( 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

[duplicitoussight]

Oz sure has become a lot ditzier if he's searching around here for a snack. [He's glad for an excuse, though.] Was he hit on the head before he came here?

[velveteened]

It's possible, ( is admitted wryly.

not before being knocked out, but it's a very distinct possibility that his head and the pavilion's flooring had close encounters when he fell; it wouldn't be the only bruise he has from that encounter.

but that's no good, so he continues on a lighter note, )

In any case, since I got lost, why don't you lead the way?

[duplicitoussight]

[His smile brightens a bit at that.]

Come on, come on, then. It must've been a bad fall~ Because you were going the completely wrong way!

[He wants to ask more. About the party that Madoka had told him about, if had he seen anyone else (kido?) when he was brought here, but Kano figures that the least he can do is ask those questions over something sweet.]

[velveteened]

( he just laughs in response to that assessment, knowing full well that kano is — of course — perfectly aware of where he had or in any case hadn't been headed. )

I'm lucky you were here to find me.

( and as he moves to follow, finds himself raising a hand. it's proven difficult not to itch at the bandage under his shirt, wrapped over his heart (incuse, so so interesting to research-minded people who've never heard of a contract before), but he catches himself with a frown this time at least. the provided hospital clothes are what he's in today, so he'd wrapped the chain of his pocketwatch around one of his wrists for safekeeping; he fiddles with it instead, which if it doesn't help them stay quiet (there's a light jangling sound, not terribly audible) at least keeps his hands busy. )

[duplicitoussight]

[It's deathly quiet, as it's lights out. Guards are no doubt wandering about, but all they'll get is a slap on the wrist for walking about at lights out. As such, he's not too worried.

The jangling draws Kano's gaze to Oz's hands. He wouldn't blame the other boy if he's nervous or restless. His entire stay here was mixed with boredom and tension, an annoying tug-of-war. Kano has to remember--his eyes are gone. His mask isn't as strong as it normally would be, so greater care has to be taken, with oversized hospital gowns to cover up his body and the biggest smiles he can give, and to remember to keep his hands still. He has to be calm and in control.

Kano tilts his head at him.]

... what's Oz got there?

[velveteened]

( the worst trouble he's got into with the guards had been on his first day, getting caught sneaking into the labs (though even then it'd only been bodily removal and a stern warning) and the threat of sedation if he made things difficult with the various tests. all things considered, nothing too fret-worthy at all; the guards are still far too interested in keeping their specimens in good health, after all.

while they're still useful, at least.

he looks up at the question, fingers only stilling for half a second before worrying at the watch's clasp again. )

It's my watch. I was wearing this when I got brought here; it'd be a shame to lose it, don't you think?

[duplicitoussight]

They let you keep it? How lucky. When I came here-- [There's a brief pause. Right, when he came here...] --they had me drop off everything before they let me in.

Anyway, it's not much use here, y'know.

[velveteened]

That must be why they let me keep it.

( means to say it like a joke, though it falls a little flat. he'd like to know more about when kano got there, but saves it too for the cafeteria. )

Well, it's also a family heirloom. So I really have to be careful, you know?

[duplicitoussight]

You must've wanted to look your best at that party, huh? I wonder if Oz was trying to impress anyone!

[The cafeteria's dark--it's light's out after all. But the machines still glow brightly and it's toward them that Kano walks.]

[velveteened]

( oz follows, though he knows the way. )

Isn't everyone supposed to look their best at a nice party?

[duplicitoussight]

I guess so. It's too bad it went the way it did, huh?

[There's a pause as Kano puts his hands akimbo, looking up and down at the machine though he doesn't choose anything to eat.

He's not hungry for food anyway.]

... what happened, anyway? I heard something about a monster.

[velveteened]

( he stills at the question, eyes flicking over to side though there's nothing to see but darkness (until his eyes adjust, he knows, so it's not as familiar as the aftermath of his coming of age as it could be). )

They blocked powers, just like here. ( an instinctive reach for b. rabbit as he speaks ) I don't know that much about the monster, but it was very big and dripping something corrosive, I think. The UE sent in soldiers too, and it was in all of that chaos that some of us got taken here.

[duplicitoussight]

I see. [So that's how it went. Considering how some of the other Transports had been brought in, maybe that method had been kinder. At least they had the chance to run or fight back on their own accord.

His fingers curl against the machine's glass.]

Ah, this is a strange question, but... were your kidnappers soldiers?

[velveteened]

( he'd made a sorry show of fighting back, he would admit if asked, with the bruises to show for it (wouldn't admit that part).

he cants his head at the question, sure kano knows the answer already. )

No. They were other Transports who weren't in control of themselves.

( he's put two and two together, kano, so his voice is suffused with knowing. )

[duplicitoussight]

[Some of the tension leaves him. The fingers uncurl, and he allows himself to smile a little.

He expected that answer. But hearing it from someone else makes that reality seem stronger.]

--I'm sorry. [What he's sorry for is up for Oz's discretion. If he apologized directly, it'd be rejected with that reasoning, wouldn't it?]

[velveteened]

( he thinks it must be both, and it's rejected for precisely that reasoning; neither thing was kano's fault at all, even a little.

instead, he pursues something else. )

"Whatever you are, it doesn't matter."

You said that to me. ( smiles, sideways. ) I still believe in that.

( in the kindness of kano's to say it, and in the truth of it for kano too, whatever he may call himself. )

[duplicitoussight]

[What he'd been afraid of all along wasn't the anger or the hurt or the wariness that was bound to follow. Kano understood. What he said wasn't entirely of his will, yet some of those spiteful words had been dredged up from dark parts he tried to paint over.

What he'd been afraid of was the fixing, the mending, the inevitable moment when he'd look at their faces and see welcome even as they hurt. For someone like Oz, it probably wouldn't stick. Seto was too forgiving. But everyone else-- for hurting them with the very tools he tried to protect them with--

That pain would still be associated with his face.

(It's fine for a monster, right? But he's been trying to put that mask down. For Shuuya, it's...)]

So that's how it is.

[It won't be forgotten all at once. And he isn't sure how to begin trying. But somehow, he'll pull all those things he broke together again.]

Oz really is a kind person, huh?

[velveteened]

( that makes him laugh. )

That's not it at all.

( he looks up, makes to say something, and then pauses, looking at the opposite wall. it's hard to tell in the dark, but... )( and moves towards it to confirm. )

[duplicitoussight]

[Kano, about to ask if he'd like anything to move on the topic, stops when he notices Oz staring and follows his gaze.]

... ah, did you see something?

WOW WHAT DID MY HTML DO

[velveteened]

It might just be me...

( he stops just short of the wall and gives it a look, before turning back around. may be too much to hope but )

...but wasn't the color different, before?

go home html youre drunk

[duplicitoussight]

[... ah. Kano approaches the wall, too, running a hand over its surface.]

--I don't have anything on me, just so you know.

[velveteened]

( turns to face him, mind fairly humming with thoughts of how the ue doesn't seem especially interested in cosmetic changes, how the initiative is definitely doing something, how they operate by changing things in the past first and it's hard to say but maybe — )

What?

[duplicitoussight]

To make sure that it really did change, of course. [If the Initiative's trying to bring them back by changing the past, then there's still some hope for their escape. Kano glances around. The cafeteria only has utensils, but maybe that can work.]

Don't you know, don't you know? It's always good to leave a mark that you can refer to later when you're wandering in an unknown area.

[velveteened]

I didn't know.

( but it's a good idea, has him looking back at the utensils as well. )

That makes me wish I'd brought a pen...

( but he turns and heads there, giving the — blunt, but they don't really need anything too sharp — utensils a look-over to decide which would work best. )

[duplicitoussight]

[He gives a light laugh at that.]

It's a good thing that Oz doesn't camp, then. [He's found himself a fork and knife, which he's testing by pressing against his finger. None of the utensils are too sharp-- wouldn't be good to give the lab rats a weapon after all-- but they'll do decently.]

... I wonder, though, if we'll be the same when they come pick us up.