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

Undine Wells | Sleepless Domain

[treadwater]

1. I Wake Up to Beat the Sun From Her Glory
After the muster drill, Undine seems to be searching for familiar faces. A girl with unnaturally bright blue hair and eyes, she's dressed in a schoolgirl uniform, a canvas bag slung over one shoulder.

"Are...where are we?" Sheepish, uncertain, but enough not-shy in her to approach a stranger and start asking the questions no one has an answer to.

2. There's Only Once Chance Left and I Know What I'll Do With It
When it comes to exploring the ship, Undine's definitely all over the place. Find her:
- At any of the eateries, especially places like Scoops or Sand Dollars where she can satisfy her sweet tooth.
- Enjoying the arcade at Playback, where she seems a dab hand at air hockey and a fan of any game that involves beating up monsters. (House of the Dead, anyone?)
- In the pool, in a swimsuit purchased on ship. Clearly, she's very comfortable in the water! It is, quite literally, her element.
- On the sports deck in her magical girl form, tossing tennis balls and hitting them with small blorbles of water. Yes, she'd love a volunteer to toss the targets for her. That would be much easier!

3. It's Always Punch In, Punch Out
Undine is, at least, familiar with monsters and fighting them. In a shimmer of light and water, she transforms into her magical girl form when things start flying about the dining room, announcing "Alchemical Water!" at the end of the transformations sequence.

And then she bounds into action, making a wall of water between herself (and anyone else around) and the direction things are being thrown from. Despite only being a teenager, it's clear she knows what to do in a crisis: protect civilians, first. Then deal with...well, she doesn't really know how to deal with ghosts. They're invisible, unlike her foes back home.

"Are you alright?" At least she can make sure no one's hurt.

X. Go to Work and Go Back Home
Wildcard option! darkersolstice#9463 or darkersolstice to discuss anything you'd like.

3 because hilarity

[pineapplesalmon]

César had, over the course of time, been starting to come up with some hypotheses for how things could be happening around the ship. The idea of nanites being responsible for at least part of this proposed by Clarke made the most sense. But then this happens.

He's unable to respond to the question, staring as large cracks run through all his half-formed hypotheses. Nanites aren't necessary. Complete control of the physical universe isn't necessary. Magic is likely real. ¿Qué chingados? What the fuck?

"... Magical girls are real?" Sounds like he's okay, but he's having a moment as his whole worldview changes.

[treadwater]

"Yes, we're real! Now stay behind me so I can protect you!" She has masterful control of her water, and clearly is used to dangerous situations--there's absolutely no hesitation in telling a grown-ass adult to let her do the heavy lifting here.

It's different, when she's Alchemical Water. A lot of her shyness melts away. Her conflict aversion. She's doing what she was born to do, what she was chosen for. She's a hero, in moments like this.

[pineapplesalmon]

A switch flips—not dying is a priority for a ton of reason, and César nods, keeping himself low and behind her. He's been in situations like this before. You stay behind the one with the superpowers when it's this dangerous. Until they need help.

"Understood!"

[treadwater]

She's able to keep the wall of water up until the ghost's temper tantrum subsides--maybe it gets bored, maybe it wears out its anger. Either way, the wall of water dissipates, without even a puddle on the floor.

Alchemical Water turns to look at César. "You're not hurt, right?"

[pineapplesalmon]

César shakes his head, slowly standing while glancing around. "No, thanks to you. Hitting the deck is a skill I've perfected back home. One that I seem to still need here." A bit of a smile. "The only thing hurting is my head."

[treadwater]

"Oh, good." Glancing around for any more danger, she drops back into the form of a mild-mannered schoolgirl. The pink glow in her pupils diminishes, but there's still definitely an uncanny saturation to the blue of her eyes and hair.

"I hope I didn't scare you too much. I know people here come from all kinds of different worlds, and some might not have magical girls."

[pineapplesalmon]

Don't worry, he's genre savvy. No one has normal hair in anime, especially not magical girl anime. He'll just. Go with the flow.

"Oh, no, you didn't scare me at all!" César laughs a bit. "More like destroyed the half-dozen hypotheses for how our captors could be doing everything. My brother's the closest thing we have to a magical, ah, boy back home—" César really hopes Rex doesn't show up now, because he might legitimately kill him "—and I've seen the concept in... popular media back home."

He pauses for a moment, then has to rub his goatee in thought. "Rex might actually count, come to think of it...."

[treadwater]

"Really? Back home, boys can't be magical girls at all, they can't have the Dream. How is he like one of us?"

She's startled by the very idea, looking up at César with mild awe.

[pineapplesalmon]

Yeah, he's a little startled himself. He's pretty certain that Rex has no magic involved with his evolution, but it won't hurt to learn more about her system anyway.

"His abilities were granted through technology. No magic involved. ... I think." César drops his hand from his face to gesture with his open palm just around his stomach instead. "What is this 'Dream' you speak of?"

2

[abys_keeper]

This pool is occupied, he is a little nervous and keeps himself in the deepest corner of the strange water. He sees the shadow and feels the shift, tastes the new presence and opens his eyes to see small tendrils leading to the strange flat fins that humans walk on. It is a human pylop perhaps, or a young medusa just detached from their anchor to flicker in the dark.

He hums, the deep song, the ancient song, wondering if it will be able to hear it.

[treadwater]

Here's the thing about Undine Wells: she is connected to the element of water in a way very few humans are. When in her other form, she can sense the presence of monsters on foggy nights, because fog is water thick in the air.

She's not quite as powerful like this, though. But she feels, as much as hears, the song of the depths, glancing down into the chlorinated depths uncertainly. "Is...is something there?"

[abys_keeper]

He smiles and the light flickers under his translucent skin. He rises up from the water a bit remembering she won't be able to hear him so he just peaks his head above water to watch her.

"Hello... I'm here. Don't be afraid, though I won't eat you-- even if you seem very tasty."

[treadwater]

She swims quickly away from him, clearly startled. "Don't...don't eat anyone on this ship! Please, that'd be real bad and I don't want to have to fight you or anything."

[abys_keeper]

"I'll ask them first." He frowns. "If someone wants to be eaten then it's okay." After all they wouldn't say yes.

He sinks further into the water, blinking at her over it.

"Don't fight me."

[treadwater]

"No one wants to be eaten! Okay? Don't kill people, that's mean!"

She blinks back at him, clearly upset by the idea of cannibalism taking place here, even with consent.

[abys_keeper]

"Someone wants to be eaten somewhere. You don't know they don't. The world is full of tasty humans and maybe one of them wouldn't mind. But I won't if they say no." It's simple. Not even Aby would argue with that.

"They are very nutritious I think."

[treadwater]

"Nutritious or not--it's not okay. Humans are people." She looks more thoughtfully at the see-through guy. "What...what even are you?"

[abys_keeper]

"Fish are fish, turtles are turtles, crabs are evil... Even if they don't sing the song you understand life is the same all around." He rises a little further and wriggles some tendrils out of the water.

"I'm a merjelly from the crushing darkness, where the lights shine and the bloom dances on the deep currents. And you?"

2 finally i gotta tag her

[wimdy]

Also at the arcade is... a boy who looks a bit older than Undine, maybe a little taller than her, but not by much. Just about as close as a fellow teenager on the ship as can be, clearly. But the way he's dressed is rather old-fashioned, with a cape and hat and shorts, and the way he peers at the arcade machines is with wide-eyed curiosity, like a bird observing something shiny and unknown.

He seems to be watching the screens, almost completely clueless that they're interactive, then beams at the sight of her actually playing and venturing over to observe her play. "Hi, hi~

You're familiar with these devices? What exactly are they? 'Games', it says, but I've always thought those to be played on fields with balls or so!"

[treadwater]

He has caught her at a Gauntlet Dark Legacy cabinet, playing Blue Valkyrie on the mountain level. Blue is so very much her color, after all.

“Okay, so I’m the lady with dark hair and wings on her head. She moves when I push the stick in a direction, and attacks when I push the buttons. Like this.” Sword attacks fly across the screen, hitting monsters and the spawn point they’re coming out of. “This is a multiplayer game. You can join in and help me?”

[wimdy]

He observes her controls and button-pressing, nodding sagely as if he understands completely. Whether he really does is... questionable, he's from a medieval fantasy era after all. But he does have pretty good hand-eye coordination, maybe this can work out.

So, he picks a green cleric/magician. "I'll choose this one, then! She looks cute~ please be patient with me if I try my best, all right?"

[treadwater]

"Of course! All you can do is your very best. And you can always continue the game if your character dies." She begins to coach him through the level, pointing out treasure chests and potion bottles, warning him not to shoot the green or red barrels when he's right by them.

[wimdy]

"Life and death could be cheap in a game, could it..." But he pays attention intently along with her instructions, happily beelining towards treasures and potions. He seems to be remarkably good at shooting, for what it counts, but might just easily fall into traps or get distracted by shiny pick-ups or coins or collectibles.

[treadwater]

Well, the coins and collectibles help too. She lets him meander, but does point out important things, like how to defeat Death with magic, or which enemies are strongest. It's all in good fun.

"The next level is the boss level--we're going to be fighting the dragon. Aim for the heads!"