Perchance to Dream

[CloudyBlueDay]

olive johnson.​

[bg=light gray]Olive jolted upright at the merciless buzzing. The sweet darkness of sleep was quickly forgotten as she familiarized herself with the new surroundings, the cold metal of the cage she had woken up in. She had just… slept. Well, it wasn't the most peaceful, but.. It was an enveloping darkness; terrifying, but almost comforting. As if falling into a trance… being transported somewhere. She wondered, if this was all really fake, if sleep would be nice in the real world. Not to have days bleed into days after days after days…

But that was a problem for another time, because her fellow compatriots were all being herded like sheep into another room. She was tired. And this man, with his puffed chest and his empty words… she just wanted Parker. And she would do anything to get him back.

And she was fully intent on walking out that door when two men began to accuse each other. Lazily she watched them bicker. Did Finn really abuse that girl? She only barely knew him… seen him a few times in the coliseum. He was a favorite, but that didn't mean he had dark secrets in his closet. The other man, Bradley, seemed too paranoid to be speaking the truth.

She almost snorted at his sorry attempt at a punch, and watched as another beat passed and Bradley was on the floor, blood pouring freely from his nose. Olive jumped up with a grunt, grabbing Finn's arm with her fingers digging into his skin. "Oh, for fuck's sake." She snapped at him. "How stupid do you get?! Look at the guy, he's a fucking twig. You had to kill him, huh...?" Though there was anger behind her words, she sounded vaguely monotone.

"Listen.. The boy with Dolly.. Parker. That's my brother." She let the words simmer for a moment, casting her gaze to the floor, only now releasing her grip on Finn. "He disappeared three years ago, and now I know he's not gone. I believe him.. I believe every word. At least, I want too. Something has to be done about it.. And our lives aren't going to be the same no matter what option you pick."

She glanced at Bradley on the floor. "Whatever we've done in this world… might not even be real. You can't kill each other over it. If you really want to keep living a lie.. That's just your cowardice. But I won't stay here, no matter if they give us the option to leave or make us hurt them for it. I suggest you do the same."[/bg]

 

[rissa]

samuel booker

---

"Does it even matter?"

Sam heard his voice without recognizing it, glancing around the room with dead eyes, making contact with everyone and yet somehow seeing right through them. Dragging a hand across his jaw, unfocused and haggard, he thought back on what Mr. Nightmare had said, and truthfully, nothing had registered. Only one thing had registered since he awoke.

They still had Ginny.

"One way or another, does it really even matter?" His voice was hollow, desperate and deep, and radiated throughout the room like the beat of a drum. "We don't know who we are.. What we are.. What's real and what ain't… We're dead either way. Life here'll be hell if we stay and from w-what I've seen, life is already hell out there."

He trailed off with a sigh, focusing himself to look past the tension in his chest to the tension boiling inside the room. Dead though they seemed, when his eyes landed on Bradley's inert form sprawled across the floor, they grew soft. Standing and making his way over to the scrawny little kid without worry of what others may think, Sam knelt down and stretched out his arms, ready to pick up his dead weight and carry him over to a chair.

 

[Elle Joyner]

[bg=#2EE1E5]

Finnegan Carver
Location: Warehouse ​

[/bg]

---

The temperament in the room was tense, as Brad went down with a thud. Finn stared, somewhat horrified by his actions, but ultimately, he felt justified. For a second or two, at least. Had Dolly really told Brad all that? What would the purpose have been in trying to slander his name? And why bring it up here... Now...?

Olive's words fell on nearly deaf ears, and it was only when Sam had risen and moved to scoop Brad up that Finn snapped put of his thoughts, "I didn't mean to knock him out... I just... I dunno what the hell he was on about, but I'd never lay my hands on--"

Trailing off rapidly, he staared in fixed horror as Bradley suddenly vanished... Completely faded from sight. Stumbling back, Finn swore, "What the hell??"

---

"He's coming out!" The frantic movements of the tech operatives were enough to make Dolly dizzy, bouncing back and forth from the massive projection screen, to the little panel beside the cylindrical Sleep Ark. Gripping tighter to the prone fingers inside the case, Dolly watched the lines dancing across the screen. Brain function and heart rates rolled in steep peaks and valleys, as the techs fought to pull him through.

"Almost got him... Hell, they're fighting hard!" Keystrokes echoed as the two techs pounded away, nearly simulataneous in their typing duel against the viral code. Finally, Bryce gave a triumphant cry and threw a fist into the air, "Got it!!" And slamming his index onto the last key, the monitor beside the Ark gave a shrill, piercing shriek.

Dolly straightened, "What's happening??? What's wrong? Why is it doing that?"

"He's flatlining!" Cynthia hissed, nearly rolling her chair over Dolly's foot to reach the panel. She tapped on it, shook her head and pulling a small square plate free from underneath, pressed a small orange button inside. In the Ark, the body gave two violent, involuntary jerks, before the shrieking ceased and the steady beeping rhythm resumed.

Falling back into her chair, Cynthia breathed out, holding her hand out to Bryce, who slapped her palm.

Leaning forward, Dolly stared at the face of the figure inside the Ark, watching... Waiting.

"C'mon Brad... Open those eyes."

Scene Objective

Meeting: Take Two​

EVERYONE IN THE DARK ROOM || Shortly after being knocked unconscious by Finn, Brad's body has vanished right before your eyes. Also... The door to the room was left mysteriously opened amd unguarded. The patches sit, waiting on the table.

Decisions, decisions.

---

@Effervescent || Brad will wake with a jolt in an unfamiliar location, lying inside a cylindrical tube like bed. Dolly's is the first face he'll see.

---

TAGS || @CloudyBlueDay, @rissa, @Doctor Jax, @Effervescent​

​

 

[Effervescent]

Bradley Henderson

There's nothing to truly prepare the mind for death. The afterlife is an inconsistent concept constructed by various beliefs, and while Bradley had his own views on life and death, nothing prepared him for the shock of nothingness presented only by unconsciousness at first, his heart halting without his awareness. It was all black, endless, and nothing.

Shock lurched his consciousness forward in a gasp of desperate air, eyes widening at the sudden release from death's grasp. The void gave way to a vibrant light so powerful it stung to keep his eyes open and focused. There was a figure at his side, blurry and indistinguishable in the panic of his adjustment.

The back of his hand rammed against the chrome siding that echoed like a drum. He was encased in a metal tomb, or so he thought, the fear of enclosure like a threat as his eyes tried to adjust fully before panic fully set his heart racing. It didn't work.

He was sure of it, hands reaching towards the light as he screamed at the figure outside to let him out. Colors formed shapes that focused and adjusted until the silhouette beside him was enough to recognize.

"Dolly!" he called out, hands clumsily grasping the sides of the bed. It felt strange to move, almost foreign as if his consciousness was planted in a body that wasn't his. His hands slipped from the lip of his bed to grasp at the clothes on his body. Was this his body? He couldn't remember wearing what was on him. It was like a strange trip induced by a bad batch of drugs fueled by the fear that coursed through him.

He was in a dark room just moments before. A room with all the others, and he provoked Finn into punching him just to see if it was all true. Looking up at Dolly's face should have given him some form of reassurance, but all he could feel is panic that seized the breath in his chest like suffocation. It either worked or he made himself a fool. It either worked or this was the end of the line and every paranoid conspiracy he had against Dolly was true.

"Where am I?" he croaked, his voice registering as his own. "What happened?"

 

[Doctor Jax]

u m a​

Everything happened quickly. Too quickly. Again.

In her chair, she watched as Brad went from scrawny tweaker kid with a bad case of paranoia, to an indignant fury hellbent on slandering Finn in what felt like no time at all. Uma's eyes narrowed as he began his tirade, pushing and pushing and pushing. Something's not right. What the hell is he doing? Does he want to find out what his own teeth taste like? Because he was close to finding out, accusing Finn of beating Dolly. While the girl had been before Uma's time at the Coliseum, and frankly she hadn't known Finn by then, from what she had gathered Finn still had stars in his eyes for her. And given that Finn was an honest kind, a man of reputation...

She'd seen Finn fight before, and though he often threw the matches often enough, she knew that a real hit - a solid hit - from that fist was more than enough to send a man into her domain for a jab of eppinephrine to keep them up and at 'em so they didn't --

Maybe the kid was looking to have his teeth knocked down his throat.

Just as this realization hit her gray matter, Brad got what he wanted - a firm fist to the jaw that sent him to the floor. Uma's eyes flickered over to Finn with raised eyebrows. In a way she almost felt surprised. She had honestly wondered if he'd actually do it, and - well - she had her answer. She leaned back in her chair, as another girl - this one a chick she recognized from the Coliseum as well, a scrapper - stated that the other boy who'd been with Dolly had been her brother, and could vouch for the validity of at least their appearance, if not their words. She seemed to have the same mindset that Uma did, and she shrugged her shoulders in assent.

Another one - a handsome fellow she didn't know - went to aid poor Brad, bemoaning the fact that none of this was real anyways, and thus didn't matter - and as if to punctuate the point, Bradley's body abruptly vanished.

Uma threw her chair back as she took a couple steps away from the table, eyes wide as she stared at the phenomenon that took place before their eyes. She looked around to the others, and she drawled, "You saw that. I'm going to say you all saw that."

She was quiet for a bit before stating, "Maybe we oughta have Finn punch someone else in the face. Be scientific about it and test it."

@Elle Joyner @CloudyBlueDay @rissa @Effervescent