ORIENTATION

[allforevil]

[When you start to stir from your slumber, you awaken to the smell of dust and rotted wood. Your bed is far from comfortable -- lumps in the mattress, a tattered blanket that barely keeps you warm and a pillow almost as hard as a rock-- and you'll immediately see there are others in your room with you.

All of you are confused, surely. "Where am I?" "What place is this?" Questions like that stir through your mind while you take in your surroundings. Something might catch your eye before anything else, though. A coloured chest tied with a bow, a large gift tag is attached to it with your name on it. There's one for everyone in each dorm, and if you open it you'll find:

An old, worn school uniform.
A colourful costume.
And a pamphlet with information about you, about your stay in this Academy, and a map of the layout of the school and the training grounds outside. The descriptions are vague, leaving out important details about your new super powers called "Quirks", a bland description about how you were selected to join the Academy called "VA" (no explanation what it means), and even the map has lame descriptions of locations that don't really give you a good idea of where you're staying.

Before you can start exploring, or chatting away with your neighbors, a voice rings over old intercoms. It sounds low and comforting, like a long lost friend. But there's something about that that feels.. unsettling. A feeling in your gut that this voice was anything but friendly.

"Welcome, students. You must be very confused, but I assure you I'll be able to answer all the questions you have in just a few minutes.

For now, relax, explore, and meet your new classmates who will be staying with you during this semester.

Oh, but..... whatever you do, don't enter the dining room."

The intercom cuts off, leaving you with a cryptic message to think about on top of.. everything else you're dealing with right now.]

Comments

[timeframes]

[HE'S GOT SPOOKY GHOST EYES no it's just a, for now, perfectly normal Dave. He doesn't object much to the glasses snatching. Though he does kind of want them back, reaching to put them back on once Karkat has ascertained his alive-ness.]

Sure, yeah. Don't think I'm not me - unless there's been some sort of existential crisis that occurred with the whole kidnapping bit, but I'm not gonna start with that fucked up assumption.

[bloodpressured]

[Yes, he can have them back as long as he promises he's not a ghost!!]

See, I've been wigging out -- [When has he not been wigging out] -- because I am asleep. Or unconscious. Fucking Kanaya. And now suddenly we're in this preposterous situation that is, unless I am sorely mistaken, not a product of any of your memories and involves as far as I can tell all 6 billion former humans crammed into this tiny room.

[timeframes]

No offense man, but when have you not been wigging out. [quickly] I mean that in a 'I care about your shit, bro' kinda way.

Kinda wigging out too, but I'm pretty sure I'm not a fully realized figment of your imagination brought to life by the radical power of dreams. I can't explain the logic on this one either yet.

[bloodpressured]

Uh-huh. Sure. I'm coming to you completely sincere, and laying my thoughts and concerns at your feet for your careful consideration, and you're just going to drag me like that. Okay, sorry for totally unreasonably wigging out. I changed my mind, I'm great with present circumstances. Get with it, Dave, we're here to go to fucking school and learn about our fun powers, and it's all swell.

Are you going to introduce me to your billions of friends?

[By which he means he is entirely uncomfortable with being surrounded by all of these strange alien kids.]

[timeframes]

Bro, I fully concur with commencing the wigging out, I'm just saying that you left that one wide open and i'd be really fucking up my duties as a bro to not roast you on that one.

[what]

Uh, sorry, what?

[bloodpressured]

I'm just saying. Cool priorities, man.

[It's fine, complaining about Dave dragging him is also obviously a priority.]

Haven't you noticed this place is absolutely crawling with human beings? There are at least ten in this room alone. [No there's not.] It's freaking me out.

[timeframes]

Not exactly my idea of a cool hang spot either, bro. Not really used to the mad crush of humanity either. Met like, five in my life and you've met them all too.

[Can't help you, bruh.]

Should we just go somewhere else?

[bloodpressured]

But you’re at least human! You can just talk to them about human things, and predict their behavior. The only humans I know, besides from movies, are humans I strongly suspect to be complete social trainwrecks and therefore no help at all.

[But in a way, he does feel better with the acknowledgement Dave is freaked out by this, too.]

Yeah. Let’s get out of here. I mean, it might be worse out there. It’s probably worse out there.

[timeframes]

[Does . . . . . . . does he not know Dave is a complete social trainwreck. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever assumed about Dave.]

Pretty sure you can just talk to them about normal shit, dude.

[Going, then!! To explore a little.]

So far, pretty much just like the digs on the meteor.

[bloodpressured]

[No, he was calling him one. He's one of the humans he knows. Still, following him.]

Yeah. Creepy, dark, obviously the location of several murders, cans. Feels like home.

[Poking his head into the laundry room - though really, he's just trying to find a place where they can get away from anyone else.]

I was going to say, 'why us,' but no one tells us anything. For all I know, this is what was supposed to happen. Next step of the plan, Dave and Karkat are zapped to hell school and fucking rot there.

[timeframes]

[God!!!!!!!!!!!!! Social trainwrecks stick together then.]

Weirdest shit of all, they took my shades, then replaced them with slightly different shades. Like, sure, the kidnapping is fucked up, and the clear intent to do horrible things, also the new powers or whatever, but the shades thing is bothering me. Why would they replace my shades. They're just shades. Did they take them for something? Do they plan to give them back? Why replace them with almost the same shades? What the fuck.

[bloodpressured]

[Obviously. Just looking at him, because he didn't notice about the shades, but acknowledging that will hurt Dave. And Dave is clearly actually kind of distraught, instead of merely terrified but resigned to terrible things continuing to happen, so he wouldn't want to do that.]

Big Stiller fan. That's the reason for the whole caper. School's just a cover.

[timeframes]

Good a guess as any, bro.

[Dave is! Pretty concerned about those shades.]

What'd they saddle you up with in the sick tricks race?

[bloodpressured]

[He knows, he knows. Anyway, flinching when Dave mentions the powers.]

Absolute dogshit. A steaming pile of fresh canine turds dumped right on my doorstep as a clear and intentional provocation. It worked, I'm appropriately put in my place and aware of my standing, let's never talk about it again.

You?