come_sailaway | Welcome To The Village

Who: Everyone who was signed-up for the excursion
What: The Village December Excursion
When: Dec 1st - Dec 23rd
Where: The Village
Warnings: Involuntary capture and confinement including immobilization and restraints, violence, injury, maiming, possibility of death, torture, coercion, gaslighting, mind control, drugging, scientific experiments, and extremely inaccurate depictions of mental health facilities/hospitals, among other potentially triggering themes. Please mark all threads appropriately.

"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" A voice that sounds very similar to Friday's chirps over a loudspeaker outside your character's home. Yes, their home.

Overnight, all the passengers who signed up for this excursion have been transported to their very own personal cottages. They will awake in a bed that is familiar to them. While this home of theirs does not necessarily have to resemble the place they were born or raised, it will be a perfect replica of a place they truly thought of as their home, down to the most minute details.

The cottages are self-contained, the size of a large studio apartment so, in some cases, they may only resemble the bedroom and living room of a person's home with a shrunken-down kitchenette and bathroom adjoined. But the heirlooms of their past are here. A favorite doll? A treasured family portrait? Trinkets you have long forgotten about? All of them will be here, somehow. (All except for weapons, that is.) They are indistinguishable from the real item, down to the molecule.

After that wake-up call, the voice continues on to express that the weather will be warm and sunny, with no rain forecasted. A brass band concert is announced, to start at noon on the lawn next to the living chess set. And once that bit of news is wrapped up, lively marching band music will begin to play. And it will continue to play. All day. From every speaker...including the ones hidden in their home.

Welcome to Your Village

It only gets stranger from here. Characters may be dismayed to find that they are without any of their original clothes or belongings. They awake in conservative button-up pajamas. The closet in their home is full of the latest Village Fashion to choose from. Everything is The Village label brand, including the tin cans of food that stock the kitchen and any of the groceries you could get at the General Store.

Your ship phone rings. When you answer it, you will be greeted, once again, by the voice of Friday. "Your number, please? Of course, you have a number. Look at your badge." If they look down at their chest, they will discover a small round number badge has been pinned to their pajamas. Was that there before? It bears the symbol of a Penny-farthing Bicycle, with a number in the spokes. This is their number.

"No names here," the voice of Friday chides, "Only numbers. Number 2 would like a word with you at the Green Dome. He requests you come for breakfast. Thank you!" Before they can protest further, the line goes dead.

Some Notes:

No matter how many times your character tries to take off and disregard their number badge, they will always find it re-attached to their clothes again the moment they look away and look back.

Your characters still have their phones but now they can only make calls instead of sending texts. They also do not take or store photographs anymore.

If your character destroys or damages anything in their home, or in The Village it will instantly repair the way things used to on the Serena Eterna.

The noise from the speakers can be muffled by covering it with pillows or other creative items, but cannot be stopped entirely. (Sorry Phil)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's one of many categories I judge these excursions on."

The cape might be silly, but he could probably manage to pull off clothing form Spirit Halloween if he so chose. It's all about how one carries themselves.

"I do think so, it'll be useful to meet whoever is running this place." His thinking follows hers, not that he thinks he can negotiate his way out of here, but it doesn't hurt to try. "My concern is that anything I might try to do would negatively impact the Captain. Which may or may not be worthwhile to whoever is here."

He does hope they're eavesdropping on him, perhaps they'll think he has more leverage than he really has by talking about the Captain so casually. Appearances are more important than reality.

"How's your accommodations?" She can already guess that the room he woke up in was as grand as any of the properties he owned. Or she wonders if he somehow ended up in a less fortunate period in his life, as she had.

It doesn't take much for her to pick up on that he's playing a certain tactic, with his careful choice in words. As if he's also well aware that they're likely being monitored. Ava nods. "Yes, it'll be good to know what they want, so we can hopefully avoid any unpleasant confrontation." Nah, she absolutely wants to resort to violence here. But seeming open to negotiations sure is helpful. And hey, it'd be fun to see Maximilien give it a go, she doubts whatever stupid torture gaslighting methods Number 2 has cooked up will even work well on an Omnic.

"Disturbingly accurate to my quarters in Havana. The unfortunate thing being that I never required sleep before and I didn't have a bed, nor do I have one here." He sounds annoyed because that's going to be terrible when he actually gets tired, though at least his chair is comfortable. "It's quite nice if I'm being honest. Which makes me curious as to why they'd go through the effort."

He can think up several unpleasant reasons, but speculation out loud will just give whoever is listening in ideas, as he's learned the hard way. "Ah yes, a confrontation would be unfortunate for those involved."

For those that Ava murders in said confrontation he means, and hopes she understands his subtlety.

"Ah, well I'd offer you mine." Since she clearly thinks she'll be able to just shack up with her husband at night. "But it's not much of a bed. Just a cot." It's basically the same set up he found her in as a child, and she frowns. He deserves something nicer than that.

"It is rather impressive," she says without really meaning it. "Maybe they've caught on to how many people wish to go home and are willing to provide that in exchange for... well, I'm not sure what." Because she doesn't plan on giving it anyway. She suspects it's more to lower defenses by making people feel more comfortable. Or a power play at showing just how much is known about them, their past lives.

"I'll make do, but other than that it's been rather, quiet. Though from what I've been told the last one was as well until the end. So we shall see what this place has in store for us."

He's leaning more towards the latter, trying to unsettle them by showing that they know everything about them. It's not working on Max, but it might on others - it's not a bad tactic. "Another option might be to offer to let people stay and see how many take them up on it."

Well that'd be a great way to sow dissension while they're back on the ship wouldn't it? Having to live with people that tried to sell you out to stay in a fake reality.

"Hm... I wonder if that arrangement is possible," Ava doubts, but at the same time... any Number 2 is a conniving bastard by trade, and the Captain has been in enough of a distracted slump...

If there was anyone looking to overthrow things, to run the place themselves, she wouldn't put it past Number 2 to have greater schemes in mind than just ruining their next few days.

"Maybe he's open to negotiation." That's more Max's expertise.

"Oh you do know how to say what I like." Max positively preens. "However, I don't really have much to negotiate with. I don't think anyone would comply if I offered up some of the less valuable passengers as collateral."

Meaning literally everyone except the half dozen he likes or tolerates.

"I suppose we'll have to react to things as they come. I hate not having a plan."

"There's always something to negotiate with," Ava insists. "Just have to figure out what he wants, and make sure you create perceived value." She's less focused on tangible things, and figures Number 2 is as well. After all, he can recreate their entire homes from their memories.

"I'm not the best at plans," Ava admits. She tries. She always has plenty of ideas. But carrying through with an exact plan never seems to quite go her way, so making it up as she goes along is how she fumbles through. She pats Maximilien sympathetically, though. "But maybe Peter can come up with something."

"Well of course, I'm just setting reasonable expectations." He's not sure how negotiations will go with someone he's never met before in a place he's just arrived. But maybe he can relish the challenge.

"Let's see what breakfast has to offer. I'm sure we'll know more afterwards."

And conveniently it'll get him out of talking to Peter.

A nod. If anyone can do it though, she expects somebody hyper rational like Maximilien to be able to resist the gaslighting and manipulation tactics.

"Hopefully not pancakes. I'll have a difficult time resisting." But she absolutely refuses to eat any of the food offered at it.

Welcome To The Village

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject