A Rose, Unnaturally

[four_is_death]

The lockpicks slide against each other with a gentle metal-on-metal sheeee, then click solidly into place.

Sophia smiles beneath her mask. "Got it."

Comments

[four_is_death]

The bizarreness can wait until everyone is sure to survive this.

The gang goes down the chosen hallway at a brisk walk, weapons readied.

A humanoid shape buried in steel plates looms through the mist, and the Experiment hisses in a breath. Unlike the gang, it wears no mask.

"Mine."

The Silencer doesn't hear anything until the experiment shoves a spear in at the base of its neck. It crumples bonelessly, and hit the ground with a clang.

Moments later, the gang emerges from the tower into a moonless night. Squat, concrete buildings surround them: in the distance, other towers like the one they came from loom through the night.

[last_one_out]

Maskless but rose-bearing, the three travellers follow the gang down the hall. They avoid breathing the fog as much as possible, and all three emerge undamaged.

[four_is_death]

There is a complicated bit with some alleys, a sewer grate, a basement, a few flights of stairs, and some rooftops, but finally the gang tumble into an abandoned-looking house and collapse on various mattresses.

The room is rather dilapidated, but clearly some effort has gone into making it cozy. The concrete walls are daubed with abstract paintings in bright colors, and mismatched pieces of furniture have been scattered about.

[greatestgift]

The floating girl declines to collapse. She floats instead, and asks questions of the silver-eyed man.

[last_one_out]

He answers, and then translates for his brother(?), and then gets caught up in acting as translator between those two in their similar but apparently not mutually intelligible languages.

[four_is_death]

Sophia isn't feeling very tired, either.

"... Okay, so. Now we have one escaped experiment, three people from somewhere where they don't speak Victorian, and a bunch of exceedingly strange roses. Is anybody else less confused than me?"

[last_one_out]

The silver-eyed man interrupts himself to translate this for the other two.

[unmarred]

His brother(?) says something back.

[greatestgift]

The floating girl just throws up her hands.

[last_one_out]

"I think we're all pretty much equally confused," says the silver-eyed man. "Actually, you're less confused because you know where we are."

[four_is_death]

"Hi, welcome to Eyesocket, Worst City on Earth. If you have a way to go home, I highly recommend it. I have to ask, though - you seem to know what's going on with these." She waves the rose implanted in her palm at him. "What exactly do these flowers do?"

[last_one_out]

"We haven't actually ever seen them before, he's just really good at figuring things out on short notice," the silver-eyed man explains. "It looks like they heal people and make weapons." He deconstructs his bow; it turns back to thorny vines and disintegrates. "I don't know what else. I also don't know why I can speak all these languages all of a sudden."

[four_is_death]

Sophia sighs. "Lights."

[four_is_death]

"Speaking of which, who or what are you?" Eyes addresses his comment to the modified creature.

[four_is_death]

"Honestly, I'm not sure anymore."

[four_is_death]

"Can we please focus on one question at a time?"

[four_is_death]

Rose appears to be writing down a list of unsolved mysteries.

[last_one_out]

"Should I even ask what makes Eyesocket the Worst City on Earth?"

[four_is_death]

"Lights, pretty much."

[four_is_death]

"You know it's more complicated than that, Soph. The Lights wouldn't have near so much power if it wasn't for the alternatives being equally terrifying."

[four_is_death]

"Yeah, sure, the natives aren't the nicest people, but at least they have good reasons to be angry. As for the beasts, they're just dumb animals."

[four_is_death]

"I'm still not volunteering to go try and talk to a clan leader any time soon."

[last_one_out]

He translates this exchange for both of the others and then says, "Now can I have that again with more of an actual explanation?"

[four_is_death]

"Sorry. Here's the short version: Empire founds colony, colony becomes haven for free-thinkers, free-thinkers discover government and civilization is hard, especially when the woods are filled with things that make those dogs from earlier look like fluffy kittens, and the whole experiment collapses into corrupt aristocratic awfulness."

[last_one_out]

He translates this twice and comments, "Sounds like fun."