❧ 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

[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...]

[painlessfighter]

[... But Natsuo does!]

So when do we get paid? [Beat.] Hey! When can we go home? And why are you talking to us now, anyway?

[luministimods]

[yeah, he expects that sort of look.]

Payment? The exquisite living quarters and fresh foods should be payment enough! But nonetheless, that is why I'm helping: to get you home. This project has gone too far.

[lamb_of_gold]

I quite agree.

[He remembered something Nathan's last message said...]

Where is Lab #3?

[painlessfighter]

[Mumble, mutter, sulk!] I'd rather just have money.

[His ears perk up a bit when he hears Mu ask about Lab #3. That's what they're looking for, right? He sits forward in the chair a little, already done with his sulking, and watches Proctor carefully. He waits for an answer. It'd better be a good one...]

[luministimods]

[he decides to not comment on the fact that their money would be of no good to Natsuo or anyone once they go back home.]

Lab #3? [he makes a little bitter noise] It's safe with him, naturally. I don't even know where he had to moved.

[lamb_of_gold]

And who is 'he?'

[painlessfighter]

[Not an answer he wants. His catlike ears go back a bit, and he bites his lip. But... Mu asked another question. Natsuo can be patient...]

[luministimods]

[he's not going to give a name that easily.] The one you really should be "thanking" for your little sojourn here.

[lamb_of_gold]

[Someone's patience is beginning to run thin...] You are being astoundingly unhelpful. Protecting a name will not get us anywhere.

[painlessfighter]

[Natsuo nods in agreement.]

You should tell us his name.

[His calm, yet dangerous tone implying that otherwise, he's going to attempt to word-spell it out of him.]

[luministimods]

[yeah, he senses the ever-increasing hostility in the room]

I'm not protecting him. I'm done with him and his family. You'll find his name out soon enough.

[lamb_of_gold]

I'd apreciate you not dance around information that may be pertinent to us leaving this place.

[painlessfighter]

You should tell us what we want to know. You should give us the name we want. You're not protecting him, you won't mind.

[There's a reason Natsuo's speech sounds a bit more poetic... He focuses on his words, putting in them as much intensity as he feels is necessary, along with his desire to know and eagerness to put a name to the person that is standing between him and Youji.]

[luministimods]

Stay here long enough and you'll find it on your own. Not everything can be handed to you that easily.

[but there's something about the young man's words...] But if you must know, it's Fi--

> You both hear a beeping noise, like a watch's alarm. It snaps PROCTOR out of it and you watch as he pulls out the CAT-LIKE DEVICE from his pocket.

Time's up. I've done what Nathan has asked of me, so I'll be going. Many things to do after all.

[before anyone can act, he hits a button on his CAT and disappears.

[lamb_of_gold]

Don't you da--[OOPS!]

Damnit.

[painlessfighter]

What?! No! Boo! That's no fair!!

[He jumps out of the chair, hands on the desk, looking over it like he's half-expecting to see something important now that Proctor is gone. He growls, clearly unhappy.]

Stupid, stupid old man... Maybe he's got something in here!

> You march around to the other side of the DESK and start rummaging through any drawers that happen to be open. May as well, right?