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

Re: Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler | X-Men Movieverse (AU) | Option 1

[agathaheterodyne]

Agatha looked up and smiled warmly at him, before going back to observing the dolphins. She had missed the presence of obvious constructs. His blue skin reminded her of home, and she wondered what he had been built for.

Much like these dolphins. Unfortunately, the dolphins all looked... like dolphins. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out how they had been modified, and it was driving her crazy, not knowing.

[quiteafew]

It's in Kurt's nature to return a smile given, even when that means showing more than perhaps is wise of his narrow teeth. The tips are sharp, but he's old enough now to hide that under most circumstances.

For a few moments he watches the dolphins in silence, breaking the silence with a soft question. "To ask you whether I am hallucinating all this would be very silly, wouldn't it? To expect the truth if I were and you were part of it?"

[agathaheterodyne]

When she had seen the teeth she had been startled, but into a wider smile. Another Jaeger? She had never seen one quite that shade...

And then he spoke and she tilted her head. No Jager, then. She enjoyed their company, though she knew few did. Knowing they meant her no harm helped. Well, there was Vole, but he hardly counted...

She chuckled lightly. "You really are on a space dirigible," she assured him. "No hallucination."

[quiteafew]

That reaction is unusual to see from someone he doesn't know, but certainly one he's seen before. In the circus it was common, particularly when he'd accidentally startle one of the fellow workers while moving around in the shadow.

His expression remains unchanged until she describes the ship as a dirigible; English is neither his first nor his second language, and while the word sounds familiar the definition is one he can't quite put his thumb on.

"You'll have to forgive me," he says, eyebrows still drawn together in thought. "I know the word, but I can't quite remember the definition. Do you mean to say a ship?"

[agathaheterodyne]

"Well yes, an airship," she said, then considered, "Well, they claim it is a space ship, but fundamentally the concepts must be similar. I would know with more confidence, but they don't generally let us into the engine room or wherever it is they steer it from.

She made a face. "Admittedly I never got to see where Castle Wulfenbach was steered from either, so I might not be able to compare there... but I bet if they let me take the mechanism apart, I could not only understand it, but improve it!"

[quiteafew]

Do forgive the silence on Kurt's part; the part about their being in space has just sunk in. A very loud part of him doesn't want to believe it's possible; he grew up in twentieth century Germany, not the fifteenth century. What he's seen is far and beyond what he knows is possible.

"A space ship," he murmurs, raising a hand comprising of three digits to rub at his forehead. "But this is--you said you would understand how this ship works? Do you know how it was that I would have come to be here?"

He might be less inclined to believe her if he weren't under the impression that Castle Wulfenbach were a literal castle, instead of a whimsical ship name.

Posting from my iPad, please excuse errors and brevity.

[agathaheterodyne]

"How you came to be here seems to have very little to do with how this ship operates. There is a being called Q who uses some sort of science I have never seen before. He doesn't stay around long enough to be studied," she said, mourfully. "But all of us were somewhere else one moment, then somewhere here on the ship. The technology here is fascinating, however, and most of the people are quite nice!"

You're fine. Sorry for the delay, Easter and work ate my time

[quiteafew]

His head is beginning to hurt--or spin, Kurt's not quite certain which. His tail winds around his own ankle before he forces it to fall slack.

"I have noticed that I draw little attention here." Which is why the concept of being in space isn't one he automatically rejects out of hand; it isn't his preferred genre, but he's read enough science fiction to wager that in a different world his appearance would be quite unremarkable. "Forgive me if I assume wrongly, but you speak like a scientist--or an engineer, perhaps?"

Life happens.

[agathaheterodyne]

"A spark actually," she said with a smile. "And my first guess was that you were Jagerkin, actually. Lots of us come from worlds where things we think are normal look odd to others. I don't think much would startle me about how anyone looks."

[quiteafew]

"A Ja--a hunter?" He shakes his head, opening his mouth once silently before finding his words again. "I'm very sorry, it is not that I believe you're lying but this is all very--spaceships? Other worlds? I am beginning to wonder if I ate the wrong type of mushroom." Or if Stryker has him again, a chilling thought which draws Kurt's shoulders together in a minute but defensive stance.

[agathaheterodyne]

"What could I show you to help you feel more at ease?" she asked, tilting her head gently. "I'm willing to help. In fact, most people here seem willing to help. Ginny and Percy have been a great help with my inventions, Philip gave one of my Dingbots a good home, and that Remmy guy taught me a lot about the replicators. It seems only fair I help you, now."

[quiteafew]

To his shame, the kind offer coming on the heels of fear brings first a flash of suspicion. Is this a trick? Another attempt by Stryker to tear his mind apart by giving him what he wants?

But a spaceship? Kurt shakes his head again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I--danke, very much, for the kind offer. I simply do not know how to answer that. This is all very strange, I am not from a place that has--well, dolphins yes, and spaceships but none like this."

[agathaheterodyne]

"In my world, dirigibles go no higher than the clouds we can see, so it is strange to me as well," she assured him. "Is there something I could build to help you?"