TEST DRIVE MEME #5

[sailmods]

1. not subtle revealings

[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! 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. a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling

[the reflections are missing. all of them. in mirrors. in television screens. on the backs of spoons. nothing looks back at you.

then, figures do show up. not your own, like you'd expect. thin, wispy apparitions, people with pleading eyes and hands, reaching out to place their palms against the surface, from their own end. faces familiar and not, beckoning, mouthing words you just can't quite make out. help me, it might be. get me out, perhaps. just until you're close enough, until your skin warms the surface of whatever it is you're peering into. and then, those same hands wrap, all too real, burning-cold against your flesh, and pull, trying to drag you through the surface, making up for their lack of strength with desperation. any flesh unlucky enough to enter the reflection comes back bone-white and cold, all sensation dead, though it will fade within a few hours.

in retrospect, it looks a bit more like they were saying something different. something more like, better you than me. or maybe it's not even words at all. they look a bit more like they're laughing.]

3. complex mementos

[but, hey. sometimes changes are good! like, today, in Playback, there's a brand-new game available for all the children to play! it's an old-fashioned sort of claw machine, the type that's so large, a particularly dedicated kindergartner could wriggle their way inside. the prizes vary, and sit loose: bags of candy, stuffed toys, firearms, painfully early-00s electronics, actually that one just looks like a dead iguana, tiny ship-branded knickknacks... like all the other games in the arcade, the game starts up automatically upon being touched; lack of quarters shouldn't keep you from having fun! pro tip: they are loaded, and they will go off if you suck at claw games and let it fall.]

Comments

[dontcomeback]

"I'm sure he's fine," he answers. There's no reason to worry otherwise. Since it's not like they can check. He's made the choice not to worry about anyone not on this boat.

Not that he can ever stop himself from worrying about Sofie and Tuva. But he's already written a will and sorted out all his papers, so he knows they'll be taken care of. It just wasn't being here that he was preparing for.

[formersurgeon]

"It's not like we can check," she says, giving voice to his thought. She won't be able to completely stop worrying about him, just like she won't be able to stop missing him. He's such a huge part of her life, and as fiercely independent as Joan is, his absence leaves a hole. It's even worse that she's powerless to change her circumstance.

[munstar]

[Well, he'd been trying to make her laugh, so he's going to call that a win for now. He's quiet as she devolves from laughter to tears, content to just be there for her to lean on. It's nice to hear her laugh, even under such crazy circumstances.]

Nah. Don't be sorry. I missed hearing you laugh.

[When she pulls back to look at him, Eddie smiles and lifts a hand to brush the tears away with his thumb.]

Don't worry, princess. I'm not that easy to get rid of.

[dontcomeback]

"Well, from what you've told me, he sounds like a capable guy. Sometimes you just gotta trust," he says reassuringly. Something he himself is capable of with his partners. Not so much his ex-wife. Not because she isn't capable, just... because of how much it would hurt if anything happened to her.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Accompanied by a long drawn-out distressed hum, they ask, // What's today's date?

Surely this will tell them how long they were unconscious in transit!

[formersurgeon]

"He is," she agrees. "If I'm actually missing for any period of time, though, he might freak out."

It wouldn't be the first time. Sherlock can be protective.

[light_mischief]

"Now, that is an excellent question." One Skulduggery hasn't even considered, actually! "We have no idea if the shades know what happened to them. They likely became aware of the situation eventually... but obviously, not soon enough."

Hmmm. Strangely, no matter how hard he tries to make out the faces, they remain just nondescript enough not to be memorable. It's enough to drive him closer to the mirror, although he isn't going to touch it. He's certainly smarter than that. Certainly!

"The actual mechanics are a mystery, but suffice it to say that our souls are in constant, mortal peril as long as the ship continues to operate as it does." Which isn't very helpful without explanation... "You and I and the rest of the passengers were taken at random, in order to serve as fuel for this ship and... guinea pigs for the Captain's magical experimentation. Are you... familiar with magic?"

He's stopped trying to guess who's from what kind of Earth, that's for sure.

[dontcomeback]

Viggo shakes his head softly. "We don't know that's what would happen. Time is... weird here," he says. "So far I haven't met anyone who knows someone else here from before, but... If we do, maybe we could figure out if people actually do disappear or not."

That's one thing to put on the priority list, he supposes. Honestly, he's ready to go door-to-door and start interviewing people. He's just been wanting to get an overview of everything first, so he'd even know what to ask. And if some people have been here for a while, maybe they could trade information.

2

[prodigalmess]

[ Malcolm tries not to linger in mirrors for too long. It's usually Ainsley he sees, pleading for him to come back and help her. He only wishes he could. Sometimes, it's his father, trying to make some sort of plea to him, luring him in as he always does. Seeing his father is a lot more frightening than seeing Ainsley. Malcolm would chock this all up to the hallucinations he has sometimes, but he knows that when it comes to the Serena Eterna, he's not the only one who sees things.

The woman's scream draws his attention and Malcolm hurries around a corner to find her about to be dragged into a mirror. He has no idea what happens on the other side of the mirror, but it can't be good. ]

Hey!

[ Malcolm runs up to her and (sorry Joan) wraps his arms around her waist from behind and tries to pull her away. Chancing to look up at the image in the mirror, he sees a middle-aged man with a maniacal look in his eyes. ]

[serialskiller]

"Nothing reassuring. This ship is haunted, the people aboard are all traumatized and many are also dangerous. The captain thrives on misery, and the ocean is fake."

Broad overview, but that's all the most important stuff, right?

[serialskiller]

"I was installed with a governor module that would shock me when I failed to follow orders or otherwise acted out of line. If I moved too far from clients, the shock it would deliver would likely have terminated me."

It glances sidelong at Bastion, just briefly.

"Fucked up, that we have more freedom, stuck here."

[munstar]

"No shit." Eddie's going to need a moment to process all of that. Admittedly, he hasn't even tried to look at what's outside the ship. He's mostly been focused on figuring out how to navigate without getting completely lost. Unfortunately, he'd only been able to come here.

"When you say fake...?"

[pineapplesalmon]

"I understand interdimensional travel decently enough. But until that's something safe, I'm working on interdimensional phones and location. Theorizing and designing since I don't have the necessary tools... yet."

He shrugs to the second question. "I honestly have no clue. I wish I knew since it'll affect my plans."

i

[hargrieving]

What did we do this time?

That's the prevailing thought swimming to the forefront of Five's mind as consciousness creeps in. Because the bed beneath him is luxuriously plush and the sunshine trickling through the window lacks the orange tinge of the end of the world, and as he'd left Hotel Oblivion things had... been looking grim. End Of The World 3: It's The Whole Universe This Time, monsters dropping through the ceiling with arm severing intent, thinking that was going to be the worst sensation before stumbling onto a star pattern inlaid on the floor and feeling every particle of his being ripped from his bones...

— oh hey, his hand is back. Jacket and shirt sleeve still cut and frayed where the Guardian's blade had cut, but upon experimentally flexing his fingers, Five finds each digit perfectly functional. Well working enough to pick up the note on his bedside table and scan the information lovingly jotted down by one Gal Friday.

"Huh." No really, how badly had they fucked up this time?

The muster drill doesn't do much to shine a light on the specifics. Five ultimately stands through the whole thing, hands in his pocket and unpleasantly reminded of corporate orientations at the Temps Commission; begrudgingly processing, and ruthlessly staring down anyone who so much as looks at him sideways. And afterwards they're released to their own devices. It pretty immediately occurs that he needed to locate his family, or whatever remained of them. Maybe they'd been beaten squarely by the kugelblitz, but they'd been together in the end; he hadn't blinked away, there was just as much a reason for the others to have been seemingly kidnapped across space and time, and stuck into another pocket dimension as there was for him.

And it's a theory that is proven almost comically quickly because, oh, he'd recognize that whiny drawl anywhere. Klaus — a sibling he at least doesn't want to punch. (It's on sight, Allison, on sight.) — is predictably, being Klaus. And after he's waved off by some stranger with priorities other than playing tour guide, Five is just there. At his elbow, a halfstep behind, and unimpressed.

"Never thought you'd need help finding a bar."

But you know what? A drink sounds like a sensational idea — Five may not be in a full-scale vacation mode yet, this doesn't feel like a retirement opportunity. But he's existentially tired in the way three apocalypses within a month will make a man; physically whole, mentally worn to the bone. For now this is the laziest reconnaissance he can manage, hands in the pockets of a vaguely battle-mussed black suit, and breezing past Klaus with the intent to make this ship cough up a decent vintage whiskey.

"Come on."

[busball]

Klaus is not enjoying the lack of happy and fun conversation, but…he guesses he can deal. “You’re speaking English, buddy. Definitely English.”

3

[mooninthewater]

[ Oh, isn’t this fun? Mizuki is all for new additions into Playback, even if this one seems to be a little more dangerous than the fun games around. It… should probably bother him a lot more than it does, but at least there’s someone around here who has the maturity to be worried about real actual guns in a claw machine. ]

I think you underestimate the capability someone might have to hurt themselves regardless of if they’re trying to win themselves a gun or not~. But it’ll certainly be fun to see if you can win something like that. I’ve always found these games rather hard!!

[busball]

Klaus has never been so relieved in his life the minute he hears Five's voice after the initial startle. Finally. At least Five will know what to do. Probably? He looks so sad in his little torn up jacket, though. Klaus is missing all his tattoos, but only three of them are actually visible enough to tell. "Five!" He doesn't go in for the hug, but he's happy to see him. "Finally someone makes sense. And I was hoping someone would have manners and help me, but that stranger did not care. It's not like I have a map with all the bars starred." He is definitely frowning by the end of that sentence, but then he perks up. "But now you're here."

When he says come on, Klaus doesn't question it. He's very ready for both a drink and to have Five to follow around. "You're suit's a lot messier than I saw it last, little man. Did you get in a fight already?" He assumes it's this and not that they're not from the same time. He's not sure how much time has passed, but if anyone could get in a fight, it'd be Five. "Did Diego fight you for real? Lila?" The possibilities are very likely. He'd say Luther, but he was following after the big guy while looking for his wife.

[dontcomeback]

If it helps, Viggo smiles when Klaus answers. But it's definitely a 'yup, I've lost it' kind of smile. Or possibly a 'yeah, this guy has lost it' smile. It's hard to tell.

He's not going to argue the point though. He's been speaking Norwegian the entire time, but it seems pointless to say so.

Instead he fishes out his wallet and pulls out his police ID, showing it to Klaus. It'll look English to him of course, but it does also state that he's part of Oslo police. And that his name is Viggo Lust. So there's a name, at least.

[lightconductor]

Well, that's another name he knows, but not in this context.

"I knew an Irene Adler," Watson says slowly, "but she had nothing to do with Moriarty. The king of Bohemia approached us, claiming that she was desperately in love with him even after the end of their affair, and that she intended to ruin his impending marriage by sending his future wife a photograph of the two of them. In retrospect, I rather doubt his version of events. Miss Adler outsmarted Holmes, married in secret, and ran away to America with her new husband. Holmes respected her, certainly, but love? I never knew him to speak of love, not about anyone."

Strange, the things that were different.

"Moriarty was a man at the head of a criminal empire who objected to Holmes's interference in his business. It culminated in a murderous attack in Switzerland at Reichenbach Falls. I thought both of them had perished there, but... apparently Holmes did not. Or so I have been told since I came here."

It's... very complicated, to be fair. And obviously upsetting.

[actuallyawolf]

"A map would be useful."

Ylva follows them inside, hands folded behind her back. "I haven't really seen one yet, but there's been so much to see. I might have missed it. Honestly, this place would be pretty exciting if it wasn't for, you know. Everything."

[be_seeing_you]

"Why do you ask?" Lucas clearly has an American accent so what does he know of British habits? Noticing that cooling in Lucas's smile, he does wonder if it's some close companion of Lucas, perhaps?

[formersurgeon]

"True." She sighs. "We have way more questions than we have answers. This is going to take some time."

On the whole, Joan thinks, it's likely good mental health-wise to have something to focus on.

[serialskiller]

"No animals. No bottom. No seaweed. It's a constructed reality that has the seeming of an ocean, rather than an actual one."

It gestures toward the endless sea. "Like the set of a film or a serial set on a boat."

[formersurgeon]

Joan takes that in, brow furrowed. There are clearly similarities, but the differences are striking. Still...she feels a pang of sympathy when he tells her he thought Sherlock died. She knows she would be overcome with grief if Sherlock died. If John is anything like her...

She reaches out to gently touch his hand.

"I'm so sorry. It must have been terrible to think you'd lost him." She pauses for a moment, then goes on carefully. "Are you sure your Irene Adler and Moriarty are different people? Moriarty would have men pretend to be her when she thought someone wouldn't take her seriously as a woman."

[lightconductor]

"If you were spared that experience, I'm glad for you," Watson says in a low voice. He might be a little envious. "Certainly one of the very worst times in my life."

But he considers her suggestion a moment, then shakes his head. "No. I'm certain. Miss Adler dressed as a man herself on occasion, for precisely that reason, but she had nothing to do with Moriarty. She passed from our lives entirely, fully two years before things with Moriarty came to a head."