onebullet | Voice Test: OTA 🗣️

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Voice Test: OTA 🗣️

1. Rough Ride

[ Trying to outrun pursuers, or in the middle of a gun fight and need an evac STAT? Never fear, Shepard is here!

The ramshackle car barrelling towards you screeches into a 180 turn at the last second, almost rolling from the force of the manoeuvre as too-thin tyres lose a little more of themselves to the concrete.

With two loud BANGs, the passenger-side door yields to the kicks of the driver, crashing against the front fender in a shower of glass. ]

Get in!

[ Shepard swivels back into position with a bounce, one hand gripping the wheel and the other on the stick-shift of the ancient car. Her focus snaps back to movement in the wing mirror, body tensed like a coiled spring that's itching to hit the gas. Maybe you know her, maybe you don't, but one thing is very clear: she's trying to save your ass from whatever mess you're in. ]

⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

2. Is This Loss?

[ Index finger thumps against pursed lips as she studies the display, brow furrowed in thought. Maybe it's something you yourself made, put a lot (or very little) effort into. Perhaps you're a fan of the arts, or maybe you're not but know this piece is valuable and are scoping the joint. Whatever your reasons, Shepard turns to look at you with her arms crossed, finger curled back into the fist resting against her chin.

Her bright eyes are piercing, her gaze unnervingly intense. ]

... I don't get it.

[ A small, self-deprecating smile and an unapologetic shrug. She's a soldier, not a critic. ]

⋆⭒˚.⋆🪐 ⋆⭒˚.⋆

3. Choose Your Own Adventure

[Bring it on. (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞]

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[ It's currently straddling their lane, plus oncoming traffic, but it's fine. Everything's fine. Other vehicles are making way for them when needed, the people here are real considerate. ]

So they're getting more advanced, or they were Cerberus husks. They didn't look like they came from Cerberus, though...

[ Neither possibility is great for them. The one thing the Reapers and Cerberus need a lot less of is bodies to throw into the line of fire, never mind smarter bodies. Husks are a big enough pain in the ass already.

There's a long pause before she continues, finally dragging the car into the correct lane, even if the speed hasn't reduced at all. ]

Why didn't you ask for backup?

[He actively winces a few times, when a bigger vehicle swerves around them. This is fine. All of this is fine.]

My bets are on advanced. Because our luck is just that great these days.

[Why wouldn't there be more advanced husks? Maybe they're both, even. He wouldn't put it past Cerberus to figure out a way to do make more advanced cannon fodder. They're devious that way.]

[He pries his hand off the hand-grip, finally. Okay, this is progress.]

You had other problems on your hands. Besides, I saw the ah... [What even is this vehicle.] ... truck. Coming.

[ Shepard's jaw clenches, glowering at the road. She's clearly not happy, about either branch of the conversation, but particularly the latter part. It's true she often has a lot on her hands, but... ]

Next time, you ask me. And if I can't back you up, I'll make sure there's someone that can. Is that understood?

[ Her voice is low, thick with something that isn't quite anger. She's throwing her weight, pulling rank. Nothing is more important than her crew, especially her right hand. He needs to be able to rely on her. ]

Understood.

[Immediately. No questions asked. No rebuttal. That's how it works. You get a directive from Shepard, you respond in the affirmative. Unless - it's not physically possible. Even though he absolutely would have called her as a last resort. That's not important.]

[Though, with that out of the way, he can't resist...] Where did you find this thing, anyway?

[This... very interesting piece of machinery...]

[ She trusts Garrus to challenge her when needed, but in this instance she's glad he took it on the chin - even if it was a little dramatic.

A little colour returns to the knuckles clamped on the steering wheel, the ire caused by what if scenarios over the close call appeased instantly. It's done, and they're safe...-ish. She is still driving, after all.

Speaking of the car. ]

Amazing, right? It's gotta be a hundred and fifty years old. Don't build them like they used to.

[ She thumps the roof, the fabric interior muffling the impact of her fist, but not the aftermath. Something outside the car dislodges with a very audible crunch, clattering onto the road in their wake. Shepard either doesn't notice, or doesn't care. Probably both. ]

Just tossed a few credits at a guy. Seemed pretty happy to have it taken off his hands, and I needed something quick.

[Given the intensity of the moment, he can accept a little drama. Frankly, if the situations were reversed, he can't imagine he'd have kept an even tone - well, not completely. As much as he'd have tried.]

[How can you relax fully when Shepard is driving? You can't. He just braces in place, and has to trust the restraints.]

Clearly. [Clearly they do not build vehicles like this. And probably for good reason.] It's. Uh. It's something else -

What was that -? [What the hell just went crunch?? Shepard??] I said I wasn't going to argue in the moment, but - seriously. How is this thing even running?

Relax, it's fine - I'm sure we'd notice if it was something important.

[ There's a red light flashing ominously on the dashboard display, one that someone familiar with old cars would recognise as the symbol representing the engine. To be fair, it's been flashing the whole ride. No klaxons or voice announcing a malfunction means everything is A-OK! ]

I don't know the specifics, I think humanity was largely still running on fossil fuels when this was made. Unless it's been modified.

[ It has not. ]

You don't know the specifics, but you're sure we'd notice a problem?

[Despite everything, the light tone of amusement doesn't fade away. They're moving rapidly away from danger, and none of the husks seem to be catching up. Perfect time to be blithe about the car.]

[And how rickety it looks - to his eyes, at least.]

How do you tell if it's been modified? Or... you know. Runs out of fuel?

[Or drops an important part.]

I think it just stops when it runs out of fuel...

[ She squints at the dashboard display, ignoring the blinking engine light which could very much be a low fuel warning for all she knows. ]

But hey. We're already on the ground, so that's good right?

In theory...

[In theory it's a good thing they're on the ground. But if they stop and there's a sudden influx of trouble?]

So long as you plan on keeping it there. [Don't drive it up a cliff Shepard, please.] Does it have any weapons? Shields?

On a civilian car? Doubt it.

[ She starts to poke around, though. Flicking the lever on the left of the wheel seems to do nothing but make a rhythmic ticking noise, twisting it turns the headlights on. All the while, she's barely looking at the road, though there's barely been any other vehicles for a little while now. ]

Shouldn't need this for much longer, anyway. Just need an opportunity to take it off-road and call for an evac.

Great.

[And there doesn't look like there's a convenient roof opening to pop out of and be the weaponry, if need be. Maybe they could carve one if they had to? Maybe? But - ]

The road. Shepard - keep an eye on the road. Please.

[Don't drive off it yet please!]

[ She sighs and gives up the futile search with Garrus's plea, dutifully fixing her eyes on the road ahead of them. The stretch they're on is flanked by barriers, so unless Shepard has completely lost her mind, he's safe for now. Which is just as well, it's pretty rough looking terrain; craggy ground covered sporadically by trees. ]

C'mon Garrus, my driving record is spotless.

[ There's a pause. And then she quickly rushes in, possibly trampling over the start of a list of incidents from her companion. ]

-- The Mako doesn't count! It's designed to roll and fly down cliffs.

[ It's designed to do that as a precaution, not a feature. ]

Thank you. [If that came out a little primly, then so be it. It's mostly for show - ribbing to lighten the mood now that they're out of trouble. He's not actually all that worried.]

[He does keep his eye out for anything in the trees, though. It could happen!] You -

[Shepard wins. She cuts him off before he can comment on the Mako.] Shepard, I don't think that's a feature most people utilize. Short of driving over a land mine.

Well, I'm not most people - I use everything available to me. And are you telling me the Alliance poured so many credits into building a vehicle they didn't want half the features made use of?

[ It'd be a lie to say that Shepard isn't arguing back in earnest, but that just makes the banter more amusing to her. Her relaxed composure and the occasional wave of one hand lifted from the steering wheel gives away that the outrage in her words is completely hollow. ]

And the blasting cap incident happened one time, and anyone else driving would have had the same issue.

Having not actually been part of the Alliance, I can't say. But I can't help but think they didn't exactly plan on the thing being launched off a mountain.

[A beat.] Repeatedly.

[And despite himself, he snorts out a laugh.]

One time, sure. Jumping on geth armatures though...

[ She grins at his laugh, giving a big shrug of the shoulders. ]

The idea had merit, and it did stop it blasting at us for a little while.

It's just unfortunate that backup arrived so soon.

[ Otherwise she'd have tried doing donuts on it in the hopes of disabling something. ]

All right, all right... I'll give you that one. I'd be a liar not to.

[As much as it had genuinely sucked at the time.]

Fortunate for the geth, or us?

[The geth, probably.]

Both, I guess. You were looking a little green.

[ She drums her fingers on the wheel... ]

Wonder if that would work on a Reaper if you hit it right.

Green?

[He's picked up a lot of human sayings so far. Every now and again, though, one pops up and his brain blanks out. Like now.]

... Please don't tell me we're trying that.

Like you were gonna throw up.

Can mean new, too. You might hear the second one thrown around near Alliance recruits.

[ She reaches up to adjust the wing mirror. The barriers restricting them to the road are gradually becoming more spaced out. ]

You can't tell me you're not curious.

Ahh. The second, definitely heard before. Wondered what "inexperienced" had to do with flying upside-down off a cliff.

[He's going to keep making the Mako adventures more and more absurd. It's... possible they did happen, at some point.]

Shepard, we've tried taking one on foot, and throwing a giant thresher maw at them. My curiosity is stated.

[ Practically the only thing the Mako hasn't done is turn inside-out. Yet. ]

Your curiosity needs a bigger appetite. Why fight them on foot or with a thresher maw if we could disable them from the safety of the Mako?

[ Arguably they'd fair the same on foot as they would inside the Mako if a Reaper nailed them with their beam, but the mental image of clambering around on a Sovereign-class Reaper ~~like they're from a Dragon's Dogma game~~ is too entertaining to pass up. ]

[Yet... that's the scary part.]

"Safety" and "Mako" feel like direct opposites. Especially at this point.

[Just lure them all to Tuchanka and let Kalros take them out. That worked so well the first time, why not again?]

[ Shepard shoots him an amused glance, there's no rebuttal forthcoming. Mainly because he's right, but also because she doesn't want Garrus to bring out "the big guns" in proving himself right.

When it comes to the Mako, she's the expert at terrorising the crew, and Garrus is the expert at everything else. ]

You manage to get the seatbelt on?

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