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

Hiro Hamada | Big Hero 6 | Opt! 1

[megabot]

There was something a little disconcerting about being surrounded by large pools of water, these days. Being a city boy, Hiro'd never really had to learn to swim, for one.

Memories of jettisoning off the edge of a pier into the cold, dark depths of the bay, unable to free himself from his seat belt as the pressure made his eardrums throb and vision go black that the edges? That-

That was probably a pretty good reason, too.

For the fifth time in as many minutes Hiro ends up stumbling out of the way of some busy lab official with absolutely zero time for the random kid that had appeared out of absolutely nowhere, running a hand through his hair in agitation. Maybe if someone would actually stop for two seconds, things would start to make a little more sense.

He makes a face at a nearby tank, and it's occupant (a large, almost violently blue octopus) crushes itself up against the glass in retaliation. And really, that's about the last straw.

"Oh, great. That's great. I'm getting sass from an octopus."

Unbelievable.

[akito]

Akito doesn't remember being to an aquarium before, or if he even feels comfortable around so much water, but he's never going to learn more about himself if he doesn't try 'new' things. So, with a quick decision he hurries into the maze of aquariums, pressing his face up against the glass and staring at all the creatures with wide, curious eyes.

It's the sharks that really catch his attention - at least until he notices he isn't the only one exploring. A small giggle escapes him as he eyes the octopus. It clearly was trying to tell the stranger something and, regardless of what it was, it most certainly is entertaining.

"Cephalopods are supposed to be pretty smart."

shut up I lied I'll sleep after these

[megabot]

Not so much interesting as it is mildly threatening. It's a fairly sizable octopus; and as much as they aren't a creature that's attracted much of his attention in the past, the way those tentacles furl and unfurl lazily disguises a nasty grip that Hiro highly doubts makes for great hugs.

"Yeah? Well anything with three hearts is compensating for something." The teen squints, leaning to the side. Sure, okay; he's not into zoology. But that species...he doesn't recognize it, at all.

But then it strikes him that someone, finally, is talking to him, and he turns expecting-- someone taller, honestly. A little bit taller.

Just for good measure, Hiro squints at him, too.

my lips are sealed shhh

[akito]

"It's the hearts that makes you think it's compensating for something?" That definitely earns another small laugh, but it's cut short when he gets a good look at the stranger's face. Suddenly he feels a lot less confident because this boy is very handsome, with hair that looks soft to the touch and eyes that are warm and bright. And squinting at him.

"Ah... I, um. Don't have three hearts. Or tentacles - though that would be kind of cool, actually." Talking to an attractive boy is a lot harder than talking to weird looking aliens. "But, uh - You're... a new arrival, right? I would have remembered seeing you around before. Unless I met you before I got amnesia! That wouldn't be the first time that's happened..."

cries on you

[megabot]

"It's either that or the eight legs, if you want to be choosey." That's a little...weird, actually. Hiro's sure that the other was a bit brighter, a second ago; so what's with the shyness now?

"Well aren't you plain out of luck, then?" His voice is probably a tad too dry- a little overly confident. It's easy to forget sometimes that most people? Most people don't understand his sarcastic mannerisms.

Although- "Yes! Yeah, I'm a new arrival. Nothing to do with your amnesia- which, I mean, sorry for that, totally lame-" Yeah no he doesn't care. "New arrival. Meaning, more than just me? People just, show up here? Out of nowhere?"

dries off tears with tissue

[akito]

"Don't say things like that - you'll jinx it! And then one day I'll wake up with tentacles and won't be able to wear my favourite shirts anymore, and my cat will probably see if I'd make good sushi." Sarcasam is good. Meh Yewll was always full of sass when he basically lived in the medbay. So he can totally work with this. And somehow even the overconfident tone is more attractive than it is offputting.

"Um, yeah - it happens in waves, usually. Around the start of the month? Apparently an all-powerful god-like entity named Q gets bored really easily and likes to drag people in from other dimensions and universes for fun." Akito can only shrug at that because, yeah, it definitely is as weird as it sounds. "Then if that isn't enough for him he'll sometimes do weird stuff to us for entertainment. I can't personally confirm that though since the last time it happened I was in a coma. The ship's logs probably have more data available on it though..."

Speaking of which - "Oh! Ah, this is a space ship. If you didn't have a chance to look out of a window. It's a pretty neat place to be stuck! Um, like, if you ever want anything you can just go to a replicator and it will make it for you. The only thing I know it can't do is replicate something for you that's alive."

[whereishe]

"Maybe he just likes you."

Yuna on the other hand loves water. She grew up on an island and because of that she was used to water. She felt comfortable surrounded by it. Her steps were light as she walked up next to the boy her lips curled into a bright smile as she lightly pressed her finger tips against the glass.

[megabot]

"Sure he does..." His voice is slow, trailing off dubiously. Or maybe, like most octopi he's heard of, he's an escape artist at heart. It.

Still, that's the last of his concerns. Dragging his gaze away from the almost fluorescent creature, Hiro clears his throat, wondering- how to phrase the question. Without sounding crazy, and all. "Call me curious, but any chance you know where we are, right now?"

[whereishe]

He didn't sound crazy though Yuna could understand his reluctance. "You're on the Enterprise." Which she assumed meant nothing to him and continued. "It's a space ship. As to where in space.. your going to have to access the computer."

The locations here meant very little to Yuna so she didn't keep track to where they actually were located. All she knew was that it was far from Earth and far from Spira.

[megabot]

"The Enterprise." She gets it right in one; it means nothing at all. And when she goes onto give him further detail, the very first thing Hiro wants to do is argue. Space travel isn't let's have a giant aquarium in our spaceship levels of advanced.

At least he doesn't have to worry about sounding crazy, anymore. "I'll take the computer. Think you could point it out for me?"

[whereishe]

Yuna smiled and waved him over to a nearby panel. "They have access points everywhere." It wasn't everywhere but it was often enough that Yuna would stop and stare for a bit.

She stepped back wondering if he knew how it worked.

Boy genius, have a girl genius!

[agathaheterodyne]

Agatha looked up, and amused smile on her face. "At least that's new and refreshing, I get mine from a cat in a great coat," she said. She strode over to him from where she had been observing dolphins in a nearby tank. She was a young woman, looking in her early twenties. She wore a long green skirt with a green and white top.

On one shoulder rode a small dingbot. She smiled warmly at him, leaning a bit so she didn't tower over him. Had she ever been so small and cute? He reminded her of some of the kids from the Castle. Wolfenbach, not Heterodyne. Of course, that made her wonder about his sanity...

Hello girl genius!

[megabot]

Hello; was that an actual answer, from an actual human being? As sure as the sun rises, his first concern should be to ask about- all of this. The aquarium, what's going on. Why he's here- yadda yadda.

So of course, it's not even close to being the first thing out of his mouth. "Buy it some rocket boots; they hate that."

There's a slight twinge of irritation at how she leans over; okay, he's tiny. Fine, whatever. But that and any questions he may have had in mind disappear when the dingbot moves, drawing his attention and absolutely all of his focus in seconds. What...is that, exactly? A battle bot? Out in the open like this?

Hiro has to consider, if only briefly, just how sane this woman is.

This is going to be so much fun!

[agathaheterodyne]

"Rocket.... boots...." She blinked rapidly as she considered that. "Oh! That could WORK! Krosp would LOVE THEM! Thank you!" she said. Her mind started spinning rapidly on that.

A propeller came from the top of the dingbot and it dropped, using the blades to hover as it pulled the spanner off of her belt from where it had twisted behind her. It handed her the tool, then dropped back onto her shoulder and folded away the 'copter blades again.

She blinked at the tool in her hand, not fully sure how it got there, but shrugged. She grinned at him. "Wanna help me build them?"

oh my gosh this is!!!

[megabot]

Usually his sarcastic comments weren't registered to hold any value, so her enthusiasm actually takes Hiro aback for a moment, brow quirking in an unspoken 'are you for real'?

Apparently. Same as her tiny robot, though for the life of him Hiro's not sure how, exactly, it's functioning at all. Hamada Brother's rule 48: it's rude to pull people's inventions apart without asking.

"...Build them?" Oh. His mind clicks into gear at that, expression evening out into a slightly...knowing grin. Help. Yeah, he could help. "I guess I know a thing or two about that, yeah. If you don't mind me helping out."

A big place like this was bound to have endless resources. If no one was going to give him answers, then he'd take a new angle. And fly his way out.

This is probably not going to go well, lol

[primeverdeen]

Prim had found this area, and was fascinated. She had been walking around wide eyed, looking at all the strange animals. She had seen mutt versions of some of these creatures on TV, in the Games, but some were completely new to her.

And then she heard the kid speak, and she turned, seeing him. Her face lit into an even brighter smile and she rushed over. Another kid!

"Hi!" she said, a bit breathless, beaming happily at him. "I'm Prim. Primrose Everden. Katniss' sister." Because back home EVERYONE knew Katniss, even if that didn't seem to be true as much here...

It's 3am, dear. /Anything/ can happen

[megabot]

The clatter of shoes slapping against the linoleum floor gets his attention first, and when Hiro glances behind him, he's almost sure (if only for the briefest moment) that he's about to be barreled right over.

She's...a kid.

And she's still taller than him. Hiro raises a brow at 'Katniss', but it certainly doesn't register anything aside from a possible cultural gap in introductions. "Hiro. Hiro Hamada, T--"

He purses his lips, looking back to the fish tank. The abrupt silence is- awkward. In every way, shape and form. Good job, nerd.

"Prim. Okay; do you think you could tell me where we are?"

[primeverdeen]

She blinked at his odd pause, and nodded. She had never seen anyone quite like him before.

"They say this is a ship that sails space like it was water. It's... really weird here... but there are lots of people. Not so many of us kids, but lots of people. And... some of the scarier ones actually aren't so bad once you get to know them," she said with a warm smile.

It would never occur to her that to the rest of Panem, Katniss is one of the scary ones the way Finnick and Johanna are.

"There is food here," she hastened to inform him. "They say it is free, but I'm still trying to figure out the cost. But until then... at least it is good. Philip showed me something called Macaroni and Cheese. It's really tasty."

Re: Hiro Hamada | Big Hero 6 | Opt! 1

[kaylinneya]

She had been heading for sick bay. She had been told that she had to check in for medical clearance before she could find out about joining this place's version of the Hawks. She had been given clear directions.

She was in the wrong place and getting herself more and more lost the more she walked.

And then that voice. She was moving before she had decided to change directions, walking swiftly.

Everyone always told her that no one needed to read her mind to know her thoughts, and Severn said that she had a whole set of expressions she only used around children. Certainly the warm smile, the softness in her eyes had no other place in her life. She smiled more as she absorbed his words.

He could have been one of Marin's. Sassy, smart mouthed, but well dressed and healthy. More than she could have hoped for most of the children in her life to this point.

"Hello," she said with a warmth in her voice that very few people would have ever heard from her. Severn would know that voice, but that was Severn, he knew more about her than she knew about herself.

She familiar, a small transparent dragon-looking thing, uncoiled from her shoulders and craned it's long prehensile neck to peer at him.

[megabot]

Okay.

Okay, so- females, in general, were not alarming to him. Coming from a city of many cultures; a veritable melting pot of ethnicity, if one cared to consider it as such, Hiro was used to plenty of things. Fashion statements galore; languages and accents so thick interpreting them took ten minutes of hardcore charades. Cultural divides, he gets. Differences in appearance, that's totally fine.

Small, transparent dragon-looking things? Not quite falling under the same category. At all. Hiro's first instinct is to call fake, but the closer he looks, the less that seems likely. Those aren't super-spectral cameras focusing in on him, those were eyes. He was having difficulty hearing the usual click or hiss of machinery in motion because there was none. She has a dragon on her shoulder.

She has a dragon on her shoulder. Hiro stares at it, slack jawed, then to the smiling face. Back to the dragon.

"...Hello?" His life and his choices; those are going to have to start coming under serious question, after today. "Maybe I hit my head."

That sounds rational.

[kaylinneya]

She dropped to her knees without concern for injuries she could have done to herself. "Are you alright?" All concern in her tone now, her eyes looking him over for injuries. A hand reached for him, a gold bracelet with bright stones - very expensive - dangled from the wrist. the glint of it caught her eye and he saw the swift transformation from gentle concern to pure irritation as she glared at the bracelet as though it had offended her.

She shook her head and tore her eyes away from it, looking him over again.

H H H H H HIT IT

[burntfingers]

Absolutely nothing makes sense right about now.

Tadashi knows the fire was real. There's still grit under his nails, ash on his clothes and the smell of it all sits heavy in his nose. But this place has to be real too. He can feel it when he pinches himself to check, and he can hear the burbling of the aquarium so clearly that it has to be right there in front of him. But how? How isn't he- he should be dead. He lifts a hand and holds it against his own chest, feeling for the unsteady heartbeat.

... Is he dead?

Tadashi doesn't really get a lot of time to think about that. His train of thought is pretty firmly derailed when he hears an unmistakeably familiar voice and spins around to confirm who it is.

"Hiro?"

There's an element of confusion to his voice, and a whole lot of fear. If he's dead, then-?

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON. YO' ALWAYS NUMBAH ONE!

[megabot]

His heart stops.

He remembers the first time he smelt smoke after Tadashi died; Aunt Cass had gotten a phone call and left some eggs in the pan just a little too long, acrid scent creeping up the stairs and slowly filling his room. That's what he'd woken to, yelling out Tadashi's name in a panic and falling right off the bed before reality stuck and--

And he was gone again. Just gone.


Hearing something Tadashi's said in his head isn't that odd. Bayax has hundreds of recordings of him, and Hiro's seen them all. He'll never forget the way he sounds, or the way he looked. How dorky his hat was and all the stupid cardigans he refused to stop wearing. It's never been outside of his head, though, and when Hiro turns he--

Of course.

Of course, it's a dream. Just a dream. Hiro manages to crack a smile after several long moments of staring like he's seen a ghost, voice wobbling but light spirited. Meant to be light spirited.

"H-hey, bro. Didn't see you there." Haven't seen you anywhere, actually.

At all.

BEST BUDDIES, BEST PALS, YEA!

[burntfingers]

The mystery of what kind of reality this is doesn't seem to matter nearly as much to Tadashi when his kid brother is standing in front him, looking like he's about to cry. Super weird magically appearing aquarium be damned, protective Dashi mode has been activated.

"Hey. Hey, woah." He takes long, quick strides to Hiro's side and crouches over him, then places his hands reassuringly on the boy's shoulders. "Everything's alright. I don't know where we are, but- at least we're both here. It's okay."

Everything else takes a backseat for the moment, Tadashi's attention focused on calm, breathe, fix, heal. He smiles encouragingly at Hiro, and keeps his grip tight, mistakenly of the opinion that reaffirming his presence here will actually help rather than maybe, well. Cause panic.

YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO WORK THINGS OUT

[megabot]

Don't touch me. Hiro flinches, but hands still connect with his shoulders all the same, a solid, steady weight that he can't-- he can't.

He can't comprehend that, right now.

Slowly, he slumps forwards, Tadashi's chest cushioning his forehead as he closes his eyes. He can smell smoke and ash and his brother, mingling into some horrible, irrational fantasy that smells and speaks and touches just like the real thing.

Hiro's been fine. He's been fine, he's finally getting over this. Today was a good day, so why now? Why?

"Yeah." He croaks out. "Yeah. It's fine."

It's fine.