∞ 00 00 ∞
Good evening, everyone. This is Captain...Captain Orion.
I've configured this announcement so that it will only broadcast to those passengers visiting from other dimensions. I think all of you might have gotten enough attention already and would prefer that this event be a little more...private.
[he's wearing a very prim, well-fitting uniform, close in design to what Chandra and Anand are wearing as they work at a pair of the consoles, only his is a rich, navy blue instead of white. there is a crest on each shoulder, and a sleek silver pin on his collar.
he's standing in front of the gate, currently inactive, his hands behind his back as he looks up to address his Sphere.]
I have several things to report, but first I thought you'd like to know that we've been able to contact the nearest Alliance vessels. The Crucible can still fly, but the engines have been under some extreme stress for a very long time. We're not willing to risk setting them to full output, so we will be remaining at these coordinates until the rescue craft arrive. Everyone onboard should be home safely within a few weeks.
[it's here that his optimistic expression grows more grim. there are new worry lines set into his skin, making him look years older] Unfortunately, while we were analyzing the data recorded in the ship's computer, we were able to work out just how long the ship was trapped in that time loop.
All of you began to arrive roughly one year ago, but we're estimating that myself and the original passengers have experienced this three month loop forty-nine times, excluding this last cycle. [he takes a long, deep breath, an obvious weight returned to his shoulders. but this one he knows he won't be getting rid of any time soon. maybe not for the rest of his life]
Translated into real time, we've been in this loop about twelve and a half standard Terran years.
During my correspondence with the other ships I was told that we had been given up for dead over a decade ago. [he smiles a sad, grateful smile, heavy with all the time that they've lost] But if not for all of you, we might still be trapped. Or worse.
Getting you all home is the least I can do to repay you.
[he looks back at the gate briefly, at the softly humming wires. there are ripples of black between them now and then. it's powering up] At first, I was afraid it wasn't going to be possible. The gate's settings have been erratic since my father activated it and the computer was not set to archive its actions, possibly as a means of secrecy. We could search for a lifetime and only have a thirty percent probability of finding the data we needed, in the off-chance that a redundancy program caught your destination information as you arrived.
But yesterday we made a breakthrough. [he walks to a console, picking up a small object off its surface. it's a plain, ordinary Sphere, currently switched off] This is the standard civilian-issue network device that the Crucible uses. Simple devices with a few extra uses in case of emergency, but nothing special.
However, I couldn't help but notice the odd appearance of the Spheres that all of you are using. I've never seen any that look quite like yours. It made me wonder if there was a reason behind that. [and now he smiles a real smile, happy that he can do this one thing] It's a good thing I'm still a little curious.
When we accessed the remote memory of your Sphere's we discovered that the ship had assigned them to you at the exact moment of your arrival, like it would to any normal passenger. When assigned, it records simple identification data: appearance, voice modulation, things like that, so that its assigned person can be recognized later. But in your case, it recorded something more while its voice recognition protocol was reconfiguring.
It was chance. Pure chance that the Spheres recorded the individual frequencies of your home dimensions. But we can use them to program the gate to send you back.
[he sets the Sphere back down, once more facing his directly] There is some danger involved. Without a corresponding gate on the other side, we'll basically be sending you through blind. We don't know what will happen once you go through. The best we have is a theory.
Because the gate will be using the exact frequency from when you arrived, you will be returned to exactly the same point in time and space you occupied when you were originally drawn to our ship. I am aware a few of you returned and were then drawn back, but we can use the new frequency the Sphere recorded during your second, or third return to the ship.
However...it's not just your location that the frequency will match, but yourselves as well. Travel through the gate will reconfigure your molecules to the correct vibration for that point in time. It...it is very likely that any memory you have of your time here, to say nothing of physical changes, will be wiped out from the timeline. There's a chance that this won't be so, but we have no way to prove it.
[he closes his eyes briefly] I know that the last thing you want after all of this is to lose your memories. If you feel that the danger involved with using the gate is too great, I'd like to say now that you can stay here, in this dimension.
You, all of you...you're heroes. You saved hundreds of lives while you could have very easily lost your own. [he opens his eyes once more, and his voice is shaking from emotion] If you stay, I'll see to it that you're honored for the things that you've done, the sacrifices that you've made. I know this universe can never be home, but there will be a place for you.
The choice is yours. The gate will be active within half an hour. This room is shielded, but you all know better than I do the kinds of things this machine is capable of. I can leave it operational for a day, but any more than that and all of this may start again.
I'm sorry I can't give you more than a day.
When you're ready, all you need to do is come to this room. I have deactivated its security. We will recover the frequency from your Spheres and send you, and anything you wish to take you with you, home.
[he stops, stumbling over his words] I...I will be here to see all of you off. If there is anything you want to say, to record, of who you are what's happened here, I will use my Sphere to record it.
If you have to forget what's happened, then I'll make sure that I'll always remember.
Details
I've configured this announcement so that it will only broadcast to those passengers visiting from other dimensions. I think all of you might have gotten enough attention already and would prefer that this event be a little more...private.
[he's wearing a very prim, well-fitting uniform, close in design to what Chandra and Anand are wearing as they work at a pair of the consoles, only his is a rich, navy blue instead of white. there is a crest on each shoulder, and a sleek silver pin on his collar.
he's standing in front of the gate, currently inactive, his hands behind his back as he looks up to address his Sphere.]
I have several things to report, but first I thought you'd like to know that we've been able to contact the nearest Alliance vessels. The Crucible can still fly, but the engines have been under some extreme stress for a very long time. We're not willing to risk setting them to full output, so we will be remaining at these coordinates until the rescue craft arrive. Everyone onboard should be home safely within a few weeks.
[it's here that his optimistic expression grows more grim. there are new worry lines set into his skin, making him look years older] Unfortunately, while we were analyzing the data recorded in the ship's computer, we were able to work out just how long the ship was trapped in that time loop.
All of you began to arrive roughly one year ago, but we're estimating that myself and the original passengers have experienced this three month loop forty-nine times, excluding this last cycle. [he takes a long, deep breath, an obvious weight returned to his shoulders. but this one he knows he won't be getting rid of any time soon. maybe not for the rest of his life]
Translated into real time, we've been in this loop about twelve and a half standard Terran years.
During my correspondence with the other ships I was told that we had been given up for dead over a decade ago. [he smiles a sad, grateful smile, heavy with all the time that they've lost] But if not for all of you, we might still be trapped. Or worse.
Getting you all home is the least I can do to repay you.
[he looks back at the gate briefly, at the softly humming wires. there are ripples of black between them now and then. it's powering up] At first, I was afraid it wasn't going to be possible. The gate's settings have been erratic since my father activated it and the computer was not set to archive its actions, possibly as a means of secrecy. We could search for a lifetime and only have a thirty percent probability of finding the data we needed, in the off-chance that a redundancy program caught your destination information as you arrived.
But yesterday we made a breakthrough. [he walks to a console, picking up a small object off its surface. it's a plain, ordinary Sphere, currently switched off] This is the standard civilian-issue network device that the Crucible uses. Simple devices with a few extra uses in case of emergency, but nothing special.
However, I couldn't help but notice the odd appearance of the Spheres that all of you are using. I've never seen any that look quite like yours. It made me wonder if there was a reason behind that. [and now he smiles a real smile, happy that he can do this one thing] It's a good thing I'm still a little curious.
When we accessed the remote memory of your Sphere's we discovered that the ship had assigned them to you at the exact moment of your arrival, like it would to any normal passenger. When assigned, it records simple identification data: appearance, voice modulation, things like that, so that its assigned person can be recognized later. But in your case, it recorded something more while its voice recognition protocol was reconfiguring.
It was chance. Pure chance that the Spheres recorded the individual frequencies of your home dimensions. But we can use them to program the gate to send you back.
[he sets the Sphere back down, once more facing his directly] There is some danger involved. Without a corresponding gate on the other side, we'll basically be sending you through blind. We don't know what will happen once you go through. The best we have is a theory.
Because the gate will be using the exact frequency from when you arrived, you will be returned to exactly the same point in time and space you occupied when you were originally drawn to our ship. I am aware a few of you returned and were then drawn back, but we can use the new frequency the Sphere recorded during your second, or third return to the ship.
However...it's not just your location that the frequency will match, but yourselves as well. Travel through the gate will reconfigure your molecules to the correct vibration for that point in time. It...it is very likely that any memory you have of your time here, to say nothing of physical changes, will be wiped out from the timeline. There's a chance that this won't be so, but we have no way to prove it.
[he closes his eyes briefly] I know that the last thing you want after all of this is to lose your memories. If you feel that the danger involved with using the gate is too great, I'd like to say now that you can stay here, in this dimension.
You, all of you...you're heroes. You saved hundreds of lives while you could have very easily lost your own. [he opens his eyes once more, and his voice is shaking from emotion] If you stay, I'll see to it that you're honored for the things that you've done, the sacrifices that you've made. I know this universe can never be home, but there will be a place for you.
The choice is yours. The gate will be active within half an hour. This room is shielded, but you all know better than I do the kinds of things this machine is capable of. I can leave it operational for a day, but any more than that and all of this may start again.
I'm sorry I can't give you more than a day.
When you're ready, all you need to do is come to this room. I have deactivated its security. We will recover the frequency from your Spheres and send you, and anything you wish to take you with you, home.
[he stops, stumbling over his words] I...I will be here to see all of you off. If there is anything you want to say, to record, of who you are what's happened here, I will use my Sphere to record it.
If you have to forget what's happened, then I'll make sure that I'll always remember.
Details
- There is a departure entry here. All you need to do for a character to depart the game for good is to reply to that entry. Within your comment (or comments, if it becomes necessary to spread it out into more than one) you may include your characters actions as well as whatever they have to say to Orion. If you'd like to thread with Orion - or anyone else that comes along with your character in person, or who is speaking with them over the network - before leaving, you may do so. These threads can be as long as you like and do not have to be finished within a day. This is their final presence on the Crucible, so you may make it as long or short as you'd like. All I ask is that when your character goes through the gate, you add "[Character name] has gone home." in the subject line of the comment, so that everyone knows that that character has left the game.
Using the gate itself is a simple affair. Just have your character walk through. It will be much like walking into a wall of very warm, thick fog with a constant hum in the background. After that they will be home again. Will they remember the Crucible, their friends, and all that has happened? I leave that up to you to imagine for yourselves; once a character has stepped through, their story on the ship has ended. For those that wish to stay...well, their story will end, too. I ask that they still go to see the captain, so that he can record what they have to say, and then, instead of going through the gate, go back out the door to be with the rest of the passengers.
But what a story it's been, huh? :3 I can't tell all of you what an amazing experience this has been for me. As most of you know, this is the first roleplay I have ever modded. I don't think I quite knew what I was getting into when I began it, but I certainly don't regret making up my mind to do so. I had an idea, and a hope, and just ran with it as best I could. I know at times I wasn't the best mod I could be and I made my share of mistakes. So I want to thank all of you right now for putting up with me during those times.
But oh, did I have fun. When I say amazing I don't say that lightly. All of you have been so wonderful for a very long time and I'm so grateful that you're here, now, at the end of all of this. It's my sincerest wish that you enjoyed all this game had to offer and can now enjoy the conclusion of this very long, very involved business.
I have said many times that the character's choices are what led to this outcome. I have also said that I would reveal what these choices were, and what other roads the characters could have taken. From the beginning, there were five possible endings to this roleplay, categorized as "Best" "Good" "Neutral" "Bad" "Worst." The ending that all of you have obtained is the "Good" ending. By the end of the game the choices had been narrowed down to two, the "Good" and "Neutral" endings. Before I explain, I'd like to give you a quick rundown of what would have happened if the other endings had occurred.
- Best - The big difference here is that the captain himself would have been saved. As of the current ending, he remains a very damaged soul. But had this ending been obtained, the captain would have been cured of his illnesses in addition to the commander and the people of the ship having been saved.
Good - What we are experiencing now. The captain is lost, but everyone else has been saved.
Neutral - The characters are returned home, with no knowledge of what happens to Orion, his father, or the passengers, and no memory whatsoever of the events that transpired on the ship. But, at the very least, they themselves would no longer be trapped.
Bad - The characters and Orion escape the loop, but the captain and the original passengers are lost. The characters can return home, but Orion is left alone with his guilt and his shame.
Worst - The captain, the passengers, the ship, and Orion are all lost to the black hole, presumably to repeat the loop for the rest of eternity. The passengers are freed, but remain stranded in an alternate dimension for the rest of their lives.
Needless to say, the bad endings were, indeed, rather bad. But one key event removed entirely the possibility for the Best and Worst endings very early on. I'm sure some of you recall the "find the commander" event at the end of the second cycle. Had the passengers actually succeeded in finding the commander, that passenger and the five people they chose to accompany them would have been recognized as crew members, rather than passengers, during the third and fourth cycles. This would have allowed them access to levels and ship's controls that the other characters would not be able to utilize. Both the Best and Worst endings required the use of these things (which included commanding robots, entering the engineering level without the captain having to open it for you, and programing security systems).
With the possible endings now limited to three, your success in the quick-time events during the third and fourth cycles determined which two would be the final choices. One event was key: the "Walk Like an Egyptian" event, in which characters had to initiate back and forth contact with the commander. Had all of you failed in this, the endings would have been narrowed down to the "Neutral" and "Bad" outcomes. Because you succeeded (quite admirably, too), the endings were instead narrowed down to the "Good" and "Neutral" outcomes.
The final deciding factor on which ending you would receive was a very straightforward one. When Orion was about to kill his father, if the characters had primarily told him to do it, then they would have received the "Neutral" ending. But throughout the course of the game you all and all of your characters saw what a disastrous result that would be. So you did the right thing and told the commander not to do it. So he didn't, and here we are. ^___^
All of you did so, so well and I was constantly amazed by how damn smart you were. It was a challenge designing puzzles for this game, but a fun, ultimately rewarding challenge. I think you all have done a wonderful, outstanding job. Absolutely wonderful.
Don't take our new captain's one day time limit too seriously. ;3 Take as long as you'd like to do your going-away threads, party logs, and last conversations. The roleplay's communities will be open to you for as long as you need them to be in order to finish current threads, final threads, and any past interactions that you'd like to complete. If you'd like to run an OOC or Friending meme in the ooc comm, then go right ahead.
But for the plot proper and this modding journal, this is the end. This will be the last mod post for crucible_rpg. When we're all done I will update the Plot Summary entry, if you'd like to read it, and then I will be done.
...at least, I'll be done until March 2010.
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you so much, and see you again soon. ♥