twenty-eighth 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: It could just be the standard sensation of air on wet skin, but if you bother to check, you might notice the steam rising from your body, barely there and gone within a minute. By the time you get to the showers, it will be clear that it's not just taking you time to adjust. The room is cold — colder than usual, but no worse than the last jump. While it's nothing dangerous, it's certainly motivation to hurry through the usual routine and get dressed quickly.



It's getting closer.




YOUR EYES ARE OPEN.

KEEP LOOKING.

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

[inafadingcrown]

[That is not nearly enough, Galadriel releases her hands to pull Luthien into an embrace.] I know, my friend. He has approached me also and still I shake to think of it.

[fertilefeet]

[That's much more comforting and she leans her head against Galadriel's shoulder.] And you are far stronger than I.

[In several ways.] Thank you.

[inafadingcrown]

No. [She pulls Luthien back, so that she can look into her eyes as she says this.] No, I am not stronger than you. Remember, my friend, whose blood flows through your veins. Remember all that they have taught you.

I have hesitated to speak of your future, for foreknowledge is not always a blessing. But know this- you have a strength within you to rival Morgoth himself, if only you can find it.

[fertilefeet]

[She almost wants to laugh, having always been kept safe by her mothers power, the guards of her fathers realm, she's never had to be strong. Yet she doesn't. Artanis is right but that doesn't make her feel any stronger than she ever has.] I think you stronger still if only because you are older and have experienced more than I.

[That, at least, does get a stunned sort of reaction from her. And then a strangled laugh, one born of disbelief. How could she of all people?]

Rival Morgoth?

[But perhaps she could. Artanis knows more than she and wouldn't lie to her. Never over a matter like this.]

[inafadingcrown]

[A little smile] Or to stand against him, at the least.

[Her face is an expression of utter certainty. She does not doubt because, for her, it has already come to pass. She knows of the hidden strength in her friend.]

[fertilefeet]

[It's her expression that proves most convincing though it's still difficult to believe. All the things that Morgoth has already done, the stories that reach them in Doriath-]

I can only imagine what reason I would have to try. Perhaps here I will find such courage.

[inafadingcrown]

Perhaps you shall. Regardless, you will have what protection is in my power to give. I swear it.

[fertilefeet]

Thank you, Artanis. That means a great deal to me. [Her smile is faint but genuine and she leans in again, wrapping her arms back around her friend.]

And you know that I will do whatever I can for you should you need me.

[inafadingcrown]

I know. [She embraces her back.] I wonder, at times, if this is not what it is like to have a sister.

[fertilefeet]

[She laughs very softly.] I would like to think so. You already feel much like family, 'sister' seems appropriate.

[inafadingcrown]

Then we will face whatever may come together, as family should. [Should being the key word there. Luthien knows well enough that Galadriel's family has rarely been so simple.]

[fertilefeet]

[She does. Then again, is anything ever simple? Especially now.]

Good. I shall hold you to that.