EVENT: CULTURAL STUDIES ▒ THE TRANQUILITY

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: The newly discovered corridor, Prisoners' Quarters and Guards' Bunkhouse.
WARNINGS: A vague sense of creeping unease.
SUMMARY: Discovery and exploration of the Prisoners' Quarters and Guards' Bunkhouse.
NOTES: Open to all! Network map discovery is HERE. Bunkhouse discovery post is HERE. Have fun forward and back-dating, but don't forget to check the timelines!

The corridor you're walking down seems to stretch on forever, but maybe that's just the gloom ever-present in the belly of the ship, only cut through by the skittering beams of the flashlights you're carrying and the dim signal on the map. The map led you here, and the map seemed to indicate there was something at the end of this journey; a new area, perhaps, more answers. Something worth the risk of stepping into the darkness. Best stay alert, strain your senses — though there will be little advantage found in the warning of claws clicking against metal in the distance, a flash of red on the wall to your right...

Comments

DAY ONE

[ataraxites]

closed to jenna and ric

[thatsaflaregun]

[Desmond's surprisingly more lucid than he's been in awhile, but when the map turns up, he knows he has to follow it. It might lead somewhere, to something he's been searching for, but so far it's been a whole lot of nothing. He's still tense, though. This bloody ship has a way about it that always puts him on edge.

Luckily, he's got Jenna and Ric around in case they discover a something and he does lose it. He might be on a hairtrigger, but at least he realizes it. He's not mad though. Just... overwhelmed by what this place does to him.]

I don't know about you two, but I feel like I'm in a rabbit hole.

[surrogates]

[ Ric's wondering if there's something to be said about how Jenna was supposed to be the one tied ( that continues to be the best way for him to describe it ) to Desmond and now it's suddenly turned into him and Jenna coming along, but that way lies certain insanity and is better left unsaid. ( Where Desmond goes, Jenna goes, where Jenna goes, Ric goes, a very tied together trio indeed. ) The thing was that when Desmond goes, Jenna has to go and Ric isn't willing to let them go alone and sends messages to Tyler and Caroline to make sure they know before he follows.

If Desmond loses it, they're here, Ric's seen it once, and so has Jenna and if there's two people he should be around, it's them. ]

The rabbit hole that never ends. Even those stupid unending hallways weren't this bad. [ A beat. ] Does that make all of us Alice though?

Open

[toomuchtenacity]

[Between her three options of 1. going off ship to that new place 2. exploring this ship more or 3. hiding in her cabin, Chell picked the second one. She didn't trust leaving the ship really and if they found more information about this place, then that's good too.]

[The hallways are dark and remind her of Aperture. She's back in survival mode and keeps up a good pace while watching carefully for any motion near her. There's a bag on her shoulder with some supplies she brought with her.]

[killarevolution]

Taking your chances with the great unknown, are you?

[Haymitch had those same three options and sitting around drinking is a lot easier when your alcohol stores aren't running low. However, he completely neglected the "go with a buddy" or whatever law of exploring the ship, so naturally he's amused when he comes across someone equally careless, flashlight in hand.]

CLOSED to adventurebros.

[thoughts]

[ river stops not far down the hallway, her flashlight hanging at her side uselessly as it has been for most of their walk. she hasn't let herself sleep much if at all since The Incident, but staying wide awake on self-imposed lockdown is crazymaking for the soundest of people - and she isn't sound. 'you ain't quite right' was a polite was of putting it, but that's all fine by her. it's not important, extraneous data, and she lets exhaustion fade into the background in favour of looking for something.

she thinks something might be looking right back. so she stops, places a hand on one of the locked doors, and frowns. ]

I don't like them.

[loyalpup]

[Tom was awake and less in danger of falling into crazy. That didn't mean he was any less concerned about their exploration. They had never gotten this far into the ship and what was suppose to be a short break from babysitting Hal was turning into an all day walk into nowhere.

When River placed a hand on the door Tom frowned. It didn't seem dangerous, but knowing this ship there was probably a mutant rat just waiting for them. He stepped up to the door and pressed his ear to the metal]

Don't hear nothin'.

Don't smell nothin' either.

[He looked down at her and frowned]

Think we'll find dead folk? Like maybe the old crew is around in these rooms, jus' bones now.

closed to chuck & digby }

[onetouch]

Has anything like this ever happened before...? [ he asked, that ever-present worry creasing his features. suddenly, he lost hold of digby's leash and watched -- helpless -- as the golden retriever ran into the darkness.

he turned to chuck as if to say 'ready?' but he already knows the answer, taking off after his dog. ]

Combeferre: | Open

[but_civilization]

Well, he managed to find the map; it clearly means Combeferre is meant to follow it, so he's one of the people making their way along the paths indicated, once it's clear he's actually found a map.

At the moment, he's reminded that, probably, he should have followed the advice he'd forced on Jehan about bringing someone with him, or telling someone where he was going, or even sending a message. As it is though? He's gotten himself into this mess where it feels like he's going to end up lost in the ship as well, panicking a little, internally, at the idea that he'll be trapped down here, though he knows there are some others up ahead and likely others who'll be following. Still. The possibility is there, and it's a bit concerning.

The map though...it has to lead to somewhere, really, the logical part of his mind contributes, and he continues moving forward, distracted, really, by his thoughts, and by checking the map again on his device, making sure that he's still on the path.

So far, so good.

...Right?

open

[faderbroderson]

[The communicator begins to malfunction not long after entering the corridor, but it hardly matters. Godric has the map memorized by now, presuming that the ship doesn't turn them around, and Eric had chosen to explore the space station. He had predictably been cut off as soon as he'd left the Tranquility, but his distant presence is as ever a nearly tangible thing echoing in Godric's blood.

Besides, he doesn't lack for good company. Faith is with him, and they're in no particular rush to get wherever the ship would lead them. Presumably, they'll run into others sooner or later.]

DAY TWO

[ataraxites]

open like an open thing

[seered]

After poking her head into the Cyllene for a few hours, absconding with a few things she found useful, and taking note of some choice bits of information, Rose decides that her time is much better spent snooping around the newly available area of the Tranquility while everyone else was off playing Rich Space Person.

The mysteries at home are much more interesting, after all.

A long trek down an even longer hallway isn't quite worth the end result, Rose thinks, but there's something, at least, and she wastes no time in going through anything she can find.

There is a girl in day-glo orange pajamas seated primly on one of the bunks, casually paging through a small pile of paperbacks.

Open

[invisibilitea]

[With the boys off on the Cyllene, Annie has decided she's done with being a homebody. Instead she has decided to venture forth on her own spaceghost adventure - after all, it's not like she can die again, right? She doesn't need a vampire to protect her. Or a George.

But now maybe she thinks this wasn't a good idea, who thinks that red eyes are a good idea for creatures that are supposed-

Well, no, they're likely supposed to be terrifying, she considers, but, well.]

Hello?

Helloooo?

wide open }

[onetouch]

[ ned wanders, first in the morning, alone and then later accompanied by his golden retriever digby. many of the tranquility's crewmembers have come and gone already, but ned thinks the true mystery to be solved is on their own doorstep. he's very interested in finding out all there is to be found out.

he can be found at first, tranquilly munching breakfast, but his day takes on a desperate edge after that. he paces the bunks and the corridors, needing to solve this puzzle more than he might also need to breathe.

he will be -- jumpy, to say the least, but friendly, upon approach. ]

OPEN to door-a, the explorers.

[thoughts]

[ this is the most super serious top-level comment you are ever going to see are you ready for it are you i don't think you are.

basically, this should be really easy open mingle for anyone that wants to follow moonbrain down dark and spooky hallways to interact with each other. they can join her in a multitude of ways: from finding her at the normal-human part of the ship, crying wolf about someone trapped in the walls that they need to rescue; finding her in the hallways on the way to the new part of the ship, crying wolf about - well, yes; or she can even contact you personally if you'd prefer!

end result is the same: bunch of people wandering through possible horrors to potential horrors. gear up, losers, we're going hunting! ]

(DAY TWO) OPEN → Prisoner's Quarters

[yardbird]

From the beginning Murphy felt unease. At first it was easy enough to chalk it up for just knowing that there were people he knew docked over at the Cyllene. Strela, despite feeling so long ago now (like years. Sometimes it feels as though he's been on the Tranquility for lifetimes), is a memory still fresh in his mind. You'd think that people would know better than to loiter...

But maybe that's also coming from his own personal experience. He's used to being caged, to being confined to one location. The Tranquility, a prison as it might as well be, is at least bigger than his four-walled cell during his time spent in solitary at Ryall State Prison. Here he gets to choose his own "bunkmate" to keep himself from going mad with loneliness, and choose the kind of food he gets to eat.

That's when the life he lived before comes back to him in the blink of an eye. Murphy feels like blood rushing to his head when his eyes first catch sight of the rows of what appear to be cell blocks. Not something he so easily forgets.

For a moment, he's frozen. Maybe he's even blocking someone's passage through the door -- Murphy would be surprised if he was. Because in that brief moment, he sees himself standing in the cell blocks of Overlook Penitentiary.

The Prison of No Return, they had called it. They also called the place haunted, though that part would be easy for anyone to just dismiss. Murphy... not so much. No, Silent Hill made a believer out of him. He is a believer now more than he ever would...

jenna sommers ota

[unparental]

[ everything in the tranquility smells like blood by now, overlays of metal and remnants of ...god knows what because jenna certainly doesn't, the dulled penny scent just so much background noise to her senses.

this room smells like old blood, fine, but it's-- ]

...oh my god.

[ everywhere, and jenna drops the corner of the blanket she was in the middle of picking up. ]

Oh, my god. [ nothing about this ship is okay, news at eleven. ]

closed to Gold }

[thatsaflaregun]

[Desmond remembers prison, though it's an uninteresting blurred point in his life, considering every other thing that's ever happened to him. He wandered away from Jenna and Ric when they came upon the new area and he'd sucked in a breath, thinking he was going to flash on something and forget where he was again- and he was doing so well about that.

But the prisoner's quarters don't call to mind anything from the island, just another part of his past- an aforementioned blurred part. He swings his flashlight around, keeping it trained on the walls. He's pretty sure the unease he's feeling is because he's expecting another message from their Smiling Friend.]

[more or less open] But otherwise here for Les Amis

[daringwaistcoats]

[Bahorel danced in nervous excitement near the entrance to the newly opened corridor, waiting for Enjolras to arrive. According to his internal clock (and the face of his communications device), it was shifting from morning to noon by the minute, and he was thankful for the strange bar of oats, nuts, and dried fruit that he had halfheartedly grabbed from one of the kitchens on his way. He was also thankful for the kitchen knife that he had carefully wrapped in his old cravat and stuffed into his boot to match the electronic torch he had stuffed in his jumper pocket, as who knew what could happen in these undiscovered halls.

No one could say that Ambrose Bahorel was one to be caught unprepared. He only wished that his own boot knife had made it with him to this not-quite-paradise...

Chewing thoughtfully, he stared down at the strange map, as if it would give him the answer to where it led, or at least suddenly blip to show Combeferre's whereabouts; he eyed the message notifications icon more often than not to be sure that he was not imagining his empty inbox.]

Hypocrite, [he growled. At least Jehan and Courfeyrac were together, even if Bahorel had qualms about the party not being larger on new terrain, but Combeferre was the only other logical addition, and, well, he had become the little bird, instead.]

DAY THREE

[ataraxites]

OPEN to door-a, the exploders.

[thoughts]

[ this is a slightly more serious top-level comment, but still very much mingle for anyone that wants to interact with each other under this premise.

the hallway is long and nondescript; river will touch things she can't really see and flinch away from things that aren't really there until she finds a door that shouldn't be either. it sticks, but she will insist: there are people trapped, they don't want to do this anymore, please get them out. it'll take some work to get inside, but once they are - 

well. there's plenty to be found. ]

DAY FOUR

[ataraxites]

OPEN to all the things.

[thoughts]

[ river took one of the journals from the guards' bunkhouse. she couldn't tell you why she needed it or what the tattered and smudged pages mean, but she becomes fiercely protective of it almost as though it's hers.

but it's polite to share. she can be found in a random lounge or even sitting on the ground in one of the ships' countless hallways, curled over the book and reading intently; words she's already traced with her finger and tongue a dozen times since yesterday. with something to focus on, today is a quieter day come talk crazy with her. ]

Open

[toomuchtenacity]

[Chell is exploring the bunkhouse when she locates a small cash of paper books. Moving out of peoples way, she'll take the stack and sit at the table flipping through them.]

(DAY FOUR) OPEN → Guard's Bunkhouse

[yardbird]

There's like an unwritten rule about reading someone's personal letter. It's just something that should be kept between two people. In most situations Murphy wouldn't have paid notice, just left them alone and carried on his investigation. But he's on a curious streak right now, and while he was down here he might as well try to learn about the people who used to occupy this place.

Sitting on one of the beds (the uniform in the footlocker was labeled SSG Ruiz), Murphy has spread out an assortment of envelopes with paper taken out. He's just skimming through them for now, just to get an idea of the general subject and the kind of person the writer is -- was. Pretty sure that the guys who used to be here are dead... or worse off than they are.

Either way, nothing has really panned out as anything useful.

"Dammit..."

There are still plenty of letters to weed through, but Murphy's starting to seriously doubt whether he has the patience to read them all.