[come_sailaway inbox]

[prince_of_beasts]

A synthesized woman's voice picks up the call.

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Two - Zero - Two - Nine - One - Eight - Two - One - Three - Two -- is not available now. At the tone, please record your message. When you've finished recording, you may hang up or press the # key for more options."

Dimitri hasn't figured out how to customize the thing yet.

Comments

text post-most recent Captain Talk

[saltwaterlungs]

theres gonna be something at prom to do with whatever excursion were going on next
dont know what but if you werent planning on going
go
tell who you need to
this is straight from the captains mouth
i dont know anything more than that because the fucker was cryptic as always

A couple of seconds go past,

and dont worry skulduggery knew i was going since she just remembered that conversation and doesn't want him to worry. Even if it's a lie.

and also the tortures are starting up again but you probably figured that since the ghosts are gone now

[prince_of_beasts]

Fuck.

Should we expect any danger at the prom? Or is this just an announcement to let us panic ahead of time?

I'd suspected as much about the torture. I suppose I can't really complain, given that it is my fault.

He doesn't regret it, and he'd do it again, even if he hates the third-order consequences.

[saltwaterlungs]

ava said he called it an 'easter egg'
which doesnt sound like danger i dont think
dude lies by ommission but he generally tells the truth if hes saying something upfront
besides he can be way more ominous than this
this is being upfront for him
and in any case we just dont panic
we stay ready and if something happens we deal with it

you werent the only one who freed the ghosts
but
its a trade i wouldve taken
its better for a few of us who sign up to power the ship than to have the dead trapped here to do it

[prince_of_beasts]

I knew you of anyone would understand.
We can fight back. We can defy this place in whatever manner we can.
They couldn't.

Also letting us do things ourselves has relieved one of this place's tortures as far as I'm concerned.
I hope that remains the case.
I wouldn't have made the tradeoff for that alone but.
It helps.

Thank you for the warning. I'll alert the rest of the patrol detail, and anyone else who can take the news calmly.

There's a pause before the next message, as something belatedly occurs to Dimitri.

Sign up?

[saltwaterlungs]

yeah you get it
i knew you would

and yeah like
camping was a sign up
so was the battle royale before it
or metaphorically signing up
nobody who didnt go to the diner got stuck or attacked by zombies
so long as everyone knows that going on an excursion is putting their life into their hands its like
its still not good
but at least its better

[prince_of_beasts]

Ah yes.
I thought you might mean something new.

Like a chore rotation, but for time in the hell void as a conscious suffering battery.

You're right.
We should make a better effort to impress that on the new arrivals.
Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

At this point, in his corner of the library, Dimitri starts giggling uncontrollably, and has to type the rest by hand because speech-to-text can't transcribe through his stifled laughter. As it turns out, the pun holds up in Faerghan.

Unless its six
Have you met shouji
?

[saltwaterlungs]

nope
captain isnt that creative whatevers coming up is gonna be the same as it ever was

In her room she has to hum 'letting the days go by' to finish the lyric because dammnit Skulduggery keeps rubbing off on her.

mon frère if christ himself was walking these hallways the last few months i wouldnt know
ive met some franciscan monks who leave their rooms more than i have
whos shouji and should i have?

[prince_of_beasts]

You've been in the kitchens.

Dimitri says it more to be pedantic than anything.

We've had a few new arrivals. Shouji's one of them. He's a good fellow. He seems a bit shy, but that may just be how he was raised, or the uncertainty of being new. Or any of those in combination.

And he has six arms. Thus the joke.

[saltwaterlungs]

most of the time im the only one on the kitchens
and if im not i fix that
except for like
max

Because Max is cool.

just like
six arms????

...

does he have any interest in swords

He could be a walking siege tower think of the possibilities Dimitri.