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

[redhotsummers]

...yeah.

[Alex's face falls a bit as he looks at Frodo, moving a bit closer, his voice dropping in tone.]

You got stuck in one, didn't you?

[ringbearer]

[ that makes him flinch a little, but he doesn't make any further movements. when he lifts his eyes they are very tired. ]

Yes. They were..very terrible, Alex. As I imagine yours were as well.

[redhotsummers]

I got lucky. I got stuck in someone else's dream, but not my own.

I helped them get out...sounds bad, but it helped me.

[He reached out to place a hand on the hobbit's shoulder, squeezing.]

I can imagine what yours might have been--I'm sorry.

[For not being there to help him out.]

[ringbearer]

There's something terrible in that..witnessing something that seems designed to torment those around us. I'm sorry for whatever you saw.

[ his voice is heavier than before, older. when the hand goes to his shoulder frodo glances up again, brows wrinkling together. people know of him. they know his quest..how he doesn't know, but in a sense..it's comforting. terrifying but..in that sense he didn't feel quite as alone. even if he knew he was. ]

You're kind to say so, but it's alright. I wouldn't wish anything from mine upon someone else. Those are things I must carry alone.

[redhotsummers]

Don't be.

[Really, he hates how much it didn't effect him, but it wasn't his nightmare. He found it more annoying than frightening. It would have been different, had it been his own, but it was not. He was able to help Claire get out, he was able to do something of worth. And to Alex, that made it a positive.]

...to be a ring barer is to be alone.

I know, remember?

[He gave a tight smile there.]

[ringbearer]

[ he lowers his voice to that. if he felt that, he wouldn't protest, then. yet it's the next part he speaks that has frodo looking up slowly, an expression nothing short of pained sorrow on his face.

his smile is worn. ]

..Yes, and if he cannot find a way--then no one will.

[redhotsummers]

And you will.

[Alex shrugs, giving the other young man's shoulder a squeeze, again. He isn't the best with physical affection.]

I told you, there is a happy ending out there for you yet, Frodo.

And I never lie.

[ringbearer]

[ alkfjeakwe yes, a very young 50 year old. still, it's something sam would have done, what anyone from home who knew him might have done, and it's comforting, as far away from it all as he is. as he's been for so long.

perhaps it's the hope of believing there will be can be too much for him to bear, so frodo doesn't try to imagine it. yet such words like that..the hobbit nods slightly. ]

I think..there will be one for you, also, Alex. Whether you believe it or not.

[redhotsummers]

[It's that youthful face of yours, Frodo!

He shrugs.]

I gotta have faith in that--and I don't usually have a lot of faith to go around.

[He usually puts it in other people, these days--it's easier than trying to hope for something that might never come.]

[ringbearer]

[ he understands that so well. he has no choice but to believe that there will be a return journey, thanks to sam and his own need for there to be one. ]

I know. We must believe there is a way back. A return-journey.

[redhotsummers]

Yeah well...you're right in hoping for one.

[Because Frodo will make it home. Alex--only way is forward. There is most likely no going back.]

[ringbearer]

What do you mean?
[ he regards him curiously at that. frodo begins to feel in his heart that perhaps there is no true going back. no way back to how it was before. but such thoughts are too painful to think when the journey is not finished. ]

[redhotsummers]

[He smiles slightly, shrugging.]

Like I said--things are going to be okay for you, Frodo. I promise.

[He doesn't want to give it away, but he still feels the need to reassure him.]

[ringbearer]

[ he shakes his head in response, a bit rueful. ]

I can't deny it's strange to have so many people familiar with who I am.
[ quietly ]
To hear that things will be alright.

[redhotsummers]

In some places, people read picture books about my life. Trust me, I understand.

[It just isn't strange to him anymore.]

...hard to believe, sometimes.

[ringbearer]

Picture books?
[ he lifts wide eyes to his face then. ]
How strange! I should like to see these picture books..

[ however he does catch that, and he only offers a faint smile. ]
Then we've no other course but to believe that things will turn out for the better.

[redhotsummers]

So would I, actually. Guys talked about them, but never could produce one about me.

[He nods.]

Yeah, I know.