Prologue: Origins

[Damien]

"I-I guess..." Damien said following the two. "But... I haven't played before,"he was trying to find a polite way of getting out hanging aorund other kids. "I'll suck..."

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Kasey shrugs, and lowers her voice in response to Damien. "You've never played, and I'm terrible at it. Maybe we should just skip this all together...I'm all for leaving. I'm sure there's a window around here somewhere."

[FuBar]

Alice:

I looked around me and saw signs to all the various activities. The swimming-pool. Surely not... Then again, these are Yeerks: As if they're likely to pass up THAT opportunity... Lets see: Dozens of prime host bodies trapped in a Yeerk-controlled building with no way out, a convenient large body of water designed for them to swim in, and every person entered the building willingly. Of course they'd try to infest everyone.

But what about all my friends? I glanced around me to see how many people I'd actually spoken to before, and counted 4 just in this reception area, plus Eddie outside of course. What about in the other rooms? There was a distinct lack of windows to see beyond the reception area, and I had the feeling the Yeerks had something to do with that.

If only there was some way I could get them out of here... But then what about all the other innocent humans doomed to infestation this fateful night? I looked around again, doing a head-count...

[Seryna]

In addition to the five of Kasey, Reece, Torrence, Damien and herself, Alice could see two other students talking a few feet away.  There were also a handful playing pool over in the nearby Billiards room and she recalled seeing a handful of teenagers head towards the pool area since she'd entered the Reception area.

[Breekan1]

"Aw c'mon, Kasey. The more time we spend here, the more goes to charity. Besides, racquetball can't be that bad... uh, do either of you happen to know what it is?"

[Raven]

"Look, I just hate being trapped." Autumn looked back at the adults. "Yea, well, can we go out with the others now?" Autumn asked, hearing the sound distinctly, wondering what on earth a sauna was doing around, thats what it sounded like. "I'm all for playing racquetball." She gazed at Sandra. "We have to get out of here, I don't like it." Her voice was only a whisper, fear laced in the back of her mind.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Kasey glares at Reece. "It's none of your d*mn business what I do or don't do. Why don't you go play with your girlfriend, or has she run off with that vampire chick?" Kasey taunts.

[Brad the Brit]

"We have to get out of here, I don't like it." He heard Autumn whisper, and Brit had to agree. Their was something about this whole set-up that made a tiny chill run down his spine. He squeezed Autumns hand before crouching down to look at the lock. He wasn’t a locksmith but there was nothing obviously wrong with the door.

“Maybe you should have the door looked at Greg” he called into the other room. “Isn’t it a fire risk or something?” He habitually ran his fingers through his messy hair. “And why the hell is there a sauna all the way over here?”. He leaned against the door, maybe he was just being to suspicious. He lowered his voice and murmured to the two girls. “Do you just want to see if there’s another door?”

[Breekan1]

Sandra tries to hide her bemusement as Brad and Autumn panic at the door. "Seriously guys, it's just a technical glitch. The mis-clatching of some doohickey. I'll go see if I can help them find the pin they're  looking for, and report back with what I find. I'll scream or something if they rape me." She smiles as she heads into the next room- partially out of amusement for her own joke, partially to keep their fears from getting to her. She'd be fine, right?

^^^^^^^^^^

Reece rolls his eyes. “Could you be a bit more shrill, please? I think there are dogs in the neighborhood that haven’t committed suicide yet.”

[Brad the Brit]

Brit grumbled at Sandra's comment. "I'm not scared just suspicious. i mean doors don't usually tend to lock themselves, do they?". He considered going after Sandra to help, wanting to meet up with the others as soon as possible. This racquetball thing looked fun, if alittle mysterious...

He turned to Autumn "You want to come and look for the pin or shall we stay and wait by the door?" 

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Kasey snorts, and responds to Reece "And you must be one of them."

[Damien]

Damien hesitated. How should he respond. He was literally at a lost, he never had been in a lot of conversations and he usually keeps to himself. This robbed him of his ability to communicate with other people... or how to respond in different situations.. "Uh..." Damien bit his lip,"But haven't you noticed the lack of windows... I only seen ones near the receptionist and none in any other area of the building..." wait... when did he notice that? Was his subconscious picking up on suspicious things? Or was he also this observant without realizing it. "And... I can read body language well... the body language of some of the people here seem... like they are acting... I don't know how to explain it but it is like... they are pretending to be joyful..."

[Seryna]

Sandra tries to hide her bemusement as Brad and Autumn panic at the door. "Seriously guys, it's just a technical glitch. The mis-clatching of some doohickey. I'll go see if I can help them find the pin they're  looking for, and report back with what I find. I'll scream or something if they rape me." She smiles as she heads into the next room- partially out of amusement for her own joke, partially to keep their fears from getting to her. She'd be fine, right?

As she entered the room, she had a clear view of Damien's father seated in the chair, an odd, vacant expression on his face.  He slowly lifted his hand and stared at it, flexing his fingers as though it was the greatest thing he'd ever seen.  As she was processing that oddity, someone stepped out from behind the door and nudged the door so that it blocked the view to the corridor.

"Glad you could join us."  Damien's mother smiled.

"Please, have a seat." Greg was there, sliding a chair up next to the sauna.  That was a bit odd in itself- but then she saw something odd attached to the arms of the chair.  Almost like cloth restraints... perhaps that was the moment she realized this really was a bad idea.

Damien's mother stepped up behind her, covering her mouth as Greg tried to pull her towards the chair.

[Breekan1]

"Pft. I wish. I'd rather be snout-deep in dog anus than listening to you, toots." Reece winked at Kasey, but then turned to regard Damien. It was hard not to feel bad for the kid. Once, at The Gardens, Reece had seen a fledgling ostrich hatch from its shell. It was wet, naked, and completely aghast at the prospect of existence. It looked slightly more at-ease than Damien did right now.

"Well, I mean, we are surrounded by highschool kids," Reece reassures him. "Acting is half the battle at our age."

****
Sandra flops about. She's a smaller gal- physically fit, but short, and not accustomed to physical confrontation. She tries to scream, tears coming from her eyes.

[Kit Cloudkicker]

Kasey steps, rather rudely, in front of Reece, and responds to Damien. "Has anyone ever told you you're a really weird kid? Dosen't matter though, I'm finding a way out so I can go hiking. You can join me, or I can drop you off at your place on my way."