EVENT ★ ROLLING 'ROUND THE BEND

[futurologists]

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 Speaking of clothing, whatever recruits were wearing upon their abduction has been replaced by a uniform orange jumpsuit.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.

Comments

03

[feytality]

[Maya sees the way Hayame's trudging along, quietly going to sit by herself with food she's not even eating. (Maya gets it, the food is terrible, but--)]

[It's such a far cry from the proud, aggressive warrior she'd encountered and worked with during the heist, that she's alarmed. Once Maya gets her own food, she goes out of her way to sit next to Hayame, although she too struggles to take a seat on a table that is obviously not meant for her small size. Still, even though some of her food sloshes onto the tray, she makes it up next to Hayame with determination, shooting her a worried look.]

[And then, with a softer tone that's probably very strange coming from a normally very loud and excitable teenage girl--]

Hey, you have to eat something, you know.... I know it's bad, but you gotta keep your strength up.

[For what it's worth, she's also in the "0 on the forehead loser" club.]

[kisha]

[Unfortunately... being in the same category as Maya in this instance is far more shameful than... most anything else happening right now.

She doesn't need to turn her head to see and know who has approached her, with all the fuss it takes for her to even get into her seat. So Hayame doesn't, looking straight at her plate the entire time.

Slop. (When he had taken her prisoner, he had fed her the same food which he ate.)]

Be gone with you.

[Like she desired to be pitied by someone such as this. Associated even further with that shameful number.]

[feytality]

[Hey, at least she isn't higher than Hayame. That would be embarrassing]

[Maya is nothing if not stubborn, though, and even though she's not wanted, she doesn't budge., It took her a lot of effort to get up there, after all, and that nagging goody-two-shoes streak means that she can't turn her back on someone she thinks needs help. Besides, she'd been in a situation like this and nearly given up herself -- sometimes all it takes is persistence from another person]

How about we make a deal? If you eat it all, and keep it down, I'll leave you alone.

[Maybe her annoying personality will come in handy after all.]

[kisha]

[A deal.

That finally draws Hayame's gaze away from the slop and front of her towards Maya... but there is no gratitude there, no acknowledgement for the human girl's efforts or kindness. Only the same disdain as before.]

Do I look like a foal to you?

[Really... she didn't make deals at all.]

[feytality]

A fowl? Why would I think you're a chicken? [That's 'foal', not 'fowl', Maya... although, if she accuses Hayame of being a chicken, will that spur her pride enough to eat? It's something to consider.]

[(No it isn't)]

Look, you want me to leave you alone, and I want you to eat 'cause I'm worried about you. You don't want that, right? So we can both get what we want.

[kisha]

[By the eighty myriads of kami... was this girl an absolute fool? Fowl?

Hayame cannot even think of a response besides a sneer of confusion, not even sure if she should designate a response, but-]

I shall let you make the choice. Either you sit there in silence, or I remove you bodily from this table.

[feytality]

Doncha think that'd be easier to do on a full stomach?

[But just to be safe, she's scooching a little so she's just out of Hayame's immediate arm reach]

[kisha]

[It is tempting to simply brain the girl with the tray in front of her. Adding that much length to her arm might be enough to reach her- but it will only draw attention to herself. Even the simple act of tossing her from the table, (something that she was sure she could still do, weakened by hunger as she was), would only draw the attention of the guards.

If looks alone could kill, though...

Hayame only glowers at Maya- until, saved by the proverbial bell, the doors are opened and mandatory meal time ends.]

Do not test my patience, girl.

[Why she continued to do so, she could not know- but she picks up the tray of uneaten slop and eases herself up to file out and return to another day spent largely in her cell.]

[feytality]

[Maya's pathetically easy to intimidate, so in normal situations, she would have been cowed and backed off long before it got to this point, but she's got it into her head that Hayame needs help and no amount of glowering or death stares or even threats will get her to back off without a good try first - though she is noticeably nervous.]

What if I got you something else to eat? Something better than this?

[yeah, she's still at it, even after mealtime is over. She clambers down after Hayame with some effort and trails behind her]

Come on.... you don't really wanna waste away to nothing in here, do you?

[kisha]

[Hayame had attempted to do this quietly, to be cold and aloof and not let her infamous temper get the better of her, give this foolish girl an out...

But she follows her, tags after her like the dung on a koi fish, and with a clatter of hooves on the hard floor Hayame rounds on her with teeth bared, slamming her slop-covered tray to the floor with a loud slam and scattering the contents over both of their legs.

So much for not attracting the guards.]

Were you kicked in the head? I do not want your food! I do not want your pity!

[If Maya doesn't back away quick enough, Hayame will have her by the front front of her orange jumpsuit, fisted fingers shaking in anger.]

Do you doubt me when I say I will throw you across this prison if you do not leave me be? Test me.

[Though if she wants to test it, she might be saved by the guards heading their way, attracted by what looks to be the makings of a brawl.]

[feytality]

[Her reflexes are good, but not good enough to avoid getting slop on her legs or being snatched up by the front of her jumpsuit. And it's almost enough to cut her short --- it's definitely enough to scare her, but instead of giving into that she stands her ground and stares right back into Hayame's eyes, blurting out defensively:]

What, because I don't want you to die it's pity? [If anything, as Maya sees it (but she's not voicing it for the moment), Hayame's the one pitying herself.] Pity has nothing to do with it! You're my teammate!

[If nothing else, Maya can be very bullheaded] You wanna throw me across the prison because I don't want you to give up on everything? Because I care? Why don't you use that pride to hold your head up high and resolve to get out of this mess no matter what?!

[Rest in pieces, Maya. Or she would be resting in pepperonis if the guards weren't about to break them up right before Hayame's famous Maya Throw]

[kisha]

It is pity!

[Hayame's response is instantaneous, more a bellow than a word or a shout, straight into Maya's face and accompanied with a shake of the girl's uniform (and her along with it). Why did no one understand? Why was the culture of these people so different from her own, that they could stand there and claim they did not pity her, look down on her, spit in the face of the values she had clung to all of her life. Ritual. Honor. Pride. No fear of death.

But she is afraid, and to hide it she lashes out with a false courage.]

I am no teammate of yours-

[She hauls Maya up off the ground easily with a single hand, even malnourished as she was becoming with not one but two empty stomachs, turning her snarl on the rest of the cafeteria's occupants- and the significant number of Audentes represented within the ranks, fairly roaring, teeth too sharp to belong to a human or horse bared by her disgusted sneer.]

I am no teammate of any of yours!

[And that's when Maya is suddenly dropped, just missing a spark of electricity. Not thrown, like Hayame had been threatening, because it wasn't Hayame who had done it- not consciously. It's the work of the cattle prod-like taser one of the guards had just stuck in her rear, seizing up her body with a choked back sound as the charge works its way through her spine across equine and human parts.

Maya is forgotten, and she rounds on the guards instead- even though they're stronger than her, and she knows it, even though it only takes a few more zaps of that machine before she'll be draggable back to her cell.

Admittedly... at least the destination she'd been heading for.]

[feytality]

You're wrong, Ms. Hayame. [Her voice drops a little amidst Hayame's bellows, but it's steely and resolved. The thing is? She can't blame Hayame for feeling that way about Audentes. Maya talks a big game about team looking out for team, she plays along, but in reality, she still hasn't made up her mind about how she feels about ALASTAIR, her fellow recruits, the idea of working with a whole bunch of people she doesn't know, trust, or necessarily like, at least some of the time. She can count the number of people she actually feels that kind of camaraderie towards on one hand, and she hasn't exactly had recent contact with all of that number.]

I'm not pitying you, [She says evenly, sounding braver than she feels with this horse woman all up in her face.] you're pitying you. I care. Teammates or not, I ca---

[That'd be about the part where she gets dropped, yeah. She lands really ungracefully, squeaking loudly as she hits and the guards wrestle and taser her away.]

Wait---

[But of course, they don't listen to her, she's scrambling and protesting futilely,] I-It's my fault! Don't hurt her! I'm the one who started it!

[Not that it's going to help, but.]

[kisha]

[It doesn't help.

But let's face it. Hayame wouldn't have been able to stand the shame if it had, if she somehow had to now also be in debt to this slip of a human girl for pitying her, for "saving her". The guards are quick and none too delicate about keeping Maya back, and there's only a few kicks Hayame can get in before the tasers render her a half limp sack of flesh that can be easily dragged back to her cell.

But at least she still had her pride.

(Hah.)]