It Must Have Been the Mistletoe

[cityship]

Something...odd is happening on the ship. Plant-like protrusions are occasionally sprouting in places throughout the ship

Comments

[is_the_ultimate]

It's been a bit of a slow time for Shadow. After the training deal with the Outsiders, things seemed to have stalled to a crawl. He was itching for something - ANYTHING - to happen.

When it hit him!

"HURGH!" Shadow yelped out, smacking into an invisible wall. Rubbing his snout, he noticed that, well... he was stuck. "What is this? What's going on!?" With that, he began ramming the wall, kicking it, spinning into it, everything he could. "RRrgh! Fine! I'll do this MY way! CHAOS... CONTROL!"

In the blink of an eye, Shadow disappeared from his spot and reappeared a good distance away.

"Ha! Serves you right!" Shadow said, turning to walk away. "No one outwits the Ultimate Lifef--OMPH!"

Another wall.

"GGRRR! LET ME GO! LET ME OUT!"

[daaayum]

"Oh, I ain't kissing no hedgehog. I'm no furry."

Leela's happened around the corner, and well, she's feeling your pain there, Shadow, but.

[is_the_ultimate]

Shadow, by this time, had his arms crossed over his chest and resorted to his usual grumpy glare/pout until he saw Leela, causing him to cock an eyebrow.

"Kiss me? Why would I want anyone to kiss me? I just want OUT!" Shadow said. Then, he decided to look up... and saw the mistletoe. "Oh, no."

[demon_alessa]

"Announcing yourself as the Ultimate anything is bound to have a karmic reaction," Alessa commented, which wouldn't have been strange except she was hovering several feet from the floor. "In thsi case, a bad one."

Since she overheard the conversation between him and Leela, she was curious. "What is a 'furry?'"

[not_philistine]

"There will be cake."

"I have no interest in cake."

Nevertheless, Goliath cannot leave his position beneath the small piece of greenery. How irksome.

[deep_sky_diving]

"Well, ain't this a boondoggle." Tess looks up at Goliath, hands resting lightly on her hips. "I wonder who decided to let this system have charge o'stuff."

[not_philistine]

Goliath has pressed his talons up against the forcefield and is feeling around for his way out. Yes, he looks like a mime. A mime that could rip your limbs off and beat you to death with them. You may commence with your nightmares as usual.

"I do not understand. There is nothing to defend, and nothing to shield us from. This barrier presents no reason for being."

He doesn't get the mistletoe. He hasn't even noticed it yet, and why would a twig be linked to greenery?

[deep_sky_diving]

"Please express affection for your fellow crewmate to free them."

Tess' face twists a little as she looks up and around for the nonspecific source of the voice. And then she spots the almost-not-quite mistletoe...

Goliath might have difficulty figuring out why she's broken into a giggle.

[princessghanima]

Ghanima had been on her way to visit Sheeana's worm, needing a few moments of quiet to get her thoughts in order. Though she hadn't even moved far from the Vatican when she found herself hitting an invisible wall of sorts.

Frowning, she turned to move in the other direction, but hit another wall... And then another and another. No matter which direction she tried moving, she found herself unable to get more than a few feet.

"What is the meaning of this?" She cried out, her hand fisting up. "I demand to be freed right this minute!" See, she knew there was a reason she hated the computers on this ship.

[bluerose_knight]

Sparhawk had been trying to mind his own business, but when there's shouting, there's usually something wrong. And so he heads in the direction of the voice, hand ready on his sword.

He knows that he can be heard coming by the clanking of his armour (which he is still wearing).

"What's the problem?" he asks as he gets closer to the woman doing the shouting.

[princessghanima]

Ghanima turns her head and watches as the fully armoured man makes his way toward her. She lifts her chin, composing herself to a more regal fashion. "This thinking machine has trapped me and I cannot get free," she explains as she pressed a hand against the invisible wall to make a point.

[bluerose_knight]

Well, Sparhawk has seen many things not from his world, but invisible walls aren't among them. Through his visor, his eyes are fascinated as he watched Ghanima rest her hand against it.

"And she has given no reason for this?" he asks, as he extends his own gauntleted hand towards the invisible wall. It goes through fine, but when Sparhawk tries to withdraw it, he can't.

"Odd," he notes.

[unsc_rabbit]

Kelly had been on the way back to her room. She needed to talk to John about something. And it seemed like awhiles since she'd seen her brother. Despite the fact that they'd been sharing a room. She was taking her usual long strides, covering ground rather quickly. That was until the force field snapped up in front of her. Blinking, she reached out a hand to touch it, frowning slightly as the announcement was made.

Affection for crewmates? What was this all about then?

Looking upward she spotted the plantlike protrusion. Was was that? It looked vaguely like some sort of plant she'd seen in Déjà's lessons before. But she couldn't remember what it was. Turning back to the forcefield, she braced her feet and strained against it, trying to break free, to no avail. This was not good.

Leaning back against the shield she took the moment to think about her next move. The AI didn't seem to be threatening this time. But what exactly was going on? How would she get out of here?

[not_prncss_tldr]

Lafiel was startled to find Kelly trapped in some kind of forcefield. She drew her Klanyu, cleared both ends of the hallway, then approached the bubble.

"Petty officer, are you all right?"

[unsc_rabbit]

Kelly's head shot up when she heard the Abh's voice and her arms quickly moved to wave the woman away. "No, wait, don't!" but she was too late. She saw the forcefield snap a little wider to trap the other woman inside with her. The message played again and she sighed, raising a hand to her face. She'd need to teach the Abh about clearing a room sometime.

"I'm quite alright, Empress. Though I believe we're trapped in here now. Until we 'show our crewmate affection.' Whatever that means."

[not_prncss_tldr]

"That's ridiculous." Lafiel said dismissively, before opening fire with the weapon. The beam was invisible, but Kelly had seen it melt right through personal armor. She knew the kind of force it was resisting.

And, aside from reddening at the point of impact, nothing happened.

"Ryteruc giflauth!" She swore in Baronh and kicked at the field, which did nothing but bounce her back.

[bone1ady]

"Please express affection for your fellow crewmate to free them."

Tempe stands in the center of the obs deck with a seriously unamused expression. She's stuck and really just cannot begin to fathom what is the purpose of the AI's experiment.

"This is illogical!" Tempe frowns as she looks around.

"There will be cake."

That causes her frown to deepen. "I don't want cake! If I wanted cake, I'd get it on my own!"

[sgmitchell]

It's the cake that get's his attention. He generally avoided the woman--so that she wouldn't find some reason to deem him crazier and harass him. Yes, she definitely was the one who did the harassing.

But the cake made him curious enough to investigate. He'd heard mention of cake a few times.

"Do you want anything?" He crossed his arms, and tilted his head. "Just curious."

[bone1ady]

Of course. It had to be him. It just had to be. Scowling at Cam, Tempe presses her hands against the invisible barrier that seperated them.

"Of course I do," Tempe frowns. "I wish to be free of this... Thing."

[sgmitchell]

Who else would it be, Tempe? Cam doubted, personally, that Tempe knew very many other people. Why else would she single him out to harass?

"Thing?" Did he know what she was talking about? Maybe. He wasn't about to say, either way.