APRIL EVENT: AND HARDSHIPS UNNUMBERED (LOCKED ROOM POST)

[sailmods]

[it happens in less than the blink of an eye.

April 10th. 10:47 AM. no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, most passengers previously aboard the Serena Eterna find themselves in an empty room. not a very large room, but not a very small one, either. stone floors. stone ceiling. mostly stone walls. whatever they were wearing before, they aren’t wearing it now; all of them are now in one of two outfits, with no real seeming rhyme or reason as to who gets what. there is a large wooden door in the center of one wall, locked with a heavy drawbar. there is an LED display above it, like you would see at a sports arena; it’s currently turned off.

and then there are the heads.

the walls are mostly stone. mostly, because seeming every square inch of every wall has a head sticking out of it. human, animal, mixes of both and neither. passengers may recognize friends, or family. fellow passengers, specifically the dead (and anyone living that opted out). themselves, if they’ve ever died during the voyage. every head ends just at the top of the neck, and every one has their eyes wide open, expressions glassy and unseeing, but entirely neutral. just staring forward.

the display flickers to life, displaying the following information:]

NEXT: DAISY TONNER

64 LIVES

[has anyone seen Fio?]

Comments

[astrogator]

She shakes her head. 'I'd have been sent out into the black of space and have Lieutenant Savitskaya, who trained me, speak for me.'

But there's a reason she asked, a reason it's on her mind. 'It's not quite the custom, and I asked this of Peter Smith too, but as we don't know who will be... first? Could you say Tayrey was never a passenger? That will do well enough.

On her Tradeline ship, one which didn't take paying passengers, that would have spoken of her dedication and her work ethic. Here it's a little different. Here it indicates a refusal to co-operate, to pretend that her captivity was somehow acceptable to her, or something other than what it was.

[not_the_last]

A slow nod. "I will."

She glances at the door, at the name over it.

"If you wish to say something for me, if I go first ... say Cassandra is a de Rolo." A beat. "Quietly, if you would."

[astrogator]

'I will.' She looks directly at Cassandra, wanting to show her that she understands.

'In a quiet and dignified manner, word by contract.' It's something they can do for one another, at a time like this when there are no real comforts to be found.

[not_the_last]

Cassandra meets her gaze, and nods.

"... I want to be sure I understand. When you say word by contract, I want to know what you mean by it. What you would take it to mean, if I were to say it to you."

[astrogator]

She's a little surprised by the question, but what does it tell her? That Cassandra wants to know. That she cares about Ari's customs enough to ask, even now.

'It's a shorthand. It means that I give my word, in the same way as if we had written a formal contract and I signed my name to it. That I will do this thing, on my honor as a Tradeliner, and nothing will... I will strive to let nothing stop me. That if I fail in it, I will be a contract-breaker - and to my people, the contract is the foundational building block of society. It's meaningful, in that way. Others have told me that they set no value by words, but to me, they matter.'

'If you said it to me, then - I would trust that you would do as you said, if it remains in your power to do it.'

[not_the_last]

She nods again, slowly, absorbing that.

"We would say I give my word, at home. If one has a family or other significant affiliation, or a significant rank one might say my word as; I might say, for instance, my word as de Rolo, or my word as the Lady of Whitestone. Or one might swear by their god's name, or by all the gods, or in the name of their leader or lord."

A beat.

"To you, Tayrey, here and now, I will say word by contract. If I am here to see you go, I will do as you have asked of me."

[astrogator]

'Thank you. Truly.' For her pledge, but more than that, for understanding. It seemed their societies weren't so far apart in this respect.

'At home we'd do it your way too, sometimes. My word as an officer of the Tradelines would count for something, because people knew what it was grounded in. Here -it seems not to carry.' She frowns a little at the sudden memory of Mitsuhide telling her that her word was worthless because for all he knew, Tradeliners were thieving pirates. 'Not unless people are willing to extend certain courtesies.'

She keeps her focus on Cassandra, not looking at the others, or the grisly wall decorations. 'I wish we'd done more of this. Talked of home together.' She wished she'd gotten to know the other woman better, when she had the chance. Business had always taken priority.

[not_the_last]

"If we are still here, after this. Or anywhere at all. We will."

She doesn't know if she believes that there will be a chance, but ... she can't be certain of anything right now.

[astrogator]

She shakes her head. 'Cassandra, I have already had much more than I can bear of captivity. A hostage can hope for ransom, and a prisoner in war can hope for peace, but I... I do not think there is any route that leads from this room back to my homeland.'

'And so-' she's firm, resolute, thinking that Cassandra may understand this, too, 'when I tell you that I will die as a Tradeliner, that is exactly what I mean to do through that door. I don't think our captor can drag me back to make me suffer more, if I die here.'

[not_the_last]

Cassandra takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly.

"I won't try to talk you out of it," she says, very low. "But I will say to you, as I've said elsewhere: we can't be entirely sure we understand what's happening here. If you see something beyond that door that changes the shape of your understanding, if it looks like it might be a chance of escape or a chance to do something with your death ... don't dismiss it."

[astrogator]

Ari is relieved by that response. She doesn't want to be talked out of it; she wants people to understand, so that if she gets her way, but they get theirs, and they live, they won't feel too bad about her absence.

'If I can make my death useful in some way, I will do it,' she says. 'But I fear that if there is any bargain to be struck that would get me home, it would be at an unacceptable price. There are things I won't do.' She's not Jenny. She can't condemn everyone else to save herself. 'You're right, there's so much uncertainty, but we have to know... priorities. Objectives. As individuals.'

[not_the_last]

Cassandra nods, and whispers "Yes."

I cooperated with my captors to keep myself safe, she said to Natsuno last month, exhausted with the entire question but holding on to this one certainty, and I will not go back to that. Not ever.

She wishes he were here. She wishes Steve Harrington were here, so that she could call in their old promise: we check each other. She wishes Security --

"Is there anything your people say," she asks, a touch louder, "to wish one another a good outcome? Luck, or a blessing, or anything of the kind?"

[astrogator]

She wouldn't always see co-operation as wrong. If it's part of a deal that will lead to your release, it can be sensible, especially if there are other people relying on you. Here, none of that applies. If you're dealing with someone who will never release you and only wants to torture you? All you can do is fight it, as long as you can.

Ari does hope that negotiation with Sparkles might do some good, if she has the opportunity. It just won't be herself that she's negotiating for.

She takes Cassandra's question seriously. 'Before a battle, Tradeliners without any religion would say something like - let probability smile on you. I know it sounds superstitious, but it's a token of goodwill, really. What about your people?'

[not_the_last]

"Those who wouldn't invoke fate or the gods," she says, "would say good luck or I wish you luck. Which ... amounts to the same thing, really."

[astrogator]

With a nod, she accepts this. 'I suppose it does. And do you believe in fate, or gods?' It's something of a personal question and she knows it, but if there were ever a time to be bold about such things, it's now.

[not_the_last]

"Believe in," Cassandra echoes, with a faint frown. "In the sense of ... trusting them?"

[astrogator]

'Partly. Where I'm from there's no proof that they exist, so it's all a matter of belief, but if your homeworld is more like here, then it's about trust, and... belonging, I think.'

Maybe this needs more explanation. 'So I know that Yato is real, and his class of beings call themselves gods, but I don't follow him, with rituals and prayers and all that. So I wouldn't say I was a believer. Does that make sense, or is it different again for your people?'

[not_the_last]

Belonging is the word that makes it make sense to her.

"I think I understand. I ... there is a god of particular significance to my people, my home, but my relationship with him is ... complicated. At best."

What does it mean, after all, that the Dawnfather gave more of a response to Erin's plea for help on her behalf than to her own?

"In this time and place, I think I would say good luck."

[astrogator]

Ari decides that this isn't the time to ask about those complications, no matter how curious she might be. Nobody wants to feel like an anthropological subject at a time like this. Instead, she just nods.

'I see. Then I'll wish you good luck.'