The Experiment, Free Form

[Andjay]

Reginald woke up to find himself in the back room of the store. It was completely dark, and he had no idea what time it is. He decided to dress, eyed the heavy clothing for a moment, wondered if it was really necessary to carry all this crap around, day after day. In a city no less. Houston was always way too hot to wear extra clothing in, but he did it.

He sat up to get some clothes on and fell over. There was blinding pain in his head. He pawed around for his stuff and dressed, while he tried to figure out what was wrong.

Finally dressed, he stumbled to the doorway, didn't even think about turning the light on for fear of the pain it would cause, and went to the front of the store.
It was closed for the night. Reginald could see that it was raining outside, but even the dim light of the street light bothered his eyes.

Wait, store? What happened to, you know, home?

He moved to the door of the store, and saw that he didn't recognize any of the buildings around him. Whatever happened, this wasn't the city that Reg fell asleep in. He tried to the door. It was locked.

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Jake woke up when the plane's fasten seatbelt light came on. He was suddenly beset by a blinding headache that prevented him from hearing first part of the pilot's message. As he pressed the heel of his hand to his right eye, his ears clued him in to the fact that the pilot was saying something important:

"--son Airport. We'll be descending shortly and landing in roughly 10 minutes. Please ensure that your safety belts are buckled. Please do not leave your seats during this time. Thank you for travelling with Air Canada."

Air Canada?

Then the plane started descending, and the pressure in Jake's sinus cavity became so horrible that he barely stand it. He could think of nothing else until the plane had come to a stop.

Passengers eventually began to file out, and Jake checked the overhead compartment above his seat. Nothing was in it. Whatever he was carrying, that's what he had. Outside it was dark, and there was rain on the window. The headache was still bad from before the landing when the relative pressure took his pain receptors for a joy ride, but Jake found that he could work through it. He began to move towards the exit of the plane.

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Becca woke up on a bus driving down what seemed to be a major highway. It was dark, and pretty much the only thing she could see outside was that it was black. And raining, said the windows. A green sign zipped by, too fast to be read, but Becca recognized it as a sign that indicated that they were approaching a population centre, and what the distance remaining was.

A headache seemed to be what brought Becca out of her sleep. And man, what a headache. She saw a bright white in her right eye and spots in her left, each time she blinked. This, she decided, was not a good thing. She brought her hand to touch the cross on her necklace. She wasn't really religious, but the ornament comforted her. She couldn't even remember where she'd gotten it, she'd had it so long.

Across the aisle from her, a man with a scruffy beard had his reading light on, and was reading a book. He looked up suddenly without warning and fixed her with a look and a creepy kind of smile.

"What's your name?"


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Jonas woke up in on a park bench as a large raindrop suddenly landed on his face. The bench was on the lakeshore...lakeshore?

There were no lakes at University, he thought. Where was--

His thoughts were interrupted as he realized that he had a killer headache. It was cold, rainy, and it was night, and he couldn't move because of the severity of this headache. Great. And for whatever reason, the rain frightened him. It seemed like it was more than just a rainstorm, it felt like the rain was coming down specifically so it could rain on him. He looked around to see what his surroundings were like, deciding that the pain could bother him later.

Not a soul around. That he could see. There was a path behind him, and he seemed to be in some sort of park. There was a light, painfully bright, right next to the park bench, and lights in either direction down the path. It was time to decide which way to go.

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Zane awoke with a man standing over him. His headache told him that he'd been knocked out, or something. The man was not looking very friendly. He stood with a streetlight behind him, silhouetting him against the rain that was coming down onto the street. Zane decided there was no time for thought, no time for orientation. He was vulnerable in this position, and he had to change his situation before he could worry about anything else.

He felt that his hand still touched the chain that was usually attached to his belt.

[WhiteKnight777]

Jake

Stretching, Jake felt the throb of burning pain, whether just leftovers from the savaging that his pain receptors had endured during the descent or heralds of discomfort yet to come, they were unpleasant. Nevertheless, he walked on, patting his pockets to take a quick inventory of what he was carrying. He headed for the exit of the plane, trying to shake off the fog that obscured his memory, looking around for anything or anyone he recognized as he headed for the terminal. Noting the objects within, he pulled out the pocket guide, idly leafing through it as he stepped into the terminal. As he did so, he began looking around for a cyber cafe of some sort - anywhere he could buy time on a computer.

[Silence]

Jonas

Jonas took a look up towards the sky. He deducted that he was going to get wet, and very much so.

How the hell did I get here...

He thought to himself as he started jogging to the path on his left.

He began talking to himself. Just thinking out loud; he found it easier to work out problems that way.

Damn... I must have dozed off. Which was is my damn car?

He came to the quick realsation that he had left his books back on the park bench. He jogged back, mentally slapping himself for his stupidity.

Let's see...

He picked up the first book. The Book of the Spider: A Compendium of Arachno-Facts and Eight-Legged Lore. A paperback. Pretty self explanatory.

He picked up the second one. Yendi.

Yendi.... He said aloud.

It sounded like a name. A beautiful one at that.

He took a look at the author. Steven Burst. Didn't ring a bell.

Just as the raindrops began falling down harder, he slipped the spider book into the inside pocket of his mock-military jacket, and opened up to the first page of Yendi. He hunched over the book, so that the water would fall on his jacket, and not get the easily destructible pages wet, and read a few sentences.

He quickly found that it was some sort of action novel. Something having to do with criminal wars. He tucked the paperback in his jacket and zipped it up and began jogging back down the path to the left.

[ZaneLaCoix]

Spoiler

Show

Zane awoke with a man standing over him. His headache told him that he'd been knocked out, or something. The man was not looking very friendly. He stood with a streetlight behind him, silhouetting him against the rain that was coming down onto the street. Zane decided there was no time for thought, no time for orientation. He was vulnerable in this position, and he had to change his situation before he could worry about anything else.

He felt that his hand still touched the chain that was usually attached to his belt

Pain... Headache... Ow... The hell?

Zane awoke, blinked his eyes a few times, allowing his eyes adjusting to the dark with the streetlight, rain, and headache. As everything came into view, the sight of the man disturbed him, annoyed him, aggrivated him.

How could I be so careless?

Within his fingers, was his beloved chain. It could be of use, but he would have to get in a better position. With a quick tug on his chain, he'd attempt to snap it from the loop, then follow the motion to around the man's leg-- his goal: Trip him off his feet.

[ColonelFuster]

Reginald sighed to himself darkly. Prepared for anything, huh? He looked in his backpack for a solution, like he always did....
"Lighter... spork?... and...." he took out the book, "My Triumphs, my mistakes."
He sighed again, trying to remember the book. Gaius Baltar? Who? He shook his head and kept searching. Glass and cotton. What?
His face started to bead sweat from the heavy clothing. He wiped it off with his jacket sleeve and then checked his pockets. He looked in his hand as he pulled out a bundle of paper, and found receipts. He looked to the names on the receipts, and then looked around to see if he could find the name of the store.

[Levyathyn]

Becca

Becca recoils slightly, leaning further back into her seat at the man's odd glare. She looks down, but keeps her eyes on him. Her dark hair covers half of her face, and her grey hoodie hides her arms, curled tightly around her. As he stares, she bites her lower lip. She doesn't answer him, hoping she'll look up and he won't be there anymore.

[Andjay]

Becca

The man chuckles a little bit at Becca's reaction. Flight encourages pursuit, he thinks.

Without flight, there can be no pursuit, Becca. he says.

How does he know my name??

As if in response, he showed Becca her driver's licence with a grin.

Ack! That's mine!

"Give that back!" Becca demanded.

"Certainly," he says.

"How dare you go through my stuff??"

"You asked me to." Her jaw drops in astonishment. "You've been dropping in and out of sleep all night long. Each time you wake up, you don't seem to remember me."

Becca blinks, bewildered. "What is going on here??"

-----------------------------

Reginald

Reginald moved towards the store counter, wondering where his normal collection of things went. While some of it was useful, some of it wasn't, and that wasn't like him. What was he doing with a book? Hell, what was he doing with a piece of broken glass, for Pete's sake? The receipts, of course, were worthless. No names on them, just stuff like "doritos: 1.99" etc.

The store inventory told him that this was a used book store. Dusty books everywhere. Always in your way. Crowded, narrow walkways. The counter, piled high with books. The counter had no identifying features, no store names...still....it seemed he could almost remember where he was.

...no. He just can't quite get a hold of it. Still, he did learn something of use. As he was just about to remember, the pain of the headache lessened. Which probably means that...

ARGGHH

Of course, the pain for straining the memory is worse after an attempt. He wondered if that still happens if he actually remembers something. Probably.

The pain was strong enough to force him to sit on the floor, but he was still able to think. He was locked in a store at night, and had no idea what day it was, so it could even be a friday night, meaning he'd be stuck here for a weekend. Maybe he could find something in his room, maybe he could find someone else in the store, maybe he could just bust his way through the front window.

The thought filled him with intense fear and physical pain throughout his body and caused him to black out. He awoke sometime later, still in the night, and wiped the sweat away from his head. He sighed heavily.

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Zane

Zane had no longer thought of the action than he settled it, and then executed the manoeuver. The chain gave no resistance as it came off his belt--it wasn't on to begin with. Zane noted that that meant the chain was already off his belt, and probably being used as a weapon. He was just considering whether this meant he'd been beaten in a fight by someone stronger than him, when his chain his the man's ankle and wrapped around it.

Not one to put all his eggs in one basket, Zane also attempted to move out of the way of the man's counter-attack. It was well done, because the man's foot reacted quickly to the attack and stomped the ground where Zane's face was a second ago. Zane attacked the other leg in response, the one with his chain around it. Foolish of me to think that a chain could lift a man's leg off the ground like that, he thought. My foot, on the other hand, striking his knee just so...

The man gave a yell and fell to the ground as the leg that had no weight on it was pushed out from under him. Zane found himself on his feet, standing over the man, a nice reversal of their previous circumstances. He smiled smugly and asked,

"I don't know. This seem familiar to you?"

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Jonas

Running for a few minutes left him with no greater knowledge of where he was or what he was doing or why this DAMN headache was bothering him.

He reached for his cell phone to call his parents and realized his cell phone wasn't there. Someone must have robbed him of it when he was sleeping. Typical.

As he continued to run, he began to think to himself. It was clear that he needed to find out a great many things about his situation. His mind made a list according to priority:

1. Find out where I am.
2. Find out how to get home.

He paused.

3. Find out where home is.
4. Get rid of this damn headache so I can remember things again.

His running took him to a road. The park trail continued past the road, into some trees. Which to take, the road, or the path?

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Jake

Jake headed down the ramp into the airport and eventually got to customs. Fingering through his pockets, he realized that he didn't have his passport on him. He hoped that a driver's license would be sufficient.

The guards asked for his identification and his travel plans. As he handed the driver's license over, he thought furiously for a split-second to find an answer to their innocuous question. He didn't remember his travel plans, because he didn't know he was supposed to be travelling.

Safest bet is,

"I'm here to see family."

"Do you have anything to claim?"

"No."

"Alright. Have a nice day, sir."

Jake walked along the concourse hoping everything would go so smoothly. The actions of the guards seemed to corroborate his sense of location, according to the pocketbook. Nowhere else would they be so polite, he thought wryly.

So. A computer terminal. He sought out the nearest restaurant to ask for directions. He quickly found out that he'd have to venture into the city to find one. Still, he thought, this key is my best bet to getting some answers.

-----------------------------

[WhiteKnight777]

Jake

Jake sighed. He thought about hiring a cab into the city - but no. He had little enough money as it was, and he'd probably need every red cent before he figured out what was going on. Looking around casually, he sighed again, shrugged, and headed out, looking for the exit and the way into the city.

[Silence]

Jonas

Jonas smiled. A road. Fantastic. That will lead to civilization where he can report his car being stolen. Technically not true, but the best way to get the job done.

[ColonelFuster]

Reginald got up slowly, the pain wracking through him like his blood was passing kidney stones. He returned to the front of the store, and fumbled around for a light switch. When his hand finally connected, he pressed his eyelids together hard, determined to not fall agin. He lifted the switch.

[Levyathyn]

Becca

She pulls her legs up to her chest and hugs her knees, afraid. She looks around the bus, wondering if anyone else is on it, anyone who could help her. "Why did you ask my name if you knew it?" She asks the man, wondering if talking to him was a mistake. She looks at her driver's license, at the face that she knows to be her's.

[ZaneLaCoix]

Spoiler

Show

Zane had no longer thought of the action than he settled it, and then executed the manoeuver. The chain gave no resistance as it came off his belt--it wasn't on to begin with. Zane noted that that meant the chain was already off his belt, and probably being used as a weapon. He was just considering whether this meant he'd been beaten in a fight by someone stronger than him, when his chain his the man's ankle and wrapped around it.

Not one to put all his eggs in one basket, Zane also attempted to move out of the way of the man's counter-attack. It was well done, because the man's foot reacted quickly to the attack and stomped the ground where Zane's face was a second ago. Zane attacked the other leg in response, the one with his chain around it. Foolish of me to think that a chain could lift a man's leg off the ground like that, he thought. My foot, on the other hand, striking his knee just so...

The man gave a yell and fell to the ground as the leg that had no weight on it was pushed out from under him. Zane found himself on his feet, standing over the man, a nice reversal of their previous circumstances. He smiled smugly and asked,

"I don't know. This seem familiar to you?"

Zane would attempt to rack his mind of what he could remember, beyond his almost migrane. Or, so it seemed.

"Not that I remember... Who are you..." He asked, wrapping the chain around his right hand. "And the hell were you up to?" He wound up for a punch to his face with the chained fist... He would strike only if he did not give a cooperative answer.

[Andjay]

[Zane, can you please re-write your post? It was Zane, and not the NPC who asked the question. It was supposed to be him mocking the guy on the ground ]

[ZaneLaCoix]

[How do I rewrite something that's OOC for him, and not mine? I understand the point of being DM, but to the point of being controller of him as well? I have a problem with that]

[Andjay]

[I am only asking you to re-write what you said becauce it didn't make sense, not because I didn't agree with what you had him say/do. Zane was the one who said "I don't know. Does this seem familiar to you?" Your subsequent post implied that you thought it was the NPC who asked those words, and not Zane. Therefore, since it was Zane asking the question, and then Zane answering his own question, the post doesn't make sense, and thus....please re-write it so that it does make sense.


And now that I re-read your response, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying there, either.]

[ColonelFuster]

[Zane is remarking about your godmoding.]

[Andjay]

[Let's take this to the OT recruitment thread.]

[Silence]

I think this has died....

Quite unfortunate.

[ColonelFuster]

Hm. agreed. I hope to pick up a brainy game sometime.

[Andjay]

<---irate.