[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

[manufactured]

[Upon coming closer, it's obvious that it's a pair of men there, both dressed in uniforms that appear to belong to a police or military unit; they both have insignia bearing the acronym S.T.A.R.S. across it.

The one on the ground is tall and dark-haired, and he appears to have taken a lot of trauma; he's incredibly roughed up physically, and there are a pair of large spreads of blood staining his uniform across the chest. As though he's been shot. He also doesn't seem to be breathing, or responding to anything the other man is trying to do.

The other man there is...well, he's doing his best, though he settles back as Shuji approaches, muttering a quiet "goddamn it" to himself as he does so. Shuji will definitely get his attention, though, and he seems to...try to get himself together and in reasonable-adult mode once he realizes someone's here that shouldn't be.]

Hey - it's probably not safe for you to just be wandering around here. You okay?

[thesettingsun]

I figured it wasn't. [Safe, that is.] But I'm alright so far. What happened?

[...Even if this isn't a 'real person', it's distressing to see a corpse.]

[manufactured]

...He was trying to warn me about something. Someone decided they didn't like that.

[thesettingsun]

I'm sorry.

[Both because of his comrade's death and because Shuji can't let this stop him from investigating.]

Have you seen anyone else around? I'm looking for someone - someone important to me, so I can't leave until I find him. Even if it's dangerous.

[manufactured]

[Well, that seems to get his attention, anyway.]

Who are you looking for?

[thesettingsun]

He's about six feet tall, blonde, wears sunglasses indoors for some reason?

[Wesker did this before he had any physical changes, he can't blame that on Retrospec.]

[manufactured]

...Sounds like Wesker. That's our commanding officer; we were looking for him, too.

[thesettingsun]

Then we should look together! Safety in numbers and all that.

[This will in no way backfire horribly.]

[manufactured]

Yeah. Sounds good.

[He'll get up, then; alas poor Enrico, your corpse is staying here.]

So how do you know him, anyway? He tends to keep to himself, always has.

[thesettingsun]

Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

[...Wesker would be friends with someone who can quote Shakespeare on demand.]

After you deal with the same crap long enough, you end up becoming friendly, if only so you can complain about it together.

[manufactured]

[That gets a bit of a snort out of him, though it isn't derisive.]

Isn't that the truth. He doesn't complain all that much in front of us, but you can definitely tell when he's decided he's done with something.

[thesettingsun]

Don't I know it. We've bonded over mutual doneness.

[And their past lives being terrible, but that one's harder to explain to someone from said past life.]

What's your name, by the way? I'm Shuji Tsushima.

[manufactured]

Chris Redfield. Good to meet you.

[thankfully(?) wesker has never mentioned exactly how many knives he tried to put in chris' back at any given moment]

[thesettingsun]

[Shuji doesn't think Wesker has mentioned Chriiiiis, at least by name, so they're good.]

Likewise. Which way were you heading?

[manufactured]

I was thinking about heading-

[...Wherever he was thinking about heading, it's rendered something of a moot point; there's a sudden loud noise reverberating through this portion of the cavern. Sounds like a gunshot.

...Definitely a gunshot, if the projectile blowing past Shuji's head and embedding itself into the wall is any indication. Chris is quick to draw his gun, aiming it into the darkness and trying to track the source; this...is likely not good, given Enrico over there.]

[thesettingsun]

[Y i k e s. Shuji isn't entirely sure if a bullet in his head would have instantly killed him (thanks, spirit physiology, you're a pal) but he doesn't want to find out.

He pulls his book out and turns it to its scythe form in one second flat: now's not the time to worry about how weird a weapon it is or how he'll explain it to Chris. He steps toward the darkness, reasoning that it makes sense for a close range weapon to be in front of the gun guy, even if he doesn't know who... or what... he's expecting.]

[manufactured]

[Yeah, Chris is kind of. Not sure what the fuck just happened or why you're using a scythe, but here we are-

You can hear someone's steps receding back into the darkness, however; how far are you planning to pursue, if at all?]

[thesettingsun]

...Should we follow?

[Like hell Shuji's chasing after him without Chris. Sort of defeats the whole point of 'safety in numbers'.]

[manufactured]

Yeah - it's probably the same guy that shot Enrico.

[...The, uh. Corpse over there.]

He was trying to warn me about a traitor among us.

[thesettingsun]

Alright.

[After them, then - Shuji hurries after, but not in an all out run. More like a power walk. A very on guard power walk.]

this past week has been a travesty

[manufactured]

[After them indeed; the walking pace will do you favors, at least, because it seems it will make it easier for whomever's doing the shooting to aim past you - either they're a lousy shot, or they really aren't trying to hit you.

Judging from the fact that from the sound of it, they did manage to hit Chris, they probably aren't trying very hard to hit you.]

everything happens so much

[thesettingsun]

[As much as Shuji would like to believe that whatever's shooting at them sucks at shooting, he's not that idealistic.

Now he breaks into a run, in the direction of whoever decided he was the lesser threat and is about to be very sorry they did. Unless they're Wesker or something, in which case Shuji will probably be the sorry one.]

[manufactured]

[Whomever they are, they're sprinting off at an incredibly fast pace, and there's a sound not far off that indicated they jumped up somewhere - only there aren't any ledges above you within normal human jumping range. There is one a good distance up if you want to climb it, or you can look for another path up; the fact of the matter is that There Is A Wall Here that's got some decent height on it.]

[thesettingsun]

[While Shuji is stronger than he used to be, he's not any better at jumping. Or climbing, for that matter. The safer path would be to go around and look for another way up...

But since the person(?) has run off, that gives Shuji a little time to double back and check if Chris is okay after being, you know, shot.]

[manufactured]

[Chris, weirdly enough, doesn't seem to be in the area anymore.

There are definitely bloody drag marks leading off into the darkness back the way you came; on the one hand, Chris seemed like a decent guy and probably doesn't deserve anything that's happening right now, on the other that seems a little...counterintuitive and probably a bad idea with regards to actually accomplishing what you're here for.

Your choice here.]