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[killerwaves]

INTRO

Whoever you are, wherever you were, the last thing you remember is the salty smell of the sea breeze and a distinct tickle of electricity across your body. Enough to cause alarm perhaps, but in the next moment it all goes black, or blue to be more precise. When you stir into consciousness, those fuzzy sensations are all that you have as an explanation, though there's certainly more to experience around you.

The warm bright rays of the sun, the rhythmic cresting of the waves into the shore, the unfortunate feeling of sand sticking to you everywhere, because you're lying flat on your back on a beach without a beach towel. At least you're not alone, and at least it doesn't seem like you've been completely dumped unceremoniously, as there's orderly space between you and the 27 others who share your predicament. Whoever left you here probably could have dumped you into a pile, but they have better manners than that.

However you decide to react to your sudden vacation, you'll find that you're dressed just as you last recall and that you have at least one possession of yours on hand. Whatever else you had on you appears to be affected by baggage routing, unfortunately. You'll also find a key inscribed with a particular bird and a strange device in your pocket, ostenstibly some type of cellphone from the period when blackberrys were all the rage. A pop-up window will greet you when you turn on the device, prompting you to pick a username (this pop-up can be ignored for up to 24 hours) and also walking you through a basic tutorial on its functions. For now, it seems like the public network isn't running, but the direct message function is availiable. It ends with a cheerful blurb instructing that "For further questions and help, please contact one of the hotel staff!"

As there's nary a soul that seems to actually work here on the beach proper, it might be worth it to explore. Around the resort are robots manning the buffet, sweeping, and even making cocktails if you want to drink your problems away. While they'll answer to basic commands, provide you with a map of the island, or even be happy to tell you the weather, they're incapable of engaging in any meaningful dialogue. Any questions or demands they can't answer will yield the statement to please contact the administrators.

Whoever they may be, but they'll show their faces eventually. Probably.

((OOC: Welcome to Last Resort! Poke a mod in the discord if you have any questions. The NPC meet and greet will take place at 5PM EST/2PM PST today! ))

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[felame]

[ the look xiao gives him isn't incredulous, but there is a pause between hearing that question and her response.

who knows what's going on in that silence, mentally— ]

... What a relaxed offer, considering the circumstances.

[ at least it's not said in a judgmental tone? ]

[diabolizes]

[ It's fine, he's used to potentially judgmental silence! ]

Might as well, right?

[ He has his reasons, he swears. ]

I've turned over every book and examined every corner. I can't find a way out, so I may as well enjoy a relaxing drink.

[felame]

[ might as well. it's not like it's not a reason she doesn't expect, so it's not as if she turns any more jiiiii for hearing it. ]

I would hope that's a drink to pass the time for an opening, rather than the drink of a man who has given up easily.

[ neutrally! ]

There's only one I'd be willing to partake in, if the offer remains.

[diabolizes]

Let me guess, you'll only accept a drink to pass the time?

[ He grins. ]

Don't worry, that's what I was planning. I'll probably do another sweep around the area tonight, just in case anything is different.

[felame]

[ of course.

her expression doesn't change much, but her sitting down on the nearest stool should make her thoughts on that more than obvious. ]

... Hm. If this meeting suits both our purposes in the end, would you be opposed to company during that sweep?

[ she regards him again, continuing: ]

The nature of this space could change at night, and there may be less people available to readily respond.

[diabolizes]

I wouldn't at all!

[ He digs through the alcohol before ultimately giving up and asking the robot bartenders to deliver them two delicious drinks. ]

Also, I agree. Many places change at night. Who's to say there aren't ghosts and demons that wander our rooms when it gets dark?

[felame]

[ ghosts and demons........ she's going to assume he's joking. the horrors are human, and sometimes human-adjacent. ]

If they're present, then we shall burn them away during our patrol.

[ obviously, she's joking too? with a completely straight face? anyway, ]

Though I suppose you'll need a name to call when we encounter such things. I am Xiao, of— formerly of Liu Section One.

[diabolizes]

I'd prefer to keep them around, personally.

[ Heh. His own little joke, even if it's not really a joke at all. There's a small smile on his face as she trips over her words, but there's a reason for that: ]

Wei Wuxian, formerly of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect.

[felame]

[ more unfamiliarity. and his side comment... this wei wuxian sure is A Man With Vibes. ]

A smaller, independent Office? Or— are you not from The City at all?

[ she assumes the latter. she's just consistently assuming the latter, now that this is a Thing. ]

[diabolizes]

[ surely they're only good vibes ]

You're the second person I've met that's mentioned The City.

[ Not strange in and of itself, but weird that it's happened twice! ]

I grew up and trained in a cultivation sect. If you've heard of China at all, that's where I'm from.

[ The other guy hadn't, so he doesn't expect her to either. ]

[felame]

[ fuck around and find out ]

Ah. So you've met him, then.

[ him, he, the legend, the man himself. ]

I'm certain he vocalized his unfamiliarity [ succinctly, as vergilius does ] so I doubt my own surprises you... though I'll ask more than he did, I'm sure.

[ it's what she was planning to do when she accepted a drink, other worlds or not. ]

What manner of work does being a member of a "cultivation sect" entail, Wei Wuxian?

[diabolizes]

[ He doesn't mind answering, especially when their robotic bartenders deliver their drinks—two Manhattans. Pulling one of the drinks closer to himself, he grins. ]

Cultivating power within oneself. Many cultivation sects use such power to eradicate monsters, demons, yao, and ghosts.

[ So he was completely serious about those ghosts. ]

[felame]

[ and she'll do the same, though she doesn't partake just yet, busy as she is with offering her companion the most questioning side glance he's seen in his life.

or, well. considering his vibes. probably not the most questioning side glance he's seen in his life— ]

... I can hardly question your work, given how far I suspended my disbelief to everything else surrounding it.

[ OF COURSE, ]

I had thought that was a joke, when you mentioned those being in the dark. Though that begs the question of why you would rather keep them around, when the common nature of your work would deem that your response should be the opposite. Unless that was the joke?

[ what was the joke. ]

[diabolizes]

[ Ah, questioning sideglances. He's missed those! So much so that he has to hold back a little laugh. ]

I learned how to turn that power into having the creatures do my bidding rather than getting rid of them outright. Why would I want to get rid of them?

[ And surely she can see now that it was both a joke and a serious statement. Wei Wuxian is also sure now that Xiao can determine why he's a former sect member. ]

[felame]

Why would you indeed.

[ oh, yes. she can See. ]

I see you are a certain kind of man, Wei Wuxian... Or, at least, you give off the impression of one. I won't claim to know who you are from so short a conversation.

[ a man with vibes! ]

[diabolizes]

[ He laughs, taking a long sip of his drink. ]

And what is this impression that I give off? I'm curious!

[felame]

That may be something I need more than one drink to divulge.

[ and she hasn't even touched the one yet. ]

For now, I shall simply say resourceful. And free-spirited, in the way only someone who can stray so far from preestablished norms can be.

[diabolizes]

[ He glances down at her drink, noticing that it's entirely untouched. Looks like she won't be divulging that at all. ]

Ah... you found me out! I suppose I'm rather easy to read.

[ He laughs. ]

Should I give my impression of you?

[ Wei Wuxian has a feeling she'll say no, but that's fine. ]

[felame]

[ she lingers on that for a moment, actually. perhaps on all those things.

and, contrary to his assumption: ]

I wouldn't be opposed. If I gave my opinion, it's only fair that I give you the chance to speak yours.

[ go on, roast her. ]

[diabolizes]

[ Oh. She's actually letting him? He's surprised, and it shows on his face before he takes a sip of his drink and assumes a serious expression. ]

You're a very serious and very observant woman. You seem incredibly strict, so you probably push others to follow the same internal or external rules that you follow.

[ He's drawing on his experience with strict people for that last part, but there's nothing wrong with putting that assumption out there and seeing where it lands. ]

[felame]

[ hmm. there's a hint of... well, perhaps it's amusement, at several things there. the surprise, his sudden seriousness, and the description itself.

a slight quirk upwards of her lips, hardly visible, until it's gone. ]

Perhaps. I'll allow you one confirmation, in the form of a correction: I would hardly force others to follow the rules I set, save for the ones that are absolutely necessary.

[ a pause, as if she's considering whether she should say more. ah, well. ]

I have found the path widens when you allow others to intersect alongside your own, rather than paving your will over them.

[diabolizes]

[ Ah, so she isn't that kind of strict. He smiles, satisfied with that answer, though her addition only makes his smile just a bit wider. ]

I like that. Would you mind if I steal it for future use?

[ He laughs, taking a sip of his own drink. ]

Where I'm from, many prefer to make others bend to their will. It feels like an inevitability—once the path opens up, someone else will come along to make everyone else fall in a single-file line.

[felame]

[ ah, that. she offers him a pensive glance before she turns back to her drink, her eyes closed in thought. ]

Feel free to take such words back to that land. The City is much the same way, so I know such things are a rarity.

[ but she doesn't sound troubled about that. it's simply how it is, and how she lived, for a time. ]

Deceits packaged as truth, at every turn. The pursuit of objectives outside your own, for the fulfillment of those above you, in order to survive. Was your pursuit of what amounts to heresy an effort to free yourself from that cycle?

[diabolizes]

[ Wei Wuxian has no doubt that their circumstances are incredibly different from one another, but it seems that there are threads of similarity amongst all the differences anyway. ]

It was out of necessity, as a result of not following the objectives of those trying to lord their power over us.

[ Very, very vague. ]

I was forced into a situation where I had to adapt, though I suppose you could say that it did free me, in a way.