exsiliumlogs | welp (open as open can be)

Entry tags:

welp (open as open can be)

Date & Time: The evening of the 17th September, up until the actual rescue on the 19th
Location: Various bits of the UE compound
Characters: Anyone who may have gone along with Ed Elric's early bird rescue attempt, anyone in the compound who wants to run into them
Summary: A mingle log, so tag in and around or take this as a sign to horn in on the original kidnappee log as you please o/
Warnings: I'll edit as they come up.

[From one point of view, the most insulting part of this failure is that it wasn't even spectacular. Sure, the alarms went off, maybe stirring up a little confusion among whoever overheard them - who would have thought you could build machines to detect powers nobody was using at the time? Technology in this day and age is weird - but they didn't last long. Neither did the struggle between the trained guards on patrol and a few misfits worn out from two days of constant travel who were only attempting recon for the real break-in, heated as it was.

The facility workers' debate over what to do with the new arrivals was another story, but even they couldn't fret about proper protocol forever, and now here you are: probably tired, probably aching for one reason or another, possibly even a little worse off, but without a doubt booted unceremoniously into the communal lounge with nothing but the gown on your back and left to your own devices. You might wonder what's going to happen to you - or, if the UE employees thought you seemed inconveniently lively in either the initial brawl or the first round of testing, when all the cotton wool temporarily filling your universe is going to go away - but the only answer you'll get at first is the steady thrum of the bright, sterile lights overhead.

So, what now?]

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[If you're Ed, you take one look around and keel over, because you're still a little too sedated to stay standing for longer than the minute and a half it took for the scientists to basically push you in here.

He grits his teeth and starts to prop himself upright, leaning heavily on the arm that, ironically enough, doesn't currently feel like lead. (At the moment, he's just glad that nobody felt the need to pull it off him.)

To the extent that it can, his head is buzzing. He's not out of it just yet. All the apologies can come later. They're being left unattended, which means these bastards are confident nobody's going to be busting out of here any time soon, which means this won't be a cakewalk... but if he can get his bearings, there has to be a way. He'll make a way. That's what he does - otherwise, what good is he? First things first, though, what he really needs to do is find -

His hand slips on the clean, polished floor, which his face shortly lands on.

Okay, first first things first, he needs to actually get up.]

[ Despite being pretty remarkably useless without any of his powers, he's had enough of a timeout in here so far to stop moping and start trying to help again. So of course he drops to a crouch next to Ed as soon as he's down, already with a kindly smile.

Of course he has a million questions, but they can probably wait. ]

Rough day?

[He laughs hollowly.] Yeah, that about sums it up. [Not satisfied with faceplanting just once in the next few minutes, he's already pushing himself back up, although he has just enough pride left (which is to say, entirely too much) to refrain from asking for a hand.] But there's still a chance...

[ He doesn't wait for Ed — nor does he give him a chance to refuse help. He takes his forearm, steadying, ready to help Ed up at his own pace. When he speaks again, his voice is low. ]

What's the news?

[ And specifically, why were so few of them caught and thrown in just now? Shouldn't a rescue be larger? ]

[Oh, he picks up on the implications all right, and they're enough to wipe any trace of even a bitter smile off his face as he finally looks up. If he'd spared any thought for how he was going to explain himself, he'd figured he could save it for the way back.]

There wasn't any when we left.

[ There's a second where he's surprised. No news means... no plan. This was an independent idea. He's quiet, and takes a moment to glance around them. There's a sparse couch not far back, and he takes a careful step toward it with Ed. ]

Come on, let's sit down a while, you can get your bearings and catch your breath.

It's fine. I've had worse.

[He doesn't really have it in him to pull away for now, but far from relaxing at all, he's craning his neck, trying to get a better view of pretty much everything in here except the couch.]

Still... they must've rounded up more people than I thought.

[ Hey, as long as Ed sits, he's content with that. ]

There are a lot of us. Around forty , I'd guess. [ Not that the room shows much of said population. It's a large compound. He sinks carefully to a seat next to him on the couch. ] Mind if I ask what happened?

[He shakes his head distractedly.] We got unlucky, that's all. Nothing else to it. [Part of it is the guilt, though there's also the fact that they were caught, it already happened - what's the sense in dwelling on it?

A more pressing issue is what to do now. He slumps a bit, staring at the ceiling. This room looks far too polished to ever have had that many people in it at once, but even under the watchful eyes of the UE that Ed suspects aren't far away, he can't think of a reason this stranger would lie about the number... and besides, it seems obvious in hindsight that anyone who needed the chaos of a couple of days ago as a cover would have a lot to hide. That could be a problem - while it's not impossible he could plan his own jailbreak given enough time, carting forty-something lab rats out the same way sounds like a really tall order...

...

Lab rats. The realisation takes a second to worm its way through all the fuzziness in Ed's mind brought on by the sedatives and lack of sleep, but the instant it does, he's out of his seat, bolt upright - or trying to be, until after a couple of steps one of his legs gives way underneath him again.]

[The thing about the UE's insanely methodical approach to life is that it's easy to tell when something forces them to deviate from their routine. So when one of the guards is called to action elsewhere and concerned murmuring passes between a few of the others, Al takes notice almost immediately.

If someone's trying to bust them out then it's a lightning fast attempt, but the Transports are nothing if not resourceful, right? Al and the rest of the captives have to be ready to do their part and meet them halfway, so he waits, cautiously optimistic.

Except the world around them seems to settle back to normal as time passes, and what they ultimately get instead is Ed facedown on the floor and a handful of other new prisoners to go along with him.]

Brother!

[If this is the first wave of a cunning rescue plan, it's certainly well disguised. Still, like a dutiful younger sibling, Al's first instinct is to clank over to help haul Edward off the ground.]

Are you okay?

[Ed, for the most part, is hauled. Even if he was in any shape to resist, he'd still be a little too light-headed. Maybe it's the weight of the fear that just dropped away.

With some difficulty, he finds his footing for the time being -

- and immediately rears back to punch Al hard in the chest plate.]

That's what I should be asking, Al! What the hell happened to you?

[On the bright side, it's not like there's any point worrying about causing a scene now.]

[Al ends up helpfully letting go, startled both by Ed's reaction and by the fact that he even has enough strength left to start throwing punches. This conversation was obviously going to happen eventually, but Al never imagined it would be with both them trapped behind the walls of the UE.]

Stop that before you hurt yourself even worse! I--! [Blacked out at the worst possible time and got carted off into enemy territory in pieces? Yeah, that will calm Ed down.] I'm fine. We all are. The United Earth had us brought here after the attack.

[He clearly doesn't. Without Al holding him up, that one wild swing almost knocks him off balance again - though he does catch himself, undeterred.] And that's what you're calling fine?!

[But however much Ed might feel like yelling about it, here they are. Lowering his hackles a bit, he glances to his side. He has to admit, one thing more annoying than knowing he probably has watchful eyes to contend with in here is not knowing exactly how watchful they are.

He sighs.] Let's go somewhere else. The lights in here are giving me a headache.

[It's practically a question. He doesn't know where.]

We don't exactly have a lot of options.

[He's briefly tempted to point out that Ed should have considered the conditions before getting himself thrown in here, but ultimately feels just sympathetic enough to oblige him instead. If Al had to guess he'd wager that Ed probably hasn't gotten more than a few minutes of sleep the whole time he's been missing, and with the addition of the sedatives there's pretty much no chance he's going to be able to stay on his feet much longer.

Taking him by the arm, Al starts to guide Ed toward the sleeping chambers. Even though he doubts anyone here is attached enough to get territorial over a prison cell, he tries to find a room that looks unclaimed, a process that proves to be more difficult than he expected. He keeps his eyes on Ed along the way.]

I'm sorry for worrying you.

[With complete sincerity that lasts for all of ten seconds before his tone flattens out again.]

But that doesn't explain why you're here.

[Ed, meanwhile, is trying to stay alert (or project the image that he is, which is the best he can realistically hope for), his eyes darting in pretty much every direction besides Al's as they walk down the spartan, unfamiliar hallway, but it's a challenge. Al's hand on his arm and his other hand roughly brushing against the wall are the main things keeping him from stumbling, and even those are probably only postponing the inevitable.]

We... I thought it'd be safe if we kept our distance, tried to get a handle on the layout before going in. This isn't the kind of place I was picturing... [He looks down at his feet.] It just turned out the alarms got a handle on us first.

[He has a feeling the actual explanation is going to be forced out of him in the next minute or so, but that hardly means he knows what he's going to say.]

[Al leads him to sit down on what's little more than a mattress haphazardly thrown in a corner. He's not convinced enemies as technologically savvy as theirs would ever leave their prisoners completely unmonitored, but for now it's as close to privacy as they're going to get.

He crosses his arms and takes a step back, determined to give Ed a chance to settle and get the whole story out before he starts voicing his conclusions.]

Did they capture all of you?

Yeah. [Even if it wasn't true, it's not as if he'd say anything else here, where he can't know who else might be listening. ...But it is, and it's probably his fault, which isn't quite as noble a reason to keep quiet.

Eventually, he at least looks up.]

Well... it's good that you're okay.

But you're not.

[Ed being captive here is a nightmare scenario for him in a lot of ways, and with the surprise dimming, Al is left to focus on what that might really mean. He wonders if Ed is even clear-headed enough yet to truly realize how much danger he's walked into. With no larger rescue party waiting in the wings, it's something they'll have to deal with soon enough.]

This has to be one of the stupidest things you've ever done. Did you even try to get the Initiative to help you?

[Yep, right on cue.

Since he's already conveniently on top of a mattress, Ed sees nothing wrong with lying down and pointedly rolling over to face the opposite wall, although his eyes remain wide open.] Save it, Al.

Not this time.

[Dismissal quickly tips the scales from worry to anger, even if he's still shy of a full-on outburst. In a way, Ed's demonstrating exactly what he sees as the source of the problem.]

You could have been killed, Brother. The only reason you weren't is because someone thought you'd make a good test subject.

[He resists the urge to spring right back up, barely.] And you couldn't?

[Sure, it might not be the best idea to start talking over Plan B for busting out of here just yet... but if he didn't chicken out before, what's the point in getting hung up on it now that he's already been caught?]

Don't pretend like it's the same thing.

[Him handling a dangerous situation badly is no reason for Ed to respond by upping the ante.]

I didn't go charging into the United Earth on purpose.

I said, save it. [He's still resolutely staring at the wall, but the pronounced scowl on his face belies how much of what willpower he has left is going into keeping himself there.] It's not like the plan was charging in.

Then what would you call it?

[There's no sign of backing down, but at least he doesn't try to force Ed into looking at him.]

You've seen exactly what these people are capable of and you still rushed in completely unprepared. You barely even brought any backup!

[He raises his voice a little, although there's a limit to how authoritative you can sound while avoiding eye contact in the sulkiest way possible.] Getting everyone out, what else? And that's still the plan. That's the only thing worth concentrating on now.

[Frustrated, Al goes quiet save for the sound of his armor as he settles down on the ground. Rationally he knows it's probably futile to argue while Ed is still drugged, but after everything that's happened he's too worked up and restless to let it wait.]

We can't use alchemy here. [Rather than raising his voice in turn, he sounds serious and uncharacteristically grim.] Whatever they're using to block people's powers gets in the way of drawing in the energy.

And there's a military base right next door. So even if we tried to fight our way out, we wouldn't be able to make it very far before they called in reinforcements.

[It looks impossible without outside help, and he'd been a lot more certain that was coming when he'd thought Ed was safely back with the other Transports.]

Getting everyone out of here safely is going to take time and a really good plan.

All the more reason to focus on that first.

[He doesn't show much sign of surprise, and if anything sounds like he's calming down, although there's every chance that could be the sedatives too. He does tense up slightly at the mention of the base, though; that's one thing he didn't get to see from outside.

After a moment of thought, he shifts a little, propping himself up on an elbow.] What if we could break into there...?

[Ugh, this is a pain. His head isn't clearing at all.]

Into their base?

[It's such an unexpected suggestion that Al abandons whatever else he was going to say to look up curiously.]

And do what? Try to create a distraction for ourselves?

Maybe. Depends what's there. [He closes his eyes.] But there's gotta be something.

[Which is to say two pretty obvious things: he doesn't know yet, and he doesn't think it'd help his case to admit that out loud.]

Brother... [Anything they come up with is going to be pretty high risk, but that's no excuse to take suicidal shots in the dark.] I think you're underestimating what we're up against.

We're in the United Earth's territory now, and the last time we fought them we-- [That particular train of thought proves to be dark enough to make him falter, even if he's quick to shake it off.] --we didn't stand a chance. So we have to be really careful, okay? I don't think we're going to get more than one try at this.

( Codpiece looks positively offended, stripped of his armor and left inside a rat cage too small for him. )

I say!

( He declares from where he's been left on the edge of a table, outside one of the labs. )

I have never heard of such dishonourable treatment visited by captors, no matter how dastly! There is nary a dungeon to be seen, and to leave a squirrel naked as the day he was born? Chicanery, I say! Utter chicanery!

[They've just finished drawing blood from this kid, here. She would fight it (and she had, the first couple of times), but just dealing with it was better than the alternative, and she's had the opportunity to look around. It's far less horrifying than she thought it would be, but she doesn't like the way she's being treated either.

It's like they don't even see her. It gives her the creeps. She's distracted by this thought, idly toying with the lollipop in her mouth, when she hears the squirrel. It doesn't take her long to remember him — he'd left an impression, after all. A weird one.

Unhurried, she walks to the table and stares down at him.]

Huh...? You again? Stop making all that noise.

The young lady.

( He recognizes her as well, though he doesn't appear to register her, ah, request. Codpiece is in fact attempting to jimmy the lock open. )

I trust your feline companion does service to your domicile. If it is not too terribly forward of me to ask -- ( His tail quivers along the length of his back, twitching with outrage ) -- might you assist me in the unlatching of this inhospitable prison?

The cat's alright. [Is the response. She's bleary-eyed, tired, oddly removed from this surreal situation. Her hand instinctively lifts up to find the pin hidden in her ribbon, and then she remembers they'd taken that.

At least they hadn't cut her hair.] Yeah, I'll get you out. [...She scowls.] If you stop all that yelling. It's annoying.

[She won't need her pin after all. The latch is easy to open when you have opposable thumbs and all, and the little door to the cage opens without her having to force it.]

If my voice sounds shrill to thy ears, my lady, it is but a feature of my lamentable species, and not a lack of moderation.

( Of tone. He does believe himself; he didn't think he was yelling at all, if he had been, ah, enunciating rather precisely. Nonetheless, his volume drops as he goes still, watching Kyouko and the door. Once it opens, he is a blur of movement, bursting out and clinging to the outside and pulling himself up on top.

No reason to give up the high ground before he must. )

Where do these fiends hold all of us who might call yonder island home, however short the time spent there?

[The little guy is almost hard to recognize without the armor, but that voice is so distinctive that it catches Al's attention even from down the hall. He's on his way back from another daily round of giving the scientists headaches over how to extract any useful data from him when he spots Codpiece and stops immediately. If the cage is any indication, the UE isn't feeling the need to be quite so hospitable to their more obviously nonhuman guests.]

Hang on. I'll get you out of there.

Lord Knight!

( Codpiece withdraws his arm from where he's shoved it through the squares of the cage, nose twitching in pleasant surprise. His anger and frustration is there all the same, but he makes an effort to rally himself around Al's appearance. )

This treatment is beyond contemptible!

Shh.

[He looks over his shoulder to make sure they're still in the clear before he goes to work on unlatching the cage. Other than the extenuating circumstances of his arrival, Al's been pretty good about biding his time and playing nice with the UE's wishes. But leaving someone who can hold a conversation (...strange as they may be) to possibly be treated like a common lab rat is something he can't risk.]

We have to be careful so they don't catch you again.

( Codpiece nods, moving carefully out once the cage is unlocked. In a more controlled volume, he asks: )

It would be unseemly of me to hide when so many cannot, lord knight. Unless it is for a greater purpose of discovery, that one of my size might be of especial use in finding.

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welp (open as open can be)

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