twenty-sixth jump;

[ataraxites]

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: Your average, run-of-the-mill jump—except some characters don't seem to be waking up from stasis like they should.



Don't worry.




THEY NEEDED THE REST.

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

[thatsaflaregun]

My opinion exactly. Apparently, they take up too much room. [Bless his bones for being from a time before Nooks and Kindles were invented.] I'm tryin' not to be too offended by that.

[He smiles. Someone to book nerd with. Bless you, hellship.] So who's your favorite, then? Author, I mean.

[braverys]

I suppose that does make sense, if we're on a ship. Still.

[ She frowns, almost pouting, before she nods her head and her eyes widen. ]

Oh, anyone! Everything, especially to do with adventure and exploring and being a hero. They're the best books.

[thatsaflaregun]

Oh, that's lovely. More of a Dickens man, myself. I think I've had enough adventure for one lifetime.

[He's glad the stuff he's been through hasn't been the stuff he used to read about in books or else it might have soured him to them. And heroism is sort of a futile hope for him.]

[braverys]

I haven't - I can't wait to have more. I've had a few, but I haven't explored enough of the world. I want to see it all.

[thatsaflaregun]

Well, I can't promise you'll see much of the world bein' up here, but you won't be bored. And sometimes the ship even stops places for a visit.

[He says it like the ship stopping places isn't usually terrible, but, hey, she seems like a brave, capable girl.]

[braverys]

Really? What kind of places? Do we get to explore and visit people?

[ She is enthused about the whole idea -- she loves adventure, even if she sometimes doesn't feel good enough to be the hero. ]

[thatsaflaregun]

Oh, aye. Well, not a lot of people, I don't think. Most of the places we stop seem to be deserted. [He pauses] And a wee bit haunted from what I hear.

[braverys]

Haunted? By ghosts? Or - shadows?

[thatsaflaregun]

I heard ghosts. [He rubs the back of his neck.] Avoided the last one, personally. And I'm glad of it. From what I hear tell... they almost didn't make it back.

[braverys]

That's awful! Isn't there anything we could do?