TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[sailmods]

1. before she hung up, she said she was a skeleton

[there is no note in your cabin. no forces stall your legs if you decide to walk anywhere but the atrium. in fact, for the first time in hundreds of years, newly arrived passengers on the Serena Eterna are waking up with absolutely no guidance. nothing but your fellow passengers in the halls - or maybe in your bed.

perhaps you end up in the atrium eventually anyway. it is where guest services is, and where Gal Friday… actually hasn’t been in a few days. until today. and she is visibly frazzled, her hair uncoiffed, her suit rumpled, something a bit like a bruise blossoming down from her hairline and over her smooth features. more papers than ever cover her desk, and when she turns to face you, her voice is as cheerful as ever, but audibly strained.]

Welcome aboard the Serene Eterna! [a pause] You know how to work a life vest, right? Everyone knows that! You don’t need me to teach you that!

[a light bulb burns out behind her head.]

… I’ll get right on that!

[freedom includes the freedom to not know what the fuck is happening. maybe you should reflect on that.]

2. grandma went and can't stop screaming

[it’s something about the lighting fixtures, this month. has the Bellona always had a massive chandelier? maybe. who knows. don’t ask questions. either way, in the stillness of the night, or day, or late afternoon, there is a noise like a cord being cut, and the chandelier plunges into the audience below.

it hits nothing, of course. no one is ever in the theater. and that, perhaps, is what the trouble is.

so, the chandelier starts to… travel, one could say. it starts to hang in various rooms: the dining halls, the bars, the clubs… sometimes, if you’re out on the pool deck and suddenly realized you’re under a shadow, you can glance up and see it suspended 20 feet above your head, securely fastened to nothing in particular and yet remaining perfectly in place.

until it isn’t. until it falls, crystal shattering on whatever surface it lands on: floor, table, person… and, wherever the chandelier goes, a lilting childish voice follows it, singing without any obvious source.]

Ring-a-ring of roses, a pocket full of posies… ashes, ashes, we all…

3. jeff bezos murdered the infinite tommy bahama

[the lights of the Infinite Tommy Bahama go out three days into October.

barely an hour after its closure, the lights go on again, and a new banner is unfurled.



physically, it is the same store. you can even see the old signs hidden behind the new ones. however, long gone are the tropical prints and khaki dress shorts. now, one can purchase any number of officially licensed or legally distinct Halloween costumes, decorations, and various other haunted accoutrements, leading back as far as the eye can see, and then farther still. is that a Gal Friday mask? spooky! well, at least you’ll be good and ready for the Halloween party at the end of the month, which is absolutely just a normal party and in no way whatsoever anything even remotely resembling a trick. there are only treats at The Infinite Spirit Halloween!

note: bahamanuel is still here! somewhere! it kinda looks like dan bongino.]

Comments

1

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga facepalms, but this is in relief, and overly dramatic.] Oh, thank Amaterasu, someone cares about this. The planet is specifically unknown, it's believed to be somewhat illusion, that we're actually traveling in a void between dimensions, and there's no star charts, accordingly.

[He finds it probably as distressing as she might.]

I'm Nobunaga Oda, from 1582 Earth Japan. Welcome to Serena Eterna.

[astrogator]

[Ari is certainly distressed by this, although she's doing her level best to hide it, because she's representing the Tradelines, and that means she can't just fall apart. It's possibly a sign of how troubled her mind is right now that her first thought is that if there are stars, she can make the charts if she has to. She catches herself. No, she needs to focus on the critically important matters first.

She stands straight, even if she's looking a little pale, and her hands are clasped to prevent any unwanted trembling.]

Peace and prosperity to you. I'm Tayrey - Lieutenant Arilanna Tayrey, with the Tradelines.

[ She doesn't recognise his planetary designation, he must be from out-of-sector by her reckoning. If he can be perfectly polite, even under these circumstances, then so can she. Ari knows what it is to travel through higher dimensions, and it doesn't look anything like this. A pure void would kill them - but again, her scientific questions can wait.]

I care very much about this, Citizen Oda. It's all very confusing, and I appreciate your assistance. Do you know why it is we're truly here? Are we prisoners? Are we being held for ransom?

[She doesn't know how that would be the case, but there's a gap in her memory; she can't remember how she got here, and it wouldn't be unheard of. Especially if whoever was responsible had discovered that her family were Company.

Ari doesn't like any of this one bit.]

[konpeito_aji]

[He gives her a US army salute, but sort of twitches at being called a citizen.] No... I'm a daimyo. The [Demon King of 6th Heaven has weird connotations that don't make sense to most, and can imply far too many things he doesn't wish to. Leader, ruler, clan leader. Unifier of Japan. Those things arent true here anymore. But no matter where in time and space he is...] Lord of Owari. Prosperity to you too, Lieutenant. [Peace is an anathema to him. There's no such thing as peace where he's from. Or when. So he can't quite manage words for it, but he accepts the sentiment. He's really rude actually, once you get to know him, or if he isnt trying his hardest not to be scary and off-putting.]

We're not being held for ransom, but we are being used. For our experiences, our emotions, our... [A grimace!] Souls. I didn't even know I have one. [At this rate he might as well have just gone with the Demon King thing, but still, best not.] It's used as power, and the Captain seeks apotheosis. [Yes, this is him trying NOT to scare the new people. He's not good at it.]

[astrogator]

[Saluting is really more of a planetary militia custom than a spacer one, but Ari recognises it for what it is, and, very much the diplomat, does her best to return the gesture in the exact same fashion. She does note that he doesn't wish her peace, and that's curious. It seems hostile, but in a peculiarly honest way. It's a reminder to her not to trust people here, to be very cautious about what she hears.

She's not terribly worried on that account. Ari still has her gun clipped to her belt, mostly concealed by her long wool coat. That's another argument against this being some sort of imprisonment, because surely anyone would have the good sense not to let their captives wander freely, and armed.]

Forgive me - what's the proper way to address you? [Not my lord, because he isn't her lord, but Ari hasn't often had to deal with titled people. It seems better to ask than to guess.]

I don't believe in souls, either. Is the captain part of some cult? I hardly see that bringing us here will take him to the pinnacle of his career. [It doesn't occur to her that 'apotheosis' is possibly being used in a more literal sense, rational atheist that she is.] I have to leave. I have a duty to my ship. To my own captain. Have you met with the captain here? [Ari has been told that isn't possible, but maybe this captain has more time for lords than for young lieutenants.]

[konpeito_aji]

Casually is fine. [Nobunaga is in archaic jet black full plate mail armor, with two katana and an equally archaic rifle on his side. Yes, at this rate, he really shouldn't have left off the Demon King title.] My rank doesn't have an equal parallel outside of Hell, and this is more like Purgatory. [A beat. Does he mean that metaphorically? Figuratively? Literally? Oda doesn't even know.]

[He just grins wryly. He can relate.] I haven't met him, sorry, you'd have to speak to the others. As far as I know, he's not meeting with anyone right now, so at least one idiot was blowing themselves up -- I guess in protest.

Oh, the Captain brings idiots back to life here. So... They blow themselves up, stay dead for three days, and then he brings them back, and they start over. It's not even effective. Honestly of the two, they seem more cultist.

Sorry, you're best off just seeing for yourself. Would you like a drink? It's a lot to take in.

[astrogator]

[Casually? Well, Citizen Oda is about as casual as she's going to get with an absolute stranger, absent any more specific suggestion, so maybe he'll have to put up with that. It's really the least of Ari's concerns right now, because everything else he's saying sounds completely insane. It can't be real, can it?

Space sickness doesn't usually manifest like this, but she does know that when it hits astrogators, it hits them hard.]

I...

[She seems utterly lost for words, but she's trying valiantly to keep her composure. If she's not in control, this situation will get so much worse. She mustn't lose her temper. She mustn't let her fears get the better of her. What does that leave? Ari tilts her head, staring at him.]

I'm not sure how drunk I would have to be for any of that to make sense. Is this a simulation? That would explain the... resurrection mechanics. [Although training simulations always end if you're about to die in them. Still, it's at least plausible.]

[konpeito_aji]

[Gross. Erin calls him "hellborn" can he get that? Probably not with more of that title stuff huh.]

Sure. That works. [How did "soka" become "sure?" He doesn't understand the translation mechanics.]

It's a deeply immersive simulation. If you go home, you're just waking up from it, ending the game unfinished, giving up on everyone else here. And no time takes place in your real life without you, because you need to be there for it. And you can't remember this place in your real life in order for timelines to remain uncontaminated.

Does that make sense to you?

[astrogator]

[It made a surprising amount of sense. Much more sense than anything that came before it. Unfortunately, that leads Ari to question the truth of it. Sometimes you have to tell people what they need to hear to keep them calm, right? She can't fault anyone for that. Maybe it's that - or maybe it's actually plain fact, in which case she's still going to be talking temporal mechanics with a man who is legitimately carrying swords, and that's still exceptionally strange.]

It does. Conceptually, at least. You're saying it exists in some sort of temporal bubble? [She's concerned, but she's also intrigued by that.] I have to ask why you think I'd be giving up on anyone here. I'm here against my will. I have no duty to and no contract with any of these people. Why would any of it be my responsibility?

[konpeito_aji]

I don't know what a temporal bubble is. [See also: literal swords.]

[And he just rolls his red eyes. (Yes carnelian red.)] Because you're here. Did you ask to be born? Or get to choose your parents or world? Planet? Why should this be any different? Just because you're not an infant? Then there's no reason to act like one either. [That might be too much, but he has such a long way to go when it comes to dealing with regular people. Especially when they're soldiers.]

[astrogator]

[He understands simulations but not temporal bubbles? Either he's concealing things from her, or he isn't going to be the most reliable source of information. Ari is going to reserve judgement on that.

He also didn't answer her question - she can look past the insult to take note of it. She's here. So what? That doesn't oblige her to do anything for anyone else. As she sees it, the only thing she should be trying to do is get home. Wake up. However one wants to put it. And in the process, avoid anyone who looks like they might be explosively suicidal. If that's really happening.

Ari doesn't react much to the sharp words. She's heard worse, and she doesn't want to start an argument with the first person willing to converse with her. There's a slight narrowing of her eyes, a tensing of her hands, but she stays calm. She knows different, after all. She didn't choose her birth, but she chose the path of her life, and that mattered far more.]

I suppose it can't be helped. For now. [A brief pause.] You mentioned drinks? Tell me this place has decent wine. Captain's table stuff. Figuratively speaking. [She's not expecting much in the way of hospitality. It all seems chaotic.]

[konpeito_aji]

[He is an absolute information sponge. However, if someone doesn't first introduce it to him, then it's a complete void. Simulations have absolutely come up before. Dont even get him started on the etymology of it either.]

The best. There's five bars. The ghosts aren't tending it anymore, we don't know how long that will last, so it's a little but of a free for all, but even these idiots can't get through all the liquor yet.

[Holds up fingers and ticks them off.] Hurikane [Nobunaga haa only seen the sign, not heard it pronounced out loud. So this gets pronounced like Hoo-ree- caw-nay. Not like the storm!] Usually has the best cocktails, the poolside bar is fruity, Chatterbox has karaoke, John's has a piano and Billy Joel every two hours, Tauva has whiskey and cigars, Topy has vintage years, and Drunken Sailor has only beer and ale.

[That's 7. But he literally doesn't count Drunken Sailor or Tauva because of their other features and lack of variety.] There might be drinks elsewhere too, I forget.

[astrogator]

[The count does seem a little off to her, but far more important is that fact that this sounds like a very impressive array of drinks. Even some she's never heard of before, like karaoke and Billy Joel (everyone has their temporal blind spots, even if Ari's are coming from the opposite direction to Nobunaga's).]

Five? Either this ship is enormous, or it was designed by a drunk. [Is that a hint of amusement in her voice? Ari's used to careful, space-saving starship design. They'd always had plenty to drink, so long as they weren't out in the black too long, but no Tradeline ship would have offered a choice of bars.]

Let's go to Topy. See what vintages they have. [See if she recognised any of them. Maybe she'll take a little brandy first, for the shock of all this.] You'll show me the way?

[konpeito_aji]

Absolutely. [And indeed, heads off. Down the stairs, because elevators are not his thing. And over to the promenade: basically like a giant wide open street.] I believe it's both. As you can see: it's enormous. The Tommy-- sorry, Spirit Halloween is actually infinite inside. Or so they say. And it's hard to imagine someone would purposely design all this without the aid of substances.

[astrogator]

[Ari follows close after him, perfectly happy with taking the stairs. When they reach that wide open promenade, she stops for a moment, just to take a good look. The scale of her little mapping project was clearly wrong. She's still clutching her slate computer in one hand, but now she slips it back into its pouch. There will be time for revisions and additions later.]

You said infinite?!

I suppose if this is a simulation, there's a way to program that. You just loop it. [Infinities are a tricky thing to deal with in cartography, but she'll manage it. She turns to him again.]

I've never been on a ship like this before. On the sea. Do you know if the real ones are ever this... large? Infinities aside, I mean. The general scale. [There were large starships, of course, but they had no wasted space. Not even the high-end passenger liners with big cabins.]

[konpeito_aji]

That was my thought exactly, so I've been trying to test the parameters of where it loops in on itself. It's a little easier right now because the automatic repairs aren't happening, so -- [Tch... His friend was murdered and there was a big bonfire and he's not happy. Red eyes are cold, detached, and just flicker.] Changes stick even more than normal. Spirit Halloween used to be called Tommy Bahamas. It might go back to that after Halloween -- October 31st. [He and Crichton were going to celebrate it.]

[He's fine.] But even if so, I had been stashing green tea in places in case anyone got lost, and to make a further expedition possible.

No, our warships -- [A beat.] I'm from... centuries behind everyone else. I designed fleets of my own ships. Others might have experience with ships this large, but -- [Points up at the Promenade "ceiling" which seems to almost not exist.] most of them don't. I know the pirate ships -- sea ships, are nowhere near this big. But some of the spaceships are larger. You'd have to ask D'vana Tendi about that. She usually hangs out in the infirmary, but she's been been repairing things here and there since her phaser can actually do that. [He's so jealous. He'll sign up for Starfleet to get a phaser okay okay.]

[astrogator]

[Ari grins when he mentions testing the infinite loop, because that's exactly what she would have tried, but the rest of what he tells her is quite concerning, to say the least, especially when coupled with that sudden cold look of his. She has about a dozen questions, but she tries to hone in on the most pressing. Prioritise, Tayrey.]

Are there a lot of repairs needed? I can probably help with that. Sometimes I was responsible for damage control when my starship went into battle. Were there - was this ship under attack by pirates?

[That's not fear in her eyes, exactly. She's too well-trained for that, even if pirates are just about the worst threat she can think of. But it's a definite wariness. She knows from experience that even if pirate ships are smaller, that doesn't help matters when you've got a little swarm of them attacking you.

Compared to being murdered by pirates, infinitely large rooms don't sound so bad.]

[konpeito_aji]

[The cold light fades some, with Nobunaga's enthusiasm fighting against it, his inner child: the Fool of Owari fighting a battle against the Demon King and somehow, somehow winning.] You have perfect timing, Lieutenant. Yes, I've been just been working with a makeshift mop and a toy hammer until Tendi can get to it. [Mm-hm. Everyone copes in their own way. His is cleaning, specifically because it's weird.] But she's a medical officer, an Ensign, so repairs aren't her primary job.

The ship has several pirates on board. They're annoying, but hardly a threat. My roommate is one, and his co-captain Stede Bonnet is the other. They won't bother you, probably. [Tendi used to be a pirate too, but best not mention that right away.] And if they do, just tell me or Maeve, or someone with a katana. [Points to his swords, in case "katana" is a foreign word to her.]

[astrogator]

I'm an astrogator, not an engineer, so it's not my primary job either, but if I were off-duty when the alarm was raised, I'd help with repairs. [Ari shrugs.] I don't have a toolkit with me, but if there's something in particular you need, I'll do my best. [So much for having no contractual obligations and not helping anyone with anything. Ari just can't resist stepping in when she might be needed.]

[Her eyes widen when she hears of pirates on the ship. If Ari can be said to have an enemy, it's pirates. She's able to keep the fear at bay these days, because it's unprofessional, but there's a part of her that remains a thirteen-year-old trainee on her first voyage out, being told in gruesome detail exactly what pirates might do to her if the ship was damaged enough that they had a chance to board it. That childish terror of hers has crystallised into a ruthless attitude towards them.

She nods as he indicates the swords - katana, she'll remember that. It's a very generous gesture, but perhaps not an entirely necessary one. Ari pulls back her coat with a rather dramatic swish, revealing the gun clipped to her belt.]

I don't know how you're still alive after being in a room with a pirate- [Never mind that to Tradeliners, even entering someone else's room was taboo unless they were your contracted partner. Sharing was inconceivable.] -but they'll kill me if they have the chance. I'll be sure they don't get it.

[konpeito_aji]

Maybe we can make our own. Or you might get a toolkit. Sometimes Gal Friday collects things for us, like my whip. [... yeah.] Or globe.

[Nobunaga is holding onto Crichton's Pulse Pistol, and babying it as it's all he has of Crichton and "Winona" is precious. He also has a Tangegashima rifle. Just a little bit of contrasts there.] What kind of a gun is it?

[And then he laughs at the idea of being killed by the pirates. As if.] It's more a miracle they're still alive after constantly annoying me. But like I said, when people die here, they come back. It used to be by the next morning, but now it's not. [His face darkens some, because damn it Crichton, come back you loser!] Why would they kill you? They're not -- I'm going to be very blunt, most of them probably aren't even capable of it. I'm sure that Stede's killed before. Maybe. But in the same way any child can kill. I'm not sure he's actually killed any other passengers. Honestly, the first time he faced me in fight club, he demanded I use my katana, and his own rapier went flying whoosh [Nobunaga demonstrates with his hands.] -- Out of his hands. Even if that's an act, pulling that kind of foolishness: relying on others' charity not to take advantage of it? [Shakes his head.] I'm considered the most reckless man still alive in Japan, and not even I would dare something that insane.

[astrogator]

[Exercising considerable discretion, Ari elects not to ask about the whip. Some questions really have no good possible answers.]

It's a Tradeline standard energy pistol. Lucky I always carry a few spare power cells. It's got a dial with settings ranging from stun all the way up to melt. I'm a good shot. [She has to be. Ari's a relatively small woman, and she's not trained in hand-to-hand combat. If there's a fight, she goes for the gun, and she doesn't hesitate. It's a great equaliser that way.

She's noticed that he seems to have a variety of weapons with him.] What do you prefer? A katana, or a gun?

[It takes her aback somewhat when he laughs at the idea of the pirates being a threat. Was that arrogance, that he didn't think they could hurt him, or were they really as inept as he was suggesting? Ari wasn't sure if it was sensible to take the risk. Although the idea of fighting pirates every day and having the losers come back the next morning to fight again was its own sort of timeloop horror.]

I'm a lieutenant of the Tradelines. Tradeliners and pirates aren't exactly on friendly terms. My ship has blown a fair few pirate ships to pieces, because if we hadn't, they'd have slaughtered us all and taken our cargo. [She knows, on some level, that the people he's talking about likely aren't space pirates from her sector - but even so, she can't see them as anything but a threat.]

[konpeito_aji]

[It would definitely elicit a way too loud and cheerful(?!?!) explanation of sadism, so good idea, best not.]

[Nobunaga's cold eyes still light up as she explains it. Crichton's pulse pistol also uses energy cells, and Nobunaga's coil gun recharges using the rooms' electrical outlets (which means his is 2nd best -- because Tendi's uses freaking radiation fusion and never needs charging wtf so best) although Tendi's can also stun, disintegrate, and fuse/melt. AND CLEAN. Phasers are the best!] How good are you?

[At the question, INSTANTLY:] Guns. I love guns. [No hesitation at all! And indeed, inside the bar, he puts the Tanegashima on the bar counter so Ari can get a better look at it if she wants.] Guns were only just introduced to my lands when I was a teenager. But in Japan in my time, swords are trained from birth. I don't view katana as as passion, they are just an inseparable part of me. [He does love swords, don't get him wrong. He's collected over 2000 of them, given them as gifts, and all but makes loves to them when he's drunk -- a very good reason he doesn't get drunk often. However, swords is a means of murders. Guns are amazing, with limitless potential, and indeed, as she understood: great equalizers.] Swordsmen have to train from childhood, it reinforces the caste system I seek to break. Guns... I can use farmers or merchants from the lower castes, and make them equal to even horsemen in 6 to 18 months, and it's economically superior, because they can still have another life than that of a soldier or samurai. I love guns. [Loooooves guns.]

Tendi mentioned the Starfleet Academy only recently started accepting certain people, because their planets had been pirates until about four years ago her time. [Carefully avoiding implicating anything along the lines of "Orion" and/or Tendi herself.] Her phaser also can stun and melt, and it doesn't even need recharging. [HAPPY SIGH. He has a crush on Tendi, and it is actually unrelated to her phaser, but yes. He would love to get a phaser. So much.]

What kind of drink would you like? I can't mix to save my life, but this is the best place for getting drinks straight out of the bottle.

I'm not the person to tell you you don't have to fight here. I haven't killed anyone yet. [Gives a V-sign with his fingers. He's SO proud of this, okay?] Two months. I haven't gone this long since I was a child. [... yeah.] And it's still mostly my reflex to want to shoot Stede and put him out of our misery, but... [Nobunaga hops over the bar to behind it, digs around the stash until he finds a bottle of absinthe, because it's GREEN and shiny, and just like Tendi! And he actually uses a glass to pour himself one.] It wouldn't be worth it. That's the tricky part. Usually if you kill someone, you still have to deal with their family, but in the longterm people will keep moving forward. Their hatred will dissipate, and it can further goals and ambitions. Here, friends get left in the dark, get angry, and the long term consequences are the worst part. I suspect because the Captain would like us to fight among each other to keep us disorganized.

I'm unique among everyone here, however. I still wear my armor everywhere. No one else does. And... I've always wanted to explore. So this is the most freedom I've had.

[astrogator]

[That's true. Save the sadism talk for when you know her better, Nobunaga. Much less chance of serious confusion over it.

Ari won't turn down a chance to talk about guns, though. She looks over the Tanegashima as she speaks. She's never seen the like before, and the details fascinate her.] You're absolutely right. Anyone can use a gun, with the right training. It's a matter of skill. Imagine I've got some man with a hundred pounds and a foot in height on me who wants to pick a fight. Without a gun, I'd have no chance. The same is true for your farmers, and if it gives people options in life that they hadn't had before - more choice, more liberty - then it's all for the best. As for how good I am? [Ari chuckles a little.] Tell me this enormous ship has a shooting range so I can show you? Maybe you'd show me how to fire this one of yours, too. [She could have a fair guess at the mechanism, but Ari is safety-conscious, too. With an unfamiliar weapon it's always best to have someone with more knowledge show you how it's done.

She puts his firearm down, looking around at the bottles, and eventually picks out a brandy, and pours herself a small measure, which she downs quickly.] That'll do. I don't know anything about Starfleet, but the Tradelines wouldn't take on any spacer who was a former pirate, no matter what they could do or how dire the recruitment need. [Not when you could go out to a frontier colony world and find plenty of people hoping for adventure.

Ari grins at the mention of armor.] Actually, I've got my armor on, too. You just can't see it. Yours is more striking, for sure, but mine should protect me just as well. I'll keep to my uniform, I think. [Not that she has much choice. It'll probably involve trying to launder it overnight in the little sink in her cabin, but she's not too fazed by that. She once spent a month working in the laundry on her ship. Not the most pleasant aspect of her training, but she got on and did it.] How do you have freedom here, though? You're confined to a ship. It's a large ship, but even so. This isn't freedom.

[konpeito_aji]

[He smiles as it becomes clear why she likes guns too. Yes, good, good bwahahaha.] Exactly. You'd probably get along well with one of my former vassal and samurai: Kichou. Maybe Mitsuhide Akechi, my left hand too. He designed the Tanegashima, and then it's been in production for the last two years, just rolled out six months ago for me. Well, 8 now, I suppose.

[He takes a sip of the absinthe.... and instantly makes a face! That is disgusting. Ugh! European drinks are so weird!]

[A little hoarsely and with a cough:]

I'm a little reluctant to use the matchlock here, no idea how difficult it will be to get more gunpowder, but not firing it might be just as bad, it's not something I've ever tested before. No range specifically. We've been lining up empty bottles and shooting them on the top of the sports deck. And Crichton... [His hand goes to the pulse pistol again, then he just chugs some of the green drink!] My friend. We shot over the side of the ship to see if we could see how far out the ocean exists.

[Red eyes go a little crossed, and he pinches between them. Damn he underestimated how strong this drink is!] Starfleet is more about exploring than trade.... though I'm not sure how deadly their pirates are. They'd probably take me though. I've fought a lot of pirates. Er... [Ugh. He's so woozy! His head is spinning and pounding at the same time?!] On the ocean. Ocean pirates. [Rubs his temples. No more absinthe ever!]

[He perks up with interest about the armor though!] What's it made of? Can it handle the stun setting?

I'm free. Ships go places. I'll explain Hell to you sometime when I haven't drunk this green venom monstrosity. Just know... power isn't freedom. The more power you accumulate, the less freedom you'll have. That goes for the Captain here too. In my world, in my time, there is no one more powerful than me. But all my strength comes from others believing in me. Believing in our mutual ambitions. The more strength I borrow from them, the greater the obligation to see our dreams through and fix our cursed land and timeline.

Here, I have no political restraints. I'm not beholden to anyone or defined by my birth. I'm able to take risks, to do things even if I fail, because no one but me will suffer those consequences. I've made... friends, for the first time in my life. If I have a romance, I don't have to worry that it sends a weird message to the future about castes and cults. I can spend my days doing absolutely anything I wish. Whether that's playing in the arcade, doing karaoke, or meeting astronauts many many centuries into my future. I'll probably get bored eventually, but I rather doubt it.

This isn't like a hermit crab moving to a bigger shell, but it's still just a shell. For me... I always told myself, once I ended the Endless wars, I could travel. Leave the desolate barren isles no one else has. See what the rest of the world has to offer. This is so much better than that. Alternate worlds, alternate universes, people from all corners of time and space. This is.... certainly more freedom than I deserve, so I will make the most of it in ways others can't begin to imagine. I'm sure it's difficult for others. I hope I can free them as much as I have been.

[astrogator]

[It's somewhat surprising to see him keep drinking the green stuff after the face he made the first time, but Ari doesn't feel it's her place to try to prevent it. For safety's sake, she won't agree to any gun demonstrations of any sort now, she decides, before pouring another measure of brandy for herself.]

I fought a lot of pirates too. Or at least, I did the maneuvering. Someone else was doing the shooting. My armor's made of composite synthetic polymers, with liquid between. I'd show, you, but [here she actually blushes a little, young as she is] I wear it under my clothes. It'll handle more than just the stun setting. Any kind of energy blast, projectile, or blade. Here. Bring your bottle, let's sit down.

[She has no intention of drinking the whole bottle she chose, but she can always take the remainder back to the cabin they put her in. She's not thinking of it as hers, because it isn't. It's too big and everything's unsecured and there's odd, antiquated technology and she really doesn't like it that much. She leads him over to sit at a table.]

Citizen Oda, [even now she can't bring herself to drop the formality] I'm glad that you're happy here. Honestly, I am. But where I'm from, power is freedom. If you're a captain, you can fly wherever you want, take whatever trade contracts you want. You know, they'd take you on the Tradelines if you wanted, I'm sure of it. Temporary contract, a year or two. You're too old for command training. [She can't guess his exact age, but it's safe to say. The cut-off age is fifteen.] But from what you're saying, I'm trapped here. I don't feel free right now. I don't begrudge my responsibilities at home. I want to fulfil them, that's my choice.

[konpeito_aji]

Composite synthetic polymers... I better write that down given this green stuff. [He actually does take out a notebook and green glitter gel pen and writes down... something, it might be incomprehensible to anyone but him.]

[But he grins at her blush. Cute!] Ehhhhh there's no way I'm drinking anymore of this vile viscous secretion. [But he finishes off the glass he poured for himself, because it's wasteful not to! And... stumbles out from behind the bar, carrying... he hopes(?) a bottle of juice. And over to a table. Though the way he attempts to sit at the table on a chair makes him look even more drunk than he actually is. Spoilers: He doesn't know how to handle chairs. They don't exist when he's from.]

You're a copy. [EHHHH YEAH probably shouldn't have drunk that stuff without knowing what it's made of. Maybe it's some sort of hyper-potent super future alien drink. He just let himself be beguiled... by himself.] Simulation, right? This is all bonus. Invert your thinking. Wait... invert? What's it called in photography? When you make black and white reversed. Negatives. [Waves a hand. He has no idea. It's super futuristic to him, and super to the past for her. Point is:] If you really want to, set your mind on breaking the rules. Even Gods have rules they abide by, but we're not gods, so it's okay to break them. Nothing happens in your time without you. Temporal bubble, wasn't it? [He has a photographic memory, especially for new words and terms -- for better or worse. It also makes him an information sponge. Again, for better or worse.]

Don't -- don't you worry about me. [Laughs and opens the bottle. And smells it. PLEASE BE JUICE! And takes a sip.] I don't expect people who could rank up to be pleased with -- [Rolls a hand in a circle. He thinks it's juice, but it's not clearing his brain yet.] All this. But -- [He snaps his fingers. OKAY YES GOOD. When he's drunk he can't snap, so it must be juice! More drinking!] Think of it like... bonus. It's all bonus. An extra life. Simulation. You should talk to the others about win conditions. Skullduggery the skeleton, Max is -- [Nobunaga kind of has a word for "robot," but is hesitant to use it on account of Maeve and Klaus, and even Bastion so he just says:] Like me, red eyes, but his armor is his skeleton. And he wears suits. He is good with currency, so he'll understand the Tradewinds stuff really extra well. Make this life, one you'll be proud of. You aren't missing your old life, you're living it, it's just that this is like... an additional divergent timeline. If you want to break the timelines, then figure out how you're going to do it. And I'll take care of me and my soldiers. [Squints and nods. Yes. And then shakes his head.]

I have no idea if I'm making sense to you. [He didn't make sense to Skullduggery either, but it's hard when he's used to talking in metaphors and thinking even more abstractly.]