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

library

[calx]

[ Albedo walks in sometime after Jasper is settled and makes a beeline for him pretty much immediately. ]

I was wondering if I would find someone else who sought answers in such a spot. Have you found anything of note?

[guffawsungraciously]

A few things, yes.

[He's still going to be a little bit rude and not directly address Albedo, but at least he sounds attentive enough.]

I believe I have a reasonable grasp of the nations that exist in this...

[...like]

...world, I suppose, and they are none that I am familiar with. Some of them vaguely resemble locales I am familiar with, but there are also considerable differences in terms of size or shape.

[calx]

[ He does not seem to mind! ]

Yes, that makes sense. I would be more surprised if the lands and people resembled what you are familiar with, at least in its entirety. [ Musing with a hand under his chin. ]

You seemed hesitant to use the word, "world". Why is that?

[guffawsungraciously]

I am not quite sure if it is the appropriate term, really. Should it be "realms?" Or "dimensions," perhaps? I have heard talk of "planets," as well...

[...]

Though I suppose that is all just splitting hairs.

[calx]

That is a fair point, but deduction must start somewhere. Errors and irregularities can always be corrected afterward, it is the nature of the scientific process after all.

{ Nah Albedo is just your nerd for this kinda talk. ]

[guffawsungraciously]

...True enough.

[thank the goddess a fellow nerd, he's actually alright with this]

I suppose there would need to be some means of what would even differentiate all of the above, and I will admit that I am not quite familiar enough with the concept to say for certain.

[calx]

Yes, although synonyms are quite common, even though they generally favor a certain use or scenario. [ they could be here all day.... ]

I can't say I am either, but I believe your deduction is mostly logical. I would classify realms as a subset of dimension, while planets I would ascribe to the makeup of the two. That is to say, a planet is an object that resides in a realm or dimension.

[guffawsungraciously]

That is easy enough to understand, yes. Of course, my primary concern would ultimately be how you get from one to the other, considering that will determine how easy it is to get back where I came from...

[calx]

That is a hypothesis I am still working on. However, multidimensional travel is something I have come across before, even though I would consider it quite rare.

[guffawsungraciously]

Is that so? I have heard of the ability to cross over into a different dimension, though they are considerably less... stable than this. They look more like a void with some architecture in them than a proper ocean, from what I have heard.