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TEST DRIVE MEME #9
1. tidal waves out on the sea
[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 aboard! I'm so happy you could join us!
[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. I don't know where I'm-a gonna go
[something new has been set up at Friday’s desk. there’s a sign, but it’s not advertising the next excursion, or anything familiar like that. instead, it says, in big, bold letters, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS, with a large downward-facing arrow below it, pointing at what looks to be an empty tissue box with the word “COMPLAINTS” hastily etched onto it. there is a pile of small slips of paper and some pens next to it, and Friday cheerfully informs you that you can submit anything you like, no consequences! and it’s weird that she has to specify, but, also, she really does, doesn’t she?
and there aren’t any consequences! the Captain doesn’t come out of nowhere and dome you instantly for the slight. Friday doesn’t give you the cold shoulder or a rude remark. now, an unidentifiable voice does start reciting your complaint or suggestion, with your name attached, over the loudspeaker at full volume every 20 minutes or so. but, that’s debatable as a consequence. probably. maybe. not actually.]
3. pretty soon we learn to fly
[this was one of the suggestions. apparently. that’s what Friday will say if anyone asks her about it. and they probably will. because surely there has to be some sort of reason why the floor in windjammer is, currently, lava.
like. actual molten magma-type lava, flowing in sluggish rivers around the tables and booths, the sections of the buffet. so, maybe you decide to go eat at one of the many other fine dining establishments aboard today, or at least until the floor decides to stop being lava. or, maybe you decide that those dinosaur chicken nuggets are worth the risk of life and limb. and thus, you climb, clamber, jump, leap - a perilous and terrifying journey, knowing you are only one false step away from an agonizing death.
until you fall in. and then you realize that, no, this is not actually lava at all, for all it looks exactly like it. it’s actually barely room temperature, and strangely watery. you taste sweetened tomato paste. it’s not death, but maybe that would have been a little bit better.
no subject
I think it's important that people are allowed to maintain their own culture, and make the critical decisions about their own colony - country, in your case. Change needs to be through mutual agreement. [And fit within the founding Charter, and half a dozen other things that'll be irrelevant to him. She knows she can't map the problems of one sector neatly onto another, but that doesn't mean there are no similarities.] In my sector, we had old frontier worlds that were effectively a century or more removed from the newest technologies. [Time dilation effects, but she'll save that explanation for another time.] It did lead to difficulties on both sides.
But- [she waves a hand] -I'm not much for politics. You were in contract? You had an agreement that in exchange for the land, you'd fight for the group who gave it to you? That sounds fair, if it was agreed without coercion.
no subject
But then...my people really don't want to fight if we can help it. We merely wished to be left alone. The war belonged to the humans not us... Only we needed the land so we took their contract and I agreed to fight. I was just finishing up my end of things when I found myself here. I was looking forward to going about my own path again." Shiranui explained. There was a slight wistful look in his expression that was quickly replaced with a neuteral one.
"As much as I like a good fight....I'm tired of dealing with wars and being used as a tool for the humans because they think we're expandable."
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[He'll probably find more sympathy for his position on war from others here. Ari's take on it is that if you freely sign a contract agreeing to fight, you can't really blame the other party later. She does recognise, however, that fighting a war takes a toll on a person, however they got into it.]
I do hope your people find lasting peace, however it comes about. I'm sorry that you were brought here just when your life was set to change for the better. [Not that there's ever a good time to end up in a place like this.] But you aren't human? I thought Japan was populated by humans.
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"You're right in ways. Japan is mostly humans, but there's also demons. My people. We are actually everywhere on the Earth. The humans only are interested in us because of our strength, quick healing abilities, and longevity.
A lot of us have been mostly wiped out due to fighting the human wars...and fighting amongst ourselves. What you're seeing is my human form. We tend to use our human forms the most wanting to simply blend in and live our own lives."
no subject
[The young lieutenant's eyes widen in surprise. Nobunaga calls himself a demon king, but she knows it's all propaganda, using the religious beliefs of his enemies against them. Is he doing something similar? Trying to set himself apart from ordinary humans in some way? No, that isn't it. Longevity and healing. A human form.
She can't guess.]
Can you clarify? [It's politely asked.] On Cardalek we have no concept of demons. From what I understand, having talked to Earthers, most think of them as... part of a religious belief. Mythological. Are you simply another species, coexisting alongside them?
no subject
"I think with the different times and worlds....it might be the case that we don't exist there. But in my world we do."
no subject
I can guess, about the problems with coexistence. So far as I can see, the Earther religions seem to want to call your people evil. [She says it with disdain. Clearly she doesn't agree - the notion of an entire species being evil is ridiculous.
But this is becoming a heavy discussion.]
What I can tell you is that while this place has to be at least half-full of Earther humans, there are a lot of others, too. I don't think you'll be judged here for what you are.
no subject
"I've noticed. It's appreciative. I don't have to worry not that I really did in the past. But there were always people who wanted to hunt us down that I had to worry about.
I do want to ask are you part of Nobo's group, judging by the symbol you're wearing? He wanted to recruit me, but I haven't made a decision yet."
no subject
Oda? [Her hand reaches up to touch the little pin. She's careful in her formalities, but she knows that Nobunaga doesn't care a bit what others call him, even if Nobo is new.]
I am. While I'm here, until I find a way home. I'm his second-in-command. [There's a warmth in her voice when she speaks of him. She worries that it'll sound odd, like she's turned her back on her own people. She hasn't. She's still a Tradeliner, first and always - but she is the only one of her people here, and so her temporary arrangement with Oda works to benefit both of them.]
Can I ask what the factors are in your decision? Maybe I can answer any questions you have? I'll be honest. [The young lieutenant has done some recruiting for the Tradelines, back home.]
no subject
What does he want us to do under his name? I know at home....his name is frowned upon. I prefer to judge the person by their actions and not what I hear. What is he like as a leader? Has he accomplished anything since his arrival?"
Shiranui carefully questioned. "What can I do here? I'm mainly a fighter. I use martial arts and my gun. I'm not really a leader or someone who can delegate a situation."
no subject
He is like you in that he judges people on their actions. I think in Japan, it served his interests to be frowned on. To be a controversial figure. What I think he is, truly, is a man of strong passions. His priority is the welfare of his people - moreso than any commander I've ever known. His goal, his pledge to everyone who joins him, is that their life will be better with him than without him. He has accomplished that here. Made all of us stronger. He has signed contract with a god, and gained both a strong ally and... unusual abilities. He has helped keep peace between factions, and we have gained critical information. We are working on a way out. A scientific solution. It's slow work, but that's the nature of it, and isn't it infinitely preferable to giving up? He's clever, and he's flexible. He knows how to best take advantage of a situation.
[Ari tilts her head slightly.] It's easy to underestimate him because of his... eccentricities, but I can tell you that they don't diminish his capabilities at all. And I keep him steady. I focus on plans and practicalities and details, so if his metaphors and grand dreams are too much, you can always come to me for those. [That's her way of admitting she knows exactly how odd his behaviour is sometimes - almost childish. But it's fine. Manageable.]
We call it an army, but it isn't, in the conventional sense. We are a small group, and we rely upon each other. We share knowledge, we help one another train, we protect each other in times of danger - and there are plenty of those. A fighter will be welcome and valued. In a place like this, where we are torn away from everything we have ever known, having dependable people at your side matters. Allies. Friends. As I said, we all benefit - and it isn't coercive or overly controlling, because freedom is one of his highest values.
He is an idealist, but an idealist is what we need. He's a visionary. People thought it unrealistic that he could ever unite Japan, and didn't he prove them wrong? He gave me his word by contract that he will get me home to my people, and I believe him.
no subject
"I don't want to be a prisoner here no more then the others here. I'll enlist in the cause until I feel my job is done." Shiranui finally replied after given it a long thought.
no subject
[She speaks more softly.] It's the way of idealists, that if a cause matters enough, they'll die for it. I'm sorry that you lost your friends. [Ari thinks for a moment.] Did you hear yet that here, death isn't ordinarily permanent?
no subject
He gave a nod to her other statement. "Yes, I was informed. I find that weird. As for my friends... they died an honorable death."
no subject
That's all any of us can hope for, in the end - but even if it isn't permanent here, I'd caution against letting yourself die for frivolous reasons. Some people do that, here, and I really don't think it's good for them, mentally.
I'll leave the contractual arrangements to you and Oda, then. We train on most days - general fitness, unarmed combat, and weapons, between us - and you'd be welcome to join in with whatever you liked.
no subject
He gave a nod in regards to the contract. "Those are all things I do in my spare time. I can reach out to him and mention that I also talked with you."
no subject
And yes. Tell him that I recommend you and offered you contract. He'll sort out the rest. If you need me for anything, ever, I'm in cabin 159, right at the end of the corridor.
no subject