All Alone

[DerArknight]

"..."

THUMP!

The bars did not budge.

"..."

THUMP!

The bars did not budge.

"... Hiyah!"

THUMP!

The bars still did not budge.

"Crap."

Someone, somewhere was surely watching her over the cameras, laughing his butt off.

((S076 Daenerys "D" Todd - Start))

Around twenty minutes must have passed since D woke up. Maybe give or take two. Spending days in the forests around Salem had given her a good feeling for the passage of time. It sadly had not given her any lockpicking skills. Defeated, she sat back on the bed she had awoken at and gave the nearest camera the stinkeye.

Not that getting out of the cell would have improved her situation in any way. She would still have been trapped on what she persumed was an island in the middle of nowhere, with a bomb around her neck and the guys with the red button watching every move.

"Do you think this is funny?" She adressed the camera.

No answer. Unsurprisingly.

With a sigh, Daenerys threw another look at the table on the other side of the bars. And the large key lying on top of it. She considered using the contents of her bag to attempt some sort of MacGyver-manoveur, but settled on not giving those jerks another reason to ridicule her when her plan failed.

For now, she was stuck in this cell with a tiny cooler and a dozen cans of shitty beer.

Okay, maybe the last one wasn't that bad.

The sound of a can being plopped open could be heard.

[ViolentMedic]

“You’re drinking now? Fuckin’ seriously?”

((S074: Roberta Chen: START))

Beer. Abandoned building. The general sense that she was well and truly fucked, and doomed to bleed out over a dusty floor. She was one piece of rebar away from her middle-school self, and she didn’t fucking like it.

Still, compared to… oh, Roberta remembered her name, there was no forgetting something as pop-culturey as Daenerys… Roberta figured she’d been downright lucky.

She stepped into the little office after briefly observing from the door, bag slung over one shoulder. The khopesh she’d been assigned as a weapon in her other hand. She approached the cell after she spoke, with some wariness. Keeping some distance, in case Daenerys had something tucked away, or ripped the door off with superhuman strength. Never fucking know, right?

[DerArknight]

Lowering her half-empty can, Daenerys examined the girl standing in the doorway. The senior class of JEM was smaller than somme others, but big enough that she didn't knew everyone. Sure, she might have seen this girl in the hallways or even shared a few classes with her, but that was it.

Normally not knowing every classmate was no issue. But now D had no clue how trustworthy her new companion was. Especially since the other girl had an actual weapon, albeit a weird-looking one.

"Well, odds are alcohol is the least likely thing to kill me right now." Daenerys shrugged. "Want one?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Oh, sure, alcohol's less likely to kill you," Roberta groaned. "And I'm sure if you charge at someone with a gun, flailing your arms, that it's not THAT that kills you, either."

...Roberta did very much want a fucking beer right now, though. God. She eyed the can for a little longer than an easy dismissal would require.

"No, I don't think I want to cripple my chances extra, thanks."

She stepped away from the cell and hoisted herself onto the desk. Her bag clinked against the key slightly, though Roberta didn't notice it.

"Is that your weapon?"

[DerArknight]

Okay, the new girl was a smartass. Nothing new to Daenerys, she could handle that.

"Seems like it. They even gave me a cooler to keep the stuff cold. Totally necessary at this place." She made a wink to the microwave-sized refridgerator standing on the ground, right next to "her" bed. While doing so, she risked a look at the key. If the girl had noticed it, she hadn't shown any reaction.

"I am Daenerys, by the way. Probably heard about me as that GOT-girl. And you are?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Yeah, vaguely. I remember the name, if not much else. Fuckin' condolences on that one." Roberta stretched her legs a little, rubbing the palm of her hand near where the scarring was. Something about the cold was making her bad leg cramp a little worse than normal. "I'm Roberta. Nice t'meet you, I guess. Kind of. Not really."

Well, someone who'd been assigned beer couldn't be much of a threat. Maybe if they were bigger... Curtis-sized... but not this one. She was barely taller than Roberta herself.

"You stuck in there? Or didja think it was just a good place to get sloshed?"

Sloshed. Water. That looped back to medication. Fuck, how long had they been out? Were her meds gonna fuck with whatever was in the gas they got pumped with? Did it matter? If she was still alive... they couldn't mix too badly with it, right? She felt pretty calm right now, though... maybe that was still the gas in the system, or the leftover meds, or... fuck, whatever, maybe better to skip them for now. What was more immediate was the girl stuck in the cell.

Roberta wondered if she could cut the door open. Or if she even wanted to. It'd increase her chances if Daenerys stayed in there, wouldn't it?

[DerArknight]

Daenerys nodded solemly when the girl - Roberta - gave her condolences. She had already used up all possible reactions to her name being brought up.

"Nah. I would have looked for a better hiding place.

"Some terrorist jerk apparently thought it would be funny to throw me in. Is probably watching us right now while munching popcorn."

So far, the conversation seemed like ordinary smalltalk, and that slowly made D antsy. Sure, she wasn't looking for a fight, but talking normally in a killing competition struck her as awkward.

"So... any plan what you are gonna do now?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Yikes. Whoever dumped me here just tossed me on the floor."

What kind of asshole did that? Like, if they're putting so much money into this, couldn't they be professional about it? The hell kind of show is it, putting a kid in a jail cell?

"I don't got plans. I mean, don't think it really fuckin' matters, does it? I don't know shit about how this game has worked, but... I assume winners have muscle, or guns, or a pack of buddies to hide behind. By all rights, I should be freaking the fuck out right now. Probably once the gas wears off, or like... I dunno. Doesn't feel real yet. What happened to the teachers still feels more like a bad trip than anything."

Man. Maybe she should have taken that beer. What did it actually fucking matter? She huffed and leaned back a little. Her hand pressed into something metallic on the table. Roberta looked down to see a key that matched the rusted look of the jail cell. She picked it up.

"Oh. ...Huh."

She looked at it, then at Daenerys, then back again. She didn't move off the table.

[Deamon]

((S063 - Darryl Smith Jr. - Game Start))

Okay, so full disclosure, Darryl had been watching what was going on for a little bit. He didn't want to say it had been for the whole interaction but it had been closer to the start than not. The thing was, he didn't just want to walk into the room and get involved. Truth be told, he had been planning on making an entrance, taking the key on the sly, and then "find it" after a bit of a search. It was dishonest sure, but it wasn't malicious. It was just an attempt to properly leverage a situation to his advantage. Which he felt he could have been forgiven for doing given that they were in Survival of the Fittest, which by and large meant the old rules of social interaction no longer applied.

But just as he had been planning to make his grand entrance Roberta had realised she had been sat next to the key the whole time. Which, it was okay, not great. Darryl could still see ways he could swing the situation to his advantage, but it would take a bit more tact and craft then just being the one to find a key. That said, he still felt pretty safe in the situation. Roberta had that weird hook sword-looking thing but was also five foot flat and a hundred pounds soaking wet, so if things went really bad Darryl was confident in his ability to take her, and D was...well D was locked in a cell and her weapon was a cooler of beer, so there wasn't much chance of her interfering. It wasn't going to come that though. Darryl felt like he would have had to really make a mess of things if it got physical.

In the meantime, he needed to wait, watch and see what Roberta planned to do.

He just hope whatever she decided to do she did it quickly, he didn't want to spend all day crouched by a window shivering in the cold.

[DerArknight]

D looked at Roberta, at the key, then back at Roberta again.

It appeared that the moment of truth had arrived.

"Are you gonna use it or not? I won't make any promises, but I will be grateful enough for a thanks. And I won't attack you or anything."

She emptied her first can and threw it into a corner.

"Not in the mood for any violence."

[ViolentMedic]

"Yeah, I'm not in any fucking mood for violence, either," Roberta said, turning the key over in her hands. "A lot fucking safer for me if you're in there, though. Anyone can say they won't attack."

Turn the key over. Again. Again.

...

Roberta huffed. "But I'm not in the mood to be killing anyone either, and leaving you in there... not gonna pretend I wouldn't be fucking you over, if the next person ain't nice. ...So."

She slid off the desk and onto her feet, and took a few steps forward. Then she crouched and placed the key on the ground. Just beyond where Daenerys could reach with her arm by mere inches.

"Good luck. Really."

She left the key there, where Daenerys just might be able to get it if she was inventive. Either way, if she managed it, Roberta would make distance by then. She pushed her way through the door to head outside, moving fast. Too concerned to get out, and not paying enough attention to what might be out there when she did.

[Deamon]

So that wasn't an unexpected turn of events and honestly, it was super workable for him. As Roberta was finishing speaking Darryl dug into his bag and pulled out the coconut he had been given. The pick he left inside, he didn't need to reveal that right away. He could save that for a big reveal later on. Then trying to time his steps properly he turned the corner of the building to meet Roberta as she was coming out, trying to look more focused on his surroundings.

He turned his head and saw her.

"Oh shit," He said while blinking in surprise. He stopped where he was and pretended to look over Roberta, making sure to let his eyes linger over her weapon. "Hey Roberta."

Darryl made sure to look slightly confused and unsure. Obviously, righten the grip on his coconut. She didn't need to know about the pick and truthfully if she did try anything he was pretty sure he could whip the coconut at her head fast enough to make her think twice.

"You just wake up too?"

[ViolentMedic]

"Aghahg--JESUS!"

Roberta stumbled back from the sudden appearance of--Danny? Daniel? Close enough, who cared--and immediately raised the khopesh. All that panic that hadn't quite dislodged itself, submerged with the remainder of the gas, started to stir now that she was facing someone not in a cell.

"The fuck you looking at?! I'll fuck you... up... why the hell did they give you a coconut?"

The flash of panicked anger was gone as quickly as it appeared, replaced by confusion. The khopesh was still up, though... but shaking a little.

[DerArknight]

Well, that could have gone much worse, D thought as she watched Roberta leave the room.

Daenerys wasn't complaining about the other girl buying herself a head start. Damn, she might have done the same if she were in Roberta's shoes. Now she would just have to use something to get the key and her imprisonment-within-an-imprisonment would be over. Kind of like a video game, where you had to first complete the tutorial mission before you could freely explore the open world.

Still, she had no desire to remain company with Roberta, so she would wait a bit until-

Suddenly, there was another voice from outside. D perked up.

She knew this voice, even if she couldn't put a finger on it at the moment.

[Deamon]

"Because they're assholes I guess," Darryl replied with a sheepish grin, gently bouncing the coconut in his hand. "Since they're terrorists and all. At least you got a better draw."

Roberta hadn't swung at him, which was a positive. Darryl had realized he may have been a bit cavalier about the effectiveness of the khopesh while he was a safe distance away and behind a wall. But shooters shot and he didn't intend on letting any chance to get some leverage to fall by the wayside. Miss all the shots you don't take etc. Roberta asking him why he had a coconut was one of the better outcomes he had seen as an option, mainly because it meant she hadn't started swinging on instinct. Which, if he was being real, she could have done and easily covered for.

It meant the ball was in his court to ask some awkward questions. Out of genuine curiosity of course, since he was supposed to have no idea that D had been left trapped in a cell.

"There anything useful in there?" He asked, tilting his head towards the door to the correction building.