TEST DRIVE MEME #10

[sailmods]

a. that's where we both belong

[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.]

b. and there's plenty of that down by the sea

[it’s strange to think about, isn’t it? how all those new passengers, the ones grumbling or shouting their way through the forced muster drill, have absolutely no idea what happened just last month. no idea about the labyrinth. no concept of why anyone around them would be a bit more hesitant around shadows.

they’ll learn.

sometimes a shadow is darker than it’s supposed to be. very rarely does anything come of that; just a vague sense that someone is watching you, and little more. sometimes, though, the shadows move. sometimes they grab at your ankles as you walk. sometimes they give you a shove as you go down the stairs. sometimes they pull your hair, or pinch your arm.

sometimes you feel something sharp cut into your lower leg.

that’s not a shadow, though. that’s a fiddler crab. you see the crab, sometimes. the cut isn’t from its claws, which don’t look very intimating; it’s not a very large crab. the cut is from the large kitchen knife crudely taped onto its back. it’s probably fine. it's not chasing you. there isn't evil in its heart. probably.]

c. think I'll go back to the Keys

[one day, in the atrium, two pedestals suddenly appear. on each is a large button: one green, and one blue. pressing the blue button gives you a little treat, popping out of thin air next to you. pressing the green button sends a small electric shock through your body. weird, but, hey, pretty avoidable, right?

except, it seems to be spreading. to every other button on board.

in the elevator. on the soda machine. the arcade. your phone. the bell on Friday’s desk.]

Comments

[treadwater]

"Undine. It's been a while, so remind me your name, too?" Whether or not she actually remembers, Undine will never-ever-ever admit to aloud.

[treadwater]

"Nice jump. I'm Undine, by the way." Alright, she has a crab with a knife on her shoulder, and it's not Ody. That's a thing now!

She begins walking toward the Promenade, because that's where the coolest shit on the ship is.

[treadwater]

"Ummm...um, what do you mean by...by hosts?"

Clearly she's nowhere near at ease with that thought, taking a couple steps backwards and summoning a clear orb of water that bobs in the air above her hand.

[hadnoright]

Daisy shrugs a shoulder loosely. "Depends what you mean by 'running the show'. Captain's in charge. Friday does most of the important stuff. The ghosts just do what they're made to."

She could say 'I would know', but for all that Daisy did technically spend time as a ghost aboard this ship, she certainly wasn't aware of her soul being used for anything at the time. All she remembers it the sensation of being aware of Nothing.

Plus then she'd have to explain and that's just... a pain in the arse to do.

[thismaskismybadge]

"There's so many stories like that from home. Never a dull day in New York."

It's not just New York, some other places have their own heroes and villains, but New York is her home turf and frankly does seem to have a disproportionately high concentration of villains.

"Let's go with count of three. On three."

This reply put me in a pickle

[blindwatchersees]

"Of course." He follows along behind Johnny with the soft tap, tap, tap of his cane. It's a quality piece, polished ebony topped with a simple ball of either brushed brass or gold. Something about it absolutely exudes status.

"Now, would you be so kind as to tell me a little about this place I've found myself in?"

It's no big dill.

[businessorlibation]

"Of course. This is the Serena Eterna, something of a pocket reality in the shape of a cruise ship and the water for a few miles in each direction around it, created by a djinn known as The Captain. He runs the ship using the energy of ghosts--though we passengers have freed most of them--and the negative emotions that those of us here generate."

Well, that's more than a little, but Sheogorath has already displayed supernatural power. So, straight shooting it is. Johnny recognizes the status symbol that the cane is, and there's a moment where he almost considers the choice between deferential behavior and trying to act as Sheogorath's equal, just as high status. Ultimately, though, he picks a demeanor that's meant to so, so carefully thread the needle between those. Polite, without being a suck-up. Straight-spined, without reading as a challenge.

And it isn't as though he doesn't bear his own symbols of status. The scissors and corresponding thread may not be a Fork of Horripilation, but...

[yournewsidekick]

"Thanks! I'm Nimona," says the crab, and very politely does not punctuate that with another brandishing of the knife.

(You know what that is? Growth.)

"So you been here a while?"

[hate_gettin_older]

"Oh, that'd be fuckin weird," he says, in a tone that suggests maybe weird is fun. "Eyeball elbow."

[configuration_birdwatcher]

// No, but there are dead people here. Like Pratt. // You have experience with dying?

It might be easier to adjust if she does, but if she doesn't, the ship will catch her up.

quelle fromage

[hate_gettin_older]

She'll find someone new in the cheese shop, examining the assortment of gift baskets and shaking his head in bemusement.

[treadwater]

Undine watches for a few minutes before she clears her throat.

"Would you be willing to pass me that wheel of brie on the shelf to your left? I'm not sure I can reach it myself. I sort of want to do a baked brie, now that we have a kitchen."

[hate_gettin_older]

He glances down at her and grins. "Sure, since you asked so nice --" And he stretches up and across to reach for the shelf.

"This one?" and he points to his best guess at a brie.

[treadwater]

"Oh, no, the soft cheese with the white rind. And if you've never had it before, I think that's my cue to invite you to join me for it. I'm planning to pair it with fig jam, nuts and honey."

She points to the correct wheel, clearly enough to share.

[hate_gettin_older]

"Ah, got it --" and he shifts to grab the one she's pointing to, and hands it to her. "There you go. And tell you the truth, that sounds fantastic."

This girl definitely seems more Front than otherwise, but she's nice to a stranger and that counts for a lot.

[treadwater]

She grins easily. "Then c'mon. To the kitchens!"

And she does not walk, she almost seems to scamper her way to their destination.

[bubblegumheart]

Chrissy is quiet for a moment, and then she laughs sheepishly. "Yea, I was probably never going to guess that. But it's nice to meet you again, Undine! I'm Chrissy."

It seems only fair to introduce herself again since it's been such a long time. "How much do you remember?"

[bubblegumheart]

"That sounds so wild. I can't even imagine!"

Granted, she'd never been out of Indiana before coming here. The plan had always been to leave after graduation, and then things went completely sideways.

Chrissy nods, glancing down at the crab again. "One..."

[treadwater]

"All of it, for better or worse. But I know I've been out of the loop for a while. So if there's any gossip to share..." She takes a seat melodramatically. "...dish."

[bubblegumheart]

"Right..."

That hadn't technically been an invitation to tell the story now, but Chrissy figures that the least she can do is be polite. How bad can it be, really? And actually, the story sounds vaguely familiar. If she's heard it before, it's been a while. She's never really been a big fan of horror, so it might just be something she'd overheard at some point.

Either way, she's sure that she's never heard such a gleeful telling before. That has to count for something, right?

Sure enough, the story takes a creepy turn, and even if she's expecting it, the reality of it coupled with Nimona's sudden movement causes her to flinch. Maybe she should have been expecting something like that too. She's not mad about it, though, because it kind of reminds her of the stories her brother would come up with to try to scare her.

"Why was there a body inside the bed?"

[bubblegumheart]

"Oh gosh. I'm sure it's weird to be back after so long." She wasn't even aware that coming back with the memory of this place was a possibility until just now, not that she's really been keeping up with it.

"Let's see..." She's, regrettably, still not really in the habit of keeping up with all the gossip, but she doesn't want to leave Undine with nothing. "Oh, I know! Vance challenged the captain to a pinball game and won a prom for all of us," she announces finally.

[treadwater]

"I missed prom? That's so not fair. Though knowing my luck, I'd end up in a red dress again. For some reason, when we get assigned clothes for excursions or events, I usually end up in red."

[bubblegumheart]

"It was a lot of fun. I'm sorry you weren't here for it." There are a few people she wished had been able to be there for it, though she wouldn't have wished them back on the ship for it.

"Some people were able to pick their own outfits, I think." She and Vance hadn't been among them, but it had turned out alright. "Not a fan of the color red?"

[treadwater]

"If you had hair like mine, wouldn't you stick to blues?"

To fit the theme, of course. To fit the role someone else decided for her.

[bubblegumheart]

"I don't know. Maybe."

If she'd asked Chrissy that about a year ago, the answer would have been an immediate yes. She's good at keeping her head down and filling the role that someone else decided for her. She's also pretty tired of doing that.

"I like your hair. And I think you should wear whatever you want that makes you happy."