trans_9 | What is Love? [Valentine's Date Event]

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. :)]

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He had to admit, even if it didn't appear to be particularly dangerous, this situation was more than a little uncomfortable. His 'date' didn't seem any happier about it than he was--not that he could blame her in the least--but they clearly weren't being given any say in the matter. Ranulf stretched out a hand, finding the forcefield and pressing against it, then tapping on it experimentally. Nope, no say at all. This had to be some pretty powerful magic, this Containment Field or whatever the voice had called it. It felt like it might as well be a solid wall.

With another light sigh he turned back to Chell, scratching his cheek a bit awkwardly. "Well, I guess we've got to play along for the time being." He attempted a hint of a smile. "I'm Ranulf, and it looks like you're stuck with me for..." The smile faded, and he tilted his head thoughtfully. "...Huh, I wonder how long this'll last..."

This was most decidedly not how Chell wanted to spend her day. She nodded at Ranulf's introduction, sure that he was a nice enough person, but not particularly interested in anything but finding a way out of the forcefield. It was another few moments of angry fist pounding against the invisible wall before she began to resign herself to the situation. She sighed heavily, shoulders sagging as she folded her arms and reconsidered her course of action.

She half-listened as she began walking the perimeter of the containment field, judging the shape and size before turning her attention back to Ranulf, thrusting a hand forward rather awkwardly in greeting.

Because that was what people did when meeting each other for the first time, right?

The smile returned, considerably more heartfelt this time, when she offered him her hand, and Ranulf clasped it readily. He couldn't say this was how he'd planned to spend his day either, but there seemed to him to be little sense in complaining about what he clearly couldn't change. He may as well make the most of a bad---or odd--situation, and perhaps he'd even make a new friend in the process. They were in this mess together, after all, so at the very least that made them allies.

She didn't seem like the talkative type, to put it mildly, but Ranulf wasn't bothered by that. She wasn't ignoring him; she'd made the effort to be friendly and polite with the handshake, so he figured she simply didn't know quite what to say. This type of scenario would probably leave many people at a loss for words.

Maybe he could get a bit of a conversation started, then. Something to take the edge off the awkwardness. "Were you headed anywhere before we got stuck like this? I don't want to keep you from anything you need to do, so... well, if you don't mind me tagging along, of course... but I don't have anywhere I need to be, so if you do, I'll follow." Hmm... Nope. Still awkward. "Oh--can I ask your name?"

Once she released his hand, however, she shied away, still obviously uncomfortable with being trapped--and by GLaDOS, no less. The AI had to have done this on purpose and it made her angry. Hadn't they just made a deal?

But it would have been wrong to take it out on Ranulf.

Still, if he was hoping for conversation, he'd most likely be disappointed. Chell's eyes shifted downward--it wasn't that she didn't want to answer his questions (he seemed pleasant enough, after all), it was that she didn't quite feel comfortable speaking yet. That kind of thing was reserved for very, very special circumstances.

So all she could offer him was a sad shrug, before kneeling and spelling her name on the ground with an index finger.

C H E L L

Another silent shrug... maybe she was shy. Or maybe she just didn't want to tell him where she'd been headed prior to finding herself stuck with him; perfectly understandable, and now that Ranulf thought about it, it probably wasn't any of his business anyway. But if she wouldn't talk to him... should he keep talking anyway, or were they just supposed to stand here and exchange awkward looks for however long this 'experiment' lasted?

And then she knelt down, and Ranulf watched her with open curiosity for a moment before it dawned on him what she was doing. ...Oh. Maybe she couldn't speak... he suddenly felt bad for peppering her with questions when she might not have been able to easily answer. While he supposed it couldn't really be considered rude of him since he hadn't known, it still felt that way in retrospect.

He bent over a bit to get a better look at what she was writing. "...Chell? Is that your name? Am I saying it right?" He smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, in spite of the, ah, circumstances." Acting on an abrupt whim, he crouched next to her and drew a small cat face with a fish in its mouth on the ground, then straightened up again and laced his fingers behind his head casually.

"So... what now?" he mused, just as much to himself as to Chell. They weren't really on a date, so... should he ask her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat or go somewhere fun, or would that be too date-like for comfort?

What is Love? [Valentine's Date Event]

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I am SO SORRY for the wait!

Don't worry about it!