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

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Well, it might not be finally.

[A pause.]

A lot of people came over early on, that's why.

[capsize]

[ this is sort of tracking. sort of, meaning there's enough that doesn't line up to merit a continued look of mildly suspicious skepticism, though his tone sounds cooperative enough. ]

You mean to Storybrooke?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[Wait.]

Where?

Do you mean in Maine?

[He only knows about this because Belle told him.]

[capsize]

... yes. [ said like he's not 100% sure, the 'y' drawn out while he decides. then there's a pause to watch blue, trying to figure out where that response came from. ]

Not the Mundy you're speaking of, I take it.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

I'm getting a headache.

[He's finally starting to realize that maybe, no, this might not be the same Mundy.]

So I take it the word Fabletown doesn't mean anything to you.

[capsize]

[ sounds like a personal problem, man. that said: ]

You'd be correct. The enchanted forest, on the other hand... [ he trails off, suspicion and curiosity still at odds. ] You know of New York, yet you're from this — Fabletown?

[ different worlds, that isn't new. that doesn't mean they don't take a bit of untangling. ] How did you hear of me?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

No, I lived there. And which enchanted forest?

[How many Homelands have a place called The Enchanted Forest?]

Neverland's sort of an important place.

[capsize]

The Enchanted Forest. [ capitalized this time, which is clearly something you can hear. ]

Just another story, then? I hope yours casts me in a flattering light.

[ it's said with a grin, and there's an amused edge to his voice that makes it fairly obvious what sort of reputation he's accustomed to. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

The stories get it wrong all the time anyway.

[Man if you knew the Prince Charming Blue knows....]

[capsize]

[ not that he disagrees, but he seems mildly disgruntled while he considers that response. his mind's more on what blue does and doesn't know, and the apparent comfort he has with his current situation. ]

And this world? You're not here by choice.

[ there's a question in there, tone searching. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

No one's here by choice.

[capsize]

And yet here you are. [ come on, getting from one world to another isn't that difficult. ]

Is this land devoid of magic?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

I can't use magic, so I don't know.

[All his magic was in the Witching Cloak. And that's gone, now, disintegrated.]