Session 1

"Dreams are messages from the deep."

Space. A deep vast ocean with virtually zero sense of depth as it stretches along indefinitely. You have been assigned to investigate and find out the details of the negotiations taking place on Trimer Delta IV, a neutral zone that is not technically a part of any Federation or the Union. Union is a conglomerate founded by various species who needs to set up an official Federation to send representatives to the Union once they enter the "space age" in their development. Union is not a hostile entity per se, it does not enforce newly encountered species to join itself directly. However, there are certain limitations to such un-cooperative species which eventually force them to give up and join the Union in the long run.

Union is not omnipotent, even they have boundaries and in this particular case those rare boundaries seem to have been met with. As far as the rumors go, exact whereabouts of the home planet of Kituri (as they call themselves) is unknown, even the members of the Union do not know the location precisely, let alone visiting it. You are one of the many "illegal" groups sent by various contractors and organizations. Trimer Delta IV does not have regular residents and it does not have an organized structure in any case, except some decent facilities that are only built to accommodate these kinds of meetings. "You will land on, gather as much information as you can and the moment you get your hands on a significant piece of information, prepare a report and deliver it to us as soon as you can." were the last words you've heard from your contractor's representative.

As you were approaching Trimer Delta IV, maybe a day's long from arriving, out of a sudden, without any warning, without any eerie feeling, without any real implication of what has actually happened, you opened your eyes in the blink of an eye in a room. You have no idea where this place is or how did you get here. There was not a feeling of change, a way for your body to perceive that something has happened. One moment you were in the ship, impatiently waiting to arrive and the next you're here. The room you find yourselves is simple with white-ish colored walls and it is very small. As you slowly become conscious of the place and the fact that you are indeed in a different place, at first a blank television screen at the top right corner of the room catches your attention, partly because there is some oldness into it but quickly, more than the screen, you notice a figure lying on the floor.

By the looks of his uniform, this man is a member of EUS, Elite Union Squad, a military unit that works directly under the Union and comprises soldiers from every species that is a part of the Union. The man, however, seems badly wounded. You can see that he is still alive as his breast is rhythmically moving, but he also seems to suffer a great deal of pain.

Dr. Cassiopeia Canon, or Cass, or CC, or Dr. Canon, depending on what you mean to her, narrows her eyes. She has that feeling that something has just happened that she hasn't yet processed. Like the moment you trigger an alarm but the alarm hasn't gone off. She turns her head, feeling her well coifed ponytail rub along her decorative shoulder pads. A twist of her hips tells her she's wearing her tight synth-leather pants, and a cincher that makes her athletic figure just a little more devastating. She's dressed herself to impress, but that's the normal. Being a celebrity often means being prepared for an interview or a rogue vidcaster at any time, unexpected is always expected.

But not this. How did I get in here? Think, CC. She draws a blank. She eyes the others in the room, seeing familiar faces. TBD, the sec man she recommended. Hiro, the pilot she owes her life to. Leda, her close friend and confidante. Together, only... what were they doing again?

"What in the abyss is that man doing on the floor?"

Reflex or instinct - it doesn't really matter. Years in uniform will do that to you. As quickly as Dayton registers the abrupt and inexplicable change of location and registers no immediate visible threats, his attention lands on the body of the fallen soldier.

"Man down!" he calls to the team, and moves immediately to the soldier's side, field assessing the nature and severity of his injuries.

Hiro Mandalesi blinks and shakes his head as the scene before him changes. One second he's piloting the ship -- well, babysitting the autopilot, considering when he's going to take control of the yoke himself -- and the next he's... here.

Wherever here is.

The strange sensation of a waking dream, when it's not clear where the mind's wants and fears stop and reality starts, washes over the man even as he realizes with some relief that he's not alone. That CC is here, that Theo is here, and Hariette and Leda too. Along with someone on the floor, down and injured. Dayton is seeing to the man, so the muscular, heavily tattooed man scans the room for an exit as he poses the first and second of what are sure to be a great many questions.

"Where the hell are we? What the fuck just happened?"

Though it is hard to see the details of his look under heavy and thick armor, this seems to be a human male with a muscular body. Seeing the man on the floor invites (mostly unpleasant) memories in the minds of Hiro and TBD. A very rare sight, indeed, seeing a member of EUS so vulnerable. The formation and development of EUS was almost like a scientific experiment on how a group of beings can improve themselves without hindering the process. Reaching to the space age implies a certain advancement in technology and science, however, every species has its own struggles, own specializations which they brought onto the table once they have joined the Union. Fighting styles, warring strategies and various experiences of different people have been combined to form a greater form of force. First generations of the squad was less a perfect unit, boundaries between different species still a huge problem and speciesism was still at its peak. As the time passed, Union slowly created a completely new community out of soldiers, soldiers who see their fellow friends closer to them and more valuable than any ethnic, national, religional or species-wise commitments can achieve.

Moreover, EUS are usually commissioned in groups, they are very rarely seen alone. You also notice something else. There is an injured person in the room but who has injured him? There is no sign of any other person in the room.

Hiro. As you look around you notice there are two doors on the opposite sides of the room, one painted red and the other a simple, brown door which is smaller.

Hariette blinks as the world shifts around her, and she finds herself with the crew in a strange room with a soldier on the floor. Her instincts kick in, and she joins Theo in assisting the soldier, but as she does so she keeps her senses open and keen for any signs of alien life on the soldier, like any signs that his wounds were inflicted by alien life, or any signs of infestation.

She also checks to see if she can figure out the nature of what happened. Is she wearing the same clothes, and carrying the same things she was before the incident? Is her hair done the same way (tied back in a ponytail for practicality)? She checks her fingernails, which she keeps almost compulsively short, for signs of growth.

"I'm guessing by your reaction you didn't do this, Hiro?"

Everything is exactly the same as it were in the ship, it's almost like you stayed still and the world around you has changed.

Hiro shakes his big head when Hariette moves to help Dayton with the downed soldier. "Naw, nothin' I did. We were just cruising, on approach. I didn't see nothin' on the scopes, either." The man is dressed as he was when he was taken from the cockpit: heavy boots, cargo pants, a tight tank top that shows off both his physique and the many tattoos that mark his arms, shoulders, back, chest and neck. Those boots clomp as he approaches the larger door to get a better look at it.

"Huh," he says to himself as he checks it out -- how it opens, whether it might be locked, what it's made of.

CC kneels by the others, to check out the man. She is thinking that whoever this soldier was, maybe some of the marks around him seem like something she'd recognize.

"Sir? Are you awake? We want to treat your wounds. Do we have your consent?"

Hariette continues to help Theo with the soldier on the ground, coming to realize that whatever happened seems outside of her expertise.

"Whatever happened, it didn't seem to affect our bodies. I don't know about all of you but I'm exactly as I was before this happened, and I didn't feel like anything changed. I thought we might have been drugged and moved but that doesn't seem to be the case," she says, removing a sweater she was wearing to tie as a tourniquet.

@Naelick: With Academics +3, maybe its better Theo leaves the matter in more expert hands. LOL Maybe we can retcon that roll into treatment rather than an assist.

As Dayton assesses the man's injuries, he notes the skill and efficiency with which Hariette applies the tourniquet. "You'd make a passable field medic, Dr. Galant," he says with an approving nod, before returning to his examination of the nature of the injuries themselves.

Hiro. You get a closer look to the larger red door. It is a very simple door by the looks of it, almost antique. There is no resemblance to the usual self-opening doors you get used to. This one looks like it's from a history book you remember from your childhood which people physically open and close in order to get in or out of a room. What an ineffective way it was. It seems sealed shut, you feel a great resistance once you lay your hands on it, almost like it does not want to open.

There are small neon lights scattered to the ceiling, nothing fancy. Air is what you might expect from an indoor place, though using space ships and living at artificial buildings has caused you to forget the difference between atmospheric air and synthetic air. There is nothing in the room except you, the wounded man, lights, doors and the screen.

Hariette and TBD. As you take a closer look to his wounds with the hope of preventing further damage, you realize that those wounds seem like old cuts. The blood around the wounds have dried already and the man's face is a disaster. Such an unhealthy face, such lifeless eyes with only a little light inside them. As she inspects him, Hariette understands that this is not the face of a man who has any chance of living. He's living his extra times, as one might say, because it was certain that he would be dead even when you first realized him.

Cass. You approach and talk to the man, realizing the same thing Hariette and TBD did when you see his face. However, when you refer to him, for the first time he shows a sign of life beside his nearly unrecognizable breathing. He slowly opens his mouth, hardly succeeding because of his dried lips and utters a few words, only audible to the three people treating him. "Whatever you do," he says with a trembling voice. "Do not go there. Just leave here." He looks at the small brown door as he speaks the first part. With that, the tiny glimmer in his eyes vanish and you realize that he is dead.

Hiro. You notice Cass, Hariette and TBD approaching the man and leaning towards him. After a few seconds, as you are still touching the door to size it up, you feel the beforementioned resistance fading away. This material now feels more like a light, manipulable object than an unmoving obstacle.

Leda had been immersed in a mathematical equation of epic proportions. This thrilled her to no end especially as she was on the verge of solving it after months of work. She was just about to......."What? Where's my terminal!?"

She stares at the space where her bank of monitors usually are and they aren't there! Instead, she is in this strange tiny white room with a blank television screen and an injured man on the floor.

"What the hell?" I was just about to solve it! Leda wasn't one to use bad language. She was too shy for such outbursts but this was beyond annoying. She had been so close!

But being totally dumbfounded passed momentarily. As she looked around she could see the others, keying directly in on her friend Cass.

"Is this some kind of really bad joke CC?

To Harriet, she says, "I don't feel any different at all either. Exactly as I felt when I was working on my project." Glancing at the dead man, it seems to fit with the whole improbability of the current situation which she is still trying to process.

"What? Nonono don't you die on me!" Hariette shouts, moving to straight to CPR, lamenting that she was here instead of her lab, where she had all manner of chemicals (some medical, some alien) that might have helped.

Hiro frowns at the red door when it seems to change composition. Rapping on it, testing how sturdy it is, he looks back at the others as Galant starts CPR. His deep voice rings out in the nearly empty chamber.

"Hey. Hey! How do you three know that guy didn't have something contagious?"

Hariette. You don't like failing, especially if a human life is at stake. You start your CPR and apply it as best you can but the body under your hands just feels like a pile of flesh. It would be wiser to apply CPR to a bag of cloths as you think even that would have more life inside it.

Hiro. The door feels sweet and warm under your hands. Do you try to open any of the doors? What's your next course of action?

Hiro. You had your fair share of breaking through doors in your past, thus you easily understand that this door wouldn't stand a chance against a blow from you, if there is no way to open it properly.