( closed to the kidnapped ) The Princess Peach Collective

[initiates]

Date & Time: August 31st - September 18th
Location: United Earth Holding Compound
Characters: Any and all characters kidnapped during the interim.
Summary: So you were walking around, minding your own business... and then you were in the UE. Welcome, friends! Please enjoy your stay. Try the coffee! It's fantastic! Better avoid the bread pudding, though... (Official Kidnappee Handbook is here!)
Warnings: Kidnapping/Normal gambit of medical tests/shots/reflex tests/bloodwork/etc. Please notify the mods if anything gets into explicit or upsetting territory.

Notes: Player created United Earth NPCs welcome to guest star. If you have questions regarding these, please ask the moderators. Remember, this is not a torture chamber. This is a scientific facility with military aptitude, and seeks to contain, not injure, its projects. (You are a project!)

Please start your threads with a date or timeframe in the subject line to indicate who may tag in, depending on their arrival!
Welcome to the United Earth Holding Compound. There may be an official name, but the workers never say: they all have their own names for it, and "home" is never one of them. Still, as you're left to wander the halls connecting your individual containment areas to the cafeteria of spartan design, and many automated food producers (along with an endless supply of green jello and fruit), you may begin to wonder what exactly this place is. Why would the United Earth have a sense of design?

(Because of scientists, someone might whisper, though you'll never figure out who.)

Mystery unanswered, it'll be apparent they do. Even the lounge area you have access to looks out upon an expanse of green -- one that you are allowed into, if the surrounding U of military buildings, with much less architectural flair, will steadily drive you back out if you're seen near them.

Make no mistake: your accommodations are minimal at best, laughably slapped together at the last minute at worst. Your showering and bathroom facilities are uni-sex, so the more modest amongst you may wish to figure out a schedule for guys and gals. Towels, sheets, and plenty of nice hospital gowns will be on offer; characters so interested may attempt to find the laundry facilities.

All the labs are state of the art, and the computers and such used by the United Earth far beyond what the Initiative has ever provided. The biggest downside for the Transports being held is the lack of ready entertainment. A few board games have been left in the common area, and a few decks of cards, but that's all.

Not even an e-book to read.

Have fun, Kidnapped Transports, and try not to play "spot all the security measures and all the air ducts" too too often, will you?

Comments

[overclocking]

There's a small metal grate, fastened with two screws.

[Slips something out of his sleeve, holding it aloft. Perhaps explains his midnight gallivanting.]

They should probably think twice about giving us butter knives, next time.

[velveteened]

( he — laughs. how like something out of a particularly exciting novel. )

That's a good idea. Lead the way, then.

[overclocking]

[Slips the knife back into his sleeve with a considerably more genuine smile and turns on his heel, leading Oz back down the hallway. It might seem a bit like a winding, featureless maze beyond the architecture of the lounge area—it did to Chrono, once, too—but five days (and five sleepless nights) have learned him the twists, turns, and nuances of these hallways.

He cuts abruptly into one of the doorways at the far end of a particularly long, bland corridor, and the room that greets them is similarly sparse. Chrono's been fortunate to receive a room with an actual cot and chair, both which look utterly unused. A scan of the far wall, near the ceiling, will reveal the grate in question.

He closes the door behind them, quietly.]

Home sweet home. [More than a little dry.]

[velveteened]

( he follows chrono quietly, noting their surroundings as he does. they're certainly uniform and sterile, but they're not pitch black or filled with eerie ruins either; it's much harder for him to give up on a place as featureless than it was once. chrono's room gets noted as well: that they even get rooms; how little use it seems to have got for five days; the thought that though the door is closed behind them, if they really have any privacy at all.

even so, this is better than he was expecting. )

Are you sure you're ready for visitors? It looks like I should've given you a little more warning.

( a light tease, nothing more. )

[overclocking]

[As soon as the door latches shut, Chrono is across the room and pulling out the unused chair, arranging it beneath the air duct.

Without missing a beat;] No tea or cookies this time, either. My standards of hospitality sure did fall in no time.

[The light teasing is a bit like a soothing balm right now, in all honesty. As he wriggles the chair this way and that to test its stability (a rickity old thing, but they're both light; it will probably hold), it's with more hope than he's felt in days.]

[velveteened]

( oz follows, staying only a step behind as chrono begins to set up. )

I suppose I could let it go, just this once.

[overclocking]

[Heh.] That's very magnanimous of you, Oz.

[Satisfied with the chair, he slips the knife out of his sleeve again and gestures to the grate. Even with the chair's added height, there's just... no way...] In fact, I'll need to test your generosity again.

[velveteened]

( his eyes flick from the knife to the grate before he gets it, perking up visibly. is it because he's needed for superior height purposes, or is it because this is cool adventure shit?

why not both? )

That won't be a problem!

( holds a hand out for the knife. )

[overclocking]

[Hands over the knife with a flourish, taking a step back.

While this basically constitutes resting all of his hopes on Oz's height, he's more preoccupied with how deftly Oz knows how to work a makeshift screwdriver.]

[velveteened]

( he takes it and steps up onto the chair deftly, giving the grate a long look instead of starting right away. he doesn't have experience with this, so that's all the more reason for caution. he looks from the knife to the grooves of the screws, runs fingers over them, taking a good few minutes to study what he's got to work with first. the way his face settles into a look of utmost concentration might seem oddly serious to someone who's never seen him try to learn something before.

but eventually he does start to work at them with the knife's point, taking a few tries to wedge their very makeshift screwdriver in carefully before beginning the attempt to unscrew one of them. )

[overclocking]

[Chrono watches appraisingly, in much the same way he's observed a nun through algebra homework and a demon slayer through the alphabet. Oz's concentration is admirable, though, and he very quickly determines that help or instruction won't be required here.

Good. If he's bringing someone along on a potentially idiotic expedition, it's best if it's someone competent. (Preferably- more than him. But that isn't hard.)

It's as the screw begins hanging dangerously out of its socket that Chrono steps forward, hands cupped. It might be paranoia given the perpetual inattentiveness of the guards, but he'd rather not alert anyone with the sounds of metal upon tile.]

[velveteened]

( the screw drops into his hands fairly soundlessly, but it's enough for oz to glance over and realize both that chrono had stepped up and also why. the distraction only lasts a moment, though, before he moves on to work on the other one.

chrono might want to point out the obvious point that once that screw is out, the grate is going to fall. )

[overclocking]

[He doesn't, naturally, because communication will never be a skill.

He does stand dutifully next to the chair, though, trusting his reflexes enough to catch it. (This is the part where he hopes the Initiative's technology hasn't robbed him of his speed on top of everything else.)]

[velveteened]

( look out below, then. )

[overclocking]

[There are times when you concentrate on something so hard, anticipation sizzling in your blood, that you actually psyche yourself out before ever having a chance.

On the bright side: he catches it.

On the less bright side: he catches it with his face.]

[velveteened]

( WHOOPS )

Chrono?

( he forgets to be quiet, but all things considered it's probably one of the many ways they're not so discreet at this point. )

[overclocking]

[He peels the grate off his face with both hands, as stoically as he can manage.

In hushed tones that approximate the dismissive handwave he can't quite manage at the moment;]

I'm fine, I'm fine!

[velveteened]

( he doesn't....look fine...but if he says so????

meanwhile oz will try to spare his dignity but peering into the newly opened pathway. )

[overclocking]

[Good, yes, let's all overlook this embarrassing blunder. He sidles over to the cot and casually slips the grate under the mattress. It's about up to par with their stealth standards so far, so he doesn't allow himself to fuss over concealing it beyond that.

Smooths the sheets (compulsively), then peers up as well.]

Big enough?

[velveteened]

It should be.

( he has to hop a little bit to get a better look, but it doesn't seem too small for them... )

[overclocking]

Good, because I didn't think up a backup plan... [Actual worst spy Chrono.

He circles back around to the chair, peering up.]

Need a boost?

[velveteened]

( backup plans are for chumps, it's cool.

he glances down at chrono, remembering his strength from the first time they met and wondering if he's still got it here. )

Can you?

[overclocking]

We'll find out!

[Perhaps if he makes light of this, even to himself, it will slow some of the creeping horror.

It kind of works.

Either way, he cups his hands and holds them aloft to use as a step up. When Oz deposits his foot in them, he totters for a moment, still unused to to his altered strength—but manages to keep his hold.]

[velveteened]

( keeping it light works, and he breathes out a slight laugh in return.

because it's amusing, somewhat, just as amusing as the things b. rabbit would like to do given half a chance.

if the wobble alarms oz, he doesn't show it; instead reaches to pull himself into the passageway, venetian finery and all, though the gold broach clatters softly against the metal sides. )

[overclocking]

[Chrono hovers for a moment in case Oz loses his hold, and winces slightly at the sound of metal upon metal. They need to have a talk about appropriate stealth mission clothing, next time.

Too late now.

Makes a mental note to potentially rip the buttons off of Oz's coat while he waits for Oz to pull himself all the way into the grate. Once he's reasonably certain no Victorians are going to fall from the sky, he gingerly climbs the chair and offers his own hand up.]