come_sailaway | [OPEN] Newcomer Getting His Sea Legs

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[OPEN] Newcomer Getting His Sea Legs

Who: Six, OPEN
What: August catch-all
Where: All over the ship
When: All of August
Warnings: Six is a former mercenary assassin who only recently quit the business from his own perspective thanks to losing six years of his memory. He's also never had a vacation before and has quickly decided that they're overrated.

[Wandering Around]

The best thing to do in unfamiliar territory is to scope out the situation. There really aren't many places to stalk around here (surprisingly enough) but things are so spaced out that he isn't sure if there just aren't that many people on board overall or if the ship's even larger than he'd originally thought. Or both.

He eyed each new place warily, eyes darting about the space behind the sunglasses. He didn't trust any of this nonsense right now, to be honest.

[Gathering Necessities]

He wasn't sure if he should be insulted that the tacky clothing shop had so many green suits in his size. However, with no way of getting his combat armor back that he could see, the slightly-familiar suits would do.

With a couple of extra suits in hand, time to gather the rest of what he absolutely needed.

[People-Watching]

In trying to learn more about the ship itself, it was equally important to learn about who was on the ship.

Six could sometimes be found on the outer fringes of an occupied open area, watching people coming and going. It was probably a bit creepy...not that Six would be bothered by such a thing.

[Meeting the Roommate (Private to Prisoner Number 6)]

The doors to the cabins were heavy. It made sense given if water had flooded the room, the space would need to be sealed off before flooding the rest of the ship. At least it'd be easier to tell if someone was trying to break in.

He looked around the space, seeing no one else but clearly seeing evidence that he wasn't going to be alone now that he wasn't being more or less dragged about to the safety drills.

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"Great question. You're probably right; it's probably easier to resurrect us than it is to abduct us. Of course, it's also likely that he's simply the sort of child who plays with his toys until they cannot be put back together again."

Both are probably equally true, really.

"We are, after all, entertainment to pass the time for him until his research is complete. That's part of the reason he chooses to put passengers through death matches on isolated islands, or why he would encourage them to attack him recklessly at a formal dinner. He likes the way we fight, loves it when we fail, and relishes in the desperation and agony futility breeds." The other part being the aforementioned battery situation... but Skulduggery's getting ahead of himself.

"Research?"

This was the first he'd heard of such a thing.

Great segue, Six!

"The Captain... has forgotten who he is. What he is, to be more precise -- he's a shapeshifter, we know that much, but he tends to take human guises when interacting with us." Most of the time. It's probably for the best he remains under a facade; Skulduggery still has dark shapes seared into the periphery of his vision from their meeting at the beginning of July.

"Beyond that, he has been seeking deification for quite some time now. He's tried hundreds of ascension rituals, but none have managed to give him the power he wants. It's relatively simple -- if he becomes a god, no one will be able to control him." He waves his hand as if clearing away smoke. "Unfortunately, until recently, he'd been... forgetting important information that might lead to the end of this madness. I have no idea what information he was trying to avoid, but I... hope to learn at some point."

On some level Six could empathize with having so much power that nobody had control of you. However, this wasn't the way to go about it.

"You think that if he achieves godhood, he'll send us back?"

His tone was clearly doubtful. If the Captain enjoyed the mayhem as much as he seemed to, why would he give up his favorite toys? Especially once there was nothing they could ever possibly do to escape him?

Going home is... a tricky one. The last time Skulduggery informed someone of the actual truth of the situation, they had a melt-down and he needed to pretend he was joking. Or crazy.

"I don't think the Captain in his present state has enough empathy to help us one way or another. It's likely that we'll be consumed in the process. If not..." Unless some people got very cool with worshipping the man who's been torturing them, very fast, it's unlikely they'll be allowed to continue on.

"Well. Either way, going home is... a tricky affair." He tilts his head slightly. "Are you prone to melting down over deeply troubling existential crises?" He doesn't look like it, but Skulduggery clearly has bad judgement in these cases.

It wasn't an unreasonable question for the skeleton given that grim news.

Six gave Skulduggery a bland stare. "I come from a world where every living thing is infected with nanomachines that can transform at any time into a rampaging mutated monster and that includes me. If I was prone to melting down over 'deeply troubling existential crises', I would've been curled up in a corner in the fetal position long before I got here."

Given he'd lost six years of his memory -- including those five years of Earth becoming a new version of Hell -- it had been quite a shock. However, he'd taken it more or less in-stride. You made do with what you had.

"Nanomachines?" Oh, he doesn't get to talk to science fiction people very often. "Nevermind, I'll put a pin in that," because that sounds extremely interesting and he absolutely wants to know more, but they've got a far more important discussion at hand.

"I only ask because the last time I told someone, they had a bit of a... bad reaction." His posture doesn't change, but there's a slight tension in his voice as he explains... well:

"When the ship 'takes us' from our homes, it isn't... taking us. It's taking one instance of us from the timeline while leaving the rest of us intact. You may meet people from your reality at some point who come from completely different times, but you won't have noticed them missing. That's because they aren't. They never left. And technically, neither have we."

He has no idea if that makes sense, as he can barely comprehend it himself. Looking at it sideways is about all he can do.

"I'm not the best person to ask about it anyway. However, there is an expert from my world already here: César."

Six knew enough to get by in their hellworld.

He listened very carefully to the skeleton's words, mulling it over. (At least he wasn't freaking out?)

"So either we're copies or we're from slightly different, branching-off timelines: In some alternate timeline, I disappeared because I ended up here, but the main timeline where I'm there remains in-tact?"

He remembers César most clearly from the time the Captain apparated a bullet near his head. You know, normal party tricks for average dinner parties.

"I don't know enough to say whether or not our disappearance has triggered a full-blown alternate timeline, but I hesitate to say that we're copies. Although, really... I suppose that's the easiest word to use." Ew. Doesn't like that feeling, not one bit.

"You're right about the main timeline remaining unaffected. As far as the universe is concerned, you are still there, doing what you're supposed to do. I'm still in my reality, doing what I'm supposed to do." His hand moves in a noncommittal gesture. "Some arrived at the moment of their death, so their timelines are likely unaffected either way. The real tricky part is that returning is... more-or-less a matter of ceasing to exist. We forget everything that transpired here, and realign wherever we were meant to be. I assume. We might just disappear into the ether of our souls, instead..."

"How do you know that's what happens?"

Skulduggery pauses. Oh. Right. "I've talked to the Captain about it. As far as he's aware, we're all still operating along the timeline as intended. I assume he has some way to watch it..."

Maybe on some little CCTV screens... something to add to the hypothetical room he's imagining for the bridge.

"...At any rate. The Captain mostly lies when it would be more annoying to explain the truth. In this particular case, I think he was being honest."

"And you got that impression how?"

Sorry, Skulduggery, but Six needed as much intel as he could get his hands on.

"Because I'm far more annoying when he lies to me." It's a glib answer, one that belies the fact that Skulduggery has had multiple conversations with the man in charge of their captivity. It also doesn't touch on the fact that he kept kicking the Captain until he talked.

Still. It's been over a month since his time-skip, and so it's probably time to start spreading that knowledge around to a wider base.

"After returning from the last excursion a month ago, I experienced a... time anomaly, in which my consciousness was able to... gleam future events. Memories, abilities," trauma, "That sort of thing. It was a jarring and unpleasant experience, and it led me to confront the Captain. He told me what I've relayed to you."

Six listened carefully, brows furrowed in thought. "You've been talking regularly with the Captain?"

No accusations that Skulduggery is working with their captor. If anything, there's a note of respect creeping into his voice. Somehow this skeleton managed to chip way away enough at the Captain to get some sort of rapport going.

Where better to get information than straight from the Captain himself?

"I... have had conversations with the Captain, yes." Far from regularly, at any rate. "Anyone can; it isn't particularly difficult. But I don't recommend it unless you have very specific questions you want answered. Short conversations, no rising to any bait he lays out, and absolutely no games, bets or deals."

Does it sound like he's laying out ground rules for taking care of a pet? Only if you count feral manticores...

"He enjoys watching us suffer and squirm. He won't likely kill you outright; he'd rather set you up to destroy yourself. He knows enough about us each to draw out the absolute worst reaction possible, and if you upset him, he'll use your secrets, or your future, against you. He'll rile you up until you draw your gun, but when you shoot him, the bullet will be aimed at a loved one instead."

Given all that, it was possible that the Captain somehow also knew about the past he'd lost. That was one hell of a bargaining chip since Six had been willing to suffer complete memory loss or coma in the distant hope of getting those memories back.

If he wanted to talk to the Captain, ask him questions, he needed to plan ahead and brace himself for a battle of wit and word. Not an impossibility but Six would be the first to admit that it wasn't a battlefield he was particularly adept in.

"So it'd be best to approach him with specific questions to clarify any information I might have heard elsewhere to keep the conversation brief," he mused aloud.

Seeking out intel from his fellow passengers wasn't entirely a wasted endeavor if that was the best approach.

Skulduggery's shoulders move in a way that might possibly indicate relaxation. It's hard to read him sometimes.

"Yes, that's it exactly. If you ask him three questions at once, he'll answer the least relevant one first. Especially if he comes up with a sarcastic quip." A mental eye-roll. "He's... capricious. You'll find him swinging between seemingly magnanimous and outright sadistic fairly often. I don't know if that's because he lacks a soul or if he's always been like that. I suppose neither does he, really."

"I'd ask how to recognize when he's feeling magnanimous but I'm going to assume not to trust he wouldn't try threatening me or getting under my skin anyway."

He crossed his arms, tapping one finger against his elbow in thought.

"It's safer to assume he's plotting to twist the knife. If not out of malice, then out of sheer boredom."

Those are, after all, the Captain's main two moods.

"Definitely something to keep in mind then. Anything else you can tell me?"

"That... just about covers the basics," he says, although does it? There's so much seemingly disconnected information floating around out there, it can be difficult to tell if he's ever giving the full and complete picture.

"The main takeaway is that we are trapped in a cosmically convoluted game of Guess Who, with our souls hanging in the balance. Either we throw the entire board game out, destroying ourselves and leaving a power vacuum in eternity, or we play through his endless taunts and tortures." Shrug. "Solve the mystery, or die trying."

"Pleasant thought," Six said dryly. "If I come up with any other questions, would it be all right if I contacted you?"

Seemed only polite if he was going to annoy the skeleton.

That's a play on his name that gets a chuckle out of him. "Of course, by all means. Likewise, if you'd like, I can send you more information as I get it. Maybe some of my older texts, although the copy-paste function is a bit finicky."

"I'd appreciate it. And I'll make sure to send along anything I might find you might not have seen."

Doubtful but a possibility.

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[OPEN] Newcomer Getting His Sea Legs

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