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 Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:34 am
It didn't start out as a challenging day, really. The two weeks had been a trial-run week for the program. Flashcharge had had quite some fun with it, had tried to destroy a thing or two, but the super's way of bending the rules had proven to be a help for once. The next time, things worked out well. Jim was quite proud of the program and his programers, and had even done the unmentionable.
He'd asked Charles if he could introduce it to the little supers, something which Jim never cared to do. The man was dressed casually today, and smiled a little stiffly at the young one as he explained the program.
"... so in conclusion, what you need to do is to just stand there in the simulation room. We will start up the program for you. It will all feel and look real, but you don't have to worry. We have safety protocols online so you can not get hurt. This will serve as a training excersise as well as something fun for you to do. Your main goal is to extract all candy from the 'monsters'." Jim moved his fingers simultaniously in the so called quote movements to show he didn't mean real monsters and winked. "You can do this by destroying them. Don't worry, they are not real, you have to keep in mind that they are robots and don't feel pain. Remember to try to make your way to the castle." he nodded and turned to check a few statistics. Satisfied, he turned back to the child.
"So, lets get started then." he couldn't surpress his grin as he watched the child enter the room. He smiled rather nervously. He had spent so much time on this, he could only hope the children would find this amusing. Looking at a few graphs and numbers on a small screen, his gaze turned back through the glass window to peer at the child. Jim pressed in a small button to activate the intercom and bent over to speak in a small microphone. "Ready? Here you go!" He pressed in another button to activate a pre-set sequence of commands to activate the program and suddenly the environment in the simulation room changed.
You find yourself in an open space in the middle of a thick and dark forest. The light of the full moon illuminates the open place, making it seem as if it is bathed in silver. The trees are closely knit together; finding a path through them to reach your goal will not be easy. When you look around, you see nothing but trees though on the horizon high mountains tower over the forest, as if cradling it in their arms. Before you, you watch the forest cover an entire mountain, with a big castle proudly sheltered by it. You are currently a hundred feet or so away from the foot of the mountain, but the trees block your gaze so it does not give you a completely clear view.
The atmosphere does not feel that scary, but it gives you a certain alertness. Though the forest is dark, it is definitly not dead. There is rustling everywhere and it is obviously packed with dozens of different life forms. Somewhere behind you, you hear a pack of wolves howling and to your right an owl hoots. A small gust of wind rustles the leaves and gives you a small chill.
It is time to get started!
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:32 am
Rachel's eyes darted around, nervously and in wonder. This was really freaky, things were fake, but seemed and felt very real. She let her eyes wander around to explore her surroundings. Seeing and feeling nothing out of the ordinary, her eyes quickly found the castle on the hill.
She sighed and started to make herself a way on the narrow path, but had to dodge many branches and bushes. Her progress was really slow and was starting to get frustrated.
Standing still, she wiped the sweat of her forehead and tried to see the castle, but the trees were blocking its view. She sighed and continued on.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:33 am
Jim watched the girl make her way through the thick forest; she seemed to be quite nervous. Excellent. Grinning excitedly, he pushed in a button to activate the first challenge.
A high pitched giggle suddenly rang through the forest. It did not seem to come from a particular direction, but rather, it seemed to come from everywhere, as if it were the forest itself.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:03 am
Rachel jumped as she heard the frightening giggle, her eyes flicked from side to side, trying to determine the location of it. Her breathing fastened as she desperately tried to see what it was that sounded so horrifying. She stood stock-still for a moment, but after listening closely and not hearing anything else, she darted quickly further up the path, not stopping to pause, just to get away. To get away.
Bleh. This might be fake, but it all still felt darn real and scary. Rachel shivered all over as she continued to climb and run.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:05 am
A small patch of darkness suddenly formed itself in the girl's eyesight. It seemed to be growing larger and larger, drawing more darkness in it while emanating a cold chill until, eventually, it started to take a shape. As the shape stretched and moved, it began to take on color until it was done.
What was now standing there was a clown...?
It unleashed another high pitched giggle as it reached unnaturally deep in its pocket and pulled out a fistful of worms. "Candy?" It suddenly roared and laughed, revealing a sharp line of razorsharp teeth in its mouth. And with a mighty toss, it swung the worms towards Rachel. As they approached, the worms itself seemed to be alive too, each sporting small lines of razorsharp teeth and black, beady, evil eyes.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 6:14 am
Rachel had stopped and frozen completely on the sight of the darkness doing... something. Her breathing had really fastened and she let out a frightened moan as she watched how it was forming and growing. Heck! This was way too dangerous, she didn't want to do this. Her eyes flicked from side to side, trying to find a way out, but somehow the program had adapted itself to leave her no escape routes.
She moaned and backed away until her back hit a tree and she couldn't continue. She put her hands in her eyes to not see the clown. Maybe he would go away this way?? She stayed completely still, holding her breath and pressing her hands firmly against her face. Please go away. Please go away. She could only hope.
But no such luck. She heard another high pitched giggle and peeked through the gaps between her fingers, only to see a clown.
"Huh?" Rachel frowned and sat up straight. "HUH? A clown?" She let out a shivery giggle as she stood up and brushed off her clothes, only to freeze during the movement as that scary thing laughed.
And it threw the worms towards her, she did what any sensible person would do. She squeeled and ducked. She looked up again, eyes wide with fear and tried to forcibly remind herself this was a simulation.
She closed her eyes firmly, trying to regulate her breathing, but it wasn't working. At all. She looked up angrily at the clown for making her so scared and thought of what she could do.
"I don't want your stupid candy. You're stupid too. I don't like you. AT ALL." She angrily stuck out her tongue at the scary thing and folded her arms angrily. Maybe angryness would make it leave.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:44 pm
The clown stomped his foot angrily as if not getting what it wanted and folded its arms. The painted smile on the face turned into a painted pout as it started to whine in that unnatural high pitched voice.
The clown reached his entire arm into a pocket on his chest and pulled out several empty balloons. He started huffing and puffing and blowing the balloon until it swelled to the size of Rachel. Grinning that line of razorsharp teeth again, the clown let out another one of his giggles as it blew out. The balloon started to move on its own towards Rachel, hands gripping out from the inside, as if a human was inside, trying to claw his way out.
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