Night at the Museum (OTA)

[kyley_b]

WHO: Kyle Broflovski and YOU!
WHERE: The Underground of Coruscant (Level 4)
WHAT: A very wholesome field trip to the lost Galactic Museum.
WHEN: During the event. (Mid-ish?)
WARNINGS: The foulest of language. Injury extremely likely. More as needed.



Kyle's seen aliens before.

A group of them from the Jannex Galaxy, a spaceship full of greys, the Marklar, and Jeff Bezos. This is the first time he's seen quite so many different kinds in one place, but even so it doesn't take him long to feel comfortable enough to talk to a few of them at the Senate Tour that Obi-Wan had suggested he take. One of these friendly aliens had mentioned in passing that it was a pity that the Galactic Museum could no longer be toured, due to it having been lost and forgotten somewhere down on Level 4.

A lost museum seems to Kyle like exactly the sort of thing the Agrii would want them to find. And even if not, well. Kyle really likes museums.

Is it difficult to get to Level 4? Oh, yes. And extremely dangerous. This doesn't deter Kyle one bit, and so he puts out a call on the Network to let people know that hey, he's putting together a museum field trip and anybody is welcome to come! Provided, that is, that you don't mind finding your way down through huge portals/ventilation shafts into a world where sunlight is less than a memory and dangerous people and creatures lurk around every corner.

But hey, if you decide to come down, you'll find a too-tall ginger waiting for you with some flashlights and a notepad.

You bet your ass he's going to force you to use the Buddy System.

--

[OOC: Feel free to skip straight to the Museum proper of course! Mingle away, create your own TLs, whatever!]

Comments

[kyley_b]

Kyle just stares stupidly.

"Millions," he echoes. "Because they need soldiers. Jesus, dude! That's some dystopian scifi novel shit!"

[on_repeat]

There's no mistake. Kyle is a smart kid.

On the other hand, Echo only realized this recently. In different terms, but...the nuance was very much the same.

"That's how it is." His tone is resigned as he runs a hand along one of many pipes that seem to snake and block their current path. "Are you sure we're heading the right way?"

[kyley_b]

"That doesn't make it right. In fact, I think it violates your basic human rights."

Kyle huffs and pauses to look around. He studies the map Tommy drew and swears. "Shit, we were supposed to turn left back there. Sorry, I was distracted. But after that it's one more turn and we're there for real."

[on_repeat]

Basic human rights? He has that?

Although Kyle rambles on, Echo is still thinking about it. "It's fine. It's like a maze down here."

[kyley_b]

"Yeah, but I should pay better attention." Kyle backtracks and heads down the correct path this time. Another turn and then the remains of the museum rise up in front of them. Even decrepit and forgotten, it's impressive.

"Dude."

[on_repeat]

"Consider it a learning experience," Echo suggests, following along after him. Everyone makes mistakes and this one just cost a little time.

When they turn the corner, he stares, slowing to a stop a few steps behind Kyle.

"Huh. It really does exist."

[kyley_b]

Kyle looks at him. "You didn't believe us? Ouch, dude."

He hurries up to the museum entrance, doubles back to herd people along, and then finally enters the building.

Inside, there's a lot of grouping, regrouping, and people splitting up with a buddy, people. Eventually Kyle winds up beside Echo again. By this point he's dirty and dusty but still looks excited. He hands over a museum brochure.

"Dude, this seems to still be accurate. What do you wanna look at?"

[on_repeat]

There's a shrug, but the ARC Trooper doesn't waste any time, heading into the museum with the others.

While minor chaos unfolds amid the group and its eventual pairings and mini-groupings, Echo slips his bucket off, eyes wandering about the lobby in awe. He almost forgets about the buddy system rule in place, only being reminded when Kyle steps into view again.

"Yeah. I'm actually not sure where to begin..." Although his gaze falls onto the 'History of Hyperdrive' exhibit. "Maybe we can work our way around."

[kyley_b]

"Sounds like a good idea to me. Lead on - you actually know some stuff about this galaxy, you've got the advantage." Kyle glances at Echo's face, trying to picture thousands of guys looking exactly like him.

"Dude, how old are you?"

[on_repeat]

It's not too hard to do – with Echo's features, he becomes the baseline template for customization. He doesn't notice, grinning a little as he's given the go-ahead.

"–Uh." He's standing in front of a giant paragraph of wall text that's lined with holoprojections, momentarily blinking at Kyle because he's never been asked this question. "Well...I'm about twelve."

[kyley_b]

The look Kyle gives Echo is comically shocked. "Oh," is all he says, eyes wide.

"Uh. That's... okay. Wasn't expecting that."

[on_repeat]

A crooked smirk forms on Echo's lips. "Clone," he gently reminds Kyle. "To stay on schedule with production, the Kaminoans modified the genome. That included speeding up the aging process."

It's like a lesson within a lesson, except entirely unrelated.

[kyley_b]

"Dude." Kyle shakes his head and takes a half step forward.

"That's awful. Do you like... do you want a hug?"

[on_repeat]

Baffled, Echo arches a brow. Judging by the way he coughs a laugh, he's obviously caught off guard by the question.

"–What?" He tries to grin, but it's awkward in its lopsidedness. "I'm fine, Broflovski, don't worry about it!"

[kyley_b]

"Oh. Okay." Well. That's embarrassing. Kyle rubs the back of his neck and looks around, face red.

"I just mean. That sucks, dude."

[on_repeat]

Embarrassing, yes, but Echo appreciates the sentiment. "The more I listen to outside perspectives, the more I realize it is. I can't really change it, though."

It would have been a little weird hugging it out in the middle of the History of Hyperdrive exhibit, anyway, but who would've noticed?

[kyley_b]

"No, no I guess you really can't. We can only move forward, right?" Kyle says, recovering enough to grin.

To be fair, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing Kyle has ever done. Not even close.

"So, okay, let's move forward! What the heck is a Hyperdrive anyway?"

/tries to summarize nerdery

[on_repeat]

Echo nods. "Right."

And move forward they do. To hyperdrive nerdery! "A hyperdrive is the propulsion system of a starship. In other words, the engine." Plenty of text captions are placed around a small-scale generator sitting by another wall as a holovid shows how it fits together on a ship. "Most ships have them in order to travel to and from the far reaches of the galaxy at lightspeed..."

What he knows of hyperdrives is combined with the exhibit's expansive collection of things relating to it. He shares and learns at the same time, effective as a docent yet picking up new information as he goes on.

[kyley_b]

Kyle does more than listen and read - he takes notes. He has to put his flashlight in his armpit to manage it, but manage it he does. He has no real idea how any of this works, but he figures having a record of it might come in handy.

"You guys are more technologically advanced than we are," he muses. "We're still trying to figure out how to colonize planets and stuff."

[on_repeat]

Not a bad idea, taking notes. Echo's head inclines slightly. "Yeah? How far along would you say your planet's advancements are?"

[kyley_b]

"Well, we're still reliant on fossil fuels because of capitalism, but we have like solar and nuclear power. We have space travel but we can't go very far with manned ships. Uh. We have the Internet? That's kinda cool."

He's pretty sure Earth is seriously unimpressive.

[on_repeat]

Not that unimpressive. Although he can't fully wrap his head around not being able to travel through space, Echo actually looks intrigued. "You mind telling me a little more about everything you've just said?"

[kyley_b]

"Oh, sorry. Uhm." Kyle thinks, trying to figure out where to start. "Most of our vehicles are terrestrial. Pretty much all of them run on gas, which we get by sincerely fucking up the environment. Most people know this, but the planet is more or less run by several large corporations, so they tend to go for what's going to make them richer over what's sustainable." Which sounds super depressing when said aloud.

"Space travel is mostly at the exploration stage. We can't get very far, so we've had to send robots to any planet further than our moon. And I don't mean, like, humanoid AIs or anything like that."

[on_repeat]

Echo frowns. It really does sound like doom and gloom. "They shouldn't be able to do that," he says. "I can't believe there are people who think that way..."

So he tries to encourage, tries to find the silver lining. "...Maybe you'll get there eventually. Things tend to change, right?"

[kyley_b]

"We're a very short-sighted species, I'm afraid."

Kyle smiles. It's a bright, genuine expression. "I like to think so. People are trying to change it, and I think we can get there. Just takes a lot of effort."