#l:purgatory

[robyn-kane]

date: january 5th, 2179 location: hallway/restrooms, level beta avaliablity: closed to @gideondemarco

Prison proved a different beast to all who entered. 

To some, it reared its head in a panoptic illusion, corroding the reek of decay through iron breath. It melted privacy the second inmates received their numbers, pulled on uniforms that marked them as less than human, twisted them into the very scales of the dragon that digested them. Human hearts morphed to vessels to sinews to teeth in its stomach, enamel degrading until every bite provoked a violent spasm. And yet, prisoners still chomped. Gnashed. Searched for meat in boneless cages. The beating of fists echoed the refrain of a forgotten organ, something battered yet pure that lingered on in the softness of human touch. “I’m still here,” it seemed to whisper, “dare look into yourself and find me.” But whether or not they answered remained a secret untold by their lips, buried deep beneath their learned guises of monstrosity. 

Robyn returned her equipment to a weary guard. Work had ended for the day, so her mops and buckets nestled themselves back in their closet, snug and warm together until morning. Today, another fight, another coworker lost to Alpha. If she'd been there, she'd have found a way to take the blame, pretend the damage was her own, but instead, failure stung her every step, helplessness a strewn salt on her tongue. Some hero. Her shoulder bumped an inmate as she passed him, gaze shooting up only to flicker warm with recognition. "Gideon." Her lips quirked upward at the sight of her old bunkmate, though they dropped as soon as they took his face in. His eye...raw and purple as Crest smog, his lower lip... "God, Gid." She caught his sleeve between her fingers, ushering him towards the bathroom. "Does it hurt? I um... I’ll clean you up, okay? I just...jeez, who did this to you?" 

[robyn-kane]

date: november 20th, 2178 starting location: med bay, level beta availablity: closed to @just-pam

Sickness whipped through Purgatory in a violent gale. Expelled at first from a guard’s lungs, it blew from prisoner to prisoner, fever’s sear breaking November’s omnipresent chill. It shivered arms and clogged noses, reduced sleepless chatter from that of mouths to that of teeth. And on its back, a horrid smell: decaying skin cells, rotting fish, a fermented lick of overripe fruit. Such a gust it was that it shook the bars of an entire janitorial work squad, paper-thin blankets and leaf-thick jackets no match for the great wind that’d befallen them.

Robyn stirred under her med bay covers. Another dream of momentum had ran by that night - buildings rushing under footsteps, Wrotham’s thrum drowning under her lean heartbeat. Metal's clank sounded under magnetic gloves and boots, smog a berry on the tongue, dark and thick. How many meters could she brave? How deep a plummet? Wind cleared hair from a spotless sightline, adrenaline rife in young veins. In dreams, falling was a friend to flying, but now, tangled on sterile tiles with a blanket wrapped around her face, it seemed more like being underground. 

"Mierde - again?" A guard unlocked Robyn's door, likely roused by the commotion. A sheepish smile crossed her face as the man pulled her blanket off, motion clinking the cuff that locked her wrist against the side of the bed. 

"Sorry, I, uh..." 

The guard frowned, trying to hide his amusement, but a twitch of his curly hair gave him away. He was one of the new ones, one of the kinder ones in this place, no more than a couple years Robyn's senior, and a familiar Crest accent marked him as someone close to home. "Let me guess, you had a dream, you drank to much water, and now you've got to the bathroom?" Robyn nodded. The guard gestured towards a nearby android, handing her a set of shackles before nodding her Robyn's way. "Keep your eyes up - this one's a wanderer," he whispered. "And keep her away from the situation in the med bay bathroom." Then, without further word, he strode out, leaving Robyn to the android's hands.