2.01 Introductory Lecture 2

Order

2.01

Status

::MOCKUP::

Location

Peach Frontier Labs (actually the school)

Type

Mandatory Presentation

Plot Setup

Players think they've returned to the Doctor When's laboratory to see him rematerialize

Props

• PowerPoint presentation on Erik's Laptop File:PPT for Chronos intro speech.ppt
• projector
• screen
• PA system
• time machine set with sound/light/smoke special effects.
• seats for players

Plot Point to Convey

The time stream has been altered. But only the players know this. The actors will deny it--from their perspectives in this timeline this is the very first time this has happened. At most they'll say that the time machine emits a low-level (almost certainly not dangerous) of chronotron radiation. Sometimes the emanations confuse people.

Prof. Chronus's high school friend, Doctor When, has flown in to assist with the unveiling of Chronos' time machine. Two of the key components of the time machine are the "midi ether co-keypads" and the "quantum chronomentometers." Prof. Chronus admonishes audience to "Never use time travel for petty personal gain." Players see that she's secretly carrying a pair of bolt cutters. Machine goes haywire.

Note that Doctor When't wife, Buffy, traveled with him to the demo. She must be a shrew and no longer the cheerleader hottie she was in high school. .

After the machine goes haywire, Doctor When explains that Prof. Chronus is bouncing around the timeline and needs help to return.

Short Description

Prof. Chronus gives a welcoming speech to the teams, parallel to Dr. When's speech at the start of Act I.

Open Time Period

When?

Staff Instructions

N/A

Detailed Description

Prof. Chronus gives a welcoming speech to the teams, parallel to Dr. When's speech at the start of Act I. She (and the other actors) do not acknowledge that any events from Act I happened. At the conclusion of the speech, Prof. Chronus enters the time machine, something breaks down, and she is "lost in time".

How To Give To Teams

LAB ASSISTANT

Thank you all for completing your C.R.A.P. applications. We know it was a lot of work so we're grateful you didn't make a stink about it.

With that out of the way it is almost time to start the presentation. Thank you for your patience.

Doctor When enters from a side door. He is now wearing a wedding ring...and a doomed expression. He is closely followed by an adult Buffy. The years have not been kind to the former beauty. And she's not kind to Doctor When, constantly henpecking him.

BUFFY

Wesley!

DOCTOR WHEN (exasperated stage whisper)

What, Buffy?

BUFFY

Twenty years ago you dragged me away from San Mateo...

DOCTOR WHEN

Yes, my wife. You have mentioned that.

BUFFY

Away from the malls and all the culture of California. All the way to your Ivory tower zoo of geeks in freezing New England.

And now that we finally get to visit home...instead of enjoying ourselves with my cool friends, it's a weekend at "Club Nerd."

Buffy makes a sweeping gesture towards all the visitors. Doctor When meekly tries to stop her from pointing and embarrassing him in front of his scientific peers.

DOCTOR WHEN

But Buffy, I have to introduce Catherine, I mean Prof. Chronos. It's a great honor. [Bargaining] Buffy, it will be good for my career....

BUFFY

Something has to be. Well, then, don't screw it up.

Prof. Chronos enters and waits at the back. Doctor When's eyes light up when he sees her, as do hers. Buffy notices and glowers.

BUFFY

Oh, look, it's the queen of the nerds.

Doctor When trudges up to the podium. DOCTOR WHEN:

Hello...

BUFFY

Can't you do anything right? Louder!

DOCTOR WHEN (just a tiny bit louder)

Hello. An expectant hush falls over the crowd.

DOCTOR WHEN

Uh...thank you. Welcome, my scientific colleagues, distinguished members of the press, financiers, and government officials. I am Doctor Wesley When of the New England Institute of Extremely Hypothetical Knowledge. Today it gives me great pleasure to present to you a woman ahead of her time.

You may not have had much of a chance to follow her work since she has had to work apart from the mainstream scientific establishment. But she has been my close friend ever since we went to high school together. So I have had the rare opportunity to follow her every breakthrough.

And now it's your turn. Without further ado, let me present the woman of the hour: Professor Catherine Chronos!

The skeptical, slightly confused, yet expectant audience applauds politely. Doctor When takes his seat. Bulging conspicuously from Prof. Chronos's lab coat pocket is a crowbar. She stumbles slightly as she approaches the podium, which makes the crowbar fall to the floor with a clang.

PROF. CHRONOS (muttering to self)

Oops. Can't lose my crowbar, er, science apparatus.

She hurriedly retrieves the crowbar.

PROF. CHRONOS

Welcome my esteemed colleagues. Some of you I haven't seen in decades. The rest of you I have never had the pleasure of meeting before now. You may have wondered what I have been doing these two decades here in my isolated laboratory. All will be revealed at this time!

Have you ever had déjà vu? The strange feeling you've done something before? Well as of today it's not just a creepy feeling...it's a reality!

Today I will demonstrate to you the technology that makes that possible and my life's achievement: a time machine!

Yes, time travel is impossible. Or at least it was until my key breakthrough: the tachyon midi ether co-keypad. I don't think anyone else in the world could have properly fabricated one.

Now you've already met the eminent Doctor Wesley When, visiting us from the East Coast.

"Doctor Wesley When; New England Institute of Extremely Hypothetical Knowledge; inventor of the quantum chronomentometer" is displayed on the screen. Doctor When tiredly waves to the crowd from the side of the stage.

BUFFY

(coughs on purpose)

PROF. CHRONOS

And we can't forget his "lovely" wife Buffy [under her breath] no matter how hard we try.

Buffy enjoys her moment of attention.

PROF. CHRONOS (CONT'D.)

Doctor When has made several key theoretical contributions to the project that I have put into practice, such as the quantum chronomentometer. And he has been my best friend since we went to high-school together. He'll be assisting with the demonstration.

Oh, and after the demonstration, I hope you all will join us at a celebratory reception. The International Museum of Pretentious Art--known around the world as "the Louvre of San Mateo"--is giving us a private tour of their current exhibit, "Masters Old and New: An Artful Romp Through the History of Painting." Prof. Chronos waves the exhibit's curation pamphlet and then puts it in her pocket.

PROF. CHRONOS (CONT'D.)

But enough talk. I will activate the machine and reappear one minute of your time from now. But my watch will prove that no time has passed for me. Now I step into the future!

Prof. Chronos unveils the machine. It looks a little different--perhaps more feminine--than Doctor When's (in the Act I timeline). She activates it and steps in. It rumbles, shakes and spews smoke.

The Professor does not reappear after a minute as expected. The lab assistants don't even bother trying to hide their panic as they scurry about the machinery trying to diagnose the problem. A frightened Doctor When steps back up to the podium.

DOCTOR WHEN

Great Scott! The machine has malfunctioned.

BUFFY

Oh, I knew it. You broke it.

DOCTOR WHEN

No, I had nothing to do with it...I don't think.... And now poor Catherine, I mean Prof. Chronos, is now bouncing around through time.

I don't understand what could possibly have gone wrong. Frankly, I only work on theory. Prof. Chronos was the one really driven to create a working machine.

But wait! All of you are probably the greatest assembly of brilliant minds since the space race. With your help I bet we can rescue her in no time!

The machine's core dump will tell us what went wrong. We'll just take a quick look and....

Puzzle Answer

n/a

Puzzle Solution

n/a

Manager

Erik and Ellen

Hints

n/a

Response to Correct Answer

N/A

To Do

Rough slides ready. Erik is waiting for the Peach Frontier website to be done, since he'll use the same background color (and maybe graphics) for the slide "templates".

He also needs a co-keypad diagram from Wei-Hwa (he's got a bug assigned to him on that topic).

Also need to coordinate sound with Ellen.