❧ 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

[desertdaggers]

Mm, it's not the first thing I'd ask, either. And we'll have to find someone to ask, besides.

>That's pretty suspicious, but you'll trust that there's more than darkness through there and go on through the door.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

Hah- that is if we get the chance to ask questions first!

>You follow Hawk through the doorway.

Being evacuated didn't leave any time to prepare much in the way of emergency supplies... could sure use a flashlight.

[luministimods]

> For a brief second, you can't see. Damn the BLACKNESS! However! The blackness immediately goes away to show that you have entered the BOTANICAL GARDENS! You notice...A SHIT TON OF TREES and thick, tall BUSHES. And white WROUGHT IRON STAIRCASES, one to the WEST/LEFT and another to the EAST/RIGHT. And to the NORTH is...a lot of TREES. But is there more beyond the BUSHES and TREES?

> What do you do?

[desertdaggers]

We will. [looking kind of serious, even with his hands tucked into his pockets.]

>You are going to go check out what's through the TREES.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

>You look up over to the staircases. Do they actually go anywhere?

If we can get up, maybe we can get a better view...?

[luministimods]

> The TREES subtly move and part the path for you--HAWK--while you walk through them. Keep going, and soon you'll see a SIGN hanging on a WALL that looks like it's been painted to mimic the rest of the PALM HOUSE that reads: "Luministi Research Labs". Below it are HANDWRITTEN WORDS in black that read: "The past is the road to the present and onwards to the future."

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

You--Fuu--see that the staircases lead up into a second level that wraps around the room. Only by looking UP, you also see that the room isn't as tall as the real BOTANICAL GARDEN'S PALM HOUSE usually is.

[desertdaggers]

I'd think so! Maybe we'll find something else.

>You find that fairly odd, and take a closer look at the TREES on the way back.

There's a sign back there… it says 'the past is the road to the present and onwards to the future'. A hint, maybe?

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

Mmm? Sounds like it! What's happened in the garden in the past? ... The dogs?

>You take from your purse the EYE of the topiary dog that you took back from the Neptune sundial.

I'll go up here to see if I can't get a better look. Do you happen to see any topiary dogs?

>You climb the WEST staircase.

[desertdaggers]

The maze, too, right?

I'll look!

>You look for any TOPIARY DOGS while you're at it.

[luministimods]

> There are no TOPIARY DOGS in the area. In fact, the only thing you do see aside from the TREES are NORMAL BUSHES that are bush-shaped and nothing more.

-------

> When you go up the WEST STAIRCASE, you first see a DOOR to your left, and then see that the landing wraps around to the NORTH of the room and then connects to the EAST STAIRCASE. You also see a DOOR to the EAST. To the NORTH, you see the VIDSCREEN.

[desertdaggers]

There don't appear to be any.

>You nod at the trees, because it won't hurt to be polite, and head up the EAST STAIRCASE.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

Too bad. But this seems to be a theme. [She motions to indicate the doors and the screen.]
But then what about the clue you found?

>You hurry over to the VIDSCREEN to activate it, giving the DOOR a passing glance as you go by.

[luministimods]

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

Choose your destination! If you wish to go to the malt shop, please press the "A" button. If you wish to go to 'The Chrysalis', 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?

[desertdaggers]

Maybe it means the paths we take are places that have been important. [coming over to look at the vidscreen] So maybe the Chrysalis should be our next choice.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Fuu gives a start when she reads that the Chrysalis is an option. That place... will she nearly die again?]

Yes...
There... really isn't much choice between the two, is there.


>Unhappily but with a determined look you press BUTTON "B"

[luministimods]

> The EAST DOOR ("B") 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 CHRYSALIS.

> What do you do?

[desertdaggers]

It seems more likely.

[he sees that look and… he doesn't think something like that will happen again- he hopes not, at least- and still, he goes to wrap an arm around her shoulders before they move on.]

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[There being a room on the other side of the blackness hasn't proved false yet.
Although she blushes, she gives Hawk a grateful look for his gesture.]

>You move forward through the EAST DOOR together with Hawk.

[luministimods]

> For a brief second, you can't see. Curse the BLACKNESS! However! The blackness immediately goes away to show that you have entered "The Chrysalis". You notice a few TABLES and CHAIRS set out for a dinner party, and FOOD of the highest quality set upon SERVING PLATES in the center of the TABLES, surrounding a blank VIDSCREEN lying flat on the CENTER TABLE. But is the FOOD real? It definitely smells like it is. To your LEFT/NORTH, STRAIGHT AHEAD/EAST, and RIGHT/SOUTH are THREE DOORS set into the WALLS near the end of the room. The placement of the DOORS doesn't jive with the original shape of the RESTAURANT, making the irregular shape into a square. Like previous rooms, you see that the WOODEN SLATS, BRIGHT BLUE SKY, and FOREST are merely painted on.

> Are you hungry? Why are there three doors this time?

> What do you do?

[desertdaggers]

>You go to investigate the VIDSCREEN, snagging some FOOD along the way. Hard to say if anyone else is going to be around to eat it, after all.

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

It might not be safe to eat... [Best caution him in case this is poisoned too.]

I guess this continues the theme, even if we have more choices this time.

>You turn on the VIDSCREEN

[luministimods]

> The food is hot/cold/just right depending on what you grab! So far, it seems fine. If you're hungry, might as well eat! Won't get another chance later...

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

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

Choose your destination! If you wish to go to the White Rabbit, please press the "A" button. If you wish to go to the clinic, please press the "B" button. If you wish to go to the Janus Theatre, please press the "C" button.

> You see THREE BUTTONS appear on the screen below the text, one below each choice and labeled as indicated above. The "A" BUTTON applies to the DOOR on your LEFT, the "B" BUTTON goes to the DOOR that's STRAIGHT AHEAD, and the "C" BUTTON goes to the DOOR on your RIGHT.

> What do you do?

[desertdaggers]

It is odd they just left it out here… [and the bread's still warm, too. He'll keep hold of it for now, but he's having second thoughts.]

I don't think very much happened around the butcher's shop, so we might be able to leave that out. Any feeling about the others?

[wind-of-reason.livejournal.com]

[Fuu shakes her head, frowning at the choices.]

Except for the butcher being killed there, no.

[She pauses to consider a moment, then speaks as if listing off points.]

White Rabbit. Miss Ardes and the phone booth and the murder.
The clinic. Resarci and the poison.
Janus Theatre. No one person, but some things did happen there... the game to get our precious items back.
We almost might as well return to the Chrysalis... but we have to move forward.

[As she says that she pauses.]

But then, maybe that's what the clue you found meant. To go back to go forward.

[She shakes her head and looks up at Hawk with a faint smile.]

I feel like... we should take either the White Rabbit, the clinic, or try going back. Sorry I didn't help narrow it down any.
What's your feeling?

[desertdaggers]

It sounds a lot like it, when put that way! Maybe that's what whoever wrote it intended to say…

I've got a feeling about the Janus Theatre… if it's something like that, then maybe… We can always try going back if we don't find anything.

>You reach out to press the C button.