What is Love? [Valentine's Date Event]

[fabricaketions]

It's shaping up to be another average day on the Transmigration 9. Crew members are going about their business as usual and all is (to most appearances, at least) about as "well" as things ever are on the ship.

Some crew members are going to be stopped out of the blue by impact with a force field.

"Attention Crewmen: You have been chosen to participate in an experiment!" GLaDOS's voice informs. They're not alone, someone else that was nearby is also caught within the same narrow radius. "Participation is mandatory. Please try to relax and enjoy the experience, as this will improve the quality of the test results."

Clearly this is going to be a wonderful day for science.

"You and your new scientific partner are now on a date," GLaDOS goes on. "As it would be detrimental to our study of the date experience if you were to be separated, you must remain close to your partner for the duration of the experiment. This will be enforced with the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field. Prolonged exposure to the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field may have unexpected side-effects. While any side-effects encountered will be documented and your desire to offer yourself to science is commendable, it is not a necessary part of this experiment."

"You will be informed when the test has been completed. We would like to thank you in advance for your full cooperation in the experiment and failure to attempt to foil it in any way."

"The experiment has begun, so you may begin dating."

[OOC: The exact details of your characters' confinement are up to players' discretion. Being trapped in a sensorium or other stationary place is a possibility, as is being stuck in a sort of roving invisible force field hamster ball that only affects the two of you. How far partners can move apart is probably subject to whatever's fun but they ideally shouldn't be able to sit on opposite sides of a room ignoring one another the whole time.

ICly the "test" lasts for a few hours and you are free to godmode GLaDOS telling them the experiment is finished.

If you would like a few tags from GLaDOS herself in your thread, ping me on this account or plurk or AIM or whatever is most convenient for you. :)]

Comments

[prodigalfirelord]

"I'm not dating anyone. I have a wife."

Zuko glances over at Thom, just to make sure whoever's been roped into these shenanigans with him is on the same page.

"I don't care if she's podded, I married her and I meant it."

[gifthasacold]

For a moment, Thom's expression could only be described a flabbergasted - he stared at the thin air that had repelled him a moment before. When the AI began to speak, his face took on a decidedly more clouded cast.

By the time she'd finished and his... date partner expressed his feelings on the matter Thom was working on a quite petulant sneer. "This is absolutely preposterous. Of all the insulting, degrading idiocy this bag of floating meat could have in store!"

[prodigalfirelord]

"You haven't met GLaDOS much, have you?"

Zuko shot a small, controlled fireball into the empty air opposite Thom. When the fireball smashed harmlessly in midair a few feet away, Zuko heaved a resigned sigh.

"Look, I've been in a situation like this before, and I don't have time to sit around sharing deep personal secrets until we can part with a shared bond of sympathy and respect."

He had to get back to searching for the last person he did all that with. Brainy had already made it very clear to the crew that he wasn't going to find himself.

"But I could use a meal, so let's just got the Sensoriums and have dinner and get this over with. Deal?"

[gifthasacold]

Thom set his jaw, watching that fireball strike the invisible barrier. Despite Zuko's proposal, he was determined to get out of this humiliating situation without participating.

He pointed at the barrier and spoke three words in a guttural language, scowling at it. The reaction was immediate - there was a sound like standing inside a giant bell as Thom's power struck the barrier, and then the force of the reflection knocked him over.

"Mithros! It reflected my word of power - it shouldn't be able to do that." Thom picked himself up off the floor, brushing off the front of his black robes and definitely not looking at Zuko. How embarrassing.

[prodigalfirelord]

"It shouldn't be able to do a lot of things, and yet it does them anyway." Zuko frowns, his patience already thin at having his work day interrupted. If he has to wait around for this person to exhaust every option OTHER than the one that will most reliably free them, he's going to get crankier very quick.

"Are you coming or not? I don't have all day."

[gifthasacold]

"You are hardly the only person who had other plans that did not include participating in some humiliating experiment run by a crazed spirit."

Yes, he knew she wasn't a spirit. That wasn't going to stop him from calling her a spirit, since that's what he knew. Still, he considered Zuko, turning his offer over in his head. If that was really the only way to get out of this, which seemed the case if the barrier could even resist a word of power, perhaps it would be better if he went along with it.

"Very well," Thom said grudgingly.

[prodigalfirelord]

"I'm just saying, it happens."

Zuko had already started walking towards the Sensoriums. If they were going to have to share the closest thing to a romantic evening that could be shared between busy, disinterested strangers, they needed all the help the Sensoriums could give. Canteen slop just wouldn't cut it.

"I hope you like spicy food." Because Zuko had every intention of picking the restaurant.

[gifthasacold]

Thom made an apalled face, not moving at first, and then the barrier hit him and he staggered forward, scowling. "Are you saying I have no choice in the matter?"

He already didn't want to be here. He definitely didn't want to eat something that was going to upset his delicate constitution. Not that he would admit to anyone that he had a delicate constitution.