seventeenth jump;

[mathematically]

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

[memorari]

[ and Clara offers her a friendly, albeit tentative smile in return. ]

I don't think so. Sorry? [ perhaps the person she reminds the Doctor of has gotten around, in a manner of speaking. ]

[backwardscompatible]

[ River doesn't lose her smile. This is just how her life works after all, and it's easier with someone who's not family.]

That's quite all right.

[ She offers a hand for shaking. ] My name is River Song. I'm a friend of the Doctor's.

[memorari]

A friend. [ He has friends. Other friends. ] I'm guessing you've some idea of what's happening, then?

[ He wouldn't be friends with the sort who didn't, she thinks. ]

[backwardscompatible]

[ It's not the first time she's been asked, and also not the first time she's lied to seem more certain than she is. ]

We're on board a ship called the Tranquility. Every month she goes through a sort of - let's call it a hyperspace jump, and when she comes out of it there are more people on board than when she started. That's what's just happened to you.

[memorari]

Hold on. Go back a bit. To hyperspace jump. [ a beat. ] Can you explain that more? What's hyperspace?

[backwardscompatible]

Not an especially accurate term for what happens, actually. It's a term from 20th century science fiction that I thought would be close enough. We don't actually know what sort of jump it is, but during it the ship passes through space that is reportedly impossible for passengers to survive in without the stasis pods.

[memorari]

Reportedly? As in by word of mouth, reports, or actual incidents? [ because that is entering somewhat terrifying territory, space horror survival is definitely out of her league, adventure-wise. ]

[backwardscompatible]

Word of mouth reports of actual incidents. [ But Clara seems rather worried about it, so some reassurance is probably in order. ] Don't worry, as long as you make use of the pods, you'll be fine. You do get used to it sooner or later.