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Story Game v2.0

28 Apr 2018 13:51 #20961 by Charlotte
Replied by Charlotte on topic Story Game v2.0
Good point... *edges away*

Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.

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28 Apr 2018 20:12 - 28 Apr 2018 20:14 #20966 by Charlotte
Replied by Charlotte on topic Story Game v2.0
I've not managed to write anything today. I did list the names and such mentioned so far so I would be able to keep track. But then I got stuck wanting a couple of surnames and not "finding" any...

So I thought I'd give Val a hand. (yes, that's a pun. Several actually. Maybe a handful or so... :silly:)


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29 Apr 2018 01:10 #20967 by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Story Game v2.0
Hey, you've got some concept art for the film.
Have we sold the movie rights yet? :lol:

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29 Apr 2018 01:31 - 29 Apr 2018 11:30 #20968 by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Story Game v2.0
I had an idea for one more scene to dump in some backstory. In a vague kind of way. :P



Corvan sat alone in the public dining area. Others were here, but he was alone. He had found an empty table and now, as he delicately ate his meal, he managed to defend that table with his presence, with his demeanor, his behaviour and of course with the face of Professor Almore Relin. Safely behind the projected Mind Shroud, he just wanted to eat his meal and take in the view through the grand VacuGlas window without being disturbed. Blending in was important but the constant 'performance' was challenging, tiring. The moments alone were vital to relax and focus, and to contemplate the significance of what he was here to do. But then all that relaxation ebbed away as a certain person entered the room.

It was that old woman. Elander Hays. He noted her at the meeting and only afterwards recalled that he had bumped into her earlier on the journey. She had said something to him, which he'd subsequently ignored, something frivolous and flippant, but now he understood that they were supposed to know each other. She must have been sharing some kind of private joke that he'd not understood. It was then that he regretted his actions with the Professor. Not his killing. That was necessary, inevitable. Minds like his could never be changed. It was just the timing that was unfortunate. Too late. He really would have liked more time to prepare. His Mind Shroud was fine, no, it was better than fine, it was perfect. For as long as he projected, or chose to project (he permitted himself a wry smile at the memory of the confused botanist) the image was unmistakably Professor Relin. But the behaviour was always tricky, especially without the proper time to research. And now Elander Hays was here, she had collected a meal from the AutoChef and now she would surely approach him. Him above all the others here. It was as obvious as it was depressing.
"Mind if I join you?"
"By all means." And it wasn't a lie. He meant it. Because it had to be done.

She pointed at his dish. "Aldebaran Salmon?" She sat down opposite him, adding, "I thought you hated that."
An uncomfortable start. He took another mouthful. "It's an acquired taste, I agree."
"And a taste that you have apparently acquired over the years. Literally so."
"Well, what can I say? Age does strange things to one's palate. And other parts of the body, perhaps." Surely that was the correct thing to say? It seemed the right choice of phrase but the silent non-response worried him...
Until she laughed. "At least some things about you don't change. You still have that sense of humour, even if you do hide it more than you should."
"There is a time and a place for everything. Even Aldebaran Salmon." He offered her a bite from his fork.
"No, thank you." Declining again in gesture with a raised palm and explaining, "I don't think the acquired taste will go with my own choice."
"Always the salad."
"You know me too well, Almore."
Almore? he thought. Was that a little too familiar on her part? Were the two of them closer than he believed? Or was this a test? Did she suspect? This was a difficult one. Beneath the Mind Shroud of Relin's face, Corvan may have been sweating, but no-one would ever see. He chewed slowly on his mouthful of salmon to buy some time. Perhaps a distraction would work. "Oh, I'm sorry," he mumbled and produced a toothpick which he jabbed and wiggled in the back corner of his mouth. "Ah, that's got it."
"Stray bone?" she inquired.
"Forever the problem with Aldebaran Salmon." And with that the awkwardness of the first names were gone. He now felt comfortable continuing and reciprocating, "So, Elander... Enjoying the view?"
She turned to look and his gaze followed. Together they saw the blue disk of the planet that was growing by the hour as they made the final approach before the burn for orbital entry.
"The good ones always look blue, don't they?"
"So you think the blue is a good omen?" he asked.
"It's the most human colour."
Relin frowned, adding, "An odd turn of phrase."
She smiled. "Your rather academic books were never as poetic as they could have been. It was just a line from an old Earth song."
His frown didn't want to leave either of his faces at mention of the old Homeworld. Some people were too nostalgic. He moved the subject back, "I hear they have a telescope pointed at the planet up on the observation deck. Had a look?"
"Who hasn't!" She exclaimed.
HE hadn't. He knew enough already but didn't need to respond as Elander swiftly continued.
"It's astonishingly beautiful!" She paused to enjoy those words before adding, with a sense of reluctance, "but!" The consonants were sharp as she bit off her own compliment.
"But?" he couldn't resist asking.
"Beauty does not always go with safety, does it?" He remained silent so she repeated more firmly, "Does it!"
"I guess not."
"You GUESS not?" She leaned back in her chair, gently pushing her plate away from her. "You, of all people, know about the dangers of not following the quarantine protocols. Don't tell me you've softened your views after all these years. Or is this another taste you've acquired?"
"Of course not!" And here he wore Relin's opinions as well as he wore his face. "The Kantika Moon relic is a lesson we should never stop learning."
"I'm glad you still think so." Whatever tension that was in her voice now flexed away.
Relin punctuated the moment with an audible breath, in and out through the nose. "There I was thinking that this was a friendly social call, when really... You just wanted to see if I was still on your side."
"I'm hoping it won't come to that." Here Elander glanced down and shook her head. "But there are people on this ship that have no idea about the dangers of exploration. Perhaps it's the naivety of youth, they're not as old as you or I. They didn't have to make the decisions for that crew on Kantika. Some of them weren't even born then. When that relic collapsed the crew were exposed. Vulnerable. Anything could have come out of there. We didn't know enough to be there. They got lucky. WE got lucky."
"Considering most of the crew subsequently died in the Dernaq-3 mutiny, I wouldn't call that lucky!"
"And isn't that the greatest irony!" She scoffed, and rolled those pale eyes of hers. "To have that girl on this ship! If I was a believer in fate..."
"If YOU were a believer in fate," he couldn't resist the even greater irony, "I'd think you were an impostor!"
"Ha." She spoke the laugh rather than experiencing it. "The girl is just like her father. So filled with that yearning for discovery and adventure. It's like a calling that runs in the family. I'll be damned if I'm going to let her blindly walk into danger like that. Maybe I'll be damned anyway." Her head sank.
She seemed a little deflated with those words. Resigned almost, defeated even. Corvan gambled and reached out to take her hand in -what was it called, now? Consolation? Empathy? Something like that.
She looked up at him. Her eyes wide and then natural. Her blossoming smile warm and welcoming. She looked at him. And saw Professor Almore Relin.
"You're just worried about the girl," he told her. "I get that. I understand. Everyone understands. That's what the quarantine protocols are for. That's what will keep her safe. That's what will keep us all safe. It's just a matter of balance. They want to run off and explore and we -the responsible ones- have to hold them back a little. I'm..." He squeezed her hand. "I'm on your side." He noticed a twinkle in her pale eyes, making her look younger than she was.
"Hey," she whispered. "Do you want to go to the observation scope to look at the planet again?"
"You go on. I'll join you in a moment."

He watched her leave the dining area with a youthful cadence, a confidence and a kind of glow. Elander Hays was going to be a problem for him. But she was a problem that could be handled with a more subtle enmity.

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29 Apr 2018 11:44 #20970 by Charlotte
Replied by Charlotte on topic Story Game v2.0
Oh I was thinking more of a book cover :p




Science briefing. Yana sat next to Stella who was even more excited than she was. The curvy blonde was turning this way and that, half getting out of her seat at every sight of someone or other who’s work she admired or whom she could point out as being on her down-planet team.
“We’re the Extremes!” She giggled. “Or should I say ‘X-threemes’? I’m not sure how it should be spelled but that’s what some of us call the team already. You know, because we’re in the X-3 quadrant?” She turned around following someone in the crowd again and Yana didn’t bother answering. She half listened to Stella and the murmured conversations around them as everyone settled in. The news of Borden’s illness made her feel uneasy - she’d never met the man before, but some gossiped that he’d had too much to drink at that other meeting and she just couldn’t see it. He’d seemed perfectly sober when they spoke and how often does anyone go comatose from drinking, anyway? Then again, she’d been giddier and more talkative than usual. Maybe there was more punch to the drinks served than she had realised. She frowned to herself. She probably wouldn’t give it much thought at all, if they hadn’t happen to speak at that meeting, though. Better just put it out of her mind.

Her attention turned to the podium at the front of the hall as Professor Ganda, a beautiful ebony woman in her late 40ies, and head of the ship’s entire science deartment, stepped up to the amplifier. Ganda gently cleared her throat, and adressed the crowd who immediatly fell silent.
“As you know, this is a briefing to go through all the particulars of the science protocols you need to follow down planet.” She scanned the crowd “It is of utmost importance that samples are not contaminated, measuring equipment are properly calibrated and so on. But you all know this. And as circumstances have it, I need to start this meeting by reassigning some of you.”

Yana’s heart went to her throat, along with half the hearts in the crowd, no doubt. Especially among the younger crew members everyone feared they’d get left behind at the last minute. Ganda looked serious as she continued “I am sure most of you have heard by now, that our head botanist, dr. Borden, is indisposed.” There was a slight murmur in the crowd which she quickly silenced with a stern and piercing glare. “We do not know yet, what ails dr. Borden but we can assure you that certain rumours that have been spread aboard, are completely false. And I will assume...” she glared again towards the people who had murmured earlier “that none of you here, you scientists - she emphasized the word - have partaken in spreading such unsubstantiated information.” She glanced down on her notes, took a breath, and continued. “Due to Bordens indisposition, dr. Aisa Yvain will be transferred from quadrant X-8 to Borden’s position on the X-1 team. Replacing dr. Yvain on the X-8 team will be dr. John Lawrence.”

Yana looked around at the indicated individuals. She’d heard of both of them and was sorry to hear that dr. Yvain was reassigned from her own team. She admired her work, although she found her personality somewhat intimidating. She’d read some articles by the Lawrence fellow, but had never met him. He looked kind of average, but was positively glowing at the prospect of going down-planet. Until, that is, he realised everyone had their eyes on him and he promptly looked down on his shoes, evidently embarrassed. Yana wondered why he’d been assigned to stay on the ship in the first place if he was so eager to go down there. Professor Ganda on the other hand, was known for being extremely cerebral and quite content to explore and investigate from a distance. No need to pity her for having to stay on board, she was exactly where she wanted to be.

“Yarenka!” Stella whispered loudly while Professor Ganda allowed the crowd to take in and comment on the crew changes. “Yarenka, is that your team? The X-8? Excite? Do you have a nickname yet?” Yana turned to her and smiled.
“No, we do not have a nickname yet, but yes X-8 is my team. I’m sorry we lost dr Yvain to team 1.” She caught a pair of pale but bright eyes a couple of seats behind Stella. She thought they belonged to Professor Hays, but she wasn’t certain. They had never been introduced, but again, she had read several of her papers.
“Yarenka? Is that a nickname? Dare I guess your mother’s name was Reneka maybe? Such a pretty name!” The elderly woman leaned towards Yana and smiled.
“Oh, no it’s from my grandmother.” Yana smiled in return. “It’s something my father always called me and it stuck, even when he didn’t.” A brief cloud passed behind her eyes but she quickly returned to normal. “I don’t remember him and I never even met my grandmother, but in my nickname I always carry her with me!”

Here, Professor Ganda called for attention and everyone turned to face the podium once more, all conversations abandoned. Ganda went through all the protocols and intel they had so far, which was really just repetition anyway, at least if you’d read the mission statements that had been sent out ages ago. She concluded by reminding them that security teams were out visually scanning the planet surface as she spoke, and that there would be a final briefing that evening.

Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.

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29 Apr 2018 14:24 #20972 by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Story Game v2.0
Ooh, some new characters!
It's getting very interesting now. :excited:

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30 Apr 2018 16:51 #20981 by Charlotte
Replied by Charlotte on topic Story Game v2.0
:p
It's been read 80 times and it's not all by me... (Actually it seems it's mostly lurkers.) Would be nice if more people would join the party, though :D

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30 Apr 2018 19:54 #20982 by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Story Game v2.0
I bet most of those clicks are just me correcting and editing my numerous typos. :lol:

I still have a scene or two that I could do but I can't write and paint at the same time. (Some may argue that I can't write OR paint at ANY time! :))
In fact I even came up with an ending last night which is a bit presumptous given that we probably won't get there and it may go way off the rails before then. ;)

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30 Apr 2018 20:03 #20983 by Charlotte
Replied by Charlotte on topic Story Game v2.0
a scene or two? They haven't even reached the surface yet! :lol: But having something of an ending in mind might still be a good idea or it might just carry on forever. Unless it gets derailed, of course. Or just peters out...

And no, a lot of those views have taken place when only I have been online, so it must have been lurkerers.

Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.

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30 Apr 2018 20:53 #20985 by Valence
Replied by Valence on topic Story Game v2.0
Talk about typos, I can't even spell "presumptuous" . :eyeroll:
If I could edit it then that'd be two more clicks/views but it won't let me for some reason. :lol:

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