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.

ＴＨ̀ＩＳ͜ ̶Ｉ͠Ｓ͡ ͘Ｙ̵Ｏ͝ＵＲ ̕Ｗ͝Ｅ̛Ｌ̨Ｃ͡Ｏ͝Ｍ͏Ｅ Ｐ̛ＡＲ̴ＴＹ͜

Comments

[but_civilization]

[Yeah, it tends to do that sometimes. Luckily, Combeferre's face is pretty calm.]

It...likes to stick around. It's kind of disgusting, but it does come off, I promise.

[He's doing a very good job humaning so far, if that helps. Combeferre still isn't certain what he's saying, but he's used to that by now. At least Cole isn't a shrieking mermaid, right?]

That is too bad. It can help, to know people who are here. But sometimes others do turn up later on. Two of my friends did that. For now though, [He'll be offering a hand.] Let's get this off of you before it dries. That feels even worse.

[fade_away]

Thank you.

[Cole looks at both hands, then takes Combeferre's with the one that isn't covered with the extra layer of goo. He would pretty much follow him anywhere right now?]

He wouldn't have listened. If you said something, he wouldn't have listened. He was already lost.

[but_civilization]

[THAT is a good thing. Combeferre flashes him a smile, then starts leading Cole along the way to the showers.]

There are showers here. They can be a little odd, but instead of filling a tub with water, they simply sort of...dump it on you. Well, more comfortably than...

Hmm...

[He's blinking, somewhat rapidly, at what Cole's just said, trying to make the connection.]

Ah. Your friend?

[fade_away]

He made the coat into a symbol because the other one had fallen.

[Cole will probably be amaaaaazed at the shower. It'll be like an inside waterfall! Right now he's starting to pick things up from his helpful guide and is trying to sort through it. Just bits and flashes, and he is worried he has things backwards from the disorientation.]

[but_civilization]

That makes sense, I think. I can see where anything might be a symbol if one needed it to become so. We've had symbols of bigger things where I come from, with the same general ideas.

[Combeferre is leading him through, then going ahead and making his way towards one of them to demonstrate.] The water comes out of here, warm, usually, at least to get rid of the goo, though you CAN adjust how it comes out through the dial here [So saying, he's waving a hand toward the dial there.] The blue direction for colder and the red for warmer, and there IS soap floating around somewhere...

[fade_away]

[Whoa there cowboy, soap might be a little too advanced for Cole right now. The boy is still coming from a place of thinking dirty crypt water is perfectly acceptable for bathing. And for the record no that isn't common in his world, that's just a Cole thing. Evangeline would sigh and shake her head if she knew he still thought that.]

It's a waterfall!

[Cole has fun playing with the dial, yelping when he underestimates how cold 'cold' can be and how hot 'hot' can be before he finds a happy middle ground.

His bangs are quickly plastered to his face and he cannot see shit.]

[but_civilization]

That is an excellent way to think about it.

[City boy that he is, even if that city is one near the sea, Combeferre wouldn't have put it that way, but he has to admit it's the best description he's heard of in a long time.]

A waterfall that you con...

[And then Cole's finding out with the cold setting and Combeferre is wincing for him a little before he figures it out. ]

Now, the soap they keep here isn't so bad. A little...plain but...

[Yes, it's all back to the soap. Oh dear!]