Maximillian Arikas' and Professor Perryton's start

[Pulpatoon]

Apologies. I think my note in the OOC thread may have gotten lost in the conversation that followed. Anyway, I was out of town, but now am back! Let's get rolling!

Perryton gives his backside a vigorous rub to soothe the ache of the kick, and takes a moment to smooth his shirtsleeves and mustache.

Initiative: [1d100] = 69

If the Professor wins initiative, he'll attempt to seize his opponent. If he can either pin the gorillas arms, or lift him off the ground, he's pretty sure the gorilla will concede without either of them losing face. If he loses inititaive, he'll attempt to dodge under the gorillas attack and look for an opportunity to get in close and grapple.

In either case: [1d100] = 85

[Rukellian]

The professor recovers from his attack and moves with unnatural speed and nimbleness. The gorilla's attempt to sieze him fails as he grasps but that of an afterimage. Before he even realizes it, his arms are buckled backwards, unable to move! The gorilla then finds himself rising from the ground in a helpless state. The gorilla rifleman all start to make audible noises of surprise, gasps even as none of them saw this coming. The noise intensifies as their attention turns to Maximillian and his opponent. The gorilla can be seen charging the boy, but it cannot move, like a wave of air was pushing it back with equal force. The gorilla enforcer starts to rage, letting out a howl as its desperate attempts in breaking through his invisibles fails. The gorilla then collapses from exhaustion and Max remains untouched this round.

"Enough!" Shouts a voice inside the minds of Professor Perryton and Maximillian, "the ritual is over!" And with that the professor releases his hold on the gorilla and rejoins Max. There is a silence afterwards that seems to last for a minute. No words are said, but thoughts are exchanged instead. ".... you two are the first to have shown the necessary strength to stand among us. You may enter our city. Come."The telepathic moon gorillas start to leave the docking bay one by one, still casting surprised glances at the two supers before them as they leave. Max cannot help but smile, the pride of a victor clearly written all over his face.

[Pulpatoon]

The Professor unrolls his shirtsleeves, tucks in his shirt tails, retrieves his tweed jacket and slips it back on. He nods to the gorilla he had been fighting and says, "A damned fine tussle, my friend. It was an honor."

Resettling his spectacles on his nose, he then turns to Maximillian. "Are you alright? Anything sprained on bruised? Don't worry, there's no shame in showing the marks of battle, now that it is over. I could use a fair dab of lineament, myself.

"No? Feeling spry? Good, grab our things and come along."

The Professor waves goodbye to the crew of the submarine and follows the gorillas out of the docking bay.

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

"Alright, Professor!"

Maximillian gathers their stuff & says So Long to the sub crew, then follows the Gorillas & the Professor out of the docking bay.

[Rukellian]

Maximillian and Professor Perryton follow the gorillas into a high tech corridor, connected to the docking bay and notices that they don't even have to input a code or such to open it, it is as if they are just willing the doors to open. When you approach the very same door, it remains closed to you and it does not open automatically like it did for the gorillas. You look around and cannot find a control panel or keypad to open it. There must be some sort of trick to it, Max thinks to himself. The Professor knows it to not be a trick, but regardless, he will humor the boy and see if he can figure it out. He stands back with a smile with his arms folded, observing his problem solving skills at work.

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Pulpatoon, can I have you roll an Intelligence check for me?

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

"Hmmm, ok Professor is this where you tell me to use the Force?"

"Because i am thinking of opening the door right now & nothing."

"Do i think of a code? & or think the door to slide open like it did for the Gorilla fellas?"

[Pulpatoon]

"You are surrounded by information, dear boy. Observe what is around you, consider the evidence, and then test your hypotheses."

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

"Uhmm, maybe the door just doesn't think i exist, Professor."

"Does it do a DNA scan? i don't see a doorknob or pressure/movement sensor"

[Pulpatoon]

"Excellent, you're letting your mind open to possibilities beyond the obvious and expected. That's quite promising, Maximillian.

"You're familiar with the Vedic notion of reality as a participatory fiction, of course. The Veil of Illusion, yes? And then there's the empirical paradox: all knowledge is derived from the senses, yet the senses are fallible. Why, one of the very first things I ever said to you was that reality was too big to fit in the boxes of perception that we can't help but place ourselves in.

"In other words, my boy, you're on the right track. Don't trust your senses exclusively, because they are a filtered representation of reality. And consider our hosts. We've seen them at their bellicose peak, but that was out there, on their front stoop. Now we are entering their home, their hearth. They are an old race, lost and with little hope of returning home, but they haven't lost hope. They are artists and poets and explorers, dedicated to seeking beauty, knowledge, and experience. And, of course, they are telepathic. Different senses, different filters on reality."

The Professor steps forward and raps his knobbly knuckles on the bulkhead door. "There is a door here. But what is a door? How would our hosts perceive a door? What's more, how would they want a door to be perceived?"

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

"So like the door isn't really there."

Max tries to just walk through ignoring it.

[Rukellian]

Maximillian attempts to walk through the door as if it wasn't even there. The result, his face slams into the door and he falls backwards. It would seem as if Max has not caught on to the ideology at work here. He still considers the door a door, an obstacle to overcome.

[Pulpatoon]

The Professor facepalms. He rubs his eyebrows, takes off his glasses, pretends to wipe them off on the hem of his jacket while counting slowly to himself.

"No, no, dear boy. I said that the door is there. It is solid. Very solid, from the resounding clang you just produced. The secret is not in ignoring the door, but in how you choose to perceive it. You are looking at this door as a barrier. And so, it is barring your way. But think about the wonders that await you on the other side. The miracles to behold! This doorway is not a barrier; it is a gateway. A portal to vistas unseen, bright new experiences!

"Try perceiving the door that way. Don't think at it, just observe the door, absorb the information, and choose how your senses filter that information."

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

Now tries to perceive the starship Enterprise-D bridge & again tries to go through the door...

[Rukellian]

The door, after much mental struggle, finally opens for Max. He seemed to finally get the right idea. The professor nods his head in approval, thinking there may just be hope for this boy yet! What lied behind the door though was more than what Max could have imagined! As the two supers stepped outside the corridor, a vast underwater cityscape stretches before them, complete with colossal towers of advanced architecture, flying vehicles zooming up above, lights illuminating the streets and all sorts of amazing things; all a little too futuristic then the professor anticipated, but regardless, the sight was still remarkable. To think that all of this, was sitting underneath the Marina Trench!

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[Pulpatoon]

The Professor looks around to see if the delegation of Gorillas is still around, or if they have been left on their own.

[Rukellian]

The two appear to be on their own, though they can see other telepathic moon gorillas traversing the streets around them, going about their own business. Some pass the occasional look at you two, giving off a "what is that?" glance, but the moments only last for just that, a moment. Among the passing civilian gorillas, you can also spot a rifleman guard posted here and there, a pair of their eyes always following your movements. You start to wonder what they could possibly be guarding against all the way down here in their own city ship...

[Pulpatoon]

"Notice the lack of any visible signage? A total absence of what city planners all 'wayfinding?' That is surely partly due to having a relatively small population with a contained area—there aren't many strangers, and everybody already knows their way around. But there is always a need to communicate with the public, yes? 'Road under repair,' 'Lane temporarily closed for such-and-such parade,' 'Closeout sale on big, scary laser rifles,' and so on.

"So, if we know that there must be communications, and we cannot detect them visually, and we know that the locals make use of a different spectrum of senses, how should we proceed to find out way?"

[PyroArrow]

Maximillian Arikas:

"Uhmm, Professor, does anyone here know of what we bring & if so why are they not here to meet us?"

"Do we have to 'think' our way to a hotel first?"

[Pulpatoon]

"I admit, I was expecting to be met. I had, after all arranged this visit ahead of time. I'm sure we'll find the intended recipients of these gifts at the research site."The Professor looks around the interior city. "I do hope we haven't come at a bad time. Things seem a little tenser than I was expecting."

"Oh, and remember the lesson of the door. It is not so much thinking at, as opening your mind to. There should be a constant stream of public service information, silent and invisible until you choose to dip into it."

The Professor closes his eyes and leans his head back, as if enjoying an ocean breeze.

[Rukellian]

After waiting around the entrance for a few moments, taking in the wonders of the city before them, two gorillas approach the Professor and Max. They dressed in ornate armor, a form of status no doubt showing their hierarchial position within the guard. They also wield giant spiked clubs of similiar ornate design. Though they appear crude in function, you get the feeling that you'd rather not learn more about the weapons, for the sake of your future health.

They speak to you through thoughts, as is the case for most of the dialogue exchanges thus far. "We are to bring you to our main hall. The Mind would like to have an audience with you."

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