TEST DRIVE #1 - Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

You know how you were standing there, back in your home world, just minding your own business?

Time to forget all about that.

Instead of doing whatever the heck you were just doing, you're standing in the middle of this very stylish, sedate barroom. Happily, you're not alone there - in fact you're surrounded by people who seem to be as confused as you are...and some of them look a little, well unusual

Now would be a great time to do....well, something. Ask some questions of the person nearest you, throw a fit, stage a coup....maybe do a little exploring? No matter what you do, you're going to be here for a very long time.

For others might call it the USS Enterprise, but for the foreseeable future, you'll be calling it home.

[OOC: this test drive's open until the next app period.]

Comments

[decideformyself]

"Ah, Shotaro." Philip didn't bother looking up from his book. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. This arrangement of stars is not visible from anywhere on Earth. We really must be in space."

[tanteiotaku]

"No way!" Even if he knew the book would be useless to him, he couldn't help but look down at it. He sighed. "In space or on Earth, a detective's job never changes."

[decideformyself]

Philip snapped his book shut and finally turned his head to look at his partner. "Even without a client, it seems we have no choice but to take this case on."

[tanteiotaku]

"'Why we're in space, what kind of ship this is, and how to get home.' Ah, Akiko is going to be pissed..." But he didn't look too bothered by that. He adjusted his tie in the reflection of the glass. This honestly wasn't the weirdest thing they've had thrust at them. And so far, there was no immediate danger.

So it was time for any detective's first priority: "Time to blend in and get to know some people. Are you hungry? And if anyone asks, you're 20."

[bondorblood]

A sliver of blue through all the black, gaze tracking Steve like a predator might. He can feel the shift, a slight grind of bone under his grip, because it's not gentle nor is he offering any reprieve when he sees that face. Instead machinery flexes, fingers curling and digging in, on anyone else the grip would probably be bruising. A target, one of his. He remembers however vaguely, from the bridge. Solid, American, the enemy.

Solid weight and leverage is thrown forward, trying to push Steve backward, to shove him into the wall and gain the upper hand. It isn't often his target appears out of the aether, offering him the chance to finish what he started. He needed success, because defeat wasn't an option. They could kill him, or worse.

He doesn't talk, because he isn't made for talking, he's a possession, a tool and this is how he is best utilized. Muzzle pulled tight there's only that dangerous stare to be offered, a drawn back fist aiming to take the first hard swing in a series of many if he's able.

( ooc: Hi. I think I'm going to use him post-bridge scene, so he's a little familiar with Steve but very aware of what failure gets him (pain). So he has a vague sense of knowing who he is, but mostly just mind on the job. You're welcome to take Steve from any point you're comfortable with. :) )

[decideformyself]

"Twenty?" Ah, they seemed to be in a lounge of some sort. Philip actually hadn't noticed. He rubbed his chin in thought. "Is twenty a common age for the minimum legal drinking limit? I believe there are places where it's twenty-one. I'll need to check."

He closed his eyes and spread his arms. Shotaro, you should stop him before he actually starts looking it up.

[tanteiotaku]

He grabs him by the arm and pushes it back to his side. "It probably doesn't even matter in space. But that's good enough for home." He started around the room again, getting a feel for it. The bar, the other tables, the entrances, the other people within.

He finally settled into a table and leaned forward to talk a bit more surreptitiously with his partner.

[decideformyself]

The joke was on Shotaro. If he'd allowed Philip to do the lookup he would have learned that the mean drinking age on Earth in 2010 was 18. Although since he'd spent the past year as an intangible mass of data, did that count as having aged? Maybe he was still 17.

Being Philip was weird.

He sat down across from Shotaro. "I've already attempted to do a lookup on our current whereabouts. The Gaia Library contains no information on this location. I hypothesize that it may be that despite the infinite size of the Earth's database, it contains no information on extraterrestrial subjects."

Re: The Winter Soldier (James Buchanan Barnes) | MCU / TWS

[fallaces_sunt]

[ooc: *waves* Hey! :D Care for a Natasha? As some background, I'm playing her MCU + some comics to fill in the backstory. So she's really 86, and her and Winter had an affair back in the day (hence, as I was reading it, partly why he didn't make sure she was dead with the Odessa incident, but details are utterly flexible and not pinned down at all). If that's okay with you, want a tag?]

[tanteiotaku]

"I suppose that makes sense." As much sense as an infinite database in Philip's head did, anyway. "I wonder if the Gaia Memories will still work." He wondered how likely a Dopant would be responsible for this if they weren't on Earth anymore. Or it could be an illusion? Luna couldn't be the only one responsible for that kind of thing, could it?

[decideformyself]

In response, Philip pulled a green object that looked vaguely like a USB drive out of one pocket. He pressed the button on the front. "Cyclone," it stated.

"It appears so." Of course it went without saying that they shouldn't transform without good reason. Maybe in Fuuto, where the Kamen Riders were well-known and looked up to. But not in some crowd of random strangers who may or may not be frightened by something so sudden.

[tanteiotaku]

And then coming around to it, if there was a reason the Gaia Memories wouldn't work, Philip would also likely be having some kind of problem, and since he seemed fine, there wasn't a problem to worry about. "Right. And--" And before he could finish that sentence, a woman in a Starfleet uniform came by. The jumpsuit suited her very well. In a distracting kind of way.

[decideformyself]

"And?" Philip just kept looking at his partner blankly.

[bondorblood]

[ ooc: Nat is always welcome. Have at it! ]

[tanteiotaku]

"--And I think it's time we take this investigation into the halls." He got up again and ran his fingers along the front of his hat brim. He tried to look like he wasn't following her, but he was.

[decideformyself]

"Good idea," Philip mused. He stood up, keeping one hand on his chin in contemplation. Just sitting around wasn't going to help them solve anything.

It's gonna take him a while to notice what Shotaro's up to. He's too preoccupied.

[tanteiotaku]

Out in the halls, it was unlike anything Shotaro had ever seen before. People bustled this way and that, and it actually didn't take long for him to lose his mark behind a door that required some kind of code to access. "This is like some kind of movie." He just messed with the console briefly, and it just beeped in response in what was a universal kind of tone for "Access Denied".

[decideformyself]

"Perhaps there's somebody else with the Nightmare Memory." Philip poked at the console, with no better luck than Shotaro had had. "You didn't stay up all night marathoning a science fiction series, did you?"

[tanteiotaku]

"Heck no! Did you research space stations or anything?" Hey, it was a legitimate concern sometimes with Philip. His tangents could go on for ages.

[fallaces_sunt]

[ooc: :D! Yay! And I'm going to say that this Nat is roughly post-canon]

And Natasha neatly slides out of his grasp, as if it were a dance they've known for years. At least her hair is pinned up; normally, she has it out as a dare, a mark of how much confidence she has in herself.

But with him...He's the only one with an even chance of beating her, and she's never believed in giving chances.

"This is neutral territory. With security. Touch me, and I'll fry your arm again," Natasha says. Language Russian, tone flat, her low voice pitched even lower than normal. She holds up a hand, and the fingerless glove is criss-crossed with blue electricity.

She doesn't believe in giving chances, but she does believe in the possibility for discretion. Fights attract notice, but along side that, her recently healed shoulder aches.

(Healing from the bullet he'd put through her shoulder had not been the most fun fourteen hours she'd ever spent.)

[decideformyself]

A simple shake of the head. "In any case, this hypothesis is untestable unless either of us can actually remember falling asleep while transformed. We can discard it for now."

[tanteiotaku]

"Right." That did make sense, he supposed. "So we're really in space and we're a really long way from Fuuto, Toto."

[decideformyself]

"That appears to be the case." With a sigh, Philip turned and slumped against the wall, ruffling his hair. "This is the first time I have encountered a subject with zero results. It's incredibly disheartening."

[tanteiotaku]

"Chin up, partner. There's more than one way to crack this case." And he picked a direction as if he knew where he was going.

[decideformyself]

At least Shotaro seemed to know what he was doing. Even if Philip knew he was really just pretending he knew what he was doing. That would be good enough for now.

Rolling his eyes fondly, he followed.