❧ 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

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie is too incoherent to answer questions at the moment. please leave a message]

But why!?

[luministimods]

Because the even bigger prick couldn't run the company. Not after I shot him. [sounds way too proud of this--but to be fair, she deserves it after what he did to Andre]

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie can certainly understand Audrey's pride in that instance, but she doesn't understand what Audrey is talking about]

But...what about the Mayor? What "company"?

[luministimods]

He's safe. So are the others. Nathan had saved us before the orders Proctor was given could be carried out. The company are the ones who bought Luministi Research Labs right out from under Cal's feet and did--[she waves her arms, trying to gesture with them, but it just looks like flailing in the end]--all that with it! It's Resarci's company he had on the side. It's how Luministi and Cal got that nice funding to begin with. The buyout had been Plan B.

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie takes all that in. not all of the terms are familiar to her, but she thinks she gets the idea at least]

I'm...not sure I understand. Luministi--it belongs to Resarci's son now? But...what is it all for? Why bring us back here!?

[luministimods]

It belongs to Resarci--but his son is running everything for him.

[her face softens and she looks away] It's best you don't know why, especially in your condition.

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie's expression flits quickly between indignation, anger, fear, and uncertainty]

[firmly] Then at least tell me what needs to be done to leave.

[luministimods]

[yeah, that's exactly why she didn't want to tell you]

You need to find Lab #3 and Cal's old office. Mister Prick has been using it. But once you find it, Nathan will take things from there. And don't ask me where it is; I don't know the way. Not since this place got all messed up. Just keep those headphones on. They should help.

[fortune_sought]

[she nods, her anger finally giving way to determination. but there's still one more thing she has to ask, at least]

Who is Nathan? Why is he helping us?

[luministimods]

He...he's difficult to explain. I don't know much about him myself, but I trust him, you know? But he's told me that it's his job to stop these sort of shenanigans from happening. Kinda like a police officer in a way. But what exactly he's policing, he hasn't told me. I get the impression there's a lot he's not telling us, but he seems to be on our side of things.

[fortune_sought]

[she nods, though there's a quirk to her lips. she might be getting used to people who aren't sharing all sorts of important information, but that doesn't make her any happier about it]

I suppose there's little else we can do.

[she pauses, glancing at the door through which she came in, and considers for a moment] Audrey, what happens to you if I leave you here? Particularly if we find Lab #3.

[luministimods]

Trust me, darlin'. Find Lab #3 and everything will be set straight again. I'll be fine. You just worry about you and your little one, all right? [she smiles faintly]

[fortune_sought]

[reflexively, Sophie puts a hand to her abdomen, her expression taking on a worried cast] Yes...

[she regards Audrey one more time, still reluctant to leave her in such a state, but she has to admit, Audrey has a point] You be sure to take care as well. Be careful.

[luministimods]

[Audrey smiles a little more] Just do your best. I trust you all will.

[she leans her head back against the pillows, closing her eyes]

[fortune_sought]

What good would anything else be?

[Sophie watches Audrey for a moment more before she turns]

> You walk back out of the doorway you came in.

[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.

[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."

[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?

[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...

[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 area just outside the WHITE RABBIT PUB, but it appears to be painted on a WALL to your LEFT. The PUB door is to your LEFT/WEST, and two other DOORS are STRAIGHT AHEAD/NORTH and RIGHT/EAST, but these two are set on very obviously painted walls of the ROAD LEADING OUT OF TOWN and the SHOPPING PLAZA across the street.

> You also notice, if you turn around and look to your LEFT again, that there is a PHONEBOOTH situated in the corner. The usual VIDSCREEN isn't anywhere in sight.

> What do you do?

[fortune_sought]

[hmphs at the phonebooth] Well, I suppose that's no surprise.

> You turn slowly about, listening for any reaction from the headphones.

[luministimods]

> And there is a reaction! But it's...odd. You hear the melody alone coming from a door labeled "B" (the NORTH DOOR), and the harmony is coming from the PHONEBOOTH.

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie raises an eyebrow]

> You cautiously approach the PHONEBOOTH, reaching out to pull the door open.