Test Dive #1

[subnauticmods]

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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

Comments

[imsorey]

[Even though catching the Stalker was URSULA's request, he can't deny he would have tried to start with the biggest first first.]

Next time we can find a smaller fish to work with if this one was too tough for you.

[oneandmikleonly]

Don't be ridiculous, Sorey.

[ELBOWS HIM. They did just fine! It's right there! Maybe he had a few problems in the fight, but he can fix those eventually.]

[imsorey]

[Elbowing him back with a laugh, even as he winces and half-steps away to avoid another blow.]

We managed it without losing any fingers, but even I'll admit there were a few close calls. Maybe next time we should ask someone else to help out. Besides, there must be a reason she wanted us to get this one first, don't you think?

[oneandmikleonly]

[Hmph! He takes the elbow back with good grace, though.]

Obviously part of it was to clear some of them out from around the base. If they get aggressive at all there's enough of them that they'd be a problem for all of us.

[...and he doesn't want to admit to Sorey's face that he's worried about his capability to cover Sorey's back alone out there right now, but...]

I wouldn't mind taking along another fighter or two next time we need to get hold of one, though. More efficient.

[imsorey]

[He doesn't want to admit that he's a little worried either, but, well, it shows on his face. Fighting in water is hard, and it could take some time getting used to it. He doesn't want anyone to get hurt while getting used to it, if it can be avoided.]

I don't want to get any non-fighters mixed up in this, but there must be a few people who have been around long enough that they're comfortable fighting underwater. I'd rather not have to find out firsthand how much those nanites can fix.

[oneandmikleonly]

[...oh. He can read the matching concern in Sorey's face like a book. Mikleo shifts his weight a little, arms folded.]

Do you think it would help if we asked around about people's capabilities? Maybe get a chart together of people who are good swimmers, good fighters, things like that, for everyone's reference. We might all have an easier time arranging groups that way.

[It's not like at home, after all, where only Sorey and his pacted seraphim can really purify hellions. They don't...necessarily need to do this alone.]

[imsorey]

[He brightens up at Mikleo's idea, taking to it instantly. While he would have no problem practicing by himself until he was able to fight under water as well as on land, it's an opportunity to get to know the people they're with and work alongside of them. It would be a little different if it was a task to purify the world, but this is just keeping some fish in line.]

Something like that would really help out. Maybe there are other people who have been thinking of doing the same thing! That's pretty smart thinking, Mikleo.

[oneandmikleonly]

[That's better. Mission accomplished. Of course, he can't resist teasing a little, though--]

Well, someone's got to do it, after all.

[imsorey]

[He should have seen it coming, honestly]

One compliment and it goes right to your head.

[oneandmikleonly]

[Yeah, you walked into that one, Sorey.]

Don't sulk too much or you'll scare your new fish friend.

[imsorey]

I get the feeling this guy isn't going to get its feelings hurt from something as little as that.

[He steals a glance at it just to be sure, though. It's still ridiculously long and displeased at being inside of a tank.]

It might hold a grudge about the tiny living space, though.

[oneandmikleonly]

That's true. We're going to have to keep it fed while we've got it, too.

[He doesn't particularly want to go straight back in the water again to chase down food fish or dead Gasopods, though.]

Why don't we get it to the lab for now?

[imsorey]

Sounds good to me. We can find some fish for it to eat later. I don't think it's going to starve if we take a break for a while. I was hoping to check out the observatories later, anyways. Maybe I'll spot some fish.

[Moving the tank is going to be enough work as it is without having to go hunting for fish after, and it really doesn't look like it will starve, so it doesn't seem too pressing once they actually get it to the laboratory.]

[oneandmikleonly]

[Well, it was eating when they found it. He makes a mental note to remind Sorey in an hour or so if he loses track of time, though.]

Sounds like a plan. You'll like the observatories, I think -- they're pretty calming.

[They can haul the fish down there and slot the tank somewhere appropriate . . . probably leave a label on it with their names, too, so people know who's responsible for that particular fish.]

[imsorey]

That is why I want to check them out. They sound pretty interesting. You've seen them already?

[He does an idle glance over the label on the tank, and then a double-take when he thinks of something.]

Oh, hey, should we give it a name or something?

[oneandmikleonly]

[A name? Mikleo lifts his shoulders, the slightest of shrugs. It seems a little odd to name a fish to him for some reason. Maybe because he's not a big pet person?]

You can name it if you'd like. As for the observation rooms -- yes, I was up in one for a little bit earlier.

[He'd needed a moment, after navigating the crush in the base, and getting confronted with far more people who could see and hear him than normal. It had been kind of a gratifying experience . . . but also exhausting.]

[imsorey]

[It feels only a little odd to pick a name for a fish to be able to tell it apart from the rest, to him, but that mostly has to do with being the Shepherd. Would naming a fish make it a Squire? Probably not. No sense in risking it, though.]

I guess it doesn't need one right now, so if it comes up I'll think of one later. Want to take another look at the observation room with me, or are you going to look around more?

[oneandmikleonly]

[He's not living in your head with a fish, Sorey. There's not really anywhere to put it in there.

Speaking of--]

I'll come along. Inside you, though. I don't feel like alarming anyone in the corridors this time.

[Aaaand he's retreating inside Sorey.]

[imsorey]

[Heading for the nearest observation room without pause, half smiling at the mental image of Mikleo trying to avoid running into people who can't see him in narrow corridors.]

Sounds exhausting. How many people did you startle?

[oneandmikleonly]

...A lot more than I expected, actually. Some of them clearly aren't human, so that wasn't a big surprise, but quite a few humans here have resonance of some sort too. And even the ones who don't can hear me in their heads, if I use the telepathy URSULA gave us.

[Which isn't the telepathy he's using right now, incidentally; this is pure pact headspeak. Same function, but still more familiar and comfortable.]

[imsorey]

Wow, really? I wonder how that many of them have resonance without having come into contact with any seraphim. Most people here don't seem to recognize the word, but maybe they just have a different name they use.

[It seems unlikely to him even as he says it, but it is worth investigating if it's something that can be applied back home too. Alternatively, finding a way to transport URSULA's telepathy back home would be a challenge, but if people could at least hear seraphim it would be a step in the right direction.]

[oneandmikleonly]

They don't really recognize the term 'resonance' either, so different terminology is a possibility. I haven't inquired closely enough to get a clear picture yet, though. It seems like a bad time to push it, with everyone still settling in.

[And, as though picking up on that thought, his tone more positive:]

This telepathy seems like a big step towards one dream of ours, though. If there's a way to bring it back to Glenwood, that is.

[imsorey]

[Ever the optimist, he only needs a nudge in that direction to put himself behind it.]

As long as it doesn't just work underwater I'm sure there's a way to bring it back, if URSULA doesn't mind us poking our noses into it. You're right that it's not the best time to ask when we're all still figuring things out here, but I bet you plenty of people would be willing to help us out. Who would have thought a place like this would create the perfect opportunity to bring humans and seraphim together? And, well, everything in between.

[He's definitely seen some non-humans around too, after all.]

[oneandmikleonly]

Everything in between . . . you're expanding your scope quickly, I see.

[It's dry, but there's a definite warmth in his mental tone: he never expected any less.]

Next left is the observatory, by the way.

[imsorey]

--Got it, thanks.

[He almost misses the turn, caught up in his conversation with Mikleo, but spins himself around quick enough without tripping over his feet. He heads down the last stretch of hallway and finds a bench to settle down on, looking up and out into the ocean with a grin.]

Nothing wrong with including everybody, am I right?