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

[neverleave]

You know it's okay to feel down, right? Who cares if you're good with "camping stuff". It's all a big joke anyway.

[Though he has no idea what the captain finds it entertaining. Maybe the joke is that they're on edge the whole time but nothing happens?]

You're not responsible for other people's mood. Especially not if they insist on playing the happy camper.

[This is Natsuno's version of a pep talk - telling Mizuki he has the right to a bad mood.]

[mooninthewater]

… You’re probably right, but I don’t really want to be. [ If everyone is miserable here all the time… that would make everyone lose morale so quickly, wouldn’t it? He knows it’s not up to him or anything to make other people happy. In fact, doing so might just achieve the opposite effect.

But what if he could be a reason people smiled, at least? ]

Besides, isn’t it more fun if we can all be happy and potentially piss off the Captain ‘cause of it~?

[neverleave]

[He shrugs. A nice idea for sure, but...]

...no comment. Wouldn't want to ruin your mood even more.

[mooninthewater]

Aw, no need to hold back on my account. You should feel free to be yourself and say whatever around me~!

[ If people who share cryptid photos and videos with one another aren't homies, then there's truly no hope left between the Serena Eterna passengers. ]

Besides, I'd quite like to understand how you think!

[neverleave]

[Well, he was trying to be considerate, but if Mizuki wants to hear it - ]

I think that after last month, not being happy is the normal. Anyone who can truly enjoy themselves without being even a little concerned, is either new or not someone I'd trust. You can't force yourself to be happy - you'll keep simmering deep down and the captain gets what he wants anyway.

[mooninthewater]

Well, I do certainly want you to trust me! Though, I don't necessarily think that people who try to find light in the dark are necessarily untrustworthy. Obviously, there's no one that should be trying to distract people from trying to figure out how to get us home, or while in the middle of something stressful. Though, um- I personally am really bad at reading the room in those regards, ehe...

[ Whoops! So maybe he is a problem. But, hopefully, Natsuno will just tell him if he's doing that to him specifically? He hopes so, anyway. ]

Still! I think that we need to take a break occasionally to smile. Especially if we don't know how long we're going to be here for. Or, even if there's any way for us to leave at all! So it's really important for us to not fall into despair or anything.

[neverleave]

[He's quiet for a few more moments after Mizuki's done speaking, considering.]

The problem is that breaks ends with a whiplash. [He and Clarke were having fun in the arcade, forgetting their circumstances for a while - and then she bit her lips, Natsuno smelled blood and the mood soured.] But I know people need it anyway, or they'll burn out. I mean, I just played Pac-Man. I guess my problem is enjoying myself here, on the excursion. The ship's one thing, but this - it's theatre. There's the set, and stupid outfit, and we're supposed to be play along. I don't want to have fun recreating the captain's favorite books or whatever he's basing this trip on.

cw: cannibalism/torture ment.

[mooninthewater]

Mmh. Well, that much I agree with you on. But it's not like we have much of a choice. We either come here and put on a show, or we all bore him and he dumps out this batch.

[ Realistically, that much Mizuki understands. He would say he is more justified in his thinking, "I would never do this to innocent people!" But he would do this with a batch of those he'd deemed "evil". Hell, he has done this before with a group of criminals before. Tortured them until they bored him, and ate them as a result. Were Mizuki to be told why that was wrong, he may well have had a crisis about it by now. Alas… ]

If we're going to continue being miserable when he puts us in situations like this, it's bound to make us feel miserable faster. Especially when people start thinking of stuff like… "I willingly signed up for this hellhole," and stuff like that. Which, is true on its own, but it's more than that. But people tend to just focus on one thing instead of the big picture sometimes.

[neverleave]

[Natsuno nods, reluctantly. Mizuki makes a valid point, but he hates feeling like he plays into the captain's hands no matter what he does. Be entertaining or burn until you're no more than a shade - what a frustrating line to walk.]

Being miserable is counterproductive, yeah. But you said it yourself - people don't see the big picture. How do you make sure they don't become complacent? If passengers get too comfortable here, they become more obstacles we need to work around.

[mooninthewater]

Well, so long as everyone is against the Captain instead of trying to get chummy, then that shouldn't be a problem. He's bound to put us in a situation that most of us don't like, right? Though, I am slightly afraid of people finding out too much stuff about ourselves…

[ Admittedly, Mizuki doesn't know all that much, since he hasn't asked any questions, but… he does have his theories, anyway. ]

I think it's better we just focus on how to take down the Captain instead of anything existential. The occasional game or activity could help with that! Team building and such, as well as just being fun overall. By keeping them occasional, it shouldn't make people too comfortable with their situation.

[neverleave]

[Natsuno grunts in response, the sound of someone who agrees but is clearly grumpy about it. He wants to be an emo teen and instead of agreeing that "fun" is valuable!]

...team building is fine until you're in a situation like last month. Being there with people you bonded with just makes it worse.

[Natsuno is already invested in six whole people. It's awful. Feelings sucks.]

[mooninthewater]

That's such a downer thing to say! Next you're gonna be all [ In his best brooding villain-esque voice: ] Love makes you vulnerable. Friendship is a weakness. The heart is a cuuuuuurse...

[ Then he blows a raspberry into the air and giggles. ]

I think it's situations like last month that prove we need team building. If we start turning on each other on a dime like we did, how are we supposed to figure out how to make the Captain cease this stuff?

[neverleave]

[He rolls his eye when Mizuki starts chewing the scenery.] Like I'll ever say something so dramatic.

Back at that stupid dinner party, the captain told Clarke that "our own life aren't much of a cause." I know people can't help but make friends, but how long before he uses these bonds to hurt us even more?

[mooninthewater]

[ “Not much of a cause,” huh…? Mizuki squeezes his hands together for a moment, in thought for a moment. Maybe the Captain means that it’s because they’re brought back to life, but— ]

How… do you think the Captain brought us here? [ A bit of a topic change. Sorry, Natsuno. He just has to address this, first. ] Like, what do you think we are?

[neverleave]

He brought us with weird magic. [A shrug.] I don't have a better answer. You mean that the way he brought us changed us somehow?

[mooninthewater]

… [ He fiddles with his hands for a moment, since he’s suddenly got the urge to start biting his nails and just doesn’t want to do that. How is he supposed to explain his thoughts when Mizuki is so aware that he’s, perhaps, one of the least bright passengers here? ]

It’s… just a theory I have, it’s probably not even true. It’s even something I got from a video game, so that probably makes it even more dumb. Ehe… [ … ] But the way we… respawn, so to speak, leads me to believe we might not have been “taken” from our worlds at all. It… um… kind of seems like the Captain just has “copies” of our consciousnesses? And he’s able to shove those in… [ He waves his hands around a bit. ] …replicas of our bodies.

…

It’d explain why some people suddenly remember stuff from home, too, even though they never went back.

[neverleave]

The captain gets ideas from books, so you might as well get them from video games.

[In other words, this is hardly a point against Mizuki. Natsuno considers for a moment - the captain is definitely capable of constructing and reconstructing bodies and if Ebalon is to be believed, flat out confirmed that revival is an easy fix.]

Something's definitely off about time here. First time I hear about people suddenly remembering more stuff, but I know that people from same place remember different points in time.

[Another shrug. Mizuki may be bothered, but Natsuno...]

Some of us got here after death, so the captain had to do something to our bodies anyway. [He died in an explosion. Maybe it was easier to "replicate" the body he had instead of putting it all back together...] The ship is fueled by what we are - you can call it souls, or "consciousnesses", so I don't think the container really matters.

[mooninthewater]

[ Really, this just means everyone needs to start reading and watching movies more often now. Maybe someone can ask for a list of the Captain's favorites? Maybe there's something to parse out in them. It's certainly not going to be Mizuki. Mizuki can't be around the Captain for more than a few seconds before he starts getting hunger pains.

Mizuki is less bothered about their Meaty Prisons and the fact that time doesn't add up than he is with the theory as a whole. If they are just copies, after all, and not just pulled straight from their world, what does that mean when they do take down the Captain? They wouldn't have homes to go back to, would they? Not that Mizuki himself minds that, he's perfectly happy being here, but… he's worried about how his friends might react.

It's just a theory, though! He doesn't know for sure! So he shouldn't fret about it. Natsuno isn't, so why should he? ]

Right. I guess I just… think maybe the reason the Captain sees us as playthings is… because, in a fucked up way, we are?

[neverleave]

[Natsuno is dead and has nothing to go back to, so he really isn't bothered but what happens after they take down the captain.

The people he cares about should able to return if they want, but he's not going to complain about his own fate.]

No, he sees us as playthings because he's an uncaring sadist. [His eyes narrow. Seriously Mizuki, what kinda bullshit is that - ] It shouldn't matter if we are copies or whatever. Friday is a construct he created - you think that excuses how he treats her?

[mooninthewater]

Oh, no no, you misunderstand, I am not saying he's right at all. I think it is still not okay, I just… get the thought process. In an analytical way! Not an empathetic way. [ Come on, Natsuno! His whole thing is picking apart brains. ]

If he's as old as he is, going through as many groups of us as he has, been in this self-imposed loneliness for as long as he has, then I'm sure he's lost touch on reality, or that we are truly "lives" he's playing with.

[neverleave]

[Okay, so a philosophical discussion. This he can do, if only because it can give him more insight on how Mizuki thinks. He's a friend for sure, but between his capability of terrifying violence and attachment to Ebalon of all people - Natsuno still doesn't really understand him.]

He wants to become a god. I'd say that usually indicates someone's lost touch with reality. And if he sees himself as a god in the making, then us "lesser" lives are nothing to him.

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki's not going to be gross and mushy on main, but all things considered, of Mizuki's friends sans Natsuno, Ebalon's probably the only one who treats him with some respect. So, really, the bar's pretty low! ]

Well, mmh... maybe? But gods always seem... hm... Most of the ones I know of just see their subjects as extensions of themselves. There is no "lesser" feeling because everyone is just... connected, somehow. To see things as "lesser" instead seems counterproductive to that of a god.

...

And then there's Venti, too. He doesn't see us as lesser just 'cause we're not gods. [ Least he doesn't think so? ]

[neverleave]

[Natsuno stares at him blankly.] ...Venti's a god.

[Huh. He would've never guessed, but if the captain can kidnap a storm goddess, he can kidnap a god of... singing?? Who even knows. Natsuno's quiet for a moment, but he's been on the Serena Eterna long enough to take such revelations in stride. He shakes the surprise off, files the information and moves on.]

I don't know him that well, but yeah. He doesn't act like mortals are lesser. And all I know about gods comes from myths and legends, so. [He frowns, thinking.] Isn't seeing your subjects as extensions of yourself just as bad, though? If someone's an extension of you, then they aren't their own person with their own wants and choices.

[mooninthewater]

... You didn't know? [ Whoops. ] S-sorry, it's just, you're so close with Clarke, I thought... ah, pretend I didn't say that? I don't think he really wants people knowing...

[ And as for the next part, Mizuki isn't sure he has any ground to stand on to give his two cents. After all, he's very recently found out he's being influenced by one of said gods, and even know he knows this now, and even though he knows it's weird and wrong and bad — ]

Is that so strange? To be truly connected to someone — assuming they're valiant and kind, anyway — and to carry out their will?

[ Mizuki might be unsettled that he's "connected" with the Seaborn god, but if it were some radiant or heroic god instead? He can't say he'd hate that. ]

[neverleave]

Of course. I won't say anything.

[If you tell Natsuno Yuuki to keep a secret, he'll take it to his grave. With that out of the way - ]

That depends on how you define "connected." It's one thing to choose to be part of something and carry out another person's will, and another thing to consider someone as just an extension without considering what they want. Can a god's subjects stop being subjects without fearing punishment?