KY321B; voice; night 007

[backsassin]

[ 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?

Comments

[backsassin]

No, no, nothing to do with fairies. [ Where do people even hear this stuff? ] It means I can change the way I look—skin, bones, muscles, that kind of thing. Or—I could. Can't do it now. I'm, uh. Stuck?

[ 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?

[ichoosefight]

Change the way-- Shapeshifter! That's what we call it where I'm from. You can shapeshift. But you're not able to do it now?

[ 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?

[backsassin]

Yeah. Shapeshifting. I've heard it called that, too.

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?

[ichoosefight]

Deep breaths, okay?

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?

[backsassin]

[ Zam knows she's at her breaking point and she hates it. Losing a limb, being betrayed and shot by her closest friend, and then waking up here—any single one of those things would be enough to turn her life upside-down and all of them have crashed down on her in the space of a few minutes. Is it any wonder she feels like she's losing her mind? ]

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.

[ichoosefight]

[ It's lucky Steph is one of the first people she's talking to. She's one of the more patient, understanding and helpful people on this crazy island. Her voice takes on an optomistic tone. ]

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?

[backsassin]

Lucky me.

[ 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?

[ichoosefight]

Hi Zam.

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?

[backsassin]

Yeah, it's a planet. You mean you haven't heard of it?

[ 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.

[ichoosefight]

We haven't really figured out space travel yet. We've had some visits from other planets, but from what I've heard it seems like we're kind of the backwoods of Outer Space.

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.

[backsassin]

[ Zam is still trying to put together 'haven't really figured out space travel yet' when Stephanie brings up the 'different universes' idea. Just when she thought things couldn't get any more absurd. ]

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?

[ichoosefight]

I haven't found anything to prove that it's not Earth. Some strange animals, but that doesn't mean much. The plant life seems the same, and so do the sun and moon. Atmosphere feels the same too, but I've never been off-planet, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to tell.

We've found some recognizable Earth writing, so if nothing else it's Earth-adjacent.