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

"Perhaps," she says. "Or perhaps you haven't found any yet." She wouldn't have believed that she would have before either. She started a relationship with them by intimidating them instead of by doing anything else. But it changed over time.

But it probably doesn't really matter. Stories are different and she's seen both sides. Her own, Rich's, and hers after time. Demona is more like the version of her having just woken up with memories pouring in about what happened to her.

"I have sincere doubts that the Captain would allow anything that could actually harm him unless he chose it to be that way." She remembers the car race. She hadn't seen it up close and personal, but she'd heard the whispers. "We can do just about anything we wish otherwise. Except leave."

"He would be a fool to let his prisoners have any means to overthrow him, yes," Demona agrees. She can only hope this Captain of their actually is a fool.

"Anything? Kill? Steal? Set buildings alight?"

"He would be, yes." But sometimes people got tired of imprisoning people and set them free. She'd seen it before and if he was anything like Ford, he would find a way.

"We tend to keep killing to the excursions because dying has a price now. Everyone comes back all the same. It just takes three days now. There isn't much to steal. No money. I suppose people have personal belongings, but I don't really want most of those things. I guess you could try, but Friday doesn't approve of fire from what I've heard."

"Three days, and then they come back whole and intact?" This is useful information. It also explains why so few people seemed to fear the threat of violence here.

"Friday? Is that a person?"

"Yes. They do." As far as she knows. "It used to be overnight, but things changed some." After the Labyrinth.

"She is the woman without a face. She works for or with the Captain. I'd say for considering how often she seems to die."

"Changed? That's a drastic change, isn't it?" It's already concerning that anyone she kills here won't stay dead. Concerning and deeply disappointing.

"No face?" Demona rubs at her temple. "The more I learn of this place the less I like it."

"I suppose in a way, yes. I suppose given most wanted to release the ghosts trapped on this boat, things had to change, though. Less to power things." Which is fair. Everything deserves to be free. Everyone. Except perhaps William. She wouldn't mind him being locked up somewhere for eternity.

"It's an unusual thing, but it gets less so after time." There's a sigh. "This isn't much different from home except that you get a choice in fighting. It isn't thrust upon you over and over. But it is, of course, fair to feel however you feel. I have nothing to go back to, so this is my only real choice to keep living."

"I do not want to stay here long enough for such things to seem usual," she seethes. "If this situation is so much like your home, then I pity you. It's a shame this is your only choice. Perhaps, once I find a way to leave this ship, I will take you to my home instead. I could give you a position within my company."

"No one ever does." But there's little choice in this moment, is there? "I've been killed so many times, I could say I'd lost count, but I remember each time in detail, so I have a fairly accurate count." There's a smile. "This is the first time someone's offered to take me to their world. Mostly they want to destroy the people that harmed me in mine."

"Is that what you would prefer? To take revenge on those people?" She does not at all disapprove. "I would not take that from you if that is your desire."

"No. They are all dead now. There is nothing to avenge anymore. I am dead, too."

"Then it is over. But you are alive here. You surpassed them all. That merits a place in my clan."

"It is." But it isn't in a way, too. But it's easier to just agree that it is because there's nothing else and she's too tired to consider whether or not other humans could manage to repopulate the Earth and bring it back. "Thank you. I will consider the offer." A beat. "I do not need sleep and I'm good with a sword, so I'm sure I can be of some use regarding protection."

"You would be of very great use in that case. We gargoyles sleep as stone during daylight. It is not a choice but a fact that when the sun rises, we freeze in place wherever we may be. The humans knew this. They waited until we were asleep, and smashed my clan into rubble. If there had been someone trustworthy to guard us... perhaps I would not be so alone in the world."

Maeve considers that information before nodding. "I had a child once. I found a way to get her somewhere safe, so I understand wanting to protect those that matter to you. I am sorry you lost so much."

"Gargoyles raise our young as a clan. I lost many daughters and sons that day, as well as many brothers and sisters. It is why I cannot forgive what they have done. I will find a way to leave this place, and I will have my revenge. Until then, it is good to know I have allies such as you."

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.”

TEST DRIVE MEME #10

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okay to winds this one down?

Yeppers peppers