TEST DRIVE #6 - The Bridge and Ten Forward

[ten_fwd_mods]

Option 01. Ten Forward: The first thing you see is a bar. A large, lively bar filled with many different faces and many different smells, sights and sounds. This is Ten Forward, the Enterprise's off-duty lounge; feel free to get acquainted with your fellow travelers and try to find somebody who's in charge: this is your new home now, after all...





Option 02. The Bridge: Well, aren't you a lucky duck? You've found yourself in hallowed quarters. Wherever you were before, you're not there anymore. Now you're in a room that could be some kind of command center or control room; there's a captain's chair flanked by seats for his chief officers, computer panels and stations at each interior wall, and before you a broad viewscreen that shows the wide expanse of space rushing towards you. Have you ever wanted to be a starship captain for a day? Well, here's your chance. Feel free to roam around, but try not to touch anything shiny.


[OOC: The Bridge isn't usually available for in-game posts, so if you've ever wanted to play there, here's your chance!]

Comments

Emma Gold | Once Upon a Time {AU} | Option 1

[goldensavior]

Emma turned abruptly to take in her new surroundings as the light faded from her abrupt change in location. She'd been heading into the station for another day of mind-numbing work, not in the least expecting the sudden change that had occurred. "Well, shit." The words were muttered quietly, mostly under her breath. She should have realized that after two weeks of normality and peace, something weird and screwed up would happen. Perhaps she should be glad that fate or whatever seemed to like messing with their lives had given her that long to enjoy her new marriage. It could have been worse. This could have happened on her honeymoon. A sigh escaped and she made her way toward the bar she spotted, seating herself on one of the stools and ordering a beer. Perhaps after a drink and a bit of recon, she could figure out where she was, why and or how she was here and how in the hell she could get back to her family and town.

[goldencobra]

Today, Henry was coming for company during his cocoa break and, unknowingly, sat down next to his mother. He ordered his usual and made sure it had cinnamon on top, giving the woman next to him a smile but not saying anything to her. He didn't recognise her after all, she was just another person on the ship. He might realise she's new after a few minutes but until then, he was happy to sit silently with his cocoa.

[goldensavior]

When she hears the order, the voice and content of it get her attention and cause her to turn her head and look at the boy beside her. It's been nearly a year, but she still remembers how her son looked when he first showed up on her doorstep in Boston. She has little doubt that this is Henry, but his obvious youth makes her hesitate for a few seconds before she actually speaks. Because there's something going on here. Something possibly even weirder than finding herself in a weird place that reminds her of some sci-fi movie set. "Hey, kid. You wouldn't happen to know where we are would you?" She'll make a little small talk before she dives into the mystery of why her son once again looks ten years old.

[goldencobra]

Henry slurped the cocoa wiping the whipped cream off his nose and nodding at the stranger. She was obviously new so he added it a little extra information for her benefit.

"In space. This is the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Also the year 2366."

[goldensavior]

Emma took another look at the room, briefly letting her eyes rest on the windows and the darkness beyond them. Returning her attention back to Henry, she studied him for a moment before responding to that crazy sounding statement. "So, somehow we're in the future and on a fictional space ship?" She thought it a testament to just how much crap she's gone through in the last few months that she is actually willing to take that answer as an honest one, instead of some prank one, and thinking that she's somehow ended up on a stage set someone's set up for the prank. "How long have you been here?"

[goldencobra]

"Yup. That's about the size of it." Henry continued to sip his cocoa then ordered himself some cookies. He would usually go to the replicator but he was at the bar and talking to a stranger so he took advantage of the staff so as not to be rude. The waiter appeared a few second later with a plate full and Henry thanked him.

"A few months. Want a cookie?"

[goldensavior]

Well that answer certainly wasn't one she quite expected, but then again, she'd been getting surprises since she'd arrived here. "Thanks." She picked a cookie up off the plate and took a bite of it. Not bad.

"Have a name? I'm Emma Gold."

It still felt a little strange to say Gold instead of Swan, but she suspected with time the weirdness of it would fade. She was quietly hoping for a positive reaction from the boy before her, something that would let her know this was the boy she thought it was. That it was her son and Gold's. She wasn't sure what she would do or think if the boy turned out to be someone other than he appeared to be.

[goldencobra]

"Yeah. I'm..."

But he stopped asking her question when she mentioned her name. Emma. Gold. His mother's name and his father's cursed name. It had to be a coincidence. His mother's name was Emma Swan. He'd been on the way to get her before coming here. Then again, he doubted Gold was a very common name.

Realising he hadn't finished his sentence, he frowned slightly, evidently confused by the name but not mentioning it or explaining why. "My...My name is Henry." He managed to get that much out, staring at the woman before him as if seeing her in a new light and trying to figure if this was who he wanted her to be or just another trick of this place.

[goldensavior]

She snagged another cookie and ordered a hot chocolate like Henry's, whipped cream with cinnamon. As she ate the cookie, she considered asking him what his last name was. Plenty of people had the name Henry. She was rather thinking and hoping however, this was her Henry. "Last name wouldn't happen to be Gold would it?" She finally asked as she pulled the newly arrived hot chocolate closer so she could get a small drink from it and watch the boy for his reaction to the question.

[goldencobra]

The order almost floored him. Exactly how he liked his cocoa. Words failed him as she asked her question and he nodded. Then a thought struck and he looked at her left hand. He saw a ring and decided he ask his own.

"Were you Emma Swan?" His heart was pounding in his chest. Was this really his mother? The mother he'd been trying to find when he left Storybrooke but ended up here instead. But not just that, it seemed as though this Emma was from his timeline. Not Gold's. And having his mom here would make all the difference.

[goldensavior]

"Yes." She gave Henry a smile. "Your dad asked me to marry him some time after the curse is broken." It's after she's said that that she can't help but wonder just when the boy is from in that chain of events. Has he shown up yet on her door step? Are they even now working to break the curse? She turned in her seat to face him after a moment. "Mind if I ask for a hug?"

[goldencobra]

Henry didn't answer but flung his arms around her in a hug, trying not to cry. This was his mother. His mother. Not that other Henry's. His. And she married his dad in the future. It was all too perfect. Burying his head in her chest, he clung on for dear life, so happy to meet her and have her here!

After a while though, he did pull back and apologise. "Sorry I didn't recognise you. I've never met you before. I was on my way to get you when I got pulled in here."

[goldensavior]

Emma hugged Henry back in return, the smile still somewhat on her lips as she finally pulled back to look down at him again. "So not only can whatever is responsible for this pull people into another world, it breaks the rules on time travel too huh?" Her tone is good humored teasing, though she wonders if Henry's found anything out about what's responsible for this unexpected event. The more they learn about how it happened, the sooner they can figure out how to get themselves back home where they belong.

[kepthimhuman]

This place is just full of surprises lately. He suspects that this is one surprise who wouldn't be especially happy to see him, after the way they parted.

Instead of going up to the bar to order, where he would be obvious, he finds himself a table to sit at. One of the bartenders will eventually make their way over to take his order, so he won't be disturbing anyone.

[goldensavior]

Actually, the man might be a little surprised himself. Given the small fact she's settled her differences with him and made her peace with their history while they had been in Neverland.

It's after she's finished her drink and gets up from the bar to get another look at the room that she notices him. A familiar face in a sea of strangeness. She made her way over to his table. "Hey there, stranger." The greeting was given in a teasing manner.

"It's nice to see a familiar face, I thought I'd be on my own here." Though if Neal was here, she had to wonder if anyone else from home had been brought here and for what reasons.

[kepthimhuman]

That was not the response he was expecting. Which should be obvious from the surprised look on his face.

"Hello." He sets down the PADD he's been reading through. "There are a couple of others here too."

[goldensavior]

She'll claim the seat across from him. The surprised look is a bit odd but she's willing to chalk it up to him being surprised to see her, not at her greeting, for now.

"Who's all here?" She glances at the device he'd put down with a bit of interest as well. "What's that thing?"

[kepthimhuman]

"It's sort of a computer thing. It has all the information you might need on whatever." Nice explanation there, Neal.

"Henry. Who refuses to talk to me. My father." Which isn't the best information in the world, for him.

[goldensavior]

Yeah, that didn't give her much more information than she already had there. It looked something like an advanced ipad or something similar, so it made sense it was a 'computer thing'. Perhaps she might see about getting hold of one of those to check out what it held.

At the list of two, she smiled despite the quiet concern about why her family had somehow been brought to this place without warning. Was magic responsible or was it something or rather someone else responsible for the abrupt change in location.

"Why is Henry refusing to talk to you?" She knew that the boy had had previous issues with Neal, but she'd thought he'd managed to move past them. Perhaps something had happened to get him irritated with Neal and revive that old grudge. She'd ask after Gold once she'd gotten a little more information about this issue between her son and Neal.

[kepthimhuman]

"I don't know." Which is part of the frustration. At least his father knows why he won't talk to him. Or why their conversations are always short. "When we first got here, we had a perfectly normal conversation, got along just fine, then he found out I'm his father and he hasn't hardly said two words to me since." Except for that encounter in the holodeck, when Henry was forced to talk to him due to the presence of the holodeck Gold created by Henry.

[goldensavior]

When Neal explains things the problem partially makes sense and yet is still confusing. If only because she'd really thought Henry had moved past that dislike of Baelfire stage of his. She doesn't know why a change in location would prompt a relapse. "It's not that you're his father that's the issue. It's that you're Baelfire." Thus Gold's biological son. Which is still a bit awkward to think about at times. "Have you done anything that might suggest you're going to take his father away from him since you've gotten here?" That had been Henry's original reason for treating the man like shit before. Perhaps Neal had done something that Henry had taken the wrong way and thus revived that old fear and grudge.

[kepthimhuman]

"Yeah, we had a perfectly fine conversation when he only knew me as Neal."

Maybe he should have ordered that drink already. "His father's not here, and I've barely spoken to my father since I got here."

[goldensavior]

Both of his answers serve to confuse her. Henry's never known Neal as 'just Neal', he's always been Baelfire and Neal, since their introduction in Manhattan. And there's the fact that it would seem Neal's relationship with his father is as bad as it was during that time in Manhattan. The only way for both events to make sense is if Henry was brought here from before their trip to New York and Neal had been brought here prior to his coming to Storybrooke. "Do you remember your father getting attacked by Hook in Manhattan?" The question may seem random, but she's trying to figure this mystery out. Of course, if both Henry and Neal are from different points in time. She's suddenly worried about Gold's own time frame. What if the man is from a point before they met or had gotten as close as they had? How is she supposed to explain to him that he's her husband? Suddenly getting home to her proper family and the town is looking like it's going to be much much harder.

[kepthimhuman]

"I never saw my father in Manhattan." He'd been running from that encounter when he ended up here. He also doesn't recall if his father ever mentioned anything like that happening, but it sounds like the sort of thing Hook would do.

[goldensavior]

Okay. It would seem that Neal was from even earlier than she'd first guessed at. That made things more awkward. "Did we meet in Manhattan ourselves? Or did you arrive before we even showed up there looking for you?" Because if it's the latter, she's not entirely certain she wants to try explaining her relationship with his father again. That was rather awkward enough the first time, before she'd actually went and married the man.