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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.]

They know where the good good content lies.

[He leans back, arms pillowed behind his head and soaking in that praise like a sponge. Then he slides his gaze across the room as people start to pick up on the song being played, unaware that they were about to enter audio hell.]

Can't do it forever, but I don't need forever. Just gotta last the half hour for all the songs to cycle through.

Sounds just long enough to me.

[She leans back in her seat, crossing her arms behind her head and attempting to look casual about the way she's watching the room.]

Wish we'd thought to get some drinks first, though. A cocktail would go great with the show.

[He chuckles.]

Oh it'll be like an eternity to these suckers.

As for drinks - you got enough time. People probably won't realize for...oh...another six to eight minutes.

No way! The slow build is the best part. I'll grab something later. Hey, you got that paper?

[She holds a hand out and makes a grabbing motion. May as well get that taken care of while they wait for the good stuff to begin.]

Sure thing I do.

[He reaches into his bag and pulls out his Elven Bathroom Reader, flipping through until he finds a mostly empty sheet of paper. It's got some dumb story on it about loving trees or whatever, which is ironic seeing how it's printed on the dead body of one. He rips the sheet out and hands it over to Lup.]

There you go.

[She accepts it and takes a moment to look it over before quirking a brow at him, lips curving into an ironic smirk.]

Do you not have any empty pages in that thing? I thought you didn't like actual books.

It's easier to steal a bathroom reader than a blank book, right?

[And it gave him something to do on the nights when he'd already finished prepping his spells.]

No one thinks anything of it when one of these things goes missing - dime a dozen and all that.

Oh sure, sure. But you're a big fancy adventurer now, you could afford lots of swanky spellbooks. Are you sure it's not just nostalgia?

[Not that she's one to talk. She's had the same scrappy spellbook for years now, can't even remember where she got it or when, full of their doodles and notations on every spare inch of the parchment. Nostalgia's part of that, but it's also risk (stealing a fancier book could net you in bigger shit, spending the money on it could mean you starve later in the month) versus reward (how would the new book benefit anyone, in the long run, if the cheap shit is functional?).

She can guess the real reason, because it's one she grew up feeling, herself.]

Pfft, why bother? I've already got one and if it's full of stuff, the two idiots are less likely to try to use it for boner drawings or whatever.

[Plus this was his first. It has so many of his early notations, like a roadmap to his journey of becoming a wizard, his own flair, his own spins on classic spells. It was his and his alone at this point, pages torn and stained in a way that only he knows. No one would think a bathroom reader would be a spellbook so less chance someone picks it up and steals his shit. Plus it has notes on his cooking in the margins, bits of his life that he didn't want to share or lose.]

Also? Copying all this into a new book? No thanks. My hand cramps at the very thought of it.

Ooh, the truth comes out! I knew it's because you're a lazy butt.

[She laughs and pulls out her own book, flipping through the pages to look for the spell while she keeps an eye on the rest of the room, as the song begins to fade out into the next round.]

Lazy cute butt, please and thank you.

[He isn't going to deny his laziness seeing as he's the one who brought it up. But he lets her work and watches the room. People are starting to realize that it's either the same song or a really long song, but it's still the quiet before the storm.]

It's part of my charm.

Eugh, I'm not looking at that.

[He may not remember that they're related, but she does, and no thanks! ...Not that he's wrong, per se, as they're both very cute in many different ways. She just doesn't want to think about it.]

You got a video of me doin' a booty shake. You're gonna have to look at it eventually.

I can focus on other stuff! Like the goofy faces you kept making as you were singing.

Excuse me. That was the pinnacle of lip-syching performance and if you can't appreciate it, maybe I should just go ahead and delete it, huh?

Hell no! Don't you touch it.

[She pulls her hand from her pouch - where she'd been fetching a pencil - and covers it protectively over her pocket.]

Or I'll retract our deal!

[He thought so. He's not sure why he feels so vindicated or why he's letting her keep something so dumb, but it feels right in a weird way.

Taako smirks and settles back on the alcove seat.]

Mmmmhmmmm, yeah I thought so. And I can still revoke our deal since I haven't gotten that Seeming spell yet, so remember that the next time you wanna say I look goofy.

Blehhhh, you cheater. I'll just do it when you're not around.

[She makes a mental note to rename the video file to "goofy ass" or something later and starts copying down the spell with a huff.]

If I know you're doing it, it's the same thing, dingus!

[He sighs dramatically, but perks up when he sees her copying the spell and notices people looking toward the control panel. The second iteration of the song is just coming to that ending point that most people can recognize.

How little they realize.]

Mmmaybe. Or maybe I won't do it, and you'll never know either way. It's fantasy Schrodinger's cat.

More like Schrodinger's insult, but sure, whatever. The possibility existing makes me want to douse your communicator in water.

These things waterproof or what?

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