JUNE EVENT: CAMP

[sailmods]

early on June 10th, Friday's morning announcements end with a request for everyone going on the latest excursion to meet her in the atrium. she seems in noticeably better spirits than she had been last time, and she leads them cheerfully to the tender. once they are all aboard, and the door is securely shut, the interior fills with gas, and, perhaps, their last thought before they slip into unconsciousness is "oh shit, not again."

passengers wake up on a rickety old school bus, driving down a dirt road surrounded by woods. what is it that they notice first? that, no matter what they were wearing before, they are now wearing a camp t-shirt and legitimately horrifyingly short shorts? the overstuffed backpack between their knees? the words "take one down and pass it around" dying on their lips? the fact that Friday is absolutely driving the bus?

or, maybe the fact that it's already slowing down, pulling up in front of a massive wooden sign, saying:

 

 

 

 

 

CAMP AION

when they get out of the bus, Friday is the one to divide them up into their cabin groups, and she is the one to give the counselors their very official-looking clipboards and whistles. she explains that they are in charge, and that she will be back to pick them up in a week, and... very little else. she responds to nothing outside of whatever is on her unseen little script, and she gets back on the bus shortly after, leaving them there.

welcome to camp. let's make some summer memories!

Comments

Arts and Crafts, midday [open]

[serialskiller]

Stopping by the crafts shack feels like a proper continuation of its attempts to draw, perhaps, maybe. But once Murderbot actually arrives and sees all the available supplies and the utter lack of instructions, it gets a little overwhelmed. Like, there's a lot here. Felt and feathers and pipe cleaners...

Where it actually starts is by feeling each of these materials it's never seen before. Just opening bins and running its fingers over things curiously.

Later, Murderbot can be found making a small brown rabbit out of some of the pile cleaners. With a little pink nose and black pony beads for eyes. It's never seen a rabbit in person before, only illustrations. But it still seems to understand the anatomy.

[makesomedeals]

Max has spent approximately twenty-eight hours of the past two days standing out in the woods like a bizarre lawn ornament. He's never actually experienced being so emotionally overloaded he disassociates and starts shutting down random subroutines, but he's decided he hates it.

At least he's occasionally walking around now, establishing some meaningless NPC pathing, and has investigated the buildings. This one he doesn't understand because to him it's just a bunch of random brightly colored stuff in bins along with various adhesives and glitter. But now that he's looped back around the lake, in ways he's not going to try and fathom, and is back at this building he looks in again in case something has changed, which it has!

"Good afternoon." Not that their conversations routinely go well, but he's too out of it to care. "What are you doing?"

[serialskiller]

Murderbot's posture immediately shifts defensively, bracing to be Judged™ or something.

"I made a rabbit. I was going to look for some orange flexible sticks like this to make it a carrot." It holds up the little bunny in one hand, with its little tufty white tail and its brown pipe cleaner fur.

[makesomedeals]

He tilts his head, he does in fact see it as a rabbit, so mission accomplished there.

"Oh, is that what all this is for?" He gestures to the things around them, going to the nearest bin and investigating what's in it. Looks to be sheets of foam pre-cut into various shapes.

"I'll admit that creating animals hadn't occurred to me." He picks out a bright orange sun and sets it on his palm.

[serialskiller]

"It's materials for human handicrafts. You weren't bullshitting when you said you don't have the capacity for creativity, huh?" It's not really surprised, but it is somewhat disturbed, somehow.

[makesomedeals]

"No, I don't." He huffs, defensive suddenly like that's some sort of exploitable flaw. "Why would I lie about something like that?"

[serialskiller]

"I thought you might be exaggerating the severity of the issue, that's all."

Murderbot pauses, and actually looks at Max.

"Are you alright?"

[makesomedeals]

"No. I'm very much not." But he doesn't elaborate on that, pulling another yellow sun out of the box and going to sit down across from Murderbot.

"To both of those." He sets down his two little foam suns on top of each other with the pointy triangles of the edges interspersed. "I've spent nearly thirty hours in the woods."

Attempting to become a tree.

[serialskiller]

Murderburder sets the bunny down.

"How can I help? César's not here, so it'll need to be me, probably. Are your cooling systems functioning? No grit or dirt in your joints, right?"

[makesomedeals]

"I'm not injured." A pause while he thinks about that before confirming, "Uninjured. I may be malfunctioning though."

He spins the top sun on his pile to watch as the various colors of rays swap between each other.

"Diagnostics insist everything is in normal parameters. But it certainly doesn't feel it." He is having an emotion and his systems aren't prepared to let him know that.

[serialskiller]

"Alright. What are you experiencing? And can I try connecting wirelessly?"

Honestly, it's going to be more concerned if Max agrees to let it.

[makesomedeals]

"I'm not sure. It's like being unable to process due to overload, as if something is threadlocked but I'm not sure what."

He pauses, considering the offer which already a bad sign.

"I don't think that's necessary. I'm hoping it's a glitch that works itself out after a powercycle, but I'm not going to do that here."

[serialskiller]

"I understand why you're worried about being shut down, out here. If you need someone to watch over you while you cycle, I am willing to do that."

Another offer it's not expecting Max to accept. But if things are bad enough...look, Murderbot's going to let Watson look after it for a recharge cycle or two, so it's not like it doesn't get it.

[worthallthis]

Sarge comes into the crafts shack a little bit after Murderbot, mostly looking for something to hide his goddamn legs with. There are no proper pants in this camp, but he had the vague thought that he might make some if he only he could find proper materials.

Not that he quite remembers how to do that, but something in him says he should.

He stops at the sight of Murderbot, maybe looks slightly less wild around the eyes. Someone familiar. That's okay. "Anything useful in here?"

[serialskiller]

"Scissors. Whittling knives. Rope. Rubber bands. What else would you consider useful?"

Of course, it's not here for any of those things. It's...playing with pipe cleaners. Like a dumbass. But still, it holds up the bunny for Sarge to look at. "What do you think?"

[worthallthis]

He blinks at it, squints a little, and says, "A rabbit?" The ears give it away. "You made that?"

That's... kinda cool. Not useful for what he wants at the moment, but kinda cool.

[serialskiller]

"I made that." It doesn't often feel pride in anything. Its work is just work. Keep the clients safe, you're not going to see them after this mission. But it's kinda proud of this smol bunny that it has put together.

"I might also make it a carrot."

[worthallthis]

"Why would you make it a carrot?" Sarge asks, momentarily baffled. He comes from a time before the Bugs Bunny carrot connection entered pop culture, and he hasn't had a lot of time to learn about the eating habits of rabbits since. "Do rabbits. Like carrots?"

[serialskiller]

"I think so. I've never seen one for real. Only in books, really. I got one of those weird gifts at Sundries with a storybook about a rabbit."

The book gave it some really big feelings, too.

[worthallthis]

Watson suggested he try reading. Maybe he ought to, if Rin was reading. And there were books about rabbits and carrots. "I've never seen one, either. That I can remember."

He starts collecting supplies, but slowly. Scissors. There's a needle and thread around here, surely. "I haven't seen your book. Is it good?"

[serialskiller]

"I'm pretty sure it's for children. It's called The Velveteen Rabbit. When we're back on the ship, I can lend it to you, if you want."

Please don't tease it for reading kids' books. It was comforting--in a complicated, indescribable way.

[worthallthis]

Murderbot. Have you ever known Sarge to tease you about anything? C'mon.

Honestly, he's not even entirely sure how to tease, yet.

He nods, though. "Watson suggested I read. When I don't know what else to do. If you liked it. I might, too."

[serialskiller]

"When we're back on the ship, I'll lend it to you. And...maybe recommend some of the other books I've looked at?"

Its lips quirk slightly, the ghost of a smile.

[worthallthis]

Sarge nods a couple times, then gets back to his digging through the supplies looking for a proper sewing kid. "That sounds great. Thanks, Rin." He wrinkles his nose. "I go in the library. And get kinda overwhelmed with how much is in there. How do you even pick anything." This is why he never goes into the buffet. In the Drunken Sailor the ghost just bring him something, and he eats it.

[serialskiller]

"Picking something at random. And remembering I have plenty of time to get through it all. We both do. It's been nearly three thousand hours here, you know. It could be much, much longer."