Child's Play Script, cir. 2013

Note to Supervisors: There have been some slight changes to the actual mission since the script was written.

Child’s Play

Briefing:

For many years, ships have tried to go through (Lelantos) with some of them disappearing and never being seen again. We have seen Cartel ships near that area, and so our suspicion has always been that the Cartel are behind the disappearance of our ships.

In order to confirm that suspicion, we sent in the UCS Asteria two days ago. We have been using this ship to test some new stealth technology. With this technology, the ship was supposed to enter the Lelantos and find out what the Cartel is doing there. Soon after entering that area of space, we lost contact with the ship.

We cannot let that stealth technology fall into the hands of the Cartel. We are sending you in to figure out where the UCS Asteria is. The final readings we got from the ship were sporadic, and so we do not know the exact position where it disappeared. You are going to have to start searching through the Lelantos to find anything that would lead you to the UCS Asteria.

Mission:

The Atlantis sets course for the Lelantos and activates warp engines. They will have already been located near that area, so travel time is shorter. Once arriving at the Lelantos, they pick a direction to start looking and go.

While they are searching, they see an unidentified blip on their sensors. As they move towards it, it continues to quickly flash on their sensors. They will most likely try scanning the object; if they do, they receive information that it is the UCS Asteria.

The crew tries to contact the ship. The moment they do, an energy beam attaches to their ship. The lights and electronics start going haywire. The main view screen turns into static. As the lights go out, they hear a scraping noise (their ship is scraping against the edge of the facility) and then silence. Everything stays black for a moment.

Through the static on the main viewscreen, they see the faint image of a creepy little girl appear (from here on out, the little girl will be referred to as Alice, although the crew will never find out her name). Alice begins to speak to them. She welcomes them and informs them that they are going to be tested as they go through stages. The stages test their physical, emotional, and mental strength. The only way to leave is to complete all the stages.

Note: The crew is in a testing facility created by a very advanced race. This race uses humans (and other races) as lab rats. It not only provides them with information about other races, but also is entertainment. The ship is inside a small pod that is part of a huge facility. The small pod is like the holodeck in Star Trek; although the pod is small, the crew can feel like they are traveling through space.

The words “Stage 1: Physical” shows up on the main viewscreen. Alice scans the database and learns the names of Strategic Operations and the CAG. She tells the crew, “In this stage, stay alive. The only officers able to operate your weapons are (Strategic’s Name) and (CAG’s Name). Keep them safe. Begin Stage 1.”

As soon as she ends, the ship immediately goes to red alert. Fighter contacts appear on sensors and masked intruders begin attacking the bridge. Strategic Operations and the CAG have to battle the incoming enemy while security and the rest of the crew protect them from the intruders. If the intruders are able to take over the bridge (or Strategic Ops or the CAG are stunned), then the crew fails the stage and it begins again. As they defeat a wave of the enemy, the next wave appears and is bigger and harder. This continues until the Atlantis is “destroyed” and everything is blacks out.

Alice appears on the main view screen and tells them they have completed Stage 1. At this point, she gives them the choice: they can choose to complete all the stages themselves, or they can bring in another ship to finish the stages for them. If they choose to complete the levels, they will move straight to Stage 2. If they choose to switch with another ship, the UCS Antares comes to answer an automated distress call from the facility will enter the Stage. Alice will then tell the crew that she lied; both ships must complete the levels. The Antares will contact the Atlantis to try and figure out what is going on. When the crew explains what is going on, the Antares will refuse to participate. Alice will warn them, but they continue to refuse and begin to turn on their engines. The Antares explodes, and Alice will warn the Atlantis crew that they must comply. She explains that in Stage 2, the crew must figure out the answers to her riddles while they repair the ship, but they won’t be alone.

As the main viewscreen displays Stage 2, the computer informs the crew that something has entered the ship (that “something” is a clown, although the crew does not know it yet). Damage Control and the Engineer will have to start working to get systems repaired. As they do, the crew will start receiving reports of something weird going around the ship. The crew catches their first glimpse of the clown as it spins the transporter door and leaves behind a balloon animal with the instructions for submitting their answers to the riddles as well as the first riddle.

In order to submit their answers, the crew will use the long range messaging system. If the crew guesses the wrong answer, they will receive punishments (which could be simple things such as losing power all the way to the clown killing a non-bridge officer). If the crew needs more clues, there will be other balloon animals that they can find (away mission), but every balloon they pop makes the clown angry.

Once the crew figures out the answers to the riddles, Stage 2 will end (the number of riddles can fluctuate based on time and interest of the crew). Alice explains that in Stage 3, the crew will have to demonstrate their knowledge and skills as they navigate through a maze. They are given a riddle at the beginning of the stage, and they have to submit their answer at a specified location within the maze.

By this point, if the crew has not realized they are in a holographic simulation, the main engineer will help guide them to the idea. The main engineer will present the problem that even if they can escape the program, there is nothing to keep the program from continuing to capture ships (during their traveling through the maze, they will see the remains of different ships that have been destroyed within the program). They will decide to create a virus they can upload to the program that would force it to end the programs and decloak so the Atlantis can destroy it.

The ship will start through the maze. They encounter various challenges, such as battles or memory games. During their traveling, they find the ship they were sent to rescue, the UCS (Asteria). When they contact the ship, they find that the crew on the ship has aged. Time is not the same within the program. The two ships work together to figure out the solution to the riddle and submit it.

When they reach the end of Stage 3, their ship will come online and it will look as though they have entered clear space. The crew realizes this is not the case when Alice’s voice comes on and tells them that they completed all three stages, but there is a bonus stage that must be completed. Only one ship may leave the maze. The Atlantis can choose to destroy the USS Asteria or they must activate the self-destruct. Alice gives them a countdown and tells them at the end of the countdown, only one ship may remain.

During the countdown, the Chief of Operations needs to finish the virus and upload it to the computer program. The crew can determine what they are going to do about the problem; their transporters and communications will be disabled, and so if they can find another way to rescue the UCS Asteria, they can rescue the people on board. (Ex. They could tractor beam the ship, dock it, and let all the UCS Asteria crewmembers on board. A solution that would NOT work would be putting the entire Atlantis crew on the UCS Asteria because that ship is too small).

At the end of the countdown, the upload the virus and destroy the UCS Asteria. They are pulled out into normal space. (Depending on time, the virus can destroy the facility, or the Atlantis can fire weapons at it).