{ THE DARK COVE } UPDATED SEE PAGE 1

[LP]

Aleister, or E7 as he'd been known previously looked at the hand offered to him. "Yeah.... it does." He gave a small sigh rubbing at his eyes thankful that he wasn't dreaming... at least it didn't feel like a dream. This was weird, his eyes wondered around he was sort of reminded of a show.... but he couldn't think which one.

"T-thanks." He hadn't moved far from the pod until Minerva offered a hand trying to get his balance without actually hurting her or himself. It felt like he hadn't used his muscles in forever. His eyes glanced over to who the girl whispered about, "He's probably just too tough to show he's afraid..." He offered in an equally low whisper, only making sure to be a little closer to her ear so she could hear him.

His eyes then shifted to watch the man that seemed to be in charge. He looked kind of banged up as far as Aleister could tell, granted he didn't know what the man normally looked like either so for all he knew that was normal.  

[Trira]

Vanessa noticed the other woman return her nod, and one corner of her mouth pulled up for a brief moment. The acknowledgement must've meant something... Perhaps this other woman could be a potential ally?

When the apparently somewhat irritated blonde (the one with the bandana) spoke up again, Vanessa did take a moment to look him over, an eyebrow raising and her mouth forming a slight frown. She wasn't impressed by what she saw, and she said softly, "Perhaps some of us might actually have people we care for."

After all, even if Vanessa couldn't remember much else, nothing could wipe Vivian from her mind.

Her attention was soon shifted when another seemed to awaken from the pods. His immediate concern seemed to be about where they were, so Vanessa gestured to the room around them and said calmly, "You are in the facility known as Deus Ex." Her answer was pretty much just a rephrase of what the albino had said, but it was better than nothing.  

[Manda]

Okaayy... well, that didn't explain very much, but at least someone answered him. Tedan didn't recognize the voice, though, and he had to wonder just what the hell was going on here. Were these all other people who had been through those "tests"?

Those rigged tests. I mean seriously, what psycho makes a test where the point (apparently) was to get killed? His eyes gazed about the room for a moment or two, finally noticing Caelius and a couple of people that had some kind of weapons. "And exactly what is this Deus Ex thing?" he muttered, directing the question more toward those who didn't look like they'd just woken up from an alien space pod or whatever.

Hopefully someone would have more answers.  

[Blade Kuroda]

"Aliens? Who said anything about aliens? I didn't. What, are you worried about something like that? Pft. Aliens," Deryk mumbled. Yes, he picked up on the sarcasm but he dismissed it for the most part. He did not care much for the tone Otto had, no.

It seemed that he wasn't the only one that wasn't too impressed with the attitude either.

Taking in a deep breath, he looked around some more, seeing a few more people wake up. Man, he really wanted to go back to sleep or something right about now. At the same time, he really wanted to know what the heck was going on here exactly.

As far as family was concerned, he was a little curious, but it wasn't a huuuge deal to him. Was it? Ow, there goes his head again.  

[Kaiyumi]

Family. The others were right, what about their families? Assuming that she...that she had one. She was pretty sure that she did--gut feeling--but it was hard to visualize their faces or names right this minute. Hopefully the white-haired man had been right and that they would slowly regain their memories. As it was right now, Eva could barely remember her own name.

...Eva was her name, wasn't it? Maybe?

Ooh, that guy was getting more and more annoying by the second with that attitude of his. Finally, Eva turned to face Otto, her expression twisting into a scowl. "What is your problem? Everyone is concerned and confused--for good reason--and you're just..." Well, he was just being a pain in the a**. Instead of finishing this sentence, however, she blew irritably at the hair that had fallen into her eyes.

She wasn't sure why they were here yet, but hopefully she wouldn't have to work with this guy at any point.  

[Bittiface]

"Don't get yer panties in a twist, girlies... You too, nerdo." Otto snapped back at the women and Deryk. He might have been amused at the reactions he was getting if he wasn't feeling so groggy. So rather than laugh or smirk, he just scowled and rubbed his head some more.

There seemed to be another new comer, one after the other. Just how many were there? It was then Otto actually saw in better detail the pods around them. Faces. Dozens maybe more of vacant, dormant faces. It actually brought a chill to the young man's spine, cringing at the sight of it. "Did we all look like these zombies while we were asleep?"  

[Shia bean]

"Yes...I think you're right." Minerva said matter of fact-ly, shifting her own gaze over to Otto before shaking her head. Men...She also seemed to agree with each of the two women's remark, gritting her teeth irritably with his rebuttal...

They were all tense, for good reason. Perhaps he was just one of those guys who showed his fear through jokes and mockery.

Hastily, Minerva braced herself against the violet eyed new-comer with one arm, sticking close to his side long enough to keep them both upright. It was...probably best that they get comfortable with their setting, since it didn't look like they were going anywhere anytime soon.

"Anyway..." Giving Otto another, mildly annoyed look, Minnie continued. "You guys can call me Minerva if you'd like. Might as well exchange names, since we're all in this thing together."

Which they were...right? They had all signed the papers...they were all there, in that moment, together.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash was at home.

He knew this, as he continued to stare into the back of his eyelids, because of the air. It was hot, muggy, and smelled faintly - it had a weight to it. But something was wrong, he realized, as he sucked in one shaky breath after another. It hurt to breathe. The lights were wrong, too. It was too white, too...artificial. What time of the year was it? Something told him it would be raining, back home. Wherever home was.

If not home then - where? He exhaled in a hiss, squinting. It was so bright. There were shapes around him, halos that moved. Odd rounded things dangling from what must be the ceiling. His neck hurt; had he slept funny? As he started to try and shrug off the cobwebs filling his mind he realized his entire body was throbbing. As if the lights and muscle spasms weren't bad enough, the room was cacophony of voices. Had he fallen asleep at church again? Dammit, Deacon Willis would kill him.

If only he could remember who Deacon Willis was.

When he was finally able to fully open his eyes, he gasped - and immediately started coughing. This felt like a hangover, but he hadn't gotten that drunk since college. It would certainly explain the black spots in his memory. It seemed that the others in the strange chamber also had questions - and were directing them to two figures that looked fresh out of some futuristic movie.

He muttered the first question that came to his mind.

"Why am I at a sci fi convention?"  

[Kaiyumi]

Eva pursed her lips at the man's response. "Maybe we wouldn't have to if you weren't being such an a**." It could have been because her whole body was aching, but she was a little more irritable than usual. The fact that she was confused and a little bit frustrated didn't help matters.

Then again, neither did this guy's attitude.

She followed Otto's gaze when he spoke again, giving a little shudder as her attention was pulled back to the pods. Almost just as quickly, she looked away. "I wonder." She murmured under her breath. Just what were those machines for? She felt as if she needed something to jolt her memory before the pieces could come together.

When one of the women--who had just introduced herself as Minerva--spoke, Eva relaxed slightly, a weak smile tugging at her lips. "I'm...Eva. I prefer Evie, though." Yes, Evie--pronounced ee-vee--like the Pokemon, but she hoped that no one would make note of that fact.  

[LP]

Aleister gave a small chuckle, shaking his head at the others bickering.

He nodded at Minerva. "Aleister." He said with a pause, "I think... though..." He wrinkled his nose, "I was also called E7."

He had started to hum before suddenly another hiss and someone else was awake. Aleister jumped. "Oi," He looked over to the pod frowning. He whispered, "That almost gave me a heart attack."  

[Bittiface]

"Whatever." Otto muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets with a huff. Ow ow ow, everything was still so sore and stiff. He almost wanted to just sleep again. But he felt like if he did, he'd never wake up again The young man sighed a bit, shaking his head.

Oh great, now they were doing gay-a** introductions like grade school. Otto rolled his eyes, looking away from the two girls. Not like they cared to get to know him, so he figured he'd simply keep his mouth shut for now.

He really hoped to be out of this place soon. What the Hell had he signed up for here anyway? Social experimentation? If so, he must be getting a big fat F right now. Still, one of them mentioned a letter and number. His gut clenched painfully, flashes of memory passing through. So, were these people on that island too?
"Oh.." Otto furrowed his brow, seemingly thinking to himself. Maybe these people were the crazy murderers he was with at the beginning.. or one of the test goers when he'd died. The boy scratched his neck,

"Zeta 12....er.. Otto Graves." There, he was playing along.  

[Trira]

Vanessa noticed that her sentiments were similar to the ones expressed by the other woman too, the one with the black hair, who had just introduced herself as Eva. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, but Vanessa didn't know what. Vanessa also didn't give the irritable young man any more ammunition, but simply shook her head a bit at his loss. If he did not think his family was worth contacting, then there was reason to his thoughts, even if it was unknown to them. If his family was truly not worth remembering, than it was a loss for him.

Vanessa looked back to the woman she has eariler agreed with, nodding once more. Again, the woman had spoken a good suggestion. Perhaps an alliance was in order once they figured out just was they were doing? And Vanessa knew what to call her now; Minerva. She'd have to remember to talk to her later.

Vanessa pushed a lock of her hair from her face, glancing at the white-coated figures by the doorway who had spoken eariler before voicing her own name. "I'm Vanessa. Vanessa Arrian." She paused for a second, remembering something. She'd gone by another name at some point in time...There, that was the name. Upon pinning it down Vanessa said, "Some of you may have known me as Epsilon Three." She glanced at Aleister curiously. E-7...He had been a part of her team, then?  

[Blade Kuroda]

His head was still throbbing a bit, but not enough that he couldn't follow what everyone else was saying. At the mention of zombies though, he looked over at the pods, freezing as he saw the faces, through the screens. That was slightly creepy. Just a little.

"Sci-fi con? Nope. Can't be. Probably threat of lawsuits if that were really the case. Not to mention this would be one hella a weird con. Pod thingies and all," he frowned before people started to introduce themselves. Along with the name drops, they were giving..numbers as well. It sent chills through his spine as he had some flashes of bloodshed among the fog.

It wasn't a pleasant memory.

"Uh..Bond. Deryk Bond. Nice to meet you all I guess."  

[Kaiyumi]

"Oh!"

That was the memory jolt that Eva needed. Upon hearing the squad names, her head snapped up, eyes widening as a rush of information came flooding back to her. It was almost dizzying, but she tried to take everything in slowly. The squad names and...an island? A test of sorts. There had been a lot of fighting, and...ugh.

The young woman raised her hand again, rubbing at her temples as she tried to settle her thoughts. "God, what is going on here?"

She had died, hadn't she? Blown up by a mine. The memory made her grimace, but she was confused as well--why was she here right now? And why was she still alive?

When one of the women introduced herself as an Epsilon, Eva turned to look at her. There was a moment of silence, and then she spoke, her voice hesitant, "So you're three. I was--am?--Epsilon Four." And that man who had spoken, Aleister, had he been a part of this group as well? Like Vanessa, she turned to look at him, her gaze expectant.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash blinked at the big blond guy who identified himself as Deryk. Didn't the pods fit in perfectly for some sort of weird con? Some kind of freaky prop?

He offered his hand to the young man. "Washington Becker, but you can call me Wash." He paused for a moment, eyes searching the room worriedly.

"I ah...I seem to have fallen asleep at some point and I...I don't really remember what we were doing. I'm so sorry, it was awful rude of me." He chuckled then, a deep resonating bass. He gave the others a friendly but somewhat abashed grin. Epsilon? Oh! Was this some kind of fraternity meeting? Perhaps a two year reunion for the honors program or something? He hooked a finger in his belt loop - he was wearing jeans for whatever this was. The smile, now a little uncertain, began to fade. This was an odd place for that kind of get-together.