azume | Welcome.

AWAKENING.

You're asleep, and the first thing you're aware of is the pulse.

It comes quickly, flooding through your system and jolting you awake; the room you're in is dimly-lit but the bed you're in is soft, and while all of this is jarring you'll soon become rather aware that you aren't going through this alone. The room you're in is lined with beds not unlike the one you're in; you'll be able to hear other people stirring, coming awake as they respond to the pulse too, and...

...And it will soon become evident that whatever just happened, something is wrong.

Whatever your response may be to waking up in a low-lit room full of people is going to be highly amplified, the emotion rubbing your nerves raw in a way that makes you feel like you're experiencing it for the first time, and whenever you manage to sit up, you'll feel something...strange on your head, tickling the sides of your face, and as you turn your head a little you'll catch a glimpse of an odd, synthetic-looking green.

A wig...?

Your clothes, too, are different from whatever you remember last (because whatever you remember last, it wasn't this room, it wasn't this place - ); they feel warm, designed to withstand cold weather, and if you throw the blankets off at any point (or even just pause to look beneath them) you'll be greeted with an outfit made of thick material that's alternating parts black and white and glossy silver, with an emblem inscribed on the chest - a G inscribed in gold and black.

Whatever's happening here, you aren't given much time to dwell on it; everyone here seems about as confused as you are. There are twenty-four of you in the room altogether, and you're all going through the same thing; whatever you're experiencing, the door is closed, so at least you're experiencing it in relative privacy.

For now.

It isn't long before a voice can be heard, soft but agitated-sounding, as though trying very hard to not awaken everyone in the building; it sounds like a man, and you can hear his footfalls pause just outside your door as he speaks to someone else, voice soft and androgynous.

"And you're sure they're gone?"
"Yes, Commander."
"And don't you think something should be done about that...?"
"Right away, sir."

With that, the man and whomever he was speaking to can be heard parting ways, one moving rapidly down a corridor and the other pausing, shifting a bit before eventually moving on himself.

You have several options.

I. You can sit here for a while and get to know each other, seeing as none of you know what happened. That might be a good idea, all things considered, and as long as the door remains closed there's no rush. It's the middle of the night, after all, and it isn't as though anyone is going to come looking - despite the urgent conversation outside, there isn't any alarm going off, nor is there any reason for most of the building to be on high alert.

II. You can explore the building. Should you do that, you'll find several winding corridors leading to what look like dorms, with several rooms containing sleeping people and areas such as formal break rooms; exploring a little further will let you find conference rooms and other large, empty spaces that don't seem to have much of a purpose. There are signs and notices in several places referring to "Team Galactic" and its protocol, all adorned with the same emblem that's on your clothes. Some of these corridors also lead to doors that are, unfortunately, locked and staying that way; some of them lead to people dressed exactly like you, bizarre wig and all. They seem to be a little strange, however; they'll greet you, and they'll speak to you if spoken to, but they look odd and dead behind the eyes and there's not much to their answers, and asking them about preferences or any personal information will just net you a blank stare. It's going to be a long strange journey through the building, but at least you're traveling light; you don't seem to have any belongings with you - save for the outfit you woke up in and the red and white capsule attached to your belt...

III. You can also pause to try to figure out what's going on with those capsules. They each contain something very important to you, after all - a creature that seems to have been assigned to you specifically. They don't seem to have anything on them indicating a name or another person that owns them, at any rate, so it's probably safe to assume it's yours. That said, something seems decidedly wrong with it - it seems alarmingly apathetic, the look in its eyes dull and resigned as opposed to alert and emotive, and while it's willing to follow you (it's almost a bit too willing to follow you, it will stay close by your side in the manner of a dog trained to heel if you try to walk away from it) it doesn't seem to be due to any sort of genuine affection. It's all very...sterile, for lack of a better term.

Welcome to Sinnoh. Glory to Team Galactic.

[OOC: Welcome to Azume! Feel free to use this log to get to know one another iCly; you can use the prompts given or come up with your own, though for now you're confined to the building. The Commanders are currently not present in the building (anywhere that you can find them, anyway). For now, have fun getting your bearings.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Most people? I'm pretty sure everyone I know would look at this shit - [gestures at the poor dude down on the floor, whom i have decided is named montgomery for no reason other than this poor npc has been a part of this scene for so long that he deserves a name] - and assume there's been some sort of outbreak.

[ Man this man's language is course... ] A outbreak of what? Malice? We would be seeing far more amiss than this if it or something similar were pervading these halls. No, it seems far more reasonable to assume they've been bewitched by a sorcerer or perhaps a particularly strong wizrobe.

Mal-

[...]

...Lady. Do you know what a virus is? Serious question.

... No, I do not.

[ Honest response. She's a scholar, so honestly, she's curious. ]

Okay. So, you ever see someone get really sick for no reason, and curing 'em isn't really a thing with your herbs and your mushrooms or whatever? Because that's probably a virus - it's this thing that gets into your system and makes you get sick and die. We've got some that can cause some pretty fucked up shit to happen to you before you die, and some other ones that make it so you're dead but the virus is still piloting your body around like you're the world's worst meat puppet, and sometimes they just melt your skin off? So I dunno, maybe this is a new strain of something.

[ sorry, montgomery. her eyes light up at this lecture, pleased beyond words - despite the subject matter - to learn about this new thing. ]

... I can understand your concern, then! The dead can be risen through the forces of powerful sorcerers, of course, but to think that some infectious agent could do the same thing- but then surely, if it's an illness, at least before they become nakedly hostile, it would be better to try to treat it? If you say that traditional medicine isn't effective, if your doctors and scholars can identify such things, do they have means of it...?

...Well, yeah, but they need to find a way to do it. It's apparently pretty hard to find something to fight it - specific viruses need specific things to cure 'em.

All the more reason, then. Are you familiar with how one would... know what sort of virus has taken root?

No fuckin' idea.

[...AND THE HELPFULNESS STOPS HERE.]

[ . . . Wow. ]

Then it seems to me we have all the more reason to more try to speak with some of these people than defeat them out of hand.

You know what, you can try to speak to 'em all you want. I'll keep to what I said and not kill this guy -

[...You know, actually, let him...get up off of poor goddamn Montgomery down there...]

- but when it comes to the cross-examination, you're on your own.

[ I mean, he got up? That's a win in her book ]

Thank you, and so I shall try to.

[ Talk to. Probably not this guy, maybe another person ]

Welcome.

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