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

[specialism]

[ the showers mean proximity and vulnerability — ward knows to fight on wet tiles well enough, his blaance is good, but there are too many bodies around to keep track of each one of them and —

is she humming?

it's so incongruous with the litany of strategy and tactical decisions running through his mind, so cheerful and seemingly pleased with the world, that for a moment ward stills and stares.

( and then notices the blue markings — another oddity, but one he finds admittedly less confusing than the cheerfulness. ) ]

[overthought]

[she can't help it. it's an odd habit that she's developed over years of thinking over and over again. besides, she's so happy, so uncontrollably happy that anything would seem odd.

unfortunately for ward, cortana has no concept of self preservation, a condition fostered by being an AI. so even though he's staring, she has no reason to think that it was strange. maybe it's because she's blue, or that she has black "tattoos" over her body, or because she's so tiny.

when she catches him, she offers him an awkward wave before asking:]

Don't suppose you could help me out? I'm still trying to get my back washed.

[in fact, she does a doubletake because someone was right next to her.]

I can't remember if he got it or not. [offhandedly as she just gazes around on her tiptoes trying to find him.]

[specialism]

[ unfortunately for ward, cortana has no concept of self preservation and isn't making any sense and he has enough to wrap his mind around already without tiny blue women asking him to wash their backs.

he's not — this isn't what how he imagined this to go. is this some kind of trick? is skin contact going to poison him?

why is she so cheerful? ]

Why are you humming?

[overthought]

That's what's concerning you? [she sounds a little incredulous, but she figures that he might be new considering that she knows that look, like he's trying to calculate something.]

I'm blue, not a plant. Honestly. [some people, it's a good thing that she has hers trained.]

I'm humming because that is what I assume most people do in the shower. I could sing, if you want, but I don't know if you could stand it.

[now where did the master chief go?]

Where...

[specialism]

Yes. Is this normal for you?

[ she's too relaxed, too pleased — what does she know that he doesn't? he is trying to calculate something, trying and failing to figure this out and it isn't so much the blueness that bothers him as — her careless good mood.

this is a hostile environment. why isn't she worried? ]

[overthought]

What, the being blue or the showering? [she can tell he's new because he doesn't know what happened on the bridge, that a group of people tried to take it over and they almost died because of it.

if you had a third shot at life, wouldn't you take it?]

Being blue is constant, and the showering is too.

[honestly, you'd think that she wouldn't lose someone who is 6'10.]

You'd think I wouldn't lose someone that big so quickly.

[specialism]

The cheerfulness.

[ if he had a third shot at life, he would take it — but he doubts it would make him any more cheerful than he is now. skye might tell him he's a robot, but ward knows that he has to keep certain things locked deep inside in order to perform his duties adequately.

and besides, skye isn't here and that's part worrisome and part relief. it means his team might still be on the bus, safe; it also means he isn't anywhere near them to protect them. ]

What are you talking about?

[overthought]

Oh, that. [she stops humming for a moment, not really addressing it and trying to actually soap as much of her back as she can. it's not that she's being shifty, she just doesn't want to answer the question in such close proximity to where the master chief can hear it.]

I had a really bad week, and now it's over. So, why not celebrate? [technically she isn't lying - oh darn it how can she just get this one thing - ]

He was right here. 6'10, brown hair, blue eyes, about 286 pounds. I swear, he moves so quickly. [she never really noticed it because she was in the back of his head for the majority of their partnership.]

[specialism]

6'10?

[ but she's so tiny and — and none of this makes sense. what ward really wants is an explanation that makes sense and maybe a scotch. they'd just gotten coulson back, things had been good for a moment. and now he's here. ]

[overthought]

Brown hair, blue eyes, goes by the name Master Chief.

[she's tiny but she's mean. but she just waves it off like it's a normal sort of thing. if you wanted questions answered, you've really caught her at a bad time.]

Are you going to help me or are you just going to gawk?

[specialism]

Never heard of him. [ a beat, and then — ] Where are the two of you from?

[ because it's clearly not earth, and they're clearly not human. right?

but, uh ] I — [ she doesn't seem hostile. and he can be professional about it. ] Fine. [ he'll wash your back. ]

[overthought]

Not many people have. [which is stange, given where they're from. she has the urge to say "classified" because technically she isn't from anywhere and john is a boy that died when he was six.]

We're from Earth. All human. [except for the fact that even as she turns her back and he's greeted with a strange sight.]

Much appreciated.

[specialism]

You don't look human.

[ is it rude to point that out? if it is, ward will just be rude because she doesn't look human.

but he still lathers up a conveniently available washcloth and lathers it up with soap. ]

[overthought]

And how do you know that humans won't evolve to look like me in 2557? [it's a fun little game to play with him. maybe he'll buy it, maybe he won't. either way, he'll have to earn the information that she's a former AI.

but washing her back doesn't hurt his chances, anyway.]

[specialism]

2557?

[ are you kidding him right now. he can handle aliens and he can handle dimension hopping, maybe — but time-travel? ]

[overthought]

That's the strangest thing in this entire situation?

[please prioritize your incredulous. thank you.]

[specialism]

Yes.

[ he's more familiar with space than he is with time travel, his incredulous is perfectly prioritised. ]

[overthought]

I guess I can't argue with priorities.

[Good keep rubbing that feels good. until she turns around and washes her back off. so, ward has just happened to see cortana naked.]

[specialism]

[ he's not looking. except to continue being confused by the blue. because, blue.

were they still having a conversation? because he doesn't really have anything to add. ]

[overthought]

I'm naturally this color, you know. You don't have to worry about it being contagious, I don't think you could pull it off. [wow, seriously way to be rude to the poor lady. not that she really cares, but it's a little disconcerting.]

[specialism]

[ how is it rude that he finds it strange that she's blue. she's blue and humans in his time aren't usually blue.

but he gets it together and just looks away entirely. ] Any particular reason?

[overthought]

Bone structure. [she says, offhandedly as if nothing at all strange is happening here.]

I don't think you have it.

[specialism]

[ have you seen his cheekbones? boy's got great bone structure.

but maybe not for being blue. ] Apparently not.

[overthought]

[please, he doesn't have the butt to carry all that sass.]

Good. And next time, don't ask a person why they're blue, got it? Consider it classified information.

[specialism]

[ what does his butt have to do with his sass :| ]

Classified by whom?