❧ 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

[vengefulagent]

Their own, probably. And it's not just companies. The existence of certain things can be so top secret that even employees within might not know everything that's going on. [he may or may not be talking from experience here]

> You look for something that you can use to transport these files for those who want to see what they found instead of having to try to find it again later.

[luministimods]

> Looking around more, you find various kinds of HANDCUFFS hanging on the wall, and very old-fashioned (from WASH's perspective) MANILLA ENVELOPES tucked behind the FILES in the lower FILING CABINET.

[grandbellknight]

Sounds familiar. [Croix manages to bite back a sign.

Handcuffs? Yeah, no thank you. He shakes his head and begins gathering together the photos, the comments, the charts, young Resarci's file... anything that looks important enough to take.]

[vengefulagent]

[looks at Croix for a second before he pulls the envelopes out] You too, huh?

[shakes his head and starts putting both Resarci files away, handing an envelope to Croix]

[grandbellknight]

[Croix nods as he takes the envelope. Any rising anger that came from thinking about the Grand Bell's former plans is pushed aside. His phrasing...] Yes. So you, too?

[He begins stuffing the papers and photos into the envelope.]

[vengefulagent]

Yeah. [closes the filing cabinet] Small world. [and considering what he just said earlier, he's not going to go into specifics unless asked.]

We probably should keep moving. Never know if those handcuffs over there will decide they want to keep us here permanently.

[grandbellknight]

[Of course Croix wants to ask, but now is not the time, by any means. Maybe later, when they get out of this mess.

But he does glance back at the handcuffs, and shakes his head.] Yeah, that's not a chance I want to take. Let's go.

> With the FOLDER of IMPORTANT STUFF in hand, you head back through the DOOR

[vengefulagent]

> You take one last look around, your own important ENVELOPE OF STUFF tucked under your arm, then you head after CROIX through the DOOR.

[luministimods]

> Welcome back to the PUB! Nothing has changed since your visit minutes ago. Even the VIDSCREEN is still on, and the DOORWAY leading in from the exterior of the PUB is still that blinding white.

> What do you do?

[grandbellknight]

> Well, if there doesn't seem to be much else of interest here... you go out the DOORWAY toward the EXTERIOR.

[luministimods]

> When both you and WASH head back through the DOOR, the usual MOMENT OF BLACKNESS happens, but then lo, you are back outside the PUB! And the weird...painted town scenery. Always fun. The VIDSCREEN here is also still activated inside the PHONEBOOTH and those TWO OTHER DOORS, labeled "B" and "C", are still closed!

> What do you do?

[grandbellknight]

[At this point, Croix feels stuck. Directionless. He has no leads - well, except for the sign all the way back in the Botanical Gardens. He still can't chase the feeling that he missed something there. But... backwards, or forwards?

He heads for the phonebooth, examines the vidscreen.]

The other doors go to the theatre arcade or the butcher shop. ... Any ideas?

[vengefulagent]

[Washington stays a little behind Croix, looking around the area for anything out of sorts. but when he hears Croix speak, he heads a little closer to the phonebooth]

Well, let's think. If things go a bit...odd like they have in those other rooms, where would you rather be? In a place that consists of videogames and ancient grab machines, or a place filled with several very sharp objects and possibly rotting meat?

[grandbellknight]

... Yeah.

> You press the B button.

[vengefulagent]

[he smirks juuuust a bit when he sees which button Croix has pushed, but he doesn't comment. truth be told, he didn't want to maneuver either them into a room where such an attack could be a possibility.]

> You head over to the "B" DOOR, waiting for it to open.

[luministimods]

> The NORTH 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 THEATRE ARCADE.

> What do you do?

[grandbellknight]

[Meanwhile, Croix is just hoping this doesn't pull a fast one on them and put them inside a game. Or something equally as ridiculous. Then again, on the other hand, he's almost expecting it. ... Sigh.]

> You head through the NORTH DOOR.

[luministimods]

> After you both go through the DOOR and see absolutely nothing for a second, the blackness immediately goes away to show that you have entered the Janus Theatre ARCADE! You see a bunch of prize-filled grab machines, and other fun GAMES in there--but no people. Yet the GAMES all continue to make their victorious noises as games are won and disappointing failure noises as games are lost. Will you have to play a game? If you look LEFT/WEST and STRAIGHT-AHEAD/NORTH, you see two door. And...you see a VIDSCREEN on your RIGHT...but it's set within a GRAB MACHINE. A GIANT GRAB MACHINE. The GAMES all look playable and fun. Do you stop to have a bit of fun before continuing on?

> What do you?

[grandbellknight]

[Croix takes a look around. Games, grab machines... There are the doors, and there's the vidscreen-- oh are you serious.]

Well, getting to the vidscreen just got harder.

> You walk over to the GIANT GRAB MACHINE for a closer look inside.

[vengefulagent]

[he lets out a little sigh of exasperation.] Just how big is this place?

[you know what? he's sick of this. he takes hold of his rifle, aiming it at the glass of the giant grab machine. and yes, he does this all while still keeping that folder completely secure.]

Croix, you might want to move, or just...back up a bit.

[grandbellknight]

[Croix looks over, sees the gun, and nods. He then moves to stand behind Washington and wait. This is certainly preferable to attempting to play the game...]

[vengefulagent]

Good decision.

> You open fire on the glass.

[luministimods]

> When the BULLETS hit the GLASS, the GLASS bends almost comically--and then slingshots the BULLETS right back.

> What do you do? Are you able to dodge them?

[grandbellknight]

[Croix can't - by the time he realizes what's going on, he doesn't have long enough to get out of the way. He quickly pulls out his lance and uses the broad side as a shield, which works plenty well on later incoming bullets, but he wasn't fast enough to completely avoid getting hit. He takes a pair of bullets to his left shoulder blade.

His armor is certainly thick enough to help against the impact, but not quite enough. When the rebounding ceases, he puts his lance away and grips the wound, hissing a little and wincing from the pain.]

Dammit! What the hell kind of glass is that?!

[vengefulagent]

[thankfully, Wash didn't fire too many bullets (only two bursts with his rifle), but he should have expected this. but he doesn't want to duck out of the way; he's unsure about the durability of Croix's armor. there's hardly any time to react. he just manages to raise one arm up to shield his face and chest before he takes two bullets to the side of his abdomen, one to the right side of his chest, and a fourth in his shoulder. (sadly, he doesn't know that the other two hit Croix yet.)

he bites away a cry of pain. after all, he's used to being shot, but the wound to his chest hurts quite a bit. at least he has York's healing unit, and looking at his HUD, it's definitely been activated. so when he speaks again, pressing a hand to his stomach long enough for the healing unit to kick in, his voice is a little strained, but not as much as it would be for the poor bastard who didn't have future healing tech on his side.]

I don't know, but are you okay?