[May-in-Hiro] Driving to distractions

[weirdweb.livejournal.com]

Who: May-in-Hiro, Hiro-in-May, Chloe-in-Faith, Rose, Isabel
Where: Hallway outside laundry room, en route to Kitchen/Cafeteria #2 (not the research caf)
When: Day 29, shortly after 1 pm (coming directly from this thread)
Invited: Anyone wanting to avoid the research, labs, or murder scene
Status: Complete

As soon as May saw the look in Isabel's eyes, she knew exactly what it meant.

Well, not exactly - she couldn't imagine the scene down the hall - but she knew the situation all too well: there was an extremely bad situation that they had to keep people from stumbling upon. The kind of situation that would only make the panic even worse (if that was possible). She'd seen that look a number of times, and she'd probably given people that look before too. She nodded, understanding. "Yeah. Might as well get out of the way."

She let Isabel lead Hiro down the hallway, followed by Rose and Chloe-in-Faith, and purposely brought up the rear so Hiro didn't have to keep staring at her in his body. If it was anywhere near as disconcerting for him as it was for her, staying constantly in his field of vision wouldn't be helpful.

As they rounded the corner, May hesitated, glancing back towards the hallway where Isabel had run from. What is it this time? Or worse, who is it? The people killed on the beach had been total strangers, but their loss had still made her angry. Now - now she was even more powerless than before to help, to do anything. Oh, she had a sword, but she didn't know how to use it, visions of chasing certain annoying people around with it aside.

So here she was, stuck in an ordinary, powerless guy with no way to help stop whatever horrible thing was happening now. Great. She really, really, really missed her spider-sense. Why couldn't she just DO something?

OOC: Bed! Kind of pathetic, I know, but my brain is turning off now. Note to Hiro's player - let me know if you want May to set off any of Hiro's abilities accidentally. The island will probably mess with it. And May's spider-sense is pretty much innate and will probably go off a bit for a minor warning, e.g. something about to fall on somebody.

OOC 2: Just edited this post to note that Faith is checking out the scene. Thanks for the heads-up

Comments

[Kenzaki]

[estirose.livejournal.com]

ENTER KENZAKI.

Kenzaki felt he was slowly getting used to Miho's body. Enough that he was able to help Sukotto-san* before he wandered off in the direction of the storeroom to pick up some of his stuff. He became aware something strange was going on, and he saw that people were starting to be herded into the other cafeteria. Curious, he headed in, hoping to get some answers.

"Hello?" he asked in his native language. "What's going on?"

[Isabel]

[nohatmatt.livejournal.com]

"Smoke monster?" Isabel asked, heading for the kitchen area. "And yes, I did mention coffee." She took ground coffee from the freezer, pleased to see it had been kept in the right place, and spooned a generous quantity into the coffee machine before adding water in the tank, switching the whole thing on and putting the jug in place. It hummed and clicked and began to make gurgling noises as the water slowly heated up.

She started hunting for clean mugs as she let one ear follow the conversation in the main part of the cafeteria.

[Rose]

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

"Someone was killed. We're yammerin' on to keep from thinkin' on ti." Rose offered in Japanese.

"Smoke thing comes out during the day. I don't know if it's the water. Maybe. Too bad we don't have squirt guns." Rose sat down and began to pet Oorie, who was still trembling a bit.

"I don't suppose it's always smashing down trees, or the island would only be so much kindling by now, yeah?"

[Chloe]

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Chloe was leaning against the counter listening to the conversation going on around her when it struck her. The question of whether Shannon or Charlie was dead, of whether Shannon could in essence evict Charlie and survive the death of his body had been niggling at her. It was a horrible mental puzzle, made worse by the knowledge that no matter what happened, one of them was doomed.

(If Charlie weren't dead, they could just--)

Chloe stood up abruptly. Charlie was dead. But nobody else was. Why couldn't George or Daisy just swap people around? Daisy had reaped Ami when she needed help during the raid on the bunker. Hell, Daisy had taken out a bunch of bad guys too--and none of them had been dead when she did it.

"Chloe? Something wrong?"

"No," Chloe said, though she paid no attention to who had spoken. "I just...I remembered something I have to do," she said. Chloe didn't want to raise any false hopes. If this idea panned out, they could get everyone back to normal pretty quickly; if not, no need to mention it.

"I'll...be back in a few minutes," Chloe said, heading for the door.

EXIT CHLOE

[Mayday]

[weirdweb.livejournal.com]

"Chloe?" May asked as Chloe shot to her feet. You could almost see the proverbial light bulb appearing over her head. "Something wrong?"

"No," Chloe said, though she paid no attention to who had spoken. "I just...I remembered something I have to do."

May stood up to follow her as Chloe bolted out, but then thought better of it. If Chloe did have a brainstorm, and it didn't pan out, there was no point in pursuing her. If something was actually wrong, well, best to keep everyone calm, away from the action and near an exit. She exchanged looks with Rose and Isabel, both of whom looked perplexed as well. "I have no idea. Anyone take cream or sugar?" she asked, turning to the fridge. Coffee was a relatively safe activity, for now.

[Isabel]

[nohatmatt.livejournal.com]

"Sugar, please," Isabel said. Something had definitely occurred to Chloe, and her weak explanation of having forgotten something was something Isabel was familiar with after years of hiding her true nature. "I wonder what Chloe's up to..."

[Scott]

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

"I wonder what Chloe's up to..." Isabel mused aloud.

Scott glanced up at Ami-in-Blaise. Despite their lack of psionics, he was sure they were wondering the same thing. To May-in-Hiro he said, "Cream and sugar for both of us, please." The caffeine should at least take the edge off of some of House's body's aches.

[Rose]

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

Even odder than Chloe's exit, was the entrence of Miho in Kenzaki and Molly in River. They were carrying luggage, gym bags and pillow cases.

Miho was already up the stairs and outside.

"What are you doing?" Rose cocked her head.

"Getting ready." Molly replied. "Keeps me calm. Have to move things. Not much time. Oorie's about to chew on the chair leg."

Molly carried her burden's up the stairs. After a few minutes both came back. "Near the edge of the time bubble. Be ready for it."

Molly went back into the hall.

"Alright. Is it just me or has River's body broke Molly?" Rose looked to the others.

Just as Oorie began to gnaw the her chair leg.

[Mayday]

[weirdweb.livejournal.com]

((OOC: I'm making an assumption about May's spider-sense and NPCing Hiro for a sec. Hope that's okay.))

May was setting down a can of powdered creamer when Oorie started gnawing.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her body jump slightly in its seat. Hiro looked embarrassed, but he was fidgeting quite a bit, rubbing the back of his borrowed body's neck and looking very nervous and confused, unsure of why he suddenly felt so odd or what that tingling feeling was.

May, however, knew exactly what it was. "I don't think so. Something's seriously wrong here. Aside from the obvious. Could you translate for a second?" she asked, indicating Hiro.

At Rose's nod, she turned to Hiro. "That tingling feeling you're getting, back here?" She pointed to the back of her own neck. "The second it gets worse, tell everyone. We may really need to get out of here then."

Abandoning the coffee, she started for the door. "Where are you going?" Scott asked. Hiro stood up as well.

"I need to check something." She pointed at Hiro. "Seriously, stay here. You need to tell everyone if it gets worse so they can get out." Everyone else was staring at her like she was crazy. "I don't have time to explain. I'll be right back."

With that, she hurried down the hall before anyone could stop her.

MAYDAY EXITS

OOC additional note

[weirdweb.livejournal.com]

Note: the twinge of spider-sense Hiro just got is actually fairly mild - he jumped in surprise, mainly. I figure if Oorie's sensing something, May's own innate danger sense might try to kick in slightly due to the island weirdness and that Weird Dream Subplot I toyed with prior to Tabula Rasa. It wouldn't bother her much if she was in her own body, but Hiro's never experienced it before and has no idea what this weird sensation is, so it's making him more uncomfortable as a result.

[Molly]

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

((Dragging along Miho, sorry))

Molly was shouting in her own mind. ::Hury, Hurry, Hurry. Focus, focus, focus::

By now River, in Molly's body, had seen what they were doing and was helping.

"You didn't even ask why?" Molly looked suprised.

"Had to have a good reason. I would." River was dumping clothing into a rucksack and pillow case.

The three of them marhed through the kitchen in a line, loaded up with as much as they could reasonably carry. It wasn't easy work. Only clothing and personal items. Anything more would slow them all down. ALL of them.

They walked past the bewildered group in the kitchen for the second time and out into the forest. They followed the path to the now broken machine that had operated the time bubble. There they dropped the current load and headed back.

"Ticking in my head. The Dark is lurking, but the ticking is insistant." Molly started to jog. The other two followed her.

[Rose]

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

Rose noted May's wierd reaction and then River, Miho and Molly marched through again, loaded down with other people's suitcases, and her own backpack.

"Hey..." She stood up when the three came back in.

"What the bloody hell is goin' on?"

"Tick, tick. On the clock. Moving day. Volcano day." Moly's hands flew as she talked. "Don't know what, but comming. Pushing in on me, smothering the voices. Gotta move. Help or not, gotta move. Files... go for the medical files those who were taken had. You, and the others. Can't hurt. Can't remember all."

Molly looked at Rose with River's eyes, seemed to see through her. "Congradulations. Keep it safe."

Protective instinct was pushing against urgency. "Take Oorie to the bags and gaurd them. It takes a few minutes to get there. Stay there. Things may fall, but it's far enough. Far enough for what, I don't know. Just guard. It's important."

Molly handed Rose her bow and quiver. Rose knew how attached Molly had gotten to them already.

"Humor me. Make fun of me tonight, when I'm me. Enjoy the sun. Let Oorie do what dogs do. Protect what's within. Go."

Rose shook her head. This was daft. But then, she should be used to that by now.

"He'll know where you are. Hurry." Molly called over her shoulder as she went into the room Daniel, Jon and their roomies shared.

Rose shook her head. Right, take Oorie for a walk. What the hell was inside?

She had no idea why she went into the med lab and dug around until she found the files on herself, Daisy, Ami, and Clair/Aaron, but they were a good armful.

She passed Hiro, Scott, Isabel and the rest. "Molly said to take Oorie for a walk and take these files where they're dumping the bags. She's actin totally mad, but she had River and Miho followin' her. Can't hurt, right?"

Rose shrugged.

Molly and company came trudging after her. Molly stopped to find the biggest soup pot they had and propped it on her head. "Helmet." She nodded to the others.

[Isabel]

[nohatmatt.livejournal.com]

"Something's seriously wrong here," Isabel said. Glimpses of emotion were making themselves felt around the edges of her mind. Not her emotions. Worry, mostly, and a sense of impending... impendingness.

"Something's going to happen. Not much time. I assume something is going to happen here, which is why they're moving stuff away." She looked around. "Can't hurt to follow suit." Her gaze turned to the kitchen cupboards. With a sharp gesture, she flung the doors open and pulled all their contents off the shelves and onto the floor. She dug through the pile to find the dish towels.

"Right, let's bundle up the stuff that'll keep. We might be needing it."

[Scott, Ami]

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Scott and Ami watched the craziness warily. They both jumped when Isabel expelled everything from the kitchen cabinets to the floor.

The couple exchanged a look. "Better safe than sorry," Scott said.

Ami nodded. After a brief hesitation she (Blaise) kissed Scott-in-House's forehead. "Help Isabel. I'll get our things." She helped Scott to his feet, then loped out of the room.

EXIT AMI-IN-BLAISE

With the aid of House's cane Scott hobbled over to the kitchen. After a wave of nausea stopped him from bending down to retrieve a can of string beans, Scott changed tactics. Instead he kicked and prodded non-perishables with his cane into a pile. (Telekinesis would be so nice right now.)

[Sam Tyler]

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Sam started after Ami only to be stopped by Ripley. "Where do you think you're going?"

Sam's temper, now on a hair trigger thanks to the blood scent in the air, flared. "To get my things," he snarled. "I may be stuck in your sodding body, but I'm still civilized."

Ripley chuckled. "C'mon, you're sore about me having--" Sam cut her off with a glare. "Sheesh. I'm sure that you--"

"Shut it," Sam snapped. Before the bloody savage alien woman could say another word he darted into the hall toward his and the Guv's room. The bleedin' DHARMA wankers may not have left him with much, but he wasn't leaving what few possessions he had behind.

EXIT SAM TYLER

[Sam Tyler]

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Once Sam got over the worst of his mortification of suddenly finding himself having sex with George then nearly falling out of a tree he headed back to the bunker. At the first stream he crossed he washed the snake's blood from Ripley's body. He wasn't sure which was more disturbing; that the blood didn't bother him, or that it made him considering hunting down another snake.

ENTER SAM TYLER-IN-RIPLEY

Sam smelled death before he opened the back door to the cafeteria. It made the already rank (to Ripley's nose) conditioned air stink more. Worse, the tang of blood stirred some of Ripley's primal instincts. Clinging to conscious thought as best he could, he stalked into the flourescent-lit room. The sight of post-coital Ripley in his body made him clench his fists. "What happened?" he ground out.

Ripley wasn't cowed in the slightest. Instead she waggled her (his!) eyebrows. "I think you know."

"Sh- he does?" Scott asked.

Sam growled at Ripley, who sobered. "Something killed Shannon. Charlie's body, anyway. Danny an' them want everyone to stay put here."