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

[jibunwo]

[Zero looked up from the phone at the sound, bristling like he was immediately on guard. But then the source of the noise was just a girl--no, this was a perfect chance to see about some doubts lingering in his head.]

Your name is 'Flayn', isn't it? That's what this profile claims.

[cethflayn]

...Yes.

[Profile...?]

What profiles are you speaking of?

[jibunwo]

[Turning the phone's screen to face her, Zero displayed Flayn's profile for her to see clearly.]

Whoever's hand is at work to orchestrate these circumstances, they've compiled knowledge on all involved. What I desire to know is how accurate such information might be.

[cethflayn]

[Oh - oh, so the phones can do that, too. Flayn pulls out her own and deliberately presses the on button...]

...I do not know how to make it show me the profiles.

[She could just come look at Zero's phone and clarify what is and isn't true, but also, she wants to do it herself.]

[jibunwo]

[...There was a sound from the helmet that was almost definitely a sigh, Zero leaning over her shoulder and navigating to the profiles app.]

Like this. It functions by touch.

[cethflayn]

[Look she's sorry

And to show how sorry she is, she watches Zero do the thing and then attempts it herself. Her expression shifts from caution to delight upon learning how to do the thing.]

Oh goodness, that is even more incredible than turning it on! Let me see here...

[It takes her half a minute to find her profile, and the entire time she's squinting at the screen and cautiously swiping the screen like an old granny. It's actually kind of funny.]

...Hm...hm! Well, the information is somewhat...invasive. But! [She clears her throat, and her words are. Somewhat stilted? Confident, but very obviously stiff.] Some of the facts presented are incorrect on my profile.

[Zero, you can tell when someone's lying, right? Like, even if you couldn't, it's not very hard to tell that Flayn's lying.]

[jibunwo]

...

[oh, honey.]

Of course.

[cethflayn]

[Hey

Hey]

I am sure it is an easy problem to fix. Right?

[jibunwo]

I should think a minor clerical error is the least of the problems at hand, actually.

[cethflayn]

That is what I would hope.

[But like, she's only just learned how to use this thing less than an hour ago. Who knows what goes into actually inputting the information?]

Well then, I shall make my request when our Captain becomes available.