Staging Area
White Vote: Toaster
Nick: Coolrune, Hawk
Stellar: Megggas
I don't really have a preference on who we fight, so I'll just get my dice real quick... looks like I'm voting Nick.
Also, jumping off the balcony to join the others. Feel free to make a roll for that, Paris.
You bend your legs and jump incredibly high (for a suit of armour, anyway), make a flip in mid air and land on the plazza below, cracking the stone and causing the earth to shudder slightly.
((I can't think of if John's ever specifically met Roger.))
((I'm pretty sure you shared a drink in the inn before. Then again, he did change his appearance since then, so you can say it's because of that.))
You blink. When you open your eyes, a cold aluminium can of Diet Cho-Cola is now in your hand. You open it and taste it. It is chocolate flavoured.
"Well, you see, that's the hard part. This place exists because of the Games. People are brought here when they are chosen by an entity to participate in the Games. You were brought here to complete challenges for those Games, along with other people."
"Said challenges can be anything. Fights to the death between each other, protecting innocents, exploring new worlds, bringing criminals to justice, assassinating politicians, surviving the zombie apocalypse, super-powered soccer games... And they can take place anywhere, including here in the Staging Area."
"Depending on how well you do in a challenge, you gain points, points that are used by the entity that chose you to modify you as it sees fit. On certain special challenges, you can gain special rewards, depending on your actions and your performance. If you do well, succeed enough times and please the one that chose you, you get to go home and keep your upgrades. Sounds cool, right? And if you happen to die during-"
*caw* "Big bird! Duck and cover!"
Roger grabs you and forces you to duck as a glider flies above you. The man flying it lets go of it and rolls to a stop as the glider crashes on a building behind him, the rock wall unharmed by the impact. Not the most graceful landing ever, but at least he would probably come out of it unharmed if he wasn't already protected from harm.
"Is this where the party is?" the man says as he gets up and removes the dust from his clothes.
"Adventure party!"
"Hey John. Nice landing." he says with a small wave.
After seeing this spectacle, George is actually rather unfazed. A man falling from the sky is not the strangest thing he's seen or heard today. He stands up and turns his attention back to Roger.
"Thanks, though if we can't be hurt here, what was the point of ducking?"
"It's still inconvenient to have things crash on you. And that kind of thinking is dangerous. It's nice to keep your reflexes sharp and your guard up. To try to act normal so that you don't get used to this place and its advantages.""Oh, but more importantly, what were you saying about dying? These challenges can kill us?"
"Yes. But most of the time, you'll come back. I mean, look at John here. I don't think he ever got through a challenge without dying. I think the causes of death are, in order..." Roger takes a few seconds to look up and stroke his beard as if he is thinking, before he starts quickly enumerating causes of death.
"Alan, soul-merged with a BETA, telekinetic-induced car-crash, lasered in half aaand getting crushed by a giant rock. And he won half of those. There's very few challenges that can 'kill' kill you and you'll probably be warned beforehand."John nodded at those he crashed beside, then waved toward the victor. "Well done, Saevus. Keep on keeping on. And hello, you," he said toward Rodger. "Have we met? I can't recall."
"Come to think of it, I don't think I recall either of you. I could be forgetting, though."
"So, you're John, huh? My name is George. I'm new here."
"Oh, I forget you're not used to psychic identifiers. Come on man! It's me!" he says while using a hand to gesture towards his chest.
He stays like that for about a second before continuing.
"Roger! The guy from the inn? I served you some food and drinks?""Yeah, changed my appearance a bit, got bored with the old one. Thought I'd try something a bit more Mediterranean." he says as he presents his face and body.
"I thought I'd show the new guy around a bit and explain some things before the others drive him insane, ya know?" he adds, putting his arm behind George's shoulders in a half-hug and shaking him before bringing him closer to him in what was probably meant to be a friendly gesture.
<character>
You wake up.
You are lying on a single bed. It feels comfortable, although its placement feels strange.
The room you are in is small and made of metal, with ice blue walls and dim white lights hidden in corners and seams.
There's a big, sturdy-looking screen replacing one of the walls of the room, showing a slowly moving starfield. There is a chair facing it, bolted securely to the floor.
There are two electronic doors on the wall, one thick, the other thin, with buttons (that you assume are) for opening them beside them.