> Ami: Reach out. ( text | @aa )

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Like most, Ami arrives confused and afraid. As soothing as Idris Elba's deep British voiceover is, the video still raises at least as many questions as it answers. First off, why is it Idris Elba? And if the very first room is in disrepair - there's exactly one living plant, incongruously - how much of the rest was false advertising, too?

The simplest and safest first step, though, is to grab a communicator and start skimming through the messages. One is like three hours long, she skips that for now... something something wreckage... something something antique documents... (Where are the timestamps? How old are these messages?) Ultimately, though, an audio post keeps her attention - a woman, terrified, being pursued by something inhuman.

By the time the sound cuts out, Ami's heart is racing. Suddenly, she's very glad she didn't go straight to exploring. ]

hello?
if anyone is out there, please respond!
my name's Ami Aihara, from Recolle, USA.
I don't know how I got here or what's going on
but I don't think it's safe for me to leave by myself.
I'm in the Idris Elba room. please help!!!

Comments

text; UN: Spides

[itsnotaonesie]

He DOES look like Idris Elba, doesn't he! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Not important, sorry.
Things are a little weird right now, I can swing by and meet you there?

[livingdeadgirl]

[ haha... SWING by

cause he's Spider-Man ]

sure that would be great!
a guy named Jeff said he's on his way too, but the more the merrier :)

[ this may be in part because traipsing around an unfamiliar environment with a strange man feels a little risky. NOTHIN' PERSONAL JEFF. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[THAT'S THE JOKE]

oh yeah the flip-flops guy, i know him
i'm Peter btw, i'll let you know when i get there

[livingdeadgirl]

thanks I really appreciate it
(flip-flops guy?)

[itsnotaonesie]

he was complaining about flip-flops a while back
yelling about finding new shoes
stuff like that

[livingdeadgirl]

oh... yeah, I guess I wouldn't want to be stuck on an irradiated space colony with only flip-flops either.

[ As it is, she's stuck on an irradiated space colony with... only platform boots.

Hmmm. ]

did he find them?
the new shoes

[itsnotaonesie]

he could have got irradiated space tetanus from stepping on irradiated space nails with those
idk if he found new shoes but I'll totally ask him when we get there

[livingdeadgirl]

then he'd have to see the irradiated space doctor and hope they take his irradiated space insurance

anyway yeah I'll just... be here

[ AND SHORTLY, EVERYONE ARRIVES...! ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[AND SHORTLY, EVERYONE ARRIVES. Peter 100% just dove off the breezeway of a higher level and web slung his way over, because he has literally 0 chill. But he arrives! And taps gently on the door to the arrival room.]

Hey, it's Peter! I uh, I don't see Flip-flops yet. So uh, just me!

[livingdeadgirl]

[ It's sooner than she expects, so the knock startles her a little, but she heads over to the door. Is there a window? There's probably a small window... The guy on the other side can't be much older than she is. Which is ... reassuring? I guess? ]

Hi! You got here quick.

[ She goes to open the door, but when she puts her hand on the handle, it won't budge. ]

Uh...

[ Belatedly, a computerized voice kicks in - "We're sorry. All new arrivals must be decontaminated before entering the station. Please proceed to decontamination." ]

Uhhhh. Peter?

[itsnotaonesie]

[Good thing that computerized voice chirped up because Peter was two seconds from just pulling the door off.]

Oh, you haven't gone through-- That's okay! This is normal! Uh, so if you go through there it leads into a big shower room. You just have to rinse off before it'll let you out in here. It's weird, I know. I wasn't exactly a huge fan of it myself when I got here.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ She glances over at the room he's indicating, uncertain. She doesn't think she's contaminated with anything, but... then again, she also knows how "War of the Worlds" ends. Use your logic. It's a reasonable precaution. ]

... Okay. I'll just go ... do that.

[ She points at it for a second, then actually goes.

She comes back about thirty seconds later, still completely dry, but visibly flustered. Apparently the computer told her what she actually has to do in decon. ]

Hey, uh, haha, is there another way? I am not really comfortable with this.

[itsnotaonesie]

[He 100% understands man, the idea of just stripping down and taking a shower in a weirdo alien place was not his favorite either.]

Trust me, none of us were. The thing's not gonna let you out until you're done, though. Um, it really doesn't take too long, for what it's worth?

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Ami gives him a pleading look through the window as he's talking, but alas, no dice. Finally she sighs and shuts her eyes, steeling herself. I mean, what's the alternative? Stay in this one room indefinitely? The sooner she gets it over with, the sooner she can get out of here. ]

Okay. [ She takes a deep breath, and starts toward the shower room. Backs up a few steps to call to him- ] Don't go anywhere, all right?

[itsnotaonesie]

I won't. I'll stay right here, okay?

[He gives her a thumbs up through the window!!! You got this, kiddo!!!!

This still sucks though. Maybe he can get his roommate to make this kid a nice snack or something.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ She smiles nervously and returns the thumbs up before proceeding into the room. Okay!! Let's!!!

As promised, the whole process only takes a few minutes, but that doesn't make it any less nerve-wracking. When she returns, her hair is damp, but at least her stuff is still intact... And this time, when she gets to the door, it opens without protest. Ta-da! She puts her hands on her hips in a rather goofy-looking power stance. ]

I am happy to report I am free of Earth pathogens! Also, that is the only thing I'm happy to report! Ha ha! Let's blow this popsicle stand and never talk about it ever.

[itsnotaonesie]

[WELL GOOD, she has a sense of humor about it! That makes this a lot less awkward. For Peter, at least. He's always awkward though, so y'know. Whatever.]

Yeah, good idea. We should maybe find you a place to stay, but I'm sure you've got like a billion questions.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ Aww yiss. Awkward teens using objectively terrible humor to cope with stress, assemble! ]

That's lowballing it, yeah. [ She gives up some of the bluster and slouches. ] To be honest, I'm not even sure where to start. I watched the video, but...

[ She peers down the walkway in both directions. The most glaring difference is the emptiness, the way their voices reverberate in the otherwise silent hallway. ]

... I think it may be out of date.

[itsnotaonesie]

[That's how we DO

Also mental note to Peter, maybe wrangle some buddies to help film an updated YOU ARE HERE video? He'll put it somewhere on his to-do list.]

Well, maybe that is a good place to start. Yes, that video is super out of date. We haven't been able to establish an exact timeline yet, but somewhere between when that was filmed and when we all started showing up here, something happened. What exactly that something is, we don't know yet, but all of the previous occupants of this... this space station, I guess, all up and vanished without a trace.

There are a few new people here now, we all showed up to an empty station just like you did. Started showing up... uh, I don't exactly have a calendar but I wanna say mmmaybe about a month ago? We've mostly been rebuilding and getting stuff like food production up and running.

[livingdeadgirl]

[ The mystery of the missing people piques Ami's interest, but ... yeah, if something like the food supply isn't secure, she can see how that would put the kibosh on any real investigation.

Speaking of the food supply though THAT'S A BIT HUGELY WORRYING? She tries to play it off, but uh... no she's clearly worried. ]

Oh! Yeah? How's that been going? The, uh, food production in particular. That seems like it would be pretty important.

[itsnotaonesie]

Last I heard, things were going well. I'm not much of a... a growing plants person, but we have people here who know what they're doing. I'll put it this way, we're doing a lot better now than we were a month ago, and things are only getting better in that department.

[See, nothing to worry about. Unless the giant killer lizards get free, then we might have problems.]

[livingdeadgirl]

[ All right! Nothing to worry about. Or more accurately, "starving to death" can be provisionally removed from the list of things to worry about. Which is still long. ]

Okay, phew. I know Jeff mentioned glowing stuff and death clouds in the agriculture zone, so...

[itsnotaonesie]

Oh, the glowing stuff is some of the animals. It's super weird, but I guess that part's not so bad. Like, I found a glowing kitten up there, it's not really all that threatening.

[Which is good and super reassuring, right??]

The death clouds are uh. Kind of everywhere? They're easy to avoid if you're paying attention, though

[livingdeadgirl]

[ A glowing kitten does sound heckin' adorable. As long as it's not radioactive, anyway... ]

What should I do if I get caught in one? Or are they just instant death?

[itsnotaonesie]

[It's fiiiine, he's already done some radioactive kitten scans. Besides, he's more radioactive than the kitten anyway.

Which is. Fine.]

Nah, they're not like, instant death. What happens is they uh... The clouds change shape. They turn into stuff, and it seems to be different for everyone who comes in contact with them. So far the only consistent uh, I guess theme is that they always turn into something like, dangerous or- or something meant to scare the crap out of you. As for what you should do, just run. They won't follow you into the light.