detentionroom | [KIN'UN]

[You needed an escape.

For a moment– however brief, or however not– you longed to get away. Perhaps you envisioned a vacation upon sunny, beachy shores, palm trees at your back and seagulls floating in the air. Perhaps you envisioned nothing at all, and merely accepted that anywhere but here would do. Either way. . .?

You blink. . . and you wake up slouched on a school desk, arms folded with head resting between. You lift your gaze and realize that you've woken up in the middle of a classroom, seated in one of the. . . uh, very few functional desks that remain. The others have been broken into pieces, with legs and splinters of wood scattered across the floor. Deep claw marks decorate the walls, having gouged the sheetrock with jagged, violent gashes. The window curtains are closed, but they too have been torn and ripped to shreds, with holes showing a dark and unidentifiable landscape beyond the four walls which trap you.

And written on the blackboard, in large, white letters that seem to glow in the midst of the dim room lighting, is a warning]

DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR NAME.

[. . . you are not alone]

[Each and every new arrival awakens dressed in a high school-issued track uniform. The design is up to the players, but each uniform is already color-coded to match the group at large. Somewhere on your body is a new marking: a mysterious floral design shaded the same color as your track uniform. It is glowing very gently. And in your pocket you feel. . . something warm. Further investigation reveals a tiny little omamri, tucked away in your outfit, for safe keeping. Huh! What a nice gift!]

[For now, the front door to the classroom is locked. No matter how hard you try– with physical prowess or otherwise– the door cannot be opened.]

[But hey! You can poke around the area, if you'd like! Maybe get to know your new classmates. . . ? Try not to panic. For now, everything is. . . calm]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Mid-room snooping, he finds himself drawn by those noises — he supposes he should learn a bit more about the others in this room, too. Presumably, that is the ideal; and obviously, not everyone takes as well(???) to a kidnapping as he does(???).

Turns to face that desk.]

You may as well make yourself comfortable instead of hiding away. We may be here for a length of time yet.

[The figure flinches back when she sees someone address her.]

[She doesn't say anything for a few seconds.]

I don't want to be comfortable.

[Gestures in her general direction. He isn't quite sure he has the patience to try to implore someone frozen by uncertainty right now — not that this is an unreasonable reaction.]

Then perhaps you'd prefer to be useful?

[Her eyes hang on him for a second. Then they scan the room. They hang on the blackboard for a second. Then back to him.]

Useful to who.

[Scoffs. He can't help himself.]

First and foremost, to yourself, unless you prefer remaining both trapped and oblivious as to what has just happened to all of us. At the very least, explore and learn what you can.

[She wants to bite off that this happened to her, there's no us. She swallows it.]

...

...

You from London?

[Oh? Brows hiking up.]

Indeed.

[The details beyond that are, perhaps, not quite as easily divulged. But if this is a young woman who can actually pin him down from London, then...]

And you. Northern England, hm?

[Again, she hesitates for a bit before answering.]

Manchester.

Why are you this far north?

[Manchester. Where there is no want of petty crime and not-so-petty crime; yes, he's been there more than once.

Still. He hmphs! with a hint of amusement not at all suited to this situation.]

You assume much. You believe this strange, ruinous place to be in your city?

...

Was only out for a minute. Can't have taken me that far.

[She seems to be thinking about it. She sounds less confident as it comes out.]

And if I say I, too, was only "out for a minute?" This very well could be London if we're to go by that logic.

[He is. Fairly certain. This is not London. Or even Manchester.]

[She lets out a little scoff.]

This isn't London. Everything in London is all posh and fancy.

My dear girl, you have clearly not seen all the unpleasantries that London has to offer.

Still, that's neither here nor there. It has been a long time since I've been a schoolboy, but this is unlike any London classroom I've ever seen. I can tell you that much.

...

There was a fight in here.

[What kinda fights is she used to, ones done primarily with sticks of dynamite?]

[A beat; he's thinking.]

What sort of fight do you suppose it was? [The claw marks sure are a thing, but he wants her take.]

[She looks around again.]

Vulcans. At least two.

Vulcans...? [i can't believe spock did this]

[Her eyes go back to him.]

...

You're not --

[And then she shuts up, midsentence.]

I'm not what?

[Don't just leave him hanging! He continues himself, though, because he's annoying like that.]

Familiar enough with the goings-on of the Manchester criminal element to know to what or whom "Vulcans" refer to? [He probably has files somewhere back home, actually, on the city itself. He feels as though he cannot say that much.] Perhaps not. But... there is no doubt that you are, and I'd be much obliged if you told me. I am not here to judge.

[She purses her lips and furrows her brow. She looks confused. He's both....right and wrong, in a really weird way?]

You're an Empty.

I shouldn't say more.

What a thing to call a person.

[Ha! His pride might twinge if the situation weren't so absolutely insane right now.]

Fine. You mean to say that I lack something which others have, and so— [GESTURES AT THE CLAW MARKS] Perhaps that isn't too far from your truth. I could not leave those marks, for example. But a Vulcan could?

If I say I shouldn't say more, you shouldn't just immediately figure it out!

[That's probably a yes.]

[i'm sorry he's so annoying like that

Just smiles!]

To be fair, it was a simple enough conclusion to come to. Might I ask you something else?

[he's gonna anyway]

Do I have a choice?

[no]

Is this a situation you find yourself in often? If so, I would have you act with honesty, so that you might suggest a course of action for those of us otherwise swamped with confusion.

Re: [ARRIVAL MINGLING]

threadling - 2025-07-19 18:47 (UTC) - Expand

ratiocinations - 2025-07-19 18:53 (UTC) - Expand

threadling - 2025-07-19 19:07 (UTC) - Expand

ratiocinations - 2025-07-19 19:16 (UTC) - Expand

threadling - 2025-07-19 19:19 (UTC) - Expand

ratiocinations - 2025-07-19 19:29 (UTC) - Expand

threadling - 2025-07-19 19:52 (UTC) - Expand

ratiocinations - 2025-07-19 20:06 (UTC) - Expand

threadling - 2025-07-19 21:37 (UTC) - Expand

ratiocinations - 2025-07-19 21:43 (UTC) - Expand