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

[angelofthenight]

She is somehow even more confused. This really is... flirting. A human is flirting with her? OTHER humans might flirt with her?? What kind of hell has she been brought to?

"I have all the tools I need to handle it right here," she flexes her claws. "I'll rip their insolent throats out." (That probably isn't as helpful as she thinks it is.)

[brains_beef_and_brows]

"My deepest apologies for waking you up so early this morning. I just deeply value rules and regulations, and I find it highly important for everyone to know and understand proper safety procedures. Hopefully, if everyone follows what was said during the standup meeting, it can reduce unnecessary problems such as bottle necking at all the exists and causing more undue stress than what was originally called for." Tenya answered, trying his hardest to portray what a future Hero would look like during an impromptu interview. Calm. Precise. And what is the most important-confident.

[dupli_arms]

He can't even say that he's surprised that Tenya is getting right to business in trying to assess what there is to be done aboard the ship pertaining to their respective skillsets. He can certainly see where the other's speed would be less than ideal, though there is something to be said for being able to get from one end of the ship to the other in moments. The only ones faster would be those with actual teleportation.

"Some, yeah. I'm part of a group that patrols the ship for abnormalities and altercations between passengers, and then there are weekly meetings of the Fight Club that hone their skills against one another the same way we would at home, on a smaller scale." He has to wonder how Dedue and Dimitri might react to meeting Tenya, considering that he'd told the former about his friends at school, and he's learned that the two of them are from the same place.

[moonlesstides]

Grace offers her best Gentlemanly Bow (patent pending), without even sloshing the tea. She's practiced. ~You may call me Grace, chatterer Tenya. The tea I prefer is a black style from the lands of London, but this promises to bring calm, and it appears you are in need of such a gift.~

[saltwaterlungs]

"You don't have to be scared. You've made a bunch of dumb decisions already, you can make one more."

Darcy backs up, not letting her draw to close. His fighting style relies on his ability to move in and out quickly, he doesn't want to get caught too close.

Yeppers peppers

[millay]

Maeve nods. She can’t really say that she blames her. After everything else, it’s hard to forgive humans, hard not to hold them all accountable for the terrible things that have happened. “I hope that you will be able to find peace once you are finished with your revenge, then.”

[decohere]

"Well, it's complicated," Ava explains, getting a plate from the buffet and handing it out for Demona.

"It's a matter of survival at the present moment. So yes, I'll give up my fair share of emotional distress if that sustains existence. But I'm focused on finding a better solution where none of this is necessary. In the longterm," but she's stalled out on ideas at the moment. Doesn't know what the next step is meant to be.

She grabs her own plate, and goes straight for the seafood selection. "Because I don't think the Captain is particularly pleased with these circumstances either."

[astrogator]

It's true. She is very enthusiastic. Tayrey gives Garak a slightly sheepish look. 'It's not often that I get the opportunity to trade properly here,' she explains. 'A lot of people just... take what I give them as payment, and could just as soon do without it.' She shakes her head. 'There aren't many parts of my job I can still do here, but trade is one of them. Take your time, by all means.'

His words about Elim prompt a thoughtful look of her own. 'Nothing stays the same. Not unless you can pull a clever temporal trick with your return. Even so. Returning to a changed home is so very much better than never going home at all.'

Hadn't she already done that mental bargaining? She'd go home, even with lost time. Even if she was in trouble for disappearing. Even if she was so damaged she wasn't fit for the Tradelines any longer. Cardalek was better than this prison ship. Any damn colony along the lines was better than this prison ship.

wrap this one for something new this month?

[astrogator]

Ari nods. 'It sounds a little like a hub station, a little like a Company Tower. I think I can picture that well enough.' Her mental picture isn't remotely accurate, of course, but she's trying. She has the mood, even if not the details.

'Bustling,' she goes on to echo. 'Full of life. Of value. Of course you want to protect it. Of course you have to go back.'

It seems absolutely logical to her. Fever has her duty, as Ari has hers, and both involve the protection of those who need it. 'We both have an incentive, don't we? And that's why we'll find a way out - because this matters enough that giving up isn't an option.'

guil is so powerful

[blacksludgeaffair]

The sounds outside grow louder and louder until all at once their source is revealed. A monstrous winged thing throws itself through the Chatterbox entrance practically on all fours, all talons and teeth and inky black muscle, with a sword gripped in one hand. It bolts upright with a screech and launches itself between Darcy and Demona.



"Darcy!!"

holy shit HOLY SHIT

[angelofthenight]

Demona is in the middle of trying to formulate a snappy reply to that when...wait... is that sound getting louder?

Yes. Yes, it is.

Rapidly.

"WHAT?!" Demona cries as that beast barrels into the room and throws itself in her path. It could almost be a gargoyle. It isn't. But she doesn't know what it could be instead. Some kind of demon?

"What are you?" She demands, even as she's backing up a few paces.

[angelofthenight]

Demona reluctantly takes the plate, turning it over a few times as if checking to see if it's been laced with poison. She doesn't smell any danger, so she starts to pile pieces of meat onto it. Only meat.

"Isn't the Captain the one responsible for creating these circumstances in the first place? If it displeases him why does he persist?"

[saltwaterlungs]

The sudden rush of air and the clatter of claws and swords and teeth breezes by Darcy- having already stepped back- and the relief that washes over him is just too sweet.

"That's my da-aad," he sing-songs, suddenly vanishing from behind Venom to block Demona's exit behind her. He learned to fight as part of a pair, it all comes back to him- like a sheepdog moving with their shepherd.

"Now you fucked up."

[goodweather]

As Demona takes a few paces back, this hulking thing takes one step forward, but only one. For all of its terror—the rattling fangs that circle its collar, the blade-like wings that seem to shadow its entire half of the room—its stance is defensive. Only a fool would mistake this for weakness. Its loom is that of old Yocheved, of Clytemnestra, of Demeter and the cold and barren earth.

A dull orange light casts across it, flickering and guttering. The stark white “face” remains.

“We are Venom,” it hisses, every syllable falling like a gavel on the block. “Stand down.”

[angelofthenight]

"You're a spawn of that?" No wonder he's so rotten.

Demona catches herself about to back up again and forces her feet to stay planted in place instead. She will not be ordered!

"Not until I gain satisfaction. Your progeny attacked me in my sleep."

[saltwaterlungs]

"I taped paper pigeons to her while she was a statue. I apologised and tried to deescalate," he adds, over Demona's shoulder.

[decohere]

"Because we have nowhere safe to go," Ava responds, piling her plate with crab legs. "We're not meant to exist."

[blacksludgeaffair]

They take in the new information. It is not important in the moment, but it can be reviewed later. Even if he somehow deserved it, they would not allow Darcy to come to harm. They will not allow it.

"Touch him and we take our satisfaction from your hide." Their wings spread behind them in display. They are larger than her. Stronger. More.

[angelofthenight]

"Your apology isn't worth the air you breath!" She hisses over her shoulder at Darcy.

Demona has never backed down from a fight no matter how much larger her opponent is. She isn't about to learn her lesson now.

Her own wings flare out behind her with a leathery snap. "You can try to stop me." With that challenge issued, she turns to swipe directly at Darcy with her talons.

[angelofthenight]

"Not meant to exist? What a thing to say. No one is meant to exist or not, we simply do."

[decohere]

"Typically, yes," Ava agrees. "But our being here is... a violation of reality. We were removed from our timelines, and we cannot go back. The only reason we haven't been wiped out yet is... they can't locate us within this barrier." But outside of it? She has no idea how quickly they'd be identified and eliminated.

[saltwaterlungs]

Claws clang as they meet blade- if she didn't back down from being hurt that badly, there's no way a second opponent was going to force her to. Demona is evidently a bigger fish- stronger and more vicious than Darcy.

It's a good thing he learned the strength in teamwork early on.

"I don't even fucking breathe-"

So when Darcy retaliates, Demona might think it's aimed at her, but it's not. He's trying to trap a hand between his blades, leaving her open for Venom.

[goodweather]

Demona turns to swipe. Demona puts her back to it.

For over a year now, Darcy has taught Phil how to use a sword, and Erin for a little less; and how to fight with someone next to you, across from you. How to listen. The symbiote has been with Darcy, then with Phil, both with a weapon in hand.

If there is anybody who knows how to move as one, it’s them. It’s Venom.

In time and tandem, tongues of black webbing whip out from its shoulders, its elbows, its skin. They lash towards her to blind her eyes, cover her nose and mouth, bind her limbs; they try to anchor her to the ground where she stands as it lunges with Erin’s borrowed blade to the sinew connecting her wings, because oh, this is a creature that knows those muscles.

[weirdarchitecture]

"Ooo, drama," Helen teases with a snicker. "Yes, honestly, the ship in general has a lot of potential."

Clever places to tuck doors into the scenery like Easter eggs, strange and colorful locations to serve as set dressings for her tricks, existing trauma from encounters with things like her that can be exploited--- this is a buffet.

"Don't suppose you'd be willing to point your old pal Helen in the direction of any particularly tasty snacks? I'd owe you a favor."

[hadnoright]

"And let you have that in your back pocket? Risk people finding out? Even if I wanted to, there's no favour worth that." She snorts. "But I won't warn anyone. You can have the headstart."

Her head cocks ever so slightly to the side and the glint in her eye is very, very much not born of any part of her that may still be human.

"But if I find out you tried to feed on Erin Peters, Max Maximum, Karkat, or Johnny Summer? You won't have to worry about just any old arsehole being able to kill you. Just the old fashioned threat of a good Hunter." Her smile flashes just a little too much teeth. "We clear?"