[quote]“Excuse me, sir, I’m assuming that you’re the one responsible for this, so, thank you, but do you think you could offer me the current date?”

“W-where are we?”

"Why? Why am I here?"[/quote]

The brilliance of Aster Rolan's center-stage announcement shocked the morbid room into a confused, ticking silence. The fluid balance of Sora's moving limbs juxtaposed the low churn of machinery. Doctor Howell's deep-voiced questions arose gently from the third pod, adding a sense of thoughtful humanity to the sudden chaos.

Doctor Kelodie took a few shuffling steps back and pushed the goggles up to his forehead; he blinked furiously, and his eyes adjusted to the light and to the unmistakable shapes of three living, speaking bodies. No, this wasn't another hallucination. He smiled sheepishly and waved his palms up and down in a calming gesture.

"Ah, ha-ha! Yes, well, good morning to all of you, and welcome back! [i]When, where[/i] and [i]why[/i], all excellent and very prudent questions that I hope I can answer to your satisfaction, if you will please sit down and take a few deep breaths. I don't doubt you've been through quite a lot."

He looked each of them in the eyes for a brief moment -- and when he was certain that none of them held any murderous or lunatic intent (a great advancement from previous would-be successes) he turned his back on them and knelt to open the lid of a heavy wooden chest. "I have to apologize first and foremost for the exposed state you've found yourselves in." He stood, and with a kind smile and an encouraging gesture he distributed a folded robe to each of the three men. The robes were simple and red-brown, threaded with a thin rope around the waist, and smelled strongly of cedar wood.

"This, ah, [i]facility[/i] is an old monastery; these happen to be convenient and one-size-fits-all. How are you feeling? Any headaches or nausea?" With a curious smile he looked to each of them in turn, hoping they might have calmed and adjusted themselves enough to hear the answers to their questions. He dropped his hands into the deep pockets of his white coat. The three newly-awakened might find that the doctor was a bit shorter than the shortest of them, seemed to favor his left leg, and had an amused sparkle in his dark eyes. He cleared his throat.

"Now then, your questions. Today is November sixth, 1903." He said this gently, and he maintained friendly attention on the three faces to note their reactions. No doubt it would be a shock to some. "We're in the lower chambers of Copperwall Abbey, just above the King's Road through Elder Marsh. You're here now because these machines," he gestured to the churning and hissing metalwork around them, "have the unique purpose of returning perished souls to the land of the living." He waited a moment to let this sink in, and he gave them a small smile. "Welcome back."