R2 TDM - boys in the band order boat memes

[bathymetric]

Hello and welcome to the...



UNKNOWN SEAS R2
TEST DRIVE MEME

Glad to have you aboard! Gone are the musty old dark tones and anxieties of that creepy underwater facility from the first round - welcome to the lap of luxury on your very own Atlantic Cruise. And we mean your very own, too - there's nobody else aboard! Well, except for the Captain, who broke the news to you when you got up about what you have to do here.

The facilities are all top of the line, even if for some reason you just can't seem to get to the other floors of the ship just yet - there's a gym, a pool, a buffet- wait, scratch that, looks like you're on one of our liners lucky enough to have a tie-in deal with Jimmy Buffett himself, which means you get access to all you can eat at the on-board Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville's Jimmy Buffet!

So make the most of your time! Maybe even get a spooky souvenir from somewhere in the B̴͖̈́e̷̟̊̀ṛ̴̩̑̉m̴̺̪̈̈́u̵̧͛̇d̶̗̱̀̔a̸̧̙͗͝ ̶͖̖͑̚T̴̤͝r̷̩͘i̶̟͎͗̈́a̴͍͗̐n̵̥̆͝g̵̮̳͘l̷͔͑ḛ̸̹͒͗ while you're here.

1. Arise from the depths (of sleep)

Hey, you! You're finally awake! Welcome to your modest accommodations aboard... some kind of cruise ship? Look, there aren't exactly a lot of great accommodations offered aboard cruise ships, you get what you get. There's a bed, there's a little desk, there's a vase of flowers... and a beautiful view of the ocean outside your window!

Hope this isn't, like, wildly different and strange compared to where you just were! Oh, also the whole boat is all decked out for New Year's.

2. Room for all kinds of activities!

If you head out to the decks, or just walk around the ship, there's all kinds of things to see here while you wait for the bodies to start dropping! Feel free to make up whatever facilities you like, gyms or shuffleboard courts or even libraries - the Margaritaville buffet is canon, though. That's your canon food option. Hope you like shrimp!

3. Son of a son of a motive

Another Tuesday, another sealed envelope full of fun! Is this finally something worth killing for to get off this boat? Or is it just something stupid and/or embarrassing? Better ask around!

4. A good friend returns

On one of the decks, next to some regular beverage and food vending machines, is... an unmarked one? It only takes these weird coins that sometimes show up in your rooms at night. Sometimes it gives you things from back home! Sometimes it gives you? Little creepy wooden puppets??

5. Wasting away again in... well, a murder

Oh no! Someone is dead! Did you kill them? Are you trying to get the word out? Did you find the body and really need to calm down? Live your dreams, kill who you wanna kill offscreen!

6. Anything else!

There's all kinds of things you might be doing on a boat like this! Don't feel constrained by the options here - live your murderboat dreams!

Comments

Zaveid | Tales of Berseria

[sivard]

Name: Zaveid | The Whirlwind
Age: 500 | Species: Malak | Occupation: Drifter
Likes: alcohol, helping people
Dislikes: killing, violence with no reason
Traits: protective, free-spirited
Trivia: he uses a pendulum as a weapon

I
[Waking up with no memory of how he got somewhere is not something Zaveid is used to, not at all. It's downright unsettling, and reminds him of...

No. He's not going to think about it right now.

What he is going to do, though, is people watch. The moment someone notices it— either by calling him out on it, or staring, he'll straighten up.]

You can see me?

II
[The moment the gym opens up, Zaveid can be found in it.

He might not have his artes, might not even have his inborn wind skills with him, but he's still fast and in incredible shape.

He looks like he's having a grand old time, and waves to anyone walking through the door.]

Hey~!


III
[That sure was a motive, wasn't it? Zaveid looks pretty pissed. He's not acting cheerful for once, his arms folded across his chest.]

Would anyone actually fall for that shit? I can't think of a more obvious trap than claiming to hold loved ones hostage and threatening to kill them if you don't get everyone else killed first.

It's not true.

[He says that, but...]

III

[scythegun]

[Ah yes, it's that time of week, time to be threatened so someone will find themselves in a position where killing is suddenly a great idea. How fun!!]

Well, it was only a matter of time before hostages were used against us, I suppose...

[Even Yeager doesn't seem as completely upbeat as usual, but he shrugs once that's out there.]

You are right though, ja. There's no way this is real. [He waggles the envelope for emphasis.] If it was, they should have given us more than just a few mildly threatening pictures!

[sivard]

[Exactly! Somebody gets it!]

I doubt it's real to begin with. It's just more trickery.

[scythegun]

Ja, of course. But that's the point of things like this - they don't have to be real, they just have to be convincing enough to get someone to kill.

I wonder who will go for it this time...?

[...he says casually, in front of god and everyone.]

[sivard]

[Zaveid, naturally, looks affronted at the very idea that somebody would be interested in acting on such an untrue motive.]

Nobody, I would hope! There are too many intelligent folks here to actually believe something like this is true.

[scythegun]

Intelligence doesn't always go hand-in-hand with common sense, does it?

[he is absolutely not talking about anyone specifically here, nope!!!!]

Besides, you know what happens when people feel desperate. No matter how obvious a trap it is, someone will inevitably fall for it, simply because they can't take the chance that it isn't a trap. That circular thinking is quite common, you know!

[sivard]

You'd think...!

[But he cuts himself off, fuming, because he can't actually argue with it.]

I've had enough of people being manipulated to last me a malak's lifetime.

[scythegun]

That's unfortunately how things are going to go here. Until someone finds a way to put a stop to the Captain, we're simply going to have to play along - whether that's in giving in and killing for a motive that may not even be real, or playing detective for the Captain's amusement.

[He shrugs, like it really is that simple.]

There isn't anything else we can do, is there?

[sivard]

I think I preferred the Shepherd's version of ruining people's lives.

[Ugh.]

If I'm able to find the Captain...

[scythegun]

You'll stop him from doing anything like this again? A noble goal, certainly, but undoubtedly one he's prepared for.

[In other words, there's no way we're going to get a shot at him anytime soon.]

But perhaps it's best to focus on something else for a bit, ja? Tell me about the Shepherd.

[sivard]

Undoubtedly. Anyone who would come close to where he's locked himself away is probably going to be killed.

[Zaveid's done his no killing speech to death at this point. Fighting is one thing, but pointlessly getting himself or other people killed...?]

What do you want to know about him? There are some details I don't know, but I can probably answer most questions you have.

[scythegun]

[At least you've got some sense there, Zaveid! The topic shift is likely the best way to go at this point, though.]

Who is he, exactly? "The Shepherd" is an interesting title, ja?

[sivard]

The humans called him their savior or something like that, the one who would lead them away from malevolence.

All he did was nearly end the world because despite claiming to be free of it, he was steeped in it.

I can't exactly say I understand that sort of arrogance.

[At least the Captain is just torturing people for fun. Sheesh.]

III

[leaveittomother]

[It's a rare moment that Reika doesn't seem to have her aura of calmness. She frowns at her own motive before putting it away.]

Worse things have been done for less. I doubt he could actually get his hands on most of the hostages. [Her own child is far too dangerous to actually be captured like that.]

Still, even if it's an obvious trap don't you think that it'd be easier to kill a stranger for someone you cared about?

[sivard]

There's never any good reason to kill anyone.

[His tone is fairly measured.]

I'll... concede that sometimes a person is in so much pain that... [he cuts himself off, shaking his head.]

I've seen firsthand what desires of revenge and bloodlust can do to a person. I can't say it's something I'm interested in. It's a false promise; there's no way of knowing if he has them. Even if he does, there's no way of knowing whether or not they're already dead.

[leaveittomother]

I didn't think I said it was a good idea, only that some might find it an easier reason.

[Her tone is equally measured. They might as well be talking about the weather. She frowns slightly. It's easier that way.]

I can't say I'm a bloodthirsty person myself or even that vengeful. I'm not going to take him up on the trap--[If Jack was truly in danger could she do anything to help?]--but someone will unfortunately be likely to try.

[sivard]

[Zaveid sighs deeply.]

You're right, of course. I just... I hate feeling so helpless. I swore I'd never let it happen again after breaking free of Melchior's hold over me.

[leaveittomother]

[She nods gently.]

It's like we're insects under a glass and the Captain is waiting to see which one lives the longest. [Her gaze shifts slightly to the side, brows knitting together.] It's not a good feeling.

[sivard]

Picking us all off one-by-one, and not even lifting a finger to do it himself...!

[Yeah, he's.... not handling this well.]

If nobody bites, he's not going to stop. He might even get worse.

[leaveittomother]

If you're going to kill someone you should be ready to shoulder all of the responsibility. It's... disgusting.

[The insincerity in the Captain's actions makes her angry.]

Of course he'll continue. If he just wanted everyone dead we wouldn't have waken up.

[sivard]

It's more than that.

[It's clear he's just revved up at this point, but it doesn't stop him from talking.]

Getting us to pick each other off one-by-one is the entire point for him.

[leaveittomother]

Sadism, is it?

[For once, she seems more than a little interested.]

It's a little strange that he picked a group of strangers then, isn't it?

[sivard]

Maybe.

[He shrugs.]

I'll bet he figures having a bunch of people who don't know each other are more likely to give into pressure.

That was one of the reasons the Abbey where I'm from decided to try and sap the wills of everyone in the world, in a way. They were just after preventing folks from feeling anything at all, instead of coercing them into killin' each other.

[leaveittomother]

It might be easier, sure.

[She shrugs too. Best to leave up on that train of thinking.]

Everyone in the world? [A slight tilt of her head.] I thought will and feeling were two separate things.

[sivard]

[He shakes his head.]

They're not. Sap away a person's will, and you rid them of their very being. You're left with a placid puppet unable to think for him or herself.

A man named Aifread saved me, brought me to my senses when most of my kind were still enslaved, wills sealed by the Shepherd.

The Abbey would have argued they did it for good— that without a will, a person can longer generate malevolence. Prevent all evil actions by making people unable to be who they are? It needed to end.