Event: Consolidation Theory, Part One and Two

[snowblindmods]

Characters: red-marked characters
Location: ???
Date: Morning & Day 353
Summary: You wake up in a cell.
Warnings: general horror warnings; please note in subject lines for anything specific that comes up

Consolidation Theory OOC Post
Part Two OOC Post

Comments

[motherserpent]

A

[Yesterday it had seemed that Tess had reached the ultimate height in terror for her life when she woke up in a body bag and immediately had to run from a flying monster. Today, though, is an entirely new flavor of horror movie; the screaming, hyperventilation, and crying coming from so many of the other cells is somehow worse than if she had still been alone.

She hasn't cried herself, though, or screamed. She can't stop shaking; wants to curl up in a corner almost as much as she's driven to circle the cell over and over, checking and re-checking corners for some sign of anything.

Coming to the front of her cell again, she stares hard at whomever she spots across the way.]

This wasn't in the fucking guide.

[If she stays mad maybe it'll hide the tremor in her voice.]


B

[Sooner or later, Tess gets fed up. Gets desperate. One second she's circling the cell again, coming around to the back near the entrance to the little toilet stall. The next she's suddenly in full motion -- one, two, three rapid strides, barely enough to get a running start, but enough that when she slams shoulder-first into the force field she rebounds hard, stumbles, and falls to the floor. She stares at the force field, breathing hard -- and of course, nothing has changed. Only then does she comment.]

...Ow.

A

[jumpthegun]

[It's John across the way. He's in the process of collecting handfuls of soap from the bathroom and smearing them all across the floor behind where the forcefield is. His expression is neutral, a forced air of calm about his person. He has red lines that look like they're tracing veins all across his visible skin. His eyes aren't red, though.]

This isn't something that's happened before. It'll be all right, Tess. [He knows she's lost her memory, but...] We'll survive this. [For whatever that's worth.]

[motherserpent]

[What few people she can see -- red, all red lines over all of them. Like the ones she'd woken up to find on herself yesterday. He looks creepy as fuck, but she's aware she does as well. Despite his calm, he demands her attention, particularly when he starts out by addressing her by name.]

You know me?

[It's a genuine question, but there's an edge of fear and of challenge in at as well. What does he think he knows? What do any of these people think they know about her?]

[jumpthegun]

[How to approach this?]

I saw your message on the network a little while ago. Sorry I didn't respond. I'm John.

[motherserpent]

Hi, John. Do you mean the one I put up yesterday, or the one that looks like a crazy me demanding blood?

[Nice try, Mr. Vague.]

[jumpthegun]

Both.

[Mr. Vague can also be Mr. Direct.]

Whoever you are, what's important is that we're stuck here at the moment and need to work together to stay calm and get out, right?

[motherserpent]

Sure. Sure, if I accept all this at face value, assume it's all real. A lot of shit has happened in the last two days that didn't feel real, though.

[jumpthegun]

'Fraid that feeling's not gonna let up any time soon. I know this doesn't much help to hear, but these things that you are experiencing are going to feel real enough that you're gonna have to deal with them like they're real. The alternative is sitting still. And that won't stop you getting pulled in.

[motherserpent]

I don't --

I'm not one to sit still.

[That doesn't stop her from feeling completely lost, completely in over her head right now.]

[jumpthegun]

That's good. [His expression is gentle as he looks up from his efforts to set up a trap.] Please try to hold onto that, okay? There's a lot of things that are probably going to happen that are going to hurt you in the next little while. Mr. Miller, the man over the speaker, he's not known for being gentle when he's trying to fix problems.

Remember he's not the cleverest bloke around, though. You can outsmart him. We've done it before, and we'll do it again here.

B

[zunesareawesome]

Yeah, I almost busted my foot trying that. Looked cool, though.

[Peter's seated near the barrier in his cell, heard the commotion.]

[motherserpent]

I mean, I think I should get at least an E for Effort.

[This said, wincing, as she feels her shoulder through her jumpsuit, trying to decide whether she's done any damage.]

[zunesareawesome]

I'd give you a gold star even. Or a good citizenship award.

...are you okay?

[motherserpent]

Yeah, sure. Banged up my pride real bad, but if anything was broken there'd be a lot more screaming.

[zunesareawesome]

...well, good. I mean, good that you're not hurt, not good that...yeah.

Look, I saw what you said on the network, and I know this is reaching maximum levels of bad for you but...you do have friends here. Or at least people who care.

I'm Peter, by the way.

[motherserpent]

Tess. But you know that.

[She goes silent for a moment.]

Do I have friends here? Because -- because I don't remember any of you people, and there was that other video -- I was talking like some kind of psychopath --

[zunesareawesome]

This probably will sound even worse but that kinda thing just sorta happens here? We're in the world's worst game show and the prize behind door number one is a first-class ticket to permanent nightmares.

Yeah, I think so. I count you as a friend.

[motherserpent]

Cool. Cool cool, that's just...cool. I'd ask, but...I don't know if I even want to know why I was...doing that. I'm missing--there was a guy who said I'd been here for a month or two, but I've got scars older than that, ones I don't recognize, and I just....

I don't know what the hell happened to me. What kind of...what I was even doing.

[zunesareawesome]

...I mean, I could tell you? [He scratches his head.] But you're probably going to freak out and if I'm being honest, you're gonna remember things like normal again in a few days, so if it was me, I'd just enjoy all the forgetting.

B

[heroproceeding]

You're wasting your energy.

[ He says that. Like he hadn't spent the first half of his time nosing around his own cell. Like he hadn't been looking around his cell or in his own bathroom for any sort of way out. Like he hadn't been tempted to just try the field, himself.

But he's been there for too long now. Long enough to force himself to sit, curled up close to the front of his cell but far enough away to move when someone gets there.

Sure doesn't stop the sympathy though as he remarks shortly after with a softened expression. ]

How's your shoulder?

[motherserpent]

I don't think I broke anything. [She glances around the edges of the force field again.]

Unfortunately.

[heroproceeding]

Dunno about that. Making a some kind'a grand escape might be a lot harder that way.

[ He says before he sees the way she's eyeballing the field. Maybe he took that a bit too literally. Zack bites his lip, closing his eyes. ]

[motherserpent]

[She snorts, amused.]

Meant the field. But maybe yelling about being hurt would make someone come. That's how they do it in the movies, right?

[heroproceeding]

[ The snort's enough for him to rub at the back of his neck. He drops his hand shortly after though. Glimpses back her way. ]

Depends on what kind of movie we're in, doesn't it?

[ Which sure makes it easy to think of what kind of dark, dank one they could possibly be in.

That train of thought is so not helping. ]

[motherserpent]

I mean, he said he wanted to fix us. You can't fix someone if they die of...I dunno, sepsis or whatever because you didn't treat their wounds.