001 ☤ Arrival

[hypospraying]

[It seems like a dream instead of reality, this standing on a floor out in the middle of space. Christine is baffled, and though panic is starting to rise, she tries to calm herself and think logically. She has to get her bearings, first and foremost.]

Hello? Can anyone hear me? [And then, louder,] Hello? Anyone there?

[She turns in a circle, noting a booth not far away. As she approaches, she sees the words "Please say 'help' for information" written on a sign.]

Ok then. Help? [Immediately, she is granted with choices on how to receive this information, and being used to giving voice commands to the computers on the Enterprise, she responds by voice.]

Broderick Naismith's Introduction to the Astral Plane. [And after a moment,] Audio recording.

[Now she listens to an explanation of the Astral Plane, her brow crinkling as the explanation goes on. Unfortunately, this recording hasn't been updated to relate that she can't, at this point, get back home. Once it finishes, she takes another look around.]

Well, if it's true and I can get home, I'll go soon enough. But I want to know more about this place first. It could be important to the Federation. [Then she lets out a sigh.] Provided this really isn't a dream or a fever I have. [She shakes her head and sets off to explore.]

Comments

[collector]

[Braxiatel steels himself against another hallucination and approaches the new woman. It looks like someone else has been dragged in. That is hard to trust now, and suspicion can't quite be suppressed, but he is hardly going to greet a stranger rudely. He is a politician, after all. Polite and benign, Braxiatel approaches the newcomer.]

Actually, it's not true. Not just presently, anyway. I assume you mean the part about going home. We are, regrettably, trapped. And if I may advise you find some shelter? There are monsters about.

[hypospraying]

Trapped? But the-- [She pauses, looking back towards the info booth and considering his words.] Err, ok. So, there are monsters here? What kind of monsters? [As an afterthought she added,] Do you have a suggestion where I should go for shelter, sir?

[collector]

Among others, zombies, venus flytraps, and very recently, invisible water monsters. [There is a certain definite disinterest to how he says it, as if he is curious about the matter but not extremely concerned.]

The onsen has recently become uninhabitable, and most of the major buildings have decaying hands in them, but the library remains safe. Would you care to accompany me? I was just going to pick up a collection of Stoppard.

[hypospraying]

[This man's reaction to the monsters is almost worrying. She's been on enough away missions to learn that people aren't always what them seem, but in the case of the monsters, she's willing to believe him, since there's a eerie presence around her and she can't put her finger on the source.]

The library. Uh, yes, I will. Thank you. I'm Christine, by the way.

[collector]

[He offers his hand to her] Irving Braxiatel. [There isn't really much time to waste here, so he starts walking to the library] Are you carrying any weapons? It's a brief enough walk, but the creatures are known to group together. And I should warn you: be distrustful of anyone familiar you may meet. The flytraps like to inspire hallucinations to lure in their victims.

[hypospraying]

[She shakes his hand and then falls in step beside him.] Um, no, I'm not. [Not that she'd be much good if she had one. She was in the business of saving lives, not taking them.] This place sounds like a nightmare. And how do these flytraps do that? I'm guessing they can read minds and project a person from them?

[She shudders a bit. She was hoping someone else from the crew of the Enterprise would wonder where she'd gotten off to and would find the same shop, and maybe they'd have better luck finding a way back out. Now she couldn't trust them if she saw them.]

[collector]

A low-level telepathic field seems likely. I imagine it makes inspiring hallucinations easier. [But his mind loops back (Heavens forbid he think in chronological order) and he muses over her comment] It isn't always a nightmare. But just now, I believe someone wants it to be.

Why are you trusting me?

[hypospraying]

[She was wondering who this someone was, who wanted the place to be a nightmare, when he spoke again and her steps faltered.]

Are you asking because you see yourself as untrustworthy?

[collector]

[His smile, half-amused, broadens at that, and he doesn't drop his pace.] I was merely noting that you should be cautious. You picked a terrible time to be dragged into this thing against your will, after all.

[hypospraying]

[She moves to catch up with him.] I'll try to be. I can't do anymore than that. [As an afterthought, she adds,] And if I was dragged in against my will, I really didn't pick the time, did I?

[collector]

That would stand to reason. [Like the gentleman he is, Braxiatel opens the door for Christine] I think I see one around the corner of the building, so do step inside. They're much faster than they look.

[hypospraying]

[Christine's natural curiosity means she just has to look over before going inside. What she sees causes her to gasp and go stumbling into the building and keep going until she's well inside.]

What the hell is that thing?

[collector]

[Braxiatel closes the door behind him, slipping his hands back into his pockets now that at least a few of the unsettling noises have been locked out. But he can hear the screaming through the door.]

We're not entirely sure. They could be naturally occurring creatures, corpses animated by a bacteria, bodies raised up by a necromancer . . . One of the most tiring things about a multiverse is trying to pick out exactly what is caused by which universe's rules.

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

[Have a curious Sherlock looking at you.]

Interesting. So they still bring people into this grand experiment.

[hypospraying]

Experiment? [She cautiously moves closer to him.] And just what kind of experiment is this?

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

We haven't quite figured that out yet. It seems to be between science and social. We've been trapped here for the time being with strange and dangerous creatures.

[hypospraying]

[Well if that doesn't sound familiar to some away missions the crew of the Enterprise has had, she doesn't know what does.]

Is there any defense set up against these creatures?

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

Do you have a weapon? If not, there is a selection of them here. Most are crude but there are a few guns if you prefer. Otherwise, the most secure location is the library.

[hypospraying]

[She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head.] No. I'm a nurse, so I really don't like the idea of... attacking anybody. [She pauses and lets out a sigh.] Though I suppose if worse comes to worse, I'll have no choice.

The library, ok. Could you point me in the right direction, please?

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

[He nods.] I was heading that way. If you need a weapon, they're not hard to find. [Sherlock waves a hand for her to follow.]

[hypospraying]

[She quickly catches up and falls in step beside him.] Thank you. My name's Christine.

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

Sherlock Holmes. [He nods.] Where are you from? That uniform is interesting.

[hypospraying]

Nice to meet you, though I wish the circumstances were better.

[She looks down at herself, thinks over what she's learned from the info booth, and says,] Original from Terran, or Earth, in the 23rd Century. I'm in Starfleet, and this is what we wear.

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Earth, 21st century. Consulting detective in London. 'Starfleet'...a military space venture?

[hypospraying]

[She takes a second to be amazed that she's talking to someone from the distance past.]

In a manner of speaking. We're a peacekeeping armada that defends the Federation against its enemies.