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

[sleuthtastic]

[ ... ]

Is that a euphemism?

[ Squint. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

It's a euphemism for would you like to climb a tree, Veronica.

[SQUINT.]

[sleuthtastic]

[ ... ]

This isn't a sex thing, right? Because I'm not really going to show you my ankles.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

Oh my god, teenagers!

[It probably wasn't supposed to come out that way but well.]

[sleuthtastic]

[ :') —hey, wait a minute. ]

Which you would be?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[HUSH.]

I'm an old soul, Veronica.

No, it's not a sex thing. It's a I'm pretty sure the jump fries brain cells thing.

[sleuthtastic]

[ Veronica, without much warning, simply decides to sling her arm around Blue's shoulders, marching them both towards the exit. ]

Next time, just say something like, Veronica, do you want to spy on people with me by climbing into trees? I feel like that would be easier for the both of us.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[He doesn't seem at all bothered by this. He just laughs.]

Is that the angle I need to take? Okay.

Lets go spying.

[sleuthtastic]

Now you're talking.

[ A beat. ]

Just don't tell Edgeworth.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

[Pause.]

I'm not likely to tell Edgeworth anything. He doesn't like me.

[sleuthtastic]

Huh.

[ Another beat, and she's peering down at him, eyebrow arched. ]

Did you tell him the wanted joke?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

No, he thinks I'm rude and probably thinks I'm insolent or something.

[Blue shrugs a little]

If I need help from Security I'll just ask Bigby.

[sleuthtastic]

Bigby. [ Hrm. ] Is that like, where bikers ironically call a big guy Tiny?

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

No, not really, no.

[sleuthtastic]

—am I going to see him in a tree?

[ Act fast, Blue. They're running out of medbay and heading into elevator. ]

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

What?

[He's looking confused, now. God, Veronica! Stop keeping him on his toes!]

[sleuthtastic]

No, wait. [ She leans in a little closer, stage-whispering: ]

I want it to be a surprise.

[boogiewoogiebugleboy]

You're a very strange girl, you know that, right?

[sleuthtastic]

You have no idea, Blue.

[ CUT TO: OPENING CREDITS, WE USED TO BE FRIENDS.mp3 ]