Welcome.

[trustharder]

You last remember feeling safe.

You don't know what caused that response, now that you think about it; you can't remember what you were doing before the warm, comfortable feeling came over you, a sensation somewhere between relief and the light contentment that comes with the knowledge that you're safe enough to sleep and god, are you ready to. It feels like you may have been sleeping for a while before this, even; your limbs are heavy in the memory, and you recall how difficult it was to open your eyes.

Turning your head is likewise difficult, it feels kind of like it's full of sand. Weighted-down by sleep. It's so much easier to remain still, and so you do, and before you haze out again you can vaguely hear a voice.

It's no one you recognize, and it sounds strange and vaguely distorted as you start to drift off again.

"Everything'll be fine."

There isn't an answer that you can hear; the voice speaks once more.

"...you ready?"

You don't remember what you wanted to say to that. Always, maybe. Or Ready for what? Or perhaps What's happened to me?

But none of it matters, because consciousness slips away from you too quickly for you to respond.

---

You wake up some time later; the comfortable, safe feeling from earlier certainly isn't dampened any by the bed you wake up in. Whether you like it soft as a cloud or firm enough to support the most finicky of spines, the bed you're in is nice, and it's pretty much exactly what you've been looking for in a mattress.

Shame the rest of the room is probably going to be a bit jarring when you wake up properly.

The room you're in is completely unfamiliar, all concrete and steel and almost nothing that makes it yours - but there's a trunk near the bed and there's what looks like a smartphone sitting on the trunk, and you might want to grab that before you leave the room. Trying to text or call out won't do anything for the time being, unfortunately, but it's something. A lifeline, maybe.

If you're looking to see if anyone is here with you, maybe you can find someone as you wander through the main corridor; after all, there are a few places to explore here, even if the bulk of the place is pretty much a straight shot down the center. If you're looking to gather, the dining hall is probably the best place for it, as it's large enough to accommodate all of you.

Wherever you choose to go, however, there are a set of rules posted in every room; the far wall of the dining hall, across from the entrances, also has a bulletin board with twenty-seven pictures, along with some...interesting information, posted on it. The board is large enough for all of you to look at it, but you might not want to try to get at anything posted there; just like the rules, there's glass in front of it, and it's looking to be extremely shatterproof.

Sorry about that.

There's one more thing you'll notice on your wanderings through the corridor – there are no windows, and there are no doors that can possibly lead outside.

Looks like you're trapped. Might as well get to know those that are here with you.

Comments

hallway

[lackinginfaith]

Unfortunately not.

[Caren stiffens at the interruption, not that she was doing anything aside from looking at a wall. She regards Megumi with a nod.]

But that means you're not the person who took me here, then.

[devastation]

[She should feel offended with Caren even insinuating that we would do something like this, but--]

So you weren't brought here by choice either... [So this is quickly going from "maybe fell asleep somewhere" to "probably a kidnapping". Okay Megumi, don't panic, surely there's something we can do here...] Do you know if there's an exit, or...

[Wait, didn't we find a phone? Give Megumi a second to look at it to see if maybe she can call for help...]

... That's strange. I can't get this phone to work. [Or rather, it seems to be refusing any attempts to make a phonecall to the proper authorities...]

[lackinginfaith]

There's an elevator that won't open, no other doors, and no windows. That's all I could see.

I haven't seen any phones like this before. Aren't they supposed to have buttons? [not that Caren keeps a phone on her at all because ahaha what is getting hold of her, she appears when she wants to]

[devastation]

Yes, they should have a dial-pad, or at least a call button of some kind...

[But it doesn't look like they are going to be able to make outgoing calls with this. She sighs a little, frowning at the device in her hands.]

I wasn't able to find my own cellphone, but this is what I was able to find in that room I woke up in.

[She had thought maybe it would be useful, but perhaps she should have known better...]

[lackinginfaith]

If it's not for calling, then why is it here? It can't be phone games.

[devastation]

I don't know. It's all very strange...

[She fidgets a little with the short strands of her hair, before she then takes a breath that's meant to be an attempt at calming herself as she turns her attention to Caren. This girl appears to be younger, still a teenager perhaps, so...

She might not be one of our students, but we need to try to be the responsible adult here.]

Let's try investigating a little more... um, you said that there was an elevator, right?

[Caren also said that it wouldn't open, but it wouldn't hurt to still take a look at it. Plus, it would probably be better to try to stick together just in case.]

[lackinginfaith]

At the end of the hall. If you want to look, come on.

[Caren gets walking, gesturing to the doors at the end.]

[devastation]

[Megumi follows along with her, but as she does so, something occurs to her here--]

... I know that these are not ideal circumstances to meet under, but... what is your name?

[If you don't mind her asking, that is.]

[lackinginfaith]

Just Caren. [She nods.] What about you?

[devastation]

Megumi Sakura. It's, ah...

[...Well, it's not really a pleasure to meet a fellow kidnapped person, so the sentence gets left hanging awkwardly for a second, before--]

...appreciated, having someone here to help us figure things out.

[nailed it]

[lackinginfaith]

Let's hope we're not stuck here too long. It could be a while.

[devastation]

Yes... so let's do our best to work together here, okay?

[who knows, the power of teamwork might prove to be useful here when it comes time to deal with the kidnappers]

[lackinginfaith]

Sounds promising, if everyone can.

[devastation]

Well... considering our current situation, I would be surprised if there was someone among us that didn't want to cooperate in regards to finding a way out of here.

[because that's totally not tempting fate to say that, right]

[lackinginfaith]

I think you never know with people, but you might have a point.

[devastation]

[She nods a little, before Megumi then tries to offer a reassuring smile.]

I know this is a dire situation and the people here are unfamiliar, but... don't worry Caren-san, I'm sure it'll work out if everyone here cooperates with one another.

[There's like, what, twenty or more of them here? That's a pretty decent size number of people to stand up to these kidnappers, right?]

[lackinginfaith]

That's the only thing anyone can hope for, probably. [sigh] Have you seen anything?

[devastation]

Aside from these strange devices, I didn't find much else... no, wait.

[She frowns, remembering something else--]

I thought I also saw what appeared to be a set of rules posted on one of the walls here, but I wasn't sure what to think of them.

[did Caren see those too]

[lackinginfaith]

I don't think anything of them. They don't make sense aside from as useless garbage.

[devastation]

I see. [It's still kind of weird, though...] I suppose they might have been put there as a scare tactic, but even if that is the case, it would be best to stay cautious until we know for sure what those rules are for.

[lackinginfaith]

Or why we're supposed to be called "survivors."