full_score
in
damned
Nightshift 49: Homeworld - Calnus (c. SD 346)
((From here.))
But instead of getting pelted by rain, Claude was met with perfectly dry air. Instead of sinking into puddles or mud, his feet touched a surprisingly metal surface. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. As much as he hated the thought of being stuck in town, getting transported meant he was still trapped in whatever maze Landel was running him through. Which meant no easy way to find help, and no easy way out of this mess.
More disorienting was the fact he had absolutely no clue where he was. His first thought was that he was in Landel's again, but that didn't seem right. Even through the haze that clouded his senses, he could tell the area was well lit. The hum of machinery and computers reached his ears, startlingly familiar, yet unexpected just the same.
"Is...anyone here?" he called our hoarsely, uncertain. When he received no answer, Claude ventured in further until he felt himself brush up against something. He ran his uninjured hand across the top, feeling a variety of buttons and what seemed to be some sort of screen. What the hell? Claude's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to piece together what all this meant. No, this couldn't be in Landel's. Could it? It felt more like a starcruiser than anything he'd seen since he'd been captured.
Claude shook his head a little at that realization and wiped at his blood-crusted face. A ship? No...it couldn't be. Unless Landel had space-faring technology just lying around, but that didn't make much sense, either.
Not that it made much difference now. Claude's body was growing heavier as the experiments, the injuries, and his stubborn attempts to find others began to catch up to him in full force. Without even being fully aware of it, the jacket he'd been using to shield himself from potential rain fell from his grasp and landed on the floor behind the station he was leaning against.
The constant whirring of the equipment around him may as well have been a deafening silence with all the good it was going to do him. After everything he'd done, he hadn't managed to find anyone. And though he'd tried his best to leave such thoughts back in the lab where they'd done those damned experiments on him, the knowledge that no one was even going to look for him finally closed in on him.
He was alone.
Throat constricting, he swallowed hard and turned away and tried to locate the door. He just needed to keep moving, he told himself. If he stopped now, he wouldn't be able to get up. And yet the further he pushed himself toward the edge of the room, the greater the panicking feeling in his chest became. Where was the door? His fingers ran against control panels, buttons, screens, the backs of chairs, but he had no point of reference to find the exit.
Tears stung at the back of his sightless eyes. Lost -- was he seriously lost? What was going to happen? Where were his friends? Where was anyone, for that matter?
Leaning his forehead against the wall, Claude's ears began to ring, and the heaviness was too much to bear. He felt his knees give out beneath him. Faintly aware of the weight of his body slumping against the floor, Claude wasn't even sure whether his eyes were faced toward the floor, wall or ceiling. There was only the cool feeling of the metal against his clammy, moist skin, and the fluttering of his heart against his ribcage that vaguely reminded him of a butterfly trapped in a net.
This was it. There was no escape except for the unconsciousness that closed over him. Though Claude struggled to keep his eyes open, it was a fight he couldn't win. Head falling completely against the floor, he grew still and submitted to darkness.
But instead of getting pelted by rain, Claude was met with perfectly dry air. Instead of sinking into puddles or mud, his feet touched a surprisingly metal surface. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. As much as he hated the thought of being stuck in town, getting transported meant he was still trapped in whatever maze Landel was running him through. Which meant no easy way to find help, and no easy way out of this mess.
More disorienting was the fact he had absolutely no clue where he was. His first thought was that he was in Landel's again, but that didn't seem right. Even through the haze that clouded his senses, he could tell the area was well lit. The hum of machinery and computers reached his ears, startlingly familiar, yet unexpected just the same.
"Is...anyone here?" he called our hoarsely, uncertain. When he received no answer, Claude ventured in further until he felt himself brush up against something. He ran his uninjured hand across the top, feeling a variety of buttons and what seemed to be some sort of screen. What the hell? Claude's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he tried to piece together what all this meant. No, this couldn't be in Landel's. Could it? It felt more like a starcruiser than anything he'd seen since he'd been captured.
Claude shook his head a little at that realization and wiped at his blood-crusted face. A ship? No...it couldn't be. Unless Landel had space-faring technology just lying around, but that didn't make much sense, either.
Not that it made much difference now. Claude's body was growing heavier as the experiments, the injuries, and his stubborn attempts to find others began to catch up to him in full force. Without even being fully aware of it, the jacket he'd been using to shield himself from potential rain fell from his grasp and landed on the floor behind the station he was leaning against.
The constant whirring of the equipment around him may as well have been a deafening silence with all the good it was going to do him. After everything he'd done, he hadn't managed to find anyone. And though he'd tried his best to leave such thoughts back in the lab where they'd done those damned experiments on him, the knowledge that no one was even going to look for him finally closed in on him.
He was alone.
Throat constricting, he swallowed hard and turned away and tried to locate the door. He just needed to keep moving, he told himself. If he stopped now, he wouldn't be able to get up. And yet the further he pushed himself toward the edge of the room, the greater the panicking feeling in his chest became. Where was the door? His fingers ran against control panels, buttons, screens, the backs of chairs, but he had no point of reference to find the exit.
Tears stung at the back of his sightless eyes. Lost -- was he seriously lost? What was going to happen? Where were his friends? Where was anyone, for that matter?
Leaning his forehead against the wall, Claude's ears began to ring, and the heaviness was too much to bear. He felt his knees give out beneath him. Faintly aware of the weight of his body slumping against the floor, Claude wasn't even sure whether his eyes were faced toward the floor, wall or ceiling. There was only the cool feeling of the metal against his clammy, moist skin, and the fluttering of his heart against his ribcage that vaguely reminded him of a butterfly trapped in a net.
This was it. There was no escape except for the unconsciousness that closed over him. Though Claude struggled to keep his eyes open, it was a fight he couldn't win. Head falling completely against the floor, he grew still and submitted to darkness.