It hadn't been pretty when Laurence woke up. In his startled state, the doctor instinctually jolted awake, his body raising before he felt his throat constrict entirely, his windpipe almost crushed under the strain of the toxic chain. Pain shot through his nerves, forcing him to viciously cough in his mask, those labored and panicked breaths only seeming to increase as the sting of it kept his senses sharp and alert. He tried to look around, but his vision seemed almost glossed over, the smear of his mask smudging his surroundings. He couldn't tell if he was simply going blind from the asphyxiation or from something else.

“Hey, do you remember anything from before you woke up here?”

The question had Laurence's attention immediately, his head snapping to the side a bit with a bit more precaution than his previous attempt. Someone was with him, however, it wasn't Howard or Gregori's voice, it was someone else. In a brief moment, before his foggy vision could settle onto Alba, he could feel his body tense. Once he did settle his sights on him, he noticed the mask, the protector obscuring what features the man had, but giving enough information to Laurence to figure out he must have had one on himself. He tried to answer, confusion and mild panic laced in his words.

"N--No, I...don't remember anything at all really. Where the hell am I even? Who are you?"

He could have easily asked an onslaught of questions, however, he tried to catch his lost breath, taking in what little strained breaths he could. From what his vision could allow, he had no idea where he could have been, for not only had Alba’s face remained unseen, but he couldn’t even guess from the foreign clothes he had worn. He hadn’t seen any sort of style of clothing like that at all. He could feel the disorientation start again, his head growing light and his vision blurred, forcing him to place a hand against the cool ground to stabilize himself. He wasn’t feeling himself, besides the other glaring things he could tell from it, he could tell his body had ached and it wasn’t just from some rough handling. He had remembered the feeling, that same fatigue and inflammation he felt when he had first gotten sick from before.

His eyes laboriously honed in on the purple accessory that had linked to the stranger’s neck. That explained it, or, some part of it.

“Shit…These things.”

He muttered to himself.

Alba Evovae


TLDR
* Laurence is in a cell.
* Laurence recognizes that someone is in said cell with him, but doesn't know who.
* Laurence knows sees that there is a chain attached to them, but does not know why.
* Laurence is panicked.

Though Ettie gets responses, they're not in the forms she wholly expects.

The first response is from Andrew. As he speaks up, she jumps - visibly startled - and blinks for a couple seconds before she responds "Pack is missing... Alone isn't safe," She's on edge, visibly fidgeting. She doesn't know what's going on with the strange people outside the cells, the Megalopolans - and her gaze keeps flicking to the guards as they pass by. Sure, that she isn't the only one in this cell is of a little comfort...

But, the biggest thing that seems to calm her down is when she hears Andrea's voice - and she's distracted from her explanation, to instead perk up and try to spot her. "Andrea! Friend!" She calls back, audibly relieved. "Is Ettie! Is friend okay?"

Anything further, however, was cut off when Andrew proceeded to lunge at the bars, and shout at the guards! Ettie yelped a bit - startled - as she takes a couple steps back. She watches with an alarmed and bewildered expression, wondering what in the world was up with him...

... But when he gets jabbed, she reacts with instinct - growling at the guard, teeth bared under the mask, and backing from the bars to take up a protective position next to him. When the Megalopolan soon moves on and leaves line of sight, Ettie's gaze slowly drifts back to Andrew, where her concern is apparent. "Is okay...?"

When a distant chime rings out though, and the platform begins to move, Ettie's attention is drawn back towards it - her body language tensing, as if readied to pounce or bolt at a moment's notice...

PRISMATIC PENITENTIARY

UGLY WARD

HE’S BEEN HERE BEFORE. robbed of his senses, thrust into the unknown. it hardly bothers him anymore. for the TOXIC CHAIN strapped to his neck does more than latch onto flesh. it is a torquette against all things unnatural. whatever AVATARSHIP that remains, and the afflictions that come with it, have been severed.

to replace one poison with another.

for the first time in months, he has a newfound sense of clarity. a sharpness that follows his standard procedures with divorced objectivity.

when he awakes, he remains still, eye fluttering, half-lidded once, as he slows his breathing. a short time to analyze his situation, allowing still inaction to cover him where others would announce their consciousness with belligerent panicking.

he is not alone. the constant screams from other cells tells him more than he needs to know. all in all, it reminds him of his visit to DARKRAI’s NIGHTMARE REALM.

when he finds the strength to stand, he unfurls, rising to his full height, broad and erect, in front of the cell’s bars. the light from outside casts his shadow over the cell, intimidating in the lumbering perspective of his cellmate.

but he pays them no mind.

his eye is on the passing MEGALOPOLANs and the center column.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
Elisabeth Fiorelli