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[ What a question. Unfortunately, there's no good way to answer it, but Nami doesn't mince words. If their positions were reversed, she'd want useful information, and considering the circumstances, for once, she doesn't mind helping out without asking for something in return. ]

They called it a mixer, but really it was a lot of getting shoved into rooms, pods you got locked in and couldn't leave until somebody came, this game called jenga but there were horny things written on the tiles, weird food. [ Nami pauses for a beat, looking over her shoulder at him. ] The at these things is almost always going to do something to you. Not everywhere, but, when the resort throws a party it's not messing around.

[ It's a lot, she knows, but one wouldn't think it from the way she shrugs and looks back ahead, steering them around a slight bend in the river. ]

Some people play the game. The rumor is the grand prize is a wish, but some people think it's all bullshit. I've heard some theories. [ She leaves her stance out of this for now, deciding this is more about preparing him for the situation he's been thrust into. ]

[The grimace he offers in response to her explanation --very thorough, holy cow-- is nothing short of sympathetic. Weird games, weird food, the pervasive encouragement...he's observed that from the periphery, but he can't help being glad he missed that.

(There's some irony in writing this after the mingle and event, but that's backtags for you!)]

Weird that the house is so serious about this stuff, [the observation is casual; he peers over the side of the raft as he says it, looking down at the river. It really does look real, huh?] It's like...they've stuck us all in a cage and they're trying to convince us that we want it.

[Maybe some of them do. She's right, after all; some of them are definitely playing the game. Yu still isn't sure where he lands on the idea; it doesn't really seem feasible or probable, but some other people seem more optimistic that it's true.]

What sort of theories?

That this place is controlled by ghosts who are feeding on the energy we create when we fuck around, that this place is in some kind of weird pocket dimension there might be no way out of.

[ She shrugs. A lot of the concepts have been more than the navigator can really wrap her head around without a proper frame of reference, but that hasn't stopped her from turning these ideas around in her mind. ]

The first one would explain why the house is doing everything it can to get us to play.

[ Turning to look over her shoulder at him, a mirthless smirk curls at the corners of her mouth. ]

Welcome to the neighborhood, I guess.

I've heard something similar -- that something is feeding on energy. It would make sense. With all the people I've seen around here...if something is using that energy for food, it must be big.

[As much as the theory makes sense, it's kind of disconcerting to think about. Not that it'd be the first time he faced off with some absurdly gigantic conceptual foe, but -- he wasn't exactly planning to do it again. But Nami is right. If they're being encouraged this strongly, there has to be a reason for it. He huffs out a dry chuckle.]

Thanks, I think. Can't say I'm glad to be here, exactly, but I can't complain about the company. [Everyone he's met so far has been good company, something that makes him feel pretty lucky.

Speaking of that, and on a less morbid subject besides--] Is this kind of transportation common where you're from? You look like a natural.

It's all new to me, I'm lucky the people around here who come from worlds that have this kind of mess feel like sharing what they know.

[ Like the chestnut of wisdom Hua Cheng had imparted to her a few months back, about how there are ghosts inside almost all the statues around the resort (something she'll have to tell Yu about before they part ways).

Instead, her attention gets caught by the change of subject, and she finds herself nodding at the question. ]

You could say that. I'm more used to open seas, but the rivers are kind of fun to pilot. [ They take the edge off the restless feeling that comes from being stuck on dry land. ]

I'm the navigator on a pirate ship back home, and I'm guessing you don't get on a lot of boats.

Edited 2024-04-15 05:46 (UTC)

I don't think you're alone in that, [he says, with a bit of a sympathetic expression. Most people probably haven't dealt with that sort of thing -- and he can't say he's an expert, either. But if the Midnight Channel had something like that behind it, then surely it's a possibility for this place, too.

It's definitely something he's going to have to think about, at any rate.]

A pirate ship? [Yu sort of blurts the question out with more surprise in his expression than he had intended. It's not totally unexpected, with how at-home she looks on the water, he guesses -- but she certainly doesn't look like any pirate he's ever seen.]

... You're right about that. If I'm traveling, I usually go by train or plane. [Some humor makes it into his expression as he adds,] Can't say I've met many pirates, either.

Depending on the pirates, it's not the worst kind of ship to end up on, trust me.

[ A plane – she knows the word, and, thanks to the library, she's seen pictures of them, enough that Nami feels confident as she gives Yu a little nod. ]

Your world has advanced technology like airships? Cool. [ From what she's gathered from other guests, there are worlds where the watches the resort gives them fit in perfectly – something a person who makes calls via telepathic snail like her,c can only imagine. ]

I've got a map of the resort I keep working on while I'm here. I can make you a copy. It'll help you know what to avoid.

I can believe it. [Said with a little smile. He imagines the pirates she knows might be a little more like fictional ones, in his world -- real pirates, the ones you hear about on the news, are way less friendly.

He can't help but wonder if there's some connection, though. If maybe things that are fiction in some worlds are real in another.

Anyway--] You could say that, yeah. I never think of it as "advanced" because it's normal, but compared to some places, maybe.

[That, too, is an interesting thought. Different worlds, different realities -- in spite of the resort itself, and in spite of how much he misses his friends, at least there's things here to keep his mind occupied. Anyway, a little smile tugs at his expression at her offer.]

A navigator and a mapmaker? That's really impressive. I'd appreciate that, thanks.

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