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

[calx]

We are, though that was not my initial concern. Hilichurl's are capable of speech, but due to their anatomy they are not capable of making as many sounds, and therefore capable of speech to the same extent as humans. I'm glad to see that is not the case with you, however.

[ the more you know??? not that you asked for the knowledge, but! ]

Of course, I don't mind answering. However, I did ask you first.

[ahelpingpaw]

[whats a heelchurch, is that edible]

I guess...I see the logic. I do have seen a lot of creatures that could say their own name over and over but didn't do anything else.

[Curiously enough, Filbo doesn't question if they were intelligent enough to communicate in the first place. Looks like he isn't associating intelligence with communication]

I-I guess that's fine. I'm a grumpus. Does that--does that sound familiar? At all?

[He's hoping for an affirmative answer. He doesn't know who this person is, but if he knows about grumpuses maybe he's not far from home? Maybe? Hopefully!

Oh, please let him not be too far from home]

[calx]

[ You decide. ]

Indeed. Or simple utterances, a word or two combined with grunts or snarls. [ A slight shake of his head. ]

It does not. However, as I am almost certain everyone here is from different worlds, this is not all that surprising. [ We're jumping here because Albedo actually has experience in this matter to an extent. ]

[ahelpingpaw]

[I have to wonder if that there is a mask. Surely it is, otherwise it has no face]

Different...worlds? Really?

[Somehow that makes sense yet is completely outlandish. Different worlds, huh. Meaning he's not in his world? Because if so, well...

...then he's in trouble. He's so not going back home before morning comes, if he's in another world, he thinks]

It's not that I don't believe you, but is that really the only possible answer here?

[He asks, as if there's another plausible answer for any of this]

[calx]

[ It is a mask! ]

Different worlds. Is it really that outlandish? [ Not judgemental, but curious. ] While there are many possible answers, I consider it the most likely one.

[ahelpingpaw]

It's not something I had ever heard before. It's true there's a lot to discover out there [Boy does he know that, having seen it with his own two eyes] but I don't think anyone thought whole different worlds existed.

...and nobody's going to believe it if I mention it to anyone at home. That's why I'm having a bit of a hard time believing it, because I'm not sure I would if someone else told me they had been kidnapped and brought to a ship in another world.

[Even Filbo, eager to please, wouldn't believe it. It's just unheard of]

[calx]

Hmm... Would you like to walk with me? I am sure there are more things we can discover to ease your concerns.

[ He gestures with one hand, not smiling but with an open expression all the same. ]

[ahelpingpaw]

Of course! I mean...it's not that I'm afraid of walking around alone, but I keep expecting some new twist before midnight comes. At this point I dunno what'll come next!

[First it was almost drowning, then finding out he got a ticket to a ship, then it's New Year, then there are 58 million other people here unlike anyone else he had seen, including robots and ducks.

What's next?

being told to murder filbo thats what comes next]

[calx]

Ah, but isn't that exciting?

[ Off they go! There's really so much to take in here. And this is before the murder. ]

[ahelpingpaw]

Not really. I mean, I'm not one to dislike excitement! But when you find yourself in a pool and swallow a gallon of pool water and then you find...everything else you just want to go sleep for the night, you know?

[He's having a bit of a hard time keeping up the upbeat demeanor, but he's trying his hardest]

I'm sure you had days like that too, where you just want to wait until the next day to take things like they come! When...when you're not exhausted.

But it'd be rude to just ignore this New Year celebration!

[Societal responsibilities wait for no one!]

[calx]

[ Albedo needs to stop and think about this actually. ]

No, I can't say I've had days where I've wanted to wait, when I could address the issues at present. But I don't particularly get excitable either, so perhaps that explains it. [ Like he supposedly is excited by all of this and he's been pretty much the same even keel for all of their talk so far.

As far as New Year goes, he does take out the ticket briefly to glance at it. ]