driftfleet | the white noise is deafening silence

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the white noise is deafening silence

[In the very early hours of January 20th, as the Marsiva and her captives drift nonchalantly through the depths of the universe, there is a call. Every single personal communicator and console springs to life, spitting out a stream of indecipherable static and showing only gray snow on screen. It continues like this for a few seconds longer, going black and then going staticky, and then the signal switches to the encrypted channel generally used for speaking to the Interceptors when something big goes down.

This is a little more successful. The voice may be familiar to some, at least through the static.]

Zhade here! I trust I ███ your attention? I'm having some ██▓▓ble ██tting through. Some of the ░▓██▓█ are missing. I can't ░▓▓▓ read on their loc█████ns. [A particularly long burst of static.] ███stening. I'll s█▓▓█ more inf██▓▓▓▓▓█ I get it.

Stay sharp! [There's the sound of someone actually doing the fingerguns wink noise, and then static.

Any messages sent back won't get through, and Zhade isn't there to answer.]

[ A blip of lost time passes right after those words, before every passenger mysteriously wakes alone in their own unfamiliar room. The style of decor resembles that of the Marsiva's Hospitality Deck, if any passengers should remember what that's like. It sounds and smells the same as the host ship as well, all clean and chrome.

Welcome back to the Marsiva, dear passengers. It's time for round three of calibrations. ]

[ This mingle will cover all non-calibration room interactions. Please continue to come back to it for the duration of the plot! You are, of course, free to post any other mingles/posts/etc. that you'd like. ]

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In that case, aren't I a lucky sucker, getting to see the one and only show.

[She rolls herself back to her feet, tucking her communicator into her pocket.]

Seriously though, you're looking pretty spry again. You must be glad to finally get your ass out of bed.

Ugh, you have no idea.

[He was going to have to make some people some rad godsdamn desserts in a silent way of saying thank you later.

He sighs and puts the back of his hand to his forehead, draping himself against the wall.]

I had to read, Lup. Boring books. A lot of them. Do you know how terrible that is?

Nope, can't imagine it. I've never had to suffer such an indignity. I got enough secondhand embarrassment just visiting the library on your behalf.

[In retrospect she could probably have gotten Belthazar to do it, that nerd, but it had also been a convenient excuse to keep visiting Taako without too obviously checking on him, so. Oh well.]

I need to get super drunk and just, I dunno, go to a club or go partying or fucking-- [He pops his lips, trying to think of something that isn't "blow stuff up."] hit a strip club or something, just so I remember what it's like to be cool. Play some pool, steal someone's shoes, something.

[He pauses, then waves at the control panel.]

Other than this.

[She bites her lip at the mention of pool - and the shoes, of course, how many years had they held onto those things like damned trophies after losing everything else? - but shrugs her shoulders, tapping at the console to add a few more plays of whatever terrible song he'd chosen for this room-wide punishment about to be dished out.]

Y'ever wanna swindle some assholes at pool, give me a ring. I play a mean game. Though we'll probably have to wait until whatever it is that'll go down- the thing they've stuck us here for.

[He thinks about that for a moment, rubbing his chin. Then he shrugs and nods.]

Yeah sure, why not? Could be fun havin' a partner for once.

[Probably make it easier to dominate a table, too, if they were playing doubles.

But the mention of whatever is going on here drains some of the mirth from Taako's face. That counter on the screen in the middle of the room was ominous as fuck and he'd been doing his best to completely ignore it up until right now.]

But uh yeah, I've noticed a lot of the older crew are antsy about being here. Can't blame them, this entire place is fucking eerie, don't you think?

[For once, he says. She'll never get used to those jarring moments where their memories clash in subtle ways. His comment about their situation is a welcome distraction, even though it isn't, as a whole, much better.

She glances over at the counter and frowns. What the fuck does "calibration" even mean?]

Yeah, I didn't really like this place the last time we were here, and all of this doesn't make it feel any better. Plus I hate waiting for something to happen. Countdowns like that don't end with something fun.

[He slides his finger idly along the touch panel to give him something to do. He's bored of putting in that one song, it's going to last well past the thirty minutes he can burn Otiluke's already, so he starts searching for something else. It'll never get heard because he's pretty sure as soon as the forcefield goes down someone will punch the panel and break it, but he wants them to feel the horror as they realize they just ended with this What's New Pussycat stuck in everyone's head.]

Uuuusually not, no. Doubt everyone'd be so on edge if it was a countdown to party town.

[He flicks idly along the list of artists, his ears mimicking the motion and betraying his nerves. He doesn't like thinking about that clock and the inevitable answer that will come when it hits zero.]

But more than that? Can you believe they just up and moved us here without consulting us on the wardrobe? We only get two outfits. Two. Who knows how long we're stuck here and I have to make due with two? It's inhumane.

Wouldn't it be inelvane?

[hurr hurr]

Technically between the two of us we've got four outfits, but that's not much of a consolation.

[He snorts at that and chuckles a little.]

Yeah okay, inelvane if you wanna be all technical and shit, you giant nerd.

[He motions to his current outfit. He's honestly fine with wearing the same thing day in and day out, but he has a reputation to uphold here and if he has the choice to wear something new everyday? Why not do it? He'd lived with patching and repatching the same shirt for long enough.]

We'll look amazing, obviously, but we can only really rearrange and swap pieces so many times before it gets boring.

Ugh, yeah. Okay, well...

[She fetches her spellbook, flipping through the options. A lot of the good shit requires spell components that she does not have on her thanks to their impromptu abduction, but there's definitely some options for- oh, hey.]

How about Seeming? Disguised for eight hours- it can just change clothes if you want it to. It won't last the whole day but I've got a few slots for that spell level.

As long as it lasts long enough to get me through facing any of these numbskulls, it's good enough.

[Taako doesn't have Seeming, but he definitely has Disguise Self. He could afford to burn a spell slot on his vanity.]

As long as I lay off on doing things like this.

[He waves toward the touch panel with a grin.]

Gotta be strategic about it anyway. Can't let the losers get used to my excellent music tastes.

I don't know, this makes for a pretty good show.

[Or it will, ideally, once they get things going and people come through to try and utilize the space. She tucks away her book and pokes at more of the songs to see what else might be familiar.]

You can cast at 5th level, right? If you've got some scrap paper I might be convinced to copy it out for you.

No shit? You keep giving me spells like this and I'm just gonna start stealing all your shit.

[He smirks though because if he can learn Seeming, that makes stuff a lot easier. Plus, the more he knows about Lup's spells, the better, right? It's not that he doesn't trust her, but, well, it's just survival. If he's willing to have her ride around on his back and cast godsdamn Prismatic Spray and Word of Death or some shit, he has to trust her to some extent.]

But alright - what do I gotta do to get that little gem into Taako's repertoire?

Oooh, tricky question. Our options are kinda limited around here.

[She gives the area a judging glower. Even with all the entertainment at their disposal, she's not a couch potato. She wants to get out of this cagey environment ASAP, but she doubts that's happening any time soon. Which means anything she could ask for would be pretty lame, too.]

...If you're feeling adventurous, you could just owe me one good favour. To be determined when we're out of this craphole.

I'd have to be pretty damn adventurous.

[But Lup has never really asked for anything too crazy so far. Usually it's a spell component or an outfit or something else relatively within his grasp. He watches her for a moment, considering his options and realizes that he really doesn't have any if he wants Seeming. There isn't a lot to be had here so it isn't like he can cook her a twelve course meal or something either.]

But yeah sure, fuck it. Why not? One favour for a spell.

[That makes her grin; while she can't think of anything now, she's bound to come up with something amazing when it's necessary. A spell's totally worth that.

She offers a hand out to him.]

You've got a deal, partner.

But I reserve the right to force you to do anything embarrassing with me, so you better be smart about it.

[He takes her hand and shakes it.]

I don't remember agreeing to that part, blehhh.

[She sticks her tongue out at him. Altering the deal as they shake!? How very classic Taako! Doesn't stop her from said shaking, but y'know. Can't let it slide.]

Too late! We shook on it!

[He lets her hand go and sticks his tongue back out at her before grinning. With a conspiratory glance around the room, he whispers.]

So you wanna release the chaos or what?

Hell yeah I do! Though after a few plays you're gonna need to convince folks from just coming over here and killing the fun. Got a plan?

[She has the gall to ask him if he has a plan! Taako-- well, no, that's actually a legitimate question here because 99% of Taako's life is "fuck it, let's see what this does," but for once! He has! A plan! No, not just a plan, but a Plan™ and he thinks its brilliant.

With a scoff, Taako waves Lup back about five feet from the control panel.]

Uh, did you forget who I am? I'm Taako. Of course I have a plan.

[She can't help a skeptical snort at that, because him being Taako is exactly why she asked. None of them are especially well known for thinking things through ahead of time. Well, except for maybe Lucretia and Barry. Weird how that worked out.]

Okay then, mastermind, show me what you've got.

[She saunters off to find them a comfortable spot to view the chaos- conveniently with a flat surface she can write on, to keep up her end of the bargain.]

[He rolls his eyes and reaches into his belt. The Atroma must've wanted entertainment because he'd been given a certain number of his components - just enough to do what he needed. The rest, he'd have to transmute later, once he had a chance to grab suitable replacements.

With a breath, he presses play, cranks up the volume across the loudspeakers, and steps back. The first What's New Pussycat starts up with a very loud "BWAHM BWAHM" and Taako snickers as he taps the spell in his mind, hands moving as he casts. A sphere of shimmering force appears around the panel, a barely visible barrier that glints and reflects light like a soap bubble.

Satisfied with his work, Taako pads on over to where Lup's settled herself and flops next to her.]

Oh ye of little faith. You better eat your words.

[As soon as the spell is cast and he joins her, she sets free a muffled laugh, clapping her hands in his direction.]

Oh gods, they gave you components? You're gonna be a menace. I fuckin' love it, well done.

[She mock-bows at him. Yes, yes, good plan, she's indulging you a bit. For once.]

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