Ted - tryout

[Raptocidic]

Username: RupturedRaptor
Kalon Name: Ted
Gender: Male
Prompt Response:

For the purpose of this entry I ask you to imagine that you exist within the setting I have created. You've just signed up to some sort of training programme that gives you real space experiences... without you actually having to go to space! You'll be following the crew via a special holigram and will have a (somewhat annoying) radio assistant giving you information. You can't mute the radio assistant, unfortunately.

An ear-killing screech echoed through your ears before being briefly disturbed by static fuzzy noise. A robotic voice hopelessly attempting to sound somewhat lifelike read out a message in the most lifeless way you've ever heard. The voice read:

! [Disclaimer] !
The crew don't actually know you're observing them.
You can't directly interact with them but through the radio assistant you can do a few things in certain moments
What you do doesn't alter what happens, if you don't do it one of the crew members will instead.

The voice paused for a brief moment before continuing:

For those nosy individuals the next piece of information should be clarified. Yes we are infact allowed to be observing them without their knowledge. If you must know it was part of their job contracts which all individuals have signed. They are currently in an area of space where our laws apply, therefore can be observed.

[Raptocidic]

Thanks for signing up to research training! We all think you have the potential to be a great crew member. Here's the crew you'll be observing.

Characters & Roles:

Ted:
Being the newest member of the crew Ted usually looks to Calum for guidance. He's officially just an assistant to the Gracie, Calum and Azure (he doesn't have to help Kuzi if he doesn't want to), however he often gets to participate in the tesm just like a regular cree member. Although a fairly new addition to the team he fits in well and tries to make himself helpful wherever possible.

Gracie: Gracie is the leader of the crew. On most occasions her decisions are final and her orders must be followed. Whilst she technically has complete dictatorship over the team she usually lets the group collectively make decisions. She's secretly concerned with what the crew thinks about her, so if almost everyone disagrees to something she usually changes her orders so the team aren't completely unhappy. She's serious about her missions and tries her hardest to be the best leader she can be.

Calum:
Calum is second in command and lead scientist. He is a lot more experienced than Gracie is. Sometimes Gracie will be slightly unsure on something and this is when Calum usually offers up his advice. He's not afraid to oppose Gracie's decisions if he beleives them to be too risky or if he thinks there's a more efficient option. He's considered with efficiency, survival and maintaining a friendly atmosphere within the crew.

Azure:
Azure is the crews generalist scientist. She has the most knowledge in biology and chemistry and has a basic medical knowledge. Although not a medical professional she will treat the crew for basic non-threatening things (anything worse and she insists on visiting the nearest inhabited planet they can visit to get someone else to treat the crew). Although hardworking she does seem stuck in her own bubble a little. Whilst she's a good scientist her heart is clearly set in acting and she appears to be on the team in hopes of discovering alien life, giving her her claim to fame. She adores attention, likes shiny accessories and she has a particularly expensive taste in just about everything.

Kuzi:
He's the kind of guy everyone dislikes but needs him there to do his job. The most irritating thing about kuzi is job-wise he's very difficult to replace without bailing out some of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy. He's tolerated because its either him or someone much, much worse than him. Kuzi is prone to complaining and trying to find the easiest way of doing things. His laziness sometimes helps the crew however, as he's quick to find easy solutions to otherwise difficult to solve problems. By profession Kuzi deals with weaponry and computer systems, with a hobby of hacking into things, which is particularly useful on occasions. He's one of the few individuals in the galaxy with his skills and no criminal record (surprisingly). Kuzi is also good at teaching others, providec they tolerate his irritating aspects of his personality.

Life here isn't the same as it is back on Earth! You may not know some of this information, but then again if you've done your research you probably already know most of this.

Setting: Space oriented scifi, set in the future.

The crew have a research station orbiting a rogue planet which they use as a base. They have several different ships stored there, however they most commonly use the research ships. They are on a mission to collect samples from as many planets as they can (taking a priority in collecting from any area showing odd activity or strange phenomenons, anything midly interesting really). Evidence of advanced alien life existing in the distant past exists, but nobody has found evidence of advanced alien life that could still be alive, nor has any living alien life even been found (not even a single cellular organism). There's a massive race to find living alien life of any kind, whoever does manage to document and observe any kind of alien life first has almost guaranteed fame and fortune.

[Raptocidic]

Welcome aboard new recruit! Since you appear to take so much interest in our devoted crew member Ted, here's all the information you may want to know about him.

Ted is a spaceman, if that wasn't already obvious to you. He joined the crew not too long ago, although he's settled in rather well. You may observe that in normal situations he's nervous and timid, but in space he seems to turn a lot more confident. Oddly, this change in confidence seems to be impacted by the presence of gravity, and how strong that gravity is. The more gravity, the more nervous he is (which is particularity unfortunate when reentering the atmosphere of a planet. but he braves his fears, because to him he thinks its worth it). Regardless of the gravity situation he enjoys quietness. His crew can be rather noisy, but he seems to cope with that. It appears to be the noise of crowds or a large group of individuals he can't stand. One thing we observed is that anything more than the sound of one phone ringing at any given time sends him into a hopelessly nervous state. Thankfully in space you don't typically get phone calls. One of Ted's stronger traits is that he will overcome his fears and worries in situations of pressure, making him a valuable team member. In general he works well under pressure and can often motivate his team to focus when in situations of danger. He also has the ability to stay calm (provided phone calls or crowds are not involved) and he doesn't usually let his fears get the best of him. He also can see when his fears are being rather irrational, although that never seems to prevent him from feeling afraid anyway. Ted also likes to keep his mind occupied, perhaps to distract himself from his thoughts and fears. He seems to love maths and spends time drawing out calculations and formulas on chalk (he seems to enjoy how it's stereotypical for a mathematician to use chalk and a blackboard/chalkboard. he has a large chalkboard set up at base and often brings a small chalkboard with him.) Ted also spends his time photographing things and putting together simplistic collages. Notably he doesn't draw artwork, he did scribble something this one time but we couldn't tell what it was supposed to look like, and nor did the rest of the crew. He hasn't drawn anything ever since, perhaps he was discouraged by this event.

[Raptocidic]

We've observed that Ted is a rather creative individual! Here's some of his creations. (please don't tell him we showed you his work, we're not supposed to share personal possessions such as these).

He seems to make simplistic moodboards like this. Usually he uses no more than 5 images and often he uses less images. A lot of his moodboards are space themed.

x x x
images above are not mine


Ted also loves photography.

He is particularly proud of this image, for some strange reason. It's just a rather blurred photo of a bird from Earth, we believe it to be a duck. He must have taken this photo back on Earth when he was younger.

Ted likes this photo because he thinks it's sort of similar to the surgeon's photograph. If he applied some filters to the image then perhaps he could make it look more similar.


This is his photography of experiments found in the labs at their research station. Ted thinks these are interesting subjects to photograph. We think it's not exactly the most interesting thing he could photograph, but he clearly has different interests to us.

We believe that most of these photos are of genetically modified mould or simple organisms.











In case you're interested, these images are just various liquids that don't mix well with water put into water. This is mostly oils or certain food dyes, as well as washing up liquid. For the purpose of the scifi setting however its probably genetically modified bacteria and mould that they create and study in the labs.

[Raptocidic]

(gif credit)

Space Odyssey Theme
Represents Ted's first time in space. It was rather overwhelming but spectacular at the same time.

The Calling - TheFatRat
Represents the fact that Ted has dreamed of traveling in space ever since he was a child. The opportunities he has received have been a dream come true for him.

In the Hall of the Mountain King
Represents how Ted discovered that sometimes space travel can be tedious and repetitive.
Although rewarding overall there's certainly aspects he hates.

[Raptocidic]

gif credit

Calum, looking at a holographic screen with a scifi radar and other information.
"It looks like entry to this planet is impossible, there's too much spacejunk. It will significantly damage (placeholder - name of research ship).

Gracie
"The fact that there's spacejunk orbiting a planet we haven't been to practically proves there was some kind of civilisation here. By the purpose of our mission me MUST attempt atmospheric entry. "

Kuzi, surprised at Gracie.
"Are you insane?! We'd instantly blow up. We're a tiny research ship, not a tanky battleship."

Ted, trying to be helpful.
"Hmm, perhaps it's possible to clear some of the debris?"

Kuzi
"Couldn't we just... you know take some photos from here and report back as a success? Nobody would blame us for being unable to land."

Gracie
"Shut up Kuzi."

Azure
"You know Gracie, Kuzi actually has a point. I mean, just look at the planet. You can hardly see there's a planet at all, all we can see is an ocean of space deris."

Gracie
"We're literally given the chance to make ourselves famous by being the first to discover actual alien life and you lot seriously just want to take a photograph to let somebody else to beat us in the race to find alien life alive?"

Ted, now joining Capum to examine the radar.
"It might be possible to use some equipment we have back base in order to clear the debris."

Gracie
"What if someone else gets here first?"

Calum
"Nobody will find this place again for hundreds or thousands of years, its too far away from anyone elses base or station. Besides, going back to get more suitable equipment gives us a much higher survival rate."

Gracie
"Alright, we'll head back for supplies."

- the crew return to base to collect the necessary supplies-

[Raptocidic]

Having returned to base, the crew make a beeline to the supply room. The room contains a compact closed storage system. There are cabinet like boxes that cover every inch of the floor, ceiling and walls. Each cabinet is sealed and locked with an unnecessarily long numerical code, although there is also the option to open selected cabinets from a control screen using the hands of registered crew members. (Seeing a loophole in this hand system Ted requested for the system to be updated so it can tell dead and severed hands from hands attached to very much living individuals. Truth is he's watched far too many scifi and secret agent films where intruders cut off hands or fingers of others in order to get past security. Being slightly paranoid about this Ted requested for the system to be altered.)

Gracie was the first to enter the storage room, with Calum and Ted following close behind. Azure and Kuzi had been instructed to wait elsewhere. She doesn't trust Kuzi to be in the storage room and so made Azure watch over Kuzi because Gracie also happens to completely lack any trust in Kuzi at this point and usually makes someone keep an eye on him.

Gracie hurried the Ted and Calum to collect the necessary supplies as fast as possible. Ted could understand that she was just excited about the opportunity they had come across, although her slightly sassy and rude tone in her speech irritated him slightly. Regardless of this Ted quickly begun to collect supplies. He picked out three lightweight robotic arm attachments and brought them to the loading bay. He also collected two space spacesuits, although the research ship already has one spare suit (there used to be two spares but one was damaged), Ted decided he'd feel better if there were two extra suits added to that count, bringing the amount of spare spacesuits up to 3. Ted thinks it's always wise to have a spare, and in Ted's world being told it's good to have one spare means he'll take several spares with him. He returned to the loading bay feeling particular proud of himself whilst the rest of the crew got some other supplies and topped up the ships food and water supplies, since they were running low.

Ted wondered off to grab a fizzy drink, since he can't have them on the ship.

You realise that they haven't packed any spare nets. Ted is always emphasising the importance of having a spare. Gracie has packed one net, but that doesn't seem like it's enough. You mutter words of worry briefly before that irritating radio voice suddenly perks up. You thought you didn't have to listen to that incredibly irritating voice anymore, but nope. Apparently it would respond to you talking. Great.

I agree, they definitely should take a spare net! We're not supposed to do this, but we could hack into their stuff to try and give them a reminder, perhaps?

> We shouldn't try to contact them. <

> Please help them! A spare net is important. <

[Raptocidic]

Alright, we've tampered with their communications system. It's the closest thing to the storage room that we could hack into.

The communication system begun to flash with red and blue colors. It also made a sort of beeping sound, although the sound was rather quiet. However, it was still loud enough to grab Ted's attention.

Sipping on the remains of his first fizzy drink, Ted peered towards the general direction of the control panel. It was going completely bonkers, so he approached it. Upon touching the control panel it instantly went back to normal, although someone had changed the screen background to a load of spacejunk. He thought that may have been Gracie, as he figured she would do something like that in order to keep herself focused on tasks. (You knew it was actually the annoying radio voice who did that, but it's best Ted and the other's don't know that). Ted also figured he must have been imagining the control system going wrong, as it was perfectly fine now.

"Perhaps i've spent just a little too much time in zero gravity" he thought to himself.

Ted resumed his activity of drinking a fizzy drink, by now he had finished his first one and was starting a second (it was a different flavour, but it was the same brand). He looked at the background for a minuet or so before the thought struck him. He had forgotten to get a spare net! Devastated at the idea of not having a spare net (or several) he rushed to the storage room and grabbed 6 nets in panic. He also takes a screwdriver, since it's just lying around.

It's a good thing we hacked that control system then!
(continue story)

[Raptocidic]

Fine, we'll leave them alone. Probably for the best, since we're following the rules and all that.

The robotic radio voice seemed somewhat disappointed. It is the most lifelike the voice has ever sounded, despite trying to sound alive since the beginning. You reckoned that it was the hint of disappointment that made it appear alive, even if it still sounded irritatingly off-key and robotic.

Ted decided to sit in the operating room for a while, since it had the best view at the time. He wasn't supposed to bring fizzy drinks (or drinks at all, for that matter) into there, but he took his drink in anyway. By now he was sipping at the remains of his first drink and eager to start his second. He perched himself by a viewing window before getting bored and wondering over to the control panel. He accidentally spilled some his fizzy drink on it. In horror he watched as the control panel fizzed a little before the screen turned into a flashing display of blue and red. It didn't last long, but it frightened Ted. He was relieved when it stopped and upon inspection no obvious damage had been made. The control panel still operated perfectly, although for some reason the background had changed to a picture of spacejunk. Maybe it was a little broken, but at least it was still functional.

He looked around awkwardly for a minuet or so before the thought struck him. He had forgotten to get a spare net! Devastated at the idea of not having a spare net (or several) he rushed to the storage room and grabbed 6 nets in panic. He also takes a screwdriver, since it's just lying around. He completely forgot about the control panel.

See, they didn't need our help and got the net anyway.
(continue story)

[Raptocidic]

Gracie, having assembled her crew in front of the research ship, looked at her crew happily. There was a little bit of childish excitement hidden in her expression, although she tried to hide it.

"Alright, now we've got everything, lets go!"

Gracie waits until all the other crew members are on board before boarding the ship herself. She sits in front of Ted and signals to Calum to start the ship.

The crew return to the planet. Once there Calum sets up the ship so that they can start to clear spacejunk using the specialised nets. Ted wasn't entirely sure how the nets were supposed to work, so he observed the process through a viewing window. He watched as the net was projected out at high speed. When near a target the net unfolded and surrounded the spacejunk. Then it was dragged back to the ship, where it was put in an airlock and sorted by the crew. He went to go help, sinec Kuzi was complaining extremely loudly and he got fed up of hearing him whine. The process was incredibly slow, but it was the best they could do. Although the team generally didn't care that much by that point, Gracie was still determined to collect samples from that planet.

continue story