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

#1. Ten Forward Lounge - Guinan

[she_listens]

Are you new to the Enterprise? Have you suddenly found yourself here, in a strange barroom surrounded by strange people? No doubt you would like some answers, and Guinan just so happens to have some.

She looks like she's in her late thirties, but her eyes are deep and dark and endless, and she often smiles as if she has a secret. As a matter of fact, she has thousands.

Tonight, however, she's simply tending the bar. She's approachable, with an air about her that puts most at ease. Come, let her get you a drink. She'll gladly listen to all your problems.


[ooc: Looking for a Star Trek primer? Guinan's your girl. She can help you get a lay of the land, figure out what's going on and how everything works, and assuage your worries. She also mixes a mean drink.]

[defendergirl]

Rose has been making observations, people-watching, and doing all the sorts of things she could imagine the Doctor doing in a time like this.

The last bit she feels she needs to do is - well, find out more about this place. Bartenders, in her experience, tend to be pretty reliable when it comes to information.

So that is why Rose has approached the bar.

"'llo, I don't suppose you've got any drinks from Earth, do you?"

[she_listens]

"We have many."

Guinan smiles, inviting her to take a stool.

"What's your preference?"

[defendergirl]

Rose smiles too.

"Well, I was mostly asking out of curiousity, but I wouldn't mind a half pint of cider, if you've got it."

[she_listens]

"The non-alcoholic variety, or the stronger kind? We have both."

And several variations therein.

Guinan quirks a small smirk.

"That's not usually the first question guests ask just out of curiosity."

It isn't a complaint at all, she simply finds it fascinating.

[defendergirl]

"Oh, go on with the stronger kind," Rose says, grinning.

She might as well.

"Yeah, I s'pose not. I was sort of workin' my way up to the rest of it."

[she_listens]

The bartender looks amused, but she merely inclines her head and fetches the requested drink. It may not be exactly what Rose had in mind, but it's tart, sweet, and strong, served in a tall, blue glass.

"Fair enough."

Guinan doesn't prod her. She figures Rose will ask her about whatever's on her mind in her own due time.

[defendergirl]

"You seem awfully calm for someone who's got a whole lot of new people to suddenly deal with," she observes aloud. "Unless this sort of thing happens often?"

Rose decides to try a sip of her drink as she waits for an answer, watching the woman.

"Mm - and this is delicious! Tastes a bit different from what I'm used to."

[she_listens]

"Would it help if I panicked?"

She smirks lightly, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't say this happens that often, but you're not the first person who's arrived in this way lately. We're all still figuring out the best way to get you all home.

"And thank you, I'm glad you like it."

[defendergirl]

"No, I s'pose it wouldn't," Rose says, laughing a little.

In the case of an emergency, the last thing anyone wants is to see the crew going completely mad, inducing panic amongst everyone else.

It's just - well, this woman is very good at being calm.

"Well, it's good on you to help us all find our way home. Thank you." She pauses to take another sip of her drink. "Are you usually the bartender here?"

[she_listens]

"I'm in charge, for now. There are others who serve here, but I'm the one with the office."

Her smile widens, laughter shining in her eyes.

"May I say that you seem awfully calm for someone who has just shown up in a strange place without any warning?"

[defendergirl]

Rose puts her drink down, catching some of the condensation that runs down the side of her glass.

She shrugs, smiling a lopsided smile.

"This might not be the first time I've dealt with something like this," she says. "Not exactly like it, of course, but appearin' in a place where I shouldn't be?

"I'll admit, I've never been on my own when it happens. But it'll be all right."

The Doctor will come soon; she's sure of it.

[she_listens]

A slight line forms between Guinan's brows. She clasps her hands together and leans forward, resting her chin on her interlocked knuckles.

"So you're on your own now?"

[defendergirl]

"Yeah."

Rose flicks a glance over her shoulder as though she expects the Doctor to appear and challenge that, but -



No Doctor.

Oh, well.

"I've been travelin' around with a man called the Doctor. I don't suppose you've ever heard of him, have you?"

[heraldsavil]

Savil is certainly new to the idea of a metal city floating in the middle of the cosmos but hardly to the mix of species and cultures within the lounge they were in. Quite the contrary, the short, older woman was quite at ease as she drifted through the room. It did help that for as colorful as some of the others were, Savil was the complete opposite: white tunic and shirt, white pants and riding boots, even a white belt to hang her long dagger from. It just matched the silver braid that fell down to her knees. About the only color to her was the weathered tan on her skin, her blue eyes, and the dark blue edging on her belt and tunic.

As long as she moved slowly with an apparent lack of urgency Savil could keep her limp at a minimum. But in time she had to land herself an oddly comfortable stool at the bar with a muted wince. "You wouldn't happen to have a tonic for age, would you?" Savil asked with a rather warm smile edged with wry humor.

[she_listens]

Guinan surreptitiously keeps her eyes on the woman as she moves toward the bar. She strikes an imposing figure.

"Age?"

That was a strange request. She smiles a little, shaking her head.

"Not one that would reverse the process. I can get you a glass of prune juice, if you'd like."

[heraldsavil]

"Age catches up with everyone, even the Wingsibs eventually. Prune juice?" Savil blinked and traced her memory for anything called a 'prune' and frowned slightly. And it was hardly a strange request from someone who rode a spirit-horse and was just as comfortable with magic as the sword. Savil was in a floating metal city, she may as well not limit her questions to supposedly conventional limits. Curiosity hadn't killed her. Yet. "I'm not sure I've heard of a prune but I can hardly say I'm familiar with half the products of the Peligirs. Is it from a vine, a tree, or a bush?"

[she_listens]

"Wingsibs?"

Strange, that's a name Guinan doesn't recognize. Not that it never happens, but she's accustomed to knowing most species and planets common to this part of the universe.

Peligirs isn't familiar to her either.

"Have you ever eaten a plum? They're a drupe fruit, and when dried properly they make prunes. They have a rich, sweet flavor."

[heraldsavil]

Savil blinked and then broke into a slightly guilty smile. "I really need to remember that nobody here is from Velgarth. The Peligirs is a long strip of forest and hills. A long time ago there was a mage war and that area was left tainted and damaged enough to spill over to the natural world. Strange creatures, moving trees, phantom armies... There are small clans called the Tale'sedrin living there draining off the excess energies and healing the forest so it can be habitable again. They bond mentally to various birds so 'wingsibling' is a bit of an endearment."

She paused and then laughed with a glance over her shoulder at a glowing blue sphere that was hovering over a 3D chess set a little ways away. "Yes, I'm sure they would." Savil turned back with a much more open smile. "That's my partner, Kellan. She's lost a bit of weight..." After a slight pause it seems that Savil finally remembers about the whole question of drinks and shakes herself. "Plums I know, though they're a bit on the sweet side for me. Unless you know of a way to spice them up a bit?" Bartenders knew far more than she did on such matters.

[she_listens]

"Really?"

Her eyes widen.

"That sounds like an interesting place. Mage wars?"

It's not the kind of thing you hear talk of every day, but neither are moving trees or phantom armies. Guinan, generally speaking, lets the other person direct the conversation, but she just might have to question her further on Velgarth and the Peligirs when an opportunity presents itself.

She nods a greeting to Kellan, unbothered by the interruption, and passes a smile between both.

"I think I can manage that. Can your friend take any refreshments?"

[empathic_pathfinder]

"I've heard," Terzen says, sliding up to the bar once Guinan is free of any other patrons. "That the bartender in the Enterprise's Ten Forward can brew a mean jestral tea."

He smiles, friendly enough. Guinan had his curiosity for a while. He couldn't get an accurate reading of her emotions. There was something... there, but he couldn't quite get a fixed reading.

And, hey. Starfleet was about bridging the unknown, right?

[she_listens]

He'll have to build a bigger bridge.

Guinan, for her part, smiles at her new customer, a little good-natured pride lighting up her eyes.

"You heard right."

A mug is placed in front of him in short order, the pale golden tea steaming pleasantly. With all the new arrivals, she's been brewing it for more than just the Betazoid passengers. It's good for anxiety, and few things make people more anxious than finding themselves in new and unfamiliar surroundings.

"Can I get you anything else?"

[empathic_pathfinder]

Terzen likes a challenge.

He picks up the clear mug, holding it in his hands, savouring it's warmth. It's known that Trill hands are remarkably cold, this is quite comforting. He takes a deep breath of the vapour rising from the tea, sighing.

"Unless you have a way home stashed behind the bar, this will do nicely, thank you."

[she_listens]

She laughs politely, warmth exuding from her expression. There is something just underneath, though; a sense of regret and of pain at the question. For some people there is no way home, and Guinan happens to be one of them. But whatever the emotion, it's slight and fleeting.

"Sorry, I'm fresh out. I plan to restock once our engines are up and running again."

She opens her palms in a shrug.

"But you don't seem to be far from home."

[goldencobra]

Henry is indeed very new to the Enterprise. But he's not afraid to assert himself or ask questions when he needs to. And this appears to be a time when he needs to. Approaching the bar, he gives Guinan a small smile and places a small rectangular piece of plastic on the bar.

"Do you take credit cards?"