one . video

[misconceived]

WHO Chris Halliwell
BROADCAST Network unfiltered video.
ACTION The SS Huntress.
WHEN Shortly after the Shuffle.

Again?

[ This is a young man circling around as he's transported to his new ship, the SS Huntress. He's mostly talking to his new crewmates but there's that unknowing broadcast going out, too. ]

Moved around twice in twenty-four hours, and this one is not nearly as nice as the first one. We're supposed to stay here while we play this stupid game? [ Psht. ] Which, by the way, I didn't sign up for. Did anyone? Because I was in the middle of something, you know, important.

Comments

action forever;

[merchantprince]

[After the initial moment of stumbling and yelling a strange epithet, he steadies himself on the nearest weird-looking machine. What is confetti? What is going on? What is that nasty thing on the table? We just don't know.]

Maker's blessed balls! They could've given me some warning.

[misconceived]

[ Chris just stares for a moment. ]

Nice.

No, definitely seems like they're getting a kick out of this. Not surprising considering we're apparently... [ He pauses, looks around like he'd be able to see the cameras. ] ... you know, being broadcast right now! I'm starting to get real tired of that.

video;

[ladiesss]

[man, there is a really quiet voice coming in from over the network speaker. there's a teenage girl on the video feed--dark hair, lots of eye makeup.]

Well, at least he's not screaming...

[misconceived]

[ WHO GOES THERE

wait what. Chris turns to follow the sound's origin, then comes to the network console. He leans toward it and squints. ]

Well, we're in space. No one'd hear that.

video

[blindoptimism]

[a slight smile tugs at her mouth, it's nice to see someone taking all this in stride, in his own way... But, wanting to be serious and not trivialize the situation she doesn't smile too much]

I'm afraid you can't return home any time soon, we are all stuck here for the time being.

[misconceived]

[ Dammit, he's going to have to pay closer attention to these network cameras. Chris runs a hand through his hair and shrugs. ]

Yeah, that's what I thought. Isn't there a way to get out? Like, get booted off the island or something.

[merchantprince]

What, you been here a while?

[He wonders if he can poke at things, and decides not to. He settles for poking at the dessert blob instead.]

Anyway, everything I've been told begins and ends with 'this sucks'. You can either throw a tantrum and hope you get paid for it, or help me figure out the quickest way to get off the ship.

The less of this shit I have to eat, the better.

[blindoptimism]

I don't know if there is a way to intentionally leave. People have "left" but there is no way to know if they were able to return home. [like in her case, it would seem]

[misconceived]

No, not here. Just something similar from before all.. this.

[ He watches, arms crossed as he tries not to show how uncomfortable this whole thing is making him. ]

I don't think it's the getting off that's going to be the hard part here. [ There's a pause, before he simply disappears. Comes back about a minute later. ] Yeah, that's not the issue.

Action!

[hearsthesea]

...

[Shirley's still in a little bit of shock with the new environment and the confetti and whatnot, so she's just going to look around without saying a word before speaking up.]

I think we were all taken against our will. I can't think of anybody who would volunteer for something like this.

[misconceived]

What is that? What do you mean "left"? [ Yes, he heard the airquotes there. ]

[misconceived]

I can think of a couple.

[ One of whom actually did volunteer the last time something like this came up. Then again, so did Chris... ]

That can't really be entertaining. I mean, come on. That makes us prisoners here.

[blindoptimism]

They simply disappear from the ship. [she frowns slightly] The woman who makes weekly announcements claims that they never existed in the first place, but we've received no more information than that.

It was assumed that they were sent back to their home world when this occurred.

[misconceived]

Just like that?

[ Great. That could be something magical mixed up in all this. So much fun to be had on messed up reality TV. ]

That's past tense. Was?

[merchantprince]

[He jumps back a couple steps-- very impressive jumping, for a dwarf.]

You just disappeared. And-- came back. Am I the only one who saw that? I can't be the only one who saw that.

I haven't had a drink in days. That's the issue. I've started seeing things.

[blindoptimism]

[sharp ear. she tilts her head slightly, as if trying to figure out how to describe it]

I... recently disappeared, and just reappeared yesterday. From my perspective, it's as if no time passed at all, but it seems I've been gone for two months.

I don't recall anyone else mentioning something like that happening to them. It doesn't disprove our earlier theory, but it is... troubling.

[misconceived]

Did I?

[ Yes, Chris is smirking. No, he's not going to acknowledge what he just did. He's kind of an ass like that. ]

Maybe you should sit down. There's got to be a place to get water in here somewhere, right?

[hearsthesea]

Some people don't care about that. Whoever's done this must be one of those people.

[This makes what, the sixth time she's been taken by someone? First time it's been off the planet, but she's no more impressed with the situation.]

[misconceived]

[ He thinks about that for a moment. ]

Like... you jumped forward. Or got pushed. Did anything weird happen that day? The one where you disappeared?

[misconceived]

Yeah, but apparently we've got a viewership too. Which... is going to take some getting used to.

[blindoptimism]

No, nothing that I can remember. [but to phrase it that way, she looks curious]

Are you familiar with situations like that?

[misconceived]

[ Whoops. ]

Uh... not like that, no. Just curious. Aren't you?

[blindoptimism]

[ah, she looks a bit disappointed but nods]

Yes, very curious. I hadn't thought of it as a 'jump', but you're right... It was like that.

[misconceived]

[ Sorry, he doesn't really talk about his temporally abnormal state outside of family and family friends. And his mother's speeddates. ]

Yeah, that's what it sounded like. What's the last thing you remember before all that?

video;

[catamite]

[more helpful voices from the network screens! this time, it's a pretty dude with pointy ears and a bunch of piercings smiling at him.]

Oh man... you got to see the big ship too? What's it like? Is it really nice?