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

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

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I do not get ill easily," Leela said slowly, thinking about it. The last time had been ill was ages ago. "I must go outside, though. It is needed."

"Why is that?"

He wasn"t looking for an argument, just an explanation. Red figured it was best to learn as much as he could about the other people trapped there with him.

"The building, it is like a weight," she said in an attempt to explain. "There are no trees, no grass, no woods. I need these things."

"Did you get much of those things when you were the President's bodyguard?"

"There were the Outlands, the wild places," Leela said, her voice quiet. "I had the orange sky, the red grasses, and the silver trees. I would go there to get out of the city. Sometimes we would go to other planets with spaces like that and it was a good thing for me."

Leela closed her eyes just for a second.

"There is building and courtyard. And rain, here. I do not like it."

While Leela talked, Red did his best to imagine the scenery as she described it. To him, it sounded both surreal and beautiful. To know that a place like that existed somewhere in the universe was amazing.

"Then I can see why constant rain would be a problem."

"I miss the trees," Leela said very quietly. "I miss the land under my feet. This breath of rain and fog does little to help. One day, I hope it changes."

"I think we all do."

Red wanted her to know she wasn't alone in wanting the weather outside to change. It was depressing.

"Hopefully, you'll see them soon."

"Until then, I have rain," Leela said, sounding none too pleased. "I would not mind it so much if there were trees. Or a garden."

"That would be nice, though I think the flowers might drown out there."

And it wasn't sunny enough for anything to live out there for any length of time.

"If the rain would stop--" Leela began and then just stopped talking. It was not likely to stop. She wanted seasons and sometimes she liked rain but not every day over and over like the sort of rain this promised.

"I hope it stops."

Red knew just as much as she did that it probably wasn't going to stop any time soon. The rain seemed to be a part of this place, just as much as the hotel.

"I do too."

"It is not something I can fight," Leela said, her voice low. "So I must outlast it."

"I think you will."

Even from his limited experience with Leela, he had a feeling that she could survive pretty much anything thrown at her.

"I am best at such things," Leela said grimly, more at the hotel itself than anything. "I will wait and I will survive until it is time to strike."

"I think the two of us are going to get along very well."

Red's attitude toward the hotel was similar, and everyone always underestimated his patience.

"It is a good start," Leela said, nodding. "A very good start."

Though it remained to be seen if they did find anything worth much. Leela saw nothing of use as she looked around. Doors, lots of doors. That was all. It was not encouraging.

It was a hotel, doors weren't particularly unusual.

"I doubt whoever brought us here is going to make things easy on us, and that includes exploring this place."

She leaned against a door, her expression somewhere between highly irritated and and quite possibly amused. This was not much of an exploration. It was doors.

"It is not easy, no. None of it."

Leela made a face.

"It will not make me stop."

"And I'm sure many of us have the same attitude as you do. Which is something I don't think whoever brought us here counted on."

Though it still made him wonder if there was any sort of rhyme or reason to any of the abductions.

"I hope that means we will pull together," Leela said, frowning, "and not shatter apart. None will leave if we are at each others' throats. There must be a unifying force for all who are trapped. Someone to organize. Chaos is not always a good thing."

"No, it isn't especially chaos in a situation like this one."

But he did take note that Leela mentioned that it was not "always" a good thing. That meant she recognized there were times for it to be a good thing, if applied in the right way. He was going to remember that.

She nodded slowly.

"It is too confined," Leela said, looking around grimly. "Any panic here would mean injury. There is only the courtyard outside, if we needed to get out."

"You're right about that. Thankfully, I don't panic easily."

Though that didn't account for anyone else in the hotel. For all he knew, save for Ressler and probably Leela, everyone else could have anxiety problems.

"It is a good thing to not panic," Leela said, peering down the corridor. "When you panic is usually when something kills you."

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