[open] 'til human voices wake us

[devilmind]

» WHO? The Operator and YOU!
» WHEN? August 16th, late morning
» WHERE? Near Deck 3 and various crew quarters
» WHAT? The Operator arrives on Reverie Terminal and is very confused.
» WARNINGS? Major spoilers for Warframe, mild mentions of body horror



>wake up (near deck 3 crew quarters)
[It is the first time they have awoken in centuries.

Awareness comes in fitful bits and pieces. They are awake. They are small. They are… soft? Limbs move, jerky and confused, hands starting at their stomach and moving clumsily up to their face. They feel soft cloth and flesh instead of hardened steel—a mouth, a nose, eyes, where there had only been only a smooth curvature before.

They’ve never had these things before and it terrifies them. What has been done to them, to make them this soft, weak thing? It has never happened before—but it must have. How else do they know how to work the wet, alien mechanism of their mouth unless with experience?]

Lotus? [The word comes out in a sharp, shrill voice they don’t recognize—the voice of a human child.] Lotus, can you hear me?

[The voice that answers them is someone else’s, hashed with static.

”We tried to save the world. I think— I think we did the opposite."

They look over with a start and stare at the small comms device as it repeats its baleful message. After a moment, they roll unsteadily onto their hands and feet and pick the device up, clutching it like a talisman. Its message falls silent at their touch, leaving them alone in the corridor once again.]

Ordis? [they try this time.] Where am I?

[There is no voice to answer them.]

>sleep (your room)
[They should not be here. They should not be this.

Both conclusions are equally obvious as they explore the ship. This place and this body are too new, too silent, and too limited. They need to return to where they were—what they were before.

Those are the thoughts swarming their mind as they come across the crew quarters and catch sight of an open door. Inside the room is a wardrobe, a desk—and a bed.

The sight of the bed sparks a sudden, powerful familiarity. They don’t understand. But suddenly they know that they have to lie down and sleep to escape this place and this body. It feels so obvious, so natural. Once they fall asleep, this twisted dream will end.

When you return to your quarters, you’ll find an unexpected guest: a scrawny teenager lying on their back on your bed, eyes closed and apparently asleep.

Do you wake them?]

Comments

[nishizono]

[ fuck yeah he'll wake them. he leaves his door open one time and this happens, what the fuck. tetora strides over and unceremoniously shakes the figure who's invaded his bed, putting a little more force than necessary for just a quick wake up call. ]

Hey. Hey, asshole. Wake up, you're in my bed. HelloooooOOOOOOOOO.

[devilmind]

[The vigorous shaking wakes the Operator in an instant and there’s some rather uncoordinated flailing as they try to roll away from the source. They scramble off the bed, yellow eyes darting for a moment before they grab a nearby light fixture and brandish it like a weapon in front of them. They don’t speak—truth be told, they’re a bit too rattled to remember they have a mouth—but the confusion in their expression as they size up the (hostile?) figure in front of them says plenty.]

[nishizono]

[ marvelous. now he's being threatened in his own room. ]

Hey, look. That's my only lamp, so if you throw that or use that on me I'm gonna be pissed, because it takes effort to steal from other people, okay?

Just put it down. [ he even gestures to that effect, miming the action of setting an object down. is this guy deaf or something? it would explain their reaction, if not much else. ] Come on, it's easy.

[devilmind]

[They aren’t deaf, judging by the way they scowl when the stranger starts miming at them.]

I know how to put it down, [they snap, though they pointedly don’t do as he asks.] Who are you?

[nishizono]

Who am I? This is my room, you're asking me who I am?

[ he shouldn't be so flippantly incredulous about this, but on the other hand, getting stabbed or otherwise attacked is fairly commonplace for him. being confronted in his own room seems par for the course with tetora's luck, honestly.

tetora sighs deeply. ]

There's a ton of rooms not taken on this deck, you know. And it's Tetora. Can you put the lamp down now?

[devilmind]

Yes, [they reply stubbornly, either not noticing or not caring that the question is rhetorical. They’d want to know who he is regardless of their location, of course.

Fortunately for Tetora, despite their caginess, they at least seem to realize that the man may not be as immediate of a threat as they assumed. After a moment more of glaring, they put the lamp back in its original spot, glancing between him and the door as they do so—before suddenly pointing to the opposite corner of the room.]

Stand over there.

[nishizono]

Wha— No. You go stand there if you want.

[ he stays where he's standing in the middle of the room, arms now folded across his chest. tetora doesn't respond well to being ordered around, but at least the lamp's back where it should be; that's one thing less to worry about. ]

Why are you in here? Who the hell are you?

[devilmind]

[They respond to his refusal in kind, standing their ground next to the bed. The truth is, they don’t want to pass within arm’s length of the man on their way to the door, not while occupying this small, fragile body. But they’re not actually willing to say that out loud, so the standoff continues.]

I’m the Operator. And I was trying to get out of this body before you woke me up.

room 3.01

[hyperfresh]

[Marina startles when she finds someone in her room, but she's not as alarmed as she might be--it's still too early for her to feel too much of a connection to the space, viewing it almost as some sort of bizarre hotel. And anyway, this looks like a kid. He's wearing a jumpsuit like she is, so that means he's new, right?

Still, she approaches uncertainly.] Hello? Excuse me? [She hopes she isn't going to have to shake him.]

[devilmind]

[The Operator stirs in their uneasy sleep at the sound of a voice, mumbling something that might be a name. After a moment, they roll onto their side, face pinched in a frown.

That doesn’t seem to have woken them.]

[hyperfresh]

[She's going to have to shake him awake, isn't she? Marina reaches to shake his shoulder carefully--she doesn't want to scare him.]

Hey, wake up, okay?

[devilmind]

[There’s some more incoherent mumbling and shifting before the Operator’s yellow eyes finally flicker open. When those eyes first catch sight of the stranger in front of them, the Operator’s first reaction is confusion, brow furrowing as they try to process what they’re seeing. The second they do, that confusion rapidly turns to alarm and they scramble backwards—falling off the edge of the bed a moment later with an unceremonious thud.

They're back on their feet in an instant, staring at the strange woman(?) with wide eyes and a hand raised palm-out in front of them.]

Who are you?

[hyperfresh]

[Marina raises her own hands to show she's not holding anything dangerous.] I'm Marina. This is my room, so... But I'm not mad you're here or anything, it's okay!

[devilmind]

[The way the Operator looks at her, she may as well be speaking another language. But as they churn the words around in their head, something seems to slot into place. Sleeping in someone else’s room without permission is impolite. They think they might have known that once.]

I… apologize for my intrusion, [they say, offering a slight bow. After that, they stall for a moment, as if they’re not sure how to proceed. And then:] Do you, um… know who this is?

[They point at their own face, as if that’s a normal way to follow up that question.]

[hyperfresh]

[Yeah, that's not where Marina was expecting this conversation to go, and she wasn't really sure where it was going to go to begin with. The confusion is obvious on her face.] It's not you?

[devilmind]

No. I thought maybe I accidentally… [Slipped into this body the same way they did their Warframes? They’ve never actually had to think about how they do what they do before and now that they are, they realize they don’t know the rules that govern how it works. At all.] ...took it? Or maybe someone put me here...

[hyperfresh]

Is that something you can usually do? [She feels like he should be more confident, if this is normal, but on the other hand, maybe not?] Oh, are you an AI?

[She's seen some of them on the network!]

[devilmind]

With some bodies, but never one like this.

[Though they don’t know if that’s because they never could or because they never wanted to. There’s certainly not a lot to recommend a body like this, all soft and weak. The next question gets another furrowed brow, this time for a long few moments.]

I don’t think so…

[They think they’d know if they were a Cephalon. At least, they’re pretty sure Ordis or Suda would have told them if that were the case.]

I’m called the Operator, [they say, as if that might be helpful.] And the Tenno.

[hyperfresh]

The Operator? [The way Marina says it makes it clear she doesn't recognize this--title? She thinks it might be a title. She's even less sure what a Tenno is.] I guess you don't know if getting put in bodies is normal for your species, if you're not sure what it is...