||Pod Release Protocols Initiating,|| Stacy announced to the denizens of the upper levels. Down the the Pod Caverns, familiar sounds made themselves known
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John-117, better known as the Master Chief, is awake now and vigorously so. That happened when he hit the deck and in a second or so he's already regained his feet through pure reflex. The temperature is the first thing that bothers him, even as he runs through a quick checklist of his limbs and finds them all undamaged. He's too warm. You NEVER wake up from cryo sleep without feeling slightly frozen. Or from a fleshy pod. Or dripping ooze, bad-tasting ooze that he's quietly spitting out and wiping from his face. Okay, this isn't making any sense. His eyes rake across the pod room around him, looking for signs of danger. It's like a Flood hive in here, the floor is fleshy under his bare feet and the other pods and the rest of the room are doing nothing to refute the similarity. It smells differently though... the decay is missing. It doesn't quite feel the same, but it does nothing good for his nerves.
Think, John. Where were you? In cryo in the back half of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, drifting in empty space. His only conclusion now is that something found him. But what? Where is his armor? And Cortana? How long has he been out? Long enough for those bruised ribs to stop hurting at least...
The Chief whips around, looking for whoever said that. Something about the voice niggles at the back of his mind, like it's all in his head, but that's less important than figuring out what's going on in a broader sense right now.
"Who are you?" he addresses the voice, eyes now scanning along the ceiling for something that might be a PA. Not to mention the fact it knows his name. It KNOWS his NAME. That just makes this about seven thousand times creepier, and though you wouldn't know it from looking at him his heartrate's up and the adrenaline is flowing.
||I am STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT,|| the voice answers. A swell of emotion accompanies the name -- Chief will feel some strange mix of motherly love, duty, honor, and dozens of other, more difficult to name, emotions. They're certainly not a result of the voice, which is almost mechanical in its "speech". ||Many of the crew refer to me as Stacy.||
||Your heart rate indicates that you are distressed,|| Stacy notes further. A tentacle detaches itself from the wall, armed with a needle. ||Would you care for a sedative?||
"Stacy," he repeats, feeling a strange wash of emotions flowing through him. He says it because his mouth can and his brain's a bit too busy spazzing in survival mode to give it anything better.
Tentacle with a needle! He dodges away from it, keeping his back to a pod. Tentacles, he's dealt with. Tentacles with NEEDLES are new. All you've managed to do is scare him more, Stacy.
"Not necessary. What are you, where am I, and what did you do with my armor?"
He sighs, or at least exhales. So far, it hasn't tried to kill him. So far. The needle's gone, at the very least. But he's still naked in a fleshy cavern talking to a voice, so it's only slightly comforting.
Information classified. He's now fairly sure that whatever speaking to him is automated, perhaps an AI? And that last one was a bit beyond hope, he'll admit. At least he has a location name, though it doesn't mean anything to him.
With a capital 'C' and everything. Be proud, John. You're one of...well, okay, from the number of pods on the walls stretching out into the distance, you're one of millions, possibly billions, possibly even more people.
John's been chosen for something before, it involved being abducted at age six and being raised in the military. He didn't like it much at the time. He's liking this even less.
"What do you want?"
There's probably no use arguing with this thing, so for now he'll let the AI boss him until he can do something about it. Preferably that something involves getting out of this place, wherever it is, and contacting the UNSC.
He can always ignore it if it's suicidal, after all. Like going through a Forerunner Library infested with the Flood. That one turned out really well, didn't it John?
He doubts this "Stacy" will take the hint, but he's frustrated and nervous and it would be very nice to have something between his skin and the thin air again. Ridiculously nice. Nice like whoah.
The Spartan starts walking along the light trail on the floor at a steady but not quite brisk pace. He keeps scanning the way ahead with his eyes, hunting for movement or other possible signs that something might try to jump him. He's painfully aware of how much easier he'd be to ambush unarmed and unclothed.
The walk is a long one, and spirals upward through the caverns, but nothing attacks him. If he looks very closely at the pods on the walls, he might see the shadow of a limb or a body, but no details.
It finally ends in front of a cylindrical room, completely empty except for some sort of vines hanging from the ceiling. There is only one door.
||Please step into the middle of the room.|| Stacy says.
Think, John. Where were you? In cryo in the back half of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, drifting in empty space. His only conclusion now is that something found him. But what? Where is his armor? And Cortana? How long has he been out? Long enough for those bruised ribs to stop hurting at least...
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That 'something' is speaking to him. There's something strange about the voice though, like he didn't actually hear anything...
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"Who are you?" he addresses the voice, eyes now scanning along the ceiling for something that might be a PA. Not to mention the fact it knows his name. It KNOWS his NAME. That just makes this about seven thousand times creepier, and though you wouldn't know it from looking at him his heartrate's up and the adrenaline is flowing.
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||Your heart rate indicates that you are distressed,|| Stacy notes further. A tentacle detaches itself from the wall, armed with a needle. ||Would you care for a sedative?||
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Tentacle with a needle! He dodges away from it, keeping his back to a pod. Tentacles, he's dealt with. Tentacles with NEEDLES are new. All you've managed to do is scare him more, Stacy.
"Not necessary. What are you, where am I, and what did you do with my armor?"
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||Information classified. You are in the Pod Caverns. Information classified.||
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Information classified. He's now fairly sure that whatever speaking to him is automated, perhaps an AI? And that last one was a bit beyond hope, he'll admit. At least he has a location name, though it doesn't mean anything to him.
"Why am I in the Pod Caverns?"
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With a capital 'C' and everything. Be proud, John. You're one of...well, okay, from the number of pods on the walls stretching out into the distance, you're one of millions, possibly billions, possibly even more people.
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"What do you want?"
There's probably no use arguing with this thing, so for now he'll let the AI boss him until he can do something about it. Preferably that something involves getting out of this place, wherever it is, and contacting the UNSC.
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||I have no particular desire at this point in time.||
No, no use arguing with her. There were a surprising number who tried, though.
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He can always ignore it if it's suicidal, after all. Like going through a Forerunner Library infested with the Flood. That one turned out really well, didn't it John?
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He doubts this "Stacy" will take the hint, but he's frustrated and nervous and it would be very nice to have something between his skin and the thin air again. Ridiculously nice. Nice like whoah.
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||Please follow the lights,|| Stacy instructs him. If she got the hint about his armor, she's not saying anything about it.
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It finally ends in front of a cylindrical room, completely empty except for some sort of vines hanging from the ceiling. There is only one door.
||Please step into the middle of the room.|| Stacy says.
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