epidemiology | EVENT ★ ROLLING 'ROUND THE BEND

EVENT ★ ROLLING 'ROUND THE BEND

ASTERION PRISON

The white light is blinding. The weightlessness continues. The air thins into nothingness, though those who breathe won't feel the pain of suffocation -- in fact, they won't feel the need to breathe at all. The sensation continues for what may seem like a second or an eternity; it's impossible to tell.

And then the floor hits you. Or rather, you hit the floor. It's cold and metal and as your vision returns, you'll find you're not alone in this small room, though you're definitely not with anyone you know: standing in front of you is a brawny alien in a black uniform, its many purple eyes staring at you. The alien is flanked by a pair of robots, who take advantage of your dazed state and grasp you in their metal arms to drag you from the room into what appears to be a gigantic prison.

As the robots drag you past cells -- some containing other aliens, some containing humanoids, and some containing your teammates -- you'll catch a glimpse of the outside through a window.

You're in outer space.

If questioned, the guard will only tell you that you've been accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft, and your trial will begin soon. But in the meantime, you'd better get cozy.

YOUR NEW HOME

Asterion Prison is a dreadnought class spaceship with several different cell blocks making up a majority of its innards, with the rest of the space designated for day-to-day running of the ship and living quarters for the guards. Audentes is housed in Block 26, which has six tiers of cells situated in a circle around the main recreational area, out of which juts the Block 26 guard tower.

Each inmate, including Audentes recruits, has a glowing blue symbol emblazoned on their forehead. Though it's not immediately clear what the symbols mean, inmates who have been around longer will explain: it's a record of how many lives you've taken, a way for the guards to know who's the most dangerous. The symbol glows through any kind of attempt at covering it -- whether by makeup, clothing, hair, or something else -- so it's best to learn to deal with it quickly.

Speaking of clothing, whatever recruits were wearing upon their abduction has been replaced by a uniform orange jumpsuit. Similarly, any weapons are no longer present, though those with a special connection to their weapons will feel that they are being held elsewhere on the ship.

Luckily, the guards appear to have overlooked jewelcomms, so Audentes will be able to communicate with each other via magitek (text only is suggested, of course, unless you want to get caught!), though contact with Oska or any other outside ALASTAIR recruit seems to be blocked.

LOCKDOWN

As long as inmates keep to themselves and don't bother the guards, things run pretty smoothly. Two meals a day, five hours of sleep, and all the weights you need to get yourself swole. But on the sixth day in Asterion Prison, all hell breaks loose.

No one knows who started it, but there's suddenly a loud roar from the milling crowd in the recreational area. Most inmates scatter, but some rush in -- to see what's going on or to get a piece of the action themselves, who knows -- and then everything becomes an all-out brawl.

Super strong aliens with various powers fight each other loudly and violently while others cower and run for cover. The old alien ducks behind his chess board just in time to avoid a barbell sailing overhead; a six-armed being shoots lava out of its mouth, which does nothing to the metallic floor but severely burns a group of humanoid toads wielding shivs.

The fight goes on for a few long minutes before correctional officers and their robot guards pour in to try and get things under control. Those who are still around once the officers come in are in threat of being dragged off to solitary, even if they had nothing to do with the brawl, so make yourself scarce unless the idea of sitting in the dark for another six days seems appealing.

OOC NOTES

Welcome to space prison! We hope you'll enjoy your stay. There is a plotting write-up here with extra information about the prison ship, and please note that participation in the symbol directory is mandatory.

If you have any questions about the prison that aren't answered here, please direct them to the Leramzen dossier.

Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[For all that Odinson is not enjoying his time in this prison, he has made sure to keep an eye on his companions. Not all the inmates are dangerous, but there are some who would as soon slit a throat to get what they wanted as ask. Odinson has been making it clear that any who tries this will answer to him.

Seeing Hayame fly out of the cell and not rise again draws his attention very quickly. He stands, crossing the room and jumping over the railing to stand beside her.

First- he glares into the cell, making eye contact with the creature. The M on his forehead glows blue as his eyes.] I will have words with you in a moment, worm.

[Then he turns to Hayame, looking her over to check how injured she is. He doesn't touch her, not yet. He knows how much she dislikes it.] Rise, friend. We will teach the worm that he may not mistreat one of our number so.

["Worm" is pretty close enough to what species the dealer is- a worm with some impressively muscular arms. Six of them. One hand of which he uses to flip a rude gesture their way before returning to what he was doing.

Hayame's hands grasp weakly for the railing she'd collided with, her breath returning as she uses that leverage to flip her heavy hind end back onto her stomach to get her legs under her. They shake slightly at first, and she gives up standing for the moment, not wanting the other prisoners, nor Odinson to see her struggling... her head down, dark hair still not enough to obscure the "0" glowing on her forehead.]

It is fine-

[Rasps, white knuckled on the railing. Even though it's not fine, it's anything but fine, it's a disgrace, one she would normally demand answer to, but if this continued the guards would come, it would spook others, and she'd never get what she needed-]

Leave it be.

[It is not fine. She does not rise. and her knuckles shake. Odinson notices the thinness in her shoulders and his anger becomes tinged with concern. He looks up and around, checking that there aren't any inmates watching them with hostile intent (there are a few watching, but there are always some people watching in a prison. privacy is nowhere).

He lowers his voice.] Are you injured?

Nothing serious.

[Teeth grit around the words, lies, and she hates them even as she says them, but what else is there? Fight the worm, draw the attention of the guards... with as many times as they'd forced her into roll call and the mess hall, they'd been quite clear any further infractions would see her sent to solitary.

And where could she get what she needed then?]

Just let it go.

[Says the woman who had threatened to cut the tongue from his head the first they'd ever spoken, a woman who not a week ago had surely been heavier than she is now, stronger than she is now.

Braver than she was now.]

[His brows meet, concern growing. He accepts her word that she has not been seriously injured by the fall, she is no delicate flower.

But that leaves other things to account for the shaking and thinness.] Very well. I will return and deal with the worm later. [His voice is still low. He doesn't want the creature to hear that threat and get help.]

I will not leave you.

[It is a line that should fill a person with relief. To not be alone. To have support, and aid. To be cared for.

But all it does is feel her with shame and dread, the pit in her stomach growing, the taste of bile rising up in her throat.]

Just go.

[She means to rise, to illustrate she needs little protecting or assistance, but the strength and energy alludes her. Perhaps she could just stay here. Eventually, something would happen. The other prisoners might circle, like vultures over weakened prey, or the guards might come-

What glory or honor was there left to win, as a speck of life floating amidst the stars?]

[For the first time he connects her thin shoulders with the shaking. Odinson has not dealt much with centaurs, but he has seen what malnutrition does to humans and other creatures.

He tries to recall whether he has seen her eat over the past few days.]

Rise and make me go yourself if you will it.

[He has not seen her eat at all- no one has. Unless you count the third day, when a guard had shoved her face into the contents of her morning meal tray. And with her two stomachs, and the requirements of energy for her equine half... she needed far more food than a human did.

But her appetite had shriveled and died the moment she looked out the window of the prison and saw the vastness of space.

Determined to be rid of him, of the attention this maneuver had brought her, she tries to drag herself up, get her thin legs beneath her and fight through the shake of weakness in her knees. With her grip on the railing she does manage it-

But it took far longer than it should, and she knows it.]

Now, go on, before you become associated with me.

[There aren't many "0"s in the prison. She phrases it like its for his own good, but.

Maybe it's just for hers.]

[Her strength of will is impressive, but not enough to keep him from being worried, or to make him leave. Something is very wrong, and he would know what.

But not here.]

You will forgive me, warrior, for what I am going to do.

[Without waiting for consent or a reaction from her, he goes to put an arm around her waist, intending to support her weight without making it obvious that's what he's doing. He'll carry her back to her cell if he has to, but he'd rather spare her dignity since that's what she's so focused on.]

[It seemed no one on this team was content to let her do as she pleased- despite how she was sure that she had given none of them cause to think she was their friend. Not that she'd ever had a friend.]

Let go of me-

[She recoils from his touch in alarm, tries to push him off immediately- but not having eaten properly in days, she finds herself lacking the strength to do so, hooves scrambling uselessly on the smooth prison floor.]

[The strength she uses to push him away is yet another confirmation that something is wrong. He strengthens his grip on her.]

I will throw you over my shoulder, if you would rather suffer that indignity. [The threat is clear in his low voice, and the way he's supporting most of her weight already suggests that he could follow through.]

[Were she in a better frame of mind, she would have noticed that he was supporting her far better than a man ought be able to, even a man as well-built as he was.

But she isn't, and she doesn't, and her hooves give her no purchase on the floor to dig in and resist him, struggling weakly to try and shake off his arm.]

Why will you not let me be-

[Why wouldn't any of them?]

You may beat me black and blue when you are hale and hearty again.

[This is the point where Odinson realises he has no clue where her cell is, but he figures just getting away from here is a good start.]

[It was both difficult and very easy to give in. She had her pride, and she had her own sense of dignity... or at least, she had. Before she became a speck of dust in a vast and endless spanse of black and stars, and things like that had become so pointless seeming.

Her struggles against his hold on her waist gets her nowhere, so instead...

She goes completely limp. All one ton of her.]

[He wasn't expecting that and the sudden extra weight is almost enough to have him drop her. He regains his grip, dragging her hooves on the floor while trying to make it look like he isn't, and maintains his direction, heading anywhere so long as it's to a less open space.

He'll keep up his side of the conversation.]

Is the food they serve not enough for you? You ought have said.

[Even her snarl of frustration is weak, torn between complete surrender and trying to fight him, surprised by his strength but too exhausted mentally to think over it too deeply.]

Why-

Are-

You-

[So... so...

In a last ditch effort, still not believing him capable of lifting her or dragging her despite it kind of happening right this second, she scrambles her hooves to try and trip him.]

[She succeeds, and he stumbles over his feet for a few steps into the wall- where he manages to steady himself with his free hand.

He's scowling when he looks over at her.]

You leave me no choice.

[It's hard to get an arm under her front legs, but he tries. It's a good thing he's got broad shoulders, because that's where he's intending to carry her.]

[She could suspend belief for the drag and carry, that he was somehow strong enough to do that, with the muscles he had, which were... substantial for a human man.

But once she's slung over his shoulder, the world turning topsy turvy for a few seconds, she cannot deny how impossible it ought to be. No human man could lift a horse- or a jinba. She might be on the lighter side for her species, but she still weighed in over a ton- a ton of thrashing hooves and human hands that grope about for a grip on him.]

Put me down!

[The snarl is stronger this time, slightly louder, but maybe that's just because she's closer to his ear now.

Maybe he was a god after all.

Or she'd started to hallucinate from hunger. One of the two.]

I will give you the choice again. Do you prefer to be carried with dignity, or like a sack of grain?

[It's not like it's easy keeping hold of her as she trashes around, but he'll keep her on his shoulders if she won't cooperate.]

If you do not put me down-

[Over his shoulder as she is, she can't pull her back hooves up far enough to kick him with her stronger legs, though she manages to slam her front hooves into his back.]

You will find that fight with me sooner than Oska-

[Says the woman just bodily thrown out of a cell.

Jinba's human spine was just as flexible as the neck of a horse, and with a bit of twisting, she manages to wrap her arms around one of his own, and attempt to pull.]

[The wavers as she slams her hooves into him and grapples his arm and has to stop walking, but once he's regained his balance, he keeps walking. If she won't cooperate, neither will he.

He levels a hot glare at the inmate a few feet away who looks at though it's about to start laughing. It blinks and makes itself scarce.]

I will take you to my cell. [Since he doesn't know where hers is, or who her cellmate it. Luckily, his isn't far given how hard she's making this for him.]

[He really was too strong.

That explained the "M" on his forehead. Like she was nothing he had slung her over his shoulder, and like she was but a buzzing horsefly he had only needed to adjust his balance to continue on despite the efforts she put into stopping him.

Defeated (ashamed), she slowly stills, until her only sign of life is the breath in her body and the grip one hand holds in the back of his jumpsuit to keep her long mane from dragging the ground.]

[For all that it makes her easier to carry, Odinson is more worried than pleased when she stops struggling. He knows despair intimately, and she is not a god who will keep living despite months of neither food nor sleep.

He walks faster, facing down any curious stares that come their way with glares and scowls. It isn't far to go.]

Here. This is my cell, which I share with Peter Parker. He is not here now, and you may have some privacy.

[He goes to put her down.]

[Privacy to lick her wounds, minor though they were physically.

She isn't foolish enough to fight him on the way down, limp until she touches ground and can get her hooves tucked under her, wincing slightly courtesy the bruises that have been given enough time now to begin to swell along her ribs beneath her dun coat.

Peter Parker. Another name of another supposed "team mate" she did not know, nor particularly desire connection to.

Is she supposed to thank him, for what he'd done?]

Ah.

[Its been days since she's eaten properly, and she can no longer deny the fact that she might actually need a moment to gather the momentum to leave, and go back to her search for a dealer in banned prison weapons.]

[His expression is opaque as he looks down at her, neither angry nor disappointed. He looks almost thoughtful.]

I will await your challenge when we return to Oska, to allow you to revenge yourself for the insult I have paid you today.

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