<> <> <> <> (Also today?) <> <> (Stupid question time, but where are we? ^^;) (WALLACHIA) (THE YEAR IS 1798) (Wherever you like, at the moment, but the general idea is to convene on the ship.) (Also Todd is confusing this with the last ATC3) (*runs around whipping candles*) (Or he has gone mad.) (Why nots both?) * Hestia is up on the bridge! Making sure the computer systems all work properly, though she mostly appears to be sitting at the navigator station with her legs crossed, leaning back and glancing at the screen now and then. <> * Zeke is on the ship, in the corner of a common area. He's still in exo, and sitting on his giant case with a datapad resting in his hand that his face isn't tilted down towards. His pet birdsect is looking around the room randomly, fixing on movement if there's any. (Sorry, I'm on the phone with my parents.) (Tell them hi!) (Dad says hi back!) * Lexi is in her quarters arranging her closet and such. She's sorting through her pants, skirts, and such by hand, and telekinetically arranging underwear, shirts, and dresses into their rightful spots. * Kyle is musing over his datapad as he does final checks on the ship's vitals. <> * Tomas is sitting on the couch in the common area, leafing through the latest issue of Cyberized Male Monthly and sipping on a bottle of Dunno Cola through a straw. (There is not enough xtreme in that title.) (It's so extreme it's overflowed to not extreme) * Amadeus comes walking onto the ship with a briefcase in hand and more-or-less cheerfully says his good mornings to whoever he runs into on his way to the lab, because that's where he's spending most of his time (let's be honest). * Lexi manages the best she can at the folding thing. She probably has a very small fraction of her closet with her. (Although I guess the x-rated version would be Baremetal Sleekdudes.) (.... get out.) (I CAN'T I'M LOGGING.) (AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.) (...fired.) * Tomas comes across an article on preventative prosthetic skin maintenance and leans a bit forward to read more intently. * Zeke 's bird acknowledges Amadeus by looking over at them with its tiny head and flitting its wings slightly. Zeke's holoface looks up slightly right after it does that and adds, "Dr. Cheung." * Kyle waves cheerfully to the Prof. "'sup Prof?' " Just double checking the lab. Do you ever leave that suit, Mr. Chezik? * Zeke 's holoface frowns for a moment. "No." Then it goes right back to neutral. "It isn't an option." Not that I've seen'em. Seem's he's stuck or something. * Zeke 's bird looks to Kyle at that, but he himself doesn't respond. * Lexi finishes putting away her clothes and heads out to the common area. "We really need to insist on more closet space for our next ship. Zipping around the galaxy is only half as much fun if I can't look hot while doing it." She grins and flops onto one of the chairs. * Amadeus looks a little put out by Kyle's comment, and he shakes his head. "Unfortunate." And then he glances at Lexi. "Yes, everyone's number one priority is for you to 'look hot'. I'm glad you have the full interests of this venture in mind." * Lexi nods and waves a hand away to Amadeus' comment. "It's alright. I'll manage to look hot anyway. Don't worry." * Hestia feels satisfied that the computer systems are all good because her player has finally ordered pizza, and thus gets up from the chair and dusts off her hands, clanking on down the ladder just as Lexi complains about closet space. "Oh, the gang's all here." Glad to hear it, because I really don't think more closet space is very high on the list of upgrades. Good morning, Tia. * Lexi rolls her eyes. "Pfft. Maybe not on -your- list." * Lexi waves at Hestia. "'morning Tia. We all ready to take this baby for a spin?" * Zeke 's bird looks to the others as well, before he says, "If you did not mind throwing it out, you could store it in the hold." You never know, it doesn't take THAT much to put more closet space in. * Hestia turns around at the bottom of the ladder and crosses her arms over her chest. "I admit, if I'm going to be trapped in a small space with 5 relative strangers, I'd rather it be in space where I have no choice, rather than in Red Boston where what I'd really like is a nice long bubble bath." You wasteful user of water! No Spice for you! (A stillsuit slips through dimensions and hits Tia in the head.) (oh god ow!) <> "Hello in there?" * Lexi nods to Kyle. "Thank you. At least someone has their priorities straight." She winks at Kyle and heads over to where the voice is coming from. "'Morning Preston! We're all here." * Amadeus sighs, realizing he really isn't going to get a chance to look over the lab any time soon, and goes to have a seat in the lobby. (That's okay. You'd be cross to find out that Lexi knocked out the back wall of her closet and is using the lab as a walk-in.) (OMG) (SHE DIES.) * Tomas looks up from his magazine, "Hey, Preston. When we leaving?" <> "Well, indeed you all are. We - and I mean you - will be leaving momentarily. I'm just here to give you the lesson plan, and then it's all up to you for the rest of today. Can't have old Preston following you around to Beta Centauri and such." <> "I trust the ship's met with your collective approval?" I think I'll be able to make do with what you've provided. * Hestia smirks. "Except available space for couture, apparently." * Amadeus snickers. * Lexi shrugs. "It'll do. Not quite what I'm used to but I can fly it just as well as any other ship, I suspect." <> "Well, flying's the important thing. If you find any waltzing extraterrestrials, I'm sure I can make a bid for walk-in closets and a dance floor for the next ship." * Zeke monotones, "Unlikely." * Lexi smirks. "I'll so my best to look for some." * Lexi rolls her eyes at Zeke. "You're no fun." * Zeke looks up at her. "I would waltz... badly." <> "So! The last order of business to attend to. The ship needs a name." (Holy golden flower eagle dragon.) * Kyle grins at Lexi. (You.) (I am going to send you the ACTUAL quote. On a card.) (You will staple it to your head.) (HEAD QUOTE) * Hestia stretches her arms toward the ceiling. "I'm saving all my creative juices for the planets we'll need to name." (Cham... I will kill you. I can't think of names right now. I can barely remember my own name) (*stagewhisper* "Lexi.") (Why, if it weren't for /me, you'd be fucked!) (oh god chocolate news is on.) (We could just have everyone type in a single letter.) (I CALL X) (Okay, our names say it should be called Ahkltz. Anklelutz!) (This happening ooc wut?) (ok. I got nothing.) <> "If no one has any bright ideas we could just call it what it was before we remodeled it." What was that? I'm not sure I want to know. If he says Titanic or Marie Celeste, for example. Um... We could call it the Drunken Sailor or somethin'. (I apparently read Red Wikipedia on shipwrecks a lot.) The name on the side was Dacelo. (Some days I love my job) Dacelo. I like it, but wouldn't it be bad luck to take the old name? * Zeke replies slowly, "I suggest Corundum." <> "I'm not the one riding in it." * Hestia seems about to comment on 'Dacelo' before turning to Zeke, slowly, with a clear o_- expression. I suggest we all get a drink first. This would be much more fun with a buzz. * Amadeus rubs at his eyes. "For once, I agree with Lexi, but it'd be a shame if we crashed the ship on its first day." * Lexi grins. "Well... that would save us some headache on naming it." * Zeke looks over at Hestia. "It is a good name. 'Sapphire' seems overly simple." * Amadeus settles his glasses back into place. * Hestia looks up at the ceiling. "It's not really a gem. It's what you get BEFORE gems." Ha, 'Geode' seems like bad luck. It only shines when you crack it open. <> "Sounds accurate enough to me." * Zeke looks back to his pad. "Yes, but this is not a lecture." * Lexi shrugs. "I don't care. It doesn't look pretty. Doesn't really deserve a pretty name." * Kyle nods. "I second the opinion of getting a drink. Everything's better with more alcohol." "Then it's settled. We'll decide on the name when you get back." * Hestia glances around. "You think so? I don't really like being drunk, myself." * Kyle waves. "I didn't say anythin' about getting drunk. Just a little buzz." * Amadeus waves them off. "Have fun." (Dre's in the bathroom; we've both been sick with different things recently and, erm... he's not doing so hot.) (:( ) (I didn't get you sick, did I?) (eesh, it's okay... maybe we can hold off the actual flight...) It probably would be better to have our pilot and mechanic sober for the maiden voyage. (Anyhow, I confused myself.... "when you get back" was "when you get back from the test flight") (Nah, I got a stomach virus - been living off of crackers and apple juice the past few days - and Dre got some sort of infection or cyst or something.) (Ah, okay.) * Zeke looks over at Lexi, then says, "Corundum might imply a better appearance in the future. Our only other current option is Dacelo." (And neither of us have been sleeping well at all, so we're both pretty out of it. It's been a bad time for ATC3 to start, sorry. :() (I'm fine with running a short session. I'm just worried about skipping and then falling out of the habit, etc.) (We can take it up to the actual departure and leave the excitement for next time, if that's okay with everybody.) (I'd appreciate that. Thanks.) (Oh, fine. :( ) out a small datapad and pokes at it.>> "The flight plan for this test is pretty simple. First you'll take the ship just off Jupiter - hopefully close to Europa, where you'll have help if something malfunctions. From there, you'll head into Earth orbit, to see what it's like using the drive closer to a star." (Also, sorry I wasn't responsive earlier. Mom and dad were talking to me. ^^;) (That should have started with < From there, you'll head outside the Kuiper Belt, and then back closer to Mars. When you're ready, your first planet is in orbit around Epsilon Indi." "That'll be a bit tricky, as Epsilon Indi has two brown dwarf companion stars. But it'll be a good first test." * Lexi waves her hand. "Bah no problem. I could do that with two hands tied behind my back." Sounds fairly routine, although wouldn't a star's gravitational well cause problems with the mole drive?" "Yes and no. Mostly no, but I'm told it makes for some quirks when initially entering the interstice." * Hestia glances at Preston. "And while we're at it... you should probably brief us on the ship's communication systems. I'd rather not be halfway across the galaxy and not be able to get a message back to Mars." "Ah. A good point." <> "As Zeke and Kyle may have noticed, there's a fairly largish sealed capsule inside the engine room. That's actually a messenger probe. It's equipped with a Mole Drive itself, and it's your emergency communication method with Mars. I am assured by our engineers that is the best we can do." * Kyle nods. "That's the emergency lifeline with Mars." I assume that there is a non-emergency method of communication? "Not between you and Mars, when you're out in the galaxy." Then how are we registering claims with GalReg? Good question. I assume we do so after we return? "You'll do that immediately upon return to the Sol system. Unfortunately that means claims can be sniped by other teams... whoever makes it back first wins." <> "We pay you to be fast." * Lexi grins. "-that- I can do." * Hestia puts one hand in the air with a distracted look. "Seems like we should be setting up a communications relay while we're out there. I might be able to cook something up in my spare time." (Hestia can faster your light! YAY!) (I mean relay buoys, jerk.) (It's not going to make it faster, but it could make it POSSIBLE, at least.) (Ah, okay...) <> "That would definitely be valuable." (Make them these mole messengers and definitely.) * Hestia rubs her chin. "Actually..." She turns to Zeke and Amadeus, smirking a little bit, perhaps? "Maybe while the others are getting besotted, we can think on that thorny problem. I don't know much about the physics of this stuff, but I know electronics and mechanics." * Zeke looks over at Hestia, his holoface tilting to the side, and then he says, "Moving information faster than light is the largest difficulty. It would be interesting to have solved." * Amadeus nods, looking to Hestia and pushing up his glasses. "I'm happy to do what I can to help, though communications are far from my area of expertise." <> "Good, good. So! I will leave you to your final preparations. Send me a message when you get back, and let me know how everything went." I could see what I can rig up once you have what you want to do done. Will do, Mr... er, Preston. "Toodle-oo!" <> * Lexi waves. "See ya, Preston!" (I've decided that the reason Preston weirds me out so much is he has a last name for a first name and a first name for a last name, thus creating a bizarrely backwards person.) (Just be lucky I didn't name him Preston Robert.) (GO TO HELL) Ta Preston. (I am being assailed by a cat.) (Okay are we uh calling it a night here?) (Indeed. Last poses.) * Amadeus gets up and actually goes to double check the lab now. HAHA! FREE AT LAST! * Lexi grins and heads up to the bridge jumping into the pilot's seat. "Alright! Everyone get ready. Let's take this baby for a spin!" * Tomas gets up and heads to the galley to check that all of the equipment is secured against the test flight * Hestia runs a hand through her bangs. "May God have mercy on our souls, or something like that." <>