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Test Drive Meme #2
You wake up in a closet. It's a nice enough one, clearly owned by someone with a large bedroom and too many clothes. There's a dim light on but no switch to make it brighter. As your eyes adjust and you come to the realization that this is probably not a dream, you notice you aren't alone. Locked in the closet with you is (at least) one other person who seems just as confused and disoriented as yourself.
On the door, you can both see a list with a possibly familiar title and a familiar set of rules; Seven Minutes In Heaven. The door will be locked for a probably very long seven minutes and it will not open no matter how much you try to force it. In the closet air is a hefty dose of aphrodisiacs that might be clouding your normal judgement. The longer you wait, the more you want to give in to the game.
Will they really let you out when the seven minutes are done? Or will the countdown start all over again until you consent? Only waiting will tell.
EDIT: Aphrodisiacs are OPTIONAL, not required. Also feel free to make your own scenarios, themes are merely for those wanting an idea.
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Right. Left up at the corner, then straight for two blocks.
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I don't think there's many people on my floor. A lot of the buildings around here are empty, or next to. Same with all over the island.
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Guessing they haven't had a chance to bring in a lot of people yet.
[Because as much as she hated to say it, the fact that there were empty buildings was not good news.]
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[Seemed they were both on the same page with that thought and he led her over to the elevator. He was on the second to top floor, pressing the button and leaning back against the wall while the doors closed.]
If even half of what's empty is filled... that's a lot of people Natasha. And so far, I'm the only person from... well, wherever we're from in relation to them.
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What the hell do they want with us?
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Watching her, he went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.]
You're not going to like it.
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By the time they're in his apartment, her patience is gone.]
I'm a big girl, I can handle it. Now, please, tell me.
[Look, she said please.]
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The chips aren't just trackers. They're part of some sort of experimental process they're doing. It... does things to people. Messes with their emotions. Sometimes... sometimes there's physical changes. Or hormonal ones. I've only seen one so far, but what I've been reading, what I've seen? It doesn't look good.
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Her movements still as her breath shallows. She'd already been through something similar to this and it had changed her. When they'd shaped her and molded her into what they needed - re-calibrated her into an emotionless killing machine. If they'd had access to these chips?
She doesn't want to think about that. So, instead she crosses her arms letting out a soft exhale. Everything else gets benched for later when she was alone. She wasn't gonna crack in front of Steve, not about this.]
Any clue what their ultimate goal is?
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[Well, 'rape' was a pretty accurate word, but they replaced it with 'encouraging enhancements'.]
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Yeah, I used to know people like that.
[Fighting and killing friends, handcuffs, long hallways and pain.]
So lay low and play along until they show a weakness? Are they just looking to see how people react with emotions? Like if someone's angry do they go on a killing spree?
[Please break it to her gently. That AI had interrupted her digging into the network.]
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[His hand lifted to the back of his neck, Steve turning away from her and rubbing at it. It had to be sex, didn't it?]
Most of the experiments seem to be fixated around sex. At least, that's how they can be ended. And there's the, ah, aphrodisiacs. Mood enhancers, they call them. If you don't play nice, you wind up being pumped full of them and put somewhere with someone until you play along.
[Like he mentally said -- rapey.]
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They can try. Anyone tries to pump her full of aphro, she'll be taking at least one of them down with her. Although, she's not as worried about herself as she is Steve. It's enough to shift her priorities, moving towards him to slip in front of him and make sure she had his attention. The wheels were already turning as a new plan formed.
One he may not like.]
Have you slept with anyone in your month here?
[Or did you tough it out through the experiment? Because she's got two options for him depending on his answer.]
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Though, the out and out way she asked had him nonplussed for a moment before he could answer.]
No. Seems their last little experiment either skipped me over or didn't work.
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If their focus is sex, I'm sure they're keeping an eye on who's cooperating and who's managed to fly under the radar here.
[Time for high stakes dating game. You ready Steve? Pulling out her tablet, she scans back through the network searching for something completely different.]
If you managed to miss their last experiment, I am just gonna go out on a limb here and say you haven't knocked boots with anyone yet. As much as I'd love to do what can to keep you off that radar... If they're serious about this, I don't want to see you go through whatever sick tricks they have up their sleeves.
[She looks up at him, expression focused. She'll start slightly more gently than she would with anyone else.] Has anyone here caught your eye?
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[Well... that one made more sense than fondue had. Not that he'd ever admit that little slip to her. God, he could just imagine the fondue pots left outside his door. Invitations to dinner and oh, look, fondue. Natasha could be very unsubtle in her teasing.
But that was just who she was. Subtle didn't work for her, the real her. Not the Natasha on a mission playing version eight of herself.]
How about we go with 'no'. I haven't exactly been looking for Ms. Right. More like a way home.
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[It's more for confirmation than anything- and here she'd been trying to keep it a little classy. He should really tell her about the fondue misunderstanding- she wouldn't make fun of him at all. /cough]
For practicality's sake, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone available on speed dial.
[She would volunteer herself, but suggesting it right now might be a little much.]
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[She was normally so blunt. And no, that incident was staying where it belonged -- in the past.]
... I think there are other options.
[Like just toughing through it. Or so he thought. He may be a little deluded about it, but he wasn't exactly going to give up without a fight.]
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And I think limiting yourself here when there's so much we don't know isn't all that smart. [Sure, it's noble, but she was guessing these people didn't play by the rules.] You've been here a month, do you really think it's gonna miss you every time? That you're invulnerable to what might happen? Say you don't have sex, say you carry on being you and toughing it out. Say... say it works for a few months.
[She takes a moment, her voice softening as she continues.]
What if that's their test for you? What if rather than going after you they go after everyone you've grown to care about as a punishment? The people you've fought so hard to protect here?
[Because she knows him and anyone in need of protection would be hard to resist given his nature.]
I'm not saying it would happen, but... [Considering she'd been pulled in by like-minded people once before? Yeah, she's not betting on a happy ending around here. Rather than continue, she draws the corners of her lips into a slight purse for a moment and gives a little shrug.]
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[Like testing the dome. Searching the city. Breaking into the welcome facility and waking up back in his room after he'd been knocked out. Those sorts of things.]
The only person I know here now is you--
[Which just added a whole new little twist to his problem and he frowned, folding his arms and moving to step around her, trying to avoid looking at that look, like she knew more than him. Which she did.]
If I wasn't partaking back home of my own volition, what makes you think I'm going to just walk up to some random woman here and ask her to-- and expect things?
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Because the situation has changed. Because it's not really something we can put off forever.
[She crosses in front of him, wrapping a hand around his arm and using her height to her advantage to catch his eyes. With a subject like this, she didn't want to give him too much of a chance to avoid her.]
Hey, we're in this together. I will help you however I can either with finding a way out or getting through an experiment.
[Because odds were one of them might accidentally kick the hornet's nest and wind up pumped with aphro.]
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Then he sighed, this time with less annoyance, arms dropping and a hand coming up to rub over his eyes.]
I'm sorry. It's not you, Natasha. It's this... it's this.
[His hands gestured outward, trying to take in their entire location with a sweep.]
Tell me there's a bad guy. Point me at him and I'm fine. Recon is doable. But what am I supposed to do about experiments that might make me... that deal with that?
[Because one of the things he'd thought about since finding out the truth of the place was them putting him in a room with someone who, like him, didn't want to play along and them doing something to him. Making him Bucky, but with sex. The idea of him doing that to anyone made him sick to his stomach.]
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[If anything, it's quite the opposite. She gets it, probably a little better than him which is why she needs him to get away from just trying to tough it out because everyone has a breaking point. It's just a matter of hunting for it until they find it. Exploiting weaknesses was something she was very good at doing, and something she's been on the receiving end of before.]
You do whatever's necessary to survive so you can live to fight another day. Even if it might go against your moral code. [Because sometimes life was easier without one. Sure, it wasn't always pretty, but it's more efficient. Granted, she wouldn't ever dream of doing to him what was done to her to make the hard choices easier.]
Which, in this case may be having sex for the sake of keeping a clear head. It doesn't have to be a one night stand, you can set up a specific person. And if you aren't ready to find someone or chat with someone I find for you...
[Because she so would if he asked her.]
We can be each other's go-to for that. Try to stay ahead of whatever they want to throw at us.
[Not her first choice, but this is the most logical and safest answer she can think of right now. It's not one she's particularly fond of since it would blur a few lines and could set her up for emotions and situations she'd been trained to avoid in her line of work, but this is a special circumstance for someone in her circle.]
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God. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was all just a way for you to get me to actually date, Natasha. I don't want you to find someone for me. I don't... I don't want any of this. And I certainly don't want you... sacrificing your-- making you--
Look, just...
[He sighed. The worst part of this was that now he had her welfare to concern himself with. If she got taken, doped up, tossed in a pit... He was going to cause a lot of damage trying to get her out.]
You know I've got your back.
[The idea of what that meant here was slowly starting to sink in.]
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