a gent of good intent who's content to be ( OPEN )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: March 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain. once you leave the hallway you wake up in, you won't be able to return.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the phantom carriage will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old-timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl of popcorn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, but without any tea or hot chocolate packets around.

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently closed, and the grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the doors to the courtyard and breakfast hall are unlocked, but looks like you've missed the morning meal. sucks for you.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors three and four. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'll be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

EXISTING GUESTS.

it's late when the newcomers arrive, there's a good chance you'd been about to go to sleep (or just waking up, who knows, your mom's not here to tell you when to go to bed or get up). but if you're paying attention, you might hear the hustle and bustle in the lobby below; or maybe you're just drawn there because your gut told you to go join the commotion. whatever the case may be, go mingle!

Comments

[gluestick]

And suddenly WICKED's got the ability of time travel and... whatever else? I'm not buyin' that. So they're swiping a bunch of shanks' memories and replacing 'em with nonsense?

[None of this is sitting well with Newt, none of it makes sense. But the thing Newt is probably most alarmed about here is that he's missing memories according to Thomas. He's behind, but how is that possible? It's more likely that he's forgotten something, had his memories tampered with again.

He passes a hand over his face, shaking his head and frowning.]

I haven't even seen the Scorch, Tommy. I don't think- I feel like I'd remember something about it. [But would he really? WICKED's memory block could be incredibly effective when it came to certain things.]

What all has happened for you and Minho? Is everybody still safe? [...Safe is probably not the best word to use, but he doesn't want to ask the actual question lurking there. How many more of my friends have died? Because he knows it's wishful thinking that they've all made it a week.]

[greenies]

I guess so. They're probably trying to confuse us even worse by giving us all separate memories--Minho says he's the furthest, but how do we know if his memories are even real? I thought I might have been the back point, but now that you're here, I'm not so sure. [ all of this is giving thomas a headache, that's for sure. he can't remember anything about the stuff minho said--what he said about teresa--and thomas knows he should remember that. just like newt's saying.

he nods his head, and the frustration is pretty visible on his face: shuck WICKED, basically. ]

I know. Some of the stuff Min said--I should have known it. There was no shucking way I could've just forgotten something like that, and I don't think you have either. Someone in the hotel said there was magic-- [ thomas's nose wrinkles, because seriously, magic ] --but that's shucking crazy talk.

[ as they pass into the lounge, thomas pulls the door shut behind them, just for the sake of privacy, and so he can take a second to collect himself as he thinks about the lightning storm. not everyone. not chuck, who should have been with them to the end. who should have seen his mom. he shakes his head. ] Right now, the only people here are me, Minho and Teresa, and now you. I don't know anything about anyone else, but...the people who were with us in the Scorch right before I left.

[ thomas lists off the names of the survivors--it's small. a number half their size before. the lightning storm took so many of them, thomas still couldn't believe it. as he finishes, he looks somber, and thomas's mouth tightens into a frown. ] But we'll find them, even if they're not here--they can't be that far off.

[gluestick]

[It's like having the wind knocked out of him hearing the names of the ones that are left. Hearing how many more losses they've suffered. He almost wishes he hadn't asked at all, because somehow he's forgotten that his friends have died and he can't accept that.

He sinks down in a chair, repeating the list in his mind and it sounds worse the second time. There's barely a handful of them left, if- if those memories aren't implanted. That's what he needs to focus on, that all of it could be fake.]

You've been here a month and you haven't found any of them? And you haven't found a way out?

[It's like the Glade all over again, and he can't feel that trapped again. Not without the proper support, and that support is gone.]

What about Teresa, what does she remember?

[greenies]

[ thomas shakes his head--his face hardens when he does so, the frustration evident on his face. they haven't found a way out and it's driving him crazy. not only have they not found a way out but no one's showed up like rat man did to say why that was, either. before, they'd not been able to leave the schoolhouse, and even that eventually came with an explanation, but this? this was nothing. this was the maze, all over again. it was infuriating, for him and minho both, teresa to a lesser degree. ]

We've been looking. Everywhere. [ and don't doubt him on that--they're runners, after all. thomas runs a hand through his dirty brown hair, scowling at the floor. ] But nothing. We checked the food to see if anything had WICKED on it, too. It's like it all comes out of shucking space.

[ at the mention of teresa, his heart squeezes and he has to pause, looking down at the floor between his feet. his thoughts have been so conflicted since minho told him what she did--it was easy to think that WICKED had just fabricated it, but he couldn't get rid of that inkling of doubt. the lack of trust in her words. the frustration reads on his face again, and he bounces his leg, up and down, up and down, like he's back in the glade on day one again. ] I don't know. I can't get her to tell me anything.

[gluestick]

[Just a month is driving Thomas crazy, try two years of zero answers. Newt's used to having no answers, just because WICKED decided to toss them a bone in the dormitory means little to him.

Newt reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder, grasping firmly, a reassuring gesture.]

I don't doubt you have. Don't worry, Tommy, we'll figure it out. Not every puzzle can be solved in a bloody week, even by you.

[He offers a brief smile before leaning back, focusing on the rest of what Thomas is saying.]

That's surprising, thought you two were practically attached at the hip. Is she hidin' something?

[greenies]

[ as always, newt's smile is sort of like sunlight, washing away most of his doubts and worries--talk about reassuring. thomas is just really, really glad newt is here. spending time in this hellhole thinking he was dead was really, really rough. ]

I know. [ his shoulders slump a little. ] It doesn't mean I can't try, though.

[ reaching up to pat the hand on his shoulder once, he bites the inside of his cheek as he thinks about it, tries to decide what to say. ] Minho...said she did something, and then she confirmed it. I don't know if I believe it's true or not, but--I can't believe it's true, and I can't get her to explain anything to me, either. I think...WICKED must have had her on lockdown or something, when she was gone, because whatever those slintheads were doing must have messed her up pretty bad.

[gluestick]

[ Newt pulls his hand away, listening and frowning at what he hears. Of the two, Newt would definitely trust Minho's word over Teresa's. But there's also the theory that all of these memories could be implanted for them, not real. Either way, he wants more info on it. ]

What'd she supposedly do? You think WICKED was controlling her? Like they did Gally?

[greenies]

Apparently... [ thomas bounces his knee, frowning down at his feet. it's hard to imagine what she and minho were saying was true, but... ]

Apparently she kidnapped me, along with--a bunch of girls from a group like ours. They almost got me killed, but it was Teresa who was in charge of it all, her and Aris.

[ he glances up at newt, looking for his opinion on it. ] It doesn't sound right. I can't...I don't know, I can't believe it. Especially with all of this runner klunk.

[gluestick]

She confirmed it?

[ Newt sighs, scratching his head and avoiding Thomas' gaze. He feels like he's probably expecting him to reassure him here but... Well, sometimes the truth is brutal and necessary, but it doesn't mean he likes giving it. ]

I dunno, Tommy, if Minho and Teresa are sayin' the same thing, it's probably legit. [ He rubs his hand over his chin, considering. ] We don't even know it's real though, yeah? Could be implanted memories, like you said. We've got no way of knowing it's true right now.