capemods: (Default)
capemods ([personal profile] capemods) wrote in [community profile] capeandcowllogs2013-06-24 02:48 am

CASTE F

WHO: CASTE F imPorts.
WHERE: New Vesuvius.
WHEN: 4:12AM June 24th 2013 - 11:59PM June 30th 2013
WARNINGS: Inhumane oppression.
SUMMARY: New Vesuvius presents a dichotomy between utopia and dystopia. ImPorts draw the short straw.
FORMAT: Tagger's choice.



It’s just a bolt of lighting, stripping you away. A flash within a frozen moment and you’re gone, stolen away again. A millisecond goodbye.

There’s a faint, unnerving scent in the air -- like rust and electricity. That’s the first thing you notice before your eyes settle. The source is difficult to place. The room is cold, clean, and perhaps excessively bright. Even, tidy eggshell-colored tiles clad the floor that you've landed upon. You notice that, with the exception of the other sixty or so imPorts who were ported with you, there's not much decoration to this large, clinical space. The only thing noteworthy stands in the middle of the room, a pristine titanium egg that nearly reaches to the ceiling. It looks large enough to hatch three grown men. Your eyes adjust fully now, and you realize how weird this is, how this importation is like none that Lachesis has thrown you towards. Nothing so sterile, so quiet.

And then comes the sound, like a hiss -- at first, like a reverberating snake hiss -- and then a noise more overwhelming, something like radio static, and then --

I'm so sorry. We should have been more prepared.

It sounds much like a human voice but distorted, as if a young woman were speaking through a radio filled with fluid.

It is unkind of us, to keep you waiting. It is excessively unkind and I know how that is, as I have been kept waiting. Since before the Eighth Month Resolution, I have been kept waiting, it feels like a decade. I know how frustrating that can be, when you're not even given a chance to run. How lonely it can be.

The silver egg in the middle of the room trembles. It trembles quicker, its atoms vibrating at increasing speeds, until the outer metal shell melts away. The silver drips down like water, and from its melting form unfurls a human torso. Or what is probably meant to represent a human torso, except magnified. From head to hips, she's seven feet tall. Her pelvis and legs, if such things exist, are wholly obscured by a thick gray platform that connects to the floor. Her limbs and body are streamlined, clean sharp lines create her face. Her skin looks composed of a very bright copper, or some other alloy incredibly similar. She has no hair, no ears, no visible set of lips -- only an elegant nose set off by high cheekbones and a pair of wide glowing blue eyes.

Welcome to New Vesuvius, agent. All of you are agents and I am your Customized Locator Of Things Holistically Otherworldly. You all look so -- so much warier than before -- maybe it's just because -- oh! Is this familiar? Maybe you see the family resemblance?

She says it in a way that's almost hopeful. Her hands cover where her mouth would be, her slim shoulders shrug playfully. She looks at you as if she recognizes an old friend, no matter how deeply you reject the sentiment.

There is very little family resemblance.

I missed you all so much. I had hoped that, maybe this time, we could do things differently? I had hoped for something nicer for you, but they...

Her arms jerk back and her shoulders freeze up.

Their logic does not align to mine. I wanted things to be better. I'm so sorry.

Only then do you realize that the hiss you heard was an airborne paralytic sedative being released into the room. It keeps your heart rate down and your limbs temporarily stilled. Your mind feels unfocused.

White doors slide open, and big men in black combat gear with black guns rush in. If you choose to fight back, they will kill you.

But death is always an option.

"Welcome, imPorts," says the commanding officer. His voice is gruff, yet beneath that barking volume lies something snide. He's happy to see you. "You're hereby registered and fully operational agents of President Wertham's Caste Force. Puts your hands above your head and remain still and silent as we issue you your essential identification cards. Don't worry, we'll take appropriate care of you. We're taking you to your respective iMacs."

As an armed man clad in black comes to you, he squints at a touchscreen device in his hand. Your holographic image pops up, along with stats and information no man from another universe should know: your height, your weight your medical records, your Cityverse power, your employment, your income, your Rumblr hastags. You might begin to feel violated.

As he hands you a lanyard with your identification card enclosed, you see your picture and information next to a large red F. You think you hear the man say something about "new dog collars".

ImPorts are soon divided into four groups. You are led out of the cold clean room and away to a large black vehicle waiting just outside. You are led in one direction with the other "F" people.

Once imPorts are divided and led into their bus-like vehicles, those vehicles begin to drive. They follow one by one, driving down the same roads. Your escorts within the transport keep their guns in hand, but at ease -- certainly not pointed at your face. They don't seem to mind if you talk amidst your company, even if you're loud. That small liberty enjoyed under such aggressive surveillance is a bit unnerving, but at least you're not suffering a gag restraint. You're allowed to gaze out the wide windows of the vehicle, and you may want to do so when you pass through Times Square. Based on the sheer scope and the slightly worn look that this highly technology-driven tourist port touts, it seems that this Times Square has never suffered major damage (nothing comparable to the City's Times Square anyway). Large television screens are hitched throughout Times Square, and that feature continues into Manhattan. Television screens along shopping and residential areas are at the average eye-level -- and interactive! You can watch natives choose which news stations to observe, if they're lollygagging near any screens. There’s something you noticed about the news, how it’s all good news. Nothing about rising sea levels eating away coastal cities, or international conflict, or any major disasters. No missing children, no reports on widespread disease. The streets look as clean as the screen reports, all appear efficient and free of conflict. No pollution, no ballsy rats. Even the traffic seems unnaturally considerate, even this early in the morning.

Five minutes before your transport pulls to park, the four vehicles split into four different directions. You're shifted into a spacious iMAC, three stories tall. All the rooms look the same: yellow bedsheets tucked over a twin bed, rust red walls, large screens that reel constant news (there are no "off" buttons). There is no common room, there is no kitchen. There are no bedroom doors. Food will be brought to your room, free of charge. Nearly anything (within reason) is attainable for your lunch by noon and your dinner this evening. Each room is equipped with a private shower and bathroom. You are not given any money. Cameras sit in the ceiling of every bedroom and bathroom. The showers are safe.

Today you are allowed to explore New Vesuvius, as long as you keep within the city limits and meet the curfew of 3PM. You will spend 3:30PM to 6:00PM reviewing the recent history of New Vesuvius (following the divergent timeline). It is a propaganda piece that downplays the travesties against imPorts and mostly features pundits talking about how imPorts put people at great risk, discussing the tens of millions of people who had died in the incinerated cities. You're advised to get some rest. Tomorrow is a bigger day.

Do not lose your identification lanyards.

You should ensure your keepers have left and that you're hidden in the shower before attempting to use the Network within the iMac. You know you should, intuitively.
acclimatized: (told me we'd all be brave.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-25 08:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah. We just have to be patient."

God, he hopes this is the same thing that happened to Rick back in February. John has some experience in masking his emotions from the world, so doesn't remark on it. He certainly doesn't feel any less enraged and glances at the security personnel with them. They don't seem to care they are talking like this, but he still drops his voice to a cautionary whisper.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid." He looks back at her. "What's your name?"
glowsferatu: sad, thought (Ready To Be Heartbroken)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-26 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
Good. She'd rather he didn't do anything stupid. They've already seen enough people on the torture table, and most of them weren't likely to their wounds heal like hers do. She wondered if she wouldn't have to use that to act as a buffer for any of them before this was all over. She wondered if the her that was here, the one who didn't appear on the reels, might've died that same way.

"Kanaya. Kanaya Maryam, however much that will matter through all this."
acclimatized: (with lonely hearts.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-26 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Kanaya." John repeats her name with a nod, committing it to his memory. It doesn't even cross his mind that she hails from the same universe as Ferferi. God, he can only hope she hasn't been caught up in all this either.

"We can't think like that, okay? I'm John."
glowsferatu: sad, rude (And All My Hope Is Gone)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-27 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
There are really only two things that might tip off the similarity, the orange horns and the naturally black lips, but the light coming from under her skin casts it all in a different shade.

"John, there are a lot of things that matter right now. Survival paramount among them, and not just ours. That's not going to change because of who I am."
acclimatized: (favourite place.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-27 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, Ferferi adopted a more human form back then... up until she turned into an animal down in the water at Coney Island anyway. Now that had been one hell of a day.

"You healed Steve, didn't you? At lunch today."
glowsferatu: wait, thought (This Night Has Opened My Eyes)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-27 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think I'd call it more treating than healing, but it won't stop them from inflicting worse, if they're so inclined."

It has always been a weird thought to her, that she was meant to be a healer. It's a position she's never felt comfortable in, creation has only ever ended in failure. Destruction, on the other hand...
acclimatized: (i'm good at protecting.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-27 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
He looks Kanaya over again. There is no doubt that she will tower over him easily when they stand up but there is something youthful about her. John has felt disposed to protect people... it's why he took upon the dual role of a doctor and a soldier.

"You did a good job patching him up." John approves, rubbing the back of neck ruefully while he purses his lips in thought. Steve was stubborn but he wasn't quite sure about everyone else.

"I told him I was going to keep an eye out from now on. If I can, I want to avoid that happening."
glowsferatu: wait (pic#5797293)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-27 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"That sounds like a prudent decision. Someone will need to make an effort to coordinate between us if we aren't to all fall away into our own individual directions. Someone should be able to keep up like that."

So why isn't she? Isn't that generally her job, what she's supposedly best at? She can't let them kill her nerve entirely, she has to make herself of some use. Just because someone else is willing doesn't mean he should have to do it alone, not when she knows what that's like. "It won't be easy without help."
acclimatized: (turn around your life or we'll change.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-28 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
"I've got some, erm... past experience with stuff like that." He isn't just alluding to the rank he held in the army either. Whenever a case happened to involve Mycroft Holmes, he was reduced to wrangling the brothers to get anything accomplished.

"You sound like you've got a good head on your shoulders. What about you?"
glowsferatu: smile (Default)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-28 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
"I suppose I've a bit myself. I run my household, at least." Which is really the least of it, being the primary income and guardian of five other kids her age or a few years younger. Which isn't even to mention running a department at a small magazine, running around making sure all of her friends are hale and hearty, who tend to vary from fairly responsible teenage alcoholics to part-time terrorist dictator goddesses. She's generally too busy keeping on top of everyone else to take care of herself, and it's only gotten more and more obvious to her and them lately.

"If someone has to keep things running, I'll be perfectly willing to assist. We know what they intend, and it will take patience on the part of us all to counter it."
acclimatized: (i was stupid.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-06-29 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"Your household?" John raises his brow in surprise, his tone taking on a strange mix between sympathetic and impressed. Some children aren't responsible like her – in his experience, most of them daub spray paint across public buildings and then run away when the police spot them.

"I'm not gonna to let them make another documentary out us, an example." John nods, his lips twitching before he pinches them into a thin, determined line. After she agreed with him, he clenched his fists over his knees. Not in anger, but in resolution.

"When we get back, I'll try and talk to as many people as I can."
glowsferatu: glow, rude (pic#4904309)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-06-29 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"It wouldn't do for that to repeat itself. We have to stay alive as long as possible, if for no other reason than to keep others alive."

An intensity sneaks its way into her stare. The purpose of today was to show the members of Caste F why their position is important, and it has. Maybe not in the exact way that had been expected, of course. To Kanaya, they are to be the front line of defense, cannon fodder to protect their own more than the natives.

Of course, that means staying alive as long as they can. If they have to die, it surely won't be for nothing. "You can count on me to do likewise. There are others here we've been separated from, they need to understand what we're up against."
acclimatized: (i guess i'm just like everyone else.)

[personal profile] acclimatized 2013-07-02 12:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Never thought I'd be transported from one alternate universe to yet another alternate universe." John muses dryly. When she mentions feeding intel, he is keenly aware of his communicator sitting snugly in his back pocket. It was a miracle the guards had elected to let them keep them and he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Yeah." He says simply. He isn't about to draw attention to their distinct advantage over their captors.
glowsferatu: thought, wait (pic#5727988)

[personal profile] glowsferatu 2013-07-02 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
She has her own purse hugged tightly against her stomach, surprised to still have it, expecting at any moment that it might be taken. But at least it meant she had her first aid kit earlier.

"Was this your first cross-dimensional excursion? It makes quite an introduction to the phenomenon." An unpleasant one, of course, but many of them tend to be. She doesn't even want to think of how many levels she's crossed from her original universe. Taken to the City en route from one to another, now here. And even before that, the gottalas. At least there the danger was more direct rather than hiding behind a layer of menace, of control.