eighteenth 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

[blasphemous]

I've had plenty of runs in my life where I wasn't the good guy. A change of pace is nice.

[cargojet]

That I can sympathise with.

[ Law and politics and being red in a blue state. ]

You keep busy around here?

[blasphemous]

I have hobbies around here. [She sips her coffee again. Ah... luke warm.]

You know those masks? I'm trying to figure out a way to keep them locked up. Where they don't magically just re-appear next to their owner after a while.

[cargojet]

[ Nathan perks up at the remark, peering up at her. ]

That definitely sounds like something worth doing. [ His hand waves over the cup, but he thinks to set it aside. ] You making any progress?

[blasphemous]

Not exactly. I have a few of them, but they're too distinctly different for me to even try to find something that might be universal.

[Her lips purse in a moment of slight frustration.] The scariest thing about those things is that no one really wants to give them up. It's as if they're a part of that person and they're worried they're losing something important.

[cargojet]

[ Nathan thinks about his own and shudders, shaking his head. ]

It's a constant effort not to wear it just to see what it'd be like. But no, it'd be hard to give it up. Like a body part...

[ He considers it for a moment deliberately. ]

I guess that sounds about right.

[blasphemous]

[Meg watches him.]

See, you didn't even suggest letting me look at it. It's like it knows. [She's mostly teasing, giving him a hard time, but she thinks these objects are interesting the way they needle their way into people and make the person so protective of them.]

[cargojet]

I actually haven't shown it to anyone.

[ He looks back at the table, and now he picks up his coffee, eyes downturned. It's true, he's protective of it, but not for the reasons she thinks. Not because he's afraid she'll take it away. ]

Imagine the worst possible person - Hitler, for example. Now imagine someone went around giving people masks that said something about the hidden flaws in their character, and the one you got was just this person's face.

Would that be something you wanted to show around?

[blasphemous]

[She sets her coffee down.]

I think if there was something out there that I didn't start with, that I had an overwhelming urge to use -- that was going to make me something I wasn't okay with -- even if it was the worst side of me, I'd still let someone know. Otherwise, you're letting that side win even without putting it on.

I get the fear, I do. There are things I've done that I am not really happy to know I can be put in front of at any time. [The fact that Jo Harvelle is here on board -- that's an interesting predicament.]

You can either hide from it and hope it's not going to push at you or you ask for help.

[cargojet]

I've got a pretty strong motivation not to wear it. There might have been a time but... [ He shakes his head. ] I look at the mask as a reminder, and the pull as a warning, not just against the mask but against what it represents.

[ And it takes a lot of strength sometimes - so much strength - but it makes him a better person. ]

I've already seen into the darkest sides of myself. I know exactly what looks back at me.

[blasphemous]

It takes a strong man to keep temptation close for a reason. [Or a stupid one, but she wants to see his mask, so she's trying for flattery.]

Would you show me? [She gives a pause, barely much of anything.] I don't have to keep it.

[cargojet]

Alright.

[ It's quick, sudden, but he's already told her enough about it that showing it to her is only one step further, and so he stands up, putting his empty cup down on the table, and whistles to Izzie. ]

It appeared in my lockers after the jump, as usual. I'll show you now, save you making any trips.

[blasphemous]

[She smiles, her hands moving to clutch imaginary pearls.]

Oh my, it's all so sudden. [Though, in reality she isn't sure if she'd be able to use his mask for any of her tests or not and while she does want to properly archive it... she's not sure whipping it out in the locker room is the best plan.]

I'd actually prefer making trips. Just because all of my notes are in my room... and if this is just a tourism stop where I get to see the hole in the ground and ooh and ahh over it, then fine we can go now. If you want to help me out and let me take some notes and maybe a picture -- then a small field trip to twelve would be needed.

[cargojet]

[ Nathan stops. Izzie is sat beside him wagging her tail urgently, and he looks at her, eyes narrowing. How does he play this. ]

Notes, no picture; nothing to identify it or me as its owner.

No poking at it, no experimenting, but you can look. If you can agree to that, then you can make the necessary trips.

[blasphemous]

[She won't say that it's a deal, that requires a different level of commitment from both of them. She does smirk and nod.]

I'm Meg and I'd be happy to look at your mask. [It feels like the start of a joke, but she takes it very seriously.]

For the record, I don't use names or identifiers in my notes. It's all numbered so even if someone does come on my notes, I'm the only one who would know who belonged to what.

[cargojet]

Nathan. But if you've been here a few months then you know that already.

[ He smiles apologetically, and balances his hand on the edge of the table. ]

You know how to call me?

[blasphemous]

[She nods.]

You're a very informative man, Nathan, and I'll let you catch up on some sleep before I call you. [She shows him her arm, giving her numbers too.] In case you get bored waiting for the call.