Calibrations- I want out

[wearingthestars]

Who: Billy Kaplan & Open
What: Calibrations
When: June 10th to July 10th
Where: Calibrations
Warnings: Depression, Torture, Bullying, Dark Themes in general due to his punishment



Those who have been inside Billy's mind before will find this set up...different. Whether influenced by the punishment he seems to be facing, or just the dread and anxiety he feels being tricked back into this place he was tortured before-(editors note: see however the hell long ago when Billy was lured down here alone, and tortured with memories until his magic created a whole other reality for a moment. fun times.)- it has clearly gotten to him.

The room is either some sort of prison or torture chamber, maybe both? Built from metal, there's rusty stains, and...is that blood? Billy is strapped up the wall, devices skewered through his ears and he's muttering spells under his breath, eyes squeezed shut tight.

There's a tray of bloody surgery tools left on a near by table, scattered files strewn about (is that a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo? That might be familiar to some...) There's an access panel by the door with a black screen, but currently any codes typed in won't open it up.

Comments

[butterfly_kiss]

She doesn't know any better. At all. These rooms are too strange, these spaces are pretty strange to her. How did any of this work? But what really gets Tae is... well, seeing Billy. Her little student strung up and hurting? Devices in her ears?

No.

"Billy," she says, quite distressed.

She needs to find some way to get him down!

[wearingthestars]

"Mm?" Billy opens his eyes in surprise, startled by the sound. "Tae-?" he says, voice sounding strange- shaky- but also sort of hollow. He can't hear himself, and it's disorienting to navigate.

He shakes his head at her despite the tight feeling in his chest. "You can't-" he says, "Just- just stay with me? Please?"

[butterfly_kiss]

Oh Billy.

"I can and I will," she says with serious intentions, sounding concerned. "Can your magic get you down?"

[wearingthestars]

"I can't...hear-" Billy tries to explain, and sighs, shaking his head. He tries to touch his shoulder to his ear to gesture to the device. "I need to hear my voice, and this...blocks it."

[butterfly_kiss]

How is that even possible? That makes her uncomfortable to even think about. That had to be so fucked up to even make! That's just so bullshit!

"I can't just be expected to leave you like this. You're my student. And you're one of the residents of the city I take care of!"

[wearingthestars]

It takes some effort to keep calm, but Billy manages, taking a shaky breath so he can assure Tae- "...w-we're not really here. None of this is really happening. You're going to wake up in your bed when this is done."

[butterfly_kiss]

Not really here? Yeah, this doesn't entirely make sense but this isn't a dream she would have.

"I don't dream such, excuse me, fucked up stuff like this."

[doubled_speed]

Because of course he would end up here. In the place that he had had failed to be there for his brother. And Tommy was a bit sick to see it.

It's a dream. He knows it's a dream. And for now he nudges Billy's foot.

"Can you hear me, or do those really work?"

[wearingthestars]

Billy foot jerks- or tries to, eyes opening to see his brother, and there's a guilty look on his face.

"...They only block me," he answers, voice having a strange quality to it. "We can just wait it out."

[doubled_speed]

At least they both understand what is going on here. It makes this easier.

"Is that what you want, B?"

He might go crazy if he has to stay here for an hour. This was just... a reminder of how he'd failed Billy that day.

[wearingthestars]

"I dunno if there's anything you're going to want to see-" he warns, knowing either is going to be a struggle for his brother.

"...I can't believe I'm back here. I'm so fucking stupid..."

[doubled_speed]

"You're not stupid," Tommy hisses angrily. No one gets to call his brother stupid. Especially not his brother. Even when he was stupid. Which Tommy would call him. Okay, so Tommy got to call Billy stupid, but no one else.

"You saw it too, right? The Agrii that said we were going to go home? That's reasonable to fall for."

[wearingthestars]

"And I saw this...place," Billy hisses back, angry with himself. They did something to him- he knows that much at least- to get him to agree, but still...he saw this was where they were taking him, and he willingly walked inside.

[thepurpleone]

Where...was this?

All at once Donnie's set at unease. The chill of the floor beneath his feet, the clearly unsanitary surroundings. He really hopes that's just rust.

The sight of Billy up on the wall draws his attention, both a relief that he's not alone in this place and absolutely horrified as he can only wonder why or who would have this guy up there.

"H-hey! Are you okay?" He hurries closer, looking around for some kind of way to release the imprisoned mutant. Switches? Something to cut through? The straps shouldn't be too hard to do that, but he'd need something stronger for what's binding Billy's wrists. Donnie's eyes drift towards the tools on the table and he physically cringes.

[wearingthestars]

Look at Donnie being clever. The tools do look as though they could cut through it if he doesn't mind blood...

Billy lifts his head at the new arrival, as though surprised by the sound of someone speaking, and he tries to nod, but his expression says he is very much not okay. "Y-yeah. Hi, I'm- I'm okay, yeah-"

[thepurpleone]

He really does mind, actually. This is so terribly unsanitary and makes his skin crawl, but whoever did this to Billy is cruel and sick and Donnie can't just leave him there.

"Mmm yeah, I don't buy that but I'll take the fact that you're coherent and able to respond as a good sign," he says, looking around again, probably for a sink. What, if he's going to be touching gross things then he wants to be sure he can wash his hands!

"Just... um, hang on- I cannot believe I just said that- did not mean that, er- I'm going to try and cut you loose." He is just one big bag of nerves but he tries to suck it up as he looks at the (ickgrossuggghdon'tthinkaboutitdon'tthinkaboutit) tools there before grabbing the sharpest one.

CW: blood, vivisection

[wearingthestars]

The faux-pas of a quip earns a tired laugh at least, and Billy nods, but the moment Donnie picks up the tool the scene shifts. Billy is still strapped to the wall, several other teens as well, and another boy on a sort of table, unconscious and with several raw looking cuts across his torso which seem to be closing themselves.

Billy's chanting, "IwanthimtostopIwanthimtostopIwanthimtostop", while the Warden approaches a wall panel.

"I would like this operating room taken off the grid for the next few hours, please. I am preparing to do some top secret work. Authorization code Delta, Alpha, Kappa."

Billy changes tactics. "IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

The Warden smiles at Billy, "There, some privacy at last."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

"Hmmm, do you really just want me to "go to sleep"? You don't want to punish me? Hurt me?" The Warden prompts. He goes to pick up his scalpel again. "The idealism of youth...I suppose you think you're above murderous thoughts. So childish."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

"Here, let's see if we can't get you to change your tune."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"


The Warden stalks towards Teddy, and a loud buzz rings through the room. Billy's eyes start to shine.

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

"Hmmm. Amazing. Even unconscious, the changeling's body seems to anticipate every incision I make...shifting biomass to protect vital organs."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

"I wonder if that is a function of his Skrull physiology..."

The tears spill over Billy's cheeks and his faces twists.

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

The Warden turns back to Billy. "But that's neither here nor there. It just means I can cut and cut for days on end and he won't die."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

"And you get to watch."

"IwanthimtogotosleepIwanthimtogotosleep-"

The Warden grins, right up close and Billy snarls.

"Come now...surely you have something to say to me," the Warden taunts. Billy's face twists with rage.

"I want you to DIE"

The Warden looks thrilled. "And our youth become killers...perhaps we do have a war on our hands."

[thepurpleone]

The tool clangs on the floor as Donnie drops it, falling to his knees, wide-eyed.

A mistake, that was a mistake. He eyes the sharp implement on the floor like it had just cut him.

"Wh-why..?" he shudders, pressing a knuckle to his mouth as he tries not to be sick. He looks up at Billy, absolutely horrified.

Why did he...why did any of those kids have to go through that? But maybe Donnie already knows the answer to that, and it makes his stomach feel like it's tying itself in knots.

[wearingthestars]

"M'sorry-" Billy murmurs, blinking wet eyes and shaking his head to try and clear the memory, looking ashamed and apologetic that someone else was forced to witness it.

"...because of what we were." None of them human enough to count as people in the eyes of someone like the Warden. Maybe not even in the eyes of the law. Which was a particularly disheartening moment, to learn how little their own country thought of them.

The latest lateness...

[sinistral]

Calibrations were nothing new. Even before being trapped in this place he'd experienced them in the Fleet. Admittedly the Fleet handled them much better; everything there seemed more sanitary, if still just as inconvenient. It strengthened the Soldier's opinion that the Agrii were playing with technology they didn't understand.

Fortunately all that he'd spent most of their confinement at Billy's side, he hadn't yet visited Billy's dreams — or if he had, he didn't remember it. Looking around the room, he considered that fortunate, hating the intrusion to something extremely private and extremely personal. At least no immediate threat presented itself; nothing stood in the way of his crossing the room to put both hands gently against Billy's cheeks.

"Look at me," he said, much as he had when they were trapped in the storm. "Look only at me."

[wearingthestars]

Soldier.

Billy lifted his gaze at that familiar voice, eyes wet, a conflicted look of relief and distress at finding him trapped inside this mess with him. But he drank in that comfort, looking into those eyes and trying his best to breathe, nodding his head and nuzzling into that touch.

"M'sorry."

[sinistral]

"This isn't your fault." Surprising only in that he didn't remember being here before, but the entire situation was outside either of their control. The best he could do was try to make the passing time as relatively easy as possible.

His thumb stroked Billy's cheek, trying to keep the touch light and as far from those wicked looking contraptions in his ears as possible. "We can just wait it out. I won't leave you."

[wearingthestars]

"Didn't want you to have to see this," he mumbled, but he relaxed a little under that touch, looking into Soldier's eyes and feeling those cheeks grow hot.

"Are you sure?" This whole calibrations experience has felt extra cursed, as mush as Soldier's looked out for him, he worried that some knew awful thing would force it's way forward as soon as they found a way to have a moments peace.

[sinistral]

"You don't need to hide from me." They'd both experienced trauma; they didn't need to know the details of each other's suffering to feel compassion. They especially didn't need the details forced like this, without their consent.

"I'm sure." He continued those soft motions, trying to bring as much comfort as he could. The position in which Billy was strung up couldn't be comfortable, even if this was just a dream. "I don't want to take away your ability to choose what you want to share."

[wearingthestars]

Soldier's words make Billy pause in consideration. They've shared a lot with each other over the years, both in new memories forged side by side, and in sharing the highs and lows of their past. There's one he hadn't shared, hadn't known how to explain, but that might help Soldier feel less alone with his guilt over being a 'killer'.

"...There's one I might want you to see," he offered apprehensively, not especially wanting to relive it again, and soaking in that comfort while he had it, "But it's not nice."