snowblindrpg | Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Four and Five

I.

[ He hadn't moved much when he first awoke. Only enough to study where he was with blurry vision. To feel the pain seeping in his bones and then he'd closed his eyes again. Ended up out once more.

Then back again suddenly, heartbeat kicking up in the unintelligible shouts from a nightmare he can't remember. But he feels a little sharper than before. Sharp enough to tell there's tight wound bandages on his right wrist between his fuzzy vision. To see the blood dried on his hands and the start of scratch marks that ends under yet more bandages where the jump suit has torn.

Torn in a lot of places, in fact. Torn and spotty with patches of more blood. Some areas worse than others and now Zack's heart starts beating a million miles an hour again. Now, he pushes himself up only to curse and sink back. Catch himself with his left hand instead and push and push, like he could escape from himself somehow if he just tried hard enough. Backing away, away-

and then suddenly flung forward instead as he hits the force field. Crumples onto the floor instead and curses again. ]

The.. hell.

II.

[ At this point, it's at least sunk in that there's more people around. And they're just as badly hurt if not more so than he, himself. He can hear it in the voices, even if it also feeds his slowly ongoing headache. A part of him wants to back off. Wants to slip away into the bathroom. Barricade himself in.

But the rest of him knows he can't. Kunsel's out there. Jim and Zell have to be, too, somewhere. And he can't let things get the best of him. Not like last time. So, he ignores the trembling in his fingers and pushes himself up to hang by the wall near the barrier. Blinks slowly in surprise when he sees someone- outside of a cell? ]

Hey!

[The jolt of fear isn't something Tadashi has managed to control yet. He jerks back, jostling his shoulder despite the makeshift sling he's constructed out of his blazer. For one panicked moment, he fights himself to keep from limping back to his own cell, but there's an equal dread that comes with going back. The night before... hadn't been pleasant.

The result is Tadashi standing barefooted and frozen, looking like a wreck with the stitches keeping the worst of the scratches on his face closed.

Slowly, he realizes who shouted.]

...Zack? Hey -- hey, it's Tadashi.

[ Part of him regrets yelling as he had to get his attention. The rest of him though? Feels at least a little relieved to see a friend, even in such a sorry state as he's in. He doesn't get any closer to the force field, knowing what it did to him last time. But he does attempt to stand a little straighter, a hand up in a vague, shaky wave. ]

Long time.. Long time, no see.

[ Even if a part of him sinks like a guilty stone. Whether Tadashi blames him or not, those feelings are hard to let go. Only time heals things over sometimes. Doesn't stop Zack from fighting for a weak quip. ] Though I guess this is really the last place.. either of us would wanna be meeting.

[ Out of all the terrible stuff that's happened in the past twenty-four hours, it's a weight off Tadashi's shoulders to see someone so familiar. He waves back with his good arm before stepping closer. They'd just ignore that he tried to run away a moment ago. ]

You're not wrong, but -- I'm still glad to see you. How long have you been down here?

[ He glances up, narrowing his eyes slightly as he tries to ascertain Zack's condition.]

Edited 2018-04-27 02:08 (UTC)

Dunno. It's kinda hard to keep track of time like this.

[ This might be referring to more than a few things. Like the fact that there's no light from the outside to be found. Or the way they'd woken up beat and bloodied as they were. Or the way they'd carted them away like-

Zack sucks in a breath suddenly. Shivers and looks away. It's impossible not to see the bandages scattered all over him though, colored with dried blood. Or the rips and tears in what used to be a white jumpsuit now dirtied with a mixture similar. And the shiner that left black and blue splotches around his left eye when he finally looks back fully with Tadashi closer. ]

You look like hell.

[ And he knows Tadashi wasn't here before. ]

It was one of the rougher nights.

[Tadashi is going to leave it at that. There's no use in going into detail, and he's fuzzy on a lot of it anyway. Mostly the pain is what has stuck around. The least useful memory out of everything.

Shoving those thoughts aside, he crosses the remaining distance and kneels down next to Zack. His legs ache in protest, but once he's nearer to the ground, it's a relief. It's easier to keep his balance with his fingertips brushing the floor.]

Anything you want me to look at? It looks like someone patched us all up last night, but if you want a second opinion...

[ One of the rougher nights, huh. That's one way to put it- though as Zack scrapes around his brain again, he comes up with yet another blank. Knows there should be more. There really ought to be. Even back with Hojo, he'd-

Well.

He'd never wanted to think back to that and yet there he'd been, night after night of nightmares for months. In some ways, this should be a blessing for him not to remember... only there's this gut wrenching feeling that he needs to, that something really bad happened that's got some people looking at him like they do with a certain fear-

But that train of thought all but flies out the window the moment Tadashi steps into his cell. Never mind the questions he asks. Zack all but reaches out to suddenly try to grasp at his arm in disbelief, eyes huge. ] How? How'd you do that?

[Tadashi stiffens slightly when Zack grasps his arm, but the moment is short-lived. He's adjusting. Burying the events of last night deeper with every passing moment. If he wants to help people, he can't be held back by his own fears.

That being said, he shakes his head at Zack and it takes a moment for the words to come.]

I'm not sure -- Alfie showed me where the barrier is in his cell, but... I don't see anything. It must be bio-encoded.

[ He can feel that stiffness though. Feel it and he remembers what Enoch said before. And Tadashi isn't wearing what they're wearing. Has the kind of wounds that tell of something else, even if he can't remember what.

It's enough for his hand to release him just as quickly as he'd grabbed him. To lower his gaze to the floor of his prison and frown. ]

Maybe... They sure have a lot of advanced tech, after all. All I know is that it zaps me if I try to get past it.

[ Doesn't answer Tadashi's question from before. Or maybe he just doesn't want to answer it. Even if he didn't go after anyone on purpose, he still... ]

[Sensing at least some of what's going on, even if he's not sure of the specifics, Tadashi throws himself into focusing on the barrier. He takes a step back, watching Zack questioningly to see if he's in the right place.]

Let's do some tests -- am I standing in it yet?

[Maybe it isn't sophisticated enough to read Tadashi to allow him through while also barring Zack's way.

Or, you know, Tadashi might get cut in half the moment it solidifies against Zack trying to exit.

Science.]

See if you can pass through it now.

[ TADASHI, PLEASE DON'T TADEADSHI ON HIM ALREADY. NOT SURE IF HIS HEART COULD HANDLE THAT RIGHT ABOUT NOW.

Not that he's really paying mind to that idea. Not when he's... still eyeballing him a little bit. This feels... crazy. Not any kind of new level of crazy. There's been plenty of crazy to go around for a while now. But he still waves for him to stop when Tadashi stands right between it.

Slowly, Zack pushes himself to rise up again, sore muscles feeling like they're cramping from that effort alone. But he makes use of the wall and then he's up and then he's.. frowning still. But he makes baby steps that way despite how much it makes his everything sore. The toe of his boot meets it first and he lightly taps at it. Then tries to step into it only for him to be pushed back. Not hard. But with enough force for him to step back and catch himself. ]

No good.

[Tadashi's frown mirrors Zack's as he steps back as well. He puts a hand to his chin as he examines the empty space, experimentally sticking out a bare foot at one point to wave through the cell opening. When that doesn't satisfy him, Tadashi crouches to examine the base of one wall, pressing his fingers into any grooves he can find, searching for any sign of what could create a barrier. Finally, he peers up, checking to see if he's missed anything above eye level.

Nothing.

None of this makes sense at all.]

It's like there's nothing here. I don't even know what to look for.

[That's not a note of defeat in his voice, however. Just puzzlement. What program could this tech be operating under? And how can he bypass it?]

[He hasn't put the pieces together quite yet. He knows something bad has happened. He knows it's on "them", in general. But his stomach is empty and his brain is fuzzy so he's still trying to placate both, slow sips of milk for a sore throat.

He hears someone thud into their force field on the other side of the hall somewhere, and stands stiffly to peer out of his own.]

Are you all right, over there?

Peachy.

[ There's no way to hide the irritation in his voice. Nor the way he reaches with his non-dominant hand to rub at his sore spot now. That was stupid, but it sure as hell jolted his focus back. He blinks as he lays there, taking slow breaths. Just trying to calm his thundering heart, but it's hard.

He tries to think back hard again on what happened but just hits a blank spot again and grunts. ] What the hell happened?

Zack? I don't know. I don't think anyone knows.

[Enoch tries to get a glimpse of the other, but is too far away. Wasn't someone saying something yesterday (Was it yesterday?) about memories...?]

...Leave it to Miller. [ He grunts it out indignantly. Reaches up then to rub at his temples. To try to at least sooth them a little bit and maybe help ignore the nausea that continues to come and go in uncomfortable waves. ]

Still no sign of a way out either... huh?

[ Where at first there's aggravation in his voice, it soon morphs into something more of confusion. He's pretty sure... but maybe it's just him seeing something. But- ] Is it just me or was there someone out there?

Someone did pass by my cell a moment ago. He- he said he was attacked. By us, the ones with the markings.

[He's forgetting a few important details. And Mycroft's name. But the big picture is there, at least.]

They're more free than we are, but still trapped. I don't think they would stay...

What? We attacked them?

[ There's a touch of something in his voice beyond disbelief. Something that crawls within. A panic he can't quite rope in and even if he did, his expression would give it away anyway as he sits there, slack-jawed.

Tries to think back, think back... But all he draws is a blank.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen though. Doesn't mean it couldn't have as he looks down at his bandages again. As he purposefully tries to pry some off now. ]

That's what he was certain of. We have wounds we didn't have before. [He swallows, and his voice wavers a bit when he continues. He doesn't want to believe it, himself. That it's happened again.]

And his wounds were certainly much worse than mine.

[ The comment about having wounds they didn't have before draws Zack's attention enough for him to look up and raise any eyebrow in the midst of his work. But he doesn't say anything more than that. Not when he's busily attacking his bandages, now undoing one of the rolls over and over and over his arm. It doesn't take long before he can make out his injuries underneath.

To notice they're scratches. Some lighter than others. Some deep- almost looking like they once deeply punctured his skin. Some are scabbed over in half circles. Zack slowly touches his own hand over them. Lines up a pattern of five with his own. A smaller span of a hand, but... that just means...

Zack bites his lip harder than he intended and curses again. ] If we did, they tried to stop us.

[Enoch goes deathly silent for a while. His immediate instinct was to answer that it was good. Because he remembers too well the way that people who should have been able to overpower him were rendered weak and helpless in the tower. How it had made everything so much worse. There's something empty in his tone, when he does finally speak.]

...I'm glad they had the chance to fight back. Hopefully, the people that are here are not all the people who were attacked.

[Maybe some got away. He can hope for that.]

Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Four and Five

cw: blood, paranoia, fracture, head trauma

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