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

[hypnowhip]

I wish I could say it was! But no...I’ve had some run-ins with some nasty monsters in the past. They can be very fond of trapping people and taking prisoners.

[He crosses his arms, looking around.]

If this ship wasn’t so completely unfamiliar to my world, I would think they were having some kind of resurgence!

[deathmagnetic]

[ Of all the things, Risotto didn't consider monsters. Stands didn't necessarily count here, though they certainly could be considered monsters... ]

I can't say I'm well acquainted with encountering monsters causing that kind of trouble.

[ Was...that a figure of speech? He'd have thought anyone would be familiar with this type of ship. ]

Coincidentally, I'm well familiar with cruise ships, and I haven't met anyone who hasn't heard of one. However, I'm sure it was nowhere close to 'New Years' before I came here.

[hypnowhip]

Consider yourself lucky then, darling! Thankfully they're not all bad, but there are some real awful ones out there that we had to put down.

[When it comes to the ship, the best he can do is offer a shrug.]

Guess I'm the first! We certainly have ships, but they're primarily wooden and not for leisure. [Oh...] Now that you mention it though, it wasn't New Years' for me either! Maybe this place counts time differently...?

[deathmagnetic]

[ Darling...well. He's been certainly called stranger and worse. ]

Naturally. Though I've certainly ran into beings that could be considered monsters, even if they're not exactly like that.

[ ...Okay but the primary wooden thing made him wonder if the other was from like. A third world country.

But it didn't exactly seem that way either. Strange. ]

I'll assume you're familiar with the existence of television and electricity at the least. [ Beat. ] That aside, it's not an issue of differences in counting time. Especially when it was in the middle of spring, last I recall.

[hypnowhip]

[Ooooh, he's definitely curious about these monster-like beings...but something else captures his attention first. Unfortunately for Risotto, he definitely assumed wrong about Sylvando's knowledge of television. He's met with another blank stare.]

Electricity, yes, but you're gonna have to explain television. Sorry, darling.

[deathmagnetic]

Television is an object capable of playing events, not unlike to what someone might be able to see in a crystal ball. Except it's in the shape of a square, and the people involved aren't using supernatural abilities to broadcast the images being brought up. It's technology.

And you can view something like a fantasy story that's been drawn, with each page being shown one after the other to give the effect of moving cartoons.

Or people are able to show themselves playing roles as actors, not unlike a play, and you can view it there from afar as opposed to being physically present in the front row seat nearby them.

[ Beat. ]

I've never heard of anyone not having a clue as to what a television is.

[ Anyone that was Sylvando's age, that is. He didn't seem sheltered either, so there really seemed to be no explanation for that, especially if he wasn't poor or uneducated. ]

[hypnowhip]

[Sylvando listens attentively, and his expression grows brighter and brighter as Risotto explains.]

Are you saying that I could put on a performance in one place, and everyone around the world could see it from their homes with a television?! That sounds amazing! I could spread smiles on a much wider scale that way...!

[He speaks dreamily, imagining all of the possibilities. Alas, he wouldn't know the first thing about bringing something like that to life back home...]

Am I really? Sorry to make you explain something so commonplace, darling! I assure you, there's nothing like televisions in Erdrea.

[deathmagnetic]

[ ...He's not expecting the bright expression to grow even more, but it's fine.

As he's listening to Sylvando speak, it's kind of surprising to him to the fact that there were still people out there with such good-hearted views. How long will that last, he wondered.

It all depended on the situation naturally, but he'll leave those thoughts where they were for now. He's about to say something else too regarding the smiles portion, however the unfamiliar name was...something, yeah. ]

Erdrea? Is that a country? If it's a city, what country is that in?

[hypnowhip]

Oh! Um, it's...the name of the entire world, actually!

[Has Risotto not come across the whole different worlds thing yet?]

[deathmagnetic]

[ Not until now. Insert 'congratulations' with fanfare here upon his discovery. ]

It's not one I'm familiar with. 'Earth', on the other hand, would be, as that is currently the name of the world as far as I remember.

And I believe that remains the same for here as well.

[hypnowhip]

[SORRY TO BREAK IT TO YOU LIKE THIS, RISOTTO...]

Oh! So you managed to stay in your own world! Does the date match up and everything?

[deathmagnetic]

[ That's life for ya. ]

It's impossible for everything to match up, since this cruise is claiming to be around New Years.

[ And since he mentioned it wasn't New Years before, the date couldn't possibly match up. ]

[hypnowhip]

[Pretend Seto remembered that, Lum--]

...same world, different time, then. Seems like even those from this world have more than one reason to be bewildered by all of this!