TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[sailmods]

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.]

Comments

[boutofthezombies]

"Oh France I know very well. I'm English - part of the UK?" he adds, in case there was any doubt. "But I can't say I know Armoria or Gallery."

[selenokinesis]

[While that isn't quite how Ebalon meant it this time around, the answer is yes, actually.]

A shift from something human into something nonhuman... such phenomena exist, of course, but they're quite rare. [The Scientific Babble has Activated.] The fact that you retained sentience through it is rarer still.

[Thoughtfully, he gazes off into the distance before inquiring,]

I don't imagine this phenomena has anything to do with Henir, does it? You show no obvious signs of His touch, though I reason asking does no harm.

[Unless it does, and then Robin can just not answer the question. He'll stop interrogating shortly, promise.]

[worthallthis]

His not-so-mystery rescuer grabs the chair next and swings it in a circle to clear any lingering ghosts. "You, too," he adds darkly as he sets it down again, well away from where Ravi landed. "Leave him alone."

[worthallthis]

"Didn't know it was your room," he growls low, not lowering the gun but, as noted, not firing. He's not going to lower it until she lowers hers. "I heard. Inside." He heard the stupid former target, is who he heard, but this person won't know who that is. No one knows who that is.

[techniques]

Well, first of all, "innocent bystander", it will help keep your aura from being appetizing to these spirits. Everyone knows that evil spirits are not interested in feasting on the souls of those that have too much salt clinging to them.

[Is this... actually true or is he just making shit up...]

Secondly, the fact that you even call yourself an "innocent bystander" just makes you seem suspicious rather than innocent--as such, it's imperative that I investigate whether or not you have anything to do with these spirits, hence the salt in that regard as well.

[worthallthis]

He's silent a long moment, continuing slowly down the stairs now, but finally shakes his head. There's no one. Why would there be anyone? He's a weapon. There's no need for such things, right?

His hand is still curled around the stress ball in his pocket.

"I don't remember much. But there were only techs. Handlers. Targets."

[sabigoe]

[ Fio lifts her gaze, mildly alarmed. And very nervous. For a moment, she studies the woman quietly. It surprises her that a person is speaking directly to her in a tone that isn't jeering at her. ]

N-no, I think I'm okay!

[ Was she asking about the life-vest? Awkwardly tugging at the edges of the vest to make sure it's properly secure. She doesn't know where this place is or questions too much about it, simply following instructions from the captain. It's already far better than where she used to be anyway. ]

Ms. Friday already made sure I did it right...

[boutofthezombies]

There's a frantic scramble from Ravi to get further back when the bloody Winter Soldier approaches him, and both arms fly up to cover his head when the chair gets lifted--

And put down very gently, a distance away, and Ravi dares to part his arms a bit and look up.

"...um." He looks around cautiously. "Whoooo are you talking to?"

[techniques]

"Okay"? That's it? [He sighs, rather dramatic] Geez kid, try to at least act a little more impressed. It's not like you meet a psychic every day, right?

[Why does he care so much about this?]

[selenokinesis]

[Well, all of that confirms to Ebalon that they are indeed trapped within some anomaly that just so happens to be taking place on a boat. Such phenomena do not exist where he comes from, though there are similarities between that which he knows and that which she explains. The smile that graces his features when he speaks is polite and curious all the same.]

Where I come from, the term "aer" would refer to the El. Each person is made up of raw El energy, as is the rest of the world at large, and our main elements include Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Sun, and the Moon, the latter of the list being my specialty in particular. Huhu... the El maintains life over all things, and should it become unbalanced at all, catastrophe would surely follow.

[He's leaving out bits and pieces there. That's the general gist of it, though.]

Blastia... such a device is unnecessary for Elrians, who have natural affinity for casting magic, though it sounds a bit like an arcane focus — a staff or wand, for example. That sort of thing would be useful for Debrians, people who cannot use magic in any way. When I was enrolled in Seven Tower, a mage's college of sorts, such devices were often manufactured by the students, though I don't believe any of them passed preliminary testing. Inventing is not quite my area of expertise either.

[But, hm, yes, that choker of hers certainly feels magical. The design is ingenious — something wearable and easy to carry, something more difficult to steal than say, a crystal ball or some other held object. Yes, the mages of Seven Tower would have clamored to have something like this.]

[techniques]

[Listen, Reigen loves free things too. But...]

Seriously? Please tell me that you are not truly this oblivious to how shady this whole thing is? Unless you somehow remember agreeing to get on this ship willingly, and not just suddenly woke up without warning for a so-called "free vacation" like some people here...

[Specifically, us, who definitely doesn't remember making any deals to go on a haunted cruise ship.]

[worthallthis]

If it helps, Ravi, he's not dressed in his HYDRA gear, but rather in something closer to what he wore in the post-credits scene, sans ballcap. This is not HYDRA's weapon-- not quite. "The ghosts," he says simply. "The ones who keep throwing things at you."

[selenokinesis]

[Ah, it is religious, as he thought — and a much more interesting phenomena than what religious texts where he comes from say, surely. As far as he's aware, neither Elria nor Ishmael nor any minor deities have such a thing.]

I would agree that recording history is an important thing, though I had never considered that the Gods themselves would have a copy of it, so to speak. Personally, I would very much enjoy reading all of that history...

...though, death does not interest me in the slightest, huhu.

[It's more fun to watch the world change before his very eyes, to commit the passage of time to memory and watch how people grow and adapt, how many wars they start or how many trials they overcome before the primordial chaos takes them all. Opposition is interesting to him. Simply reading about it doesn't evoke the same effect.]

It is a holy art of a type, then, being a scribe? You must feel honoured being chosen for such a role.

[learntoread]

Yes, absolutely! [ You activated her trap card: Talking about being a scribe! ]

My father was a scribe, and he taught me the value of this greatest of professions. The scribe gains knowledge and wisdom, and with it the power to change the world. By my work I close the distance between faraway friends and lovers, protect the poor from the greed of the corrupt, and immortalize the works of the great in stone. If everyone in Egypt could read, what a wondrous kingdom it could be!

[neverleave]

[He shrugs.]

A lot things on this ship don't happen every day. [Included getting on it.] So until someone finds a way out of here, I'm not getting worked up.

[withinhandsreach]

What is 'tai-chi'? [ she has priorities but learning was always to her benefit and she's not planning on stopping now. ]

Tunics are more comfortable to move about in, I'd imagine. [ Imagine only as women were forbidden from wearing them, not to mention you had to be a citizen, and she was a slave. Not even freemen were permitted to don a toga. ] Although, I have bittersweet memories of Tiberius when we first dressed him in his toga after he came of age. It was quite the ceremony and week even. My Dominus and Domina were so proud, as was I. [ Wait until she mentions preparing lunch for Julius Caeser! ]

They are impractical but so striking. Seeing a large group of men in white, trimmed with colors of their station - it was always a powerful image. [ And Marcus looked so beautiful in his. ]

this got lost, i'm sorry!

[withinhandsreach]

I've seen it a few times but never been upon it.

[ Kore smiles back, warm and welcoming. She's got a calm, motherly air about her. ]

I would be honored to be counted among them. Being alone makes a vulnerable target.

[nbrio]

Marsupials. Native to Australia. They were pretty easy to grab as t-t-test subjects. A bit more trouble than they were worth, apparently, ahaha.

[boutofthezombies]

"...right." He sounds just a little bit defeated, as he lowers his arms to rest an elbow on one knee. "Because along with being on a horrible cruise ship, it's literally haunted."

First zombies, now ghosts. What next, was there a vampire waiting in the wings?

2. messing with my mind was fun at the time

[withinhandsreach]

Kore had paused outside one doorway, before starting down the steps of the atrium. Her feet were bare, her hair was loose, her yellow dress was hanging neatly but giving how much skin it showed and how, she probably stuck out. Or else the net bag she'd made from stolen dinner napkins, on left intact, and others cut with a knife into strips and woven and knotted together to form the bag and strap hung over her shoulder and down, allowing her to easily slip her hand inside. Given it contained breads and fruits, it's clearly food taken from the buffet. Or perhaps the sheath tied to her bare arm, a large (stolen) steak knife tucked inside, the sheath also made with stolen and reworked dinner napkins stood out.

The woman on the other side of the stairs caught Kore's attention, enough for her shyly (slyly) look her over before she smiled warmly and inclined her head. The beads and boots the woman wore were interesting but she couldn't imagine a reason to wear squeaky boots.

[90secondsafter]

[Nell frowns a little and shakes her head.] I don't remember that one... [For her—mostly for player's sake—9/11 isn't quite at its 20 year anniversary. Then again, her world abruptly stops in 2018 anyway.]

You said this happened in New York?

[90secondsafter]

[She gives him a rather confused look, almost a hint of fear in it.]

Of course! [Kind of nervous chuckling here.] Luke, is something going on?

at least she's a cute ghost

[90secondsafter]

I think most of them are tucked away now for guest safety. [A sort of relieved look from Nell, she can recall that much about cruise ships.

It's a look that kind of gets kind of...haunted(?) as she gives her a weak smile.] They want us out of here, but is it off the ship? I have a feeling Friday is going to take offense if we try to make use of her life-jacket lessons right away.

[90secondsafter]

Doesn't make them any cuter but maybe they won't think we're talking about them if we refer to them that way.

[She's not quite sure that the ghosts can hear them, but you can't rule out anything either.

Nell nods and tucks some hair behind her ear, smiling as well.] Nell. Or, well...Eleanor. And no problem. Just hope I won't have to ask for the returned favor any time soon.

[neverreallyalone]

What? No. Nah.

[ It's clearly a lie, even if their bond didn't tell her as much, nerves twisting in his gut. She doesn't look dead, and she's not 6 again. There's no telling when she's from. ]

Just...you know. I've been a pretty shitty brother and I never really apologized.