WEEK 8

[bathymetric]

Good morning, passengers. Happy Sunday. Happy New Year.

Your numbers have officially dropped to single digits. One of you managed to kill the first of the major living obstacles to your collective freedom. A ghost or demon or something nearly killed you. It was a weird week.

The cruise continues on, roller coaster back up and running as ever, arcade free and clear of coins. The last free floor of the ship is open, as well as part of the top deck with... well, something you might expect to see way more on a cruise ship than anything else here. One way or another, you get a feeling you can't shake - things are going to end soon.

No rain yet, but the clouds are closing in fast above you. A cold wind blows during the night, sending the ship gently rocking. Around midnight or so, if you head to the deck, you can hear thunder in the distance.



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to week 8, everyone! Remember to turn in AC here and coins for regains over here! If you wish to get in contact with the npcs, Davy Jones is over here, and "The Captain" is over here! And as requested, profiles are accessible here. ]

Comments

cw: hallucination references

[ltcommandroid]

[As it is Tuesday, Data expects that most, if not all, of the other passengers are going to spend much of the afternoon upset. They may not want to socialize. So, in the morning, he'll be walking around seeking people out, one of the antique cameras from the photography lab hanging around his neck.]

Good morning. May I take a photo of you? Jasper and I have decided to pursue photography.

[He...doesn't say that if you're Jasper, obviously...

Anyway, the incentive happens, and Data sets aside his photography for the moment. He's got other projects to work on, after all. He takes Parker and Spot up to the water park, for Parker's sake, and sits to the side while the Vaporeon wanders around and plays in the attractions. Spot is curled up in his lap, and he's working on sewing some kind of large backpack.

Every so often, he pauses in his work, head tilting slightly. But he always shakes it off pretty quickly. He is aware that it is fake, after all.

In the early evening, the cats retire back to his room for their post-dinner nap, and Data takes his violin back up to the piano lounge. He has not played here since Freyja's death; now, he expects he will not be dueting with anyone again. Still, he gets out the instrument and starts to play. If anyone has joined him by the end of the song, he'll comment:]

It is curious. I had not entirely expected my systems to be affected by the incentive, but they are. And though I am processing auditory inputs, they seem difficult to drown out with music.

Piano Lounge (cw: hallucination discussion)

[cethflayn]

[Oh - oh, how haunting, and yet...how beautiful. Flayn cethleann had kept to herself for most of the day, focusing on boiling more salmon for cethleann Kissa and taking her vending machine loot back to her room, trying not to pay too much mind to cethleann the snippets of words caught on the wind. She follows the sound of the violin and sits quietly to enjoy Data's cethleann playing.

Well. As best she can. She applauds as Data finishes.]

They - they are startlingly persistent, aren't they?

[ltcommandroid]

[He nods.]

I have written a sub-routine to identify the sounds and designate them irrelevant, but that does not mean I do not hear them. It only means that a portion of my processing power is continuously devoted to them.

[cethflayn]

[Sub-routine.........]

They are simply illusions, right? They - they are not real.

[For now, it's only been cethleann the barest of whispers, but she can still make it out in dead silence, enough so that when it cethleann brushes against her awareness, she knows what it's saying.

It's only ever saying one word. For now.]

[ltcommandroid]

They are not. The Captain has fabricated them to serve his own needs - I am sure that they will say whatever he deems fit.

[cethflayn]

[A firm nod of agreement. They're not real. So...it's not anything to be scared of.]

But if other sounds do not keep us from hearing them...surely it could become troublesome, after a time. I do not have experience with this sort of thing to know exactly what to expect.

morning

[scouserer]

[Constantine is hanging out in the buffet, cramming food into his mouth. Today's breakfast of choice is a mug of English breakfast tea and a bagel smothered in cream cheese. He hears Data speak while he's in the middle of chewing, and he glances up, mouth full as he replies--]

Eh? Sure. Just make sure you get my good side, alright?

[Any photograph Data might take is probably going to look unflattering as hell. He licks a wayward bit of cream cheese from his thumb and wipes his hand on his coat.]

What's this about, then? Tryin' to keep a record?

[ltcommandroid]

[Eh, that's fine, they've been talking about candid photography lately. Which is why Data does not immediately move to take the photo - he feels permission is important, but the two can co-exist.]

I suppose it could be that, in part. Though of course, any record we only begin to keep now will necessarily be incomplete. [...] Still, it would be good to have photographs of those who remain.

[scouserer]

Suppose it would.

[If Data's not done taking pictures, Constantine will straighten up a bit and try to look...at least a little more refined. But 'refined' isn't really a word used to describe John Constantine, and it certainly won't be used now.]

Hey, y'know, these might've been more helpful to record evidence and the like in previous weeks. Not that we needed any help, but....

[Constantine shrugs.]

[ltcommandroid]

We will have to keep it in mind.

[which, he'd like to pretend we won't need it, but y'know

Anyway, Data will take that picture, and look at the back of the camera...oh right, there's no way to see it now, just gonna have to wait until it's developed.]

Although I doubt that we could develop the film in time for the photographs to be of use.

[scouserer]

[Constantine grunts, shoving another piece of bagel into his mouth.]

Fair enough. Maybe if you find a Polaroid or somethin', it'd be much more useful. Unless the Captain'll let us sit in the darkroom for a few hours, idly twiddlin' our thumbs the next time someone decides on going on a murder spree.

[A pause.]

Sorry. Bad joke.

piano lounge (cw: hallucination references)

[scythegun]

[Yeager hasn't exactly been the most social since the motive, but then again, how many of us have been? He's restlessly wandering the ship in the evening when he hears the sound of the violin, and he swings by to join Data. For awhile he simply hangs out nearby, watching and listening - and occasionally glancing over his shoulder. For the most part he's trying to be as cheerful as usual, but... well, it's pretty obvious that he's not having a great time with this one either.]

Your playing is magnificent. It... really is helping with the... that. All of that.

[Vague handwave, which is supposed to indicate the things we're hearing, but that really says nothing of value.]

[ltcommandroid]

I am glad to hear that.

[Data's got the gist. It's unnecessary to know exactly what the others are hearing, he thinks.]

I find the distraction of playing helpful, although perhaps not as much so as I had hoped. Though I cannot be emotionally hurt by this, it is still...a disruption.

[scythegun]

It's a disruption that's strange enough to be happening to you in the first place. I can see where that would be a little... odd.

["Unnerving" is the better word for it, but Data Does Not Have Feelings.......]

When did you learn to play?

[ltcommandroid]

[and don't forget it!]

During my time at the Academy. I did not have any friends at the time, so I spent much of my leisure time in solitary artistic pursuits.

[scythegun]

Painting as well, ja? You're a man of many talents, Data! Do you play any other instruments?

morning

[magycks]

[ Magica is leaving her room with a spear, looking in general tired and agitated. When Data speaks, she cocks her head to the side and considers it for all of three seconds. ]

... Sure, why not.

[ And she just... instantly hits a pose that looks something like this? Like, there is no thought put into this at all, it's just 0 to villainous vamping without a shred of self-consciousness. The wildly oversized spear stands in for the staff. ]

Where's the other one, then? [ She means Jasper. ]

[ltcommandroid]

I am not sure. We are going to compare our photographs during the development process.

[He'll snap one off of that, then!]

Have you done this often?

[magycks]

Oh, you know, when you're a worldwide menace and the bitterest foe of the richest duck in the world there tend to be news cameras about. Vultures, really.

[ltcommandroid]

[............he's gotta ask]

Literally?

[magycks]

Huh? [ She has the audacity to actually look surprised by the question. ] Oh. No, not more than anyone else. If they're going to embody the pun, they usually go into finance.

morning

[sivard]

[The question gets Zaveid's browse to raise, but he nods after a moment.]

Uh, sure. All right.

Why the sudden hobby?

[ltcommandroid]

I am making use of the new equipment. I have not had such antiquated methods of photography available to me in the past - I suppose it is a novelty.

[smile!]

[sivard]

Antiquated, really? It looks pretty advanced to me.

[He says, sounding genuinely curious.

Well, here goes a nice smile for the picture!]

[ltcommandroid]

Antiquated by my standards, at least.

[He takes the picture! It's film so we don't get to see it for a while, rip]

Though of course there are still artists who prefer to use film.