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subnauticmods ([personal profile] subnauticmods) wrote in [community profile] fishesoutofwater2016-02-13 02:56 pm
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Test Dive #1








≡U.R.S.U.L.A. NAVIGATION
TEST DIVE MEME


For information about the animals and locations, be sure to check out the BIOME and BASE pages!

A1: Go Fish
You! Yes, you! Your friendly neighbourhood AI has a task she would like to encourage YOU to do! After all, you can’t forget the most important fact: you’re here to make the planet habitable. Which means cataloguing, capturing and studying potential threats to anyone’s life. That includes a swarm of Stalkers that have been hanging around the waters awfully near the base, which presents a perfect research opportunity! At least, URSULA seems to think so.

Don’t go in willy-nilly waving your knife around, though. URSULA doesn’t want you to bring in tonight’s Sashimi Surprise™, she wants you to bring in a Stalker that’s still kicking. Which means you have to capture a live one. So hold back your crazy power or trigger-happy instincts!

How will you take one in alive without ending up dead yourself? You could go in the brute-force way, slamming its jaws shut and bagging it, though it’s pretty strong itself… or you could be a bit more cunning, taming it with bait or giving it shiny metal salvage to play with before luring it into a tank to bring it into the base. You might want to get a helping hand with this task, since it’s not exactly an easy one-man job.

A2: Go With Fish
So, now you’ve got a live and very disgruntled Stalker on your hands! Hopefully, said hands don’t have to be amputated (it’s okay if they have to though, URSULA will fix it. Try not to watch the nanites go). What do you do with it? You could keep it as a pet and observe its growth! You could dissect it and study its anatomy! Or you could… eat it. (After going through all the effort to bring it in alive?!)

B: The Abysmal Sea
You’re stranded.

One of the planet’s troublesome signal-interfering pulses has just made your communication devices 100% nonfunctional. No matter how you try to call URSULA for help, she isn’t able to respond. The database strapped to your wrist is just a useless chunk of metal now, leaving you without a useful library of knowledge to survive off. If you were driving any underwater vehicle prior to this point, it’s broken down. And unless you’re a mechanic, it’ll be pretty hard to get it jumpstarted again.

Don’t fret! The communication systems always come online eventually, so if you stay put, it’ll boot back up and give you directions straight back to base so you can finally get home. But can you really afford to stay put? The sunlight’s slowly streaming out of the sky, leaving the waters darker and darker with each passing second. Soon, you won’t be able to see five feet in front of you, and the only warning you’ll get of any approaching threat is through sound, if they even make any.

You have a few choices: take a daring risk and try swimming back to base, but on the off-chance you don’t remember the directions correctly from before you were cut off, you’re going to get even more lost, in the darkness of the night no less. Or, you could huddle in, with any friends if they were unfortunate enough to be with you, and start focusing on getting warm. Because spending the night out here in the vast oceans with the entire world against you is becoming a very, very real possibility.

C: It’s dangerous to go alone. Take them!
URSULA’s technology is breathtaking. With enough materials, she could make practically anything: weapons, vehicles, all those human comforts and entertainments she forgot to build... or perhaps she could expand the base to give everyone even more leg room. But there’s a catch: you need to get those materials to her in the first place, and scavenging can be a monumental task.

The planet Iniidae has a plethora of materials to provide, but you’ve got to go find them first. Some are easy enough to get, by plucking off the ground or breaking a rock. But some are a bit more challenging, such as Crash Powder, seeing that the Crash defending it will literally explode in your face if you get too close. And then there’s materials such as Blood Oil, only harvestable within the Blood Kelp Caves several hundred meters underwater in the pitch-black darkness… remember, you have to gather resources with your two bare hands. No such thing as driving around and conveniently collecting them within the somewhat-relative safety of an armored vehicle.

Since it’s so dangerous to go alone, URSULA will encourage you all to leave the base in pairs or groups if you’re going to try collecting some of the more precarious materials to harvest. She has heard that most lifeforms find being reconstituted from nanites traumatic, so try not to die in front of each other!

D: Hide and Seek Help
URSULA knows that everyone needs downtime, and no one can go salvaging or gathering specimens all the time. So what do you do for fun on an alien ocean planet when the AI who made your base forgot to make any kind of entertainment room?

Why, play hide-and-seek, of course! There’s a lot of places to hide away from others, and it’s challenging to find anyone. (Sometimes, too challenging to find them… ever… but that’s not the point.) The area around the base and submarine is relatively safe, so anyone can hide away in a coral structure or a cave, and telepathy makes it easy to taunt your seekers without revealing where you are.

Of course, you may encounter a Bone Shark or even a stray Stalker, and you won’t have time to get away or even scream as it attacks you, but hey. What other way to make hide-and-seek more thrilling than to turn it into hide-and-hope-you-get-found-as-you-shout-for-help-to-anyone-who-can-hear-your-telepathy?

E: Toilet Humor
Really, it was bound to happen eventually. Someone's in the bathroom observatory, doing their 'business', and someone is trying very hard to catch a fish for dinner outside. Your eyes meet. Someone has literally been caught with their pants down.

And in that moment your telepathy goes a little wonky, because it's good to have open communication about this incident.

F: The Caverns of Dream
The ocean calls you. Of course, it's much easier to dismiss it as nightmares. You'll probably think that's all it is after you have them. Flashes of screaming sea creatures writhing in agony, pleading for help, but these creatures can't ask for help, can they? Something huge, beyond the scope of imagination, moves in the ocean of your dreams and calls out to you to go deeper into the darkness. It pleads and begs but not with a voice you can hear or words you can understand.

You wake up in a sweat with the unrelenting desire to take a swim, even though it's late and everyone is asleep. Or maybe someone else just had the same nightmare as you? Are you willing to take a swim and try to understand the dream?


BASED ON CODE BY TESSISAMESS AND SUPERSUITS


dissevered: (tpp » oblivion's calling out your name)

kazuhira miller » metal gear solid v

[personal profile] dissevered 2016-02-14 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
f;
( Sleep hardly ever came easy – now much less so than before in this cage of glass and metal far beneath the surface of the ocean – and Miller finds himself already in the entrance of the facility before he is properly aware of it happening. The voiceless call of the void persists still, long after he’s left the shaky confines of his dreams, yet he knows that to simply heed the summons unprepared would be suicide; nobody knows what lies that far beyond the shallows.

Not to mention his state – the ability to swim was a crucial skill to have, especially when your bases were located out in the open sea, but the incident in Afghanistan has put paid to that for now (at least until he takes the A.I. up on the offer for prosthetics) and a pronounced ache is settling once more in his phantom limbs.

Leaning wearily on his crutch Miller stares hard at the foreboding darkness on the other side of the glass, as if waiting on a sign. If he squints, perhaps he can make out shapes in the murky waters: questionable alien forms hovering in his peripheral vision that dart out of his sight just as he has them vaguely in focus, the reliefs of slopes and cliffs in the distance, harsh lines of struts platforms, mangled wreckage of the MSF Mother Base -- )


Shit.

( The oath comes on an exhalation that is loud in the silence this late at night, and when he looks again after pinching at the bridge of his nose the shapes are gone. There is nothing there, only a solid canvas of black, but he still hears the call all the same. )

wildcard;
( While URSULA’s been helpful enough in providing the bare-bones of what a living thing would need to survive this far under the waves, it will prove insufficient should the base see more arrivals – and he’s got a feeling they’re not about to stop coming in any time soon.

Before they can figure out next steps, though, he’ll have to familiarise himself with any and all existing data he can get his hands on, first. The lab is as good a place as any to start, and any visitor to the room will find Miller at either the aquarium or at the line of samples, questioning the database as he finds each one. He’d like to get that wreck in the distance checked out too, to be honest, but that’d have to wait. )
upcard: (✿ sane people don't carry scissors)

[personal profile] upcard 2016-02-14 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
[.... Ah.

Right.

Where this is supposed to go.

Um.]


I...

[She has no idea.]

I...don't know... someone--um, someone gave it to me and said that it needed to go somewhere, b-but... I'm not sure where it was...

... I'm sorry.
oneandmikleonly: (she's a cruel mistress.)

[personal profile] oneandmikleonly 2016-02-14 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Normally, Mikleo would have moved out of the way and avoided that . . . but the dream is distracting him too, and he's paying way more attention to the unfamiliar, almost uncomfortable press of the ocean all around.

So, Seto takes him by surprise, and sends him knocking into one of the wall lockers with a muffled thud.]

Hey, watch where you're going...!

((ooc: please check these interaction notes!))
oneandmikleonly: (a bargain must be made.)

A1

[personal profile] oneandmikleonly 2016-02-14 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
[Colette...may or may not be able to see this kid swimming awkwardly nearby, but she should be able to at least hear him on a telepathy band. How handy! He's keeping an eye on the fish in case it gets aggressive, but he also sounds genuinely curious.]

Are you . . . trying to communicate with it? Is it sending any kind of answer back at all?
upcard: (✿ sane people don't carry scissors)

[personal profile] upcard 2016-02-14 12:22 am (UTC)(link)
[Hide...together? Admittedly, Mai doesn't think she'll be pretty good at this game alone, but...]

Are you sure it won't be any trouble?
ateaist: pixiv id=74573578 (13)

a2

[personal profile] ateaist 2016-02-14 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Nobunaga arrives just on time to watch Mai's attempt, but the entire time she simply watches the girl's inevitable failure, rather than trying to step in before she's trapped beneath the fish and its weight.

Even then, she only walks over to crouch beside the two of them once all's said and done.
]

Well...poor show. 0/10 for you, girl.

Are you giving up already?
ateaist: pixiv id=74573578 (11)

wildcard...

[personal profile] ateaist 2016-02-14 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Ohoh! Such fire! Usually...well, I'd feel rather slighted, you know. This demon's heart of mine won't tolerate disrespect...yet this woman's heart of mine admires your spirit! Very well...I'll postpone your execution, and if I find your cooking to be well enough, perhaps I'll even call it off entirely!

[She sits down, arms crossed.]

Now, let your judgement begin!
mildwildchild: (what even is that thing)

E

[personal profile] mildwildchild 2016-02-14 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Well. That sure is a giant snake person trying to hang a shower curtain.

Jamie's gut reaction to something like this would ordinarily be to back away slowly and try to forget he'd ever seen this, but the snake-person needs a hand, and it is asking politely, so it would be kind of jerkish to just walk off.

"Uhh, sure. What'd you need me to do?" He makes his way over to Sasasul and examines the components she's got strung about, if only to keep from staring overtly at her.
ateaist: pixiv id=74573578 (10)

c

[personal profile] ateaist 2016-02-14 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
I see! How fortunate then, as my own skills in that area are...not quite so great...well, that is to say a King has no reason to reduce herself to such a meager task...so I will cover your attempts to gather the materials we require. Be thankful that none other than the great Nobunaga Oda has decided to assist you; your success is guaranteed!

[...yeah, she's found herself quite the talker.]
ghouliday: (the tears are all forming a big pile...)

a1 c:

[personal profile] ghouliday 2016-02-14 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
but your fish friend seems mad, i might make things worse... nobody likes a third wheel...

oh no...


[ Friend. Obviously, a nice hangout involving magic tricks is what's going on here! Or maybe it was nice until Napstablook showed up. They're so unobtrusive even spiritually and in their thoughts that Mikleo might not have noticed them right away, but here is a sheet ghost floating right above them both like a jellyfish... while starting to cry obvious tears in the ocean? With no goggles to fill? Somehow?

They're pretty clearly magic of some kind, the other hint being that they fall all over the Stalker and stun it. The ghost may or may not have any idea what they are doing. ]
Edited 2016-02-14 01:00 (UTC)
spidermouth: ([Default])

be warned, the link is gross

[personal profile] spidermouth 2016-02-14 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
[Monster Kid is joined in this room by another monster - although this one not nearly as small, harmless or as... armless as they are.

The long,eel-like dragon creature lumbers up to the smaller monster, watching the fish with a similar sense of awe. He may be quite a bit larger than Monster Kid, but Ygnodentus is similarly immature, and the sight of such a large aquarium is somewhat amazing to him.

He responds to the Monster Kid's question after a brief pause, of course, but the armless youngling may notice something odd about his response...
]

We're gonna let them back out into the ocean?

[...and it's that the larger monster speaks in the same voice as the smaller one, albeit with a slightly different inflection. It isn't done mockingly, though. Ygno just tends to mimic words and voices out of habit.

He speaks again; still using the smaller monster's voice, but this time using his own words.
]

Why would we do that? I worked so hard to catch them.
Edited 2016-02-14 01:02 (UTC)
ruffledup: (pic#8958966)

[personal profile] ruffledup 2016-02-14 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Josephine pauses, just for a moment, but quickly covers it with a smile.

It is... interesting to see how different everyone here is to what she's accustomed to. But certainly not in a bad way.]


I confess I do not have the urge to swim quite so often. [If at all.] Or so suddenly, yes. I was just thinking of it when I woke.
mildwildchild: (Default)

[personal profile] mildwildchild 2016-02-14 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe he was. Except for the fact that he can't. Swim, that is.]

[He glances up at Josephine from his air mattress, where he's sitting up with his hands clasped pensively in his lap.] I kind of want to and I kind of...don't.

Is that weird?
ateaist: pixiv id=74573578 (5)

[personal profile] ateaist 2016-02-14 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Pah! "You can't" is just another way of saying "noone has". I'm quite certain if we simply leave the ocean as it is, it will retain this arrogant demeanour it has. I won't allow it!

[...yeah.]
oneandmikleonly: (a bargain must be made.)

[personal profile] oneandmikleonly 2016-02-14 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
[GAPES A LITTLE LIKE, well, a fish, because what is that. Is that a new predator or someone else from the base he'd missed? What is it doing? How is it crying underwater? He is so confused. And--did it speak to him or not? He's not sure. This non-pact telepathy is strange, but it's usually clearer.

Focus, Mikleo! He'll take the opportunity to fire off that second spell, and get the Stalker bound up in a second ring of ice while it's stunned. He keeps his staff up afterward as he paddles clumsily backward to get a better look, just in case he has to defend from Napstablook too. But he's also sending a polite thought at Napstablook, to be sure:]

Thanks for the assist.
ateaist: pixiv id=74573578 (11)

f for friends, f for fun, f for FUCK THE OCEAN, SON

[personal profile] ateaist 2016-02-14 01:16 am (UTC)(link)
I'm going to shoot every fish!

[How cheerful.]
ghouliday: (really not feelin up to right now)

[personal profile] ghouliday 2016-02-14 01:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Mettaton?

Their little ghost mouth mimes the word to no effect, unable to help it. They know how disappointing this has been for him... the band was supposed to be performing, right? Napstablook has just gone with the flow as usual, but now there's so little NONSTOP DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT that maybe something as simple as their clumsy swimming is making their cousin applaud. Oh, no. Is this comedy?

Should they... try to do a little flip as they get closer to the window? The keyword is try. An attempt is made and they just end up lopsided. The floating jellies seem to follow. ]
showybusiness: (crowdpleasers)

[personal profile] showybusiness 2016-02-14 01:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ All the sound coming from Mettaton is muted, so he stands there, silent and beautiful, watching intently. He's visibly giggling a little as the jellies follow, and gestures with a single finger. He points it upward, making a spinning motion with it. ]

Twirl, twirl! Like a little ballroom dance of wet ghosts!
ghouliday: (i'd just weigh you down)

[personal profile] ghouliday 2016-02-14 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
oh... did i do something...

you're welcome...?


[ Always one to respond to politeness, at least this is momentarily distracting them from making more tears. ]

also, um

was the freezing supposed to happen
oneandmikleonly: (oh; poor Atlas.)

[personal profile] oneandmikleonly 2016-02-14 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
Ah...yes. Yes, that was me. I was trying to bring it in to the labs, but I...miscalculated.

[. . .lowers his staff after a moment; it looks like it's option a (fellow planetside researcher) after all, and not option b (terrifying new native fauna.) Thank goodness.]
civilserpent: (12)

[personal profile] civilserpent 2016-02-14 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
There is the general impression that she would be at home considering how to assemble furniture from IKEA. The material cost of the item she had in mind was much smaller in pieces that could be joined than in one solid unit. It's basically two big rings and two long rods and all the things needed to combine them, with a pair of shower curtains.

When it's done one ring will be on the floor and the other will hold the front and back curtain. Feet could still be seen below and perhaps heads above, but it would be less "exhibition" and more "stall".

"Thank you. My thought was that improved privacy in this room would cause humans here to feel more comfortable." Humans are very modest, as a people. "However I need these two components to be held together like this in order to fix them in place. Might you be willing?"
ghouliday: (heh...)

[personal profile] ghouliday 2016-02-14 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ They still have no idea how this passes for making Mettaton so happy, but... it does? And they guess that's nice? At least someone can laugh at this.

Pretty sure they get it, they use what their body learned for turning around earlier and slowly start to spin. This has got to be the opposite of "zoom trance" though, whatever genre that is. Something out of Hotland? They thought they kept up with the newer tunes, but what else could he have just barely said? So they spin faster, trying to imagine some psychedelic beat in the background. Faster. The jellies vaguely follow.

Napstablook can no longer stop spinning. ]
showybusiness: (be nice to the ghost)

[personal profile] showybusiness 2016-02-14 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, wow, they're really giving it their all! It's like some kind of spectral drill out there. He claps politely, mostly out of genuine concern. ]
saisthelimit: ([2])

Raphael | TMNT 2003

[personal profile] saisthelimit 2016-02-14 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
A2.
[Turtles evolved their shells as protection from predictors, which Raph has had plenty of experience with. Funny how it comes in handy so often, especially -and this is sort of a random example- with a Stalker's jaws clamped around it and refusing to let go. What an angry face on the turtle coming up to you.]

Hey, you, do me a favor? Grab the tail and pull.

B.
[He's a turtle. He's a ninja. At least one of these things should have helped him not get lost in the middle of the ocean. He should have been a sea turtle.

The darkness of the ocean has a strange heaviness to it, he can almost feel it. weighing on his head. But you don't become a ninja if you're prone to panic, and even if he can't fix an unresponsive underwater vehicle (Where's Donnie when you needs him?)...well, OK, there's no "even if" here.]


Well, we're sunk. If you need meditation lessons or to get knocked out, speak up now, 'cause if you start panicking, I'm tossin' you into the drink.

F.
[Raph hasn't been sleeping well the last few nights. Nightmares are...well, he's had his fair share of them. But this is different, it drives him, it reaches right down into his soul and yanks him to his feet and that feeling makes him feel absolutely insane.

He really, really doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, and he's using every single ninja trick in the book to not get spotted, which can only go so well with all these different people around here. But even a ninja can't avoid being seen forever in a ship as small as URSULA, nor can he trust her to not suddenly throw up the lights on him as he sneaks around...]
sunsetundersea: (07)

[personal profile] sunsetundersea 2016-02-14 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
A shame, it can be a lot of fun.

[She narrows her eyes. It... well, see the icon.] The last time I was on a strange world and someone had a psychic compulsion to go somewhere, it ended very poorly.

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