Team 1: Vidya

[_monsters_]

This is the first post for the Henrys, John, Roger, and Eileen.
If you are on one of the other teams, please do not read this post until the game is over! The information contained herein could give some things away!

Comments

[eileen303]

Eileen had expected something like what Henry had described. Falling asleep and waking up elsewhere.

Not this.

There's quite a bit of flailing underwater, but luckily, she'd decided against body armor, and luckily further, the current's pretty fast. She's gasping and sputtering as she's washed up on the "shore," but something automatically kicks in in her brain, and once she hits solid ground, she scrambling up and plastering herself crouched against a wall while she catches her breath.

[thefireofasaint]

The first thing he does onshore is gag, though he manages to make it sound annoyed and not so much like he's trying to keep down food. Possibly because he's long ago accepted he's much better at coping when he's extremely pissed off.

Frowning thunderously, because this is much less noisy than scowling to his logic, John staggers upright and raises a fire-wrapped hand so he can see. He looks for the others first -- okay, there's Eileen -- and then to their surroundings.

[htownshend]

He was definitely not expecting to not be able to breathe. He's not paying attention to what he's doing, other than struggling his way out of this lack of oxygen. He spend his first few seconds breathing heavily, then looks around. Flame...John? "Eil-" Oh, no, he shouldn't be talking, especially not her name. What if Walter's waiting for them? He scrambles to his feet and brushes the water off his face.

Then he sees her there, over by the wall. He makes his way over to her quickly, nodding to John.

[thefireofasaint]

John joins them after a few moments, where to his growing annoyance, he finds he's lost the axe, and his lighters and candles have gotten wet. Fantastic. Fortunately, the amulet Eileen gave him is still in his pocket.

He increases the size of the flames when he hears Roger, but lets them shrink slowly to something less likely to attract attention from unfriendly entities.

[onlyroger]

"!!!"

Even if Roger could likely continue his existance without air, he has humanlike reflexes, and being suddenly pulled down by a current into a filthy abyss [blood!!!] makes him panic just as it would any other member of the rescue team. His immense strength doesn't seem to be helping him escape from the undertow, and as he struggles against the rushing water, his supply pack and assault rifle are lost to the current.

When he finally discovers solid ground, Roger scrambles to his feet and tries to take stock of who all is still in the party. With luck, the ones who havn't shown up were simply carried elsewhere....

"Eileen? Is that you?"

[eileen303]

"Ro...?" That doesn't work out too well. Still coughing, and adjusting to oh God this air being sucked into her lungs, she just gives a thumbs-up gesture instead.

[onlyroger]

Roger nods, then scans the retreating darkness for any other humanlike forms.

[unbroken]

He spends most of his time underwater struggling to get his bulletproof vest off. Once that's done, the backpack's off, and he just barely grabs ahold of the multitool before it's lost. He kicks as hard as he can in a random direction and is about to give up and try the other way when he finally breaks the surface. He immediately rolls himself out of the water and looks around, catching his breath.

Trap, that's what it was. That's what he knew it was, why didn't he pay closer attention? He groans, but is glad (and slightly surprised) that he at least sees Henry, Eileen, John, and Roger. He's not alone. He pushes himself to his feet. "Hi," he says to them, clutching Hermes' present in one hand and walking over to them.

[eileen303]

She lifts up one hand in greeting. "Hi." It ought to be funny, such a normal exchange even while pulling the wretchedness that is this place into their lungs, but she doesn't bat an eye. Might as well 'do normal' while you can. "You all right?"

[unbroken]

"I think- oh, damn." It's about this point that it hits him just how much he's lost. The extra clips, the ampoules, the candles- he had everything in that bag. His shoulder holster was gone. His phone is gone. The only reason he still has his walkie talkie is because it had wedged itself into the holster at his waist, but that probably didn't even work.

He sighs heavily. "I'm all right...is there anyone else?" He looks around, trying to see if he missed another's entrance. "I was the last one, huh...?"

[onlyroger]

"It seems like it."

Roger frowns, his luminous eyes flickering in the darkness. "The others were probably swept in another direction, or... or they didn't end up here at all.

"It looks like we've all lost our supply bags."

Lynch Street Line

[unbroken]

Since John's keeping that fire going, Henry's the one to push open the door. He holds his weapon ready, just in case-

There doesn't seem to be anything there. Just the grimy, wide tunnel. It's unmistakable. "South Ashfield station," he says matter-of-factly. At least three of them are familiar with it. He should appreciate that, but it doesn't help- his tension only increases. "Cynthia will probably be here..." he mutters under his breath.

Re: Lynch Street Line

[onlyroger]

Roger squints a bit, trying to get a good look at what lays beyond the door. "You know this place?"

Re: Lynch Street Line

[eileen303]

"If this were the real world, South Ashfield Heights would be..." She looks at the ceiling, lined with empty pipes visible in the firelight, as though that would orient her at all. "Umm, it would be just over there, I think." She points to the north. "And above us. But things in here might not connect like that."

Re: Lynch Street Line

[unbroken]

"Yeah..." Henry replies grimly. "We've been here before...me, Henry, and Eileen. It's one of Walter's places. So..." He's grasping for 'bright sides' to this. "We should know the layout, at least. If Walter hasn't blocked things off..." Which he certainly has. Henry closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, which only causes him to remember how heavy and useless the air is here.

Stairs

[unbroken]

He walks cautiously up the stairs, trying to keep his eyes open for dogs- they hadn't seen anything yet, but those things could be pretty damn quiet until they jumped out at you.

Unfortunately, they haven't even reached the landing when they come across two large vending machines, tipped over and blocking the way. Henry sighs and is about to trun around, when he realizes...there's a lot more people here than there was the last time he was here. They could probably just move it out of the way. He looks back to the group. "Should we try to keep going?"

Re: Stairs

[eileen303]

Eileen frowns, trying to figure the obstacle through dim light and already-muddled thoughts. "We can try? If we could just move one, enough to get through?" She can't lift much, but two grown men, one almost, and one... stone man? She never did hear exactly who or what Roger is. Especially if Roger can bear the weight, it should be do-able.

Re: Stairs

[onlyroger]

[This place... what is this place? Everything is unnatural.] The foul air and lack of kinetic feedback are only the beginning of the 'wrongness' that seems to permeate reality here. [We havn't done anything, and I already feel like I'm running out of power...]

Roger frowns, looking off into the darkness. He can see an opening to what might be a staircase... it's hard to tell from back here. "I don't hear anything moving... we probably won't be in danger if we stop for a moment while moving these out of the way." It strikes the homunculus that, [exhausted] he probably has more physical heft than the four human members of the group combined, but he decides it would be rude to say something like that.

"Should I try?"

Re: Stairs

[thefireofasaint]

"Probably best." John might be able to blast them, but there're all sorts of annoying things involved in that, such as falling stuff and then everybody dies.

He's relaxed a little since nothing so far has tried to kill him, but 'on edge' is still a pretty accurate descriptor.