Maximillian Arikas' and Professor Perryton's start

[mordechiyoel]

The Professor comes bustling into the office. "Good morning, my boy. All well?"

He waves airily at the stack of texts. "Had a chance to look through them yet? No? Well, hop to. Ipsa scientia potestas est, eh? Knowledge is power, and what have you."

"Oh, and keep an eye on that case. Things could get very dire indeed if we mislaid that before our little voyage."

Perryton checks his watch. "I'm off to check in with your father, actually. He's been doing wonders with dredging up equipment on short notice. We're meeting down at the harbor to talk submarines. Might get a shrimp salad sandwich, while I'm down there. I have an absolute weakness for a good shrimp salad sandwich. Care to trot along, or shall I convey your regards to the pater familias?"

Still a little drained from the day before, Max weakly smiles at the Professor. "Please say hi to Dad,"
as he sighed, looking at his desk.
Over the next hour or so, he slowly puts the books away in some semblence of order and actually cleaned off his desk.
All that was left was the box with the markings on it as well as the little note from the Professor of "Do not touch or open".
He wasn't in the mood to tempt fate and for once, he did not mind listening.
He left the box as is and decided that it was time for a lunch break.

[Pulpatoon]

"Oh yes, do lead the way. This vessel can handle the depths necessary to reach our destination? And the crew is prepared for... unusual sights? I can't abide people wilting away like a bunch of hothouse flowers the first time they catch a glimpse of a sea monster, or laughing tesseract, or what have you."

The Professor makes his way to the submarine, calling out "Hallooooooo!" to any crew.

[Rukellian]

The men in the break room stand up upon seeing the two enter and line up in formation. They all click their boots together and give a proper salute whilst saying: "Sir!" Mr. Arikas then raises his hand and motions for them to stand at ease. "Professor Perryton, this is my nautical division of Arikas Shipping Security. They are all licensed pilots for the submarine in question and can serve as excellent bodyguards in a pinch. As good as any Navy Marine that his country boasts, maybe even better." He then looks to the security force and introduces the Professor. "Men! This is Professor Perryton, your employer for the expedition ahead. I expect you treat him and my son with the utmost care. His orders are my own, remember that. Professor, would you like to share any words with my men before we depart?"

[Pulpatoon]

"Gentlemen... for it appears you all are gentlemen, hmm? No women on the crew? Tsk, tsk. Not beholden to the old sailors' superstitions, are we? In any case: Gentlemen! I am Professor Percival Perryton, and I am pleased that you can join us on what promises to be a most illuminating journey. To give you some scope of the vast significance of this undertaking let me share with you—and I really must insist that you keep this under your hat until the expedition has been completed, confidentiality is an absolutly essential element—that we will do nothing less than possibly confirm the prevalent theory on the life cycle of a species of previously unknown and nearly-imperceptible spuriophagics. Can you imagine? It could completely upend our understanding of the entire categories of mnemovores and heuroplast transpiration!"

"So go about your work knowing that you labor in the service of a great and noble cause. And don't make any banana jokes, lest you enrage the moon gorillas. Good day!"

Perryton nibbles the last of his shrimp salad sandwich as he turns around and wanders off to the gangplank. Just before disembarking he calls back "Oh, Captain, this vessel is rated for pressures in excess of 16,000 psi, isn't it? Yes?"

[Rukellian]

The Captain replies with a salute as does everyone else on the crew, and then confirms the detail. "Sir, the vessel is of proper specifications for the Marina Trench, sir!"

"And there you have it," Mr. Arikas says afterwards as they make their way to the vessel's docking bay. "They are the best I can muster at such short notice, I hope you understand. There obedience and job effeciency will be of the highest quality, rest assured." Mr. Arikas and the professor make their way to the end of along underground tunnel and stand before a high tech mechanized door. Mr. Arikas is quick to type in the passcode and the door then hums to life as it opens, revealing the docking bay and the vessel in question.

submarine.jpg (214.83 KiB) Viewed 446 times

[Pulpatoon]

The Professor gives out a long whistle. "Joseph, you have outdone yourself. She is a thing of beauty. It seems a shame to waste so fine a vessel on a single destination. I'll be sorely tempted to make a few side-trips."

"I don't suppose I could talk you into joining us? Revisit some old times, enjoy the company of your son, and I remember who intrigued you were by the mention of that pod of mermaids I documented in the late Seventies. And who could blame you? Their ablution rituals alone are worth a good dozen articles."

[Rukellian]

"Ahaha, as much as I would love to join you two on your scientific venture, I unfortunately have some business to take care of on my end, very pressing business at that. You understand how it is, don't you?" Mr. Arikas shakes his head to emphasize his regret for not being able to come along.

"This is all I can do for you at the moment and know that it technically isn't much considering that this place does not exist as well as this vessel right in front of you. Do bring back a souvineir for me though, would you?" He says this with a kidding smile as he gets ready to leave.

"I will leave you to its inspection then, as I am sure you would like to familiarize yourself with the vessel and its inner workings. If you will excuse me."

[Pulpatoon]

The Professor does just as his friend suggests, examining the submarine thoroughly, and learning as much as he can about its operation. He had previously read the technical texts on submarines that he had left for Maximilian, so he had a solid, if theoretical, base of knowledge. Between his own exploration, and his systematic interview of the crew, he should be very familiar with the vessel by the end of the day.

Should I roll anything to do with Perryton's intellect to see how well he has mastered the sub?

An hour or two after dark, he finally leaves the harbor, catching the bus back to campus, where he sticks his head into the grad office to see if Max is still around.

[Rukellian]

I was actually just about to ask you to roll an intellect check, after thinking about it some last night. The result will mainly determine how much information you were able to process during your time in the submarine and interviewing the crew. Your intellect rank value allows you the understanding what is being talked about, but the success rate of the roll will determine just how much you learned.

[Pulpatoon]

Intellect 40: [1d100] = 28

Despite his enormous mental wattage and thorough examination of the submarine, it appears that, in the end, he threw his hands up at all of this "technological flim-flammery. Nothing but a lot of cogs and diodes and thingmabobs. Fit knowledge for the button-pushers of the world, perhaps."

He makes a mental note to be sure that Maximilian learns the submarine operations more thoroughly than he did.

[Rukellian]

Intellect 40: [1d100] = 28

Despite his enormous mental wattage and thorough examination of the submarine, it appears that, in the end, he threw his hands up at all of this "technological flim-flammery. Nothing but a lot of cogs and diodes and thingmabobs. Fit knowledge for the button-pushers of the world, perhaps."

He makes a mental note to be sure that Maximilian learns the submarine operations more thoroughly than he did.

Hehe, nice response.

[mordechiyoel]

In a short period of time, Max is asleep on top of the textbooks that he was charged to read from the Professor.
His face sticks to a page as drool forms a solid glue between flesh and paper.

OOC: I was away for a few days.. back now

[Pulpatoon]

Perryton knocks loudly before sticking his head into the grad office. "Hello! How goes the march of education, the filling of the pail, the lighting of the fire?"

"Your father passes on his regards. And he has procured for us a very fine vessel. Do pay attention to the operations manual, in there. Never pays to rely too much on the crew. They have a tendency to get themselves eaten, in my experience, and then how does one get home?"

[Rukellian]

I COULD make this scene a bit more interesting... but I will wait to see if Mordechiyoel posts back soon. Don't want to derail this arc too much now.

[mordechiyoel]

I COULD make this scene a bit more interesting... but I will wait to see if Mordechiyoel posts back soon. Don't want to derail this arc too much now.

my apologies guys..

starting a new job and I no longer have time to play !

Cheers,
Malcolm

[Pulpatoon]

my apologies guys..

starting a new job and I no longer have time to play !

Cheers,
Malcolm

Is this a permanent retirement? In which case, I suppose Max gets the demigod-flu, or something, and has to miss the trip?

The Professor will continue his preparations, confident that nothing unusual or untoward will interrupt his progress.

[Rukellian]

Give me some time on this one, was not expecting him to drop out so soon. I do have another person who is showing interest in this campaign, but I'm not sure if he will be filling one of the two open spots or making his own character. We will see. Thank you for your patience and I will try to get this resolved soon. The arc is still a go for now!

P.S.
Also, don't do anything with your character right now, consider time frozen with the professor in the room with Maximillian. Thank you for your understanding!

[Pulpatoon]

The Professor decides to examine a piece of paper of the graduate student's desk. He reaches his hand out, towards the paper. His hand crosses half the distance between himself and the paper.

The paper lies on the desk. The Professor's fingers spread out slightly, in anticipation of picking up the paper, of feeling their texture. His hand continues forward. It crosses half the distance from its last position and the paper.

The tweed cloth of the Professor's jacket sighs and relaxes from its form bunched position as the arm extends. His hand continues forward. It crosses half the distance from its last position and the paper.

His hand comes closer to it, but there is still space, space which must be crossed. His hand continues forward. It crosses half the distance from its last position and the paper.

The paper lies on the desk. His fingers appear to hover just over the smooth ivory plane of the paper. The distance is so small, but it is still there. His hand continues forward. It crosses half the distance from its last position and the paper.

As half-distances grow ever smaller, the Professor's hand appears to move less, and more slowly, but still, always crossing half the distance from its last position to its destination.

The Professor now appears frozen. Movement has become imperceptible. The distances transversed have become miniscule, smaller and smaller units, always split in half, but always with more distance ahead, diminishing towards infinity.

Time ticks by. The Professor is trapped, reaching forward, towards the paper, forever. The paper lies on the desk.

ZENO'S PARADOX STRIKES AGAIN.

[PyroArrow]

So, eh, what book is Max drooling on?! The Submarine manual?

[Rukellian]

Max is indeed drooling over the submarine manual that the professor prepared for him ahead of time! Time unfreezes in the room and the professor is able to finally reach the paper he was grasping for. The professor is unimpressed by what he sees written and then starts to wake the boy up, when all of a sudden, a certain ringtone fires off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0IUR4gkPIE

Maximillian is then startled awake by the sudden noise, papers stuck to his dazed face. The professor smiles and answers the call, it is Joseph Arikas, Max's father. "I wanted to say this in person, but work has me tied up for the next couple of days. Do send my boy my sincerest wishes, and have a fruitful expedition professor! The submarine and crew are ready for you two, and all is on schedule at the moment."