taxonomites | 001: [holo] Please stand away from the platform edge

Alexis glanced at her phone as she hurried down the stairs to the subway station. “I'm going to be so late,” she fretted, dodging around an older man with an oversized briefcase as she dialed a number on the phone. She swiped her subway pass and scooted through the turnstile as the phone rang, and rang, until it clicked to voicemail. “Oh hey, Justin! I just wanted to call to let you know that I'm running a little late for our violin lesson toda--”

The rest of her message died in her throat as, between one step and the next, the familiar confines of the New York subway system became something completely different, a seamless expanse of sterile, featureless steel.

Alexis gaped, mouth still slightly open. “Hello?” she finally asked. “My name is Alexis Castle. Can anybody tell me where I am? Or how I got here?”

Her own words echoed back at her, and Alexis chewed her bottom lip as she fumbled with her phone, hitting her dad's number on speed dial without any conscious thought. She didn't wait for him to pick up; if she had, she would have realized the phone wasn't ringing, but finding herself in a strange room when she had two seconds before been in the crowded subway station made Alexis less than rational. “Dad? Are you there? I need you to come get me, I think I'm in trouble,” she said, trying her best to sound calm, though it was hard to hide the edge of hysteria, the rising panic in her voice. “I was on my way home, in the subway station, but now I'm not, I'm in a little round room and there isn't anything here--” A pause, as she notices for the first time a podium with a device resting on it. Her voice quavers as she continues, “Except a podium, and I'm getting scared, Dad. Can you come get me?”

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Having had things explained helped, but a little part of Alexis still hoped against hope that she had just slipped and fallen in the subway station and this was all a particularly weird and detailed hallucination. Once she walked out of the room she was going to have to admit it was all true. So she stayed for the moment. Even if the room was starting to get a little creepy and the door kept opening whenever she touched the tablet.

But the woman who asked the question couldn't have been that much older than herself, and that helped a little. She was less intimidating than the adults. "No, not yet," she answered, sounding a little sheepish. She really should have, by now, shouldn't she? Alexis held up the phone that had come with her into this place, now no longer able to dial out but still seeming to work. "I just keep hoping my phone would work and I could call Dad."

The mechanic knew that feeling more than she cared to admit. There were some days when she had to force herself to leave the Ranch, to admit that Kowlonshi wasn't waiting outside the gates, but more of the mismatched city that was Taxon. Uncomfortable, yes, but sometimes uncomfortable things were necessary.

"Not so easy to get transmissions of any kind outta here, unfortunately." She would know, after spending so much time trying to rig the radio to broadcast further. Either they were farther out than she could imagine, or the hamsters had something blocking those transmissions. Gorram aliens. "If you like, though, I could at least come sit with ya for a bit 'til you figure out what you wanna do? That room ain't exactly friendly."

The woman's answer about transmissions wasn't exactly surprising, not given everything everyone'd already said, but it still made Alexis' heart sink a little. She tried to smile again, a little quavery, but she nodded. "I'd like that," she replied. "I'm Alexis, by the way."

She didn't mean to put the poor girl off any more than she had to, but some things couldn't be avoided. New arrivals, no matter their age, deserved as much truth as could be given.

"On my way, then." Kaylee put her tablet down on the table while she gathered up her tool bag, giving Alexis a nice shot of the shop's high ceiling and the ship parts hanging from it, then grabbed it again as she headed for the door.

"Alexis? Pretty name. 'M Kaylee."

The temporary view Alexis got of Kaylee's surroundings was surprisingly normal, even if she didn't recognize any of the things that were hanging from the ceiling. But it was pretty recognizable as some sort of workshop, unlike the little steel room Alexis was still curled up in.

"Thanks. Dad picked it out," she answered. Her stomach flipped a little at the thought of her dad, and Alexis picked up her phone again, paging through it, hoping it would work even though she was pretty sure it wouldn't. "It's nice to meet you, Kaylee."

It wasn't hard at all to recognize the small look of hope being slowly bashed in on Alexis' face, even if the girl kept smiling. The realization would only get more difficult, but at least Taxon contained people aplenty who would be able to help her out a bit.

"Nice to meet you, too," Kaylee replied, beginning the short walk to the Sanctuary. "Now, I ain't exactly positive on the whereabouts of that room, but if you'd rather stay in there for the moment I can let you know as soon as I'm in the building. If you're alright with movin', though, you'll find some stairs at the end of the hallway that you can take right on down to the lobby. Cozy chairs there, too."

Alexis nodded, looking around the room for a moment. The logical part of her knew she should leave, but it was still intimidating. "I'll wait for you in the lobby," she said, the screen jumping a little as she stood up. "Thank you, Kaylee."

[location: Sanctuary Lobby]
Alexis made three circuits of the room before she finally left, making sure she'd taken everything with her, which wasn't much just her backpack and cell phone. The tablet clutched in her hand, Alexis took a deep breath and headed out of the room and down the stairs.

She hoped Kaylee would be there soon.

Less than five minutes later, Kaylee walked through the front doors of the lobby. It was nice, being able to walk that distance without all of the snow that had taken over the previous weather systems. Nice and sunny today, which also meant that Kaylee didn't have to bring along extra clothes for the poor girl as well.

Alexis was hard to miss, with that strawberry hair of hers (good color, that). Kaylee greeted her with a warm smile and a wave as she entered the building. "Made it down, I see. Good start."

Kaylee looked exactly like she had on the tablet, which was a bit of a relief. Alexis might not have known her, but it helped that she wasn't going to have to be looking for someone she didn't recognize at all. "It took a few tries," she admitted, her cell phone still clutched in her hand as she waved back to Kaylee. "I thought... if I stayed in the room maybe I would wake up and find out I'd hit my head or something and was still on my way home."

"Was the same way when I got here," Kaylee laughed. It was nothing mean hearted, just a simple, honest laugh. "Part of my crew from home was here, though, so it made it a bit easier to finally work up the nerve to leave. Says you're brave, you gettin' out without much to go off of."

There was something about Kaylee's laugh that was infectious, and Alexis heard herself laughing with Kaylee even before she realized it. "I'm not that brave," she answered, shaking her head. "My dad's the brave one. But it helps, to have Detective Beckett here."

Alexis laughing meant they were getting somewhere, at least. Kaylee's smile widened a little. "You know Beckett from home? That's luck for you. She's a hell of a lady, got that huàidàn cop thing workin' for her on top of that personality. You're in good hands."

Alexis nodded, her hand tightening on her phone. "She is. Dad always said he would trust her with his life, and she's kept him from getting killed a lot." A pause, before Alexis admitted, "Well, sometimes she probably tries to kill him. Like at Halloween."

001: [holo] Please stand away from the platform edge

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[ location: the sanctuary ]

[ location: the sanctuary ]

[ location: the sanctuary ]

[ location: the sanctuary ]

[ location: the sanctuary ]

[ location: the sanctuary ]