kore_logs | log: stranger in a strange land

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log: stranger in a strange land

WHO: Helena Bertinelli and Y O U !
WHAT: Arrival, confusion, lurking around town and working the 'confused civilian' angle
WHEN: TODAY! Day 81!
WHERE: House 17/around town.

In her line of work, getting caught off-guard can be fatal, so it's no wonder Helena's on edge from the moment she wakes up somewhere completely unfamiliar, with some kind of strange recorded message welcoming her. She's a little stiff - no surprise, after the ordeal she just went through - but not so much so that she can't push herself out of the bed she's in, check herself, check the conveniently-placed duffel bag at her feet for its contents. Her uniform, her crossbow. All accounted for, not tampered with. Weird.

Taking the bag with her, Helena slips through the quiet house, careful not to make any noise, listening for voices or movement. The last time she'd woken up in an unfamiliar house, her 'captor' had turned out to be a friend, but she's not taking any chances.

Once she's outside, she'll be taking the grand tour around most of the town; getting an idea of her surroundings, wherever the hell this is, sweater sleeves rolled up, hair pulled out of her face, dark purple duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

The lack of road out really is disconcerting.

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Elizabeth doesn't drink, but she does spend an awful lot of time around the bar. People tend to congregate here, especially as of late. There seems to be a lot that people feel the need to drown themselves in alcohol with, a notion Elizabeth doesn't really understand. She won't try to take that away from them - but she will stop them if they drink too much. And she can, you know - she might be small, but she's very terrifying, okay?

In any case, she's around the bar, which means when Helena's walking down the road, Elizabeth spots her. A new face! Elizabeth assumes she's new, because Elizabeth is nosy and has tried to get a feel for how many people are here already. Brushing off her skirt, Elizabeth rushes to catch up with her, bare feet thumping across the ground. It's not for a lack of shoes, it's just - for the first time in a long time, she feels like she can do whatever she wants. If she wants to walk around barefoot, she can. It's liberating.

"Hello!" Elizabeth says cheerfully, hands clasped behind her back. "Are you new here?"

Well, this is unexpected; someone who looks like Elizabeth isn't exactly the kind of person she expected to see upon being kidnapped. She can't help letting her guard down a little when she turns, but only a little; for all she knows, this could be a distraction.

"I guess you could say that," she says, shifting the bag on her shoulder. "It's not exactly my first choice of weekend getaways, though, that's for sure." The sarcasm is strong in this one.

"Cape Kore, where is that?"

Nope, no distraction, just Elizabeth being cheery as usual. She's trying her best not to let herself be put down by being trapped. She'll find a way eventually.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Elizabeth says, shrugging. "It's nowhere that I've even heard of, and I've heard of a lot. It's a nice enough place, I suppose, if you can find it in you to ignore the lack of an escape." And she can't, but that's for another time. "My name is Elizabeth, it's nice to meet you."

"I hate to sound rude, but has anyone tried?" She doesn't really like this 'we're stuck, oh well' attitude. The place may look blocked off, but in her experience, there's always a way out. Always.

"Helena. Likewise." She offers the girl a small smile, notices that her outfit looks a little dated. "So where are you from, Elizabeth?"

You think that's disconcerting, wait until you meet your fellow captives! Oh look, there's one now! Just hanging out near the edge of the woods like some kind of freak, chewing on a thin branch and sitting with his back up against a tree and his legs stretched out in front of him. Just watching.

He doesn't recognize the face. Never seen her before. It's a small town. Either she's real good at staying off the radar entirely or she's new blood. Just gonna hope and wish for the first option, but he's got some serious doubts.

When Helena gets close enough, he pulls the branch from his mouth. "Not a good idea, goin' in there. Not unless y'don't wanna stick around too much longer."

She almost doesn't see him, until a moment before he speaks. Kind of a weird place to hang out, but this is already looking like a pretty weird place with its cameras on every corner and impossible-to-remove, gaudy communication device. Why not throw in a weirdo watching the woods?

"Is that a warning, or a threat?" She asks mildly, eyes moving from the stranger to the dense stretch of trees in front of her. "Let me guess, giant spiders?"

"If it was a threat, you wouldn't be askin'. You'd know for sure." He smiles bright, but his tone is serious. The easy going exterior can't keep all the venom from that statement, but it helps ease the feel of it.

"Nope. You're on the right track, though, stick to the main road. No detours. Two more guesses, so take your best shot." No spiders yet. Not giant ones, anyway. Right idea, though, yeah. She's gettin' there. "Keep goin'."

Alright, that puts her a little further on the defensive, but he's still sitting passively. It could just be bullshit. It doesn't surprise her, though, since the woods seems to be the only visible out-like direction. Whatever it is, her expression changes, like his but without the grinning.

"I'll skip the obvious Wizard of Oz reference, then. Something that doesn't want me to leave, is my next guess." With the prison-like vibe of the place, it doesn't seem far-fetched. She gestures to the communicator on her wrist. "This ugly thing doesn't exactly look like it's supposed to be temporary."

It's certainly not bullshit, but he's got no reason to threaten her. Or scare her. He's just trying to help her, honestly. His body language remains passive even when he pushes himself to his feet to lean back against the tree with his arms over his chest. Totally relaxed. Not trying to make a move.

"You can take it off but they put a new one right back on when you sleep. Wouldn't try openin' it up. Get a nasty shock every time. Any electronics'll do that." Trust him, he knows from experience. Lots of experience. Quitting isn't exactly in his vocabulary even when it's left him drooling into the carpet more than once. "Got people who been here months. Got people who disappeared and came back. Don't know much about this place 'cept you don't leave when you wanna and they're watchin'."

Always watching.

"Who's 'they'?" Whoever rounded them all up here, obviously, but she's hoping he can be a little more specific. Give her a name she might recognize, maybe. "Have you ever seen them?"

He seems like he's trying to be helpful, but still, she's careful. "The people here, are they from Gotham?"

"They, them, the scientists." Nope, no specifics. No one knows anything. "They caught one a while back..." He sniffs, swiping his thumb across his nose. "He died. Didn't get much outta him." Suicide, or so he heard. Missed opportunity more like.

"Gotham? No... from all over." But something about that sounds familiar. Hmmmm. "Girl here once... think she came from there."

"Great." Because there's only about a thousand crazy scientists around, and not just in Gotham, apparently -- they're taking people from all over. She'd like to know what 'all over' entails, what places, some examples, but she's drawn to the comment he makes.

"A girl? You get a name?" It could be anyone, but she's curious.

While Cassandra was pretty open with her name and her other name, Ghoul still can't get past the secrecy drilled into him out of necessity. He huffs, debating, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Cass." That's all she gets. She offers more info? Fine. He'll maybe confirm or deny. Cities are big, right? What are the chances? And like hell is she getting the other name, which seemed more her identity than her real one. Batgirl. He misses his little Batghoul.

The crossbow draws Alec's attention. He is glad to see there are people arriving who do know how to handle weapons. When he stops across her path he is carrying a bow and arrows, ready to go hunting for supplies.

"Are you new?"

The bag is open enough to betray her crossbow as soon as she sees the other weapon; she's being cautious, not necessarily showing signs of wanting to use it. No need to give herself or her abilities away without good reason. She takes the greeting casually, eyes on that bow and arrow, and then on the stranger.

"So I've been told. Not exactly by choice, though." Who would come here? "Who are you?"

Coffee is in short supply around here, and the longer he's stuck here, the more terrible that seems. After several days of helping with both the gardening and the reconstruction of the diner, Rat is stiff and sore and first thing in the morning it's all the worse. Sleeping in an alley doesn't help, which means when he stumbles out of 'bed' it's straight into the street, groggy and cotton-mouthed. The odds of the lamppost stumbling right into somebody else are pretty good.

Dear God, he came out of nowhere. Helena stops in her tracks, takes a step back, but can see pretty quickly that this guy isn't a threat -- just... homeless, apparently, and not watching where he's going. She eyes him, one hand on the bag's strap.

"You should watch where you're going." A pause. "... Are you alright?"

Homeless, shabby, and absurdly tall. As soon as he sees her- which is about the time she takes a step back, he flails a little to get out of her way and looks deeply apologetic. "Gah! Sorry! Sorry about that..." He's not only harmless, but now he's sheepish too, and gives a sort of awkward bow in apology. "Yes, I should. I guess I just got used to how quiet the streets are here. I'm okay. Are you okay?"

He's been working too hard this week, really.

Helena eyes him, shifting the bag on her shoulder. Her expression warms a little; he might look like a bum, but he seems kind of sweet, as a first impression. Hopefully all this - including him - isn't some kind of trap.

"I'm fine, thanks. You weren't... sleeping in there, were you?"

At this, he looks even more sheepish, although that's something of an admission by guilt. "It's... well, there's limited housing, here. Ah, Are you new? Have you already gotten the speech?" He rubs his face briefly, but embarrassment has him pretty much awake, now.

At some point Helena might wander back to the house, or at least past it; whenever that point is, River is standing in the doorway with her arms loosely crossed over her chest.

"In a different day, different place, could make a joke about moving in and moving out so quickly."

River has trouble with introductions and first impressions of the common sort. "Hello."

Helena stops short of the door, surprised by what looks like the sudden appearance of an actual resident, and isn't quite sure what to make of what she says. She tilts her head a little, curious, but her body language is otherwise cautious.

"Hello. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"You were here, and then you went out, and now you're back, but it's only in one day not over the course of several and it can be hard to swallow the word home in a place like this. Maze and trap and experiment in a place under glass, under thumb, under observation."

River shrugs. "Hard to say what, exactly, is meant. Hard to speak in exacting mincing words."

So the new roommate speaks in puzzles. That's alright, she can deal with puzzles. She doesn't really say anything Helena doesn't already know -- they're trapped, being watched, being experimented on. Hopefully they can change that.

"My name's Helena." For a moment she isn't sure whether she should extend her hand -- but the hell with it, she does. "What's yours?"

Ah, well. Handshaking. River can do that. "River. There are plants in the attic and the pillows in the living room guarded no one so if you want to take them apart that's fine." She shrugs and turns back towards inside.

"Zatanna is here. Or somewhere."

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log: stranger in a strange land

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