Superyacht - THE RP

"Let's see what we run into first," Pearl suggested, quickening her pace a little. She actually had no idea what sort of activities the giant yacht had to offer, but she was very eager to find out. Unfortunately, she was completely oblivious to the fact that Marina's stomach was feeling a little empty at the moment. If she would have known this, she definitely would have gone back to the table so her friend could have a little more to eat; however, being unaware, she showed no intention of turning around.

Marina gave a small nod, then quickened her pace to match that of Pearl's. Glancing all around, she kept an eye out for something interesting that they could do-- hopefully interesting enough that it would be able to successfully take her mind off of her remaining hunger.

Meanwhile, not too far away from Off the Hook, Mechanica was wandering the ship, similarly in search of something to do. As she looked around, her gaze eventually landed on the nearby Inkling and Octoling, and her curiosity was instantly sparked by the cephalopod-like individuals. Just having to meet the two of them formally, she turned and started scampering in their direction, waving a hand in enthusiastic greeting as she approached.

Hearing the sound of quick footsteps, Pearl stopped and turned to see who was approaching them. It appeared to be a young human, and, thankfully, she seemed quite friendly, so Pearl greeted her with a smile. "Hey, wassup?" she squeaked in a cheerful tone, returning the wave with a little one of her own.

Marina glanced over as well upon hearing what sounded like light footsteps, and her eyes widened a little when she was met with the sight of a particularly friendly-seeming human. "Ah...! Hi, there!" she greeted, gaining a big smile and waving both of her hands enthusiastically. She had been greatly looking forward to having a proper meeting with a human while they were here, and she was delighted that it was finally happening.

Mechanica's amazement became even more apparent when the two greeted her in their burbling voices, her expression brightening even more. "Hiii...!" she responded excitedly, glancing back and forth between them for several moments. "I just saw you guys walking around, and I got really curious... I've never seen anyone like you before!" she told them. She was about to continue, however, she suddenly noticed Pearl's irritated eye. "... Hey, uhm... How come your eye looks kinda... reddish? Is it OK??"

Pearl let out a little chuckle when the human greeted her and Marina in her non-burbling voice. Almost instantly, however, she found herself being questioned about her eye. "What, this?" she responded, pointing to it. "Nah, it's nothin'. It'll probs be all cleared up before we know it," she assured the human with a lighthearted smile. "Anyway, you're a human, right? Y'know, we've never met a human before, either!" she told the young stranger. "In our world, y'all are--"

When Pearl asked Mechanica if she was a human, she gave her head a perky bob in confirmation, then continued listening to her words with an attentive, intrigued expression.

Marina observed the exchange between Pearl and the young, curious human with a smile at first, but as her friend drew closer to revealing the fact that humans were actually extinct in their world, she felt a rather frantic feeling rush through her. Briefly, rapidly looking between them, she feared that such a fact would simply end up scaring the human. "RARE!" she loudly piped up all of a sudden, attempting to interrupt Pearl before she could reach the word 'extinct'. "Yep, humans are EXTRA rare, there!" she continued, casting her an almost pleading glance from the side in hopes that she would play along.

Mechanica appeared quite surprised by Marina's sudden shout, though she was also very fascinated by what she had just told her. "... Whoa... Really??"

Pearl felt a little numb after being cut off by Marina, especially considering that her friend had just lied to the human. She figured that it was probably just done out of kindness, to avoid upsetting anyone, but part of her still felt uncomfortable with Marina spreading misinformation about the world they lived in. Just as Pearl was about to pipe up and tell the stranger otherwise, however, she saw the look that Marina had given her and froze. Now she was in a difficult situation. If she told the human the truth about their world, she would probably be at least a little upset--but still probably not as much as Marina would be. However, she also definitely couldn't bring herself to flat out lie to the human. She would just have to be clever about the whole thing.
"Yeaaah... They're so rare that you literally NEVER see 'em. Literally," Pearl added, trying to handle this delicate exchange carefully, but also giving Marina a very brief, sharp look upon repeating the word "literally". She then quickly returned her attention to the human. "Basically, they don't even exist! Just in books and stuff!" she continued, hoping that Marina wouldn't think this remark was too much. At least it was better than actually telling the girl that her entire species had perished after being consumed by the sea in their world.

Marina flinched subtly when she saw the sharpness of Pearl's gaze upon looking in her direction, which caused her to fall silent for a short while. However, part of her still worried that Pearl's explanation would manage to frighten the young girl.

Mechanica, seeming very surprised--perhaps even shocked--by what Pearl was telling her, instantly perked up with intensifying curiosity, preparing to ask her and Marina a question...

However, Marina suddenly chimed in a second time, glancing at Pearl with a still-hesitant look. "... Are you-... Are you SURE? Maybe they're just... really good at hiding from us??" Speaking these words rather slowly, her eyebrows raised up ever-so-slightly.

Pearl sighed when everything seemed to be going smoothly, only for Marina to insist on making things even harder. "Seriously, Marina? Come on," she huffed as she briefly glanced over at her again, beginning to grow visibly impatient. "Uh, don't mind her," she told the human with an awkward chuckle. "She can be kinda weird and goofy sometimes."

Marina glanced at Pearl again, her expression bordering on a pout. "Hey, I'm just trying to-... Er..." she came to an abrupt stop, quickly realizing that she couldn't exactly continue what she was about to say without revealing the truth she was trying so hard to hide in the first place.

Noticing the increasingly awkward atmosphere, Mechanica began to feel rather awkward, herself, as well as very confused. "I-... Aaah-... ... 'Kayyy...?" When Marina just suddenly trailed off before finishing what she had to say, she briefly stared at her with a majorly tilted head before shifting her attention back and forth between the Octoling and the Inkling. Though there were a lot of questions that she wanted to ask the two, she was currently having a hard time finding any words at all in her puzzlement.

"... SO!" Pearl suddenly piped up, trying to brush aside the awkwardness. "I'm Pearl, and this oddball here is Marina," she explained, wearing a lighthearted grin as she motioned to Marina with her head, then held out a hand for the human to shake.

"... Uh... Hi," Marina chimed in gradually with a bit of an awkward chuckle, gaining a wide, slightly sheepish but still cheerful smile as she once again waved to the human. After this, she held out a hand for her to shake, as well, staring down at her with a friendly expression.

Similarly eager to brush away the awkwardness, Mechanica quickly gave both Pearl and Marina an enthusiastic handshake. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Mechanica," she chirped, grinning brightly at them.

"Heh, Mechanica?" Pearl's eyebrows raised in curiosity, and the corners of her mouth curled upwards in a grin. "Lemme guess; you're into messin' with machines or something?" she asked, taking a guess based on the name the young stranger introduced herself as. If her assumption was true, she just knew how excited Marina was going to be about it.

"Yep!" Mechanica instantly squeaked in response to Pearl's question, giving her head a little, confirming bob.

Right on cue, Marina perked up immediately upon hearing this. "AAHHH! Really?!" she squealed, clenching her hands together in front of her face in a delighted fashion. "I LOOOVE that sort of thing!!" she told Mechanica eagerly, bending down to be closer to her level as she spoke.

Mechanica was briefly surprised by Marina's sudden squeal, but her expression very quickly lit up when she learned of their clearly shared interest. "Whoa; you, too?" she replied excitedly, meeting the Octoling's iridescent gaze with her own, bright pink one. "That's so cool...!!"

"Bahaha! Yeah, don't let her style fool ya; Marina's a total nerd," Pearl told Mechanica with a laugh, reaching up and giving Marina a pat on the back. "Haha, you should see her every time we go to Piranha Pit! She just turns into like the biggest kid EVER," she continued, laughing some more. "Right, Marina? Y'think you got enough selfies with me in front of the machines last time?!"

"OHH, Piranha Pit..." Marina responded, gaining a dreamy expression when she was reminded of this location. "I'll never, ever get tired of that place!" she continued with a wide, bubbly smile, then turned to look at Pearl. "Kinda, but let's get MORE next time we go!"

Mechanica giggled as she watched the exchange between Pearl and Marina. "Heheh, that 'Piranha Pit' must be super-interesting!" she commented, looking thoughtful as she tried to imagine what kind of place it might be. "What kinda machines do they have?" she began to question curiously. "And... Are there actually piranhas?? ... OH. Are they robot piranhas??"

"PAHAHA, no!" Pearl responded to Mechanica's question with a squeaky laugh. "It's a quarry! It's got all these big digging machines and stuff. Some of those things are HUUUUGE," she went on to explain, standing on her toes and stretching her arms out for emphasis. "I'm almost afraid that Marina's gonna sneak over to, like, the most ginormous one there and try to take it for a spin sometime. Seriously, she goes CRAZY when she sees those things."

"Ohhhhhh! OK, that makes TONS more sense," Mechanica gave an understanding nod, now able to form a much better image of the location in her mind.

At this moment, Marina--still appearing perfectly giddy over the current topic--seemed to be becoming somewhat lost-in-thought. In truth, this may have been partially because she was honestly considering what Pearl had said, regarding taking one of the machines for a ride, herself. She returned her attention to the present conversation just a few moments later, however. "Heehee, yep... I've just got an ultra-soft spot for all kinds of machinery; ESPECIALLY heavy machinery," she chimed in, still with the same, excited smile on her face.

Mechanica couldn't help giggling once again when she saw Marina's expression. "I don't blame ya one bit!" she replied cheerfully, then paused briefly as though an idea had just come to her. "... Hey, I should show you guys somethin' later! After we're done hanging out here and stuff," she suggested with a little grin.

"Huh? What is it you wanna show us?" Pearl asked Mechanica, looking quite interested. "... Aw man; now I'm curious! Could you show us, like, now?" she asked her, wondering what the human girl could possibly want to show them. She seemed somewhat enthusiastic about it, so Pearl figured it must be something interesting. "It's not like we're busy or anything right now!"

"Yeah, I wanna know, too...! Please?" Marina added, hopping a little in place a few times. Like Pearl, she was very curious about what Mechanica suddenly wanted to show them, getting the feeling that whatever it was, it must be quite interesting.

"Sure, no problem!" Mechanica happily agreed to Pearl and Marina's request. "... Actually, I can probably bring it out here safely, so I'm just gonna go get it; be back in a jiffy!" Upon saying this, she turned and dashed off, seeming to lightly murmur "fwoosh!" as she did so.

"Aight!" Pearl called after Mechanica as she left. "Heh, I wonder what she's gonna show us?" she pondered, turning to look at Marina. "She seemed pretty excited about it. Maybe it's, like, some little robot that she made for a science fair or something," she guessed, almost chuckling.

"Aww, that would be really cool...!" Marina replied, the corners of her mouth spreading into a grin. "I can't wait; I hope it is something like that," she added, staring off in the direction where Mechanica went for a sort while. "OOH, or maybe it's-,"
All of a sudden, Marina felt the floor subtly beginning to shake, causing her to pause abruptly. "... Huh... Pearlie, do you feel that?" she questioned slowly, a hint of unease in her voice.

Indeed, Pearl felt the deck beginning to shake as well. "Yeah...! What's goin' on?!" Pearl chimed in, taking a quick look around. "Is there trouble? Are we under attack?!" She was getting more and more agitated and eager for a fight by the second. "RED ALERT! BATTLE STATIONS!!" she called out all of a sudden, getting ready to run off and find her Dualies.

Marina's head quickly darted around as she searched for any signs of trouble, growing even more uncertain when she couldn't seem to spot anything unusual at all. "Whatever's happening, we should really try to stay calm...!" she reminded Pearl, attempting to remain so, herself.

Mechanica, meanwhile, emerged once again onto the main deck just a short distance away, now piloting her large, mechanical suit. Hearing the commotion where Off the Hook was, she quickened her pace and began rushing in their direction. In truth, it was the heavy footsteps of her suit that had caused the rumbling in the first place, and it only continued to intensify as she drew closer to the duo. "Pearl! Marina!" she called out. "Is somethin' up...?!"

At this moment, upon hearing Mechanica's voice, Marina whirled around and spotted her--her eyes flying wide open when she saw what the girl was now piloting. "WHOA!" she practically squealed out, motioning ahead frantically to try and get her friend's attention. "Uhhmm, never mind, Pearlie! Doesn't look like we're under attaaaaack...!!" she remarked, suddenly sounding very giddy.

Hearing the tone of Marina's voice, Pearl froze in place and slowly turned around to see what exactly was going on. The sudden sight of Mechanica in her hulking yellow fighting suit was enough to startle her at first, though this quickly gave way to amazement. "HOLY CARP!! What is that thing?!" she exclaimed, unable to take her eyes off of the great suit. She was definitely not expecting the girl to return with something of this scale.