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

[toomanynitrogens]

Several people in the program tell her that a man with missing fingers had been the last person seen near the barn of the largest farm in town before it burst into flames last night, killing the horses within. In fact, smoke and the unmistakable smell of burnt meat still linger in the air. A couple openly express their desire to have the culprit killed.

He's not far from her porch, ducked in what might be an alley with his white cowboy hat off, and while part of him listens to the details of his supposed crime, another part is very aware of the spots along her hairline. Freckles aren't that large or that patterened, so who, or what, is she? But she seems as confused as him and that's as good a place to start as any.

Aidan creeps to a place that should be on the edge of her vision and eases out his right hand to reveal that he only has his thumb and index finger. Where the rest should be is nothing but varying shades of healing scar tissue. His palm is intact, just not his fingers.

[rejoined]

The more Dax hears of the program, the more she figures this is probably either a malfunction in the hologrid -- in which case, she has to go all the way through the program to get out -- or there's someone out here with her. Stuck, from the sound of it. Either way, they'll probably have to go through the story.

Turning towards the person barely waving a hand at her, she carefully makes her way over. She doesn't hurry, as though she intended to go here to meet this person. Once out of sight of the main road -- and now close enough that whoever this is will have a clear view of the spots all the way down her face and her neck -- she looks him over with a frown.

"What happened?" she asks. "The whole town is looking for you. Are you as lost as I am or are you part of this program and you're thinking I'm completely crazy?"

Can't hurt to figure that out right away.

[toomanynitrogens]

"Lost. Or I've been around too many chemical fumes. One moment I was at home and the next I was in a room with a yellow grid. I think I said something to myself about Texas then this...whatever it is appeared around me. A program, you said?"

At clueless as he is about the where or why of this, Aidan is fortunately genre-savvy in Westerns thanks to one of his grandfathers and his hat color's a convenient clue. "I've got a white hat so I'm the good guy here. Someone, probably someone important in this place, is going to be wearing a black hat. They're the real bad guy." Beyond that, he's flying blind and if the woman near him is supposed to play the part of his love interest...well, that's got a snowball's chance in hell of playing out as intended.

[rejoined]

Room with a yellow grid accurately described the holodeck out of use. Jadzia isn't familiar with Westerns like this -- Earth things -- but she can follow along with someone who is. As for the love interest thing? Not happening. Jadzia is a married woman. She can pretend, but... nothing more.

"We're on the holodeck," she explains. "It's like... playing through a storyline. If you're the good guy, that's the part you're supposed to play. My guess is that we'll have to play through the whole thing to get out of this." Which could be good or bad in the long run.

"If that's true, this bad guy probably wants you for something. The people here were talking about someone burning down a barn. You... probably didn't do that, did you?"

[toomanynitrogens]

"There's no way to force it to stop?" That doesn't make sense; programs are supposed to be able to stop whenever someone with the right authority tells it to. Aidan believes her, but that makes things annoying. How is he supposed to figure things out when nobody in the town will talk to him?

When she asks him about the barn, something sad crosses his face. "I've never intentionally damaged property in my life and wouldn't do it here," he sighs and picks his words carefully. "I'm Aidan, by the way. What do I call you?" Down on the far side of the main street, the farm's owner, a man with a black hat firmly on his head, strolls by asking questions.

[OOC: You are welcome to write NPC stuff as well if it helps progress matters.]

[rejoined]

"I've tried," Dax answers. "It didn't seem to work. I guess this starship doesn't recognize my voice authorization." Which makes sense, even if it's really not good. Not helpful in the least.

"Jadzia. Nice to meet you, Aidan, though this isn't exactly how I like to make friends." She glances away towards the black hat man and then decides to turn them in the opposite direction so they don't catch anyone's attention. "I could try talking to people, see what else they know, but so far I've been able to figure out about as much as you know. Think you can handle things until I get back?"

[toomanynitrogens]

Voice authorization is rare in his time, so it's highly tempermental and it makes sense that it wouldn't always...wait, did she say starship? Aidan's used to taking in a lot of information at once but that's in areas he has basic knowledge of. This -- the program, Jadzia's unusual looks, the fact that he's in space -- is almost too much for him to handle without getting a headache. So it feels a lot like the start of grad school did and not in the good way.

Her idea's as good as any he came up with and if Jadzia's role comes with respect, that'll make it even easier. "I'm unfortunately good at hiding." But fortunately small enough to go places most men can't. "And maybe I get lucky and overhear something too. Thanks for the help, Jadzia."

[rejoined]

"Sure thing," she replies, glancing around with no small amount of trepidation. "Meet you back behind this house in an hour?"

That should give her enough time to wander the town and see what she can find out from random people. Hopefully, it won't be enough time for him to get caught, but if it is, she'll just have to rescue him. Isn't that how these things work?

[toomanynitrogens]

"That works for me."

He keeps his hands in his pockets while he creeps around and listens to town gossip. Jadzia might have better luck hearing that the barn's owner is in a lot of financial trouble and, rather conveniently, the fire will be enough of an insurance payout to take care of that. Aidan, on the other hand, has nothing to gain other than the rumors hinting at an unhealthy love for things that burn. He definitely doesn't have any apparent relationships with women or men around here.

When the time's about up, he darts back towards Jadzia's house, but he's not fast enough. Someone notices him moving, grabs him by the back of the shirt, and smoothly wraps handcuffs around his narrow wrists. Well damn.

[rejoined]

Jadzia manages to get something out of all these crazy people and whatever plotline the holodeck is running with. By the time she makes it back, she's even managed to flirt with the big bad a little, though he was less receptive to it than some. When she returns, it's just in time to find someone slapping handcuffs on her new friend.

"Hey!" Dax isn't above fighting to get out of a situation, but the story-line seems to want something along the lines of, well, not acting like a Klingon. "That's my friend you've got there. You wanna tell me what you're doing with him?"

The answer is simple. Arresting him. She'd expected that. She tries a little flirting, but either she's out of practice or he's just not receptive.

"Why is everyone so stiff around here?" she huffs before giving the man a good right hook. With him unconscious, she searches his pockets for the key so she can unlock her friend's handcuffs and get him somewhere actually safe.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. That guy won't stay down forever. I've got some leads, but we need to act on them before he wakes up."


(( ooc: let me know if that works! ))

[toomanynitrogens]

As far as plots go, it could be a lot worse -- new guy gets accused of something just because he's new and a little weird, real criminal ineptly says too much to someone who could be persuaded to be honest if given a good reason. Aidan doesn't know that, though, he just knows that probable motive he overheard.

About all he can do when Jadzia knocks out his captor and frees him is give her an awkward smile. "Thanks. I managed to hear that the barn's owner needs a lot of money in a hurry and the insurance from the fire's going to be a big help."

[rejoined]

Jadzia got lucky with one of her leads. With a little more work, she should be able to find that one guy she can persuade to be honest. The trick is finding a safe place to hide Aidan until she can manage that.

"Now that's information I can use," she says as she helps him up and starts them both moving. "We need somewhere safe to hide you and I think the best place will be in plain sight. My lead should be at the bar--" Except the guy she had talked to called it something else. "--so I think with a good disguise, we can get you hidden in there."

At least she can keep an eye on him better if he's within sight and earshot.