sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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.]

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Can you ever TRULY rule out death? Maybe a piano fell on her. You never know. Not super likely though.

"Of course the book was magical, I was in the library of Azhira, all the valuable books are enchanted with anti-theft abjuration and transmutation spells," she answers, ruffling her feathers. "But not that kind of magical."

Always watch out for falling pianos. You never know when you’re going to encounter one and miss a dexterity saving throw.

“Well I just had to check since not all books are magical.” The sass is probably exaggerated by the Scottish accent but he looks amused nonetheless. “What about a teleportation device or some kind of atom scrambler. Did you have one of those on you when you were zipped here?”

[ She wants to ask him how reckless he was being, but she can interrogate him later. When she finally pulls back again, she studies his face, resisting the urge to reach out and ruffle his curls.

Did he never call anyone boss after her? For some reason it makes her feel warm. He didn't know her, but he never really gave away her title, either. Turning her attention to his question, she casually crosses her arms and leans against the claw machine. ]

About...two, three weeks now I think? Not quite a month, I know that for sure. I was in my TARDIS one second, then the next, here I was. Same way you woke up, forced to go one direction and listen to Friday.

[The look she gives him means she wants to ask more of him, but a part of him is relieved when she doesn’t. So much has just happened since they had last seen each other in that diner, and he isn’t sure that he’s come to terms with her death and everything that happened between them. His old wounds always had a bad habit of opening up at the most inconvenient moment.

Not to say that having her here is inconvenient. It’s good. But it’s also troubling because he still doesn’t understand where here is. His hands grasp her shoulders as he pulls back himself to examine her.]

Alright and what trouble have you gotten into?

[It’s mostly his way of asking if she’s been hurt. But also he needs to know what to expect.]

Oh you sassing her?? Actually that's probably fair for that one, okay. She does read nonmagical books sometimes.

"Dunno what an atom scrambler is, my dude, so probably not," she answers. As much as she doesn't like being made to sit here an answer questions, they are mostly sensible questions that help trying to figure out why they're here. "And teleportation items are expensive, so nah. Closest I have to anything like that is this bag." She taps her beak at the tiny backpack. "It's bigger on the inside," she supplies helpfully.

[There's nothing wrong with a straightforward, sensible question, and he can imagine plenty of sensible uses for this one in particular.]

Nearly five months. One hundred and fifty-one days, to be exact.

The Doctor doesn’t know what it is about the word ‘dude’ that gives him an amused tickle. Mostly it just reminds him of the time he introduced the word to a bunch of medieval folks several centuries well ahead of when it had existed. That had been fun.

“They’re not so expensive if you have the parts and know how to make it yourself. The stability of it is another question but -,” Ah the magic phrase. His eyes lit up again and his hands inched towards the tiny backpack. He didn’t ask, at least not verbally, but there was definitely a feeling there of wanting to get a closer look that he was sure she might get. “Bigger on the inside you say? How big? Could someone else fit into it? Could you? Maybe someone slipped something like that inside of it without you knowing.”

How the fuck did we both end up here after going through that gate?

[It's mostly rhetorical- he's not actually expecting Steve to have any answers for him. Eddie certainly hasn't been able to find any. Maybe that's just the way this place is, though.

Either way, Eddie hates it. Hates being here so much, even if the alternative- being back there- isn't appealing, either. And there are certainly things he doesn't hate about this place.]

What are the odds of that happening, though? We don't know much about this place, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhere completely new.

[It's not a bad theory by any stretch of the imagination. Eddie just wonders how likely it is that one of Vecna's gates would decide to randomly toss them someplace else.]

"I have to care," Dimitri says quietly. "I don't think I'm capable of doing otherwise." When so many lives ride on his own, on his decisions and his judgment, he has to care about each and every one. But even otherwise ... Dimitri can't help but care. He has never been able to hold himself separate, cannot help but imagine behind every face the unseen web of blood, debt, circumstance, affection, lives touched and changed, that binds every person to countless others. He can't help but love, abstractly if not personally, the beauty in those webs; can't help but hate their destruction.

He's not pulling away either. He needs the anchor; needs to know that Darcy, and this conversation, is real, so the doubts and the guilt can't start prying into his head again. Each and every passenger has been plucked from their web like a spider by a bird, left to fall amidst torn and tattered strands ... but here they are, catching each other, forging webs anew through sheer will.

It's easier said than done, and Dimitri's hardly an exemplar, but he's saying it anyway. "We're not meant to be alone. We have to offer each other our hands. We can't survive without each other; certainly none of us could face the Captain alone. I care about you, and Rich, and everyone else on this ship, and everyone at home, and -- if that leaves me at the Captain's mercy, that's the price I'll pay."

[ Imperial Forces. Military, then. Of course, most people in the military wouldn't be familiar with things like talismans, but for someone who is used to planning and tactics, being stuck in a place like this must change things. This entire conversation gains a level of clarity now. Jade doesn't look particularly rough or battle-worn, so Shi Qingxuan wouldn't have guessed his profession without being told—but in that case, that would mean that either he's very good or very much off the battlefield itself. Or both. By looks and title alone, it's hard to infer too much. That he doesn't even know where Malkuth is, Shi Qingxuan doesn't even want to let that headache develop. Of all the strangeness he's experienced thus far, unfamiliar and unusual names are the least strange!

Besides which, having never been one to stress over things like position or title or descent, Shi Qingxuan isn't going to start now!

He extends his hand in kind, smiling brightly as he inclines his head in a slight bow. He absolutely does not know how this form of greeting goes, but he's practicing the adage "when it Rome, do as Romans do." His hand simply hovers there while he talks. ]

Colonel Curtiss, it's an honor to meet you. My name is Shi Qingxuan, a cultivator of the Yongfeng Temple of the Wind Master.

[ So he announces, quite cheerfully and proudly. Even if those last several words there are a lie, this is his usual cover story when he has to work with mortals, and the closest he comes to working as himself in this particular scenario. ]

Now, there was something you wanted to know? I really am too new to this place, so let's share some pointers together!

Why do you assume I got into any trouble?

[ She huffs a little, bangs fluttering a bit. ]

A sentient 'bot pulled a weapon on me but that's it. I missed the most harrowing thing that's happened here so far by about a month, apparently.

[ Clara looks around, then takes his hand to walk further away from everyone and sit down on one of the couches in the lounge. ]

It definitely isn't safe here long term. Everyone was forced to fight to the death a few weeks ago. Literally, everyone, kids included. [ She knows exactly how he's going to feel about that, and she feels it in equal rage. ] There's no way off. Even when the ship docks and people can leave, it's limited.

[ He sighs, and then gives his full thoughts: ]

I'm afraid even if I had, your magic just now would have knocked it out of my sight! You're too intense for me!

[ Now that he's gotten that sighing and griping out of the way, it's out of his mind now. He crouches down, looking at the mess from a lower vantage point. While he doesn't like causing a scene in such an unfamiliar place, it does seem like so far, everything is fine. Maybe the esteemed captain truly doesn't mind a little property destruction? Rita was rather agitated earlier, so signs are pointing towards that being the case... ]

Now, how are we going to find that hairpin of yours? It wasn't any bigger than your hand, so it might have ended up under something here...

Clara.

[The 'because it's you', goes unsaid. Clara would know that despite the admonishment laced in his voice, there's a hint of affection.

But then he pauses, the levity leaving his tone as quickly as it comes and he grips her hand.]

Were you? Did you have to fight?

Bastion glances at their gun arm. (It's still very white.) // Extra firepower, maybe. When I thought I'd been kidnapped by conventional forces I assumed that's what they wanted.

They're probably not even in the top ten passengers when it comes to capacity for causing death and destruction, but no one's told them about all the sorcerers yet.

// That's weird to contemplate. They recognise some of those names from their encounter with the cyborg construct.

[ She realizes she didn't clarify that the killing is what she missed and she squeezes his hand tightly, shaking her head. ]

No, I wasn't here for that. Apparently, the things that happen aren't all bad; off the ship right now there's a whole...diner situation going on with classic cars.

[ Her hand's still in his, eyes not leaving his face. ] If we die here, we come back. Not in the regenerating kind of way. In a 'no one knows how it happens' sort of way. You just...do. But I've only heard about it.

[The anxiety in his chest only unfurls slightly. The thought of Clara having to kill anyone fills him with a dread that he hasn't felt in a while. He's always tried to be the one to make the difficult choice for people knowing the kind of burdens taking a human life brings. As much as he's wanted rest, he can't help but think that he'd rather be here to protect her from those things as best he can.

His grip doesn't loosen and his gaze doesn't leave hers.]

Has anyone seen the bodies?

[The formality of the titles is admittedly more a matter of professional muscle memory than anything at this point. More standard back home, and here...well, it started out as a shorthand way of trying to identify any new encounters that might actually be familiar with Malkuth as a country. It still sort of is, now, even though Jade has grown increasingly uneasy about the prospect of actually ever finding anyone from home pulled here. But if nothing else, every now and then, he even receives some titles from others in courteous return--and this occasion ends up being just one of those cases, as it turns out! "Cultivator of the Yongfeng Temple"...the terms as a whole mean little to him, which isn't so surprising. A member of a 'temple' in any official capacity, though, likely would be pretty well-versed in charms and talismans, so that at least tracks in a promising way...!

There is, a small and distinct window of awkwardness, in which Shi Qingxuan extends a hand in return but doesn't...actually use it to take Jade's, which just leaves the both of them standing there with arms extended and polite head-inclining afoot. After a beat, though, Jade realizes this is probably more of a cultural sort of disconnect...whoops...but oh well, they're already halfway there, so! He's just going to take Shi Qingxuan's hand in a very casual manner anyhow, and shake it in a mildly guiding sort of fashion, as if that weird pause didn't actually happen at all. How fortunate, that most professional handshakes only need to last about a second or two anyway! The gesture is released just as promptly, hopefully before the whole thing gets too weird for the latter man, and then...! They're moving on....!! Nailed it, clearly.]

An honor to meet you in turn, sir. I'm afraid the name of your temple is an unfamiliar one to me, but many passengers here do come from a very wide variety of places; this just means our homelands are a bit disparate, I'm sure. Ah, and while I have opened things rather formally just now...do feel free to simply call me Jade, if you'd like. Sometimes I still forget to respond to my family name, you see!

[This is all established with a similar level of cheer, as Jade takes a step back to resume a decent conversational distance between them.]

Sharing pointers does sound like a fine enough idea...though, we needn't have an entire conversation simply standing around out here. You probably also want to be returning that to your cabin at some point, yes? [A touch of humor in his own smile, here, as Jade nods in an indicating fashion at the orange life jacket Shi Qingxuan's still carrying--or still wearing, even, if he's had yet to take it back off yet by now? Either way...] I'd not mind accompanying you; we could speak on the way! To begin with, I'm rather curious...as a 'cultivator' of your temple, would you be a sort of person who creates things like talismans for others? And would you be able to tailor them, for certain needs?

[She glances at him with an unimpressed frown.]

Really? You're a bit wimpier than I thought...

[Even if it was effective, it wasn't even one of her big spells! He is getting down to help her look, though, so...at least he's still making himself useful. (This is totally not on her making everything much harder, of course not...)]

Well...I guess...

[Ugh...it's a pain, but...]

...Looks like there's no choice but to sort through them.

[And risk coming across other more...questionable...prizes.]

[Ryan laughs. That's kind of adorable actually?]

Wow, talk about culture shock. Sounds like it was a good time though? I've been to a few, but usually I was the entertainment.

[Meaning: a single guitar player tucked in the corner of a room because college kids couldn't afford more than that. A sucker that agreed to half pay and a case of beer because he had literally no other gigs lined up.

Background noise no one was really listening to.]

Parties need guys like you though. I mean, someone's gotta take care of everybody, right?

[They finally make it over to the elevator, and Ryan hits the down button. It isn't far, but stairs seem like a bad plan.]

You could definitely call it that... it was fun once I got used to it though!

[It gave him something to do, which kept him very clearly distracted from anything else that might have still been begging for his attention...

He shakes his head as if to dislodge that thought and laughs softly.]

I guess so? I just had friends that were younger than me back home, so I'm used to kind of being the responsible one. I'd say entertainment is more important! Did you play music or...?

"Is she a prisoner like us?" Erik asks curiously.

"I suppose a cruise ship could be described as either, depending how much you like lounge singers and shuffleboard," Erik remarks dryly. "But no. It's neither."

"So you talk to yourself in the mirror, pretending you're talking to him?" Erik hazards.

[Ah, there it is - the magic subject that always makes Ryan happy to talk about.]

Yeah, man! I'm the guitarist for Chicken Choice Judy, and my best friend Min-Gi is on keyboard. Back then I was solo but now we're on tour together and it's amazing. He's so good

[But then, he remembers their current predicament and sighs.]

Well...it was good. Now we're stupid on some weird boat for who knows how long, so. Tour's postponed, I guess?

Murderbot wavers a hand mid-air, like a 'so-so' sort of gesture. "She wasn't kidnapped from another world. She's a construct created by the Captain, tasked with caring about us. And she does."

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TEST DRIVE MEME #5

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No worries! It happens :)

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lmao well don't feel bad! I thought I'd hit this back days ago.

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