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.

[rationalist.livejournal.com]

[Have a curious Sherlock looking at you.]

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

[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.

[hypospraying]

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

[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?

[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.

[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?

[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?

[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.

[hypospraying]

[She can't help but shudder, but her scientific mind is already in overdrive.] I'm guessing no one's been able to capture one and study it then? To search for weaknesses?

[collector]

Oh, I'm sure someone has. It doesn't seem extremely difficult. But the scientific resources are somewhat lacking here at present. I imagine that the moment we're able to return home, someone will be bringing back for us a permanent lab.

[hypospraying]

[She nods. It all makes sense, which is sort of funny since she's on the Astral Plane trapped with monsters and nothing should make sense.]

When did this "being trapped here" thing start? Recently? Because the info booth said all I had to do was think of home and I'd return, so it hasn't been updated yet, I guess.

[collector]

Well, actually, about two weeks ago. The thing about that booth is that I designed it to keep people from having any access to it. Well, we can't have those further back in history getting their hands on technology that advanced, can we? The whole chain of causality would turn to knots. The problem is that the tools I need to get inside it are, well, at home. Where I can't get them. And I wasn't expecting them to throw in anyone new, so it's all regrettably behind the times.

[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]

You designed the booth? So you must know this place better than anyone, huh? [She finally took a look around the library.] I can't stay in the library forever. Where can I go to spend the night?

[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?

[collector]

[with a slight laugh] No, not really. But I do like to give Broderick ways to occupy his time.

[Braxiatel glances at the architecture, considering her question. He himself has chosen not to sleep, because it's safer not to, because he has been seeing wonderful things lately and if he sleeps he may never want to wake up. But humans need their rest.]

The ballroom has disembodied hands in it, and the bathhouse is, well, haunted. By revenge ghosts. But if you haven't killed many people and if you don't mind the odd noises, it has fairly comfortable rooms. The kitchen and the bar are safe on the inside. Oh, but you'd be wise to avoid the water that's surrounding the bar. All bodies of water, in fact. There's some sort of monster in it, and you have to play hopscotch across the debris. Losing tends to mean you get ripped limb from limb and then eaten, so you can see why it's not a tempting prospect. Where was I?

[Braxiatel lifts his eyes up to the relief in the ceiling, remembering:] Oh, yes, and the forest is safe. The rest of the buildings have the hands in them.