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

[myagic]

You didn't see the jerk that did this, did you?

[She's still scowling, hands on her hips, as she turns to Yuri.]

Someone's good at hiding, apparently.

[vibing]

[ He skids to a stop by her, glancing around ]

Didn't see anyone. Weird thing to happen.

[ Super weird. But it did distract her, so... not back ]

Maybe I just tripped.

[myagic]

Even if you were that clumsy, we wouldn't both trip at the same time!

[She looks back to the hall they were just in--and sure enough, the carpet is bunched up where it was yanked forward.]

How did that sneak get away so quickly...?

[There's the sound of muffled footsteps behind them--did he hide somewhere else--so Rita spins around, ready to deck them, but...there's still nobody there.]

...Maybe it came from somewhere else...

[vibing]

[ This certainly is still distracting her, so Yuri decides: what the hell, why not play along? ]

Yeah, I think I heard him. Hey, guy, what the hell was that?

[ He raises his voice a bit, like it'll get whoever this is out of hiding.

...obviously it doesn't ]

Man, I tried.

[myagic]

[And now she does scowl at him, because she's still bothered by how calm he is about the entire damn situation.]

You could try putting some real effort in, you know!

[Not that...her efforts are getting them anywhere so far. There's no answer, no more footsteps...nothing. She can't stand just waiting around for something to happen, so she might just have to put this little hunt on hold for now.]

Hmph...that jerk can't hide forever.

[What were they doing, anyway...?]

[vibing]

He'll show his face someday, then we'll give him what's coming to him.

[ His sword, her fireballs. This ghost had better watch out.

What were they doing? Nothing important at all. Yuri glances around and his eyes land on an ice cream place. That seems about right for what he needs right now. He nods his head toward it. ]

Well, we're here. Might as well enjoy it.

[myagic]

[Ice cream would sound pretty good to Rita--usually. But this isn't usual.]

Are you...seriously gonna try it?

[Look, she was snarky about it before, but what if something really does happen to him? Estelle isn't here--for better and worse--to heal him if he does get poisoned or something.]

[vibing]

Why bring us here if they're gonna kill us right away?

[ That makes sense. Maybe. It seems like a lot of effort went into this place.

Yuri glances around the ice cream shop, but there's no one here, but it's also open. He riffles around in his pocket for some gald and drops it onto the counter before heading around the counter to scoop himself some ice cream. ]

You want one?

[myagic]

In case you've forgotten, there's some pretty sick people out there!

[Obviously he hasn't actually forgotten, but even if his reasoning makes some sense, she still doesn't like it--and why isn't there anyone actually attending this place?!

Rita glares at the ice cream for a long, long moment.]






...Two scoops.

[Look, she's not going to stand here and watch him eat it.]

[vibing]

Yeah, yeah.

[ He knows that pretty damn well, you don't have to remind him. But someone sick enough to poison ice cream? Only Flynn would do that.

He makes some executive choices about flavors and hands her a cone with a scoop of strawberry and a scoop of cookie dough. He gets himself a chocolate fudge and a mint chocolate chip.

He takes the first lick and nods with a little smile ]

Not bad.

[ But then, a moment later, he starts making choking noises, and grips the counter, sputtering like he's dying ]

[myagic]

[She approves of the flavours. Although she still thinks it's a weird time for ice cream, she might as well not let it melt, and she's about to take her own lick, but then-]

Hey! What's--was it seriously poisoned?! Dammit!

[Panic sets in (and she forgets that a poison shouldn't enter his system this fast), and she drops her own ice cream in favour of grabbing the front of his clothes and--damn, what she should do? Give him charcoal? She doesn't have any on hand.]

Hey, don't you dare die, you idiot!

[vibing]

[ He keeps the coughing and choking up for another minute, using it to over up his laughter, which is getting harder and harder to control. She threw her whole ice cream on the ground. He pats her shoulder with a rasping breath ]

Rita-- I didn't know you cared!

[ He's fully laughing now, and has somehow managed not to drop his own ice cream ]

[myagic]

[It takes a moment for her to process this change, and as that moment continues, her face gets more and more red.]

You...You idiot! Go and drop dead!

[And she throws a punch at his chest for being a jerk!]

[vibing]

[ The takes the punch with an oof, falling back against the counter, still laughing. Oh, man, he needed this. He needed to see her get so annoyed at him, and the concern didn't hurt either. ]

Aw, come on, Rita. You don't mean it.

[myagic]

[Of course she would probably actually cry if he did (that's the awful part of having friends, when suddenly they're gone and the absence hurts so much) but she is pointedly ignoring anything that might be in her eyes. It's just dust!!]

Sh-shut up!

[Face still beet-red, she snatches his ice cream and takes a big bite as her form of revenge (nevermind there's still an entire fridge full of huge tubs).

--And then she immediately gets brain freeze.]

Mm--!

[vibing]

[ He lets her have it. She did throw hers on the ground because of his joke, after all. His laughter peters out eventually, and he suddenly feels an intense wave of gratitude, smiling softly at her. He would be fine if he woke up her with no one else he knew. He would be fine. He's good at being alone (he isn't), he can make his own way in the world, but finding Rita here, getting to tease her, and, honestly, her getting that upset about the potential of him dying (definitely not telling her that, now), it makes him feel all warm.

He looks away with another soft laugh. ]

Don't eat it so fast, jeez.

[ He gets himself another one, tossing more gald on the counter. He does not, however, go to clean up the ice cream on the floor. ]

[myagic]

It--it's your fault!

[Somehow! She is going to be grumpy about this at least until she finishes this ice cream, and then maybe (almost certainly) she'll silently forgive him, because she isn't going to hold a grudge over a stupid joke like this (even if it does upset her after the all-too-recent pain they've gone through between Raven and Estelle.

The chill finally leaves her brain, and glances briefly at him getting another helping, before more slowly going back to his--now hers--cone.]

...Idiot.

[She'll get that in one more time.]

[vibing]

Yeah, yeah...

[ He eats his own ice cream now, silently. It feels like a real treat. Dead, and eating ice cream. Look at him now.

Casually, like it's a normal topic of conversation: ]

So, you got theories about this ship? How we got here? Because I got nothing.

[myagic]

[It's enough time for her to more or less calm down (the ice cream is good, which is almost annoying). Of course, she's been thinking all about the ship since they woke up here, though answers are hard to come by.

She lowers her cone and looks around them once more.]

I don't have enough information yet to know how it happened, but... This is no ordinary ship, that's for sure. I don't know the exact size, but it's obviously way bigger than any normal ship. It might even rival the Heracles. And it looks like the construction's all metal, too...

Whoever's behind this has a lot of money to throw around.

[vibing]

Right, but why? Why would they bring us here? You and me. I mean, what do they want with us?

[ He looks around the shop, the barren deck of the ship. It is weird, isn't it? Them two, not even Estelle or Ioder or Flynn. They would be worth something. Maybe Rita's worth something, but Yuri sure isn't.

But, again, he could be dead. Or this could be some kind of prison. Or if could all be random, he has no idea. ]

[myagic]

Beats me. Most of the people around here don't even look like they're from Zaphias...

[That reminds her, though--her last memories might be of Zaphias, but according to Yuri, they'd already left.]

By the way... What's the last thing you remember before this? You said Alexei...died--

[And it's still weird, yeah!]

--but how long ago was that?

[vibing]

[ Damn it, Rita. He doesn't want to outright lie, but he doesn't want to tell her the truth, either. ]

A couple minutes. He was crushed, then, bam, I woke up here.

[ A little lie of omission can't hurt her, right? ]

Glad that guy's gone. He was bad news.

[myagic]

Ohh...why the hell don't I get to remember blasting him?

[She huffs in irritation, takes another lick of ice cream, and shakes her head.]

It couldn't have been because he damaged the blastia, or else it wouldn't just be the two of us--and all those other people weren't even there.

Ugh, this is seriously annoying.

[If a chunk of her memories really are missing, who's to say that the same isn't true for Yuri? Not that something they can't remember is of any help...]

[vibing]

Dunno. Maybe the blast hurt your memory? [ He sure hopes not, and glances back at her with a little frown ]

I dunno if it's important, either. Getting you back home is more important. [ It's a little bit of a slip-- getting Rita back home, not both of them, because he can't. Right? He can't.

Back home from... wherever this is. ]

[myagic]

I think I'd notice if I had a concussion.

[Anyway, that--sure is a weird way to word things, and Rita frowns at him again.]

Unless you have some reason you wanna stay, shouldn't we both be getting home?