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

[sizeofyourbaggage]

Sam comes to the bar half to people watch, so when he spots someone moving around the tables without ever really stopping at any of them, his attention is caught.

At first he doesn't think too much of it, except to wonder if maybe he's looking for someone - or he's new here - but then Sam gets a better look at him. Or, more accurately, at his face, and then Sam's up off his stool and heading over almost before he realizes what he's doing.

"Steve?"

[always_a_gerbil]

It didn't take Steve long to realize he'd caught someone's attention even if he wasn't sure if it was good attention or not. Not that he wasn't used to barroom fights but this didn't look like the type of place to start something. Even if it was, it'd draw unwanted attention that he didn't need until he was sure of what was going on.

It was obvious that the man recognized him but Steve couldn't remember ever seeing him before. He should remember if they had unless his memory had been effected by whatever had happened. Giving the man a self-depreciating smile, he focused on the rest of the room, wondering if anyone else was going to make a move toward him. "Is that a lucky guess or have we met before?"

[sizeofyourbaggage]

Honestly, Sam doesn't know what's going on here well enough to be completely disappointed by the guy not recognizing him. He responded to Steve's name, though, so at the moment Sam's going with either more of that crazy time displacement - in which case Sam's definitely going to be disappointed - or some kind of alternate version.

What is Sam's life these days.

Still, he quirks a little smile. "Not a lucky guess, but, uh, that second one's a little more complicated. I've met you, but I'm not sure you've met me yet. This is... probably gonna sound a little crazy, but what year is it, last you remember?"

[always_a_gerbil]

Part of him wished he could accept the situation as it was. Even if it was insane. The guy seemed to know him and was friendly. But Steve wasn't going to be complacent just because someone seemed nice. For a moment, he remembered Erskine's words, then told himself the doctor wouldn't want 'good' to mean foolish.

Now Natasha... she would roll her eyes over that pang of conscience while secretly approving of it. For him at least.

"If we'd met I'm pretty sure that I'd remember." The improvements the serum had made to his memory made Steve certain of that. Pausing, Steve gave the man a curious look, keeping his expression polite while wondering what exactly he had gotten into. "It's 2014. What year do you think it is?"