recolle | [OPEN] There is a dream inside a dream

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[OPEN] There is a dream inside a dream

WHO: Albert Wesker, whomever chooses to join him (presumably you!)
WHERE: Various
WHEN: Throughout October
WHAT: Nightmares and fog, featuring reunions with "friends."
WARNINGS: Violence, murder, child abuse, a basement full of corpses, medical experimentation, tentacles just goddamn everywhere, body horror, a veritable ball of leeches, other delightful things one would expect from the Resident Evil villain's memories? There is a blanket warning for "this is gonna suck" over this whole thing, though the child abuse warning is only relevant for those who pursue the Spencer prompt; the rest are clear of that sort of thing.

[NIGHTMARE – OSWELL E. SPENCER]
( cw: violence, murder, child abuse, a basement full of corpses )

[The mansion you find yourself in is large.

It seems like it used to be opulent once. You're standing in a foyer that held some sense of grandeur to it but now seems to have fallen into disrepair, and the long arching staircase greeting you dead-center is crumbling in several places. The massive chandelier which once hung above the center of the room seems to have crashed down at some point long ago, lying broken on the glossy marble floor, all shattered crystal and twisted metal and lengths of chain; it seems a bit of a visual nonsequitur – nothing overly important outside of the fact that there was a chandelier hanging in this room, and something sent it crashing down – but as you walk past it, you can see slight movememt beneath it out of the corner of your eye, something tense and slow and pained, almost as though there's something pinned down underneath it.

You probably don't want to know what's pinned down underneath it.

Watch your step as you're moving upstairs, though it does seem you want to move upstairs; you don't know why, seeing as everything is in disrepair and that includes the staircase itself and the exposed hallways leading in either direction off of it, but sometimes dreams are just like that. Aren't they? You move and you move and there's no real reason behind any of it – it's all a little nonsensical, a little surreal, and it seems this one isn't going to be any different.

A door down one of those hallways is lying slightly ajar; pressing on it will get it to swing open easily. However, if you reach out to do so, a voice can be heard from inside; it seems to belong to a man, though it's high-pitched and cracked and withered with age, but either way the words that are spoken seem to be aimed, somehow, at you.]

...You came back...

[Proceed?]

[NIGHTMARE – WILLIAM BIRKIN]
( cw: medical experimentation )

[It feels almost like it's the end of the world.

The place you're in is dark, all steel and concrete, with the oppressive air of something that's far underground; maybe a bunker, maybe a facility of some sort, definitely somewhere that you aren't supposed to be. The hallway you're in is long, dimly-lit with fluorescent lights that seem to flicker and dance in and out of existence despite how strong the walls in this place seem to be.

It's silent. And then, suddenly it's not.

The sound starts up quiet but soon builds immensely, a sharp wail, a moan, undercut with a chilling rasp that sounds almost like a death rattle. A series of loud banging noises that may or may not be restraints against a metal table. All of it emanates from somewhere just around a bend in the hallway, behind a door that's just out of sight from where you're standing but comes quickly into view if you move toward it.

Before you can open it, the sound starts up again, the screech, the keening noise, something that sounds undeniably like death; there are voices, too, beneath it, a pair of people speaking without paying any mind to the cacophony that surely must be happening near them.

If you listen long enough before opening the door, it sounds almost like whomever is making those ungodly sounds is screaming for their mother.]

[NIGHTMARE – EXCELLA GIONNE]
( cw: violence, some degree of body horror, tentacles just goddamn everywhere )

[The stars above are beautiful, constellations in full view; it's almost enough to make you disregard how very cold it is tonight. There's the soft sway of a ship's movement beneath your feet as it cuts through choppy seas, the metallic sound of a tanker's deck reverberating underneath your every step; despite the amount of work it must require to keep a massive ship like this running smoothly at sea, there don't seem to be any actual people on board – it seems that you're alone, and you're empty-handed, and the only indication of whom this ship might belong to is a logo that's present here and there on the metal walls you pass that ultimately doesn't seem to mean anything.

As you make your way to the bow of the ship, a voice sounds out – distorted, unrecognizable for all the static obscuring it as the ship's public-address system relays it through the night air; the words are difficult to make out, but you can surely hear a few.

"But it's too late for you...you won't live to see – "
"Sorry, Excella, but it seems – "
"...One last task for you."
"Farewell, old friend."

In the distance, a woman screams. And something massive seems to connect, then, hard enough to rock the ship, to dip it down hard from the center.

Perhaps you move forward to the bow of the ship to find the source of the screaming – after all, it sounds as though she's really suffering, wherever she is. Or perhaps you choose to stay put to see what happens; there's no sense in rushing into a dangerous situation. Or perhaps you do the reasonable-person thing and try to run from it all, because whatever just happened on deck is large enough to fuck with the boat and that probably isn't anything you want a part of.

Either way, it doesn't really matter; you're going to be intercepted by Wesker, grabbing your arm or...wherever's immediately available like an unreasonable person and pulling you in a different direction entirely, up a metal flight of stairs to a higher deck.]

We can't stay here.

[His words are sharp, rushed despite the fact that he doesn't seem to be doing much with his face; things are...not going well, clearly.]

[FOG – SERGEI VLADIMIR]
( cw: violence, body horror everywhere, a veritable ball of leeches )

[It probably isn't the wisest decision, being out late at night in the fog like this; just the same, at this point...well, this seems like a far better option than sleeping, given the dreams that have been plaguing Wesker's sleep.

This, incidentally, was a highly incorrect assumption.

If you're out tonight in any of the business districts – anyplace that the buildings tower high above, anyplace that has high walls and streets winding below them, you may find yourself grabbed and pulled over toward someone, your back pressed hard against one of those high walls, and when Wesker speaks from where he's got ahold of you his words seem calm enough but there's an undeniable sense of pressure behind them when he speaks.]

If you're armed, draw your weapon. And keep your gaze high. It's not safe here.

[...So that's something that's happening tonight.]

[ANYTHING ELSE?]

[Feel free to hit either my plotting comment or come find me at

InstantEternity if you want to plot something out with me; I'm here for anything and everything, and if there's something specific that you want for the sake of either getting memory regains for you or just...going on an adventure, I'm willing to custom-tailor nightmares and experiences for you! Resident Evil runs a large and fairly messed-up gamut, so pretty much anything is fair game.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well, this is certainly a weird dream. Jaeger has no reason to be dreaming about a ship, but he doesn't have long to ponder it before suddenly a woman's screaming and he's starting toward that. Whatever's rocked the ship is in that direction as well and even though he doesn't have his weapon, he's determined to see what's going on.

Until Wesker stops him, that is. Jaeger glances up at the other man, then back in the direction he was headed before deciding to follow Wesker's lead on this one.]

I'll follow you, then. I trust you know where you're going?

[If this is anything like what happened before, then he's found himself in Wesker's dream and that's definitely not a good sign.]

[God, it's good that he managed to stop Jaeger before he pursued the source of that screaming a bit too thoroughly - he seems momentarily relieved at that, really, before he just continues moving toward the stairs.]

...This is the best way I've found to stave off being killed for a while longer, at least.

[This is going to suck, Jaeger.]

[Oh. Yeah, this is absolutely going to suck, isn't it.]

Killed off by what? What's going on here?

[Ohhhh, boy, you are not going to like this - ]

There's something on the deck of this ship that we're not going to be able to kill. I'm not going to allow you to run toward it senselessly, because you don't deserve what's going to greet you out there.

[His words are incredibly even, despite what he's saying. Like he's reciting facts rather than describing a dire situation.]

Either we can take it lying down or we can try to fight. Either way, we will die here.

[He's not sure what to say to that. Even if this is just a dream, how the hell is he supposed to deal with certain death?]

...I take it this is a nightmare you've had plenty of times before, then.

[Jaeger shakes his head as if to clear it.]

There has to be some way to defeat it, ja? I'm not going to give up! This isn't like your typical dreams; I'm here!

[not that he'll do anything against a tentacle monster but shhh]

You haven't seen it.

[It's blunt, but he does understand what Jaeger is saying; he just...doesn't exactly think that it's going to help much.]

To be entirely honest, I would prefer it if you weren't here - though I suppose this makes us even.

[The deck they come to is large, with a path to a walkway on the left that leads out to overlook the main deck of the ship; the right seems to lead further into the structure itself, toward an indoor hallway leading to various rooms inside.

...We're going to the right, if Wesker has any say in the matter.]

I imagine we'll both have a good amount to talk about after all this is over, ja?

[It's light though; he's not going to press right now. There are much more important things to worry about.

Jaeger pauses when they reach the split in the path. He's slowly dying of curiosity and he wants to know just what they're up against, but Wesker probably knows how this goes well enough by now. He catches up to the other man quickly enough.]

Tell me more about this thing. What are we up against?

[...He's aware of Jaeger's hesitation; he'll stop not too far down the other hallway.]

It knows where we are. I can't say I understand how, given that it doesn't have eyes, but it can likely sense us somehow - going out into the open would be a mistake.

[Just saying. After all, you did ask for some information on it.]

You'll see it soon enough; trust me, it's a bit hard to miss.

[...In several ways, it seems; there's a heavy slam against the metal wall just behind Jaeger, and whatever seems to have connected with it seems to have been hard enough to dent the damn wall inward.]

...Incredibly hard to miss.

[Jaeger jumps at that and then moves closer to Wesker like this will somehow protect him from the whatever-the-fuck-it-is out there that's trying to get in to kill them.]

Ja, I'd say so! Whatever it is certainly isn't too pleased with us being here! Let's hurry!

[Hopefully we can put some distance between us and the incredibly strong thing that's trying to get at us.]

[Come on, then, further into the structure of the ship itself is generally safe, from what he can tell - ]

It's never broken the walls in this area, from what I can remember. It's come incredibly close, but it doesn't break - we're safe here, the ship will hold. Though we don't want to find rooms with windows, those will break.

Further up is where the walls won't protect us anymore. Until then, we should see if there's anything worth finding in the rooms themselves. The further in, the better; we want to choose rooms to the right if they'll open. If they won't, don't bother.

[His words are still sounding odd and blank, almost methodical in nature; its offset by how tense he is, his hands clenched tightly at his sides before he moves and starts trying doors, his movements quick and agitated.]

Here's hoping we'll find something useful, then!

[He'll try some of the doors as well, though his luck isn't very good and he comes across a locked one. Jaeger tries to ignore that his hands are shaking and making it harder to try the doorknob than he'd like.

The next door is also locked, but he moves as quickly as he can, sticking only to the rooms on the right side..]

Any luck?

[He'll take the left side, then, as little as he likes that idea; for now he's just going to hope that he's not greeted with a wall full of windows, because that's thankfully only happened to him once before in a dream like this but the result wasn't a nice one.]

I can't be sure yet -

[...There we go, this one seems to work and isn't just...full of windows, there don't seem to be any in here.]

Here. Come on.

[Jaeger follows quickly, sticking close to Wesker as he goes.]

Where are we trying to get to, by the way?

[The lack of windows is a good thing, but he still wants to know what the thing is that's trying to kill them. It's not like it'd help, of course.]

One of the upper decks. There's an open area up there where we can engage; there's nowhere that's truly safe in this area, otherwise I would stay.

[The room seems to be some sort of control room, almost - there are a fair amount of consoles and things just kind of glowing away in here, despite the overall dimness of the room.]

...Are you going to be all right?

[He knows that the situation is...harrowing, but on the other hand, it wouldn't be a nightmare if it weren't...]

[He nods at that and moves to get a look at the consoles in here. He's not sure what he's looking for, but maybe there's something in here that'll be useful...?

Wesker's question catches him off-guard and he glances back at the other man for a moment before shaking his head a bit.]

It's a bit different than my usual nightmares, but I'm more concerned about you! I'll be okay. It is just a dream, ja? So even if... Even if we do die, we'll just wake up.

[...That's totally how this goes right, please tell him this isn't "you die in the dream, you die in real life"...]

[That just gets a quiet noise out of him; that's how these things tend to go, yes.

That said, he's quiet for a moment longer before the silence is interrupted - another hit, hard enough to knock one of the monitors off half its bearings and leaving it to dangle precariously from its other mounting. Wesker startles a bit at it, and he pulls back slightly, trying to calm himself again as he does so.]

...Don't concern yourself with me. It's obviously not the first time I've done this.

[That gets Jaeger to start too and he lets out a shaky laugh.]

Well, you know how I am! I worry quite a bit!

[He moves away from the monitor to poke around the room some more. There probably isn't anything here that's of any use to them, but he's not giving up easily.]

We'll try to make it through this. Maybe we'll get lucky!

[Despite his cheerful tone, he doesn't believe it. His luck's not that good and this is Wesker's dream. Things really don't look good.]

..Maybe.

[His breathing is getting kind of jagged, though; just...give him a moment.]

Sometimes there are things like...files, or weapons. Just lying around. They're usually obvious, but not always.

[Look around hard enough and you'll find one of those files eventually, Jaeger.]

Files? I assume they have information on what we're fighting...?

[Maybe there's some kind of weakness they're supposed to pinpoint to defeat it? That seems like video game logic and Wesker probably doesn't play many video games, so maybe that's not it. Regardless, he'll take a look around for those files, starting with any drawers in the immediate vicinity. There's probably something in here somewhere and they don't have time to screw around searching for files and things forever. Weapons would certainly be more useful, but his hopes aren't all that high about finding those just lying around.

So - what's in the drawers here?]

[Congratulations, you have found a file!

It contains a photograph of this woman; most of the information has been redacted, struck through with heavy black bars, though the words EXCELLA GIONNE and DECEASED (INFECTED) are clearly visible.]

They usually don't have anything too useful. Just...reminders, I suppose.

[He sounds a bit bitter about that, but you know what, whatever - ]

We should move on.

[He'll remove that from the drawer and check through it a few times just to make sure there's nothing else. Nope, just a reminder, as Wesker's said.]

Ja, of course.

[But he's not quite done yet and he takes a moment to stare at the file before speaking up again.]

...Who is she? What is she a reminder of?

...I told you about that woman I was dating for a while. The one I killed.

[His words are...suddenly very blank; they're still happening, thankfully, he's not shutting down entirely, but the emotions are going to be...a bit off for a while, it looks like.

It's not something he usually does; that's...largely new, actually.]

I also told you that I remembered a certain kind of...monstrous thing that seems to be a common theme in my memories. The things that I suspect I was going to use to rule over the world as some sort of god, the massive one that came into being somehow on the deck of a tanker, like this one.

[There's another tremendous slam against the ship, coming from the same sort of spot that it hit out in the hallway; it happens once, then twice, again and again, like it's trying to break through the- ]

...Killing Excella and creating monsters like that may have been slightly more interconnected than I let on when I first told you about it - move, we can't stay here.

[Come on, back into the hallway, trying to ignore whatever is out there that's trying to puncture the steel, trying the doors again - ]

[That's... terrifying, honestly, but he thinks he can understand why Wesker would shut his emotions off like that. It's not the sort of thing a person should be able to do, but given the circumstances...

The thing is trying to break through the ship and Jaeger's suddenly very aware of just how little a chance they stand against that thing. Sure, he figured they didn't stand a chance before, but Wesker's talking about it like it was the thing he was going to use to rule the world, so...

He follows quickly.]

I think I understand why you didn't tell me that, but is there anything else I should know about this thing?

[Since it's kind of pressing right now.]

...There are obvious weak spots. They're bright, everything else is black, you'll know what to aim for if you can get your hands on a weapon. She doesn't like being hit there, but it'll get her to hesitate, at least.

[He's still trying doors. Locked.]

I've only fought her with someone else once or twice, and I know for a fact that my mind conjured him up, as he isn't anyone that's on the app. She hated both of us, so chances are she's going to go after you even if I'm the one she's angry with.

[Locked.]

There's not going to be any reasoning with her - she can't hear you, and even if she could it wouldn't matter, so don't bother trying to yell anything at her.

[And this one's open, come on, we don't have windows but we've got tables and a lot of open space, and we've got mounts on the walls that seem to have -

...Well, one of them's got your fucking scythe on it, actually, so there's that.]

[So she's too far gone. She's more monster than person at this point and he shouldn't hesitate. He understands, but he's going to have to hope he can keep that in mind. If his life is on the line, surely he won't hesitate, right?

...This isn't going to end well.

Anyway, he follows Wesker into the open room and his eyes find his scythe almost immediately. Jaeger perks up quickly and moves to pull it from the wall.]

I was starting to think we wouldn't find any weapons at all!

[He feels much better with his weapon in hand, but the scythe probably won't be doing anything at all against whatever the hell is out there. He considers for a moment before shifting it to the crossbow formation. He's never used a crossbow, but he has memories of battling with it and maybe that'll be enough.]

...I'll keep all of that in mind, thank you. I'll do my best.

[He's still smiling, but the expression is a little strained now.]

let's fight excella

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