sail_ooc | TEST DRIVE MEME #1

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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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think every view on board is the best one! [pauses, then speaks in a slightly quieter, almost conspiratorial voice] But, I also think it's prettiest when you're on the back of the ship. The aft, they call it! The wake makes the ship look like a bride...

[startles from slight reverie]

Oh, but where are my manners! I have a gift for you! [she pulls a small wrapped present out of don't ask questions, and holds it out.]

( yeah, her interest for boats in bridal gear is resting firmly below zero, and it shows in both the pinched corners of clarke's mouth, and how she leans the slightest bit away from friday when she speaks.

wants to take a full on step backwards when offered a present, but a hint of adrenaline keeps her rooted to the spot. in matters of fight or flight, clarke will invariably chose to fight. but not without knowing all the pieces on the board.

purposefully not reaching her hand out, but still inquiring: ) What... is it?

[tilts head forward] It wouldn't be a very fun surprise gift if it wasn't a surprise!

[but then she seems to sort of. decide on something for some reason.]

It's gauze! And a topical steroid. You can't get that one in the shop, and most passengers don't learn about the infirmary until something bad happens to them.

[presents package forward again] I really do hope you'll feel better! It would be a shame to miss out on any fun!

( that's an incredibly thoughtful gift. clarke's suspicion skyrockets and she wants absolutely nothing to do with either first aid tool.

but she's done worse things, that have made her more uncomfortable, in the name of diplomacy than reach out a hand and take the small package from friday's hand. it's going to go directly in her pocket the second she's out of the woman's view, but until then she just weighs it in her palm. ) I... thank you.

But I didn't sign up for this sort of fun. You know that, right?

[she holds her hands in front of her, briefly turning her face to the ground.]

That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to make the best of things! It's always so much worse when everybody gives up on the first day...

I'm not going to give up. ( just severely doubts her own ability to relax, have fun, or make the best of anything. and maybe that statement is 30% a threat, because clarke has a habit of digging her teeth into an idea and not letting go until she has to. and right now that idea is — ) But what if I want to go home?

( back to an irradiated world where just might... die? okay, terrible choice, but at least it would be her choice. )

[she brings a knuckle to her chin. if she had a mouth, she probably would have bit it.]

There aren't many things that are impossible on the Serena Eterna... But, that's one of them. As far as I know.

( okay. start from somewhere else and work backwards to a possible escape. and get all the information from friday she can before seeking it elsewhere. )

But you know how we got here, right? I mean, is this magic or technology or something else?

Magic.

[a pause, and she tilts her head.]

I mean, I don't know any of the specifics... There's lots of things I'm just not able to understand... All I know is that, sometimes, I'm called to the bridge to carry a passenger to their room. I don't think I really need to know much more than that!

( well... damn. that's possibly the one answer clarke didn't want to hear, given everything in her home world had been bloody, difficult, and painful, but very, very based on technology. and human desperation.

which, actually. sometimes more useful than magic. it drives people to new depths. )

I — do you go by Gal, or just Friday?

[slight shrug] I'll answer to most anything! The Captain calls me "Gal," though.

[like if that. impacts anything.]

Gal, then. You can just call me Clarke.

( she does NOT want to dwell too long on the fact the faceless woman knew her name before any proper introductions. tech is creepy, magic is creepier. let's power through any gross feelings of alarm doing laps along her spine. )

Can I please see the Captain?

[shakes head] Oh, no, he's much too busy for that! I'll be sure to let everyone know if he ever decides you're interesting enough, though!

( that's actually... rude as hell. and the air of diplomacy and entreating clarke had been edging toward slips by the wayside for a moment. )

I'm assuming he had some hand in bringing us here, and is now basically in charge of our lives. But we're not interesting enough for him to sit down with us face to face?

[nods eagerly] Yep! Wow, it usually takes so much longer to get that across... You guys seem really clever; I'm sure he'll take an interest this time!

( like. a. slap. to. the. face. )

Okay, I guess I'll wait for that time then.

( even with a sour taste in your mouth, still gotta shoot your shot. )

Until then, can you at least tell me where the ship's wheel is?

On the bridge!

[beat]

With the Captain...

( one beat in turn.

then two. look, she's a better bulldozer than negotiator, and thus far gal friday hasn't been threatening enough to make clarke stop pushing. )

And how do I get there?

Well, there is a door. It's on the top deck. It's just that, well, only I can enter it! Most of the time!

[and sometimes he just also locks her out. it's fine they're friends.]

( a disappointing lead, but clarke's history of wars against locked doors usually has her coming out victorious so! it's a starting point. she's nodding, committing top deck to memory and silently trying to figure out a way to tactfully extricate herself from this interaction without raising any of gal friday's alarms. but then.

most of the time.

and she's dragged back a few moments, to a potentially very alarming statement that had been glossed over in favor of asking her own questions. )

This time? What did you mean he might take an interest this time? ( what number is this batch of lab rats? rip clarke griffin's blood pressure. )

Well, he hasn't been very happy with the last few passengers... [there's a sort of. sad inflection, to her usual tone.] They weren't very fun, apparently. And they didn't last very long at all...

( panic. a particularly familiar sense of panic. and let her tell ya, friday, nothing aligns clarke griffin's priorities to mesh with the community than thinking of the few people she'd managed to meet thus far, imagining whatever horrible fate is being alluded to here, and how it could possibly be avoided.

survive at all costs will eventually override the kneejerk escape at all costs. but right now she's reeling. )

I —

They weren't fun. Didn't last long and now they're — ( a space here, if they're dead she wants to hear friday say it. )

All of them?

Well...

[she ducks her head down.]

Some of them really did get to leave. It won't be a trick. [...] But, it will always be alone. That may be the trick.

[whatever. she'll just pay for that later. it's fine.]

( whatever distrust she held towards friday is not alleviated by that somewhat conspiratorial confession. under the baseline alarm at the story she's being told, there's an ocean of salt as large as the body of water surrounding them, and clarke's going to need a bit of time to collect her thoughts, and some solid evidence before she decides if all that tracks.

eyes narrowing, pulse thundering in her ears: )

I don't follow your meaning.

She did promise she'd come back one day. Maybe you'll get to meet her!

[not even remotely close to an answer.]

But, other than Jenny... They're all gone. The forever kind of gone.

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