Something Unexpected

[animusmods]

Characters: characters selected to go into the elevator
Setting: the admin levels
Format: any
Summary: The admin elevator has been left open, its destination preprogrammed. Where is it going to take you?
Warnings: general horror warnings for now

The elevator doesn't announce itself when its doors slide open. There's no alarm, no message to be found about it. It sits open and waits for anyone curious enough to enter. There's a barrier on it that locks out anyone without a collar, and it isn't going to stay long, but aside from that there appears to be no security. There's nothing stopping someone--or multiple someones--from climbing into the elevator and going down.

Where's it going? Who knows.

Hub Area
A lounge area with sofas and chairs. It's large enough to hold the entire group, constructed similarly to the dorm rooms, and is connected to five doors.

Door One
???

Door Two
???

Door Three
???

Door Four
???

Door Five
???

Comments

[animusnpcs]

[As they climb out, they will be just in time to witness this.]

[colorfulbrilliance]

[She'll watch in horror as the whole thing is done, Because WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT? WAS THAT A SOUL?

She didn't deal with spiritual stuff for the most post, working for vampires does that to one, but she almost feels empty. They were taking souls or whatever that was....She didn't know what to think]

Wha...What is that?

[hystericull]

[There's really not much he can say. This revelation has left him without the flippancy with which he'd proceeded thus far. It was more of the same curious awe he'd acquired after falling into the body pit.]

[For now, all he could do is watch with an intense interest, the bodies being separated and split into light. He took a breath, stepping a little closer to get a better view, but not straying far from the group at all.]

The... fuck...

[cullscuttlefish]

[And that's when Feferi breaks. She had seen the girl they were carrying up there in the elevator. She didn't know her name, and that felt wrong. But the fact remained, that girl had been alive when they had come down, was dead now, and - that shining thing they'd squeezed out of her. That was her soul, and now someone else had it, and...

...she didn't know when she'd started crying, but she was. And not just little tears, these were broken-sounding sobs. Her words are gasped out through them:]

That girl was - she was in the elevator with us, and that's got to be her soul they squeezed out of her, and I don't know what they did with it, but whatever it is...I didn't even get her name, but nobody. Nobody. Deserves that. I know that she didn't. I need to - we should - if Jason or Ruana has it, they don't need to. They don't...

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling is shaking, her hands are tightly curled into fists.A soul..which meant they had messed with everyone she cared about..if they had died, their soul had been messed with.]

They have done this to too many...Any time one of us has died...this has happened?

[A low growl started in her chest at this point. This was unacceptable and she wanted to stop this. She starts to move forward towards this scene.]

[animusnpcs]

[The worker unit has disappeared behind a door with Sheba's soul. The body is travelling along a conveyor belt. Then there's the machine itself, which has a long spiraling path around it which can be followed.]

[hystericull]

[He was torn between following the body and following wherever it was the soul went. Was the pile of bodies they'd just come from fresh corpses waiting to be "extracted", or is that where they dumped the old, empty shells?]

[Judging from the fact that the others had seen replicas of themselves, the pile would have had to be just useless trash. After all, what good was a body without a soul? When the essence had already ascended to the utopian fairgrounds, the host from which it came meant hardly anything.]

[He could play with bodies all he wanted later. The act of soul-rending didn't appall him on a moral level - but it did bend him out of shape spiritually. Preventing a soul from gaining admittance to the mirthful ruckus was black science, and the more steps he took toward the door the unit had passed through, the angrier he got.]

[Whether the group followed or not, he was going after that thing, and attempting to open the door it went through.]

[cullscuttlefish]

Me? Six times, that's been me. And one time is too many, for anyone. And I am not letting them have a crack at someone else for fun.

[Feferi is still crying, but she's got a mission. She's with Gamzee on this one. A machine is a machine, the conveyor belt is probably just going to dump the body back down here, but that little light meant something.

That would now be two highblooded trolls, one troll with hella upper-body strength, if rumors are to be believed, and one strong-looking human so far as Feferi is aware trying to break down that door.]

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Even though she didn't know Feferi before now, just hearing that made Meiling even angrier. She's following along at this point, still shaking and that growl getting louder.]

We have to find a way to stop them...This isn't what anyone need nor wants. No one should ever touch another person's soul.

[She had to..For all of her family that was here in the tower..her friends..and anyone really. So She will be helping try to break down that door!

[animusnpcs]

[The door refuses to budge. It does, however, make noise. Jason, inside, looks up from his work.]

[hystericull]

[Yeah, no, he's pissed and curious as fuck, now. He's not going to stop pummeling that door, even if his knuckles are getting stained purple, now.]

[cullscuttlefish]

[And now is when Feferi remembers she has her trident. It is without the slightest bit of regard for her own safety that she is going to start to use it like a wedge, trying to pop that door open. She has found her point of no return, and this is it.]

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Yeap, Still pounding on that door herself, trying to break it down with her fists. She isn't stopping because it is making a noise. Nope. Anger has it's claws in her and she's not backing down!]

[animusnpcs]

[Jason walks over to the door and looks out the window. He's genuinely surprised, at least--the shock keeps him from doing anything but staring at them for a few moments. Then he slams his hand on a button.

He doesn't come out until the four summoned retrieval units have each of them held down, unable to harm him.]

What are you doing here? [Jason's voice is thin with anger.]

[hystericull]

[Gamzee is so used to fighting off the retrieval units, he should probably know it's pointless to resist. However, he shrieks a feral growl as he's apprehended, throwing elbows and snapping fangs until he's thrown to the ground and immobilized.]

[Still writhing beneath the unit's strength, Gamzee's eyes lock on Jason as he finally exits the room he'd been in, standing before them all.]

YOU!!!

[He spits out, trying even harder to slam the retrieval unit with his shoulder. At least this motherfucker sounded thoroughly pissed. It gave Gamzee some slight satisfaction - but he'd be even more satisfied if he could get up and tear him apart.]

[cullscuttlefish]

[Feferi struggles just as hard as Gamzee, at least at first. That stops when she sees Jason, and just as quick as she started to cry before, she started to laugh.]

What the hell do you think? We're here to punch you in your motherfucking face, Jason!

[She's gonna stay still for now, but if he gets close? She's going to do her damnedest to land a hit.]

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling is STILL struggling against the units, that growl never stopping. So very obvious she's not going to be calm about this.

She's so close...but so far away from punching him.]

[animusnpcs]

I realize that. [Jason rolls his eyes.] But how did you get here? You shouldn't be on this floor, let alone anywhere near my door!

[hystericull]

[Gamzee pauses for a moment, ceasing to resist the force of the retrieval unit to honk out a laugh or two. He pressed his elbows into the floor to try and prop himself up as best he could, never breaking eye contact as he did so.]

Heheheh, sound all like you be needin' a sick motherfuckin' refresher course on the magic of fuckin' miracles, my wicked Slap-Chop.

[cullscuttlefish]

Gamzee's right. Magic and miracles, all there was to it. Follow the light, see where it leads you.

[Where anyone else might have quit resisting for a moment, that just makes Feferi push that much harder. And she grins as she does, making it as shark-like as she possibly can.]

Shrimple as that.

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling will stop growling to grin.]

They got it right. We followed the light and found someone who needs a wake up call to the face.

[She looks Jason over and then laughs, a hallow, very threatening laugh.]

And you are in great need of a wake up call tot eh face. So why don't we fix that?

[Yup, still too pissed to think like normal]

[animusnpcs]

[Jason sighs.] You're all always nearly impossible to deal with like this. [He looks back at his office.] It would be too much work to force the truth out of you. I suppose you broke into the elevator, or crawled into a retrieval unit, or something ridiculous like that.

[hystericull]

Shit, you really all be fuckin' such a faithless chump, ain't you just?

[Gamzee sneered, now resuming trying to beat the retrieval unit senseless with his torso and hips.]

SHOULDN'T BE GETTING YOUR QUESTION ON ALL FUCKIN' AT THE WORKINGS OF THEM MIRACLES, SCIENSTIFF.

The fuck's it matter what all haps be transpired in the past, motherfucker?

WE BE FUCKIN' HERE NOW.

[cullscuttlefish]

[Feferi's grin doesn't fade in the slightest. But now there's the slightest measure of calculation with her crazy, though it doesn't show in her expression.

She doesn't know where any of the others are. If taking the blame and taking the fall here means they get more information and get out of this alive? Even after seeing the girl put through that machine, she's willing to go through it herself for their sake. It probably helps, she thinks, that her highblood instability has been on display this entire month.

Either way, now's the time to go down fighting, and fight she does.

Feferi is stronger than she looks by quite a lot, having lived in deep waters almost all of her life. She starts to use that now, particularly in her hips and her legs.]

Preach it, my brother. Not that this guy has any idea what a reel miracle even is or what it looks like. Wouldn't know one if it was right on that table.

And would you look at that, right again. We're here now. What are you going to do about it?

[Feferi laughs again, kicking her legs and trying to slam her hips into the retrieval unit.]

[pushedaround]

[ Tavros didn't know what made him feel more uncomfortable; being surrounded by two crazy highbloods, or being trapped and face-to-face with Jason himself. It's a tough choice!

He was unfortunate to witness Gamzee lose his shit earlier, and he certainly didn't want to go through it again. But, you know, Gamzee going completely insane might actually be the key of getting out of this mess.

Maybe?

He keeps resisting, trying to put some good use to his arms. He cursed under his breath, and forced himself to cool down a little.

For now, all he can do is wait for Jason's reaction to all of this. It definitely won't end well for any of them. ]