May 2024 Test Drive Meme: The First of Many to Come

[newcomod]

"When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.”

Welcome to our first meme!

We will officially be opening our game June 1st at 12:01 AM EST.
Reserves will open on May 28th at 12:01 AM EST.
Applications will open on the 1st at 12:01 AM EST.
Applications will close on the 5th at 11:59 PM EST.

Please follow our Plurk newcomb for updates regarding the opening of our game.

Our memes are open to current and prospective players alike.
All Test Drive memes are game canon and serve as a lead-up to the following month's event. The first prompt in each TDM will always coincide with the disastrous circumstances of Penumbra's collision.

This disaster will leave unique supplies or conditions for the following month until the reset in time occurs and a new collision invokes new circumstances.

Most characters upon initial arrival may suffer mild amnesia, fatigue, and diminished powers. Memories, energy, and powers will eventually return. Per player choice, this can be quickly or slowly.

You can use your TDM threads for writing samples on your application.
If you are applying for a new character, you can choose to keep your TDM threads canon to your character or not.

Even if our current players do not engage with the TDM, we strongly recommend they read each TDM to be aware of how Penumbra strikes Newcomb every month. We encourage characters to react to this via network or log posts in the community spaces.

Prompt 1 Prompt 2 Prompt 3 Questions

Premise Taken Applications Navigation

Image Descriptions from left to right: First image is a red train pictured along raised tracks set against pine trees in sunlight, second image is a gif of a train explosion as people flee from the destruction, third image is of a dark sky with orange lightning.

First Train In

Content Warnings.

Violent train crash, fire, explosions, burning, and injuries from such conditions.

Summary

Characters appear in a train that is crashing through the reality rip left behind by the meteor, Penumbra. The train falls onto the campus fields and mostly implodes.

Prompt

Once upon a time, Newcomb had its very own train station that was used by students and staff alike. Most students would arrive at campus via the train and supplies were often shipped in through the train. This very train station used to be located by Fitch End and was one of the first out-of-campus locations to be destroyed by Penumbra.

This month, it seems as if the reset has brought the train back. For a moment, anyway. One may awaken from a deep slumber in one of the passenger cars, groggy and nearly jetlagged. You will be surrounded by other characters waking up, just as disoriented and confused as you are.

The train ride itself isn't so bad though. The scenery beyond the windows is filled with gorgeous sprawling woods, already tinged with the golds and reds of autumn. The smell of pine and old leather fills the train and you will find your backpack in a cubby just above your head or on the seat beside you.

There is no way to exit the train at this point, no matter how one might try. What is the point anyway? Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Something is soothing about a train ride, after all. You may even feel tempted to fall back asleep. Maybe things will make more sense when you wake up again.

You won't have peace for long. The train jolts violently as if being struck by something, and after, everything descends into chaos. Cars begin to slam together, some smashing upward, shattering glass and doors, crushing seats. Explosions burst from the front of the train, and as it pivots onto campus, it scorches the ground.

Cars break apart, sliding into their destruction here and there against buildings or trees. It feels as though it happens both slowly and rapidly, defying time itself, the sound of a ticking clock somehow overwhelming the symphony of metal scraping against metal.

Oil from the train catches fire across campus grounds. While the buildings are fireproof and resilient, the rest of the campus is not and neither are some characters who may be wandering about perchance. As the disaster comes to a screeching halt, characters will have to help each other from the wreckage and help put out the fires.

The train will remain on campus for June. It can be broken apart for metal parts and explored for small, sentimental items or important weapons that belong to a character. The train will vanish in the blink of an eye as midnight hits on the 31st. The Penumbric siren alerts the campus of the reset and the incoming meteor and its potential new disaster.

You will have to brace yourself for what happens next.

Note on Penumbric Collision Prompts: Characters do not need to arrive in this prompt. You may opt-out entirely by having your character fall through the sky or wake up incredibly disoriented randomly on campus. Arrival to Newcomb should be somewhat physically and/or mentally draining or damaging. Even characters resistant to pain or injury will be temporarily vulnerable to the arrival.

Image Descriptions from left to right: First image is a shadowy humanoid with a black and gray smudge effect concealing the face, second image is a pair of hands covered in a black goopy substance, third image has several clear vials containing a smoky, goopy black substance.

Assimilation

Content Warnings.

Mysterious goo-like substance with parasitic qualities, manipulation of behavior, forced uncharacteristic behavior, very mild body horror.

Summary

A mysterious black goo escapes from a frozen boxcar on the train. This goo attaches to living organisms and begins to influence their behavior. The goo will either naturally slide off after some time or can be rubbed off the skin with freezing water.

Prompt

A curious boxcar can be discovered among the wreckage of the train. This boxcar was carefully sealed off and kept at freezing temperatures. Inside were metal crates filled with test tubes and Petri dishes containing a mysterious black goo.

During the fall, the boxcar's front end was ripped away. Between the raging fires from the crash and the exposure to higher temperatures, the vials and petri dishes thawed. Vials and Petri dishes began to break apart as the mysterious goo essentially "woke up" from its cryogenic state and escaped from the glass containers.

This mysterious goo seeks out living organisms and will subtly attach itself to character bodies. This can be as subtle as a dime-sized speck of mysterious goo behind a character's ear or consume half a character's body. The goo's attachment is painless. It has a tarlike odor and causes a strange prickling sensation the longer it remains attached to a character.

After some time, the goo will naturally slide off a character. Alternatively, a character can apply freezing water or ice to the goo and this will essentially "kill" the goo and slough it off in broken chunks.

While the goo is attached to characters, it will cause uncontrollable, unusual behavior. On a less severe end, symptoms may include disorientation, difficulty walking, slurred speech, confusion, and clinginess even to strangers. On a more extreme end, the goo may cause characters to act in ways contradictory to who they typically are: they may be prone to fits of violence, hysteria, flirtation, cruelty, or even for some, abundant kindness and outgoing friendliness.

The goo will automatically make characters want to interact with other characters whether positively or negatively. It uses these interactions as a way to migrate from one host to the next.

Image Descriptions from left to right: First image has a playing card and two white dice, second image has a text bubble that reads, "I'm not a Soft Gay I'm an Anger Gay. I love dogs and burning things." Third image shows a field of grass and wildflowers with a free-standing picture frame with torn canvas, the torn spot revealing a city scape image.

Two Truths & A Lie

Content Warnings.

Forced honesty and deciet via parasitic mind control. Implanted knowledge. Potential forced vulnerability.

Summary

Characters are forced to break in their Fermii accounts by publicly posting two truths and a lie for other characters to figure out. This is a network prompt.

Prompt.

Who isn't familiar with the bizarre urge to overshare to total strangers online? It would appear that the mysterious goo has an intimate understanding of this instinct and intends to capitalize on it.

In other words, the mysterious goo's influence is not limited to in-person interactions. Even characters unfamiliar with technology will have the burning desire to get out their new phone and create a public post to all Fermii users containing two truths and a lie about themselves.

These can range from embarrassing and silly to serious and incriminating. Characters will continue to feel an itch to respond transparently to those who correctly guess which is which. Even the most sophisticated and chronic liars cannot resist the force of the mysterious goo's presence.

The urge to overshare will ebb away the more truth is exposed.

Ironically, this may be a minor blessing to those unfamiliar with smartphone technology. It would seem that the mysterious goo has managed to assimilate the knowledge of how smartphones work and helpfully pass it into the mind of its host. However, the price of exposure might not be worth the shortcut to knowledge.

code

Comments

Maleficent • 𝕸istress of 𝕰vil

[medeiun]

ARRIVAL

[ Maleficent doesn't like the way it feels to stir this way — sharp eyes glossy with haze, mind a slow, sluggish thing that seems to work against her rather than being under her control. Some part of her recognises this unnatural lethargy feels familiar, but she can't quite remember why she should feel that way.

She can't remember... much of anything. What was she doing, before this? The dark fairy blinks groggily, slowly managing to sit up a bit from where she was sprawled limp against a train seat — not that she knows what a train is. There's a kneejerk, instinctive hitch of alarm, though it's currently dulled in her, like most of her other sensations, and she cannot move as quickly as she is used to.

Numbly, her dark mouth a deep frown of confusion, a pair of great wings shift heavy and awkward as though not quite in her control, one awkwardly spilling over the back of the seat, the other wedged in around her. Their feathers are soft, a contrast to the razor-sharp clawtips on the alulae. The woman-shaped thing gives a quiet hiss under her breath and plants one palm to the glass of the nearby window, pushing her arm out so that she can further try to sit up and orient herself.

It's then that she notices there are others — in seats nearby, perhaps someone even in the seat right next to hers. Maleficent's eyes flash at the nearest person to show consciousness (although not as brightly as they normally would), and she finds words. Her mouth is all sharp, fanged and challenging, though with less of her usual venom. Everything still feels very far away. ]

What is this...? Speak now.

CRASH

[ By now, Maleficent has realised that she cannot reach her magic the way she's used to — a feeling that is genuinely almost unbearable; even when she'd once lost her wings, she always had her magic — but still she tries to use it in those initial moments of the crash.

There's nothing. Her magic (still there, she can still feel it, but it's useless to her in this moment) can do nothing to stop it, or to help what comes after.

Dizzied, she tries to get up, and feels a sharp pang of pain. A thin hand reaching up towards one shoulder, the dark fairy winces as she realises she's bleeding from a wing, a sharp piece of wood having torn into the appendage. Usually, she can heal — herself, or anyone around her — but not now. The blood continues to spill, forming a dark crimson puddle at her feet, and she staggers slowly forwards, her sense of balance thrown off by the angle of this enclosure; the train car has hit something and is no longer sitting fully upright.

But she can't move too slowly, for there are flames starting to spread outside of this car, licking at a window or two. Not yet engulfing, but they'll move in fast. Maleficent's eyes widen, and then snap to the rest of the space; she's not alone. There are others here, some unmoving, but she'll find someone who is awake, and call out to you. ]

Can you make it to the door? Can you open it?

[ Is it jammed? She isn't sure how much strength she can offer just now — she's already weaker than usual, and with one of her wings injured, the simple act of moving is difficult. It hangs behind her, limp and bleeding. ]

ASSIMILATION

[ Ordinarily, Maleficent does not miss a beat. But in her current state — still strangely disoriented, no longer grounded securely in the ancient magic of herself — she doesn't even notice the substance attach itself to her, a small and unobtrusive inky black stain upon the column of her neck. Perhaps some part of her would even welcome such a dark little visitor, hungry for something unknown, seeking to slowly spread like rot. What does it want? To consume? To destroy? To overpower? She has known all of those things, for the ability to ruin is there in her just as much as the ability to nurture and heal.

(...Not that she can reach any of those abilities right now. Unable to heal her own injuries, she's visibly wounded, bearing some cuts and bruises from the crash, but the worst of it is evidenced by one of her wings, which she can't quite seem to tuck in. It drags behind her a bit, and the bleeding of it has stopped, but many of the feathers are coated in dried blood.)

In any case, the foreign black substance turns her into some horrific alternate version of herself. One that..... smiles at anyone she comes across. Not with the pained forced smile of an inhuman thing trying to imitate a human gesture, but naturally now — her sharp, fanged grin bright and cheerful rather than frightening and dangerous.

The expression further blossoms from her eyes, a catlike golden with acerbic green encircling the irises, shining happily as she tries to find contact with your gaze, and she'll approach, lifting her hands towards you as though in friendly greeting — that will quickly become concern if she notices you seem to be injured from the crash at all, or otherwise could use assistance. ]

Hello! Oh my, poor dear...! Are you all right?

[ Or perhaps she hasn't directly approached you yet, but as you wander the area, you happen to make eye contact with a tall, winged, horned woman — one who will wave her hand at you, open and sweet. Considering what she looks like, this is maybe terrifying, actually. ]

TWO TRUTHS & A LIE — CW joking about eating children...

[ The technology is unfamiliar: a device held cautiously in her hands, small and strange and certainly fashioned by mankind. She would choose to destroy it, but the choice is not hers, and so Maleficent finds herself typing (slowly and clumsily, each letter forcefully struck, one at a time).

Her choices, perhaps, do not make the best first impression that they possibly could— ]

1. I am the Mistress of Evil.
2. I routinely feast on human children.
3. I do not care for this ridiculous game.

---

ETC. — 🔥

For any thoughts, questions, or requests, please feel free to pm. Also happy to match format!

Two truths & a lie

[pressuremakespearls]

Sure hope #2 is the lie.

[medeiun]

Is it wise, to hold onto such a thing as 'hope'?

[pressuremakespearls]

It's less hope I feel and more disgust that that's even on the list, lie or not.

Arrival

[abit_ofboth]

[Loki has been trying to sleep. He doesn't often take Midgardian modes of transportation, but when in need, trains are his favoured way. Though honestly, teleportation is simply so much faster, he doesn't know why he'd ever truly need this. And yet, here he is with his sleep being interrupted by large wings knocking into him.]

Would you please watch where you are putting those things?

[Seriously, there may be other passengers on the train, but there is also plenty of room. How did he end up beside the one person taking up three seats? He huffs and attempts to teleport to a nearby empty seat, but finds nothing happens. This only proves to make him more annoyed and he huffs (not pouts, huffs). He hears her demand then, but ignores her as he tries to figure out why his magic seems to be on the fritz.]

[medeiun]

[ The retort earns a sharp glare from the woman with so many sharp things upon her person, and her eyes flash a dangerous green at once. She has a nasty temper, and especially in an unknown, confusing environment, her kneejerk reaction is hostility.

Immediately, Maleficent thrusts up her hand, palm upright and fingers curled, ready to conjure her magic and aim it in some way at this unpleasant, fussing man (she won't really hurt him.... perhaps only startle him, lift him into the air and fling him away from her like an insect so he'll stop that complaining), but........ nothing comes.

The dark fairy blinks, eyes still a little glossy and disoriented, and her lip curls. She tries again, but... nothing. Distressed, she's shifting around again, that wing that was already nudging against the man simply pushing against him more insistently, extending out, and maybe it knocks against his head! Maybe he ends up with a face-full of feathers, what's it to her! ]

[abit_ofboth]

[The sharp glare goes unnoticed, or at least that is the way it might appear. Loki knows other magical beings when he sees them, and though normally he might be interested in speaking with such a person, it does not stop him from being annoyed with them at times. Times such as this.

Besides, despite something being a little off with his teleportation, he’s still rather confident in his abilities. Even if his magic is temporarily restrained, he’s adept at other forms of self-defence. In short, she doesn’t frighten him.

He smirks as he watches her clearly have issues with some casting of her own. Deep down he’s aware that this could’ve gone all sorts of wrong if her magic had worked, but it didn’t so instead he finds amusement in her annoyance.]

It seems we are both leashed.

Crash

[lamiaceae]

[ gansey is dazed but not injured beyond some bruises and scrapes as he fiddles with the door. it's not quite on its track and he has to lift it by the unfortunately leverage-impairing handle to get it back in place before he can shoulder it open. he hasn't turned around, focused on his task. ]

Ha! Got it.

[ then he turns around. his eyes go wide and surprised for a moment, taking in the entirety of maleficent before apparently deciding that a goth lady with wings is the least of his current accumulated problems. far enough that after he climbs out the door and onto some apparently steady metal wreckage, he extends an arm to help her out of the totaled car. ]

Come on, the smoke's getting bad.

[medeiun]

[ She sees the surprise — she knows it well. Though to his credit, the young man isn't shrieking in horror or tripping backwards over himself in attempt to get away from her (which is what she is mostly used to encountering in humans who have the misfortune to be shocked by her appearance).

What is unexpected is that he reaches an arm out to her. Maleficent stares, chest heaving with exertion, aching in a way she isn't used to and doesn't at all care for. Her wing continues to hang odd and limp behind her, while the other tucks in to her body as much as possible.

She doesn't like accepting help — not from humans, which she is assuming him to be, and particularly not from young men, those wretched things — but he's right. The smoke is getting bad, already clouding the small car and burning her lungs. Maleficent scowls, and then reaches for his hand, the sharp nails at her fingertips curving against the boy's flesh.

It takes effort to pull herself out with one wing that's close to just being dead weight, and she can't quite swallow back a hiss of pain as she stumbles from the car, coughing, one hand pressed to her middle as she leans over. ]

[lamiaceae]

cw: raven cycle endgame spoilers

[ gansey is used to creatures of pride, so his hand remains extended until she decides to take it, and when she does his grip is sure and strong.

maleficent is a creature of magic, and what she might sense when she takes his hand is likely a surprise: this is not a boy. or rather, this is not just a boy. inside the body of a human is something else. this body has died twice, and in the second death was replaced not by a human soul, but by the magic of tir e e'lintes, the tree-lights of ancient wales that became the dream-forest cabeswater. cabeswater sacrificed itself to become gansey because its favored people wished it so.

it's certainly enough that gansey's eyes go wide for a moment. but then she's trying to clear her lungs, and he pauses to let her try and get her breath. ]

Will you let me help you? The air will be better further away.

Arrival

[purplewedding]

(Margaery is in a nearly sorry state herself. The sparrow's ridiculous idea of a proper dress sitting oddly on her body, modest crown tipped to the side, but there's a burnt tinge along the details of her dress. Her hair is a mess and her skin is dusty with ash and debris from...From...

She can't quite remember. She only remembers the vicious flash of green and her brother, her brother. Then nothing. The motion of the train feels foreign, rocking beneath her, her head listlessly resting against one of the windows. Her gaze detached as she tried to press through the painful green fire to remember what was happening, what had happened.

The woman's voice calls to her and Margaery's head drifts from the glass. She looks to the woman and- oh! A gasp climbs up her throat and bursts from her mouth with a childish sense of wonder. Whatever darkness that had nearly threatened to consume her mere seconds ago suddenly felt distant.)

My goodness! (Her hands close over her mouth, eyes wide. Then her hands drift, clasping together over her chest.)

...By the old gods and the new...I've never seen such a stunning person before. Your wings...(She forgets completely about being a queen. She may as well have been just a girl again. She'll remember her manners in a second.)

[medeiun]

[ A young woman answers her — head lifting from where it was limp against glass, eyes finding hers — and everything freezes.

Maleficent can't recollect the name of her most precious one; her mind has temporarily forgotten it, as it has so many things, but.... her spirit can never forget. Something hitches with a pang as sharp as thorns deep within the center of her, and she can only stare for a long moment, eyes widening, dark mouth parted just slightly.

A young woman in a dress and crown. (Eyes as round and innocent as a doe's, peering widely from a gentle, lovely face.) She speaks as though in wonder and delight, and even that sweet, youthful lilt to her voice is familiar. Maleficent doesn't know why it is, only knows that every ounce of her being is drawn to the girl, and it's a rare display of uncertainty that lingers within her. She hesitates, staring, not once blinking.

The question feels strange coming from her own lips, and is voiced softly. ]

....We do not know one another?

Crash (outside the train) / network

[everyspark]

[Cheris had been in a different car, but she definitely notices the tall, ethereal woman now. While not the most extreme body mod she's seen back home, it's definitely striking, and certainly out of place for her remote, insular colony planet. Most people go in for less obtrusive things like gills or unusual skin patterning.

Still, who hasn't dreamed of flying under their own power? She can't help but wonder how much those raven-dark wings could actually lift.

She staggers closer, much shorter and very ordinarily human, and waves a spare mask.] You should put one of these on. There's too much smoke.


[Much later, scrolling wearily through the network, she pauses and furrows her brow.] If the second one's not a lie, you've made yourself a target. [But if she's Mistress of All Evil, doesn't that include eating children too? Maybe she outsources it.] I can't imagine you enjoying this, though, so that one's true.

[medeiun]

[ The backpack meant for her had gone unnoticed — or perhaps ignored, actually — and so had all of its contents, so when a woman stumbles close and holds up an item, Maleficent stares down at it in some bewilderment for a moment, before something distasteful curls her lip upwards, exposing sharp teeth. The thing looks like a muzzle, and she's not keen by the thought of that, eyes flashing at the woman. ]

Such an item could protect one from smoke? [ Said incredulously, doubtful. Perhaps this isn't the best time to doubt any attempts of help, but Maleficent remains stubborn. ]

- - -

[ Damn it all, this forced transparency is irritating. ]

You are correct, to both. Option two is the lie.

[ Still, she can have some fun with this, can't she? ]

Children are such dreadful things, though. Would it really be so terrible to consume one or two?

[everyspark]

[If Cheris had a face like that, she wouldn't want to cover it either. But she knows generally that birds of prey -- her old faction emblem, and a common interest among many Kel -- are quite dependant on their lungs, and she raises an eyebrow above her own airmask.]

It has its own air supply. Don't ask me how it works, I don't know why everyone on the train had one of these but there are plenty of spare ones now.

[So far, she's found more passengers dead than alive.]

Are you hurt?

- - -

[Having spent the last year (or two?) teaching math to an array of youngsters and hosting Jedao's complicated feelings about living in a realm where it wasn't safe to have children of his own, Cheris can't exactly agree, but she's spent too much time with him in her head not to recognize when someone is using dark humor as a shield.]

Are you baiting people on purpose? I suppose it's better to know ahead of time who's quickest to take these things seriously.

Crash

[flippin_peachy]

[The people around Maleficent are of no use, panicked and scared they only stare at her with wide eyes, some of them crying and trying to cling to her since she seems like the only one taking charge inside the cart.

Outside is a different story, thankfully.

Alfred spots the fire that is quickly spreading across the overturned cart and then hears the cries inside, he doesn't bother thinking of his own safety and instead runs towards it with a long metal bar he's found along the way.]

Get back from the doors!

[He yells to anyone inside and jams the bar into the crack, heaving on it hard until it starts to slowly creak open.]

C'mon! Out, now!

[He hollers and reaches inside to grasp the hand of the woman in front, the one with the dark wings.]

[medeiun]

[ If only she had access to her magic, she would send these fools flying off of her! Maleficent hisses in irritation as someone clings to the flowing length of her black dress, snapping her gaze down at them with a look that could kill. She doesn't enjoy being pawed at or crowded, not at all, and a few of the people do back away under the sharpness of her gaze.

But this isn't good. She is not one to panic, but her heart is hammering swiftly. Her wing being injured makes everything that much more difficult; the thing is practically dead weight behind her, heavy and almost useless.

Suddenly, there's a commotion outside of the door, and the people in the car are backing away. Maleficent stares as a man breaks through, and hears the gasps and cries of relief from the people trapped in the car with her. But she hesitates for a beat or two, unused to accepting assistance from humans, especially human men.

....The flames are licking harder and faster though, and she could use some help getting out. With a scowl, she reaches for the man's hand and heaves herself up — it's no easy task, given how heavy her wings are, and with one of them hanging limply. Maleficent hisses in pain from the injured appendage, stumbling out of the car, coughing a bit from the rising plumes of smoke. ]

We need to get away from here. It may explode.

[ And without her magic to stop it, or to heal herself with.... that is not a good thought. Of course, she isn't even thinking about helping the other people in the car. ]

[flippin_peachy]

[Once the tall woman with the wings is out Alfred stays to make sure all the others get out as well, jumping down into the cart to help hoist a younger lad out who has a dislocated shoulder. The cart is quickly turning into an oven and when he finally exits it he is sweating and his usually crisp white dress shirt is streaked with smoke.]

Head into the tree line!

[He shouts at the small crowd and points so they can see where some of the other survivors are now clustered off to the left side of the tracks. He moves over to Maleficent, noticing how her one wing is limp and bleeding and motions for her to lean on him for support.]

Quickly now, Miss.

Two Truths and a Lie

[dead_tongue]

omg Elvira?!?!

oh wait.

that's Mistress of the Dark.

[He is... not good at this game...]

are they free range children?

[medeiun]

[ There's another "mistress of spooky things" out there?? She is affronted. They're clearly copying her! ]

I suppose someone must be mimicking the surface layers of my reputation. How very pitiful of this Mistress of the Dark.

[ Maleficent, please... There's room for more than one culturally significant gothic lady out there. ]

Oh, yes. I quite enjoy finding them out in the meadows, where there are little places to hide.

[ Stop it you do not eat children ]

[dead_tongue]

she's totally iconic, though.

all organic, too!
...I'm totally kidding, and I assume you are too?

Two Truths and A Lie | un: badgirlcoven

[hootlem]

ugh. tell me it's 2. eating kids is so 1693. you better not be from 1693. those guys were freaks

[medeiun]

You are correct. The lie is two.

[ Damn this 'forced honesty' thing.... She wouldn't usually admit anything so easily. ]

I am from a bit earlier than that. Why are human children being consumed in the year 1693?

[hootlem]

oooooo you're REAL old school then

fad diet. some weirdos got the idea that they were sources of untainted lean protein. humans were getting all kinda gross illnesses around then or something

anyway those freaks made a bad name for all the other witches and humans are still weird about it today

today bein uh idk 2000-something? on human calendars

Assimilation

[telecosmetic]

[Considering the type of people Eliza knows, this quite frankly isn't that frightening at all. She smiles back at the greeting, even. She's limping a bit, and covered in various cuts, but nothing too serious.]

Oh! I'm pretty fine, thank you! I just need to sit down and take some weight off this leg.

[...by the way, she is not on her way to do that. She's still limping around trying to help other crash survivors.]