15strangers

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[The first sensation you feel is a headache. It's brief, slicing, sharp. It passes soon after you wake up, but it is there nevertheless, and the pain is not easily forgotten. Perhaps your eyes also blur as if roused from a deep sleep; perhaps your tongue also feels off, like you swallowed a bug. It's not pleasant.

More unpleasant, though, is the second sensation that dawns on you all-this is not your bed. This, in fact, is unrecognizable. It is not anywhere you recall coming to, willingly or otherwise. It's a room with a bunk, and there is a strange smell in the air that is hard to ignore.

No, you are no longer home. Any possessions you may have had on you are gone, save your clothing and a strange watch you can't get off, no matter how hard you try. And when you run into the hallway, well-you might find yourself running into others who might be just as confused and scared as you are as the area around you slowly sways, up and down, left and right.

What is this place? Why are you here? Who are all these other people?

What is going on?]

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[Akane wakes up with a stinging headache, feeling flushed and terrible and-

And not where she'd been before.

Her wrists feel heavy, as though weighed down with manacles, and she jerks up a moment later, eyes that are wide with confusion flickering around the interior of the room.]

Wha-? How- how is this... possible? Where...?

Edited 2023-06-11 17:03 (UTC)

[Makima stands up, taking care to not jostle the bunk bed with her weight, clearly a slight inconvenience. She looks at the slight lady by the ceiling.]

I don't think "how" is particularly strange. Being injected with a fast-acting tranquilizer is within reason, even before taking into account other methods. That you and I are unfamiliar with each other and with this location raises more questions, for me.

[She shakes her head, looking confused and overwhelmed.]

No, that's.... This is where I was before. But... it's different. And we'd already been.... Everyone who was with me....

Oh?

[Makima extends a hand.]

Do you want to come down and get a better look at what you recognize? I'm not sure you should descend the ladder like this.

I'm sorry. I'm sure I'll be all right. It's just...

[She holds up both hands, bewildered, and looks at them herself before displaying them to Makima. Each sports a near identical bracelet, one in red and one in gray, the digital faces 14 in magenta and 6 in blue.]

This is... it's the second time this has happened to me today.

Today, you say?

[These filler syllables are apparently the way Makima allows herself of emphasizing the statement instead of shouting a question that is extremely merited like, What on earth.]

Magenta...

[Makima says, showing her own magenta "5", as she manually inspects Akane's gray-backed bracelet first, then the red one, and gives a comforting pat to this wrist before she lets go and looks back up at Akane.]

You poor thing. Let's just hope this is a sign that our new troubles won't last an entire day.

[She shakes her head a little, more in disbelief than disagreement, and finally starts scooting towards the edge of the bed and carefully climbing down the ladder.]

This looks almost the same as where I woke up.... earlier. If it is still today. I guess there's no way to tell, really.

Are we locked in this room?

Hmmm... I don't want to push too hard if that's the case...

[But the door looks so normal and Makima doesn't want to stare at someone going down a ladder so, oh well, she goes for the doorknob. It's locked!]

I don't see any puzzle, but perhaps some kind of... Scanner?

Edited 2023-06-11 21:36 (UTC)

[It's just as well, maybe, that Makima is looking away, though Akane is already relieved that she's sharing a room with another woman. It's still polite of her to do so, and she smiles at her when she gets down, after almost stumbling on the last step and catching herself.]

Hm... Maybe....

[She steps closer to the door and begins investigation, though she doesn't have to look very far before spotting what appears to be a scanner panel. There's not a card reader attached to this one, and there's no number on the door, but she reaches out and touches it. There's a soft beep and a clicking sound, and a moment later when she tries it the door swings open.]

So it was locked... but not to keep us in. Maybe that's a good sign.

Oh. That's much less claustrophobic.

[She looks back and forth at this stuff and raises up her own bracelet to also get a little electric click. It doesn't really do anything because the door is already open, but Makima seems relaxed enough to take it at face value.]

It's still a little unconventional. [She makes to take off her bracelet and can't.] Almost like a handcuff...

[Akane is frowning, puzzled, around at the room and than at the door and the hallway beyond. There were puzzles to solve last time. Maybe this really is different. But if it is, then why...? She looks up at the camera in the corner, and then down again at the second numbered bracelet weighing down her wrist.]

Maybe.

[The word is quiet, hesitant.]

But...

[There's some windows and doors covered with bolted metal plates even here, it seems like. She bites her lip when she sees them, and then watches as her roommate, apparently, fiddles with the bracelet.]

Where I was before... when they put this... the um, the other bracelet on me.... They....

[She takes a breath, because this is definitely upsetting.]

If it's the same, you can't take it off. Not while your heart is still beating.

That's rather specific. [Makima runs her hand over the surface of her own bracelet, trying to calculate precisely how the electrical signals would relay. Then she suddenly realizes something, tilts her head, and makes to put a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder.]

Did you witness that worst case scenario yourself before? No wonder you're so terrified.

[She huddles into herself, just a little.]

He... he blew up.

I don't think it's the same here.

I hope it's not the same here.

[But a lot sure felt like it was the same.]

[Makima extends her hand a little more? To her shoulder blade? Honestly Akane - this damsel in distress whose name she still doesn't actually know, though that doesn't stop Makima - looks like she could use a hug. Of course, she could instead be startled and repulsed by a hug. Makima hopes that will become clear around this turning point.]

If there was a bomb, I imagine there was nothing anyone could have done to save him. Really, you must have needed to stay away, for your own safety. Let's go out of this room for now. There's probably less pressure outside.

[Akane herself is by no means certain that this strange and somewhat aloof bunkmate would be the hugging sort, but she does lean just a little into this comforting touch and bites her lip a little. There hadn't been anything that could have been done, true enough.]

Good idea. We should probably be trying to find a way out, anyway.

[Her work here is done. Makima separates entirely, now walking into the hallway. Just a few steps at a time so the young woman can still clearly see her even with the door at whatever angle.]

This hallway also looks pretty normal. No puzzles.

[She takes a few steps outside, following this stranger who.... had been really very kind, all considered, but then, they were in this together.]

It's strange that things are so... so similar but still have so many differences.

????

roomies

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I found out about the wrist scanners

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