Audacious

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

I don't know. But I would have expected our guide to, not to study up on the emergency procedures.

@Host

Well, we can leave customer service complaints later. We’re in it now. Do you think we should… Just try walking out the door?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

I'm confused as to why we're using the terminal at all instead of leaving? This isn't a destination, surely.

@Host

Where do we go when we leave? I’m not sure we end up anywhere new, do we?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Extra>

*All of the books on the upper shelf are fiction novels*
Why do we need the emergency terminal?

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*Looks curiously with furrowed brows*
I'm confused by your approach.

@Host

Looking without changing anything. I can read about the emergency terminal until the cows come home, but if we end up in an emergency and none of us are familiar with its use in a time of panic, then things could go terribly.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Why would we touch the terminal for emergencies if it's working fine?

@Host

I mean… Surely it is a good idea to at least make ourselves familiar with what the emergency terminal is capable of, right? Better than waiting until the emergency hits, then trying to familiarize ourselves with its use.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

That or he had it designed to make him comfortable despite the fact there is a slim chance that he would be stuck here and hundreds and thousands of years goes by and he wouldn’t even know.

<Snipped quote by Host>

Then’ll I’ll go ahead and make myself comfortable as quick as possible.
*begins to dismantle the computer*

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*grunts as I am dismantling the PC*
You brought the manual, can you check out the emergency terminal and see what it requires?

@Extra

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*The book contains a detailed set of exercises in replicating natural phenomenon in a common programming language*
I don't know. But I don't think we should check the terminal.

<Snipped quote by Extra>

You're the one supposed to be leading us.

@Host

The terminal she just asked me to look at?… Um-
*Looks between it and each of you*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*The floor is made of light and translucent interlaced mint-green stones in a repeating V pattern, and on one of the walls is attached the emergency terminal documented in the manual; a pile of books is stacked hastily in the corner next to a window*
I can see why he issued the warning.

@Host

*Picks up a book and casually flips through it*
So how does this function as a path to where we needed to go, then, exactly? I’m lost.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

Perhaps this is his true office.
*A nixie tube clock synchronized with the outside world ticks up at a rate of one millisecond per second*

@Host

*Glances down toward it with my eyes as I slowly pace through the room*
Could get a lot done here, I’m sure.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Extra>

I would also be interested to know what's on it. Maybe I'll take a peek myself...

@Host

<Snipped quote by Host>

Seeing if he has anything on this computer...I think Ill just take the memory itself and try to get it somewhere else.

@Extra

Is this like, a recreation of a space that’s personally important to him? What is all this, exactly?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

...I'll go with you. I don't want to be alone again.

@Host

I don’t blame you at all. I could stay, in that case. Try and help if anything were to go wrong, but I could also… If time slowed a lot in any way, I could prevent sabotage. And I’d still be out here to carve a path to the panda and try and stop everything from falling apart.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Audacious>

*The documentation notes that any errors trigger a highest priority emergency dispatch team and that the device can be rescued externally, but in the worst case scenario, the participant may be trapped for countless millennia and unrecognizable by the time the team resolves the issue*
That's something I'm thinking about too. There's no perfect solution.

@Host

Which sounds least unappealing to you?