VOICE (9/20, Pre-total-antidote-dispersal and... other-her's post!)

[squadgoals]

Hi everyone, Shepard here.

Just wanted to make sure everyone's aware: the crew has managed to secure an incredibly rare drink from the hosts, and is passing it out amongst ourselves. Trust me, you're going to want to make room for this one! In a word? Life-changing.

[Wait. That was two words. There's the briefest of pauses before she continues, undaunted:]

If you see one of us with the bottle, just flag us down. We're very happy to share! [Insistent, even.

There's a beat, and then with just a hint of a smile:]

And to anyone who's already had a chance to sip this miracle nectar: Nate's probably not going to say anything, but you might find that he already did.

Over and out.

[OOC: Shep is cajoling people into antidote drinking over HERE at the event log!]

Comments

[sketchycharacter]

[How perceptive.]

But some of them were real assholes when I tried to talk them down, and I don't know if that can be blamed on the drug.

[squadgoals]

[She nods as he speaks, shrugging sympathetically.]

I wouldn't take it personally.

Think of it as if you tried to take a bottle from a baby. They can't help if they have an emotional outburst — their field of focus is currently narrow, and you're trying to take it from them.

[sketchycharacter]

[That actually gets him to crack a smile.]

Oh, wow, that's a good burn. I'm kind of disappointed none of them heard you say it. [All right, so he's still taking it a tiny bit personally.] I just hope we can get this stuff distributed fast and get the fuck out of here.

[squadgoals]

[Nate's reaction in turn prompts a voiceless chuckle out of Shep, and the barest shake of her head.]

You and me both. I don't know what our hosts have been playing at, but I'm not interested in sticking around any longer than we already have to find out. [Here, she taps at her MID's date function — a sharp and irritated gesture — which continues displaying the year exactly one later than it aught to be.] To hell with this place.

[sketchycharacter]

Agreed.

[He likes a good time, but this place is the very definition of too much.]

Wish I knew how the hell we didn't notice the time passing once we got clearheaded. But I'm glad we came out of it at all.

[squadgoals]

Maybe it started passing normally when we came out, and we never checked. We sure as hell didn't notice the rest of the time — how would we pick up on the difference?

[sketchycharacter]

Maybe, but shouldn't it be the same for everyone on the planet? Ugh, this makes my head hurt.

[Agh. He rubs at his forehead.]

Well, whatever. It'll be done soon. Why do you think some of us stop being affected, anyway?

[squadgoals]

I wouldn't even know where to start. Could be anything, from "planetary time dilation" on down to "more Ingress trouble". The sooner we're out of here, the better, though — if it is something to do with the planet itself, I want to be out of here before it picks up for round two.

[She breaths in and out through her nose, rocking back on her heels, and stares up at the Moira herself.]

Not sure. Could be a metabolism thing, or could just be that we gained an immunity. We were certainly subject to it for the first while — so maybe, like a disease, our bodies just slowly fought it off.

[sketchycharacter]

Maybe.

[He frowns, considering.]

You know...I was drugged twice in the week before I came through the Ingress. Pretty severe stuff. Maybe that gave me some kind of resistance.

[He leads an interesting life, Shep.]

[squadgoals]

Resistance? Definitely could have something to do with it. Had my fair share of drugs in me at one point or another. I metabolize things a lot faster, too, so I tend to need higher doses of most medicines.

[Doses that would pretty much kill other people. Details.

But she casts an eye over Nate instead, eyeing him sympathetically.]

Sounds like neither encounter was by choice. Not exactly a walk in the park. You come out of it okay?

[sketchycharacter]

[Well, that could explain the two of them, but not Asriel. Maybe the biology of goat kids worked to his advantage.]

They weren't. Both times were a lot of hell while they lasted, but I came out of it eventually.

A tip, though? If you ever find yourself in a fabled lost city, even if you just got out of the desert, don't automatically drink the water.

[squadgoals]

I... won't. [SHE NEVER WOULD BUT HEY. WHAT THE HELL NATE.]

You must've been pretty thirsty.

[sketchycharacter]

I'd recently spent three days wandering the largest desert on Earth without water, so yeah.

[After surviving a plane crash. Though maybe that doesn't count, since he had a parachute.]

Pretty thirsty.

[squadgoals]

[Largest desert...] The Sahara? Lucky you made it out of that with just a trip.

[Wait, backtrack a second.]

Did you say "fabled lost city" in the middle of a desert? What, did you stumble across El Dorado?

[sketchycharacter]

Nah—it was the Rub' al Khali. That's the largest contiguous desert, the Sahara's got nothing on it.

[Even now, he is a nerd lord.]

And it was Iram of the Pillars, Ubar, the Atlantis of the Sands. Had a lot of names. El Dorado was a few years back, and I didn't stumble across it, I tracked it down.

[squadgoals]

Oh, uh.

Okay.

Atlantis was my second choice. Didn't know there was a sand one, though.

[wow what an honor meeting king of dorks #sohumbled #soembarrassing

luckily for you she dated the queen of dorks a few years back

this is practically par for the course]

--And wait, what do you mean, you "tracked down El Dorado"? I'm pretty sure the whole point of the myth is that it's not traceable.

[sketchycharacter]

[Yeah, if it's [another fabled lost city] with "of the sands" as a qualifier, it's definitely a second-tier myth. How embarrassing.

Nate does perk up a little at the question about El Dorado. Even years later, after he's learned a lot about what it means to chase after a legacy, he's still proud of that one.]

Some myths come from history, and history can be wrong. The explorer Sir Francis Drake [note the surname] thought otherwise, and he was right. Four hundred years ago from my time, he faked his death and found El Dorado himself. And four years ago, I followed him.

1/2

[squadgoals]

And you found it, too? [She smiles, exhaling a chuckle out her nose, and shaking her head.] Okay, that's pretty cool.

Isn't your last name Drake, too? Sounds like there was a bit of destiny in the mix, too.

[beat;]

2/2

[squadgoals]

That would make a great vid.

[sketchycharacter]

[It was pretty cool, slimy zombies aside.]

Yeah, it is—

[Uh.]

Sorry, what?

[squadgoals]

I was saying that your adventures sound like they would make a great entertainment vid.

[sketchycharacter]

Like a movie? I don't know about that. I've seen some cool stuff, sure, but I've also spent a lot of time running away, trying not to get shot.

[squadgoals]

Yeah, like that — and I don't know, didn't you ever see...

[???What was the title???

It was a really old series of films, but she'd only watched the first one, on a whim, flipping through classic vids one night as a teenager.

???Thieves of the Missing... Ark???

It didn't sound quite right. The plot was intact, though:]

...That... movie, about the archaeologist, Doctor Jones? He spends a lot of time running away from things, and still comes out looking pretty cool.

[sketchycharacter]

What, Indiana Jones?

[He laughs out loud heartily.]

Oh, man. You're the second person on this ship to compare me to him—it's going to become a thing now, I just know it.

[But there are worse fictional characters to be compared to.]

Yeah, I guess there are a few similarities. I don't think I'll ever use a bullwhip, though. I'd probably end up whipping myself in the ass.

APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY, FEEL FREE TO DROP

[squadgoals]

[At the titular title, she brightens.] That's the one! I'm surprised you don't have a cool adventurer nickname for yourself.

Never considered the whip, though? Seemed pretty handy. Guess you don't swing over as many pitfalls as he does.