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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.]
D
How curious.
He's not going to look a gifthorse in the mouth, he'll just sidle up behind him. Surely by now he can sneak up on him? ]
1/2
[ But he did turn and - ]
Ack!
[ Flailing! So much flailing! Senku startled him - ]
2/2
[ Gen’s just boggling a little - and reached out to tug on his sleeve. ]
Oh thank - I actually have no idea if I should be thankful that you’re here.
[ A breath and a shake of his head - ]
… I’m a selfish creature, of course I am. Where are we?
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Haven't the faintest idea. On a ship, on an ocean of some kind. Strange place.
[ That's about all he could ascertain. ]
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[ He sighed, a little dramatically, but can’t help but smile a little. He and Senku had beaten impossible odds to unravel the truth behind strange happenings before - why not a second time? ]
[ Gen moved to stand along side him, head tilting in his direction. ]
Surely, you’ve uncovered more information than that. I’ve been poking around a little myself.
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[ He shrugs helplessly and smiles, glancing at Gen. ]
You have to mime things to shop at the stores, or else you get accused of stealing. Someone told me that. All the food is free.
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[ He’s seen so many people, and they are on a cruise. Perhaps Senku had never went on one before the first petrificaiton event - but generally there were at least a handful of different languages spoken among the passengers. ]
Everyone here arrived as we did - or I presume you woke up here rather suddenly, like me. So something could grab everyone from … wherever, bring them here, and force us all to speak one language.
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That's correct. I woke up suddenly in a room that was not my own, in my work clothes.
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[ It’s something he’s already experimented with himself, once he noticed. ]
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Alright then...
[ He tried to force it, and it felt like wadding through quicksand. ]
I...If there is anything scientific about this, I certainly need to know. [ A few words, broken in between English words. Huh. That was unusual. ]
Fascinating.
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[ Gen’s expression was wry, not hiding his wariness at all. ]
I’m just as interested as you are to discover what has been done to us, and how. If they’re somehow messing with our brains …
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Without a doubt we're under surveilance. I'm sure damaging things would make Friday appear as much as supposed theft would.
Ah, but I have heard the rooms are private.
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[ He doubted that - but instead, gave him a ridiculous little grin - ]
If I was Ryusui-chan, I would take that as an invitation.
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You would. Likely beneficial to remember it's a communal sharing space.
[ That doesn't bother him so much but he didn't pick his roommate. ]
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[ His foot tapped out a T E S T in Morse - ah, this didn't count as a different language, then? Perhaps because it substituted English? ]
You better not leave me for new roommates, my dear old friend, no matter who's actually listening to your brainstorming at night.
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[ Ah well, they'll sort it out. ]
Outside of that, everything else is distractions and some people were warned this could all end in murder.
[ Just gonna say that very casually. ]
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[ His expression to Senku was a smile on its surface - but it's partly 'brace yourself,' partly 'once more into the breach', and partly 'I'm very glad you're here.' ]
I think we can avoid death again if we're clever enough, don't you?
Are you planning on saving the other passengers, too?
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[ Unless Gen means save them from murder, which is also true, he can do that too. ]
Been awhile since someone's tried to kill me.
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[ Senku also had terrifying (for Gen) habit of befriending everyone who tried to murder him, too. ]
Try not to risk your life until I find some bodyguards for you, hm? I'm not as spry as I used to be, and I left my body armor at home.
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[ One can't imagine why Gen would think that, not at all. ]
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[ Who was planning on getting left behind on the moon as a statue to wait for a rescue? Huh?! Gen sometimes wondered why all his hair hadn't turned white already. ]
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I don't know about history, I haven't done anything unnecessary.
[ And it was thought to be necessary at the time. ]
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[ Obviously, because here he is! ]
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You didn't. Thanks to Chrome and Suika, and everyone honestly.
[ His lips quirk up - that softness didn't last long. ]
Which is why I need to find you new bodyguards and cohorts.
(no subject)
(no subject)