[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

[scythegun]

[It takes a moment for Jaeger to process what he's seeing.

At first he mistakes it for his own blastia. The shape isn't the same and it doesn't even look all that similar beyond the red center, but the uncanny similarity between the thing attached to his chest and this device isn't something he can miss.

Shock quickly gives way to anger, and while Jaeger doesn't usually get angry, he's suddenly unable to think of anything else. Who would do this to a child? Why? What the hell could they possibly be getting out of something like this?

His expression hardens and it takes him a long moment to breathe and steady himself before he speaks. He's doing his damn best not to let the anger seep into his words.]

Something will happen to you if you leave because of this, ja?

[He doesn't reach out to touch or anything, don't worry. It doesn't look like the sort of thing that can be removed...]

Who did this to you?

[manufactured]

[He doesn't really answer; he just shakes his head a little and moves to cover it again with the fabric of his clothes.]

Shouldn't...go anywhere.

[...]

...Be...fine. It'll be fine.

[scythegun]

[That's not an answer. That's not an answer and he doesn't like it.]

Yes, I know it'll be fine. You're a very strong person.

[The words are gentle, more gentle than they were before. After a moment, he sets the briefcase down and moves to undo the cravat. It takes some doing with just one hand, but once he's got that undone, unbuttoning his shirt is easier. It doesn't take long before the blastia is exposed.]

I have something like that too, see? It isn't exactly the same, but someone put this on me too. I was really scared, I didn't know what to do.

But Albert was there for me. He reassured me that everything would be okay. It is okay now. So I know you'll be okay too.

Do you believe that?

[manufactured]

[He's quiet for a moment, but he nods eventually.

Yes.]

[scythegun]

Good, I'm glad.

I want to help you. Will you let me do that?

[manufactured]

[His gaze shifts a bit; he kind of withdraws a little.

He's not altogether sure what you mean by "help" here, buddy.]

[scythegun]

[Hmm.]

I want to find a way to get you out of here. I think I can do that if I can find the person who did this to you.

[manufactured]

[He's still keeping his gaze low, but he nods a little again after a moment.]

...Okay.

[scythegun]

Good, I'm glad.

[He squeezes the kid's hand a bit again.]

Do you know where this person went? There's a hallway out there that I haven't been through yet, but I don't know where it goes.

[manufactured]

[Again, it takes him a moment to try to focus on the question, but eventually he'll shake his head. No.]

[scythegun]

[That's about what he was expecting, unfortunately...]

Well, it looks like I'll have to explore some more and find out.

[He's not making any move to leave just yet, though.]

Can you tell me the name of the person who did this to you?

[manufactured]

[He shakes his head again. No.]

[scythegun]

[Given the state of things here and what he's learned about this kid, he's got a pretty good guess.]

Okay. Thank you for listening to me.

[After a moment, Jaeger reaches into his pocket. It doesn't take him long to find what he's looking for and eventually he offers Wesker's heart stone to the boy.]

I promise I'm going to come back for you. It might be a bit hard to believe that, so I want you to hold onto this. It's very important to me, and I could never leave it behind. Will you take care of it until I return?

[manufactured]

[He hesitates for a long moment, but eventually... Well, eventually he'll take it, holding it in both hands and just kind of looking at it, turning it over between his fingers.

Looks like he'll keep it.]

[scythegun]

[It gets him to smile, and were this any other kid he'd probably ruffle their hair a bit or something. As it stands, he's content to leave things like this for now.]

As I said, I'll be back. I can take care of myself, so don't worry about me!

[He'll move to stand then. Are you going to be okay...?]

[manufactured]

[He'll stay where he is, at any rate, continuing to turn the stone over between his fingertips and examine it a little. He doesn't look like he's going to try to break or drop it; if anything, it looks like the first thing he's been actively able to be curious about for a while.

That said, he'll be fine for now.]

[scythegun]

[That's good, it'll give him something to focus on while Jaeger's away. This area does seem safe for the time being, so as long as he hurries things will hopefully be fine.

Time to tackle that hallway! As he heads toward it, will he hear anything?]

[manufactured]

[It seems quiet.

The hallway is dark, but thankfully it's short; there's a metal door to your right that seems to be closed, and a stairwell in front of you leading up. Where to now?]

[scythegun]

[Once again it's time to check to see if he can hear anything from either of them! His interest is on the door first, since it'd take forever to go up the stairs and then have to backtrack to check here. So if there's nothing to hear, he'll try the door!]

[manufactured]

[You keep doing your listen checks, here, Jaeger, you're doing good.

The room it will bring you into is small and dark, lit by the ambient glow of another technological console; there are a lot of monitors here, the sort that seem to be set up as some sort of security feed. You can see the room you started out in with Birkin on one monitor, the area you encountered Sergei, the dungeon you just left, a bunch of hallways...

A few other rooms, too, if you look, but those are the ones that are familiar. The entire setup is on a desk with a few files and a journal splayed out on it, though they don't seem to be arranged very well.]

[scythegun]

[Ooh, monitors, this is super useful! Good thing he stopped in here. The files and the journal are probably going to be interesting, but for now he's going to look through the monitors - is Wesker shown in any of the rooms? Are there any people besides Birkin present?]

[manufactured]

[...So Birkin looks like he's busy injecting someone with some horrible shit, because apparently he got the clearance he wanted to do terrible things to someone. They don't seem to be mutating or anything, but that probably doesn't bode well. You've probably seen James around the network, yeah? Kid that posts about the cybernetic arm a lot.

Yeah.

Sergei is visible on one of the monitors as well; he seems to be occupying himself with something...else in a stasis tube, though it's hard to see exactly what it is. It's in a different room to the one you were in with all the blood, though, and it doesn't look like a monster at first glance? Weird.

The camera isn't angled well enough for you to see the kid you just left in the dungeon.

As for Wesker himself... He doesn't seem to be here, but then, one of those monitors doesn't seem to be working.]

[scythegun]

[...Ah. Thanks, Birkin. He's a bit torn on going back, but if the kid isn't mutating then maybe he'll be fine...?

Sergei's pretty interesting too, and while he's kind of curious about what's in the stasis tube, he doesn't really want to run into Sergei again. He was lucky enough to avoid fighting him the first time, he doesn't want to risk running into him a second time.

Hopefully the kid's still okay... But that one monitor is making him uneasy. He's noticed that there doesn't seem to be anyone else here - he wouldn't expect people from S.T.A.R.S. or the people from some of Wesker's later memories, but if Umbrella's involved, then he's expecting to run into Spencer. Maybe Wesker's already confronting him again in whatever that room is.

Is there any way to tell what room the monitors connect to? Is there a control panel or anything?]

[manufactured]

[There isn't, no.]

[scythegun]

[That's frustrating. Is there any sort of pattern to the visible rooms? Like are all the rooms he's already been in laid out right next to each other, with the rooms he hasn't seen yet near each other as well? Or is this just totally random?]