come_sailaway | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ouch. Still, "Point taken. And, to be fair, I wouldn't... like to see Friday be disassembled along with the rest of the dimension." Mostly now because he feels guilty about it.

"It's the question of the century," Skulduggery sighs. "What does the captain want with godhood? The only reason he's given me so far is that he simply wants to know what's on the other side. I think we can both agree that is a stupid reason to want to be a god."

"The fucking chicken that crossed the road," Ava scoffs. "And I'd argue that there's no particularly good reason to want to be a god. It's like running for president." Who in their right mind.

"But don't gods usually have... I don't know. Myths and temples and worshippers? All he has is the ship and some hostages and a bunch of books in a library."

"He certainly isn't doing himself any favors if he's looking for worshippers." Skulduggery tilts his head from side to side, not shaking it so much as trying to dislodge his thoughts. Maybe they just need a good shake-up? "I don't know. He doesn't seem to care about any of that. It truly just seems to be about the power, and I don't think you need people to believe in you when you can manipulate energy to this degree."

But then again, maybe he does. Skulduggery has no real idea. "The only gods I know of are giant, faceless, semi-invisible beings that cause madness with one look. They certainly didn't need worshippers. All they ever needed was labor and energy. Both of which we seem to be providing."

"No, but what's the point of being so powerful if you don't have an audience to prove it?" Ava questions, scooting just a bit closer to Skulduggery.

"Anyway, he's obviously missing something. Do you think it'd be so awful, if he achieved it?"

Skulduggery lifts a hand and wiggles his fingers. "Well, he's got us. The most permanently captive audience in all of eternity."

Not that they're paying any attention to what the captain's doing. But he's going to make an effort not to be a downer for at least a little bit. "I don't know. I feel a man with complete disregard for innocent life is generally ill-suited for godhood." He chuckles. "I probably wouldn't be so opposed to the idea if it didn't involve the slow degradation of my soul."

"Well what I mean is that... every cruise ends the same way, as far as we know. He fails to succeed in his goal, he grows bored and no longer has use of his captives, and their souls or whatever are..." Ava waves her hand vaguely. "So we have to do something different, to break the cycle. And what if that's help him achieve godhood? Is that any worse than what we already face?"

It sounds insane, she knows, and she wouldn't voice this to anyone else. Mostly she's hoping for Skulduggery to talk her out of it, exactly why it's a terrible idea.

He laughs a little, because that is a... genuinely crazy idea, no doubt about it. But every solution to their problem, no matter how crazy, is worthy of consideration. After all...

"It really depends on what he'll do once he's ascended. Right now, the damage he causes is relatively limited. He can only draw on us. But if he were capable of reaching across realities, nobody would be safe. Our friends in our home realities would be in danger -- the very fabric of existence could be at risk, for all we know."

But of course, "Even if he had the best intentions, power corrupts. Absolute power, absolutely."

"All I know is that the world wasn't so great anyway." Ava sighs and stretches out, with an arm flung over her face. "But you're right. It's a stupid idea. I just figured all the good ones were already attempted."

Skulduggery reaches over and pats her arm sympathetically. "I didn't say it was a stupid idea. It's certainly a crazy one, but crazy doesn't mean stupid."

"All things considered. Sanity isn't going to get anyone very far in these circumstances."

"And that's why we're here." The popular solution seems to be fairly lateral -- kill the captain and go home -- but it isn't the best one. "As far as I'm concerned, it's our job to come up with the really crazy solutions."

He's joking, mostly, but they both have been known to get a little outside the box now and again...

"There's a reason I don't tell other people how I really think," Ava muses softly, turning her head to peer at Skulduggery again. "But you always seem to get it."

His grin is genuine, as is his clear affection. "That's because great minds think alike. And we have some of the greatest minds aboard."

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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