TEST DRIVE #15 - Holodeck and Ten Forward

[ten_fwd_mods]

001: Where were you a minute ago? Well, you aren't there anymore. Instead, you're standing in a very large, dark room lined with yellow. There are doors at either end of it.

Here's where things get a little choose your own adventure-y. You could:



1: Approach a console filled with buttons, located a few feet away. Press one, and it'll let you out of the room. Travel down a long hallway and you'll be in Ten Forward, the Enterprises' entertainment lounge. Have a drink, mingle and try to figure out why you're here.

OR

2: Maybe you just muttered some vague request under your breath. Maybe you wished aloud you were somewhere else. Or for help? If you did, might be in a fire station. Muttered something about killing whoever dumped you here? Surprise - you're in a slasher movie!

Though they're confusing, these visions feel about as real as they can be. And guess what - other people can experience those fantasies with you, as if they too were really there. How ever will you escape? Or do you want to?

[OOC: Welcome to the Holodeck! If you choose this option, whatever your character chooses to say out loud will cause a virtual reality program to load and play. While your character feels as if what they're experiencing and seeing is quite real, they're purely living through the latest and best in what he Enterprise has to offer in entertainment. Make sure to detail what your character's fantasy is, so that those threading with them will know how to react.

Open til next month's test drive!]

Comments

Sounds like you're familiar with the movie. :D I say go for it!

[hasthegift]

Kira wasn't used to interacting with larger people. She was raised by the Podlings, who were smaller than even she was. So far, the Skeksis and the Garthim were the largest she had ever seen (or ran away from) - so being in an environment like this (and an alien one at that) was very unsettling. She was a child of the wilds - not...this sterile place.

She did appreciate when the tall man crouched down so she could be more at eye level. Even Fizzgig seemed to calm, growls quieting to a brief whimper - though he watched the man warily as if daring him to try something. At the question she frowned slightly, looking down in thought.

"I was at the Castle of the Crystal. Helping my friend Jen fulfill the prophecy." She said finally in a murmur. "He had to heal the crystal during the great conjunction. But the Skeksis..." She shuddered. "They attacked me. I was struck and then...I was here." Her eyes were filled with worry now. "I need to get back to Jen!"

[hasthegift]

Fizzgig growls a little when the Doctor stood up and offered his hand. But it was half-hearted - and Kira ruffled his fur before holding out her own hand. Small and delicate, the limb had three long slender fingers and thumb. Her eyes were wide and curious as she curled her fingers around the Doctor's.

She honestly liked this man who stopped to help her. She knew deep down that she could trust him.


[ooc: I totally give permission for a dreamfast type experience where he 'sees/feels' the events of the Dark Crystal movie! She's a natural touch telepath and is conscious of it :D)

Well, Doctor is a touch telepath too - Let's do a thing. XD

[not_the_question]

The Doctor had made a simple mistake by taking the Gelfling's hand. The myths and legends had mentioned their abilities, of course. But when a species is gone, there's no way to test which parts of myths and legends are true.

The fact that they were touch telepaths was true. But the Doctor had no idea of the kind of telepath they were. "Touch telepath" simply defines how the ability is used. It doesn't really talk about what kind of ability it is.

So, when she took his hand, he sensed immediately that she was a telepath. And a powerful one at that. Not as powerful as some Time Lords and certainly not as powerful as the TARDIS - but powerful enough that he wouldn't hurt her. There was a small comfort in that.

A part of the Doctor wanted to put up all of his defences. But the part of him that was curious, won out. He still held her hand, but slowly sat back down. It would be bad if something happened and he fell on top of her. He closed his eyes, more to focus than anything.

He spoke softly into her mind. His voice here, had a gentleness and serenity that his current physical form could never quite manifest. "I am a telepath too. Do you know what's happening?"

He assumed she did, but it's always best to check.

Oh yes, <3 Dark Crystal.

[ashes_ascended]

Quite taken with the newcomer's little animal, Phoenix wonders what he might like as a treat.

The word Skeksis jogs the angel's memory. Something from his nexus-world - an old legend about a race of beings who were banished to a world known as Thra.. then his Knowing kicks in; almost in warning, causing a slight pain between his eyes. In his mind he sees squat ugly Garthim and tall-limbed landstriders.

The little female is wrapped up in prophecy and powerful destiny - and he needs to be careful what he tells her.

"You're a Gelfling." Well that seems harmless enough. Her anxiety melts his heart. It wouldn't take much for this diminutive being to be able wrap God's Henchman around her finger. "I'm sorry. I don't think you can go back for a while." How to explain it without causing her any more distress?

[of_totters_lane]

He makes a displeased sound which says a lot about his thinking on beings who allow such superstitions to get the better of their natural intelligence and curiosity.

"I would say so!" he pronounced, hand on a lapel. But his eyes were watching the walls.

You never knew when they were going to suddenly close in, after all. It seemed less of a historical pyramid and one in which he expected Peter Cushing to appear.

[of_totters_lane]

For a moment, he almost smiles, then casts a look at her, as if reappraising. Well, certainly the right attitude.

"We shall see, certainly," he replied, turning a corner.

"Such bland architecture," he said, trying very hard to pretend the previous moment hadn't happened and that she hadn't seen it.

[of_totters_lane]

She'd have garnered more than an inkling if they were up to anything else, the oft-hidden price of such 'aid'. He visibly relaxed a little, becoming a little less stiff in his bearing.

"Ah, excellent. Excellent indeed. Though I would imagine such limitations are particularly frustrating to you. Which leads me to the next necessity - how are you feeling, incarnated?"

She is clearly here, functional and stable - but how she maintains that state is still unknown.

[ashes_ascended]

He can't help wondering how many kids those kids will have, and how many cousins, uncles, aunties there might be.

As for his name, it's not something people regularly comment on. "My surrogate mother picked it out, kinda. She thinks it's tied in to my destiny. Not that anything remotely connected to the phoenix has cropped up in nine hundred years," he shrugs. "So it's prob'ly just an element name she happened to like."

Oh, how wrong he is.

[cridhe]

She offers a soft, small giggle. "Incarnated? I think I like the sound of that! Though your future self and I decided using "Cridhe" as the colloquial would be appropriate."

As to her feelings... "Do you mean how I am feeling physically or emotionally?"

[professorsong]

Ah but she had, Doctor. She had indeed. River has spent multiple lifetimes making a study of the Doctor, and she was keeping a watch - sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly - learning this new face, this new Doctor. This young, old Doctor.

"Well, it would look better in blue," she said with a grin, glancing out of the corner of her eye.

[hasthegift]

With this being a natural ability, Kira had full conscious control over it. More so that it wouldn't be disruptive in daily interactions. With Jen it had been special since he was the first Gelfling she had seen other than herself. He had the ability too...and so the bonding had been strong like a rush between them.

In this case - her thoughts automatically rose up to touch the Doctor because she could somehow feel that he too had a gift. He wasn't a Gelfling and obviously felt different...but she found the sensation welcoming just the same. They were the last of their species...and Kira found solace in that. Unlike Jen - this experience was very controlled and contained.

Smiling, she knelt next to the Doctor when he settled back down, holding his hand between them.

Gelflings call it 'Dreamfasting'. A sharing of thoughts, feelings and memories! This only happened between me and Jen before. I can only guess that we share a kinship you and I. You have a similar gift and...we are the last of our kinds.

She responded, her mindvoice gentle and clear as crystal. Sweet and pure. Whatever memories or thoughts that came up, she simply let flow as they will. Usually what was meant to be, was what was shared.

[hasthegift]

"Yes!" Kira said, surprised that he knew of her species. "You know of our kind? Me and Jen are the last." That they knew of at least. All of their kind had been hunted down by the Garthim at the command of the Skeksis. If by some chance some had survived, they did not know of them.

His words chilled her. "How come? Is it some kind of magic that is causing this?" This place was too alien to be real. Surely magic had a play in it.

[ashes_ascended]

"My people know something of your world.. but sometimes I can get this sort of - picture, from the universe around me." It's always interesting finding ways to explain things to someone from a world like this Gelfling... Kira. Yes, that's her name.

"It's a bit like magic," he nods. "But I don't think it's evil. There's a being who's a bit like a god. He's been bringing people here from all over the universe, all over time. But none of them have been harmed. The people who live on this..." He indicates the starship around them. "Vessel ..are taking care of us."

I'll let you decide what he specifically learns about her.

[not_the_question]

"Kinship might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we certainly have similar abilities. My people just calls it 'contact'. Every species with telepathic abilities calls it something different. Now, if there's anything you don't want me to see, just imagine a closed door, I'll not enter."

While the Doctor always gave that suggestion to others, he often times forgot to do the same for himself. As such, with fellow telepaths, they can sometimes get more information about him than he strictly desires. And well, the images are a bit fast - blame it on his enthusiasm for finding another pure telepath.

She might see a rapid succession of his various faces. And then His companions. Maybe some of his enemies.

One thing is clear: The Doctor has lived a very long time - not all of those years were good. She might see some images from the Time War.

But she might get the sense that there are sort of two timelines where the Time War is concerned: one where the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey (his home planet) and one where he saved it.

Paige Matthews|Charmed

[orbed_out]

Paige was expecting to orb into the attic.... with Leo. She looked around this strange, unfamiliar place. "Great! What happened now?" She muttered, looking out into space.

"Holy...."

She scrubbed her hands over her face. She had to figure out how she got here, and how she can get home.

Re: Paige Matthews|Charmed

[student_lighter]

"Oh, good, you're here too." Chris was sitting at a table drinking what looked like beer. "It's not exactly P3 is it?" Then he stopped. What if this was a younger Paige? What if she didn't know him? Well, Chris just shrugged inwardly. Whatever.

[of_totters_lane]

"Cridhe. Very well, if you wish."

"And both, I suppose. I did not think such power could be contained in any body of flesh and blood...I am supremely impressed, on that score."

[cridhe]

"Oh, that. It is complicated."

And spoilers. Humm, how can she explain?

"My flesh is modelled after the idea of fully programmable matter. My Huon particles hold its form. As to blood, well I do not know."

But she can show him something interesting. She offers her wrist. "Take my pulse and then rest your hand over my heart."

She only has one heart, but if he takes her pulse he should be able to feel that she has a double pulse - indicative of a bi-vascular system.

[of_totters_lane]

"Hmph," he responded, letting only an ounce of amusement onto his face. "Most things would."

She knew of him, certainly. Enough to be charming. He wasn't at all sure what that meant.

[professorsong]

She grinned a bit at him. "Maybe hints of white for accent?" She was having fun.

Piper Halliwell - Charmed

[thesurlyone]

Piper opened her eyes when she didn't hear the usual noise of the house surrounding her.

"Chris? Wyatt?" she called out. Her eyes widened when the house wasn't the house anymore. "What the hell?" The room was dark and the yellow lines weren't things that set her mind at ease. The brunette took a few cautious steps forward, looking over at the only thing that actually had lights on it. "Okay," she said to herself as she tucked some of hair behind her ears. "Button, button, something's gonna let me out."

She reached out and pressed a button, ready to freeze something if it came at her.

Instead, a door slid open into a hallway. Piper looked back at the console, then back at the hallway.

"Wyatt and Chris, you are both so grounded when I get home."

She took a few cautious steps into the hallway, toward the sound of what she assumed were people. Piper looked back at the dark room she had come from before continuing down the hallway.

"Where the hell am I?" she asked, mostly to herself. The lounge that appeared was something that should've appeared at a scifi convention with all the creatures and people that walked around. Demons? It certainly didn't look like they were demons.

Merlin | BBC Merlin

[merlinastrice]

He had been walking through the forest and picking up herbs for Gaius. Honestly, just stopping to smell the flowers nearby when the entire scene changed. All the sunlight, the grass, the flowers, even the herbs in his hand suddenly disappeared into a dark room.

Merlin reeled back a few steps.

"Hello?" he called out. "Is anybody there?"

No echo answered him, no voice answered him.

He took another step back, running into something very solid behind him. He reached out behind him to catch his balance and felt something give under his hand. There was a soft woosh and part of a wall slid open. He immediately stood upright again, taking cautious steps away from the solid thing he ran into and toward the hallway.

Merlin poked his head out into the hallway and looked back and forth.

"Hello?" he called out again. Was there a sorcerer at work here? He'd never seen a hallway like this. What sort of stone did the mason call for to have been cut so smoothly? He ventured down the hallway a little bit. "Anyone here?"

[splendid_roman]

Just a roar wasn't about to stop Ian - he'd faced all sorts of monsters in the past - and he carried on walking. At least until he came to a fork. He held the torch down each corridor, but they didn't look any different to each other. And the possible-monster was quiet.

"Does any of this tell us which one leads where?"

[major_egret_msfsod]

Jackal may not have been able to arrange a job officially, particularly not the sort of job she'd have preferred, but she did walk the corridors of the ship on a regular basis. She had more than enough time to kill. Making herself a sort of neighborhood watch couldn't hurt. Probably. Even if she persisted in doing so in her red-tone camo fatigues, which were perhaps a little bit obviously military for the "neighborhood watch" notion.

It also proved to be a reasonably good way to pick up those new arrivals who didn't land immediately in someone's lap in Ten Forward, like the young man hesitantly coming out into the corridor up ahead.

"...let me guess. Not where you were a moment ago."

She approached calmly, but watching him closely with a plainly appraising sort of look, ready for anything--and trying to gauge where and when he might have come from.

Re: Paige Matthews|Charmed

[kentsluck]

"I promise. It's not nearly as weird as it seems." The voice was calm, quiet, and broke, as it's boyish owner smiled up at her. His grin was warm and friendly. Clark stepped up to the woman, and nodded.

"Welcome to the Enterprise, miss."

Clark bounced on his toes, the very picture of teen-aged dignity.