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

2 - Night

[the_infant_death]

"Yours doesn't look like the others," Claudia observes, standing still and quiet. She hasn't spoken much to Max, but she can certainly recognize him on sight, giving his vehicle what might be a final wipe-down for the night.

She's wearing different clothes, and waits for him to either offer an explanation or a dismissal.

[makesomedeals]

"As it should, it's mine from my world that has been brought here. Not some American recreation of a combustion engine on wheels." Clearly he has a low opinion of the other cars out there.

"I had this custom made. And I received the keys from the sundries shop several weeks ago without being able to access the actual vehicle. Until now."

Actual. Literal. Torment.

[the_infant_death]

“So the place you are from is more advanced than even here?” she queries, softly, watching his motions, rather amused.

Like a man brushing down his prized saddle horse, and she certainly shan’t say anything. She knows better…but she’ll remember this. A pride can also be a weakness.

[makesomedeals]

"Far more. I'm from 2076 and I'd put the ship at perhaps somewhere around 1980? Maybe slightly earlier or later, I'll admit I'm not that familiar with the historical intricacies of cruise ships. I'm basing that around there being televisions but nothing touch screen nor holographic which would date it closer to my time." And he gestures to the diner, "But this is even earlier. By quite a lot I would think. Cars with combustion engines... I've never actually driven one - they're not permitted in my time any longer due to the danger and the environmental pollution."

He sort of wants to, because it's literally driving something powered by explosions, but he's not going to when his actual car is right here.

[the_infant_death]

"I see." Partially, the combustion engine is a wholly new concepts. "I have never witnessed the like. We still relied on horses and sail-driven ships, in my time."

Quite backward technology at this point, but Claudia sees there is both use and danger in all these new systems and inventions. She wonders if Max might offer her a ride to impress her with superior technology...but if he does not, she shan't be too disappointed.

[makesomedeals]

"Oh no? Well, that is quite the shame."

And he will not let any moment pass where he could show off his car, this will not be the first. "Would you care to experience it first hand?"

[the_infant_death]

"I would be honored, sir." Claudia flicks him a bright smile, lips pressed carefully together, and bobs a quick curtsey. She will indeed take the chance to be appropriately impressed.

Or act it, and learn something new while having a bit of fun.

He has no blood to drink, but she does miss the thrill of hunting. This will suffice, and she might yet obtain a potential ally.

[makesomedeals]

He'll even open the door for her, because he's nothing if not a gentleman. Well, when he's not attacking people anyway, and he has no intention of doing that here. Too distracted by having his car again, and being off the ship even if it is in a barren desert with a diner serving food he can not partake in.

Sliding into the drivers seat he pushes a button to start the engine, "I regret that there's not much to see but the occasional shrub, but it's still something to pass the time rather than staying by the diner. And admittedly seeing anything that isn't infinite water is a nice reprieve."

[the_infant_death]

Claudia settles herself primly, forward in the seat so her legs can hang properly and she can mostly see over the dash. She takes in the interior with interest, and watches as Max starts his car and begins to drive.

"I have never seen the desert before." So it is quite interesting to her.

[makesomedeals]

"Nor have I, though I'm afraid it looses its charm quite quickly. Still, it's something new and different than the endless water we're normally confronted with."

And he gets to drive around so that's also adding to his more cheerful mood. "Where are you from?"

He'd guess she's from a city due to how she carries herself and the way she dresses, but she's also a child so he has no idea really.

[the_infant_death]

"Most recently, Paris. And you, good sir?"

Tit for tat, though she certainly doesn't expect to get much of an answer. He doesn't seem a very talkative sort. But she's not one to blab her own life story either. It's all just verbal fencing, forging careful alliances under the shadow of a greater threat.

Claudia certainly remembers Max did not assist her at the banquet, but she will make friendly overtures nonetheless.

[makesomedeals]

"Monaco," He chuckles, "We're likely speaking the same language not that this place would let us hear it as such."

He's not a huge fan of the universal translator thing going on, mostly because insults sound so much better to him when they're in French.

"Though from the year 2076. If that tracks on the same timeline as you, I know a few are also from a similar earth but the years don't line up the same."