Erudition: Or, a text adventure where you are the star, but in SPACE!

Sorry for my absence, I was busy spending time with relatives. Let's just say my character was making sure his recording equipment was safe or in an art museum or something while everyone else was doing their thing.

>I'm not really much of a partygoer, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get to know some people here. I'll go see what's up at party #3.

@Starbee and @Revyark: Thankfully, notebooks are free, similar to pens. You purchase one, and wave to Revy.

"So, do you wanna check out the clothes shop?" You ask, slightly timid. Being a writer hasn't helped being social.

"Sure!" Revy replies, with a grin.

Inside the nearest 'store', which is more like a fortress of clothes, due to the size of the building, you find that pretty much anything that qualifies as clothes and not protective gear is here. Standard Nanotrasen Jumpsuits, some of which are clearly built for Tarajans and Unathi, due to the hole in the back for a tail. There are dresses and swimsuits and clothes for any occasion, and you're pretty much trying to take this in.

Didn't they say there was a pool?

@Cathy: "I appreciate your kindness." You state to the old man, as he turns, and gives a nod.

"Thank you." He'd grin, as the Skrell sighed.

"As for your question, no, I don't know that man." You remark to the tall Skrell, causing him to give you a look.

"What, and he decided to give a lady some tools just to impress another warmongering ape?"

You resist the urge to smack him, recalling that the Skrell aren't exactly friendly when it comes to nationalism.

Now, as for miscellaneous items...

Unlike the clothes 'shop', which is a gigantic mall, and the tools section, which is filled with stores, the miscellaneous one is filled with small shops and street vendors.

Excuse me, miss! Into gardening? Try our instant hydroponics kit!

Want a novelty snowglobe of a planet? Buy twenty, get one free!

"Central encourages all vendors in the miscellaneous section to keep prices moderate.

Buy one, get twenty free?

... I suck at this.

You're covered in vendors trying to sell products, so we'll just tell you the options.

• Instant Hydroponics Kit: Want to be a gardener, but don't have the patience? Then do we have the product for you!

• Dream Saver: Want to replay your dreams on the Holodeck, for your viewing pleasure? Buy now, and you might get a sweet Holodeck cartridge too!

• Electric Transferrence Gloves: Shock your friends! Taze your enemies! ETC!

• My little Minebot: May or may not explode. Obedient to you only. Only good with drilling and mining related stuff.

• Kinetic Product Launcher: Buy this item to launch items small distances!

• Dave: Please, take him. He's rubbish at being an employee.

You give a glance at that vendor and cross Dave out of your mind. Nope.

@Anolis: You eventually sigh, giving most of your luggage to the borg. Minus your swim trunks, of course. This isn't like City 2's hotsprings.

You now have three options for a hot tub.

1: Next to the Coral Reef. Party Central, crowded, turn it uppppp-

2: Small one, single yellow Unathi girl.

3: Empty one. Forever aloooone!

You notice Skiller entering the Coral Reef.

@Skiller: Aw yes, Party 3. You make your way over to the massive metroplex that is the Coral Reef, noticing Anolis in trunks trying to pick a hot tub. More importantly, it looks like the party's already in full swing, with an end time of tomorrow morning. Seeing as it's 2:00 pm now, you've got plenty of time to leave and come back.

As you approach the front door, it seems your reputation proceeds you, as a grey scaled Unathi bouncer looks at you and grins. Come here to box tonight? Hope you'll give us a real show, Jesh.

You enter, and note the size of the area.

Food and drink area's to your right, Dance Floor's straight ahead, and to your left are sign ups for events like boxing, and an elevator to the normally upper class only levels, where many are socializing and 'relaxing'.

@Whizzerd: OH YEAH YOU DID THE THING- oh my god, you did the thing.

You sit down at table 17 to find a female Dionea looking at you with bemusement, and three humans. One girl, and two guys, both of which give you a high five.

"Dude. That. Was. SICK."

"I can't believe you drank all of that!"

The girl sighs, as she continues to eat, while the Dionea sips some water.

@Gerald: You contact your children, smile on your face, as you look at them. Your son and daughter are fine.

Ey, old timer! How are things going at CC? Your son asks, as your daughter chuckles.

I'm sure he's busy. Anyway, I've been doing my share and his share of the chores...

I helped.

And so, a slight debate begins, as you chuckle, and tell them you're alright, before hanging up, with a quick "Love you!"

Then, you walk around, and begin to remember....

The end of your mission came earlier than you expected. Tensions were already increasing when you left, but you never thought it'd come to this.

Total Nuclear Warfare. And you've been sleeping in cryogenics with the rest of the crew, unaware of it, on your way home.

You awaken to sirens blaring, as do several others, as ships with numerous insignas, of countries and companies fly along, firing into each other, occasionally setting their sights on you. Luckily, your ship was built in anticipation of hostile alien attack, so most shots only slightly scratch the armor.

Then, it happened. Orders from your home, from the rest of the crew's homes flew in, ordering each one to take the ship. Friendships dissolved in seconds. Men who had played together, who had joked together, apologized, and fought. You and the other americans and their allies secured the bridge for as long as you could.

But you didn't lose the ship to them.

During the battle, some ships broke off from Einstein Engineering's fleet, under the command of a boy, in his eighteens to nineteens. You're still not sure how he managed to do it, but they did something to that fleet. There was a flash of light....And then, the opposing fleet was gone.

That's when they targeted you. Alek and his group were the first to encounter the boarders. Their leaders ordered no surrender, and Alek and the others obeyed.

You watched on the monitors as....Technology, including weapons technology had improved, somewhat. Alek and his group had stood no chance.

You held for thirty minutes, before they managed to bring down the blast door. The first one to enter wasn't even fully human. He was a brain, in a gigantic mechanical monstrosity. An MMI unit, latched onto a military combat android. Then, soldiers filed in behind him, as both of the founder's 'groupies' entered. CONTROL and SECRETARY were based off of both.

Then, he came in himself. A boy in a blue, armored space suit, who was polite, who was chipper, who didn't hesitate to silence a defiant crewmember...

You vaguely remember that he had won the battle, but the details are lost to you. You're getting old.

Then came your debriefings, missions back to meet with the Tarajan, the Skrell, the Dionea, the Unathi...All with the founder. Ironically, he became one of your closest pals, as did his other compatriots. Eventually, however, you couldn't stop remembering Alek and the others. You couldn't stop remembering the UN parades, and the dream of a better Earth, and a fully united humanity. You chose to retire, and settled down, eventually meeting the love of your life and having kids.

If not for cryogenics, you'd be a lot older, you think, as SECRETARY speaks.

The delegates are ready! Enter when you feel like it! She was just as chipper in real life as a human. Well, she is. You're not sure where any of your friends are, other than the Founder. Probably with him.

@Caliburn: Yeah! Your stuff's packed in your dorm, and you are ready to hang. You go down by the pool, and notice Anolis attempting to pick a hot tub, as Skiller enters, clearly knowing the bouncer somehow.

You shrug, and follow.

Food and drink area's to your right, Dance Floor's straight ahead, and to your left are sign ups for events like boxing, and an elevator to the normally upper class only levels, where many are socializing and 'relaxing'.

> Find a swimsuit and try to find the pool! Swimming is fun!

>Alright, here we are! Time to get my party on!
>I... Don't know how to get my party on, actually.
>Eh, I'll just hang out, grab a glass of water, and maybe drop in on any interesting conversations.

>You have a few outfits but it'd be ok to find something nice here, right?

>You're not exactly a pool person, but they probably have other things around here too. Try to find out about these parties you keep hearing of.

-Is actually considering purchasing Dave.-

"Now this stuff might be useful. Hmm..."

> Ascertain the prices of the various items, specifically everything but the Dream thing.

> Once that is done, leave the area and try to find some sort of computer with internet or a related service. Determine if any of the items listed are contraband or have special regulations on them. Also, search for any product reviews of these sorts of items.

edited 2nd Jan '17 3:24:46 PM by CathariSarad

>Go to the hottub with the single occupant of the female persuasion.

>Wave at said occupant.

>Signup for a boxing match.

>Beat Anolis to the hot tub with the yellow Unathi girl.

>"I can't believe I did that either..."

>Sit down, rest my head on the table while I wait for my stomach (or, uh, the Dionea approximation of one) to settle.

>"Have you guys been in this place for long? I just got here."

Bimp.