JANUARY (MINI) PLAYER PLOT: I'LL SEND AN S.O.S. TO THE WORLD

[sailmods]

[After their return from the Village, many of the Serena Eterna's inhabitants have been taking time to nurse their psychological wounds. Arilanna Tayrey was no exception, until she was reminded that there was still work to do. Still hope of working towards the escape that she longs for.

The space probe. After months of preparation and testing, on the fifth of January, it's ready. The probe itself was found by Sparkles, and it carries a wealth of encoded information about the passengers (or 'prisoners' depending on whom you care to ask) aboard the ship. Ari and Cassandra collected the letters and videos contributed by the population, and through careful selection and editing, present a picture of a group in desperate need of rescue by anyone – or anything – that might find their message. Also affixed to the probe is a long-range emergency distress beacon, from Ari's home universe via Sundries.

The rocket which takes the probe to the heavens is a remarkable blend of science and magic. Ari and Crichton, Rita and Fever all used their expertise to put it together, but as Sparkles warned them, the success of the launch depends on their ability to distract the Captain and Friday.

This group know how to cause some appropriate chaos. To split Friday's attention, a grand distraction takes place. You may notice some of the following:

- signs around the ship declaring that there are no more rules, and daring you to do something forbidden – smoke wherever you like, 'steal' from a shop, start fires...
- mutiny banners, assorted fires across the ship (mostly courtesy of Natsuno), unknown sigils scrawled on walls
- also look out for a text message from a friend on the space probe team, either inviting you to join them in mutinous mayhem, or, if they don't want to show their hand or don't see you as the mutinous type, to participate in a mass rule-breaking experiment

And as Friday has all this to cope with, the Captain has an unexpected visitor on the bridge…]

Comments

THE LAUNCH (closed)

[sailmods]

[astrogator]

[Ari is full of nervous anticipation. They could have run more tests - couldn't you always have run more tests? Eventually you have to set a launch day and take the risk. Today is that day. She's checking over the small rocket a final time, not that she understands every bit of this, but she is sure that the people who took care of the elements that are magical beyond conventional physics know what they're doing. Trust your team.

She smiles at the others.]

We're really doing this. Launch day. It'll be worth all the effort when we pull this off.

THE BRIDGE (closed)

[sailmods]

fire safety the second: the not-so-unexpected sequel??

[myagic]

[Try to distract the captain, huh? Well, she's gotten his attention before, so it makes sense, but it still feels pretty weird to be doing this on purpose...

Anyway, she's here, and just in case has the Jade Glasses in her pocket and Ebalon's spellbook in her hand. Something will hold his attention for long enough, surely. But to start, she's just going to stop outside the bridge door and start talking.]

You know, I'm pretty sure I saw Skulduggery and that Number Jerk having a tea party together. I think you've got a rival.

Natsuno | OTA

[neverleave]

A. Little fires everywhere
[Natsuno is reading one of the signs hanging outside the Tommy Bahama. He already knows what it says, but he pretends to see it for the first time and contemplate the suggestions. He digs in his pockets for a lighter and turns it in his hand, seemingly considering. Finally, he takes a shirt off a rack, shoves it in a trash can, pours some store brand perfume over it for good measure and lights the whole thing up.

When he notices someone approach, he gestures at the sign.]

I was wondering.

[Later on, he can be found lighting small fires all around the ship. He's methodical and as serious as one can be while dabbling in arson. Of course it's not chaos for chaos sake, he's merely testing the signs' claims.]

B. Walls don't have ears but everything else sure does
[Various objects on the ship have grown extra appendages. Mugs and plates sport different animal ears, chairs have tails and will cry through rips in the padding if you step on them. Some arcade machines yell when you win, and is that a library book walking down the hall on little legs, switching direction as it bumps into walls or people's shins? A close inspection will reveal every such time has a blood sigil drawn on it.

Natsuno can be found in the pool deck, drawing another sigil on a beach ball, which promptly grows a pair of bird wings and starts flying around. Sorry if it hits you in the face, Natsuno's still working on the direction sigil.

Anyone who approaches will notice he smells of stale weed. It's from the non-enchanted stash and thus had no effect on him, but he needs a plausible excuse as to why he's doing it. Last time he got high, he and Rita ended up giving each other cat ears.]

[palfriday]

[it's around the tenth fire that something finally seems to slot together in her mind, and she actually pauses before her usual, almost mindless tossing of a bucket of water on the blaze.]

... Did. Did you set all of them?

Darcy LeJeune | Jewellery store and various | OTA

[saltwaterlungs]

No weapon shall prosper - Isaiah, I say what I mean

This is an exceptionally pigheaded idea that. Honestly, Darcy thought more of team Mutiny than just. Settling the place on fire and breaking things. If this is their best then yeah, they're going to be stuck on this ship forever. Far be it from Darcy to actively discourage rebellion, but...

All her shit and everyone she cares about presently is on this ship? So?

She won't be actively trying to stop anyone. But any fires that get started around the bars will be swiftly put out. Alcohol and fire is a bad mix, and she'd really rather not die in another explosion. Thanks, Okie.

Right now, I am being mentioned in therapy sessions across the state of Connecticut

All that being said, it's not like they're not tempted by the idea of theft and destruction. They're more than tempted, in fact- after a while they can be found scoping out the jewellery store. Early on it seemed like there was something about this place- maybe with everything being so run down and weakened, the cabinets will be more easily broken open?

So yeah they're hitting everything with a sword.

[crushed_pearls]

Erin goes running past.

Walks slowly backwards and waves. "Darcy I will ask exactly one question in the spirit of the occasion: do you have a comically large anime sword I can borrow? I got asked to help do some science here."

Deputy Pratt || OTA

[theweakhavepurpose]

[As one of Serena Eterna's resident chain smokers, Pratt is thoroughly enjoying committing as much petty larceny as possible while smoking the entire time in all the places he's not supposed to!

Catch the telltale scent of his Marlboro Reds in the promenade, coffee shop, and especially the arcade. Hate the smell of smoke? Too bad.

He's also committing the crime of the century by 'stealing' mountain dew and doritos from the snack section of Sundries.

As a sign of respect for the uniform he's not wearing his Deputy outfit while going on his Lieutenant sanctioned mayhem spree (and who is he to argue with the chain of command?). Instead he's in his Rye & Son's shirt from home, jeans and his cult hoodie. A true fashion disaster amidst the disaster he's creating on the Deck launching shovels into every visible surface via his trusty shovel launcher, then prying them out and doing it again. Some of the shovels are on fire, just to spice it up.]

[yourexoduslaughing]

[About ten feet away from Pratt, a bowling ball going at absurdly fast speeds smashes into the deck, embedding itself in deep enough to nearly punch through. Flan drops down a moment later by Pratt, giving him a delighted smile.] Oooohhh my god I LOVE the shovel bazooka you have!! That's so cool!!

OTA

[pineapplesalmon]

César, still without a goatee, furrows his brow in confusion and worry at one of the signs. One in the middle of the Promenade. Around him, there's a hint of starting chaos. In his hand is a forgotten bubble tea.

There are one of two things you might overhear him saying to himself:

"But that's terrible." OR "Mama would rise out of her grave and kill me."

He's going to need some encouragement.

[takethatnature]

"What happened to your beard? Don't tell me you died too."

Because that's what's relevant right now, while the giant gold statue of some bigshot he doesn't know has a smoldering pair of Tommy Bahama boxers on its head.

Grace | OTA

[moonlesstides]

Building Presence [Around]

The building destruction of the ship proves...inspiring. Grace wanders around, at first merely gawking, and then starting to join in; slashing chairs in the theater, upending the tables at Sand Dollars, repeatedly stabbing the floor in the Promenade to evidently no real effect but look at her, she's having so much fun with it. Join her?

Tunneling [Promenade, Fate's Design, Topy, Helena]

Eventually Grace gets tired of random acts of destruction and starts focusing in. She may require some supervision, since right now, after a month of worrying and fretting over her loved ones being gone, she is not thinking of some things she previously thought of.

For instance, at the Promenade, Grace is determinedly chipping away at the ankles of the Mayor Quimby statue. Here's the thing - before, Grace avoided doing this out of concern that it toppling might hurt people on the deck below when it plunges through the floor. Right now? No thoughts. Head empty. Only kill.

Fate's Design was going better until Grace realized that things here could be lit on fire. It is now on fire. It is very on fire. Tables? On fire. Cards? On fire. Gambling chips? Being thrown into the fires. Chairs? Also being thrown into the fires. Grace swims above the flames, smashing light fixtures with a mute snarl on her face.

Topy isn't on fire! That's great right? Hope you don't like wine though. After trying to take a bottle down so she could throw it and getting shocked all to fuck, Grace is now slowly, carefully, and very patiently, stabbing the bottles of wine and sake, one at a time. Watch the puddle of alcohol! It's full of shards!

Somewhere between these three, Grace sends a text to Helena, which reads:

🐟

t e a s t o r e

Throwing [Deck Zero]

Still furious, and yet exhausted in a way she can't name, Grace makes her way to the bottom of the ship and kneels on the deck. And there, she starts stabbing.

And stabbing.

And stabbing.

And stabbing.

Her harpoon isn't very sharp, but it is invulnerable; what starts as a scratch in the hull will, in time, become progress in making a hole. You know. A hole in the bottom of the ship. Where the water is.

deck zero

[goodweather]

Phil finds her. There's a distant frustration in his expression, a deadness behind his eyes and an exhaustion set in his shoulders.

"You're not doing this," he says, in a way that is soft but leaves no room for argument.

Siffleur - OTA

[teethoftherisk]

1. Everybody's all right

[He doesn't really register anything at first. Siffleur's been busy taking a break from people, staying deep in the TBs with only those who are as wild as himself. So when he sees the first fires, he doesn't really care. As far as he's concerned, this place goes nuts at random and if it matters, he'll hear an announcements.

But then things keep going. He sees people smashing stuff, attacking the statue in the main area, sees more evidence of fires Friday put out, and all of that makes him so confused - right until the sees the signs.

Siffleur takes one down and heads to Friday's desk to find her, see if she knows what's going on. But it's not manned, and that more than anything worries him. He looks around. ]

Friday? Are you here?

[He waits there for a while, just in case she comes back...]


2. Everything is automatic

[Passengers on board about to see something truly strange: Siffleur wandering around taking down signs and helping put out fires. Anyone caught breaking shit is getting approached. Close friends are given a chance to explain what's going on. Everyone else gets Siffleur looming over them with one simple question.]

What the fuck?

2

[gnighteverybody]

[ A small fuzzy guy holding a big mallet standing in front of an array of bottles ranked from small to large turns his beady little eyes to Siffleur. ]

Is that a trick question?

Klaus OTA

[busball]

Klaus doesn't really know what's going on or why it's going on. Nothing honestly makes sense...and Klaus is kind of used to being the chaotic one. So when Ari messages them, they have to come out and see what the hell is going on. Especially since there hadn't been a text back to his text checking to make sure she hadn't lost her mind after the whole situation with Number Poo.

They put on an outfit that probably felt like chaos to anyone looking at it because...there's no reason to not wear clothes where the colors and patterns clash horribly in a situation that calls for chaos. They grab some cigarettes and levitate just out of reach somewhere on the deck for a moment, lighting the cigarette and watching to see what's going on everywhere else. Maybe someone can explain it or maybe not. It's hard to say at the moment.

"Does anyone know what the goal is or is it just chaos? I'm confused, honestly." That being said, behind them sure are a cake, multiple meatballs in a carrying tray and a selection of cheeses ready for throwing if the situation calls for it. They figure this is acceptable enough for a call to chaos?

[astrogator]

Ari jogs past him. She has a holdall slung over one shoulder; it looks heavy and there's a clinking sound coming from inside it.

She glances at him as she passes, noticing the lit cigarette at once.

'Nice work!' she calls out to him. 'Step up the chaos, light more and drop them around the ship?'

Max | Kitchen | OTA

[maximumcake]

This is his home. This is where he's finally gained any form of freedom. He's not going to participate in destroying it. He knows he can't stop everything and everyone, but he can defend what he has come to think of as his shared territory.

So, if you have any designs on his kitchen (especially the deep fryer) you will have to go through him and his sword first. He's standing near where the door used to be, really wishing it was still here, waiting at attention with the sword lowered in first position.

When anyone enters, he will step into guard and ask them just this one question, "You're not here to destroy anything, right?"

[arrayerofrazors]

The hunched-over lass approaching - hey Max, new face - looks him up and down, then does that again, and keeps walking inwards with her hands in her pockets. The number badge on her chest reads Number 44, when the squirming shadows from her hair aren't dropping on it and obscuring it. "Only thing I'm here to destroy are my arteries, hot stuff. You want fish tacos?"

Ari Tayrey - Open [Firestarter]

[astrogator]

One second.

It's all they need. One second of enough people causing enough chaos to comprehensively distract Friday and allow the launch to take place. Right now, they need more. Hence the encouragement, hence the texts, hence Lieutenant Tayrey tearing around the ship throwing Molotov cocktails at any opportune target. Bar displays are good, if she has the distance and the solitude, but her priorities are speed, distance, and number. Three separate small fires, she reasons, will divide Friday's attention more than one conflagration.

She doesn't want anyone to be hurt. She's not compromising safety for the sake of speed. Just hitting one target after another. Soft furnishings. A shop display.

As she sees the flames leap, there's a sight that's rare on this ship. A genuine smile on Tayrey's face. Despite the urgency and the pressure, she's enjoying this. She hasn't felt this powerful in a very long time.

If she sees you causing mayhem of your own, you'll get a cheery word of encouragement from her. Tayrey will stop briefly for you if she thinks you want to join her efforts. Call out to her and puck a target of your own!

If she suspects you might want to stop her, she won't even slow down for you, so to get her attention you'll probably have to physically accost her. Good luck. As well as a holdall full of firestarting supplies, she also has that energy pistol of hers on hand.

[decohere]

Raised on an unhealthy diet of espionage, identifying this all as a distraction tactic wasn't a difficult conclusion. Immediate mutiny-aligned suspects come to mind, who would benefit most, who has expressed specific plans to keep pursuing escape. Ava tries to take a mental step back, go over other possible suspects outside her suspicious bias.

But there's one specific person her compass needle spins right back to. A conversation a year ago over little army men, on how Ava would infiltrate a colony. A conversation on taking advantage of chaos just recently, at the Village. One person whose motivations have never been secret, who has expressed this very strategic approach. Who Ava doesn't even fully blame.

And a realization that if it's already taking place, then it's likely too late. There's a bigger plan hidden within the destruction. Something this is covering up to create an opportunity. They wouldn't be doing this now otherwise.

Ava has no idea what. Terror gets shoved down, she locks in on the target because doing nothing isn't an option.

Finding the Lieutenant isn't as difficult as she expects, with the trail of destruction she's leaving. Which gives Ava plenty of cover to follow along, hoping to uncover what the Lieutenant is really up to. But if she's part of the distraction efforts, that means somebody else entirely is carrying through with the actual mission. Ava grinds her teeth in frustration as she feels crucial seconds ticking away.

As Tayrey works her way closer to the bridge, Ghost steps flickering out of the flames, directly in her path with glowing claws out. Ready to physically take Tayrey down if she doesn't come to a stop.

"What have you done." Not will do. It's clear she already knows that she's failed.

Demona (A.K.A. Dominique) [Daylight] | OTA

[angelofthenight]

No rules? She's not sure how much she trusts that. Seems like some kind of trick. However... it is a good opportunity to get in on the mischief-making. She cannot deny herself the pleasure of it once she starts to see others reveling in it.

If only it was nighttime. She could do so much more under the moonlight. She has no claws now, no wings, no tail. She's only half her strength. It will have to do.

She's tied her hair back in a bun and donned a loose-fitting dress from the Tommy Bahama along with a pair of wedge heels (those are easier to walk in than flat feet). Now, she's carrying two bottles of rubbing alcohol she stole from the infirmary with cloth wicks stuck in the top of them. There is a lighter in her pocket. Her destination? The wine bar, Topy. She doesn't know this yet but Grace has done a lot of prep work that will make this even more convenient for her.

It should be noted that Demona looks perfectly human just at this moment and save for a very few trusted souls, no one here knows that this red-headed lady who calls herself Dominique in a heavy French accent is anything other than what she claims to be. But, it is kind of weird for a French lady to be going to blow up a wine bar, isn't it? Maybe she's a snob.

[redlightgreenlight]

The rampant chaos on every deck and nearly every common area is driving her nuts. Her head hurts from the noise, and her chest has been hurting for days without any noticeable cause. So when the unfamiliar redheaded, woman walks past with makeshift explosives in her hands, Valdis shakes her head.

"You are all gremlins."

Fio | Library OTA

[sabigoe]

[ Fio stands guard in front of the library's entrance. A few books or two with extra appendages start tottering out past her legs, but she doesn't bother chasing them down, as if she's afraid to leave her spot. She doesn't want to fight, but if anyone actually tries to push her way past her, she might for once.

The facility has served as a sanctuary since the beginning of her voyage. She never slept in her own cabin during her first few days. Sometimes waking up with a blanket draped over her. It also helped distract her, from scenes of violence that displayed on the television screens. The battle royale. The sinking ship... And it was also the place where Judith blasted Vance into a wall.

The little girl might not look like a threat, but she isn't alone. Her two dolls, floating above her: Judith and Calcite. Her "magical" weapons have been summoned, two silver lanterns glowing with a bright, fiery light. Similar to the toys, they dangle right above her.

As chaos breaks out and the number of fires increase, Fio watches in confusion, with a mix of fear and sadness. ]

I don't understand...

[pineapplesalmon]

I don't, either.

[César had been walking the ship in shock, really. He has no idea what's going on. But he did come to the same conclusion as Fio: the library must be protected. And not just because his beloved John's stories are in there.

For the first time, César is carrying a strange device that looks a bit like a tuning fork. His expression sets to being more serious rather than befuddled when he sees Fio. When he's close enough for a conversation, he offers her a soft smile.]

I'm here to help guard. [He holds up the device a bit.] This should induce unconsciousness in anyone that I point it at. So make sure to stay out to the side or behind it, okay?

[Then, he remembers his manners.] ... oh, and hello, I suppose. How are you holding up?

Phil | John's [open]

[goodweather]

Phil's had an extraordinarily rough month-half-a-year. He doesn't care much for the sudden outburst in absolute fucking mayhem. Maybe people are just going crazy after the Village, but he doesn't fucking care, and he's all out of energy. He's too empty for this.

He can't be everywhere at once. Phil posts up in the entrance of John's, reading a book with his muffs on, eyes flicking up irritably at anyone going past. Anyone found trying to head inside gets a sharp, "What're you looking for?"

... Or, anyone coming in will find a much larger, more menacing shape sprawled across the bar counter, staring straight at them.

Giles OTA

[ring_for_giles]

Giles doesn't know what's going on precisely, but the signs and the building chaos paint a picture he's seen before.

This is an escape attempt, isn't it?

Overwhelm and distract the Keeper, find the cracks as they form to slip through.

Had this been a month earlier, Giles likely would have ignored it, not participated for fear of retribution. And of breaking a place that isn't as bad as it could be.
But his fear of losing people nearly cost him his loves, and a gilded cage is still a cage.
He's grown complacent.
And he did start this voyage lighting fires, didn't he?

First, Tommy Bahama, to steal clothes to use as kindling. Then to Sand Dollars for a chair. And finally up to the sports deck to construct his bonfire.

The only thing missing is Sharky. But if this ends in punishment he doesn't want anyone he cares about implicated.

Tommy Bahama (likely a short one but couldn't resist!)

[astrogator]

As Giles is taking clothes from a display, Tayrey comes running full-pelt into the middle of the Tommy Bahama. She stops abruptly, and glances at him, but doesn't speak. She doesn't know much about the man, or where his loyalties lie. She does know that he stands with Ossie, but Tayrey still considers Ossie Oswald something of a coward, so that hardly helps.

There's no time to ponder what he's doing here, whether he's seen the signs or what he thinks of them. Tayrey grabs hold of a shirt and starts tearing it into long, thin strips, which she drops into an empty holdall slung over her shoulder. She's working as frantically as if her life depended on it.

fever - ota - post launch.

[abhorrently]

The chaos she had inflicted had been from hidden spots, knowing there was no real privacy on this ship and yet contributing some so that the distractions could go off. Cantrips causing problems, breaking things, fired from different angles. And yet, they do have to live on this boat, and there's going to be retaliation. Call it cowardly, while she calls it tactical, since launch happens so soon after what happened in the Village.

So, when things are clear, that's when she really actually lets herself be noticed, seen. And...she's cleaning. Dug up a broom from somewhere, gathering up what's been destroyed, trying to put at least some parts of the ship back together even though she's one woman. It makes it seem like she gives half of a shit about how this place wants to run. It also, she hopes, will allow her to fade into the background and listen to others, to try and gauge if anyone's caught onto what the scheme was or if they remain convinced it was a fluke - if the former, then the Lieutenant's the one risking her neck the most.

But seriously, they do have to wake up to this place every day. It might as well be less of a mess.

[light_mischief]

[Skulduggery steps out onto the deck just in time to see the satellite speeding towards the edge of the world. He doesn't immediately recognize what it is, and for just a split-second he lets himself believe that maybe it's entering the atmosphere, not leaving. That it's some stray detrius from the Erda. That it isn't what it looks like.

He takes off like a shot, putting on speed in a way that would tear at his skin if he had any. He can make it. He will make it. Failure is simply not an option, he has to make it --!!

He doesn't, of course. He couldn't possibly catch up to a satellite mid-launch. Maybe if he'd taken the mutineers more seriously, he would have been able to stop it before it started. Or maybe he should have taken the Captain's offer to shrink reality to the Bridge.

If they're very lucky, the thing will be obliterated by the infinity beyond their bubble. Hell, nominal luck would leave it floating forever in the void. Unfortunately, Skulduggery has the nagging feeling that his luck has finally revealed itself to be a finite resource.

His only hope now is that the luck of those responsible is as limited as his own.]

[closed to the captain]

[light_mischief]

[the first thing to do is go to the bridge. there's nothing he can do to stop what's happened, but maybe there's something to be done about what's to come. he lands on the athletic deck in time to catch the announcement over the speakers, pausing to listen to the overconfident admission.

of course it was her. he never should have assumed she would fail to grasp the magic enough to circumvent it. he thought they'd just been testing the fences, not breaking through them on the first try. lazy. stupid!

he makes it to the bridge before Ari officially signs off, unaware that Rita, Siffleur and Friday just left.]

How did they do that? [because there's no way that Ari did this entirely by herself. there had to be magic involved.]

Revenge (Probably Only For The Record Rather Than Threaded But I'm Taking Ideas)

[seethesun]

The Infinite Tommy Bahama had some ecosystem changes during Eleanor's absence, and with the chaos aboard the ship something inside her snaps. If everyone is going to be running amok anyway, she wants her pound of flesh back from the strange carnivorous shoes and other horrors of the unlimited store.

The first step is to teleport into the kitchen, which proves to be a bit of a hazard; Mister Maximum is failing to defeat a table of some kind? Odd. Eleanor grabs the two sealed-up boxes of doom and teleports away with them to the Promenade.

There is a moment, a brief, shining moment of pure virtue, where Eleanor almost doesn't go through with it.

Then she cuts the seals on the boxes with Reduvia and kicks them with all of her considerable strength straight into the clothing store before sitting down to observe what happens when infinities collide.

[teethoftherisk]

While running around the ship putting out actual fires and yelling at people, he ends up swinging by Tommy Bahamas, his head turning to scan it as he passes through. He's hit with three things at once.

In the time that he left:

- one of the fires has spread to the obstacle course.
- Eleanor, who he was sure hadn't come back, is back.
- She's standing by a flood of infinite hot dogs.

He's left speechless for a moment. His hard work on the course is being completely undone, and now the place he calls home is ankle deep in hot dogs. Siffleur would normally be happy to see her, sympathetic to her own troubles with Jack, but this just...

This has him pissed, and she gets the same treatment as the others. "What the fuck Eleanor?"

Crichton | OTA - Post Launch

[ss_buttcrack]

After helping successfully launch the rocket with probe/beacon attached Crichton can be found running through the various decks. His eyes are wide as he takes in the mayhem he helped cause. Jesus, he knew people were likely to get rowdy but he didn't think they'd actually try to blow the place up. He thought they'd have better self-preservation instincts than this. Well, okay, most of them.

"Frell. I guess we all had some steam to blow off..."

He's not actively participating in any of the destruction right now. The need for it is over, not that anyone else can know that. He's trying to find Lieutenant Tayrey right now to tell her the good news.

[ooc: Crichton may have Sparkles riding along in his shadow unbeknownst to him during any of these threads at Trek's discretion.]

Sparkles is loved and welcome here

[astrogator]

Tayrey is still headed towards the bridge, but she's taking the long way around, because trying to get past Ava again hadn't felt like the right thing to do. She's genuinely sorry for causing Ava pain, but she knows she must harden her heart to it. Ava might be genuinely sorry that Tayrey is kept in a captivity she hates, but that doesn't stop her being friends with the man who kidnapped and imprisoned her. They all draw their lines and have their priorities.

Not only does she not regret her actions, she's proud. Of the whole team. She likes to think Savitskaya would be proud of her too - asking what took her so long, probably, but that thought only makes Tayrey smile. She's closer to seeing her mentor again than she has been in such a long time. At this very moment, someone might have picked the beacon's signal, might be headed to investigate...

She notices the utter chaos as she moves through the ship, but it doesn't bother her. How can she judge anyone else when she practically reveled in causing her part?

When she sees Crichton, her eyes light up in delight, and she rushes towards him - but stops short. No suspicious behavior. She can be pleased about this; Crichton needs to play innocent in public. He can tell, can't he? She only looks this elated when she's flying.

Number 6 [Closed To Ava]

[be_seeing_you]

The chaos happening on the ship seems like a surreal nightmare. Exactly the kind of nightmare Number 2 subjected him to in The Village, over and over and over and over. Just hearing it is enough to put him into a fit.

With shaking hands, he shuts the door and climbs back into bed to muffle it by putting a pillow over his head. Whatever is happening out there, he doesn't have the fortitude to face it yet.

"Go, Ava," he had said when she expressed the need to see what's happening, to protect the Captain if he's in danger. "I'll be all right. I'll stay right here. You can tell me everything when you get back."

His sinews burn with shame because he is too rattled to go out there and perform his duty alongside her. But the risk is too high that he wouldn't know friend from foe. This is better.

Until Ava returns, he waits. Even laying in bed, he won't sleep a wink until she's back in his arms.

[decohere]

It's difficult to fully process the implications of what just happened, when or what fallout to even brace for. The urge to toss herself overboard and live out the remainder of her days as an octopus in the depths of the sea is so overwhelming tempting.

Except she has somebody waiting for her return.

So she does, feet dragging with each step back to their room. Ignoring the destruction and all its enthusiastic perpetrators. If the ship crashes down around them, it's something she's already lived and died through anyway. She's as powerless to stop it now as she was then. There's nothing else she can do, except collapse next to Peter in bed.

She doesn't say a word. Doesn't move, other than to stretch out gloved fingers toward him.

Cassandra | OTA

[not_the_last]

She knew there was a reason she distrusted the "no more rules" approach. This ought to have been more organized.

Still, it's doing what they need, and she's doing her part: moving as surreptitiously as possible through the stairwells and back corridors of the ship, using her fire-enchanted dagger to scorch long streaks along the walls and floors. Nothing actually catches fire, but the scorching does send up smoke here and there -- enough, she trusts, to be yet another draw on Friday's attention.

The trouble with being in out-of-the-way places is there's no way to see when the real mission has succeeded. (Or failed, but she's not thinking about that.) With any luck, either Tayrey or Crichton will be able to let her know.

[saltwaterlungs]

There's a sound behind Cass like... fire hissing out, and if she turns quickly enough she'll see Darcy- flickering with oceanic light- with her hand directly on a scorch mark, sliding across and extinguishing whatever smoulder is left on the wall.

"See- the rest of them I can absolutely buy with the setting fires and shit because a poster told them to. But what are you doing?" she asks.

Then again, more cautious, more pointed.

"What are you doing."

Yufei || OTA

[knotawolf]

Half the ship is smouldering wreckage and this guy is discovering why sailors are terrified of fire. Where do you run to while on a confined vessel in the middle of the water?

He's apparently trying to find out as he runs all over the entire ship. He's also screaming, there's that too. But every corner he turns has someone lighting fires, or poking holes in the ship, or wrecking things so he can't get away and he's getting more and more upset which means the yelling is getting louder and louder.

It's like having a mobile burglar alarm audible all throughout the ship, the sound getting louder or softer depending on where the listener is. An educational opportunity to learn about the Doppler Effect!

[inhairently]

Steve is one of the few not tearing the ship apart right now. He's just trying to make it back to his cabin but uhhh that's definitely someone screaming, and it's definitely getting closer at an alarming rate. As much as he'd like to ignore it and go shut himself up in his room, he doesn't. Whoever it is might be hurt.

He turns to head back towards the screaming just in time to see the weird man from the memorial barreling towards him.

"Heyheyheyheyhey! Whoa! Slow down!" he shouts, holding up his hands as if that might do anything to calm Yufei down. "Just hang on a minute, man!"

around the ship; OTA

[yournewsidekick]

Is... is it Nimona's birthday?

When she spots one of the signs in the atrium, her mouth splits into a too-wide grin. "Metal," she breathes -- and she leaps, transforming into a gorilla halfway up, to grab hold of the chandelier and send it crashing down with a whoop of glee.

She smashes railings. She shoots gouts of fire up the banister of the grand staircase. She turns into a rhino and keeps breathing fire as she thunders through the lounge, the dining room, Bric a Brac --

(" -- oooh!" she says as she spots one of the new I ♥ BEING ANNOYING shirts, and pops back to human long enough to don one.)

-- then stampedes down the Promenade to start breaking stuff in all the shops there, too. Horse, ostrich, bear, elephant: if it's big, heavy, and can cause some top-tier damage, she'll shift into it at some point, and breathe more fire over everything as she does.

BEST DAY EVER.

driveby because yes, best day ever

[astrogator]

Sometimes what you start grows far beyond you. Arilanna Tayrey, for instance, could never have imagined that her No Rules Mutiny posters would lead to a rhino rampaging around the ship and breathing fire.

She's taken aback when she sees it, because creatures still make her nervous, even after all this time, but she soon realises that whoever or whatever it may be, it's very much on the side of chaos right now.

If Nimona has noticed Tayrey before, it's likely as a solemn, worn-down young woman, always in her military uniform, always avoiding anything that looks too much like fun.

Tayrey practically bouncing on her toes and cheering as the rhino goes past is a new sight, for sure.

CLOSED

[sailmods]

[it's late in the evening of January 15th by the time it enters the Serena Eterna's airspace.

it is not noticed. it is not meant to be noticed. it is not seen. it is not meant to be seen. but it is certainly there: a small, simple paper airplane, white, floating lazily in the air, carried by some unknown breeze closer and closer to the ship.

it finds the outer window of cabin 159 and passes cleanly through it, landing neatly on her bedspread. only then is it seen.]

[astrogator]

[Ari Tayrey has had something of a rough time since the rocket went up, but she hasn't let that change anything. She knows she did the right thing.

She's sitting in her cabin when the paper flies in.

Of course she's going to pick it up and examine it.]

ANNOUNCEMENT: WHILE CHAOS STILL RAGES

[astrogator]

[Cassandra's words didn't make Tayrey regret any of the ongoing destruction, but they did cause a literal change of direction. It isn't enough to go to the bridge and confess to whoever might be standing around there. No, she needs to be clear about this, and if it makes some people break off their chaos-causing, that's their choice to make.

Some time after the successful launch, she goes to Friday's empty desk.

It takes an inordinately long amount of trial and error for her to figure out how this works, but she's persistent about it. The giant shell from under the desk? Well, that makes no sense at all, but it does the trick. (Feel free to bewilder her with a copy of Lord of the Flies later; she'll think it explains a lot about Earthers.)

The emergency broadcast system crackles into life. This time it isn't a podcast. Tayrey coughs, and then speaks:]

This is Lieutenant Tayrey. Peace and prosperity.

Today while our captor was busy attending to other matters, I sent up a rocket. It has passed outside this realm, along with a long-range distress beacon and the details of our long captivity.

You were told it was impossible, but the prison wall has been breached, and we have hope of rescue! May probability smile upon us all.

Tayrey out.

[She's going to get away from the desk now. Quickly.]

[ooc: just the announcement here so characters can react where they are; there will be a separate toplevel for positive/negative interactions with Tayrey directly a little later!]

[goodweather]

[ Rather swiftly, Phil tells those that he can to start putting on leis; all of his CR gets texted, and everyone else gets a very brief aside in the hall, doesn't matter who. ]