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TDM #1
| ARRIVAL TDM Exploration |
You're barely given any time to tell anyone about the lottery you've just won or say any goodbyes before it's 1800 hours and the transport pod is waiting there for you to take you to the SS Hygge. True to the message you received, once you enter the transport pod you start to feel very drowsy very rapidly, and you don't come to again until you feel the transport pod bump against one of many landing docks and hear it clip in. The transport pod opens once the airtight seal has molded itself around its door, and lights guide you down a corridor to what looks like a hotel lobby, complete with friendly receptionists waiting behind a counter to greet you. Upon giving your name you will be given a room key and informed that a bottle of champagne (soft drink/juice for minors) is waiting for you in your room. In your room you will find a communications device that you are to strap onto your wrist (or any other appropriate limb) and keep with you at all times. The Captain can communicate with you through the device, and it allows you to keep track of the ship time. While you are checking in, you will be asked to make an appointment with a tailor tonight, who will be by your room to take your measurements so that you can be suitably clothed for the welcome dinner tomorrow, and for any other adventures the ship goes on. When you get to your room, you'll find it's a fairly small cabin with an ensuite bathroom. There's a TV mounted on the wall at the foot of a double bed. On top of the bedside drawer is the smartwatch-resembling comms device that the receptionist was talking about. Its charger is in the drawer. While there are no windows, there is a screen that cycles through various scenery. The nature scenery might have occasional birdsong or quiet sounds of a distant waterfall. The galactic one is magnificent but silent. You can program what's displayed from your comms device. From your comms device you can also request for some white noise to help you sleep, or adjust the room's temperature. As soon as you put it on, you will feel a little prick in your wrist/appendage as it releases nanites into your body. This allows you to communicate with other passengers speaking different languages on board the ship, and it also allows the Captain to keep track of you in case you get lost. It remembers all your preferences, and it functions like a smartwatch, allowing you to contact other passengers as well as Reception, take photos, record videos and do video calls. There is a wardrobe next to the TV that currently only holds a bathrobe and some sleepwear that's of a slightly larger fit for you, to make it more comfortable to sleep in. Don't worry - there'll be more clothes to go into the wardrobe tomorrow when the tailor is ready. Though there is a map of the ship loaded into your comms device, you are left to explore its facilities on your own. Or why not make a friend with another solo arrival and explore together? You may not want to jump into the pool until the tailor has provided you with fitting swimming attire, but maybe a massage at the Golden Palm might interest you after that cramped ride in the transport pod? The Great Escape offers a great many virtual reality experiences that you can enjoy. And of course, if you're hungry, why not hit up some of the restaurants? All facilities are within walking distance of each other, on the main deck at the top floor. You don't have to go straight to your room if you're not tired. |
| WELCOME DINNER TDM Mingle |
Hopefully you had a well-rested first night on board the Hygge. Maybe you didn't - maybe you were partying all night. Or maybe you've made a new friend and never quite managed to make it back to your own room. Either way, the tailor will come by your room in the early afternoon to drop off three boxes of clothes tailor-made to suit your body and style. The small box contains some plain underwear and activewear/swimwear for use in the ship's gym/pool respectively. There is also a hand towel with your name embroidered on it, for use at the gym or anywhere else where towels might get mixed up. The large box contains three everyday outfits for your character to wear. You only arrived with the clothes on your back after all - you'll need something to change into. Finally, the medium box contains formal attire for tonight's welcome dinner, held at Umami from 1900 hours ship time. You haven't forgotten about the welcome dinner that Reception mentioned yesterday, have you? It might be awkward to show up late. It is not expected that all the ship's passengers will be in one restaurant at the same time, so unfortunately there aren't enough tables for all solo guests to sit at their own table. If you arrive late you may need to join someone else who's already seated. Come on, it wouldn't kill you to make conversation with your dinner partner for the night, would it? If you're feeling ridiculous in your cocktail dress or stuffy three piece suit, who's to say your dinner partner can't commiserate? Maybe you're from the same place, or share a few same interests. The rest of the dinner will go a lot more smoothly if you happen to get along with your dinner companion(s). After the lavish twelve course dinner, there will be a song and dance performance by some of the ship's crew. The DJ will take over from 2200 hours ship time and play music that is suspiciously suitable to dance to. How about topping the night off with a few fancy moves or a slow dance on the floor? |
| DEFYING GRAVITY TDM Event |
It's the fourth night you are spending on board the ship. The current ship time is 0517. Many guests are asleep. Some are still partying it up at Starlight, some are hunched over the jackpot machines. Some people are still convincing themselves they don't have a drinking problem, chins in their palms as they turn stirrers in lazy circles in their almost-empty tumblers. Some might be in the library cafe in the middle of a good book. It happens without warning. One moment you're doing whatever it is you're doing. The next, there's a barely noticeable rumble, and then you're floating. You and everyone else around you and everything else as far as your eyes can see that isn't bolted down to the ship. Sound travels slowly in space. The screaming and the sound of things breaking - they come moments after the weightlessness pushes you away from the ground. Or maybe that's just you, in the thick of the confusion, trying to figure out what's happening and trying to make sense of the chaos that's starting to unfold in front of your eyes. Staff that are clearly distressed attempt to swim-float around and tell passengers to remain calm. Some staff have big, clunky, magnetised boots that allow them to walk along the ship's floor, but they seem to be engineering personnel rushing off somewhere and they're not stopping for hospitality staff or guests. If you are loitering near the lobby where you had first arrived, Hygge staff may ask you to work as quickly as you can launching the transport pods you arrived in back off the ship. If you are in your room and try to make your way to the front door, you will find it is unlocked, and you will notice a lot of confused heads poking out into the corridor. Hopefully you weren't in the pool, because that's now a nebulous floating blob of water that is threatening to suffocate you. Nobody seems to have any accurate information about what the hell's going on and the flurry of activity continues for a good forty minutes, maybe more, before a crisp, clear voice can be heard booming throughout the ship. |
| CAPTAIN'S BROADCAST June Event Sneak Preview |
“Good morning, esteemed guests. This is your Captain speaking. At this time I ask you all to please remain calm, hold on to a fixed part of the ship, and follow the instructions of all crew. At approximately 0442 hours ship time, a series of supernovae approximately 312,659 light years away occurred in rapid succession and triggered a cataclysmic chain reaction across the universe. We have lost communications with all nearby star systems. The devastating effects on individual galaxies is currently not known. As a direct result of this chain reaction, the ship was hit by large debris from a nearby implosion and the hull was breached. Several fuel cells have been irreversibly damaged in the breach and a fire has broken out on the lower deck due to leaking oxygen stores, rendering several cabins uninhabitable. In addition, the gravity drive has experienced a catastrophic failure. This resulted in water from the pool flooding the engine room, causing the engine to malfunction and compromising the navigational system. Finally, several critical components of the engine have been jettisoned due to conflicting emergency protocols and these have been scattered throughout time and space. The transport pods have been deployed on their previous command loop in an effort to locate any other survivors and bring them on board. However, there will be insufficient fuel and oxygen for the ship to wait here for the transport pods to return. We must restore the oxygen supply and repair the engine before we can bring additional passengers on board. Our first course of action is to retrieve the energy crystal which will restore full operational power back to the engine. We have traced its unique energy signature to the American frontier, in the year 1862. Our data suggests that the crystal is on board a locomotive transport. Despite the abrupt alteration in the timeline, word has already spread of a valuable jewel being transported across the country. We must board a moving train to retrieve the crystal and bring it back to the ship before it is hijacked by bandits. We have redirected all remaining backup power to the ship’s engine. In doing so we will have enough fuel to initiate one perfectly executed jump sequence to intercept the train. The gravity drive cannot be brought back online if we are to make this jump, so please, hold on tight. I will be initiating the jump sequence through hyperspace into the Wild West in 3… 2… 1.”
|
| Notes Final points |
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no subject
So there. ]
What are you doing here? You know this is some kind of set-up. Right?
no subject
Same reason you're here. [ And why did he have to say it like that? ] You really think that hasn't crossed my mind already?
[ It was just that she's been distracted. You know. ]
What do you think's going on here?
no subject
Yes this metaphor totally works. Shut up. Anyway. Spike doesn't move. Although he is jostled a little and the overall effect to anybody observing is two kids wrestling to determine who gets more space in the backseat of a minivan. ]
I don't know what crosses your mind.
[ He's thinking about Londes, but doesn't say that out loud. It's too... weird and sad a memory. A situation where Spike felt helpless, his abilities useless as Faye nearly got swept away.
So yeah. Not going to say it out loud. ]
Not sure. I know they're feeding us. And nothing comes for free. Why, what do you think?
no subject
All I know is, it seems too good to be true. And I mean, time-travelling? When did that become a thing?
[ Because to her, that sounded like some ploy to herd 100 unfortunate souls to their deaths. A dramatic theory that she keeps to herself because she willingly got into that pod thing, didn't she? Not that it's a surprise to anyone. She was always looking for some form of escape.
She glances over her shoulder. ]
Plenty diversions to keep people content, that's for sure. [ And with that, she looks over towards the bartender and orders a drink. Might as well enjoy what is offered before they're ultimately killed, right?
Reel it in, girl. ]
no subject
I don't know. With the gates, maybe? The speed of light is related to the speed of... time.
[ Anybody piloting anything at faster-than-light speeds has some kind of understanding of the theory of relativity. Spike... knows it exists. He hasn't spent a lot of time studying it, and it's the only thing he can come up with that might be close to having that kind of capability. ]
So I'm sure this will be a totally stable and safe process.
[ He orders a whiskey. He's going to need it. ]
Most people don't bother to feed us before trying to kill us. It's really considerate of them.
no subject
Yeah, totally safe and stable. [ It's obvious that she doesn't believe things will go smoothly, nor is she convinced that Spike believes it too. At least they're on the same page there. In fact, they seem to be thinking the very same thing when he voices what her thoughts have been centered around.
She turns to him, a look of grave concern on her face. ]
So you think they might be planning to kill us too??
no subject
But even if the airlock is going to fail and you're all going to be sucked out into the void, you'd like to think that the person who made it doesn't know the thing is going to fail. ]
It's an awful lot of work to kill us. Why not just pop us in the head as we come through the door? [ He fingergun gestures to emphasize the point. ] I'm guessing some kind of scam or guinea pig situation. [ He glances at her. ] You spend money on anything yet?
no subject
What, like we're guinea pigs for this time-traveling avowal they're claiming? I guess that makes more sense... [ Because jumping the gun on everything, in her mind, was a far more sensible position to take at first. Oh, Faye. You could say her intuition wasn't quite on the ball most of the time. ]
No. [ -- to answer Spike's question. She glances back at him. ] I thought this was an all-expenses-paid type of deal? [ And she'll raise hell if that was a downright lie. Just about the only thing that made the invitation appealing to her at all. ]
They can't really be expecting us to pay for anything, right? None of us knew about this "lottery" until the very last minute.
no subject
I hate sitting in a trap.
[ He grumbles into his drink. Then downs it, and beckons the bartender over again. ]
Just leave the bottle.
[ He turns his attention back to Faye. ]
There's got to be some kind of catch. And if it's not money then it's something worse. Guess I'm just an optimist.
no subject
Then it hits her. ]
What if they're planning to enslave us??? Treat us all to a good time and then wham, we're slaves in some new world?
[ Unsettled by this theory, she grabs the bottle and pours herself another shot. ]
no subject
That's... more likely. [ He concedes. ] Still seems like a lot of expense. [ He taps his finger on the bar. ] What if... what if we're... food.
no subject
[ That's all she retorts with before downing her second glass. Faye doesn't understand what pacing means, so she intends to reach for the bottle again. However, the burning sensation in her chest causes her to re-think that decision. She stops and rests her head on the bar counter, looking almost defeated. None of these 'theories' had good endings. But that was the catch, wasn't it? ]
Food? [ After a moment, she'll lift her head back up. ] Don't you think they'd be trying to plump us up as much as possible if that were the case? [ She's really just trying to refute that theory because the very idea of being food to... something or another... was in the same vein of being set up to be killed and she wasn't accepting it. In spite of her initial thought being just that. ]
Maybe the princess is some huge, mutated creature. No one's heard of her, and probably for good reason.
no subject
[ Spike frowns when she slumps over. And then frowns more when she sits back up. ]
It's possible! [Granted, it's not likely, but all they have right now is guesses. ]
Why would she say she was from Nigeria if she was some monster? [ Spike rubs his head. ] None of this makes sense.
no subject
I don't know, Spike. I'm thinking of any possible reason and nothing sounds right. [ She'll down her drink once again, enduring the short-lived burn as it travels down her esophagus. She takes another moment before speaking up, relishing the start of what she assumed was the effects of the alcohol and not her sanity unraveling. ]
... what if we're just overthinking all of this? [ She might be wrong, but just hear her out. ]
no subject
[ Frustrated, Spike pounds his fist on the bar, making the various bottles and glasses around rattle. Which earns him a dirty look from the bartender. Who then moves to retrieve the bottle. Spike points at him. ]
Leave it.
[ Then, to Faye. ]
We just don't know enough. And until we can find out more information, we're just waiting for the trap to spring.
no subject
[ But she catches herself right away and moves it before he makes a big deal out of it. The alcohol is clearly working its magic. She's a tad more docile in contrast to Spike. She shares his frustrations, sure, but right now? Nothing matters in favor of the buzz she's chasing. She pours him a glass. ]
Listen. We can think more about this later. How about we just enjoy ourselves for now? What do you say, cowboy? [ She leases him a smile -- small but surprisingly genuine for once. ]
no subject
Where did that come from?
But he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to make it weird. Er. Weirder. ]
Drinking and trading conspiracy theories isn't enough fun?
[ He leans back and takes a drag of his cigarette. The hand touch, the smile, the "cowboy". And the whiskey. It's getting to him. He needs to pull it back together. ]
Fine. What do you want to do?
[ He's not letting her out of his sight until they know what is really going on. ]
no subject
... Do you have one you can bum me? I'm afraid I'm all out. [ She could very well probably get a pack herself but she felt it necessary, much like him, to stick together. He'll never know the relief that struck her when she realized there was a familiar face amid a sea of strangers she could cling to. Even if it was him, of all people. ]
[ And then, a shrug. ] Feel like testing your luck at the casino? Dancing to your heart's content? [ .. what else was there? Ideas were failing to come to her given her presently besotted state. Whatever she can do to deter him from talking "conspiracy theories". ]
no subject
If we figure out what the doom is ahead of time, it might not be so inevitable.
[ It's not that he expects, or even wants, to live to any kind of ripe old age. But he'd rather choose the fight that takes him out for good. Not just wander into it like some kind of sitting duck. Or... swimming bird.
He offers her a cigarette and flicks his lighter, holding it so she can light it. ]
You owe me.
[ Like he's keeping track. He blinks at the suggestion of dancing. ]
You want to dance? Since when.
[ He downs the rest of his drink, unfolds himself from the barstool and stands. ]
Let's go to the casino.
no subject
There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Spike.
[ And that's just it. He doesn't know that she enjoys dancing. How would that have ever come up in conversation? It didn't sound like something they'd discuss anyway given their dynamic. But it was a suggestion. One she wasn't 100% on, so when he proposes hitting the casino she is more than happy to accept.
She'll watch as he comes to a stand and follows suit. ]
I'll be honest, I didn't take you for the gambling type.
no subject
[ He gives her a pointed look. And slips his hands into his pockets as they go. His pace is leisurely, but if he actually walks any faster she'll have to run to keep up. That can be funny, but he just doesn't feel like it right now.
The casino is pretty impressive. He does a lazy circuit, checking the place out. There's the expected roulette wheels, pachinko tables, card games. He nods in the direction of the latter. ]
Want to try some blackjack?