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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ＹＯＵ͘ ̨ＷＡＫＥ̢ ̧ＵＰ ́ＩＮ ＤＡ̛ＲＫＮ̢Ｅ̕ＳＳ̶

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.

ＹＯ́Ｕ̴ ̧Ａ̨ＲＥ ＮＯＴ҉ ̷ＡＬＯ̨ＮＥ҉

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

[throwsdown]

Well, that's pretty much the coolest thing ever, too!

"A racer?! Like Mach GoGoGo?! Is that why your name is Gogo?!"

[letsjustgogo]

"Uh," Gogo wasn't quite sure what to do with that, but she managed a laugh and a shake of her head. "No. Well, maybe. It's a nickname someone gave me."

"I've never heard of Mach Gogogo though." Or at least, not under that name...

[throwsdown]

He gasps. Audibly. Like, one of those dramatic ones that sort of just sound ridiculous, really, but he's a kid so he gets a free pass. "You don't know Mach Gogogo?! He's a racer!! He's got a cartoon and he races all kindsa' people, and he wins a lot!"

[letsjustgogo]

Give her a second because she's catching up and figuring out what he means. "Huh. You mean Speed Racer?"

[throwsdown]

"... who's Speed Racer??"

TRANSLATION BARRIERS, OH NO.

[letsjustgogo]

"He's a cartoon? And a kind of crummy movie...he drives really fast, has a girlfriend named...I think Trixie? It's been a while since I watched it."

"There's a mysterious bad guy who's secretly his brother?"

[throwsdown]

He jumps on his tippy toes excitedly, a lightbulb dinging in his head.

"That's it!! That's the TV show!! But those names sound funny."

Nod, nod. He's very sure of himself.

"But it sounds right!!"