"I don't think we're going to have a chance to move to another shuttle so whatever you can do to override the system would be a pretty good idea."

"I should try last.  I'm not very good with computers."

"I'm right with you Hammer."

Desi won't close the door to the escape pod until Bartja is in (or anyone else that's still out).
This message was last edited by the player at 02:10, Fri 13 May 2011.

"In my rush to enter this pod I failed to see how far the door to the next one is if we should not succeed in launching this one." Says the doctor with a bit of concern.

"Fix this one, and it won't matter!!!  HURRY!"
Hammer tries to remain calm.  He fails.

S'Krllk figures he would attempt to override the computer if Yagrith fails, but is also wondering why there would be a security override question if the matrix is causing the problem in the first place.

ROUND 5
The robots flood into the main area.  This distracts the giant robot, which turns in their direction, apparently notices they are not enemies, and turns back.  This delay gives Bartja the time he needs to swing over the top of the railing and get into the escape pod.

Inside the escape pod...

Yag tries but fails to crack the computer security.

"Security Question Number One" pops up on the computer screen, along with the following text:

I am in the earth,
And in the air;
I dwell in space,
And every planet there.
What am I?

There is a cursor below this for you to type the answer.

Once Bartja is in the pod, Desi tries to close the escape pod door.  It won't budge.  A screen on the locking mechanism states:  "Security Lock.  Shuttle Not Free For Launch."

The giant robot has turned and is now facing your direction.  Although you are all out of direct fire in the shuttle, if the robot proceeds forward, unless it is distracted or otherwise delayed, it will be able to fire into the shuttle after one more round.

Bartja begins opening his toolkit, still working on adrenaline alone as his life-blood pours out on the escape pod floor.  If they can't figure out this security question, he's got a few tricks in the toolbox that might be able to help.

"Gravity?" he suggests as he quickly reads the riddle on the pod screen while removing an electro-drive and a set of tool-tips.

For final guesses, an answer will need to be typed into the computer.

Yag says, "I'll try to be a distraction while getting the info on the other shuttle."

He goes to the door and sprints across the open area to the far shuttle, looks inside, attempts to override the computer if possible, and yells the results back across to his companions.

"Wish me luck," he says.

"Crap!  Is there gravity in space?  Minerals?  I don't know, this isn't my sort of thing.  I'm usually blowing stuff up," Desi says as she watches Yag go running off to another escape pod.

You can roll a 1/2 logic check to get a hint.

Not even in the same universe...

20:03, Today: Desiraye Lipost rolled 87 using 1d100. 1/2 LOGIC (20).

"Crap! What kind of life saving escape pod has a stupid riddle to launch! Wait I think I may have an idea!"

20:53, Today: Kri'lik rolled 4 using 1d100. 1/2 logic (75). Hey my High Logic comes in handy here boys and girls!

"Good, because I've got no ideas."

Hammer rolled 76 using 1d100. logic thinking about logic.

"Considering the way it keeps trying to kill us and fails, I think the universal constant would be incompetence... or maybe hydrogen."
S'Krllk is wondering if giving up is an option, at least that way he might get a matched pair of hands.

OOC: 09:47, Today: S'Krllk rolled 81 using 1d100. logic check.

Bartja thinks about it for a few moments longer.  The ideas seem to be coming to him now....

PM - your clue:

I should add that I created this scenario so that different things can happen simultaneously, such as fighting and distracting the large robot while a couple of others work out the computer.  You don't all have to be hunched around the computer with the riddle.

"Radiation?  Gamma Rays?  I'm not good at these riddles but I could try to manually override with some tools." Bartja waits to see if anyone comes up with a solid idea before he starts to un-rig the door.

"Atoms...? Something to do with the alphabet perhaps?"

Seeing that the dor won't budge, Desi will take another aimed shot at something important on the robot, looking like a weapon system or audio/visual sensor.

B thought about that a moment.  "Nah!  No atoms in space but I think you're right on the alphabet track.  That's what made me think of radiation - alpha, beta, and gamma are all forms of it and they're letters of the alphabet, which itself is short for alpha beta".

Time was wasting and Bartja had a strong urge to physically crack open the machine and short-circuit the door to close.  However, they might need the computer systems to be intact if they were to make a safe descent onto any habitable place.

"We may be on the wrong track.  It may not be something physical like radiation but more like a concept or theory.  Not gravity but perhaps something else from the quantum, like strings or void-space, although my hunch is that its simpler than that.

So what would fit this riddle and have something to do with the alphabet?"  Bartja begins to muse, hoping his ramblings might inspire someone to realize the answer.  "A to Z; A B C; A, bee, sea, dee, E, ef, gee.  I, jay, kay, el, em, en, oh, pee, que, are, es, tee, you, vee, double you, ex, why, zed (or zee)."

GM Heath:

"Security Question Number One":

I am in the earth,
And in the air;
I dwell in space,
And every planet there.
What am I?

"Security Lock.  Shuttle Not Free For Launch."

What about centrifugal force?  Gyroscopic force?  G-force for short?  That's something that occurs in space and in planets as does its opponent, centripetal force."  It wouldn't hurt to try it, unless that robot reached the doorway...
This message was last edited by the player at 15:07, Thu 19 May 2011.

"Liquid or water?" Desi says as she continues her aim on the robot.

Bartja considers the suggestion and mulls it over aloud as they continue discussing the possible answers.  "Liquids like water change form in space.  They can be either gas, liquid, or solids.  Water can only exist in the life zones around stars.  Elsewhere its either ice or gas, and in deep space, there isn't any of it."