interstellar5555 | Locked in a Room

Entry tags:

Locked in a Room

Who: Everyone stuck in Pride HQ
What: This load of crap.
When: Nov. 1-5
Where Pride HQ
Warnings: Pg-13 minimum because Carnies. Tag if it gets over that.

Everyone got the same call-- and now we're all stuck in HQ with no hint of release in sight.

The reason? No one knows.

How are you coping?

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[Sleeping pills really did fall into the same category, but those weren't working too well for Koumei either...]

...So how is all this crap treating you? You're lucky enough to have a level head here.

[His eyes turn away from Koumei. He's not good at hiding it.]

...I don't know so much about that. I've had a lot to think about since this whole lockdown started.

[Since it was clear that no one was Fine and Okay right about now in Pride HQ.]

Things that seem familiar but shouldn't be? [He ventured, picking his words delicately and precisely.] Things that you realistically shouldn't know anything about?

...Yeah...

[His eyebrows raise. That's got his attention, for sure.]

How the hell do you know about that...?

Wild guess.

[He shrugged. He had seen Garnet lost in the haze of her own dreams, and spoken with Yan about his. It seemed like a rational conclusion to come to.]

Because the same thing's been happening to you too.

[It's not an accusation, but rather an addition to Koumei's statement. Yosuke's eyes intensify.]

[Koumei matched the intensity of Yosuke's gaze, eyes glinting like those of someone who excelled at strategy games...or something bigger.]

And to you, [he replied, not even bothering to ask. They both knew it to be true.]

[Well, it's time to come clean now. He breathes out heavily, letting his shoulders fall.]

What do you think about all this? If both of us and more are having the same thing happen to us...

[He lets his voice trail off. It's so weird.]

What I think of it doesn't matter, one way or the other.

[He shrugged. The full nature of his dreams wasn't something that he wanted to divulge so quickly-- a twisted knot in his gut told him to stay quiet, for reasons he didn't quite understand yet.]

At first I thought we were being drugged, but the effects of most hallucinogens wear off in a few hours. Unless someone is routinely spiking our food, there might be something more organic going around here.

Organic? Like what?

[He tries to think about that. There's a lot of things that it could be. But it doesn't make sense.]

A virus or something? What kind of virus would do that?

An illness-- or something else that they're not telling us.

[He had been conversing with a cohort in Virgo, who relayed that he had been told of having a medical condition in connection with the strange symptoms. It was worrisome.]

They? Are you talking about our label? That doesn't make any sense.

[His programming refuses to let him believe that Pride would have anything to do with it. He can't even logically see how they would be involved, right now.]

....Tell me, Yosuke. Has anyone from Flashstep gone missing for a while this week?

[Koumei didn't want to question it either, but there were too many patterns syncing up in his mind. Questioning was inevitable, even if he didn't want to believe it himself.]

...Yeah.

[That thought sobers him up.]

Sora did. They took him somewhere and I don't know where. I just figured they had to talk to him about something, but he hasn't come back yet...

They took Terry from my band, and Xanxus seems to be missing too.

[He sighed, uncomfortable with the strange weight on his shoulders that he was feeling in light of all of this. It felt like he should be able to find the answer much faster than this...]

That's why I'm concerned. No one's given us word of what's happening.

You think that maybe they were taken because they found out that people were getting sick or something? You know, to make sure that they were okay. I mean, everyone is really shaken up about it when you think about it.

[He's not sure how else to phrase it. Were they really sick? Who could tell right now.]

.....I can't really answer that because of how little information we have, [Koumei confessed uneasily.] But it is reasonable to suspect as much. Everyone is on edge-- you can cut the tension in the building with a knife.

We can't really assume anything until they get back, though. They might be able to tell us a few things once they do.

Yeah. Maybe I'll drill Sora about it when he comes back to see what the deal is. Maybe we can start putting the pieces together after that...

[He thinks. That's the only thing they could do right now, right?]

If you find something out, you should tell me. I'll see what I can find out too.

[A nod.]

All right-- and the same applies to you, so long as you can keep things quiet. We don't want too many people becoming alarmed because of everything that's happening.

[The words felt strangely like an order, even to his ears. Never being one to take the spotlight or center stage, such a notion felt strange to him.

...And strangely similar to the militant nature of his odd dreams.]

No offense or anything, but if this is happening to a lot of people, I'd say there's already enough people alarmed.

[But he's just being himself. He sighs- this entire situation is confusing. It's annoying because he doesn't understand what's going on, but they've got to figure it out. Somehow.]

But okay, I'll keep things quiet on my end. Let's do what we can for now. Hopefully more clues will turn up.

None taken. I've just found that the best way to keep people from panicking is acting like there's nothing wrong.

[Because the words 'don't panic' on their own has a known correlation with inciting panic within the population, and the last thing they all need is to be soothing people's worried minds with pointless little white lies.]

I'm sure more clues will turn up. One of my contacts in this investigation is also missing-- and I await to hear what they'll say when they turn up again.

[There was no need to give the details about the nature of the collaboration-- that would just unnecessarily muddle the picture, and perhaps tip his own hand too early.]

[He personally can't wait for Sora to return so he can get some information out of him. He nods to Koumei on that point.]

Don't stress yourself out so much over this that you end up giving yourself lung cancer, okay?

[He's just reminding Koumei, though Yosuke could probably take his own advice about stressing out.]

The better thing to say would be 'try to get some sleep.'

[He yawned then, as if to punctuate those words.]

But you take care too. Stress will only cloud our mind and affect our performance.

[After all, the show must always go on.]

Yeah, I guess you're right. Oh, you ready for the flashmob event we're putting on? I think that's supposed to be happening soon.

[Now that he thinks about performing and sleeping well enough not to bomb it on stage.]

Yosuke.

[A beat.]

I'm the pianist for Cosmic Indulgence. I'm always ready to hit the keys.

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punchesyu - 2015-11-17 06:01 (UTC) - Expand

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