Eighth Rift

[chronosexual]

WHAT: Jack's Dreamscape
WHO: Jack Harkness and anyone who wants to join. The more the merrier.
WHEN: Nighttime, Thurs-Sun

The location is not immediately identifiable, and rather lonesome, though the warmth of the light from the computers and desk lamps gives off an adequate glow by which to see. It appears to be some kind of underground facility with some impressive technology and... was that a pteranodon that just came soaring overhead? It doesn't matter, it flew out of sight anyhow. One of the computers appeared to be linked to a few CCTV camera feeds and had been left running by its operator. There were no signs of life, save for the flying beast and the light coming from the office up the stairs and over the catwalk. There is much to explore in this dream. Or is it a memory? Is there a difference?

Comments

[chronosexual]

Nightmares? There's plenty of fodder for those lurking around here. From back in one of the corners there appeared to be a tunnel from which a deep agitated groan came alongside the sound of footsteps. From over the railings and pieces of strange, but very expensive-looking equipment, a strange figure can be seen. At first glance it might have been easy to confuse it with a man on account of its bald head and blue jumpsuit, though its shuffling feet and hunched stance might have given it away. The creature pauses, appearing to sniff the air before its eyes lock onto Shinjiro and it gives an unholy bellow of a roar. The creature moves quickly, leaping over railings and machines with ease, its large teeth glinting from the light. Whatever it is, it's hungry.

[orphan-moon.livejournal.com]

Shinjiro wasn't one to back down from a fight. He bellowed right back at the creature, his voice an angry snarl.

"All right, asshole! You want some? You got it!" He reaches out to one of the nearby computer terminals and wrenches at the post beneath it, tearing the length of metal out of its socket with a flash and sizzle of disrupted wires and circuitry. He holds it out at his side, like an improbable, oversized baseball bat in a loose, one-handed grip. With his other hand, he fishes in his pocket and produces a strange-looking handgun.

"One chance," he says. "You wanna think about this again?"

[chronosexual]

The noise from the terminal being torn apart seems to startle the creature and it roared its response, sizing up its opponent. It didn't seem to mind the weapons so much, or really know what they were. The creature hunched and gave another roar before launching into a full sprint toward his prey and then leaping into the air, gnashing its large, eager teeth and brandishing its claws.

But as it flew through the air, a gunshot from above was sent through the side of the creature's neck and it roll to the ground, twitching mostly harmlessly. The man who fired the gun hurried down the steps from his office, curiously eying the newcomer. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" he asked, clearly not playing around.

[orphan-moon.livejournal.com]

"I'm just a lost fucking kid," Shinjiro snaps back, nettled. "What the fuck does it matter?" He eyes the gun a moment, then shrugs and drops the torn support strut to the floor; and slowly, carefully tucks the gun back into his voluminous coat pockets. "Shinjiro Aragaki. Unless this is in Japan somewhere, nobody at all is going to give a shit about that name, and even there you'd have to get lucky. And I don't know how I got in here. So, are you gonna shoot me or what?"

In someone else, this sullen snarl would be a very convincing tough guy act, but with Shinjiro, it's simpler, and boils down to two things. The first is: he doesn't act. The second is that he doesn't act because he doesn't really give a shit whether the jackass shoots him or not, so why should he bother sucking up?

[chronosexual]

Jack eyed Shinjiro with an arched eyebrow, studying the boy for a long moment. It was improbable that any ordinary kid would be able to make it down here on his own, much less have the sack to threaten a weevil like that. He looked to Jack like he was quite brave... or maybe just that stupid. Either way, he wasn't sympathetic. "Sorry, but I don't buy it," he said firmly, "You don't just get 'lost' this far underground." He then looked down to the weevil that was struggling to hold onto life and pointed his gun toward it. "You know what this is, kid?"

[orphan-moon.livejournal.com]

"Ugly," Shinji said promptly. There was a pause as he looked at it.

"Dying," he said. "So either shoot it dead or patch it up, but I ain't having this conversation while anyone or anything bleeds out in front of me."

[chronosexual]

Jack sighed and looked down to the creature, putting an unsympathetic bullet into its head, silencing its groaning at once. Normally he would have taken it back down to its cell but... well, if he hadn't been so good of a shot before...

"You didn't answer my question. How did you get in here? This is a restricted area."

[orphan-moon.livejournal.com]

Shinjiro glanced down at the body, then back up at Jack.

"I walked," he said, flatly. "Nothing stopped me." He figured if Triggerhappy here needed a better reason than that, he could go fishing for it. It was a cop kind of question, and Shinji knew how cops worked... but a cop wouldn't have shot that thing. Whatever it was.

[chronosexual]

"You... walked." Jack stared at the boy, disbelief thick in every word he spoke. "You just walked right down here and decided you'd have a look?" Jack holstered his gun at his hip. "You've got a lot of attitude for a kid who just got caught being somewhere he's not supposed to be."

[orphan-moon.livejournal.com]

"Yeah?" Shinjiro shakes his head. "You've got a lot of balls to think you've got shit to say about my attitude, so maybe we're even." There's a strong tinge of disgust or distaste in his words, and his eyes keep straying back to the corpse on the floor. Each look seems to make him angrier, and harden his resolve, though there's nothing resembling surprise or revulsion at the sight of death so close.