Hacking #01: Intro

[technologic]

Characters: April and anyone
Setting: Starting in room 1-15 and then in different areas in the tower.
Format: Brackets, but I can match you!
Summary: One technopath arrives in the tower and is very unhappy about the message, before she sets off exploring.
Warnings: Possibly high levels of derp.

[Room 1-15]
[... This had to be a joke. There was no way her home was destroyed. It had to be a lie, it had to be. She frowns at the letter she recieved, proceeding to tear it up when she could move again.]

Ugh... What the hell is all this...? [She reaches up to tug at the collar around her neck and frowns at her current outfit. Once she finds the trunk containing her things, she goes to get changed into her usual clothes.]

[Hallways]
[Having now gotten changed and wearing a trenchcoat way too big for her, April proceeds to set off exploring, though she is a bit unamused at the lights flickering.]

Hey, can't you stay on? [She glances up at them, her eyes taking on a odd pale green glow, while the lights flicker again, as if in reply. The lights seem to try to stay on for a few moments, before they pitifully flicker out. The red-head sighs quietly, the glow from her eyes fading.]

... Well, at least you tried...

[Floor Twenty-Five: Meadow]
[Having stumbled across the meadow floor, April just stares at it in shock. Having come from a wasteland, seeing this much greenery, or any at all, is something completely new to her.]

N-no way... [She hesitantly crouches down to gently touch one of the flowers, almost in disbelief.] T-they're real...

[Floor Three: Library]
[With a small ball of electricity acting as a light, April browses the aisles of the library, looking rather amazed at seeing so many books. She occasionally pulls out a random one to skim through it, before continuing having a look.]

Nothing on history then? Kinda disappointing...

Comments

[moontothetide]

[...]

W-We were with, um, Dax. And...even when it w-wasn't like it's supposed to be it, i-it wasn't bad. Just...hard, sometimes.

But, um, the others...Riki just m-made it, um, strange. It, it sounds like he made them live in an Escher painting, where things just...weren't right. It...kind of unhinged some of them but, um, they weren't hurt either. Just...off balance.

But Jason... [Tara's eyes narrow and her posture becomes a little more set, as the seed of anger blooms in her heart. "That's one way to get rid of surgical waste, indeed."]

...w-we all want him to lose. He has to lose, f-for what he did to them.

[technologic]

[April looks confused at the mention of an 'Escher painting', but still gives her a nod at the explanation. And she takes note of the change in her posture, her frown deepening.]

What... did Jason to do them?

[moontothetide]

L-Lobotomies, v-vivisections, t-taking out pieces of them, m-making them hurt, the things he m-made them eat... [Now Tara looks on the verge of tears, she's so angry.] He ch-chained them to the treadmills, a-and put holes in them, took their voices...and, a-and if he wins this, w-we might all have to live like that.

[technologic]

[April doesn't feel anger or disgust often, but she feels a sudden swell of both as she listens to Tara. She grits her teeth as she seethes to herself.] That... That sick son of a bitch! That has nothing to do with 'competition', that's just torture! H-he better not win, he can't win.

[moontothetide]

Well...w-we're all trying. To make sure he doesn't. Us, a-and Riki, and Jason's group most of all.

Dax was in the lead, when I got voted out, a-and Riki didn't have any points at all, so...there's a chance.

[Of course, Jason had been only one point behind, but Tara would take any straw of hope at this point, no matter how brittle.]

[technologic]

... Then... All we can do now then is hope that any group besides Jason's wins.

... Sorry about the outburst before. I don't, um, usually get angry... [But hearing what Jason had done had hit a nerve.]

[moontothetide]

Neither do I. [Tara offers April a tiny smile of understanding. She's still relatively new to the tower, or thinks of herself that way - she'd certainly been new when she'd been caught up in this mess. It's nice to see that she's not alone in feeling that way.]

But, I, I-I left a really good team back there. And, um, w-we were in the lead. We'll win. It's okay.

[technologic]

[April gives her a small smile back and nods, looking a bit more relieved.]

T-that's good...

... Oh, um, my name's April, by the way.

[moontothetide]

I'm Tara. It's, um, i-it's nice to meet you. S-Sorry you came at a bad time, but...it'll get better.

[It has to.

Tara looks down at her book as though she'd only just remembered she'd been holding it, before offering it to April.] So, um, if you need any help, finding food, I-I can do that.

[technologic]

It's nice to meet you too, Tara.

[April gives her a friendly smile and she takes the book, looking over it curiously.] Ah, thank you. I would really appreciate it.

[moontothetide]

[It's a book on edible plants and distinguishing them from poisonous plants. Although Tara is normally the sort to treat library books fastidiously, it's heavily dogeared.] I mean, um, I'm just s-sticking to the plants I know. F-From my world. I, I'm sure there are, um, lots of plants we could eat from other worlds, but...I-I don't know how to look.

...th-there's also fish. In, um, in the aquarium. [This last is delivered a bit more hesitantly, if only because, while all of the fish in the aquarium are edible, some of those can actually put up a fight about it, and Tara would feel quite simply awful for getting April maimed in search of food.] I, I guess we can find you a book on f-fish, too.