TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[libraryassistants]

Welcome To The Library

You awake in the stacks.

You’re not sure when you fell asleep, and the memories of the last things you were doing are hazy at best. But now you’re here, and all you can see is books in every direction, the bookshelves teetering high enough above you to reach to the sky.

A helpful sign points you in the direction of the main circulation desk, and even if you try to ignore it and go in any other direction, the desk is where you will find yourself. A figure sits behind the desk, not even looking up as they sort through books and other media; they look, to your character, to be the exact picture of what they expect a Librarian to be.

Trying to the Librarian a question will get them shushed, but they’ll point down a hallway to the side, leading to a kitchenette and what appears to be a dorm room, where they’ll find they’re not alone in this strange place. But once they’ve looked away, when they look back, the Librarian is gone.

Welcome to the Unfinished Library

Coffee Corner

Sometime after your arrival, you enter the lobby to find yourself greeted by what appears to be a little tea cart containing a carafe of very weak coffee, a pot of very strong tea, mismatched creamers and sugar packets, and assorted cheap boxed shortbread cookies alongside small paper plates and cups. (For some reason, there also seems to be a pile of coupons for a free yacht ride.) There is a sign next to them, stating:

Welcome Editors!
Please enjoy these complimentary refreshments.
Do NOT take food or drink into the stacks and please wash your hands BEFORE touching anything.

Looking around, you see that you and everyone else present have also been supplied with sticker name tags with “Hello, my name is _____.” Take it off, and it will magically be replaced by a new one. It seems it’s time to mingle, or perhaps try to get anywhere but here.

There is also a phone set up on the desk, with a small sign labeling it as the “Assistants’ Line.” Give it a try, and you might get someone to talk to.


Between the Stacks

While exploring the labyrinthine sprawl of the Stacks, you find a door tucked between the towering bookshelves. Opening it, you see the impossible: a community garden, fresh produce glistening with morning dew and ripe for the picking. The open sky stretches welcomingly overhead, the warmth of an unseen sun warming the soft grass underfoot.

A large fence spans the generous perimeter of the garden. No matter how high you go, the fence follows with you. Those trying to get a peek on the other side should make a plan.

When the room is no longer in use and the door is closed, the garden will disappear; rotating out of cycle. The next time the door opens, maybe it’s a computer lab - decked out with technology from… some planet and century. Or maybe it’s a meeting room, complete with someone else’s handouts scattered across the table. Closing and reopening the door will reveal a different room each time. What's your pick?


Maker’s Meetup

There’s a cheerful, if not generic, poster on the bulletin board by the help desk, declaring:



The Maker Space in question is, for the moment, easy to find, a few nice and similarly formatted signs with arrows helping leading the way through the stacks. As promised, there are a number of machines and tools related to crafting and making things, including a table that, for some reason, just has construction paper and safety scissors.

It seems the materials for the room have been recently stocked, too; there’s a little pile of fabric (mostly scraps, but a lot of larger pieces that can be made into something without needing to piecemeal it together), some sheet metal of various sheens, and bits of wood that could be shaped into something maybe as large as a small bowl. There are also some more generic arts-and-crafts materials (on a separate table from the scissors); puff balls, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and other sorts of things.

There doesn’t appear to be anyone actually around to teach the use of the machines, but it can’t be that hard… right?


Transition In - Prepare for Dheekis

In the Lobby, things begin to… change.

The tiled floors have started to fuzz along the grout, the colour and texture slowly bleeding out into cool grey metal. The change continues to flow up the walls, coloured strips of lighting dividing sturdy steel segments. What few doors there are shimmer, an overlay of automated mechanisms clinging closely to them. Hydraulic pistons pump as if pushing the doors open when you approach, but alas - these doors remain sadly hand-operated.

Within a few moments, gravity in the Lobby seems to decrease. Steps are lighter; a jump turns neatly into a bounce, leaving you hanging weightless in the air for a few long moments. The furniture remaining in the lobby begins to float, as do any items that have been left loose. If it’s not nailed down, consider it airborne.

The effect spans only the space (ha) of the Lobby. Exiting to another room will bring an unceremonious return to the Library’s usual gravity, and please note: the success of your landing is not guaranteed. Please proceed cautiously.

After some time - maybe it's days, who's to say? - you begin to feel it. A pull that tugs you to the Stacks, drawing you step by step closer to the next Story to unfold.


The Difficulty with Dheekis

On the SS Covenant, things usually run pretty smoothly. Usually. Unfortunately, there was an… incident at the last stopover at the Eternis Station. One of the crew members became utterly besotted with one of the little creatures the Eturian ambassador carried them with, called dheekis, and the ambassador was more than happy to gift them one. Unfortunately, the reason they were so willing to do that is that the fluffy little creatures, somewhere between a bunny and a rodent, are very prolific breeders, and additionally can procreate asexually when there’s only one of them around. Which means that after a week in space, it was no longer possible to keep them hidden.

Since then, it has been a game of trying to capture and contain the little pests, shoving them into boxes so they’re packed tight- dheekis only stop reproducing when there is literally no more space for them. And they are trying very hard to fill up the void space on the ship; they’re under beds, in rafters, engineering nooks, forgotten corners, you name it. How long will it take to get rid of them all? Can you get rid of them all? Because if you have one dheeki, it won’t stay one for long.

[This is a free-form ‘Story’ prompt and cannot be considered canon to the game; since there’s no information post, feel free to make up whatever details you like!]

Comments

ASSISTANTS' LINE

[libraryassistants]

There's a phone sitting on the circulation desk, with a simple note reading "Assistants' Line." Give it a call?

covers my face with my hand....

[brokeassgoing]

[he sits down with a groan, puts the phone to his ear and sighs]

Can I get a large pizza, extra cheese, pepperoni, ham? Probably should have a veg, but eh.

10/10, no notes

[libraryassistants]

[There's a sharp intake of breath on the other end, like someone was about to rehearse a script--]

Not in the Library. [The voice that snaps is male and polished, and more than a bit prissy and offended by the request.]

[ugh_emotions]

The SecUnit stares at the device. It has no idea what the fuck it is. This technology is too archaic even for historical serials.

It picks up the...bendy thing?...on the top of the devices, and stares at it.

A few seconds later, it attempts to send the device a ping.

[libraryassistants]

There's a matching silence for a long second before eventually some sound comes from one end of the 'bendy thing.'

"Uh... anyone there? If you're trying to do one of those creep calls I think you still have to breath heavily into it, for effect."

It's a man's voice, more than a touch sarcastic but clear, the kind of presence that could cut through a crowd in a theater. Which at least means the SecUnit can still hear him when the phone isn't up to its ear.

[thelightshines]

[There's a very long, awkward silence as the line goes live. Did someone forgot to hang up the phone? No, Shadow is there, holding the phone and just listening. He's seen humans use these, talking to someone through it, but there doesn't appear to be anyone?

Just as one thinks to respond, he finally says something. Quietly.] Hello?

[libraryassistants]

[The silence on the other end of the line had been almost expectant, clearly waiting for Shadow to make the first move- or first statement as it were.]

Hey. [The voice on the other end is male, the clear brightness of someone who knows how to be heard when needed mixed with a wry amusement.] Need something?

[erintys]

[ After receiving a brief explanation as to the nature of phones (as if there weren't enough strange things here), Daenerys picks the receiver up immediately. She can't know if anyone will even answer, but there's something she needs to know.

A pause. ]

Was it your choice to serve here? [ Serve is, of course, the only means of working that she knows of. There are no careers in Westeros, really. Not independent ones. ]

[libraryassistants]

[There's an averted breath on the other end of the line, as if someone was preparing to speak and then cut themselves off, taken off guard by her question. It's followed by a huff of a laugh, and then a clear, masculine voice.]

That's an interesting question. [There's some sort of tapping in the background, like a nail or claw or pen rapping against a surface.] How about this: tell me why you want to know, and I'll give you the best answer that I can.

[angel_of_baal]

Are you...entirely sure that this is safe, for the mortals?

[libraryassistants]

[The guy who answers pauses, before giving a carefully considered answer. His voice is crisp and polished, almost haughty, but with a softened edge. It's almost like he respects the question.]

No more or less safe than for anyone else. Rest assured, there are provisions in place.

....I am very sorry

[blitzno]

"Sooooo....."

Blitzø curls the phone cord around a finger, leaning back in his chair. He puts on his throatiest, most suggestive voice.

"What are you wearing?"

never be sorry, we're delighted

[libraryassistants]

There is a distinctly confused pause. Before a crisp, polished voice replies.

"Corduroy."

[bestofall]

[Someone’s been rifling through the index cards. Someone’s been rifling through the circulation desk in general, and when he comes across the phone it’s just another strange item he views curiously, picking up the receiver and turning it over in his hands a few times before setting it aside on the desk with a *clunk* and grabbing the ledger to examine next.]

[libraryassistants]

[Well. That's new.

After the phone is set down, there's a long moment before it starts to ring. Somehow, the ringing itself sounds a bit confused.]

Enjoy 1 (one) chatterbox ghost

[hellandbackpack]

[Charles is just going to perch himself on the desk like he belongs there because sitting like a normal person in a chair? Not a thing he's likely to do. Just plucking up the phone receiver.]

Oi, if you wanted a ghost into books, you picked the wrong one mate, [Sorry if him being a ghost does anything hinky to your phone, buddy.] It's a proper brills setup really, but this is more Edwin's thing than mine, yeah? I mean assumin' your Librarian's not already pickin' him up and he's just askin' a zillion questions which fair shot he'd be doin' but-

oh we shall

[libraryassistants]

[The man on the other end snorts, before speaking, voice clear and bright.]

Hey, man, I just work here. [It's clear he's grinning as he says it.] But yeah, the Librarian doesn't actually care how much you like books. Might cut down on the number of people trying to set the place on fire if they did.

[mackreedee]

[MacCready sighs deeply, from the very bottom of his soul. It's always something or the other, and the thought of how much he needs a cigarette flashes through his mind.

Then he spots it: a telephone, one that's much nicer than what he's used to seeing. His face lights up. Surely there's some premium copper in there - he's low on caps, after all.

He approaches the desk and picks up the handset, turning it over in his hands to look for any screws and finding none. But he isn't the type to give up easily, and he lifts the handset to get a closer look before speaking into the transmitter clearly.]

What a piece of crap. Can't even get to the good stuff.

[libraryassistants]

[There's a voice over the line, masculine and bright and clear, easily able to project loud enough for MacCready to hear even though he's not trying to.]

Dude, are you trying to scavenge our telephone?

[Honestly he just sounds kind of impressed by the audacity.]

Re: ASSISTANTS' LINE

[razorblade_empress]

She's a little iffy about trying the phone, but she needs info - if not about who they are, then about who they're not. "Out of curiosity, you're not affiliated with any Tarot-based interdimensional kidnapping assholes, are you?"

[libraryassistants]

The voice that answers is polished, crisp, and just a bit huffy. He's sounding a bit personally offended.

"How is it that you all are so unfamiliar with the concept of hello?"

[defyingreality]

Are there proper working hours?

[libraryassistants]

[Oh, great question for the workaholic with the prim, clipped voice to answer.]

Not as such. A Library of this magnitude requires around-the-clock care.

[He sounds very proud of that.]

Re: ASSISTANTS' LINE

[wontforbidtherain]

Hello, operator?

[Look, she assumes because it's multiple people, this will lead to some sort of internal switchboard operator.]

[libraryassistants]

No operator, sorry. Just me.

[The voice is male and clear, with the cheery edge of someone who might be having fun at someone else's expense.]