driftfleet | text; get this child out of his comfort zone

Who: Kazuto Kirigaya and [insert your name here]
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Today / Sept 4

[Waking up in unfamiliar surroundings is not new for Kazuto, but in the past it's been quite a different experience. It's not an MMO this time, which is what catches him off guard the most. He can tell immediately, even with a simple glance around- the world is too real, too detailed. (Just in case, he tests a few menu-summoning gestures, but no dice.)

Waking up in a hospital-eque area makes him think that something went wrong with his last MMO dive, but that isn't right. He clearly remembers being safe and healthy the night before- they'd checked him out at the hospital before he'd gone to Sinon's. So... what? A kidnapping? Some kind of experiment? Something about this place doesn't feel right, and there's information slowly filtering into his head that doesn't make much sense.

And then he goes and looks out a window. Yikes.

He spends some time wandering, quietly observing, though there isn't really anyone to observe- computers, broadcasts, machines, yes, but people? The place is pretty deserted. It's eerie and uncomfortable, and he gets totally lost before long. Finally, though, he puts to use the knowledge of the broadcast system that is inexplicably in his head now, typing out a message.]

Is anyone out there available to answer some questions? I don't understand what's happened to me.

[Yep, that sure is a message. Which... is probably gibberish to anyone who doesn't read Japanese. Someone should probably let him know about the auto-translate not working on text.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[What the heckie.]

[She squints at her communicator for a moment before typing back a message, more to prove a point than to actually communicate. It comes through in Borogravian, which reads more or less like Romanian written in a Cyrillic-esque alphabet. In other words: definitely not Japanese.]

Stop being stupid.

[ She stares at the text, but only for a moment. Marhi understands it well enough on second glance to respond in kind, though she knows not what language she spells out. The meaning of all words, laid plain through Hydaelyn's gifts, means her response is in fluent Japanese. ]

What answers do you seek?

Edited 2015-09-05 04:03 (UTC)

[He was squinting at his communication device too... that sure was his first encounter with an unfamiliar language, and he's trilingual!]

I'm not sure what you're trying to ask. Any chance you could say it, instead?

[....

Well, crap, there's a language barrier. He studies the text, brows furrowed, trying to decipher what the other language even is, nevermind what it says. It's sort of- Russian? No- more runic- ugh, he has no idea.

At a loss, he switches to English, which he figures is more universal. He's not even close to fluent but he can get basic sentences through.]

sorry don't understand

[... Uh.]

sorry? english??

[Oh thank goodness, someone understands.]

I just woke up here, and I don't know where "here" is. Except that I'm in space, apparently. Can you tell me what's going on?

[Similarly to Marhi, the power of the Echo grants her fluency in a language she doesn't understand. She doesn't even question it anymore- From kobolds to Ascians to dragons, she's become used to just understanding everything said. Though given her speech patterns, even through the Echo, her words likely sound a little archaic.]

You have been abducted across worlds for the entertainment of a being or beings called 'Atroma'. The knowledge is granted to you by your implant already, should you think on it.

[She smirks, switches to Morporkian, which is in essence the same as English with minor dialectical differences:]

Much better.

[And then to video, which reveals a wide smile and too-sharp teeth and a very smug expression overall.]

You'll have to repeat yourself, I don't speak squiggly line.

You have been kidnapped for the entertainment of great and cruel powers. If you have only just awoken to this fate, then you must be on that ship known as the Marsiva.

I could, but-

[Well, speaking Japanese is often easier than reading it, for foreigners. He'd tried to use simple characters, but you never know how well it comes across.]

...Okay. I wanted to ask some questions about what's happened to me. I just woke up on some kind of- ship?

[It sounds even crazier when you say it out loud...]

[Crap, English? Uh. Uhhhh. What he'd give for his dictionary right about now.]

not good english

[Ah. Is that what that headache is from.

Wait, seriously? Isn't that a plot of some weird sci-fi movie?]

I kind of assumed that was from a crazy dream I'd been having.

[Maaaan, Clay's dabbled in some languages, but Japanese is hard. He could try a bit of Korean, but that's a totally different language right there. But hmmm.]

try speak?

[And to further clarify, Clay switches to audio to speak instead.]

Try the audio function? That should help.

[Oh, wow, that's. Much easier. His brows lift, peering forward to get a better look at the console he's working from. That's a pretty good webcam...]

It's not squiggly line, it's Japanese.

I can assure you that this is real. You have been brought here for the purpose of 'reality television', that we may be the entertainment of myriad watchers. We are kept as caged animals, disarmed and our captors never showing themselves to us.

That's

[-familiar, actually. Now that he hears it out loud, he gets this weird deja vu sensation. Like it's something he knows, but doesn't. It's...]

weird

[What? There's a bunch of bilingual people around, apparently? That's convenient.]

Is it easier to understand if it's spoken?

Indeed, it is most "Weird."

[ A beat while she considers the situation. ]

If you wish to reach others, it is with words that you must speak out. I do not know how many speak the tongue of your land.

[Aaah. Much better.]

You could say that! You understand me now too, right?

[...Ugh. That part is definitely familiar. He's almost a year out of SAO and it's still a concept he can understand all too well. Some sadistic person taking pleasure in watching trapped rats suffer in a game of their creation...

Just when I thought I was free.]

How to we get out?

[At the very least, people who create places like this want to give their rats hope, right?]

[Oh thank god, the translation works on audio. Stefan sighs of relief.]

Yeah, you're on the Marvisa. I'm sure other people've explained this already, but you're basically on a crappy reality show, courtesy of our producers Atroma. Wish I could answer why. I've been trying to figure that out for months.

["The tongue of your land". Wow, he hasn't met anyone who spoke this formal who wasn't an NPC in one of his games. It's a bit jarring. What she says, though...]

Would it be easier if this was audio? Text is more convenient, but I'm not against talking.

Sometimes, those who are here simply vanish. We know not their fates. Perhaps lasting until the end should be enough to return home. However, I personally intend to find them and force them.

Yeah, um-

[He's still kind of reeling with the whole "what, what, how is this even real" aspect of this. A reality show in space. Who comes up with an idea like that? And how did they get him here?]

Okay, if 'why' is out, do you know how? I was just at home. On Earth.

[Literally the first time he's ever had to specify that. Today is a new record.]

Oh! Yeah, I do. Sorry, I don't spend a lot of time on non-Japanese forums unless I've got a translate app open.

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