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

[decideformyself]

"Once I finished regenerating, he sat on my lap for a full day and won't let me stand up." The smile that returned to his face then was tinged with sadness. Despite all the sins the Sonozaki family had committed, they were still his family. Well-- one of his families.

[natural_claydoll]

She laughed. "Aww, Mick... Well I would do the same thing, so I don't think I blame him."

[decideformyself]

"That might be a bit uncomfortable since you're much larger than him," Philip pointed out.

[natural_claydoll]

She put a scandalized look on her face. "Did you just call your sister big?" She took a random book off the shelf and whacked him lightly on the arm with it.

[decideformyself]

"Hey!" He smirked fondly at Wakana. "Wakana, we should keep going. The holodeck is not far from our present location."

[natural_claydoll]

"Ah, right." She put the book back on the shelf so she didn't end up bringing it with her when she left the Library. She hoped no one had passed by and saw them just spacing out like that. She linked her arm around Raito's again and let him lead the way.

[decideformyself]

He led her into the holodeck. "Computer, load a simulation of modern-day Tokyo," he instructed it. And then they were no longer on the Enterprise, but in a somewhat futuristic-looking city -- for a definition of "futuristic" that somebody in the early 1990s would have come up with. But it was unmistakeably Tokyo.

[natural_claydoll]

When everything began to appear, she shrank a bit against Raito. But when it became clear it wasn't going to hurt her, she stepped away from him. "Tokyo? This is amazing... Ah! Is that Tokyo Tower?" It somewhat resembled it, but it had had further upgrades over the last few centuries.

[decideformyself]

The people passing by them, dressed for the most part in those silly 25th-century Star Trek tunics that everyone on Earth seems to wear, paid no notice to them. Philip nodded. "I only wish that Fuuto existed in this universe," he said a bit wistfully. "Although with enough time, I'm sure I could extrapolate how it would have evolved in the intervening four hundred years."

[natural_claydoll]

She sighed wistfully. "I would have expected cuter clothes in the future..." she pouted. "Honestly, these are terrible!" but then she laughed. "Fuuto doesn't exist? What a shame. I want to see what Fuuto Tower might have looked like.."

[decideformyself]

"It's merely the current fashion," he pointed out. "Yes, it's sad. But you'll be glad to know, Wakana, that by the time my body regenerated itself Fuuto Tower had been rebuilt."

[natural_claydoll]

Her face lit up. "They finished it? I'm so glad. I wish I could see it..." She took a few steps away and peered in through a store window. More boring clothes. What was so great about a future in space if there wasn't anything cute?

[decideformyself]

He'd have to show her the simulation of Fuuto Tower, too. But for now he would let her enjoy Future Japan.

"What do you think? Isn't it incredible how lifelike this is?"

[natural_claydoll]

She nodded. "It's wonderful! I can even smell a yakitori grill!" She came back over to him and grabbed hold of his arm again. "Why don't we explore a little?"

[decideformyself]

Philip smiled and held on to her arm as he started down the sidewalk. "And later, there's something else I'd like to show you."