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

[oversight]

[ He's hardly even had the mind to note the towel, actually. Blake scrubs at the side of his head and his eyebrow knit. ]

Not sure. Maybe— maybe both. [ Which is doubly alarming. Briefly, he looks at his watch again, but his eyes drift at movement. ] Jazz's okay?

[blackmagus]

Well, no wonder you feel out of sorts.

[Fortescue knows this ship and its technology can do something to memory. It can't just be acquiring other versions of the same people from other universes. That's far too tidy an explanation when, apparently, echoes can stick around.]

Hopefully it will clear up. Sometimes the pods make everyone feel... groggy.

[Although this is a step above. She smiles slightly, trying to encouraging.]

Yes, he's all right. Just wet. [There's a meow at her ankle from the drying feline.] He doesn't like the breathing tube. I suspect it's even less natural for him than it is for us.

[oversight]

Yeah, no kiddin'...

[ Blake finds that part is what he least looks forward to, and that's probably saying something considering how little he likes the rest of the process. If he could bypass the pods all together, he most definitely would.

He cradles his arms close and leans in a bit. ]

Can I ask you somethin'? [ Because she was so nice to him after the first jump, he's guessing she'll accommodate his question so he moves on. ] You run across anyone else outta sorts? 'Sides Jazz an' me, I mean.

[blackmagus]

Not yet. But I haven't really stopped to talk to anyone else yet. [Fortescue considers.] Now that you mention it, though, people were exiting the pods a bit slower than usual, I think.

[Not that she tries to look too hard, out of courtesy. Everyone being naked and everything. She might not have any qualms where nudity is concerned, but most people do.]

And the people who were trapped in the pods last Jump are out, as far as I can tell. No one seems to be staying in, en masse.

[oversight]

[ There's definitely something going on but Blake's having a hard time figuring exactly what that something happens to be. He makes a face at the realization that he's likely missing a lot and then shakes his head back and forth in a very slight manner. ]

This place sure takes some gettin' used to, damn. I'm not— definitely not lookin' forward to when this is all old hat— [ again. John wants to say again because Wonderland had been like this, too. But he refrains because now's not really the time for comparisons. He never woke up naked and tubed in Wonderland. ]

Can I walk with you two?

[blackmagus]

Of course, love. [She gives him an encouraging smile. Her locker is a bit of a walk down the corridor.] This way.

[Jazz moves at a slightly faster pace than his usual, relaxed, panther-like gait, stopping frequently to shake himself and rid his coat of more water. Fortescue keeps an eye on him as he moves ahead of them, but her attention is still very much on Blake.]

Wouldn't you want to be on even footing?

[She wouldn't say that this is old hat for her, but she moves basically on instinct through this part of the jump.]

[oversight]

'Fraid even footin' for me sometimes means stagnant. Can't say I'm entirely broken up 'bout it, but it's bad when you get kinda lackadaisical. No easier target than a stationary one...

[ Maybe it sounds paranoid, but he feels paranoid. Living on this ship is a totally different experience, and while he knew he was being watched in Wonderland, on Tranquility, it's a lot easier to forget. Hell, he still avoid mirrors, but when he runs across a comm system, he doesn't even think it could be on and listening to him. ]

How come no one's come up with a— with an easier way? There's gotta be a tube-less oxygen supply option...

[blackmagus]

[Fortescue squints, thoughtfully, as she walks.]

I think I remember someone putting out a message that they were trying to come up with another solution... [But everything is a little hazy right now.] Doesn't seem like anyone else has gotten 'round to it. But I quite agree, it could use more finesse.

[If only so she doesn't have the awful experience of putting a tube down her cat's throat. She glances at Blake.]

Don't get lackadaisical, love. Not here. Even when there's nothing trying to hunt us or paint vague messages on the walls, there's still something going on.

[oversight]

No, no, you're right, I just— Experience is tellin' me one thing, good sense is tellin' me another.

[ But at least this fog wears off eventually. John couldn't imagine if he spent a good portion of time on board feeling this way. Hadn't some of the people gotten sick not that long ago? ]

Hey, uh. Think there's any sense in keepin' a— a-a card with information in our lockers? In case we wake up without memories or somethin', I mean.

[blackmagus]

That doesn't sound like a bad idea.

[Anything can happen around here. Fortescue's reasonably certain of that. And if this sort of thing ever happens again...

She gives a wry smile.]

I suppose whoever puts things in our lockers could still snatch it out, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.