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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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He winces a bit in sympathy and nods.] Right... yeah. I know it's hard to let your guard down but I mean... at least I won't attack you. And I probably couldn't do any damage anyways.
[He kind of stares at the man for a moment before realizing what the silent request means.] Oh! Um, my name's Rich, by the way. Rich Goranski.
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[Trying to get him to let down his guard. Though he's going to study Rich from behind those sunglasses, search for where potential weapons could be stored and any signs that the young man might know hand-to-hand combat.]
Six.
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[He doesn't really have an argument against that... he knows he's been acting similarly, though without any fancy weapons to defend himself. Trust can be hard to give when you're used to everyone letting you down.]
Six, huh? I'm guessing that's like a codename or something?
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Something like that.
[He isn't sure what this place was, but his title may not necessarily apply here.]
You seem awfully calm for someone held against their will...assuming you also didn't sign up.
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[He shrugs.]
Not that I won't jump overboard first chance I get, but... you know. Plus I've got people I want to look out for here too. Should at least tell César first before I ditch our room and leave him with the bill.
[He's mostly joking, but on second thought, who does pay for the whole cruise thing?]
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[Even though he keeps his face neutral, Six knows that name. It's a common enough Hispanic name, of course, so it wasn't likely that it was the older Salazar brother. Still...]
A friend of yours?
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Yeah. He's my roommate. I didn't know him before I came here, but he helped me out when I got stuck here. He's like, late twenties, I think? He's a roboticist, but he doesn't talk about work that much. Not surprised, sounds like this Providence joint fuckin' sucked.
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A roboticist. Any particular specialties?
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...Why are you asking so much about him?
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[Not a lie. Just not the whole truth.]
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[Rich folds his arms, glaring a bit at the man now. He can't say for sure, but Six doesn't seem too happy about the idea of someone he knows being on the ship.]
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[Keeping his face nice and neutral.]
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[Rich is... decidedly less neutral, still glaring at the man, but at least he hasn't really threatened anything.]
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Not the best idea to pick a fight with everyone you come across.
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[He's still shifting back and forth on his feet, though, as if looking for an opportunity to deck the guy.]
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[And Six is going to take his own advice and start walking, intending to leave. This conversation is going nowhere though, apparently, César is here. Wonderful.]
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[Rich is, naturally, marching after him with the intent to catch up to him. This jerk might be talking about the same César. If that's the case, then he can't just let the guy leave without promising his safety.]
This is going well. :D;;;
Do yourself a favor, kid: Let it go and walk away.
[Every muscle is like a coiled spring on a hair trigger. He doesn't know what this kid is capable of, so he's on high alert in case of attack. And if the kid is very, very unlucky, he'll meet the fate the faceless woman barely dodged.]
welp. rip rich I guess!
No! Promise me you'll stay away from him! That's all you've got to do, so why won't you?
[He gets close enough then for a strike, and after pausing to see if Six will finally answer... he takes a swing.]
LOL At least this is an important lesson of not to mess with guys in green suits? XD;;;
[Six slips past the fist flying in his direction, bringing his free hand up to slam the heel of his palm directly into the kid's chin with enough force to slam his lower jaw into his upper one. Then he grips the kid by the throat, forcing him into the closest wall.]
[And that magna blade that he's had in hand the whole time? It comes to a stop mere millimeters away from the kid's right eye. (It took every bit of willpower he possessed not to let the blade slice through.)]
Don't. Do. That.
HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, RICH
He's dizzy enough that he doesn't struggle, and when he recovers his vision enough to see what's right in front of his face? He's practically holding his breath. He very well could be dead right now. He could have been murdered right here if Six hadn't pulled his punch back.
...And if that's what Six would do to a random kid, what would he do to César?
His breath comes out in a trembling exhale, and he squeezes his eyes shut as he tries to speak through the pressure on his throat.]
Then don't hurt him. And I won't do that.
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Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to let you go. Then we're both going to walk away in opposite directions. Because if you try that again, you might not be lucky a second time.
All right?
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[He tries to look far less terrified than he actually is, hands reaching up to grab the arm still holding him against the wall.]
I don't give a shit how lucky I am, but you're not taking César away from me.
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Because if they are the same César, I'm not sure what I'll do if we bump into each other. He took away something very important to me that I will never get back.
Now do the smart thing, kid: Take the deal and walk away.
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[He's already used to that. He's nearly died once before. Getting a couple extra months in was great, if he can't be revived. At least he got what he had been missing for a little while.
He smirks at the man holding his life in his hands, defiant as ever to orders.]
I've never been the smartest. Or all that good at walking away. You stay away from him, and I'll walk. But until then? You're not getting rid of me.
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