ataraxionlogs | thirty-fifth jump;

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond.
WARNINGS: Maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: You wake feeling cold and alone. There is a strange sense of emptiness, and the jump holds no surprises for you. There is nothing buffering the jump sickness and disorientation for you this month, and those still suffering the lingering effects of August's plot may find it more difficult than usual to get through the post-jump routine.

New arrivals will find messages spraypainted across their lockers telling them not to follow their tattoo numbers, and instead to find a room on Floors 001-010.

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You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He hadn't realized yet that Castiel had left at all. Dean and Jo had made it a point to keep in touch with him, but he and Cas -- they were allies, but not exactly friends. Castiel had made that pretty damn clear upon Benny's arrival, but even now, with months having passed without much contact between the two of them, he could tell that this Castiel was different.

A slightly different bearing, a different approach to the vampire himself altogether, and Benny has to wonder if this is how Dean or Jo felt when he'd turned up. Familiar, but not the version they remembered. He feels a pang of guilt for not realizing that Cas' situation had changed.]

Seems so. 'Cept for you.

[His eyes narrow slightly as he tries to discern whether or not this Castiel really is any different from the one he'd spoken to two months past. Maybe it was just the disconnect of too much time gone by getting to him.]

Probably better in the long run, yeah? [He doesn't know for sure what happens to people who vanish, but he can hope, anyway.] ... it's good t'see you, Cas.

[it's a sentiment he agrees with, if only because, somehow, it's safer for the brothers back home. with the way their lives have gone so far though, he knows it's only temporary. that it's only a matter of time before heaven seeks them out again. or hell. his own future differs, of course. as long as he carries the tablet--]

Possibly.

[he's seen some of the worst the ship has to offer. has helped cause problems himself too. but things back home have rules that can be followed. everything has a cause and a solution. here, things don't work the same way.]

How long has it been?

[since benny arrived. since dean left. since he fed. there's more he wants to know. more that he thinks he needs to know. but he's never been one for small talk. it's...disconcerting, not having all the answers already. but relying on others to fill the gaps in his knowledge isn't easy.]

Couple months, maybe.

[Since the last time they saw each other. It hadn't been a particularly friendly encounter, but there hadn't been as much animosity as he'd expected, either -- it wasn't like Purgatory, where they directly challenged each other. Cas wasn't a beacon for monsters here, he was just a person -- or an angel, as the case may be.

And right now, as far as people they knew were concerned, one another was all they had, as far as he knew.]

Ain't been real good about-- keepin' track of time. Been keepin' to myself, thought it might be better.

[For him, for Dean, for the passengers. Everyone.]

Dean'd been checkin' in on me, but haven't seen any sign of him for a couple of weeks now. Can't decide whether or not that's good news.

[Depends on if he's actually free now.]

That depends on when he's from.

[or when benny's from. the winchester's problems had started long before the brothers were born, and they've only continued since. between heaven and hell and all that's in-between, they're never going to have an easy life. they aren't destined for one, no matter how much they deserve it.]

What's the last thing you remember from home?

[because it'll help him work out just how to deal with benny. they may not be particularly close, but he isn't going to ignore the fact benny's there. not after all they went through together. (plus all the extra work he undertook in keeping dean alive before they found him).]

[The response is a tight, humorless smile. He'd been more than willing to go back, finding Purgatory easier to deal with, to appreciate than the real world had become, but all the same-- it was what it was.]

Purgatory.

[He holds up two fingers, just for a moment.]

Second time around. Went back in to do Dean a favor. One-way trip.

[Initially by choice, but circumstances had ensured that there was no changing his mind.]

You returned.

[it's news to him, and not necessarily the good kind. while dean and benny may have parted ways after their escape, he at least knew they were in contact with one another. but that had been it, and clearly that wasn't enough. not if benny agreed to go back there again.

(though why would dean send him in the first place?)

he frowns, unsure of what to say at first. he knows he could ask. that he probably should. the variances in timelines have been nothing but trouble so far.]

They never told me. That means you're from further ahead than I am.

[or that it happened while he was still--

when naomi had him.]

Didn't have much of a choice.

[Dean had reminded him that he could say 'no,' but that didn't count. He couldn't have, maybe even if he hadn't been seconds away from punching his own ticket just to get back to where he understood the way things worked. Like hell he could have left Sam stranded down there to be anyone's meat, not when he could help it. They weren't friends, either-- but Dean had brought him back to his family, and he'd been in line to return the favor.]

Hear that happens a lot. People don't match up-- memories get all muddled.

[He smiles grimly; there's no mirth to it, it just comes out tired.]

Sam got himself trapped down there. Needed a way out. Not many other folks walkin' around with a mental map right to that human portal. Seemed like the thing to do.

thirty-fifth jump;

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