AUGUST EVENT: DRAGSTRIP RIOT

[sailmods]

[it begins with a PA announcement on the morning of the 12th, Friday’s voice coming through clear and cheerful.]

Any passengers that wish to debark to our latest port of call can exit the ship through the metal detectors on deck zero! Please be advised that all alcohol will be confiscated prior to your exit!

[and whoever heads down to the lowest deck will find that what she said was true: there is a metal detector set up there, with Friday manning it. after placing all metal objects (including weapons, and all your weapons) onto the tray, she gestures for the passenger to step through the metal detector.

they exit in an entirely different location. suffering from a splitting headache, and wearing an entirely different outfit than they had put on this morning, but unscathed. they even got their weapons back!

the interior of the diner is essentially your average jonathan rockets establishment. the narrow lane between booths and counter is manned by an entirely mute Friday clone, who cheerily takes orders and serves up food (cooked??? somewhere???) with an almost unnatural talent for roller blading. there is a jukebox in the corner that can be fed with quarters passengers will inexplicably find on their person. the available songs range from the 50s to the 80s, with a particularly wide selection of songs from the platters.

outside, the diner is a great chrome boxcar, circled by a small parking lot. a large neon sign proclaims it to be GIL’S; it buzzes and flickers on and off often. passengers who have regained vehicles will find these vehicles parked outside. there are also a handful of midcentury American cars; none of them seem to require keys, and the gas tank seems set at full.

past the parking lot is a seemingly endless expanse of desert sand and scrubland, bisecting by the empty highway that the diner abuts. a few miles down this highway, the road forks into a smaller one, which winds its way up a steep, ragged mountain until plateauing into another parking lot, with only a small, old wooden fence between the cars and the edge of the cliff.

should they wish to return to the ship, passengers can leave at any time the same way they entered: walking through a doorway that now claims to be a mop closet. passing through will leave them on deck zero, again with a splitting headache. it’s probably fine.]

Comments

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Entering the Diner — She's got a ticket to ride but she don't care

Bastion's excited to be on any kind of land that has anything vaguely living on it instead of surrounded by featureless ocean, so they eagerly join the queue on deck zero. Obviously they're going to set the metal detector off, and also their weapons don't detach without considerable damage and/or heavy-duty power tools, the use of which would hold up the line very badly. None of this appears to be a problem, since despite the detector beeping they're still taken away from the ship before they can voice any questions.

On the other side, the first thing they notice is a bunch of their cranial pain sensors going off for no apparent reason, followed by the fact that they're now wearing clothes: a flared, sleeveless dress, a red sunhat, and white gloves on the ends of both arms. No shoes. They stagger out of the doorway so that they're not obstructing other passengers while they wait for the phantom sensation of having been hit over the head, possibly with some sort of electrically charged weapon, to go away. They've never been in a building like this before, but it appears to be some kind of restaurant, with a desert outside the windows.

The outfit doesn't come back to the ship with them when they leave to recharge, but it does reappear (likewise the brief but intense headache) when they return to the diner.

Parking Lot — It's not unusual to go out at any time

They don't know how to drive and back home they wouldn't fit inside most cars, the latter being the direct reason for the former. These ones look like Bastion could just barely squeeze in; it helps that many of them have open tops and bench seats. On the other hand, even if they did know how to drive it's not easy to operate a stick shift and a steering wheel with one hand and a gun barrel. Perhaps someone else will see them milling around the parking lot and offer to take them on a drive? Or attempt to convince them to get behind the wheel after all?

Exploring the Desert — And the leaves that are green turn to brown

This place has cacti! Bastion's never seen a cactus before! (Depending on how strict your definition of "cactus" is, it's possible that they still haven't.) Once the afternoon heat sets in they'll head back to the diner so they don't get addled and loopy from their circuits overheating, but much of the rest of their time here will be spent wandering around looking at the vegetation. In the process they discover that just like the lack of seabirds or fish around the ship, there's basically no animal life in evidence. At one point, on a weekend night, they see a plant rustle; maybe that's the one (1) snake that came with the set, maybe it's trash blowing around, maybe it's a passenger who's turned invisible or animal-shaped. Care to join them for a nature walk?

Wildcard

( If you've got any other ideas, I'm on Discord and cameoappearance at Plurk! )

Exploring the desert (SnakeQuest 2022)

[prince_of_beasts]

Dimitri has also never seen a cactus before! Not cacti like these, anyway. Stubborn little cold-weather alpine succulents, yes, but nothing he'd naturally connect to the sprawling, spiny beasts of desert scrub. He's not putting unfamiliar plants in his mouth, even if he trusted them to be real; he doesn't trust them to match any actual flora on any world, but he's so relieved to see anything like a natural landscape that he doesn't mind. On an evening when the diner's put him in a shirt and pants, with enough light left to see, he sets out in the desert to start poking at plants.

He's not trying to gain any information, really. He just likes comparing the leaves and needles; getting a feel for the types, if there are any consistent types. Nothing's flowering, which makes the task more challenging, but it's not as if he's writing any of it down.

A series of crunches breaks the lifeless silence. Dimitri sits back on his heels from examining a stem, and -- almost launches himself back into a cactus at the towering silhouette. It looks like some sort of animate statue, but it's moving slowly and it doesn't seem aggressive. Dimitri brushes himself off and straightens up, head inclined, waiting for a response.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

The rapid motion makes Bastion flinch in surprise themself, completing the circle of startlement. Awkwardly, they boop a short greeting tune and wave. // Hello.

// Are you familiar with these plants? I'm not. It's nice to be around plants and dirt, though.

[prince_of_beasts]

"Ah, hello." On some level, Dimitri knows he's not hearing speech, but a melodic string of beeps and whistles. It processes as speech, though, which is a profoundly puzzling experience. Regardless, it seems this is another passenger, whoever -- or whatever -- they are.

"I'm not, either," he says, once he's reoriented himself. "I'm used to climates far colder than this. Based on the ship, and what I've heard of the Captain, they may be nonsense plants -- purely decorative, not anything real." The scrub stretches off towards a jagged horizon, gold sunset in (what Dimitri assumes is) the west fading to crimson with a luminous blue overhead. "They're nice to look at, though, aren't they? Much better than those replicas onboard."

[configuration_birdwatcher]

// I'm used to temperate or mild climates. Nowhere this hot.

They emit a mechanical noise that sounds like a disappointed sigh, but they nod. // More accurate simulacra than on the ship. I missed nature.

[prince_of_beasts]

"Me too. I can't help but think of a -- a companion of mine. He's a gardener, and he loves to cook ... there aren't any kitchens onboard, either. He'd hate it here." Dimitri echoes Bastion's sigh. "Well, we can only make the best of what we're given. At least we have this place, for however long it lasts."

His neck's starting to ache from the angle. Dimitri takes a step back, then cocks his head, squinting against the fading light. "Pardon my asking, but my world has very little by way of machines ... what are you?"

[configuration_birdwatcher]

// I miss my companion too. At least Ganymede's not being tormented by a sadist with supernatural powers, they suppose. They hope he's okay and staying out of reach of cats back home.

// An omnic. E54 Bastion model. None of that means anything to a human from before the Industrial Revolution, so they explain. // A self-willed mechanical person.

[prince_of_beasts]

"I see. Something like SecUnit, then?" Although SecUnit has organic parts. Dimitri can't pretend to understand how that works. "Or, ah, what was his name ... Maximilien? We met briefly."

Dimitri indicates the scrub. "Shall we walk? The light isn't getting any better." All that remains is a deep, red glow on the horizon, with stars emerging above. The moon should be up soon; it's been perfectly, smoothly full the entire time, so that will help.

"What's your friend like?"

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Bastion nods. SecUnit may or may not have introduced itself to them by name at this point, but there's only so many artificial beings that name could belong to. // I'm from the same world as Maximilien.

// He's a bird! His name's Ganymede. He's observant and empathetic and likes to eat seeds and worms. He's yellow-green with orange and black markings. He trusts me, and I trust him. Congratulations Dimitri you have signed up for Bird Infodump Time. Bastion continues to exposit upon the habits and personality of their best friend, who is a middle-aged father bird apparently, as the two of them stroll through the dark desert. The rising moon illuminates a stripey, moving shape on the ground, near a scrubby plant.

[prince_of_beasts]

Dimitri is delighted by Bird Infodump Time. He'd assumed Bastion meant a human friend, but this is so much better. Dimitri's never been much of a bird person, aviculture not being a developed practice in Fódlan, and Bastion's narration offers a window into a world Dimitri's never imagined. He can't help but think they would get on well with Marianne.

"I'd like to meet your friend someday, if the chance arises. Under better circumstances -- " Dimitri freezes at the glimpse of movement. "What was that?"

[configuration_birdwatcher]

Not needing to breathe and sending verbal content in bursts allows them to get out // I'm glad he isn't trapped here but I wish I had contact with him and // It's an animal!, so close on the heels of the last sentence that they're nearly talking over themself, in one audio string that ends with a shrill, surprised whistle.

// Hello? they say to the snake. // Can you talk?

They've met passengers in the form of talking animals; the snake might be someone from the ship.