Jenna steps out of the vehicle a short time after Sera is removed, seeming to linger for a moment to look up at the tower, then towards the black sun. Her eyes narrow, of course, and then she's walking again, towards the entrance of the building.
While she returns to her office for a time, the guards with Sera lead her up flights of stairs and down glass hallways. They're a little more delicate with her than Jenna is, but not by much. But their hesitance to rush her is probably due to her being the infamous Cyber Shaman, the one who made the sun turn black, the one who can talk to God. Those lower on the Karma echelon who don't know the full story of what happened that day can be just as wary of her as those outside of the Karma Society.
Again, there is no conversation, and if Sera says, asks or demands anything, it's not likely she'll get a response. Instead, they just keep bustling her onward, until they stand before a hallway of sliding, electronic doors. One inputs a series of buttons on a number pad, then swipes a card. The door whooshes open, and inside is a bedroom.
It's very small, and very white. It has the same sterile look and feel a lot of this building does. There's a bed, a nightstand (that's welded to the floor), a high window with shatterproof-glass, and a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and no door.
"You'll be in here for the time being," says one guard, then gives Sera a nudge, indicating she should go in. "Make yourself at home."
There's not much to do other then go in; she's tired, bewildered, and doesn't have anything other then her two hands to try and get out with. The guards, on the other hand, look fresh, well organized, and have plenty to choose from in terms of weapons.
The door closes behind her with the same whoosh, and there's a popping sound as the locks fall into place. She glances around, squinting a little at the amount of white...and the single patch in the ceiling where there's a different color. The sky has gone from being black to tinted with an orange haze. Whether it's evening or dawn, she doesn't know; and at the moment, she's feeling too drained to investigate. She gets as far as the bed before she crumples into it with a feeling of defeat, and even that doesn't last long. Fatigue over takes her, and she slips into a sort of half doze.
It's roughly three hours before the door clicks and whooshes open again. In that time, the patch of light on the wall went from orange, to red, to purple, and finally, to a dark blue. Funny how such brilliant beauty like a sunset can still result from something that's become so deadly.
When Jenna enters, she sees the slight figure curled up on the bed, and notes she does not stir upon her entrance. The lights are off, and Jenna does not order them to be turned on by the technicians monitoring the room from outside. Instead, she crosses the room to the bed, looking scrutinizingly over Sera in the failing light. She doesn't touch her, doesn't shake her in order to wake her, doesn't speak.
Instead, she exits the cell again...and returns with a folding chair. Which she sets up in the corner, then takes a seat in, crossing one leg over the other and clasping her hands in her lap. Waiting for when the girl wakes up on her own. Then the questions will begin.
It takes a while for Sera to fully wake up. She hardly stirs when the door opens and closes; she just ducks her head closer to the wall to avoid any light spilling in from the rectangle in the wall.
But eventually, her body tells her that she's slept enough to get over the worst of her drain from summoning the demon. Sera comes awake slowly, rolling over and looking groggily around at where she is.
For a moment she doesn't notice Jenna, due to the white on white. But eventually she picks out a shock of black hair, and the black circle suspended on her chest.
A bucket of cold water couldn't be more effective. She bolts upright, and ends up being pressed against the wall as she tries to put some a few more scant inches between herself and Jenna.
"Ah. She awakens," Jenna says serenely at Sera's panicked coming-round. "I trust you feel well rested? I should hope so. We have a few things we must go over."
She stands, her clasped hands now moving to be held behind her back, taking a few paces closer to where the girl is cowering, still leaving enough space between her and the bed to not seem an immediate threat. But then again, Jenna always seems to exude this aura of underlying, icy malice, doesn't she?
"Where to begin, I wonder. Oh, I suppose we can start from the top. Such as why you were in the simulation to begin with? Hadn't it been said that I wanted both you and the Embryon to stay out of my affairs? First, your so-called friends violate that agreement, and then you do the very same? What do you have to say for yourself, Seraphita?"
In response to this closing of distance, Sera draws her legs in tighter so she's completely on the cot. She starts to curl in a little more tightly as she hears Jenna speak, wondering if she's going to inflict some sort of punishment.
It's when she hears that name that her nervousness gets diverted. She hasn't been called that in a very long time. Not since the top of the Karma Tower.
She was originally looking at Jenna because she was too scared to break eye contact. Now she's staring at her in confusion, trying to piece out why Jenna keeps using her full name. Somehow between all that, she gets an answer out.
"I-I didn't do anything wrong. I can go there if I need to, even if I don't like that place. A-and they are my friends. That's why I need to help..."
"You were trespassing. That's wrong, isn't it?" She finds herself making a conscious effort to speak in, well, easier terms. Sera isn't dumb by any definition of the word, but she can be...simple and childish, as far as Jenna can gather. Things are so black and white for her sometimes, the poor thing...
"The Junkyard belongs to me, and I don't want people who are not allowed to go into it. Such is the meaning of trespassing. But either way..."
A gloved hand moves from behind her back, going to her necklace. Jenna plucks at the karma ring hanging from her neck, turning it over and gazing down at it in vague, bored interest as she does.
"You keep speaking of having to help the Embryon, Seraphita." She had noticed the moment of bewilderment when her full name was used; might as well keep prodding at that tender spot, yes? "Help with what? What is it they so desperately need that you would break back into the simulation to aid them?"
Sera looks just a little more shaken when that name is repeated. Her eyes are stretched a little wider, her heart is fluttering several beats faster. Hearing 'Seraphita' from Angel is just...Unnerving.
"C-could you please not call me that?" She can't make a demand to Angel's face, she's found. Something about that cold gaze just kills off any boldness she learned in the Nexus and Junkyard.
"My friends...They're sick. Something's wrong with them, and they thought it happened in the Junkyard. I went to help Gale figure things out, so nothing else would happen." She doesn't dive into the issue yet on whom the Junkyard belongs to. It was originally in her head, but she doesn't really want to claim that world as her own.
Her eyes flick up from looking at her necklace, leveling her cool gaze at the younger woman...and then she smiles and chuckles softly under her breath. All right, it does bother her that much to hear her name. Or at least hear it from Jenna's lips. So, in a strange act of benevolence, she'll grant that request to not use it for the time being. But she won't outwardly acknowledge she's doing so. Jenna intends to just drop it.
"Sick? What kind of sick? Is the one called Gale afflicted as well?" For some reason, hearing of that one in particular makes her interest perk up that much more. She's not sure what she wants to hear, though. If she wants him ailing too, or unharmed by this mysterious illness. Hrrrmmm...
"What sort of symptoms are they showing, Sera? Perhaps I can help them." Don't bet on it, though.
Sera's head nods up and down, hesitantly. She feels so nervous about revealing this to Jenna that her hesitation feels almost physical; bonds to hold her back from doing anything.
"They-They're tired. Gale's medicine isn't working like it should..." Alarm shoots through her when she says that; somehow she feels like she's just betrayed him by admitting that. But Sera finds that now that she's started talking, it's impossible to stop. She can't hold her worry in any longer.
"Sometimes Heat doesn't make any sense when I talk with him, or he doesn't know I'm there. A...And, they look hungry whenever I see them. Like they aren't eating right, or haven't eaten anything. I-I can't help them when I try to sing...I don't know how to help them now, except find out why they're sick."
Angel gets a desperate look once Sera finishes. She knows she shouldn't trust Jenna. The plans this woman had, her treatment of the Embryon; none of them paint her as being someone Sera can believe in.
While she returns to her office for a time, the guards with Sera lead her up flights of stairs and down glass hallways. They're a little more delicate with her than Jenna is, but not by much. But their hesitance to rush her is probably due to her being the infamous Cyber Shaman, the one who made the sun turn black, the one who can talk to God. Those lower on the Karma echelon who don't know the full story of what happened that day can be just as wary of her as those outside of the Karma Society.
Again, there is no conversation, and if Sera says, asks or demands anything, it's not likely she'll get a response. Instead, they just keep bustling her onward, until they stand before a hallway of sliding, electronic doors. One inputs a series of buttons on a number pad, then swipes a card. The door whooshes open, and inside is a bedroom.
It's very small, and very white. It has the same sterile look and feel a lot of this building does. There's a bed, a nightstand (that's welded to the floor), a high window with shatterproof-glass, and a small bathroom with a sink, toilet and no door.
"You'll be in here for the time being," says one guard, then gives Sera a nudge, indicating she should go in. "Make yourself at home."
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The door closes behind her with the same whoosh, and there's a popping sound as the locks fall into place. She glances around, squinting a little at the amount of white...and the single patch in the ceiling where there's a different color. The sky has gone from being black to tinted with an orange haze. Whether it's evening or dawn, she doesn't know; and at the moment, she's feeling too drained to investigate. She gets as far as the bed before she crumples into it with a feeling of defeat, and even that doesn't last long. Fatigue over takes her, and she slips into a sort of half doze.
Quite the homecoming she's had, so far.
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When Jenna enters, she sees the slight figure curled up on the bed, and notes she does not stir upon her entrance. The lights are off, and Jenna does not order them to be turned on by the technicians monitoring the room from outside. Instead, she crosses the room to the bed, looking scrutinizingly over Sera in the failing light. She doesn't touch her, doesn't shake her in order to wake her, doesn't speak.
Instead, she exits the cell again...and returns with a folding chair. Which she sets up in the corner, then takes a seat in, crossing one leg over the other and clasping her hands in her lap. Waiting for when the girl wakes up on her own. Then the questions will begin.
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But eventually, her body tells her that she's slept enough to get over the worst of her drain from summoning the demon. Sera comes awake slowly, rolling over and looking groggily around at where she is.
For a moment she doesn't notice Jenna, due to the white on white. But eventually she picks out a shock of black hair, and the black circle suspended on her chest.
A bucket of cold water couldn't be more effective. She bolts upright, and ends up being pressed against the wall as she tries to put some a few more scant inches between herself and Jenna.
Reply
She stands, her clasped hands now moving to be held behind her back, taking a few paces closer to where the girl is cowering, still leaving enough space between her and the bed to not seem an immediate threat. But then again, Jenna always seems to exude this aura of underlying, icy malice, doesn't she?
"Where to begin, I wonder. Oh, I suppose we can start from the top. Such as why you were in the simulation to begin with? Hadn't it been said that I wanted both you and the Embryon to stay out of my affairs? First, your so-called friends violate that agreement, and then you do the very same? What do you have to say for yourself, Seraphita?"
Reply
It's when she hears that name that her nervousness gets diverted. She hasn't been called that in a very long time. Not since the top of the Karma Tower.
She was originally looking at Jenna because she was too scared to break eye contact. Now she's staring at her in confusion, trying to piece out why Jenna keeps using her full name. Somehow between all that, she gets an answer out.
"I-I didn't do anything wrong. I can go there if I need to, even if I don't like that place. A-and they are my friends. That's why I need to help..."
Reply
"The Junkyard belongs to me, and I don't want people who are not allowed to go into it. Such is the meaning of trespassing. But either way..."
A gloved hand moves from behind her back, going to her necklace. Jenna plucks at the karma ring hanging from her neck, turning it over and gazing down at it in vague, bored interest as she does.
"You keep speaking of having to help the Embryon, Seraphita." She had noticed the moment of bewilderment when her full name was used; might as well keep prodding at that tender spot, yes? "Help with what? What is it they so desperately need that you would break back into the simulation to aid them?"
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"C-could you please not call me that?" She can't make a demand to Angel's face, she's found. Something about that cold gaze just kills off any boldness she learned in the Nexus and Junkyard.
"My friends...They're sick. Something's wrong with them, and they thought it happened in the Junkyard. I went to help Gale figure things out, so nothing else would happen." She doesn't dive into the issue yet on whom the Junkyard belongs to. It was originally in her head, but she doesn't really want to claim that world as her own.
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"Sick? What kind of sick? Is the one called Gale afflicted as well?" For some reason, hearing of that one in particular makes her interest perk up that much more. She's not sure what she wants to hear, though. If she wants him ailing too, or unharmed by this mysterious illness. Hrrrmmm...
"What sort of symptoms are they showing, Sera? Perhaps I can help them." Don't bet on it, though.
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"They-They're tired. Gale's medicine isn't working like it should..." Alarm shoots through her when she says that; somehow she feels like she's just betrayed him by admitting that. But Sera finds that now that she's started talking, it's impossible to stop. She can't hold her worry in any longer.
"Sometimes Heat doesn't make any sense when I talk with him, or he doesn't know I'm there. A...And, they look hungry whenever I see them. Like they aren't eating right, or haven't eaten anything. I-I can't help them when I try to sing...I don't know how to help them now, except find out why they're sick."
Angel gets a desperate look once Sera finishes. She knows she shouldn't trust Jenna. The plans this woman had, her treatment of the Embryon; none of them paint her as being someone Sera can believe in.
But still....
"How...Would you help them?"
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