etrayalogs | like a bright, blue star

WHO: Alex and Setsu
WHEN: Later in the mission, after previously encountering the monolith with Kaeya
WHERE: Monolith
WHAT: Custom starter for Mission 011
NOTES\WARNINGS: Kidnapping, imprisonment, references to torture

[ The soldiers who had handled the collection carry her into the cell wordlessly.

Their hoods and masks are still up, though they all already underwent decontamination before entering the tower proper. The being they found, however, had already taken from the transport suit before reaching the holding cell.

She looks so ordinary, dressed in what Setsu guesses are normal clothing for the world she was taken from. Her skin is tanned, and there's even a smattering of freckles across her face. It gives the impression of someone was used to running under the sun. Compared to most of the people they collected, she looked so much warmer and healthier (more likely to be missed).

The masked soldiers gingerly lower her the table, and smooth, metallic rings automatically click around her wrists and ankles, as if securing her to the cool surface. In truth, these bands were only for show, for the otherworlder's sake: Once someone was placed onto the torturer's table, the pull of the table itself wouldn't let them climb off.

With the task complete, the two soldiers who had collected her give their salutes to the waiting Major Setsu. With their masks still pulled up, all Setsu can see staring back at them was their own reflection in the black, mirror-like screens covering their faces.

Setsu gets it. When they did collection tasks like this, they didn't like showing their face, either... ]

I understand. I'll handle it from here.

[ Their voice, smooth and calm as ever, says only that. There was no need to make this harder. The pair depart, and a sleek, black panel, the same as every other panel covering the cylindrical room, slides up to enclose the space once again.

In this cell, the only illumination comes from the pale light between the panels, cloaking the room in a soft, violet glow. It makes everything look grayer.

Setsu knows exactly why they're here.

She's small, but they're smaller.

She's young, but they're younger.

The current captive—or energy resource—is too important to leave to someone less experienced. And the extraction is too important to send a guard whose appearance would only leave her on high alert.

Adrenaline numbs pain, and they need her pain. They need her pain to flare and burn brightly, until the very last bit of energy is pulled from her core.

All Setsu has to do is stay there, standing guard, until the torturer is ready for the extraction.

How many times have they done this? They can't even remember... They fold their arms across their chest as they lean back against a panel. Their grey uniform is the same as the collecting soldiers, yet with their hood down, Setsu's face might be the first once she's seen since being brought here. Warm, golden hair falls against their jaw, and their red eyes are downcast, looking at neither their charge nor anything else.

They know what they have to do. And...that's all there is to it, really... ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( Alex waits, not because she's patient, but because she's had to play this game before. Why are they in this sideways reality? From the monument before, and now here. Herself being targeted like this isn't even new or unusual, but... what in the worlds is happening?

And why is Setsu here? Why is Setsu not reacting to Alex like she's a known quantity to them? How aware are they of this not being their home reality? Why is Alex so clear about this? She swallows, lifting her head since she can't really lift anything else. There's a drag to the table that feels both like inevitability and embrace. It's puzzling, but not even the strangest part of all this. )

Setsu...? How long have you been here?

[ Setsu blinks, lifting their eyes up to their charge.

Not "Are you Setsu?" or "Why are you here?" like one would expect if the soldiers had told her their name and both their name and their presence were foreign to her.

Setsu's eyes slip closed in resignation. They wish their peers wouldn't share information with the captives in advance. It makes it easier for them to lie and unnerve their guards. This one isn't the usual, delirious type that can't even place where she is.

It's too late to be annoyed by that now. Their eyes open again, and there's still no sign of recognition. It's the same neutral, focused gaze they always have when faced with a task to complete, like a hunting dog waiting for a target to chase—or, like when they stared down the pool before the two of them went diving together. ]

I was here before you arrived. [ They walk over to the side of the table, as if they need to look her over. They don't; much like the cuffs, it's all for show. Setsu knows everything they need to know. ] How are you feeling? I'll be in charge of looking after you for now, you can tell me if you need anything.

I know, you're in — is that a uniform?

( She looks confused by this, but she can't really get a good read on what's going on. Alex tests out one of the restraints. Not pulling against it, but seeing how much wiggle room she has. If she dislocates her thumb... )

They talk like they know you. How'd you get sucked this far into this reality? We walked in at the same time from Etraya, I know it.

( There's definitely room if she can dislocate her thumb or just not care about bleeding. Both are fine by Alex, even as he gaze flicks to Setsu, studying them. )

How long do we have before those people come back?

[ Setsu listens to all of that with an indifferent expression that becomes increasingly bemused.

How could they have come into this reality together, when she was only brought here now and they've been here as long as they can remember? They thought this one was more coherent than the regular abductees, but maybe something happened to her brain during the interdimensional transfer...?

Rather than trying to lie her way into something, she really does look confused. Did her mind already snap and create this story to cope...? That would be a first...

They fold their arms across their chest, looking down at her with pity. ]

Listen, I'll be frank with you: I'm here to look after you, but I'm not interested entertaining you, so you can stop. There is no "we."

[ Or maybe it's more like "snap out of it"... ]

The soldiers that brought you here won't be coming back. It's just me.

[ For now.

The cuffs are round and smooth all the way around - deliberately so, to prevent scrapes and cuts from sharp edges. It is possible to dislocate one's thumb to slip out of them; most prisoners don't have the presence of mind to do so.

The table still has its own pull to hold her arms down, but if she forces her arm over the edge... ]

( Alex snorts, not cowed, even though her stomach twists, unsettled. It sounds like something is affecting Setsu's perception of reality. That... is a new one for Alex, unless it's a fault of drugging here like things were for Vax.

She does manage to dislocate her thumb with a gasp and a little jerk against the pull of the table. Strong reactions, even as she laughs a little. )

Of course there's a "we." You and me, we're friends. Remember at the water park? With all the silly tasks to earn points? We ate hotdogs and ran that obstacle course. With the water guns?

( The problem is she can't relocate her thumb right now, but she can stretch her fingers toward the table's edge. So this feeling isn't just disorientation for where she is, the table itself has that effect. Hah. Fingers curl around the edge, and she contemplates... doing the same for her other hand. Seeing if Setsu starts getting anything familiar, instead of this standoffish and uninterested... military official.

She's real tired of that one from people she knows. At least they're not forcing her chin up while talking down to her and pretending they would torture her if it produced information their hidden handlers wanted. Caleb had sold that, at the cost of Alex feeling her heart crack the whole time. )

H- hey!

[ Setsu grabs her hand where it clings to the edge of the table and lifts it, cupping it between their hands. ]

Something happened to your brain when you were brought over.

[ They grimace as they say that, looking down at her hand as they pop her thumb back into place with practiced ease. She's laughing now, and ultimately, worse things than this will happen to her. But still... Anyway. She must have really lost her mind. ]

I don't know you, and you don't know me, so cut it out already. I've always been here, and you... [ They're not sure how to describe Alex's situation, so they choose to keep it simple: ] And you, you've never been in this world before. We're strangers.

[ And there aren't "water parks" here, and there's never been anything that could be called a "silly task." If these are her real memories, then Setsu feels a little bad for whoever she's forgotten, that her mind decided to substitute with Setsu now. That's how it would work, right? (How what would work?) ]

( Alex flinches as her thumb's popped back in, but as soon as it is, Alex attempts to give Setsu's hand a squeeze. And if it doesn't work, that's fine: she reclaims her arm and forces it to slowly slink over her body toward her other trapped wrist. )

We've known each other for months. Remember? You and I dueled with those silly pool noodles, they left color wherever they hit us. And you won that funny pipecleaner trophy!

( Alex isn't going to give in to someone else having total memory overwrite. Why? It only makes her want to fight against it harder, even if she doesn't know what the key for it will be when it comes to Setsu. )

We fell into that ball pit taller than we were. We talked about having died before, remember? Like it was normal, when I think both of us know that isn't.

[ She keeps saying, "remember?" but... No, they don't. The fleeting warmth of her hand prickles at their mind, and then it's gone. They really don't remember any of this, and it's making their head hurt the more she talks. It's pretty sad for someone of their rank to let a prisoner get under their skin like this; it'd be easier if she cursed them or disrespected them, like a normal prisoner would. Even though it's frustrating that she keeps ignoring them like this, it's hard to get truly angry at someone who's out of her mind yet being so kind anyway.

And everything she's saying is so ridiculous that it almost does sound kind of fun. Their eyes light up a little at the thought. They can almost imagine it, and they think, it would be nice, to have a friend like her. As Setsu had thought, she really is someone who people would care about, someone people will miss when she's gone...Has anyone noticed she's gone yet?

Their eyes dull again. Well, it doesn't really matter. She's going to die, here. Even if they were friends, it wouldn't make a difference. Because this is just what must be done. ]

That...isn't normal.

[ They reach over her, but rather than pulling her free arm away, Setsu wraps their gloved hand around her opposite elbow to keep it in place. If she's planning to dislocate her other thumb and use her free hand to reset it, well. That will be harder if she can't bend her arm. At this distance, Setsu can drop their voice and tell her the truth. ]

You know, you're going to die here... People don't come back from the dead. I wouldn't, and you won't, either. You know that, right?

like a bright, blue star

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