Despite everything they tried, those working to open the door would not succeed. They would not be able to create a keyhole, the alternate door Ulfi created would not lead anywhere, and Shockwave's Dreamport key would not be effective in any way, except in appearing how he imagined it would.
"Perhaps asking you all to do that was a bit unfair," Dreamfinder said. "But I wanted to see how you all approached the problem. And you all did quite well! But this brings up a few more notes on your pins: unless it is an external, separate feature like Winston's PA system, you cannot add or take from something that has already taken form, and you also cannot create portals or doors to locations. But on the bright side, I have a feature here that will get you anywhere you desire to go! Do you remember how you all got here?"
"Uh...we teleported?" Leaf said. After a moment, she elaborated. "Like, there was a picture of the fortress, then the letter said to imagine we were there."
"Precisely! If you can envision a place inside your mind, and imagine that you yourself are there, as long as you have the pin, you're able to go! Figment?"
"Ooh! It's time! Hee hee!" Figment stared at the wall, and suddenly, a large frame picture appeared on it.
"Now, hold on to your pins, everybody, and imagine you're in the Dreamport. Can you hear it?"
"The machines, the gadgets...just picture you're there!"
And so, you would be...if you did as told, of course. Now that you were here, it was clear to see that the Dreamport was a small laboratory. In the center of a room was a big red machine that looked similar to what some of you know as a dryer. There was a small panel full of buttons to the right of it. To the left was what looked like a newer installation: another panel, this one with lights. It was a long panel, the size of Dreamfinder himself, and only the top row of lights was being used. They were grouped in pairs of two, and the ones in use had each of your names labeled right above a pair. The lights on the right were all green, while the ones on the left were all red. All lights not labeled were turned off.
"Ta-da! Welcome to my Dreamport, everyone. Here is where I research imagination and creativity, and where I keep track of your pins!"
"Incredible!" Winston admired the room they were in. "These things can take us anywhere we want?"
"Well...no, unfortunately. You see, you can only travel somewhere if you imagine it properly. The sights, the sounds...you have to imagine the sensations to get anywhere. And another thing. As these pins will take you across different worlds, they use up a lot of energy!"
"But hold on a minute! Do we use up Chandlerium every time we travel?"
Dreamfinder shook his head. "Oh, no! I should have explained. See, the Chandlerium powers creation. I myself use this machine you see before you to power the traveling aspect. It's the same energy my flying machine uses!"
"Pure imagination!" Whitmore arrived now, looking inside the machine. "It's the most efficient fuel I've ever seen! Too bad it gets used up so fast..."
"'Used up?' You mean we used imagination as an...an energy source?"
"Indeed you did! Do you all remember seeing things you created vanish into sparks when you made something new? Those sparks get sent here to the Dreamport through your pins! I store them in this machine, and once it's powered up, you can travel!"
He moved over to the giant panel. "The lights on the left indicate whether or ot your pin is in either this world or your home world. If you leave to somewhere new, it turns red, and we get a print-out saying where you are. This way, we're able to keep track of where you are in case your pin falls into the wrong hands, or someone tries to go off on their own."
"Try to take your pin anywhere unauthorized without letting us know, we flip a switch and boom! It's deactivated. We gotta keep these with people we can trust for PR."
"And when you DO go somewhere authorized, we'll give a clearing on our end so you can keep using the pin. Though I do need to warn you...it takes time for enough energy to get generated to transport again."
"And that's where I come in!" Figment flew to the top of the machine and waved. "Watch this!" Figment closed his eyes, scrunching his face up as if concentrating. Suddenly, a multitude of sparks burst inside the machine, rapidly bouncing around inside of it. Just like that, all the red lights flickered onto green.
"Woah!" Leaf rushed to the door, looking inside to the sparks. "What the heck!!"
Figment giggled. "I put away all that stuff I put into the Fortress! It all becomes sparks and fills up the machine!"
Dreamfinder beamed like a proud parent. "Yes, that's Figment's special power. He can imagine all you can with your pins, but his items he can decide when they stay or go."
"Uh-huh! And when you guys leave, I'll try to imagine as much stuff as possible so you can all get back here in time!"
Whitmore looked around the group. "I'll open up the floor for any final questions before we get started. Then, we have some paperwork to do, and hopefully, if you're all still on board...we can go on our first mission."
@Crow @Donder172 @Jeremi @Lucky @MelodyMeister @Sark @Takumi
"Perhaps asking you all to do that was a bit unfair," Dreamfinder said. "But I wanted to see how you all approached the problem. And you all did quite well! But this brings up a few more notes on your pins: unless it is an external, separate feature like Winston's PA system, you cannot add or take from something that has already taken form, and you also cannot create portals or doors to locations. But on the bright side, I have a feature here that will get you anywhere you desire to go! Do you remember how you all got here?"
"Uh...we teleported?" Leaf said. After a moment, she elaborated. "Like, there was a picture of the fortress, then the letter said to imagine we were there."
"Precisely! If you can envision a place inside your mind, and imagine that you yourself are there, as long as you have the pin, you're able to go! Figment?"
"Ooh! It's time! Hee hee!" Figment stared at the wall, and suddenly, a large frame picture appeared on it.
"Now, hold on to your pins, everybody, and imagine you're in the Dreamport. Can you hear it?"
"The machines, the gadgets...just picture you're there!"
And so, you would be...if you did as told, of course. Now that you were here, it was clear to see that the Dreamport was a small laboratory. In the center of a room was a big red machine that looked similar to what some of you know as a dryer. There was a small panel full of buttons to the right of it. To the left was what looked like a newer installation: another panel, this one with lights. It was a long panel, the size of Dreamfinder himself, and only the top row of lights was being used. They were grouped in pairs of two, and the ones in use had each of your names labeled right above a pair. The lights on the right were all green, while the ones on the left were all red. All lights not labeled were turned off.
"Ta-da! Welcome to my Dreamport, everyone. Here is where I research imagination and creativity, and where I keep track of your pins!"
"Incredible!" Winston admired the room they were in. "These things can take us anywhere we want?"
"Well...no, unfortunately. You see, you can only travel somewhere if you imagine it properly. The sights, the sounds...you have to imagine the sensations to get anywhere. And another thing. As these pins will take you across different worlds, they use up a lot of energy!"
"But hold on a minute! Do we use up Chandlerium every time we travel?"
Dreamfinder shook his head. "Oh, no! I should have explained. See, the Chandlerium powers creation. I myself use this machine you see before you to power the traveling aspect. It's the same energy my flying machine uses!"
"Pure imagination!" Whitmore arrived now, looking inside the machine. "It's the most efficient fuel I've ever seen! Too bad it gets used up so fast..."
"'Used up?' You mean we used imagination as an...an energy source?"
"Indeed you did! Do you all remember seeing things you created vanish into sparks when you made something new? Those sparks get sent here to the Dreamport through your pins! I store them in this machine, and once it's powered up, you can travel!"
He moved over to the giant panel. "The lights on the left indicate whether or ot your pin is in either this world or your home world. If you leave to somewhere new, it turns red, and we get a print-out saying where you are. This way, we're able to keep track of where you are in case your pin falls into the wrong hands, or someone tries to go off on their own."
"Try to take your pin anywhere unauthorized without letting us know, we flip a switch and boom! It's deactivated. We gotta keep these with people we can trust for PR."
"And when you DO go somewhere authorized, we'll give a clearing on our end so you can keep using the pin. Though I do need to warn you...it takes time for enough energy to get generated to transport again."
"And that's where I come in!" Figment flew to the top of the machine and waved. "Watch this!" Figment closed his eyes, scrunching his face up as if concentrating. Suddenly, a multitude of sparks burst inside the machine, rapidly bouncing around inside of it. Just like that, all the red lights flickered onto green.
"Woah!" Leaf rushed to the door, looking inside to the sparks. "What the heck!!"
Figment giggled. "I put away all that stuff I put into the Fortress! It all becomes sparks and fills up the machine!"
Dreamfinder beamed like a proud parent. "Yes, that's Figment's special power. He can imagine all you can with your pins, but his items he can decide when they stay or go."
"Uh-huh! And when you guys leave, I'll try to imagine as much stuff as possible so you can all get back here in time!"
Whitmore looked around the group. "I'll open up the floor for any final questions before we get started. Then, we have some paperwork to do, and hopefully, if you're all still on board...we can go on our first mission."
@Crow @Donder172 @Jeremi @Lucky @MelodyMeister @Sark @Takumi
