EVENT: MELPOMENE ▒ THE CORRIDORS

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: Corridors in the belly of the Tranquility
WARNINGS: Creepiness, paranoia, disturbing imagery, violence.
SUMMARY: Characters head out into the corridors in the hopes of rescuing their lost and begin to experience strange and harrowing phenomena.
NOTES: Open to all! Covers Stages One & Two of the plot, June 22 onwards.

The hallways stretch on into a deep darkness ahead of you. You've been out here before, or heard of what happens to those who do — it'd be enough to make anyone turn back. But there are people lost out there that have called for your help, and you're prepared to do what you have to to save them. Aren't you?

Comments

Nathan Petrelli | OTA 1/2

[cargojet]

[ Nathan had given his speech about working together to leave no man behind, reminded the people with him that being alone didn't have to mean giving in to their fear. After that, he'd urged everyone to pair up, to tie themselves together with short pieces of bright nylon rope he'd brought with him from storage, and then he covered Tranquility survival basics: monsters can kill you, people in the maze aren't to be trusted no matter who they seem to be, friendlies call back rather than disappearing around corners without warning, shooting to maim was infinitely better than shooting to kill and regretting it later, and any suspicious doorways should be avoided point blank.

But no matter how many precautions, no matter how determined they were to stay together, the ship had ways of peeling the group apart, shaving off the outliers. The paranoia pressed in, dooming them almost with every step of the descent. There was a sharp edge of urgency to it, a strong desire to go back that would surely only lead to greater peril. It didn't help that Nathan had other very good, personal reasons to dislike being out in the corridors. For him the pressure was almost unbearable, but the responsibility that he had to the group forced him to keep his head, even while it increasingly felt like keeping it was going to be easier said than done.

They're depending on you.

And yet a fleeting, darting thought raised its treasonous voice. Why me? Recognizing and challenging his own tremulous uncertainty, he lifted his chin a defiant inch, and called out to those still with him, barely an audible wobble in his tone: ]

You're doing great. Everybody keep together.


[ Open for any threads with Nathan set during the 1/2 timeline, with tapping/coming across murals/people running past or through them coming up during conversation. There's plenty of opportunity to split off from the group early, take a wrong turn, try and double back etc. so don't feel like you need to walk to the beat of Nathan's drum. ]

Re: Nathan Petrelli | OTA 1/2

[darkart]

[ Severus has been eerily calm throughout the entire venture thus far. Bursts of irritation during the initial planning stages were never panic, and even now some time into their hike through darkness, he remains steady - occasionally moving forward and spending hours at point casting a magic light source, sometimes keeping step with other people, as if silently checking up on them.

He is not inhuman - he experiences anxiety and worry, of course, though his Occlumency permits him to compartmentalize in a truly preternatural way. His head is ringing with the unnatural feeling of changing pressure when he walks alongside Nathan, his arms crossed over his chest, gaze ahead of them. The older man had expressed an interest in Severus 'backing him up', whatever the hell that means given his own lack of influence on the ship, but maybe he'll just feel better having a sorcerer shadow him.

For now he says nothing, just keeps pace and watches the hallway around them. ]

two!

[pushfall]

[ Claire has been crowded up around him just as much as she hasn't, giving him a wide berth and falling back to the outskirts of the group before coming back in and pressing her fingers into his shirt just above his elbow, letting him know that she's come back up to where he's walking, in the dark. It's difficult to tell if anyone has veered off anywhere, if they've lost anyone or, even more concerning, gained anyone, but Claire rationalizes that as long as she can keep stock of who she needs to - a list that grows in number the longer she stays submerged within the group - she won't have to worry as much as the paranoia clawing at the edges of her brain is trying to force her.

She isn't sure what tally mark this return to his elbow awards her, and distantly she wonders if she's eventually going to wander away and come back to find that he's exactly what he's been warning them all about this whole time, something else wearing his face and walking around in his shoes. That's something that she has to force down more than anything else. Been there, done that, she thinks, with no desire to repeat the process all over again. It's on this unnumbered return trip to his side that something, for the second time, she thinks, catches her eye. Difficult to determine, given that it's not exactly easy to differentiate shadow from shadow when your light source is questionable, and Claire's fingers squeeze Nathan's arm where her fingers have just been pressing, not afraid or panicked, just urgent and imploring, as her eyes adjust a little and pick out some of the streaks of red paint decorating the walls. ]

What the heck is that?

[ She's not sure why she whispers it. Or why she censors herself. ]

1

[oldmanhusker]

[Laura had already filled him in on the basics. They were going in with Petrelli. Titles at the door. Because pulling rank here would largely involve figuring out which world outranked which and they did not have time for that.

And for now, the more important thing was that Petrelli knew a whole lot more about this ship than he'd been able to learn in the past two weeks.]

What's the plan?

encroaching on 2.

[forgodssake]

Steady.

[ Nathan's mind has not been graced with Charles' voice since the time on the bridge -- it is equal parts testing that he is still able to, without effort, as it is utilising the ability to pass on information beneath the current of vocal unease and conversation murmuring through the group.

If Nathan looks around, he won't find Charles. Not unless he makes a show of peering towards the very back of the group. ]

You're doing great. Keep it together.

[ Not Charles' usual choice of words. A deliberate echo of sentiment. ]

1.05

[sorrycharles]

Erik has not paired up. He has not tied himself to anyone with a short piece of bright nylon rope.

He cruises along in Nathan’s wake like a tiger in his Tranquility uniform -- all casual arrogance and warm metal stench -- and will probably be one of the first to be consumed by the shadows around a wrong turn.

So it goes.

Most of his time is spent watching the path ahead. The rest of it is spent eavesdropping, burning a hole through the middle of Petrelli’s turned back. Waiting for the first cracks to show.

one.

[brainsqueeze]

( Maria's seen a lot of bad situations, something that now helps her keep a level head in times of danger. She can't deny that there's something more off about this, though. A sensation - the feeling that she's had since coming out of the pod this jump, the people. It all adds up to something bad, and that was before people went missing. Before people were almost compelled to move out.

There's a good number that have opted to move out with Nathan, and Maria expects there's a similar lot with Tyke. It would be nice if no one had decided to venture out alone - if the list of the lost was accurate, and that no one else needed to be added to it, or had the possibility of being left behind. Maria was going to keep from voicing that, though. They had enough to think about, and she wouldn't be the only one who would have thought about it )

You did well organising them.

severus snape ( open, both stages )

[darkart]

[ In the interest of getting all understatements of the century out of the way early: Severus is neither very social nor very inclined to be content in large groups of people. He is mostly quiet and keeps to the edges of Nathan's initial group, listening to people attentively but rarely interjecting even in private conversations. He's tolerable enough if approached, and makes no secret about being a wizard. If anyone needs something fixed last minute, now would be the time.

Severus checks his communication device every so often on the walk through the hallways, trying to gauge ... something. Technology in many respects remains thoroughly beyond him. Primarily he's just seeing what it must have been like for the reconnaissance teams on this end, having been working with them from the other side. While there's still several people about, he drifts through them now and again, watchful. He is calm and doesn't seem bothered by the pressure changes or the claustrophobic feeling of being watched. Occasionally he turns his head - not sharply, but still distinctly - as if he's heard something, but says nothing.

(ooc: prose is also fine!) ]

[pushfall]

[ It's out of obligation rather than desire that she stays close to Nathan's side for the majority of this bleak field trip, which isn't to say that she feels forced to be around him, but that she feels more secure knowing that Nathan is within arm's reach, should someone need to jump in front of him for something. Claire can't split her time numerous ways to stand in front of everyone, and the pull she feels toward Nathan has little to do with the practicality of acting as a shield for the de facto leader of this collection of people strung together and everything to do with not wanting to see anyone else who shares her bloodline end up smeared across the floor.

Still, she can't baby him - which is a weird thought - and she already feels smothered in the hallways as it is. Whether or not that is a product of whatever is happening or something more to do with her own comfort level when surrounded by elbows and shoulders constantly bumping into each other isn't something she spares time lingering on. Instead, she throws a glance over her shoulder and tucks her comm device into her breast pocket, giving Nathan's elbow a squeeze before letting a few people move around her. She lets herself fall into step next to Severus, her elbow bumping into his arm twice as she adjusts her gait. ]

I keep looking over my shoulder and expecting someone to be staring at me.

[ Her footfalls seem heavy and loud, and it's only after focusing on it for a moment that Claire realizes it's because they're descending. ]

[forgodssake]

[ In the same moment that Severus is looking at his comms device, he receives a message from a familiar number; ]

I thinterferfere communicatinterferfere communices artions are communications devications artink up ing to picatink up ing the communice

[ Soft steps indicate someone catching up, Charles wandering into periphery, the glow of his own device bright in his hand, blinking out to idle just as he steps alongside.

It's a dangerous situation. His skin is pale and eyes bright, but alert. To be fearless would be stupidity, but he displays more interest and caution than paranoid trepidation, even as those feelings, like darkness, is pressing in on all sides. ]

This is when they'll have disappeared, or nearly so.

[ When, not where, as if distance can only be measured in experiences. ]

claire bennet | open 1 or 2

[pushfall]

[ For the most part, Claire floats around the edges of the group, a short tangle of blonde hair and arms she tries to keep from brushing too strongly against someone, trying not to surprise anyone by showing up right next to them, suddenly. While she almost always finds her way back to Nathan's side, her own way of checking on him, when she's not keeping pace with a much taller Petrelli, she's positioning herself between the wall or the corridor and someone else. She isn't afraid, but she doesn't stare out into the darkness unblinkingly, either. Every now and then she reaches a hand out to touch the wall, almost as if to steady herself, catch herself from falling forward, but she presses on with the rest of them.

Her comm device stays in her breast pocket, and she resolutely does not check it, knowing full well the temptation to veer off were she to get another panicked call from someone else on her team. Kate's tone is still shrill in her ears, clouded by static and distortion, and she doesn't say much but keeps her eyes open, half-expecting something to jump out at all of them and half-convinced that it's going to happen around the next bend. ]

1!

[50000volts]

This is shit. [ Pronounced resolutely by Darcy. She hasn't been as good about not checking her comm device as her blonde counterpart. It's a small miracle someone hasn't slapped the thing out of her hands yet. ] If we get out of this alive, we're putting Kate on house arrest.

[ That seems fair. Right? ]

Pepper Potts || OTA stage 2 after the 22nd only

[the_other_eight]

[Pepper had been wondering the halls for what felt like days; maybe months. Logically it couldn't have been months, if she had been there for months she would have died in the jump; but maybe that's what they wanted. They, who were they? Should follow the voice, a person out of the corner of her by; she thought it had been Phil, that maybe she was wrong.

Once she's realized that there is no going back she had been searching for a way out, but as yet still haven't found one.so instead she kept pushing forward. It wasn't long before she started to see the paint on the wall, the hand prints; and she began to take pictures. When she reviewed them they seem to stay, which almost surprised her. Then the silhouette started. The strange pantomime of something that must have happened already, of something that must have happened to the original inhabitants of the ship. She was starting to believe more and more that the ship truly was alive and was trying to tell them something. So instead of trying to run from the images she followed them.]

[alionsheart]

[ It's the most disorienting thing Robin has experienced in quite some time, rivaled only by his fevered thoughts when he'd dealt with a particularly nasty illness once many, many years ago, long before Marian. Knowing that he can't simply turn back should make him fearful, but he suppresses those feelings for now; fear isn't always bad, it can be turned into a strength, to make him more cautious, but right now, he's spending all of his energy trying to figure out what's happening, and how to not only make it through this, but help others.

He's worried about his friends, particularly Regina, and it's a small measure of comfort when he sees a familiar face. ]

...Pepper?

Laura Roslin | OTA 1/2

[cabins]

[Laura had started out with Nathan's group, a piece of nylon rope connecting her to her... whatever he was. Her friend. Associate. Admiral. Whatever. Her Bill Adama.

She'd gotten a gun from Nathan, and it was loaded, just in case she needed it. She hoped not, but knew better than to assume one way or the other.

At first, things were fine. But the deeper she got into the ship, the stranger she felt. Every few seconds, she'd look around, expecting to catch a glimpse of Kara Thrace dashing around a corner. There was something sinister here, she could now feel it, despite being told about it. Something cold creeping down her back. Maybe they should turn back.

No. These were her people now. She needed to act in their best interests. And turning tail was not anyone's best interest.

So Laura trekked on.]

2

[oldmanhusker]

[Bill was haunted by enough ghosts of his past that he keeps reminding himself it's not Zak. It's just regrets and this wasn't the moment for those.

At least he's armed. And he knows Laura isn't in this alone. These might not be their people, but they were people, and they needed help.

He spots something that he realizes isn't Zak, though he can't say what.]

Laura? Did you see that?

1

[vivelavenir]

[It was impossible not to go, and not to look, when people were lost and in need. Even if those missing were not 'your own' people, how could that be a factor? Jehan had been lost once before in the belly of the beast that was this ship, and he could not have imagined remaining long sane or long alive had he not found his way back out. Being lost was a lonely, treacherous thing here, and anyone with a sense of compassion to any degree might have set out to help.

That helping would prove impossible was the most usual thing in the world. He would not have expected any less from their host. That the halls became odder, that all logic was distorted, that the very senses seemed fooled was unnatural and disorientating, but not entirely unexpected at this point.

What did surprise him was actually finding someone. Whether someone who had been lost at first, or a fellow searcher, he wasn't sure. But he nonetheless paused and put a hand up in greeting, ducking his head down a little and calling quietly,]

Hello? Mademoiselle-?

[Perhaps she'd been the one tapping on the walls?]

peter parker. closed to scott mccall.

[adhesion]

[ They pit your own demons against you. This is what the politician had warned Peter about, and some distance into their excursion, he kind of wishes he'd narrowed it down to specifics. How so. Are we talking about literal demons. Because as the hour grows long and unfurls behind them like the dark ribbon of shadowed corridor they're following, anything feels possible.

He had opted to wear the jumpsuit offered by the Tranquility after fussing around with his ordinary clothing, sleeves rolled halfway up forearms and hands bare, holding a flashlight that bounces around queasily ahead of them.

He had also brought sandwiches, filled with a meat stuff that had resembled pastrami.

Because whatever, Petrelli, you're not his dad.

The corridor opens into a bare chamber, a cathedral of industrial space-age angles, slick black surfaces, and Peter's gaze goes directly to the rafters. It continues on like it's any other corridor, yawning forever. Peter tilts the flashlight up, beam tapering off into uncertain darkness. ]

You, uh. You know what a rocket ship looks like?

[standsupagain]

[ Sandwiches and spaceorade, they're totally set.

Setting out nearly alone wasn't the safest idea, he knows, but away from the group it's much easier to catch the faint hints of Derek's scent and lead them on a seemingly arbitrary path after him. Technically Scott doesn't need a flashlight but he's more comfortable with the weight of it in his hand, the beam stretching out ahead of them. Or above them, as he turns it now to join Peter in staring at the ceiling, so much further above their head than it seems it should be. ]

Doesn't look like this. [ There's still just a hint of wonder in his tone, though it's overlaid with something wry. Sci-fi was always more Stiles' area but that doesn't mean he never went through an astronaut phase, that he can't appreciate the irony of being somewhere so incredibly impossibly cool and wanting nothing more than to get the hell out as soon as possible.

But he doesn't actually know if Peter's world is like his because they've sort of only just met, and after a moment he remembers this. ]

Where I'm from the whole thing would be like half the size of this room.

Fenris, closed to Hawke and Lizzie.

[judex]

This—all of it—has been enough to make Fenris leave his room, use the stupid communications device, and carry a gun, but not enough to make him wear the boots that came with his jumpsuit. He's faster barefoot. And he's not invisible in the dark, with his pale hair and his eyes glinting like a cat's when they catch the light from someone else's flashlight or comms screen, but he is silent.

Or would be silent, anyway, if he would shut up.

"Someone thought it wise to explore here," he says flatly, watching the places the beams can't reach. The corridor's angles make him uneasy. The tapping sounds in the walls around them have grown familiar but won't stop demanding his attention and fade to background noise. Something else is out here. He glares sideways at Hawke, who he blames for the fact that he's out here. "An ancestor of yours, maybe."

[championofkirkwall]

If he cannot carry a sword, then he can carry a torch. Hawke is carrying her bow, prepared already with an ammunition notched in, wary of trouble. This is much less fun than letting him throw things into the air, which she then skewers with arrows. Sometimes, depending upon the produce, things would practically explode. Being covered in tomato mess just made it feel like old times.

But they're not playing games now. Boredom is the least of their current concerns, if what she's seen and read on the network is any indication. "Oh, don't play coy," Hawke teases, a precarious rope bridge across a rushing current of apprehension, "you love a bad idea." Venturing into these halls seems to qualify.

robb stark, ota 1/2

[northerner]

[ this is dangerous. robb knows that, and there's tension strung through him, jaw tight, grey wind's hackles raised. he told lucrezia he would travel as far and as deep as need be to find arya, but robb knows well how dangerous the hallways are. he remembers neal caffrey, remembers jaye. he knows what happens to those lead astray.

that's what he thinks of though, as the group moves through the halls. grey wind keeps snarling, growling at shadows and darkness. robb alternates between gripping the hilt of his sword and gripping at grey wind's fur. he's white with stress, thinking of his sister, of his bannerman, but he doesn't shake. he's a far cry from the boy he'd been, a man with steadier hands and calmer tone when he speaks. ]

Did anyone else hear that?

[ though robb's not listening, he's just watched grey wind's ears prick up, felt the wolf go tense beneath his hand. ]

hi there!

[sophically]

[Grey Wind's snarling catches Hermione's attention and she steps out cautiously, wand in hand. With a quiet, whispered spell, the tip of her wand glows with light and she edges her way over to the small group.]

If you can't see it, I think it's best to keep moving forward. [Her voice is hoarse and strained - from tears no doubt. She gives Grey Wind a wide berth, unsure whether he will accept her presence or attack.]

You have an impressive guardian. [To say the least.] Homenum Revelio.

[The spell is meant to reveal humans nearby. But there's something blocking its effects. It only reveals the group. Hermione shakes her head in frustration.]

L - 2 - closed to Darcy

[ryuuzaki]

Being trapped out here like this is weird, no matter how many times it happens to him, and this is the weirdest occasion yet. The feeling of walking down a decline must be a trick of the inner ear, but thinking about how his own paralymph might be fooled, in this specific environment — a man-made atmosphere sealed away as it passes through what for all intents and purposes is a vacuum — that's uncomfortable, too.

The only lights now are the lights they brought with them. No need to eat, no need to perform any normal bodily functions, blackness, the tapping, the feeling of being monitored. It gives L that sense again of a hidden hand moving it all, skilfully designing it to be unnerving.

It feels stage-managed, yet he can't claim that it isn't effective, even for him. Maybe not because he credits any attempts at ominous portents, but because whether or not any of this is supernatural, it usually precedes bad news. That doesn't necessarily mean that the ship is haunted; it only means that the perpetrator likes to set a certain tone. It's to be expected, at this point.

He's more conscious of the weight of the pistol at his hip than usual, and grateful for it.

He has been lost in thought for a few minutes as the group he's attached himself to proceeds down a seemingly endless corridor. He's fallen into step beside someone — Darcy, the girl who had also helped with the specialized communications for Shepard's mission — and now, he catches something up ahead on the left, and realizes that it might interest her.

"Darcy. Do you remember the murals I showed you... the ones in the archived post? We're passing something like that. It looks like something might be wrong with it."

Incomplete or destroyed; it's hard to say yet.

[50000volts]

Darcy hates all of this already. She's rubbing gingerly at one ear as they move forward, as if trying to relieve some pressure and fight the sensation that they're slowly descending into the bowels of the ship. She's thought about asking if they can backtrack a minute to see if she'll then fell as if she's moving uphill again, but has already decided that's silly. And that it probably wouldn't help her feel any better anyway.

When her partner speaks to her, she turns her gaze away from the stretch of hallway illuminated by the shaft of light she carries. "Oh." Flatly, and like this is part of the field trip she'd have been content to avoid. But she approaches the wall and reaches out to run the fingers of one hand over the marking experimentally. "They're even creepier in person. And unfinished."

hank mccoy | stage two (open)

[prehendere]

[Hank had been tagging along after Charles quietly, not really focusing on the chatter that was going on around him so much as the fact that Alex was gone, Remus was gone, Shepherd’s whole team was gone when he should be able to do something. Something with the communication devices – conversations about nodules come to mind – something to do with tracking how the halls move because that’s what he does.

At some point, he gets separated from the others and turned around on himself. Then – someone running past him, a blur of familiar jumpsuit even if he doesn’t know the person, only the face is bloody and their mouth is opened in a terrified grimace.]

Hey - [Except they run past him and for the first time perhaps in his life, he wishes he didn’t have his shoes on. By the time he rounds the corner, whoever it was is gone. Vanished. Very hesitantly, he calls out - ] Hello? [He halfway hopes he doesn’t hear a reply.]

[exponentiate]

[ despite his best intentions tobias found himself equally alone. if alone is an apt descriptor considering how many he has seen fleeing past him. he accidentally stumbled into one, not an experience he wishes to repeat, and has not had any respond to his calls. when one comes running toward him, he quickly jumps aside.

he starts upon hearing hank, bringing the rifle around to point at him. another passenger, he surmises, and allows the gun to tip down. ]

Who are you?