taxonomites | [holo] Arrival post

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[holo] Arrival post

Penny's arms were still curved to hold the laundry basket that had disappeared the moment she stepped into the Coin Wash, and it was with a jolt that she stumbled forward. She did her best to ignore the sense of vertigo as she looked down at her empty arms, eyebrows crooking in earnest confusion at the empty space. “Um. What?” she asked out of sheer reflex, because she suddenly was very much not where she had been before. Belatedly and a bit dumbly, she relaxed her arms and spun in a half-circle, trying to gather her bearings. “Hello? Hey, where am I?” Silence. What had she expected, a grinning madman to pop out of the metallic walls and tell her she was on Candid Camera?

A room. Well, that much was obvious, at least. But -where-? And how had she gotten there?

“Don't panic, Penny. You're just in a .. strange room. And your laundry is gone,” she muttered to herself and rubbed her wrist, jolting a little again in surprise as her fingers bumped against the bracelet, and her eyebrows knit again in concern. “You'd think I'd remember having that done.”

A bit awkwardly, she inspected the bracelet, before she pressed her hand firmly against her mouth, biting her lower lip. Well, she was here, but how did she get -out?- “Maybe this..” She looked around again to verify that the place was still empty before cautiously picking up the tablet on the pedestal next to her. Some kind of phone, maybe? No, more complicated than that. “I probably shouldn't just take it, but there's no..”

She shut her eyes and exhaled a low sigh, shaking her head to clear it. She'd tackle obstacles as she came to them; the most important thing right then was figuring out where she was. Tablet in hand, she cast another cursory glance around the empty chamber before zeroing in on the steps descending from the platform. “Well,” she whispered, “might as well,” and inhaling another deep breath as if to steel her nerves, she took the steps out into the Sanctuary, knuckles white with the force of her grip on the Tablet at her side as she entered the Sanctuary.

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"I can assure you that as far as I have been able to tell, there is nothing of harm within this building." John had happened to pass his tablet as he mulled about his small quarters. He paused and looked into the device, watching the holographic image of the woman wandering about. "Unfortunately, I cannot tell you much about this place except that the residents all refer to it as Taxon."

At the sound of the voice, Penny simultaneously a. jumped out of her skin and b. nearly flung the Tablet across the hallway she had found herself in, though she thankfully managed to refrain.

"Oh!" she said instead, squinting at the screen. "Taxon? Um, right. Hello. How do I get out?" Well, might as well get right down to business. She certainly didn't belong here.

John shook his head and gave a small smile. "I'm afraid I'm not sure how to leave. I've tried a few more... interesting methods of transportation, and all have failed miserably." He sat, getting a better look at her. She seemed young. He wasn't sure if that was a common theme of the residents of the city.

"Oh. Oh." Penny exhaled a low sigh, studying John in return for a moment, before she pulled the tablet away from her face, turning it upside down briefly. What in the world was this device? "Hi, by the way. I'm, um, Penny."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Penny. I am John. I arrived just a few days prior in the very same room. It seems this is a common occurrence. I found a few people I knew from my own location, but several more seem to exist." He knew that upon his arrival, he had wanted to know as much as possible.

Penny stared at the screen for a long moment, absorbing the information as best she could, before letting out a long, low sigh. "This isn't me - going crazy, is it? I mean, I'm not really locked up in some asylum hallucinating all of this, am I?"

She realized fully the futility of the question, but it didn't seem to stop her from asking the question. Hesitating a moment further, she stepped down the hallway to further explore the Sanctuary.

"I can assure you with as much reassurance as one can offer in this place - that you are not losing any part of your mind." He smiled slightly. She seemed like a very nice girl - lost, like him. "They call the building you are currently in 'The Sanctuary'. Another Sanctuary exists, from what I'm told, but this one is where we all begin our time in Taxon - from what I'm told." John knew he was just a vehicle of second hand knowledge, but he had to help where he could.

"There are rooms here, within which you can take residence if you choose. Otherwise, the town lies outside to be explored. I have only been on a few outings, but nothing seems outwardly dangerous."

Penny sighed, but out of sheer reflex smiled in return at John. Well, she was lost, but at least the people there seemed friendly, and she nodded at his image on the screen.

"I guess.. I'll explore some, then," she exhaled, then lifted her head to study the hallway again. "Thanks for your help. If I have any more questions, do you mind if I..?"

"Of course, Penny. I am at your service." He would have bowed, but doing so over the device seemed illogical. "I'm not sure if there are any others with the name John lingering, but to avoid confusion, my full name is John Druitt. Any questions you may have, I will do my best to answer. Good luck."

[At first, Billy doesn't pay any attention to the message coming up on his tablet. It's probably just that Codex girl from before, so he doesn't make anything of it. But then she calls herself Penny. And mentions laundry. And Billy nearly throws himself across the room to get his tablet.]

Penny! [Wait, no, calm down, don't freak out.]

I mean, uh, Penny, hey, you're here. Uh.

[Hoo boy, he is so not going to show his face unless he has to. He still hasn't exactly had the chance to see Sylar yet, so his face is still scratched to all hell.]

Oh God, what was -

Billy?

"Billy?" Penny blurted out a half second later, squinting at the Tablet. She couldn't actually see anything, but that was definitely his voice. There was probably more relief in her voice than she realized; to say it was nice that she knew someone there would be an understatement. "Hey! Um. Hello."

She took a moment to pause awkwardly.

".. where are we? And where are you? Are you alright?"

[Billy likes that she sounds relieved to hear him, and it makes him feel sort of useful. There's a smile that she can't see on his face at the moment, but she can probably hear it in his voice. It's been a few months without her, and he can't believe how much he'd missed her. Even if she doesn't really know him that well.]

Oh, uh. We're in this place called Taxon. It's a big city full of weird people, and nobody knows how to get out. I'm in my room, it's-- actually, it's where you are, I think, the building you appeared in, I can...

[Pause. Wait, no, he doesn't want her to see his face. Moving on!]

I'm-- I'm okay. Are you? Nobody-- nobody's tried to hurt you, right?

It's been since last Laundry Day that Penny has seen Billy - she was a little confused by how acclimated he already seemed to be, but she'd cross that bridge later. The fact that he at least sounded happy was a slight reassurance, at least.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

A pause.

".. should I - not be fine? Is someone going to try to hurt me?" She wasn't panicking, per se, but that wasn't a question that she was used to being greeted with. "How do I find your room?"

[asdf oops, Billy didn't mean to freak her out. Quickly!]

No! No, no, I don't... think so. I mean. Look, just like. [Pause. Okay, this isn't working.] Okay, I'll come find you, I think I can figure out where you are.

... Uhm, you have to promise me something first though, okay?

Penny lifted her hand to rub the back of her head a little nervously, stealing a glance up at the walls to make sure that monsters weren't about to pop out of the wall and eat her face. No, the place seemed innocent enough, and she most certainly didn't feel unsafe.

Just out of place.

"Yeah, of course. Anything."

Probably because she would kill to see a familiar face right about then.

[No, Penny, there's no monsters popping out of the walls. Maybe some vampires, though. Which is why Billy wants you where he is. Not like he can really protect her, but still, it's the thought that counts.]

Uh-- well, you can't freak out when you see me, okay? I kind of. Got mauled, and there's these scratches on my face, and they're nothing compared to what Capta--

[asdf AGAIN, this is Penny, backtrack!] I mean, they're just really bad looking. So.

Anyway! Coming to get you.

Penny picked up two things from that:

1. Don't be surprised at Billy's face. Worried, maybe, but surprised is a no.
2. People get mauled here.

"Uh, okay," she managed after suppressing the initial shock at what Billy told her, and thankfully didn't notice his very near slip. She was pretty good at ignoring those. "I'll be waiting. .. here."

She did turn in another half-circle as she waited, though, not wanting to be surprised when Billy showed up. Or when a lion appeared to maul her, who even knew.

When Billy gets there, he's in his usual Billy-outfit, a huge hoodie and slacks. He's a bit nervous, because it's Penny, and because the scratches on his face are like he actually did get mauled by a lion, but he's trying to appear less twitchy. Which, you know, doesn't work so well.

He spots her red hair from across the room and almost feels like running and giving her the biggest hug every, because finally, someone from home. Not a doppelganger, the real Penny.

Instead, he moves up to her carefully, and stuffs his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, Penny?"

Penny's initial reaction is shock, and before she can help herself she gasps, stifling the sound with the knuckles of her right hand. "Billy," she says, unable to really process anything else at that moment. "Your face."

Her hand hovers for a moment, as if she's about to reach out and touch his elbow, before she stops herself.

"What happened to you? Is there not - aren't there any heroes here?"

Billy flinches back a little, and looks away. He's incredibly self-conscious about them, though he knows he shouldn't be-- they should be badass, seeing as they look like they belong on a villain's face. But he doesn't like them, and Penny's gasp makes him hate them further.

Also, the heroes thing? Makes Billy's expression irritable for a second. Heroes. Psh. What could they do? But then it's back to staring at the ground, avoiding her gaze.

"There was a... thing. It attacked me," Billy explains vaguely. "They won't be there for long, I'm supposed to talk to this guy, Sylar, he's supposed to help get rid of them."

Pause. More of that bitchface. "I don't know if there's heroes. There's a guy who looks like Captain Tool-- I mean Hammer."

Edited 2009-10-12 06:58 (UTC)

Penny's face crinkles in slight confusion at 'Captain Tool,' but she figures it's an easy enough mistake to make. A hammer is a tool, afterall.

She guesses.

She shakes her head and cuts her eyes back to the scars on Billy's face. "Get rid of them," she echoes, slightly incredulous, but weirder things have happened, haven't they? Like being transported to this place on her way to wash her clothes, and the fact that the silver band around her wrist seemed soldered on.

"You've got to be more careful," she finishes lamely, and by her expression, knows exactly how lame she's being. She doesn't even know what she's warding Billy against. Danger in general, she guesses.

"Um. So how do I get - a room? I don't exactly have any money on me."

Oh, Penny, if only you knew. Which you never will, if Billy gets his way. He's just glad she hasn't caught his slip-ups yet.

When she repeats what he said, Billy nods, fiddling with his sleeves a little. He's so used to the weirdness of this place it's almost second nature to talk about this stuff. Awkwardly, Billy reaches up to rub at his scars gently, embarrassed.

"Uh, yeah, I know. I'll... try," Billy finishes just as lamely.

Blink blink. That question takes a second to register, and then Billy shakes his head. "You don't have to pay for things here. I got my room for free, and well, sometimes people bring stuff with them here, so I brought the laundromat. You probably brought something with you, do you know what it is yet?"

"You brought the laundromat?" Penny can't help but smile a little bit absurdly at that, looking slightly sheepish. "If I'd managed to bring my laundry with me, we'd be all set, wouldn't we?"

She does pause, though, when Billy mentions that people bring things with them, and she pats her pockets, before pulling a white paperback from her back pocket, a battered edition of Where the Sidewalk Ends. "I brought this to read at the laundromat. My basket and everything disappeared, though."

And another pause at this.

"Sorry, Billy, I just.. I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed." She smiles apologetically at him.

"Yeah, something like that," Billy agrees, smiling a little in return. He can't help it; her smile is infectious.

He does glance at the book, curious to know exactly what she brought. A book? He brought a laundromat and she brought a book? Taxon had a weird way of picking these things, Billy thought. Why not his lab? Or, y'know, his house. That would have been nice.

Penny's voice jolts him out of his personal grumbling.

"Oh, no, it's okay, I mean. I was too. When I got here. Look, we can... do something about that. We can find you somewhere to live."

Penny doesn't really have a lot of possessions that are incredibly important to her. Back in LA she had a small flat with a refrigerator that was empty most of the time - it only makes sense she'd bring the one book that she reads the most.

She shakes her head, snapping out of it. A place to live. That sounds great.

Like a good start, at least.

"So I just - um. Pick somewhere. Empty?" And absently she rubs at the bracelet on her wrist.

Nodding, Billy gestures to the hallway he'd come from.

"Yeah, there's rooms back there. They're all empty. Or, uh, I think they are, I haven't exactly looked."

Penny glances at Billy's face again, her fingers flexing out of habit on the book she's holding at her side.

"Alright, um. I'm - I'll find a place to look. And maybe - explore some. While I'm here, I might as well know.."

Pause, and Billy looks away a little, because he's self-conscious. Shifting awkwardly, Billy shoves his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, uh. Okay. I'll just. Uh. You can call me on the tablet things, if you need me. I mean, not that you have to, but if you do, I-- uh, yeah, right."

Penny pauses for a moment, before a thought seems to cross her mind. She leans forward, gently grasping Billy by the wrist, as if to catch his attention.

"Hey, Billy? You haven't - um, you haven't heard of Captain Hammer being pulled to this place, have you?"

Give the guy a heart attack, why don't you? Billy starts when she takes his wrist, and immediately he gets about ten times more nervous than before. Pretty redheads do this to him.

"U-uh, no, I..." Billy stutters, and then he shakes his head, blinking in the odd way that he does. "No, he's... he's not here. There's a guy who looks just like he does, but not... him."

"Oh. Alright." And in true Penny fashion, she doesn't notice the odd reaction, and instead just releases his wrist. She looks a little disappointed but mostly relieved when Billy announces that Captain Hammer isn't actually there. "Well," she says, then starts again, "Well.. that's alright. Thank you, Billy. I'll.. find you, when I need you again, okay?"

Her eyes linger on his face again, studying the scars, and she's going to slip down the hallway now, looking for a room of her own.

Billy might be a little disappointed. Well, once he was over the whole 'asdf she's touching me' reaction, anyway. But he doesn't say anything, just gives her a little smile, watching as she walks off.

He goes to his own room, but he might be watching Penny's dot on the tablets. What? He's just making sure she doesn't vanish.

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[Location: Penny!]

tense change hooray!

\o/

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