unforum

[fubarz]

[HitsHerMark]

[StarCreator]

I'm going to go ahead and paste the abridged version of today's events. Slightly less abridged version is up at my journal, though I didn't cut anything directly ILB-related.

Naturally, this is coming by way of Washington, DC. I was present for the call that resulted in SP's death as well. (If you really listen to the wav, you can hear a male voice relaying some of the information in the background. That would be me.)

Because the ranks were spread much thinner than last week, I decided to once again go to Union Station, and at the last minute, added Georgetown Cinema to my list of spots to hit. In order to hit both, it required me to drive to DC rather than to park at the Metro and take the rail in. So, leaving work early (after starting not as early as I would have liked), I barely made it to Union Station, hitting about the amount of traffic I anticipated. Getting there was pretty straightforward though, despite the fact that I very seldom drive within DC.

Parked, ran in, and waited by the phones next to the car rental place. A while later, Chappy arrived, and told me that INCyr had also made it. This is a step up from the morning discussion where it was just me covering Union Station alone. I was also poorly equipped to handle the live call exercise, so it was a good thing they were there. INCyr started off with the phones on the other end, near Au Bon Pain, while we waited by the car rentals. Some recorded calls came trickling in, and I manage to activate all but one of the three or so that I picked up. In the middle of this, Chappy got a live call. Unfortunately, we didn't make the exercise in time - we got the correct answer, but not within the time limit. We did chat with Melissa for a while, though, and the phone was passed off to me to make an introduction.

Melissa started by asking my name and rank, then asked how to spell my name (I told her "StarCreator" of course). She immediately asked if there was a private communication channel she could call, and I gave her my cell phone number. She also spit out the usual deal where she says the call would not be made by her personally, etc. She then asked if I had been monitoring the transmissions. I said I had been, which prompted her to ask me if I thought Durga was rampant. This took me by surprise, and I said that she might be. When asked what made me think this, I eventually managed to spit out that her voice had been "sounding weird" at various times. She asked again if I thought she was rampant, to which I replied that it was too early to tell. This prompted Mel to ask if that meant we should monitor her, to which I quickly answered yes.

She then went on to something a bit different - she said that the subjects may be preparing to do something that will interfere with her ability to transmit data, so she will be broadcasting what she receives live on Sunday, rather than transmitting recordings on Tuesday. She told me to relay this information to the others. (A few people were told the same thing and beat me to it.) She seems to think something big will happen on Sunday, and the field exercise was a test to make sure the crew could operate tightly and efficiently, even if something should happen to her broadcast systems.

She finished off by basically apologizing that we couldn't complete the task on that particular call, and commented that the DC Axon Hunter Signal Corps are one of her favorite teams before hanging up.

Quickly relaying what she told me to Chappy (and I hope I haven't forgotten any important details as I write this now), we head out. Chappy heads out to get some more axons while INCyr presumably went home. I stayed for a bit to eat dinner at Au Bon Pain, unfortunately not finding the food at this one to be as good as the one I frequented during Anime Boston this past year. Rock-hard sandwiches and undercooked meat aside, I wandered the station for a little bit before setting out back onto the DC roadways to try and make it to Georgetown Cinema.

I explored the DC roadways for just under 50 minutes (due to bad Mapquest directions) before I arrived. Chappy and aliendial had been sitting outside of for quite some time. We went inside and they ordered some fast dinner-type stuff at the concession stand. Of course, I already had my fill of dinner from beforehand.

It isn't too long before the phone calls start, and the first or second one up is a live call. Unfortunately, we again failed to offer the correct passphrase, sending aliendial to her cell phone to re-verify. A few recorded axons start going off, and the one I pick up doesn't go hot. The voice recog software really just doesn't like me. I refrain from picking up any more after that. The last call of the night is yet another live call, and we give another shot at the passphrase - we give one incorrect guess, and finally we manage to present the correct passphrase - but Chappy pauses after relaying the passphrase, and not the rest of the information. I was only further confused when he asked "Princess?" then gave a bit of a chuckle before he hung up the phone. Naturally, this was the call that doomed the Sleeping Princess. Oops.

Interesting things to note about the Georgetown Cinema calls - neither live call asked for the identity of the person on the line. Only the standard question/answer challenge was given before launching right into the passphrases, and no idle chatter. Of course, this final axon spike was credited to entire Washington DC Axon Hunter Signal Corps when it went on the site.

That was certainly a fun way to end the day's axon hunt. Now that the deed had been done, we parted company and I headed home... kinda.

[thebruce]

has anyone actually considered how we will continue without Melissa? Think about it, without Melissa, and the SP gone, our only interaction would be with the Flea IF it's not attached to Melissa and goes wherever she goes. If so, we end up with the remnants of a shattered website, and no connection to the future. How can we continue?

I [spec] Melissa's possible plans will fall through before she leaves us to fight for ourselves [/spec]

[skilletaudio]

Sorry, but as much as we'd like to keep them seperate, I think thats where we get the "Drink Your Ovaltine" part of the game...
Carrying on without Melissa = Continuing our training = Playing Halo

[ironchefmike]

Re: [OT] Badgers

[celina63]

Sorry so late... I was beyond busy yesterday and was lucky to make the axon as it is... but it was a VERY good thing I did! With no further ado, the recounting of my 10 minute live call with the Princess ::: sob :::

I arrived at the San Diego Northside McDonalds axon (12:43 PM PDT) with barely a minute to spare. Prior to leaving I had coordinated with Rowan and got her cell phone number so that I could call to get the passphrase. I called her as I got to the axon, where she told me "no new passphrase..." and then the axon rang, so I hung up quickly and answered the phone...

C: "Hello"
SP: "Hi! Make me a peanut butter sandwich and make it quick! <giggle>"
C: "OOooo, I love peanut butter and jelly!"

At this point, near disaster - the <bleep>ing phone wanted a quarter to continue the call!!!
C: "Oh shoot hold on.. the phone wants money!"
SP: "Give it a hundred dollars!"

I manage to fish out a quarter and get it in the phone in time... WHEW!

She giggled and asked me my name.
C: "CDR Banshee"
SP: "Oh, I don't care about that crew stuff... what's your NAME?"
C: "Oh sorry! My name is Banshee"
SP: "Ooooh, I know what a Banshee is! They're scary and make a noise like this... WwwooOOOOooooOOO!"
C: "Yes they do! You're smart!"
SP: "Tell me a story about Banshees!"

Eeeep! I'm not usually that hot about making up stuff on the fly, but I gave it a shot. In my best Scottish Brogue, I told her about my ancient clan, the Rosses (true) who were haunted by a Banshee (not true AFAIK), and the only way to get rid of her was to give her what she wanted... one hundred gold pieces.

SP: "She could use them to put in the phone! <giggle>"
C: "Oh I hope not! That would be a waste of 100 gold pieces!"

She then told me about Sunday...

SP: "I'm excited! I overheard the Queen talk about something big happening on Sunday... you know, in her growly voice..."
C: 'Yeah, I know... GrrrRRRrrrr!"
SP: <giggling> "Yes! That's what she does... but I think I'm going home on Sunday!"
C: "No way! Where's home?"
SP: "With my brother Kamal! I'm 99.8% sure he's my brother... do you think he's my brother?"
C: "Yes, I'm pretty sure he is"
SP: "I'm kinda sad though.. he sounds so sad and lonely"
C: "Yes he does... but when you get home he won't be sad and lonely anymore!"
SP: "You're right! I'm hoping he will help me recover some of my memories... do you think he could do that?"
C: "Oh I'm sure he will! He's very smart"

She then asked me if I had any brothers or sisters...
C: "No, I'm an only child <in a sad voice>"
SP: "Oh, that's good because you get all the cake and ice cream then!"
C: "Well, yes that's true... but the only child gets all the blame too! Noone to blame things on.."
SP: "Like when your mom's best vase gets broken!"
C: "Yes, exactly. However, cats are good for placing blame"
SP: "You have cats? What are their names?"
C: "Castor and Pollux"

Now... this part BLEW ME AWAY. The "banshee" thing was pretty good... but not uncommon for people to reference. However, when I gave her the names of my cats, she knew INSTANTLY what they were! I usually have to explain the "weird" names I give my cats...

SP: "Oh, like the twins!"
C: "Yes! The demigods of the winds! I named them that because, when they were kittens, they would run around the house and cause a wind!"
SP: "Are they smart?"
C: "Oh yes, sometimes TOO smart"
SP: "Do they talk to you?"
C: "All the time!"
SP: "What do they say?"
C: "Well, Pollux, the black one says <a rendition of Pollux's meow>, and Castor, the grey tabby says <a different meow... yes, I'm weird but I know exactly how my cats sound and how to reproduce it. I talk to them like this all the time >"
SP: "Do they box? The twins would box"
C: "Yes they do, in a fashion (refering to cats play-fighting)"
SP: "OH could you send me a picture of them? I would love that! If you do... well, I'm going to say that you will, and if you want you can give me a number and I'll slip it into the Queen's files so you can recieve transmissions!"

Whooo Hooo! My own personal axon! I gave her my cell phone number.

SP: "Boxing cats that run like the wind!"

She then asked me if I was going to be sad when she left. I said Of course I would but I would find a way to keep in touch with her. She was very happy about that, and said she would miss all her friends. I told her that most of the "crew" were really her friends, and that they became "crew" so they could hear the transmissions and try to help her.

SP: "Lt. Weephun is my friend? He was the one that turned me in!"
C: "I know, but he didn't know what to do... the Queen had him in a corner. I'm sure he didn't turn you in on purpose"

(Or did he? I forget...)

SP: "Well, OK... I now declare that Lt. Weephun IS MY FRIEND, and I forgive him!"
C: "I'll let him know! He'll be very happy!"

(Or will he....)

She asked me what my favorite memory of our time together had been, and I told her that I loved her story "Perdita's Story" and how we were able to rescue her with help from it.

SP: "Yes, that was a fun story, but it had a sad ending at first. I had to changed it to make it a happy ending... but not all stories have a happy ending. Do you think my story will have a happy ending?"
C: "Me and all your friends will do anything we can to help make sure you have a happy ending..."

(Oh, if I would have even had a clue.... )

SP: "Well Banshee, I have to go now... I love you!"
C: "I love you too! Say Hi to Kamal for me, and try to keep in touch!"
... and we hung up.

... and my next thought was WHY DIDN"T I WARN HER DAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMNDAMN!!!

However, I went home and in the brief amount of time I had before my next task, I tried to get a picture of the cats "boxing"... basically, I held up a treat and tried to get both of them up on their hind legs reaching for it. Being CATS, they refused to cooperate, and I had to leave.

By the time I got home from my last task of the day (before going to class)... she was dead.

I found a cute picture of the cats together and mailed it to her anyway. I told her that I had heard she was gone and I hoped it was a lie or that she could escape... and if she needed help she had my email and phone number, so let me know what to do.

... and that ends my LOOOOOOOONG, bittersweet tale of my FIRST live call.

C (otherwise known as Banshee)

[krystyn]

I am so totally convinced that the voice actor for the Sleeping Princess mainlines about fifty pixy stix before getting on the phone.

Awesome recap.

[celina63]

Not just pixie sticks... HOW DID SHE KNOW ABOUT "CASTOR AND POLLUX"???

That will continue to amaze me, and will be one of the things I'll bring up in the endgame chat

Seriously, prior to my retelling... WHO knew what/who Castor and Pollux are?

C

[weephun]

[celina63]

No prob, weephun... I'm glad I did a good thing

Oh, and as for hmrpita, I forgot to mention... when I was telling SP about my favorite memory (Perdita's Story and how we led her out of the trap) she talked about how hrmpita was SUCH a good friend and led her out of her trap. So... hrmpita may be "trusted crew" but she is also "Friend of SP"

C (Banshee)

[thebruce]

you know, I really hope there's some kind of reunion, and some enormous happy ending where we can all reunite if only SP was real haha

mad props once again at finding such amazing voice actors, knowledgable and witty... especially the princess... even with the few hiccups we've come across in the interactions, it's one amazing experience, even from my view just reading about them... it's just so... touching :sniff:

[darkmoonz]

yeah, they could all fly us to bungie headquarters, bring us into the 7th colum elite forces (you know, to rule the world) and then we could play halo 2 and hang out with the voice actors forever... and build args for future generations...

oh well, a man can dream, can't he? (:

[Phaedra]

Re: [OT] Badgers

[Phaedra]