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The last thing he remembers is being strapped into a weird headset, then a bright light and suddenly darkness.
This was supposedly his punishment for blowing up Filament Station, but no one was telling him what the headset would do.
He blinks a few times after regaining his conscious, and sees small pinpricks of lights and a variety of colors dance around his eyes. Shaking his head, he shakes out of his confusion and looks around.
Hes currently in a large metal vessel. It looks worn and used, rusted all around. Pipes runn all around, the walls, the ceiling, under his feet. Warm lighting lights up the place, and a huge window is placed right at the top. However all is seen is red.
A sudden headache hits him as he goes up to rub his forehead, only to touch metal. His body shivers as he feels the brush of his fingers over the metal. He can feel that.
Suddenly hes patting himself down as he finds his head is suddenly metal and circular, with a grates on every side of his head. Tugging at the grate in front of his face, he sees his arms are covered in a rubber suit and his wrists in heavy cuffs. They're not attached, but the metal very clearly is ment to be cuffs.
His breathing quickens as he realizes he is in a loose rubber suit and a big metal helmet he can't seem to remove.
"That was great! You almost had me that time!" An accented feminine voice calls out, startling him out of his surprised state.
His legs freeze as he stares at a monster floating in the air, a beast with a split jaw with nasty teeth, and had arms and legs hanging from it. It's about the same size as him, maybe just a bit taller. He can't hide, he already locked eyes with it.
Suddenly, a blue translucent man of goop with bones floating within and a outfit similar to a welder steps out of a red swirling portal. "Ah, i'm not [bzzt] going in next time. Blood takes forever to get out of me! You [bzzt] know that!" the goop says in an accented voice, this time more masculine than the other. "Oh [bzzt]." the goopy guy says as they see him.
Out of the portal, two more figurs appear, both with suits that resemble captians and heads for boxy radios step out. "Yeah, well, I did it for the last month on and off. You can do it for a week" Another male voice calls out.
"You have to pull your weight, Welder. We all hate doing this but you know who wont let us do anything else." A bit of distortion and static is heard as the other radio crosses her? arms.
"Why! A new brave volunteer enters the SM-13!" The floating monster draws in closer, he backs up quickly. Stumbling over a pipe, he falls and scoots away. "Get the [bzzt] away from me!- Wha-!?" He puts a gloved hand up to his, or where would usually be, mouth. "What the [bzzt]?"
"Now, now! The C.O.I doesn't like that kind of language! We all must be a team to truly defeat me!" The monster speaks, and he can almost hear layers to it.
He feels dizzy- What the hell was going on?
"Elli, give him space. There shouldn't even be anyone new coming in!" One of the radios walks up to him, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "So how the hell did you find your way in here, new guy? Err, you got a name or tittle?"
Focusing now of the character in front of him, he clearly sees a jagged mark run down the radio speaker, as if something slashed it. "Are you going to answer or just keep staring?" The radio asks with a touch of authority to her tone.
"My uh- Name. Uhm." He stumbles through his words. His name, why can't he remember his name!?
"Why are you here?" She asks again.
"I- Uh. Punishment for what happened at Filament Station." He weakly spits out. His brain can't do anything but answer right now, too much happening all at once with inhuman people all around him.
The Radio stills. The other two slowly walk towards the both. "What happened at Filament Station?"
"What?" He scoots a bit father away. "It's gone, blew up. The C.O.I blame me but I never-"
"You blew up Filament Station!?" The radio backs up as the other two stand behind her.
"No! They just blame me, I was at the wrong place as the wrong time, my brothers-"
"You're an Eden." The radio realizes. "You're a Convict.
"And you're C.O.I scum-"
"Convict! What a wonderful name! How about Convict gets to know the rest of his crew? Teamwork makes your training go faster!" The monster floats down closer.
"I'm Elli! I am your primary target to escape from in the simulations of exploring AT-5! I'm taken from scans of the moon." The monster states. Her voice comes out too warmly, like she's going to lure you in, Convict notes.
"I have another friend around here, but none of the crew has found him yet!" She explains.
"This is-"
"Wait, wait what do you mean 'training?'"
"Oh! They didn't tell you? The SM-13 Is a virtual landscape created to train the divers going to research the depths of AT-5. As I said, there is a monster lurking in the depths of it- I am the digital copy of her!" Elli grins, somehow.
"But the project shut down years ago, and we're stuck here. There were more of us but.. They're long gone. Lost to the digital blood ocean here." The radio crackles. "I'm Captain." She sneers "The other radio is Co Captain, or just Co. And the goop is Welder."
Convict slowly stands up. "What do you mean, 'stuck here?'" Captian stays silent for a momeng then lets out a short laugh.
"Just out [bzzt] luck. You're in here for punishment because the C.O.I know no one can get out. The C.O.I pulled the plug on this project years ago with a lot of us still in it. I don't know if they knew or not, but they basically trapped us all in here." Captain says bluntly.
Before Convict can reply, Elli interrupts. "And what a better way to get to know the rest of your crew than a riveting exploration simulation!"
Welder groans loudly, "We just [bzzt] finished one! And I'm not going to collaborate with someone from Eden!" The bones jiggle around as Welder makes exasperated motions.
Co taps him on the shoulder, the points to Convict. "At least you won't have to dive anymore. Look at him, he's practically perfect for the dive." Co snickers.
"Then it's settled! Captain, Co, and Welder will be the navigation above the ocean while Convict drives the sub!" Elli claps two of her many arms and hands, and suddenly a blood red portal appears. "Chop chop!"
Convict looks dumbfounded, trying to comprehend what he was just told. The others have already started to walk towards the portal. Convict sputters out a string of words.
Captain looks towards Convict. "There's nothing else to do here but this. Get used to it, Convict. And welcome to the SM-13."