Character University

"Tyler. My name is Tyler. Tyler Vinci." Tyler smiled and nodded, sitting next to the girl, not particularly saying anything else, and choosing instead to hum quietly.

After a moment, Tyler frowned momentarily. "Oh. Dimension."

edited 18th Jun '12 9:40:55 AM by MrAHR

-Outside the University-

Tina was still walking outside the University, until she felt a raindrop land on her nose. "Oh, dear." Tina said to herself. More raindrops started to fall, and Tina made a beeline to the front door before the bottom could fall out. "Jeepers, I could had been soaked." Tina then looked at her new location. "Hello! Is there anyone here?" Tina yelled out. Hearing nothing, she began to walk around the halls. A few minutes later, she spots a door marked "Library". Peeking into the window on the door, she sees some people inside. "Well, at least it's not too abandoned..." Tina said as she entered the Library...

edited 18th Jun '12 10:30:45 AM by DiurnalBrocolli

"Sorry." Loyce said at the same time, standing and glancing around. "Um, do you know the way to the library?" He asked, looking up at the sky and hoping he could get there before the rain became an actual problem. Perhaps there would be some information there that could help him. Or it could have no useful information at all, in which case he'd end up seeing something interesting but irrelevant and waste hours on reading... for the seventh time this month, if he remembered correctly. Worst case scenario, there was no library in the area, despite the fact that it seemed to be a university, and he'd end up stuck here and bored.

edited 18th Jun '12 9:43:09 AM by YsaSlayerOfSporks

"No idea. I've been here for thirty seconds." Raze said. "I prefer going to the library more than any other place in this... university. Only if I know where it is, of course." He rubbed his head, wondering if this place really was a university.

The sky continued to bother him with its gloominess, "Are you sure the library isn't inside this building?" Raze asked, peeking through the man's shoulder.

[[Dorm Building, Stairway]]

This stairway was proving to be a lot darker than Rachel had expected. Then again, this building seemed to be pretty dark in general, so that probably had something to do with it. It was in good enough condition to still be standing and not be covered in broken glass, rat dung, or other signs of unhabitability, yet whoever was responsible for keeping this place in one piece couldn't be bothered to pay the electric bill. It didn't leave her with much hope for the university's owner.

After another few moments, Rachel caught sight of some light. As she drew closer, she could see that it was indeed a door to the outside. Finally, some light. Now it was time to get out of this creepy place and get back to someplace familiar. That is, if she could actually open the door.

Much to her dismay, Rachel found that this door was controlled by a traditional doorknob and not a handle. A doorknob would be fairly trivial, if not for the fact that the closest thing she had to thumbs were withered stubs. Whatever the P-virus had in mind for her, dexterity wasn't part of it. The door in her starting location had a handle; why didn't this one?

Not seeing any other choice, Rachel knelt before the door and attempted to turn the doorknob. Hopefully she could get this thing open before nastiness could make its way towards her....

edited 18th Jun '12 10:46:04 AM by Yomegami

[[Dormitory 2nd Floor, Room C]]

Adeline Falk came suddenly awake.

Her eyes flew open, adjusting to the meager light filtering in through the window. The blinds had been left open, permitting the sun to invade the narrow space. It wasn't very bright, the sun hidden as it was behind a bank of grey clouds, but the little light there was scoured her optic nerves like two bright lances of pain stabbing directly into her frontal lobe.

Pressing her eyes shut, she swore loudly into her pillow. Had she forgotten to draw the blinds the previous night? Fantastic. she groaned, sorely tempted to pull the covers back over her head and settle in for a couple more hours. A few more seconds of blissful inactivity passed before her sense of responsibility got the better of her.

Her hand found her forehead, flopping down limply to rest against it like a dead fish. She tried to move, only to find she’d become thoroughly ensconced within her bedcover. It must have been a fitful night of sleep. From the way she was feeling, she'd probably gone out drinking the night before. She didn’t actually remember going out the previous night, but it was the best explanation. The hand crawled slowly down her face to pinch the bridge of her nose. She exhaled a breath. "Goddammit."

Next, she thought she'd try to open her eyes again. Slower, this time. Raising a hand to block the light from the window, Adel opened her eyes a crack. There was no pain this time, but she noticed something strange about her hand. On it she was wearing a black, fingerless glove. Puzzled, she quickly raised her other hand to check if it was the same. It too was clad in a black, fingerless glove. Her brow furrowed.

Hauling herself upright, the waking haze receding form her mind, Adel sat off the side of the bed, her legs dangling over the edge, and looked down at the rest of her. Sure enough, she was fully dressed- but not in the kind of apparel one would normally expect a 23-year-old med student to be wearing.

A light blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled up to behind her elbows, hung off her skinny frame. A pair of khakis covered her legs, their ends tucked in to a pair of jet black combat boots, all laced-up, knots tucked into the webbing. However, most unusual of all the parts of her ensemble was the bulky, plain white bulletproof vest she wore over her dress shirt. On the back was emblazoned a large red even diamond, appearing as a hollow red square rotated 45 degrees, and under it in bright red lettering were the initials: MSF. A smaller version of the red diamond adorned the front of the vest in the form of a patch, alongside an asklepian. Her dress shirt’s collar poked out the neck of the vest.

Patting herself down in apparent confusion, Adel could only think to herself: I'd fallen asleep- in my work clothes? That in itself wasn't too unusual, save for her bulletproof vest of course. Perhaps that was the cause of her fitful rest- wearing that thing was like hanging a close-fitting ball and chain around your shoulders. No, her concern stemmed from the realization that she didn't remember falling asleep.

She experienced a surge of panic at the thought. The memory loss, she recalled, was a symptom of a common date-rape drug- but waking up fully clothed seemed to dampen that possibility. Would her attacker really have bothered dressing her back up? Or, for that matter, tucking her in to bed?

Speaking of which- she thought, ... where am I?

A cursory exam of the room she was in gave her the impression she was back in college. Same cramped room, white plaster walls and cheap furniture. A look out the window revealed a sprawling campus, the buildings of the type at Oxford- plenty of tall spires and stone. It looked more like a cathedral grounds than anything to do with education.

She spotted a group of people in the middle-distance around what appeared to be a fountain. Nodding, Adel grabbed her backpack, slung it over one shoulder, and took the stairway down to meet the group of strangers. Maybe she could get some answers from these people.

edited 18th Jun '12 11:41:51 AM by Gault

-Library-

In the Library, Tina saw many books, some in languages that she didn't even hear of. "Wow, look at all these books!" Tina said. But her eye caught on a certain book, which cover had a pair of hands holding an apple. Tina didn't think twice about it. "Hmm... I wonder if I can burn that..." Tina then saw a more proper book, (Around the World in 80 Days) found a couch, sat down, and began reading it.

edited 18th Jun '12 11:08:29 AM by DiurnalBrocolli

[Library]

Tyler noticed movement in the library. Someone else was here, it seemed. Doing what you were supposed to be doing in libraries. Reading. What a novel thought. Tyler cracked a momentarily wide and stupid grin at what was an ingeniusly idiotic pun, before immediately sobering.

edited 18th Jun '12 10:17:22 AM by MrAHR

"The only thing I saw was... my room, I guess." Loyce said. "I haven't looked around yet... I just got here too. I was hoping someone could tell me where it is before I wasted too much time searching." He explained. "You know, we should really go in now." He added, pointing at the sky.

[Fountain]

The girl with the sword was gone by the way Cyrus made it to the fountain, but there was still that first girl to deal with. He hopes the lightning cannon doesn't intimidate her, but she might be kind of jumpy. Someone just drew a sword and threatened someone with it, after all.

"Er... you all right? My name is Cyrus, and I'm very, very lost. Do you have any idea where we are?"

He looks up. "I think we should go inside. The rain is coming."

edited 18th Jun '12 11:01:14 AM by SnowyFoxes

[[Dorm Building, Stairway]]

After much fidgeting, Rachel had finally gotten the door open. She really had to wonder why handles weren't more commonplace - granted, the amount of people who lacked usable thumbs was probably minimal, but still. Handles were easier to use anyway.

Now she had a different choice to make. Right now, it seemed to be raining. She thought she saw sunshine here and there, but the weather as a whole was rather stormy. Should she stay in the creepy abandoned dormitory occupied by lord knows what, or brave the rain and see if there was reasonable intelligent life anywhere else on this campus?

As she looked around, she noticed another door that looked very much like it was used recently. If there was any other sentient life here, there was a good chance it was through that door. If there was, there was the chance that it'd be lighter and a little less creepy in that building....

The rain it was, then. Rachel took a deep breath, then quickly dashed across the courtyard towards the other door.

[Dorms]

"In to what? Ambiguity is not a good thing." Raze said, making a slight smirk in his face. "But I guess you are talking about this building, not the library. Sure, I'm not in mood to have a shower." He stepped inside the building.

[Fountain]

Athalia looked over to Cyrus. "We appear to be at some kind of University," she explained, "as for where and why we're here, I couldn't say." Athalia then looked up to notice the clouds, which were heavy with rain. "Oh, I don't really have a problem with the rain. I find it rather refreshing, don't you?"

[Fountain]

Naomi smiled nervously. Swords, steampunk portal guns... what's next? Well, the girly man at least had some sense in his head. As much as she liked walking in the rain, there was probably more to explore inside the university. And she didn't want to risk her laptop getting wet, either.

"Nice to meet you, Cyrus." She held out her hand to shake. "I'm Naomi. And I'm just as lost as you are, honestly. And while I agree that rain is refreshing, well, who wants to come take a look inside with me?"

[Fountain]

Athalia nodded towards Naomi. "I suppose there's no harm in looking around, unless someone catches us for trespassing..."

"As if that ever stopped you before," Peter muttered.

Athalia turned to him and said, "I suppose you'll be following me anyway, then?"

"Of course!" Peter answered, "but not because of you. I'm very interested in this University, and I really want to see what kind of facilities this place has."

"I meant any place with a roof." Loyce explained, following. "So, uh, who exactly are you?"

[Fountain]

"Rain is nice." Cyrus pats his lightning cannon. "But if any of it gets into this thing, that's not good. I'd rather face whatever's lurking inside that place than get electrocuted by dear Bessie."

He smiles tightly at the others. "I have a feeling I might need her here. So, who will lead the way?"

[Fountain —> Walking to Entrance]

"Did you just call that thing Bessie?" Naomi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "God, you're like my roommate. She bought potholders with little ducks on them the other day and gave them all names."

She strode toward to the entrance, more out of eagerness to beat the rain than to be the leader.

Lunchtime. She'll go wherever you guys do :)

-Library-

Tina was reading her book, but she couldn't help the feeling that she was being watched. She looked up from her book, and saw someone at the far end. She decided to get up, and approach the person. "Um, hi there. My name's Tina, and don't mind my smell... It's a long story." Tina said, hoping the person she was talking to wouldn't be dangerous.

Tina is headed to Tyler.

edited 18th Jun '12 11:21:44 AM by DiurnalBrocolli

[Library]

Tyler nodded at the person. So many people introducing themselves! Tyler felt oddly popular all of a sudden. Pink hair. Kind of strange. Not really. Sandals seemed like an odd choice in this rain, but some people were weird like that. After all, Tyler's own buckettop boots and breeches were probably more out of the norm here anyway.

"Tina. I'm Tyler."

edited 18th Jun '12 11:25:30 AM by MrAHR

"Glad you asked. Raze Castro, not related to that guy in Cuba." Raze said comically, slightly tilting his head. "I guess in my place, I'm what they call a 'self-proclaimed scientist', but by job description is a 'researcher'. Self-employed, by the way."

Raze checked his pants pocket while walking, and his hands felt his newly-purchased Nokla cellphone. "...I guess I can try to call my house, but..."

He then stopped abruptly. turning to face the man, "Have you any clue on what brought you here, Mister..." He trailed off, realizing he haven't asked the man for his name.

Courtyard

Rachel was about halfway to her destination when the sound of voices reached her ears. This time, she was sure that was truly coming from somewhere and not just her imagination going crazy. She stopped and listened some more. Yes, those voices were real. She figured she couldn't blame those other people - this courtyard was fairly pretty, after all. They might have wanted to take a look around.

Now that she determined that she wasn't hallucinating, she looked around trying to find the source of these voices. It didn't take her long to notice a small conglomerate of people standing in front of the fountain. At least, they looked like people. No one in the group had distinctly inhuman features from this distance. As far as she could tell, there was one rather young looking lady, a person in a cloak who could have been either gender, plus a couple consisting of an old-ish man and another young woman. None of them seemed to have noticed her, at any rate.

Should she introduce herself? Rachel mulled it over for a bit, then decided against it. As far as she could tell, these were ordinary humans. She was an infected that was noticeably different from an ordinary human, if for no other reason than having fingers with one and a half inch claws on them. She really was not in the mood to be on the receiving end of any weapons they might be carrying.

She decided to leave them to their own devices, and continued on her way towards the door she was eyeballing earlier. Now that she knew she wasn't the only one here, she was both relieved and nervous. She was going to keep her guard up, even if no one else meant any harm. Lord knows what a normal human would think upon looking at her.

edited 18th Jun '12 11:26:40 AM by Yomegami

[[Dormitory Lobby]]

Adel slowed her descent, the sound of a rattling doorknob floating up from below her. Underneath was the ground floor- maybe someone was having trouble getting in? Probably, she thought, having noticed raindrops slapping at the glass of the stairwell’s windows on the walk down. As she alighted on the ground floor the rattling stopped, and Adel had just enough time to notice a pale figure dashing from view through the now-open door. She froze. Had that been a person?

Striding over to the door, she grabbed the knob to stop it slamming shut and took a look outside. She spotted whoever it was immediately, making a mad dash for another one of the buildings on the opposite end of the courtyard. Adel couldn’t blame her. The rain was coming down in sheets by now, and a constant torrent was spilling over the lip of the roof, forming a virtual screen of water a few feet out from the dorm building’s walls.

Adel squinted her eyes. She couldn’t quite make it out in the distance, but the figure definitely seemed to be running. Shrugging and deciding it would be best to take a look around when things weren’t quite so damp, she began to pull the door shut when her glove caught on something. Looking down at her hand, she huffed in consternation and tried to tug it free. After a bit of curious resistance, she managed to remove her hand from around the knob only to notice that the door knob seemed to have scratch marks all over it. And not small scratches either, something seemed to have dug fair-sized scores in the metal enough to leave a multitude of welts. It was one of these welts that her glove had been snagged on.

She contemplated the door knob with an eyebrow arched. How odd.

Adel took another look out the door. The group of people by the fountain she'd spotted from her room didn't seem to mind the rain all that much. Suppose she'd stand there in the doorway and watch, not feeling much like getting needlessly wet herself.

edited 18th Jun '12 11:41:25 AM by Gault

-Library-

Tina shook hands with Tyler, who was wearing a red t-shirt, brown pants, and black boots. He also had blond hair. "So, what is up with this place, anyway? It looks abandoned..."

"It is." Tyler spoke, although whether this was a confirmation or an exclamation was hard to interpret.

Tyler's neck craned as the scene was taken in. "Well, I wouldn't call it abandoned. It's just that no one is in the library. There is a difference there."