Welcome.

[trustfellowship]

The last thing you remember hearing is static. There were words in there, perhaps, quiet whispers like the rustling of leaves, like the crinkling of paper, like rust being scraped off a knife. The words aren't anything you'll remember, but they're there, and there are a lot of them washing over you, and it might be concerning if it weren't so warm where you're lying. You wake feeling disoriented, like you've been asleep for a long time. Of course, it's probably odd that you're waking up just now - perhaps you were in the middle of something important, perhaps you were waiting for something, or maybe you were just going about your day, but even before the whispering came you can clearly remember doing something back home. Can't you? Something else. Something that wasn't looking around the room you've found yourself in. It's not your room, either. Not the one you're used to. The room here is grey and white and tile; even if the bed is nice (and the bed is nice, it feels like it's been designed to cater just to you, maybe if you keep your eyes closed you can pretend it's a favor), the room itself is spartan and oppressing. The walls are cracked and the floors are in disrepair, but despite that there's not enough noise - it's silent, the quietness of it pressing in on you, and even if you can't see any cameras you get the distinct feeling that for good or ill, someone is watching over you as you get up. That might be enough to make you move, to make you not want to stay there. But even if you stick around for a while to look around in there, the walls hold firm despite their decrepit state and the pervasive silence isn't going away - if anyone's in the rooms near you, you can't hear them. If you want answers, you're going to have to leave. Be sure you grab the key sitting on your desk on the way out. Once you step out of the room into the hallway you'll most likely find yourself face-to-face with other confused people who feel as though they don't belong here either. Maybe you'll find something if you explore together; maybe it's safer in numbers. Wherever you end up going - and there are several places to go - you might want to check the large room toward the center of the communal area of the building. A subdivided foyer is here; at first glance, it even seems to offer you a look at the outside. Of course, once you've gotten over that particular disappointment, you might want to check out the walls, where you'll find some very interesting information about yourselves hanging on the walls. There's some other framed information that you'll most likely want to get a look at as well, seeing as how it could be the key to escaping this place. Although, speaking of keys... Despite your best efforts, you won't find any doors. The windows you find here and there are far more durable than they should be as well, and any attempts to break out won't work. It seems you're stuck here for the time being. Maybe your fellow captives have some thoughts on all of this. Welcome to Beacon General Hospital.

Comments

[heritrix]

Do you mean the mechanics, or how you operate it? I can more easily tell you the latter than the former, even if I don't use one that often.

[ossifragant]

The mechanics, but if you don't know that's fine. I figure it's one of those things people use without knowing how it works, you know?

[So obviously now is when he walks over to the refrigerator and pulls the door open.]

Oh, so that's what this is!

[...if he's fucking with Rin, it doesn't look like he's going to stop anytime soon, sorry.]

[heritrix]

[Normally she'd only be mildly annoyed, but today she woke up in a strange place, sore and exhausted, and missing her handy Servant who can carpet bomb things at her demand.]

Are you going to sit down and have your water or not?

[ossifragant]

[He laughs quietly, and then actually sits down.]

Okay, okay. Sure.

[heritrix]

[Good, she'll hand the glass to him then.]

Anyways, to answer your question before... Microwaves have become common because they can rapidly cook food. Unlike an oven, a microwave can do this because it channels energy straight into the molecules inside of the food. That said, you lose a lot of nutritional value that way.

[ossifragant]

Oh, I see.

[.....he doesn't know what an oven is, but you know what, he's not going to ask.]

I guess that would make some amount of sense; it's always best to cook things thoroughly.

[heritrix]

Not if you nuke it. Have you ever had a sunburn? Think of it like the microwave is the sun, and the food is your skin.

[But Rin shrugs too, not making a bigger deal of this than necessary.]

It's still cooked and okay to eat, but it won't taste as great as it could have. Anyways, it's a matter of preference.

[She kind of switches between looking around the room and watching him as she talks. She still can't believe he's as fine as he said he feels from his appearance.]

[ossifragant]

Right.

[He does drink the water, but he mostly looks out of it, and lost in thought.]

This place is well-equipped, don't you think?

[He gestures left-handedly, showing off the mark on the back of his hand.]

It's a little suspicious.

[heritrix]

[HOW COME GREED GOT TO KEEP HIS COMMAND SEALS.

Okay, no seriously, that's what the mark reminds her of and Rin stiffens, watching Greed more appraisingly because of it. She's slow to respond.]

...I haven't seen all of it yet, but it was suspicious from the start. Waking up in a strange room with no memory how I got there.

[ossifragant]

[His head tips at the reaction, brows raising.]

...Yeah. It's the sort of thing to make a guy nervous.

[heritrix]

Besides that, your hand makes me nervous.

[ossifragant]

[He looks at the mark on his hand, before he looks back to the girl, his head tilting curiously.]

Does it. Why?

[His tone is mildly curious at most; whatever he's thinking, he's keeping his cards close.]

[heritrix]

Don't be coy. You're the same as me, aren't you?

[This is a conversation they wouldn't be having if Rin had just made it to the foyer; if she'd talked to more people and seen the rooms. As it is, timeline-wise this is one of her first conversations, and she's under the impression she's still somewhere in Fuyuki.

Right now, she's starting to think Greed isn't a person from hundreds of years ago. How silly must she have been to think something like that? It's not unheard of for mages to live sheltered lives, cut off from technology. The very best families with the resources to make that possible gladly do so, such as the Einzberns of Germany.

This said, she's not (yet) accusing him of being behind this. He looks to be in bad shape, and if he's telling the truth and has no idea where he's at, that would mean he was captured too and they could share an enemy. In that case...]

Which Servant's Master are you? Caster's? [She looks him over, gauging his personality from his style of dress.] Perhaps Lancer's? I'm willing to call a temporary truce if you are and cooperate against whoever set this trap if you are.

[ossifragant]

[Well, that gets him to go from looking vague amused to completely baffled in record time.]

I'm all for a truce; I don't have any problem with you at all, kid. But I'm afraid I don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Servants... Masters... sounds like you're involved in some kind of war.

[heritrix]

[Now it's her turn to look baffled. What?

If he's a Master, he has no reason to deny her. If he wanted to refuse, he could use violence. But commenting that it sounds like she's in a war is too on the nose to be a lucky guess, right?

So Rin stares a moment longer, stunned, before shifting his attention back to his left hand and chooses her phrasing carefully.]

If you're not a Master, then what is that mark supposed to be? It doesn't look like a simple tattoo.

[ossifragant]

I'm a homunculus. It's an ouroboros; the mark of my kind.

[heritrix]

[Rin's eyes widen, almost imperceptibly. Concern, disbelief; she can't seem to find one emotion to settle on, and it just comes back to unsure again.]

...I see.

[...]

Then I appreciate your honesty.

[Because a claim like that is too bold to be a lie. ]

[ossifragant]

[He laughs. It's the sort of laugh that indicates nervousness, and confusions.]

You sound familiar.

[heritrix]

Not really. But it takes either a lot of courage or a great deal of confidence to admit to someone that you're not human.

[ossifragant]

[Greed shrugs.]

I've never thought it necessary to hide what I am. Besides, people will notice things eventually.

[heritrix]

Do you still heal, as a human does?

[Eying his condition once again.]

[ossifragant]

[He stares at the back of his hand for a long moment.]

...I'm honestly not sure.

[heritrix]

[Rin tilts her head, frowning.]

How is that something you wouldn't know? I mean besides all... [waving a hand at his everything] this, you had to have been injured beforehand at least once in your life. Even if it's just a scraped knee.

[ossifragant]

Before, I would heal immediately; wouldn't even leave a scar.

I don't know if that's still true. Call it "complicated" biology.

[heritrix]

[Okay, she thinks she gets it now. Rin bites her thumb; puts her hand back down.]

That's why you were shocked at your condition then. Besides not recalling how you came to be this way, for you it shouldn't even be possible.