Doors Plot: Welcome to the Midnight Isle

[wipeawaythedebt]

The remote mining colony on CX-4593 had been radio silent for six months.

The colony, nicknamed the Midnight Isle by the miners trapped in its perpetual darkness, had been running at peak efficency until the drills hit and cracked a mineral that their local geologists could not identify. After sending a copy of the readings and initial scientific findings back to Earthbase Epsilon, the miner recorded that they intended to resume drilling the next day. After that last broadcast, communication stopped. The colony managers, safe in their homes on Epsilon attempted many times to re-initiate communication, but to no avail.

A proposed rescue mission is still being discussed in committee and to the outside world, the mining company reports that everything is normal, just some routine communication bugs.

Meanwhile, the radio silence continues, but all is not silent on the Midnight Isle. There is clicking and scratching inside the walls and floors, distant echoes in the halls, and the electronic hum of a station still at full power. But absent are the sounds of the miners, and everywhere are the signs of distress and danger. Meals left abandoned covered in mold and dust. Chairs and tables stacked, as if in barricades, and most worrying of all, the smears of blood in the halls and pooled on the floors, absent of bodies, but full of unanswered questions.

And now, six months after the strange mineral was discovered, there are doors opening and strangers are arriving.

Comments

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Easy, now, Miss, I'm not gonna hurt you. Just trying to figure out where I am." She looks terrified and wielding that... is that a chair leg? Like some kind of weapon. Looks like she'd fall over in the process. He needs to find some real weapons and fast. His vigors will only take him so far without finding some salts.

"Name's DeWitt. Booker DeWitt. I was just with a young woman named Elizabeth, you seen her?" Because she's his priority, she's the one he has to protect. Not that he doesn't feel for this woman, but there's really nothing in it for him to put his neck out. Not if Elizabeth is somewhere. Glancing at the blood and chaos around the mess hall, he decides to add a slightly more distressing question, "You seen anyone?"

[adifferentlife]

His words don't precisely soothe her, but the relief at seeing another person is strong even if she's still worried. That starts to fade when he says his name and asks after Elizabeth. Surely they're can't be that many Bookers about, and especially not ones who are guardians of a sort to Elizabeths. "I'm Sybil. Sybil Crawley."

Sybil lowers the leg of the chair some, shaking her head. "I haven't seen anyone, you're the first. I've not seen Elizabeth. Are you here from Darrow?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Yeah..." It takes a moment, but he catches on, "You know Elizabeth?" He's not really placed all of her friends yet, something he'll fix after they get back. If they get back.

"You ever seen this place before? Or... anything like this?" Anything useful. He heads back to the door she came through, looking up and down the hall. It's too damn spooky, giving him all kinds of thoughts he doesn't want to be having.

[adifferentlife]

“We’re friends,” she says more tersely than she might otherwise. In another situation she’d love to engage him in conversation, to learn about him and his interests. This was not the day for that. “I- No. It’s completely unlike anything I’ve ever known. I’ve never seen something with so much metal.”

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Well I don't like the looks of this. We should keep moving." There have to be weapons around here somewhere. He doesn't thing any place that looks as remote as this one does would go without some kind of protection. Even with all the blood around. Which only brings up a better question:

With all this blood, where are the bodies?

[adifferentlife]

"Perhaps we should." Sybil isn't about to argue, she doesn't know more than he does. "Do you think there's a reason for this?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Hell if I know, Miss, but I'm not sticking around to find out." Picking up a piece of twisted metal, he pulled out his handkerchief, wrapping one end so he could grip it without slicking his hand up again. Last thing he needed was more scars to go with his brand.

"C'mon." He hits the door, watching the corridors closely as he motions for her to follow.

[adifferentlife]

There's little choice but to follow, and truth be told, Sybil feels safer with him there as much a stranger as he is. The chair leg is still in her hands, a better weapon than none, and as she starts at a skittering sound from behind the wall she reminds herself to breathe. "Do you think Elizabeth might be here as well?"

[wipeawaythedebt]

"Hope so and hope not." He doesn't want Elizabeth to be near this place that's screaming danger and death to him. At the same time, he just doesn't want to not know where she is. It's annoying, he's not used to caring about someone like that.

"I'm thinking the fewer people find their way here, the fewer people are gonna get hurt."

[adifferentlife]

“This place has done worse,” she says softly, her voice cold. The memories of that shadow Darrow are hard ones for Sybil. She doesn’t like thinking of the abomination that kidnapped her that Kaine claimed was another version of himself. But being here she cannot help it, wondering if there’s a reason these things happen to her over and over. “At the least, I hope that stays the worse experience. I would rather not repeat the things that happened before.”

[adifferentlife]

“This place has done worse,” she says softly, her voice cold. The memories of that shadow Darrow are hard ones for Sybil. She doesn’t like thinking of the abomination that kidnapped her that Kaine claimed was another version of himself. But being here she cannot help it, wondering if there’s a reason these things happen to her over and over. “At the least, I hope that stays the worse experience. I would rather not repeat the things that happened before.”