001. video.

[wiped]

[ hello tranquility, it’s thomas on your screen. he’s sitting on what looks like the floor, his back up against the bed. there’s faint sounds of movement, someone shoving things around, but thomas doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to it. ]

I had some--we have some questions. No one has to answer on here, but I thought it’d be fastest if I just..asked. [ he looks up, over the camera at the other occupants of the room, maybe for prompting, or for permission, before he keeps speaking. ] I wanted to ask about two jumps back, the jump where people weren’t waking up. I didn’t wake up. [ there’s a pause, thomas rubbing his fingers along the edge of the lens restlessly as he picks his words. ] I had some other questions too. About the jump. How it works, when get in the pods in the first place, if anyone knows anything about it.

[ thomas leaves the statement hanging for a minute before taking a breath and plowing on. before he can get anything out, he’s interrupted when an off-screen voice finally speaks up, a little muffled by the distance.]

And what the shuck is up with that blue klunk? Why we gotta wake up standing?

[ (you can almost hear newt rolling his eyes from where he’s not visible--his very distinct voice pops up in the background. ] No one’s gonna know that, Min. [ the questions minho's asking aren’t important, more grievances than anything. minho isn’t enjoying his first months. when thomas gives him A Look he sighs but stays quiet.

thomas is obviously trying to show some restraint, not rush out every word, but the next bit comes out in a rush in spite of his best efforts. he's clearly decided to plow onwards before he can be interrupted again. ]

And I need to know if W.I.C.K.E.D. means anything to any of you. If anyone's ever heard of it before.

Don’t forget about the supplies, Tommy. [ newt appears in the frame then, way too close to it before he backs up to sit on the bed next to thomas. he's still a little banged up from his and minho’s adventure with the “grievers” before the jump, and holds up a finger in the feed. ] Back home, even before we knew the name proper, WICKED used to put their name on all of our supplies from the Box. Boxes of food, clothes, stuff for the Glade--all kinds of klunk. If this place really has them involved, they’re gonna have somethin’ like that to show for it, yeah?

If it has them involved. [ tommy says, more to newt and minho than to the audience at large. ] If anyone here has seen anything like that.

[finally the last of the mighty gladers comes into the shot as minho sits down in front of newt on the floor, back resting against his shins.] Or if you’ve got ideas about the people keeping us here. WICKED didn’t make it easy to find out much about them the first time. Could be upping their game, making us think we’re all safe. No reason to label things when we’ve met our Creators.

[ there’s a pause, thomas looking at newt before back into the lens. thomas hasn’t met anyone. not yet. he’s a step behind, but he’s not going to let that deter him. newt meets his gaze with eyebrows raised, saying something without a word, and reaches down to pat the top of minho’s head where they’re sitting. good plan, min. ]

We’re in room 008.009. If you wanna come talk to us in person.

[ thomas finishes, before disconnecting his advice. ]

( ooc: black is thomas, blue is newt, and red is minho )

Comments

video.

[tectus]

Well aren't you guys something.

[ biggest nerds or biggest nerds ever. they remind her a little of monty and jasper though -- and besides she already knows newt -- so she crops up for a largely unhelpful reply. ]

I'm as new -- newer than most of you, so it's probably not helpful but...haven't seen that Wicked thing anywhere so far. The supplies thing kind of sounds a little like the stuff people wake up to in their locker though? Similar, anyway.

[ gently encourages paranoia whoops ]

video.

[gimp]

[ newt is the first one to respond to octavia, mostly because he recognizes his friend and greets her with a bit of a grin. ] Don't look at me, this was Tommy's idea.

Yeah--that's what I thought, too. [ when newt glances down, he picks at his hoodie for a second. ] They brought me something from home. Shouldn't have even known it was mine--it's not mine, really. Bloody suspicious, if you ask me.

video.

[tectus]

They can do stuff like that? [ she frowns, because that's a hell of a lot more creepy than arriving with mostly the things on her person at the time. tailored, personal gifts in the lockers?

well, she's not a fan, to say the least. ] That's like, suspicious with sirens and flashing lights. I can almost see some weird...sciencey glitch dumping us from one place to here, but nice wrapped presents like that? Serious warning bells.

[wiped]

Is there somewhere that supplies are kept here? Do you know?

[tectus]

Beyond the lockers? [ s h r u g ] I found a tent, but nothing...useful. Are the kitchens weirdly decent long life future-food, or is that getting refreshed all vague and mysterious-like?

[video]

[forerun]

[Oh hey, machete girl! He's totally taking that as a compliment and you can't stop him. Even if he is a huge nerd.

Unhelpful replies are totally fine as long as they offer friendship. Or alliance. The two are pretty much the same in Minho's mind.]

Mysteriously appearing supplies? Check. Still sounds like WICKED to me.

[He smiles, which is kinda a rare thing but hey. Cute girl and relative safety at the moment.] Didn't introduce myself before. Name's Minho.

[video]

[tectus]

[ the mighty nerders. except that totally kind of is a compliment, some of her faves are massive nerds. goddamnit. ]

Think we were a little pre-occupied, right? [ she grins slightly despite herself - easy to laugh about it now, when you're not being chased down by deadly creatures, right? ] I'm Octavia. Now this WICKED thing you're all on about, that's your version of the big bad, right? We have Mount Weather, it kinda sounds like they have the same 'eerie people with terrible motivations' vibe going, anyway.

[voice]

[sorrycharles]

Nothing about your ‘glade’ matters here. The only constant between worlds is human nature.

You’ve been borrowed by a space ship that is in itself borrowed. We are currently being pursued by the owner.

[ A beat. ]

Most of the original crew is dead. Most of the people we encounter die.

'Not waking up,' is not an uncommon phenomenon. Previously large groups of people remaining entombed at once have experienced shared dreams.

The message posted by support staff may answer some of your more mundane questions.

[wiped]

I've read the message from the support staff. What we're saying, what I'm saying, is that this works the same way the place we came from does. That's the constant.

[ thomas pauses, considering, then-- ]

Did they remember them before? Their dreams?

[sorrycharles]

So you’ve solved it, then. We must be in your universe.

[ desert dry ]

But yes, [ he says. ] Sometimes. They remember.

[majestyofthethrone]

I think we have to wake up standing so when the stasis fluid drains, it doesn't drain back into our noses and drown anyone who wakes slowly.

[wiped]

Well, that'll shut Minho up about it.

[ because how can you argue with that. ]

[majestyofthethrone]

What do you mean by meet our Creators, though?

[video]

[forerun]

[He's got a dumb look on his face like he's been struck by lightning. That's actually a brilliant assumption.]

Damn. Okay, kinda glad we have to fall out if that means we don't die.

private video;

[dogbane]

Tommy, I hope the boy band's been informed of the recon syndrome.

[William is happy to hear of the boy band tbh. Insofar as he doesn't exactly look happy at all, more like kind of tired and washed out, but there's a little smile for the boy. He rubs a hand over the side of his face, and stoops lower over the comm device. In the background, the Medical Bay is lit low.] Ain't heard of WICKED.

But the blue spooge we wake up in has got some basic healing and hydration properties, as well as potentially contributing to our protection while we're in the tubes. Hang on, I'm going to switch to public for this next bit in case anybody who gives a shit hasn't seen it in my notes.

[He waves a hand. Remembers to add,] Mr. Lehnsherr's got you about covered in the general consensus.

private video;

[wiped]

They know. [ reluctantly, but then thomas adds-- ] Are you alright?

[ you know, talking around the fact that william looks rough. ]

I get it, I know it sounds--far-fetched. But it's alike. The scenery's different, but in a lot of ways the set up is the same, William.

public text;

[dogbane]

It's probably not news to you that the state we enter during stasis is fairly different to normal sleep.

[Why he switched from video is anyone's guess, but a guy gets cagey after going bugfuck and nearly making everybody on the ship kill each other, one supposes.]

But you may be interested to know, the dreams you experienced during the extended stasis were not normal dreams. I've got the ability to enter dreams, normally, but I couldn't enter them during that time. It may have been more related to telepathy or some of the assimilation shit that passengers have witnessed before.

You can play a bit catchup here if you can spare the time. And I can come by.

[The vague and unspoken assumption is there's no need for that. ISN'T AVOIDANCE NICE. Although he'd probably make a decent bassist.]

[wiped]

You can come by if you want. We're all here. [ and thomas isn't getting around as much as he used to, but you know, let's not bring that up on the public feed. ] Has anything ever blocked you before?

[video]

[forerun]

[Right now Minho is too lazy to bother switching his input to anything other than video. Plus, this place could use some beautification courtesy of his handsome self.

And his handsome self is making a really confused expression, including a scrunched up face and wide eyes. He appreciates the dedication, and the information, and the attention to detail, but shucking hell.]

That's a twenty-page headache.

[sacrifica]

I didn't wake up from that jump either. The most I found out was that it's happened before.

[wiped]

You didn't remember anything? Did you have a dream?

video;

[axeyou]

Oh my god, you're all so cute.

[0 helpful tips for now, sorry boys]

[video]

[forerun]

[Normally Minho would agree, because he's god's gift, but something about the way she says it...]

Uh, yeah, shucking adorable.

video;

[gimp]

Hey, Johanna. [ kind of used to johanna being...johanna, newt just pokes his head into minho's feed for a minute, and jerks his thumb at minho. ] Look, I found him.

[wiped]

Cute?