In reply to Cala (msg # 121):

"I do not understand. How could someone be stuck in a form?" Appears on her face.

"I have no idea. It was never explained to me."

Assuming no interruptions, I look out into space, wondering if any more space krakens or other artificial constructs are roaming about.

Probably not a good idea to mention magic or that it was in a video game. Given what I've seen so far though, it wouldn't surprise me if evolution or science created a hybrid by now.

In reply to Cala (msg # 123):

Two days later you're coming into orbit of the Moon.  The spaceship docks with a lunasyncronous orbit space station.  From there its a two hour beanstalk ride down an elevator to Lunas Port.

The same white room with sprays and scents faces you, but this is more extensive.  As you leave a voice from inside the wall instructs you to take your 'Twenty Awesome Points.  Ten for first-time visitors to Luna, and ten for not dangerous blood mod.'

A dispenser spits out a score of gold looking poker chips.

First marks, now Awesome Points. Love the name, but definitely needs to be a universal currency. A currency that everything trades into. Eve's ISK, for example. If marks were worth 3 isk per mark, and it was 2 isk per Awesome point, it wouldn't make it such a chore to travel.  Adding that to the list of things to do with the establishment of an empire.  So long as our trade is solid and our currency is good, it wouldn't be beyond the possibility of stabilizing trade, especially if we were a powerful neutral empire.

I grab the poker chips and try to find my way to an information center. I need to find out where the mine is, how far away it is, and where I'm going to stay (assuming it isn't immediately close by).

In reply to Cala (msg # 125):

You walk out into a rotunda with a couple dozen performers, many doing astonishing physical feats such as a man holding his arms up so that a girl can do a handstand on them so that another man can do an Irish jig on top of the bottom of her feet.

Of the over a hundred not thus engaged, even they, are all very well dressed, with every hair in place, and the general style seems to be shiny, raked, stiff robes, and overcoats in primaries.

On the far wall, 'INFO' is in large, black letters. You make your way through the swarming crowd, just in time to hear the beating of drums approaching.

I briefly glance back, trying to get an idea of what is going on, and continue on to try to find a person that can provide me with information.

Upon finding said person (and when they are available to speak), after greeting them, "Hi. I'm trying to find my way around, and while I was here I heard someone mention the old lunasport h3 mine. I'm not sure where that is? Can you help direct me to it?"

In reply to Cala (msg # 127):

Four men with drums march in, beating, and behind them comes a lady in what must be fifty pounds of glittercloth, and a hair style that is a foot tall on a floating chair.  She proceeds through the area, and at the last tosses some Awesome Points around.  Just looking at her shocks you with her presence of personality.

"One of the Lesser Personages. Welcome." A skinny man with a black shiny Mohawk says. "That would be in the Wastelands.  Are you rated for Independent Use of Spacesuit on the Lunar Surface?  Now, I can take you to a tour operator, but they won't let you off.  Or I can take you to the RentABuggy if you have your Bug Proof License.  Or, if you just want the feeling, and its really not needed to be there, there is some excellent virtual reality educational software houses just down the elevator seven."

I nod sagely as if this is all familiar to me.

"Right, I have none of those things and have no idea what they are or how to get them. I do want to be there in person, but I just arrived here several minutes ago. How do I go about getting rated for Independent Use of Spacesuit? Alternatively, is there a non-independent use that would get me there in person?"

In reply to Cala (msg # 129):

He's about to speak when you mention 'non-independent', and then his mouth purses up distastefully.

"You have a chance to be great, young fellow. Why would you pass on that?  I mean, if you needed to then yes, but suit ratings is not that hard to get. Be awesome, my friend."

I look at him as if he just asked a stupid question / said something stupid.

"Bro, what use is being great when you have to spend so much time being mundane to get there? Better to maximize the time you can be amazing by cutting down the time you aren't. Suit ratings isn't hard, sure, but is it time consuming? What awesome things could I be doing instead?

I want to get to the bottom of the old H3 mines; I heard some guys talking about it on the way over and it sounds interesting. If I can get there in a group, that's fine too. Not ideal, sure, but unless I know what my options are, how can I maximise my time being awesome?"

Literally can't believe I said that and am having this conversation. Awesome points, 'be awesome'. Man, super cool, but also really lame. But still super cool. Ugh, why is this so much trouble. If I had air or wind magic that I could wrap around myself to shield me as well as provide air like in The Black Magician Triliogy, this would be a far simpler process.  I've got luck magic, which is nice, but it's not elemental.

---

Super cool series, which has an interesting, though not terribly complex magic system. It is written by Trudi Canavan. 

In reply to Cala (msg # 131):

"All right. Your choice. But it doesn't take that much time.  Still follow me..."  He takes you to a suit outfitter via way of the slow lane with short hops, and you get suited up in bubble foam suit.  Getting rated to use it under supervision takes twenty minutes, and you receive two Awesome Points.  One for your first rating, and one for this rating.

Mr. Mohawk, as he introduces himself, is trying to get together a group to go on the tour.

"Coolio." I follow him, and greet Mr. Mohawk upon meeting him. "Sup, brah?"

In reply to Cala (msg # 133):

Mr. Mohawk is, of course, your guide.  The group is put together, and you find yourself suited up, and tied to a lunar buggy.  For the first two hundred miles, it rides along a single maglev rail that runs through canyons, and tunnels bored by lasers.

The light is harsh and bright, and the shadows are sharp-edged, and very dark. You're about fifty miles from the track end, and its twenty miles on buggy wheel from there to the H3 mine.  When a creature of black matte, and sparkling mica, the size of a sabretooth tiger, but with tiny three legs, and a neckless head with a face squashed into its bulbous body leaps, and takes Mr. Mohawk the pilot off the vehicle and flips him to smash him fifty feet away against a canyon wall.  The creature lands in shadow, and you can't see it.  The buggy starts to slide to a halt without a driver.  Some shout to stop and others to hit the accelerator.

Oh. Shit.

I freeze for a moment, look around.

Yep, bad stuff.

If no one else does, I'll try to detach myself (without crippling my suit in the process) and hop in the driver seat and try to drive the buggy.

If I can't figure out how to make the buggy go, I'll leave on foot.

After all, why go for the lone meal when you've got a crowd of food not moving.

In reply to Cala (msg # 135):

You detach yourself, and take a step, and bounce, and grab a railing, and drag yourself into the driver's seat.

"Hey wait." One of the 'stop' yells.

The first try gets nothing, but then you realize there is a brake, and you turn that off and you're zipping away down the line.  The moon beast lunges and takes out another of the passengers, and you leave it behind.

As a normal human, you'd have 1@10 walking, and your new experience with low gravity in difficult conditions boosts it to 2@1 Walking.

You also gain 1@2 Lunar Buggy Operation.

"Hey man, if you want to get off and tangle with all-claws-and-full-on-ugly back there, by all means, don't let me stop you.  Maybe we should not be sitting ducks, yea?"

I drive the buggy in the direction we were going; and I try to keep an eye out for nasty things trying to eat me.

If a nasty thing is coming my way, I'll try to swerve to put the passengers in its way, if I have any ability to swerve at all.

---

Is there a glowing sign that says 'H3 mine' or something? Is it labeled somehow? Or is it the only structure nearby for miles?  Do I have any idea where I'm going or should be going? Because I'm trying to reach the mine, and if it's obvious where it is, I'm driving in that direction. If it isn't so obvious then it's just the direction we were going.

In reply to Cala (msg # 137):

One does jump off shouting.  "I'll be a Legend!"  The others don't, and the buggy takes you to the end of the line.  There you're able to go on a road following the sign to a hole in the ground.

Once at the end I hop off and head towards the mine. As I leave, I give them a wave and say, "So long, and thanks for all the fish. So sad that it has come to this." I walk away humming.

The goal: the bottom of the H3 mine. I follow signs where I am able.

In reply to Cala (msg # 139):

There is some fussing.  They point out that you're not rated for solo, and they were supposed to go, but others say that they need to tell the TLD Marines or the Hunting Club that Moon Beasts are out again.  And you leave them behind still posturing at each other.

The hole in the ground takes a gentle slope down to an elevator.  Even still, you bounce on the roof of the cave twice.  The elevator is an open platform with railings flimsy enough to merit signs.

"Do not bend railings with your hands.  Damaged railings will come out of your paycheck. Lunacorp Management."

You go down a tenth of a mile according to the sign.  A large oval expanse of ground with two other elevators down as yours ends.  Three bots, box shaped things meant to hold materials inside them, are in the room.  They activate when you arrive, and start to move around jerkily on their dust-laden treads.

People here have a thing against AI, but both here and on the ship there are robots.  Are robots not considered AI?  Or perhaps there is a limit to their programming and thus they get off on a technicality?

I wonder how long I can last, and how far I can go before I reach the 'bottom'. I don't really have a back up plan or way to get out of this.  Really hoping to spatial tunnel to a place with breathable non-toxic, and non limited air.

I check to see if there are any materials inside out of curiosity, and then see if I can find out which elevator goes deeper (by way of buttons, if any). If there is no way of telling, I choose one at random, after doing some luck magic (quickly is the intent) and hope it works.  I then go down.

---

Editing for italics (thoughts).
This message was last edited by the player at 05:18, Thu 13 July 2017.

In reply to Cala (msg # 141):

It seems that there is a considerable difference in ability between a bot which follows a program, and an AI which is a person.

Some blue-tinted rocks are inside.

Luck magic leads you to the one on the right which upon closer examination is the #2 Deep.  It takes you down more than a hundred stories in a vertical tunnel, and then well above the ground, which you can't see below, the elevator stops.

Your suit lights flicker on the walls as you look about.

Well, that's all sorts of creepy and nope.  Let's try to call the nightmare fuel.

"Yea, nope."

I point and shimmy to make the suit lights try to illuminate the ground.  If that still doesn't work, then I stay where I am and try to contact That Which Wanders the Dark.

In reply to Cala (msg # 143):

The lights go down a great way into the dark, and fade  to nothing in the moving dust kicked up by your elevator.  You still haven't seen the bottom.

You try to call TTWTD, but no reply.

I continue trying to call for about an hour. If still no response, then I try to get the elevator to go back up, grab a handful of rocks from the container robots and go back down.  Once it stops (wherever that may be), and everything quiets down, I toss a rock off the edge and see if I can hear it hit the floor.  If that doesn't work, I drop 3 down in a pile and see if that produces sound.

In reply to Cala (msg # 145):

It doesn't go back up...

You're able to pry a rock loose from the side of the cut tunnel for the elevator, and drop it, but no sound occurs.  It is then you realize that there is no air, and no air, means no sound.

Suddenly, the 19 hrs, and 22 minutes of air left in the corner of your viewscreen is of much greater importance.

OOC:  Am I being unfair here?