sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

1. now it's fun to wake up in a strange chateau

[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! We're so glad to have you!

[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.]

2. messing with my mind was fun at the time

[freshly lei'd, your legs are forced to lead out onto the deck and towards your muster station. the same woman is there, carrying a clipboard. this time, she introduces herself as Gal Friday, the cruise director, before immediately going into the muster drill spiel. it is very boring, and you are not allowed to move, except when you are required to show you know how to put your life vest on. you could try to not do this, but Friday will move to stand in front of you very closely and just. look in your direction until such a time that you decide to do it. and I'm sure your fellow passengers want you to just get on with it, too.

but, once it ends? she reiterates her desire to welcome you aboard. and, then, you're free.

well, free to move about the ship at your own leisure, of course. which is a kind of free, and probably the best one you can hope for. you could try to escape, maybe, if you have the means to; Friday certainly won't be one to stop you. that's what the barrier is for, after all.

but, wouldn't you much rather have fun?

the buffet is full. the pool is open. the casino jingles and chimes.

welcome aboard.]

3. lots of mystery in the history of the devils I knew

[you were never alone.

a few days have passed since you first arrived on the Serena Eterna. perhaps you've made yourself a little routine, and settled in a bit. or maybe you haven't done that at all. either way, you're here, and it looks like somebody is pretty pissed off about it.

it starts small. sometimes nearby plates skid off tables, or a pool chair upends while you're walking next to it. and sometimes that chair is aimed right at your head. objects are moving with quickly increasing frequency, and a wide variety of styles: some are dropped, or pushed, and others and others are tossed, but a few of the items are thrown, with great force and odd accuracy. if Friday is around during the lighter moments, she simply titters and cleans up whatever mess is made. if a pot of soup sails off the buffet line and nearly drenches you in boiling minestrone, she simply walks away.

and then there's the voices. hundreds, maybe thousands, calling out. not all are intelligible English, but you seem to understand them anyway. some sound scared, or angry. some are screams, others whispers. some sound entirely strange, while others are achingly familiar. and they're all saying the same exact thing:

Get Out.]

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[ dimitri almost chokes on his tea, and it's only his ingrained sense of propriety that prevents it from actually happening. he winces at that information. ]

... that is a most unwelcome discovery for anyone.

Are you alright? [ ghosts didn't hurt him other than giving him a terrible surprise, it seems, but who knows. ]

I've never been on ship either ...

[ dimitri looks at him with a slight smile, and then his eyes flit towards the crowd for a moment. it seems most of them are in the same situation, having brought here with some difficulty and mystery that nobody really knows what to make of it. for himself, he knows for a fact that he's too busy to be here, but he tries not to let that bitterness and confusion overtake him. it's very easy to do that at this stage. ]

... Let alone one this modern. I did not know pleasure craft can be built at such a size. [ he frowns. ] It has almost all the amenities one would expect from a small town, and then some ... how interesting.

It...ended...?

[Her brows furrow in deep thought. No, the world didn't end yet, even if just yesterday it looked like it was about to. And that...weapon, or whatever it was, hadn't been activated yet.

Rita has gotten a sense that the people onboard are different--more different than a regular group of random strangers. But alternate worlds, parallel universes, time travel? That's all too philosophical for her. They have no bearing on reality. But all this seems real enough... (maybe she's just aersick after yesterday...?)

She could easily spend far too much time thinking it over, and over, and over, so it's probably a good thing that Clarke's question pulls her from her thoughts.]

Nothing as...final as that.

[She almost feels uncomfortable saying it. This girl was supposed to die? Rita makes a face to banish that thought.]

After I'd finished on that magic formula, it was already morning, so... There was something else I had to do and I was on my way to the city gate. And then it was like--I was just here. I woke up, like you.

It doesn't make much sense.

Those are...it must be magic! I don't see a formula, but-

[But she's learned by now that not everyone's magic requires a formula.]

I mean, levitation isn't complicated. You just need to apply the right amount of upward lift for the mass you're targeting-

[Yes, she's sort of launching into a magic science lecture here, but at least her confidence is returning?]

To be more precise, I was transported here. There's obviously no magic that actually turns a city into a boat.

[She says it like it's a fact--but doesn't dispute the existence of magic at all.]

Hmm...maybe...we're missing the memory of exactly what happened...

[Thinking out loud more than anything.]

[She makes a little huff that means Roxanne's right, but Rita is a little too stubborn to verbally acknowledge it.

And she makes a dubious face.]

Enough that a mass mysterious kidnapping out to the middle of nowhere doesn't even faze you?

[So on top of everything else, "magic" is real? Fine, why the hell not. Natsuno can roll with it.]

Look - [he cuts into the lecture] I don't know anything about magic formulas, but do we really need the technical details? If it is magic, shouldn't we figure out who's doing it and why? There are voices, too - that's not levitation.

He nods for the information, a useful note, and slowly moves a finger near the side of the glass until he can find the paper thing and hold it in place.

His sip is small and equally careful, but he savors the taste on his tongue a moment. He rests the glass back to the counter slowly and slides it in Johnny's direction. "That is...very sweet. Far sweeter than most things where I am from, to my knowledge. It is fruit-based yes? It smells of it, though I'm not familiar with the fruit in question."

Either way, not sure I'd trust that thing. It's Yuuki - [He pauses.] Could be Koide on the phone.

[He usually goes by his dad's last name, but official records has his mother's last name. Indeed, there is a "Natsuno Koide" there.]

[Pff. Roxanne can't help the slight grin.]

Do I look that calm? Good, I can still pull together a calm face then.

[Which is partially true, yes. Roxanne will just go off somewhere later alone, maybe once she can find a nice bath to sink into, and then have her very own personal quiet breakdown.

She's through taking off her life jacket and keeps hold of it as she talks.]

I've got some experience with the whole kidnapping thing. Not that it's ever great but you sort of get used to it. This is my first time being kidnapped by strangers though.

[And faceless ones at that.]

I'm not.

[ No matter how one took it. Even if yes, it was vague. ]

No. We traveled by horse, cart, on foot. I wasn't on the horse often but I know how. If we'd stayed in Sinuessa en Valle longer we might have taken a ship but...

[ We, ask in the household she belonged to. ]

Have you?

I doubt we have a choice in the matter. We are stuck here, after all.

Whatever danger there is present within this ship, that makes itself known in our conversations, we just have to be careful in what we say here - and hope that others would be more amenable to greeting in person for safety.

[ how does one scroll. dimitri frowns on the screen for a while until he realizes he has to use his finger to move down ... it takes a few tries. he's just glad it's sturdy. he can crush it very easily with his strength.

he reads the list, and then shows him the name - ] This one? Please confirm it for me, Yuuki.

Well--obviously!

[Even if he's right, she's a tad miffed that she was interrupted. But--fine, she supposes that's not the most important thing right now.]

If only there was a formula, it'd be easy to trace the source...

Anyway, whoever's doing it must be hiding nearby, so what are you waiting for?

[She points at him again. Clearly it's his job to start looking!

...Although the ghosts might be displeased about being ignored, since there's now several dozen sets of cutlery clattering together in midair.]

[Yet another person who just seems cool as a cucumber on the outside, huh? Although--that part is hardly as important as what she says next, and now Rita's dubious look turns downright incredulous.]

Are you telling me you're used to getting kidnapped? By people you do know? That's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard.

Hmm... I am somewhat unfamiliar with book binding. I believe the process entails, from start to finish, using glue to seal the pages together at the ends, and more glue from there to stick them to a cardboard or leather backing, depending...

[Ebalon trains off, unsure both of what goes into properly binding a book and what types of bindings she may be familiar with.]

Huhu, I imagine getting the leather for nicer books is more of an undertaking than the bindings are. May I ask how you typically see books bound?

[Because he's genuinely curious now!]

[ It's Friday's voice that finally pulls her out of her reverie, but she doesn't drag herself away from the railing until she fully processes what she's doing. ]

Oh. Oh no, no, no!

[ She rushes over and kneels down next to Friday, gently taking her hand and pulling it away from the cactus. She inspects it closely - part of her is curious if they've even pierced her flesh(?) at all. ]

You're telling me, I lived it!

[Roxanne blows out a breath and for the first time in this whole conversation actually looks a little exhausted.]

It went from every couple of months to at least once a week by the end. Before I knew it it was like "Ah is it that time already?" and I was planning my week around it like it was some kind of never ending errand.

[Then she shrugs a shoulder just a little.]

It's sort of water under the bridge now though.

[God she hopes it is anyhow. If he's a hero and still insists on kidnapping her she might just blow a gasket and give him that itemized bill she's been saving. He owes her a tremendous amount of lost shoes and ruined clothing.]

( clarke hadn't gotten that far in her plan, and pauses a moment to bite the inside of her cheek and try to figure out the logical next step. it doesn't take long to put her finger on the starting point, a method that hasn't failed her yet.

low, almost conspiratorially: )

Every ship has a captain. Someone here's in charge, so I just need to —

( but that's unfortunately time on their brief reprieve. the side-adventure of vomiting and finding towels and trying to get a jumpstart on insubordination is suddenly rudely interrupted by that compelling force on their legs, making to drag them further toward the amassed crowd of new arrivals and faceless welcome party. for a moment, clarke panics and tries to grab onto the railing.

magic and ghosts aren't her forte, and when in rome... fight the customs? however the saying doesn't go. she wouldn't have minded the company if john had tagged around in her shadow, but seems they don't get a say about that until after orientation. )

[If she didn't look so done with it all, Rita would write it all off as a terrible joke. As it is, she still isn't even sure she entirely believes it, but she's--for the moment--well and truly distracted from Friday.]

How does someone even get kidnapped that often? What are you, a fairy tale princess or something?

[The last bit isn't really serious, although Rita is friends with a very real princess.]

( ah, cruel fates.

someone's calling her name, and the morbid fact that all of her friends are lost — buried, barreling towards the edge of the atmosphere, or burning alive — wars with that kneejerk hope. the suspension of disbelief that maybe she's not entirely alone here, swimming in a sea of new faces and alien experiences. that maybe her mother has just rounded the corner, or bellamy's come in from out on the main deck, or raven and octavia woke up just a little after her and caught a second orientation. she'd even feel an undeniable wave of relief to see john murphy, echo, or emori magically appear in front of her. and running on that hope and the last vestiges of adrenaline, she's turning. eyes bright and actively seeking a familiar face.

only to be suddenly and aggressively hugged around the middle by a child. a strange child. when she looks closer, she'll be able to notice the distinctly grounder look to her clothes, but now she's just staring down at the top of madi's head, somehow more confused and alarmed than she'd been upon initially waking up in her cabin. )

I'm — ( not who you're looking for? but she knew her name. after the first wave of shock, she's gently but firmly prying the young girls arms from around her waist. putting a bit of space between them, enough to look at madi a little harder and... yup, nah, still coming up empty on memory. this may also be a prime time for madi to notice the blistering radiation burns across clarke's entire face. they'd been much better healed when she'd finally made it to the remnants of madi's village, but here they're painfully fresh. )

I'm sorry. Who are you?

( yeah, their worlds don't match up. that much is only reinforced by listening to the younger girls answer. but it's in line with the experiences of everyone else she's talked to thus far, and thus not surprising.

still, with a sharp nod and firm agreement: )

It doesn't make any sense.

( and then, there's that one word that grabs her attention above the rest. after a frustratingly circular one-on-one conversation with their faceless, one-woman welcome party, her initial plan to seek out whatever technology was at play here and mess around in the guts of its wiring until she could somehow figure out a way home was... suspended. pending further information, specifically on: )

Magic?

( not that friday is within clarke's circle of trust. but on the off chance she's telling the truth and it's magic that brought them all here, it might as well be best to learn as much as she can about it from someone more familiar. )

What sort of... magic formula were you making?

( preemptively sorry she's ~~magic-ist~~ uneducated and thinks all magic is the same, rita. )

[ Her reply is a little distracted as she flips back to the first page of the book she picked out of the pile. It must be quite the tale, if it fills all of these pages... ]

We don't have 'books' like this. Most writing is on papyrus scrolls, which are stored both in the libraries of the human world and the eternal library of the gods.

That's gallant, [ Giselle approves, though not without a hint of irony. By his own admission, John seems to be more adept at getting his partners into danger than out of it. But she sees no need to twist the knife by pointing that out. Besides, she's really no better.

Her fingers drum the bartop as she contemplates. ]

So that's ruled out. [ She tsks. ] Well, I'm glad for the warning; I don't think I'd take well to being laughed at under those circumstances. I am interested in getting to know our fellow passengers, however.

[ Giselle's lips twitch. ]

That would be unfortunate. Watch your back around anchors is my best advice, I suppose.

[ She trails two fingertips along the edge of the cart, contemplative. When she glances back to Eleanor's face, her expression is almost searching. ]

I'm wondering if they're warning us about something.

You think that someone was able to sneak up on us both, and everyone else here... and drag us onto this boat?

[ a moment as he processes this possibility... ]

That'd be pretty incredible! And a little scary too, especially if we can't remember how it happened.

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Page 39 of 102

TEST DRIVE MEME #1

devil.

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cries preemptively

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sudden manifestation of a little girl? sounds like more ghosts!!

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