[M15] ENEMY: UNKNOWN - THE INTERVIEW

[voidmissions]

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On opening their eyes, Voidtreckers will feel a sense of disorientation, a dizziness to their vision and inside their head. Both clear quickly, letting them remember where they came from: in the midst of a mission, some unknown entity jumping them, and then —

They're here. Wherever here is.
They stand in an empty room. The lighting of the room stings their eyes after how dark the rest of the station has been. The walls, ceiling and floor are all bright white, tiles. There is no visible door, no windows.

After the disorientation comes fear. The hairs on the back of their neck stand up. For those with danger sense, these senses are going haywire, even though any other abilities are still not working. The feeling can be pushed down, it is similar to the air of expectation at the start of a horror film, the anticipation of fear rather than being in a truly dangerous situation. It might be that they have been on the train long enough to have felt it before.

Heavy footsteps sound, it is almost impossible to tell where they are coming from as the echo through the empty space. The feeling of dread grows until part of the far wall slides open with a mechanical hiss.

Filling the doorway are two huge figures, around seven foot tall and bulky. They are in large metal suits, almost like power armour, black with highlights of gold. They wear a mask that covers their whole face. It is impossible to see the figure inside at all. Their breathing comes through heavy and raspy and when they walk their footsteps are heavy. The door closes behind them and their presence makes the room feel smaller. One of them scans a green light over the voidtrecker.

"Do not be alarmed. Under sections ninety six of Inter-dimensional law and on behalf of the Void Ministry we have intercepted Voidcraft designation Voidtrecker Express as part of ongoing investigations. You have been taking part in a simulated excercise to gauge your skill and strength. No harm shall come to you or your crew, you are protected by inter dimensional law. You have been chosen for questioning and we ask that you comply. You have the right to refuse our interview but we have the right to hold you until our investigation is complete or one week in standard void time has passed, whichever is longest. Complying with us will ensure our investigation is more efficient."

The inspector talking pauses here, as if giving the voidtrecker time to take in that information.

"Do you accept our interview?"

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ENEMY: UNKNOWN

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Comments

[monkeyinthewrench]

sludge party - all days

As one of the first captives, it's initially not too crowded when Jake enters the holding cell. His stomach's still doing the occasional flip-flop...he knew trusting those two was risky, but he had to hope following his gut was the right move.

Whenever someone enters, he'll greet them. "...so, welcome to the holding cell party. Ready for some delicious sludge?"

He's tried to cook a small portion for himself. It hasn't ended well.

holding pattern - all days

Jake would normally try to lighten the mood with a holding cell dance party. Those are always fun. But the flickering images on the screen, and the mood around him...it's not the most fun atmosphere.

He goes back and forth between staring at a picture of his girlfriend on the phone and watching the surveillance screens.

"I mean...we all did good, right? We have to pass."

getting cramped - days 2&3

This is getting ridiculous. NYPD protocol is that they only have 24 hours to keep suspects in the holding cell, and they aren't even suspected of any crimes. Initially he tries to greet new entrants as before, but as it gets more and more cramped in here...

"...uh, I don't think there's enough room for the whole crew in this cell. So we're about to have a problem."

day one - sludge party!!!!

[darknessinzero]

"Sludge?"

Don't mind him taking a peek over and trying to see just what Jake is talking about.

"...is this all they've given us?" He sounds irritated.

[monkeyinthewrench]

"Looks like it. They said it'd keep us alive until this is done, but...I don't know, doesn't look great."

Jake's experimenting with various preparation methods to make it more edible.

"Anyway...that was pretty weird, right?"

[darknessinzero]

"Alive, certainly, but-" He shakes his head. "They saw fit to recite the rights we are entitled to, but I am still awaiting a written copy to study. 'Sustenance needs'," he drawls. "And the right to be held for one week."

He isn't looking forwards to the next few days.

[monkeyinthewrench]

"...yeah, the laws would've been nice to have. Binding us to laws we don't know is shady."

Not that Jake ever bothers to read the laws, just what he's been taught at the Academy.

"Did they say anything about a lawyer?"

[darknessinzero]

"Nothing of the sort. We are not being charged with a crime as far as I can tell, merely being held during these 'interviews', during which we are allowed to remain silent." Considering not having that ability would be akin to torture, it isn't saying much that it's there.

Don't mind him taking a small portion of that sludge to taste. Maybe it's better than it looks?

[monkeyinthewrench]

"...right. The laws for interrogations on my world were similar. But there's so much being withheld from us in every direction, it's enough to drive a guy up the wall."

He passes the man the sludge plate. Honestly, Jake can't eat anymore. Not when he's this keyed up.

"So I didn't know all about what went down with the ministry before I got here. Is this, like...bad, you think?"

holding pattern

[miseris_socios]

"I don't think it's a matter of passing or failing." Hi Jake. It's the child here.

"I think it's more 'do they think we're safe to let go'. That's not exactly a yes or no answer."

[monkeyinthewrench]

Jake tries to look casual and confident...more than he's tried for most of the last few days. It still blows his mind that the train's taking kids, and...their interrogators had tried, but didn't really seem to get humans. This could have gone so badly.

"Well we're not gonna be any safer sitting around waiting for all the worlds to get swallowed. I hope they know that."

[miseris_socios]

"They said they have to let us go in a week, at least. Unless they're lying. People like that tend to. Like cops."

He's not sure they even believed anything he said. Stupid adults...

[monkeyinthewrench]

"Guess this isn't a good time to tell you I'm NYPD," he sighs. "Not that I have jurisdiction here. So I tried to counter-interrogate them, 'cause I know what kind of tactics we use. Didn't go so great."

Jake idly kicks against the floor. "Couldn't even give us a lawyer."

And just like that, he realizes what he'd forgotten. Big oops.

[miseris_socios]

Ken narrows his eyes at Jake. "So how many kids have you not believed, then?"

Sure, it had been a fantastical story. But it was true.

Some part of him is aware that he's just frustrated and taking it out on someone, but the rest of him doesn't care.

[monkeyinthewrench]

"Whoa, hey, I..."

Jake has to stop and think about it.

"It's rare that I get any cases dealing with kids. I mostly deal with murders and drug trafficking, and most suspects and informants are adults. But I want to be better. I joined the force because I had a terrible dad who treated my mom like dirt, and I wanted to protect her and people like her. Nobody believed me when I was a kid, and I don't want to keep that going."

He's quiet for another moment, and then: "They dismissed you?"

[miseris_socios]

"Yeah. ... I mean... I told them a monster did it. And it did. But they didn't believe me. They didn't even look into her death. They just went with 'car accident' because that's what the company trying to cover it up probably wanted them to put."

Jake's story gets him a little more sympathy though, and Ken relaxes a little bit. "They just cared about getting my case processed through. And the company that covered it up sent someone to try to convince me to join up with them. ... So I ran away."

[monkeyinthewrench]

"...that's definitely wrong. Even if a detective thinks it's an open and shut case, they should always look. I admit, I would've found monster a little hard to believe, but I would've looked to see why you were telling me that, 'cause if you just assume your witness is lying from the jump, you're getting nowhere. I mean, I'd probably think it was a Scooby Doo type deal, but then a real monster jumps me. Good times."

He lapses into silence for a moment. "You didn't deserve any of that, man. I'm sorry."

[miseris_socios]

"... Yeah." He's never had a cop apologize to him before, but he's just quiet for a minute.

"I... shouldn't have snapped at you. S... sorry." Ugh, it feels awful to apologize, but he has to. There's no real choice in this situation.

[monkeyinthewrench]

"Hey, it's okay. And I totally get why you wouldn't trust me. I've seen the dirty side of the system, I've been to prison. A lot of us aren't great, to put it...extremely mildly."

He flicks his gaze over at the screens. At their teammates still working.

"Did those two treat you like that?"

[miseris_socios]

"They listened to me, but I can't tell how seriously they took me with that getup they were wearing." He sighs and turns back to the screens, worrying at his bottom lip a little before speaking again.

"... You might find family here, you know. It won't be the same as a birth family, but it's... it happens a lot. So... don't give up on stuff like that."

sludge party

[tactlesstantei]

...Sludge? [Masumi blinks, still overwhelmed from her questioning and still coming to terms with what this is. (A trap. It was a trap to question people.)

Still, she looks around, noticing the table with the microwave and kettle, and forces a very strained grin.]

Don't tell me we're getting nutrigoo to eat?

[monkeyinthewrench]

Yup! Totally tasteless, totally gross, with all the necessary nutrients. My captain would just love this if he was here.

[ He sets another plate. ]

It's a little easier to swallow if you warm it up.

[tactlesstantei]

At least it's something...

[Masumi heads over to the table to poke at the rations, wrinkling her nose slightly as she realizes that yes, it really is pretty much just nutrigoo. Deciding she's not hungry right now, she turns to face Jake again.]

So how'd it go for you?

[monkeyinthewrench]

They had my name and age, but nothing else about me. Wanted to know if I thought what the train was doing was right, and why it was doing it.

I warned them about the worlds being erased, because that kinda seems like a huge thing, right? And that I didn't like being dragged away from my life, but you're all good people and if we want to make this work, let's do it.

[tactlesstantei]

I mentioned the train's homeworld being erased too, but I don't know if they believed me since they asked if I had any symptoms of voidsickness after that. They also asked about the fake Diagad and what happened there, and if I was willfully with the train.

I hope this turns out alright, since the train seems to think it won't be good if we're caught. I know I didn't like how they kept trying to reassure me or something, that felt a bit manipulative.

[There's not much she can do about it now though, besides wait in this room until they're done.]

[monkeyinthewrench]

...so they think we're delusional. Which is. Not great.

But that's what was going on? They were messing with our emotions? Okay, super don't like that.

[tactlesstantei]

I think so? There was a feeling of dread when they came in, but it went away after I agreed to do the interview. There were also a few points where I felt calmer or reassured for no clear reason, so I'm assuming they were doing that.

I really don't know how I feel about that, especially in an interview.