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

[treadwater]

"Look, we've all been there. It's just a nice thing to do, to help out people who are scared and upset and lost. Right? You seem like the sort of guy who might do that for someone else someday, to me."

But she wants to see the best in most people.

[cheerleader]

[And in that moment, Chrissy releases that no one actually saw her at all. They only could see a picture perfect head cheerleader and prom queen that smiled emptily and went through the motions. No one had any idea something was really wrong.

Even Eddie had only thought she was nervous about a drug deal, which she figures makes sense. Why would he think anything differently?

But he keeps talking, and she doesn't have time to respond to or really think about what he says. Because at the end of it, he tells her what she needs to know. She's gone.

Because of him?

Confusion is clearly written on her face as she stares over at him. She thinks back to the conversation they had in the forest. Thinks about how animated he had been. Remembers how he had smiled at her. It's like she's taken every ounce of that and taken it away from him.]

You —

[Her chest starts rising and falling faster as panic settles in. She's gone.

Gone.

She's dead and gone. That replays over and over, until she backs her way against a wall. The surprise from that is enough to anchor her back into reality.]

No. Not because of you. Because I wasn't strong enough.

[It feels wrong to let him take the blame for something he really had no hand in. So she steps in a little closer, reaching out to touch at his arm.]

Okay?

[killed]

If you wouldn't mind. It's best not to take any risks, hm?

[ He'll crouch down near Lucas, leaning forward a tad to offer it a closer inspection. There's no other marks to suggest any damage done. He'll gingerly reach out to touch it with just his fingertips to see if it'll draw out an reaction. Hiyori notes the lack of any real sense of duress, as it tells him as much about the person before him as it does the injury he suffered. ]

No, not at all. I did notice the lack of reflections, and for a moment I had thought I had turned into a vampire! [ It's a little joke, ] But I didn't realize there was something within it... How frightening. Was it perhaps trying to pull you in? I've heard stories of creatures within mirrors that attempt to switch places with the residents of this one.

Complex Mementos

[sabigoe]

Eddie may have to lower his gaze a little, for the nearest person at the moment is a small blonde-haired girl in pigtails, not much older than seven. It's one of the rare days that Fio can be found at Playback. She tends to prefer playing games of pretend, reading books, or doodle pictures in the more quiet areas of the ship like the library. But sometimes she does need a change of scenery.

Her home isn't technologically advanced. There are no arcades where she's originally from, though she has grown used to seeing the machines after being a passenger of the cruise ship for a few months now. And she notices the claw machine is an entirely new addition to the place. It's the first time she has ever seen one! Some of the prizes inside are cute, like the plush toys. Others are... a bit questionable.

"I... think so?" Fio gives him a friendly, but nervous smile. Not sure why he's asking if it's 'for real'. "Do you know how to play this?"

[munstar]

[He hadn't really meant to say that last part out loud, but Eddie definitely blames himself for how things happened. He understands, logically, that it's not actually his fault but it's still impossible to not feel guilty.

If he hadn't been so preoccupied with string to sell her drugs- with how fucking nice it felt to just sit and have a conversation with someone who seemed like she enjoyed being around him- maybe he could have noticed that something was wrong. Now, after the fact, it's incredibly easy to beat himself up over it.

She's so quick to insist that he's blameless, though, and that makes his heart hurt. Eddie blinks and lifts his head to look at her again when she touches him.]

Don't do that.

[And sure, telling her not to blame herself is incredibly hypocritical as he's standing here blaming himself, but really, he's just finding it hard to believe that it was her fault either.]

I'm sorry you were suffering. And I'm sorry I didn't see it.

[He wants to ask now, the way he should have before, but it feels like it's too late for that. It's probably none of his business, and maybe it would be too painful for her to talk about even now. The shift in subject is a welcome one, even if he imagines they'll swing back to the elephant in the room eventually.]

[cheerleader]

[What is she supposed to say to that? Chrissy can't find any words that feel right. Not at first. And even though she's trying so hard to stay strong, she can't help the fact that she starts to cry.]

You're the last person to make me smile.

[It's a peace offering. A way for him to not feel the guilt that she can see he's dealing with.]

And you see me now.

[He knows now that she's suffering. That things aren't well. And maybe that means he'll stick around for a little while until they both find their footing. They went to middle school together. She can still remember that talent show. They've been at Hawkins High together for years. And even if their paths didn't really cross until that fateful meeting out in the forest, it feels like maybe their both being here now is one of those meant to be situations.]

[munstar]

I liked making you smile.

[He liked being with her in general, current conversation notwithstanding. But if he's honest, even this is better than not having her around at all.

Eddie doesn't want her to cry. He hasn't had a lot of experience with trying to comfort someone when they're upset, simply because nobody ever seems to want to get that close. Now, though, he genuinely feels like he has to try.

He doesn't pull her into his arms so much as he takes a couple of steps closer and wraps his arms around her. If she wants to duck out of the way again, he won't stop her, but for now, he's there if she needs someone to lean on.]

Wish I'd seen you sooner.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

a. Tell her to find me an acre of land

At first it seems like a practical joke, to have been moved into an unfamiliar bed while offline when everyone at the Watchpoint knows they don't sleep and don't need bedding to recharge. Not being able to recall why they went offline is concerning; it's a rare occurrence if they're managing their power consumption correctly, and the last thing they recall is walking through a door on their way to get more supplies, nothing strenuous or dangerous. They skeptically regard the note on the table, and drape the life jacket over one armored shoulder in an extremely dubious motion. It doesn't look like it would do much to keep them afloat if they actually fell into a body of water, but maybe it's been stuffed with confetti or something similar for entertainment purposes.

The immediate failure of their motor functions when they try to deviate from the requested path is much, much more concerning. If this is a prank it's a very mean-spirited one, in a way that would be entirely out of character for either Torbjörn or Athena and beyond the ability of anyone else they know. They wonder where Ganymede is and when he's coming back.

They emerge onto a boat deck, and recoil in surprise as they take in the sight of ocean extending to the horizon in every visible direction. It's not completely out of the question that someone could have knocked them out, injected malware into their motor control systems and loaded them onto a ship, but why? Are they being forcibly inducted into some organization? It's the only explanation they can think of for why someone would go to the trouble of kidnapping/stealing a Bastion unit instead of using the same opportunity to destroy them. Does Ganymede even know where they are? He's found them over substantial distances before.

The eyeless, mouthless human(?) is not a reassuring sight, and the muster drill clarifies nothing about how or why they arrived here. The fact that they can't see anyone else they recognise and none of the human passengers seem alarmed to see a Bastion unit standing around only raises further questions. The lei seems... fine? It doesn't look like it has hidden transceivers or chips or explosives or anything other than the assortment of organic materials it appears to be.

After the drill, they find someone - literally anyone, as long as it's a passenger and not the faceless maybe-human again - nearby and ask, // Hello. Why are we on this ship? Do you know?

In their haste it doesn't occur to them to make sure they're talking to someone with the equipment to understand omnicode before starting a conversation, but conveniently, that's taken care of on the ship too.

b. Between the salt water and the sea strands

The mirrors must be fake. Display surfaces showing simulated or time-offset empty versions of the current environment. (Wrapping a screen around a railing or a spoon seems impractical, but it's not the weirdest thing they've seen today.) The same explanation works when ghostly figures start appearing in them, both omnic and human in shape, but it needs immediate updating when they walk past a mirrored column in the promenade and the ghost they're attempting to ignore grabs them by the protruding elbow joint cover and yanks their gun arm into the mirror elbow-first.

There is a loud metallic clattering noise and a synthesized whistling shriek that carries some distance down the deck, and then they're bracing themself against the adjacent non-mirrored wall to pull themself free. Everything that went through the mirror -- most of their right arm, except the tip of the barrel - looks as if it was dipped in white paint, and their proprioception sensors on that arm from the shoulder down are returning nothing but timeout errors. What was that?

c. Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather

Bastion is vaguely familiar with arcade machines, although they've never seen one in person before. Tracer once showed them a picture of a claw machine that she'd taken on a night out with Emily. It didn't have animal corpses or weaponry in it; it was filled entirely with Pachimari merchandise. The ship's claw machine actually does have a Pachimari plushie wearing a tiny captain's hat in it, nestled under a bag of sour gummi worms, a machine pistol, and a Palm m130 handheld organizer in a branded box.

They stare at it, and then, making a puzzled whirring noise, ask to no one in particular // Who stocked this?

[woocas]

Huh, can't say I've heard of it. is that near Indianapolis? [The small talk is good. Normal. It does help settle his own nerves because even with an open mind it's hard to wrap it around the fact that people here come from all over.

At her next comment Lucas can only smile a touch wider, giving a sheepish little shrug.]

Yeah, of course. Not like I was just going to stand there and watch, right? [Plus it's nice to save someone alive, for a change. Not like back home.]

[woocas]

Lucas sighs quietly. On top of being fresh to whatever unsettling mess this cruise is this is a lot to soak in a once. Whatever place this cyborg comes from sounds like a dystopian nightmare to him.

"Must be a bit of a culture shock winding up here, I guess?" Lucas is pretty sure he hasn't run into any other robots. Who knows anymore, not him! Which is why he just can't help but to keep the questions rolling.

"How long have you been here anyways?"

[woocas]

"Once I get my bearings, yeah, you got me." Lucas says with a bright laugh. "We could be the welcoming committee or somethin'!"

And now that his legs work again, he picks a random direction on deck and starts meandering. "Right now, you're the expert though. Anything fun to do on this floating tin can?"

[woocas]

[Lucas offers out the affected arm without any fuss. The skin is deathly cold but there's no reaction to the touch.]

I can't feel a thing where the skin's gone white. [Lucas says like this is a normal occurrence and snort-laughs a moment later at the vampire comment.]

Oh, it was definitely trying to pull me in. I noticed...well, I'm not sure I'd call them spirits, but that's close enough. Instead of my reflection there were people staring back at me, they reached out a grabbed me. Twice! [He offers a lopsided grin next.] Had to test it, make sure my imagination wasn't getting away from me you know?

So this isn't the first time something like this has happened here? You must have been here awhile, huh?

baby bonnie hood | darkstalkers

[dokkans]

i. same as always

[ The moment that she's regained use of her legs, B.B. Hood still stands still. It was pretty frustrating not being able to move, but for all the dimensions she could've been dropped into, this one wasn't so bad. The entire time she's just smiling and paying attention, hands clasped behind her back. Looks like there's a woman with no face, which is pretty funny too!

With the waves of the ocean and a song in her heart, she twirls a bit. ]

And here I was, I was just thinking I deserved a vacation. ♥ Hope there's a treasure waiting at the end of it.

ii. permanent reminder

[ As Bonnie stares at the mirrors, she tries to determine if she knows literally anybody that she's looking at. They're all unfamiliar, all looking so destitute and desperate that their cries are mostly just going ignored. It didn't really matter what they were trying to say, it looked like they wanted her to step closer. So, she just speaks up. ]

Sorry! My grandmother told me to never speak to strangers. Gosh, and the lot of you really are strange, aren't you?

[ The red hooded girl just tilts her head as they continue to try to communicate, and finally she glances over-- ah, someone else showed up! She tugs on whatever she can grab-- a sleeve, an arm, whatever there was. Her smile turns to a look of concern, practiced diligently for moments like this. ]

Hey hey, can you tell me what they're saying? I think they're in trouble.

iii. mementos, the freshmaker

[ ...Is that a Desert Eagle she sees?

It was hard to tell, but it sure as hell looked like it! How exciting, a fun crane game to try out on vacation! Plus she has a chance to win a new gun? Oh, how can she refuse! She doesn't seem to have any quarters though, so she's come up with an idea!

First step was to look as sad as possible, and press her hands to the glass. Except, the machine then springs on and suddenly it looks like she could use the joystick? So she doesn't even need money to play, what a fun machine! So she'll be trying it that way, and may be amassing a stash of stuffed animals while she's at it.

Still, she's looking a little more frustrated as time goes on. ]

Not the damn walrus again-- get out of the way, it's right there!

[ It's hovering over the gun, and she thinks she might have it this time...! But it slips out, and a bullet ricochets out of the machine and through the air, the girl sidestepping it completely. ]

Oops! [ She's surprised, but not really that deterred. After all, what was even better was that it already came with bullets! Now she's determined, she has to get that gun. ]

Nanachi | Made In Abyss

[snarkbunny]

( NOT SO SUBTLE REVEALINGS )

Being hearded along like this is not something Nanachi appreciates in the slightest. It echoes a time that's duller now, but still makes their stomach churn. That time when they felt so hopeful, so enamoured of possibilities that would never come to pass.

And what did come to pass? Well. It's enough to make them grit their teeth as they're driven along with the rest of the crowd. Their eyes dart around at the others gathered with them, at what they can see of their surroundings. They edge their way to the side of the group to get a better view of proceedings while remaining out of the line of fire.

A faceless person isn't the strangest thing Nanachi has ever set eyes on - far from it. It sparks more curiosity than anything (and a sense of deep dread they're ignoring, for now). As soon as they have the opportunity, Nanachi separates themselves from the group (ensuring they can still spy on them from a distance) and takes the lei apart. All the components are thoroughly examined. While they know they're looking at feathers and seeds, they aren't familiar.

Kneeling on the ground, they place one of the seeds in front of them and press the hard, white circle down on top to break it. The pieces are scooped up and given a good sniff.

( A PERMANENT REMINDER OF A TEMPORARY FEELING )

The figures in the mirror make Nanachi come to a halt. The pressing of hands, the pleading, they strike a chord that renders Nanachi momentarily stuck. Survival instinct says to flee now but they take a step closer. If there's something to be done...

A hand comes through, breaking the barrier and almost grabbing them by the arm. Nanachi stumbles back, landing unceremoniously on their rear. They stare at the mirror for a moment before getting themselves to their feet.

Fleeing, again, seems like a good option. But. Enquiring minds need to know more. Nanachi creeps forward one step, seeing if the arm extends further. Takes another step forward. The arms don't appear to be able to reach any further than one would expect an arm to be able to reach.

"What would happen if you got hold of something, hmm...?" they wonder aloud.

( COMPLEX MEMENTOS )

Nanachi has never seen a machine like this before (they've never seen any machines like this before, but who's counting?). Their fuzzy hands are pressed against the glass, peering at the stuffed toys inside.

The machine whirs to life at the contact, startling Nanachi more than they'd ever care to admit. They watch the claw judder along its track and deduce its meant to grab at the objects that are inside.

Nanachi has a different tactic. Squatting down, they shove an arm into the hole where the prizes would drop. Buried in up to the shoulder, they grope around in the hope of seizing one of the stuffed animals. Given their small stature and stubby little fingers, they're probably out of luck.

[cheerleader]

[The second his arms wrap around her, it's like she's been given permission to keep crying. So she does, only feeling a little awkward about the fact he's having to comfort her when he's got some kind of trauma to deal with too. But she lets herself cry, and she eventually brings her arms up to wrap around him in return. And when a minute or two pass and she's finally able to breathe again, she lifts her head so she can look up at him.]

I really thought this was some kind of afterlife or something.

[But it can't be with him here. Can it?]

But it helps to not be alone. I'm not as scared with you here.

c

[serialskiller]

"Probably the captain. It seems like his sense of humor."

Murderbot looks from the machine to Bastion, gaze lingering on them for a long moment, before it reaches out and attempts to ping them. You know, the thing that's gotten it punched before by an Omnic. Because it doesn't always learn from its mistakes very well.

[serialskiller]

"Over three thousand hours." Months and years are a thing that can vary by planet and polity, back where it's from. The hour is something that stays put neatly. "I'm not entirely certain this ship could be said to have culture."

Re: c

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Well, that makes a lot of sense in retrospect. Ships usually have captains, including ships that have previously established themselves as full of inexplicable and worrying phenomena.

They whistle in genuine puzzlement. // He thinks distributing weapons and antiques alongside toys is funny?

Bastion tilts their head as if in response to an interesting but mysterious noise, and pings back. Whatever sent the packet had a strong, clear signal, which stands out even more with how quiet it is in the radio-frequency range here on the ship.

[munstar]

[Eddie can count on one hand the number of times he's seen anyone crying that wasn't in some dumb horror movie. It's not something he particularly enjoys when it's not happening to some fictional character. It's also not something he enjoys when it is, but this is different.]

I thought it might be a hallucination. You know there's a fucking skeleton guy walking around?

[It's not the first time he's seen her since that night, but he doesn't necessarily want to tell her that right now because he's pretty sure it's just a weird thing to say.]

I know what you mean.

[killed]

Twice? You really must take more care with your health. These sorts of injuries can easily lead to permanent damage.

[ He chides with all the patient concern of a doctor overseeing a patient with bad habits. Hiyori has seen too many in his time not to. There's no reaction, but the skin is deathly cold. It almost reminds him of frostbite, but there's no blackening of the skin or any ting else that suggests one that's heavily progressed. Is this boy human? He should probably ask about that as much as anything, as there's a high chance of the skin blistering as it warms up.

In the meantime, he answers his question, ]

I've been here for a spell, and as I understand it these oddities are common. It's a quirky little ship run by a pair of people with blotted out faces and a fair number of unusual circumstances... Incidentally, you'll want to take care to stay out of the rain. I hear that others have suffered from some side effects after being out in it.

[ It's all water, actually, and trace amounts of it at that, but the rain is the one that he chooses to note. ]

[woocas]

Oh shit, pop math quiz! What's three thousand divided by twenty-four. His face scrunches up.

"Dude, that's like four months!" Maybe? It's not too important as Lucas latches onto that next comment. "I'd honestly be surprised if there was no culture at all. Like, think about it. A bunch of people and cyborgs and whatever are all dumped into one place? There'd be a vibe after awhile, right?"

[woocas]

[A breathy chuckle escapes him. Lucas is very used to that tone of voice!] In my defense Doc, I was way more careful the second time. But it would kinda suck to lose a hand so...I'll keep that in mind. Those ghosts or whatever sure took offense to anyone getting too close.

[He leans back fully against the wall to listen. Having already met Gal Friday he figures the Captain is other person this guy is talking about. he can help but shiver at the thought before settling back down.]

The rain? Like what kind of side effects are we talking about here?

[cheerleader]

[She's guessing the magic tricks Jinx is talking about aren't the kind that are at kids birthday parties. So she arches her eyebrows and shrugs a little as she reaches over to take the offered chocolate.

In the back of her mind, she debates whether or not she should eat it. If she were back home, she'd politely decline. But her mother isn't here, and she's free to do whatever she wants. And when Chrissy slips that piece of chocolate into her mouth, it's like every little worry on her shoulders fades away. Just for a few seconds, and it's perfect.]

Magic doesn't really exist where I come from. So no, I don't know. But...

[She has to pause in order to really savor that bite of chocolate.]

I've never seen a real robot before either. One that isn't a toy, I mean.

[cheerleader]

[Chrissy thinks back to those last minutes in Eddie Munson's trailer. Did he just stand there and watch? She can't really remember. What she does know is that this guy just said something that wraps around her like a warm blanket. He's kind, and that really goes far to make her feel a little more safe.]

I think most people probably would have.

[Just stood there and watched, she means. And by focusing on that aspect of the conversation, she forgets to answer his question about where Hawkins even is. She'll remember later and try to find him to tell him, but for now, she's choosing to focus on the fact that in her eyes, he's kind of a hero.]

You said you were pretty new around here, right? How long have you been here?

[They walk out onto the deck now, and Chrissy is momentarily distracted by being out in the fresh air. She definitely seems a little less stressed.]

[serialskiller]

The moment of digital connection, of feeling someone else on the frequency with it brings a tiny smile to Murderbot's face. It's turned toward the machine instead of Bastion, but even if it did look at the automaton's face, it thinks the whole eye contact issue it has would be less than with a human.

"He thinks people suffering is funny, so he wants to include instruments to allow passengers to cause more of it. It's not the first time he's encouraged us or given us the means to hurt one another."