TEST DRIVE #10 - Cetacean Pool and Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

#1

Option 001. Cetacean Pool/Aquatics Lab: Of all the places in the world, you open your eyes and you find yourself in a medium-sized aquatics laboratory, filled with various living specimens along with various science officers bustling about trying to maintain order. There's much to explore here (and hopefully, in the crew's opinion, not break), but the main attraction is the large pool at the far end of the lab; enormous but tanklike in appearance, it contains several dolphins happily swimming about, seemingly without a care in the world.


2

Option 002. Aboard the Enterprise, Ten Forward: You have no idea what just happened. One minute you were home, and now you're on a spaceship, in the middle of a crowded room. It looks like a bar. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens.

You've managed to land in Ten Forward a long bar with barstools and a bartender, tables sprinkled throughout, and the far wall is nothing but windows out to space. It looks like a nice lounge, low conversation making the room hum.

Better ask some questions and find out where you are, or just tap the closest person on the shoulder and try to make friends. The bar is open.

Comments

danny valdessecchi • blind dating • ten forward

[fuckingblind]

[danny was on his way back home from his weekly appointment with dr. evans. his cane was folded away and tucked in his back jeans pocket, and he was using his hand to guide along the buildings as he headed home. his ma was cooking for the whole family, and even jay was stopping by, so he was eager to get back.

He was coming up on the little market, planning on grabbing a granny smith apple as he went by, when there was a shift---and everything seemed to change suddenly. there wasn't brick under his fingers, in fact there wasn't anything but air, and he came to an abrupt stop. he couldn't smell the crates of fresh fruit that usually stood outside the store. he couldn't hear the bustling sounds coming from the street.

Wherever this was, it sounded like there were people, like a crowded night at peitro's. was it some kind of prank? was larry breaking his balls over the blood oath thing? god, he was such a pussy sometimes.

He gave a nervous chuckle, and felt around his immediate area, managing to bump into the corner of a table.]

Right. Okay, Larry, this---this is a good one. [he couldn't smell his usual cologne close by though. he was starting to get a little annoyed now.]

Seriously. That's enough.

[okay. maybe this wasn't a practical joke of some kind. he raised his voice a little, hoping to catch anyone's attention.]

Excuse me, does anyone want to tell me where the hell I am?

[fighting4afuture]

He doesn't really need to raise his voice for the boy closest to him, since Trunks' hearing is better than a normal human's, thanks to being part Saiyan. But it doesn't hurt, either, in the general din of the room.

Trunks watched him--noting certain tells. He didn't think the man could see.

"You're on a starship, the Enterprise."

He didn't know if the man would be insulted--he hopes not, and also hopes that he's not being presumptuous--and he continues casually.

"I'm on your left, by the way. About four feet in front of you," he offers.

[fuckingblind]

Danny looks in the direction of the guy as he speaks, brows knitting together as he does. Did he just say starship and Enterprise. Okay, this was way beyond Larry's usual pranks. He's also pretty certain that he got a bruise from that table he knocked into a second ago, so he isn't dreaming.

He used to watch Star Trek as a kid with his folks sometimes. But, uh, he's gonna keep that bit of information to himself. Yeah. Definitely.

Then the guy tells him a good idea of where he is, and Danny nods, using the table to guide off of as he makes his way closer to him.

"Starship, huh? That's cool. So how do I get out of here? You know, planet Earth, 2006?"

[fighting4afuture]

Trunks wouldn't really care, since it's not his reality they're stuck in.

"I wish I knew. There's some guy that's making us all appear here--we might all be from different realities or timelines. Aside from the people already here, obviously."

He's glad that he didn't seem to have stepped over any lines, at least.

"For example: I'm from Earth too, but we track years completely differently. And from what I've seen of this place's history, it's not at all the same."

[fuckingblind]

"Some guy? What guy?"

Who the hell would want to do something like that to people? That's cruel.

"So nobody knows how to get back to where they came from?" What about his family? His home? Did it just stop existing or something? Would they know he was gone?

[fighting4afuture]

"His name is Q, or so I've heard. I haven't gotten the chance to meet him yet."

Trunks' tone is not so much 'I would like the chance to speak with him' and more 'I would like the chance to deck him. And then maybe speak with him.'

"Not at the moment. I'm sorry I don't have much else of an answer. I just got here myself."

[fuckingblind]

"Q." Wasn't that the guy that always caused them trouble? Jesus, this was bad. He can read that in his tone, and actually gives a bit of a laugh, mouth quirking up at one side.

"Yeah, well, if you do let me know, huh? Dragging people all over creation, sounds like a dick if you ask me."

He doesn't want to, but he's pretty sure he's gonna fall all over himself if he doesn't, so he reaches into his back pocket to get his cane out. He unfolds it, tapping it on the deck to make sure it stays rigid.

"It's okay, thanks anyways. I'm Danny by the way."

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

"At present, you are standing on my foot," Picard says.

Apparently, he picked the wrong moment to enter Ten Forward — or perhaps it was precisely the moment intended by a certain omnipotent alien pain in the ass. Regardless, as soon as he took three steps into the lounge he found himself bumping into the boy as he shouted his query.

Picard stands at just a few inches shorter than Danny, voice rich and deep. As he readjusts to get out of his way, he glances at Danny's face and immediately pulls a double-take. "Kirk."

Except he is far younger, and not in his uniform.

[fuckingblind]

"Ah." He backs off a step, hands reaching around him abortively to try and avoid doing that again. This is completely unfamiliar to him, and he's got no idea what is going on.

"Sorry, I just---I don't know this place." The other man says a name and he makes a face. "It's Danny. Danny Valdessecchi."

Another small step back has him bumping the table again, and he puts hand out to steady himself.

"There an explanation to go with that foot?"

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

Picard makes disgruntled noises each time a hand sweeps out and connects with some part of him, though it's entirely from annoyance and not any actual discomfort.

"Danny Valdessecchi?" he parrots, expression severe. The likeness is uncanny. He would be inclined to believe this is some manner of practical joke, if not for the fact that the man before him is too young to be the James T. Kirk he knows, and by this point in time it is also quite evident that he cannot see. As he bumps into the table, Picard reaches a bracing hand out for his elbow, poring over the young man's face. Why, it's nearly unsettling.

"There is a title," he answers stiffly. "Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise. You have stumbled onto my ship."

[fuckingblind]

Yeah, Danny can hear it, and he's not the only one that's annoyed.

"It's what I said," he says, looking almost directly at him then, his own expression unamused. "What are you staring at?"

His hand finds the table, but then the other man's hand is at his elbow and he jerks it away, face screwing up as he does. "Touch your elbow, god."

But then he is continuing. "Ship." he repeats. "This is a joke right?" This can't be possible, but he knows for a fact he is somewhere completely different than where he was.

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

His spine straightens almost instinctively at the question, but the surprise is short-lived. He pulls his hands back with no further prompting than the aggravated tug and complaint provide, pursing his lips and sighing in disapproval. He feels no call to apologize. Perhaps he had been staring, but it seems obvious to him that the boy is simply trying to get a rise out of him.

"It certainly is not," he says, as terse as he had been a moment ago. "Everything I have told you is true. Now, I imagine from your actions that you do not need my help, but perhaps if you would calm yourself for a moment I might explain your situation better."

If he can deign to be civil.

[sf_girl_friday]

((ooc: I'm squeeing over someone playing Danny))

Janice was still processing what had happened. One moment she was buried in PADDs, trying to finish up her paperwork and the next she was in a lounge on another ship.

She was about to ask the bartender what was going on when she heard a familiar voice. Or one that she assumed was familiar. Scooping up the PADD that had tagged along with her, she turned toward the speaker.

Kirk. Although he wasn't in uniform for some reason when they both had been on duty moments before. Moving toward him, she glanced around to see if any other members of the crew were nearby but it seemed that they were the only ones that were in the lounge.

Or she was the only one... as Jan drew closer, she realized whoever he was, he wasn't Kirk. But the resemblance was enough to cause to falter, staring for longer than she should before she snapped out of her shock. "I'm not sure where we are." Jan was certain that it was a ship but it wasn't the Enterprise. "Or how exactly we got here."

[fuckingblind]

(god life kind of ate me. BUT HI i am d and i have a problem with chris pine faces.)

Danny could hear a bit of movement closer to him than the rest of the bustling room. His head turned to the side, eyes searching in the direction, but the person (he's almost positive someone is there). He's usually eerily good at that sort of thing.

He's pretty sure whoever it was, was staring too, and he hated that. Like, really hated it. Then the person finally speaks up.

"Pretty sure that's not really useful to either of us," he says. His hands went out in front of him, guiding off of her voice so he didn't bump into her, but he wasn't certain if anything else was around that would get in his way.

"Don't suppose this is some kind of elaborate prank, huh?"

[sf_girl_friday]

It actually took her a moment to realize his eyes weren't focusing the way she expected. The similarities between this being and Kirk were too startling for her to notice anything else. He looked enough like the Captain to be his brother. If she didn't know what Sam looked like, she might have believed that was who had been brought aboard the ship with her.

"No, it's not but I thought it was better to tell the truth than pretend I knew what was going on." As she spoke, she remained still so he could get an idea of where she was in relation to him. "I'm sorry if I was rude when I first saw you. At first I thought you were my commanding officer."

Jan wasn't certain if he had noticed her reaction, but it was best to apologize now than have him think she was rude. "If this is a prank, I don't know how someone pulled it off. Even Scotty couldn't arrange something like this."

[fuckingblind]

"Yeah, good idea," he says, voice terse. It usually takes a bit more to ruffle his feathers, but he's in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people with absolutely no clue how he got there.

"It's okay, I mean. I suppose rude is the least of our problems if we've both ended up in some weird place all of a sudden." He gives a slight, nervous chuckle at his own failed attempt at humor. "Commanding officer? Uh, no. I'm---I'm Danny. Danny Valdessecchi."

A beat. "What's your name? I mean, if we're gonna be stuck here and all. It'd be nice to know."

He gives a slight shrug. "I don't know. My brother Larry is pretty good at pranks. Like, scary good. I think making a bar and complete strangers appear out of thin air is a little beyond him though."

[magnetic_magpie]

Well, you're in a bar called Ten Forward but I doubt you mean that.

[ Magneto's voice is well worn, in that 'vaguely European but damned if I can place it' way. He's relaxed his iron grip on his accent as he relaxes, even if there's enough traces to suggest English isn't his first language. ]

Otherwise there's a plate of something sticky about three inches away from your hand, at your seven o'clock on that table top, I don't suggest touching it. And you're...on a ship, it's a bit difficult to explain.

[ Magneto's moving closer - his voice is getting closer - but he's walking silently. He's not trying to, it's just habit. ]

I can explain it, at least some of it, if you'd like.

[fuckingblind]

[he looks towards the voice, brow furrowing at the information. there's nothing like that where he lives.]

No, that's not what I meant. I don't think this is funny.

[cause it has to be a prank, right? then he's mentioning that his hand is near something that he definitely doesn't want to put it in and he pulls it back to his side. his mouth turns down into a slight frown.

he takes a slight step back as the man's voice gets closer, but he can't hear his steps.]

Yeah, an explanation would be good.

[magnetic_magpie]

It's not funny, no.

[ He stops when he's close enough for a conversation, but not crowding the other man. And silently nudging a chair back under the table. ]

You're in a bar called Ten Forward, on a ship called Enterprise. If either of those names are familiar to you, that shortens the explanation a great deal. If not, what's your science background and we'll go from there?

[fuckingblind]

Well, at least we can agree on that.

[danny doesn't back up again when he realizes that the other guy isn't going to get any closer than where he is.

ten forward? enterprise? he's---kidding, right? except, danny's pretty good at reading people, and there's no teasing lilt. no sound like barely contained amusement. he's actually serious. shit.

so if this is real and that--it's like the television show, right? okay, maybe that's a bad thing to mention. so---well, he's not going to. he'll just go with things.]

No, no none of those things are familiar to me. You just told me I wandered into a bar on a boat somehow, and honestly, I never got that invite.

[deadpan] I'm a law student.

[magnetic_magpie]

At least you aren't bleeding out in the hall, we've had that happen. More than once, luckily there's an abundance of medical personnel aboard.

[ There's a worn tone to his voice - he hadn't stumbled on those scenes, but he'd heard about them, and lived through enough to know that while he could handle it, it wasn't something he wanted to see again. He raises his hand to pinch the bridge his nose, muffling his voice for a moment. ]

Oh, ok then.

[ He accepts it - but he notes it. The young man's face didn't give anything away, but there where areas of the brain which lit up - at least some of those words where familiar, but if he wanted to claim otherwise, at this juncture, he had no reason to say anything. ]

All right. So people tend to use the word universe to describe space - and that's true, but it's also a dimension. Which is how I'm meaning it at the moment. There's been theories for years - and in some universes proof - multiple universes. The thing is, we don't really know how different universes are shaped. We know they can be shaped in all kinds of ways, most people tend to think of them as spherical, like a ball, and that's possible. I theorize when you have a group of related universes they are similar in shape and all clumped together, like a bunch of grapes. The stems holding everything together might be another universe as well or might be something we don't yet understand. Norse mythology - which isn't mythology in every world - tried to explain it with Yggdrasil, which is neither here or there, just that it isn't a new idea. Anyway, some are shaped like that. Some like doughnuts, round with a hole int he middle, some like any pasta shape you can thinks of or well. Anything. Any three dimensional shape. Some are even jumbled inside a larger universe, like the beads in a bean bag. There's probably a lot of those, actually.

So those are universes. And sometimes, you have people, beings, not human ones but still people who can manipulate their own universe. Those are called reality warpers. In some places, they may be called gods. Some of them can effect other universes not their own as well. Ok? Still following?

[ As he speaks, there's passion in his voice. This is so neat do you see how this neat? it all but screams. It's serious, but ringing with enthusiasm. He's a scientist, so many forget that. ]

What kind of law, by the way?

[anothertonysoprano]

"You look like an asshole, you know."

Close by? Nah, over by the bar. And you shut your mouth about his cologne, Daniel. He's been here for two days now and apparently they don't keep patchouli in space. The animals.

He grabs his napkin and wipes his mouth, though it's still full enough that his voice is muffled by meatballs and spaghetti. "Use your cane, numb nuts."

[effingblind]

Larry, he knew it!

He'll say what he wants about your cologne. It's just too bad there are no windows to turn down on a starship. He'll settle for an airlock to deal with you though, god.

Danny's face screws up when he hears his brother talking with his mouth full. Are you kidding?

"You shut your mouth," he complains, starting towards him. Guess what he's not using? Just guess. He keeps his hands out, guiding off where he heard his brother's voice come from, and is managing so far not to bump into too much of anything.

"What did you do this time?"

[anothertonysoprano]

Yeah, right, you try to open the windows out here and we're all dead. Don't even think about the airlocks, ma will kill you. Jesus.

"Shut your mouth," he snaps back, still mid-chew. Part of him's thinking about just sitting there and watching the idiot try to make it across the room like that, because he knows what's coming once Danny's finally in arm's length. He can't do that, though. He's his stupid brother. "Jesus, Danny."

He rolls his eyes and gets off his stool. "You're going to land in somebody's plate and ruin their nice dinner, just use your fucking cane. C'mere. Here." He reaches for Danny's arm.

[effingblind]

That's why he said it was too bad. He'll settle for the airlock for your ugly face though.

"God, you're like an animal. Who taught you to chew like that, it wasn't ma," he complains. Yeah, he knows what's coming. He'd better know what's coming. And he's not stupid, you're stupid.

"I'm doing okay so far," he says, and luckily Larry is still talking when he makes his way over him, so it doesn't startle him when he takes his arm. That doesn't mean that Larry is safe from a cuff to the back of the head once he's in range, oh no.

"So what's going on?"