Welcome To Your Life (Jailbreak Mingle)

[midpointmods]

You find yourself in jail. An old-fashioned, dusty jail: three cells wide, six foot to a side and below ground level, judging from the tiny barred window half a foot from the ceiling, that looks out onto a flat expanse. Shimmering heat waves are already starting to form, the sun already burning hot, but your cell is comfortably cool and dry.

And empty. The only things in your cell are a sturdy plank bench, chained to the wall like a hammock, a solid-looking pillow and a hairy blanket sitting thereon. Any items you might have had on your person are sitting on the wall opposite your cell, nearly four feet away from the iron bars holding you: propped up on wooden shelves, hanging from thick metal hooks, or sitting on the floor if the item is particularly large.

Outside the occasional jangle of leather and metal, and the occasional chuffing breigh suggests that there must be horses outside, but otherwise the area is silent. Before too long, though, there's the sound of footsteps and jangling keys echoing from upstairs, getting louder and clearer as someone makes their way down to you...

I. Sooey Jail

The view from the windows drops off quite suddenly, about a mile past the bare scrubland bushes and occasional screeching roadrunner. In the distance, a plume of smoke is the only sign of a freight train rushing along its tracks, until the faint echo of its whistle hits the ear. While Inara Serra will likely be entirely unimpressed by the lacking cell, Daylight vis Lornlit will find it's far too small for him. Bucky Barnes is near silent as he dismounts outside.

II. Southern Point

The walls of the cells here are distinctly discoloured to nearly five feet high, an ugly brown with black mold growing in the cracks around the benches and corners of the room. The air is musty and damp, in sharp contrast to the hot, dry wind that blows in through the windows. Quicksword Irene will find her ever-present claymore on the wrong side of the bars, but Hajime Aikawa has company behind his - Ryo has come along, too. The sound of Fuwa tying his horse up is interrupted by a sharp yelp of annoyance.

III. Mountain Hole

The windows are cast in shade in these morning hours, which makes the cells distinctly cooler than the glimpses of clear blue sky and rolling heat waves suggest. Fully grown trees with needle-like leaves are visible outside, and the keen might just hear the echo of a chugging train. Taako will no doubt find the scene familiar; Yoda as well, if less sandy than some oft complained about; Jiro Azuma is undoubtedly the most confused here. Rocket and Groot can be heard outside, approaching and bickering.

IV. Dead Man's Doorstep

The higher the sun rises, the warmer it gets in the cells; even before midday it's unspeakably stuffy, and the hot breeze carries light waves of sand into the cells. The sound of ropes creaking, gentle and intermittent, under the strain of something heavy echoes through the cells, adding a disconcerting background noise to the already alarming context. Jo Harvelle will find sand in her hair; Sara Lance finds it everywhere else. Outside, Misty Day and Sam Wilson tie their horses together, and brace for their new teammates.

Comments

[givemyrightarm]

"What kinds of people?" After all, warriors aren't allowed to kill a human; that had been why she and the others had been sent after Teresa, before everything had gone to hell.

Then again, Irene isn't with the Organization anymore.

[ragingwolf]

"Humans, mostly," he admits, and he doesn't seem particularly pleased with having to say it. "There's other people here who aren't, but for the most part it's humans. You'll likely have to kill anyone on the team opposing us."

[givemyrightarm]

They should not have taken her, then. "And the penalties for doing so?"

[ragingwolf]

"None, funnily enough. The people in charge here, the Game Makers," he says with intense disdain, "want us to kill each other. Say it makes for good entertainment. It's only if you start killing your team-mates that you get in trouble."

He shrugs one shoulder. "They always come back in a few days anyway, so it's not like dying is permanent. It just hurts."

[givemyrightarm]

"...Entertainment."

[ragingwolf]

"Yeah. Make a big show out of killing each other, or performing these stupid jobs, to make people like us. Get us some extra points so we can try and buy our freedom."

[givemyrightarm]

"What kinds of entities are these 'Game Makers'?"

[ragingwolf]

"Who knows," he sighs, lifting the ring of keys in his hand to go through them for the right one. "It's not like they ever directly involve themselves in all this. They just kidnap us, film us and hand out the jobs."

[givemyrightarm]

"Film?" That's an unfamiliar term.

[ragingwolf]

"Moving pictures," he explains. Clearly he has experience doing so. "Someone's set up a lot of eyes around that watch us and show the Game Makers what we're doing as it happens. That means they know who to reward and punish."

[givemyrightarm]

"Convenient." The Organization hadn't had that; they'd had warriors serve as their 'Eyes,' specialists in detecting and reading the yoma energy of yoma, Awakened Beings... or other warriors. There's a reason Irene hadn't dared to use any of her own yoma energy after she'd deserted...

"Is there a purpose to any of this beyond entertainment?"

[ragingwolf]

"We're fairly sure that's the sole purpose of all this." There's no hiding the ugly bitterness in his tone when he says that. "And I plan on destroying the damn Game Makers who set this up."

[givemyrightarm]

"How are their defenses?"

[ragingwolf]

"We can't leave the arena, and they're not inside it. That's about the best defense anyone could get."

[givemyrightarm]

"There's no way to leave?"

[ragingwolf]

"You could try dying," he offers dryly, as with a rusty clack the door unlocks, and he pulls it open. "It's rare, but sometimes people don't come back."

[givemyrightarm]

"And there's no explanation for this from the Game Makers." It's not a question, not really; after all, the more information they're allowed, the more dangerous to the Game Makers they might be.

[ragingwolf]

"Maybe they get sick of them, or they start being more trouble than they're worth." He shrugs, stepping back to put the keys back inside his jacket. "The only info we get from them is who's leading the teams, where they're picking the fresh meat up from, and what we're doing this round."

[givemyrightarm]

She really wishes fresh meat didn't still make her think of Priscilla even after all these years. "What are we supposed to be doing this round?"

[ragingwolf]

"Protecting someone from being kidnapped," he says flatly. "A young woman. There's more information upstairs - blueprints, her schedule. We'll be expected to kill anyone who tries to take her, preferably without a fuss or upsetting her."

[givemyrightarm]

Given the three of them (or four, she supposes, what with the talking insect creature), Irene suspects that there will definitely be a fuss and the girl will definitely end up upset. "I assume there's a known threat of that right now?"