EVENT; LIFTS & CORRIDORS

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: The Corridors.
WARNINGS: Space crazy, violence, etc.
SUMMARY: You may have simply been taking the lift with passerbys, but now you're hopelessly lost.
NOTES: Notes on the corridors.

Those on their way to meet a friend at dinner, or heading to their department, may never reach their intended destination. Instead, characters will find themselves in an unfamiliar part of the ship, abruptly stranded. All attempts to access the elevator will prove fruitless, as the doors cannot be pried open and the lift will not respond when called. It looks like you have no where to go but forward. Hallways will connect only to other hallways, giving you the impression that you're always on your way somewhere- but can't quite manage to arrive. Time spent in the hallways will seem endless, but with luck you may find a break in the monotony. It is possible for characters to find one another, which would be preferable, as it's probably safer traveling in groups. Those that spend an excessive amount of time in their own company will find themselves feeling increasingly hostile and paranoid, until even the walls seem to be watching. That may not be such an exaggeration, with those murals that continually appear...

Comments

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[He raises an eyebrow, then smiles a little at the kid's reaction, while the bird on his shoulder flares his wings briefly at the sudden movement. It's hard for Mordecai to be fazed by much anymore. There's always a way around even the trickiest of problems - though this ship is a hell of a problem, he has to admit, and it's not like he's found a way out yet.]

Don't think it liked you. C'mon, maybe we'll find you one that's working.

[nothlit]

[he doesn't nod, but he exhales through his nose and turns away from the lift. fine, this was fine. he'd just take the next stairwell they found or the next lift and he could get back to the gardens. he pulls his communicator out of his pocket as they walk, glancing at the time.

he had an hour left. that would be enough time.

they walk for a good five minutes before Tobias realizes that he should probably say something, since they're walking together. he glances at the man.]

What kind of bird is that?

[idkmybffbloodwing]

Dunno what they're called, officially. We call 'em bloodwings, though, an' I've heard other names too. They're from Pandora, though.

[He looks over at the boy, then shrugs.]

Which I'm guessin' you've never heard of.

[nothlit]

[he shakes his head]

Sorry. But I guess that's pretty normal up here.

[a beat.]

What do you feed him?

[idkmybffbloodwing]

For right now, mostly some'a the meat the Starks have for their wolves, an' then the occasional chicken egg, but I'm raising chickens for myself so he can eat the chicks eventually. It's not exactly what he should be eating, but it's as close as I can get here that I've found.

[nothlit]

[he falls silent at that, considers what he says. Tobias doesn't think he could eat baby chicks, some human part of him just can't settle with eating another bird, even if it would probably be easier. he thinks of the mother rabbit he'd taken, the babies he'd been half raising in his meadow in return.

he pulls his communicator out, glances at the time. forty five minutes. his gaze comes up, brow creasing.]

I don't see any doors.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

Nope. Think that lift went an' dumped us somewhere it shouldn't have. Must have somethin' to do with how the walls change between jumps. Somethin' went wrong.

[He has a drink from his canteen and frowns as he clips it back onto his belt.]

Might be in here a while.

[nothlit]

[Tobias feels his heart thump into his throat, because while it's more an offhand comment for Mordecai, it's more like a death knell to him. he squints down the hall, looking for any break in the bulkhead, but there isn't one. he'd be able to tell better if he could see properly, but these eyes aren't like a red-tail's.

still.]

We're lost?

[not good. how was he going to get away from this guy? it was a long stretch of hall, it wasn't like he could just run away.]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

Somethin' like that. Doesn't look like this is connecting up to anyplace I recognize.

[Mordecai doesn't have anywhere in particular to be, luckily, but he's still going to try and let Lilith know what's up, because being lost out here could potentially be dangerous. He's more than capable of defending himself, but he doesn't have any supplies on him.]

We should probably head back to the lift. Maybe someone'll get 'em working again.

[nothlit]

[they've only been walking for fifteen minutes, and in a straight line, so when Tobias turns around he expects to be able to see the light of the lift at the end of the hall.

but he doesn't. in fact, he doesn't see anything at the other end of the hall. just a big stretch, like the direction they'd been heading.

he squints.]

We haven't walked that far have we?

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[He stops and turns as well at that question, and frowns. Had they really covered that much ground?]

I didn't think so. You've been checkin' the time; how long have we been walking?

[He'd seen the kid glancing at his comm, of course. Looked nervous, but under the circumstances that wasn't anything unusual.]

[nothlit]

Fifteen minutes.

[it was closer to twenty, now. eighteen and a half, if he was going to be exact, but each second was a second closer to getting stuck between a rock and a hard place for Tobias.]

We weren't walking that fast.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

No, we weren't. But it's gotta be back there, right? Maybe it's some kinda optical illusion.

[He could hope, anyway. The hallways changing between jumps was one thing, but changing while they were walking around out here was another entirely. That decides it, though - time to head back in that direction and make sure the lift is even still there.]

[nothlit]

[Tobias walks a little quicker this time, but it's still ten minutes before- absolutely nothing changes. he's looking antsy now, and he glances left and right, his eyes in a permanent squint now, as though that might change something. all it's doing is giving him a headache and adding to his anxiety]

It's like we aren't going anywhere.

[calm down, Tobias, he scolds himself. he's a soldier, he can figure this out. he's been in worse scenarios. but those scenarios were always death defying and had a safe place to morph, he argues with himself.]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

We'll get there.

[If not back to the lift, then somewhere - he's not going to accept that they'll be stuck in some kind of nightmarish unending hallway forever. Besides, how could that even happen? Surely if the walls had really moved, he would have heard or seen something.

So he keeps walking, though he glances at his comm, by now wanting to check the time, himself. He needs to let Lilith know, if he gets stuck out here for too much longer. She'd be the only one who could keep an eye on Jack.]

[nothlit]

[Tobias falls silent after that, and the tension only begins to climb higher and higher as the minutes tick by. he has ten minutes left and there are no signs of the hall changing. it starts sloping at one point, but the turn is so gentle that it would take him at least the ten minutes to be out of range of his impromptu companion, if the man stopped walking.

undoubtedly, if Mordecai can't feel it, then the bloodwing can. Tobias is fidgety, he keeps glancing at his communicator, he needs to think of something.]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[When it comes to the emotional state of others, Mordecai isn't always the most perceptive of people. He pauses briefly to have a sip at his canteen, caps it, then sighs.]

Damn. Well, I'm gonna let some people know we're in here, see if maybe anyone's got an idea. What's your name, kid?

[nothlit]

[Tobias' head jerks hard toward the sound of his voice, the movement sharp and avian. he doesn't blink.]

What?

[he'd been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he doesn't know, immediately, what he's asking. your name, doofus. Tobias nimbly sidesteps the query.]

Yeah, maybe someone's posted about it on the forum.

[his heart leaps into his throat. this could be the chance he's looking for; while this man is distracted he might be able to morph and morph back. he only has eight minutes, he doesn't have a choice.]

I'll check too.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[The sidestep doesn't get past him. He keeps an eye on the boy, frowning.]

Sure, you go for it. Wanna tell me who you are, first?

[Maybe he'd just misheard him, somehow.]

[nothlit]

[not really, he thinks, then clamps down on it.]

Jake. [then he pauses] I didn't get your name, either.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

Jake, huh. I'm Mordecai. Don't worry, we'll get outta here. Just gotta stick together.

[Because really, the kid does seem nervous, but he figures it's just from being lost in the hallways like this, with the lift disappearing on them and everything. That was enough to make anyone a little freaked out, himself included, but he's been in more immediately dangerous situations thousands of times by now. They have plenty of time. They'll find their way back sooner or later.]

[nothlit]

[he nods silently and pulls out his communicator under the ruse that he's going to check the network. instead, he feels his heart try to smash out his ribs because he has four minutes left.

he waits until he spots Mordecai out of the corner of his eye starting to get distracted by the communicator, and then takes a few steps behind him. the shadows are deep, but not deep enough to keep him hidden. still, he hugs the wall. please don't turn around he thinks, and then he squeezes his eyes shut and starts his morph.

it's different everytime, but now his height goes first. he shoots toward the floor like he's just jumped out of an airplane, and it makes his stomach bottom out- though whether that's because of the fall or because he's literally a glance away from being discovered, he isn't sure. his clothes pool around him as his skull rearranges, pushing his mouth and nose forward to start forming the wicked curve of his beak.

then the feathers, they form a pattern all along his arms as his fingers stretch. he thinks he's doing pretty good until he hears his joints pop and he falls out of the shoes he'd been standing in, freshly formed talons clicking against the plassteel.]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[Mordecai may be busy leaving a message to Lilith, or trying anyway, but the damned signal doesn't seem to want to get through to her - but Mijo, still sitting on the man's shoulder, is far more perceptive, and far more easily distracted by movement. He, of course, doesn't understand what's going on, but when he spots the hawk he turns around to face it and grips Mordecai's shoulder tightly, crest and wings flaring as he kaks in alarm, upset by the sudden appearance of a potential competitor.

Mordecai turns just as quickly, when alerted by his bird, and draws a revolver with his free hand, then lets his arm drop to his side. The shoes, the clothing, all formerly belonging to the kid he'd been standing with, all of which were now on the ground with a rather familiar hawk standing in them.

Things he wouldn't have thought possible before coming here were now remarkably common, and while this particular skill perhaps isn't, he's quite familiar with it, having spent plenty of time with Jaye. Mordecai blinks, studying the scene, then chuckles softly.]

You coulda just told me you were a shapeshifter, amigo.

[nothlit]

[he gets stuck in the clothing and once he's finished the morph, barely in time before Mordecai turns around, he sighs inwardly. it was along shot, anyway, but at least he wasn't trapped. and, he figures, if it was going to be anyone, it might as well be someone he already knew.

he thinks he would have preferred it was Merlin. at least he'd already known something was odd about him. bu the number of people learning about him up here was alarming, especially after going so long on Earth with hostiles everywhere.

but then again, Earth wasn't an enclosed space of a couple hundred people.

Tobias cocks his head, and his feathers puff a little and he looks somehow indignant. though he hadn't really thought through how he was going to carry his communicator without his bag— this hadn't been a problem before. he'd planned carefully.

it really only could have been a matter of time before the ship got him.]

< No, I couldn't. > [he says blandly.]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

[Now, the speech thing or whatever, that's different. Jaye doesn't do that. He's experienced something like telepathy from both Angel and Lilith, being that Sirens can do some pretty strange stuff, but it's still not quite the same.]

Why not? Coulda saved you one hell of an embarrassing bath, heh.