when they showed up here -- or some of them were. He finally crossed the street, moving with a lot more purpose than was probably appropriate.

He literally had just taken it on himself to help a guy out who was staring at his fingers like life's mysteries could be found there.

That was probably presumptuous. He also didn't care. Much. ]

You might need to put your arm down before it goes numb.

[ In lieu of introducing himself to a stranger, of course. ]

[ He practically jumps when he hears someone talking to him. Really, he should have expected someone to say something. After all, most humans wouldn't be acting like this. What he didn't expect was one Major Kaidan Alenko. One of the original Normandy crew, and thus, one of his closer friends (not that he had such a giant list of friends, but that's beside the point). Who was supposed to be in a hospital somewhere on the Citadel.

But then again, Garrus also wasn't supposed to be in a human body 150 years into the past, so really, as humans might say: water under the bridge (that was the right term, right? ]

Kaidan!

[ He raises his eyebrows, and gives his best smile. Which is a lot more difficult to do than one might think (especially if said individual is used to mandibles). ]

I'd say it's good to see you, but I'm still trying to work out the whole "five fingers" thing.

[ And the expression thing. And... he could deal with the rest. Once he got used to the whole human body. ]

[ He wasn't expecting to be recognized. Actually, he wasn't expecting to kind of (?) recognize the voice, either. It wasn't quite there, and it took him a long few minutes.

First, he had to wonder if this was someone from his future? Some people came from the future -- did he know if they'd beaten the reapers? If Earth was safe? Should he ask his name before he asked about the future?

But no, that voice... it wasn't quite right. It was like he was hearing half of it -- which means it still took him a few minutes of blank staring, before things finally caught up to him.

It kind of sounded like Garrus. If Garrus was suddenly a much tinier, much fleshier human being with half of his voice.

And more fingers. ]

Garrus?

[ He was going to need a minute to process this. Finally, after a long few minutes, he finally smiles back. A lot more natural than the Turian, but then again... was he really Turian right about now? ]

Oh -- when did you get here? What are you -- what happened?

[ The man standing in the middle of the sidewalk did not blend in well. Not that Samara did much better blending in, blue women with tentacles on their heads tended to stand out among humans. It was something she had gotten used to in the months since she had first arrived. Perhaps it had helped that she was already used to receiving inordinate amounts of attention wherever she went. Still, at least the only attention she received was because of her appearance, not because she was making faces at her own hands.

That was just concerning. She hesitated for a few seconds, simply lingering back as she watched the man, before finally approaching. The expression on her face was calm and sorely lacking in anything that could identify what she might have been feeling about this scene. ]

Are you alright?

[ For better or worse, the bars here don't serve ryncol. On the one hand, it means Shepard doesn't need to find himself getting peeled off a bathroom floor. On the other, it means it takes a hell of a lot more alcohol to get him anywhere remotely approaching an acceptable level of intoxication.

Clearly, however, the bartender isn't used to dealing with Commander Shepard drunk or sober, because he's decided it's just about time to cut him off, despite Shepard's best efforts to assure him that he is, in fact, far too sober. He's just a little wobbly and leaning a little too hard on the edge of that bar, but after the day he's had, anyone would probably feel the same way. ]

Come on -- I can take another. [ Other patrons have already wisely stepped back. ]

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sure, jan

Garrus Vakarian | Mass Effect

02!

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SUP 02

KASUMI SUP.

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02

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Combobreaker! (03)

major alenko why do humans have so many fingers?

because humans are greedy and need more

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slowly adds to the normandy pileup... also, wildcard!!