T-T-T-TEST DRIVE! Meme!

[thewakemods]

It's that time again!

→ Comment with a new character you'd like to test out in the game's setting. (put character/canon in subject line pls!)
→ You don't have to be in the game to comment! HI NEW PEOPLE LET US ENABLE YOU.
→ Tag around with new and old characters.
→ App all those characters
→ ???
→ PROFIT!

**NOTICE** - For new series and recent updates/occurrences to existing ones, please mark as SPOILERS if you must refer to such, but please use your own discretion in general.

Comments

[clay_doll]

By 'different places' Annie gets the idea that he means locations away from Earth. She doesn't understand 'how' or 'why' to any degree, but that piece of 'where' she is able to grasp. However it leaves her more perplexed regarding where Nautilus itself is located if not on Earth and able to reach to other worlds.

Shaking her head when asked if she is hurt, Annie can easily deny that. There is no pain anywhere that she feels, so certainly not. At the request for her last clear memory though... She struggles with that request quite a bit more. Her brow furrows as she tries to concentrate on the traces of memories still present from before waking here, and reaches up with both hands to her head this time with her head dropping forward to meet them. Her voice only shrinks with distress and tension, straining just to get the very glimpses of something, "...r-running. I...I have to keep moving."

[fixthegame]

"Whatever you were running from, it's highly improbable that it could have followed you here," he says. If Annie truly was last in Gotham (any Gotham), it isn't hard to believe she'd been in some kind of danger. While Nautilus isn't exactly a walk in a non-monster-infested park either, there would at least be people around willing to help her. As for her memory loss, Edward might be able to find someone who would know more about matters like these. A doctor? Maybe that A.I. programmed with psychology expertise.

He stands back up, holding out his hand to her. "But if you like, we can try to find someplace safer." He figures if the urge to keep moving is so strong in Annie, she'd only become more anxious by staying in one spot to talk.

[clay_doll]

Not leaving her to dwell on the ingrained urge is certainly the right course to take. While she has not encountered what sent her fleeing in the first place since waking, emotions like fear usually do not respond readily to reason or logic as evident in the tightening of the muscles in her legs.

Inhaling as she lifts her head from her hands at the sound of him rising from kneeling, Annie looks up at him with an expression of anxiety bordering on panic that fades at the sight of his hand held out to her. Her dark eyes focus on his hand for a pause, and with only a brief hesitation midway, the girl reaches to accept the offer. The smaller hand feels warm and smooth, not yet roughened by labor if the lack of callouses are any indication.

"..i-is it really okay for me to call you Edward?" She has the impression that most adults would prefer something denoting greater respect than a first-name basis.

[fixthegame]

In comparison, Edward's hand is far more worn, both from years of crimefighting and long-healed burn wounds. His grip is steady and gentle... though it falters, just for a fleeting moment as he thinks about how long it's been since he's held his own daughter's hand. His attention snaps back to Annie when she speaks, and his smile returns.

"Of course it's okay. Just Eddie is fine as well," he responds. After a thought, he adds, "Or, Mr. Nashton. Whatever works for you. I'm not set on any one particular name." Admittedly, 'Mr. Nashton' would be a weird one for him. Too formal. And, it's a cliche, but really. Mr. Nashton is his father.

He looks around, wondering what direction to take her first. Finding a Welcome House for her could come later. For now it might be better to get her more comfortable with the city. "The market in the Southern District, I think," he mutters. He turns back to Annie. "Is there anything more you wanted to know? I can try to explain things while we walk."

Ah, no fair giving me feels-!

[clay_doll]

Calmed quite a bit by the contact despite the flicker of disruption, Annie straightens her posture with knees separating and head lifting fully in preparation for moving. Her free hand finds a place tucked at her chest, fingers curled over her sleeve. A single step takes her closer to hand she holds, but otherwise she waits until he begins to move to follow his lead.

She nods at the answer regarding his name, and given that he had presentend his name as Edward first, she'll stick with that. Patiently she waits as he deciphers the best way to take her, half hearing the murmur regarding a market somewhere. She knows what that is, but fails to visualize it. Soon enough she just might see one for herself, but his question gets her mind turned to other matters.

"...maybe you can tell me about Nautilus? I've seen buildings that look very different from each other, and a lot of trees, but that's it so far." The rather open ended question is posed with a tinge of uncertainty, but she figures if he can tell her something about this place, she can think of better questions.

you'll take your feels and like it

[fixthegame]

The open market is a quaint little place, something of a novelty to anyone used to Gotham's industrialized urban environments. Annie might even like it. It's quiet and out of the way of Nautilus's busier areas. The market also offers unlimted food, all safe to eat, completely free. Nothing not to like about that.

As Annie has already observed, the way there is mostly marked by dense trees and foliage. The pair pass by the occasional building, none that resemble the last. He continues, "There are some places with less trees," Edward says. "Depending where you are in Nautilus, some places look so different that you'd never believe you were in the same city. That's what Nautilus is, just one city. It's sort of... magic." Internally, he winces at the simplification. Creation energy is to magic like what magic is to a rock. There's just plain more to it than that. "Differnent looking buildings and structures can appear at random."

If Annie gets accepted you are so getting payback

[clay_doll]

Free food means no more picking through discards for scraps to ward off hunger. Plenty to appreciate just in that fact alone.

Falling into pace with Edward, Annie adjusts her cadence as necessary to keep up with him while walking beside him, feet naturally having to move faster due to her shorter stature. Given her tendency to run, a quick pace would suit her fine should that be needed to match him.

Rather surprised by what he tells her, Annie definitely has more questions now, "A city? Do a lot of people live here then? And...do the buildings ever appear where someone is?" In other words, do these randomly manifesting buildings have the chance to appear on people?

Bring it on!

[fixthegame]

"Not a lot of people, actually," he says. "We're only a few dozen over a hundred. People are pretty spread out, but we all keep in contact with commnicators. Everyone has one when they arrive. You should have one, too." The city's population really is minuscule when compared to the numbers of a normal city. A person could claim an entire block for theirself and still be without neighbors.

"And, no, it's not like the buildings fall out of the sky on top of our heads," he says with a laugh. "You'll just find them, standing in places that were empty yesterday. They'll never appear where someone already is. Somtime places can change around us, but no one gets hurt." And it wasn't like Nautilus would deliberately endanger people so carelessly. Which then begs the question. How is he going to explain the city being alive? Some people who have lived here for weeks or months still don't understand it. Maybe he can open the topic with a discussion about souls. Or gods.

Or he could just say "magic" again.