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

[bring_em_down]

[Clint got a big dose of it from getting to know him...self. Ish. So it's not so shocking to him to see another Cap. It could be worse! It could be Natasha.]

Second time I've been in one of those things, and I'm not looking forward to a repeat if they're a regular thing.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ Steve can at least be thankful that there isn't another version of himself wandering around, but he feels for the confusion of those who do have one. And one Natasha is enough for anyone. ]

You might want to prepare yourself for future unpleasantness. [ There's a sheepish smile, because, well, no one wants to hear it. ] Some months are worse than others.

[bring_em_down]

[And Steve... you do not want to meet Clint's Steve. You just don't,]

Is this the general process? Rounded up, shoved back in, gooped up and nightmare-fueled?

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ He'll take his word for that and hope he never needs to discover it for himself. ]

That's pretty much how it's been since I got here, and the variation and unwanted surprises don't make it any more comforting.

[bring_em_down]

[God willing, he won't.]

How long've you been here?

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ He hesitates in answering, taking a moment to actually think about it, because it feels like forever, dragging on from when he was still fighting in the war to waking up in the future, the ship a constant between the two. ]

Five maybe six months depending how you look at it. Kinda feels a lot longer.

[bring_em_down]

I can imagine. I can't believe it's been... around a month, I guess, for me. This isn't Kansas. by any stretch.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ There's a flicker of a smile because he still gets that reference, and considering how many he doesn't, he feels proud of himself. ]

It sure isn't. But it's not all bad, especially not the company.

[bring_em_down]

I've met a few people I think I might be able to count on.

[He looks around the room again, checking for any new, familiar faces.]

[akidfrombrooklyn]

You don't have to take my word for it, but I hear I'm pretty reliable. [ He absently follows his gaze, keeping an eye out for some of the people he knows, taking note of the faces he's not seen before. ] It's, uh, kinda my job.

[bring_em_down]

I don't doubt it. You're Captain America, It's in the job description from start to finish.

Don't get offended, but you seem a little nicer than the one I'm used to.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

You've never seen me when I'm angry. [ It's a bad attempt at a joke, but he's definitely interested. ] This other me, how unfriendly are we talking?

[bring_em_down]

Hope I don't. He's the kind to hit first and ask questions later.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

Yeah, that doesn't sound too much like me.

[bring_em_down]

Well, that might be a little hard for me to get used to.

[But he says it with a smile. Cap's a trip.]

[akidfrombrooklyn]

Guess I got my work cut out for me, then, huh? [ He returns the smile easily enough, unsettled still at the thought, but not offended - this other version of him, he might have his name, live a similar life, but he's not him. ] You settled in okay outside of all this?

[bring_em_down]

Sure, but I'll give you a chance. Everybody who doesn't piss me off deserves a shot at impressing me.

[He nods, though, in answer to the question.]

Not so different from working out of SHIELD HQ.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

Not sure there's much to impress with, but I'll give it my best shot. [ His smile isn't as confident as he aims for, but it's close enough, and he's not in any hurry to go annoying any of his fellow teammates from his reality or others. ] You got the Helicarrier?

[bring_em_down]

We got it. [A nod.] You guys have the Triskelion?

[akidfrombrooklyn]

[ The baffled look is probably enough of an answer. ] Not as far as I'm aware of, but I'm still kinda new.

[bring_em_down]

SHIELD HQ. It's pretty big, you'd know if you had one.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

Then I guess we don't have one. [ It's something that would have been mentioned, right? So he's safe in the assumption. ] How big we talking?

[bring_em_down]

The Triskelion? It's a series of compounds. A few blocks end to end.

[akidfrombrooklyn]

That big, huh? It's gotta be hard to keep it secret.

[ He's guessing. But then again, the Helicarrier did that fascinating invisibility thing. ]

[bring_em_down]

It's not a secret. Everybody knows we exist, the Ultimates.