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

[idkmybffbloodwing]

A little of both? I'm a bounty hunter. [Among other things, but that's the simplest way to put it. So yes, having a bird that can kill is valuable to him for work, but also for plenty of other reasons, not all of which involve self-defense.]

I do a lotta travel in some pretty rough places. It's good to have another pair of eyes, an' even better if he can fend for himself if he needs to.

[ironsights]

[ 'bounty hunter.' it sounds like such a quaint phrase, and kazama briefly wonders once more exactly what kind of place mordecai's from -- it sounds so far-fetched and foreign, this strange place where hunting bounties with a carnivorous bird is something to speak casually about. ]

You must be bored here. [ an off-hand comment; it's something he can certainly sympathize with, too. ]

[idkmybffbloodwing]

Got that right. Stuck in one damn place for so long, with nothin' to do but drink an' kill rats in the genetics lab. At least the pirates were a change of pace.

[Which was all quite nice until Jack got involved. Speaking of...]

D'you know if anyone found the guy who shot me?

[With any luck, even if Jack had crawled away to escape him, he'd hidden himself too well and nobody had found him and he'd been crushed in the jump. Wishful thinking, maybe, but it sure sounded nice.]

[ironsights]

[ a small shake of the head. ]

Haven't heard of it. I mostly just do patrol. Tyke or the others might know better.

[ though he's diligent with patrols and when there's trouble plaguing the whole ship, kazama generally tries to keep his nose out of any personal disputes. it's simply not his territory, and he's never been good with diplomacy. ]

Can ask'em for you if you need.

[idkmybffbloodwing]

No, I can do it myself.

[Disappointing, though. Or maybe not - maybe it meant Jack had been left behind, and crushed by the jump. But he wouldn't bet money on that.]