[GAME EVENT] BYE BYE, BUNKER!
Who: Daniel Jackson
When: NOW!
Where: Just outside the lab (initially)
Invited: ALL PLAY
Status: Very Dangerous Complete
Tara's report that George and Chloe had worked out how to fix the bodyswapping problem was very welcome news. Daniel was sure that the Doctor felt likewise. They had started back up the hallway to find George and Chloe get swapped back. Neither of them said anything, but investigating Shannon's--Charlie's--death further could wait. He--or she or they--weren't going anywhere.
The prospect of getting his body back made Daniel happy. So happy, in fact, that he wasn't at all surprised when he heard McKay and Zelenka bickering as he reached the open door of the Geek Lab. Nor was he surprised to hear the undercurrent of alarm in their voices. (Naturally,) Daniel thought. (It wouldn't be the island if it didn't serve up one unpleasant surprise after another.)
"Maybe if you--"
"I already tried that. Do you think I didn't know to try that?"
"What about interrupting this circuit here--"
"That's...a possibility." Silence, save for frantic tapping of keys. "No, it's no good."
"Maybe it can't be stopped."
"Of course it can be stopped! It-it-it would be the height of folly to build a self-destruct that you can't deactivate!"
"Then why can't we--"
"Because a self-destruct with an obvious OFF switch isn't much good, is it?"
"Well..."
Daniel and the Doctor stopped at the doorway and glanced inside. McKay and Zelenka were shoulder to shoulder, peering at a display on one of the laptops. "Is there a problem?" Daniel asked.
Zelenka looked up. "You could say that," he snapped. "The countdown is, uh, counting down."
"I thought that was taken care of," Daniel said.
"It was," Zelenka--Rodney--said. "It was!" he repeated at Daniel's look. An expression of dismay crossed his face. "Only...there seems to be..."
"Yes?"
"There seems to be a...second countdown."
Beside him Zelenka in Rodney's body was frantically typing on the keyboard. "It's not working," he commented aloud, perhaps to himself, perhaps to Rodney or Daniel, or everyone. "It's not working!"
"Rodney?" Daniel asked in his Tell me something helpful voice.
"Daniel?" Zelenka replied, in his I got nothing voice.
"Doctor?" Daniel asked, turning to him.
"I already gave these two my best advice earlier: Run for your life!"
Daniel looked at Rodney and Zelenka. "You can't stop it?"
They glanced at one another, then back at Daniel. "Well...given time--"
"Yes or no?" Daniel demanded.
"No," they chorused.
"How long?"
"Five minutes," Rodney and Zelenka chorused again. "Maybe," Rodney added.
(Nothing like time pressure to make a bad day even worse,) Daniel thought. "Get out. Now. If you can't snatch it up on the way out the door, leave it!"
Rodney looked horrified. "But--" he gestured vaguely at all the equipment around him.
Daniel asked, "What makes you think we can trust the timer? Get out now. Warn everyone you see. We'll do the same. Move!"
Daniel didn't wait for a reply. He ran down to the doorway to the near cafeteria, where the research had been going on. "Everyone out! The bunker is going to blow up. We've got maybe five minutes! Get out now! Warn everyone you see!"
Daniel looked around but didn't see the Doctor, then vaguely recalled him running past, presumably on his way to the other side of the bunker to warn the people there. "I'm not joking," Daniel said. "Get out--now!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, then chaos. Daniel ran off to spread the word to anyone and everyone he could reach.
* * *
OOC: The bunker is going to be going away very shortly. The characters have no idea exactly how soon that will happen, but it will be very soon--so play it accordingly. The time for careful packing and squirreling away of useful items is over. At this point, your PCs have time to maybe grab one or two things that are of value to them before fleeing the bunker--but nothing more.
The rationale behind destroying the bunker is that the characters have gotten too comfortable there. We're going back to basics for the second season: survivors of a plane crash (and other castaways) surviving on a largely deserted tropical island with very little in the way of supplies. So I repeat, your PC may be able to rescue one or two things that are important to them, but that's it. The vast majority of the food, equipment, tools, etc. in the bunker will be lost.
Unless Fikgirl overrules me, I'm not going to insist on a turn-based approach (waiting for everyone to post before you post a second time in this thread). This game event is by it's very nature going to be chaotic. But focus on what your PCs are doing amidst the chaos; there's little time for more than the most basic conversations.
P.S. This would be a good time to mark all the earlier threads closed. We'll be migrating to the new forums beginning on Sunday.
When: NOW!
Where: Just outside the lab (initially)
Invited: ALL PLAY
Status: Very Dangerous Complete
Tara's report that George and Chloe had worked out how to fix the bodyswapping problem was very welcome news. Daniel was sure that the Doctor felt likewise. They had started back up the hallway to find George and Chloe get swapped back. Neither of them said anything, but investigating Shannon's--Charlie's--death further could wait. He--or she or they--weren't going anywhere.
The prospect of getting his body back made Daniel happy. So happy, in fact, that he wasn't at all surprised when he heard McKay and Zelenka bickering as he reached the open door of the Geek Lab. Nor was he surprised to hear the undercurrent of alarm in their voices. (Naturally,) Daniel thought. (It wouldn't be the island if it didn't serve up one unpleasant surprise after another.)
"Maybe if you--"
"I already tried that. Do you think I didn't know to try that?"
"What about interrupting this circuit here--"
"That's...a possibility." Silence, save for frantic tapping of keys. "No, it's no good."
"Maybe it can't be stopped."
"Of course it can be stopped! It-it-it would be the height of folly to build a self-destruct that you can't deactivate!"
"Then why can't we--"
"Because a self-destruct with an obvious OFF switch isn't much good, is it?"
"Well..."
Daniel and the Doctor stopped at the doorway and glanced inside. McKay and Zelenka were shoulder to shoulder, peering at a display on one of the laptops. "Is there a problem?" Daniel asked.
Zelenka looked up. "You could say that," he snapped. "The countdown is, uh, counting down."
"I thought that was taken care of," Daniel said.
"It was," Zelenka--Rodney--said. "It was!" he repeated at Daniel's look. An expression of dismay crossed his face. "Only...there seems to be..."
"Yes?"
"There seems to be a...second countdown."
Beside him Zelenka in Rodney's body was frantically typing on the keyboard. "It's not working," he commented aloud, perhaps to himself, perhaps to Rodney or Daniel, or everyone. "It's not working!"
"Rodney?" Daniel asked in his Tell me something helpful voice.
"Daniel?" Zelenka replied, in his I got nothing voice.
"Doctor?" Daniel asked, turning to him.
"I already gave these two my best advice earlier: Run for your life!"
Daniel looked at Rodney and Zelenka. "You can't stop it?"
They glanced at one another, then back at Daniel. "Well...given time--"
"Yes or no?" Daniel demanded.
"No," they chorused.
"How long?"
"Five minutes," Rodney and Zelenka chorused again. "Maybe," Rodney added.
(Nothing like time pressure to make a bad day even worse,) Daniel thought. "Get out. Now. If you can't snatch it up on the way out the door, leave it!"
Rodney looked horrified. "But--" he gestured vaguely at all the equipment around him.
Daniel asked, "What makes you think we can trust the timer? Get out now. Warn everyone you see. We'll do the same. Move!"
Daniel didn't wait for a reply. He ran down to the doorway to the near cafeteria, where the research had been going on. "Everyone out! The bunker is going to blow up. We've got maybe five minutes! Get out now! Warn everyone you see!"
Daniel looked around but didn't see the Doctor, then vaguely recalled him running past, presumably on his way to the other side of the bunker to warn the people there. "I'm not joking," Daniel said. "Get out--now!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, then chaos. Daniel ran off to spread the word to anyone and everyone he could reach.
* * *
OOC: The bunker is going to be going away very shortly. The characters have no idea exactly how soon that will happen, but it will be very soon--so play it accordingly. The time for careful packing and squirreling away of useful items is over. At this point, your PCs have time to maybe grab one or two things that are of value to them before fleeing the bunker--but nothing more.
The rationale behind destroying the bunker is that the characters have gotten too comfortable there. We're going back to basics for the second season: survivors of a plane crash (and other castaways) surviving on a largely deserted tropical island with very little in the way of supplies. So I repeat, your PC may be able to rescue one or two things that are important to them, but that's it. The vast majority of the food, equipment, tools, etc. in the bunker will be lost.
Unless Fikgirl overrules me, I'm not going to insist on a turn-based approach (waiting for everyone to post before you post a second time in this thread). This game event is by it's very nature going to be chaotic. But focus on what your PCs are doing amidst the chaos; there's little time for more than the most basic conversations.
P.S. This would be a good time to mark all the earlier threads closed. We'll be migrating to the new forums beginning on Sunday.