Spaceship:Engine
From TextAdventure
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[edit] Explanation
We currently need help writing the description of our engine, and any associated descriptions for the related components. The only condition that we have is that one of the components needs to be damaged, and repairable via the fixing the engine puzzle .
It could be anything from a crazy mish-mash of metal and organic goo, to a NASA style Nexus ion thruster.
[edit] Full description
As the 21st century began to unfold it became increasingly clear that humanity needed to jump ship from an increasingly polluted, dirty, dangerous and Z-list celebrity infested world,and find another one to ruin. Governments began to pour money into interstellar research, funding multi-billion pound projects to find a power source that could fly humankind to the distant reaches of the galaxy to start anew.
It was therefore a big surprise that all of this money was essentially wasted when 13 year old school pupil Peter Smith from Basingstoke chanced upon a workable form of FTL travel in his Monday morning Chemistry class. Peter - initially tasked with performing a rather boring exercise related to copper sulphate - idly decided to mix three random bottles of chemicals together and heat the liquid excessively with his bunsen burner. Just as the chemistry teacher noticed the bubbling mixture and made a mad dash across the classroom to intervene, a large explosion filled the room. To Peter's surprise he was transported thousands of miles to central Bengal, where after a short tussle with a surprised tiger he died 3 weeks later from a septic leg wound. Other members of the class were considerably less fortunate. Class wag Paul Monroe found himself orbiting a gas giant 45 light years away, and quiet, studious Mandy Whitehouse found herself in the tail of a comet somewhere near Sirius B. The experts were amazed - using equipment with a total cost of £4.50 Peter had created a chemical engine capable of taking humankind across the universe. How it actually worked seemed unimportant, however there was no arguing that 10mls of distilled water, 10mls of sodium peroxide and 10mls of calcium oxide heated over a vigorous flame could cause space-time to bend in an alarming fashion.
Realising the potential NASA quickly bought up the rights from the Smith family, and in memory of that fateful day 50 years ago in Basingstoke every new "Tiger Drive" bears an engraved picture of Peter's school photograph on the cowling. At the core of every drive sits a bunsen burner and the same three chemicals identical to those Peter used. However, to make the drive more marketable, billions were spent by NASA designing a sleek and shiny housing with lots of flashing lights and LCD panels. None of these actually do very much, but are of great comfort to space mechanics, who still remain skeptical at some of the science at work.
Rather disappointingly Peter only received a C for his Chemistry work that year, after teachers complained that he was "occasionally tardy" in handing in his homework, and had a "tendency to be distracted", even though he had "probably made one of the most startling scientific discoveries of all time".
[edit] Possible engine parts
Got any ideas for engine parts? Stick them here.
- duct tape: holds the improbability drive to the fuel widget
- candy wrapper: carelessly shoved in between the doohicky next to the exhaust pipe
- improbability drive: serial number B00H155
- fuel widget: someone's having a laugh. this so-called 'fuel widget' appears to have been made out of wood
- doohickey: a generalised piece of metal. Looks like it may once have turned on and off, but that was probably before it was chewed on by an enormous space-gator.
- exhaust pipe: a hollow tube with a fan at the end. Looks rather revolting. Needs a clean
- pair of tights: Used as a short-term replacement for a fan belt in a desperate situation... seems like it was so dramatic they forgot about it.... The tights seems to be functioning well considering.
- small hamster wheel: Obviously the back-up power system.(Engines are very fuel efficient these days). The hamster seems to be napping in a pile of sawdust nearby.
- rotating disco ball: Manages the laser-optical-distributor-cap. Plus, it's excellent for dancing.
