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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[ “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?

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?

… [ 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.

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.

[ 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?

[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?

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.

[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.

[ 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? ]

[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.

... 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. ]

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?

[ A beat. ]

Depends on which god, I suppose. One god I know of is connected with the entire race of Sankta— er… [ What are they more generally known as again…? ] Angels. I don’t know too much about it, only what I’ve heard from the pastors at my church, but apparently it can make the whole race feel emotions at it’s will. Hope, for example.

[ Is that a good thing or is that wildly fucked up? Mizuki has no idea, personally. ]

… I just wonder what he hopes to achieve. From being a god and such… like what that might do for him that he currently can’t…

...I wouldn't want anyone manipulating my emotions, no matter how good it felt.

[Natsuno says "wildly fucked up."]

Right now it seems like he has total control of his pocket dimension. Maybe he wants to control more dimensions? Instead of taking people from different realities, cross over and play with them.

[ That's fair, honestly. Mizuki would agree to some extent, but Mizuki is also well aware that his emotions are A Lot All Of The Time, so maybe someone manipulating them might be an improvement? Inconclusive. ]

To what end, do you think? Or do you think it's a gesture of power? I don't know how he'd be trying to prove himself to.

Some people think "power" is an end of its own. He told Clarke he's bored, so being a god provides endless entertainment.

I’m surprised he still feels that way with all of the gods he’s seen now. Even Miss Jenny, if she could be considered one herself…

But Jenny is a storm goddess. A natural force. The captain probably wants to be the omnipotent kind of god.

[For a moment he's tempted to ask what kind of god Venti is, but. He promised to act like he didn't hear anything.]

An… omnipotent god? [ …? ] Is that a common thing?

Some religions believe in them.

[He shrugs.]

I don't know if they really exist, but I'm sure the captain's heard of the concept and decided he likes it.

… He does like those fictional books. Have you read any of them yet? Have any of them had gods in them?

[ Admittedly, Mizuki hasn't been too diligent on reading them himself, if just because he's got his face pressed into his own manga. Maybe the Captain would like those, too? ]

I've been reading nothing but horror and murder mysteries since I got here. Figured it counts as research, but - [He makes a face. When Natsuno first realized people back home were rising from their graves, he tried to find answers in books and movies. It felt ridiculous, but some of it was helpful.] nothing useful so far. Maybe I'm not reading the right books.

[He missed Battle Royale, after all.]

Some of the horror stories have gods, but - I don't think they're something the captain wants to be. They're more like the creepy void he has inside of him.

…Maybe he's not going for the horror god vibes? I mean, he sort of acts like what I imagine a spoiled rotten 9-year-old with magic powers would act like.

[ Not that he's met many spoiled rotten 9-year-olds, but he knows very solidly what they act like. He's read Willy Wonka, he knows!!! ]

You give him too much credit. He's mentally five at best.

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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