cityship: (Default)
cityship ([personal profile] cityship) wrote in [community profile] trans_92010-10-02 02:01 pm

Podpop

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. Tag each other in groups of 2's, 3's, and 4's, to get some interaction to start with. If a thread doesn't already have 2 or 3 people tagged in, tag it with your character's podpop popping near the other people, rather than making a new subthread. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging.]


||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounds out to all the podmates through the ship.

In the Pod Caverns, there are the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There is condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slide out onto the floors, covered in slime.

--


There was nothing. You were going about your normal life, then there was a bright light, and then? Nothing.

Then the world lurches.

The chamber here is humid.

Actually, "chamber" isn't quite accurate. You're in a cavern, half-lit by an eerie greenish light, going on and on as far as the eye can see. The light is coming from what can only be described as pods, glistening, round greenish-yellow things, glowing with a pale inner light, outlining human -- and not quite human -- forms. Each is rooted to the floor, to the walls, with something black, twisted, and unidentifiable.

They line the walls of the cavern, go up in maddeningly high columns, curling and corkscrewing up into the darkness, until the light from them is like that of the stars, glowing pale and mournful in clusters in the darkness above. Twisted walkways and stairs crisscross, traverse the platforms in front of the pods, wending their way back and forth, up and down through the chamber.

You just came from one of those pods, broke free like a butterfly from a (slimy, nasty) chrysalis.

Now you stand alone but not quite alone, naked, not knowing how you got there, who took you, or why you were taken.

As your body heats up again, you realize the air is warm -- just a few degrees too warm to be comfortable -- and muggy; it smells acrid and organic, like freshly spilt blood and sweat. Your mouth tastes of salt.

The floors are pulsing under your feet, throbbing...

Wherever you are, this entire place...is alive.

Oh, and also you're naked and covered in alien snot.

When you call out, ask where you are, a voice speaks to you, in your head. She tells you:

||You are here.||


When you ask who she is, she tells you that her name is STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT, but that you may call her Stacy. When she tells you who she is, there is a gush of emotion, love, maternal warmth. You are on a ship. She is that ship. Her name is Stacy and she loves you. Her voice is warm and motherly, even if these messages sound almost automated.

Glowing phosphorescent lights appear in pustules along the floor. They lead you up a massive spiraling walkway that gives you a view of what are possibly millions in stasis. At the top is a room with moving vines that clean you and clothe you in a plant-like body-suit--soft, but durable. After that, the lights lead you to a great cavernous room with a clear floor that lets you see all the holes and tunnels in the walls of it. When you reach the center, the last thing she tells you before whisking you away to gather your belongings and meet the rest of the crew is this reassuring thought:

||You have been Chosen to accomplish a Great Purpose. You have been Chosen to help fight the Ohm, a race of insectoid beings that are the destroyers of worlds.||

||You have been Chosen as champions of life, as protectors of the worlds and peoples that are left. The others are waiting for you. They will explain everything.||


She will tell you nothing more. Your answers lie with these "others" she speaks of.

[identity profile] hatesyourmom.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Keith… at the bottom of the box, there was hope.

Terra shook around them one more time, then disappeared in a flash of light.

*

He was in another high-vaulted room, but it wasn’t Grand Mother’s chamber. The maze of headstones and angry red lights had been replaced by soft green luminescence and moist heat and twisted bubbles embracing still humanoid forms. He shouldn’t have been here – he shouldn’t have been anywhere – but he was… he was…

||You are here.||

Someone was there… not any of the Mu he’d known, or the psionic pressure of the Terras Numbers. It was adoring, comforting. Something about it whispered mother -- short black hair, a starched white apron, a small smile. But the pressure wasn’t a human woman, it came from all around, from the cavern… no, from the ship. He listened, feeling as confused as he had the first time anyone had ever spoken directly into his mind. He called out to it (Stacy, Stacy, I lived and died for that planet, why did you take me away?), but the voice stopped.

He turned his eyes upward, following the criss-crossing network of walkways. He had to find her. He had too many questions to gawk at his surroundings. He closed his eyes and pulled his thoughts together, then vanished in a flicker of blue.

[identity profile] veryshinyknight.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Maker--what IS this?"

Besides creepy, of course, but Alistair wasn't about to say that out loud. Stacy might get mad at him, and this was bad enough, really. And he didn't really want to think about motherly qualities. He'd never known his mother. And Arl Eamonn's wife was the least motherly person he could think of.

"I'm not supposed to be here, don't you know? The Blight--the Darkspawn! What about Ferelden?"

Wait--had this Stacy said something about destroyers of worlds? That wasn't right either. That was--that was worse than swooping.

Alistair might even be happy to see Morrigan, right about now.

That just proved how desperate he really was.

He sat down, looking very much like a kicked puppy.

[identity profile] father-of-101.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
When James landed on the floor, naked and covered in slime, he had no idea what to think.

Wasn't he dead? This couldn't be what heaven looked like, could it? He had always assumed it would be an existence unlike anything he had experienced- although this was certainly something new. He looked around and saw that he was not alone. There were others, also unclothed, looking similarly confused. What was this? Hell? Purgatory. This certainly wasn't the Enclave's doing, or anyone else's on his world. The technology involved- no one had this kind of technology on earth. It was impossible. After 200 years they were only starting to regain the lost knowledge. Undertaking a project of this kind wouldn't be possible for another 50 years, at LEAST.

No, this had to all be some kind of vivid hallucination produced by his misfiring brain as his body shut down. He was dying. There was no way around that. He only hoped that his daughter and Madison had enough time to escape. His daughter was grown. She could handle herself. She had to. She couldn't die.

He rose to his feet, deciding to play along with whatever his dying mind concocted.

||You have been chosen for a great purpose.||

Was he really that self-centered? "Excuse me, Stacy, what purpose is that exactly?" But she repeated that he was to meet the crew. No doubt they would be figures from his past. His parents, his childhood friends, colleagues, Catherine...

Well, there was literally no time like the present for exploring his mind. "Lead the way."

[identity profile] for-magic.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'm fairly certain I didn't cause this," Aibghalien muttered to himself as he brushed goo from him. "For a CHANGE!" he snapped at the ceiling in postscript.

The elf looked down over himself with a frown. Naked, lacking his gear, and covered in goo. Quite honestly, he did not approve in the slightest.

But the power of the arcane still pulsed in his blood, and dozens of spells still sat in the back of his head. He'd be in trouble if he didn't find his spellbooks quickly, but until he verified otherwise, he'd best to assume a hostile environment.

A few spoken words, a few arcane passes, and the wizard's feet lifted from the ground.

[identity profile] memory-hax.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Phillip opened his eyes to the nudging of a Fang Memory nuzzling his face.

Blinking his eyes, the little memory ran away into the depths of the ship as Phillip pulled slime from his hair. "This is a unique experience," remarked Phillip more to himself as he shook himself like a dog, spraying slime everywhere. It was a unique experience, one for the history books at least.

Gazing around the humid organic area, he touched his chin in thought. "How interesting."

[identity profile] silverytongue.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
It felt like Namira had been shaken up and tossed unceremoniously to the ground when her pod burst open. She coughed up the sticky, phlegmy fluid from her lungs and sucked in a chestful of air. In her head, a woman’s pleasant voice assured her of her Purpose and how she’d been Chosen.

Namira wasn’t so sure about that. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and stood up slowly, still coughing. The humid air irritated her lungs, and Namira felt an awfully cold chill race up her spine as she looked up and up into the recesses of the pod cavern. Was she dead? Was this some sort of special hell for mages, as the Chantry always suggested there would be? Namira didn’t sense darkspawn, so there was a good chance this wasn’t some sort of strange, abnormal (even for them) place where she’d be slow-roasted before they swarmed her. Clearly, then, she must have expired upon the field, somewhere in the Deep Roads. Oh, goody.

From somewhere down the cavern, there was a howl and a loud, joyous bark. As Namira tried to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from, Hakkar came careening from the darkness.

“Hakkar! Am I ever glad to see you,” Namira cooed to the dog, scratching behind his short ears as his stubby tail wagged violently. He barked again, and licked her face. “Have you seen the others? Alistair? Leliana?”

The dog lowered his head and whimpered. Drawing her brows together, Namira straightened up. “Well, we’re not going to find any answers standing around here, are we? Come along, Hakkar, let’s go.”

[identity profile] boulderkiller.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Chris' first thought when he hit the floor was Wesker.

It took another few seconds of recollection for him to regain his wits. That wasn't possible. Wesker was dead. Though that didn't mean there was nobody else who would stoop to the level of shoving a human being into a jar for experiments.

Though if the voice overhead meant anything, maybe that wasn't the case at all.

He muttered a little bit under his breath, pushing himself up and looking around at the others like him, falling naked out of nasty-looking egg-shaped pods in the wall.

"Great." He wiped the slimy hair out of his eyes. "Just when I was starting to think about taking a vacation."

[identity profile] shortaneye.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
A silver-haired girl is slowly pushing herself up to her knees, trying to shake off the remaining drowsiness from her extended sleep. For a split second, she opens both eyes, and one might glimpse an empty socket where her right eye should be, but the lid quickly closes, and she rubs her remaining eye to get any of the strange goop out of it. If she was bothered at all by her nakedness, she sure wasn't showing it.

"Strange..." This... certainly wasn't anywhere on Mid-Childa.
windyellow: (Confused)

[personal profile] windyellow 2010-10-02 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
The first thought that went through Dustin mind when he came to was Lothor. The other was that of his students and his friends. If this wasn't a trap, was Lothor behind this or was Mesogog back? Those were the only people who came to mind to him. It took him a few minutes to realize he didn't have his clothes on.

"Uh, dude? Can I have my clothes back, please?"
a_mere_human: (Angel's Advent)

[personal profile] a_mere_human 2010-10-02 07:02 pm (UTC)(link)
This was new. Not the voices in his head, he had gotten used to that, thanks to the 00's Trans-Am system, but the waking up naked in slime part was new.

But this new voice, claiming that he was chosen for a great purpose. Some new destiny for him. Alright then, let's see where this destiny leads him.

[identity profile] nodamsel.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
The first thing she was aware of was the frantic howling of her dog. Nothing particularly new, Boulder never shut up, even when they were at camp. There was always something to bark at, and bark he did. But the new parts came quickly after the distant barking. She was dumped from a disgusting liquid-filled sack onto a fleshy floor. Gasping for breath she pulled herself up to her elbows, squinting through the goo covering her face. A moment later there was a friendly large tongue, lapping the stuff up without trepidation, and she reached out taking a hold of her dog's neck the second she could see, pulling herself up.

This place was not Denerim. She hesitated, one hand resting on Boulder still to keep him at her side, the strangeness of her surroundings swarming into her senses. She could tell there were others around her, and she looked at the sacs, all this extremely foreign to her eyes, but... part of her was recalling.

The journey into the Deep. Flesh bags hanging off walls, the same in the Circle after the abominations ran rampant. She could not feel any darkspawn near, but that did not always mean they weren't present. It was then, she realized she was completely bare, no weapons, and no armor. She inhaled sharply, and Boulder let out a low whine at her side, sensing his mistress's sudden mood shift.

"Easy, boy," she murmured softly, rubbing a slimy hand over his equally slimy fur, and looking around, her jaw set. This hallway was hardly defensible, and she took a slow breath, before starting forward. "On guard. We are not alone," she murmured under her breath, the warhound shifting from playful pup to on the hunt easily, moving forward with his ears flat and keeping ahead of his unarmed mistress.

"Show yourself, creature! And maybe I'll call my hound off before he separates you from your throat!" She could hardly say she expected to be answered within her mind.

[identity profile] fluffyapartheid.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
A little red creature with many legs, not much bigger then a short dog, slipped out of a pod and landed on the floor. She slowly opened her eyes and rolled to her feet. For a moment, she was calm, having not quite comprehended the situation yet. Then, panic started to edge into her thoughts, her fur standing on end. She did not recognize this place. Had she been captured?

||You have been Chosen to accomplish a Great Purpose.||

She listened to the voice speaking, but it did little to calm her. But she had few options, and for now, she decided it would be best to listen to the voice. Still, she would look for answers.

[identity profile] icanhashat.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Jayne was confused.

Jayne was covered in slime.

Jayne was naked.

Only two out of three of these things did not bother Jayne so as he balled his fists and tensed up for an attack his mind raced to try and put all the pieces back together.

Alright I was in my bunk...drinking...and then...

Nothing. This was not unusual for Jayne either after all he did like to indulge till he could indulge no more.

There were people around him, all of them looking as disgusting and confused as he was and...oh hey womenfolk. Well shame and modesty had never been Jayne's strong suits either.

As thing settled down he muttered ambiguously, "Gorram it not again..."

[identity profile] hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Mindy Macready was used to situations that weren't going her way having a start and ending point. She can recall choices that were made that brought her to the situations that caused immediate reactions. For instance, she became Hitgirl, she fights for her life. She chose to fight against Frank D'Amico, and she couldn't just beat them up: she killed them. She chose to trust Kick ass: she loses her father.

Nowhere did it compute she attends her first day of school, then she's zipped onto a strange place, shoved into a pod of alien slime. She could hardly breathe, and she wasn't even sure where she was, so there was only one thing to do in this situation.

She broke from the pod with a fury hardly known to be possessed by ten year old girls, her eyes wild with fear and bewilderment. This was definitely too much and she wasn't sure where to turn. How could anyone get to her without her knowing? She would have known if she were being sought after, her senses hadn't gotten that dull! Her face moved from right to left, and that was enough time to realize that she was far, FAR from anything that she knew in her world.

And then Stacy, THE SHIP, started talking to her.

"No fucking way," she said shaking her head. "This sounds like something out of a geeks wet dream. A CRAPPY wet dream. What, I'm just supposed to believe I was brought here because I'm so awesome I was spared to be in some kind of save the universe scenario? I mean I'm only ten! What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Unless this Stacy knew who she was? And even if she did, she could kick some ass, yeah, but alien ass? that was a whole different story. The idea of being gone from her world was a kick in the stomach enough. She was supposed to be starting over, acting like a regular girl and all of that. She'd done what she needed to do as hit girl, and it hadn't come without a price: daddy was gone. So now she was here, only days after all of that, trying to sell her some cock and bull story about aliens that obliterated worlds. This was just insanity.

But she'd play it cool for now. She did not like the atmosphere of this pod place and she really didn't like being naked. She'd have to get more concrete answers before she could figure out what was what.

[identity profile] hellraiser02.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"Euuugh..."

Duo ran a slime-covered hand through thoroughly slime-soaked hair with a grimace. Didn't these organic world-saving ship guys know what a pain it was to get alien snot out of long hair!? The least they coulda done was keep it braided for him, but apparently they really wanted their naked pod people kept 'au naturale'.

With an expression of pure irritation, he flings the newest glob of slime away, glancing around at his new surroundings. It sure isn't the trash barge the Gundams had been about to take off from, though the humidity within is similar. Did that mean Quatre and Trowa were still in Earth's orbit, or...?

And speaking of--

"Crap--"

Duo leaps out of the pod on an impulse, eyes sharpened as he realized-- Where was his Gundam!?

[identity profile] carrieswar.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
It was the strangest feeling ever; being in the middle of such an important task, one that entailed enough loss and suffering on its own. Darkness-- and suddenly Jr. was awake in a dimly lit hallway covered in who knew what. This wasn't where he just was ... and where was everyone else? Shion, chaos, MOMO, Ziggy ... bringing a hand up to wipe at and clear his eyesight, he looked around. That was when he felt the presence - not the others around him, but an all-encompassing one. And then he heard Stacy's voice in his mind, letting his telepathic concentration drop just a bit to let it all in. A great purpose? The Ohm?

He felt his stomach drop at 'destroyer of worlds', his reason for being here rather than home slowly becoming clear.

[identity profile] chose117.livejournal.com 2010-10-02 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Had anyone cared to look through the crowd of people just now waking up and getting their bearings, they'd have noticed a small blue figure, sitting on a holographic projector. The last thing she knew, she'd been in the wreckage of the Forward unto Dawn before shutting down any non-important systems. But then...here. With no sign of Chief and then being told that she was a Chosen, one selected to protect those that remained. Had Chief even---no. She couldn't go there. He was stubborn, lucky, and downright hard to kill. He was fine. Probably among the crowd of people just now getting to their feet. So she just sat down, pulling her knees to her chest to think.

Insectoid beings that were called "destroyers of worlds" struck a chord in her systems. The Ohm could be related to The Flood in some way. And then the voice in her head, despite the warmth that reminded her of Dr. Halsey speaking with the Spartans...well, if she'd have been human, it would have sent shivers down her spine. A voice in her own audio systems, not over a com-link, reminded her far too much of the Gravemind. So she just curled in tighter for a little. She would have to go explore the ship soon, get her information and figure out what happened, but for now? She was just going to stay here.

[identity profile] planefolding.livejournal.com 2010-10-03 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
It had taken Alto more than a few moments to stir from being deposited on the floor so unceremoniously. After the hard won battle against the Vajra, he had hoped that he would at least get one night's sleep that was undisturbed. Typical.

He was on another ship -- an unfamiliar ship, one that breathed its own breath -- and seemingly alone. What struck him first was the claim that his homeland so recently acquired had been decimated by another insectoid race. The thought made his teeth clench in anger. After all that, this was the outcome?

His anger was momentarily abated when he noted a rather swift draft passing by. Oh look -- no clothes. Alto made a rather comical noise of surprise and fought to cover himself. He would need to find something to make himself decent -- and fast -- before the 'others' spoke to him.

[identity profile] darknight-ren.livejournal.com 2010-10-03 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Immediately after he heard Stacy's voice, Ren heard the telltale screech of Darkwing, lying covered in slime right next to him. His Contract Monster was screeching in annoyance, weighed down by the slime too much to fly.

"Don't try to blame me for this," Ren said. "It looks like the both of us are stuck here."

Darkwing snapped at him, and he knew that he had to find his Advent Cards soon. If he didn't have the Contract card in his hand soon, Darkwing might well take his frustration out on him.

[identity profile] metalwebhead.livejournal.com 2010-10-03 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, not agaaaaaaaaaain!"

Coming to from his release, Peter Parker found himself in a very familiar position: millions of miles from home, in a place he didn't recognize. Naked.

"C'mon, what is with it with capturing me and stripping me naked? Everyone knows only the missus sees me in the buff!"

[identity profile] mourning-howl.livejournal.com 2010-10-04 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
Out of one of the pods came a massive, thrashing form.

There stood Harald Bloodsong, an eight foot tall mountain of muscle and fury, with gleaming claws and bared fangs. He snarled and thrashed as he was released, rage barely contained as he took in his new surroundings.

To his left another pod released, this time a massive blur of white fur and snapping jaws. The beast Ulfrekkr (http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/104527246/30806486) roared loudly as he slipped out of the pod.

"Hold, brother," Harald says to the enraged beast, who seems to calm somewhat at the words.

"Come," he says, "We will get to the heart of this yet."

The two began to make their way through the pod caverns, looking for all the world like they were ready to go on the warpath.

[identity profile] the-voluminous.livejournal.com 2010-10-04 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
One of the pods is lower than the rest. For good reason. It opens up, and is promptly plugged closed by a massive figure, nothing but a belly is visible from outside the pod.

The pod seems to jerk twice, and then two tentacles lower from the ceiling, working their way around the massive ball of flesh. They stretch and strain for a long moment, until there's a loud pop that echoes even in the pod chamber.

Following it is a tremendous crashing as a mountain of a man flops out. When he lands, the floor shakes, and everything is silent once more.

Save for his snoring.

[identity profile] raine-of-iselia.livejournal.com 2010-10-04 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
The last thing Raine remembered was being several stories below ground, laboriously copying the text on a wall into her notes for translation and study later.

It took her a while to remember that, because the next thing she knew, she was kneeling on the floor of a chamber somewhere she'd never been, coughing out mucus so hard her lungs nearly came with it. It wouldn't have been so bad if her first breath hadn't been a gasp, drawing the stuff into her trachea and triggering her hydrophobia; she was well aware she wasn't in water, but she still couldn't breathe properly. It would be very darkly ironic if she managed to drown in a room that was damp but still had no standing water to speak of.

When she'd cleared out her respiratory system enough to relax a little, she tried to take stock of the situation. Which was when she finally realized she was naked; that disturbed her more than a little. She didn't move from where she was crouched on the floor; she could see that she wasn't the only one in this situation, but it sounded like none of the rest of them knew what was happening, either. So... how did I get from there to here? Try as she might, she could not remember anything useful... or anything at all, really, between what she last remembered and her current situation. For that matter, where is here?

||You are here.||

Raine jerked up to her knees, startled beyond words. "Who--?" she managed. Not trusting any of this, she didn't get up, just looked around for the source of the voice.

The answer she got didn't reassure her; the gush of emotion wasn't her idea of moving, either. She'd had a mother once. Twelve years of believing she and her little brother had been abandoned had left its mark. And for that matter, now she didn't even know if Genis, who had been on the site with her, was safe.

"All right then, 'Stacy'... how did I get here?"

[identity profile] behaemmert.livejournal.com 2010-10-04 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
It was quite a change, to be honest. At one moment, she was peacefully asleep in her bed. At least, she remembered going there.

And then she was suddenly waking up here, covered in what seemed to be slime, COMPLETELY NAKED except said goo!?

"What the heck!?" She yelled. Loudly. Sure, she understood stuff about fighting enemies for bizarre reasons after waking up with foggy memories, that's what she had done herself for a couple centuries. But she never woke up in GOO!

"What is the meaning of this Sta...Sta....STAKI!?"

The others didn't really register yet, mostly because she was mainly occupied with getting annoyed about her nakedness. And the goo. And being abducted to a completely weird place. What the heck. If this was some Mid-Childan scientist going mad, she was going to have a word with them!

oh god long

[identity profile] ttlytrickster.livejournal.com 2010-10-04 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
One moment, he had been staring at his brother, a sword in his gut, while he lectured him about illusions and tricks.

There had been a twist of the sword, and then suddenly he was falling - a strange sensation that ended with impact against the warm floor, covered in slime.

Gabriel blinked. This was not exactly what he'd feared; he reached out with a hand, touched the floor, touched his face and watched it come away slimy.

Finding strength in his legs, he got up, stumbling forward slightly as he looked around, finding rows upon rows and columns of pods, feeling heat and goo soak into his skin - considering he was naked. Hell? Hardly, he was sure, but not Heaven either.

Was he dead? As he tried to pull his grace around him, to summon cleansing, clothing, contact with the nearest living life form, he found - - nothing. No suffusing warmth, no brush of a mind against his.

He clenched his fists. Human, was he? He would have wondered if he'd Fallen, some kind of ironic punishment from his errant Father - - but he knew nothing like this existed on Earth, Heaven or Hell.

"What's the big deal with the slime then, huh?" Gabriel called out finally, seeing others cracking and popping out of the thousands of pods around him.

That was when Stacy answered him.

He listened to her answers, eyes growing squintier as he did, and that wasn't just from the goo dripping into his eyes. He brushed the substance out, asking Stacy why he'd been brought here and where he was.

He got the same answers, that he'd been Chosen.

Gabriel didn't choose to move towards the walkway, instead staying near the pod he'd exited. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate and see if he could pull up a smidgen of grace, maybe hidden deep down inside him.

A glob of alien pus tries to make its way down his chest, and he flicks it off as he focuses.

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