❧ Life's An Adventure

[luministimods]

[surprisingly, a private text message is sent not to the device Nathan left behind but to all of the residents' CATs. it reads:]

Get to the nearest door and wait. When the alarm sounds, immediately go through the door and await the next signal.

[surely such a text is confusing, but the sender hopes those words are heeded. ten minutes after it's sent, all vidscreens in the town begin to flash red, and a wailing siren breaks the din. the only word that flashes on screen is:]

EVACUATE

[similarly, back in the spacestation, red flashing lights drop down from the ceiling and a constant, beeping alarm begins to ring. over this, a pleasant and feminine automated voice says:]

Please find the nearest exit and evacuate the station via escape pod. A distress signal has been sent to the closest galactic space authority. Those with small children are asked to--[but this message is interrupted with another]

Life support systems in sectors A through L are at 80%--65%--50%. Life support failure in sectors A through L is imminent. Warning, please evacuate sectors A through L immediately. Warning...

[the automated voice continues with warnings about those sectors--but oddly enough, nothing is wrong in the spacestation itself. no one is evacuating, and in fact, no one can be seen fleeing from the town. the only people who should be in the station are the residents, if they all heeded the text message's warning and went through their respective doors at the right time. all doors brought everyone back to the observation deck, near the first hallway that used to lead to the Mayor's house.

suddenly, Nathan's device begins to chime and an audio message from him begins to play. (oddly enough, the automated voice's warning messages soften, like the volume's been turned down.]

Oh good, you made it out safe! I didn't think that person would...[he trails off] Anyway! I've had a bit of help and I think I can finally get you out of there. I'm sorry though, but I can't get you back into town. I had to shut off life support there to distract those in charge, but I also managed to open up access to the lower level. I can't find the staircases, but the elevator should be working now, so you'll have to use that. This is your chance, everyone! Find the one responsible for this mess and find Lab #3. Contact me if you need me.

[the audio transmission ends. a moment later, there's a soft "ding" as the elevator set behind the Maintenance door in the nearby hallway opens, ready for occupants to board it.

shame it won't be a simple elevator ride.]


❧ Plot Details: Life's An Adventure **Quick-time Event**

Thank goodness everyone (hopefully) got out in time! Staying in town during that life support shutdown would have been...unfortunate (and if anyone DID want to stay behind during that? Let me know.) But who sent that helpful text if it wasn't Nathan? Was it Audrey? Was it someone else? Was Nathan just pulling a fast one? In any case, now everyone can move on to, well, the final level if we take it in RPG terms.

Funny that though...

For this quick-time event, we are going to keep things to this entry. You'll be given a choice of going up or down in the elevator. Actually...just about every action in this plot is based around choice, and fittingly too. Depending on how much you discover during this plot--there are four objectives that can possibly be fulfilled (and they don't all have to be by every person)--the outcome will shape the end of this plot, the game, and next season as well. I'll have a list at the bottom of this entry so people can easily see how many objectives have been completed. You'll only have a week! Keep in mind that only one objective--the main one--has to be accomplished by week's end and things will not progress until it's accomplished. (If we accomplish the main one before the week is done, I will still wait the full week before going ahead with the second half of this plot.)

So what are we doing in this mad week-long event? Like I said before, you'll be given a choice of taking the elevator up or down. From there, you'll be given the another choice via vidscreen about which direction you want to go in. Sometimes it'll be two choices, other times it'll be three. But nonetheless, you'll have to make a choice--and you'll have to make the choice in the style of a text adventure. This is a bit of a hybrid rather than a straight text adventure, though. You can talk to people normally and interact with them as you would do in a normal action thread, but when you go to make your choice or wish to interact with the environment (you don't have to do it for every single step or anything), you'll basically be inputting your command to help the adventure to progress. If you don't ever interact with the environment or make a choice, well, you're stuck in that room. Kind of a boring adventure, being stuck in a room.

If this explanation isn't quite making sense, I did a mock-scenario of this to illustrate the hybrid/pseudo-text adventure I'm talking about. Head here! Hopefully that helps explain things? If it didn't, please, please don't be afraid to ask me. The first two comments to this entry will be for the IC interaction, and any additional ones can be for OOC comments/questions.

I do advise that while you can go in groups, please keep them small so we can go through things at a steady pace. Heck, if you want? You can even solo this and interact just with, well, me as the text adventure prompts, and then contact people if you find something. I just ask that if you want to solo it, that you indicate your intentions in the subject line to whichever direction you wish to go in the elevator.

Threadhopping via the CATs can still happen, especially if you or someone else learns something that might be important for the others to know. (Of course, if you want to join in physically, you can do it like this.) Also, I do recommend tracking your threads, especially when I pop in with prompts and disrupt the notification process. (And let's hope varnish errors are few to none!)

So...that's it! If you have any questions/comments/etc, leave them here or get a hold of me through the normal channels! And before I leave, here's our handy objectives list!



Objectives! Objective #1 = Completed! Objective #2 = Completed! Objective #3 = Completed! (Also here and here.) Objective #4 = Completed!

Comments

[luministimods]

> You might not notice it at first, but with the increasing pressure on the glass, it subtly bends inward more and more--until you feel the glass sucking you in. Before you know it, you are being pulled through the glass and land in a pile of balls of varying sizes.

[luministimods]

> Welcome back to the CHRYSALIS! Aren't you thrilled to be back? Everything is as you left it, with the NORTH ("A") and SOUTH ("C") DOORS still closed. The VIDSCREEN is still activated, with the other options still ready to be pressed.

> What do you do?

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie thinks of what Audrey said, pausing before she chooses another option]

> You put the headphones back over your ears, then face both of the closed doors in turn.

[grandbellknight]

[He answers Washington as he's pushing against the glass, actually.]

A Reyvateil connects to the Tower through songs, and the Tower translates her emotions and wishes into reality. It can be offensive or supportive, so it's helpful in a f--

[Aaaand suddenly, he gets sucked into a gigantic ball pit.]

--Gah! [He just barely manages not to completely fall over. He blinks once, twice... then turns to the glass, placing his hands against it again.] Are you serious?!

[bit_impossible]

[don't look now, Jamie, but the Doctor's got that mischievous sparkle in his eye]

Press it? Nah, haven't you ever used a slingshot before?

[he starts looking around the arcade for something to throw at the glass]

[manicurious.livejournal.com]

>You're a bit overwhelmed by the IMMENSE AMOUNT OF GREENERY that suddenly floods your vision. You blink rapidly as your eyes adjust.

>You head a little to the NORTH and look around on the ground for a FALLEN BRANCH. You would really like to pick up a MAKESHIFT WALKING STICK that you can lean on and use to steady yourself as you continue on.

>As you search, you decide to consult your PAPERCLIP ASSISTANT.

"Do you have any advice?"

[luministimods]

> The glass bends, pushing and pressing against the ball, and it goes forward a bit--but then rolls off to the side.

[luministimods]

> You might not notice immediately, but most of the TREES are slowly parting away to give you room to look for any FALLEN BRANCHES, but alas, there are none.

> The PAPERCLIP ASSISTANT, however, has remained by the entrance to the room. If you look, you'll see its sign now says:

"I see you're examining this room!

Would you like to find the doors?
Would you like to find the vidscreen?
Is there anything else you would like to do?"

[vengefulagent]

[man, he wants to ask about this, but any questions are immediately shoved aside when he sees that happen]

Croix! [runs to the grab machine, almost putting his hands on the glass--but he thinks twice about that and doesn't]

Wait, you're inside that machine. Do you realize what you can do now?

[luministimods]

> Unfortunately for Croix, the glass doesn't react the same way once he's inside. It doesn't bend or anything; it's very much solid.

[grandbellknight]

[Frustrated that the glass isn't weird-bendy both ways, Croix hits it with the side of his fist and gives a small sigh. At Washington's question, though, he nods.] The vidscreen. I know. I will. Still need to find a way out, though.

[Maybe the hole where the prizes drop is large enough...? He'll have to look, after he's done with the vidscreen, of course.]

> You wade through the assorted BALLS of various size, over to the VIDSCREEN, and activate it.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

A slingshot? Are you thinking of breaking the glass, Doctor?

Are you on to something, Mister Jamie?

[vengefulagent]

[hopefully Croix realizes that Wash's suggestion is his way of calming and distracting the young man from the weird situation he's in.]

Well, one thing at a time.

> While CROIX does his thing with the VIDSCREEN, you beat him to the punch and examine the PRIZE HATCH.

[luministimods]

> You have activated the VIDSCREEN! Congratulations. You win the following text:

Choose your destination! If you wish to go to the mayoral residence, please press the "A" button. If you wish to go to town square, please press the "B" button.

> You see TWO BUTTONS appear on the screen below the text, one below each choice and labeled as indicated above.

> What do you do?

--------------------------------

> You see that the PRIZE HATCH looks big enough to accommodate the many balls in there, but it doesn't look CROIX could fit, especially not with his ARMOR. (And needless to say, you definitely can't fit, either.)

[grandbellknight]

Right.

[It's distracting enough. And he does calm down, of course - no good comes from staying worked up.]

The mayoral residence, huh?

> You press the A button. After that's dealt with, you immediately begin looking around the interior of the GIANT GRAB MACHINE for any points of WEAKNESS, outstanding OBJECTS, or essentially anything that just plain looks WEIRD.

[bonnypiperlad]

Of course I have. What are ye on a....hey, that's not a bad idea. Might work better than just pressing on it, that's for sure. What do ye think, Fuu?

> Encouraged by the Doctor's suggestion, you too start to look for something (other than the CAT) to throw at the glass.

[manicurious.livejournal.com]

>You remain totally oblivious to the MOVING TREES as you continue your search for a suitable STICK. Since there's room for you to move, though, you start wandering a little further NORTH. With all these TREES around, there's bound to be a nice big dropped BRANCH somewhere.

>You look back toward the PAPERCLIP ASSISTANT and squint to read its SIGN. You then call back to it with your intentions:

"I'd like to have a better look around this room before moving on-- I'm looking for a few things!"

>As well as a WALKING STICK, you'd also really like to find some FRUIT to snack on. You slowly keep going NORTH in search of these things.

[desertdaggers]

[he jerks back a little, looking concerned. Is it burning the table…?] Yeah… That's pretty strong. Or desperate.

And we won't learn much just standing here… Let's give it a shot, at least. [turning back around that way and since he is kind of hungry, not really having had anything before the evacuation notice, taking a bite out of the bread]

[luministimods]

> When you put the headphones on, you hear that familiar song again, but instead of the music leading you towards the CLINIC, you hear it faintly coming from the direction of the door labeled "A".

[fortune_sought]

> You trust the song a bit more by now, so you step up to the VIDSCREEN and press "A."

[vengefulagent]

[growing increasingly concerned about how Croix's going to get out, Wash doesn't notice which door opens as he heads around to the sides of the machine, seeing if there's a hatch or not, but surprise there isn't. so he comes back around to front, almost walks by the controls, then goes right back to it.

how long has it been since he's played a game? especially one so ancient? the thought almost makes him laugh for some reason, but he pushes that aside.]

Croix, what about the claw? Can you yank that down at all?

[luministimods]

> The WEST DOOR ("A") opens all on its own! Congratulations! But do you go into the DOORWAY? It is pitch black just like before and still doesn't show what lies beyond. Hopefully, you trust that it really does lead to the interior of the MAYOR'S HOUSE.

> You don't see much of anything in there aside from BALLS, BALLS, and guess what? MORE BALLS! However, you also see a GIANT</> CLAW attached to the game's crane. Seriously, that thing is huge. It could possibly even pick you up with no trouble... And it's hanging just within reach, too, in the corner of the machine.

> What do you do?

[luministimods]

> The NORTH DOOR ("A") opens all on its own! Congratulations! But do you go into the DOORWAY? It is pitch black just like before and still doesn't show what lies beyond. Hopefully, you trust that it really does lead to the WHITE RABBIT.

> What do you do?

[grandbellknight]

[He looks up at it, considers... and nods.]

I could get to it. Do you have a plan?

[Wait. ... Waaaait. .... He frowns.]

You're not... considering playing this game, are you? [dskfjasdkl] Can't I just climb out of the prize claim? [He sloshes through the balls over that way to investigate for himself. :|! ]

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie is certainly not going to stay here]

> You walk with purpose through the door, slowing as you enter...whatever it is you enter...