catchall vira

[alteracion]

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[chevaleros]

[ it. sounds more dangerous than cool. vira stares at her with an expression of muted concern. ]

Ah, so you don't know what sort of threats are in each compartment. It makes sense that you'd be prepared for anything here.

[ hm. ]

But if it doesn't make any stops, how did you end up a passenger at all?

[alteracion]

It picks up people sometimes. People who are special. [ she twirls a little in place, gesturing at herself, because? clearly. but then she shrugs ] Not all the cars are dangerous, either. It really could be anything in there.

[chevaleros]

[ special... grace does seem one-of-a-kind. ]

That must've been quite the adventure. Have you experienced anything like this place before, then? As much as I hate to admit, even the technology here has me at a loss, so I've been looking for people to teach me.

[alteracion]

A lot of it is similar, but I don't think I've seen a space themed car before. [ it's pensive, though, because sometimes things blur together. it's fine. ] I'm not much of a tinkerer, but I can probably help with most of it. Nothing we need to work with seems too advanced right now anyway.

[chevaleros]

[ is it fine. ] I appreciate it. Venturing into space is something I can barely imagine...

[ it's a long way from something like an airship, so she's just getting used to it all. ]

Ah, but maybe you're enjoying this place? It must be just another new 'car' for you.

[alteracion]

Well... for the most part. [ she smiles, but it's a little awkward ] I'm a bit worried about my friends on the train.

[chevaleros]

Oh, yes—of course. [ right, friends. they'd all rather abruptly left people behind. ] At least if all goes well here, you can assure their safety. Though I understand it must be frightening when we don't know how long we'll be here.

[ or maybe it's more that she misses them? ]

[alteracion]

If I'd known I'd be away from them, I might not have agreed to come here. I never wanted to leave them.

[ so, worried seems about right ]

[chevaleros]

[ her voice drops to something quieter at that. ]

I'm not sure any of us knew quite what we were getting into. I don't regret being here yet, but it's difficult to be apart.

[ this place does feel alienating, so far from home and full of strangers, their worlds hanging in uncertain status. she smiles, more wry than friendly. ]

I almost envy people who are comfortable enough to start enjoying this experience right away.

[alteracion]

[ grace's answering smile and wink is definitely in jest ]

But only almost, right? Because the ones who are totally comfortable seem kind of... [ she makes a vague gesture that is up for interpretation. dumb? horny? you decide ]

[chevaleros]

[ both. ]

Salacious and stupid?

[ she has a smile on but her words are casually sharp. sometimes people are just dumb! ]

I shouldn't judge, but [ she will ] I won't be entirely comfortable until I understand what's going on.

[alteracion]

You said it, not me.

[ but grace is smiling right back, clearly loving the mean girl vibes ]

But I agree. It's one thing to go with things until we can learn more, but that doesn't mean they should be totally unaware.

[chevaleros]

[ all the girls here enable each other to be mean i am crying ]

Precisely.

[ though speaking of figuring things out, now that they've been poking around a bit, there is a series of three buttons here. ]

—Hm? What might these be?

[alteracion]

[ ah.

it's grace's turn to look, and she hums a little, looking wary ]

My first guess? It's either a puzzle or a trap.

[ ... but she's not like, moving away from the buttons and is instead coming closer to peer at them, so ]

[chevaleros]

[ vira stays hovering too, mostly because they really know so little. she's okay taking a risk for progress.

still, she's cautious as she reaches out at the first one. ]

Only one way to know for sure. Keep an eye open for anything that might happen.

[ she gives grace a moment to brace herself before pressing it. boop! ]

[alteracion]

[ and... boop! there's some hissing. grace looks and walks around the whole room, frowning ]

Uh. Well, I can hear something, but there's no source or anything?

[chevaleros]

[ she looks behind her, and the hissing just seems to... travel. it's strange. ]

Right, nothing else about the room seems to have changed.

[ is something... leaking? or is something else making that noise? ]

Shall we try the next one?

[alteracion]

Hmm... [ well, grace smirks a bit ] Let's do it. Maybe it's a sequence we need to hit right? So we should test all of them once.

[ science! sure. ]

[chevaleros]

[ science!!! vira nods resolutely, pressing the button once they're ready again.

and then a new sound emerges—she glances around, narrowing her eyes at all the pods, the ceiling, the floor. there doesn't seem to be anything but the distant, echoing sound of...

crying? from somewhere behind her. quietly: ]

...Can you hear that?

[alteracion]

[ Grace is... maybe a little less confident on this one, walking back closer to vira ]

Someone's... crying, aren't they? But it keeps changing directions.

[chevaleros]

[ she holds her ground, shooting grace a serious look. the noise continues behind them, softly. ]

Yes, I can't ever get a good look at the source.

[ it's eerie, but she rests her fingers against the last button.

if this is a sequence, it's the last part of it. so she waits until they've settled, nods, and presses it.


and then, all the noise stops. it's deathly silent. ]

[alteracion]

... Maybe we pressed the wrong sequence?

[ it's of course when grace says that as she looks around that all the bodies vanish from the pods suddenly, making her jump and grab at vira's wrist. this feeling-- ]

Definitely the wrong sequence. Vira--

[ she's about to offer from them to go when the room turns pitch black ]

[chevaleros]

[ grace can feel vira tense as the lights power off; she has a kitchen knife drawn in front of her in an instant, staring intently into the darkness as something stares back, narrowing her eyes.

there's a noise, a skittering against the metal floor, but no time to react or light to see it with before something coasts and brushes by their legs. ]

[alteracion]

[ there's a yelp from grace as she feels it, and she drags vira away with her when she takes a step back, because knife or not it's dark--

until suddenly it isn't, with no trace of what they saw, and no trace of the buttons. everything back to normal. grace stays tense regardless for a bit, looking around wildly ]

... You felt that too, right?

[chevaleros]

[ thankfully(?) whatever's there decides not to attack them before it escapes. it takes several moments for vira to let her shoulders relax, her expression grim as she looks around. ]

...Yes.

[ she stares around the room for a while longer still, before speaking quietly. there's nothing there. ]

Are you all right, Grace? [ no injuries? ]