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

[throwawayrunaway]

What pride? Max doesn't ask for help as it requires trusting and relying on someone else. You can only depend on yourself. Or the shadows.

He ate the cake slower than before, but that doesn't stop the thirst. And despite his best efforts, the conversation is bringing back memories he doesn't want.

Stick to the shadows. The shadows protect their own. Beware of the light.

[forgottenmotley]

"This is horrible," he grumbles, poking at his food. "It's as if all the joy has been sucked out of it. It's merely the parts but not the whole."

Flicking a glance at Max he then says, "How did you get hurt?" Tapping his leg with his walking stick the Fool continues, "I was chased from my home because they thought I was a demon. I broke my leg running."

[throwawayrunaway]

Max didn't know what to say about the food. He'd take in a heartbeat due to his life back...where he came from. Home wasn't a word he would use for the outside. Or the inside for that matter. They were just...places.

But he decided he would give an answer to the question. Even if it was slightly more cryptic, perhaps it would warn Alexander not to ask any more.

"I trusted someone. And they let me down."

[forgottenmotley]

The Fool is very particular and peculiar at times about his food. But that's par for the course, isn't it?

"Trust is a tricky thing. It sounds like Death's Shadow has been bothering you."

[throwawayrunaway]

Max snorted. "That depends. Is Death's Shadow called Adam?"

[forgottenmotley]

There's a tilt of his head. "No, I don't think he's ever been called by that name. Currently he goes by Karren. But Death's Shadow deals with betrayals of trust. He is the one that gets people to stick their knife in your back.

"A real knife or not."

[throwawayrunaway]

"Adam doesn't need a knife. He's got a fists and strength." And parents that let him do what he wants. And really, it's his parents that Max trusted. Quite a complicated issue. But it's never been simple with Max.

[forgottenmotley]

He presses his lips together briefly.

"Karren has the knife. But he's the voice in people's ears that make them betray others."

It's sometimes rather hard to describe what they do. Perhaps that will make it easier. So, even if Adam was the tool, then Death's Shadow got to Adam's parents.

[throwawayrunaway]

"I have a feeling it was nothing to do with him. But thanks for the warning." Adam just didn't like Max. It was that simple. That and Max' own stupidity.