[OPEN] Prick your fingers, it is done, the moon has now eclipsed the sun

[manufactured]

WHO: Albert Wesker (eventually) and whomever decides to join him (presumably you!)
WHERE: Dreamscapes.
WHEN: Slightly backdated to 8/24.
WHAT: Dreamdiving.
WARNINGS: Medical experimentation, brainwashing, child abuse, violence, body horror, depictions of self-harm, a general blanket warning that Wesker has been through Some Shit and as such this is probably going to suck on several levels.

[It's cold.

It isn't the familiar drop in temperature that might come from the weather, but a sterile, artificial chill, the sort associated with medical work - hospitals and laboratories and other places that bring with them a sharp, chemical smell and an unpleasant sense that you don't really want to be there.

Of course, the metal table against your back probably isn't doing much to keep you warm, either.

Trying to sit up will be a bit of a problem, given the heavy restraints locked around your wrists and ankles, your hips and your upper body; they're a combination of metal and leather, old-fashioned and imposing, clearly designed to restrain something very, very powerful, and they're keeping you from going very far. You can look around enough to tell that where you are is...probably not somewhere you want to stay for long - it is, in fact, a laboratory of some sort, full of instruments and vials and jars of things that don't look very nice, the metal walls giving way somewhere just on the edges of your line of sight, turning into something else - a sort of open entrance to what looks like a cave of some sort. Either way, it'll probably take you somewhere that isn't here if you follow it. Tipping your head back will show another potential exit to the area - a metal door in the wall near all the instruments and materials.

Of course, you can't really utilize either route if you're bound down, now, can you? You should probably work on figuring out what you're going to do about that, first.]

Comments

[matchbreaker]

[ Wow this is decidedly uncool. Uncool is an understatement, really? It's actually sort of ... terrifying? First things first, she's going to try these restraints against all of her vampire super strength (so roughly enough to throw a car) which... tbh she hopes is enough but she has this sinking fear it might not be. ]

[manufactured]

[You're going to get a lot of rattling for your effort, and there will probably be a little bit of play in the tightness if you keep at it, though it doesn't seem like they're simply going to break - are you trying the ones at your wrists first, presumably?

...Because it seems like you're not going to be alone for very long; it sounds like there's someone in the hallway. Making their way toward the room you're in, footsteps even and measured.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Yeah wrists first - she's right handed, so the right for the most part. But... damn. Okay, her eyes flash and ...

She hears the steps.

Well shit. The small woman tries to keep a prolonged tug on the restraint, but lets go of it as the other comes in. As if that'll pretend there wasn't any movement there. ]

[manufactured]

[The man that enters is honestly sort of on the nondescript side; he seems a bit tired, perhaps, the sort of person that seems to be more than a bit overworked, but he also doesn't seem the be the sort that would smell delicious to you - he hasn't lost his vigor for life or work or anything else, he doesn't seem upbeat but his spirits are still plainly up enough, the guy could just, like, seriously use a fucking vacation.

Seeing as he's here, he's also probably insane. But that goes without saying. As it stands, though, he's just kind of your average dirty-blond guy that probably lives in the burbs with his wife and his dog and his 2.5 kids and probably plays fucking badminton or something.

He's got a clipboard with him that seems to be containing notes; he'll sort of give Elda a look, and the look is kind of a hard to read one, but he'll settle back easily enough with his back against the wall, crossing his legs idly at the ankle and paging through what he's got on that clipboard, because you are Officially Less Interesting than his notes. Which may or may not be a good thing.]

Good to see you're awake. Making much headway?

[...On the. Restraints. Probably.]

[matchbreaker]

[ It's the fact that he doesn't smell good that surprises her as much as anything. He has that look to him, though he's surprisingly young looking for how... generic he looks. The woman narrows her eyes as he comes in, though it does hurt to do that when she looks at the lights in the room. Ugh. Anyway, let's focus on him for now and... ]

Less than I'd like, really!

[ Ever honest....

... Wait. She should try to see if she can sense bats here. She closes her eyes (also to get the lights out of it) to reach out to feel for that. Probably not, but. ]

[manufactured]

[No bats in the immediate area, unfortunately. Leaving her with...well, the restraints and also this guy.]

Do what you want, I suppose. It's not like they can't be replaced if you manage to break them, and I'm actually interested to see if you're able to. Those things have held some pretty powerful specimens in their time.

Try not to damage the room too much, though. Our materials are on the expensive side.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . . How irritating. ]

Yeah, well, wouldn't want that.

[ She opens her eyes again, wincing a bit at the light and hums, okay, maybe she should strain more - nah, not while he's in the room. Yet. ]

[manufactured]

[For what it's worth, he is still infinitely more interested in his notes than he is you.]

Don't worry, you're really not one that my coworker wants touched. I'm waiting for an override from above, dealing with that, but it looks like he's stonewalling pretty hard. They always do give him whatever he wants.

[That doesn't sound bitter, really; it's vaguely...something, but it's not a negative something.]

[matchbreaker]

Wow, sound a little proud of that?

[ Or ... something...

That was weird. ]

[manufactured]

Shouldn't I be? I've known him for years, I can acknowledge when he gets what he deserves because he's good at something - he's one of the best we've got.

[He shrugs, though.]

I'm guessing you're going to try to find him, if you get out of here.

[matchbreaker]

[ Find... him.

...

He's talking about Albert, isn't he? Elda didn't connect that immediately, but recognition comes into her eyes the moment after he says it. She grits her teeth, and her mind flashes through two contradictory chains of memories. But bother of them confirm the simple reality of it: Albert Wesker was important to her. And in that regard, she swallows and, ]

Yeah, that would be the idea! [ Dammit. What if - she can't dwell on the what if. That would be bad if she allows it to bug her down. ]

[manufactured]

Well, it's not like it's going to be my neck on the line if you decide to do that.

[And as such, it's officially whatever, man.]

Just planning on making it up as you go until you figure something out?

[matchbreaker]

Unfortunately, I'm not all that cunning.

[ She inhales and exhales... and then once more tries harder on the restraints. As she does, her muscles bulge, looking odd on her normally thin and boney arms. Her eyes turn cat-like, and now she knows she needs to put a bit more omph into it. As long as she can free only one hand, she can manage a lot more than this. ]

So I figure I might as well improvise!

[manufactured]

[...jesus christ.

don't worry, those restraints will break - birkin is also going to do a lot of nothing to stop this short of maybe shifting position into something that isn't the most casual thing in the world, and kind of looking like Christmas may have in fact come early.]

Wow. I can see where he likes you, let's put it that way.

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's eye shifts to him, locking with cat-like expression. The one arm free, she can - well, she's done it in her memories enough and her nails are long enough, right? So she's going to try to slash through the other restraint on the left arm and then rip off the ones on her legs.

Hopefully nothing hits poor Birkin? but more to the point: ]

I don't have to knock you out?

[manufactured]

Oh, don't worry. I know when I'm outmatched by someone.

[I mean he still thinks this is cool as fuck but at least it's not in an "I'm gonna shoot and bag the cool thing" sort of way.]

[matchbreaker]

Good, good.

[ And so she looks around for and then heads towards a door, rolling her shoulders... but it's in that same moment that she goes to do so that Elda realizes, oh, wait. Even if he says that, it might still be a problem...

She wonders, who would be thinking that. Elda Marker, grandmother? Elda Marker, mother? Elda Marker, vampire? Are they all the same? After a moment of consideration...

Yeah, they are. So she doubles back to Birkin, walking up in front of the man and looking him over before, ]

I've probably gotta find him myself, but do you have some keys or an ID to move around better?

[manufactured]

[...]

You want to borrow my ID.

[Not like he's saying no, just...no one's actually ever asked that?]

[matchbreaker]

Well yes! Just looking at this place, I get the sense I'll have to be moving around and unlocking places, but if you're going to be cooperative, that'll help me!

[ So fork it over. ]

[manufactured]

[Oh. My god.]

You know what? Sure. Why not. I don't have anything to lose.

[Just...let him find his ID thing, it's one of those security cards with the magnetic stripes that lets you bypass card-key entrances. The name on it reads WILLIAM BIRKIN.]

Anything else?

[matchbreaker]

[ Oh wow, he did fork it over? She looks at it with some surprise and then... Well, her smile is a little guilty, and she asks him, her other hand glowing a light yellow. ]

So can I trust you not to set off some alarm the minute I'm out of here?

[manufactured]

If security finds you after you leave this place, it's your fault, not mine.

[matchbreaker]

That's fair!

[ She laughs a little and then pulls back her hand, the glow fading. In retrospect, erasing his memories might make it worse. He knew she was going to be here, right? So instead, she nods, takes the ID closer to herself, and with surprisingly quiet footsteps, glides her way over to he door. Let's go and get in this hallway! ... Or see if there are security there. ]

[manufactured]

[...It is probably for the best to not knock his memories out, actually, yes.

That said, there doesn't seem to be any security in this area; the door itself opens into a long hallway, the corridor walls made of thick concrete reinforced with steel beams, the sort of thing one might expect from a fallout shelter. The floor seems to be made of heavy metal grating, the sort that's prone to rattling a little when one walks - though Elda's light enough that it likely won't; it's a straight shot down, nowhere to hide but nowhere for anyone else to hide either, and the place is lit up with recessed lighting embedded in the ceiling, flickering gently once in a while but generally dim-lit, nowhere near as bright as it could be. So it's probably not completely killing your eyes, thankfully.

The hallway seems to go for an inordinately long period of time, but eventually there are changes that are starkly noticeable - the grating in the floor gives way to a pathway made of packed dirt, the concrete of the walls roughens out into stone and soil, and the entire area becomes decidedly more cavelike and less industrial as you go. The lighting in the ceiling remains the same, however, though it's a bit more spaced-out; it's a little idiosyncratic, as is the appearance of a door at the end of the hallway, moored in the rock wall before you. It seems to be slightly ajar, it'll likely swing outward if you touch it; there doesn't seem to be sunlight on the other side, so it's safe in that regard.]

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's very light on her feet, it's true. She weighs very little and even besides that vampires seem to have some borderline supernatural silence to their footsteps, she's noticed? Or maybe it's just when he body changed her gait changed to to something she had perfected in another life. Even so, she does remain somewhat crouched, ready to spring somewhere else as she steps into the hall.

Still, the architecture of this was... strange? the one hallway here, the dim lighting...? She frowns a little as she continues, thankful he eyes don't need to adjust overly much. But it's once it shifts to stone she blinks a little here. She had suspected she might be underground, but to have it give way to a proper cave of some sort...>?

Weird.

But yeah, at a door here...? Well, she hadn't seen any other real places to look before now, so let's... tap this open. ]