all the living are dead, and the dead are all living [open!]

[reassures]

Characters: Nill and OPEN
Setting: Her room (01-11), and then the halls outside the dorms.
Format: action!
Summary: A newbie joins the ranks. Said newbie doesn't handle it well.
Warnings: Possible vomiting and graphic mentions of death

(a.) - Open to roommates.

[Even an hour after waking up in what she assumes is her new bed, she can't get the shaking to stop or calm her stomach down. If she stays very, very still, then her joints and bones don't hurt as much, but the second she moves again it's splitting pain down every inch of skin she shouldn't have anymore.

She got herself killed. She got her boyfriend killed. He was dead, and she couldn't even hope he was still alive somewhere, because if he was-- what if it was a place worse than this one? What if he was stuck in some sort of hell?

He was dead, and she was... this. Stuck in another world, with a collar around her neck, worse than Heine's. (Trying to pry it off had proved useless. She debated trying to cut the tubes, but considering how snugly it fit... the last thing she needed was for it to explode and kill her again.) If the note she'd found was correct, then even Heine was gone now. Badou, Naoto, the Bishop... Everyone. What was she supposed to do now?

Maybe it didn't matter that much. She couldn't be sure, not right now. The best thing she could do was just... figure out who she was supposed to be living with, if anyone. Ask them what to expect here. That's why she's lingering near the door, trying to get herself under control again while she waits for someone - anyone - to come by.]


(b.) - Open to all.

[She's finally, finally managed to calm down a little. Every inch of her doesn't hurt anymore - it's all down to a dull ache, one she suspects will leave her soon enough if she can wait it out. She's just not willing to do that in the "comfort" of her room, and instead would rather go out and... what? Explore? Even the idea of that lends itself a certain level of exhaustion, but she can't sit in that room until... whenever she can leave. Her movement through the halls of the dorms is slow, and she glances at every door as she goes, as if that will give her some idea of what to expect from this place somehow.

She probably looks more lost than anything else.]

Comments

B

[colonial]

[America has gotten pretty good at spotting new people, or so he's decided. Someone wandering around the dorm hallways looking lost is a pretty good indicator, though, since that's the first place most people learn their way around. And he doesn't really want to leave someone wandering around looking lost when he can help. Which he definitely can! Pushing back the edges of wariness around strangers, he smiles at the woman.]

Hi! Are you new? I bet you're new!

[reassures]

[Is that a... child? Really? Nill actually pauses for a second, because she's never seen a child so young who is also obviously a Newcomer. (Transport, Mutant-- Whatever they're called here.) Nill hesitates, before managing a half smile of her own, and offering a slight nod. She supposes she must be very obvious.

Can a child this small read? She's not sure, but she pulls her Tablet out of a pocket on her jacket anyway. In no time she has something typed up, and she holds it up for him to see.]

Hi. What is your name?

[Start small. If he can't read it's not like she asked anything super important anyway.]

[colonial]

[America reads it easily enough--the words aren't too difficult so he doesn't have a problem for now.]

I'm America! What's your name? Can you not talk?

[It doesn't occur to him that might be rude to ask so bluntly.]

[reassures]

[Stick to simple words. She can do that. His bluntness is sort of nice, and pulls something a little more genuine into her small, if strained smile. Blunt, but bright enough. A lot of people liked to assume she just didn't like to speak.]

I can't talk. My name is Nill.

[...wait.]

America?

[colonial]

Yeah, America! [He files her name away in his mind and then, after a moment, it occurs to him that maybe she thinks his name is weird. Sometimes people did that.] Or--um, Alfred? If you don't want to call me America.

[reassures]

[Her wings flutter a little against her back, and she shakes her head. His name was a little strange admittedly, but that wasn't his fault.]

America is fine. It's nice to meet you.

[About the nicest thing since she's woken up. She's never really talked to a child much before.]

[colonial]

It's nice to meet you, too! Even if this is a really bad place sometimes.

[Okay, probably more than just sometimes, but America tended toward the optimistic, and he had met a lot of interesting people here.]

Do you know how stuff works yet?

[reassures]

[This place didn't look like it was ever good, honestly. But maybe her opinion so far was biased.]

No. How bad does it get?

[It's not a kind question, but... they give children the biggest warnings - not always the facts, but what it would take to make sure they stayed alive. That was useful information.]

[pushedaround]

[ It wasn't that difficult to identify a new arrival, and while he tried to stay out of the whole uncomfortable duty of delivering bad news, Tavros couldn't bring himself to ignore the young girl. He just hoped he wouldn't fuck up to the point of terrifying her.

Ok, here goes. ]

Uh, excuse me. [ He takes a few easy steps closer, smiling. ] You're new, right? ... Do you need any help?

[reassures]

[It's probably fortunate for Tavros that Nill is used to bad news. She starts a little when he speaks, more off her game than she would ever want to admit, but offers a small, strained smile when she finally settles her gaze on him. It fades quickly.

The horns and skin... he was probably a troll, right? Though Nill didn't recognize him.

She nods, and fumbles to pull a tablet out of her pocket. Cue typing, as she takes a step closer to him.]

Yes. Is there a network here?

B

[turntechtrainer]

[Footsteps herald one door is about to open when she's passing by and it does. Dave steps out into the hallway, younger than the one she knew and sent home. He looks like he did when he first arrived in the port. His thoughts are different, racing in circles with darker things under the surface. He's been through a hell of a lot. Behind him a massive fire dog Arcanine trots, shoving him forward without caring about how he's protesting it.]

Oh come on! no one sane gets up at this hour! You just want to go for a walk and you don't want to do it by yourself! You could have waited but nooooo.

[He seizes hold of the doorframe with a stubborn petulant look on his face and nearly looks go at the sight of someone else in the hallway.] Yo. New?

[reassures]

[Just walking through the halls is at least a little bit informative. She snags bits and pieces from the people she can't see, awake or sleep, nightmares or memories. By the time she gets to Dave's floor she already has some idea that this is a terrible place, and the floors that don't belong to the dorms are... unsafe. Very unsafe. It makes her more glad than she wants to admit that the majority of things that seemed to make it with her here were her weapons.

Even listening in a little bit on people, she doesn't notice Dave until he's out the door. Maybe she had actively been trying not to notice him.

When Dave sticks his head out the door, Nill just stares. Too short. Too young. Not him, not the boy from Exsilium either (whose headphones had also ended up here with her), but--

Suddenly Nill feels ill again. God, she can't take all these different timelines, and what they could mean for everyone she has ever known and watched die (or worse). She takes a step back, loses her balance, lands on her ass like a klutz. She swallows thickly, biting back stomach acid, and only hopes after realizing there is something gigantic behind him that maybe he'll think her reaction was because of... whatever that was, and not him.]

[turntechtrainer]

[The way she'd reacted is like the recent reactions of the British guy that flipped out at the sight of him. Luckily, like Nill wanted, Dave things she is scared of the dog. Or maybe he just wants to think like that. After being turned into a monster, and puppet-ed by the tower before that as a tool of murder, it's easier to just think of the dumbest and most mundane shit possible. He lets go of the door frame and kneels down before her, checking her over for injury or pain with his eyes.]

Easy, Kim is just a big softie. She can spew fire like cats hack hairballs but she'd never hurt a human being. [Kim thus named steps into the hallway and brushes up against Dave's side to get a look at this newcomer. She sniffs the air and then backs away to give Nill some space when Dave whistles through his teeth and looks at her.] Also pretty smart, so you can just tell her if she needs to give you space.

[reassures]

[There are no visible injuries, but it's certainly hard enough to tell that with the black outfit she's got on. There might be some pain there - a faintly trembling in her shoulders, stiff and tense, and the way she moves her fingers. Everything sort of hurts, but it isn't too bad now. In maybe another hour, it probably wouldn't hurt at all. For now though, it was something she just needed to deal with.

Her actions - or lack thereof - probably speak more than anything else. There's a gun at her side, perfectly within reach, but despite her reaction she never once reaches for it. Instead she takes a few deep breaths, and glances between Dave and Kim.

She nods, and then realizing that probably doesn't tell him much at all reaches for her tablet.]

I can't talk.

[not a problem for him, but for Kim... slightly more so.

It probably doesn't make her seem any better if she just sits on the ground, so she slowly pushes herself back up to her feet, her wings shifting against her back before settling again.]

[turntechtrainer]

[This is one of those times Dave feels like a jerk. He offers her a hand when she pushes herself to her feet. It's a good thing he's seen so much weird and BEEN in so many different situations. Rolling with the awkward is just another day in the tower. He waits until she's on her feet to motion Kim over. The fire dog trots over to stand by him and watch her.

Until Dave holds up a hand to his pokemon. It's his gesture for 'pay attention' He spins the hand, turning it so one finger points at the dog. The gesture is a signal for 'new instructions'.] Actually, that's something we can work around.

Pick a gesture you want to be 'give me space' and Kim will get the message, I'll just train her to remind her about it. Sound cool?

[reassures]

[She takes the hand offered to her with a nod, and a look that could be considered grateful, except no smile comes with it. She keeps one hand against the wall for now, a steadying motion, while she grounds her feet against the floor again. She's still shaky. She'd waited around in her room, but none of her roommates had ever shown up.

She may have spent an hour trying to pick up a signal with her tablet, too. Nothing. Just the sound of disconnected NVs, even though it wasn't an NV at all.

She's still and quiet as Dave talks though, and she watches his gestures carefully. Did he have her that well trained? ...She nods, and after taking a second to figure it out, Nill lets go of the wall and holds her arm stiff and straight down, with her palm flat, parallel to the ground. A very simple motion that usually means 'stop', so she figures it's a pretty good gesture to use. Then she glances back up at Dave, as if to ask if that's good enough.]

[turntechtrainer]

[Dave's hand comes up, pointer finger towards the sky 'obey'. Kim takes several steps back immediately and nods to show she'd heard. Pokemon are fairly intelligent, often more so than people. It's a lot like animals, he guesses.

The fire dog stays where she is till Dave beckons with his hand. In moments they're back to the same position they'd been in before.] Do it one more time.

I always start off with showing her the gesture/sound/pose twice before I do it at least twice a day to ingrain it. Not that she's animal level of smart, she's above that. It just never hurts to remind someone of what they need to remember.

[reassures]

[The... dog? Pokemon? Kim, seems very nice. If nothing else, she's a good listener. After another quiet, uncertain moment, Nill makes the gesture again, careful to make sure she does it the same way she she had a few moments ago.

Once she's sure Kim has seen it, she starts typing on her tablet again.]

Is it okay to touch her?

B-I am so late that it's not even funny. ><;

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko, of course, was coming from her room after eating a few books in private with her stalker unit Ivan following her, wearing his nametag, paper hat, and a piece of paper that was taped to his chest telling everyone about the possible fate to the souls that went back home. However, when she saw a girl wandering around, looking a little lost, she stopped and smiled at her.]

Good morning! Are you a newcomer here?

No worries, I am also pretty late

[reassures]

[What a cheerful girl. For a moment her demeanor leaves Nill taken aback, but it passes quickly. She nods, glancing between Tohko and the stalker unit that seems to be with her, more unsure of what to make of Ivan than of Tohko.]

Alright then..^^;

[tohko_amano]

[People could make of Ivan whatever they wished, as long as they found him a little useful. At the nod, Tohko kept on smiling as she mentally went through everything in her head so that she could get it organized for the new girl.]

Alright then! Some information on the souls left behind can be found on Ivan's chest..but if you want, I could tell you everything I know. That way, you'll be better prepared for this place.

[reassures]

[There's another uncertain glance between Ivan and Tohko. After a moment of hesitation, she pulls a tablet out of the pocket on her jacket, typing on the touch screen before holding it up for Tohko to see.]

What do you mean by "souls left behind"?

[tohko_amano]

[Oh..so this person either couldn't speak or was really bad at speaking to others. After looking at the text, Tohko nodded to show that she got it and replied.]

Well..souls left behind is a little inaccurate, but, on occasion, a resident here can find themselves awake back in their original destroyed universe. Normally, it's just terrifying and horrible to the person there..but we just learned that it's also possible for Ruana to devour souls that end up in that position. That's what I'm talking about.

[reassures]

[So the souls of the people that ended up here? No revival, just-- gone, just like that?

Nill doesn't know how to feel about it.]

Who is Ruana?

[tohko_amano]

[Well..the people here got revived. The people that sometimes went back home..their fate was debatable until they actually showed up again. Tohko knew how she felt about it, and she was sad and worried..but dwelling on that wouldn't help anyone.]

She's the head Administrator here. There used to be five, but now there are four-Jason, the person who builds our bodies and does maintenance on them, Riki, the person who builds the Tower, Zo, the person who brings our souls here, and Ruana, a person that's been here for at least a thousand years and has the ability to devour souls, amongst other things. There used to be a fifth Administrator named Dax who looked out for us when he could..but he was killed and eaten by Ruana when he attempted to rebel against her.