TEST DRIVE #3 - Alien Bazaar/Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

#1

Option 001. Alien planet, marketplace: So you're new to this whole space travel thing. The ship is cool and all, but there are hundreds of alien worlds out there. You want to explore. To see what the universe REALLY looks like.

Well, here's your chance! Your first stop is this lovely indoor marketplace, which looks kind of like a mall. There are stalls one after the other as far as the eye can see, and they sell all kinds of things: food, clothes, trinkets, animals, fabrics, jewelry, perfumes, books, etc etc. Some things look human, easy to recognize; other things look very alien. There are two levels, and constant chatter as people hawk their wares and discuss prices.

Do you want to explore? Poke at the weird shops? Buy a gift for a new friend? Flirt with someone at the food court? Maybe you see a pickpocket, and must run to the aid of the victim. Maybe there's some other villainy afoot. After all, a crowded marketplace is a good place for villains to lurk, causing trouble. Whether you're a hero or just an unassuming traveler, there proves to be some adventure for you on this planet.


2

Option 002. Aboard the Enterprise, Ten Forward: You have no idea what just happened. One minute you were home, and now you're on a spaceship, in the middle of a crowded room. It looks like a bar. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens.

You've managed to land in Ten Forward a long bar with barstools and a bartender, tables sprinkled throughout, and the far wall is nothing but windows out to space. It looks like a nice lounge, low conversation making the room hum.

Better ask some questions and find out where you are, or just tap the closest person on the shoulder and try to make friends. The bar is open.

Comments

John Kennex | Almost Human | Ten Forward

[likeavirtue]

It's not the easiest thing in the world to rattle Kennex and make him believe he could possibly have been transported from one world to another, even given the kind of world he comes from.

Earth. 2048. Technology is so advanced, it's creating thousands of new problems, and thousands of new ways to get away with crime. Every human cop gets an android partner. Humans are genetically modified to perfection. Androids, even more so. Some even have 'souls'. Synthetic, yes, but a soul nevertheless.

Take his partner, Dorian, for example. An ex-decommissioned DRN android of an older model-make. Sometimes Kennex is convinced the guy feels more than he does, and he's 100% stinkin' human.

But now when Kennex finds himself standing in the middle of an intergalactic bar (not knowing it's an intergalactic bar) all he can think is that somehow someone's got a hold of some new transporter technology, and given his luck, they decided to target him as a test subject.

Well, fuck that.

Shoulders are tense, and his hand hovers over the holster at his side.

"All right, who the hell's responsible for this?"

[decideformyself]

When Kennex appears, a colorfully-dressed Japanese boy with paperclips in his hair glances up from the weird alien beverage he's been sipping at the bar.

It's one of those attitudes. Philip has to smile fondly. In a way, it reminds him of Shotaro. "Nobody within earshot, I assure you," he replies.

[likeavirtue]

"Then maybe I'll just have to yell a little louder."

There's a heavy sigh that issues from this detective's lips as he turns his attentions on the weirdly dressed kid, singling him out from the rest of the crowd.

He doesn't draw his gun or anything. That would be unwise in a room of what looks to be a smattering of random civilians. Not exactly Earth civilians, but civilians nevertheless.

Doesn't mean he isn't completely alert though. Also not moving from this exact spot until he gets more information. Or someone starts shooting at him. Whatever comes first.

"Where am I?"

[decideformyself]

With a gesture toward one of the windows across the room, he replies, "The Federation starship Enterprise, currently stranded in interstellar space."

[likeavirtue]

"Okay, sure."

This is John believing him.

In his world, virtual reality is so virtually realistic that it's almost impossible to tell the difference between an image and the real thing sometimes. Not without some further inspection.

A brief glance at the pretty moving picture across the room doesn't tell him much, except that this? Is some big joke.

"So we're going to play that game, huh? You got a name, kid?"

[decideformyself]

So he doesn't believe him? Well, that's a fair reaction. He'll just have to prove it to him. "It's Philip. And yours?"

[likeavirtue]

"Detective John Kennex."

He might as well throw in the 'detective' here. Sometimes that gets the pranksters to back off a little, or at least reveal a cue that John can sink his proverbial teeth into.

"All right, Philip" - is that his real name? a hacker name? Either way, John is filing it away for the reports - "we can do this the easy way or the fun way. Your call. Are you working for these people?"

'These people' obviously meaning the ones testing out this tech on him.

"You don't seem like the ringleader type."

[decideformyself]

Philip simply shakes his head at the question, but he looks downright amused at the rest of what Kennex says.

"I was brought here against my will the same as you, John Kennex. Me, a ringleader? What an amusing thought."

[likeavirtue]

"Yeah. Freakin' hilarious."

Kennex rubs his face.

"You seem a little too calm for someone being held captive." And a little too amused. Prisoners aren't generally amused to be imprisoned. Unless they're a little ... damaged.

And for all he knows, that could be the case.

He finds he has to shift a little. Staying rooted to the spot is only grating on the connection between his real leg and his synthetic leg. Granted he's been using the newer model Dorian gifted him, but it's still no replacement for an actual leg. And he's been on his feet for pretty much the entire day.

Which is why his mood is sour and his patience is thinner than usual, and thinning with every passing minute.

"Let's try this again. Where's the tech and who's in charge here?"

Re: John Kennex | Almost Human | Ten Forward

[do_your_duty]

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Aeryn's voice is firm, and her hand is already on the but of her pulse pistol holstered against her thigh. She's pulled it out for less reasons here already, and for more. They deserved their rage. All of them. But no one was pulling out a gun in an area where she was without expecting her to protect herself.

[likeavirtue]

And if Kennex were able to read minds, he'd respect that. He's the same way, his gun being his protection.

But right now the last thing he needed was to shoot up a place he's just transported to, not knowing anything about it - how he got here, why, and who's responsible. His mind immediately suspects the woman before him, but he needs a little more information first.

"All right, all right," he says, hands moving away from his gun to be held up in front of him. "You keep your hands to yourself, and I'll do the same."

[do_your_duty]

Aeryn gives him the long edge of a look. It's hard and grim, hollow like a plate of glass, without actually wrinkling up any part of her actual face. The kind of look meant to be calculating his threat ratio or taking a part whether she intends to believe him. Has any reason to. Aside from continually disliking how many new people were showing up with weapons.

After another four or five seconds she shifted, lifting her hand and crossing her arms. "Good."

She'd rather not listen to the storm of screaming Crichton would spew out if she shot up this room.

[likeavirtue]

Kennex remains still, rooted to his spot, and studying the woman too.

Her expression is so taut, so unmoving that he suddenly wonders if she's a Synthetic. Maybe a new model, something Nigel Vaughn unleashed onto the world in his disappearance from The City. He has the synthetic souls and - assuming he made it over the Wall - the lab space too.

Could this be one of his lab spaces, cleverly disguised in virtual reality image work? He mentally takes a note of that but nothing, so far, is conclusive.

He takes a breath.

First thing's first: "Where are we right now?"

[do_your_duty]

Aeryn settles back on the edge of the stool she'd come off of so fast and smooth it wasn't even a thought. The same way it was never a thought to reach for her gun. It was trained instinct. As close to breathing as fighting ever could be. Trained in just as long.

"The USS Enterprise-D." She doesn't look impressed to need to be anyone's primer course. Especially not about weaponized possible unfriendly. Not that she did any better. John was still yelling at her to put her gun down this little in to her getting here. "It's a starship." It's not too kindly. Like she was pointing out he was breathing air. Like he might need to know, and not be able to tell.

[likeavirtue]

Honestly?

Kennex is appreciative for the clarification. Because he's still not sure he believes her. If she is a Synthetic, she might just be part of the environment's program.

But that movement, her controlled emotions still lacking the refinement only an android can produce, or maybe something only one human would sense in another human, tells him that she is not actually made of highly advanced mechanical parts and a simulated soul.

Which leaves the environment they're in a big question. Kennex is tired. He'd been on his feet pretty much all day, and he had been ready to head home for a long-deserved night of sleep when he was brought here by something.

It occurs to him that if Dorian were here, he'd be able to confirm or deny whether this place was actually a starship. He'd be able to check the outside atmospheric pressure or something along those lines. Maybe he wasn't so useless after all.

He rubs his face.

Either way, right now he is just not in the mood for this shit.

"Look, I don't know who you are or if this is actually a starship," he starts, his tone pretty much disbelieving, "but I am just as happy to be here as you clearly are. So who's running this operation and where can I find them?"

[do_your_duty]

"The Captain's name is Picard." Though you'll notice she actually doesn't call him Captain, just places it as his designation. It's not very obvious. But he's not her captain. He's this places Captain and she has no Captain. Hasn't since she was stripped of her rank and set on the run, with a band of renegade prisoners, for daring to say one human was too stupid to have committed willful murder.

After exile, she's only more certain of the fact he's too stupid for murder. "And he can usually be found on the bridge."

For some reason, her mouth twists, oddly sharp, half tug. "Though you'll find they consider it out of bounds."

[lightningndeath]

Well, Toothless isn't responsible for it but he's curious about all the new people around there and not one of them is Hiccup. He's just going sniff at that hand near the holster and look up.

[likeavirtue]

"Uh ..."

This? Definitely falls within the realm of the Unknown. Regular, 100% human criminals? He's got that covered. Human-shaped androids, sure. Sex-bots, okay. Mass-murdering serial-killing Synthetics? No problem.

But gigantic lizards? Totally outside of his expertise.

For a moment, Kennex tenses further, his hand very still over his holster, almost not daring to breathe.

"... hi."

[lightningndeath]

He gets a chirrup as a greeting in return. He sits on his back legs and watches curiously. The human isn't attacking him or doing anything but standing there.

This time he makes a little huffing noise and moves his wings.

[likeavirtue]

Something is telling him this isn't a giant lizard so much as a baby dragon, and he's trying to fight that ridiculous notion off.

Because, come on, that kind of shit doesn't actually exist.

Kennex swallows.

"You're not gonna eat me, right?"

In other words, he'd like to move without being totally attacked.

[never_felt_better]

"Wasn't me," John calls out almost immediately.

Sure, it sounds a little childish, like feigning innocence over the mysterious disappearance of the last cinnamon roll, or making rhymes about who smelt it dealt it. But Kennex hasn't lived on the ship John's lived on for the last couple of months. Believe him, "wasn't me" is a necessary and viable means of defending himself.

He's slouched over the bar, turning his head to give Kennex a puzzled look. "No, seriously, don't look at me, man. I ended up here the same way you did."

[likeavirtue]

Kennex immediately turns his attentions on the guy by the bar, hand still hovering over his gun, but not as tense as he was when he first phased into this godforsaken place.

Whatever this place is.

"Glad to know you're the first guy to admit that," he says a little sarcastically, but for all intents and purposes, Kennex is inclined to believe him. Keyword: inclined.

"So what is this, then?"

[never_felt_better]

"Hey, man," John starts, shaking his head. He's just noticed the sidearm. "You're not going to want to use that thing in here. Confined space, closed system, a lot of fleshy humanoids who probably won't appreciate a slug in their ass, and a security team carrying sidearms that make tasers look like the Hello Kitty of the weapons world."

Why is it always people with guns, anyway? Or extreme hand-to-hand combat training. "This is the starship Enterprise."

Beat.

"Uh. We come in peace."

[likeavirtue]

"A starship."

Kennex allows his eyes to flick over the rest of Ten Forward, an attempt to pick out particularly starshippy qualities, and finding that there are none. Not really.

This place looks more like some really cheesy stage-set from an Asimov short story. It's definitely science-fiction-y, and it may even be a starship ... but only in Make-Belief Land.

Kennex does let his hand rest though. If someone wanted to shoot him, they'd have done it by now.

"So you were suddenly blinked here too?" He resists the temptation to rub his face. "Is that how it works?"

[never_felt_better]

He relaxes slowly when Kennex eases off, but he continues to keep a suspicious eye on him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you could say so," he says, propping an elbow on the bar. "Not sure if that's how it works for everybody, but it seems like the norm with most of the folks who get pulled on board. One minute you're strolling down the avenue, and the next you're in the middle of Ten Forward."

He pauses. "Need a drink?"

It seems like the next reasonable direction.