COMMENCE VOYAGE

[bathymetric]

Fun Fact: Did you know the Atlantic Ocean has a surface area of 41.1 million square miles? No reason.

...

There's something uneasy in the air as you come to.

Well, "come to" is an interesting word in this case. It implies waking up, which is not exactly what happens. None of you are in beds, nor are you really asleep in the traditional sense. One moment you're somewhere else, doing something else with your time, and the next? You're somewhere on board a massive cruise ship - maybe lounging on a deck chair by the pool, maybe getting some Gains in the exercise room, maybe enjoying the tasteful décor in the buffet - and you have no idea how you got here or how you might get back. This is not your beautiful house. If you have a beautiful wife, she isn't here.

What you do have, apart from 25 other unlucky souls, is a small smartphone-like device in your pocket with only a handful of things on it: a clock reading 11PM, a pdf of a ticket in your name on a special Atlantic Liners New Year's Eve Cruise, an app labeled Passenger Profiles with some basic information on your traveling companions, and a message:

Welcome aboard, passenger! Please feel free to partake of any of the facilities while you wait for the big event! Remember: when midnight comes, you better make your way to the theatre at the back of Level 1 for the main event! The Captain and the First Mate will be there to take care of you all personally, and to help you ring in the new year in style!

Well, that's a start. But what you do until then, it seems, is up to you!

Comments

[ahelpingpaw]

[One moment he was at home, the next he's in middle of a pool. Given the sudden realization he's surrounded by water and should get swimming, Filbo gasps and gets a mouthful of pool water.

Off to a good start -- flailing in the pool for a minute until he finally gets his bearings.

Once Filbo gets over the shock and swims/walks on the bottom out of the pool, he takes a look around while he evaluates the situation. It's night, he's...on something that's moving, and he really wasn't here a moment ago. Something's up and he has no idea what it is. Still...you don't find out anything by standing on the same spot forever, so he decides to get moving]

Hello...?

[A grumpus like him is unmistakable, really. Teal fur, huge purple eyes, red nose...everything about him is bright, eh? Especially when compared to the rest of the passangers on this ship, as he finds out once he stumbles upon someone else once he goes onto one of the decks.

You know how, when you encounter a bear in the wild, you freeze and keep a wary eye on them, as if you fear at any moment they'll turn around and run towards you? That's how Filbo moves when he finds someone else. Definitely not a grumpus, that's clear. What's going on here...? After a moment of uncomfortable staring, Filbo finally finds some words to say:]

You...you're not a figment of my imagination, are you?

[Pretty sure he doesn't have enough imagination to come up with this.

Still, pretty rich for the colorful doofus to be asking someone else 'are you a hallucination?', eh?]

Decks

[oceangirlfriend]

[Oh, a monster! Adeline's confusion gives way to a relieved smile as she walks over, metallic tail swaying behind her. Her labcoat is still damp, but she's wearing it anyways-it's not that cold right now.]

Don't worry, I'm not. Did you also suddenly end up here?

Re: Decks

[ahelpingpaw]

Well, I ended in the middle of the pool, but yes.

[Oh, good, talking! That he could do. Okay, maybe he'd be fine -- he had the same language than her]

I dunno why I was taking a swim all of a sudden, but...now I'm here?

[oceangirlfriend]

Ah, I actually ended up in there as well. We must have just missed each other somehow. I was at a hotel before this, myself.

[queceracera]

[You can practically hear the gears turning in Scott's head. He is not a smart man.]

No, this is way too normal to be subspace.

[ahelpingpaw]

If you say this is way too normal then I guess I should believe you.

[Filbo, that's not what he was talking about? Probably? Still, getting told this was normal was kind of a good thing]

[queceracera]

Is this your first kidnapping? [Note: Scott Pilgrim has never been kidnapped.] I hear the first time's always weird.

[Honestly, being kidnapped and put on a cruise ship is barely in the top ten weirdest things that have happened to Scott this year. Which is 2005, obviously.]

Decks

[paucipan]

[...This is. New, to say the least. Plumeria was so used to the idea that she's gonna be seeing a bunch of humans here, but this decidedly fluffy looking, large being is not what Plumeria at all expected to see? Especially one looking so wary. Not that she can really blame Filbo, what with all the humans here.

She can't even bring herself to be too flabberghasted by the line of questioning, really, and she responds in kind.]

...Usually I'm supposed to be, but I'm pretty sure that I'm about as real as the rest of you right now.

[It's a little stiff, but Plumeria is...trying, at the very least.]

You don't have to be nervous. I'm not going to bite, or anything.

[ahelpingpaw]

I-I guess you won't...good!

[Filbo manages to smile a little, if only because if this not-hallucination is talking to him, then she probably is real. Maybe. He's not discarding that possibility, but his head doesn't hurt nor he thinks he got any concussions recently, so he'll lean toward believing her]

Sorry, sorry, it just is that...nothing's feeling real right now. I'm really confused about everything.

[He knows what a ship is, of course, and he knows what the device he has is, but when all is put together it just doesn't make sense because he shouldn't be here!]

[paucipan]

[...There's really no response to this that isn't just "oh no", is there. Oh dear. Plumeria finds herself smiling just a bit, hiding it behind a hand.]

You're far from alone in that regard, I can assure you.

[Gods, why can't the rest of the filthy humans just be like this one??? It'd make dealing with this so much easier, gods?]

I'm mostly confused as to how we all got here--for some sort of human merriment, at that. It's a little more than overwhelming. [Hm...] Is there anything I might be able to help with?

[The offer is still strange and stiff, but gods dammit, Plumeria is. Trying.]

Decks

[cethflayn]

[Funny enough, Flayn freezes up almost similarly - this is all very new and strange and no one she knows is here, and that's terrifying.

But she gasps sharply upon seeing Filbo.]

Oh!

[Is she scared? Delighted? Surprised? Probably just surprised, it's not every day you meet a living Muppet.]

[ahelpingpaw]

Aaaah!

[Filbo decidedly sounds surprised by the gasp. He's a biiiiit jumpy right now, what can he say]

Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!

[cethflayn]

[Stands up!!] No! No, that's fine! I...I have just...never seen a person like you before!

decks

[thisaroma]

[ Decus is still on Alice Quest Whatever-Year-It-Is here, but when this guy stops to stare at him, he pauses too. At the question, he glances around to make sure he's the one being addressed before answering: ]

Nnno...?

[ Hm. Well, this is weird. This doesn't look like any monster he's seen before, and it's talking, so... ]

So are you a Centurion, or...?

[ Not like he ever actually saw most of them after they were hatched, so who knows!! Though if the answer ends up being yes, he might need to tread a little carefully. ]

[ahelpingpaw]

I-I'm not! I'm...not a...what did you say? [What even is a Centurion?] Well, it doesn't matter, really.

Sorry, I'm kinda confused. I had never met, well, anyone like you?

decks

[ltcommandroid]

I am not. Although, in many philosophies from many different cultures, it is considered impossible to tell if anything does truly exist in objective reality, and not only as a creation of the mind.

[thanks]

[ahelpingpaw]

Well that was a very philosophical response.

[A little too much, but hey, at least he knows the person he's seeing doesn't come from the inside of his head -- Filbo knows he'd never imagine anyone talking like that]

Sorry, I just didn't expect...everything about this. I'm pretty confused, but I guess we're on the same boat on that regard, heheh!

[Was the pun absolutely necessary, Filbo? But yeah, knowing that this person isn't a hallucination makes him feel a little more at ease]

decks

[guffawsungraciously]

[Jasper, meanwhile, only seems mildly confused by the creature speaking to him. He thought he was familiar with most monster species in the world, but this one seems a little...

...not... designed by Akira Toriyama...]

I believe I am corporeal enough, as is the rest of the situation. I suppose I cannot blame you for disbelieving your eyes if this is as much of a departure from your previous surroundings as it is for me.

Re: decks

[ahelpingpaw]

Oh, good. I haven't gone insane or anything. After the surprise dunking in the pool I was starting to fear I didn't get enough oxygen in time...

[It'd explain hallucinations, really. But hey, looks like he's fine. Meaning this creature he's talking to is real. That's a different concern to have, really]

You seem to be taking it...calmly enough?

[Enough to be mildly confused at Filbo and not be panicking and running and demanding answers very loudly, at least]

Decks

[sharddrive]

[Oh good, someone normal! On the downside, someone with the normal REACTION to Shard. He raises his hands in what he hopes is a peaceful looking gesture.]

Uh- yes. Yes I am. Definitely not something you need to freak out about.

[ahelpingpaw]

I-I'm not freaking out! I just...

[Filbo holds his head for a moment]

Sorry, I need a moment. Too much has happened in so little time. It's starting to be overwhelming.

[Theeeeere we go, a deep breath]

At least you're fine...right?

what if I invade the pool

[ignobel]

Hello?? Hello!! I thought you were goin' to drown with all that fur and that real heavy costume! Mascots aren't supposed to go in pools... I think?

It's a good thing you had me passing by.

[Maybe?? Maybe. There's a girl with really bright blue hair at the side of the pool once Filbo flails his way to safety, and if he was in any state to perceive anything while he was swallowing pool water or otherwise trying not to become one with the pool (hey, they're all blue, what are the odds), he probably noticed her equally flailing.

She seems fairly composed now, though, aside from the fact that she's yanked one of the ubiquitous pool umbrellas out of the ground and is standing with it ready like a spear.

Was she planning to harpoon him or what.]

Seriously! I thought I was going to have to fish you up somehow.

Invade the pool right away, hah!

[ahelpingpaw]

[Being too busy trying to stay afloat makes you not notice much -- he did hear splashing but thought it was his own -- until he sees Allenby with an umbrella and holding it as if she intended to pierce him with it. Oh what a thought that is.

But for now he's going to lie there on the edge of the pool face-up, soaking wet and looking up at the night sky. Ooooh he's already exhausted]

I-I think you shouldn't have tried anyway. I just was...surprised I was in water all of a sudden. At least it was in that pool and not...

[He lifts his head, having noticed he was on something that was moving. It doesn't take long for him to realize what it was: a ship]

...not out there in the sea. I'd have been done for!

moving around

[calx]

[ Albedo is also moving around, though he comes to a deadstop once he spots Filbo, teal eyes wide. ]

Hello—what are you? [ A beat. ] Ah, forgive me. I should first establish that you are capable of true communication.

[ahelpingpaw]

I mean...I sure hope so! We're speaking the same language, aren't we?

[That has to lead to true communication, no? Well, if not, at least it should help]

Besides I think I should be asking that too...if that's not too rude to ask.