Mysterious Circumstances (pm to discuss joining)

[slippedhalo]

Kate mentally debated, then decided she could stand being seen in a bikini, at least by David, anyway, and went to quickly change into a black and silver one which was her size. She took one of the many shelved towels to wrap around herself and reentered the pool area feeling more than a little self conscious. "I haven't worn a bathing suit this skimpy since I was too young to fill one. I feel really...exposed." She admitted, slow to release the towel and sit at the pool' s edge, dangling her creamy, white, legs in the water.

 

[Othermoose]

David gasped when Kate let the towel fall away. "You have nothing to worry about, Kate. You look amazing." David said giving her a warm smile. David studied Kate for a moment. She looked extremely good, her pale skin and freckles clashing well with the bikini she wore. He climed out of the pool and sat down next to her on the edge of the pool. "You know... There's a hot tub over there we could try out. Might be fun..." David said with a mischievous look on his face.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate nodded, "I prefer warm to cold. Hot tub, it is."

David helped her up and escorted her to a rather large hot tub. "This...is much better." Kate announced with a smile once submerged to her shoulders in bubbly, warm water.

 

[slippedhalo]

April was getting the grand tour of the website assignment the ship had given the residents to work on by Yuet and soon Aziz joined them, surprised to see so much of his personal information lain out in a public file, that way.

The screen flashed with a new notice to add to the "news" section. It was an announcement that the first eight conscious residents will be given special status and privileges and the first scientific experiment will be performed using four randomly chosen amongst the conscious in three days, Tuesday at 07:15 hours.

"Do this sound bad to you?"Yuet asked.

April nodded, "I wonder what the experiment will be and who gets selected."

 

[Othermoose]

David and Kate sat in the hot tub talking about nothing, and just enjoying each others company. David hadn't been this happy for as long as he could remember. He was so overjoyed that he and Kate had reached this new relationship.

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Austin woke up feeling sticky. He looked at his arm which had stopped bleeding but was now stuck to the sheets. "Whatever." He thought as he pulled the semi-numb appendage free of its mess. He dug in his wardrobe and found a clean white t-shit which he proceeded to rip apart. After he had ripped a small square free from the shirt, he used the rest of it to wipe some of the blood free. His clothing was still blood stained but he didn't care enough to change as he left his room.

He headed to the lounge and saw a new guy, an Indian man. He ignored the man and walked up to April. He handed her the square of white fabric before turning away and walking to the dining area. He grabbed a bottle of vodka and sat in a chair. He dumped about a third of the bottle on his arm, then he took a long drink from the bottle before setting it on the table. "Now what?" He thought staring at the half empty bottle of vodka.

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet and April shared a worried look. Yuet took the square from April and started cleaning and wrapping Austin's wounds. "I study nurse. I stop you bleeding an tell Kate what to do yesterday. I can clean this, Slicy, but this must stop." She grumbled as she worked.

April simply shook her head sadly, "So, your attempt at living is cutting? Come on, Austin. You need a new hobby besides self abuse."

Aziz simply stared at the blood all over this guy, old and new blood. "Um...bad night?" He asked, half joking.

Yuet made a disappointed sound, clucking her tongue, "He no take second life serious. Keeps being...what word? Austin, you act like big penis."

April couldn't help but chuckle, "Are you trying to call him a dick?"

Yuet nodded, not getting why what she said was funny to April. "Dick penis, yes? He big walking penis, no, maybe he testes. They more sensitive."

Aziz couldn't believe his ears! He was trying not to laugh but April's barely stifled laughter wasn't helping.

"Whatever!" Said Yuet. She'd finished the bandage. "Austin, help me with website. Take your mind off troubles."

April nodded, "They're giving us a lot of leeway in how we design it. It could be fun."

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate was falling hard for David. They enjoyed each other's company, and lots more snogs in the hot tub before Kate's stomach rumbled and changed the subject for them. She was happy in David's arms but thought it might be time to get back to the others soon. "Umm, we both had no breakfast. Join me for lunch?" She suggested despite the tingles her body felt as he kissed her neck.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin gave a small chuckle as Yuet wrapped the square of fabric around his arm. He pointed to it and shoots his head. He then mimed waving a flag. He hoped that one of them would understand that it was supposed to be a white flag. He shrugged. "Doesn't matter I guess." He thought, grabbing the bottle before following the group into the lounge. He momentarily wondered where Kate was, but then quickly told himself he didn't care. "If she wants to go fuck around with the cop, let her. I don't give a fuck." He thought miserably taking a long pull from the vodka bottle. He threw himself face first onto a couch and buried his face in the cushion with a pained groan. "Fuck my life." He thought rolling onto his back and taking another drink of vodka, as he watched the group work on their new project.

 

[Othermoose]

"Of course. I'd love to." David said kissing Kate on the nose before standing and helping her out of the hot tub. They walked hand in hand to the locker room where they changed quickly facing away from each other. David was tempted to turn around and get a peek at Kate changing but he didn't want to upset her so he kept his eyes on the wall. Once they finished changing David took Kate's hand again as they made their way upstairs.

 

[slippedhalo]

Cleanbots emerged, followed by a tall, blonde woman wearing a hospital gown and looking confused and frightened. The cleanbots began cleaning all the various rooms, three were sent to Austin's room alone while the rest of the rooms were getting cleaned, one at a time, by two others, one to each side of the hall. One cleaned up the kitchen and lounge, except where people were busy...

Yuet noticed the blonde, hazel eyed, woman first and shouted out, "Are you Natalia?"

The woman nodded.

Yuet grinned, "Welcome! I saw you name on list of people coming. You Dutch or something?"

Natalia broke down in tears explaining that she had been helping run the family farm in Russia but it was failing and they were poor. She was lured to Amsterdam by an online "friend" she'd never personally met, lured with the promise of working as a cleaning maid in a hotel. Instead, when she got there, her passport was taken and locked away and she was forced to work in the strip club downstairs. It was no hotel. The upstairs rooms were part of a brothel. She was threatened with having to work to pay back her own travel costs and buy her passport back. All her earnings went to Yuri, a Russian pimp she thought had been a college student staying in Holland on a student permit. He'd lied to her to get her there. Then, he used her to work stripping and she was told if she didn't make enough stripping he'd make her work upstairs prostituting to make up the difference. She had been killed by Yuri...

April felt really bad for Natalia. Yuet offered to show her around the place but April told Yuet to go ahead and continue working the website and helping out Aziz. (The truth is April got a sense Natalia and her had more than a few things in common, such as a greater appreciation for the females than the males, and she hoped talking with her more would help her suss that out.)

Kate and David emerged from the stairway about ten minutes later. Yuet happily greeted them and announced, "Two new people today! Aziz is here and April took Natalia to find stuff to wear."

 

[slippedhalo]

Ooc: Aziz & Natalia can be written by either of us and (to readers interested in jumping in) anyone with Otter or my permission. They're NPC' s.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin watched as the clean bots entered his room and he quickly got up and ran after them, passing by a scared looking blonde woman. He ran to his room and quickly rushed to where he'd thrown the knife. After putting it in his pocket he turned to the clean bots and pointed to the door. They left his room and Austin sat on his still bloody sheets in relief. He looked around his room and noticed that about a third of the blood had been cleaned away. He didn't know why but he wanted his room to remain untouched. He debated returning to the lounge but decided against it. "It's not like they want me there anyways." He thought sullenly, pulling the knife from his pocket. He slowly spun the knife in his hand enjoying the way the blade gleamed, even through the crimson stains. Austin continued to play with the knife as he lied back on his bed. "No cutting for now." He thought as he turned on his music.

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David and Kate walked upstairs to find two new members of the group. After David introduced himself to the newcomers he went back to Kate. "How about we have a pizza? We can split it and have a little date in the dining area before we come back and meet the new people. How does that sound?" He asked Kate kissing her lightly on the lips.

 

[Othermoose]

OOC: ok. I just figured out what you meant by npcs. I'll probably let you write for them the most but I'll use them if I need to.

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate blushed, checking with a quick glance, if Yuet or Aziz had noticed the affectionate kiss but they were engrossed in a discussion and hadn't noticed. She nodded to David, "Sure, pizza could be nice. What sort do you prefer?" She asked.

 

[Othermoose]

David smiled at Kate's nervous reaction to the kiss. He couldn't help but think that her shyness was cute. She asked him what kind of pizza he wanted and he responded with a smile: "well, I've always been partial to Hawaiian pizza. Does that work for you?"

 

[slippedhalo]

Kate laughed, "I was just thinking I was in the mood for Hawaiian pizza!" She exclaimed. So, lunch for the couple had been an easy decision.

Yuet called them to her workstation once they'd finished and were simply talking softly between themselves and flirting a lot. "Guys, I forgot show you notice from Command. Look!"

Kate exchanged a baffled look with David, then made her way to where she could lean over the little woman's chair and read the screen over her shoulder. "They're going to make the first eight of us special status...And, they're going to pick four to begin "research experiments" on starting Tuesday morning." Paraphrased Kate.

Yuet asked, "This bad news?"

Kate nodded, "I think it could be."

Aziz added, "I don't like that they're socially stratifying us. We're going to have first and second class research subjects here?"

Yuet nodded, "Stupid idea. Even lucky of us are still also tested so...nobody win."

Kate added, "Earth Gov. They win. Our families already lost. They think we're dead. We lose no matter how well we test. But, Earth Gov., they continue to get their information. And, you can bet if they run through all of us too quickly there's plenty more dead people to revive and start all over again fresh."

Yuet had a point when she added, "We may not even be first time they try this Top Secret Project."

 

[Othermoose]

"Well shit." David said running his hand through his hair. "What kind of stuff do you think they'll do to us?" David began to pace nervously imagining himself and Kate strapped to tables with wires running out of them. "Maybe the kid was right the whole time. Better to go on your own terms than like a lab rat." David dismissed the thought as soon as it came to his mind. "I'm not a coward" he thought turning back to the group. "Maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, why would they bring us back if they were just going to kill us all over again? Right?" David asked anxiously.

 

[slippedhalo]

Yuet and Aziz shared a nervous look between themselves and Kate said, "Perhaps they aren't studying death. Maybe this is psychological..."

Aziz chimed in, "...or biological. Not one person on this ship is old. They also restored us to near perfect health. And, from what I've seen, nobody is grotesquely deformed...Maybe they are doing something to us, genetically."

Yuet was still thinking there might have been others when she asked, "What if they're adapting us to live someplace else. We haven't stopped moving yet. What if we going somewhere. Maybe others like us living there already."

Kate shrugged, "We can't know yet. This is all just speculation."

 

[Othermoose]

David stopped pacing and sat down on the edge of a couch. "Is there anything else? Have you guys learned anything more from the website you've been working on?" David asked still battling with the fear that was threatening to overtake him. "I hate not knowing what's going on." He said with a tired sigh.

 

[slippedhalo]

April got Natalia calmed down and acclimated to her new quarters. Nadia liked the clothes in her closet and wasn't too shy to change in front of April, which April definitely didn't mind.

Natalia explained that she'd run away and had been living on a farm in the north "In de polder", she'd explained, an area named for the indentation which left the land there looking as if it were situated inside a bowl. There were many farms in North Holland and Natalia had made a decent living as a farm hand. But, somehow, years later, Yuri had found her. He'd strangled her. "This is why I hate men. I never liked them before. I hate them now."

April shrugged, "I find some are ok. But....men aren't my thing either." She admitted, wondering if Natalia would catch her meaning.

Natalia turned and stared at her for a minute which felt like an eternity. April nearly squirmed beneath the scrutiny. Finally, Nadia smiled and winked. "Lesbian, pan, or bi?"

April shrugged, "I guess, bi but heavy on the females. I hope that doesn't bother you."

Nadia sat down beside April and shook her head, "No worries. I'm a girl's girl, myself. And, I think you're cute so...tell me now if you have a problem with me flirting with you."

April had to laugh. It was rare, being hit on so directly by a woman. "No problem. I told you because I think you're cute too."

Natalie rested her head on April's shoulder and smiled saying, "Then, maybe being undead won't be too bad."

 

[slippedhalo]

Everyone, well, all conscious seven of them, were finally convened in the same room at the same time during the evening meal. That's when Yuet informed Austin, Kate, and Natalia about the news on the website's agenda. Speculation began anew.

Kate sat beside David at the dinner table and took his hand beneath it. She was kind of scared that she was really falling for someone she may lose if these experiments were deadly ones and that thought terrified.

 

[Othermoose]

Austin watched in silence as the others ate. Even if he could've he wouldn't have spoken. They all had ordered a wide variety of foods, but as usual Austin had ordered no food. He hadn't eaten since he woke up and was tempted to have something but he didn't really want to eat. A line from a song he enjoyed popped into his head. "Slow suicide is no way to go." Austin just shrugged and took a drink from his almost empty bottle of vodka. "They won't let me do it fast." He replied to the song. Austin stood abruptly and left the table heading into the lounge. He sat on the floor in the darkest corner and finished the bottle off with one final swallow feeling more miserable than usual.

 

[slippedhalo]

April had finished early and left the other five clearing up a bit and making room for a game of UNO. She said she'd go last. Meanwhile, she took a minute to take Austin's bottle away saying, "If you surpass the daily limit they'll take you away again, bro." She sat beside him and leaned against his arm. "You should keep a journal, or write some songs. I suspect there's a lot you could express that way, especially if you stay voiceless for a long time. Have you ever written any songs before?"

 

[Othermoose]

Austin shook his head no at April's question. He'd never been very artistic, never really had the chance to be. He just sat in silence with April for a moment before he leaned his head onto her shoulder. He gently took her hand and opened it, so that her palm was facing upwards. He then traced the letters S O R R Y onto her palm, hoping she'd understand. He sat there leaning against a girl that he'd hated the day before feeling dead inside. "She probably still hates me." Austin thought, waiting for April to stand up and punch him in the face.

 

[slippedhalo]

April stayed still, letting Austin lean on her. She whispered, "I think I needed that almost as much as you...I forgive you. Just don't...make me regret thinking of you like someone I don't exactly hate, ok?" Actually, give or take about three years, he reminded her of her younger half brother, Alex. But, she thought it might not be the right time to tell Austin that yet.