Let the games begin!

[thespaceopera]

[several days late, as has been the trend lately, the Shuffle's transmission plays for the Fleet.

...or, it tries anyway. the music doesn't even make it--just a punch of static with sad, scattered pieces of musical notes trying to struggle their way through.

when Diamond's voice is finally heard, it's only intelligible in three little bites.]

--Three disappearing from-- ... --new faces, so-- ... --Captain Halliwell--...

[and then the music blends strangely with other sounds, like someone flipping idly through broken radio stations. it takes some time for anything to come in clear, and every frequency turns up the same interference. it isn't until several minutes later that one signal suddenly stutters into clarity, and music begins to play.

wherever you are, they are playing your song! and if there are multiple people in the room, maybe the speakers nearest to each person are playing different songs, each specific to the closest passenger. and after the signal connects, the speakers will continue to play whatever song they started with, even if different passengers move toward or away from them, and will only play something else when the controls are messed around with. and the signals and machinery will continue to behave in this way sporadically, all through the month.]

ooc: the musical madness has begun! feel free to use this post as a mingle for interactions relating to shuffle day and the ensuing musical chaos. if you have any questions, please post them to the January ooc post!

→ Shuffle ooc post
→ January system ooc post

Comments

action . ss huntress / audio

[misconceived]

What? Captain?

[ Of course he's captain for three days and doesn't even know it. Of course. ]

What does that even mean? What's a captain supposed to do around here?

[merchantprince]

Does that mean I can't sleep in the fancy bed anymore?

[Varric you're not helping.]

I mean, congratulations.

audio

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[all this crazy music stuff aside...]

You're supposed to manage your crew, that's what. Welcome to the team.

voice

[aberrant_type]

Well, well, captain already. Look at you!

[Unhelpful.]

red fish action

[aberrant_type]

[She's curious about what's going on with Diamond, of course... but something about the music ringing out of the speaker nearest her captures her attention above and beyond that.

Hange leans her head close to the speaker. She can be found there with her eyes hooded, listening to the music; occasionally she shifts, energy contained but very restless.

Something about this music makes her want to be home right now. Maybe battling. Outside the walls, outside this ship, for sure...]

[theboogieman]

[he was just passing by--he just figured this was going to be another stupid announcement. but it dissolves, and something unexpected fills its place, and he doesn't really realize that he'd stopped to listen until the song is winding down.

...it starts to play again. it's...]

...A music box.

[mortalcoil]

[Coil almost flutters into the room, moving nothing like he usually does. he's flustered, on high alert, spooked out of the back room by whatever song had been playing in there.

he kind of fumbles and slows to a halt in here, though. even though they're never far apart from each other, he still hadn't expected anyone to be right there, and hadn't expected another song.

...and something about this one doesn't make him feel much better. just kind of staring, a little haunted.]

[parricida]

[Well, well. This is interesting, isn't it? An old Cardassian hymn, one that's simultaneously both sad and prideful, one that speaks of the bitterness of defeat, as well as tomorrow's hope. He'd been humming it mindlessly, on and off, when he was stuck in the prison camp in his universe . . . and now here it is, playing, sounding just as clear and beautiful as it had the first time he'd heard it.

Someone is playing games. Garak isn't particularly amused.

But he keeps his smile on as he rounds the corner and notices Hange. She looks more a girl than she had before-- but then, this isn't the captain, intently curious and wary. This looks more like a young woman lost in her own thoughts, and part of Garak is loath to interrupt her.]

network, and pathstone action

[heresyandlace]

[he hadn't been listening, really. Diamond's messages rarely offer him anything of interest, and it's only the fact that the transmission isn't its usual cheery, inane self that he's even paying attention at all.

...though, when the static breaks apart with what can only be described as a low, haunting howl, it definitely captures his entire attention. he straightens up with sharp chills down his spine as every speaker around his place on the bridge begins to wail.

if wolves were giant creatures, with low and absolutely funereal voices, it almost describes the song that croons and echoes through the room. the voices of great beasts--deep and ancient and full of sorrow.

...and maybe it's the hope that the song might be for someone other than him, that he pushes the button that relays the song to the network at large.]

network, video

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[holy shit--if he wasn't paying attention before, he's definitely on-edge now.]

That's...

Voice/Action for the Wonderduck

[wilder]

Huh?

[What the hell? He was sitting in the cockpit of the Wonderduck, listening to the shuffle when it started to fritz and starts to play music that he very much recognizes]

Uh...Is it just me or is anyone else getting old church hymns from the communicator? Because that's not creepy or foreboding at all.

voice; because hooray for being on the other side of the ship

[idealistic]

[ this is the one time he actually tuned into the Shuffle and, well. this explains why. he's freaked out and was just about to contact Kaneis when he noticed that he commented on it too SOOOO... ]

Yeah, I'm getting it too. It sounds like the stuff Colette would sing. [ actually, his just sounds like Colette point blank. ]

Voice

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Especially not when it's in a dead language. Loud and clear.

[robin holds up his private communicator to the microphone so that Zelos can hear his own--it sounds like ye olde church hymn, but is definitely in a language no one here would recognize. lots of sharp Ts and heavy consonants. sung by chorus of both men and women, naturally heavy on the creepy.]

Voice

[ladiesss]

Uh... Mine's definitely not a church hymn...

[but it's totally freaking her out anyway.]

Action

[showmeyourwreath]

[That sure is Flora rushing in like she's got Hell on her heels.]

Where is that coming from?

Voice/Action for Blue Fish

[alwayscomeback]

[Sokka was, as always, paying attention to the shuffle, trying to see if he could glean anything to give him an advantage. Any clue that could lead him home. What he got instead was some string instrument strumming as a song begins to play.]

What? [And a mountain divides them apart] NO! Why is this happening?!!!

[The chorus is drowned out be Sokka's screaming, and those on the Blue Fish will be luckily enough to see his communicator being toss out of his workstation to get that VILE SONG OF HORROR as far away from him as possible.]

[save_the_souls]

[Allen hadn't been listening to the Shuffle, mostly because he's busy pretending to do work in the lab when more likely is just playing a game he bought from the waystations.]

[BUT, he sure hears Sokka's screams. Which immediately makes him run for Sokka's workstation. Because HOLY SHIT IS SOMEONE BEING MURDERED? BETTER GO CHECK IT OUT]

Sokka?!

Voice

[ladiesss]

...You know, that's not what I expected to happen, there.

[blindoptimism]

[Nunnally wasn't in the same room, but she was nearby. And the combination of sound travelling in this... ahem, tiny ship, and her sharp hearing means that she definitely notices the racket that Sokka is making. She hurries over as fast as her chair will carry her]

Is everything-- [ah... but she pauses as she enters. No one else seems to be in here. No monsters, no exploding machinery, nothing out the window, just a com device on the floor. She pauses, her tone turning from loud concern to confusion] alright?

Voice

[catamite]

[Nel was catching all the chatter on the network that he could, like a good little comms officer... until he hears this.]

...What is that?

open network | three twins action

[catamite]

[the communications officer aboard the SS Three Twins is hailing all fleet ships... and he looks nervous. soft, otherworldly hymns are playing in the background.]

Um... So, all the other communications people...

There's something wrong with our network. Or... maybe it's our whole communications array? I don't know. But it's really messed up.

Is anyone else's acting weird?

[blindoptimism]

[heeeey guess who is returning the hail!]

Yes, our ship is having the same difficulties. It seems that a song is playing on the frequency that we usually use. [she taps a finger on her control panel, out of the camera's sight for a moment, before continuing]

Based off of chatter on the network, it seems like everyone is hearing different songs.

audio | action for the red fish

[theboogieman]

[with all the other sounds on every other channel, this one might be pretty easy to overlook. it's just a woman humming. it might have been a song once--it brings to mind many old lullabies and folk songs, and sounds familiar just before it turns into something else.

it's a little... disjointed, the real words long forgotten, the tune going on forever. but she sounds happy.]

---

[for anyone on the Red Fish, Zhas can be found sitting to the side of the cargo bay, hunched over the sound coming out of his communicator. he's completely absorbed in it. he won't even notice you approaching.]

[aberrant_type]

[She whistles at him through her teeth before she comes any closer. Wouldn't want to surprise the big guy when he's so deep in contemplation.]

action/video (ss bloodsport)

[limitstorm]

[ he really had nothing to do or say--listening to these broadcasts have just gotten worrying. he's started to write them down in his journal, the frequency of them...

but then, a song interrupts him. it plays for a few moments, but he knows that intro, and he understands what they're saying, but-- ]

There's no way... [ the song is soft and metered like a lullaby, but there are strings and heart-like drumbeats. chanting chimes in, and he actually laughs. it's pleasant and upbeat, soothing and kind all at once like spring. he calls offscreen-- ]

Hey, Sora--are you hearing this? You remember how to dance to it?

action.

[clownshoes]

[ sora doesn't even answer, just comes bounding in dancing and singing along. within a few seconds he grabs riku, intent on dragging him in to join. ]

action for the pathstone

[faithfulwisdom]

[And one of your communications officers sits straight up in his chair when he hears the music that comes through the speakers. His face pales and he reaches to turn the volume up- just to be sure he's hearing what he thinks he is.]

Impossible.

[But impossible or not, he's hearing it. A familiar tune, his native tongue.]

[ooc: the type/genre of song, but it's in the wrong language. This is in the language the song would be in.]

[heresyandlace]

[and Tek is sort of spooked out of the bunk room by what is playing on the speakers in there... and so is quietly and vastly relieved when he finds someone else in some amount of mental turmoil over a completely different song.

at first, he doesn't say anything. only listening to the melody for a minute, silently looking to the elf for reaction or explanation.]