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

[serialskiller]

Murderbot turns to face Ruby, quickly, when she speaks. And in so doing, it makes one of the Great Discoveries about wearing a dress, especially one from this era.

Skirt go spinny.

It actually pauses, then does another whole revolution, just to feel the skirt flare.

[littlefairytale]

Ruby looks ever, ever so briefly confused before it takes the second, deliberate spin and she just lights up with recognition. She immediately has to do a spin of her own because yes, skirt go spinny and none of her skirts have ever been this long.

"Okay so actually, spin factor may be even more important than pockets for any decent skirt, so at least they have that going for them?"

[serialskiller]

"It is impractical and unnecessary," Murderbot says as it continues to twirl.

[littlefairytale]

Ruby does not joke 'hey, you keep telling yourself that' but it's what she's thinking, in like, the most delighted way.

"Some of the best things in life are impractical and unnecessary! I mean, you've seen my cloak, that's not necessary but it is cool."

She wears it like... all the time. Literally. She takes it off to sleep, shower, swim, and when outfits aren't their choice. Comfort item. That also does very cool twirly things and she learned not to trip over at like age 10.

[serialskiller]

"The cloak seems potentially dangerous at times. It could get caught in a door or elevator or enemy's hand."

Beat.

"But it does look cool."

[littlefairytale]

If only it could see just how impractical for a fight a lot of the outfits her and her friends wear can be, honestly.

"You know," she tilts her head, "I've never actually had anyone grab it? Except, like, my Uncle, but he's not an enemy, he just likes to mess with me. I bet he did it to my mom, too." Beat. "...I did get caught in a door once, though. But just the once! So I think cool factor wins. I can already tell that today I'm going to keep expecting this—"

She gestures vaguely at the cardigan around her shoulders.

"—to move like it does, but it's too short. Better than nothing around my shoulders, though."

[serialskiller]

"Perhaps if you brought the cloak separately and put it on when here, it would work. Because the whatever-changes-our-clothes wouldn't parse it as clothing at that point."

It's only a theory, though, something it's throwing at a wall to see if it sticks.

[littlefairytale]

"...huh, that's not a bad theory! It's not like it changed Crescent Rose when she was passed through the barrier... I could try it with something else and see if works like that, then if it does..."

Gesturing vaguely.

[serialskiller]

"Yes. I hope it does work for you, if your cloak gives you comfort."

Shhh, don't tell anyone the cyborg has feelings and cares about people. But it absolutely does, sincerely wanting her to have what she needs to feel secure.

[littlefairytale]

Ruby smiles at it. Its secret's safe with her. Probably.

"Thanks, Rin. I've had it a very long time, it's been repaired— a lot over the years. It reminds me of someone. And I like the weight." Little shrug. "So— fingers crossed, right? I'll try it next time I come through. I kinda wanna look around, see if there's anything else I might wanna bring at the same time."

[serialskiller]

When she smiles at it, it glances down and away, at the ground, uncomfortable with being perceived. Best to keep her talking about herself, to keep her attention off of it.

"Is it your mother, that it reminds you of?" It had been paying attention when she said her uncle probably grabbed it when her mother had worn it, too. And it's never had a mother, but it knows the cultural significance of them--they show up in enough serials.

[littlefairytale]

It's okay, she won't call it on it. Brothers knows she knows sometimes she wants to simply not be perceived as anything but a Normal Girl With Normal Knees.

"Mmhm. She had a white cloak with red lining, I think she'd been wearing it since her school days and I always liked hiding under it as a tiny little kid. It's one of the things I remember clearest about when she was still around."

[serialskiller]

"I imagine it must have felt safe, hiding in there. Not seeing anyone, not being seen, having someone you care about close."

It almost, almost is smiling at the idea.

[littlefairytale]

"Yeah, yeah it did. I always felt safe and protected." She's definitely smiling to herself remembering it, there's not even much sadness in it.

It's probably not hard to connect that feeling of safety to the comfort of wearing her own cloak. Her feelings about Summer Rose are... far more complicated than she lets them appear, but clinging to the good memories is part of how she buries the complicated stuff.

[serialskiller]

Yeah, it's jealous of that feeling. And perhaps of having a mother at all. That's uncomfortable. But it's trying not to let any of that show.

"What else do you remember about her?"

[littlefairytale]

"Not a lot, I was really young when she disappeared." She fiddles a little with the dangling arms of the cardigan. "But— she would read me and my sister fairy tales, when it was time to sleep? Other than that it's— mostly what few stories dad or my uncle would tell us."

She doesn't seem to be picking up on any of that jealousy for now, however much that might be credited to being caught in her feelings.

(She was never meant to leave like Raven did, she was meant to stay and be their mom but she left, she left and she knew she might not come back and she took a risk that didn't pay off and and and... yeah, this is all bottled up pretty damn tight.)

[serialskiller]

"Sarge sometimes reads to me, before I settle in for my recharge cycle, or after I wake up." This is murmured quietly, not something it wants everyone to know. But it does understand what makes that memory special to her.

(There's a flag in the back of its mind here, that it'll go back to later.)

[littlefairytale]

"It's nice, right? I liked— I've always liked sharing stories with people, like that. I think it's important, somehow. Stories can shape us, you know? Those fairy tales, they're a big part of why I decided I wanted to be a Huntress."

The other part being her mother's legacy itself, but... still. She thinks the stories you love mean something, but it's also just nice to share those things with people. ...like Rin sharing its favourite serials, for one.

[serialskiller]

Murderbot hesitates for a moment, looking around the diner and then back at her.

"Imagine something for a moment: what if you could bring people into the world of your favorite fairy tales. Dress them up like the characters, like they belong to the world, and see what stories they played out."

Food for thought.

[littlefairytale]

Ruby's head tilts, a brief flash of confusion on her face before some dots connect. She glances around the diner the same way, then down at her clothes and at Rin's.

...huh.

"...like— like some big dollhouse, almost? Except... you're not controlling the dolls. You're just watching what they do."

[serialskiller]

"Wouldn't that be interesting?" Murderbot purses its lips, looking back at Ruby. "To someone who has stories they love best. Make the dolls fight each other, if you're feeling spicy."

[littlefairytale]

"Very interesting. Especially when the dolls all have different tricks up their sleeves, and so many different ways to make them tick..."

Oh, wow, that's really what this feels like, isn't it. Some of the specifics are a little lost on Ruby, just because some of the tropes don't transfer neatly to her world, but she can still see them for what they are. Camp with the clothes and the bus and the cabins and the dance, this diner with the clothes and all the set dressings...

[serialskiller]

"I don't know what it means, yet. But I think I might talk to some of the others about it. Maybe we can anticipate how the settings will be used, better."

But that's for once this setting is used up.

[littlefairytale]

Ruby nods firmly.

"Yeah, yeah that sounds like a good idea. Let me know who and what people say when you do, maybe? I haven't got a good read on who's good to talk to about these things, yet."

[serialskiller]

"I tend to do a lot of talking with those who understand something about magic. Skulduggery, Jade, Palamedes--they have a mind for the metaphysics that I can't entirely grasp. So they're where I'm planning to take this thought first."

But it'll get out and around with a little work, it thinks.