[Event] Calibrations Waiting Room Mingle

[trpmods]

WHO: ALL HE ROWS PRESENT
WHERE: Calibrations Area
WHAT: Mingle log for literally anything you'd like to take place in the waiting room between sleep cycles during the event
WHEN: May 9th to June 10th
WARNINGS: Please mark individual threads with warnings
NOTES: If you have any questions, please go Here

For those who followed the visions there is little more to do before and after the dreaming times but wait. At least there is some modicum of comfort offered to those who have found themselves trapped here. From the moment one steps through the door there is no going back, the doors people entered through sealed beyond any hope of opening. And by some twist of fate (or design), it's not possible to be by the door when another He Row arrives, something always calls any waiting away, until at last the door doesn't open anymore.

Some might find the area familiar, having haunted these halls before. Upon entry one walks down a large hallway before it opens into an even larger waiting room with chairs, tables, and the same food dispensers available in the shuttles, save that it lacks any Red Fruit Drink. It's a shame, actually, the alcohol might help you get through things, and since there was no warning this time, the dispensers are the only source of food available. But at least there is enough for everyone. Yay!

There are also communal bathrooms - one men and one for women though nothing would stop a person from using whichever they desire - with several toilet stalls and shower stalls in each, including basic shampoo and soap dispensers. All of the dispensers put out a liquid that smells like Italian dressing for some reason. The water in the showers is only ever cold or scalding, with nothing in between. Pick your poison.

Branching off the main waiting room are hallways that lead to the bedrooms. Each one has a name on it but there is nothing requiring you to use that one. Anyone can enter any room or share with someone else. Each room has a simple bed (approximately queen-sized) and a set of drawers. There is one white jumpsuit in your size in the drawer and a pair of canvas shoes. You can wear them or ignore them as you like.

Some power out there seems to have pity on the heroes too, accounting for the possible boredom that comes with the downtime. While no one may have been able to bring things in with them even if they had them in hand upon approaching, a need for entertainment for those long hours between dreams has been realized. A set of shelves can be found in the waiting room, covered in various boxes and containers. Each is labeled with brightly colored pictures of people seeming to have fun with a game, and the boxes clearly represent all sorts of species, even those that have never been present on Temba to your knowledge.

The complication is that none of the games are written in any language anyone knows, and even the Communications datapoint seems unable to translate. Good news, all the games seem to have all of their pieces, even the single large puzzle that is both solid gray and yet causes a headache when looking at it for more than ten seconds (damn those alternate light spectrum puzzles). Perhaps people can figure out the rules on their own, or make their own games from the pieces. There’s even paper and some sort of pen that only writes on that paper specifically, so maybe some pictionary? Or, if you’re really desperate and okay with fights breaking out, there seems to be a full set of Monopoly Longest Game Ever. Okay, so on second thought, maybe that power out there doesn’t have pity, but is malicious and wants to show you that people truly are driven to strife.

You can opt to spend time in your room or in the larger, common waiting room. But about every 16 hours, all people suddenly feel a compulsion to sleep. Once this starts, you can’t fight it off. You find yourself going into your room for bed or wherever else you feel like you’d prefer to sleep. And then, inevitably, you close your eyes and dream.

Comments

OTA

[tsundullahan]

Celty is absolutely miserable. No Shooter, no phone or tablet, and no real explanation of what's supposed to happen here. Judging from the others, not to mention that sinister voice that had spoken, it can't be anything good.

There's nothing promising about the rooms, and she's a little concerned that they all have their names designating a space for them. But at least it's a door she can close and have a bit of privacy when she feels she needs it.

She doesn't completely seclude herself. Between these nights of induced sleep she can be found poking into the common room, although her mood might be more cautious depending on if she remembers anyone having visited her mind at night.

Of course, there is the dilemma of the showers. It's one of the things she enjoys after a long day, and having only two extreme options for the water temperatures absolutely rankles her. Naturally she waits until an unlikely time where another person might be using the showers, but really, who can be sure around here? Hopefully no one gets a heart attack if they catch her stepping out, towel tucked around her as she moves to retrieve her helmet where she's left it beside the supply of towels.

(¬‿¬)

[in_extremis]

Celty's warning was a shout and a curse before a spoon came hurtling her way. No one was supposed to be using the showers, it was the excruciatingly long middle of the day where it generally felt lucky if you didn't fall into a numb stupor, a kind of nightmare siesta hour, and not the time where Tony should have been intruding on anyone in his effort to solve this water problem. Or dig their way out of here.

And he could have handled a whole person, with grace, or probably too much flirting for someone in such a vulnerable position to be entirely comfortable with, but he was in no way prepared to encounter most of a person. His first hysterical instinct was that this place was also haunted, great, then more hysterical yet, that there were dismembering death traps that were starting to go off to keep things lively during the nightmare-siesta, and by then he had already thrown his tools and had to observe that this body was solid, and also not bleeding. He stared at his spoon on the wet floor, which had not helped at all.

[tsundullahan]

Whoosh, the spoon went flying right through the trailing black, smoke-like mist that rose from her neck where a head would normally be attached. It clanged off the wall behind her before tinkling against the floor in its landing. She might have been able to catch that, but whatever was cutting powers off in this place was muting some of her senses in the process.

For a long moment the headless woman stood there, processing what had just happened. Did he just...throw a spoon at me?? The black mist clumps a bit in what might have been an expression of disgruntlement. For the lack of a head it was probably difficult to tell that she was staring at Tony, and she wouldn't be able to describe how that worked anyway. Her fingers tightened around her towel, and then she drew herself up and resumed her steps towards where she'd left her helmet, leaving wet footprints on the floor.

[in_extremis]

A spoon might not have any business in the shower, but Tony had plenty more to process than a misplaced utensil, and as the...smoke...seemed to react, he had to very quickly insist with an emphatic point, "That was self defence." Which seemed to work, maybe, because she didn't seem intent on stealing his head just yet. If he retreated now, while she walked the other way, maybe they could both forget this whole encounter.

Of course, Tony followed instead, two quick, curious steps after her to see what was more engaging to her than exacting her headless revenge. He knew that helmet. Actually, he knew the line of that shoulder, and the generally suffering energy that he had been assuming was a more generalized undead disquiet, and not so personally targeted. In the same tone and volume of his started yelp, he asked, "Celty?! Where's your--," then seemed to realize this might have been something of a personal matter and finished in a whisper than didn't go echoing out of the showers, "...head?"

That did explain some things. Maybe not explain. Contextualize.

[tsundullahan]

Those shoulders dropped slightly in a sigh that otherwise had no means to be expelled. Celty turned slightly as though to look back at him, not that she needed to to see him. She pointedly tucked her towel into itself so she could pick up the helmet sitting there. The mists swirling from her neck seemed to flow with less intensity than a moment ago, almost dejectedly.

She looked at the visor of her helmet, slightly fogging from the remnant heat wicking off of her hands; she'd endured a cold shower and let the hot water run as an impromptu sauna to offset the chill once she was done bathing. A finger traced out letters on the visor's surface, with only a brief false start as she'd started out with lines for kanji.

I don't know. I haven't found it.

Whether it really was what Tony wanted to ask or not, that was the answer, but at least it didn't sting as much as it used to, to admit it.

[in_extremis]

That was about the most horrible answer that Celty could have provided. Of all of the terrible things they were put through on this planet, just taking body parts had not yet made the list. Some had been lost, sure, but the exact circumstances were straightforward, and had expected, gruesome consequences. "This whole time?" Tony continued to hiss, throwing a cautious glance back toward the door for anyone else that might stumble onto this secret.

Unfortunately, Celty was not going to be able to give him a great answer on her helmet, and he almost snatched it away from her in impatient irritation before she bothered trying, glancing around for one of their communicators to miraculously appear then sharply signing the same as he asked, "Can you sign?" While Tony had felt a little bad for never asking her before when Lerith mentioned it to him, it did make more sense that she hadn't even tried if this headless problem was a new hurdle that she was still adapting to. They might have to do a crash course.

[tsundullahan]

It was only then that she realized the context might be a bit confusing, and again Celty turned, looking unsure where to even start with Tony's inquiry.

Her hands tightened around her helmet as she saw Tony make a move for it, as though it were a security blanket of sorts. Instead he resorted to signaling- she recognized the movements for what they were, but not for what they meant. With no head to shake, she could only hold up a hand, sweeping it to the side in something of a 'no'. In hindsight maybe it would have been good to learn, but she lived with an unusual roommate and was spoiled by access of technology.

...but now she had nothing, and only Shinra ever really seemed to understand her even without words.

[in_extremis]

Tony could at least understand this negative pretty well, and started a quick, still impatient nod, eyes darting like he might find the solution to the problem here in the bathroom. This was unlikely. Brusquely, he demanded, "Get dressed," and moved as if to leave the matter there, only to double back when he had only made it a couple of steps, both hands up imploringly.

"Unless you don't want to, listen, no judgment, I could join you if that would make you more comfortable, I think we'd find the communication problem very quickly solved then..." His gaze slid slowly from her misty absence of head to an unfocused middle-distance over her shoulder, and he gave one more sharp nod, not needing either of them to articulate any further to know perfectly well that wasn't getting him anywhere right now. He spread his hands open again, just putting it out there, then thumbed back the way he had meant to be going to this time slink his way out of the bathroom, and toward a more holistic solution.

[tsundullahan]

.....

He is so very strange.

Celty watched as Tony excused himself for the second time, hesitating in mild expectation of a third before she decided to take the chance and get to her room before any more screams occurred.

She padded off quickly from the bathroom, slipping her helmet on. Dressing wouldn't normally be a problem in an instant if her shadows were in their usual capacity, but then she supposed it was a good thing she wasn't merely clothed in shadows to begin with. Now that would have been awkward. In her room where she could be as flustered as she wanted without anyone seeing, she toweled herself off and slipped into her cycling suit, giving herself a moment before she opened the door again to peek out into the hall.

[in_extremis]

Tony was already making his way toward her door, a carrying a precariously rattling jumble of board games in his arms that just about all ended up on the floor as he noticed the movement and flashed her a disarming smile. They, and Tony, came bundling into Celty's room whether any of them wanted it or not, none of Tony's confidence making up for the momentum that would see them spilled all over the hall if he didn't make it to the bed as soon as possible.

"There's a bunch of junk in here, little plastic parts, paper, dice--we can make something, or make a system--" he reported as he let the boxes all fall into Celty's blankets, spilling their contents into a chaotic mess. "Or just cut letters," he finished, not looking as enthusiastic about this very straightforward solution. "But if we're going to make a whole new language system, maybe, I mean--Lerith, he's got a scarf, doesn't know what a donut is, said he wanted to teach people sign language anyway. Couldn't hurt. Even after we find your head."

[tsundullahan]

The sight was enough to have her retreat, stepping back to let Tony in before they both ended up with a mess of game pieces at their feet. She looked at the resulting as box contents scattered across her bed, stepping over to pick up one of the pieces. Looking at the rest of the random parts she had her doubts about whatever 'system' Tony thought to concoct, but she couldn't disagree to the following suggestion. At least she could offer a nod now. Lerith, she knew.

Who knew things could get so complicated, she thought with a sigh. Tony sounded so confident that they'd find her head- did he think she'd meant she'd lost it here? She shook her helmet, glancing from Tony down to the pieces to see if she had anything to work with so she could offer some sort of explanation, quickly looking frustrated if not a bit overwhelmed by so many things.

[in_extremis]

Feeling guiltily unprepared for Celty being without her device to communicate, Tony watched her tension ratchet with an anxious frown of his own threatening to overtake his breezy smirk and had to very rapidly find a solution before it seemed completely dire. "Come on, you did this once before," he encouraged, plucking up one of the die to flick into the air then pinch between them where they could both see, "A scale. One for no way, six for absolutely, three for a little of both." Spinning it this time to illustrate, he continued to suggest, "Don't care for it at all--can see the potential--really enthusiastic." They practically already had a whole language.

[tsundullahan]

The reminder gave her something to refocus upon. Tony wasn't completely carefree like Shinra was, but there were uncanny parallels, the insistence, the encouragement. Celty's shoulders lifted and fell in a more controlled sigh, a preparatory action. She held up three fingers, looking down at the pieces they had to work with again.

First...she should try to clarify.

Nudging aside some of the scattered box lids, she tugged at a few flat, roundish boards that were probably meant to be for individual players of whatever that particular game was. She looked at them before selecting one blue and one green, replacing the rest before she set the two on the bed between them. Her fingers sorted through the various game pieces, selecting two that could have been representing people in a simplified form, a round head and a block body. She set one on the blue board, and then studied the second one before she gripped it with both hands to try snapping off its 'head'. Grizzly, sure, and a paltry display of what strength she actually possessed, but her intent wasn't to scare Tony. She placed the headless piece on the same blue board, and after some thought, set the 'head' there as well, although intentionally leaving space between it and the body, pointing to the first piece and then to Tony and the second one identifying to herself. Earth, relatively speaking. Celty wasn't about to even touch the whole alternate reality things.

She took the Tony-piece and placed him on the green board, pausing after a moment to work out which direction had been the way they'd all come in, where the rest of Temba lay before gesturing towards it and implicating the board. Then after a moment she took her piece and set it on the green board as well, leaving the head where it lay- separated by worlds.

[only_an_echo]

And here Echo thought the showers would have been empty.

Although sharp in its initial reaction, he swore under a breath; it was, however, loud enough to resonate in a room like this. Whether it was because she obviously had no head or because he made a mistake and caught her at a bad time was left unclear, but he at least had the decency to try to make it less awkward by turning away.

While he was thankful he was still wearing his armor, he only wished he had his helmet to hide the flush over his cheeks. "Sorry, ma'am. I didn't know you were in here- "

[tsundullahan]

...I can never shower in here again. Not that her lamentation was known to anyone but herself as she managed to mostly keep her cool, betrayed only by the slight tightening of her fingers around the towel she held close to her chest. It was at least thoughtful of Echo to turn around, although it made it no more easier to communicate or make the attempt.

The silence that followed just became all the more awkward, an unintentional standoff.

[only_an_echo]

Was it hot in here or was it just him the steam from the shower? Was it even a hot shower? Echo heaved a sigh, running his hand over his face to get over how ridiculous he was feeling. Embarrassment was not what he needed, but it was rude to just stand there and not do anything while Celty was wearing almost next to nothing.

He cleared his throat, turning his head slightly, trying his best to stare directly at the floor. "...I should go. I'll come back later." And he made good on his word, turning again to head out.

[tsundullahan]

There was steam. The options hadn't exactly thrilled Celty when the water temperatures were between two extremes, so she'd figured at least running the hot water to warm the place up would make a cold shower more endurable.

She'd been about to reach out to tap his shoulder- polite as he was being, he was a bit in the way, and she'd either way have to go around him if she meant to leave. Her hand pulled back as Echo started to turn his head to make his intentions clear before leaving. It was kind of...cute? Was this cute? Shinra would say something crude were he in the same situation. Tony had been about the same level, which made her homesick. At least Echo hadn't thrown a spoon at her and seemed more distraught at her towel situation than her lack of a head. She'd have to...try explaining, some time.

So she waited, giving him time enough to get clear before she retrieved her helmet so she could steal back into her room.

[only_an_echo]

He was a soldier - one who thought he had seen everything at this point in his brief life. But he was wrong. He could still be surprised.

There were questions about Celty's headless situation. He decided against asking about it in the showers, however, not realizing how close she was to tapping him before accidentally stealing another glance her way. With a stiff nod, he made sure to exit without prolonging the awkward, heading straight to his room without coercion.


Since there were no other places to go, Echo ended up back in the waiting room at some point, seated at one of the tables that had some board games and paper spread across it. He preoccupied himself with stacking the games neatly to one side, sorting them so that they wouldn't tip over.

[tsundullahan]

It wasn't long before Celty resurfaced, clothed in her usual attire, helmet in its proper place. She glanced around, catching sight of Echo and hoping not to stoke the awkwardness from earlier by staring too hard.

...not that it probably helped when she wove her way around the tables towards him.

[only_an_echo]

Between the two of them, they couldn't hide in a white room. Not when they wore predominantly dark colors.

Echo looked up from what he was doing, brow drawing together as she wandered over. There really was no way to avoid her approach, so he sighed, casually inviting her to sit while gesturing at the chairs with his left hand.

"...Everything all right?"

[tsundullahan]

Oh no, this is just going to be more awkward, Celty realized in afterthought. Well, it was too late now, and she'd probably just make him feel worse if she ran off to her room. So she walked over and pulled out a chair, leaving space between them as she sat down.

Well, aside from that brief encounter in the bathroom, everything was fine, she supposed. She gave a nod.

[only_an_echo]

Treat it like a normal situation. With some professionalism. Despite it not being normal, Echo stuck to his guns, shifting slightly to study her cat-eared helmet. "That's good," he replied, now aware of the short breath he had held back. "Just wanted to be sure. Everything's been off since we started..."

As much as he can think of excuses that aren't really excuses, he tilts his chin a few degrees, briefly indicating his face before gesturing to hers. "I don't know if there's a proper way to address this, but...how is this possible?"

[tsundullahan]

Again Celty nodded. The inevitable question finally came, if kept very vague, and she wondered if Echo did so for her sake should anyone overhear. She paused.

It wasn't that this was a difficult answer, it was just difficult to answer, and it left her staring at the table. No gestures would be enough to explain what she was, and even with Tony's game system she couldn't properly convey what a dullahan was.

[only_an_echo]

During the wait, Echo realized Celty couldn't really answer if she didn't have a head to begin with. And she used the tablet to communicate the first time he met her, just as Lerith did. As he thought through the problem, he looked through the games and materials that were still on the table, slipping out a piece of paper after rifling through the short pile.

"Might be worth a shot," he muttered aloud, searching and finding a pen within one of the boxes as he slid the paper over to her. The pen was also held out. "Would writing work the same way?"

[tsundullahan]

At first Celty stared at the offerings. Had there always been something to write with there? No, she decided that didn't matter so long as it worked. She took the paper and the pen, looking at the latter before she applied it to a corner of one sheet.

Worth a try. I'm not used to writing as I am to using a keyboard, but it's something.