Zompania Draft - Draftees only, days 1-3.5

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: This is your death. Followed by your time-traveling life and desperate bomb hunting.
When: From May 22 to May 20 to early May 23 (days 1-4)
Where: Zompania
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post is for the draftee-only portion of the Zompania draft--the day 3 death, time travel to day 1, and then the events until the arrival of the reinforcements. Be sure to use the above info post for any plotting needs you might have. Enjoy!

Please note that there is a specific top-level comment thread for:

• The day 3 arrival of the draftees and the 6 hours that follow until the bomb is dropped
  
• Death--This thread can be treated as REFERENCE ONLY. Responding to it isn't necessary.
  
• Threads prior to departing for Zompania--post resurrection freak outs, arguments over how to proceed, etc.

All other threading, from day 1 until the reinforcements arrive, should be conducted as normal.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette figures she can at least be thankful for it's lack of use. At least they're not having to slosh around in...who knows what. Even if the smell isn't too bad, the air is thick and stale. It almost feels suffocating.]

I wonder how long it's been since someone opened up that cover last...I don't think there are even like, bugs or whatever down here.

[Or...whatever animals usually live in sewer drains.]

[foundafamily]

No alligators either.

[That's not funny either, Firo.]

Who knows how long it's been? All that matters is that they didn't seal 'em up for good.

[ribbonbon]

[Firo, please. Pilouette's frown deepens just a little.]

I guess you're right. At least we were able to get in. I guess right now we just need to concentrate on getting back out the other way. ...And, um, if you want, I can go back to holding that first aid kit. Y-You know. So you can free up your hands. Just in case.

[Really, she just wants to hold it to hold it, thinking that maybe it will make her feel less nervous.]

[foundafamily]

Yeah? Thanks.

[He gladly hands the kit back to her and grips his knife more comfortably.]

Hopefully we won't need to do anything just yet... But, you're right, it pays to be prepared.

[ribbonbon]

[She take the kit and holds on tightly to it. Just holding it is helping her be just a bit more at ease.]

Maybe we'll get lucky and we won't run into anything down here...M-maybe they forgot all about this thing.

[foundafamily]

Maybe.

[He can't keep all the doubt out of his voice, though.]

At least we'd probably hear somebody if they were comin' at us. There's kind of an echo in here, isn't there?

[ribbonbon]

Yeah...Yeah, we'd definitely hear if there was someone else down here.

[She can hear that doubt in his voice, but she tries to a little positive. As they walk, she listens to their footsteps echoing through the tunnel. When she speaks she lowers her voice a little; somehow she feels like even her normal volume might be too loud.]

...I'm like, kind of nervous about what we're going to run into once we get into the city, you know?

[Especially considering everything they heard from outside the city.]

[foundafamily]

[He hesitates as he considers whether he should be honest or pretend to be brave.]

...Yeah.

What do you think's gonna be in there?

[ribbonbon]

No idea...I mean, like, besides cultists.

[She bites her lip nervously before continuing. The not knowing is the worst part.]

If it wasn't something big they wouldn't have dragged us all out here the way they did, right?

[foundafamily]

[He considers her question for a moment.]

...Probably. I mean, it did seem really abrupt. Like they were desperate. And whatever that things was that they used against us earlier... that's gotta mean trouble. I've never seen anything like that.

[ribbonbon]

...I've never seen one before either, but I read about stuff like that in history classes back home. It was like, some kind of bomb or something, I think...but there's like, no way the cultists could have made something like that, right? I mean, I don't think so, anyway.

[She's not exactly a scientific person. Maybe they could.]

...Do you think the Malnosso knew that was coming before they brought us out here? That they just didn't bother telling us?

[Her grip on the first aid kit grows tighter as her expression darkens. She wouldn't be surprised. She sat on the fence for a long time, but after the last cultist invasion of Luceti, she had finally decided that she couldn't trust the Malnosso and the situation at hand isn't helping their case, as far as she's concerned.]

[foundafamily]

[Firo's jaw drops open--they had stuff like that at her world? Coming from the early 1930s, Firo has no idea what the future of warfare has in store. He's about to ask her if she's kidding him, but her next question is even more shocking.

He's quiet for a moment; his voice is full of bitterness when he speaks. He never trusted them and his contempt has only grown with time.]

...I wouldn't put it past those bastards. How many a' their guys did they even put out there with us?

[ribbonbon]

Like, who even knows? By the time we got there, everything was way too out of hand.

[Even if they had sent everyone they had, which she's sure they didn't, she likely still wouldn't have been able to tell. She had been frantically trying to help whoever she could and do whatever anyone asked her.]

I...I'm not even sure we could have beat them, even if they hadn't used that bomb.

[And if they hadn't, she wonders briefly how many of the draftees would have joined those inside Zompania. It's a frightening thought and she does her best to push it aside. They don't have time for her to worry about things like that right now.]

[foundafamily]

[She has a point, though Firo has a hard time conceding that. Even when constantly faced with proof, he hates thinking about how powerless they are.]

...They are pretty tough.

I dunno how the Malnosso expect us to be any help when they send people out with no trainin' or anything.

[That sore spot will probably never go away for him. He had a friend die because of that.]

[ribbonbon]

...That reminds me of something someone told me once.

[It was a conversation she had with someone not too long after she arrived in the enclosure. She wasn't sure if she should take it seriously back then but now that she's come to distrust the Malnosso so much...maybe.]

We were talking and we started wondering...what if they send people who can't fight out because they can't fight? I mean, what if the Malnosso send them to make sure people fight as hard as they can to protect them? The harder everyone fights, the more likely they'll take out the enemy, right?

[The thought is horrifying. She wants to believe it's not true, but...]

[foundafamily]

[Firo stares at her, eyes wide and disbelieving. But the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense.

He stops in his tracks and stomps his foot.]

...Shit. That's--that's sick!

[ribbonbon]

[She jumps a little and lets out a quiet squeak when his foot hits the ground, startled by the sudden noise. When she speaks her voice is shaky.]

Well, it's...it's not like we know for sure that it's true or anything, you know? L-like, maybe the person who said that was like, totally wrong or whatever...!

[She might be trying to convince herself more than him, though. Not even the Malnosso would do something like that...right?]

[foundafamily]

[The startled sound she makes is enough to jolt him out of his anger for a moment.]

Sorry.

[He folds his arms over his chest and starts walking again, though more slowly than before.]

It makes perfect sense, given the kinds a' people they've shown themselves to be so far. People like that, well... I guess they probably would think a' the ones who can't fight as expendable...

[So why not put them to use in that way?]

[ribbonbon]

["Expendable." What an ugly word; it's chilling to think that anyone would apply the term to people. But the more they talk about it, the more the idea really starts to seem believable.]

Not that they would admit it. So we get thrown into a war against people who just want us all dead by people who don't care if we die or not. I mean, I guess people can come back and stuff, but...

[Well, she imagines that dying can't be easy. She trails behind him a little bit. The subject at hand is pretty taxing on her mind, especially on top of everything else.]

[foundafamily]

[He half-smiles.]

...but that doesn't make dyin' any more fun.

[He notices her falling behind and he's not quite sure what to do about it. The past few days have been very rough and this is grim subject matter, so he can't blame her for being affected by it. The question is whether he's going to try and help.

Thanks to certain events back home, he's in a uniquely experienced position when it comes to this stuff. He supposes he has something of an obligation to at least try, even if this isn't a topic he likes.]

Have you died before this?

[ribbonbon]

[Pilouette looks up at him. Well, there's a question she never expected to hear. Ever. She shakes her head.]

No. I um...I haven't. I-I guess I'm still trying to like, get my head around it. I never thought dying would be like...like that.

[Like drowning and burning all at once, like being smothered in death, helpless and terrified. She shudders a little just thinking about it, reaching up to gently pull on her hair out of habit. Since he asked her such a question, she wonders...]

What about you? Um, w-was this your first time dying?

[foundafamily]

[He shakes his head when she asks him.]

Not at all. I couldn't give you a number, but it's happened a lot before.

[He hopes he can offer at least one comforting thing. Dying's not pleasant, but he doesn't want this poor girl to think something like that is waiting when she kicks it for good.]

If it makes you feel better, it's never been like what happened back there. That wasn't normal.

[ribbonbon]

That's...good to know, I guess.

[Not that she's terribly eager to experience dying again. Though, she can't help but be a little disconcerted with how casual he seems to be about dying so much.]

But you've like, really died that many times? Like, just how long have you been away from home? Um, i-if it's okay for me to ask.

[After all, to have died so many times he must have been in this world for a long time, right? Or he must get into a lot of trouble.]

[foundafamily]

[He frowns a little; she doesn't sound too reassured. But, then, what did he expect?

Though it's hardly a funny topic, he chuckles at her question.]

Actually, most of it was back home, not here.

[He pauses, running his hand through his hair. This isn't something he's shared with many people here, despite his recent resolution not to hide it on this draft.]

I know it's a little hard to believe. I'd prove it to you, but you're probably sick of seein' blood.

[ribbonbon]

[It's Pilouette's turn to be shocked. Her eyes go wide and she's quiet for a moment. It's not that she doesn't believe him. Having been in Luceti for so long, she's just about willing to believe any weird thing a person tells her.]

You...You died that many times before coming here? [She tenses up the thought of him proving his claims. Tired of seeing blood indeed.] ...Yeah, I don't want you to...to die or whatever just to prove it's possible. But I never thought that people could die more than once anywhere besides here...