1.08 Send Me Back

Order

1.07

Status

::PROTO::

Location Status

Left first message for contact.

GC Point of Contact

Allen

Location Notes

Park outside Letterman Digital Arts Center in Presidio

Type

Mandatory Puzzle

Plot Setup

With the players' help, Prof. Chronus has repaired and re-calibrated the time machine, and can lock in on Doctor When. She wants to bring him back right away, but he insists on completing his mission and gives instructions on where to send him, to where he was originally trying to go. However, the communication link is erratic, and the message is garbled. (Or possibly the audio doesn't work yet, so he does a funny dance or something that needs to be decoded.)

Sean notes: why wouldn't Doctor When try to communicate as clearly as possible? Even just writing letters with his finger in the air. Still, I'll be willing to grant him the Idiot Ball if enough big fun will be had to provoke forgiveness from the players.

[EARLIER CONCEPT had Doctor When arriving specifically at the big bang. Old description follows:] But Doctor When is still stuck at the very beginning of time. Prof. Chronus will focus the remote viewfinder on Doctor When. But all they see is a dark screen. "Hello? Is anyone there? It's totally dark here. Oops...I think I knocked something over. Hold it...there's some light now.... Whoa. It's getting bigger. Fast. You better get me out of here. Now! Send me to these time and space coordinates: garble." Unfortunately because of the intensity of the Big Bang or the long time gap, the message is garbled. (Erik's note: I like the above, but any concern about disconnect between "get me out of here NOW!" and the fact that players will take X minutes to solve the puzzle? Another option that we've discussed is to have the audio not work because of the huge time distance/Big Bang static, so the Dr. does a funny dance or something that needs to be decoded.)

Props

Short silent movie of Doctor When pantomiming his desired new destination. But the movie is chopped up into 15 pieces that the players need to put back into the right order. Need Javascript application--Sean working on it.

Plot Point to Convey

The Doctor doesn't want to be returned to 2012 quite yet...he wants to go to his high school science fair first.

Short Description

Garbled silent video message from Doctor When instructing where to send him.

How To Give To Teams

Lab Assistant at site tells team (script, p. 15),

Welcome! From this location you can tune in to live feed from the Temporal View-O-Scope. Just use the program that the Long Now mechanics gave you and enter access code XXXX. Call the Institute on speakerphone when you're done.

After they see the video, the Lab Assistant tells them (script, p. 15),

I saw the remote feed, too. We have to help Doctor When fix the timeline! You need to decode his final message. Then call Prof. Chronos on your speakerphone.

Puzzle Answer

The time, date, and possibly location of an hour or two before the "Science Fair Incident". (Any time/date format is probably okay.) 1986 1:00pm ... have we picked an exact day yet?

Manager

Sean

Response to Correct Answer

?

Other Notes

Prof. Chronos notes the time/date and says something like "That's odd, that's when we were both in high school. Wonder what he's up to. Oh well!" ... and pushes the button to send Doctor When there.