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

[fortify]

Let us head to the bar near the pool. I believe that is the closest location where we can acquire ice. [ The other's cheerfulness is quite a breath of fresh air, considering practically every person he has encountered has been in a(n understandably) foul mood. Zhongli smiles appreciatingly over the teenager's concern and then his subsequent gratefulness for being assisted. ]

You are most welcome. It is true this is certainly not a situation one would expect to encounter. Even now being aware that it is quite possible ... one cannot go around terrified of every step they take in this place. We will simply have to do our best and look after one another, when possible.

[ that doesn't make any of this less concerning, though. ]

Oh... I did not properly introduce myself. My name is Zhongli.

[ he'll start walking to lead the other in a direction, but will wait for the other to come alongside him so that they may go together. ]

[sweetsong]

The bar near the pool... oh! Yeah, I remember that. They had all kinds of drinks with umbrellas in them.

[ but he didn't partake. no, he's not of drinking age where he's from, and he certainly would NOT break that law. even if he'll never appear anything older for the rest of his existence! ]

I'm not terrified. Just surprised, is all. [ the smile on his face is a little more confident with the reassurance that if the worst thing possible is having something thrown in his direction, he can maybe defend himself the next time it happens.

but having zhongli here... he probably doesn't have to do that. ]

Zhongli-san. Thank you again. [ a slight bow as he follows after! ] Can I ask where you learned how to kick so hard?

[fortify]

[ perhaps they can get him one that has no alcohol if he likes the look of the drinks, regardless. As for his question about his kicking, Zhongli chuckles. ] It is a part of my martial arts training. When I was younger, I trained quite often and my master was very strict on form. I had to learn to be quite precise with my feet involving much heavier items. It is less about the force behind the kick and moreso where you make contact with what you are kicking. Even if you are not particularly strong physically, you could still kick quite effectively.

[ once they arrive at the pool bar, Zhongli looks around but doesn't see anyone around so he will move behind to where all the drink making supplies are and find the ice freezer. From there he searches for a dry and clean cloth they can wrap the ice in. ] Are you familiar with these drinks provided? They are quite colorful. [ they look nice, and Zhongli had never really seen such fantastic vibrant colors in such verity in drinks before. ] ... Although I imagine you are a bit young to have tasted them. Perhaps you have without alcohol, however?

[sweetsong]

... so you're saying you practiced kicking mops and buckets all the time?

[ that's what he's getting from zhongli at this point, and robin is more amazed by the specificity of the training and not necessarily the rest of it. then again, if that's what you encounter the most of, then that's what you should be good at kicking. right? right. what an expert this man is!

as he peers at those drinks, they appear to be set out buffet-style, as if it's expected for people to come by and just snag whatever they want. that's kind of a bad way to serve alcohol; what if a minor comes by and just chugs a bunch???

thankfully robin wouldn't do this. also, he has a chaperone. ]

No, but they look really cute! They look sweet. But maybe you could take a sip of each and tell me which ones are safe...?