Exaltica: Eden Awakening Saga, Sin Denial Options

[Sailerius]

Exaltica: The Eden Awakening Saga
Episode 1: Sin Denial

"Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."

The recording of the woman’s voice is the first sound you’re able to make sense of. A dull ache of annoyance in the back of your head suggests that you’ve heard that recording before. You’re pretty tired, though, so your eyes flutter shut again and you drift back down into the depths of unconsciousness.

"Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."

Just as you’re about to fall asleep again, the recording plays again. It’s starting to get really annoying. You probably won’t be able to get any sleep until it stops. You suppose that means you’ll just have to get up (even if only to stop that blasted recording). It makes a pretty good alarm clock.

Your feet touch the floor uncertainly. You’re not sure if it’s because you’ve been asleep or because the artificial gravity in the ship is acting up, but you have a hard time standing up straight. Wait a minute, why are you on a ship?

As you try to gather your bearings, memories flood back to you in a disorganized heap of imagery. It takes a few minutes to sort everything out and arrange the memories chronologically. There must be something missing, though; no matter how you put together the disjointed pieces of your memory, you just can’t figure out where you are or how you got there. Maybe looking around will provide you with some clues.

The only lights on in the ship are the dim red emergency lights which illuminate only the essential areas. Inside rooms (whose heavy metal doors you must manually slide open because "Emergency power conservation is in effect. All non-essential systems have been taken offline."), it’s almost completely black.

The ship you’re on is fairly large; you’re able to gather that there are six decks and a sizable docking bay. Too big to be personal transport. A supply ship would have a larger cargo bay.

More importantly, where is the crew? And where is everyone else?

You’re all located on deck 3 and wake up in different cabins. Features on this deck: Cabins, storage, lift (deactivated), stairs.

[Ganonfrog]

Jun raised a hand to his head in frustration, while desperately trying to fight the oncoming headache. Apparently everyone else here was in the exact same situation as he was. While that was great and all when it came to not being completely and utterly alone in this creepy place, it was kind of useless in the actually getting answers department. On top of that, all of them seemed to be pretty worthless at anything that could get them out of here.

Including walking, as he decided after yet another person in the room fell over with all the grace of a drunken hobo. Surely the group of them would get far in life, together.

After eying the new girl with a look of doubt and obvious annoyance, Jun finally decided to cave in and be the one to get this awkward group going "Well, we're not getting anything done by standing here, so whatever. Let's just get out of here so that my ears stop bleeding." He mumbled in the most noncommittal attempt at leadership he could muster. He ignored the question about batteries. Who used batteries in this day and age, anyways? The sort of guy who shared a haunted spaceship with a baker, janitor, and some paranoid chick who doesn't know how to use her own feet, apparently.

--------------------

Another door opened on the opposite side of the hallway, accompanied by the panicked footsteps of a woman in heels. Breathing heavily in her desperation and fear, she made her way around the corner, and into line of sight of the growing crowd. As soon as she was able to get a proper look of who all was there, she immediately charged for one, specific target.

"Holy shi--" Jun exclaimed as he was tackled from the side, into an unwilling hug. Zhi laughed in relief as her brother awkwardly attempted to break free from her hold, deeply relieved to see that her sibling was okay. After a couple seconds, it finally dawned on her that there were others in the room. It was enough to convince her to release her brother from her grip.

"H-hello." She greeted everyone with a nod, and clearing of her throat, as she attempted to regain her composure. Unlike most of the others here, she was rather well dressed, to the point of looking a little out of place. As soon as she managed to pull herself together properly, she presented herself with a polite smile, and a straight back. "Do any of you work here? I'm afraid I don't quite understand what's happening right now."

"None of us do, Zhi. This place is some kind of freaky ghost ship. None of us know how we got here." Jun piped up and answered her before any of the others could try. Even though his words were still harsh, he's obviously taking on a much friendlier tone with his sister.

"Ghost ship? With the emergency announcement on? Are you sure that's even possible? There must be someone here."

Jun just shugged. "Well, we haven't really gone anywhere. It's that god-awful blaring that woke us up. We were thinking of looking around."

Zhi paused for a moment to get a better look at the hallway, before finally turning back to Jun, with a nod of agreement. "That sounds like it would be best. It's obviously not safe here. We'll take care of introductions as we walk."

[Ereth]

Aiko looked at the newcomers and shook, wondering how in the world they all came together so quickly. She was scared. Even at school, she had dreaded being around too many people at once. But she knew that she had to do everything she could to keep these people here with her. If I'm alone for too long . . . I don't know what will happen.

The Human Rolling Pin smiled warmly, looking first at the woman in heels and then back at the young man she had flattened earlier. Apparently they knew one another. Siblings? Friends? They appeared to be related in some way, but she wanted to find out for sure.

"This Zhi must be your sister! You have the same eyes." She stepped closer to the two of them, staring with interest at their confused faces. "Oh, and tell me what your favorite kind of cake is! Or your favorite dessert in general! Do you have similar tastes? No, no, I shouldn't assume that. But sometimes relatives like the same things . . ."