You ever get the feeling you were being watched?

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Maybe it's just a product of living under the all seeing eye of Stacy...but it sure feels like there's someone lurking just out of sight.

And that's because there is. The adjustment period for Doug had not been easy since he had woken up. Between not having his pills and knowing that GLADoS was still alive he had already been on edge. But as tensions among the crew rose due to the day to day life of plotting rebellions, fighting for survival attending funerals. It became a bit much.

So sticking to the shadows he creeps, and stalks, and studies the crew. Who can be trusted? Who is dangerous and threatening? Even a man so intimidated by science can't deny the merit behind studying a subject from afar to better understand them.

Creeping about the ship you'd think a disheveled and bearded man with a large box on his back with hearts on it would be easier to spot. But Doug spent years hiding from GLADoS so it's become second nature to the aptly named "Rattmann."

((OOC: Go ahead about your business, you can either notice Doug stalking you or eventually maybe...possibly, he'll reveal himself willingly. Bit Doug is a timid creature so that may take some doing.))

Comments

[first_of_steel]

Well, there are always going to be days when Roger feels like he's being watched, especially on a ship like this. This just happens to be one of the stronger ones, which is why he's making a slow and careful sweep of the City areas he knows. There might be someone here he ought to see, and he'd like to get a good look...

Of course, if he doesn't find anything, he doesn't find anything. At least he made a search.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

A glimpse of motion out of the corner of his eye.

The sound of gravel being scraped along the ground by a shoe.

There's definitely someone around.

Doug finds himself nervous, already considering abandoning this particular subject of stalking. From what he's seen there aren't as men older men on Stacy but a deep set level of intimidation exists from years of being bullied.

[first_of_steel]

Hm.

Well, that's interesting.

Roger found a still-readable book in the abandoned bunker he and some of the others were occupying the other day. Seems to him like this'd be a mighty fine time to locate a quiet area, one with a little bit of cover but not too much, and sit down with it. Gives him an opportunity to listen more carefully to what's going on, and maybe catch a better sight of whoever it is when they think he's got his guard down.

(Not that he plans on reacting much. He's more curious than anything else.)

[youvegotsuckersluck]

You should talk to him.

Doug rolled his eyes trying to ignore the cube but the cube would not be pushed aside. Doug felt it bumping against his head, Come on he's safe.

Well...the cube hadn't led him astray yet.

He crept along peering out from behind a wall. Was he reading?

He's waiting for you.

Who is he?

Not a threat.

This silent conversation only taking place in Doug's head kept him distracted for the time being as he pressed up close to the wall.

[anwei]

Anwei was conducting her house hunt based on neighborhood. She knew she wanted to be where she could get out quickly, whether that was to portals or teleportal pads or the transport tubes, but also be within a quick run of one of the shelters. She also wanted to have some privacy – she thought. She went back and forth on that, actually.

Most recently, she'd narrowed down her search to the area between Le Prefecture and the transport tubes. She was going from building to building, frequently stopping to check Celena's map of buildings to be demolished. The pockets of her jacket were variously stuffed with water bottles, her flashlight-laser, a multimeter, and odds bits of scrap that looked like they might be interesting. She also was carrying a rough-surfaced black metal box, just about the right size to hold a human head.

If someone was following her, and kept quiet, she probably wouldn't notice.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Doug remembered this woman, she stood out in his haze of jumbled memories and confused thoughts. She had been so kind and gentle and understanding despite all his...problems.

He stalked her quietly reminding himself all too much about watching Chell from afar what felt like a lifetime ago. The familiar weight of the cube on his back kept him grounded.

She seems safe, but there's something else there. Something not quite human.

Well, he could still "hear" it's voice in his head so saying that he was grounded was a relative term.

"I'm fairly sure that that's just because she's a woman."

[anwei]

This building looked nice. Large, two stories with no windows, but when she slipped inside she found the interior lit by the large atrium. The house was more like four walls around what was left of a garden, fountains dry now and plants withered.

A power socket conveniently at hip height tested as live, and the motorized door had a hand-crank and bar for sealing it. This was also a mark in its favor; too many people built houses that were no use if the power went out.

She went outside and walked all around the outside of the house, paying particular attention to the foundation but also checking for cracks in the walls, and signs of noisy neighbors. Occasionally one of her eyes flicked outwards, trying to catch a glimpse of something that might or might not be moving nearby, but she was concentrating on her inspection for now.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Doug couldn't argue with it. It was a sturdy safe feeling building. Somewhere the all seeing eye of Stacy (And by Proxy he supposed GLADoS) probably couldn't reach them.

There's so many hiding places out here, we could vanish forever.

"And only Chell would miss us." Doug mumbled absentmindedly to the cube as he crept along the outer wall of the building listening to Anwei moving around inside.

[anwei]

Inside there was a lift tube that she didn't entirely trust, so she looked for another way to the second level. There was a way, a ramp rather than stairs. The second level had signs of large equipment having been removed, and she looked at the marks, the variable-brightness lights and the tiled floors, with a thoughtful gaze. Maybe it was once a medical facility?

It was an awful lot of rooms, even with one entire side of the lower level being devoted to a group bathing facility. Room for a lot of people, and she was only one.

There's plenty of space, she told herself. It's nothing like home, like the Ivory Towers (spires hundreds of feet into the air, every inch covered with shellac-sealed teeth and horns, and every room and passage and abattoir smelling ever so faintly of blood). It's all right to have space. If she wanted a snug place to sleep, there were several recessed bathtubs.

She went onto the balcony on the second level, reached up and grabbed the rough tiles of the roof edge, and clambered onto the roof. From here she could see the direct path to the shelter and the transport tubes - or maybe not. It would give her a nice overview of the immediate neighborhood.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Including Doug who had gotten distracted by an open stretch of wall. On it he was painting something that looked like the cube that was strapped to his back. It was black with a little bit of red on the heart. Little wings sprouted off the side.

It was soothing in it's own way. Unfortunately it was also a compulsion that lowered his guard.

[anwei]

Anwei looked down and saw him, smelled the fresh paint, but said nothing. She was happy to see that the artist was still around, and that his Cube was still with him. And that he was still painting.

(The proto-sentient hatbox she had acquired from Howard was currently tucked in a corner in the room below her, set to mute and text-display only; it had the disconcerting habit of drawing on its viler vocabulary whenever it detected an alien.)

Well, she wouldn't be using her laser to etch any marker-lines into the pavement outside what might well become her front door. He might misinterpret that. She could sit here quietly and watch, though, and hope that the 'sun' did not come out from behind the 'clouds' and cast her shadow where he might see it.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

He finished his work and surveyed it with a soft sad smile from behind his beard while the cube "spoke" in that way that only he could here.

Ashes to ashes rust to rust.

"At least one of you made it." Doug mused gathering up his tools and tucking them away. He'd have to find somewhere to wash out his paint brushes...

We're being watched.

That brought Doug back to Earth with an unpleasant thump. He scanned the area suddenly very tense, back and forth and behind. Yes...yes back to the wall he turned and kept his knees bent in case he had to bolt. Paranoid eyes began to sweep higher and higher seeking out where this feeling of insecurity had spawned from.

[anwei]

Anwei tilted her head - the artist looked frightened, hunched over. Was there something coming towards him that she couldn't see? She looked around as well, crawling on elbows and knees to the edge of the roof and looking down and around. No, she couldn't see anything, despite flicking her eyes in little jerks all around her arc of vision.

Maybe she should wave, and ask what was wrong?

[first_in_time]

With countless hours before her and very little to do in terms of being useful, Barbara decided that it was time she visited the hydroponics again. It would be nice to be around actual plants again, not just simulated ones.

There was a fleeting feeling of being watched but Barbara ignored it, assuming that Stacey was restless. If she could even be restless.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

There was such a dramatic change between the areas he was used to haunting and Hydroponics. Doug felt incredibly out of place and yet...

...and yet the distinct lack of obvious technology was soothing. It was almost like being free.

But sharp eyes, hardened by unmeasured days of struggling for survival could still pick out the hidden technology lurking just out of sight. Water spots on the sheet of clarity that this lush plantlife had lowered over his eyes.

He was aware of other lifeforms, some human, some otherwise.

[first_in_time]

Barbara's pace slowed considerably once she was surrounded by the plant life, most of which she didn't recognise. But here there wasn't any fighting, not tension, no reminders of anything she used to know or used to love. Just light and colours, and the gentle scent of something like a rainforest.

One of the plants had cube-like flowers with small dots floating around inside. She stopped for a closer look, turning her back to the rest of the hydroponics, and noticed that the dots floated about in patterns. Sort of. Like they moved from one pattern and into the next. It was quite beautiful in its own way.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Doug too admired the flower but from much further away.

You ought to be careful, she might call human resources on you. The cube warned and Doug smiled ruefully. The days of him being considered anything but creepy and crazy were long behind him. After all what kind of guy watched people from a distance, hid when they wanted to talk and talked to inanimate objects?

Hey, I resent that! The cube could apparently tell he was once again aware of just how crazy he was.

Either way it seemed best just to move along and leave her to her flower...but nature had other intentions. A tendril had tangled around his foot and he fell hard with a yelp, his cube bouncing from it's satchel and rolling a few feet before coming to a stop.

[first_in_time]

Barbara jumped at the yelp, spinning on the spot to see...to see the strange man she'd put to bed at the podpopping.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously, stepping forward to pick up the peculiar cube and look it over. It was certainly not something she'd ever seen on Stacey before but it wasn't as if the ship was 100% predictable.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Doug remained laying facedown in the grass, cool crisp clean grass.

"I fell." He mumbled turning his head so he could look at her trying to choke down his embarrassment.

The cube was weighty, and large enough to require two hands to hold, with hearts on the sides and somewhat rounded corners. Other then that there was nothing remarkable about the device. No hinges or buttons, no speakers.

[first_in_time]

"Are you hurt?" Barbara placed the cube beside Doug and held out her hands to help him up from the ground. She looked him over, but there didn't seem to be any injuries which required immediate attention.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

"No, well...yes but no. Sort of. Not really. Can't be helped." He babbled as he sat up and took a moment to rub his nose. He had banged it upon impact but it wasn't swelling or bleeding so that was a good sign. He then appeared to realize there was a woman there and looked sheepish and embarrassed. "Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt."

[bequiet_hescreamed]

Clef wasn't given to paranoia, but something had him on edge lately. There was this faint presence hovering on the edges of his senses, and it had him looking over his shoulder constantly. He felt like he was being watched - followed, even - by some sentient being, for a purpose that he could not divine. With everything that had been happening lately, he was beginning to question his own sanity as time wore on.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

Doug wasn't stalking anyone on purpose really, but with so much stimulation it was easier to focus on living things rather then all the unfathomable technology surrounding him. And so he found himself studying his fellow crew, hoping to learn something about day to day life on the ship that would make it easier for him to just...relax.

I suggested a beer but nooooo. The cube silently mused and Doug prudently ignored it.

[bequiet_hescreamed]

He waited until he was otherwise alone but for Stacy's surveillance and stretched out his sixth sense tentatively, looking around. Clef's pursuer was - if not a complete delusion - again somewhere on the periphery, just outside of his ability to perceive clearly and most certainly out of sight.

"... Hello?" he tried.

[youvegotsuckersluck]

"Hello." Doug responded automatically and then slapped his hand over his mouth. He was getting sloppy! It could get him killed!

Are you still there? The cube mocked in the voice that only Doug could hear. He gave the cube a very unamused glare.