A rude awakening

[ima_npc]

[You awaken from a deep sleep. You are groggy and cold and feel off in ways that may be initially difficult to place. The door to your stasis pod opens. How did you get here? That's a really good question. Who are you? That's another.]

[Step outside into the warmer (albeit not especially warm) room and you'll see the others, all dressed in a similar style of stasis suits. One or two of them are wearing the same colors as you, though it's perhaps hard to tell with the dim, red glow that fills the room.]

[The doors are closed. There is no apparent way to open them. And a robotic voice intermittently rings through the room:]

Life support is being restored to the facility. Please stand by.

Comments

[unexpectedboner]

There was a fire? Why?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

...I was dreaming about someplace dark, too. And in the middle of it, there was a fire with something cooking over it.

[unexpectedboner]

Yeah! ...Whoa, did we have the same dream? Crazy... --Maybe this is all some sleep experiment...

[whenitrainsitstorms]

We don't know anything for sure, yet.

What else do you remember about the dream?

[unexpectedboner]

That's...pretty much it. I don't remember any context to it or anything.... What about you?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

That's really all. Just the darkness, and the fire, and you.

[unexpectedboner]

...When you say it like that, it sounds weird again. I mean, we barely know each other...right?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

I don't know. I can't remember anything before dreaming.

[unexpectedboner]

Me neither. ...It's pretty disconcerting, to be honest. It's...temporary, right?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

I don't know that, either.

[unexpectedboner]

Well--what do you know!?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

Nothing. This.

[Huffs a frustrated breath.]

I dreamt about you, and that redhead, and the girl there. In one, there was a fire, and then a storm. In the other, we were drawing pictures. That's all I have.

[unexpectedboner]

...That's a lot of dreaming. I only remember seeing you. Maybe we're all connected, somehow. Somehow other than these silly (yet conveniently warm) outfits. --What's your name, then?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

[Shakes his head.]

That's gone, too.

[unexpectedboner]

Oh... Then...what about a new one? You can't just be "dream guy" forever, right?

[whenitrainsitstorms]

[Grunts.]

I guess I'll need something else.

[unexpectedboner]

What do you think you wanna be called? Since you're the one who's gotta hear it.

[whenitrainsitstorms]

You say that like I remember any other names.

[unexpectedboner]

Everybody's got names. Like... That Guy, or Hey Man, or Dudebro...

[these are not very good names]

[whenitrainsitstorms]

Is one of those yours?

[unexpectedboner]

...

...

That's a good question. Sure hope not, though.

[whenitrainsitstorms]

Well, what would you want to be called?

[unexpectedboner]

I...I don't know. I've gotta think about it. Your name reflects what you are inside, right? So maybe something...familiar. Something solid. Strong. Reliable. Cool. ...That kind of thing.

[whenitrainsitstorms]

Strong, solid, and reliable...

[Thinks about it for a minute.]

Iron? Stone?

[unexpectedboner]

Huh?