ELEVENTH WAVE

[astrogate]

CHARACTERS: any and all
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond
WARNINGS: maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: Keeping up with the tradition and copy pasted like always from the last one


You wake up in darkness.


There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.


There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Comments

[fuckinghysterical]

[LB commits it to her memory that :| = annoyed, but otherwise just blinked in a confused manner as listens to him.]

I don't like boredom either -- haha -- but I manage. Not to mention there's a bunch of weird shit that we tend to run into, from time to time. Eheheh -- you won't be bored long.

Handsome Jack? [That sounded awfully close to her own namesake, but she gives a genuine giggle at the "asshole" remark, of which she tries to stifle by placing a hand over her mouth.] Haven't heard of him, no. He... isn't from a group of physically attractive assassins, is he?

[It had to be asked. After a pause, she adds:] And I don't mean to be rude, but, ah why do you talk... like that?

[0000]

[ she doesn't recognize handsome jack's name. that means this ship is far from hyperion's clutches -- since there's no way any vessel with even the remotest connection to hyperion would be free of jack's egotistical self-promotion. but that means this ship must also be far, far away from pandora. how bothersome. zer0 doesn't like leaving unfinished business, and business doesn't get much more unfinishes than his having been ripped away from pandora halfway through his journey to murdering jack.

and though he does note her mention of 'bunch of weird shit' at the back of his minds, zer0's too occupied stewing in his displeasure to realize she's asking him a question until she mentions his manner of speech.

there's a brief pause before he raises his head slightly to look at her, his helmet projecting a cheerful-enough :) ]

I speak in haiku.
A graceful form of writing,
efficient and quick.

[fuckinghysterical]

[LB briefly gives a curious tilt of her head as his projection changes again, quickly broadening her already present smile to match the emoticon.]

Ah, I think I remember hearing about that kind of thing before.

[A really long time, way before her issue with laughter started. Her eyes rise up as she tries to recall the little bit she knew about haikus, but not much was coming to mind.]

Heeheehee -- what was the pattern again?

[0000]

[ a woman who laughs easily, who seems to be easily amused. zer0 notes the way LB smiles along with his helmet projection and leaves it floating there, the bright red glow illuminating the glossy surface. ]

Five, seven, and five.
Syllables, that is. Not words.
Seventeen in all.

[ speaking in haiku comes so naturally to him now that it feels a bit strange to explain, but he doesn't seem to have any qualms about it, at least. ]

[fuckinghysterical]

[LB makes a mental note to herself about this pattern, immediately trying to think of something to say back in haiku, lifting her hand and moving her fingers oddly as she tried to count all the syllables of pretty much anything that came to her mind.]

How can you come up with these so quickly? Haha? Just thinking of a sentence that fits in five syllables is hard enough!

[0000]

[ he watches curiously for a few moments, noting the way she counts syllables on her fingers. briefly looking down at his own hands, where the finger count doesn't quite match the number of syllables required for a line. how annoying it would be, if he had to count the syllables each time he spoke. ]

Practice makes perfect,
as the saying often goes.
Matter of habit.

[fuckinghysterical]

[Her fingers move again, as he speaks, counting the number of syllables that he speaks just to confirm for herself that yes, he was absolutely nailing this haiku thing. She stares, a little fascinated, before speaking again.]

I see... so what did you do before coming here?

[She looks over his suit again.]

A soldier? Heehee? PMC member?

[0000]

[ he's noted, of course, the similarities between their outfits. not that they're quite identical, but they share enough traits -- the sleek outlines, the tight fits, the functional material -- that the question doesn't come as too much of a surprise. zero just straightens up a little bit from his usual hunched posture, gesturing loosely to the sword he's still holding in one hand. ]

I'm an assassin.
But more than money, I seek
a strong opponent.

[fuckinghysterical]

[She had seen the sword before, but she had also seen soldiers before that preferred the blade to the gun, so she wasn't certain. Her eyes widen, however, as she finally thinks of a five syllable sentence to reply with.]

So this Handsome Jack
Was a strong enough ene-- Ahahaha...

[Fuck. That was seven syllables there. Her lips tighten in frustration as she cuts off her question, aborting the haiku format.]

He was strong enough to appease your tastes?

[0000]

[ he's quite pleased, actually, to see her making an earnest effort to imitate his manner of speech. it's rather endearing! and he'd smile, if it weren't for the subject of handsome jack coming up once more, making his helmet flicker a disapproving :| ]

Handsome Jack is scum.
A coward who challenged me.
He deserves to die.

[ not quite answering her question, but it'll have to do. that holographic emote fades away quick enough as he changes the subject. ]

... and what are you?

[fuckinghysterical]

Too bad you didn't get to kill him, then.

[It answered what she was curious about anyway; she didn't really need any elaboration and figured that it'd be better not to talk about him anyway.]

Me? Sometimes an Octopus, sometimes a Beauty. [She smirks, knowing that explanation must be confusing.] But formally, I worked for a PMC; a mercenary of sorts, I suppose.

They called me Laughing Beauty, but most call me LB around here. Haha... what should I call you?

[0000]

[ what a curious person. zer0 has no idea what she means about sometimes an octopus, sometimes a beauty (perhaps some sort of inhuman abomination created through science?) but he does know the word mercenary.

perhaps this woman would make a decent ally in the future.

he's a little more relaxed in his body language as he gives a small nod in response to that introduction. ]

It's nice to meet you.
Perhaps we'll fight together,
far in the future.

[ pause. then his helmet projects a bright red 0 ]

They call me Zer0.

[fuckinghysterical]

Or it could be soon, heheh. You never know, around here.

[She suddenly glances up thoughtfully, realizing that she had the start of a proper haiku format without even trying. However, she had nothing for the last five syllables.]

It's nice meeting you too, Zer0. Heehee! Regardless of what goes on, I suppose I'll be seeing you around more, yes?

[0000]

[ a small nod of his helmeted head before the gleaming surface lights up with a holographic <3. though his voice still remains at that same clinical monotone, that little emoticon is a good indication that he's pleased by this arrangement at least. ]

I'll be here for now.
Waiting aboard this vessel.
'til we meet again.

[fuckinghysterical]

[LB was almost caught off guard by the changing emoticon, unfamiliar with what it was supposed to represent. As she tilted her head to the left, since most emoticon faces were formed that way, her guess was that it was a smiling person who had a hat on so big, it covered their eyes. But Zer0 didn't wear a hat, unless that was supposed to be his helmet? Never hurt to ask.]

Ah! One last thing! Eeheehee -- what's that one supposed to mean? I'm unfamiliar with that one too.

[0000]

[ that little <3 lingers for a moment longer before flickering out of sight, and the curve of zer0's helmet is blank once more as he speaks. slowly bringing up a four-fingered hand to tap at the chest of his sneaking suit. ]

That depicts a heart.
A symbol of affection,
or perhaps friendship.

[ and then a casual wave of the hand as he steps towards the exit. ]

[fuckinghysterical]

A heart? [She manages to tilt her head the other way to glance at the image he projected, finally understanding what Zer0 was getting at.] Ah! Heeheehee! Now I see it!

[LB's smile stretches at his comment, while bashfully turning her head away -- she really wasn't used to people suggesting possible friendships so openly.]

Y-yeah -- eehee -- maybe we can be friends.

[Her own hand lifts in response to his own.] I hope you can find a decent challenge, in the meantime!