Current Events > Teen Titans CYOA: Romance Resurrected Part 20

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B

"How about a museum?" you suggest. "Jump City's got a lot of great educational tourist sites to see."

"That sounds boring," your sisters say at the same time.

"Oh, girls," your mother scolds. "It'll be nice to go to something educational, to learn some things. You two just want to go to malls and theme parks."

"What's wrong with that?" your sisters, as well as grandfather, ask.

"Oh, what?" Grandfather Sixth says as the rest of you look at him. "They're young, they should be having fun."

Everyone has a chuckle at that.

"So what were you thinking?" your mother asks you.

"There's the Exploratorium," you say. "The California Academy of Sciences is also nice. Maybe even the Walt Disney Family Museum. Educational but also meant to be entertaining. And the ever popular Jump City Museum of Modern Art, or the J C MOMA."

"Oooh~, modern art," your mother says. "That sounds nice."

"Art is nice and all," your father says, "but I like the sound of that Academy of Sciences. I bet they have some really fun exhibits."

"Ugh, Dad," Rebecca says with a slight eye roll.

"That's such a dad thing to say," Roselind adds.

A) Choose JCMOMA
B) Choose the Academy of Sciences
C) Choose the Exploratorium

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C

C

B

C

"How about the Exploratorium?" you say. "It is scientific, but in a more interactive way so that it's more fun."

"I like that idea," your grandmother says. "Education's always more effective if you can be hands on."

"I guess that's fine," your sisters say together.

"And there's plenty to see along the way," you say. "I'll make sure to lead the way on Shadowfax."

"How is Shadowfax doing, by the way?" Grandfather Sixth asks. "Is he still holding up?"

"Yes, he's still running marvelously," you say. "I was a little worried about him when I first got the car, but he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down."

"He's certainly exceeding expectations," he says. "I'm glad."

You all eat up brunch, then your mother helps with the dishes. You set those in the dishwasher and then make sure you have everything you need before heading out. You ride Shadowfax out with your family in the Escalade following behind.

From Silver Terrace, you go north and hop on the 101 to use the highway. Er, freeway. That still confuses you. You pass by the neighborhoods of Apparel City and Bernal Heights, then by Produce Market and the Zerkerberg Jump City General Hospital. Yes, THE Matt Zerkerberg of Facebook.

After that is Potrero Hill, Showplace Square, South Park and South Beach. You get a look at the water as you drive by the various piers. You go past the historic Jump City Ferry Building and Embarcadero to Pier 15. You find parking spots together and have Shadowfax stand.

"And here we are," you say as your family exits the Escalade.

"Doesn't look like much," Rebecca says.

"Looks like a school," Roselind says. "A public one."

"Oh stop," you say. "You'll see when we get inside."

You lead the way through the front door, and from there to the front desk. You buy seven tickets, $29.95 for five adults and $24.95 for minors, splitting the cost between you and father. Then you move to the "Crossroads," the hallway that connects most of the major exhibits.

"Let's start with..."

A) The Osher Gallery of Human Phenomena
B) The Exhibit Development and Tinkering Studio
C) The Outdoor Exhibits

B

C.

C

"The Outdoor Exhibits."

"What?" your sisters say.

"We enter the museum..." Roselind starts.

"Just to go back outside?" Rebecca finishes.

"Just c'mon," you say.

You lead the way to the left side, go through a doorway and past some coin operated lockers into a longer hallway. It lets out to a portion of the pier blocked off for the museum, with plenty of open space and the smell of the saltwater fresh and strong.

"Wow," Rebecca says sarcastically. "A pier."

"What an odd place to put an umbrella," Roselind says.

She looks at a bright orange, square-shaped umbrella attached to a metal arm jutting out from a post. At the top of the post is a cluster of shower heads with hoses.

"Oh, yes," you say, "this is the 'Remote Rains.' It simulates, well, rain."

"Why?" your sisters ask.

"Stand under the umbrella and find out," you say.

They do as you say, and you find the valve off to the side.

"Let's start with a light drizzle," you say as you start to turn the valve.

The water turns on and the shower heads start pouring out water in a very faint amount.

"And now a bit heavier," you say as you turn the valve more.

The drizzle becomes a sprinkle, and then the sprinkle becomes a spray.

"It really does sound like rain," Roselind says.

"Well, yeah, because rain is water," Rebecca says.

"This can go all the way up," you say as you keep turning, "to a torrential downpour!"

The water flows faster and harder, and you can tell your sisters are starting to be impressed. You then turn the valve all the way back to shut the water off.

"Okay," Rebecca says. "That was a bit more exciting."

"Oh, what's this?" Roselind says.

She walks up to an array of three semi-conical plates, connected to a 27 foot tall metal frame standing a few feet back. It has strings stretched along it, like a string instrument would.

"Ah, the Aeolian Harp," you say. "When the wind blows, the plates catch the wind and it makes the string instrument back there play the notes. Always a unique song being played day to day."

A gentle breeze is blowing on and off again right now, and the harp lets out a soft "wa~ wa~... wa wa~..."

"How lovely," Roselind says.

"If only you could hear it when the wind picks up," you say. "Raven and I visited during the summer and it ended up being a rather spirited song."

"Did you record it?" your mother asks.

"No, we didn't think to do it," you say. "The best part had already passed. But that makes it much more special for Raven and myself."

"Aww, that is rather sweet," your grandmother says.

"Make the harp play," Rebecca says.

"What?" you say.

"Make the harp play with your wind magic," Roselind says.

"No, that's cheating," you say.

"So? they both say.

You sigh and almost put your hand to your face.

A) Wait for the wind to naturally blow harder
B) Cause the wind to blow harder

A

B

B

"Alright, hold on," you say.

"Wait, really?" Roselind says.

"Yay~!" they both say.

You gather up some energy and create wind element. You're very careful as you send wind at the Aeolian Harp, but it does hit a bit harder than the natural breeze coming off the water.

*Waa-WA-wa-waa, wa wa wa wa waa ... Wawawaa~ wawawaa~, wa wa waa... Wa waa...*

"A little rough," Rebecca says. "But a nice couple of chords."

"I only went with a quick breeze," you say. "Long, steady breezes, or a series of them, make for better songs. But let's move on."

"Aww," your sisters say as you lead the way.

You return inside from another door at the other end of the pier, and just outside the Bechtel Gallery.

A) See the Bechtel Gallery
B) Backtrack towards the Crossroads and the other galleries

A.

B.

A

bump, got real busy again

bump. sry guys, just always busy now.

A

A

You decide to go right into the Bechtel Gallery, which this time of year is featuring "Seeing & Reflections."

"Wow...!" your sisters say as they marvel at all the lights and colors.

"Bechtel Gallery 3 is the heart of the Exploratorium," your mother reads off the "Curator's Statement" board. "A place designed to spark and nurture visitors curiosity and challenge them to investigate natural phenomena for themselves. Experiment with light, mirrors, and bubbles. Our eyes respond to light, but this is just one aspect of how we perceive the world. Playing with light is a great way to learn how it works. And investigating real phenomena can give you a deeper understanding of the scientific process."

"Oooh~...!" your sisters and even grandparents say.

You all go around the "Cubatron Core," the large torus-shaped sculpture. Twenty-six feet in diameter and eighteen feet high, all the RGB LED lights bathe you in the bluish-violet light. From there, you go to the...

A) Colored Shadows
B) Monochromatic Room
C) Giant Mirror

B

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C

RANDOMIZER!

B

"Monochromatic Room?" your sisters say as they see the sign.

"As in black and white?" Roselind asks.

"That's right up our alley then, isn't it?" Rebecca says with a smirk.

"Monochromatic doesn't just mean 'black and white' or 'grayscale,'" you say. "By its literal meaning, it's 'one color.' Meaning..."

You all turn the corner and see the wall with the rainbow painted on it. And how it arches into the room bathed in the light of a sodium vapor lamp, like they use in street lights.

"Whoa~!" your sisters say.

"It's all golden!" Roselind says.

"Or orange," Rebecca says.

"*Gasp* Golden orange!" they say together.

You walk in and see yourself enveloped in the golden yellow color. In the mirror, your snow white hair is now golden, and your icy blue eyes are now amber.

"Wow~!" your sisters say as they look at each other. "We're like different people!"

"Even these gumballs in this machine are colored differently now," your mother says.

Indeed, as you look over, the gumballs aren't red, blue, green, and so on, but all different variations of golden yellow. In fact, even the machine is different, looking closer to orange because of the lighting.

"This is surreal," your dad says. "I like it!"

"Oh, what's this?" your grandmother says. "Torches? But we're already in a room with the lights on."

"Oh, that's for another element of the exhibit," you say. "Those flashlights have white LED light, so when you shine those one something in this room, you see the object's 'true color.'"

Grandmother turns on the flashlight and shines it on her clothes, filtering out the yellow light and revealing the black-and-blue plaid.

"Oh, how fun!" she says.

Grandmother shines the light on the wall and sees the off-white of one and the dark blue, almost black paint of the other. She even shines it on the floor to show that the rainbow continues from the wall and across the room.

Your sisters hurry to take some pictures together, but then they realize the flash undoes the yellow light. They laugh, and then turn off the flash to try again. This time, the lighting's natural filter is part of the picture.

You all exit the room and it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to normal lighting. After blinking away the effects, you continue on to try...

A) Colored Shadows
B) The Giant Mirror
C) Another exhibit

A.

A

B

bump, will try to get this but it's been a busy day again

A

The Colored Shadows exhibit.

You walk to another part of the gallery where there's a large rectangular screen with lights shining on it.

"This is just a white screen," Roselind says.

"Yeah," Rebecca says.

"Well step up to it then," you say.

Your sisters still look skeptical, but turn around to walk into the light.

"Whoaaa~...!" they both say.

They cast multiple shadows on the screen from the different lights, and there are cyan, magenta and yellow shadows that then overlap to show red, blue, green and various colors in between.

"Wait, what's going on?" Roselind asks as she moves around.

"This is because there's red, blue and green light shining on this screen," you say. "Those colors add up to white, so when your body blocks the light, it exposes the other colors shining on you."

The two of them look behind them and see the red, green and blue spotlights.

"Oh..." they say as they look back.

They start making finger puppets and marveling at the different colored bunny rabbits, dogs and birds. And of course they take pictures.

Your phone buzzes and Raven sent you a text.

"Oh, Raven's done with work," you say. "And she's wondering what we're doing."

You text her about being at the Exploratorium, and afterwards, you'll...

A) Meet at your house
B) Meet at the restaurant

A.

A

A.

A

A

... meet her at your house.

"Okay," you say to your family. "Raven will meet us back at the house after we're done here."

"Alright," your father says. "So what should we finish with?"

"We should try the gift shop," your mother says.

"Yes, that's a good idea," you say. "That one is back closer to the first exhibit."

You all backtrack towards the front of the museum, and find "The Art of Tinkering Store."

"Oooh, crafting tool pint glasses," Grandfather Sixth says. "Definitely need a couple of these."

"These knitting kits are so cute!" your sisters say.

Roselind picks the Tyrannosaurus Rex while Rebecca chooses the octopus.

As for you, you decide to buy a...

A) DIY Painting Pendulum
B) Scribbling Machine Starter Pack
C) Exploratorium Playing Cards

A) DIY Painting Pendulum

bump

A.

bump, will try to get this later

A

DIY painting pendulum. That costs $10.95, while Roselind's T-Rex is $17 and Rebecca's octopus is $20. The pint glasses are $12 each so Grandfather Sixth keeps it to three. Then your grandmother gets everyone an Exploratorium hoodie. The adult size is $70 while the "youth" size is $60. That total of $553.95 reaches just over $600 after taxes, but you split it with your father, 50-50.

"Can we wear these now?" your sisters ask.

"If you want to," your mother says.

Your sisters unzip the hoodies and put them on to then zip them back up. They each carry their souvenirs out as you all exit the museum and return to the parking lot. You and Shadowfax lead the way back to 176 Ledyard.

Everyone relaxes in the living room, and while you wait for Raven to arrive, you...

A) Prepare dinner
B) Open up the DIY Painting Pendulum

A

A

A

... prepare dinner.

You go to the kitchen and see what you can use to make a bigger meal than brunch earlier. You decide to make some dumplings as a side dish.

You knead out some gyoza dumpling dough, then bring out things for the stuffing: natto; kimchi; cheese; shrimp; mayonnaise; mushrooms; green perilla sauce; mustard leaves; and then things to make nikudane: pork belly, cabbage and chives. You also get some ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, canola oil and sesame oil for the dipping sauce.

You mince the pork belly, chop the cabbage and chives, then mix the pork with two teaspoons grated ginger, two teaspoons of soy sauce, two tablespoons water, a tablespoon of oyster sauce, and two "pinches" of chicken bouillon.

You roll up small little balls of the meat mixture and work on the stuffings. You finely chop the mustard leaves, finely chop the kimchi, mix a dollop of natto with shredded cheese, chop the shrimp and mix with a dollop of mayo, and then chop mushrooms and add to a pinch of cheese. These various options are each mixed with a meatball and put into their own dumpling wrapper.

You prepare a frying pan with the oil, line up the dumplings, then pour some water over the top. You put it on high heat and cook until the water is all gone. You add some sesame oil now, cook them up to that golden brown, and remove from heat.

You then see you have some duck meat. Thankfully it is still fresh, so you'll hurry and make...

A) Duck Cutlet Curry Rice
B) Canard Apicius