Pain.
The first thing she noticed was the pain in her arms. The second was the ringing in her ears.
Sarah was staring at a ceiling. She couldn’t tell if she had opened her eyes or if they had already been open and she was just coming to her senses, but she was staring at a ceiling that she remembered belonged to the interior of the shop boat. She sat up and felt her arms complain against the motion in several places, a sharp pain like pins poking her skin, and looked down at herself.
She was covered in blood, she noted. A lot of blood. Too much blood. Most of it wasn’t hers.
Her shirt, the alien one the producers had given her, was flecked with large spots of red all over as well as being covered with small fragments of something dark. She brushed her hands down her front and they felt hard and jagged as she swept most of them away; bits of collar, she thought. Wearing two layers of clothing seemed to have protected her from the worst, but she felt the shards dig into her in places where they had penetrated all the way through to her skin. Checking her arms next she saw much the same, only there had been no sleeves to protect her bare skin from the worst of the shrapnel. Some of the blood she saw there was her own.
Sarah would need to do something to stop the bleeding, or maybe ask Lark to do it, before they did anything else. There should have been more urgency behind that observation, she thought, but she felt oddly calm at the moment. She felt like she was floating.
Speaking of Lark, Sarah looked over to where the others had been standing before she’d blow herself up, to make sure that they were still there. “Is everyone okay?”
Adrift in a Little Shop of Horrors
Night before 2nd announcement; Open
She didn't have anything better to be doing. But that didn't mean she had to follow them. Alyssa took one look inside the room, saw the corpse, saw Sarah with the knife, and she decided she never wanted to go in there.
But Alyssa didn't leave. She outside and listened. She didn't think they'd be able to do anything other than get themselves killed, but if they somehow did figure out a way to get the collars off, she had to be there. She knew she'd regret it if she left, so she stayed. Firmly planted in her spot. Every few seconds, Alyssa would hear a clang, and every time she'd wince and brace herself for the sound of an explosion. Over and over, nothing happened. Alyssa was even beginning to relax a little. But her doubts were soon proven right.
She stepped back when she heard the bang and saw the flash from inside the cabin. It was over, they'd predictably failed and Sarah was probably dead. Now was the time to run, right?
Alyssa didn't run. Her feet slowly took her forward, and she peeked in. Sarah wasn't dead. Covered in blood, but alive. She looked around at the others.
But Alyssa didn't leave. She outside and listened. She didn't think they'd be able to do anything other than get themselves killed, but if they somehow did figure out a way to get the collars off, she had to be there. She knew she'd regret it if she left, so she stayed. Firmly planted in her spot. Every few seconds, Alyssa would hear a clang, and every time she'd wince and brace herself for the sound of an explosion. Over and over, nothing happened. Alyssa was even beginning to relax a little. But her doubts were soon proven right.
She stepped back when she heard the bang and saw the flash from inside the cabin. It was over, they'd predictably failed and Sarah was probably dead. Now was the time to run, right?
Alyssa didn't run. Her feet slowly took her forward, and she peeked in. Sarah wasn't dead. Covered in blood, but alive. She looked around at the others.
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delicateMachine
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Lark was happy to be right and even happier not to be bleeding.
She’d nonchalantly ducked behind the counter as soon as Sarah had walked over to the body, kneeling down and just barely peeking her head (almost entirely swallowed by the ridiculous hat) above its edge, wincing and ducking down with every impact against the collar. Not cool in the slightest, but it didn’t feel like the right moment to die with dignity.
Anticipation and dread blurred together into a queasy feeling in her stomach - every time the knife struck home, she waited for the boom, and every time it didn’t come, she stupidly found herself hoping - was that their miracle? Had Sarah somehow defused the bomb with a precise stab? Could it really be that easy?
The explosion almost came as a relief, her ringing ears leaving no ambiguity about their chances. As she took cover, she unconsciously clutched her own collar as if it might detonate in sympathy
don’t be dead don’t be dead please don’t be dead you’re risking everything and i’ve never risked anything for you and i never will so you better not be fucking stupid enough to die like this okay
No one was screaming. Hopefully that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone left to. Lark tentatively stood up. Sarah looked bad, but she was looking, and it looked like her fingers were all still there. The second-best case scenario, really. Neither of their guests looked hurt, either.
“Well, now we know what not to do!” She chirped, clapping her hands together once to break the stunned silence. She carefully made her way back around the counter, making sure not to slip on any fresh puddles of blood. She’d dug out her first-aid kit in preparation for the experiment, so she was quick to retrieve the bandages and disinfectant she needed.
“Thank you, our dear scientist,” Lark said, kneeling down next to Sarah with her supplies. “Now let’s try to make sure you don’t bleed to death.”
She’d nonchalantly ducked behind the counter as soon as Sarah had walked over to the body, kneeling down and just barely peeking her head (almost entirely swallowed by the ridiculous hat) above its edge, wincing and ducking down with every impact against the collar. Not cool in the slightest, but it didn’t feel like the right moment to die with dignity.
Anticipation and dread blurred together into a queasy feeling in her stomach - every time the knife struck home, she waited for the boom, and every time it didn’t come, she stupidly found herself hoping - was that their miracle? Had Sarah somehow defused the bomb with a precise stab? Could it really be that easy?
The explosion almost came as a relief, her ringing ears leaving no ambiguity about their chances. As she took cover, she unconsciously clutched her own collar as if it might detonate in sympathy
don’t be dead don’t be dead please don’t be dead you’re risking everything and i’ve never risked anything for you and i never will so you better not be fucking stupid enough to die like this okay
No one was screaming. Hopefully that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone left to. Lark tentatively stood up. Sarah looked bad, but she was looking, and it looked like her fingers were all still there. The second-best case scenario, really. Neither of their guests looked hurt, either.
“Well, now we know what not to do!” She chirped, clapping her hands together once to break the stunned silence. She carefully made her way back around the counter, making sure not to slip on any fresh puddles of blood. She’d dug out her first-aid kit in preparation for the experiment, so she was quick to retrieve the bandages and disinfectant she needed.
“Thank you, our dear scientist,” Lark said, kneeling down next to Sarah with her supplies. “Now let’s try to make sure you don’t bleed to death.”
When Lark started speaking Sarah turned her head towards her, some clarity coming back to her eyes as she focused in on the other girl. Her ears were still ringing, but she could make out what was being said even if it sounded like she had her head underwater. She held her arms out when her ally knelt next to her with the first aid supplies, happy to let her deal with that while she pulled her scrambled thoughts back together into some semblance of order.
“It’s not bad. I won’t bleed out.” At least she didn’t think so. It felt like she had dozens of tiny splinters all up and down her arms but none of them seemed to have hit anything vital, though with so much blood it was hard to tell. “Um, can you pull out the biggest pieces before you put the bandages on?”
She looked past Lark and saw that the other two were still there, meaning they hadn’t been scared off just yet. A girl was poking her head through the door to make sure they were all alive and Nate was still there as well; it was unlikely either of them would choose to join them after this display, but who knows? Maybe they were as lost as she was.
“That was… messier than I expected, but I learned a few things.” She winced as Lark pulled a particularly large shard out from near her elbow with a small pair of tweezers, which somewhat ruined the academic tone she was aiming for. “The collars are harder to break than I thought; I can’t do it with just my knife. I’ll slip and kill someone even if they don’t blow up.”
There really wasn’t a good alternative to that; anything powerful enough to break the collars quickly was also powerful enough to kill the person wearing it. They needed to find a saw or something like a set of bolt cutters. “I’ll add that to the list of things we’ll need to look for.”
Lark put away the tweezers and grabbed the disinfectant next; Sarah watched her work, turning her arms over so that she could apply it. “They’re also rea-ahmmm.” The disinfectant stung more than she expected and she pressed her lips together to stifle a yelp as the blood, her own and not her own, was washed away. She tried to pull her arm away but Lark grabbed her wrist and held her in place.
“They’re really easy to set off; I barely cracked it and it blew up. And there was a delay…” She stopped speaking when Lark reached for her other arm, holding her breath as the burning sensation spread along it so she wouldn’t let out any noise. “…between the break and the explosion.”
The delay was probably because it took half a second for the collar to detect the break then send the signal to the detonator. There might be something there Sarah could use to disable them, if she knew anything about electronics or explosives or anything other than how to use a telescope and a bunch of space terms. Science was unfortunately a multi-disciplinary subject and she was as out of her element here as everyone else, despite her good grades in the subject. “I guess none of that really helps us though.”
Sarah looked down at her arms when Lark pulled away again. Now that the blood had been washed away she could see the damage and it was both better and worse than she’d expected; no serious injuries she could see and most of it seemed to have stopped bleeding already, but there were a dozen or more little holes in her arms where the fragments of Abel’s collars had hit her. The shards had been removed from the largest of them but she could still see glints of metal in the smaller ones.
Some of them might scar, given enough time, but as Lark came back and started winding a roll of bandages around her arms they disappeared from sight one by one.
“We should leave soon; the explosion might draw people here and we still need to find tools. Um, you two can join us if you want… or not. No pressure either way.” She should change her shirt before they left, once Lark was done wrapping her up like a mummy; she had Abel’s blood all over her still.
It was a tacky shirt anyway.
MM02: SARAH LILLIAN WHITLOCK & BC11: LARK WILSON – CONTINUED IN ...and so we destroyed everything
“It’s not bad. I won’t bleed out.” At least she didn’t think so. It felt like she had dozens of tiny splinters all up and down her arms but none of them seemed to have hit anything vital, though with so much blood it was hard to tell. “Um, can you pull out the biggest pieces before you put the bandages on?”
She looked past Lark and saw that the other two were still there, meaning they hadn’t been scared off just yet. A girl was poking her head through the door to make sure they were all alive and Nate was still there as well; it was unlikely either of them would choose to join them after this display, but who knows? Maybe they were as lost as she was.
“That was… messier than I expected, but I learned a few things.” She winced as Lark pulled a particularly large shard out from near her elbow with a small pair of tweezers, which somewhat ruined the academic tone she was aiming for. “The collars are harder to break than I thought; I can’t do it with just my knife. I’ll slip and kill someone even if they don’t blow up.”
There really wasn’t a good alternative to that; anything powerful enough to break the collars quickly was also powerful enough to kill the person wearing it. They needed to find a saw or something like a set of bolt cutters. “I’ll add that to the list of things we’ll need to look for.”
Lark put away the tweezers and grabbed the disinfectant next; Sarah watched her work, turning her arms over so that she could apply it. “They’re also rea-ahmmm.” The disinfectant stung more than she expected and she pressed her lips together to stifle a yelp as the blood, her own and not her own, was washed away. She tried to pull her arm away but Lark grabbed her wrist and held her in place.
“They’re really easy to set off; I barely cracked it and it blew up. And there was a delay…” She stopped speaking when Lark reached for her other arm, holding her breath as the burning sensation spread along it so she wouldn’t let out any noise. “…between the break and the explosion.”
The delay was probably because it took half a second for the collar to detect the break then send the signal to the detonator. There might be something there Sarah could use to disable them, if she knew anything about electronics or explosives or anything other than how to use a telescope and a bunch of space terms. Science was unfortunately a multi-disciplinary subject and she was as out of her element here as everyone else, despite her good grades in the subject. “I guess none of that really helps us though.”
Sarah looked down at her arms when Lark pulled away again. Now that the blood had been washed away she could see the damage and it was both better and worse than she’d expected; no serious injuries she could see and most of it seemed to have stopped bleeding already, but there were a dozen or more little holes in her arms where the fragments of Abel’s collars had hit her. The shards had been removed from the largest of them but she could still see glints of metal in the smaller ones.
Some of them might scar, given enough time, but as Lark came back and started winding a roll of bandages around her arms they disappeared from sight one by one.
“We should leave soon; the explosion might draw people here and we still need to find tools. Um, you two can join us if you want… or not. No pressure either way.” She should change her shirt before they left, once Lark was done wrapping her up like a mummy; she had Abel’s blood all over her still.
It was a tacky shirt anyway.
MM02: SARAH LILLIAN WHITLOCK & BC11: LARK WILSON – CONTINUED IN ...and so we destroyed everything
They were- they were okay. That was good. Minor wounds. She exhalated, built-up tension leaving her.
"I-i'm glad..." she drifted off. Now what? Would they give up, or keep trying again or again until they actually died. Either way, Alyssa didn't want to see it. And Sarah was right about the explosion.
"No, sorry. I- good luck."
And then she was gone again.
((Alyssa Tibbett continued elsewhere))
"I-i'm glad..." she drifted off. Now what? Would they give up, or keep trying again or again until they actually died. Either way, Alyssa didn't want to see it. And Sarah was right about the explosion.
"No, sorry. I- good luck."
And then she was gone again.
((Alyssa Tibbett continued elsewhere))
So, that was something. Nate probably should've expected it more. At least he'd been standing far enough back not to get hit by either shrapnel or chunks of flesh and blood.
It was the smallest of mercies, because having to watch that was still messing him up something fierce. His stomach lurched, his hands raised to his mouth, but he managed to keep everything down. That was the only real success of the past few minutes.
Amidst the chaos, everyone set off in a hurry, like they didn't want to be associated with what had just transpired. Fair enough; Nate didn't either. But he found himself moving in a different direction from the others, taking advantage of how little notice he'd been paid. Somehow, he just wasn't filled with confidence that things would work out for them.
((Nate Suchinda continued in As Above...))
It was the smallest of mercies, because having to watch that was still messing him up something fierce. His stomach lurched, his hands raised to his mouth, but he managed to keep everything down. That was the only real success of the past few minutes.
Amidst the chaos, everyone set off in a hurry, like they didn't want to be associated with what had just transpired. Fair enough; Nate didn't either. But he found himself moving in a different direction from the others, taking advantage of how little notice he'd been paid. Somehow, he just wasn't filled with confidence that things would work out for them.
((Nate Suchinda continued in As Above...))