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

[Let's please not talk about curses and hauntings!! Even if....she's getting hard-pressed to continue being in denial over the haunted ship...

She watches him warily, looking down at his sleeves--oh no, the head's totally in there, isn't it--but then he's...being surprisingly thoughtful about it...even if it just makes him look like a different type of weirdo.]

Attended to... You're going to give a funeral to that thing? It's--probably not even real, you know!

[Which could be possible...or maybe it's just her being in denial... A little of column A, a little of column B...]

If it's not real, then that's even better!

[ He claps his hands as if to banish the earlier mood. ]

An actual human head would be too macabre to use as a game prize. Would you want to keep it for yourself if it was a fake?

[ ...Yes, he was going to cleanse it and give it a funeral. No need to say it! ]

[She shakes her head and grimaces, not quite as ready to give up the topic.]

Of course not, but--it's exactly the kind of sick prize the captain would put in there. Real or not.

[Oh, that's right--she finally remembers that he's new to the ship.]

Oh, since you may not have heard--that guy basically gets off on our misery, or something to that effect.

[ Young miss, do you want to forget about the obviously scary thing or not?! Maybe he isn't giving her the proper consideration, though; she has been here longer than him by some stretch, and who knows what kinds of things she's been through here. Shi Qingxuan holds his arms into his sleeves again and relents. ]

I admit, you're more experienced in the ways of this ship than I am.

[ For all the other experiences Shi Qingxuan has. There are already clearly malicious beings on board - directed by a Captain or not - and Shi Qingxuan hasn't been here even a week yet to know that. While there's plenty he can reason out, it's not right to dismiss someone with more firsthand experience. ]

What would you suggest be done with this? Whether it's real or not, you can't just plan to leave it in that little drawer?

[Sometimes...one can be their own worst enemy...though Rita isn't having that kind of self-awareness right now.

Although she's still shooting his sleeves nervous glances, she looks back over at the claw machine.]

Well...no, but...

[Ugh...she hates the creepy little thing, but even she's not heartless enough to completely ignore it...if it's real.]

F-fine, let's get it over with! I can use fire magic, so how's that?

[ Well that's...not his first choice...and his face pinches in thought, head tilting, as he weighs his own experience versus Rita's. ]

Is fire the way you usually handle the dead here...?

[ The ways of this cursed and terrible realm certainly are violent. ]

[She figures it'd be quick and easy (not that she has any experience with cremation, of all things), but his question...prompts a different sort of frown to cross her face, and she crosses her arms.]

There's no usual way...because nobody stays dead here. If you die, you just wake up the next day.

Oh.

[ Shi Qingxuan blinks, and thankfully he doesn't try to take the shrunken head out of his sleeve to examine it again. ]

Even someone in this state might come back to life after a day??

[ This...makes things more concerning, really. The wheels in his head are spinning as he considers this...

It's successfully distracted him from inquiring further on the matter of final rites. ]

[Thankfully!! Even if it's probably not real, Rita isn't exactly eager to see it again.]

L-like I said...it's probably just fake.

[More importantly, though...]

But when you wake up, any injuries and stuff are gone. So...I guess you'd come back normally, even if that happened to you.

I see...

[ So it either isn't real, or it will spring back to life tomorrow. The mental image of this head growing into a full, living person the next day while crammed into that tiny machine flashes through Shi Qingxuan's mind briefly, and he's almost grateful he could catch the little thing, if by accident. ]

Still, there's something that bothers me...

[ He starts, then stops, considering his company again. It's a little hard to reconcile talking about such morbid things with such a young maiden... Or maybe it's less her age and more the fact she screamed in fright right beside his ear not ten minutes ago.

In the end, he chooses to shelve the other thought for now. ]

Miss, we still haven't won your lucky hair pin!

[Too bad she didn't quite get around to details like the fact they always wake up in their cabin beds, huh... (Unfortunately, he'll probably find that out eventually, though.)

Rita blinks, distracted from his unfinished train of thought when he brings up the pin again.]

Oh--that's right.

[She turns back to the claw machine, looking for the pin--there it is, same spot as before.]

...Maybe I should just bust it open...

[ Yep, morbid thoughts go away!!

But, uh.

Shi Qingxuan tilts his head in question. ]

If this captain is as sadistic as you say, won't he punish you for breaking into a machine? You've been practicing for so long, so maybe this will be your winning hand.

[That's actually not a bad question, but Rita just shrugs.]

Even if you'd think that, his magic just fixes everything. You can break anything on the ship, and it'll just repair itself the moment you look away.

Besides...I need to get some revenge on this stupid thing...

[For all the time she spent...and for scaring them with that shrivelled head! Rita starts casting an earth spell, a bronze magic circle appearing at her feet.]

Revenge? On a game?? How is this something to carry out revenge on??

[ Young Miss Mordio, aren't you acting petty now?? Is there any use trying to stop her when she's already started something? Shi Qingxuan isn't foolish enough to get caught up in whatever is going on, so he takes a few steps back to observe.

As anxious as he feels, he isn't sure if intervening is the right call either when she already has some spell activating at her feet.

Well, he resolves himself, if things get bad, he'll jump in and protect her! ]

How is it not?

[The wittiest of comebacks...before Rita completes her totally-not-petty revenge spell.]

Stalagmite!

[--And a pillar of rock violently erupts from the floor, smashing through the claw machine. The whole thing flies into the ceiling, before falling back to the floor on its side with a resounding crash, and the case shatters open, letting the assorted prizes spill across the floor.

Ah...now that felt great!]

[ Well... Rita is young, so this level of impulsiveness is maybe expected. Shi Qingxuan watches expectantly, eyes flying up along with the machine is thrust into the air by a pillar of rock that's impossible find on this ship.

Then, before he can consider it more, the entire thing falls apart.

Sparks of electricity fizzle along the broken machine, sparking embers in the fluffier prizes that hadn't tumbled out of the machine, and the floor becomes littered with more prizes than Shi Qingxuan thought that thing could hold. In the chaos, various smaller capsules roll under other machines.

Rather than elated, Shi Qingxuan rubs the space between his brow.

How is this going to be okay?! Who would be so carefree to simply laugh off this level of destruction?! ]

Miss, have you done this kind of thing before??

[ While he screams on the inside and frets on the outside, he can't even begin to question the finer points of what Rita has accomplished. ]

Hm? Yeah, of course.

[She glances back at him, wondering why he looks so exasperated--she did just explain that it'll all fix itself, so what's there to be worried about? Well, she hasn't destroyed any of the games here before...but it should follow the same rules.

Although...

...There were a lot more prizes than she thought...and now they're all over the place, with no obvious sign of where the kitty hairpin capsule ended up. (Maybe she didn't really think it through? ...Nah, that couldn't be it!!)]

Hm...I should've told you to keep a close eye on it...

[ 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...

[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.]

[ Shi Qingxuan definitely does not quarrel with children, but!! How rude!! He feels a little put upon here now!!

Shi Qingxuan's face isn't good hearing that insult, expression pinched and annoyed, but he soon sighs through his nose and dismisses the whole thing. Well, whatever, she might be rude, but it isn't as though helping her find a lost hairpin is the worst. ]

It won't take long. Why don't you check the capsules that rolled by the other games? You're smaller than I am; you can check under them more easily.

[ And he can sort through the big pile that has more potential for creepy and unsettling things... ]

[One day, he needs to ask her if she has any idea why she doesn't have more friends on the boat... And at this rate, he's just encouraging her to bully him more...]

Hmm...just don't hurt yourself; it looked like there might've been real weapons in there.

[Just throwing that out there as if he's the one most likely to get hurt doing something reckless! And she'll get down on the floor to check under one of the other machines.]

[ Shi Qingxuan was already starting to piece through the wreckage of the machine, pulling away glass and twisted metal to start sorting through the prizes themselves. No, he doesn't know what a machine gun is, but it is rather cumbersome to add to the scrap heap. When she starts talking...

What in the world. Is she a kid or an auntie here?? This is too much!! ]

I say, Rita, you don't need to fret after me like a little child? Aren't you still young to be worrying over someone like me? [ Quarreling doesn't include teasing! ] You sound like my older brother!

[ Oh, there's that shriveled hand from earlier under the pinball machine! Now with something clutched in its fist...? (Was it forming a fist before?) ]

Hey, I'm not fretting, okay?!

[She's just...making sure!! She huffs at him and then looks back under the pinball machine--]

Ah-!

[She starts and leans back--that stupid gross hand!! But...why does it look different now...?

...Not that she's scared, but...if this guy is fine with putting a whole gross head in his sleeve...]

Hey, come over and grab this thing. Your arms are longer.

[ His teasing was successful!

He doesn't even get to enjoy that small victory, though, because immediately afterwards, she yelps again! ]

Did you find it already?

[ Was that a happy yelp?? No, definitely not... But Shi Qingxuan goes over anyway, crouching beside Rita and staring under the machine.

Is that...?

He frowns. ]

Do you think this one has it in its hand...?

[ He doesn't really...want to collect body parts... His pale face says as much. But even so, he does need to grab it...

First! He turns to look at Rita again. ] Okay, I'll take this one! You can look at the other capsules, then?

[ ...So the young miss doesn't have nightmares about floating heads and severed hands. Go, look away! ]

Not exactly...

[It looks like it's holding something, though, as he points out. They should...probably check to make sure it's not the capsule she was going for. Well, at least she can leave him to deal with it!

...But when she looks at him to answer...his complexion says he might not be perfectly okay with it.

...Eh, whatever! Surely it's not going to hurt him, and it's not like he's protesting! Rita nods like this isn't a nice convenient excuse.]

Okay, I'll look for others in case that's not the one. Since you've got that handled and all.

[He'll be perfectly fine, right? Rita will just move along to check some of the capsules that are up against the wall...]

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