As the day began drawing to a close, the intercom flickered to life. Instead of Harrington's voice, however, Berg's calm tone filtered through the speakers
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"I'm gonna go on a limb and guess you've never been to Canada," Ramona said as she entered the room. Not that Toronto was especially weird. Actually, if she didn't know Scott Pilgrim and hadn't somehow sicked a bunch of evil exes on him, the place would be downright normal. And cold. And boring. But there were still the weird coins for money and the queen all over and the times when the old people seemed to think they were just mere miles away from London. Maybe those didn't count.
"Not that I'm discounting the fact that this is Canada," she continued on, grabbing her food with a wrinkling nose. She muttered something akin to what she'd already been saying, something like "the food isn't that different," but it was finished with a trying bite of it. "Did you see the weather outside?" She rolled her eyes.
This was probably a more boisterous way of greeting someone than her roommate was used to, especially if she was staring at a wall, but Ramona figured it was better than being mopey. Something was coming that night, and although her day was ... pretty not good on the scale of not good days-and only because she hadn't ultimately been able to figure out what she thought of Scott being there-she didn't mind the creepy stuff coming. At least it would make the mood more interesting. Dystopia fiction wasn't bad, but she got sick about five seconds in of this place trying to hide it.
As for the girl she landed with, Ramona decided it was ultimately best to do the casual route. It was better than focusing on her ... assets, especially since her uniform didn't hide them that well. She selfishly resented that, but didn't wallow in it. She'd rather wallow in this tasteless stuff before her. Or if she didn't even get a response. There was a fair chance of that.
ahhh sorry this got buried in my inbox36_24_35October 23 2011, 21:59:02 UTC
Someone came in, someone talkative, and that answered most of Tifa's questions for that day. Lightning was gone and it was likely she would never come back. It was hard to tell by the woman's comment if she was brand-spankin' new and had no idea what was going to befell her in, say, thirty minutes or if she had been around the block for awhile.
Tifa had never seen her before and that shade of hair would have certainly stood out in the crowd. She went with newbie and humored her for now.
"Nope, never been," she said with a harmless smile. "Can't say where we are, really. No one does--Actually, most people seem to come up with more places where we aren't than where we could be." All to Tifa could say was this wasn't Edge or Midgar or any other place she had had ever been, and she had been to quite a few places.
<3 it's fineinconstancyOctober 23 2011, 23:04:23 UTC
"Of course, that's a typical tactic for places like these. If you're gonna hold someone captive, you've gotta limit them from the start. But who knows where we could be?" Movies, video games, and books all had different places people could land; she really doubted that she'd be surprised if this wasn't earth. It just acted a lot like it, so it was probably more likely to be some creepy place where no one could think of going to rescue people. Or, even worse, they just couldn't deal with all the snow. It wasn't like they weren't being fed!
The wonders of Stockholm-inducing torture. Only maybe from the outside.
"Since we've all stepped into end of the world dystopian fiction, or the beginning of it, it doesn't really matter." She shrugged it off. "We're screwed anyway." That last part was chirped out and followed by a bite of food. Still not any good. Still not much of a surprise.
"And oh, hey. I'm Ramona," she added. "Nice to meet you, roomie."
Re: <3 it's fine36_24_35October 23 2011, 23:38:43 UTC
Well, at least she knew that they were all screwed. That was good! Tifa didn't have the heart to break it to her or deal with the emotional fall out that some civilians had when they found out they were held against their will by a made scientist, eager to turn them into his latest experiments. Really, it was just another Tuesday for Tifa.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tifa. I've been here for..." She tried to put some number together quickly, but it was a losing battle. "... almost two weeks, I think. Time kinda gets away from you the longer you stay here. But if you've got questions, I may have answers." Nothing good, but the girl already got the memo that no one as getting out of here easily. Or ever. It seemed rather impossible, after what she had lived through, but Tifa couldn't remember the last time she had stayed in the same place for this long against her will. Then again, there was no blond hero coming to save her anymore, even with a promise.
Looking down at her hands, Tifa kept her smile pinned to her face even as her shoulder sagged a bit.
"Actually, I have a question for you." Her brown eyes came back up to look at Ramona. "Are you experienced in any kind of... self-defense or combat?" Her roommate's answer might change the flow of her plans tonight.
More helpfulness. Ramona decided she couldn't look down on that. It was better than the hip and apathetic faces she tended to come across. Then again, she was one of many who also mastered that, so it didn't make it easier for her to know what to expect. Everyone here was so deeply impacted by what happened to them, and the thing was, she knew she should be. In fact, since her great sabbatical from life to go figure things out was kind of disrupted, she had a feeling it would probably be messed up tomorrow. It wasn't like she could avoid Scott Pilgrim forever. Even if she really needed to right now.
"Nah, I think I've got it. Faux military. Everything's messed up at night and turns into a Carpenter movie. Some big asshole is running an experiment on us all." Chimed off like that, she realized how close this was to a thing Gideon would do. Only he'd give them nicer uniforms, so again, she was counting him out. Not that these uniforms were that bad. She just figured it was the wrong season for this.
"And I'm not that bad with the whole fighting deal," she boasted a beat later. "But someone told me you end up weakened here, so I don't know where I stand with that." It was like being knocked back down to level one, probably. Ramona didn't know where she'd stand there.
TIfa was impressed; this girl seemed like she really had it together. That or she was simply humoring everyone. There was no cure for that, unfortunately, except getting right in the middle of the shit, as they said, and facing it head on. Ramona apparently wasn't new to fighting so she had a sporting chance at least, and she already knew about her nerfed powers.
"Yeah, that. It's something you just have to learn on the fly. It's pretty embarrassing the first time, actually." Especially when you were used to battles turning your surroundings into a pile of dust. Tifa sure wished her bar could regenerate like this place.
"Oh! One last thing... Someone may have told you this, but... Never go anywhere around this place by yourself. Nothing good ever comes from it, believe me..."
"I'll just have to test it out," she decided out loud. Most of her advantage was her strength, and it wasn't like there weren't enough things around her while she was walking through. Ramona had the feeling that it wouldn't take long to figure out what she could do. Her only worry is that somehow it would deplete what she had going for her. But those things just had to be figured out. The good thing was the warning from Kairi. It helped a lot.
"And make sure I find a buddy. No problem, dude." She gave a thumbs up, ate another large bite of food, and set it aside. "What're the odds that someone you know'll end up here? Have you noticed any patterns with that?" It was more inquisitive than she usually bothered with, but if she missed anyone, she wanted to know if that was actually the case. Scott and her alone could spell for a couple of ... interesting scenarios. Anyone new could add more to it.
"It happens more often than you'd think since the kidnappings seem random..." Well, perhaps random was stretching it. It could simply be the connections certain people had to each other that added them to the list of possible kidnapees. It wasn't like this was her first time being kidnapped or held hostage; there could certainly be something that made her stick out. Or maybe they were all just the most easily captured. That was a depressing thought.
"I've had quite a few people I knew come through this place. Some have stayed... others just.. go missing one day. That happens a lot, too." Out of the six or so people she knew from Gaia, only one of them was still here. "Sometimes they come back, though," she amended quickly. "But.. not always. Sometimes they remember being here before, sometimes they don't.
Lying sounded like a fun game here, because it wasn't like she wanted to throw around Scott's name and associate herself with him. Which was stupid, really, because she loved Scott. But it was messy. There was a noticeable discomfort from her end, with all her ease fading away. By time that started, she knew there was no hiding it. Tifa would know she saw a familiar face. And if she completely lacked any skills of perception-which Ramona knew was absolutely possible, as Scott Pilgrim was living proof-it would probably be obvious by tomorrow afternoon. That was just the way things went.
So, if there was no hiding it, she might as well! Ramona recovered with a shrug, but she couldn't force forward some kind of smile. But that wasn't really worth it. Keeping up a good spirit about things was one thing, especially since she mastered that kind of sardonic behavior. But smiling through stuff wasn't worth it. It was actually kind of boring.
"Uh, yeah, I did," she admitted slowly. "A guy named Scott Pilgrim. We were close once. I'm just not used to seeing him without all his friends eventually in tow, you know?" That last bit was trying a little too hard, but her voice lightened on it. And it wasn't exactly a lie either. Sure, the two of them were roommates, but Scott's friends integrated into her life fully as well.
"Not that I'm discounting the fact that this is Canada," she continued on, grabbing her food with a wrinkling nose. She muttered something akin to what she'd already been saying, something like "the food isn't that different," but it was finished with a trying bite of it. "Did you see the weather outside?" She rolled her eyes.
This was probably a more boisterous way of greeting someone than her roommate was used to, especially if she was staring at a wall, but Ramona figured it was better than being mopey. Something was coming that night, and although her day was ... pretty not good on the scale of not good days-and only because she hadn't ultimately been able to figure out what she thought of Scott being there-she didn't mind the creepy stuff coming. At least it would make the mood more interesting. Dystopia fiction wasn't bad, but she got sick about five seconds in of this place trying to hide it.
As for the girl she landed with, Ramona decided it was ultimately best to do the casual route. It was better than focusing on her ... assets, especially since her uniform didn't hide them that well. She selfishly resented that, but didn't wallow in it. She'd rather wallow in this tasteless stuff before her. Or if she didn't even get a response. There was a fair chance of that.
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Tifa had never seen her before and that shade of hair would have certainly stood out in the crowd. She went with newbie and humored her for now.
"Nope, never been," she said with a harmless smile. "Can't say where we are, really. No one does--Actually, most people seem to come up with more places where we aren't than where we could be." All to Tifa could say was this wasn't Edge or Midgar or any other place she had had ever been, and she had been to quite a few places.
Reply
The wonders of Stockholm-inducing torture. Only maybe from the outside.
"Since we've all stepped into end of the world dystopian fiction, or the beginning of it, it doesn't really matter." She shrugged it off. "We're screwed anyway." That last part was chirped out and followed by a bite of food. Still not any good. Still not much of a surprise.
"And oh, hey. I'm Ramona," she added. "Nice to meet you, roomie."
Reply
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tifa. I've been here for..." She tried to put some number together quickly, but it was a losing battle. "... almost two weeks, I think. Time kinda gets away from you the longer you stay here. But if you've got questions, I may have answers." Nothing good, but the girl already got the memo that no one as getting out of here easily. Or ever. It seemed rather impossible, after what she had lived through, but Tifa couldn't remember the last time she had stayed in the same place for this long against her will. Then again, there was no blond hero coming to save her anymore, even with a promise.
Looking down at her hands, Tifa kept her smile pinned to her face even as her shoulder sagged a bit.
"Actually, I have a question for you." Her brown eyes came back up to look at Ramona. "Are you experienced in any kind of... self-defense or combat?" Her roommate's answer might change the flow of her plans tonight.
Reply
"Nah, I think I've got it. Faux military. Everything's messed up at night and turns into a Carpenter movie. Some big asshole is running an experiment on us all." Chimed off like that, she realized how close this was to a thing Gideon would do. Only he'd give them nicer uniforms, so again, she was counting him out. Not that these uniforms were that bad. She just figured it was the wrong season for this.
"And I'm not that bad with the whole fighting deal," she boasted a beat later. "But someone told me you end up weakened here, so I don't know where I stand with that." It was like being knocked back down to level one, probably. Ramona didn't know where she'd stand there.
Reply
"Yeah, that. It's something you just have to learn on the fly. It's pretty embarrassing the first time, actually." Especially when you were used to battles turning your surroundings into a pile of dust. Tifa sure wished her bar could regenerate like this place.
"Oh! One last thing... Someone may have told you this, but... Never go anywhere around this place by yourself. Nothing good ever comes from it, believe me..."
Reply
"And make sure I find a buddy. No problem, dude." She gave a thumbs up, ate another large bite of food, and set it aside. "What're the odds that someone you know'll end up here? Have you noticed any patterns with that?" It was more inquisitive than she usually bothered with, but if she missed anyone, she wanted to know if that was actually the case. Scott and her alone could spell for a couple of ... interesting scenarios. Anyone new could add more to it.
Reply
"I've had quite a few people I knew come through this place. Some have stayed... others just.. go missing one day. That happens a lot, too." Out of the six or so people she knew from Gaia, only one of them was still here. "Sometimes they come back, though," she amended quickly. "But.. not always. Sometimes they remember being here before, sometimes they don't.
"Did you meet someone you knew here?"
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So, if there was no hiding it, she might as well! Ramona recovered with a shrug, but she couldn't force forward some kind of smile. But that wasn't really worth it. Keeping up a good spirit about things was one thing, especially since she mastered that kind of sardonic behavior. But smiling through stuff wasn't worth it. It was actually kind of boring.
"Uh, yeah, I did," she admitted slowly. "A guy named Scott Pilgrim. We were close once. I'm just not used to seeing him without all his friends eventually in tow, you know?" That last bit was trying a little too hard, but her voice lightened on it. And it wasn't exactly a lie either. Sure, the two of them were roommates, but Scott's friends integrated into her life fully as well.
Reply
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