A Ride on the M // WIZARD, W, ALL RIDERS, ASSEMBLE! // HOLODECK MOTORCYCLE COURSE OPEN!

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro has been quite busy in the holodeck for the last week or two, and he was usually working on something on a PADD (though his typewriter was never far behind it). He had definitely been embracing the Enterprise's tech in a big way, only occasionally needing a bit of help from Philip. But, it was a delicate dance between figuring this system out and not giving Philip enough information for him to guess what was going on. He wanted to surprise him.

Finally, he had a finished product. And what a product it was. No one could ever mistake this for any kind of real place. From the entrance, one could see Fuuto Tower, a gigantic windmill turn in the distance, and the landscape is dotted with other Earth landmarks, as well as some from other worlds and places as found in the Enterprise databases. The lava plains of Vulcan, the Great Domes of Qu'nos, the cliffs of Undalar on Bajor, and dozens of other landscapes and locations from other worlds. Overall, it was quite the undertaking for someone that had never even left his hometown before. But, as fond as he was of his town, he was sure there were others that felt similarly.

However, that didn't yet address what his purpose in all this was. A large motorcycle course, with a few subdivisions for difficulty levels. The highest level course was both long and a little treacherous, with jumps, tight turns, and obstacles that come along with no warning like falling rocks and slick spots. He did leave all the safeguards on, so injury is unlikely. The lowest level course is a short and simple banked oval.

On the day he's ready to debut it, he's posted a couple of signs, in places like the halls of the guest quarters, next to the Ten Forward doors, under the console of the other holodecks. "Motorcycle Races! Holodeck 2! 5 pm!" Short and sweet.

On arrival, people are going to find Shotaro looking quite proud of himself, and a line of motorcycles of various types and sizes and a console set up so if someone doesn't see what they prefer they can generate it. From motocross bikes, to vintage World War 2 models, your classic chopper, and some sport bikes. There was also one or two from oher worlds that sounded cool. Each was poised with helmets and gloves perched on the seats. But off to one side was a particularly interesting matched pair.

Closed to Philip
He tended to drop in on Philip unannounced. He'd even started letting himself in like he lived there. Sorry Clint. "Hey, Partner. Time for you to find out what I've been doing." He was glad he had an opportunity to surprise him. As often as they shared consciousness at home, that would make it pretty difficult. Any secret from Philip had to be a secret from Shotaro too. But since they hadn't been Double in a while, that made it easier.

[OOC: Party post! Come one, come all, even newly apped characters! Because who needs timelines? Bring a friend or harass Shotaro. Put in your subject if you're open to everyone or if you want Shotaro :|b]

Comments

Best alien boy! :D

[never_felt_better]

If he knew he was John Crichton, code name The Scientist, he would probably hug Jonas. Not John Crichton: The Human, or John Crichton: The Inferior Being, but something that actually reflects who he is.

Which could be harder to believe now than at other times, given the way he's bounding around the room like an excited Labrador puppy.

"Jonas, my man!" he beams, stopping by a gorgeous 2012 Indian Chief Classic. He's nothing but smiles for the boldly-going social scientist with the stolen book. "I am in hog heaven!"

Yes, the pun is intended.

[a_quick_study]

Jonas isn't a scientist and makes no claim to be one, though he's learning a lot from Major Carter and her primers on astrophysics and wormhole theory. But he's fascinated by scientists and he likes the scientists he meets, in general. Particularly John, with his easy humor and his good-natured approach to the sudden arrival of a very confused SG team member in the bar with him.

"Good to see you again."

John is grinning, and Jonas smiles too, drawing closer to John and the motorcycle the man's standing beside.

Some things John had said last time they met had confused him, and he's not familiar with 'hog heaven', but he can guess.

He is, after all, good at making connections.

"Major Carter always threatened to teach me how to ride one of these."

[never_felt_better]

"Good to see you too," he says, reaching out for a friendly shake. John in his element, without fear of the Peacekeepers or whatever other weirdness the universe can throw at him, is a fun guy to be around. When he gets excited, he shares that excitement with the people he's with.

"Shut the front door," he says, frankly appalled to hear that Jonas has never ridden a motorcycle before. "You've never been on one of these?"

[a_quick_study]

Jonas takes the hand that's offered, giving it a firm but friendly shake. Another Earth tradition that he'd had to learn, but that one wasn't a hard one, and had never confused him quite so much as fingers crossed had.

He shakes his head, his smile looking a little sheepish in response to the clear astonishment John shows that he's never been on a motorcycle.

"I'm, uh, afraid not," he says, apologetic. "Like I said, Major Carter wanted to show me, but we never got around to it."

It was one of those Earth things beyond his experience that he'd never even known existed before he wound up there.

"We didn't have motorcycles on my planet."

[never_felt_better]

"Well, butter my butt and call me a roll," he mutters, shaking his head. Okay, maybe he's enjoying screwing with Jonas a little, but the longer he hangs around John the more he's going to have to know these colloquialisms, so he might as well get started learning. "Among land vehicles, four-wheelers are the preferred method on most planets I've seen, so I shouldn't be surprised. But you've got to try riding one. Uh, assuming Major Carter wouldn't get offended if I stole her thunder."

He figures they'll get around to it someday, just like he figures he'll get back home and perfect the Farscape project. He didn't plan on dying out in uncharted space, and he sure as heck doesn't plan on doing it on the starship Enterprise. Jonas is off-limits, too.

[a_quick_study]

"Our technology was kind of behind what you see on Earth." More advanced than planets that still had Goa'uld overlords, but still behind Earth.

There were a lot of things they didn't have on his planet. That includes not only technology (and, of course, foodstuffs), but also a lot of the strange turns of phrase of which John is rather fond.

Jonas gives him a confused look, raising one hand for a moment before dropping it.

"Yeah. Uh. I don't think she'd mind. She's got a long list of things to teach me."

He's always eager to learn, but the Major doesn't always have the time.

(Or, he sometimes feels, the inclination.)

[never_felt_better]

"Uh-huh," John says, setting his hands on his hips and giving Jonas an eyeing-over. "She's kind of a hardass, huh? She and Aeryn would probably get along great."

He grins out of shared camaraderie. It's not an insult so much as it is male bonding, and hell, John knows Aeryn has her own long list that she's not even remotely interested in starting with him. He's more than willing to admit that.

When she's not in earshot.

"Well, get over here, man!" John says, waving him over. "What kind of transportation do you have on your planet? What are you used to?"

[a_quick_study]

That gets a sheepish little smile and an awkward rub at the back of his head from Jonas. It's definitely true that Major Carter can be intimidating, frightening even, and that he doesn't quite understand her, sometimes, but he's not sure she'd appreciate the description.

Still, it's kind of true.

"She can be a little scary when she wants to."

She's a Major in the United States Air Force, so that probably shouldn't be surprising, and ... he's kind of glad of it, since Jonas himself is certainly not a fighter, which leaves him a little outnumbered on SG-1.

Jonas obeys the very definite beckon from his friend, walking up to the machine. He's seen Major Carter's motorcycle a couple of times, and it's definitely identifiable as the same sort of machine, though Jonas sees some differences, the significance of which he's not clear on.

"Well, we've got the internal combustion engine, so we've got some things kind of like cars, we just never worked out the motorcycle."

[never_felt_better]

John bobs his head enthusiastically. "Good, good. It's the same general principle, all under the classification motor vehicle, you've just got a few minor differences in operation and a few big ones in experience."

He grins. "This baby's a new model based on a classic design. Six speed transmission, closed loop sequential port injection with heated oxygen sensors. Your main controls are gonna be up in the handlebars rather than at your feet. Brakes, acceleration, throttle, all of that. Your main problem, everyone's main problem, is gonna be balance at first. Rule number one: don't let the bike fall on you."

[a_quick_study]

"I, uh, don't actually drive. But I know the theory." He watches, when he leaves the base, how driving works, looks for patterns in the traffic. Occasionally, he comments on the erratic way in which some people seem to follow the rules of the road, or tries to guess what they are.

(That, he sometimes gets wrong.)

There's one thing that Jonas has liked about John from the start: his enthusiasm. It's just nice to be around someone who has that same sort of excitement in him that Jonas so often has. Sure, Jonas gets teased for it by his teammates back on Earth. He's always been teased for it, his whole life.

But John, he thinks, understands. And that excitement is shining through now as he goes over the parts of the machine.

"Balance. Right. So is there a trick to that, or is it staying upright until you have enough speed for physics to take over?"

[never_felt_better]

This is John with his hands clapped over his face. This is John pulling a Macaulay Culkin because he can not believe he just heard what he just heard.

"You've never driven before?!" he hollers, cheeks a bit smushed because of the whole, you know, hands. On his face. Thing. "Never?!"

Okay, nope. This is not happening. "Hop on, brother, I'm about to give you a crash course."

Beat.

"Okay, not the best choice of words," he admits.