TEST DRIVE MEME #4 - The Arboretum/Ten Forward

[ten_fwd_mods]

Option 01: Aboard the Enterprise, The Arboretum: In exploring the Enterprise, you end up on Deck 17, section 21 alpha: the arboretum. Instantly upon entering you can tell this room is different from all the others. For one thing, you're now standing on grass. It's no illusion, no simulation; it's real grass, leading up to a small pond in the center of the room. All around you grows a variety of plant life, trees and bushes and hanging plants, flowers and herbs and even what one might consider weeds. The arboretum is, for all intents and purposes, a botanic garden, used both recreationally for passengers to relax and enjoy, and scientifically for research and study. After all, the scope of alien plant life is impressive, from the Cyprion cacti down to the Earth variety roses.

The room is well lit and large, with benches to rest on and small walking paths. Children are grouped off in one corner working on botany projects, while some passengers are seen kneeling in the dirt carefully tending to their garden patches. There are even windows along one wall, allowing for a view of space while the room itself gives the illusion of daylight. It's the perfect spot to relax, read a book, or grab a spare spade and dig in the dirt. Or perhaps you've been looking for the right moment to say hello to the passenger standing off by the venus flytraps.





Option 02: Aboard the Enterprise, Ten Forward: Or maybe not. You've just arrived, and you have no idea what just happened. One minute you were somewhere else, and now you're in what looks like a spacious, well-appointed bar. The hum of the crowd is inviting, and the drinks look invigorating. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens.

Try to find out why you're here, or catch a drink at the bar; there's always something happening here.

Comments

Option 1

[dreamsintodust]

There's wonder all around, from the odd plants to the alien people, but there's a blond man paying attention to absolutely none of it, his focus is so centered on the stars sliding by outside the window.

Alfons has seen a lot of insane things over the last few days. Heard even more from Edward, in the months before that. Converting matter from one form into another, creatures that could change their shape, hell--he'd even seen a dragon.

He never thought he'd live to see the stars.

The glass is cool when he puts his hand up to it--he wonders how thick it is, to keep the pressure of the atmosphere inside where it belonged. He can see unfiltered starlight between his fingers, and with the dilation of their light he wonders just how fast they're going.

He's so lost in reverie that if anyone approaches him--well, he certainly isn't going to notice.

HI I LOVE YOU A LOT WE NEED TO BE FRIENDS

[am_sass_ador]

This was a nice, quiet, pleasant place to take a walk, and after the adventure she'd had on that planet, this was a nice change of pace. Well, this guy was interesting. Nothing about how he was dressed implied anything about him being connected to Starfleet in any way. And that awestruck look on his face pretty much guaranteed he was one of their visitors. Though he seemed to be taking it better than some.

"Hello," she said, a light smirk on her face. She gave him a light nudge in the shoulder with hers to draw his attention. "I've seen a lot of you visitors spending a lot of time staring out the windows. I guess I've taken this for granted."

[dreamsintodust]

Alfons had dreamed, fervently, that one day mankind would reach to the stars. Discover new things, new places, and new people.

He wasn't truly ready to come face to face with one of them. Not so close, not speaking to him. The fact that he could understand her was amazing enough to him, because she doesn't look human. Not quite as alien as the beings in science fiction novels, certainly not as frightening as the Martians in War of the Worlds.

He still takes a moment to look surprised and curious and hesitant all at once, grasping for things to say.

"It's...it's amazing. I never thought I'd be able to see anything like this myself."

[am_sass_ador]

She had long since gotten used to people's eyes trailing upward to her head. Be it from humans that have never met a Klingon before, or from her fellow Klingons confirming that no, she was not quite one of them. That had long since become something she'd gotten used to.

But so long as no one had any negative commentary to send her way, then she could tolerate some funny looks.

"Allow me to introduce myself," she started. "I am K'ehleyr. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

[dreamsintodust]

The only thing on Alfons's face is amazement--he might be from an incredibly unstable point in Earth's history, and one where prejudices are running rather wild, but he doesn't subscribe to any of those thoughts.

He simply doesn't care. He's meeting someone that honestly is from space. Of course they don't look like him.

He realizes, he doesn't know how they can understand one another. He wasn't speaking English, in his excitement. He'd fallen back into German. And even then it was ridiculous to expect English to be spoken in this sort of environment.

"My name is Alfons Heiderich, Miss K'ehleyr. And it is indeed a pleasure to meet you."

[am_sass_ador]

Fortunately, that is actually more or less the operating language of the Federation. It's your lucky day, Alfons.

"Alfons Heiderich," she repeated, saying it as near to the way he'd said it as she could. The sounds weren't too far from those she knew. "That's quite a name." She smiled still. "I take it you come from a world without space travel?"

[dreamsintodust]

Well that's just absurd. Undeniably convenient, but absurd.

"Alfons is enough, really--and I'm from Earth, it's just...we've only just started to launch rockets that could reach the upper bounds of the atmosphere, that's what I study, I'm an engineer." He's also still extremely excited. That's probably not going to change anytime soon.

[am_sass_ador]

That was plainly a surprise. Meeting people from places without space travel was to be expected with the ship in the state it's in. But from Earth was interesting. "Oh? You certainly are far from home. What was the year on Earth at the time?"

[dreamsintodust]

"1923," he responds, and he's guessing that means that this is, more than some kind of dream where he's in space, he's also possibly in the future. If he hadn't already had a coughing fit and spent about ten minutes straight pinching himself to be quite sure he wasn't asleep, he'd be sure that was indeed what this was--a dream.

But he recalled how angry and hopeless he felt when Edward insisted that the world around him wasn't real that he's not about to do the same, not without empirical evidence that this isn't anything but a hallucination.

Here's hoping I'm remembering correctly

[am_sass_ador]

She did a few quick figures in here head. If the year on Earth is now... "Well, as ambassador to the United Federation of Planets from the Klingon Empire I welcome you to the 24th century. Would you believe that is not the first time I've said that to someone? And that was before I arrived back on this ship to find her overrun with visitors." There was a slight smirk in her smile she couldn't hold back.

[dreamsintodust]

"The 24th century, really? Oh my." He sounds shellshocked, despite how amazing this is. It's not every day that someone goes skipping 400 years or so in the future.

"So this is common? How? That seems...well, insane is one way to put it, I suppose."