01 - video/action

[winn]

Who: Winn & you!
Broadcast: video
Action: on the Marsiva
When: now!

action;

[ it's the smell that makes the first tug towards wakefulness, or rather the lack of it - over the years, winn's gotten used to waking up to a familiar aroma of an apartment that's just a little too dusty, has just a little too many clothes that really should have been washed yesterday lying around, maybe some residual takeout smell that still lingers from the night before because he's forgotten to properly ventilate - none of it is hitting his nose now, and his mind is not taking it well. groaning, and rubbing his eyes with one hand, his other reaches for his bedside table to pick up his phone - only to hit air.

well that's weird.

eyes finally blinking open, he finds himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. shifting in bed - he finds himself falling to an unfamiliar floor.

what the hell?

he's dreaming, right? he has to be dreaming. or maybe it's a freaky fantasy like the one kara was stuck in - though why would anyone waste disgusting alien hallucinatory-leach things on him? and besides, this - this looks absolutely nothing like his ideal fantasy world! well, just in case it'll work (he'd fill really silly if he passes up the simplest solution for being too simple and it'll end up being all that it takes!), he shuts his eyes tightly, pinches his arm, and mumbles to himself ]

I hella reject this fantasy. You are rejected, fired, gone!

[ opening his eyes again, he finds that unsurprisingly - the only change that transpired is that his arm now aches. well, what else was he expecting? pulling himself up to his feet, he decides he might as well try to figure out where he is - and how to get out of here.

and then he spots the window. blurting out a girly scream, he turns his back to it, his knees nearly buckling under him, and his face losing color. slowly, he turns back towards it and chances another peek, chuckling nervously at his own behavior, trying to ridicule his fear away ]

That's a pretty good green screen -

video;

[ the face that appears on your screen is pale and clearly very shaken. actually, he kinda looks like he's going to be sick, doesn't he? good thing that space tech isn't 7-D! ...unless it is in which case, now would be a pretty bad time to find that out... ]

I got a couple questions for -- whoever's watching this - or - [ he looks around, waving his free hand to gesture around the room - wherever the less voluntary cameras may be ] this - If this is a reality show, when's elimination? Cuz I - I volunteer to go home! I mean let's face it, there is no point to keep me in the running - unless elimination's actually eh, elimination [ he runs his finger against his throat to illustrate his point ] in which case -- my vote is still on home, thanks -

This...isn't really space, is it? [ he chuckles nervously ] I know 'beam me up' was my birthday wish for like 3 years running, but you're over a decade late and this is so not what I had in mind - [ he clears his throat. not the point! and not something he needed to share with - potentially an entire galaxy. actually, this whole broadcast was probably pretty dumb, way to make himself easy prey. ok, no worries! he can still salvage this! ] Anyway! Little help, a lotta help, Xanax, I'll take what you got, thanks. [ clearing his throat again ] Over? [ nailed it. ]

Comments

video

[takingkarabusiness]

[ Kara pops up in a video, shock on her face, but also excitement and probably a billion other emotions ].

Winn? Oh my god, Winn!

How did you— when did you get here?!

video

[winn]

K-Kara?

[ the sound coming out of winn's mouth is something between choking-on-a-furball and immense relief. a bit of laughter comes next, which he's immensely grateful for - beats crying! sure, if he'll stay on this show long enough he'll definitely do some of that too - but hey, he's got supergirl oh his side! he'll be home by dinner, right? right! ] Thank god - am I glad to see you!

Just - just now, and no clue - where is here? And please don't say space -

[takingkarabusiness]

...

[ if you can't say anything nice, Kara, don't say anything at all ]

[winn]

Kara?

[ ok. he's getting really nervous right now. ]

Please say something - and this is just a suggestion here but feel totally free to start with where's the exit -

[video]

[passingthrough]

It's really space. [Kitty looks him over appraisingly.]

You talk a lot when you're nervous?

[video]

[winn]

[ ok, first part is horrifying to think about, dealing with second part it is! ]

What gave me away?

[video]

[passingthrough]

[There's a flicker of a smile.] We can just pretend I'm extremely intuitive if you want. [She is decent at reading people. She spent a lot of time around an FBI profiler in her last multi-dimensional trap, but this didn't really take skill.]

I don't think your request is going to be honored, but it'd be a hell of a thing if that's all it took all this time.

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[firstrebel]

Sorry, but you're definitely in space. And drugs aren't going to help.

[ Have a green-skinned alien girl giving you a once-over, Winn. ]

video;

[winn]

[ ok. that's - that's an alien, right? it's not - speciest to assume that, he's pretty sure - that's either an alien or really good cosplay.

why is it never option 2? he'd much rather talk shop than possibly fear for his life! he's already doing plenty of that!

well, at least this one doesn't seem all murder-y. for now. ]

-- got something that will?

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[firstrebel]

[ That's probably because she isn't murder-y. ]

Help? Well, there's no pill. You're stuck here, I'm afraid, just like the rest of us. You'll have to get used to it. But if you have questions, I can try to answer them.

video.

[paraclete]

It really is space. That must not be what you want to hear, but the importance of truth can come before comfort.

How can I help you? [He's painfully earnest when he asks this, cool red eyes all clear and deep and encouraging. And he's only a teenager, but he seems really calm about all this, and like his willingness to give that offered help is boundless. The quality of his voice and the softness of his features claims that everything's going to be okay. Oh, but: ] And, may I ask you a question?

video.

[winn]

[ ok, those eyes are freaking him out, and since when are teenagers this nice and polite? answering a question seems like a good way to take his time with figuring out how to deal with this new person. ]

Uh -- sure, yeah, seems fair.

video.

[paraclete]

[He'd feel bad about creeping anyone out, but it's far... from the first time... that this has happened to him. Being a stranger and an alien is hard. Whatever, he's a patient person. All this longsuffering.]

Thanks. So, I don't know much about reality television. How do expulsions usually work?

Video

[onlyanapple]

Now you know why they say you have to be careful what you wish for. Consider yourself beamed up.

Video

[winn]

Yeah, that lesson came a little too late too -

[ besides, why couldn't it be his wishes to have everything be a mistake, and his family to be normal that came true? why did it have to be this. ] There are some timing issues here.

Video

[onlyanapple]

Well, if this place works the same as any other magical kidnappy world, time back home for you will be frozen. Presumably when you leave here, you'll be returned to the exact moment you were taken from.

Or you could just be stuck here forever. No one really knows for certain.

[survivalistcookbook]

No elimination phase. At least, not in the last . . . what. Eight months I've been here?

[Damn. Time flies when you're being held captive and used as a source of amusement.]

But hey. At least that cuts out a lot of the 'I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to win' stuff. Which, when you're out here in the void? Is a nice thing not to have to worry about.

[winn]

Yeah, yeah that's definitely a plus, wouldn't want to be shoved out of an airlock or anything - not that - I'm a threat to anyone's victory.

[ look at him, he's not a threat to anyone's anything! cue halo, angel wings ]

So you've been here eight months?

[ that is depressing. and, it's undermining his theory that something happened about a month ago because everyone he asked so far had only been here about a month. ]

Do you -- know anything about what's going on here? [ because everyone else seems to know about as much as he does. ] Any - veteran tips?

[survivalistcookbook]

Other than the basic "several dozen strangers picked to live in some spaceships, work together and have their lives taped, to see what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real"?

[Yes, he says it with more accurate inflection than he probably should have. MTV was a formative influence, okay.]

Not a lot. Veteran tips-? A job or a hobby does a lot to fill up the time between planets and staves off the cabin fever. What do you do at home?

[ladybro]

-- Three years? In a row? [ seriously? ] Aren't you persistent.

[winn]

If at first you don't succeed, right? [ haha.. ] Should've - stopped trying.

[ because when you're not playing pretend, space is scary. ]

[ladybro]

I guess everyone managed to give you the rundown.

[ ...but she's offering, just in case. ]

video;

[robitussin]

Deep breaths, dude.

video;

[winn]

- advice I never thought I'd get in space. Actually, I never thought I'd get any sort of advice in space who thought I'd ever end up in space - [ he sure didn't whoops he sure is talking a lot right. ok. every conversation is such an up-and-down roller-coaster that he isn't really sure how he feels anymore.

maybe he should take that advice. deep breath. ]

video;

[robitussin]

...Okay, more advice. I'm pretty sure nobody has any space Xanax, so you're going to want to try and chill.