Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59 
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Apr 22, 2020 16:00:24 GMT
GEORGE HUGO & LURAI SREN Welcome, Lieutenant George Hugo and Ensign Lurai Sren, to The Best Team-Building Program in the Galaxy™, commissioned by Captain Ellis and written by REMOVED. Vocal commands have been deactivated. The fun dial will go all the way up to eleven. REMOVED accepts no responsibility for any injury or loss of property. To make a formal complaint, please see REMOVED. Loading Scenario R1dDl3r.
... ..... ....... Prepare to become a team… or else. ~~~  For our viewing pleasure today, Lieutenant George Hugo and Ensign Lurai Sren find themselves in a shiny and well-lit service passageway. It is completely sealed and not at once obvious if they're aboard a ship, station, or something else. At each end of the corridor is a Red X, and in the middle, equidistant between the two markings, is a PADD. Once picked up, text materialises. First goal: Figure it out. Main goal: Survive.
Cast: Ozu Saya & Lurai Sren |
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Apr 22, 2020 23:38:32 GMT
[Lt. George Hugo - Service Passageway]
When the holoprogram started, George found himself having to suddenly duck as he was taller than the corridor in which he and his partner for this team-building thing were now standing. He gave the young woman a sardonic look and commented, Well, isn't this uncomfortable?
He cleared his throat and looked up and down the corridor. Part of me wants to go straight for the doors and try them, but I have a feeling that if we do, something bad might happen. His voice was slightly gruffer than normal. He could manage corridors like this, if he didn't have to stay in them too long. They were just damned uncomfortable. Let's check that out, George said, heading for the middle of the passage, hunching his upper body over so that he could walk with a semi-normal stride. He looked rather like a giant ape in that position.
Reaching the PADD, George dropped into a squat and picked it up, eyebrows rising in surprise when the riddle appeared. He shifted to lean against the wall, remaining squatted so that he could stand quickly if needed, and held out the PADD for his companion to peruse. You any good with riddles?
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Lurai Sren
Medical
[TI33]
Posts: 62
Likes: 6
Rank: Ensign
Position: Medical Officer
Species: Betazoid
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Post by Lurai Sren on Apr 23, 2020 15:54:37 GMT
The corridor was small, but it was tall enough to allow her to stand up. Her companion wasn't quite as lucky, though. She smiled at his comment on discomfort. ”You have my sympathy.” For her, the space wasn't cramped, so she was pretty comfortable at the moment. Apart from being trapped somewhere, of course, but that feeling hadn't kicked in yet. Taking the PADD she read the text. ”Don't have much experience with riddles, I'm afraid.” She looked from one door to the other. ”I too wonder what those X:s mean... but perhaps we need to figure this riddle out before we can try the doors. Do you have any idea what it could be?” Looking down at the PADD again she re-read the riddle. ”Measure its life in hours, when used it expires... quick when thin, slow when fat... can't stand the wind.” Frowning slightly, she mused: ”Time, clock, hourglass... life, breath... no.”
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Apr 24, 2020 13:47:47 GMT
[Lt. George Hugo - Service Passageway]
George released a heavy breath as he thought about the words while Lurai read them. He tugged at his uniform collar and muttered, Something to do with time, I think. Marking time? No, it's something that has a short lifespan. A fire, maybe?
He paused to stand as straight as he could, stretching kinks in his back and knees. He wasn't old, really, but his body was pretty battered and didn't like certain positions for long periods of time. George leaned against the wall, the top of his head just brushing the ceiling as he placed his feet away from the wall.
You're, uh, Sren, right? I think we've met once or twice. What department? His tone wasn't unfriendly, if a little gruff from discomfort.
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Lurai Sren
Medical
[TI33]
Posts: 62
Likes: 6
Rank: Ensign
Position: Medical Officer
Species: Betazoid
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Post by Lurai Sren on Apr 25, 2020 16:37:01 GMT
[Ensign Lurai Sren - Service passageway]
She smiled. ”Lurai Sren, yes, Medical. You're Lieutenant Hugo, Assistant Chief Engineer, if I'm not mistaken?” She'd met him while he was working with Chief Engineer Ozu before.She nodded thoughtfully as he suggested a fire. ”Yes, fire... a small fire... a match? A candle?” Her face lit up. Its life measured in hours, thick (fat) candles burned longer than thin ones and so on. ”It has to be a candle! Now, what do we do with that information? Do we just say it out loud?” She looked up at the ceiling in general. ”Candle.” She waited for some sort of sign from the program that they had picked the right answer. If nothing happened, she'd try typing it in on the PADD that she still held in her hand.
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Apr 25, 2020 23:58:47 GMT
CORRECT ANSWER.The computer's voice was soft, feminine and the accent was clipped and the words very well enunciated. That was perhaps the end of the pleasantness. There then came a mechanical noise; the clunk of numerous cogs, all working in unison and as part of a bigger machine. A second later, the corridor they were in began to move.The walls, they were closing in. The two Red X marks disappeared as each end of the structure slid toward the center. Four meters of the floor was lost to the environment change, along with some standing room. Where once one of an impressive stature might have had to duck, there would now be no room to stand. Soon, two of the small doorways were reclaimed to whatever was beyond. The Red X marking the spots returned, again one on each end. The text on the PADD blurred and then sharpened to reveal the next task. TRY AGAIN.
Ozu Saya & Lurai Sren |
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Apr 26, 2020 19:54:38 GMT
[ Lt. George Hugo - Shrinking Passageway] What the hell? George exploded as he dropped into a crouch again, far lower than the ceiling, but he felt better getting his head far away. She solved the riddle! Why would we lose space? He growled in frustration, the lowered ceiling starting to cause him some anxiety. He hated telling people that he was claustrophobic, but he never crawled into a Jeffries tube if he could help it. He was far too big to work in them even uncomfortably and was grateful he could send other people to do those sorts of jobs. George tried to concentrate, looking at the PADD still in the other officer's hands. Numbers. That was more his speed. Even with the anxiety beginning to creep up on him, some quick mental math determined that no combination of those numbers would equal 30. Hmm, I have an idea about that, but maybe we should check out some of these doors, first? I didn't really notice them before.
Tag Lurai Sren |
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Lurai Sren
Medical
[TI33]
Posts: 62
Likes: 6
Rank: Ensign
Position: Medical Officer
Species: Betazoid
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Post by Lurai Sren on Apr 29, 2020 19:46:00 GMT
The walls started shrinking. ”Guess the fun is just beginning”, she stated dryly. Apparently they wanted them to solve the math problem under pressure. Lurai wasn't fond of maths, she could do it – because you couldn't become a Starfleet doctor if you couldn't – but it was her least favourite subject. Looking at the PADD, it wasn't possible to get 30 with any three of those options, so they'd need to get creative. She wasn't fond of confined spaces, either. Jeffries tubes were okay, because those she knew how to get out of. Suddenly shrinking passageways, however, were a different matter. She bent her head and glanced around, increasingly uncomfortable as the ceiling came closer. Of course the safety routines must be on, but still the idea of getting nearly crushed by holographic walls didn't sound extremely pleasant. ”The doors, yes, let's.” She quickly moved over to the nearest door and started searching for some opening mechanism, trying not to glance nervously at the ceiling. ”Got any ideas? Maybe we must solve the math problem before they can open?"
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on Apr 30, 2020 15:20:11 GMT
[Lt. George Hugo - The Incredible Shrinking Passageway]
George made his way in an awkward crouch to one of the doors near the end of the corridor, grunting in irritation when it wouldn't open. He tried the one across from it, then one more before going back to the center, where he sat on the floor with his legs stretched across the passage.
Right, then. The math problem. No three of those numbers equals 30, but 13+11 is 24, and if you take the 9 and flip it upside down, it's a 6. So 13+11+6 equals 30. He was afraid there was something important they were missing. But what could it be? If the small doors along the corridor wouldn't open, solving the riddles seemed to be the only way to get them out, but the passage had gotten smaller with the last one. George hoped he hadn't just screwed them even worse.
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on Apr 30, 2020 17:13:32 GMT
CORRECT ANSWER.The Computer's voice was just as soft as it had been previously, and just like before, it was followed by the same mechanical noise as the walls and ceiling began to move again. The two Red X marks once again disappeared as the corridor shortened, and reappeared at each end, as before, when the movement stopped.
The passageway had restricted further. It would now be impossible for anyone to stand, and if one was positioned in the middle with arms extended outward, they would be able to touch both walls with their fingers.
The lights went out.
The only illumination was from the screen of the PADD, which faded for a few long seconds; the numbered billiard balls disappearing. They were soon replaced by something else.
 TRY AGAIN.
Ozu Saya & Lurai Sren |
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Lurai Sren
Medical
[TI33]
Posts: 62
Likes: 6
Rank: Ensign
Position: Medical Officer
Species: Betazoid
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Post by Lurai Sren on Apr 30, 2020 21:23:08 GMT
Flip the 9 upside down! Of course. ”Brilliant!” However, the walls and ceiling kept shrinking. ”Oh, come on”, she muttered, increasingly uncomfortable. ”You got it right, so why does this keep getting worse?” And there went the lights. ”Lovely.” In the light from the PADD, she moved to sit on one knee next to George. She read the new text out loud, frowning slightly. ”What? Every single person on board died, yet two survived.” She was anxiously expecting that mechanical noise to start at any moment and the walls to shrink further. ”Um... every single person died, two survived... every single person... two survived... Every. Single. Person...” Hang on. ”They were married!”
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Felicity Ellis
Command
Cap'n Mum
[TI11]
Posts: 719 Likes: 59
Rank: Commander
Position: XO
Species: Human
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Post by Felicity Ellis on May 1, 2020 23:14:28 GMT
CORRECT ANSWER. As before, the passageway moved. Those inside would have no choice but to sit or hunker down, and it soon became clear, even in the darkness, that the next level would see them both lying flat on the ground. The only light came from the Red X marks, which once again moved closer together, still at opposite ends. They glowed and pulsed; hard to miss. The PADD screen changed to display a new challenge.  TRY AGAIN.
Ozu Saya & Lurai Sren |
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on May 2, 2020 16:15:03 GMT
[Lt. George Hugo - Box]
Oh, hell, George burst out, his voice no longer calm as he hunched over further and pulled his legs up. Let's, uh, stop answering the riddles for now. His tone was almost pleading, and his pitch had raised quite a bit. He'd had a problem with tight spaces since he'd gotten trapped in a tight tunnel in a cave as a teenager. He'd been stuck for several hours, unable to take a deep breath until he'd been found.
He looked around in near panic, hating that he was falling apart in front of a junior officer. Maybe we should try something with the doors at the end? Each touch an X? He had no idea what else to try, but he scooted closer to one end, ready to reach out and touch the door if Lurai agreed.
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Lurai Sren
Medical
[TI33]
Posts: 62
Likes: 6
Rank: Ensign
Position: Medical Officer
Species: Betazoid
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Post by Lurai Sren on May 2, 2020 19:18:21 GMT
[Ens. Lurai Sren - shrinking passageway thingy]
Lurai crouched on her knees on the floor. This didn't feel good at all. She felt trapped, her heartbeat was pounding and she could feel anxiety rising in her chest like high tide. Her own fear mingled with that radiating off of Lieutenant Hugo, and Lurai was no longer sure which emotions were her own and which ones were his. It was getting increasingly hard to think straight. When the new riddle – if you could even call it that – appeared on the PADD, she just stared blankly at it. What the hell was this even supposed to be? She tried taking normal, even breaths and not shallow anxious ones. She looked up at Hugo as he spoke. ”Doors, yes.” She was happy for the opportunity to put some distance between them, hoping that might lessen the sensations of his fear. She crawled in the opposite direction and reached out for the X. ”Ready? On three? One... two... three.” She pressed her hand against the X and hoped for the best.
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Ozu Saya
Engineering/Ops
[TI19]
Posts: 878
Likes: 29
Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer
Position: CoB/Chief Engineer
Species: Vulcan-Bajoran
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Post by Ozu Saya on May 3, 2020 23:34:45 GMT
[Lt. George Hugo - Very tiny space]
George cursed vehemently and raised an arm to wipe away sweat that was now dripping into his eyes. Nothing. So that left one thing he could think of. Okay, we need to do both at the same time, I think, he said gruffly. Say the answer to the puzzle out loud while we touch the doors. But I have no idea what the hell most of those mean. I think I know... He peered at the PADD. ...maybe three of them. But I'm not even a hundred percent sure on those.
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