TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[sailmods]

1. you will survive being bested

[you wake up.

it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.

the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:

Dear Passenger(s),

As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.

At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!

See You Real Soon!

Sincerely,
Gal Friday

you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.

you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]

Welcome! We're... I'm very glad to have you aboard!

[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.

after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]

2. think about how many times I have fallen

[for the most part, no one has given the elevators much thought. they've all done their job reliably and dutifully this entire time, never so much as being blocked off for maintenance.

until today, when the doors close behind you as you enter, and don't open again.

for the most part, that's all that happens. the doors can't be pried open, or broken with force or magic, and though the glass walls remain stubbornly shatterproof, you can look through them and try to get the attention of anyone outside. (Friday, down in the atrium, sees your desperately pounding fists and gives a wave, but does nothing else.) the elevators don't move... except, when they do. going up two or three stories, and then dropping, sometimes as many as five stories at a time, stopping just as suddenly.]

3. it was the easiest thing to do

["physically assaulting people is an easy way to get attention" was probably a very bad lesson for the neglected locations to have learned, but it they did it anyway.

this time, it's the sushi restaurant on the promenade, Mikabo. it turns out, the conveyor belt can go faster than one would assume. much faster, actually, with the apparently ability to stop on a dime. both of these factors have combined to create what is functionally a pitching machine, but for dragon rolls, wads of wasabi paste, and exceedingly sharp steak knives, all of which are being aimed at anyone foolish enough to walk by the doors of the restaurant without coming in.

its aim, at the very least, doesn't seem to be the best. for now. because it very much seems like it's getting better.]

Comments

[alatum]

I do not fear you.

[ his words are harsh, perhaps unnecessarily, stance notably guarded and on edge. were the stranger to strike suddenly xiao would have little problem in responding to an attack. ]

I suggest you look elsewhere, you will find no space here.

[ he isn't at risk to succumbing to his karmic debt, even so, he can feel resentful energy building up in his body as though responding to the sudden and disturbing turn of events. the last thing he needs right now is someone wandering too close and becoming a victim to it. ]

[ricordi]

[cassius has been around non-moondwellers long enough to understand that some just want solitude, but unfortunately his curiosity has just been piqued. that, plus the lack of logic in the man's comment has him wondering why.

and when cassius starts to ask questions, he can only be placated when he's given answers.]

Then why do you not like anyone coming close? [genuinely curious, but he will take several steps back, putting another meter between them.] Your first sentence might imply that I have something to fear from you, but I don't.

[alatum]

[ the persistence is familiar, annoyingly so, pulling a tired sigh from the yaksha's lips. why are some mortals like this? most would take his warning to heart and leave him be, but a select few have no care for their own well-being. ]

You are overconfident in your own abilities. [ as far as it seems this man is nothing more than an average human. ] You are no god and possess no Vision, your soul isn't robust enough to get close without consequence.

[ricordi]

[what is this, now?]

I understand the definition of your words, but in context, they make no sense. [he does understand the definition of gods... but he knows he's neither a primal or an astral. but what is a vision? he can clearly see.

so, in context, this means something else entirely. but what?]

I need clarification if I'm to understand what you actually mean.

[alatum]

[ perhaps he shouldn't simply assume those he encounters here possess the same level of knowledge those of liyue do, as far as he has investigated this is by no means teyvat. still, a part of him held onto the hope he was still within her waters. ]

Fine. [ xiao turns, regarding the stranger fully though his arms remain crossed and makes no move to come closer. ] What do clarification do you require?

[ricordi]

[so many questions are in cassius' mind right now, but he decides that something more concise would be better for both of them. an angry little teapot like this tends to snap if pushed too far, he knows that from juri's reactions when cassius spoke to him.]

I am not a god, but I don't understand what you mean by vision. And I do not understand why being near you would put me in danger.

[alatum]

A Vision... [ xiao uncrosses his arms and raises his left to display the trinket upon his wrist. ] Simply put they are gifts that allow the user to manipulate the elemental energies of a certain type.

As for why being near me is dangerous to you? [ arms once again cross and xiao exhales, gaze drifting to the floor beneath his feet. ] I carry a great karmic debt from years of slaying demons born of the hatred and resentment that seeps from the corpses of old gods. Too much exposure to such energies can damage you irrevocably, thus it is easier for us both if you keep your distance.

[ricordi]

[more and more questions! cassius' bright eyes don't leave the trinket on the man's wrist, even as he speaks again.]

Is your karmic debt made of chaos matter? [perhaps not? cassius cant be too sure, because he would be able to tell the effects of such by now, just by proximity.]

I'm still functioning, which is atypical for chaotic energy. Often, I would be able to feel its effects immediately.

[then again, maybe he should reboot to be sure, have all of his faculties available before trying.]

[alatum]

Chaos mattter? No. [ xiao shakes his head, arms crossing once again. ] It is like a poison I absorb from the demons I have killed. While it is not lethal to a yaksha it can be to a human, which is why you should keep your distance.

[ provided, of course, that this man is in fact human. ]

[ricordi]

Ah. [now they've gotten to the meat of the matter. cassius takes a step forward, unafraid of whatever energies are being exuded by this person. he doesn't mean anything threatening by the motion, his arms are still loose by his sides, and his spear still on his back.

he just wants so show that he's not afraid.]

You are under the impression that I am human. I am not. Many things that would affect humans do not affect me.