sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #10

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh yeah man, a few cycles back that was exactly what happened actually. He put out a general call to bring us all back together and everyone came that was able to."

"Yes. That's it exactly. It seems we are not so dissimilar after all."

He huffs a small (performative) sigh, then adds, "I've yet to have to call on my adoptees in such a way and I hope never to need to. Unfortunately, my own Sire has long since passed on so I am in no danger of having to heed his call."

Nevermind that he had unfortunately had to scrape one of his fellows off the shore of the island after he'd been so badly injured that he wasn't able to recover, yet not quite able to die. Waynes could take a hell of a lot of damage before they quit moving after all, occasionally to their detriment.

"As much as I think it'd be pretty rad to be able to call in some reinforcements...they probably wouldn't make it here. This place doesn't let signals out or in. So, for the better that you'd prefer not to anyway."

"Mm. I have noticed that these ship phones don't seem to be able to call out, or text outside the bounds. Are we all truly trapped here?" His lip curls with disdain. He can't quite keep his bruised ego from showing through. Someone really dares to kidnap him?

Wayne doesn't blame him for his frustration with the idea, really. None of them wanted this, even if for some it is a better alternative to what they were already going through. "From what I can tell, yeah. Pocket dimension existence is a bitch."

"I'm sure that if I were to vow that I will not stay trapped here, I will not be the first, nor the last. Let that stay unspoken then." Metaphorically, since he did just say it.

"You've been very accommodating for me so far. Is there nothing I can do to show my appreciate to you?"

Yeah, people are very determined in their idea of escape, to the point of deciding they want to kill the Captain even if it means the reality they're in blips right out of existence. Which seems bad, of you ask him.

"Nah man, don't even sweat it. It's ways weird for people when they first get here. At least you're not freaking out panicking about the whole muster thing. You know someone swing a sword at me?" It didn't hurt overly much, but that had been a weird start to his day.

"Did they?" He feigns being shocked, bringing a pale hand to his chest.

Yes, he just can't imagine what that feels like. (Looking at you, Erin.)

"Why would they do such a thing?"

He can tell when someone's being sarcastic at him, intentionally or otherwise, and he gets that impression here. He's not taking it to seriously, himself, so he pulls open the side of his jumpsuit to point out where Octavia had nailed him.

"Yeah dude, right there! Imagine The audacity." It's accompanied by a small laugh. He holds literally no ill will over it. He'd surprised her, after all. "Eh, she was armed and I scared her. Shit happens."

"I suppose it's bound to..."

He looks curiously at the spot on Wayne's chest. "Were you killed? Is that why there is no mark?"

"Nah, it takes more than that to kill me." He rubs the hand over that spot as if to show that it's totally fine, then shrugs and tucks his hands into his pockets, letting the jumpsuit fall closed. "Right, so, guys like me, we use food for healing. Repairs flesh wounds, broken bones, stuff like that. I can bring someone back from death if I need to, but with the situation here it hasn't really been necessary. So I've had the same burrito with me for a few months now."

"Oh, I see. That's very impressive." He has to fight the urge to mention how knowing Max must be useful for that. Mustn't give away the lie.

"My kind are rather durable, as well. Our blood has healing properties. If applied to another's wounds, it will heal them instantly leaving nary a scratch."

"Wild, man. Usually if I want that kind of treatment I gotta apply the actual meat, not just the stuff inside."

Wayne pauses and touches the back of his hand to Erik's arm, then points toward a corridor leading up to the pool decks. "Hey, I was gonna go hand at the pool. If you wanna, there's always some decent through-traffic there, it'd be a great place to meet some of the others. That, or the buffet. Always someone there or in the kitchen."

"Better that we both have a means than not," he answers. Humans? Well, they just hope for the best, don't they?

"Thank you. I may come join you after a while." He resists mentioning that he is most certainly going to make his next stop the kitchen. Don't want to look over eager. "You've been extremely pleasant company. But don't let me keep you now."

He offers his hand out to Wayne as he says, "It's been a distinct pleasure. Thank you very much for your help."

Wayne answers the offered hand with a firm shake. He's getting really good at this handshake business!

"Sure thing, it's been cool talking with you. You get bored later, come find me. I'm pretty easy to spot."

TEST DRIVE MEME #10

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*appreciation. gj me

x] no worries i figured that was what you meant

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and wrap?