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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(jinx isn't a newbie here. in fact, she has been on this boat for proximately five months now. so why is she here in the mix of all the new crewmates? simply because she finds it really amusing to see the new little fish struggle to get their bearings and being filled with confusion.

so being bumped into it, she quirks an eyebrow at chrissy and her appearance. huh. she looks really ordinary and nothing too much to gawk at. still, jinx smirks mischievously.)

Too late, Toots. You're stuck here forever like the rest of us. — Oh! If I were you, try not to get blasted or knifed by our lil' locals. They get reeeeaally excited when the excursions happen.

(with that, she turns on her heel -- her long blue braids follow suit and then makes her way down to deck to head to the nearest store.)

[Well, that's one way to greet someone.

Chrissy stares after her with a look of total concern. She's partially still stuck on being called Toots, and very much so worried about the fact the words blasted and knifed were just mentioned. She spares one glance to the strangers around her and decides that maybe she doesn't want to be standing here anymore.]

Hey, wait!

[She calls out, hurrying along to catch up.]

What do you mean blasted or knifed by the locals? Does that...does it happen often?

Maybe, maybe not. A few of 'em are trying to keep the peace here but when we're putting up against each other, that goes out the window.

(she does another spin so she can take another look at chrissy, walking backwards with her hands behind her back.)

— You look like you wouldn't last five minutes here. YEESH! I guess it's nice knowin' ya.

[In very many ways, this girl reminds Chrissy of Eddie Munson. Even though she's pretty sure she's trying to get a reaction out of her, Chrissy just stares over at her in near awe. And then of course, she laughs. Because not only is that a pretty good assessment of how long she feels she'll last in this place, but it's also a pretty funny way of putting it.]

I've already lasted longer than five minutes though! [She protests, laughing again as she shakes her head.] And I could be stronger than I look!

[She's not. But it's nice to pretend.]

You look rather boring to me! Don't see how you can be any stronger.

(a shit-eating grin as she then ducks into the said store. inside the store, there's nothing too special about it. it stores things like toiletries, paperback books, medicines, sunscreen, and snacks. just a very basic bare necessities every day things one would need.

jinx sways around to the store while snatching a few chips, candy bars, and little roll of powdered doughnuts.)

But! — You can be one of our easy pickings. We all need that.

[There's absolutely no way that this other girl can know what she's gone through, but Chrissy's smile turns to a thin line as she quietly follows along into the store. Her eyes look over everything, taking note of how different everything seems here compared to back home.]

You seem a little loud.

[She doesn't mean it as an insult as much as an observation. A casual retort. She reaches over to pick up a bottle of pills from the medicine area, and holds it in both hands.]

Are you sure you aren't a little overconfident?

[But it's said with a soft laugh. She's amused more than anything.]

(she peers over her shoulder at the girl and it appears she may say something but does something that's rather unexpected. it's pretty fast -- first, jinx was a few feet away from chrissy until she takes a step. and in that step, her body comes a blur and a pink light trailing behind her when she quickly moves to be right in front of her.

the pink of her eyes glisten as she gawks -- searching deep in her blues. there's a slow head tilt until she finally speaks:)

... My eyes use to be like yours.

(a very...random comment to make but it's something jinx felt she should make. and then there's a smirk that creeps along her face; a little dangerous and twisted then she slowly steps back a few steps.)

Being overconfident is how I've survived this long. I see it more as a good trait than a flaw.

[This girl is something else. It's really hard to decide if she should be afraid of her, but Chrissy figures that at least she's not like that monster that she saw before...

Well, before waking up here.

The showing off could be a means of intimidation. But Chrissy sees it more as showing off. Which isn't a bad thing really. Her eyes widen marginally, but she's still smiling a little once she's backed away from.]

I never said it was a flaw.

[But the comment about her eyes definitely has her a little unsettled. And probably too curious for her own good. Chrissy tucks the bottle of pills in her hands up into the sleeve of her sweater as she turns away to look around the rest of the store.]

What happened?

[To change her eyes. Or why she has to be so overconfident to survive. There's a lot of different ways to take that question, and she doesn't offer any direction as to how it can best be answered.]

(huh, she didn't get spooked. maybe she is a little tougher then. totally not by much and jinx will continue to think this until proven differently. giving a nonchalant shrug, she heads over to the check out and places the items on the belt. what's strange is that there is no cashier(?). but still, jinx waits a few seconds as the belt rolls the items along then scooping it back in her arms.)

Oh, y'knnoooowww. The whole "about to die so in order to save my life is to inject me with somethin' that made me different" kind of thing. The usual!!

(jinx might have not seen her tuck those pills away but seeing they were in her hands and not anymore, it's painfully obvious she hid them on her person. she is no newbie when it comes to pickpocketing or thievery.)

You gotta pay for that, by the way. 'Less you want No Face to come in here and get ya for stealin'.

[Chrissy has never tried stealing a single thing in her entire life. So it's no surprise that she gets caught. But it's less being called out on her attempt at grabbing something and more the mention of No Face that gets her to let the bottle of pills fall out of her sleeve and back into her hand.

She had watched the other items go along the belt. There isn't a cashier, and she hadn't seen any money given anywhere. So Chrissy figures she'll just try the same thing. The bottle of pills is set on the belt and she watches them go along to the end. She scoops them promptly back into her hands without saying a single word.

It's her that turns to leave first, leading the way out of the store.]

I think I died before I woke up here. Or was about to die anyway. I'm glad you found something that could make it different for you.

[And she really means it. She wishes she had been that lucky.]

Oh really? Yeesh. Well, looks like you made it out.

(after shoving all of her snacks in a bag, jinx follows behind her out of curiosity. chrissy seems really interested in these pills and she can't help but to wonder just what kind. it's probably something to get her mind all clouded up which jinx won't stop her from doing that. if she wishes to be high, that's her choice.

besides the drug jinx was injected with back home, her citizens used it for the same effect. to chase after a high but also to grow stronger, confident, and become a warrior. if... they don't get the variant that transforms them into a monster and get all deformed. anyhoo.)

So what's your name, Toots?

[There it is again. Toots. She stares for a minute before laughing, shaking her head as if she can't believe someone that barely looks older than her is going to keep calling her Toots. But then again, she guesses she hasn't really introduced herself yet.]

I'm Chrissy.

[She glances down to the bag of snacks that the other girl is holding. Her stomach is growling a little, but she isn't sure she can stomach much right now. But it's good to know she can just go grab something from that store. Chrissy stops walking just long enough to glance back in the direction they had come from, so she can commit its location to memory.]

What's yours?

"Chrissy"? Hm... — How about "Skirts" instead?

(her attention then gears down to chrissy's outfit. jinx already knows so many blondes so calling her "blondie" is definitely out. jinx swirls the bag around which is probably something she shouldn't do because all the snacks can fall out of the bag but she doesn't truly care.)

The name's Jinx. Nice meetcha ya!

Skirts?

[She's laughing as she says it, voice full of disbelief.] Me?

[A hand presses to her chest, and she seems amused and touched that anyone would think to give her a nickname in the first place. Usually it's just Chris, and she's not really sure how she feels about that one these days.]

Okay, Jinx. You can call me that if you really want to. [There's a second or two of a pause before Chrissy moves right along.] How long have you been here anyway?

Five months and countin'!!

(she seems oddly cheerful to say that and she is. because unlike most people that are on the boat, her home life isn't exactly the happiness -- especially learning some new...things. jinx very much prefer this than home; often calls this her second life and a second shot of getting everything right.

jinx then stops twirling around the bag once they make it to the glass elevator. pressing the button, she waits for it come down.)

Oh, do you wanna follow me to the playback or you wanna just do whatever?

[Five months??

In some ways, that seems like it's hardly any time at all. Five months is only a semester long. It's the football season or the basketball season. Fall cheer or spring cheer. That world is behind her now though, she realizes. She may still be wearing her cheerleading outfit, but she's never going back to Hawkins High to be head cheerleader ever again.

So in that aspect, five months also feels like forever. Five months is enough time to forget the sound of her mother's voice yelling in her ear, or to abandon the thought that maybe she has to be perfect all the time. Five months is enough time to reinvent yourself completely.

And in that moment, Chrissy thinks she understands exactly what Jinx had been talking about when she mentioned becoming something different. And she smiles when she gets it, hurrying her way over to the elevator to keep up.]

I'm not sure. What's the playback?

[There's something else on the tip of her tongue, and in the name of not bothering to try and seem so restrained she lets it spill out into the open.]

I'm pretty sure I'd follow you just about anywhere right now. So you lead, and I'll follow. Okay?

It's just a gaming place for us to hang out. But there's a spot just for us teens to lounge around and do a whole lotta nothin'.

(her words do tend to reach her ears and gives chrissy another look over. there's something about the way she formed her sentences just now that spark a devious smirk; exposing a little of her teeth. to anyone else, surely she meant for now just following along until one get their bearings down. but for jinx, she is taking what she said an entirely different direction.

she starts to think then. her father is(was?) a drug crime lord and along with her working for her father, he had a group. a group the followed his orders blindly, to do actions that needed to be done -- whether to hurt or kill. and now pondering, that is something jinx is lacking here. someone who will follow her lead and do as they are told. could chrissy be someone like that? most likely not but... it's still nice to fantasize over it. or perhaps, there's a way to make that fantasy to become a reality.)

(the elevator makes it to them and opens, jinx goes in first with a quiet hum and presses the number five. chrissy better hurry on in or she'll get left behind out there.)

[Chrissy spares a final glance at the area behind them before she hurries on into the elevator. She knows where absolutely nothing is, but Jinx seems to. She's been here five months. And that's a pretty long time to be trapped on something with a clearly limited space. ]

How many other teenagers are there?

[Her arms fold over her chest as she leans against the side of the elevator, trying to figure out why a place like that would want to pull in any of them at all. But as confusing as that is, Chrissy also feels a sense of gratitude. She wouldn't be able to do much of anything at all if she wasn't here. And Jinx seems like someone that might be able to be her friend.

It's almost like a second chance. She's not under anyone's thumb here. And for the first time she can remember, Chrissy finds herself feeling free.]

Who knows...! There's a bunch of us here. 'Course, there are some adults too but they don't really stop me from doing whatever I want.

(she fishes in her bag to pull out a candy bar; unwrapping it before taking a bite.)

We also got robots and magic users with their sparkly glitter heebie jeepie stuff.

(the type of candy bar she has in her hand is the kind for sharing and if chrissy might be a potential lackey in the near future for her, jinx should probably try and build some trust bond going. so with her slender fingers, she breaks apart the chocolate and extends it out to her.)

— They're all alright, I guess. Buuuuuut they get a lil' annoying with their magic tricks, y'know?

[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.

Then I gotta have you meet Rin. He's a robot but get this — he looks completely human! Skin, hair, everythin'! There's another chick here that's the same, too.

( munching still, jinx pushes herself off the wall to glance down through the glass wall elevator. they still have a bit to go before they reach the playback floor.)

I would love to rip 'em apart to see what makes them all tick. Too bad I'll get all the whackos will be on my ass if I tried. Guess I'll just hafta deal with imaginin' it in my dreams.

[The idea of taking something apart just because you can, or because you're curious, unsettles Chrissy. She understands robots aren't human, but ones that look human were made for the purpose of being like a person. Weren't they?]

Why would you want to do something like that?

[As shy as she's sounded before, she definitely doesn't sound the same way now. She doesn't sound angry, either. But given that she feels like a person that someone ripped apart just to see what makes her tick, she's a little on edge when she expresses her curiosity.

But Jinx is the first person here that's close to her age and could be a friend. She doesn't want to entirely push her away, even if she's a little weirded out.]

'Cuz they're are machines, silly? ― Psssh, duh!

(she quirks an eyebrow at her direction with a slight dumfounded look. it's completely natural for someone being curious and wanting to pry open an appliance to do a look over. jinx truly doesn't get why everyone gets so up and arms when it comes to that. chrissy definitely wasn't the first who acted so appalled.

the elevator finally dings then comes into a halt. with the doors slide open, jinx waltzes out proudly with a light skip and hum; spinning to face her.)

'Sides as an Engineer, it's kiiiiinda what I do. Build things, fiddles with stuff, modify, get all in there...!

[There's just something about the way Jinx looks at her then that makes her laugh. Maybe the whole wanting to rip into machines thing is weird and a little unsettling. But Jinx doesn't look like she's over eighteen, and she's saying she's an engineer. That's...pretty impressive.]

You're an engineer? Really? Could you show me how you do it?

[It could sound so ingenuine from someone else. But Chrissy's sincere and interested when she asks.]

Not now obviously. But later maybe? Please?

[Jinx is leading the way, even while she walks backward. And Chrissy follows after her without hesitation.]

'Course I can! I'll let ya meet Pow-Pow and Fishbones. They're my pride and joy. Chompers is too but unforuntely, he is not with us.

(may he rest in peace back home. sitting there collecting dust and unable to explode buildings and people. such a sad fate her poor little explosive -- a fate worse than death, truly.

and then finally!! they make it to the playback, jinx swings the door open and the room is filled with arcade machines, a playground for smaller kids, a big screen TV, bean bag chairs, another room that leads to a dance club, and finally the teen hangout lounge. not stopping for anything, she sets the bag on the table and plops herself in one of the chairs -- propping her legs up on one of the foot stools.)

TEST DRIVE MEME #5

i. (not subtle revealings)

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