❧ 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

[lamb_of_gold]

Press A.
>Press B.

Pay attention.
>Ignore Natsuo.

[painlessfighter]

> SPELL time!

Break! Twist the parts in opposite directions! Tear in half!

[luministimods]

> The SOUTH DOOR ("B") opens all on its own! Congratulations! But do you go into the DOORWAY? It is pitch black and...doesn't show what lies beyond. But you trust that it really does lead to [NAME REDACTED]...right?

> What do you do?

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

> You watch as the metal 'jaws' of the GIANT STAPLE REMOVER twist at the joint until the two halves fall apart on the ground.

> But then the pieces flip over and continue to come after you, leaving little dents in the ground as they move. Seems it's really not happy with you.

[lamb_of_gold]

>Pay attention.
Ignore Natsuo.

Mu frowns a bit at the bits of metal, boxing them in with a CRYSTAL WALL. He grabs Natsuo's arm, and starts towards the Door.

Discretion is the better part of valour.
>GERONIMOOOOO.

This way.

[painlessfighter]

[Before Mu manages to grab his arm, Natsuo does get one good kick in on one of the pieces. That's it, though.]

Whoa- Hey! I had it!!


> You are dragged by MU into the other room, much to your dismay.

[luministimods]

> CRYSTAL WALL, what?! It works very well and soon the pieces of the GIANT STAPLE REMOVER just lie on the ground, pouting in their CRYSTAL PRISON.

> You enter BLACKNESS for a mere second before the BLACKNESS is gone! Always good, yes? (The answer is always yes, in this case!) You see that the ROOM ([NAME REDACTED]) you've entered is...very minimalist. There are two black ARMCHAIRS that don't look very comfortable set in front of a STEEL DESK, with a BIG LEATHER OFFICE CHAIR turned away from the DESK so all you can see is the back of it.

> But is anyone there? Is anything in the DESK DRAWERS? You definitely see that there are no other DOORS in this ROOM, and the one behind you is glowing white.

[lamb_of_gold]

Turn around and go back.
>Examine Office chair.
Examine desk.
Examine other chairs.

[painlessfighter]

[Stiiill glaring at Mu] Boo...!

> You finish your SULKING, and then help yourself to sitting in one of the black ARMCHAIRS.

Hello? Is anyone even in here?

[luministimods]

> When you--MU--examine the OFFICE CHAIR, you see an older MAN sitting in it. You might recognize him as PROCTOR, one of the men involved in things around here. Surprise! But what do you do when you see him?

[Proctor seems resigned to this meeting. considering all that has happened, he figures it was bound to happen sooner or later. he turns the chair around to face Mu and Natsuo.]

Yes, there is, young man. I've been here for a while now.

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

> And lucky for you--NATSUO--that ARMCHAIR isn't of the kid-eating variety. It's just a normal CHAIR that creaks but might make your butt go to sleep if you sit in it for too long.

[lamb_of_gold]

>Mu BRISTLES sharply, though he manages to bite down on a MORE VIOLENT REACTION.

I take it you have something to say?

[painlessfighter]

[Natsuo just smiles. It's cute, in a slightly creepy sort of way.]

Hello.

> Wow, this CHAIR sucks. You fidget about, but otherwise stay seated.

[luministimods]

[Proctor doesn't appear fazed by either of them.]

I'm guessing an apology wouldn't help things, huh? Can't undo the past few months.

[he tucks a CAT device into his pocket that looks awfully similar to the one Nathan left for the residents]

[lamb_of_gold]

I'm afraid you're far past the point that an apology would hold any meaning.

[He does, however, notice the CAT]

Were you the one who drove us down here?

[painlessfighter]

I don't care about down here. What about here at all? I want to know why I can't go back to Youji!

[luministimods]

In a way. I helped you escape certain death. [he looks down, folding his hands on the desk] It's the least I could do since I couldn't prevent them from happening previously.

[glances at Natsuo briefly] I'm sorry, young man. I was told the selection process was entirely random. Your friend could have come here in your place if things had worked differently.

[lamb_of_gold]

'Them?'

[painlessfighter]

But he's not here. That's stupid. [He glances away momentarily to sulk childishly... then turns his attention back.]

So why did you help us? Don't you want us stuck here too?

[luministimods]

[turns his attention to Mu] You mean you didn't hear of the others who died?

My reasons for helping...are complicated. But yes, you could say that, young man.

[lamb_of_gold]

Humour me, so I may better understand why we're here.

[painlessfighter]

It's Natsuo. [He says with a teensy bit of a huff, but he has nothing else to say for the moment. Nothing to ask, either. Arms crossed (and still fidgeting so that his butt doesn't go numb in this godawful chair), he just watches, and listens.]

[luministimods]

The others died as part of a stunt. A ratings boost. I didn't approve of the plan. I didn't even know the deaths wouldn't last! Such a thing is... [he stops, realising he's about to go on a tangent] It unsettled me.

[lamb_of_gold]

Ratings?

[painlessfighter]

Like a TV show? [Natsuo blinks, pauses for a second...] Hey. People have to sign stuff if they're going to be on TV, or the producers and other people get in trouble. I didn't sign anything. [Cue sliiiightly creepy smirk.] Are you going to get in trouble, old man?

[luministimods]

[Proctor nods] Yes, ratings. Like a television show. [he starts to laugh, but there's no humor in it] And yes, I'll probably get in trouble. [this is a severe understatement of the situation] You see, the viewers believe you are all paid actors. Only a few know the truth.

[lamb_of_gold]

...[Mu doesn't respond, but if looks could kill...]