The crew will see them slinking off, disappearing around hallways--shifting shadow shapes and the backs of heads ducking around corners. They're always people they think they know. Dead loved ones, perhaps, or loved ones they're not sure are dead or alive. They lead crew members into dangerous places, sudden drops, parts of Stacy where things can go wrong.

And they do go wrong. Floors drop out. Ducts become damaged somehow, invisibly, and suddenly spew hot steam. Around the children, items slam into walls--poltergeist activity.

Whether these are really those lost souls, or just illusions, is hard to tell. Either way, those that are part-ghost or have supernatural powers will have a helluva workout. The upside is the presence of the ghosts might disrupt the Waking Dreams to allow people to escape them more easily.

Which is good because the dreams will start to cause injuries now. Real ones.

And refusing to go to sleep doesn't save you when the dreams can happen while you're awake.

[ooc: Waking dreams will continue--and start causing injuries. Furthermore, ghostly apparitions will start to cause poltergeist activity and lead the crew into danger. Start to raise the alarm, meatship. It's starting.]

He'd been avoiding sleep just like a lot of other people. But everyone had to sleep at some point. The body demanded it. There was only so long someone--anyone--could stay awake before the body, the mind, rebelled and gave in to its most basic necessity. There seemed to be no way of escaping the Nightmare King. Sleeping meant dreaming, which meant terror being inflicted upon them by the beast that grew stronger with passing day. Staying awake, however, brought its own dangers. The mind wasn't meant to be pushed to such limits. It needed to rest. It needed the time to recuperate. Without it, hallucinations would begin to form, driving them crazy just as easily as the Nightmare King was.

It was the hallucinations that pushed Gambit to go to his quarters and get some rest. He'd stripped off his plantsuit and climbed under the silk covers and was out before his head hit the pillow. It was not meant to last. Deep sleep had been evading him ever since he'd been released by GLaDOS. He sometimes wished she'd held on to him. Even she was better than this.

Remy had no more than fallen and sleep--only for a few minutes really--before the nightmares began. He thrashed in his bed, his body jerking back and forth as he tried to fight against the terrors being forced upon his dreams by the dark entity in the city. He groaned in pain, mumbled incoherent protests against the darkness that had pervaded his subconscious. Each movement, each groan grew in intensity, becoming stronger and more violent than the last until the Cajun's eyes flew open and he shot up in bed and let out a shout loud enough to be heard throughout the crew quarters.

He sat up in bed, his body covered in sweat and his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. It was as if he'd just put himself through a grueling work-out. His muscles were tense and sore. Sleep, itself, had become an enemy that needed to be fought. But how did one fight that which you needed to survive?

Tossing his sheet back, Gambit swung his feet to the floor and cradled his head in his hands. "Get outta my head!" he hollered out at the Nightmare King.

After the very bizarre dream he's just had, Jamie finds himself quite wide awake and staring at the ceiling. For a little while, he tries to sort through the dream - what was up with the cheese, anyway? Eventually, though, he gives up and slips out of bed, making his way through Stacy's hallways.

He finds himself a short while later outside of the Sensoriums, and considers if he actually wants to go in. If nothing else, it would prove a distraction. With a brief shrug, he decides to go ahead and do so.

The room shimmers and reforms into the Sickbay of the Moonbase. There's a research area that holds a microscope, test tubes, and various other useful scientific implements. Arranged neatly on a nearby bench are a row of small glass bottles. Curious, Jamie picks one up and reads it.

"Acetone."

Why does that seem familiar? He frowns, trying to remember what it was about that word and this place - then his face clears, and he looks immeasurably pleased with himself.

"Hey! Polly Cocktail!"

That was actually really useful against the Cybermen. If he could recreate it here - where he can think up Cybermen to test it on - and then tell someone what it actually was, maybe it could be useful here too. For what exactly he doesn't know, but on the amount of sleep he's gotten recently? This seems like a fine idea. He scratches his head, trying to remember what else was in the mix.

"Och, what else did Polly put in there? Ether, I think. And alcohol..."

Pulling some likely bottles from the bench, he peers at the labels, choosing some and discarding others. He gets a beaker, and some small pieces of plastic to test the mixture on. He'll think up a Cyberman after he's got a better handle on the cocktail. Remembering his lab safety lessons, he creates a pair of protective goggles and puts them on. Rubbing his hands together in anticipation, he starts to mix the liquids together.

A few minutes later, there's the (perhaps) familiar sound of an explosion audible to anyone in the area.

[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... )

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a green-skinned alien and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]