notyourutopian | First Injection [Action then Audio]

[One moment, Eleanor had fighting for her life through the tunnels of Inner Persephone, the dark secret prison of Rapture, her and her father fighting off her mother's twisted splicer minions. Behind them, waiting for the way to be safe, was a group of young girls, all recently freed from her mother's twisted grip, and all of them hoping to escape the city. And they were going to!]

[And then, a moment later, she was waking up to the soft sound of running water and the strange tickle of grass against her nose. For a moment she simply lay there, her mind trying to process what had happened, before the water sound really pushed its way into her consciousness. She wasn't wearing her suit and she could hear running water!]

[She shoved herself up onto her hands and knees, her eyes searching for whatever leak had to be nearby. Running water in Rapture meant a leak, and a leak meant collapsing buildings, and that meant...that...

[Rather than the twisted metal walls and massive windows of a Rapture tunnel, she found herself sitting in a field of grass, a small stream (the source of the water) bubbling nearby. Trees rose up nearby, healthy, giant trees like nothing she had ever seen, and above it...]

[She had no idea how long she sat there, staring at the sky. There was just so much of it, so blue and distant and massive, looming above her. Her fingers dug into the soft ground, as if she half expected to be dragged up into the emptiness. But she'd dreamed of seeing the sky, and there it was. It wasn't until a bird flashed across her vision (a bird! she'd never seen one outside of pictures) that she was shaken from her trance. She...she could figure out the sky later. And the trees, and the stream! But she had to find out what was going on.]

Father? [She called out, quietly, startling a nearby animal, but nothing else. No response.] Father!

[Okay. He wasn't answering. She took a quick tally of her surroundings instead. She was wearing a dress similar to the ones her mother always brought for her, flimsy and white, more nightgown than anything else, and she plucked at the fabric a few times. It wasn't quite the same. A quick search of the ground nearby found her diving suit, thank heavens, leaning up against a tree, her helmet settled on the lap, the metal framework and gear propped up nearby. If this was a trick of her mother's, some insane thing, why would she have left her her...oh. The syringe was missing. So, a suit without a weapon. Still her suit!]

[Whatever was going on, she'd feel better with the familiar weight on. So she tugged the suit loose from the tree and pulled the back open, stepping into it and tugging it up...and then letting out a startled sound of pain, sending some nearby birds scattered, as she tried to tug it up over something in her back. Something that hurt!]

[Some twisting about finally revealed the strange, white wings attached to her back, their soft color marred by blotches of reddish brown. What in...she frowned at them, and the wings fluttered as if in response. And she could feel them, now that she knew they were there, feel the ache where she'd tried to tug her suit around them, feel them shift with her breathing. She had wings. She had WINGS!]

[Had mother caught her and subjected her to another round of those injections? Was this her own first showing of the awful mutations that had destroyed Doctor Alexander? Although his had been...much worse and much less...well. She had wings. They fluttered again with her shock, the motion sending weird little shivers up her spine, and she had to close her eyes, giving herself a moment to adjust. Whatever it was, she couldn't do anything about them now.]

[So what else was different? She backed away from the tree for a moment, leaving her suit on the ground again. A quick glance around revealed a tree branch, and she held up her hand, mentally willing it to come towards her, feeling the soft shift in the back of her mind as her telekinesis responded and the branch flipped up into the air and towards her. She caught it, hefting it once, then let it drop. She lifted her hand, concentrated, and a burst of fire engulfed her fingers, blisters and burns forming immediately along her otherwise pale skin. She shook the fire and pain away quickly and watched her hand heal back over. So her plasmids still worked. Nothing felt different. She just...had wings.]

[That, and she couldn't put her suit on. So instead she gathered up her helmet and tucked it under her arm, tied the metal framework to the fabric legs of the suit, and drug it along behind her as she started quietly through the forest. Whatever mother had done to bring her here, she'd find one of the woman's splicers soon enough and get answers. Whether they wanted to give them or not.]

[Audio: Hours later]

This is Eleanor Lamb speaking. I was told that these books would allow me to communicate with other people that have been brought here as I was. I still don't quite think I believe it, but I suppose there's little point in doubting, given everything else that I've witnessed since I awoke.

[She hesitates, letting out a breath. She's talking to a book. It would've felt insane if not for the wings, and the strange people, and the sky...]

I am not certain what I am supposed to say. This is all...quite surreal to me. Am I supposed to talk about what I am thinking? That's what we did with the diaries back home, but they were personal, they weren't meant for others to hear.

Still. I guess it cannot hurt. All of this is rather overwhelming, honestly. Just a few hours ago the sky was nothing but a dream...and trees, and birds...and now it's all just...here. Rapture was a nightmare, and yet I'm not sure if I've woken up to something worse or better, or if this is all still some trick of mother's...

Heh. Maybe it's both. I don't-

[She cuts off, silent for a moment, and then makes a frustrated sound.]

This is ridiculous. I'm talking to a book.

[And the book closes with a thump.]

[ooc: Eleanor is supposed to run into Sheena first, but she can meet anyone else after that! She'll most likely be skulking around the edge of town, not quite willing to head inside yet, and be somewhat less violent once she's gotten some answers.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No. I'm under a tree.

Oh. [Man, what should he say...?] Well, you know, some of the community buildings aren't all that full. If you ever decide to come into the village, you could probably have an entire floor all to yourself, if you want.

[She's quiet for a while.]

Maybe. I've never really seen trees like this before. Or the sky...I think I'll stay here a while.

[Okay, that makes him smile. He can see how things like that might be worth just sitting around and looking at for a while.]

Sounds like a plan to me.

I don't suppose it's possible to simply live out here?

Hey, anything's possible if you try. I'm sure it's been done before. [All it would take is some basic survival skills, really.] But... well, personally? I always found it rather nice to have a roof over my head. It's a whole lot better than having to worry about all that nasty weather.

[Among other things, but those other things weren't exactly an issue in Luceti, at least.]

I've never not had a roof over my head. Or weather. [There's a pause.]

It's...actually a little terrifying, honestly.

Luceti isn't all that dangerous compared to some places. But it sounds like you've still got a lot to see, Eleanor.

Dangerous is relative. I know the sky can't hurt me, I can't...I mean, it's ridiculous.

[A beat.]

You'll think I'm an idiot.

[He can't help but grin a little, as if she were challenging him.]

Try me.

It's just...it's huge. You can't go anywhere without seeing it. Just...up there. Like it wants to swallow everything.

[What she says does surprise him a little, at least at first. Was she talking about the sky? He thinks back on their conversation, trying to figure out what kind of place she must have come from. A world without a sky? No way. If not that, then...

...oh! When he thinks he understands, he responds, nonchalantly:]

Hey, if I never got to see the sky, I think it'd worry me, too.

[Maybe it's a place like Luceti, he thinks to himself. Certainly that's not impossible.]

I've seen pictures though. And I've had dreams about it and I even...[Oh she was not going to try and explain the memories stuck in her brain that weren't hers.]

Heh. Thanks for humoring me, at least.

It's not the same as the real thing.

[He smiles again.]

Don't mention it. I mean, I come from a world with aliens and giant crocodiles and guys who fight crime in masks and colorful tights. Who am I to judge where you come from, or what you're used to?

[Or what you're afraid of? Though he doesn't say it, not wanting to emphasize it.]

[She pauses.]

...Like in comic books?

Yep. Just like in comic books. Sounds silly, right? But it's a hundred percent true. That stuff's all real where I'm from.

I've only read a few. I got them from a boy when I was little...[She hesitates.] I wonder what happened to them.

[The hesitance in her voice causes him to try and keep the conversation light.]

Well, it's never too late to catch up. I've got a friend who collects 'em here. [...though, he was sure that was because he didn't want people reading them rather than because he genuinely liked comic books. But you know. Details.] And the library's got a little bit of everything. There's always something new there.

I might be interested in seeing some of them. [If just for old time's sake.]

A library? [Hmm.] Books were hard to come by after a while in Rapture. Do they have a...fiction section?

I'll see what I can do.

[Most of them didn't contain anything particularly incriminating anyway. It wouldn't be a big deal.]

They sure do. And everything else you can think of, too. The books come in from different worlds, so there's all sorts of stuff there. It never gets old.

They arrive the same way we do?

[It's a logical assumption, really. She's quiet for a moment.]

I wonder if anything from Rapture is there. Have you found books from your world?

Not exactly. The books are brought here on purpose.

[He's pretty sure she'll understand the implication there, so he leaves it at that for now.]

But sure, I've found all kinds of books from my world. Old stuff, new stuff, even things that haven't come out yet. It's a lot to sort through, but you'll probably find something you know there, too.

Mm. [A little pause.] Well I certainly can't turn down something as fascinating sounding as that. I'll have to take a look sometime.

[When she leaves the woods. If she leaves the woods.]

It ain't a bad way to spend your time, that's for sure.

Mm. Idle time has never been much use to me, I've always had...things to deal with.

And there's no real chance of finding a way out, right?

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