TEST DRIVE #2 - The Holodeck/Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

Where were you a minute ago? Well, you aren't there anymore. Instead, you're standing in a very large, dark room lined with yellow. There are doors at either end of it.

Here's where things get a little choose your own adventure-y. You could:



1: Approach a console filled with buttons, located a few feet away. Press one, and it'll let you out of the room. Travel down a long hallway and you'll be in Ten Forward, the Enterprises' entertainment lounge. Have a drink, mingle and try to figure out why you're here.

OR

2: Maybe you just muttered some vague request under your breath. Maybe you wished aloud you were somewhere else. Or for help? If you did, might be in a fire station. Muttered something about killing whoever dumped you here? Surprise - you're in a slasher movie!

Though they're confusing, these visions feel about as real as they can be. And guess what - other people can experience those fantasies with you, as if they too were really there. How ever will you escape? Or do you want to?

[OOC: Welcome to the Holodeck! If you choose this option, whatever your character chooses to say out loud will cause a virtual reality program to load and play. While your character feels as if what they're experiencing and seeing is quite real, they're purely living through the latest and best in what he Enterprise has to offer in entertainment. Make sure to detail what your character's fantasy is, so that those threading with them will know how to react.

Open til next month's test drive!]

Comments

[a_quick_study]

This isn't what he was expecting.

Of course, Jonas has learned from all the things he's read and seen over the past few months that what you're expecting isn't always what you get, but he's sure this isn't where he was meant to be. He's never seen this room before. Sure, there are places on the base he's never been, but this black and yellow room shouldn't have been behind that door.

Nor should that corridor, and most certainly, there shouldn't have been this big room full of people he's never seen before, not one of them wearing any of the colours of uniform he's used to seeing.

Still, as he walks into the lounge, Jonas has a grin on his face.

Wherever it is, this place is -- what's the word? -- amazing.

[magnificus]

"It's mad, isn't it? This place," says the teenage boy beside him.

He seems pleased about it though.

He's dressed in what can only be described as 'kingly' garb, rich golds and reds. There's a lion insignia across his chest.

He doesn't really carry himself the way a king would, though, what with only having been coronated a couple of weeks ago. He's got a lot to learn.

[a_quick_study]

"Mad," he says, voice slow, considering the word and finding that, though it wasn't the one he'd chosen, it's a good one as well. At least, in the way that the Tauri use it.

When he turns to face the young man, there's a moment, just a moment, when his clothing reminds Jonas of home, of the elegance and dignity of Kelownan dress that's so different from the dress of the SGC. From the green pants and shirt Jonas is wearing now. It's not home, and the boy is not a Kelownan. But it's a reminder, and reminders are all he has.

"I only just got here, but it sure seems mad." But Jonas is still smiling, and the boy doesn't seem to mind, either. Being mad doesn't necessarily make it bad. A lot of mad things have been happening to him lately, and this is just another one.

And if he's not sure how he got here ... that will come. He hopes. Though he does wish that Carter was here.

"I'm Jonas. Jonas Quinn."

[magnificus]

"I'm Peter. It's nice to meet you," Peter says, holding out a hand and everything.

Politeness was ingrained into him and his siblings. (Though the only one who rebels against that is Ed.

Even still.)

"Have you ever been on a ship like this before?"

[a_quick_study]

"Peter," he repeats, his enunciation careful, concentrating on the sound like that will make it stick better in his mind. New names are just one of the things he's had to learn since he arrived on Earth.

He does know how to shake hands, though, and he does. Being confused is no reason to be any less than polite, and besides, it's only through talking to people here that he's going to find anything out about them.

Maybe even about this place.

"Like this?" he asks, waving a hand towards one of the walls. "No, never one like this. But a ship, sure." He narrows his eyes, studying the young man again for a moment. "Have you?"

[magnificus]

Peter shakes his head.

"It's definitely my first time," he says. "I've only ever been on a water ship, and we've got aeroplanes, but nothing quite like this. I've certainly never seen the stars this closely before."

And by Jove, it's really quite magical.

Not Narnia magical, but it comes close.

[she_listens]

Some time after he enters the room, perhaps as he's casually walking past the bar or looking for a seat to claim as his own, something rather strange happens.

A tall glass of gold, bubbly liquid is set down in front of him. On the rocks, with a black straw. The smell and taste are mild, no hint of alcohol. Just a subtle scent of ... is that ginger? A ginger ale, then.

Call it a hunch, but the bartender thinks he'll like it.

She just has this feeling.

[a_quick_study]

There are so many people, and not just people, but species, here that he can't work out where he should go or who he should talk to first.

He doesn't know why he's here, or how he got here, or how it's even possible to wind up here out of Stargate Command, but he's ... observing. Looking for clues. Trying to work out the dynamics of the room. There will be things for him to see, things that can help, if he pays close enough attention.

Finding somewhere to sit would be a good start. He's been wandering for a few minutes and is just passing the bar when he hears the gentle clinking of a glass being placed deliberately by him.

He turns to see the bartender standing nearby, with a drink on the bar in front of her.

"Is that for me?" he says, with a slow smile. "Thanks."

[she_listens]

"No problem. When you come to my lounge, you get fast service."

There's a subtle spark of laughter in her eyes.

"I thought you could use it after all the running around you've been doing."

[a_quick_study]

It looks good, and Jonas is always ready to try something that looks good. He's never going to get bored with the number of things available to eat on Earth that didn't exist in Kelowna. This drink -- whereever this place is and wherever the drink's from -- is another one.

He picks it up, the glass cold against his skin. He doesn't drink it right away, though; he raises it cautiously to his face and sniffs, catching the tang of ... ginger and a hint of sweetness.

The taste matches the smell, and he nods to the bartender, holding out the glass.

"It's good."

And she was right. He does need it. He's hardly been running, but if somebody were paying as much attention to him as he is to everyone else, they might have noticed him going from table to table and wandering past the windows, always watching.

Not that he wanted them to.

"I didn't think I was that obvious."

[she_listens]

She chuckles.

"You're not. I'm just observant; it comes with the job."

It doesn't just come with the job, but Guinan maintains an air of mystery where she can. When you have so many centuries under your belt, you accrue a lot of talents, and a lot of history.

"I'm guessing this is your first time here?"

You play Jonas Quinn, you have my love 8D

[lord_of_arms]

Firion didn't think it was amazing, but then again, he wasn't from a place this advanced. He only knew of it due to his friends from the Conflict. Although he wasn't sure if they ever mentioned ships in space. This was space, right? It could only be considering the sky outside was much darker, not at all blue but black and there were no clouds in sight.

He stood next to a man after looking out the window, mindful of his weapons. There were just so many people here! He didn't want to accidentally hurt someone.

"Excuse me, sir, do you know what this place is?"

This is only my second time testing him, so thanks! :)

[a_quick_study]

They're in space. It's kind of hard not to notice the view out of the windows, and though this is very different from the Tel'tak he and the team had flown out to investigate that abandoned Ha'tak, there's no mistaking that view. Stars, shining in the incredible vastness of space.

That view, framed in different windows, is at least familiar, if nothing else is here. Not the people, not the architecture, not the design ... it's not like any of the ships' plans he's read, and yet here it is. And here he is.

This must be something even the SGC doesn't know about.

He'd been distracted by the view out of the window, but a voice from beside him reminds him that there's a whole room of people around him, too.

"It's a spaceship," he says, and his grin only freezes for a moment at the sight of all the guy's weapons (he's got a lot) before he recovers. "We're in space."

c:

[lord_of_arms]

Don't worry, Jonas, Firion won't attack you with them!

He blinked at Jonas at the words. They were really in space? But... how? "I've never known an airship to get so high. I've never seen an airship quite like this, actually. So I suppose the term spaceship is only fitting."

Leaning on one foot, he crossed his arms lightly, a hand going up to his chin in thought. "I'm not sure what purpose I would serve here. Do you know of why I am here?"

Re: c:

[a_quick_study]

So. Based on the very startled way the guy blinks, he's not familiar with the concept of space travel, or at least, space travel as a possible thing in the here and now. Which is not all that surprising, given how many worlds there are out there where people aren't.

Including his own.

"There's all sorts of special features it needs to be able to get into space and to survive the vacuum. No airship could do it."

That's more the sort of technology Kelowna was familiar with.

Jonas raises his eyebrows and lifts his hands in a helpless little gesture.

"I'm ... not sure. I don't even know what sort of spaceship this is. It's not like anything I know.

[ancientstalker]

There's someone sat at a table in Ten Forward, sketching something that looks very similar to a Stargate, whilst working on a PADD with his other hand.

Orlin is working on a way to get home that Q hopefully hasn't thought of. This ship's holographic projection system is very advanced, and can program things that will likely work, if given enough information and coded correctly.

He had asked some members of the Enterprise crew on how to holoprogram, and was doing the rest, himself.

[a_quick_study]

Jonas is ... watching. There's a whole lounge full of people here, and somewhere, there has to be a clue. There usually is, if he looks hard enough and notices enough details and puts them together in the right way. Of course, it's easier with Carter, O'Neill, and Teal'c, but since he's seen no sign of the rest of SG-1 around, it's up to Jonas.

So as he wanders around the room, apparently looking for somewhere to sit, he's also he's looking at the people around him, studying them without appearing to study them. Most of the time, he just needs a glance.

He hasn't seen anything that tells him much yet, until ... there. That guy over there in the corner, with one hand using some sort of electronic device and the other drawing something circular.

Something very familiar that makes Jonas step closer, frowning, intent.

You can't study the Stargate as an unknown ancient relic, then study countless schematics and mission reports about them, and spend day after day looking at the one in Stargate Command, without recognising one when you see it.

"Have you seen something like that around here?"

[ancientstalker]

Orlin looks up from his work, eyes locking with the man who distracted him. He smiles slightly, still maintaining a neutral expression.

"There is nothing like this in this universe."

Yet. Orlin had been studying their holodeck. The holographic technology was pretty impressive. Perhaps even superceeding Alteran projection methods. He had an idea, hopefully one that Q hadn't thought of yet.

[a_quick_study]

"This universe?"

Of course there is. There's one right in the base at Stargate Command. There's one in Kelowna. There are unknown numbers of them scattered all throughout the galaxy. That's the whole point of the Stargate Program.

It wouldn't be much good without a Stargate.

But the man says it so calmly, like he's just imparting information, that Jonas' immediate instinct to protest is quelled.

"What do you mean, this universe? I've seen them. I've travelled through them."

Unless there is something far, far worse than he thought going on here. And it was bad enough already.

[ancientstalker]

Orlin's smile widens. Yes, this man knows the Astria Porta. This will make things interesting.

"You're no longer in the same universe you were. A being, known as Q, has pulled you into this dimension. Myself included."

/slides in here

[goldencobra]

In the lounge, there's a small boy with a backpack looking out into the stars. He does look over to the doors when they open but when he doesn't recognise the person, he goes back to staring into space. There's something peaceful about looking out into the blackness despite the noise and chatter that's going on around him. But to everyone else, he probably just looks lost and alone.

'allo, I am here!

[a_quick_study]

It's a room full of people, moving from tables to bar and settling at the bar and wandering in and out, some of them looking confused and some of them looking startled and the ones in uniform just seeming to go about their business. In that crowd, a boy standing by the window might be overlooked, fade into the background so that nobody notices him.

But to Jonas, who scans crowds looking for patterns of behavior, and notices the little things that people do, a boy staring out into space and not speaking to anyone is somebody to notice.

He looks like he could use a few friendly words.

Jonas moves quietly as he walks over to the boy.

"It's pretty impressive, isn't it?" he says, softly, waving a hand towards the window.

He remembers the first time he saw space.

His team had asked why he'd been smiling.

[goldencobra]

Unlike Jonas, Henry wasn't smiling. Granted being in space was pretty cool but that didn't mean he wanted to be here alone. When the man approached him, he politely turned towards him and nodded.

"Yeah. Not something I expected to see." Especially since he expected to end up in Boston at the end of the coach trip.

[a_quick_study]

"I don't think many of us expected to see it," he says, his voice gentle.

To Jonas, at least, this isn't his first time in space, not the first time he's stood at a window like this and looked out into the stillness of space punctuated by the points of light that are distant stars.

The first time he'd been in space, he'd barely been able to stop smiling.

The child, though, isn't smiling.

"I'm Jonas," he says, softly, trying to keep his smile and his voice as friendly as possible.

[goldencobra]

He nodded again, agreeing with that assessment and shifted to sit more comfortably for a conversation. At the introduction, he continued to nod and there was a pause before he spoke, as if perhaps he didn't want to give his name.

"I'm Henry. Nice to meet you Jonas." Not entirely sure it was nice but he wasn't going to be impolite. "Do you live here?"