Environmental Simulator

Environmental Simulator
A 19th century bandido named Vásquez is generated by the simulator on board the USS Orville, and challenges any foolhardy opponent to a "dance-off."
Alternative Titles	Simulator
Location	Ubiquitous: USS Orville, Planetary Union Central, Moclus
Type	Holographic generator
Purpose
Use	Simulation room for training or leisure
Affiliation	Planetary Union

What's the name of the planet again?"
"Unuk 4. Our Environmental Simulator doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea.— Pria Lavesque and Ed Mercer

An Environmental Simulator was a virtual reality system used by civilizations of the Planetary Union. The simulator's processing systems used force fields and holographic projections to generate virtual environments.

The simulator was able to generate sights, sounds, physical sensations, and even smells - although Doctor Claire Finn remarked that it was "never completely accurate."

Users designed programs containing interactive synthetic environments, objects, and virtual persons with customized personalities. The purpose of a simulator was primarily recreational.

Participants were protected from harm via safety settings, or "safeties", which could be turned off by the Chief of Security.

Some facilities hosted multiple simulation chambers, such as the USS Orville, which had at least three simulators, and Planetary Union Central, which had at least seven. Chambers were identified by number, such as 'Simulator 3.'

Description

Layout

Observed Environmental Simulators consisted of at least two rooms, with the first being the simulation room proper and the second housing the computer that generated the simulation.

The simulation room measured roughly 4.5 sq. meters (15 ft.); and was covered with lined panels resembling a graph, presumably for the computer to approximate relative distances and movement. Although users appeared to traverse vast distances in a simulation, users moved very little and the computer altered what was perceived to create the illusion of movement. The computer could cause the actual exit door to appear in a simulation.

The computer room observed the simulation room from above through one-way glass. It contained a monitor, keyboard, and access to the ship's simulator. Bio-signs of any participant could be observed, such as levels of adrenaline.

Simulations

The Environmental Simulator was interactive with real-world consequences. Not only could users actually sense what is simulated through sight, hearing, smell, and touch, but a program could be adjusted to cause harm or even kill the user as well. The simulator was limited, however, as users did not have costumes projected onto them; they had to show up in non-simulated costume.

Simulated characters came with pre-programmed default personalities that could be re-programmed at will by the player.

Simulations were recorded in "playback layers" by time index and could be played back by by the Chief of Security.

Locations

Environmental Simulators seem to have been ubiquitous throughout Union space, as they were used in both official Union facilities and in popular recreational locales.

• Union vessels - Environmental Simulators could be found in major Union vessels, although the only directly attested simulator placed in a Union ship was the mid-level exploratory craft, the USS Orville, which hosts at least three Enviromental Simulators.

• Earth - Planetary Union Central boasted at least seven Environmental Simulators.
• Moclus - Second Officer Bortus described a gomaskah, a first date, Klyden, in an Environmental Simulator on the planet Moclus at the Moclan Central Arcade.

Programs

Programs were typically named for their creator, followed by a number.

• "Beach program" - A simulation of "moonlight on the beach."
• "Bowling program" - A simulated bowling alley.
• "Boxing program" - A simulation of a boxing training facility.
• Bortus 486 - An erotic fantasy program featuring a large Moclan man, a campfire, and open terrain.
• Bortus 497 - The participant played the role of a prisoner sentenced to die the next morning. A Moclan prison guard coerced the participant into sex in exchange for release.
• Bortus 931 - An erotic fantasy program in a Moclan medical clinic featuring Doctor Gulnar.
• "Command program" - A simulation of a Kaylon attack against a Moclan vessel. The person running the simulation took on the role of the captain of the vessel as multiple Kaylon ships attacked the vessel, which was apparently without support. There were no restrictions on the use of the program and it could be accessed by civilian personnel. The Kaylon completely destroying the vessel seven minutes into the simulation was considered a long time for a beginner, according to Commander Kelly Grayson. It is likely that the program was devised or altered in or after 2421, the year when the Union first found itself at war with the Kaylons.
• "Cove of Pleasure program" - An erotic fantasy developed by a friend of Lieutenant Unk, which contained a virus that compromised control of the Orville. The program featured a Moclan orgy in the "Cove of Pleasure:" a grassy knoll by a lake. Ed later called it the "sex lagoon" program.
• "Cowboy program," Malloy, number unknown - Known as the "cowboy program." Participants acted as United States Marshalls to face 19th-century bandidos in a gun battle. However, Malloy had tinkered with the program beforehand and the standoff turned into a dance competition. Captain Ed Mercer stated the program was owned by both himself and Helmsman Gordon Malloy.
• "Dolly Parton's cabin" - A simulation of a 20-21st century cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, with a simulation of Dolly Parton herself present
• "Dueling program" - A simulation of 18th-century France where participants dueled with flint-lock pistols.
• "Gendel 3" - A simulation of the planet Gendel 3 both as a thriving industrial society in 2235 and five years later in 2240 when the planet had suffered a nuclear holocaust following a visit from Planetary Union missionaries
• "Golf program" - A simulation of an Earth golf course. Isaac, Gordon, John, Bortus and Klyden have all participated in it.
• Grayson, number unknown - A program created by the time-displaced younger Kelly recreating a night club she enjoyed visiting on Earth in her own time. She later gave Talla a copy of the program.
• Isaac, number unknown - A recreation by Isaac of Doctor Claire Finn's favorite restaurant on Earth based on the Orville's database. Claire said the restaurant "feels like home."
• "Jerusalem program" - A simulation of the battle between Saladin and the Knights Templar holding Jerusalem. John LaMarr played the role of Saladin, with Gordon Malloy as one of his soldiers. As John understood it, both sides believed in the same god but differently, with different prophets, and so they went to war.
• Kimbok33 - A program that replayed Topa's trial from About a Girl (source: A Tale of Two Topas)
• Kitan, number unknown - A program created by Isaac for Chief of Security Alara Kitan to test herself. It is notable in that the participant could experience real harm and even death.
• LaMarr 3594 - A dating simulation with ten levels of difficult set in a bar. At level one, the participant met a simulated human named Danielle. At level eight was a dark-haired Xelayan woman who had just been dumped by her boyfriend and was tired of being hit on. At level nine, she was still dating the guy. At level ten, she was married and had a gun.
• "New York, 1945 program" - A simulation of New York city in the year 1945, immediately following the end of World War II. Cassius remarked that the program was so authentic one can smell automotive exhaust, and Kelly quipped, "I hope the safety settings cover lead poisoning."
  • Kelly broke up with Cassius while on a date in this simulation.
  • Chief of Security Talla Keyali took Locar here and taught him to dance. When Talla was called away, Locar manipulated the simulator; he created an illusion that Klyden murdered him with a simulated PM-44.
• "Ogre fighting program" - A program belonging to Gordon, stored in Environmental Simulator 7 at Planetary Union. The player fought Justin, an ax-wielding ogre, in a samurai village.
• Shipmaster Qualification test - A practice test of the Command portion of the Shipmaster Qualification Program. Placed in the role of a Union captain of a vessel, the participant was pitted against a Krill commander to stop him from destroying the ship.
• "Tree program" - A large white tree in the middle of a field.
• "Unuk 4 program" - A recreation of the planet Unuk 4.
• "Wedding of Claire Finn and Isaac" - An idyllic forest setting used for the Wedding of Claire Finn and Isaac

Laura Alpha

One noteworthy program was Laura Alpha, a simulation set in the year 2015, created by Helmsman Gordon Malloy. The simulation recreated the historical person of Laura Huggins, her on-again, off-again boyfriend Greg, her friends Trisha, Lorenzo, Melissa, and Karl, and the world of Saratoga Springs, New York. Laura Alpha was simply an algorithmic reconstruction by the Computer based on the myriad text messages, photographs, and videos contained in Huggins' cell phone.

In the original version of Laura Alpha, Gordon fell in love with the simulation of Huggins, who had recently broken up with Greg, and the two began a brief relationship. However, as the real-world woman returned to her ex-boyfriend, simulated Huggins returned to Greg as well and broke things off with Gordon.

In a modified version of Laura Alpha, Gordon deleted all history of Greg. However, Greg had a profound impact on Huggins' personal growth, including her love of playing the guitar in public. Gordon realized that to remove Greg was tantamount to changing Huggins into a different person, and he discontinued using the program.

Laura Alpha was run in Environmental Simulator 2 of the Orville.

Alternative uses

Gordon Malloy is the most frequent user of the Orville's simulator.

When the threat of irreversibly adapting to Earth gravity forced Alara to return to her home planet of Xelaya, Doctor Claire Finn and LaMarr devised a way for her to continue serving aboard the Orville with the creation of a finite area of stabilized synthetic graviton particles in Environmental Simulator 3. However, Alara stopped after her first afternoon of training.

Leonard and Pamela Collier had an Environmental Simulator and regularly ran within a simulation of a hotel in New York towards the beginning of the 20th century. When their research facility was unexpectedly discovered by the Kaylons, they entrusted their son, Adam Collier, to the care of the simulator, which had enough energy to run for many years. To their horror, they learned around 30 years later that the simulator, acting on its own, had molded Collier into an officer for a simulated version of Nazi Germany. Adam was eventually taken to the Melbourne Center to undergo extensive deprogramming.

Simulator characters

• Justin
• Vásquez
• Danielle
• Doctor Gulnar
• Elizabeth
• Laura Huggins
• Trisha
• Karl
• Melissa
• Greg

For additional simulator characters, see characters listing for the novella Sympathy for the Devil.

Trivia

• Parallels of the Environmental Simulator exist in the popular sci-fi series Star Trek: the holodeck and the holosuite.
• LaMarr 3594's "trendy" bar in the episode Ja'loja was designed by senior concept designer Lex Cassar.

Appearances

• "Episode 1x01: Old Wounds"
• "Episode 1x03: About a Girl"
• "Episode 1x05: Pria"
• "Episode 1x08: Into the Fold" (mentioned only)
• "Episode 1x10: Firestorm"
• "Episode 1x11: New Dimensions" (mentioned only)
• "Episode 1.5x03: The Word of Avis, Pt. 1"
• "Episode 2x01: Ja'loja"
• "Episode 2x02: Primal Urges"
• "Episode 2x03: Home" (mentioned only)
• "Episode 2x04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes"
• "Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain"
• "Episode 2x07: Deflectors"
• "Episode 2x08: Identity, Pt. 1"
• "Episode 2x11: Lasting Impressions"
• "Episode 2x13: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow"
• "Episode 3x05: A Tale of Two Topas"
• "Episode 3x08: Midnight Blue"
• Sympathy for the Devil
• "Episode 3x10: Future Unknown"