come_sailaway | JUNE EVENT: CAMP

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

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!

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I don't sleep. I completely shut down and recharge. It's different.

[It's much more vulnerable than sleep is. Back on the ship, it had worked out plans for someone guarding it while in that state, but that someone isn't in Murderbot's cabin, so...

Regardless, it takes a seat on the ground near Jade, curling up and hugging its knees, a little ball of metal parts and cloned flesh, wishing it wasn't here.]

[There are surely little telling things in the way Murderbot settles nearby--on the ground, posture curling--paired alongside the morose sort of response aloud. The mood emanating from its person about now runs rather parallel to the mood that had just tried to settle in Jade's own chest about fifteen seconds ago, and so it's perhaps rather unsurprising to find a vague sense of camaraderie promptly filling the space between them.

Still more glad for the distraction than he has any right to be, Jade turns his attention fully in Murderbot's direction, and wonders if perhaps the latter could use a bit of a distraction too.]

Ah, I suppose that does make more sense, in your sort of case. [...The metal parts over there surely do flicker rather clearly with reflected firelight, from here...] Though it does seem to me that perhaps you're having difficulty with recharging, too. ...Or is the frequency needed rather different, for you, than the amount for most humans?

I need it less often than humans. But I can't wake up in the middle of a recharge cycle, so I need to feel completely safe in order to do so. And that's really hard to do here. On space stations or survey missions, usually I have a small cubicle to tuck away into and recharge, where no one's going to bother me.

[It gestures, and it's sort of clear that when it says cubicle, it means more like...storage box than desk-style cubicle.]

[Jade watches the gesture made and words spoken with a faint curiosity; imagining the sort of setup Murderbot's indicating is certainly an interesting exercise.]

If you can't awaken until the process is finished...yes, I can see how security would be a high priority. There isn't much in the way of secure spaces in the cabin, is there? [Here, a slight and dry sort of laugh.] Quite frankly, I've been finding it rather troublesome to sleep particularly well in there too...not that our cabinmates seem particularly prone to stabbing anyone overnight, but.

[Jade makes a small and idle gesture at the dim surroundings about them in turn; the quiet, you know...]

Do you also find it strange, how...nothing has yet happened, on this particular excursion?

Yes and no. If something bad happens every time, no one will ever sign up for expeditions. If some are good and some are bad, people will still go out of curiosity to see what it is this time. It's a form of psychological torture, asking us to be complicit in our own suffering by making us sign up for whatever happens to us.

[Optimism is not in Murderbot's programming. But it feels right, somehow.]

Hmm, these are valid points. [There's a faint note of approval in Jade's tone, alongside the short nod that accompanies his words. No, Murderbot's observations here certainly don't ring with wide-eyed optimism...but it is a pragmatic take, that Jade hadn't actually considered himself. Being of a rather more pessimist bent, really, where the captain's motives happen to be concerned--] I'd figured there'd be some way to eventually force us onto these excursions, should participation eventually dwindle...but the element of personal accountability does apply a rather psychological twist to it all.

I must say, though--even if this does happen to be one of the "good" and murder-free sorts of excursions, to keep us tempted...I'm not yet sure I quite understand the appeal of this one. This whole setup reminds me rather a lot more of a military outpost, yet without any of the actual discipline. Is all this supposed to be enjoyable, I wonder? [Here, a wry sidelong look Murderbot's way.] Are you perhaps enjoying yourself particularly, so far?

No. But I've seen that some people are, and I'm glad for that.

[It pauses, considering the question more thoroughly.] I did make a rabbit figurine using the provided craft supplies. That was sort of nice, I guess. But beyond that, the whole of the experience has not been particularly pleasant. It feels like...

...like jumping into watching a new genre of serial, or one from a corporation you don't know, so you don't understand the tropes the show is playing on. This is all referencing something that holds meaning to some people, but I'm not one of them.

[Vague as Jade might still be on the concept of serials as a whole, the metaphor still manages to convey all the same. Tropes going over one's head specifically--now there's something relatable, to say the least!]

Not understanding the tropes--yes, exactly. I'm glad you've put the words to it about like this, actually...I daresay that's about how the whole thing has been parsing for myself, as well. Much in the same way the last excursion was apparently based off the plot of some sort of book...all this surely does feel like it's referencing something or another, doesn't it? [Here, a bit of a scoff, though at least it's directed more at the general situation than Murderbot particularly.] You aren't alone in missing it, at least; I can't make any connections for the life of me either. ...I imagine it must be some sort of Earth thing. The captain seems so terribly fond of Earth, for some reason.

[Multitudes of Earth-origin passengers, apparently Earth aspects to the cruise ship...and general Earth references abounds, too. Oh, not that Jade's about to complain too much, of course. It'd be even more unsettling if there were more overt references being made at Auldrant's expense, probably...but it's still kind of exasperating all the same, too.

Although. After a slight pause, a bit in Murderbot's earlier words does sink in belatedly, too.] Made something with arts and crafts, though, did you? Are figurines something you'd make in the past, or was this more of an experimental sort of thing? [Jade does recall Murderbot essentially implying it doesn't usually have much in the way of idle hobbies, he thinks, in a conversation awhile back...]

It would be Earth-centric. Humanity's abandoned the planet long before I was manufactured. While some historical serials reference it, this doesn't align with any of them, particularly. [There's a distinct eyeroll there, before it responds to the more personal question.]

More experimental. Trying to make the best use of the time and the resources available. Or a use, at least. I read about rabbits in a book and thought the fuzzy colored sticks might make a good one. [Pipe cleaners, MB. They're called pipe cleaners.]

I think I'm going to give it to Friday.

[Oh, he does feel that eyeroll in his soul--always so nice, to find somebody else excluded from the Earth club, even if apparently there's a very vague association in a more historic sense on Murderbot's own part. Still, Jade's happy to take the mutual scorn they both seem to share for the highly overt Earth biases afoot here...! Really, at this rate there ought to be some sort of club for non-Earth people. For commiseration purposes in these trying times, you know...

But anyway. "Fuzzy colored sticks" is as good a descriptor as any; having no idea what pipe cleaners are supposed to be called himself, Jade certainly isn't about to correct Murderbot on that front.]

Ah, the ones with metal that bend quite easily, yes? They do seem quite conducive to shapes in such ways. ...I'm sure Miss Friday would appreciate such a thing. [Huh, peering a bit speculatively at Murderbot as the connection's made...well, both it and Friday are 'artificial' in one sense or another; no surprise it's been associating with her lately at least enough to think of her with these sorts of tokens. --But then Jade realizes the thoughtful pause and similarly thoughtful look being leveled Murderbot's way are probably both lasting a second or two longer than entirely necessary, and he's breezily continuing on.] That does remind me I've not really sat down and thought about the intended applications of those crafts myself...I've been borrowing them more for future tools, really. --But you've probably already made far more progress than I, on the crafting front. [Cheerfully:] I haven't a single creative bone in my body, after all! Or so I've been told, anyway...

[It almost sort of ducks away from that thoughtful look, definitely uncomfortable with being perceived.]

You can't be worse at creative endeavors than Max is. He's literally just not programmed with the capacity. [And Murderbot is ever-so-slightly smug about that, that it has some ability Max doesn't. Even if it means leaning into human-brain thinking a little more than it likes to.]

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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