midpointsaloon | Welcome To Your Life (Jailbreak Mingle)

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Welcome To Your Life (Jailbreak Mingle)

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Okay, not good. Waking up in an unknown place is never desirable, but waking up in an unknown cell so soon after hiring an assassin to take out a popular public figure is certainly suggestive of a few things that Inara doesn't particularly care for.

She's wearing the plain sundress she arrived in, which is in itself strange since she's clearly been searched and her hidden knife, as well as all of her hairpins, have been removed. Don't prisons typically have uniforms? Maybe jails are different. She's never really had to know this sort of thing. There's a large... thing in another of the cells, but she can't tell from here what it is. It looks like a big pile of brightly coloured scrap metal.

She would sit, but the blanket honestly looks like she might catch a disease if she touches it, so she stands at the centre of the cell, trying to seem calm about all of this.]

Hello? Is anyone there?

[There is in fact someone there. Soldat doesn't shout back down, though: they give their horse a little pat, sigh to themselves, and pace into the room above the jail to find the keys. There's footsteps, an odd gait that's heavier on the left side, carefully loud enough to make enough noise for the people below to hear them. They pause just inside, as Soldat flips open the folder of intel for a glance, then continue.

Then there's the metallic clatter of something that could conceivably be large iron keys on a ring.]

[The silence coupled with the obvious footsteps is perhaps not as comforting as it's meant to be. Many of Inara’s old clients (as well as her current lover) had been prisoners in the war, and she's heard enough to know how this sort of thing works. Whoever is up there wants to build up anticipation before stomping down the stairs to jab her with a cattle prod.

She doesn't want to seem overly affected or jittery and she's already called out once, so Inara just waits.]

[Finally the owner of the footsteps comes down, holding the guessed-at key ring. It's a broad, long-haired man in dusty jeans, combat boots, and a cowboy hat-- with a metal arm. There's a rifle slung over one shoulder.

They meet Inara's eyes briefly before focusing down on the lock to her cell. Just a fleeting moment of eye contact, that's all they ever really do, anyway. They haven't even looked in the other cell yet.]

I'll let you out. Sorry about all this.

[The wall of aloofness that Inara had created to defend herself dissolves almost immediately. There's not a single thing about this man that's what she'd expected in this situation in looks, words or actions. She takes a step backward.]

Why?

[Still looking at the lock, as they flip through the keys to find the right one-- they know, after all this time, which keys go to which locks in each of the jails-- they roll their shoulders a little in an almost shrug.]

Because you just got roped into a terrible situation. And you were clearly afraid.

[And they're gonna have more bad news for her, over the next half hour or so. Once they get the next cell open, too.]

[Oh, that's irritating.]

I'm not afraid of you.

[Inara could believe that she’d been brought to some kind of off the books prison far from the city, but this person does not look like a prison guard. There's something about the way he moves, and the way he only briefly met her eyes, that reminds her of River. Not the safest situation to be in right now.]

Why are you here?

That's good. Because you're on my team this round.

[Though next round, she might not be so lucky, and being a little afraid might be a good idea. The comparison to River probably isn't that far off: fucking with people's brains to make them better killers appears to be a universal theme.]

I'm here to let you out and explain the situation. Get you to town. So we can start the mission.

[They unlock the cell door, then pull it open with a creak.]

[She doesn't move.]

If we’re on the same team, why aren't you in a cell, too?

I'm not new. Only new people get to start off in cells. Or people who died in the last round.

[Soldat steps back pointedly, giving her space, expression calmly neutral beneath the hat.]

I've been here for years.

[It’s the mention of dying that stops her up short - the situation with Salvation had been different, a rescue even, but Kaylee had told her a bit about what had happened to her and Luke in Mayfield. She's definitely not back in Alliance space, but she might not be on Verdana anymore, either.

She's still trying to hide her fear, but Soldat can likely see the tension she can't keep out of her limbs.]

What sort of mission is worth dying for in this place?

None of them. But it happens, anyway. Better to die clean than get punished for not cooperating.

[Yeah, they can tell she's tense. It's not hard to believe, anyway: this is a scary situation she just got dropped in. And Soldat doesn't normally do this very well, anyway. They haven't had to do a new person besides Sam in at least a year.]

The missions are anything from rob a bank to blow up a train, to stopping those things from happening. We're set against another team each time.

Blow up a train-

[Inara almost laughs in disbelief. Somehow, though, that isn't the most pressing question.]

Set against each other by whom? Why?

I.

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