The Variables || All spots closed or pending ||

(Yes! Do you think I should add @SeLosMeMos and @Wordsmith, too?)

_{(I don't want to be enslaved. And I am an antisocial little bean. Please don't feed me Kun's barf pudding. I don't want it.)}

(I would never feed you his barf pudding. You're not terrible enough to warrant that, don't worry.)

Griffey groaned softly as he came-to, rubbing at his eyes. His other hand brushed against the rough mattress canvas, and he immediately realized that this bed was not his bed. His eyes snapped open, and he sat upright, his half-asleep mind racing to try to understand the setting he found himself in.
What on earth?
Who were these people? Where was he? Griffey recognized a drug addict when he saw one, and that one man– hooo boy, he was definitely a drug addict.
That didn't bode well for Griffey.
Why was he here with potential drug addicts and strangers? And, more specifically, where was here?
He threw the thin sheet off of his body, thankfully to find himself fully clothed and intact, and stood to his feet– though his legs were shaky.

Ajay drooled on his pillow, oblivious to the world around him. He hugged his pillow closer, though he never remembered it being quite this soft. Or his bedroom ever being quite this cold. He cracked open a bleary eye to peek at his surroundings, but it wasn't until after he closed it again and several seconds passed before it sank in.
This wasn't his house.
He forced himself up onto his elbows and squinted at the room. "Wh– What the–"
He spotted the strangers and nearly screamed but managed to contain himself. "What the heck is going on? Who are you people?"

(I would never feed you his barf pudding. You're not terrible enough to warrant that, don't worry.)

(Such kind words that I will hold near and dear to my heart.)

(I would never feed you his barf pudding. You're not terrible enough to warrant that, don't worry.)

(Such kind words that I will hold near and dear to my heart.)

(XD well they're true, don't worry.)

(Okay, do you guys know that episode of SpongeBob where Patrick comes back to his house and everyone's hiding from Sandy under there because she's looking for SpongeBob, and all you see are eyeballs poking out from beneath and Patrick screams "Who are you people?!" Well, that's Ajay in my mind right about now.)

(Om goodness)

(Oh my goodness yes! I had that exact same image in my head!)

"What a pleasant room," Adrielle said, sitting on the edge of her bed, swinging her legs, looking for all the world like this was normal. Her sharp blue eyes observed everything around her, wary and cold. "It does lack a bit of color, though, doesn't it?"

She was confused as to how she got there. She had severe insomnia, and so sleeping was rare for her, let alone deep sleep. And somehow, during one of her rare deep sleep moments, she had been taken to… well, wherever she was. Not that she was worried. Life was weird, and this would probably be interesting. And it was better than that hole she had been sleeping in before, anyway.

She twisted a golden curl around her finger and studied the other people around her. Several of them were awake already, and she scowled. She wished she was alone.

Cas didn't even bother getting out of bed. He lay on his side, cold eyes staring at the wall, a scowl on his handsome face. He hated waking up in strange places, although this certainly wasn't the worst place he had done so. He heard voices from other people in the room and stiffened a bit.

Finally, he rolled over and stood up, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, an imposing aura coming from him. He glared stoically around at the seven other people in the room with him.

"The real question is why there are so many beds," he said in a cold, low voice.

Griffey glanced at each of the strangers, a skeptical eyebrow raised. He was more worried about how he'd got here and why he was here than the number of beds, but the real concern tugging at him was why everyone else in the room seemed like crazy people.
Was this an insane asylum?
He didn't wait for answers; he went right over to the door ( _{assuming there is one; if not, scratch that} ) and grabbed the handle to twist it open, but it didn't budge. He tried with a little more force, but nothing happened.

"Wh–"
Ajay drew his knees up to his chest and looked at the guy who had responded to him. "That too–" He gulped quietly and looked around the room once more, feeling nothing but pure terror. He didn't know what had happened while he was asleep, didn't remember coming here, and that horrified him. "But– but what is this place?"

(( _{Not to be that one guy but um do you think that maybe you could not drop the f bomb I'm sorry; I don't want to annoy or inconvenience you but the rules do say no cursing and this isn't WWII so I don't like bombs of any kind, but especially not the f kind Please don't hate me} ))

Astesia was awake for a while now. Although she didn’t exactly move a bit. She sat there, staring blankly around the room. Even though she was still in her usual dress, she felt as if it wasn’t as she felt. There was something wrong with it. There was something on it. She accepted the fact that she was somewhere else, somewhere new, and it wasn’t in her best interest to stay here.

Caden was possibly the last one to wake up. When he did, he cursed out loud before covering his mouth. The new scene shocked him and surprised him to the bone. He glanced around, seeing some other individuals who looked as confused as he was.
“Uhm…” he began “…hello?”

(Yeah, sure! It's fine, it's my own fault. I won't use that word!)

(Yeah, sure! It's fine, it's my own fault. I won't use that word!)

_{I appreciate you a lot I hope you know}

(Yeah, sure! It's fine, it's my own fault. I won't use that word!)

_{I appreciate you a lot I hope you know}

(Why? I'm not that special. But thank you!)

((Psst. Hey. If you have a Discord, considering joining this server, thanks. We need members… https://discord.gg/nAfZxk ))

(I might, if my computer actually loads!)

(Yeah, sure! It's fine, it's my own fault. I won't use that word!)

_{I appreciate you a lot I hope you know}

(Why? I'm not that special. But thank you!)

((I have to agree with Smitty. You have a certain appreciatability about you. I know that's not a word, but I just made it one, so take that laws of English.))

(( _{Not to be that one guy but um do you think that maybe you could not drop the f bomb I'm sorry; I don't want to annoy or inconvenience you but the rules do say no cursing and this isn't WWII so I don't like bombs of any kind, but especially not the f kind Please don't hate me} ))

(Smitty you're such a smol bean sometimes and it's the best)

((Oh yeah, if you three are gonna create whatever DM group you want, don’t invite me in. Please.))

And with the stirring of Caden, the final one to arouse from his deep slumber, the florescent lights in the room flickered once, twice, three times before shutting off altogether. They had been the only source of light in the room, so without them, the place was swallowed in total darkness.
"Good morning. Good morning!" a young, masculine voice boomed through the room from unseen speakers. His tone was chipper, friendly even. "It's nice to see that you're all still alive. I mustn't lie; I was concerned that the drugs I used to sedate you might clash with the drugs already in your systems. Well, one of you, specifically. But they didn't! How nice. It would've been a darn shame to start this with a Variable short."
Light burst into the room— but not from the overhead lights. A screen was now projected onto the wall before them, though it would glitched so that certain parts of it were nothing but pixelated blurs or lacked color altogether. Occasionally the entire screen would glitch, maybe invert itself or turn upside down for only a split second, but there was something unnatural about it, and anyone who had prior knowledge of how glitching actually works in technology would recognize that these glitches were intentional. Whoever created the video was doing it on purpose.
Or was it a live video?
And it could be presumed to be the man on the screen. Between the glitches and occasional color-outings, one would see a man in his late twenties or early thirties at the oldest, with his hair fixed nicely and a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. His dark eyes were steady and unwavering, staring directly at the viewers, and he was clad in a spotless black suit. He sat at a desk, relaxing in a swivel chair with his folded hands resting in front of him.
"I hope you all slept well, because it's going to be a very interesting–" It glitched, causing the audio to repeat itself. "–very interesting week."

Griffey released the door handle and spun around when the lights went out, though he wasn't able to see anything in the darkness. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster in his chest. Was this some sort of incredibly realistic nightmare? It had to be. Nightmares didn't usually make a lot of sense, and this definitely didn't make a lot of sense, so… maybe it was all in his head.
He flinched when the projected screen appeared, startled by the sudden light. The guy didn't look all too scary, but he did look a bit creepy. Maybe it was the eyes.
"What?" Griffey voiced his confusion once the man had finished speaking. He had too many questions to voice them all, such as Where are we? How did we get here? Why are we here? Who the heck is this guy? and of course, Is this even real?

Ajay tensed up when the lights went out, and he full blown shrieked when the projector screen flicked on out of the darkness. He started and nearly leapt out of the bed he was in, but managed to contain himself enough to sit still for the time being. He felt pretty pathetic, like he might just cry, but he couldn't help it. This was all crazy.
"An interesting week? What's that supposed to mean?" he squeaked out. "Who are you?"

(Yeah, sure! It's fine, it's my own fault. I won't use that word!)

_{I appreciate you a lot I hope you know}

(Why? I'm not that special. But thank you!)

((I have to agree with Smitty. You have a certain appreciatability about you. I know that's not a word, but I just made it one, so take that laws of English.))

(Why thank you XD)
(It's an amazing word, don't worry XD)

((XD Mathias though. I would try to make this go along a lil' faster but I don't want to leave Hannah and @SeLosMeMos behind so I'll wait for them before I make the next post.))

Astesia was perhaps the only who showed no interest or any emotion towards whatever the man on the screen had said. If anything, she was fully bored with the whole situation now that she was out of the surprise that she woke up somewhere weird and new. If this man could indeed make the oncoming week ‘interesting’ like he had claimed, that would be just fine by her.

Caden, partially listening to the man, eyed the other people present in the room and was almost staring at one girl who looked a bit tomboyish. He recognized her somewhat but from where? He asked himself mentally many times but no answers emerged immediately.
He shook his head, looking at the other people respectively by their positions within the room.

The man was silent for several seconds, observing them with that ever-present smirk still plastered on his face. Perhaps it was a live video indeed, and somehow he could see them, though there were no cameras visible. His smirk weakened as he unfolded his hands and leaned on one elbow. "Hm. I've picked a rather boring group of Variables this time, haven't I?" He eyed them for a moment before his smile returned. "Well, not all of you. I like some of you." His gaze flickered between each of them, so it was unclear as to which ones he referred to in particular. "Besides, I'm sure we'll all be a little more interesting once we get started, won't we?"
His dark eyes locked on Ajay, since he'd been the first to ask him a direct question. "I can't tell you, or that would ruin the surprise. Besides, you all know why you're here. I sent letters. And as for my name— well, didn't you read the letter? I'm Dr. Lezandro Mortiz." He paused, working his jaw back and forth thoughtfully. "I'm starting to think none of you paid attention to my invitation. That's rather rude, you know. Now, any real questions?" He spoke so casually, so calmly, and smiled all the while.