Haunted House GP

[londoncallingmods]

 The house doesn't exist, that's the first thing anyone who might find themselves inside it would want to know. Now, you might ask how one could find themselves inside something that doesn't exist, but you'd honestly be better off asking yourself how you could leave something that doesn't exist. After all, ideas and concepts can't be burnt or broken, and you can't breakdown a door that's not there- Or was there and then decided to be somewhere else for a while...

 

You wake in a house though, a house that doesn't exist. A house that defies the laws of reality. There are corridors that go on for days, rooms full of nightmares, and millions of doors that lead you anywhere but out. Trapped inside with you are dozens of other people, all searching for an exit, or an explanation.

 

Behind every door you'll find your darkest fears, maybe even memories you've tried to forget, or secrets you never wanted to share... 

 

(OTA! Here is your first of two Halloween gps! This one is, of course, set in the haunted house where your pup can run into anything you can dream up! Deadly traps! Spooky monsters! An existential crises! Top level your pups waking up or running into danger, and then go ahead and tag other players! Since this is all magic-y and spooky don't worry too much about time lines and who bumped into who first. Only rule is that your pup can't escape until November 1st! Have fun! Also, because there are two GPs going up this week, both are open to new top levels for two whole weeks! And, of course, you can keep tagging long after that if you want. :D I'll post reminders daily on slack.)

Comments

[quartermaster_q]

"It doesn't matter!" Q snapped in return, looking startled by his own anger, then taking a calming breath. "It doesn't matter. He'll come. He always comes. He'd never let anything happen to me, Dutch. He wouldn't let me die like this."

[hardertohide]

"He's all powerful, then, is he?" Dutch retorted, and walked back to the chair to drop in it and turn back to her computer. There had to be something they could do.

[quartermaster_q]

"No, but he is unstoppable," Q replied, resting his hand on one of the towers, then frowning when he realized this one wasn't running.

It was tall, nearly as tall as he was. They all were, actually, and he eyed it curiously, before glancing over at Dutch.

"This one's not on," he said, searching for the access panel, and bracing himself as he anticipated being shocked again. ...No shock came though, and he managed to pop open the panel with only a bit of effort, surprised by the sudden wave of cold that hit him.

"Why on Earth is this one so..."

He fell silent instantly, his eyes locked on what had been locked inside. Not a machine, not a system- But a frozen corpse, with piercing blue eyes that Q knew too well.

"No," he said quietly.

[hardertohide]

Dutch had turned her attention back to him when she heard the noise of him popping open the panel, and now she stood and stepped closer to him. "What's..." She trailed off as she saw what was inside the tower. The fucking corpse inside the tower. "What the..."

[quartermaster_q]

Q said nothing, staring until he couldn't stand to look any longer.

He couldn't close the man's eyes, and so he offered the only dignity he could. He closed the tower again, walking away from Dutch and away from the casing that now held his dead lover.

He barely let out a breath, completely silent- Until his fist made contact with the solid metal door.

It was hard to say what was louder, the echo of bone against metal, or the anguished cry Q let out. His shoulders shook, but he didn't cry. Instead he simply wilted, leaning back against the door as he sank to the floor.

"I suppose we should be thankful. At least it'll be quick," he said finally.

[hardertohide]

Dutch watched him with confusion at first, before comprehension finally dawned on her. When he spoke, she didn't say anything at first. She just walked over and sat beside him, knees bent, hands on her legs. "I'm sorry," she said, simply and honestly.

She wasn't sure this was the real James - she assumed it looked like James - not given everything they'd seen so far. Why would this be any more real than the rest of it? But it must still be awful for him to have seen that body, so yeah, she was sorry.

[quartermaster_q]

Q said nothing for a long moment, taking off his glasses and using his shirt to clean the lenses.

"It's not real," he said quietly. "We've agreed on that already. It's not real- So it's fine. I'm fine," he lied, not wanting to admit how many times he'd seen those empty and unblinking eyes in his nightmares.

"Even if this is all madness or fiction though- Part of me still expected... He always comes through. He's a drunk and a bastard, and honestly the most irresponsible and ridiculous agent I've ever worked with- But he always comes through. Always."

[hardertohide]

"Well, this isn't real," Dutch repeated. This wasn't real, and they weren't going to die. Right. Her bloody migraine felt real enough. "Don't tell me this is your first nightmare where he doesn't come through."

[quartermaster_q]

"It's the first time It's not been enough to wake me," Q replied, wrapping his arms around his knees and hugging them to his chest.

"If this is my nightmare, it seems unfair that you'd die with me. You don't deserve this."

[hardertohide]

"If this is your nightmare, I'm not real either," Dutch pointed out, leaning her head back against the wall and watching the countdown. "I feel quite real, but then I'd say that, wouldn't I."

[quartermaster_q]

"You're real," Q said quietly. "I don't know how, but you are. ...Nightmares don't have secrets."

[hardertohide]

Dutch huffed out a dry chuckle, then went quiet for a few seconds. "I did some work for Silva, once. Ages ago."

[quartermaster_q]

Q was silent for a long moment, then nodded. "I had a feeling you might have," he admitted, staring at the tower that Held Bond's body, the closing his eyes and resting his head against the cold steel door.

"Do you regret it?" he asked.

[hardertohide]

"It was a job, and I did it," Dutch replied. She wasn't going to start thinking of regrets, just because there was a countdown staring them down, and almost certain death at the end of it.

[quartermaster_q]

Q opened one eye to look at her, then sighed as he let it close again.

"He was, despite his less than charming ways, a brilliant man," he admitted. "If he hadn't been so fixated on things I'm not at liberty to talk about, I'm not sure six would have caught him."

He looked thoughtful then, frowning slightly.

"Hard not to admire that somewhat."

[hardertohide]

"He had a reputation," Dutch answered noncommittally. It was about all she knew about the man, his reputation.

[quartermaster_q]

"He was a bastard," he said quietly, swallowing hard, then exhaling slowly to calm himself.

"He's the reason I met James though. I suppose I owe him something for that," he sighed. "If he hadn't killed my predecessor, I'd have never been promoted, and I'd have never met James. ...I shouldn't tell you things like that. I shouldn't tell you anything, actually. I don't know why I keep sharing. ...Oh well. If the bomb doesn't kill us, I suppose I can just wipe your memory."

[hardertohide]

Dutch frowned, then looked at him. "Please tell me that was a joke." At this stage, she wouldn't put anything past them.

[quartermaster_q]

"It was. ...I could though, I'm terribly clever," Q grinned. "Do you want to see something really brilliant?" he asked, not above showing off a little.

[hardertohide]

"I don't know, will it be violating my mind?" Dutch asked with raised eyebrows, but the look in her eyes said yes. She tended to be too curious for her own good.

[quartermaster_q]

"Not at all," Q assured her, taking off his glasses and removing one of the arms, revealing a tiny magnet on the end.

Carefully he ran it over his hand, peeling back what looked like flesh, only to reveal that a small patch was purely synthetic- though very realistic.

"I had my hand crushed a while back. Not a pleasant experience. They told I'd be healing for months, then in physical therapy for even longer. So I designed this. Nano cybernetic tech that can be grafted to bone and living tissue. ...Still in very early beta testing, but not too far from becoming the new standard. Ten years tops, I imagine. Maybe fifteen if there are any truly nasty side effects. ...my own design, of course."

[hardertohide]

Dutch stared, and then looked up at him with wonder in her eyes. "I think 'really brilliant' is a hell of an understatement, Quinton," she stated, as matter of factly as she could pull off when faced with this kind of tech. "How does it work?"

[quartermaster_q]

"Not too unlike a mechanical prosthetic, the tech is simply smaller. It's still all pulses and brainwaves though," Q explained. "And it's not Quinton. Quinton isn't my name, Dutch. ...It's just Q. Q's the closest thing I have to a 'real' name."

[hardertohide]

"Q, then," Dutch waved that aside as unimportant. It wasn't, really. Dutch wasn't her 'real' name, but it was her name. People ought to be able to identify as whatever they wanted. "Nano cyber tech. You could make millions off of that." She wasn't sure what she was saying, exactly; part of her admired him for not going there, part of her thought he was an idiot for not going there. "Now I really hope we don't blow up," she added, and smirked. "It'd be a shame to lose a mind like yours."

[quartermaster_q]

"I would have thought you'd think it wasted already, working where I work," Q quipped, carefully sealing the synthetic skin closed again, then slipping his glasses back on.

He didn't comment on the money. That sort of thing just didn't hold his interest these days.