First day on the job [COMPLETE]
Character(s): Raiden
Content; Raiden realizes he has absolutely no idea where he is and is half convinced he's seeing things. The poor rookie can't even call his girlfriend (sad!).
Setting; Nifleheim Gate
Time; Sunday - morning
Warnings: Mild cursing.
Ow.
That was Raiden's first thought. His second was something seemed to be wrong here and he spent the third one trying to figure out just what it was. Head hurt like a bitch, and, for some reason, he couldn't breathe very well. Eyes still closed, he tried to suck in a deep breath and found he couldn't, coughing and choking on rank, stale air. That caught his attention. His eyes flew open as he rolled himself onto his knees - the oxygen levels in his mask must have started running out already, the orange-tinted goggles already fogged over so that he couldn't see out them. Trying to ignore the pounding headache, the FOXHOUND operative fumbled with the straps and finally managed to get the damned thing off, tossing the spent gear to the side as he gasped, taking in a deep breath. Relief flooded into him as the fresh air filled his lungs.
Strangely enough, it didn't smell salty at all...which was weird, now that he thought about it, because Big Shell was supposed to be surrounded by ocean...
Nursing the unexplained headache, he wondered if he was going to throw up. Cradling his head in one hand, Raiden took a good look around him and completely forgot about getting sick.
He managed not to gape, but he couldn't prevent the downright stupified expression from spreading on his face.
What...the hell...?
Baffled, Raiden got to his feet - swayed a bit, as the headache pounded fiercely - and tried to swallow his shock. Wherever he was, he wasn't on Big Shell anymore. It occurred to him that he could be in another VR simulation, but this seemed a bit too...whimisical. The fanciful domes curving overhead simulating sky looked like something out of a children's book, and the line snaking out of the gates in the distance was filled with people...
People...who...
...who...
Raiden openly stared now, eyes widening as he spotted what looked like some kind of human-lion hybrid walking around in careful circles. He blinked, rubbed furiously at his eyes as if it might make any difference, and looked again.
The man-lion thing didn't go away.
Okay, you've lost it, Raiden told himself. They messed up on your psych check and now you're seeing shit that isn't there. Unable to think of anything better to do, Raiden wisely sat back down again, and tried to collect his wits about him. There were really only two possibilities here: either he was hallucinating (why here and now was absolutely beyond him), or this was actually real. He poked around cautiously at the grass he had been lying on: it didn't seem like live grass - more like plastic or super-thin metal - and he couldn't find any seams that might betray the elevator he had been riding on before. Frowning, he continued his investigation, carefully working his way through the fake not-grass. No hidden handholds or anything. It felt real enough.
At this point, he'd rather he was seeing things: he stubbornly refused to believe that he'd somehow - with no explanation - been "magically" teleported to some messed up place that looked like it'd been ripped off from Disneyland. Stubbornly turning himself around so he wouldn't have to face that line of weird people or the ornate gate, Raiden checked himself. He seemed to be in good shape (aside from the headache), and he still had the M9. At least that was a plus.
He tried hailing Rose on his Codec, concern rising. He had to have been out cold for a while and she must be getting worried about him by now.
"Rose, are you there?"
Raiden waited. Tried again. Same result. He tried contacting the Colonel next.
Nothing.
Wonderful. His first real mission out in the field and he somehow managed to botch it.
Content; Raiden realizes he has absolutely no idea where he is and is half convinced he's seeing things. The poor rookie can't even call his girlfriend (sad!).
Setting; Nifleheim Gate
Time; Sunday - morning
Warnings: Mild cursing.
Ow.
That was Raiden's first thought. His second was something seemed to be wrong here and he spent the third one trying to figure out just what it was. Head hurt like a bitch, and, for some reason, he couldn't breathe very well. Eyes still closed, he tried to suck in a deep breath and found he couldn't, coughing and choking on rank, stale air. That caught his attention. His eyes flew open as he rolled himself onto his knees - the oxygen levels in his mask must have started running out already, the orange-tinted goggles already fogged over so that he couldn't see out them. Trying to ignore the pounding headache, the FOXHOUND operative fumbled with the straps and finally managed to get the damned thing off, tossing the spent gear to the side as he gasped, taking in a deep breath. Relief flooded into him as the fresh air filled his lungs.
Strangely enough, it didn't smell salty at all...which was weird, now that he thought about it, because Big Shell was supposed to be surrounded by ocean...
Nursing the unexplained headache, he wondered if he was going to throw up. Cradling his head in one hand, Raiden took a good look around him and completely forgot about getting sick.
He managed not to gape, but he couldn't prevent the downright stupified expression from spreading on his face.
What...the hell...?
Baffled, Raiden got to his feet - swayed a bit, as the headache pounded fiercely - and tried to swallow his shock. Wherever he was, he wasn't on Big Shell anymore. It occurred to him that he could be in another VR simulation, but this seemed a bit too...whimisical. The fanciful domes curving overhead simulating sky looked like something out of a children's book, and the line snaking out of the gates in the distance was filled with people...
People...who...
...who...
Raiden openly stared now, eyes widening as he spotted what looked like some kind of human-lion hybrid walking around in careful circles. He blinked, rubbed furiously at his eyes as if it might make any difference, and looked again.
The man-lion thing didn't go away.
Okay, you've lost it, Raiden told himself. They messed up on your psych check and now you're seeing shit that isn't there. Unable to think of anything better to do, Raiden wisely sat back down again, and tried to collect his wits about him. There were really only two possibilities here: either he was hallucinating (why here and now was absolutely beyond him), or this was actually real. He poked around cautiously at the grass he had been lying on: it didn't seem like live grass - more like plastic or super-thin metal - and he couldn't find any seams that might betray the elevator he had been riding on before. Frowning, he continued his investigation, carefully working his way through the fake not-grass. No hidden handholds or anything. It felt real enough.
At this point, he'd rather he was seeing things: he stubbornly refused to believe that he'd somehow - with no explanation - been "magically" teleported to some messed up place that looked like it'd been ripped off from Disneyland. Stubbornly turning himself around so he wouldn't have to face that line of weird people or the ornate gate, Raiden checked himself. He seemed to be in good shape (aside from the headache), and he still had the M9. At least that was a plus.
He tried hailing Rose on his Codec, concern rising. He had to have been out cold for a while and she must be getting worried about him by now.
"Rose, are you there?"
Raiden waited. Tried again. Same result. He tried contacting the Colonel next.
Nothing.
Wonderful. His first real mission out in the field and he somehow managed to botch it.