LOCKED TO alchemicals

[deaftly]

[He doesn't remember anything. All he knows is that there's a bright light in his face and he just wants to sleep. After a couple of minutes of tossing and turning he finally opens his eyes and sits up. The room he's in is perfectly white, without any sort of interesting features. There's a desk and a chair, but nothing on either of them. They're as white as the walls and floor, and on closer inspection, the bed he's in is just as white and spotless as the rest of the room. The sheets are a bit on the stiff side even though he's been sleeping under them, and the bed is kind of hard for his liking, so he finally squirms out from under the covers and stands.

The clothes he's wearing strike him as being wrong, though he can't recall what the "right" clothes would be. They're white - like everything else - and they're very simple. He doesn't have anything to compare them to, but the material is soft and kind of thin and feels a little odd. He shrugs off his confusion about the clothes and starts for the door. Even the doorknob is white, which strikes him as strange for about half a second before he yanks the door open.

The room that he enters is spacious. Like the room he woke up in, everything is white. There's a sofa, a small table in front of the sofa, and a couple of plush chairs. There's a couple of doors leading elsewhere, and his first order of business is to see where they lead. One leads to a perfectly white kitchen which isn't interesting right now (though some part of him wonders if the food will be just as white) and the other door he comes to is locked. There should be a front door around here somewhere though, right? He doesn't want to be here. He can't remember why he's here (or anything, really) but being here doesn't seem right.]

Comments

[deaftly]

Uhhh...

[Naki looks more than a little disturbed, but he still doesn't pull away.]

How can you tell that? Oh fuck, am I bleeding or something!?

[He doesn't feel like he's bleeding and he's pretty sure he'd notice if that was happening, but how else could Kimbley tell something like that?

...Not that that makes much more sense, but it's slightly better.]

[alchemicals]

...I don't know. It's not weird in a bad way, it's just not anywhere near human, it's really interesting and I kind of want to...

[...I kind of want to...what?

He lets himself trail off, suddenly unwilling to finish that; he doesn't know where the one thing he felt compelled to say even came from because it's...sick, it's weird and sick and he can't figure out why the fuck he wanted to say anything of the sort, and it's easier to just leave it alone.]

It's sort of like that one time you handed me that container from the refrigerator - you asked me how I could tell what it was, and I didn't know then, either. It's the same sort of thing. I knew that was human, and I know you're not, and I think the difference is in your...blood, somehow? Maybe.

[deaftly]

[Want to what? The fact that Kimbley doesn't continue is a bit concerning, but Kimbley has plenty to say and Naki loses track of that thought quickly enough.]

Oh, yeah, so it's just... something you do? You can tell if someone - or something? - is human or not?

[That seems like a ridiculously specific ability, but why the hell not. They're already missing their memories, Naki can magically heal himself, and there's a container of human parts in the refrigerator for Naki to eat so you know what, this seems slightly more plausible than anything else that's happening here.]

You don't remember anything else about it?

[alchemicals]

No. No, not really.

[The answer is a bit too abrupt; he...doesn't, does he?]

I guess it's just...something like that, though I don't know what the hell I'd use it for.

[deaftly]

...Do you know what it is then?

[It sounds like he might, if he has no idea what he'd use it for.]

[alchemicals]

...No. Not for sure - I'm going to have to test it on some other shit first.

[deaftly]

What other shit? How do you test it?

[alchemicals]

I don't...

[This would be easier if he had any idea how he's doing this...]

...Come with me, back to the window in the room. I should be able to tell what it is.

[deaftly]

Alright.

[Naki lets go of Kimbley and returns to the bedroom, stopping just short of the window so Kimbley has room to do... whatever it is he's going to do.]

Do you need me to do anything?

[alchemicals]

No, outside of "don't tell me how dumb this looks."

[He'll just be stepping forward and laying his hands on it; he closes his eyes, because that seems to help him focus a bit more, though he doesn't stay that way for very long before he's headtilting at the mirror.]

Silver...?

[Well, that's just confusing.]

They can see us, we can't see them, that's fuckin' obvious. But that's...they've coated the glass with silver, for some reason. Silver...nitrate...?

...I was expecting aluminum. I don't know why, but I was expecting aluminum.

[...]

...I think I can tell what shit is made of.

[deaftly]

[Naki stays silent even after Kimbley seems to be done talking. He's got his head tilted as well, though it's for an entirely different reason.]

...What are you talking about?

[This is going right over his head and he can't even begin to figure out what's going on here.]

What do you mean "what shit is made of"? I mean, it's... a window. It's made of glass, right?

[alchemicals]

Yeah, but it's coated with something so we can't see what's on the other side. It's a chemistry trick. Paint a mirror or a window with a really thin metal and people on the painted side won't be able to see through it, while people on the non-painted side can see through to the other side just fine.

They usually use aluminum, I think. This is silver nitrate. The effect is the same, but I think...I think using silver nitrate was a bad idea? I don't know why, but I think it was. We can use it. Somehow.

[deaftly]

[Naki's really not sure what chemistry is, but Kimbley's said something even more important.]

How can we use it? Do you think we can escape through here then!?

[alchemicals]

Maybe...? I'm not sure. I just get the feeling that's supposed to be useful somehow.

[Mnnnngh.]

I'll think on it, okay?

[deaftly]

Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do!

[He's not sure how helpful he'd be though, so...]

[alchemicals]

I'll do that, don't worry.

[He's not sure whether it's the sudden rush of feelings and shit surrounding this entire morning or what, but he's got to admit that he's feeling kind of weird all of a sudden, probably due to everything subsiding about as quickly as it came on. Either way, he's kind of lightheaded, so sitting on the bed sounds like an excellent course of action until he can get his bearings, hang on.]

So what do you think is even out there, anyway? It's not like we have any way to know, do we?

[It's stupid, but it's something to talk about until the...whatever this is passes, so let's just do that.]

[deaftly]

[Naki doesn't see anything weird with that, but he remains standing as he thinks about Kimbley's question.]

No, I don't think we do. There's no uncovered windows and we can't get out on our own so... I dunno what's out there. It seems like this place gets brighter in the morning, but there's something weird about it. It doesn't feel like the sun rising or setting, I don't think. Plus I don't think this would just be a regular house in a neighborhood, that'd be too suspicious.

[alchemicals]

[Good man.]

...Yeah, that's what I think, too. The fucker's probably just trying to keep us on a schedule - that's why it gets brighter all of a sudden.

I don't know, do you think we're in a larger building? Like a compound or something.

[deaftly]

I think that would make the most sense. I mean they can't keep an eye on us if the house is out in the open or anything, so that would probably be the smartest thing to do in their situation. But it must be a pretty big building if it can fit a house, even one as small as this!

[alchemicals]

[That really pervasive sense of lightheadedness is not going away, but thankfully it's able to be covered, even if his words are sounding a little distracted.]

Makes me wonder if there's anyone else they're doing this to, or if we're just special.

[deaftly]

[Naki doesn't think anything odd about that considering the topic of conversation and the... whatever it was Kimbley was doing at the window. He figures Kimbley's just thinking about that.]

I dunno. If there are other people then this place is probably fucking huge. I'm not sure how we're gonna find a way to escape after we get out of here.

[alchemicals]

We probably won't get a chance to figure it out until we're already in the middle of doing it, though. There's no way to plan for it in advance.

[deaftly]

Yeah, I know. We'll just have to stick together! But...

[Something's really been bugging him and honestly, he's not sure he wants to bring it up. He shakes his head after a moment and forces a smile.]

Never mind. We'll work something out once we get out of here!

[alchemicals]

[...Yeah, he's not doing so hot right now but he's able to notice that, come on.]

...No, what is it?

[deaftly]

[Naki looks away for a moment, but he eventually starts talking.]

...What if we've done this before? We have no way of knowing, right? What if we've managed to break out of here before and they just fucking wiped our memories and threw us back in here? There's no telling how many times it could have happened. We could've been here for fucking years doing the same goddamn thing over and over again and... and there's no way we'd know.