|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:53 am
The Reception RoomThe Reception Room, despite boasting a title in bold wooden block print outside, was nothing out of the ordinary. It was rather, a very simple normal, boring classroom, complete with fluorescent lighting. There were no windows, however in the classroom, just a single door behind all participants.
Instead of desks, what stood in the center of the room was a table: a large round table easily holding more than twenty chairs. On said table were neat piles of square white cardstock paper, two inches wide both direction, and a large ensemble of pens and a single empty box. There was nothing else on the table, nothing on the walls, just a table, a classroom, and a partially open door behind them.
"Well, don't just stand there, grab a seat." There was someone standing at the front of the room already, gesturing to the many still uninhabited seats. "I assume that you don't need me to assist in your being seated do you now?" A vague, smile, blank, grating.
"Now I must first of all congratulate you candidates on your first completed mission. You survived, you woke up, you passed the test. Oh, don't give me that look, you knew what you were getting in to. For anyone who does not feel like joining us, you are free to walk out the door. We will never see you again, and neither will any one else. We do not take disobedience kindly, and as many of you know, death is simply the beginning of something even more terrible. If you wish to prove yourselves as Hunters, if you wish to protect in whatever it may be that you believe in, then you will fight, continue fighting, until you are no longer needed. This is how our Code has always worked, and this is how we will continue to protect ourselves as well."
"However, I am getting ahead of myself. Let's do a little exercise first wont we? In front of you are pieces of paper. I want you to, in the next few minutes, write your name on that piece of paper. We will take turns, first you write your name, and then you introduce yourself. Simple no?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 1:28 am
((OOC:
- THIS IS AN OPEN RP - all Hunter trainees are expected to attend this Orientation - the location and time was forwarded to them prior on their cell phone
- Feel free to continue rping until the next round of gm posts, as the orentiation rp continues onward
- Any Hunter trainee that just got accepted can still come in to post at any time, they can just slide in and grab a seat
- Hunters are assumed WITHOUT weapons OR uniforms at this point, the plotline for this is just briefly after their awakening rps, in which they probably only had time to settle into their dorm rooms))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 2:11 am
If there was ever a time where Candace had felt deja vu, this was definitely topping all of them. She stood at the doorway just staring. She didn't speak, she didn't even have much of an expression on her face. She was staring with great intensity, however, for one very, very good reason.
She knew that scythe.
This room was exactly like that one. But where was the blood? Where were the body parts and the annoying ticking of the watch as it slowly ticked away at what was left of their lives? Where were the tattered robes of the man they had voted to die? She didn't hear anyone yelling, no one was fighting. The room was spotless. Well done, good sir. Well done. You have thoroughly ******** Candace's mind.
"You have got to be kidding me." It was the first thing she said, eyes focused on the man with the scythe. She spoke loud enough for him to hear even if the room wasn't exactly loud and chaotic, but she spoke at a volume as if it were. But she walked up to the table like a good girl, sharply pulling out a chair and plopping right down in it. Candace sat with her arms crossed across her chest, one leg crossed over the other and slouching low in her seat much as she had the first time when she felt paranoid she was that damn traitor they were supposed to be voting away. Her eyes never left the man or his scythe for even a moment, and the unimpressed expression on her face never changed...okay, well maybe a little; whenever Candace's attention would be caught by the glow of the scythe a faint look of longing would flash in her eyes before she turned a cold glare on the man. "Oh, you want us to write our names this time? What a nice change from last time." She sat up now and scooted in closer to the table, scribbling Candace Pennington at the top of the sheet in intentionally large handwriting. She was angry.
Once that was through she stood up, clearly annoyed that they had to do this again. "My name is Candace Pennington, though most of you probably know me as the former Epsilon Ten." That was all she needed to say, right? She didn't want to be in this room. Not with this man, not with that scythe. Okay, maybe if the man wasn't here. She wouldn't mind having that scythe again. Candace sat back down without another word, sliding the paper to the next person.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 3:54 am
Before was little more than a streak as he rushed towards the Reception Room. He didn't want to be late or make a bad first impression on anyone. Then again, he wondered it they'd even recognize him from when they were all masked. For that matter, would he even recognize anyone since, y'know, they were all wearing masks too? Oh dear, all these questions weren't very good for the candidate as he nearly ran past the entrance, skidding to a halt when he saw other people were going into a room. He hurried in after, cheeks red from the running and maybe also from embarrassment that he'd nearly gone to the wrong location, it wouldn't have been the first time. Well maybe here it would be. Unless being here meant wrong place and wrong time and you know what, never mind!
He took his seat without prompting, which lucky for him was what they were supposed to do. At the instructions of writing down their name, Before hesitated. On the one hand, did he really want to tell everyone his real name? On the other, when he heard Candace introduce herself and mention she was one of the former Pink E's (Hungry, as he'd called her if he remembered correctly), did he really want to invite payback should there be any of the ones he'd, um, well, killed? In the end, indecision had him going for both as he wrote down his real name, along with the alias he'd taken to during their massacre of each other. Under Candace's writing was Milton Bates. Beta Four. Before.. It was smaller compared to the dark-haired girl's writing, almost as if it was trying to squish itself into nonexistence.
"H-hi Hungry, I mean Epsilon Ten, I mean Candace, I mean, ohgodIdon'tknowwhatyouwantustocallyou-" /;A;/ He sharply breathed in, then let out an equally sharply woosh of air, "I-I'm Milton Bates. I might have uh accidentally shot at you or hit you with a booterang. That was when I was Before. Erm, that is, blue beta number four. If I did, I'm really, really sorry about that! And if I never ran into you, I uh, um, yay?"
Aaaaaaaaaawkward siiiiiiiiiiiilence on his part had him quickly sitting back down and handing the slip of paper to the next person.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 9:19 am
Everything had happened so fast... too fast for Madison's taste. The girl stood just outside the door, smoothing at her rumpled clothing in vain. Ugh! The wrinkles were never going to come out and she hadn't had time to change into anything else and she didn't have anything else to change into and god, she wanted a shower.
Uuuuuugh.
But she'd made it this far.
She ran her fingers through her hair before sweeping it back up into its customary loose ponytail. The door itself... gave her pause. Quite a bit of pause. It looked exactly like the room that had crushed her. It could even be the same one, except that it was now nice and large and not full of horrible crushed-people soup. And the door was open, of course.
If she was to continue on this path, she was going to have to go inside.
Madison took a deep breath, steeled herself, and walked through the door. At the sight of the figure at the front of the room, she nearly turned around and walked right back out again. She knew that scythe too. Oh yes. But she'd beaten the odds. She'd woken up. Surely after all of that they weren't going to just crush her all over again?
She lifted her chin and made herself walk past the man with the scythe, even nodding at him on the way past - and she made sure to sit on the side of the table nearest the door, in a very different position than where she'd been the first time. It was different. She was here, she knew her name, she had her clothes on.... she could see the others, too...
...some of them might even be Phoenixes...
The first name, however, displeased her. Epsilon Ten, huh? That was the b***h who'd killed almost all her squad, in this same room, with that same scythe. Madison mentally noted the name, keeping her expression neutral even as she did so. She'd keep an eye on this Candace. Oh yes.
The other person was not someone she'd known; she nodded at him in a shy sort of way. And then it was her turn. "I'm, like... I'm Madison McKenzie. Formerly known as, like, Alpha Two?" she asked, her voice shaking a little bit on the 'Two'. She wanted so, so very badly to be recognized and welcomed by her squad!
She scribbled her name and former squad designation, quickly, then passed the paper on, giving the man at the front a look that could be summed up as 'I'm not scared of you, except I totally am'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 9:27 am
The Reception Room, was, well...a little bit less than exciting. It disappointed him a little; when he had gotten the invitation through a text on his cell phone, Gale had leapt to his feet, excited to actually be doing something other than staring boredly at his hands. But upon entering the Reception Room, he found it to be, er...a small bit lacking. In fact, if Gale hadn't known better, he would have assumed it was just an ordinary, everyday classroom.
That is, except for the man standing in the front of the room. Gale blinked. Then he frowned. Familiar...why does he look familiar?
Oh, well.
There were two others in the room before him, one a girl with short dark hair, and the other a young man with a vaguely anxious expression on his face. Gale did not recognize either of them (which was mildly disconcerting, since he had hoped to find Leslie here), crossing the room and slipping into an open seat beside the last girl who had entered. His eyes focused on the names scrawled there - Candace Pennington, Milton Bates, Beta Fou - Beta Four? and then Madison McKenzie. But scratch not knowing anyone, as the former Beta Five, Gale did recognize the squad name and number, though he wasn't entirely sure that the other would remember him. So he said nothing, and in careful, neat handwriting, wrote Gale Gentry beneath Madison's name and slipped the paper to the next person.
They were supposed to introduce themselves as well. Gale sat there, arms folded across his chest, feet propped up against the edge of the table and slanted his gaze upwards. When it was his turn he pushed himself up and gave a small grin to the rest.
"Gale Gentry," he said, and gave a friendly mock salute. "Formerly known as Beta Five."
Then he sat back down and waited for the next person.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 1:18 pm
Ferdinand, Bix, blinked his crimson eyes at the room as people filled into their seats. This was just like the last room he'd taken a test in. His final test. After all the fighting and killing he'd been put down by a TEST.
Bix smiled just a bit and moved to sit. Of course he clumsily stubbed his toe into the chair and it made a cringe worthy scraping noise and he winced in response. DAMMIT. Way to go, lame-o! His pleasant expression quickly dropped into one of displeasure and self-loathing. Way to make a stupid first impression!
When instructed to write his name he slouched a bit and paused before in large, black, capital letters he wrote. "BIX"
He listened as the people went around and even jumped, excitedly and waved. He even made a noise when Before introduced himself. He made it too! His sacrifice had payed off!
Put on the spot, Bix stood up slowly so as not to fall over or embarass himself further, "Hi.. I'm FAAAAACHOO!!" A sneeze came out of nowhere and ripped through his introduction. He sullenly wiped his nose. "I'm Bix. Beta-Six. I was someone before this island but I am not.." he wiped his nose with a short snort, "that guy doesn't matter now. So I think I will stick with Bix." He gave Before a HUGE grin before he sat down and also gave Beta-Five, Gale, a smile.
Of course he also remembered seeing that guy's body dissolve once. The memory made him frown once more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 2:18 pm
Adjusting.
Scott continued to roll the word over in his head. He was convinced that’s all he needed. A little time to adjust. After all, there was nothing in this world that was completely incapable of adjusting… because those things that couldn’t adjust ceased to exist. Animals that didn’t adapt to the four lane highways and shopping malls that sprung up in their happy forest homes simply died.
Just like he had in the room he currently found himself in.
Scott took slow steps around the perimeter of the round table, eying the walls with measured suspicion. Of course, this wasn’t the exact room he had died in. That room wasn’t real. He knew that because… a disembodied voice had told him so shortly before he had walked into a bright light and awoken from some sort of stasis pod.
“Adjust, you a*****e,” he mentally seethed, taking a seat between two unoccupied chairs, struggling to maintain some sense of composure. He reached up to loosen his tie, but frowned when he remembered it was missing. He covered by tugging on his collar, which did nothing to abate the sudden constricting of his throat.
Scott heard the familiar condescension of the man positioned at the head of the room. He recognized the scythe that had pretend decimated him, which was certainly an unnerving sight, but his attention was focused elsewhere. He felt a small chill as he looked around the table to find…
Faces.
Facial features, and with them, expressions. The sneer on Candace’s face. The nervous, bashful smiles of Milton and Madison. Gale’s nonchalance and Bix’s whatever face people named Bix made. The anonymity of the masks was gone, and with it, Scott was no longer able to hold these people in bald-faced contempt. They had emotions and thoughts and intangibles that muffled voices could never properly convey.
… of course, it only made contempt difficult, not impossible. He raised an eyebrow as his fellow survivors introduced themselves with the addendum of their former symbols and numbers. What the hell kind of Stockholm syndrome were they all suffering from? Former Epsilon Ten? Formerly Beta Five? Those people didn’t exist.
His brow furrowed as he intercepted the paper, a tic Scott was relieved to no longer have interrupted by the resistance of a thick leather mask. He wrote “Scott Thompson” in purposeful, bold letters, underlining it several times, making clear the distinction between real life and pretending to be a small Asian girl.
“Scott Thompson,” he announced clearly, a hint of insistence in his voice. “Formerly known as Scott Thompson.”
Zeta who?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 4:02 pm
Running barefoot out of the rooms of pods had not been the best choice in the world. She had been grateful to find grass outside of the door, and then even more grateful to discover two pairs of shoes in her room: dark boots and black Converses. Opting for the more mobile of the two, Hanna slipped into a pair of boots and took time slowly going through the few belongings she had managed to squeeze into the duffle bag.
Before long, a text message disrupted her mental organization. Her memories were still crawling back to her, but she knew better than to ignore this. Hanna hopped to her feet quickly. She checked herself once in the mirror, and then she was off to where the text had told her to go.
The location was a classroom. A few people stood in front of her, and with each ticking second, even more arrived. Hanna listened quietly to the man at the front of the room. His voice sounded familiar, even if she wasn't sure how. A lot of the voices did, actually. Did Hanna know any of these people? A suddenly chill raced up her spine. Was that dreadful girl who killed her here? This whole situation was painfully reminiscent of the event that led to her death before. Was this... another test? Another trial?
As people piped up, Hanna wove around the pack to grab a pen and piece of paper. She wasn't about to cross the only person in this room who had a weapon. It had gone, well, terribly last time. The task at hand was less interesting to her than the people filling the seats around her. She tried to catch the eyes of the others to determine if she knew any of them. Did any of these bodies look familiar to her? Hanna couldn't be certain.
But the voices -- some of these voices definitely were. Candace, definitely, was someone she had met before, though she wasn't sure where. Hanna had been dead before the girl went on her memorable killing spree. The nervous boy was a stranger. Hanna raised an eyebrow at him. He seemed rather nervous, uncertain. It wasn't the kind of personality that Hanna tended to respect, but she supposed they needed all sorts. The next girl was definitely familiar. She had be in the same group where Hanna had died. Madison and Candace -- these two she definitely knew. Bix seemed like a character. Jury was out on him, even if Hanna thought he had very cool hair.
The last boy to go got considerable attention from Hanna, her eyes widening -- and not just because he was sitting beside her. It was Cho Chang, she was sure of it. Would he remember her? He didn't really look like she had imagined. For one, her brain had labeled him as Asian, which he was decidedly not. He had seen her die, she thought. They had both flown at that girl with the scythe. Hanna had been sliced cleanly in two -- but what had come of him? It didn't matter, clearly. Just like her, he had been chosen to live again. Apparently believing so fiercely in the magic of Harry Potter was not such a bad thing after all.
If that was true, then where was Harry? Where was Gamma Three?
Scrawling her name down in the same looping, erratic script she had used when dubbing herself 'Hermione' once before in a room like this, Hanna got to her feet and said, "I'm Hanna Nowicki -- just Hanna is fine." She had no intention of identifying herself as Eta IV or Hermione or anything other than the person who she had been before the trials. "Before I came here, I went to college in Maryland. Now I'm ready to start a new chapter... with you all -- and this." One hand gestured vaguely around the room. She sat back down, happy to return to her observant state. As much as she loved feeling special, Hanna wanted to start this new life gathering as much information as she could.
Her eyes flickered around to the ones she had recognized by their voices. Would they recognize her too?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 6:34 pm
"ARE YOU GUYS KIDDING ME?"
There was something blocking the doorway. It was a man, and he was tilting just slightly, as he had been in the middle of sidestepping into the room when the sight of the room itself had stopped him cold. It looked like that room they'd all been slaughtered in - and of all the rooms in all the world, these intelligent assholes decided to hold a meeting here.
"Like, what kind of ******** is this?" He continued to grumble once his body had unfrozen, and began to lumber into the room. He slammed down into a seat beside some guy named Scott, and folded his arms in front of him.
"This is great. No, really, this is just ********. We're all out of those god-damned itchy tight suits, but they're just going to keep putting us in the same stupid room over and over until we're babbling like a bunch of brainless freaks."
Robert was in a bad mood. He didn't see a single familiar face, but then again he didn't know what most of the people he cared to see looked like. So, he finally reached out - and slammed his knee against the table in a jerk reflex, letting out a hissed curse as deja vu hit. He scribbled a letter, and a number, on the white paper - just like last time, too. He might as well walk up to the guy with the scythe and ask for death - it would be quicker.
But then he flipped the paper over, and paused for a second before writing his real name. He held the paper up, and looked at it incredulously for a moment. Had he really forgotten all of his memories, even his name, back on that beach?
How was that even possible?
"Well, my name's Robert. Morris. Alpha Seven. Phoenix Squad." His teeth gleamed in a grin at the last part. "So nice to see all your smiling faces. Also, I AM SO. DAMN. HUNGRY. WHERE ARE THE SNACKS AT?"
He nudged the guy next to him with his elbow. "Am I right?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:14 pm
"Well, my name's Robert. Morris. Alpha Seven. Phoenix Squad-"
Madison's chair fell over as she pushed away from the table. The next instant, just as Robert finished speaking, she wrapped her arms around him, half-tackling him from behind. Inasmuch as you could tackle someone who was sitting down.
"It's you! You made it!" She wasn't going to be alone. She wasn't the only Phoenix who had risen again! Her smile was so big that her cheeks hurt.
... And. Damn. He was hot.
Bonus!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:25 pm
Robert was looking underneath his neighbors papers, to see if any snacks were hidden under them, when something tackled him from behind. Other than making him jump a little, he didn't seem affected by the slam into his back, and he turned around to see who had just decided to use him as a giant teddy bear.
He wasn't complaining, of course. Some fine looking girl had obviously recognized him, and he wrapped his big arms around her in an all encompassing hug.
"It is me. I did make it! I mean, of COURSE I did. Was there ever any doubt?"
He didn't want to admit that he didn't recognize her - and he thought he was doing a damn fine job of greeting her despite being unaware of who she was.
"Did you miss me much?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:28 pm
"We wrote our names last time too," she replied to Candace in an even tone, turning to look over at her from where she sat next to Madison, "Before we were asked to systematically execute everyone we knew at the time by means of a diplomatic election."
Petra Walker had come in with the same calm, robotic reserve she had had the first time she had entered the room, picturesque indifference plastered all over her face. Then again, the first time, with all memory of who she was or if she'd had a life beyond the few days she'd existed in the orange and black suit completely erased from her mind, she had hadn't had any reason to feel much of anything, so there might have been a reason for that. Things were a little different this time around -- for starters, none of the others in the room were wearing gas masks or armor. For seconds, they all had their memories back, giving them all very real reasons to not only feel in general, but feel a wide range of emotions, of which likely 'confusion' was one of them. For Petra, 'anger' was definitely listed high on the list, and surprisingly it wasn't aimed at the guy with the scythe.
So much for redemption.
Dark blue eyes scanned the room for a minute as the others began to introduce themselves, taking a good look at each of the people who spoke. Madison's key words of 'Alpha Two' as she'd entered the room had prompted her to take one of the seats next to her, but so far it seemed as if she were the only one she knew at all. The ones who had not offered their call-signs earned themselves a longer look, as if she were trying to figure out who they were through height and voice alone, but if she recognized any of them, she certainly didn't show it. Even the ones who did offer a greek letter and identifying number weren't met with much more than that -- if she had met them during 'The Game,' she certainly didn't remember. With one exception.
Petra glanced over to watch the chair sail through the air and skitter across the tile floor before following the girl's launched trajectory over to where Robert Morris was doing an excellent job of bringing attention to himself, watching with a chilled look as 'Two' wrapped her arms around him happily. Although it wasn't a visible change in her cold stare, there was a moment in her head where the memories of two different lifetimes clicked together, where 'Bobby' became 'Seven.' But if there was any relief in seeing him alive and well... not in a coma in some pod in that back room, she hid it remarkably well, her eyes lingering only half a second on the two before returning to focus on the card in front of her, purposefully writing her name and call-sign on it.
No, it seemed she was ignoring him completely.
"Petra Walker. Zeta Eight."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:28 pm
"I was hoping that more of Phoenix - without, like, the masks or the marks, I can't, like, recognize..." One hand went up to feel where the mark on her helmet would have been; it was a gesture she'd made many times as A-Two. Before.
"It's weird, not like... not knowing what people look like even though you know them, y'know?" She grinned at him.
At the sound of Zeta Eight, Madison turned her head, her heart jumping excitedly once more. Another Phoenix! She beamed at Petra.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 7:50 pm
All of the 'like' uses were tipping Robert off quickly - not to mention the mention of Phoenix itself. His unsure grin suddenly beamed with delight. This was A2 he was holding in his arms!
He reached out and tugged a lock of her hair, as he tried to merge the idea of this pretty face in front of him with the mask he'd only known her as. "You're right, it is kind of weird. Nice. But weird."
Even as his hand dropped, he felt more than heard the sound of her voice. His back was to her, but he heard every word as if they were being shoved into his body one by one like daggers. He didn't know whether to be thrilled, or terrified.
After all, he remembered.
He slowly disentangled himself from Maddie (and suddenly realized that Petra had probably just watched him get all chummy with her - was nothing ever going to go right?) and gave her a wink, before removing himself from his chosen seat and lumbering slowly to the end where Petra sat. Once he stood beside the chair, he pressed his hand to one knee as support for the other, while he slowly knelt down in front of her.
His face was the picture of puppy dog pity.
"Hey, sunshine." He whispered.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
