Welcome to the Program

[airlockedmods]

Good Morning, Champions. In the interest of maintaining healthy sleep patterns, a day/night cycle is in effect. Your presence is expected in the cafeteria in exactly one hour.

[The voice comes through not a large speaker, but through the device that's attached to each Champion's arm. Further investigation of the features of the device will reveal a list of profiles, a mini-map, and a list of rules. The hallways are shiny white and silver, with running lights along the floor and lights on the ceiling, and at the junction of the hallways is a sign with a knife and fork icon and an arrow pointing down the hall.

Welcome to the Excellence Program, Champions. Time to get to know your teammates.]

Comments

[in4apounding]

[Penny yes]

Yes!

[And we're back to being a little too enthusiastic.]

I was in a car with my father. He'd come to pick me up after a- um. An incident. ...he wasn't very happy with me, I think.

[stillstands]

[Oh. That's a very mundane memory... and yet here she is?]

And then suddenly you were waking up here?

[in4apounding]

[Yes, very mundane, involving exactly zero terrorists or exploding cargo containers.]

Uh-huh. My clothes and my weapons are all gone, and this-

[Holding up the PIP.]

-was here. What about you?

[stillstands]

[Good to know, Penny. Good to know.]

My clothes are gone, but... [Miki frowns.]

I was... at school. [IT'S NOT A LIE...] Speaking with classmates, and that's the last thing I remember.

[in4apounding]

So there were other people around? ...That would make kidnapping very difficult, wouldn't it?

[stillstands]

I could say the same about you being the car with your dad. There were only ... four of us in the clubroom, so it could be possible...

[And then a truly chilling thought hits her. It'd be very possible if the kidnappers took all of them. She was certain no other members of the club were here with her, but what if they'd been taken elsewhere? What if they were trapped somewhere like her?

Kurumi... Kurumi would probably be okay. She was fast, and could handle physical confrontations well. But Yuuri and Yuki....? They were entirely capable in their own ways, but they all relied on Kurumi to keep the zombies at bay. Miki had some experience surviving alone but... as far as she knew, the others had always had each other since the outbreak. Would they cope alright....?

... she's lookin' a little pale over here.]

[in4apounding]

Yes, it would be exceptionally difficult to make any kind of surprise attack on a moving vehicle- maybe if they used an explosive attack, but I'm certain there would be physical signs if that were the case.

[Even she would be pretty banged up. And- okay, yeah, lookin' pale there Miki.]

...are you well?

[stillstands]

[Give her a moment, she's trying not to panic.]

-- You don't... [Come on, just get it out there.] You don't think the kidnappings were possible because they just... kidnapped everyone? Do you?

[in4apounding]

What- no, they couldn't have!

[d i s t r e s s]

I wouldn't have just let someone take my father!

[stillstands]

[d o u b l e d i s t r e s s]

I wouldn't just let someone take my club mates either?? But you said yourself -- how did they manage to kidnap me out of a room with other people in--?

[Unless the other people were targeted as well...]

[in4apounding]

But if they were taken they'd be here, right?

[distress i n t e n s i f i e s]

That- if you were all attacked they must have escaped!

[stillstands]

I--

[Maybe? Maybe not? But...]

There's... no where to run, at my school. If their goal was kidnapping people, then there would be nowhere for us to escape to. [They would've been found and caught eventually - only the top floor was truly safe, they wouldn't go any lower, she doesn't think. Not if it meant avoiding zombies AND would-be kidnappers...]

[in4apounding]

Oh no, that's-

[And here's the point where all this distress flips into a tiny spark of anger at the people behind this.]

That's AWFUL. I'm- if your friends are here, or anywhere like this, I PROMISE I'll do my best as a Huntress to get them back. ...Huntress in training.

[stillstands]

[...

... ... that...! Was a sudden change...?]

Oh, uh--

[That's nice of her? If a little out of the blue.]

-- What's a huntress?

[in4apounding]

[And. Deflating, just a little. Or at least looking confused.]

You've never heard of the Huntsmen and Huntresses? The people that fight the Grimm? ...I mean, I'm still just in training, but it's still my duty to help protect people if I can.

[stillstands]

[Huntress? Grimm??]

No, neither of those things. We don't have anything like that where I'm from.

[Unless... it's something like the Special Assault Team they have in the police force?]

[in4apounding]

You live somewhere without the Grimm?

[What. That would be amazing, but what.]

Um. Giant, soulless monsters? They're drawn to negative emotions and attack people on instinct?

[stillstands]

Not... exactly like that, no. And nothing called Grimm.

[Creatures drawn to negative emotion sound... seriously terrifying. Suppressing neglective feelings is near impossible - and it seems far too much to even think about doing long term, meaning you're always a target.]

If you have whole organisations devoted to flying them then it must be serious.

[in4apounding]

They're the worst threat to humanity's existence on Remnant.

[So. Pretty serious, yeah.]

The kingdoms' defenses keep them safe, but anywhere outside them...

so guess which tag i was falling asleep while finishing yesterday -- *fighting, not flying.

[stillstands]

...

... ... Remnant? [Wha.] Not Earth?

[SHE MIGHT'VE FOUND THE POINT OF CONFUSION, PENNY...]

I mean in the manga Penny can fly so it still works

[in4apounding]

...What's an Earth.

[Give the girl a prize, she got it.]

... i forget it's got a manga now.

[stillstands]

[Your prize is someone dies on Friday.]

Earth is where I live.

[Aka, not Remnant.]

[in4apounding]

You mean it's another world?

[She gives this a moment of consideration.]

That would CERTAINLY explain the lack of Grimm. ...You look human, though. Are you human?

[stillstands]

Maybe? I don't know Remnant, and you don't know Earth. It's safe to say we're from two different places entirely.

[Considering thoughts all around.]

-- Um, yes. I'm human. [s Q U I N T ]

Are you?

[Unintentional million-dollar question there, Miki.]

[in4apounding]

Yes? [hic] Definitely. [hic]

Why wouldn't I be?