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

Bryce Banner (63!Bruce) | MCU | Option 2

[notpmsing]

And suddenly, there was a woman dressed in a niqab, her face and head completely covered except for two sharp brown eyes.

She turned around and around, disoriented by the sudden change in surroundings, looking at the bar and the people and was that space outside the windows?!

She crept towards the window, looking out at the vastness of the galaxy beyond, and the only thing she could think was...

"Nothing normal ever happens to me, does it?" Out of habit, she spoke in Punjabi, caught for a moment marveling at the world outside and wondering who the hell brought her here. Because if Loki got out of Asgard prison already, she would be pissed. She tapped the nearest person to her, not waiting for them to acknowledge her before saying, "Can you tell me where I am?" once again, in Punjabi. It only made sense to her that people would speak the same language as the people she was just talking to.

[electro_kinetic]

Have a young woman in a bright yellow hoodie and denim shorts--she has blue hair, the clothes are not the extraordinary part about her--who's looking at you a little funny, Bryce. She's totally okay with being asked questions, but she does not understand Punjabi in the slightest. If it were Spanish, English, or Japanese, she'd be better.

"...English?" she asks, eyebrows raised. "Maybe?"

[notpmsing]

Huh. It's been a while since she'd seen someone with such bright clothes and hair.

Huh. So... people in the spaceship spoke English. Got it. "Sorry. I can speak English too." She crossed her arms, trying to look completely at ease with the situation while she was secretly freaking out in her head. "I was asking where I am."

[electro_kinetic]

"Oh, good. Cool," Nori replies, cheerful smile finally dawning. "Because I have no idea what that was you were speaking before. You're on the USS Enterprise, which is...well. In space, as unhelpful as that sounds. But I don't know our coordinates on a star chart off the top of my head."

She can shrug and pull a face, hoping that'll work until she can find out where they were and relay the information. "Did you just get blinked in here?"

Because that sucks. Nori went through that herself.

[notpmsing]

"I was speaking Punjabi. I was just in Pakistan. Which is... not in space."

She let out a soft sigh, then immediately started to pull off the niqab. If she was in space, chances were that hiding her face from potential US spies wasn't at the top of her priority list.

"I was just there. I was teaching some kids long division." She tugged the niqab off completely, revealing a face lined with strain and frown lines and messy brown hair that could really use a brush. "How did I get here?"

[electro_kinetic]

"That's...the hard part to explain," she says. "There's...this being. He's called Q, and he likes to do this. Pull people in that he finds amusing and drop us here. It's part of his plan to annoy he crap out of the captain, apparently. No one knows for sure, but...that's the bet," Nori finishes.

"Long division, huh?"

[notpmsing]

"So I'm here on the whim of an alien."

Depressing part? Not the first time that's happened.

She combed her fingers through her hair and heaved out another sigh. Well. This was a problem. "Yeah. I teach kids math." In between providing (sometimes illegal) healthcare. "There aren't too many math teachers where I was."

[electro_kinetic]

"Something like that," she says.

"It's cool that you teach them math. Really that you teach them anything, but math is one of my favorite subjects. One of my roommates from a couple years ago--not here, I was in New York--was from Afghanistan."

[notpmsing]

"Afghanistan is pretty rough these days. I avoid it." Even if one discounts the violence and state of women's rights, the American military activity there could possibly lead Ross to her. So it was a country to be avoided in her book.

"I would teach science too, but I can't write Punjabi well enough. I can only speak it." Bryce awkwardly shrugged before offering her hand to shake. "Sorry. I'm Bryce. Should've introduced myself."