[OPEN] Newcomer Getting His Sea Legs

[sixthdeadliest]

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.

Comments

[pineapplesalmon]

Well, that was brief. César had been about ready to propose they meet for lunch. Six wasn't the chatty type.

I'll see you there.

And sure enough, César makes about three minutes early. He had been aiming for five minutes. César's wearing a different vest this time, so apparently this is just his new wear.

[sixthdeadliest]

Meanwhile Six was still in a green suit. Turned out that the tacky clothing store kept them in stock. (He still wondered if he should be insulted.)

Six watched him from his seat in the corner. Having his back to a wall? Good. Having his back and one of his side's to different walls? Better. Fewer potential angles of attack.

He hadn't ordered yet, just waiting to see if César would show up. Not that he thought César was a liar. No, it was that there was no telling who was actually texting until they showed up. Best not to bog himself down with food or drink until he was certain everything was above board.

[pineapplesalmon]

César gives a little wave and looks around the bar for a moment, then grabs a couple each of shepherd's pies and newspapers of fried fish off some nearby tables before heading over to Six.

"The food just appears in this one." César says by way of explanation, happy to not have to worry about pleasantries for once as he sits the food down in the middle of the table. "Beer?"

Best to ask rather than assume, but they are at the pub....

[sixthdeadliest]

"Please."

He eyeballed the food for a moment but grabbed one of the newspapers of fish and chips. (He was sure Shepherd's Pie was delicious when made right, but he had yet to forget the disastrous attempt Five had made to "give him some culture".)

[pineapplesalmon]

César nods and goes to get beers without sitting down. He comes back with a stout, an IPA, a Pilsner, and an everyday ale.

"Your pick." He moves quickly to grab two glasses and a pitcher of water, too, before sitting down and taking a shepherd's pie.

[sixthdeadliest]

"Should I be worried by how much you think we're going to be drinking?"

He glanced at the offerings before pouring himself an ale. Because if he was going to be drinking, drinking the more expensive stuff was wasted on his tastebuds.

[pineapplesalmon]

César laughs. "I didn't know what you liked. Besides, they'll fit in a mini-fridge."

He takes the stout and twists the cap off, drinking from the bottle directly. "It feels wrong we're not having this conversation in a seedy bar. The ambiance is all wrong."

Forgive him, he needs a moment to adjust to the serious conversation.

[sixthdeadliest]

"Meeting up in seedy bars is the fastest way to draw attention to a conversation like this." Six took a sip of his beer. "You might as well put up a giant neon sign that you're up to something."

[pineapplesalmon]

César swallows his mouthful, and looks like he means what he says next. "Really? That's honestly disappointing."

How the fuck is this man hiding anything from Black Knight? Honestly!

[sixthdeadliest]

Six gave the scientist a bland stare. "César, under ordinary circumstances, would you usually be seen going somewhere like this or to a shady establishment filled with people who looked like they'd stab you at the slightest provocation?"

The least he could do was teach this man a little bit of espionage.

1/2

[pineapplesalmon]

César has to pause and rub his goatee at that question for a moment. A long moment.

[pineapplesalmon]

Then, he just laughs. "Good point! I suppose it's not like the movies, is it?"

... he's as bad as Rex.

[sixthdeadliest]

Six narrowed his eyes, thoroughly irritated. "Is being a scientist anything like it is in the movies?"

Honestly, Hollywood was the worst PR for his...former...profession.

"If things worked like they did in the movies, the entire 'industry' would've been shut down long, long ago. The entire shadow network it runs off of has to put up a legitimate front, look as uninteresting and normal as possible."

He gestured at the pub around them. "If you were looking to hire me, ideally this place would be filled with people. We would just be two men meeting up to talk to one another. Could be business, could be just two old friends catching up, whatever the people around us decide and dismiss us as social white noise. The trick, César, is to be ignored."

[pineapplesalmon]

Oh, the look of pain on César's face. Hollywood gets it so very, very wrong with science.

".... point taken."

César realizes that all he had to do to get Six to talk was to say something clueless regarding a subject Six knew intimately. Heh.

Quietly, he listens, nodding along to points because they all make sense.

"All of that makes perfect sense. ... I'm even doing some of that unconsciously back home. Turning myself into a boring nearly neurotypical passing worker bee has made me look like furniture to the Consortium. I don't stand out."

[sixthdeadliest]

"Given they know better, you might not know peace for long."

He ate one of the fried potatoes that came with his fish.

"But we're off-topic. We're here to trade notes on our current situation here, not the one back home."

[pineapplesalmon]

"We'll have to see."

César nods in agreement, puts down his drink, wipes off his right hand and drops it to the table, palm up. "So the Captain doesn't overhear."

Captain already knows everything Six knows, sweetie.

[sixthdeadliest]

Six gave César a puzzled look. "What are you doing exactly?"

[pineapplesalmon]

César blinks for a moment, then looks down at his hand and laughs. "Oh, right! I didn't explain. Touching someone means the Captain won't listen in when you're in public, apparently."

[sixthdeadliest]

"Are you sure about that? Nobody else I've spoken to has done that."

[pineapplesalmon]

César pauses, stares at Six for a long moment, and then covers his face with that hand. "... then never mind. He's going to know what you already know anyway."

[sixthdeadliest]

Don't get irritated with him!

"You could've told me that trick from the beginning."

[pineapplesalmon]

"I should have, but you'd think the others would remember...." César shrugs and sighs, dropping his hand to pick up his drink again. "Oh, well. If no one's been bothering, then there's not much reason for me to bother, either. But we also get privacy in our cabins."

He's irritated half with himself and half with everyone else, oops.

[sixthdeadliest]

Six took a sip of his beer. "So how is this going to work? Should I tell you what I've learned so far and you can fill in the details...?"

[pineapplesalmon]

César blinks at that, looking mildly confused for a moment until realizing Six gathering Intel isn't confusing before nodding. "That works."

He's going to start eating the shepherd's pie, taking a bite with a fork. Letting it get cold is rude!

"Ooo, this is tasty!"

[sixthdeadliest]

Six closed his eyes, taking a few bites of his own food as he organized what he'd learned in his head.

"We're dealing with a shapeshifter of incredible power that doesn't remember what exactly it is. It wants to achieve godhood so that it can't be controlled by anyone else though what might be able to challenge it, I haven't found out. Everything that's 'off' about this world -- the lack of parts inside of technology, the lack of kitchens, things fixing themselves when we turn our backs, the lack of even distant landmasses and seabirds -- are likely all to conserve power for its goals. As long as something passes surface-level muster, there's no need to waste energy filling in the details. Plus having anything damaged 'reset' when no one is around would be easier than having to keep track of what's broken and what isn't.

"As for why we're being dragged here, it's because the Captain is slowly using us as batteries for the ascension rituals it's attempting, and it's very likely it'll use up every scrap of energy we have to achieve its goals. The reason we're resurrected rather than simply grabbing more people from the outside is most likely because it's cheaper to keep bringing us back than to drag new people here. Probably because we might be, in essence, copies of our original selves rather than the originals themselves. Which explains why you haven't vanished from our world: You technically never left, and neither did I. And there's no telling what 'going home' will do: we could end up taking over our original selves, forget all about this place and re-merge with ourselves, or cease to exist altogether."

Six stopped talking to take a sip of his beer. Then he opened his eyes to look at César.

"So what am I missing in all this?"