001 ; video

[shoyu]

[ click! as the video feed flickers on -- and here's soysauce looking kind of confused and lost. a slow blink as he confirms that this thing is working properly (he can never be sure, it's nothing like those clunky old phones and radios he's so used to) before he gives a polite smile. ]

Good evening. I hope I'm not being too much of a bother when the mood seems so, ah -- [ what's the word ] electrified.

[ a sheepish sort of laugh as he rubs at his jaw. ]

I'd like to avoid wasting too much of anyone's time, so I suppose I should get straight to the point, which is --

[ and then he rather clumsily manages to bring up the text for:

:) ]

This mark. I'm afraid I've never been very good with fancy machinery and such complicated things, and there seems to be a bit of a buzz about these matters as of late. May I possibly ask what these symbols stand for? -- humor an old man, perhaps?

[ yes he seriously has no idea what smilies are. ]

Comments

[shoyu]

[ okay he's slowly getting a general idea of this. ] May I ask what this person's done in the past? They seem to have quite the reputation.

[player_not_slayer]

Something to do with trapping people in creepy rooms with skeletons at the end of endless corridors and shit, and then all the text messages popping up on the network.

Problem is, we don't know if the fucker's one of us or what. Not like there's any other crew here to blame besides the two guys in charge.

[shoyu]

... skeletons. [ he can't help but sound a bit dubious because isn't that -- a little cliche? ] That doesn't sound like it would accomplish very much -- or have much purpose other than malice.

[player_not_slayer]

I dunno, man. I wasn't paying attention to that part of it at the time.

[Nope, he'd been too busy trolling a few of those souls that had been trapped in the endless corridors for a few days. His priorities, right there.]

People are wondering if he's building up to something, aside from cheerfully fucking with us. Of course, everything's fucking with us on this ship-- you missed all the people getting possessed by demons and shit a few weeks ago. It had to get all Exorcist up in here for a bit.

[shoyu]

[ it takes a bit of effort to parse out the important information amidst all that profanity. ]

That seems a rather odd combination, doesn't it? Demons and skeletons on a spaceship. They're ah -- [ what's the right phrase ] -- not in the same genre, no?

[player_not_slayer]

[Its an acquired skill, Soysauce.. You'll get used to it.] Depends on who made the skeletons...skeletons, you know. But demons, skeletons, anonymous psychotic hoebags...yeah its a pretty broad mix.

Still could all be called horror though.

[shoyu]

I ... see. [ no, not really, but he's trying!

a brief pause before he sighs and gives a slightly disbelieving laugh. ] At least this all seems to be good fodder for stories to tell at a bar, if we're ever released.

[player_not_slayer]

'If' is kinda the operative word there. There's a working theory that we're all from like, different realities and times, but that's pretty fucked up to think about.

[shoyu]

Ah -- right. Of course.

[ beat. ]

May I ask what you mean by 'different realities'? [ because his head's about to explode what is this ]

[player_not_slayer]

[Oh god how do you even begin to explain alternate dimensions to a guy who doesn't know what an emoticon is?]

Like, being here on this ship. It's not where I'm from or where you're from, that much is pretty fucking obvious. Could be a different planet, or part of the universe entirely, or it could uh, a different dimension. Where you're from might not even exist, where we are. Relatively speaking.

Ever heard of the phrase 'alternate reality'?

[shoyu]

[ such a long pause while he struggles to wrap his head around this concept oh god. ]

I can't -- say I have, though I suppose I can take a tentative guess. [ but not really. ] Do you mean that this aircraft is located in -- ah ... something like another world, like in myths? Heaven and such?

[player_not_slayer]

Fuck, if this is heaven, send me to hell.

[But it seems he's got the basic concept, if a little oversimplified.]

But yeah, kinda. You know those fantasy stories that take place in worlds completely different from ours and shit? Something like that.

Only this isn't gay fairy magic crap. Its space and horror and smiley faces.

[shoyu]

[ audible sounds of him trying to come to terms with this and failing miserably. ]

I suppose in retrospect, it makes sense given how strange everything here's been so far ... but to imagine it existing only as some sort of fiction --

[ you can't see it but he's trying to massage a migraine out of his temples now. ]

-- is this something you're more accustomed to? You sound quite confident about this possibility.