DECEMBER EVENT PART ONE: ALL IS CALM

[sailmods]

early morning on the 23rd, Friday makes an announcement over the speaker system, cheerfully asking everyone who signed up for the excursion to gather in the atrium. when they arrive, they will find Friday, very seasonally dressed, who takes them down to the tender, which it appears she will be “driving” this time. during this particular trip, none of them lose consciousness, nor suffer any sort of physical aftereffects. however, it does feel like the trip takes about five hours of just. sitting in the tender in utter silence, with little light and still air. so maybe stop being little babies about the anesthesia???

when Friday opens the tender door for them, they find themselves stepping out into the lobby of a hotel - though, if they turn around, they’ll find there was no door at all, and any passengers they see after that will appear as if they are appearing out of the ether.

there is a clone Friday manning the front desk, and though, like the others, she isn’t much for conversation, she is very snappily dressed! she helpfully hands out keys to everyone who approaches her; they aren’t numbered, and are actually entirely physically indistinguishable from each other, but they seem to open up whatever room you want easily enough, and don’t seem to work for any others. weird. the dressers and closets in the rooms also contain suitably sized winter clothing, enough to last the few days they’ll spend there, and then some. weird.

once they’ve situated themselves, they’ll find that what lies before them is a realm much larger than others they’ve encountered; the land extends for miles in any direction, including upwards, though you’re more likely to hit a cliff before the hard barrier. there’s about a foot and a half of snow on the ground, and it continues to fall steadily. the forests lack all signs of life, but the foliage is rather attractive, as long as you don’t examine it too closely; coniferous trees are just easier.

all of the amenities are seemingly staffed by ghosts, though they give off even less of a presence than the ones aboard the ship do. there is also an industrial kitchen attached to one of the dining areas, though the meals served don’t seem to come from it, and it has a distinctly different feel than everything else around it, as if added in slapdash at the very last second.

there is one last oddity, however. every night, at about 2AM, the entire reality goes mute. voices don’t sound. snow doesn’t crunch under footsteps. even the winds are quiet. the effect ends at about 6AM. it’s probably fine.

happy holidays.

Comments

1

[ss_buttcrack]

[This Florida boy isn't used to the cold, so he's as bundled up as a guy can get. Still, that won't stop him from getting out to stretch his legs while they all have the chance. So, he's walking the path in the middle of the day and comes upon Theo looking pretty bummed out. Maybe he'd like some company?]

Any of those snowballs come back yet?

[sanctus_dei]

Oh. Hey. [Theo spares Crichton a quick glance before throwing his latest snowball into the chasm.]

Not yet. That'd be something. Anything would be somethin'. But this place is just another island like that ship is, huh.

[No life in the forest, no other people but the ship passengers. All artificial.]

[ss_buttcrack]

Yeah, hate to say it. Even when we go out here we are still stuck in a bubble. And, just so you know, you don't want to try and go past the barrier. My boyfriend did it once and it wasn't pretty.

[sanctus_dei]

[Theo looks back at Crichton again, looking concerned.]

...He did? What happened? Guessin' he didn't make it out alive, huh.

[ss_buttcrack]

[The concern is not unfounded.]

Yeah. Some guy on the beach at the last excursion we went to tried to build a raft and leave on it. Arthur and Steve talked their way onto it with him. They got maybe ten miles out into the open ocean and then the entire thing fell off the side of the world like it was flat. Arthur said it hurt the whole way down, until it killed him.

[sanctus_dei]

[Theo grimaces at that, mostly on Steve and Arthur's behalf.]

Fuck. Well. It's commendable that they tried, anyway. I mean that. I'm glad people are trying shit.

I guess if I try anything, it ain't gonna be in this place. It's fake as anything. Once we leave it'll probably wink out of existence.

[Actually that sounds tempting after all.]

[ss_buttcrack]

Yeah, no, I get you, man. But that's not the tried and true method of getting out of here, unfortunately.

[He nods in agreement.]

Yeah, I've been told the Captain likes to use source materials he finds in the library to fabricate these little universes. I keep waiting for a guy with an ax to jump out and yell "Here's Johnny!" at me any minute now.

[sanctus_dei]

[The reference is sadly lost on Theo, but he doesn't have a chance to ask about it as a distressing idea suddenly hits him.]

Wait, he does? He reads those books? Shit. I guess I need to keep the writing project idea somewhere else. Since there was no non-fiction, I wanted to have people write their own. Just... somethin' to do. I was gonna write about magic, for example. Stuff for beginners. But I don't need that asshole gettin' his hands on any shit he can use against us individually.

[ss_buttcrack]

Writing project? Huh. I like the idea. I don't know if it matters where you keep them or if he reads them. Didn't you see that game show he hosted? He knew things about people that no one else could have. I think the dude is about as close to omniscient as it gets.

[sanctus_dei]

I didn't... But shit, seriously? How does he-- Forget it. He's powerful enough to drag people here from every corner of creation. Of course he knows everything about us. Probably already knows what I'm up to then.

[How disappointing. It's not going to stop him from continuing the project, though.]

Once we're back on the ship, drop by the library or my cabin sometime and I'll pass ya a notebook if ya want. If nothin' else, it's something to do. I really have no idea what the hell else I'm supposed to be doing here.

[As evidenced by how he's just sitting on a cliff's edge, hurling snowballs into the void.]

[ss_buttcrack]

Yeah. Probably. But from what I gather, he doesn't really give much of a shit about what we get up to.

[He taps his chin, thinking the offer over a minute. Well, it can't hurt. As long as he omits some details that are better not written down.]

Sure. I'll contribute. I don't got a lot to keep me busy here, either. Mind if I sit?

[Hope you don't, because he's just going to sit anyway.]

I wish I knew, myself. Since I got here, I've been sort of getting the feel of things. I keep waiting for some eureka moment where I suddenly know what the hell my new life purpose is supposed to be. So far? Nada.

I know I don't want to be here forever. I just don't see how we get out yet.

[sanctus_dei]

[Theo is incredulous about that idea, raising a skeptical eyebrow.]

He spends untold amount of energy finding us and bringing us here, he knows everything about us, but he doesn't care about what we're up to? Maybe he says that or acts like it, but I bet he cares way too fuckin' much. Look at the effort he goes through just to keep us in our little fishbowl reality.

[Just because the Captain treats them like shit doesn't mean he doesn't care in his own weird, demented way, right?

And of course Crichton is free to sit and contemplate the void too. It's cold, though.]

Yeah, I... [This kid has so much to get off his chest, but he's not ready yet. But it's safe to say he feels the same way.] Just feels like we're sittin' around waiting for something bad to happen. Hope all the rumblings I'm hearing about mutiny are leading to something. If we're gonna just die and come back, then we don't have anything to lose.

[ss_buttcrack]

You'd be surprised. Half the crap he does is out of boredom. If we're his fish, then he's just as likely to overfeed us to see if we'll go belly up or not. Depends on his mood any given day.

[He doesn't press. Just sits in companionable closeness.]

Mutiny is a dangerous gambit. I'm not against the idea myself, but I do happen to believe everyone who says destroying the Captain will kill us all. I'm not ready to go out like that just yet. Whatever plan we cook up, it needs to be solid.

[sanctus_dei]

Good point. I guess by "care" I don't so much as mean concerned with our well-being, as much as... [He pauses a moment to come up with the right answer.] existing. Fish, lab rats, that whole idea. Bet if some other high-powered jackass swooped in and tried to take his toys away, he'd throw a fucking fit.

[He can agree to Crichton's assessment, nodding along. But he's a lot less careful with his own life, unfortunately.]

I'm willing to try things. Whatever we need. If I go out-- [He lets out a huff and shrug.] Wouldn't be the first time. And if other people can then get out, all the better.

[ss_buttcrack]

I bet you're right about that. He'd probably have a tantrum because he thinks we belong to him, like that gives him the right.

[Oh, there's a lot of bitterness simmering in the background now. Crichton is reminded of his enemy from home, Scorpius, who treated Crichton with much the same possessive fervor.]

Realistically, I know that when the stakes are this high, we lose people. I don't like it, but I know it's a possibility. But my job as a commander has always been to bring everyone home safely. I'm going to do my damndest to make that happen, and that includes you.

[sanctus_dei]

You're a commander here, though? You think it's possible?

[It's not accusatory or snide, but more of a defeated tone. the sideways glance Theo gives Crichton, though, is him trying to hide any hint of hope.]

'N what happens if we don't wanna go home. Or can't?

[ss_buttcrack]

I might not be in command of this ship, but I earned that rank fair and square, and like hell am I going to give it up.

[At a time like this, he'd usually try and hook an arm around the guy for some physical support, but this teen reads as just a little too prickly for it.]

I'm not gonna make people. If they like it here, they are free to stick around. Don't know why they'd want to if there was a better option, but that's on them.

[sanctus_dei]

I sure as hell don't like it here, but--

[But he can't go back home. Nor can he go back to where he came from before he got here, either. He chews on his lip in thought.]

I dunno. Not even worth thinking about until it happens, right? Otherwise I'm-- we're just getting our hopes up.

[ss_buttcrack]

[Crichton can read into that pause. He doesn't like the implications of it, because he knows of other people here who have very definitive reasons why they cannot return home.]

Theo, look, even if going back to our own respective universes isn't going to happen, we can still end up somewhere that isn't on this cruise ship forever. But we aren't going to accomplish anything if we don't keep our hopes up a little. Some days, hope's the only damn thing I have left. If I'd given it up, I'd have gone over the proverbial cliff years ago.

[He gestures down over the edge of the cliff they are currently sitting at to demonstrate.]

There's wisdom in keeping your hopes reasonable but...it's okay to let yourself dream a little.

[sanctus_dei]

[If Theo has it his way, no one will ever find out why he thinks he can't go home.
But those reasons are the reason why he has a hard time holding on to hope - he believes he doesn't deserve even that. He stares out over the chasm, nodding almost imperceptibly.]

I guess I can move on to my fourth universe, if we're lucky to ever get out of here. I'll... figure it out. Um. Thanks.

[He has a hard time with that word, which is why it comes out so quietly.]

[ss_buttcrack]

You're welcome. I know this is all a lot. And 'fourth time the charm' doesn't have quite the same ring to it but hang in there. You're not alone. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can call on me. I want to help.