Day 48: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

"AACHOO! Ahem!" The Head Doctor's slightly-better-but-still-congested voice came on clearly over the intercom. The sound of Nurse Lydia sighing and pulling out a tissue from somewhere in the background was also audible

Comments

M100

[laguz_decoy]

Much to the nurse's dismay, Ranulf was particularly excited after hearing what the man in the box had said about dinner. Salmon? SALMON?! He was practically skipping! The "sausage" and "chicken tenders" had been good of course, but to be served salmon...

"Alex, please stop tugging so hard on my arm... AND STOP SKIPPING!" the nurse shouted angrily. He'd learned her name was "Florence" from the odd shaped rectangle on her uniform.

"Sorry Flo... but it's salmon! You heard it didn't you?! It's sa-"

"Yes, you've told me multiple times now." she said with an exasperated tone, as she opened the door to his room and sat him down on the bed. "And don't call me Flo."

She left the room for a moment to grab his tray, and as she did, Ranulf peered curiously at the other bed. He wondered who occupied it and was about to ask Flo when his mind stopped. The smell of cooked fish filled the room as she brought Ranulf his dinner and set it down in front of him.

He grinned widely as she left, staring down at a meal that even King Caineghis would've drooled over. He placed one of the cut up bits into his mouth, closing his eyes and savoring it's juices.

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

622's hair was still damp, a weird feeling after a life so used to the sonic showers always used by the troops, but at least he was clean and feeling refreshed. He wondered if he was going to have another cellmate now, since Loz had disappeared so soon after he'd arrived. Hopefully the odd man was still alive, he hadn't exactly seemed the brightest.

He followed his nurse without comment, curiously looking into the cell once the door was opened. Well, this one certainly took first prize for most unnatural hair color for a human so far, which was certainly saying something.

His nurse gave him his tray of food and left, closing the door and locking it. Thank the Emperor, now I can eat. But he might as well introduce himself first. "I suppose you're my new cellmate, then." He held out a hand politely, "Stormtrooper Sergeant TK-622. I've been here for quite a while, if you need anything explained to you."

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Still absorbed in savoring the cooked fish, Ranulf didn't notice the activity behind him. As a result, when the tall beorc male introduced himself Ranulf was frightened and nearly dropped his tray. His heart still racing a bit, the young laguz set the tray on the bed and faced the man to return his introduction.

"You startled me." he said, laughing a little and then grasping the man's hand with a kind smile, he replied. "I'm Ranulf."

He didn't know what a "stormtrooper" was, but the word "sergeant" sparked his interest.

"You're a sergeant? Are you part of a mercenary group?" he asked with a curious expression on his face.

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

622 blinked, confused at the startled reaction. "It's been a while since I saw someone so focused on the food here." Well, he might personally count, but he tried to never let that be to the detriment of his awareness.

"Pleased to meet you," he said politely, shaking Ranulf's hand before retrieving his own tray and starting to dig in with all his usual speed.

"No, I'm part of an army. The Galactic Imperial Armed Forces." Which... might take some explaining, depending on where Ranulf was from.

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf picked up his tray again, setting it in his lap. Luckily, he still had several bites of his salmon left.

"Where I come from, salmon is a delicacy. Finding it in a place like this rather amazed me."

As he listened to TK he once again dug into the fish, savoring every juicy bite. The man's words confused him, but he wasn't surprised. Every person he'd met today had a different story. As he took a few more bites, he wondered what the purpose of this place was. Although he didn't understand the words, he heard the word "army" and realized the man was involved in war.

"Army? I'm actually involved in a mercenary group where I come from." He said, smiling. "What kind of war are you involved in?"

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

"Oh. I... suppose I can see why." It was just some sort of pink meat as far as he was concerned. It was tasty, but maybe he just wasn't discerning about these things. It seemed entirely possible, really.

Regardless, most of it was already gone from his tray by the time that Ranulf had finished speaking. "There was a terrorist movement attempting to overthrow the Empire. I was deployed to pacify and protect worlds within Imperial space." And since his original question seemed to have gotten lost, he figured he should ask it again. "Are there any questions you have about this place? And did you just arrive, or have you already experienced a night here?"

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Wondering if TK had salmon where he came from, Ranulf nodded and finished up all but one bite. He wanted to save it for the end in a feeble attempt to have it last as long as possible and dug into his mashed potatoes as TK continued.

An empire? This man must serve a kingdom. There was another thing they had in common. What was "Imperial space" though?

When his roommate asked if he'd been here at nighttime before, flashes of the night before scrolled through his mind. His eyes took on a blank stare for a moment as he realized another night would soon be upon them.

"I woke up here in this bed last night." He replied, nodding slowly. "A female be-... human named Tsubaki explained a lot of things to me but there are still so many questions." He laughed a little at this, giving the man a sad smile. "Do you know the purpose of this place? Why we were abducted from different worlds and placed here?"

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

622 listened, shaking his head in response to the questions. "Prisoners are sometimes taken at night to be subjected to experiments, but beyond that, it's unclear. The man in charge of this place also seems to have some interest in forcing prisoners to believe that the false identity they have been assigned is really their own." It had been disturbing to see people suddenly believe those lies several days ago, but it had only redoubled his resolve to do everything he could to aid others who were combat-capable and escape.

"As for why we've been taken, I have no idea. I certainly wasn't anyone important at all." And there had been other clones here before, he'd been told that by others. It wasn't as if he wasn't glad on many levels that he wasn't dead, blasted to bits with the Death Star, but why him? He sighed quietly, focusing on finishing his dinner. That sort of thinking would never get him anywhere.

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf gulped down the last of his mashed potatoes by swallowing hard. Experiments? He didn't think Tsubaki had mentioned anything like that, and didn't like the sound of it at all. Perhaps he was correct on his assumption that this was a laguz torture facility, but to a much higher degree. Being called "Alex" and "Alexander" all day had been enough proof at this place's attempt at brainwashing. It all put a bitter taste in his mouth, stronger than the garlic in the mashed potatoes he'd just consumed.

Not wanting to think about experiments or brainwashing for now, he picked the cherry tomatoes out of his salad and pushed the rest to the side. Laguz didn't care much for lettuce. The sad smile continued to play about his face as he replied.

"It's ok. I wasn't particularly important either, just a vassal under my King." Ranulf, noticing his roommates expression, decided it would be a good idea to change the subject. "What exactly is "imperial space"?" He asked curiously.

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

622 shook himself out of his funk, refocusing on the conversation. "I mean that the Empire covers more than just one region of a world, or just one planet. It spans multiple planetary systems... thousands of planets orbiting thousands of stars. Imperial space is the totality of these systems, arrayed around the capital planet Coruscant." He wasn't sure if he'd explained it properly, he still was unsure how to deal with civilians, let alone people who didn't seem to have a basic comprehension of the idea of interplanetary travel.

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Planets? The only planet he knew of was his own and the only stars Ranulf knew of were the ones that dotted the night sky. The scholar who had visited King Caineghis must have been correct. To think this man served for a kingdom that covered multiple planets rather than countries was enough to baffle his mind.

Now that the cherry tomatoes were gone, Ranulf started on the "chocolate mousse", and was delightfully surprised. It tasted very sweet and had a smooth texture.

"Your society must be much more advanced than mine." Ranulf said, in-between bites. "Does your King use magic or weaponry?"

Re: M100

[loyal_soldier]

'Magic or weaponry'? Well, that was certainly a new one. "We don't have anything I'd call 'magic'. Technological superiority is part of what makes the Empire so strong, though." The Death Star had been the ultimate proof of this, had it not had the same creeping weakness that he'd finally been able to see in the Empire. The whole system had been infected by the Rebels, like a virus.

He'd failed the Empire before, but now, with what he'd learned here... If he could just get back to the Empire, then millions of Imperial lives could be saved.

Re: M100

[laguz_decoy]

Finishing off the last of his "mousse", Ranulf pushed the dish aside. "Technology" was the same word Kratos had said earlier during their discussion of the "flashlight". Perhaps "technology" was a term that meant magic where TK came from. If that's what kept this man's kingdom going, their sorcery must be highly advanced.

Using what he'd learned was a fork, he speared the last bite of salmon and placed it into his mouth, savoring the juices as long as possible before finally swallowing it. Then, remembering something, Ranulf moved on to his next question.

"I noticed your name has numbers at the end of it... is that your ranking?"