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

[songofhappiness]

Oh, trust me. I'll definitely be careful in the future. I just got done talking to a guy going on about finding a zombie hand or arm in his locker once.

[ And she looks appropriately disgusted about it. ]

He kept it for a pet. Also a stoner, so kinda not surprised. Still creepy. [ She shakes her head. Seriously, stoners. ] Anyway. You don't think your dad's book might have some kind of magical way of getting off this ship, do you?

[ She's joking, trying to keep it lighthearted since the book's arrival has Fortescue in low spirits. ]

[blackmagus]

...A pet. [Fortescue's eyebrows go up into her hairline.] And here sometimes people give me lip for having a cat who rides around on my shoulders.

[Having a zombie hand for a pet would probably give those same people a conniption. Actually, it might be worth it just for that. ...or... nah. No. She'll pass on zombie hands. No thank you.

Instead, she looks down at the book in her hands.]

Somehow, I doubt this scenario would have occurred to him. [Her smile is a little less grimace, this time.] But, who knows. Perhaps he thought of something we could use. Stranger things have probably happened. I'll let you know, shall I?

[If she's going to peruse this book, she's also going to get very, very drunk.]

[songofhappiness]

At this point, a cat is totally tame. [ At this, she wiggles her fingers at Jazz playfully. ] Way cuter, too.

[ Dropping her hand, she gives Fortescue a small smile. She wishes there was something she could do or say to make her feel better, even without knowing specifics about the book. Her ever present need to fix things for people she cares about is still there, but now she's stumped. ]

Yeah, let me know. No rush, obviously, since it's something pretty personal and all.

[blackmagus]

[Jazz mewls softly at Caroline in response. Why, yes, he is cuter than whatever is distressing his mistress.]

Better to get it out of the way sooner, rather than later, if I'm honest. [Rather than dallying and just letting the anxiety of what she'll find completely take her.] At least I can put it in my room and forget about it. You can't exactly do that with a hand.

[Unless you ignore basic cleanliness, as a rule.]

[songofhappiness]

That's usually my philosophy, too. Get it done and over with and it can be behind you.

[ Maybe not totally forgotten, but better than to have it hanging over her head forever, right? The mention of the hand has Caroline wrinkling her nose, trying to imagine what that was like. ]

Yeah, a book won't start to decompose and smell awful, which is a plus.

[ She lets out a sigh, brushing her damp hair back off her shoulders. ]

I think I'm gonna check back with the pods, see if I can catch Elena. Hopefully, she'll wake up this time. [ She's still worried, though. ]

[blackmagus]

[Fortescue nods.]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you both. [She knows how worried you are, Miss Sunshine.] See you later?

[The ship is big, but hey, it's no secret what level she's on if Caroline needs to talk to someone. Someone who isn't a Cajun vampire, anyway.]

[songofhappiness]

Count on it.

[ Because they are friends, and that means Fortescue is stuck with a perky vampire for as long as possible.

Giving Fortescue and Jazz a little wave, she turns toward the pod area and starts off on her path to (hopefully) finding her childhood friend. ]