[OOM] Taris, the Labyrinth, Former Undercity Sewers.

[stuck_mynock]

It's very dark.

Not completely dark. There are a few lights, sickly greenish-white, left, to give a little bit of illumination, and they light up the flow of water in the most interesting ways. It's a circular room, clearly deep underground, with a massive hole in the centre through which water crashes down. The railings are broken in several places. There are two doors there, and around each, an array of monitors, screens and machinery, all brand new.

Guppy and Will have been laid out on two blankets, on either side of the pit, and left there, at least until they wake up.

Comments

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton looks up.

"Well, now that my feet are unchained, s'a lot easier to brace myself against the lift," Atton says, bracing himself and giving one arm a sharp tug. The chain comes flying out of the wall in a shower of dust. A quick tug of his other arm makes that chain come loose, too.

There's a flicker of the Baron's image on several monitors, and then the lift falls, abruptly. Atton grabs onto the edge of the shaft, dangling there a moment before pulling himself up.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy makes a small squeal of alarm, and is quickly down helping him up.

"Glad we didn't tread on it." he says, hugging Atton as soon as he's up. "Are you hurt?"

[will_scarlett]

Will flinches at the lift drops and he moves to help Atton,

"Glad we've got ye."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, close one, there."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Are you okay?" Guppy asks anxiously, looking him over. "We're in the labarinth."

[will_scarlett]

Will hands over a bottle of water and looks around,

"Aye, an need to get out o''ere."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine. Just a bit sore."

The monitors flicker again. The Baron appears once more, smiling.

"Nearby, if you follow the humming, you'll find a chamber with your weapons in. The entrance is blocked by a torture field. You must decide which one of you will pass through it to retrieve the weapons. The field will intensify each time somebody enters."

[guppy_sandhu]

"F*&king reality tv."

Guppy looks at Atton and Will and takes a deep breath. "I volunteer to go in."

[will_scarlett]

"Guppy, nay, ye dinna 'ave to. I can carry more an will be fast."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Everyone's so eager to be self-sacrificing," Atton remarks dryly. "I'll go in, I'm trained to resist to pain."

[guppy_sandhu]

"You were unconscious less than five minutes ago." Guppy points out to Atton. "And if it goes pear shaped in there, someone out here needs to be capable of getting the other one out."

[will_scarlett]

"Just wish to get the 'ell out o''ere is all."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"You're married with a kid. If this goes pear-shaped, you have the most t'lose. And you," turning to Will, "you're practically married with a kid, if you count Doc."

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy, feeling a lump in his throat, nods and looks at the floor. He can't say anything right now, because the only thing stopping him bursting into tears is the fact that he's gripping onto survival with both hands.

If you die in there we're all going to die.

[will_scarlett]

"Ye maybe right but still, shouldna 'ave to go in alone."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"If it intensifies every time something enters it, two people going in'll be worse than one," Atton says, heading towards the humming. "Stay at the edge, I'll toss you the weapons when I come back through. We need to find some rope, too, then one of you can keep a hold of me and drag me out if it all goes wrong."

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy follows him, looking around for rope, and fighting back all the graphic mental images of funerals and his baby boy growing up without a dad, knowing that his only defence against these outcomes is to not fall over the line that his sanity has been balanced on for these last few years.

And he's not falling over it. The desperate, intense need to survive seems to have installed some sort of safety rail for him to cling on to.

[will_scarlett]

"We've some string but 'avena seen rope, 'rhaps ye should take one o'these rails with ye an could pull ye back out."

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Want t'bet it won't be long enough?" Atton pauses, thinking. "Coats, maybe? If we tie all our coats, scarves, any other long pieces of clothing that we don't desperately need, and tie them to a rod or two, we could use those as a long, not especially secure rope. We can use the string to tie them?"

Atton is not particularly enamoured this plan, but he thinks it'll work. So long as the makeshift rope doesn't just fall apart.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy delves into the bag and brings out a scarf and the shirt with the blaster hole in. He uses his knife to rip the shirt into several thinner pieces, and ties them with a knot that tightens as the rope is pulled.

"How long do you reckon we need?"

[will_scarlett]

The jacket Will's wearing is already off and he's tying it to one of the rails and starts attaching it to the piece of shirt.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Well, let's see," Atton says, heading towards the humming. There's a passage, lined with glowing lights, beyond which a circular room with their weapons can be seen. "Quite long."

He shucks off his coat and scarf, tying them to the makeshift rope.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Is there any chance that something could reflect the torture waves?" Guppy asks. "Because I've got a space blanket in here; it's not strong enough to use in the rope but it's metallic, because it's used for hypothermia."

He dissects the shirt that has claw marks in it. It's not like he can take any of them home and let his wife see them.

[will_scarlett]

"'ow would a blanket do that? Wouldna some sort o'mirror be better?"

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure, t'be honest. Apart from forcefields and thick metal, s'not a great deal that completely blocks them, as far as I know. But, y'know, extra clothes'll help."