forty-fourth 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: Awareness comes to you slowly in the smothering quiet of the blue fluid. In the light piercing through from the medical bay you realise there's a shadow, a figure stood at the glass of your gravcouch, a hand pressed to the surface just above your face. Fear spikes through your gut as waves of alien sensation crash into your mind, a rage that feels endless, all-consuming, furious, molten hatred that you know is for you.

When the fluid drains, door sliding open to deposit you on the medbay floor, you remember it. Remember it coming again and again, like a nightmare that plagued your sleep over and over, leaving you with no respite, no rest. Days. Perhaps even longer.

You remember that the light coming through from behind the shadow was red.

New arrivals will find messages spray-painted in red 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

[circumitus]

Truly Rey is a lass of very few words.

"Sort of. It acts more like a modulator." She bites her lower lip. "And it's also fireproof."

That much she knows Firo should be able to understand, at least.

"Actually... Figured out how to not burn out of control just before coming back. Turned out to be rather simple, really."

In spite of the circumstances at the time, she may be a little proud of herself.

[foundafamily]

She'd be right; his eyes light up "Really? Too bad they couldn't've given you that from the start."

It would have brought great peace of mind when he saw her practicing.

If Rey's only a little proud, then Firo has more than enough joy and pride to make up for it. His grin grows even broader and for one of those rare moments, he bounces up on his toes without a care for how childish he looks.

"Hey!" He shoves at her shoulder playfully. Because that's how you congratulate people. "That's amazin'!"

[circumitus]

It would have been nice... if the suits hadn't been destroyed, and the imperfect prototype in a previously inaccessible location for several decades. But hey, she's not complaining now. It's not like she'd have been able to make much use of it if she couldn't even control her own energy.

The corner of her lip tugs into a tiny smile at Firo's excitement. "That's nothing until you see this."

She holds out her right hand, the stumps curled towards her palm so her two remaining digits can form the shape of a mock-gun. Her thumb presses downward six times, each one completed with a bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! for effect. And each time, the tip of her index finger lights up. The neon veins wrapping around her digit to let out a six-inch spark of flame from her bone to her skin.

Afterwards, she bends her elbow, a surprised look on her face.

"Shit. Can't believe that worked."

[foundafamily]

His eyes pop open at the display in unabashed wonder, mouth dropping open a little more at each flare up.

"Wow..."

He laughs at her comment, raising an eyebrow. "What were you gonna show off if it didn't, huh?" But he doesn't so much expect an answer to that question, so he dives right into the next one. Hey, he's excited. "Do you have to pretend your hand's a gun for it to work?"

[circumitus]

Rey just barks a quiet laugh rather than answer that first question. He's right about that, at least.

She then gives him an amused look.

"Hell no. That was just for show." Good god, that would suck.

[foundafamily]

When he first met here, Firo would've been surprised to think of Rey doing anything just to be fancy.

He shakes his head and just barely keeps the sarcasm out of his words. "It made you look really cool, just so you know, cowboy."

[circumitus]

She preens, her hand smoothing through her thorny hair. "More like Calamity fucking Jane, but thank you."

I'll be here all week.

Her other hand shuts the door to the locker, securing away its contents.

[foundafamily]

He grins and puts his hands on his hips in a gesture of mock skepticism. "I wouldn't've thought you were a fan a' stuff like that. You kids in the future even still have her pamphlets circlin' around?"

[circumitus]

"Wouldn't know about any pamphlets around, but--" She shrugs. "My brother was enough of a fanatic that I learned more about the Wild West than I ever cared to."

Not that it sounds like she's complaining, as she tries harder not to worry about the state of things the last time she had actually seen Orion...

Yeah, not going to think about that right now. There's already enough bullshit to go around.

[foundafamily]

"No way, he is?" Firo grins broadly, thinking of all the western movies he'd snuck into as a kid. "He's got good taste."

He knew he liked that guy.

He pauses a moment. "Was it good? Seein' him again, I mean."

She looks like she's been through the wringer. If anything, he hopes Orion's presence could provide a little bit of light in the dark times.

[circumitus]

Sneaking into movies... Firo, you little rebel, you.

Rey nods. She isn't one to deny her brother's sense of style. He'd even shown her a few of his favorites, including some old silent films. Orion's weird like that, but something tells her that he'd get along with Firo.

Which is why it's a little difficult for her to know how to answer that question. She looks away, her teeth grinding for a moment.

"Y... es." It's not like her to hesitate like that between syllables, especially when it's just one. "Yes, it was good, seeing him again."

[foundafamily]

Well, that's not quite the answer he'd hoped for. From his secondhand information, Firo thinks Orion must be a darn cool guy. And Rey's made it rather plain she likes him.

Firo blinks and leans over to try and insert himself into her field of view. "Somethin' wrong?"

[circumitus]

She sighs.

"Long story short? That son of a bitch was careless and got himself caught, and now he's being sent to a PoW camp. Stowed away to perhaps try and figure out how to break his and some other dumbasses out until--"

She holds out her hands, indicating that her being there has deterred her from something that was important.

Not that she doesn't have important things to attend to here, at least. It sucks feeling so torn.

[foundafamily]

"Ah, tough break." Firo nods and frowns with sympathy, though probably less horror than he should show. Prisons of all sorts are simply an inevitability in his line of work and he's accepted that everyone winds up in one eventually.

"Damn, I'm sorry you're stuck here. Stupid boat always picks a great time, huh?"

He scuffs the toe of his shoe against the floor.

[circumitus]

Since there's not much she can do worrying about it here, Rey just waves her hand dismissively at Firo's apology.

"No worries, I hate being in small spaces anyway." You wouldn't think it, but she's extremely claustrophobic. "Surprised that I'm even back, to be honest. Almost suffocated to death in that undercarriage."

Climbing into the landing gear of an aircraft totally made sense to her at the time.

[foundafamily]

"You bein' dramatic or serious?" He really has no idea what she's talking about with an undercarriage. She's obviously physically okay, though, so he doesn't sound as concerned as he did when he first laid eyes on her.

He hums as he thinks. "So it's almost like it rescued you, then. Kinda leaves you feelin' torn, huh? This place basically broke me outta prison, but... It's hard to feel grateful sometimes."

[circumitus]

"Wouldn't necessarily say it saved me, but--" Rey shrugs, and raises a brow when Firo mentions his interdimensional prison break. "Alcatraz, right? Seems ironic to be sent from one 'inescapable' prison to another."

Since there's nowhere they can really go outside of the Tranquility, it may as well be prison. The universe has a cruel sense of humor.

[foundafamily]

Saving, kidnapping... He supposes she's right there.

He nods, snorting. "Yeah. And you're tellin' me. When I thought about freedom, I was kinda hopin' for, you know, seein' my family, maybe breathin' fresh air..."

The Tranquility is eerily similar to Alcatraz, all the way down to the monsters roaming the halls.

[circumitus]

She rubs her mouth, looking thoughtful. "Air's fresher here than in some places I've been, at least. Better company, too."

Not sure how she feels about that, when she can recall all the sorts of shitty places she's seen; the oxygen so thick one could barely breathe.

Then again, you can't really breathe at all in space, can you? Suppose she should consider themselves lucky that this ship has managed to hold for so long.

[foundafamily]

"It's different than it was back in the city." By which he does mean cleaner. Firo wouldn't know healthy air if it smacked him in the lungs. "And less stale than in prison. But it's not open, you know? We're still in a big box."

He grins. "Won't argue you on the company at all. I'll take you over Dragon any day. Heck, maybe even Isaac."

Isaac and Rey are hardly a fair comparison. They both have their good points and those good points are very different. It's not even an apples and oranges comparison; it's an apples and rhino comparison.

[circumitus]

Rey nods, agreeing that much that, no matter how pretty they make it, this ship is still a prison in its own way. A box floating through a void, nothing more.

It almost seems ironic on her own part as well, considering both hers and Firo's situations.

She raises a brow when he mentions a Dragon and Isaac, though.

"Oh good, so you're still not fed up with my presence yet." She grins back, though her mouth is the only part of her face that moves. "Suppose that's a compliment, at least."

[foundafamily]

He nods. "No, I'm not. It helps that you don't eat people and you don't run your mouth all the time sayin' stupid things."

"But, hey, I bet you'd still be all right even if you did take one a' those up."

He's mostly thinking of the chatting.

[circumitus]

"Fortunately cannibalism isn't on the list of fucked up things I've done or ever plan to do."

Rey is fairly sure that Firo didn't mean that sort of eating though, but it seems worth mentioning. Even Schmidt and Safronov weren't that insane, even if they had a penchant for making their kills medium to well done that it would be entirely likely.

[foundafamily]

In fact, Dragon did indulge in that form of cannibalism. Apparently Firo's life just didn't have enough people eating people in it already.

"Really?" He's grinning too hard to convincingly feign surprise, as is frequently the case with Firo. "God, I'm so glad to know that now. Here I've been worryin' you were gonna bite my ear off."

[circumitus]

What is your life even, bro?

"Well, if I was really inclined I know I'd go for the throat." Her lip twitches into a tiny smirk. "Straight for the kill -- and the delicious sweetbreads, of course."

If it wasn't obvious that she's joking, she wouldn't blame one for questioning her integrity.