Sorry. I was mid-move when you replied. Perhaps they can ETL after the crew thinks the Fess Maria has successfully evaded the attackers? Ellie should try to find out any information about the pirates. Is it possible for her to see if she can hack their ship? Ryen will be busy with repairs/damage assessment and energy control. Gunther should be getting ready in case the pirates do ETL. Quincy and Seita should... stay out of the way? Hunker down?
I hope things are going better for you. FYI. I'm in the path of this blizzard that's blowing through NE United States (I don't know what country you're in) so if the power gets knocked out it may take me a bit to respond.
”Brace for emergency landing or was it… the air lock one?”
”What do you think?”
”The air lock one.”
”Which air lock one? There are four that specifically refer to air locks.”
”I’m… I’m not sure…”
”Maybe it’s time to take a break. We could order up some ice cream from the replicator or something. What? You’ve never had ice cream before? It’s much better than it sounds. Promise.”
Ryen sighed and stretched. Like most evenings, Seita and she were holed up in the spare room. Both were sitting cross legged on the ground, a worn but clean throw rug the only thing that separated their bottoms from the ship’s hard, cold metallic floor. Books, instead of occupying their usual space on the shelves, were piled according to topic and difficulty on the floor. Above, projected by a nearby computer, major star formations and planets slowly rotated on the ceiling. Ryen could name them all. Seita could accurately point out and breakdown almost fifteen. It was a good start. The girl caught on quick but sometimes her facts got jumbled up.
”We’re… only supposed to use the replicator during meal times.” Seita said and frowned.
”Yeah, I know but Lazlo won’t find out,” Ryen replied. Seita gave her a look. ”Alright he probably will but a little ice cream won’t hurt anyone. Plus, one small trip to the replicator won’t affect the ship’s power efficiency.”
”How do you know?”
Ryen offered Seita a cheeky smile and helped the girl to her feet. The mechanic was pleased that Seita was beginning to open up, at least when it was just the two of them in the spare room. However, once they went through the door, the shy, childlike creature came back. It was as if this room was their secret place where they could just relax and be themselves. It was nice. Even Ryen felt her guard slipping.
”What was Code 3?” Seita asked, taking the mechanic’s outstretched hand.
”All personnel should clear the airlocks. There could be multiple reasons for this. Like if someone were about to use their ETL or, maybe, if certain portions of the ship needed to be sectioned off. “ The two of them stepped out of the room as Ryen took the lead to the galley. Outside the hallway was dimly lit, indicating to the crew that it was already ‘night time’.
...and you're still not telling me whether or not you believe the school system, or any infrastructure on Syrae, would be fiscally supported by the Federation despite how I asked you directly here in the OOC.
I must have missed this somewhere. In any case, no. The schools on Syrae shouldn't be funded by the Federation. Think of it this way. Scientists and other intellectuals have fled from the Federation's oversight and established themselves on a planet. Why then would they then allow their children to go to a school funded by the Federation? They wouldn't. If such a school were on the planet, only the children of people who couldn't afford other educational options would go there.
I'm going to skip ahead in my post under the assumption that all aspects dictated under Code 5 have been followed.
One, I wasn't trying to make your character look dumb. I was simply working with what was there. I don't know how long Lazlo's lived on Syrae. I don't know how much he knows about the school system. Two, it's not like I've been keeping some secret about the planet's background or it's lack of influence from the Federation's control. It's right there in my very first IC post.
"She wasn’t the only one looking for a ride off world either. Quite a bit of Alexandrion’s citizens had interest in getting off world, either to visit their families or to relocate to another planet where prospects might be better. There were really three kinds of citizens in Syrae, those that worked in the mines, those that worked in science and technology, and those that worked for the miners or the scientists. Since Syrae was known to be a Federation safe haven and to have a stable government, well trained refugees were common. What that meant, however, was that current citizens received little upward mobility. Ryen had been fortunate to have her father, one of the planet’s most respected scientific minds, as a mentor. Most of her grade school friends hadn’t been so lucky. It wasn’t that the city didn’t have good schools, it was simply that they couldn’t keep up with the bright, technological minds the Federation churned out."
or more recently
Sadly, what she knew about the Federation, let alone their strongholds, was at best, lacking. Her school work had only brush on some Federation generalizations (perhaps because most people on Syrae had chosen to move there to get away from the government) and her father’s tutoring hadn’t bothered to add much. Odd, now that she thought about it, that her father had focused on language, history, technology, and major planets of the Federation without actually caring much about covering the governing body itself.
Three, whether Lazlo has twice the wisdom as the rest of the crew including Ryen is debatable.
And finally, I can't read your mind. If it isn't stated here or throughout the IC, I have no idea what your plans are. You didn't explicitly say where people were rooming so I took the lead and wrote about it in my posts. If I ask for clarification it's because I like things to be seamless and I don't like to overstep my bounds by having your character do something they wouldn't.
I was surprised at Kassie’s response to my question. I thought, since she hadn’t said anything earlier that she was ignoring us altogether. Zora took the opportunity to slice into her. I wondered only briefly about the animosity between them.
It was the question on everyone’s mind but this woman, the first person to actually ask. Gabriel assumed I was innocent. The police assumed I was guilty. ”No.” I said. ”But that doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Neither one of them answered right away and the room grew quiet again. We all knew how things went in Restraint. You were guilty until proven innocent and sometimes you were guilty regardless. As long as we kept our noses clean and our questions to ourselves, the government would take care of us. Only that clearly wasn’t true, was it?
Time ticked by slowly. I felt the weight of the day and eventually lied down. The hard cement floor wasn’t comfortable and the lights in the ceiling, which I first though had been too dim were now uncomfortably bright. I curled in on myself, my back pressed against the closest wall. I thought fleetingly how I might have been more comfortable if I turned around but I honestly didn’t trust my fellow inmates enough to give them my back.
”How long do you think they’ll keep us here?” I asked to no one in particular.
Zora got to my question first. ”Hours. Days. Years. As long as the bastards like. Why, you have some place to go, Angel?” Her crooked smile glittered blue in the light. I didn’t respond except to close my eyes. Then I was out.”Louisa Essiar?” My name brought me back into the reality of my situation. I didn’t know how long I’d laid there on the floor but I couldn’t remember dreaming. All I knew is that I was less tired than before but more stiff. My sleeping arrangements were a far cry from my foam mattress and feather pillow.
”Yes?” The voice was male, and I realized it came from behind the metal door. Around me my companions also stirred.
”Louisa Essair, please come to the door. You are to be escorted out.” His words were void of emotion but his voice sounded young.
”Coming,” I said, standing up, straightening my dress and dusting dirt off my bear arms and legs. Perhaps if I had known, I would have chosen a different outfit, but then if I had known… my mind leapt back to the memory of Gabriel and me in his car even while my feet carried me to the door. My heart ached at the memory. I shouldn’t have stopped him.
”Am I being released?” I asked, trying to swallow down the hope that radiated through my voice. I could feel my body tremble with expectation.
”Please put your arms through the open flaps on the door.” I immediately complied. With a jerk, he spun my arms around so my wrists were up towards the ceiling. Cold metal clamped down on my arms. The weight of them was as heavy as the weight in my heart. There would be no freedom from me. After making sure the other two women were against the back wall, he released my shackles and I pulled my arms back through. A large metal bar connected them together, making it impossible for me to rotate them back into a more comfortable position. The cell door swung open, a hand reached through and grabbed that metal bar, and I was pulled through.
”Follow me,” the same man, tugged on my shackles forcing me to keep up or risk falling on my face. With my hands braced like this, I couldn’t even catch myself if I tripped.
”Where are we going?” I asked as we walked down a thin cement hallway, every now and then passing doors identical to the one in my cell. ”Do I have a visitor?”
He ignored me. Eventually I gave up and continued to follow him through the maze of passageways. I tried to remember the way we’d gone, just in case, but the hallways were all identical and soon I lost track. Every now and then I could have sworn I heard whispers or a quiet moan, but it was in the distance and muffled by the heavy tread of my escort. My own feet where bare and noiseless. I couldn’t remember losing my shoes. They must have taken my heels off before I got to my cell.
We stopped in front of a metal door, only this one didn’t have a series of latches. The guard opened the door for me and I stepped inside. An older man was sitting at a computer desk. His wrinkled hands peeking out from under a pristine white lab coat. Across from him was a black leather lounge chair. The rest of the room was barren cement cube. I was about to turn around and ask the guard again what was going on but I heavy click told me the effort would be in vain. The noise must have startled the old man at the desk because he finally looked up.
I felt violated as his pale grey eyes lingered over me, stopping and the hem of my dressed, and just above my outstretched forearms. The man was old enough to be my grandfather. ”Please have a seat, Miss Essaire.” He motioned to the chair.
”I’d rather not,” I said, backing towards the door.
His laugh was dry and wheezy, like he’d smoked too much in his youth. ”I’m not going to hurt you. I only want to ask you a few questions.”
”I don’t believe you.” My voice sounded much more assertive than I felt.
He just smiled at my response, ”You don’t have much choice. Like I said, I only want to ask you a few questions. Give you a chance to prove your innocence. Now please, take a seat.”
I remembered what happened the last time I’d fought against my capture. The thought of another bag over my head while I was dragged to who knows where frightened me. I hesitantly walked towards the chair and sat down as he’d instructed.
Then it happened before I knew what was going on. The old man, moving faster than I could have imagined, reached out and grabbed my arm. I screamed as a sharp pain ran through the underside of my elbow and ice rushed through my veins. He let go then, and I saw there was an empty needle in his right hand. I wanted to hit him but instead I slumped back into the chair, my body feeling unnaturally heavy.
”Now Miss Essair,” he said, his face floating just out of my view, ”We’re going to start with some simple questions first and then work our way from there. Alright?”
I've selected the following sample because it shows how I like to use NPCs. Also, since I posted it a few days ago, you can verify its authenticity. For clarification sake, my character is Ryen while my partner's is Lazlo.
I’m not really sure to say about it. I’m not really sure who to blame. Lazlo? Gunther? Ellie? Quincy…? Or myself… because I knew better… I yelled at him. I told him it was his fault. It wasn’t though. No one could have seen it coming.
Shortly after being seated, Lazlo started questioning the crew about their familiarly with the new technology he’d given them.”…Is that correct?” Lazlo prompted. Gunther, Ellie, and Quincy responded in the affirmative. Seita didn’t seem to hear the question while Ryen simply sighed out. ”Well enough.” Next the captain began briefing them over deep space and their final destination.
Quincy wasn’t the only one who was concerned about the travel time. From the look of shock on everyone’s face, no one expected the time frame to last that long. Well, no one except for maybe Seita who was taking the news in stride. That or she was very hungry. Or both. Probably both. Still almost everyone else looked as excited as she felt to be stuck with just the six of them for possibly the next two years to say nothing of going to the Federation’s High Council.
***
”Heh,” Quincy grumbled after Lazlo disappeared of out the galley again, ”I’m second to last to being captain.” Ryen snickered a bit as the doctor got up and walked over to the replicator to order up some food. Ryen was pleased, if not a bit confused, about why she’d been ordered ahead of him but behind Ellie. However, if it ever came down to it, the prospects of being captain and stuck in deep space with only Quincy and Seita remaining was daunting. Almost as much as the idea of being on a strike team with Lazlo. On one hand the captain was obviously versed with weaponry, as he’d previously demonstrated. On the other hand, it was Lazlo. Ryen felt a tinge of jealousy for Seita being paired with Gunther.
”There…were a lot of codes.” This came from Seita.
Prompted by Seita’s words Ellie pulled up the information on the holographic screen again. There were roughly thirty in all. ”Aah,” Gunther commented after another forkful of steak, ”That’s not so many. Mind you, knowing the codes, and actually being able to do the actions they require is a different story.” Neither Ellie nor Quincy seemed phased by the amount of information but Ryen wasn’t so sure.
”It’s too bad they’re all numbers.” Ryen replied. ”For example, ‘Code Pink Whale’, is a pretty catchy name and would make it easier to memorize.” The look the rest of the crew gave her said they pointedly disagreed. ”Anyways,” Ryen continued, ”It’s not as bad as it seems, Seita. Most of them you don’t have to memorize right away since you don’t have to do anything. Like Code 0 when I have to go direct power to the oxygen area and shielding. Or Code 17 where Quincy needs to report immediately to the medical bay. It’d be good to know those ones eventually just so you know what’s going on but you probably won’t need them right away.” Ryen continued reading over the list. ”We could study together later this evening if you like.”
Seita was hesitant but eventually nodded. Ryen smiled back at her. Studying was something Ryen was well accomplished at. It was a good thing too since almost 80% of the codes pertained to either her or Gunther.
”So what is deep space like?” Quincy asked, placing a bowl of some kind of bright orange soup on the table before taking his seat. Looking around, Ellie finally answered first. ”The ship I was on had a Slipstream License so we didn’t need to spend much time in deep space but … it was very empty.” Ryen nodded her agreement. Everyone’s eyes turned to Gunther.
”It is very empty.” the solider remarked, his eyes growing distant, ”Very black. It’s a big ol’ ball of nothingness most of the time. Planets, strongholds, even other ships are few and far between. And the planets and people you do meet… well… they aren’t usually the friendly type. There’s usually a reason why the Federation’s not involved with them. Sure, there’s a few good places to stop since not everyone can afford a Slipstream License, but still. Not seeing anything at all is almost always the best kind of deep space travel. Then again, you get caught out there and you might as well be planet dust. Ain’t no one going to come to you rescue you anytime soon.” Looking up from his meal, Gunther saw the looks on the women’s faces and quickly added, ”But we'll keep our heads about us and I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
An awkward painful silence fell in the galley. ”Why don’t we talk about our first stop!” Ryen offered, trying to brighten up the mood. ”Ellie, can you pull up any information on Leruta? I’ve never heard of it before.”
Shortly after, Ellie projected an image of a swirling tiny blue and tan planet. The others listed attentively as the technician timidly began to read off facts about their next destination.
***
”So, who would like to learn how to play Three Rascals?” Gunther prompted.
”I… would.” Seita said, beaming shyly. Meanwhile, Quincy stood up and stretched. ”Not me. I was up late last night. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He paused and let out a big yawn. ”Plus there’s a few things I need to check on.”
Ellie said that she would like to just watch, all the while typing away at her pad. Ryen shook her head. ”I’d like to get started studying those codes.” the mechanic said, putting the clean dinner dishes away. Seita’s face fell at the reminder. ”I… have to do something first,” Ryen suggested to the girl, ”So if you want to play a few rounds first, I can stop by and get you after I’m done.” Seita nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion.
The clock above galley door showed that the ship still had almost 45 mins before Lazlo said they would be entering deep space. Walking over to the control panel, Ryen began analyzing and tweaking the various power signatures of the subsystems.
Shielding at 82% and rising. Lock both cargo holds. Minimize life support for cargo holds. Change efficiency of galley and main living quarters. Change efficiency of communication system. Internal air temperature and hydration system balance initiated. Reactor Core temperature further stabled. Output maximized. Shielding set to be at full power in 12.728 minutes. Log off.
***
Ryen fidgeted nervously outside the captain’s cabin. Since he wasn’t in the ship’s cockpit chances were good he was inside. She buzzed in using the panel located outside of his door. ”It’s me…” she said through the voice communication system, ”Ryen… I wanted to talk to you.”
Nothing. She waited. Still nothing. Perhaps he was taking a nap? Just as she was about to turn and leave, the door slid open. From where she stood, she could see that his room was larger than hers and, rather surprisingly, had enough gadgets in it to rival her father’s smaller lab spaces. Before she could look any further, Lazlo was standing outside in the hallway and the cabin door behind him was firmly shut.
Ryen smiled uncomfortably at the man who seemed to be looming above her. Gunther who was both taller and burley never made Ryen feel this uncomfortable. Then again, Gunther hadn’t yelled at her… or shot at her either.
”As stated before,” Ryen began with a formal air, ”I wanted to speak with you. It isn’t about my father, although I’m assuming at some point you’ll want to discuss the situation in length…?” Ryen paused to give him a questioning look before quickly continuing. ”Anyways, I wanted to speak with about Seita. I don’t… I can’t agree with having Seita on the ship. It isn’t fair to her.”
Ryen let out a sigh. ”The others of us are adults. We have an idea of what we’re getting ourselves into. I just… Two year? I mean, that’s a lot and that’s just getting there. She’s so young and by doing this… think of how much she’ll miss. She should be in a school. She should be learning and interacting with people her own age. She shouldn’t have to be our scout. I know she volunteered… or at least I’m hoping she did,” Ryen paused here to give Lazlo another questioning look, ”but did you give her a choice? I mean, the rest of us had other options. And then what happens after everything is done? What’s she supposed to do then with a good chunk of her life stuck popping around deep space? I don’t… I don’t like it.”
This sample is from a combination of posts from my partner a few years ago. We completed the story and she has given me permission to edit it into a novel. While I do have all of our work, I can't give you a link to the original since it was on the original RP guild site. We wanted to do a dark, steampunk version of Alice in Wonderland but where Alice wasn't the main character.
Chapter 2 Six Impossible things Before Breakfast
Martius shuddered inwardly as the Hatter’s words tickled the back of his neck. The warmth from the hands on his shoulders sent delicious tingles down the Hare’s spine. These sensations almost clouded Martius’s thoughts. Almost. But not quite.
“We can’t break…” Marius shouted and then looked around him, his voice lowering in a paranoid fashion, ”We can’t break her out! That’s… Ethan you can’t be serious! That’s crazy!”
Martius turned around to face Ethan, their noses almost touching in the process. His heart fell when he saw the look on the Hatter’s face.
”You are serious aren’t you?” Martius groaned as he yanked his ears down to cover his face. ”Who would have thought today could have gotten any worse!?”
Perhaps reasoning would work? ”Come on Ethan, just let the idea go. I’m fine! Really! Besides, we don’t even know which cell she’s in. Or…or… how to get her out. And getting her safely will be the least of our problems if the Queen catches wind of this. You’ll probably get lucky- she’ll just lop off your head and be done with it but not me, she’ll probably let Jack torture me first. Goodness knows he’s wanted to for years.”
The pleading might have worked if Hatter hadn't been extremely bored. He just looked at the Martius, with the smile still on his face and eyebrow raised as he listened to the rabbit go on about how it was such a bad idea. But once the Hatter got something in his head, it was nearly impossible to stop him. Truthfully, Ethan could care less about the young lady who had gotten herself into a lot of trouble by running around the kingdom and talking to strangers. Really it was a blessing the Queen had found her so quickly. Being beheaded was truly one of the quickest and cleanest ways to go. But no, the real reason why Ethan wanted to rescue Alice was double fold. First he would be helping his good friend Martius feel better, (because honestly the Hare didn’t need another death on his shoulders, he was already drowning in medication). Second, as dangerous as it was, he enjoyed allowing the Queen to have her way by forcing terrible things on other people.
A sinking feeling settled into the Hare’s stomach as he peeked at the Hatter again. No matter how much Martius had begged, whined, and pleaded, the Hatter had always gone on with his crazy schemes and ever the faithful friend, the Hare always plodding along after him. Life wasn't fair, especially in Wonderland. The Hatter always seemed to get off scot free while the Hare had bills piled up through the roof, thanks to the queen's tax collectors. After all, someone had to pay for the soldier's ruined uniforms, the missing treasures, the temper tantrums. Ethan was safe, holed up in his cabin in the middle of the woods, but Martius who lived in Wonderland proper was front and center and easy pickings.
"Well, Martius, if you don't want to come, you could always just simply not come. I am going, and I am going to show Queen Red that she doesn't always get her way. Besides, I'm not going to let a friend sit here and stress about something that really isn't his problem but is going to be blaming himself for forever about." The Hatter sighed as he lifted his sword and turned to look at Martius once again. "There's whiskey in the cupboard in the kitchen if you still need that strong drink. I'll be gone a while, need to cash in a favor before I head off to the dungeons," Ethan stated as he looked at his friend. All it took would take was a simple `No, I'd rather do something else’. Ethan didn't understand why Martius continued to come even after all the times he took the time to make excuses as to why they shouldn't do something.
“I know I don’t have to come,” he said letting his ears go so that they sprung back up on their own, ”Just… please don’t use my feelings as an excuse.”
"Fine, I won't use your feelings as an excuse, I'll just say I felt like being the knight in shining armor tonight for the girl. Can't let the queen execute another poor girl without a real reason," Ethan shrugged. He didn't mind changing his excuse for what they were doing. He knew what the real reason was and that was all that really mattered.
Martius didn’t respond but instead made a show of checking the guns strapped to his waist. There was so much more he wanted to say. The Hare never understood Ethan’s recklessness, his need to chase after the skirt tails of death. Was it just because Ethan hated the Queen so much because of the past? The Hare shook his head. How he hated it, hated the danger, hated the fear. He’d rather curl up by a fire and read away the chilly nights but he would and could never let the Hatter run off on his own. For surely then Ethan would never come back.
Sweat beaded on the Hare’s forehead as the seriousness of their plans weighed heavily on his shoulders. This wasn’t some minor irritation to the queen’s armed forces, this was a direct assault to her power. ”If we don’t manage to sneak in and sneak out unnoticed” he thought, “that stupid girl won’t be the only one dying in the morning.”
I would be interested in writing a time travel story with you on Google docs or some other private pad.
Room Assignments: Edited in OOC. Ship information moved to "Characters" tab. I will refer to these locations going forward but I'm unwilling to go back through all my posts and edit out the inconsistencies.
Syrae: I was going off of the planet's description in my first OOC post
Name: "Syrae", Officially FDRY776 Atmosphere: Hospitable Climate: Freezing. Surface is covered in ice all year round. Cities are built on geothermal vents and derive their power from the planet’s superhot core. Native Sentient Beings: (None) First Colony: Scientists, 900+ yrs ago Exports: Ore and high quality gems (found under Syrae’s mountain chains) Overseen by: (None)
If the Federation's control works like a sphere, then Syrae is on the edge of that sphere for Federation Stronghold 700. It's why it has it's own laws, why people (such as Ryen's father) can gain asylum there. It's fine if the Federation has an embassy located on the planet, however, the planet itself is not governed by this embassy. It's why Ryen knows about planets and alien species but not a lot about the bureaucratic practices inside the Federation. It's why she's familiar with some technology but not others.
Top Floor: 2 Residential Rooms (Gunther, Seita), O2 Subsystem (w/ air lock) Middle Floor: Cockpit (w/ air lock), Subsystems: Shielding/Drone, Reactor Core (w/ airlock), Weapons, Back-up Power/ Communication System, 3 Residential Rooms (Ryen, Ellie, Lazlo), Galley (Third airlock separates the residential rooms and subsystems) Bottom Floor: 2 Residential Rooms (Quincy, spare), Medical Bay, 2 Storage Lockers (Air locks between residential and storage areas)
Each floor has a passage chamber between each room, and each level is connected via an elevator in the middle of the ship. Up to five weapon systems can be installed on the ship at any time, and four are currently installed.[/hider]
Good! Then I described the room's location perfectly. We have Quincy on floor 1. Ryen, Seita, and Ellie are on floor 2. Gunther and Lazlo are on floor 3. Or so, that's what I'm working with.
