This is an experimental Creative Write/Free write. I wrote this in the Pizza Guild Discord while sharing my screen and asking for input/direction/whatever from the community. I think it will be an interesting way to construct a post and have no idea how this will turn out!
Rules!
They are few:
Anyone else in the voice channel's input overrides mine- I will type and incorporate ideas and input as I do- ANYONE in voice can make me edit or whatever!
Pizza Tips for participants throughout the event.
Other than that this is a standard free writing format! So lets GOOOOOOO!
This week's story is a continuation of a previous Let's Write Together Event! Check it out here!
Scientists Log Day 4
I am alone on the surface of this desolate moon. With my far more capable crewmates crushed by the passage of those unknown cetaceans I stumbled in shock through the caverns and tunnels for what seemed like an eternity. I was surrounded by glowing crystals that seemed to vibrate with energy as I sought an exit. My instruments seem to be working better now that the creatures have left the area. I did some quick calculations to discover if the source of the radio disruptions had moved with them. It had indeed. It seems these creatures and their ethereal whale song were the source of all of our woes. If we had known of the existence of these enormous animals and their disruptive signals we may not have crashed in the first place. We may have already been rescued. The distraction of my calculations could not prevent me from occasionally sliding into terror at my predicament. Lost, alone, and stranded on a strange moon, I must find my way back to the ship and inform the Captain and passengers of this discovery. Eventually I found myself wandering up a slow incline that seemed to be headed back to the surface. It grew narrower as I climbed until eventually I was able to exit onto the moons surface once more through a cave that was clearly too small for creatures of the size that had killed my cohorts to pass through.
I am not certain I will be able to navigate back to the ship as easily as we found the cavern. On our initial journey we were following the radio disruption caused by the cetaceans. I do not have any such beacon to navigate by on my return, nor do I have any of the communications equipment or other tools we left at the entrance before we descended. I have developed a deep loathing for the resonant crystals and fine violet sand that seems to cover everything here. Now I know what it is... and I am forced to trudge through the stuff.
End Scientists Log
Captains Log Day 2
The plug has never fit properly. I had never realized how much of a problem this is until now. When you want your bath to last long enough for a whole ships fire to burn out a leaky plug just wont do. I sat in the tub far longer than I should have wondering whether it was safe to get out without a towel. Reginald still hasn't brought it for me. I harbor hope that he might be alive struggling to complete that last request. Eventually I decided I would have to replace the plug myself if I wanted to continue my bath. Of course a ships Captain must be presentable and well groomed. I brought the leaky plug with me to compare it with those in the crew quarters. Perhaps one of theirs will fit.
I made my way through smoldering ruins down twisted corridors to the elevator shaft. Luckily it was keeled over at a reasonable angle and I was able to climb down fairly easily. The crew quarters lie on the bottom tier of the ship and as I descended the damage seemed to be less- though still horrifying. The steel and titanium that the ship had been built with was still hot and I found myself sweating as I approached. I would definitely need another bath after all.
Finally arriving in the crews quarters, I made my way to the shared baths. I thought I heard voices coming from the mess area but dismissed it as the folly of a mind in shock. I HAD to find a new plug anyway. The baths were empty, I began going from tub to stall to shower to find what I was looking for. I heard the strange voices again as my search began in vain. It was not until I reached the last bath that I saw, gleaming as it dangled from the faucet of the tub, a perfect pristine bath plug. I snatched at it and pulled it free of its chain. With shaking hands I held it up to the plug from my own tub to compare. They appeared to match perfectly.
Suddenly I heard the voice again, much closer.
"Captain? What are you doing? We thought you were dead in the attack!"
I practically jumped out of my bathrobe and spun on the spot, hiding the two plugs behind my back as I did. It was one of my crew, a janitor I think... He still wore his uniform though it looked burned in places. It still had his nametag attached. "Antonio..." I seemed to remember he was good with plumbing and had set up my private bath. He seemed to notice me reading his nametag and scowled.
"Antonio! Have you seen Reginald? He was supposed to bring me a towel some time ago!"
"Sir..." The word seemed to taste like bile by the look on Antonio's face. "I think Reginald is dead. At least he isn't among the group of survivors I have managed to gather here! How are you still alive?"
"What do you mean how am I still alive? I've been trying to enjoy a lovely soak in my bath but someone needs to repair the plug it keeps on draining while I am trying to bathe. I seem to remember putting in a janitorial service request with the maintenance department before all this... How long do you think it should take to fix a silly plug?"
"Damn your plug, Captain, and damn your bath too! Everything keeps going from bad to worse and you're worried about a bath? Where are you even gonna get water from on this rock?" Antonio seemed outraged. How dare he talk to his Captain like that!
"I'll say it's going from bad to worse Antonio, first a crash, then a dead passenger, and now I can't even get my bath fixed! The stress is killing me."
"I think you'd better leave Captain, the other survivors aren't going to like hearing that you've been sat in a bathtub while we all fought through flames and watched our comrades die."
"And I don't like waiting for my bathtub to be repaired Matrino. Hop to it after you've dealt with this mess!" With that I stormed off, twin bathtub plugs in hand, to attempt to clean off the sweat and grime of my journey through the wreckage of the ship. As I left the crews quarters I spotted one of the old maintenance droids knocked over in a corner. It seemed to be in one piece so I approached it and gave it the Captains override codes. It immediately sprang to life, I looked into it's reflective lens past the image of my own face and knew in that moment, this droid would help me fix my bath. We headed back up the tipped elevator shaft and quickly returned to my quarters. The droid seemed to know exactly what I wanted and took the two plugs from me to attach the correct one to the tub as soon as we entered. It tried to run fresh water for me but the faucet was broken. I sighed, losing hope of every enjoying a warm relaxing bath again. The droid beeped and booped for a second then let off a brief plume of steam that raised my hopes once more. It began to fill the newly repaired bathtub with hot water.
"You'll do just fine, what are these old maintenance bots called again?"
"MOP" Booped the droid as it finished filling the tub.
"Well MOP, you'll be my official bath attendant until we can find Reginald! Congratulations on your promotion!"
Day 5 Log
I couldn't believe my encounter with the Captain, even after hundreds more people have died, all he cares about is his stupid luxuries. He is lucky I didn't drag him in front of the 6 other survivors to explain himself! As it is we have enough resources now to last a while. The crew quarters didn't suffer the brunt of the damage so most of the food and oxygen and water that we had been gathering in preparation for the mutiny survived the attack. We still do not understand exactly what it was that burned down the ship. In those first moments of chaos as fire sprang up everywhere a single shuttle managed to jettison from the wreck and flew off over the horizon. I hadn't even realized one of the shuttles was functional! I hope they went looking for help but at least we know some other survivors are out there! All we can really do is wait for the expedition to stop our radio signal from being disrupted to report in or the jamming signal to stop. We have repaired one of the radio transmitters and are ready to broadcast our distress beacon as soon as they are successful.
"I just saw the Captain!" I said to them as I returned from the crews baths to the kitchens where we had made ourselves comfortable. We did not want to be far from our food and water in case something else happened.
"What do you mean you just saw the captain?" Deloris the former security guard asked, incredulously.
"I mean, I just saw him in the crews baths wearing a bathrobe and searching around for a bathtub plug." I replied.
"WHAT? That's crazy!" Gerard shouted.
"Yeah, he seemed like he didn't realize anything else has happened... He was asking for Reginald and blabbering about his bath... Seems like he's still expecting you to show up with a towel Reg. You want to head up there with one for him?"
"No thanks, Antonio, he was crazy enough to work for before all of this happened!" Reginald replied, "I wouldn't go up there with a towel for him if you had a way home to offer in return!"
"Alright then, let's just forget about the captain for now, and focus on finding that shuttle with the other group of survivors on it! And have we heard anything back from Jeremy and the expedition yet?"
"No word yet, Antonio! We should focus on contacting or locating the shuttle. We will be able to accomplish more with more people!"
At that moment, a terrified voice came weakly through the intense static of the radio receiver.
"KSsshshshhh need assistance... Ksckskshshkksh lost everyone else Kscshshkshsh can't find the ship!"
It sounded like Jeremy.
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Wow... this is pretty impressive stuff. Over what time frame did this freewrite extend?... if you were in voice the whole time lol, it sounds quite daunting. You've done very well. So how does it work then? Do people in voice give you words to incorporate, wholes sentences, plot shifts? Very interesting idea you have here. I enjoyed the final product. 🙌
The events usually are about an hour to two hours. I share my screen and chat with everyone as I write! There are some folks who join the voice channel just to listen in with less participation and others that chat in voice or in the text channels. I incorporate any ideas that people suggest as we go through the storyline whether it is just a character name or edit a description or add a particular sentence or change the whole direction of the plot. If many people have opposing ideas we chat about things to decide or compromise and I do my best to add pieces from everyone.
I never know what we are going to be writing about until we start- even this one that was a continuation of a previous event I didn't know we would be continuing on a prior storyline until people in the chat started us off that way!
Some of the events have been illustrated live as well by the amazing @anikekirsten as we were writing them!
If it is something you're interested in come join us for the next one! It's every Thursday at 5:30 EST
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Thank you for the elucidation. Sounds pretty awesome. I will see if I am free, thanks! In any event keep it up. It's incredible writing for on the fly like that.
The community inspires and makes it possible! Thanks for your support and kind words! !PIZZA !ALIVE
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@lookingforspace! You Are Alive so I just staked 0.1 $ALIVE to your account on behalf of @dibblers.dabs. (1/10)
The tip has been paid for by the We Are Alive Tribe through the earnings on @alive.chat, feel free to swing by our daily chat any time you want.
