thirty-ninth 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: A feeling of deep dread greets you as you stumble out of the gravcouch, strong enough to hold you still for a long moment, searching your surroundings for the source of your wariness. Nothing becomes apparent, only your fellow passengers waking up. Eventually you gather the resolve to pick yourself up and start moving, the feeling fading slowly as you progress through routine.

New arrivals will find messages spraypainted across their lockers telling them not to follow their tattoo numbers, and instead to find a room on Floors 001-010.


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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.

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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.

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Comments

[blackmagus]

That's an excellent idea.

[Some corner of her room, perhaps. Shove it under something. After a few very stiff drinks, though, because she figures she should at least look the damned thing over and see if there's anything different about it. Maybe there are clues to her father's disappearance, so many years too late.

When he'd gone, so had his notebook.]

He used to write down all his equations and thoughts in here.

[She lifts the leather-bound tome up slightly, so that Elena can see it more closely. It's obviously well-loved, but it's been decently taken care of, too. The rich brown leather is of a fine quality. When Clyde Fortescue had been a boy, books were already on the out to be replaced digitally. Paper was expensive. It was a gift from his father. Some place special to put his son's brilliant thoughts.]

[sacrifica]

What sort of thoughts?

( Elena took a look at the book when it was held up. It was definitely like a Gilbert journal, just hopefully entirely different in its content. She really hoped that )

He didn't have any thoughts about getting out of somewhere like this, did he?

[blackmagus]

I don't know.

[Doctor Clyde Fortescue had been a brilliant man. Perhaps there's something. That thought is almost exhausting, because she really doesn't want to look through the book. She wants to leave it under something and forget that it exists, like the paper in it. But perhaps it's worth one look, while heavily intoxicated.]

I'll... have a look. My father did all sorts of theoretical experiments. It's worth it to check, I s'pose.

[sacrifica]

I wasn't actually thinking you'd take that seriously.

( And now she knows something is really wrong. You're too serious lady, where's all the fun and flirt. Okay maybe not flirt but where is the more fun attitude. Something sad obviously happened to her father for this to be the case )

I wouldn't check it yet. Maybe tomorrow. Or in a week.

( Have some breathing room and do it slowly to not be super sad? )

[blackmagus]

[She offers Elena a sad, but still sincere, smile.]

My father worked on the device that allows my country to send people to other universes.

[So there might be something useful in the book after all.]

I wasn't allowed to look at his notes without his supervision.

[sacrifica]

Wait, you can go to different universes?

( That is cool but mostly scary. And so weird. It's not even a thing in her world and she'd never though about it until coming here but for it to be normal for this woman? )

How? If you tell me there was pods involved you have to look in that notebook right now.

[blackmagus]

We can. [Fortescue shrugs lightly.] It's why we have energy weapons in 1944.

[She's only been to a tiny handful of other universes, but she knows that that's not the norm for people on board this ship. Everyone's been surprised.]

Sadly, we don't use pods. It's far more painful than that. But there might be something more... abstract we can use. I don't know. It might be beyond me. My father held more of education than I was... allowed to pursue.

[Not that her schooling is anything shabby. She knows quite a bit about an assortment of topics, and she's certainly quite smart. But past the age of sixteen her tutors had all focused on making her a killing machine. Not a learning machine.]

[sacrifica]

I hope there is something. It's probably a long shot since there never seems to be anything good happening but maybe we'll get lucky.

( Not that she sounds as hopeful about that as the words are attempting to be )

Maybe someone else here could help you figure it out?

[blackmagus]

It's been quiet. [She makes a slight face.] Probably too quiet.

[Something is bound to pop up soon. That's just how this place works, as far as Fortescue can tell. You only go so long without something awful happening to the ship's occupants at large. Fun times!]

Have you seen Caroline yet? She's been worried about you.

[sacrifica]

At least quiet is peaceful.

( Even if it usually means something bad follows. She has experience of that from even before arriving on the ship. Too much quiet could be a bad thing but it was nice to enjoy a bit of peace while you could. To relax and enjoy something with a friend )

I was on my way to find her when I found you.

( Helping a buddy in need first. Good deeds always )

[blackmagus]

[It's a symptom of her life, but Fortescue has never associated quiet and peaceful. Not for a long time, at least. First she'd been holed up between missions in a quiet, quiet house, where a break in the silence meant new orders and potentially killing for King and Country. Then during the war, quiet had meant the enemy was coming up with something new. And in Panama, quiet could have potentially been broken by someone trying to kill her.

She musters a tired-looking smile.]

Go on. She'll be ecstatic to see you.

[And Caroline needs some good news after fretting all last Jump.]

[sacrifica]

I'm going.

( There's a nod, and a quick pause before Elena turns - one last thing )

Let me know if you need anything.

( A friend, a distraction. Someone to stop her being sad and fretting? Elena has lots of experience with sad and loss )

[blackmagus]

[Fortescue nods. She's grateful for the people on this ship. Very grateful. It isn't like she can get this kind of support back home, now.]

Thank you, love. I will.