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

[walksonrooftops]

[Well. He didn't understand a word of that, so he quietly brings some more food to his mouth, takes a thoughtful bite, and looks around. Nope, still not understanding.]

So it is salty?

[the_vishual]

Correct! It would be detrimental to drink it. I know a lot about ocean life, I was raised on the bottom of that storm planet I was telling you about.

[walksonrooftops]

That's strange.

[But interesting, which is why he's still listening with rapt attention.] It must be hard, living around so much water that's not good to drink. The water in Kira was dirty too, but there was rain. Rain is better.

[the_vishual]

Why is it dirty?

[walksonrooftops]

There's a place in the Valley where a fog comes out of the ground. It makes the earth bad to grow things in, and it makes the water not good for drinking. It protects us too, though. We know how to live there. No one else does.

[the_vishual]

Uhm... How can it protect you if it harms your water sources?

[walksonrooftops]

No one else wants to go there. And it makes it easy for intruders to get lost. The fog hides us.

[the_vishual]

But it's dangerous for you. Who would intrude on Ribika, anyway?

[walksonrooftops]

Other Ribika. [He says it quite pointedly with just a flick of his tail.] Bad ones. There are some out there who want to get rid of us.

[the_vishual]

Why do other Ribika want to kill more Ribika?

[walksonrooftops]

For territory, or for food. For lots of different reasons. So it's better to be safe. That's how Kira is. It's alone, but it's safe.

[the_vishual]

I'm sure if you all worked together, it would be fine.

[walksonrooftops]

It doesn't-- [He frowns and looks down for a few quiet moments, tail lashing.] I don't think it's that easy.

[the_vishual]

Why not?

[walksonrooftops]

Some of them have wanted to kill us for many, many years. I don't know if we could work together. We don't want them near us.

[He nudges a bowl towards her to offer some more food before it starts to cool.]

[the_vishual]

It's easy. [ She's pushing her food away, though--No thanks, I'm full--and suddenly a nap with Asato sounds absolutely perfect. ]

You need a hierarchy.

[walksonrooftops]

We have one. But just in Kira. We listen to the elder and to Kagari. That's the hierarchy.

[He stretches a bit over the table, tail going stiff--yeah, a nap doesn't sound too terrible right about now.]