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

[be_seeing_you]

"Paranormal? I take it that sort of thing is commonplace in your world?" There's still a tinge of disbelief in his tone, but the week has worn on him. He can't deny the insanity around him forever.

"I would think not. There is no such organization where I am from. Unless it has not yet been founded in 1967?"

[woocas]

"Nawh, try 1867. If you haven't heard of it you're either the world's best hermit or we come from different places." Which should answer Peter's other question, too. It's common enough to be a household name on his version of Earth.

A sigh rattles out of him, deflating his posture. "Sorry, it's still a big ask to wrap my head around this-" Lucas gestures vaguely to their surroundings, "-all in one day. But I guess you can say the same, right? Not like they had cellphones in the sixties. Or at least where I'm from they didn't."

[be_seeing_you]

"I'm no hermit." So, that should answer it for Lucas too.

Number 6's expression softens just a touch as Lucas lets out that sigh. The feeling is very much mutual.

"Bad luck you've stumbled into that nastiness on your first day here. And, yes, there has been an extremely high learning curve." Cell phones? Is that the proper name for these devices they were given?

"I'm told those cell phones are simply a newer form of technology. As opposed to being magic, which is also something that is apparently commonplace here." Oh yes, he is still having a hard time adjusting to it.

[woocas]

"Honestly I'd be more shocked if I didn't stumble into something," A haggard chuckle accompanies his comment, along with a shake of his head. Even he has to admit to being a trouble magnet back home.

"If you ever want some help with the technology stuff, I'd like to return the favor. I'll need to get your room number, because that's what I was told the phones use."

Lucas then grins, "Can't help you too much with the magic, that's not really my department. Ghosts, though...I expect I'll be busy around here."

[be_seeing_you]

"Are you wont to go running into danger?" Lucas does look like the type.

"I'll remember the offer, though I'm sure I'll manage well enough. How complicated could it be?" he asks, like a boomer.

For a long couple of seconds, it looks like he might not give Lucas his room number, but then he finally relents. "Room 113. Just be sure you knock if you ever come to pay a visit." The 'or else' is implied, but it's there.

"If ghosts are you preview, then yes I suspect you will. What exactly is it that you do?"

[woocas]

Lucas scoffs, puffing out his cheeks at the mild and true accusation. "Me? No sir, not ever running into danger."

Just ignore how his chest aches at the thought and move on. Lucas gives Peter a suspicious glance, "Well, offer will stand for however long I'm here."

And then, silence. Long enough that the back of his neck prickles with uneasy anticipation. Why would that question give the man reason to pause? The ship can't be that large! It's so strange that he wonders if maybe, just maybe, that advice Sou gave him had something to it. Don't trust people too much here.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll knock," He remarks, before crossing his arms and huffing. Lucas settles on a compromise, of sorts. Giving Peter the benefit of the doubt. "Only if you tell me what you do, too."

[be_seeing_you]

Number 6 simply raises a brow. He does not believe you young man. "Then it most certainly runs into you." He's very sure of that now.

But, with Lucas giving him an equally suspicious look back, he's the one on the defense. He very much does not want to answer that question. There hasn't been enough time, yet, to think up a good enough backstory for himself to use here. He'll have to make it convincing. Or, he could just tell some of the truth.

"Retired, I'm afraid. Nothing too exciting to speak of. I spend most of my time going for long walks in nature."

[woocas]

There's a strangled chortle from Lucas. Peter has him on that, fair and square, but he's not going to admit it. What's unsaid says enough already.

"Retired, huh..." He's not entirely convinced, but with no other reason to doubt the man he'll just roll with it. "Sucks you wound up here then. This doesn't seem like a fun vacation, if you ask me."

There's a thoughtful pause before Lucas continues, "Anyways, since you asked, I work on cold case files and talk to ghosts, mostly. Also we investigate reports of hauntings and stuff like that, keep the peace between people and supernatural critters. That kinda thing."

[be_seeing_you]

"Not fun in the least," he answers with a wry twist of lips. Oh, if only Lucas knew. It's hard to say if here or The Village is worse. So far, his 'retirement' has been woefully disappointing. What he wouldn't give for a real vacation on his own terms.

"Talk to ghosts? Do you mean to say you ask them who killed them, and close the cases based on what they say?"

[woocas]

"Something like that, yeah." The whole truth at once is probably a lot to swallow, so Lucas decides it's best to ease into it. He shrugs and rubs the spot on his arm where regular skin meets afflicted. It's tingly in a not so fun way.

"But it's not admissible in court on its own. The bulk of it has to come from good old detective work, so sometimes this only helps in pointing them in a good direction. Like basically if the only evidence they had was one of my reports then you have no case." Again his shoulders scrunch up, "The ghosts in the mirrors though, they're not really up for talking..."

[be_seeing_you]

"You've anticipated my next question already. I did wonder how such a thing would play in a court system." That lends some credence to what Lucas is saying, he must admit.

"Does that hurt?" he asks, motioning to where Lucas is rubbing his skin.

[woocas]

"Oh, uh...nawh. It's just annoying. Ever have your foot fall asleep and get the tinglies?" Lucas looks down, inspecting his left hand before it flops against his side.

"I hope it goes away after awhile. I know there's an infirmary on board but I'm not sure there's anything that can be done about this. I think...it might be better if we try and warn people away. No one else needs to get hurt." Or worse. He didn't want to find out if dying onboard is really what everyone is saying it's like.

[be_seeing_you]

"I do know just what you mean." He's still fairly concerned on Lucas's behalf, even if he agrees that the infirmary here isn't likely to be of much help.

"If it doesn't go away, perhaps you should consult that faceless stewardess, Friday. She might have something useful she can tell you." Then again. She's been useless so far, so that might be asking too much.

"Short of knocking on every cabin door, I don't know how we will warn everyone. There's a mirror in the bathrooms between every cabin. None of them will be safe."

[woocas]

"I guess so...Gal doesn't give me the warm fuzzies, though." He pouts, looking in the general direction of where the drill was held. That was seriously not fun.

"It wouldn't hurt to go knocking, at least?" Lucas says this with some determination behind it. He'll go even if Peter decides not to join him.

[be_seeing_you]

"I don't particularly like her, either, but others on the ship have said she seems to possess some level of empathy for us, which is more than can be said of the Captain." By all accounts, the Captain seems to be a sadist hell-bent on tormenting them all regardless of age or any other factor.

He's seen that determines look before. Including in the mirror (when they work right.) "I suppose not. I have some doubts about how well we will be received, but I've never let that deter me before."

[woocas]

"Yeah, from what I'm gathering already the Captain is a real piece of work." This isn't going to be a cruise for fun, that's already sunk home.

Lucas sneaks a look at Peter, a flicker of amusement washes over his expression. Sounds like Peter's a stubborn kind of guy. "Here or back home?"

[be_seeing_you]

He meets that look with a teasing sort of twinkle in his light blue eyes. "I've been here less than a week. What kind of trouble do you expect me to have gotten into?"

[woocas]

"You're asking me, the trouble magnet?" Lucas shoots back with a laugh. "I'm sure you've found something by now."

The joking does help settle his nerves, his posture finally relaxes a few degrees. Picking a direction to go in, Lucas nods down the hallway at Peter. "So why not get into a little more trouble, for a good cause. Right?"

[be_seeing_you]

"Hm. You have a point." But he is absolutely not going to tell Lucas how many times he's gotten stuck in the elevators here. That's private.

"Now, just a moment. I'm only tagging along to make sure you don't get yourself into any more of it." That's his story and he's sticking to it. "For a good cause."

[woocas]

Failing to suppress a snort, Lucas roll his eyes, smiling. "Is this some kind of British trait that I don't know about?"

Miles pulls the same kind of line, now more than ever. Or he did, before Lucas woke up here. He tries not to let that thought drag him down, but Peter might notice the edges of his grin fade.

[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?

[woocas]

Continued in game!