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reefnet2023-06-05 10:16 am
backsassin) wrote in reefnet2023-06-05 10:16 am
KY321B; voice; night 007
[ It’s the dead of night when the broadcasts start—short, choppy bursts initially, static interspersed with the occasional snatches of a woman’s voice against the low susurrus of waves on sand. It’s several long moments before they resolve into an actual message. ]
—anyone there? Please, anyone—I don’t care who you are, just say something!
[ There’s a clear edge of desperation in her voice and it’s no wonder; Zam had woken up pressed against a sand dune in the pitch black night, her last memory being of her own untimely murder. She’d thought she was buried at first, then in hell—and then she’d noticed the radio clutched in her one remaining hand. Then came the struggle of trying to figure out what it was and how to operate it one-handed in the dark and—suffice to say, she is experiencing a lot of stress at the moment. ]
Does this thing even work? [ More static as Zam starts blindly pressing buttons in the dark. ] —anyone receiving?
—anyone there? Please, anyone—I don’t care who you are, just say something!
[ There’s a clear edge of desperation in her voice and it’s no wonder; Zam had woken up pressed against a sand dune in the pitch black night, her last memory being of her own untimely murder. She’d thought she was buried at first, then in hell—and then she’d noticed the radio clutched in her one remaining hand. Then came the struggle of trying to figure out what it was and how to operate it one-handed in the dark and—suffice to say, she is experiencing a lot of stress at the moment. ]
Does this thing even work? [ More static as Zam starts blindly pressing buttons in the dark. ] —anyone receiving?
no subject
Don't try to navigate the woods, but find a spot where you'll be under cover in the morning. And then I need you to sit down, breathe, and tell me your condition in detail.
cw: mild body horror
[ And then there's silence as Zam stops her broadcast to follow the voice's instructions. They give her something to focus on, at least, some sense that this is real and not the result of some dying neurotoxic hallucination.
Still clutching the radio in one hand, she starts to walk towards the trees in the distance, winding around the sand dunes that dot the beach. Even ignoring her arm, her body feels off in a way she can't quite define. Light and insubstantial, like she's lost more than just a limb. She grits her teeth and tells herself that it's the shock talking. Obviously, she's not dead—otherwise, she wouldn't need to worry about dying again.
Finally, she reaches the treeline and finds a place to sit at the edge of the forest, facing into the deep dark beyond. It's a good thing she's not bleeding; the last thing she needs is some kind of native predator coming across her in her current state.
She presses the broadcast button on her transceiver again. ]
Okay, I'm under some trees now. Feeling... not great. Light-headed, I think. The last thing I remember before waking up here was taking a saberdart full of neurotoxin to the neck, so... that might be related. I'm not dead, though, so that's an unexpected plus. [ She looks down at herself, trying to gauge anything else about her condition. Obviously, there's the severed arm, but now that she's actually somewhat calmed down and paying attention, she notices it's not the only thing that's missing. ] Looks like I've lost most of my armor... and blaster. Or maybe someone took it.
[ They'd even taken her one remaining glove. The skin of her left hand is pale, but otherwise unmarked and there's no sign of—wait. Zam's brow furrows as she stares at the hand, then raises it to her face. She feels smooth skin, small eyes. That's... weird. She'd woken up already shifted. That wouldn't be unusual under normal circumstances—she's trained herself to hold a human form even while asleep—but she distinctly remembers reverting to baseline after Jango's saberdart had hit. Had she reshifted while unconscious, somehow?
Still holding a hand to her face, she tries to relax, tries to let it go. Her human form might be her preferred one in most cases, but in a life-or-death scenario such as this, it'll only be a waste of energy to keep it up. It should be as easy as letting out a breath. She closes her eyes, lets her expression go slack...
And nothing happens. The fine bones and muscles of her face remain set in place, and the skin stays soft and smooth. She opens her eyes and tries again, focusing this time. She thinks about what she should feel: the sockets of her eyes expanding and filling, cheeks hollowing, skin becoming tough and scaled. But nothing moves; her features remain stubbornly human, as if they've forgotten any other form. Zam feels a new seed of panic planted within her. Has she lost control of her shapeshifting?
She reaches for the radio again. ]
Something's wrong. I don't know how, but I can't—I can't... [ How does she even begin to explain this? She's not even in the habit of telling people she's a Clawdite but if they're talking about her medical condition, then that context is pretty karking important.
With a strained sigh: ] Listen, do you know what a changeling is?
no subject
[ Crap. She doesn't know nearly enough about neurotoxins to be helpful in this situation.]
Yeah, whoever dumped us here didn't leave us with much. Is that all you feel? Lightheaded?
[ Steph gets no response while Zam is freaking out. ]
Hello?
[ Then Zam is back and Steph is now privy to the freakout. ]
Changeling, um... Something about babies switched with a fairy at birth?
I'm gonna guess the answer is no, I don't know what a changeling is.
no subject
[ She tries to focus on different, smaller changes: lengthening her nails, subtracting a finger. Still, nothing happens. Her body remains solid and immutable in a way it's never been before. ]
Fierfek, what the hell is going on?
no subject
[ How does M'gann's shapeshifting work? She's sure she read that file, but not very closely. It felt like spying on her ex's new friends. ]
Is that something that's ever happened before? A known side effect of some poisons, maybe?
no subject
And no, it's never happened to me before. I mean, there was a time before I knew how to control it, but that's not really the same thing. [ She runs her hand through her hair—short and soft and also something she wouldn't have in her baseline reptilian form.
She also realizes that she's missing her helmet, too. Great. ]
If I were really sick or dying, maybe I'd be forced back into my baseline form. But this isn't that. It's—it's one of my human forms. Unless... [ She shakes her head and then laughs, a sound of incredulity and frustration rather than amusement. ] I don't know, I've never been injected with neurotoxin before; for all I know, this is a normal side effect. Or—or maybe I'm hallucinating. Maybe I'm not stuck at all.
[ Maybe she's lying in a ditch somewhere, face and body contorting uncontrollably from her efforts. Maybe she's still curled up in an alley outside some seedy nightclub on Coruscant, waiting for the lights to go out. It's not like either notion could be more absurd than what she's experiencing right now. ]
Makes sense, right? [ Another laugh. ] Why wouldn't a neurotoxin make you trip?
no subject
I mostly know about baseline human biology, but my understanding is that you'd be in your normal form if you weren't in control of yourself. Neurotoxin might make you hallucinate, but it's more like dreams. Dying cells firing off, showing you random stuff that your brain tries to cobble together.
You said you're light-headed, do you have a headache worse than what dehydration or exhaustion might give you? You're speaking clearly, are you having any trouble swallowing, breathing, or controlling your movements? Is there anything else strange at all that you can't blame on being stuck in a human shape, wet, upset, and on a random beach?
no subject
Deep breaths, [ she mutters. ] Deep breaths...
[ Not like those will fix anything, but at least it's better than screaming into the void. Zam focuses on the sound of the air entering and leaving her lungs, a sound that, for that brief instant after she'd felt the saberdart pierce her neck, she thought she'd never hear again. She's alive, isn't she? Maybe not for very much longer if she can't turn things around, but it's more time than most people get after their number gets called. ]
No, nothing like that. I mean, I'm shaking a little bit, but that's probably just nerves, right? I'm, uh— [ A short, exasperated exhale. ] A lot is happening right now.
no subject
It's a lot, definitely. Good news, it sounds like you're not being affected by neurotoxin and you managed to avoid clinical shock. Doesn't make psychological shock any more fun, but you can probably wait to worry about water until the sun comes up, at least.
I'm Stephanie. What's your name?
no subject
[ Zam settles against the trunk of a tree and prepares for a long, probably-sleepless night. She still doesn't know what to think about what's going on, but she's not dead and, if what the woman—Stephanie says is correct, she might not even be dying either. She is lucky, in that sense—even if she has no idea how she survived. ]
My name's Zam. I was on Coruscant before here, [ a rueful huff of laughter, ] having a pretty bad night. What about you?
no subject
I'm guessing Coruscant's a planet? I was on Earth, having a pretty typical night. I was in class, actually, last I remember.
Have you ever had to survive in the wild before?
no subject
[ She sounds a bit incredulous. Sure, Zam hasn't heard of Earth, either, but Coruscant is... well, it's Coruscant. The center of the galaxy. Triple zero. ]
Urban jungle is more my scene. I've visited some wild places, but never long-term. [ And never without plenty of firepower backing her up... ] You sound like you know what you're doing, though.
no subject
You might also be from a different universe. Have you ever heard of the Green Lantern Corps? They're supposed to have someone in every sector of space.
no subject
No, can't say I have. [ That said, she's heard of stranded colonies regressing to pre-spaceflight technology before—usually in cheesy adventure serials, but still. Maybe Earth is a real-life example. ] KD6 said the planet we're on right now resembles Earth. You're a native; what do you think?
no subject
We've found some recognizable Earth writing, so if nothing else it's Earth-adjacent.