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(no subject)

Who: Nightingale, anyone else
Broadcast: Video
Action: Y
When: The 11th, sometime mid-morning.

[The video starts up showing... Well, for most people, it's probably an empty wall, at the end of the dormitory hallway, and there's a crazy person just pawing at the wall. For those who have the lab support or cook augments that are currently glitching, though, you can see the doorway and touchpad. A hand will reach over from outside of the camera's view, touch the touchpad, the digital voice says "Level five access granted", and the door slides open, at which point she pulls a chair from off the camera to wedge it into the doorway so it can't close again. This probably looks very strange to anyone who isn't glitched.

This is when she will finally turn the camera around to show herself.]

This is Nightingale. I've found something weird that definitely wasn't here yesterday, and I'm starting to think this ship isn't as safe as was claimed. I need a party down here to investigate this, as soon as possible. Preferably people that are able to fight in case things get ugly. I haven't gone through here yet, but I think we might be on a time limit.

... And, while I'm making myself sound totally insane, something's wrong with the ship. I've been checking it with my Scan spell for a while now, and it feels more like a monster than a ship to me. Aren't there story books in here about getting swallowed whole by monsters and living in their bellies? Because that seems a little relevant.

Anyway, I'll be going to investigate this room soon. It's at the end of the dorm hallway. Anyone else who wants in, hurry, I'll be here.

[And true to her word, anyone who comes to check it out (or to check if she's completely lost her mind) can find Nightingale standing right where she said, anxiously checking her communicator. The door is still wedged open, too.]

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[By the time Luffy gets there, a party is starting to assemble, Tyrion's pulled a panel off the wall, and they're about to head in.]

Oh, there you are.

[ The newcomer offers no apology, just a huge grin and the sort of enthusiastic wave that involves his whole arm; those who might actually be familiar with Luffy will find only the straw hat resembles anything he typically wore -- the rest is boots (worn treads, no laces or clasps), long jeans, a red, hooded coat of some synthetic material, and a t-shirt with a black and white panda face on it.

There's a kind of necklace with heavy beads carved out of purple, maroon, and deep red stone, but being heavy, it's slid under the collar of his shirt right now. ]

So, um.

[ He grins at the gathering which... may or may not have a few people staring intently at a wall for some reason. ]

...What's so interesting?

[She doesn't know Luffy, and even if she did, well... She can't say much about his clothing choices, given her own.]

Well... Do you have any form of magic vision, or senses, or anything?

Edited 2015-11-12 22:19 (UTC)

Magic..?

[ He's not ignorant of what magic is -- he's had some incredible experiences seeing magic in a number of different forms, all from different people with a variety of ways to wield it, but he hasn't a magical bone in his body, so no.

One might argue there's something magical about Devil Fruit, though.

Eventually, it might occur to him to try seeing what he detects with haki, but he doesn't really see a point just yet. ]

But it's-- [ He glances again. ] --just a wall.

[Well, okay, showing is better than telling.

She takes a step through the open door- just one, of course, and quickly jumps right back out. Still, it should make it pretty clear the wall isn't there.]

Woah!!

[ Sorry. Luffy's just an excitable guy. Not to mention bold -- he practically jumps forward for the opportunity to stick his whole arm through the door/wall a few times. ]

It's like one of those skins! How'd you find out there was no wall?!

[ Wait, Luffy. Didn't she ask you an important question? ]

Does that mean you know magic or something?

I'm a mage, yeah. I don't even see the wall there, now, all I can see is the door.

But it still might be dangerous, so I still don't want to go in alone or unprepared.

That's fine! An invisible door is nothing!

[ In fact, he'll make a point of that, and stroll right through what still looks like a wall. Shall we get this party started? ]

Wh- Wait a minute!

[OKAY I GUESS WE'RE GOING IN NOW.

Nightingale rushes in after him, hitting the lightswitch as soon as she spots it, revealing.... Well, revealing a lot more to her than to Luffy, apparently.]

... This is creepy as fuck.

[ Luffy's got one hand against the wall nearest him and the other firmly clasping his straw hat to his head, grinning ahead at ... well, he has no idea where he is, but this is pretty exciting, and a fun distraction from what had been gnawing at him before. ]

This is awesome!

We're inside the walls!! Which way, uh--

[ Now he thinks of this, turning in her direction. ]

Oh yeah, what do I call you?

I'm Nightingale.

[She introduced herself on the video, but then, she's not sure this guy was the type to even watch the whole thing, so...]

What about you? And, can you recognize any of these machines?

[ Can he? Sure, he's got an engineering augment, but that doesn't mean he has any actual engineering experience. Truth be told, the only thing he can do is bang on things with random tools and hope it turns out for the best.

How he ended up with that augment might just be someone's idea of a practical joke. ]

Ummm.... nope!

Feels weird in here, though. How'd you find out about that fake wall?

[How he ended up with any augment is a really good question at all, really. How does one perform brain surgery on rubber?]

I can see it. I don't even see the wall anymore, just the door. I think it's by my magic sight, but after talking to a couple of the others, I'm not sure anymore.

[ How do electronics sync up with nerve endings that are rubber too, and therefore insulated to electrical current? For that matter, how does he even think????

Magic.

Seriously, ask yourself if it's not magic if he ever tells you about Devil Fruit. ]

Whatever it is, you better tell me where to go. I don't feel like getting lost inside the walls for the rest of the day! [ He didn't even pack a lunch box! He's gonna be starving if he hangs out in here all day! ]

['how does he even think'

i mean, are we really sure he does?]

We're not inside the walls, it's just a hidden room. Maybe with more attached- Can you look for other exits? There might be more spaces we're not aware of, now that we're past the illusion hiding the first one.

Find another way out? Yeah, leave it to me!

[ No, no Luffy, no stop, you got brought along in case she needs you to fend off something dangerous, don't go scampering off in search of the new shiny task of 'finding an exit'--

Ah, too late.

Don't get lost, Strawhat. ]

[Nightingale is an experienced enough adventurer to know a few rules:

First of all, splitting up is usually a terrible idea, but in closed quarters, it isn't actually a huge disadvantage. So long as everyone is close enough to join in on the fray, it can allow a party to start with pincer attacks, which are always great.

Second, when you're searching for something hidden, never underestimate an energetic person's ability to just trip over it.]

Just be careful, okay? This stuff looks... bad.

Well, yeah?

[ He doesn't really sound like he shares her opinion, when Luffy stops, he leans back against a cryobed, oblivious to the nature of the thing he's resting against. He folds his arms. ]

I mean, it doesn't look like anybody's been here for ages. Was there something here, once?

No one's been here for a while... Why would the Atroma abandon this room?

[She approaches.]

... Hey, Hat-boy, move your butt for a minute.

It just kinda looks like...

[ Elaboration must wait until he scoots over, to let her do... whatever it is she's doing. Looking around, much like he is, except that he's a lot less interested in these boring contents than she is. ]

I'unno. Some old closet someone forgot about. There's nothing here! Just junk.

Well, I won't argue that it's junk, but...

[She taps the cryobed.]

... I know a lot more about this thing than I should. It's a cryobed. People sleep in these for long-term space voyages. Why the hell are they here?

A crying bed? ...Umm, yeah, I guess if that's supposed to be a bed, it's a pretty sad one!

[ Luffy looks over his shoulder at it, scooting aside to let her investigate. He isn't trying to be cute, the fact is, he just sees some dusty old junk lying in a forgotten room, there's nothing interesting about it at all. But... if she says she knows more about it, he'll believe her.

It just doesn't look like any bed Luffy's ever seen. ]

Long voyages? Maybe... people working here? Unless all the guys I see around are just like you and me...

I've never seen anyone on the ships who wasn't one of us captives, so...

... It might have something to do with the people who vanish.

The people who vanish?

[ 'Vanish' usually means dead, where he's most recently from. But there are a number of differences between this place and the last one, and he's hoping maybe there's something more to this than just a pile of dead bodies. ]

You think... what? They got sent on a really long trip? What's that got to do with these things here?

... My only evidence is that the Atroma imply that the people who vanish from the fleet aren't sent back to where they came from, and that they're 'safe'.

My guess here is that they're put into a cryobed to be frozen until the Atroma think they're entertaining again.