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

[winepouring]

[ If only Shi Qingxuan knew that Rita also just liked using magic, then maybe he wouldn't feel so guilty! As it is, he answers very seriously: ]

Let me get you something new, to replace the clothes I made a mess of. It's the least I can do for you.

[ Yes. ]

[myagic]

...Huh?

[She blinks in confusion. Really...? Clothes don't need to be replaced just because they get windblown... What the heck is this guy?!]

...You know everything on the ship is free, right?

[winepouring]

[ Well...

...no, because he hasn't tried yet. As evidenced by his lack of new clothing. ]

Then how should I make it up to you? [ Wait, a thought! ] Oh! How about I find a hairpin for you? You can't buy one, so I'll find one another way.

[myagic]

[Oh, right, not every newcomer goes as long without not being a heathen changing their outfit...

She crosses her arms and raises a skeptical eyebrow.]

Another way? Unless you plan on pulling it out of that game, I don't see where else you plan on getting one.

[winepouring]

I'll get it out of that game. [ He even declares it! ] I only had one chance to get it, so I'll definitely succeed in the future. I just haven't gotten time to practice.

[ These are Shi Qingxuan's famous last words...but at least he looks confident? ]

[myagic]

Hmph...well, if you're so confident, then have at it.

[She shrugs. She's not going to watch him try, but if he's determined to go for it on his own time... Maybe she'll poke at him some more.]

[winepouring]

I will. [ He claps his hands together! ] Just wait, you'll have that hairpin of yours, and I'll have gotten the trick of that machine.

[ He doesn't expect her to watch him try, both after her patience expired last time and because few people would be entertained watched someone go through trial and error (and error and error and error...) ]