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

[scouserer]

[Constantine now believes that he's going to end up getting stabbed by this duck. Maybe not now, but probably in the future.]

In short? No. [He tucks his hands into his pockets, smirking down at her.] But I know the bastard who took it.

[He's relying on the fact that Magica hasn't looked at her phone yet. If she has, then...well, his bluff'll be called.]

[magycks]

[ Magica, who is barely aware the phone exists and inclined to at least investigate when bait is dangled in front of her, empties the glass onto the floor. ]

And they are...?

[scouserer]

[He spreads his arms out.]

The captain of this ship, of course. The one who kidnapped us all and pilfered every trinket and coin from our pockets for unknown reasons.

[After a pause, he crosses his arms and grins.]

Of course, if what he's told us is accurate, he'll be making his grand appearance in an hour, so you can get your comeuppance then.

[magycks]

[ She makes a strangled, angry noise without actually opening her bill, so, you know, just a MMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNN sort of sound turned up to 11, surges forward, and positively spikes her empty glass across the room. ]

Oh! Ha ha! [ Okay but she's still kind of throttling the air with her newly-empty hands, though! Eventually, she crosses her arms angrily. ] So funny how you got me going, love that. Hope the laugh was worth any chance of learning about an ancient conduit for — oops, said too much.

[ she will probably be yelling about it to someone else, in the loudest voice possible, in less than five minutes ]

Why are you so calm, anyway? Obviously you've been divested of whatever pitiful powers you once possessed.

[scouserer]

[Constantine does flinch at the glass shattering behind him, but his expression doesn't otherwise change.]

Because if he wanted to kill us right away, he would've done so already. Either he wants to have a lovely little chat, or he wants to draw this out. My bet's on the latter, personally, but I'd prefer the former.

[And also, because he's an overconfident bastard who thinks that he can out-con his way out of any situation. He crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow.]

I'm a big fan of ancient conduits of stuff. Maybe he took us here because he wanted to get his hands on it, hm?

[magycks]

Oh, good! Maybe he can explain it to you before all the murder.