03 ▒ EVENT: STRELA OUTPOST ▒ ASSIMILATION

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: Strela Outpost.
WARNINGS: Mind horror, hivemindery, etc.
SUMMARY: Communal brainwashing.
NOTES: Divided by locations; players are free to indicate which day/stage, and to begin new subthreads wherever they'd like!

Looks like the authorities have apprehended you and have brought you in for processing. After being forced to wait in the waiting room, you're brought to the assimilation room - a terrible white cell, where you're trapped for hours, sentenced to be slowly stripped of your individuality.

Comments

[omigosh]

Knives turns towards the voice, surprised that someone actually responded back. For some reason, she thought that they would stick her in solitary confinement or something since her talkative mouth is what got her in trouble in the first place. Putting her in a room with other people give her the opportunity to gab even more.

Not that she isn't grateful for that. Quite the opposite, actually. She's happy to have someone to talk to. It keeps her mind off of the pain and the panic.

"Obviously. The only parties I go to are hipster parties and at worst I just end up passing out on the floor or making out with one of my friends," she pauses for a moment and then adds, "...Actually, that last one isn't that bad. Just awkward afterwards."

She laughs before wincing. Humor is definitely not the best medicine for her right now. "Man, you must have been to some really hardcore bachelor parties cuz this sucks!"

[blunted]

The first thing Keller wants to ask is What the hell is a hipster party? but thinks better of it. He also is suddenly uncertain that entering into conversation with the kid was such a great idea, but he's going to be stuck for the forseeable future. Might as well rustle up something to hold his interest.

"Only a couple. You get older, the hipster party thing goes away."

Or it does, if you're in the right line of business. Con men party hard.

"You okay over there?"

Because Keller's a heartless bastard, but even so. Even so.

[omigosh]

"Yeah, I'm okay!" Well as okay as one can be after being attacked and electrocuted with metal prongs. "I'm just a winded out and a little sore. Whoever the creeps are who brought us here sure don't hold back with their punches."

Nor do they with their giant electric sticks. Luckily, she got very few electric burns, small ones at that. The pain is tolerable enough. She's just glad that she isn't alone in this room.

Physical pain may suck, but being cut off from all human interaction would just drive her insane.

"How are you holding up, mister?"

[blunted]

"They electrocute you?"

This is boredom. Keller isn't the most social of men, but he can make nice when he wants to. This is like prison, or it might be. You branch out, you make friends, and suddenly being on the inside ain't the worst thing in the world. Maybe he shouldn't have started with this kid, but hey. You make do with what you've got.

"I'm fine. I came quietly."

Because Keller had an aversion to fighting losing battles.

"No complaints over here."

[omigosh]

"Yeah. I kind of did the opposite of you and didn't come quietly," she explains with a nod. There's a hint of smugness in her answer that shows she doesn't regret her actions, no matter how stupid they were. Unlike Keller, she can deal with fighting losing battles.

"Even though they got me, I totally got them back...Kind of..."

She trails off after that, not sure what else to say. She would go on with "bragging" about her "victories, but she doesn't want this guy to think she has a big head. Making good first impressions is still important to her, even in crappy situations like this.

Of course, being herself, she can't stay quiet for long and breaks the silence with something that's been bugging her since she came to.

"What do you think they're going to do with us?"

[blunted]

"Dumb move."

Keller's tone is mild, without any real heat. It's the way people comment on the weather, on sports. Fumbled a pass, as if it weren't of any real consequence. And it isn't, because Knives isn't really anything to Keller, at the moment. Just a kid who talks and is amusing enough to pass the time with.

"Nothing good," he says, rolling his shoulders back with the air of someone who has clearly made up his mind on the matter. "But maybe just hang on to us until shore leave's over. Then we're free to go, or some shit like that."

[omigosh]

"I know, but what else was I supposed do? It's not like I could just let them take me without a fight! My parents didn't raise a wimp!" She quickly adds, "No offense, of course. Not fighting back was a smart thing to do, and I'm pretty sure my parents would have told me to do the same...Oh man."

If she had the energy to slap herself for being stupid, she totally would. Because, yeesh. That was a really dumb move. Man, this guy must be totally judging her right now.

In turn, she's surprised that he came up with a more optimistic outcome than she originally did.

"You really think so?" She tries keep her tone as neutral as possible, but it's a losing battle. Knives doesn't do neutral - she does hopeful.