To infinity...and beyond? (Semi-open)

[astrogator]

Who: Ari Tayrey + willing CR + anyone else who wants in
What: Mini-plot: an expedition to determine what kind of infinite this store really is
When: 25-29??? November
Where: The Infinite Tommy Bahama
Warnings: None yet
Notes: First prompt is a text message sent to Ari's friendly-ish CR - replies are welcome even from people who don't want to take part! Other prompts are open but please note that participating characters will potentially be in the store for up to 4/5 days. Party post rules are fine, start your own toplevels and tag people other than Ari if you like. ((I checked with our lovely mod about what would happen if they tried this!))



1. Texting

I have a plan. I want to see just how infinite this Tommy Bahama is. Multi-day expedition for data collection? It could be informative. Maybe fun, too. Interested in coming along?

- Tayrey

2. Preparing

Even people who don't know Ari well may notice that something is up. It's not often that people walk into Tommy Bahama wearing backpacks full of supplies. There's some last-minute preparation going on here, as well as a last-minute opportunity to join the expedition. Expect Ari to want to check and make sure everyone has all the essentials with them. She's used to preparing for trips to uninhabited and potentially hostile planets, and it shows. Don't mind the fussing. She wouldn't do it if she didn't care.

3. Exploring

Despite all the promises, the expedition is - well, boring might be an accurate description, unless you're really invested in the outcome. There's a lot of walking past the same racks of clothes, over and over and over. Infinite length doesn't mean infinite variety.

Ari's fascinated, and she'll be chattering about loop programming to anyone who will listen, and attempting to measure the distance between one rack of garishly-patterned bikinis and the next iteration of that very same rack. She'll encourage tests, too - what happens if you completely destroy one of the displays? Is the destruction repeated? (Spoiler alert: no, it's not that kind of loop, but let's try it a few times anyway and make sure?)

Maybe you give up and head back after a few hours. Maybe you have a run-in with the Bahamanal. Maybe you join in with Ari's ridiculous spacer song singalong - she is in a good mood. It's Tommy Bahama, anything could happen.

4. Relaxing

Ari pushes the pace on the first day, because it comes naturally to do so, and possibly, subconsciously, to weed out anyone who isn't serious about this and is going to cause them problems once they're a long way in. Eventually, though, it's time to stop for the night. There's not a campfire, but it's a fine social occasion just the same. Ari's brought some Serena Eterna branded playing cards, and she's up for a little gambling. Maybe you have some other entertainment ideas. Don't stay up too long, though - see if you can't make a nice nest of clothes to bed down in. There's plenty of walking to do tomorrow.

5. Emerging

Plenty of data has been collected about the repeating displays, but there's no end in sight to this store. Is it really infinite? If there's a way to answer that question, this expedition won't do it. It's over two days in when the group realises that they're over halfway through the supplies they brought. Time to turn around, whether that leaves you disappointed or delighted.

Unfortunately, there are no tricks of perception or proportion here. It'll take just as long to walk out as it did to walk in. Look on the bright side, at least you're carrying less weight? Finally, on the fifth day, the intrepid explorers who stayed the distance catch sight of the store entrance up ahead. Who saw it first?

6. Wildcard

Anything else you want to do! (Just let me know if I need to add warnings to the header :) )

Comments

OTA

[konpeito_aji]

Prepping:

Nobunaga's got bags of food to feed a small army or last a week for himself and a few others of snacks, snacks, all the candy he could gather since it came back, and insane quantities of green tea, bottled coffee, and portable drinks.

"Usually it's vice versa," he laughs, going over their supplies. "You can scavenge and forage food and drinks, you have to, that's in the Art of War too, but not clothes, bedding, shelter. I love it. It's so opposite world!"

Speaking of which...

He's not wearing his usual jet black full plate mail again. Not as bare as teaching sumo throws, as he still has his gauntlets (kote) and greaves (haidate), but the heavy as hell cuirass clamshell do is conspicuously missing, and replaced with what has to be the brightest shirt he could find, or maybe he got it for the guns and skulls. Who knows, truly. The sleeves are also rolled up enough to reveal a fresh tattoo of a plain purple 4.

Anyone who does opt in to join will get warned:

"Remember everyone, this is a long road march. Do not break a sweat at any point, that means you're pushing too hard, and will consume more liquid necessary to compensate. Endurance is king here. We're trying to map the pattern, if one even exists. And don't die to the clothing monsters. They've been breeding." So much for organizing lessening the chaos, oops. Though he suspects his attempts to store supplies inside the store (and Siffleur treat boxes!) are more what fed the babies, oops.

"Let's conquer infinity!" A fist punch to the air. He's ecstatic.

Exploring:

Nobunaga is quick to learn any songs shared with him, and will even dance a little as they march. In addition to the two katana, and the long gun, Nobunaga is carrying his whip on the left, and a long spear or walking stick cannibalized out of a shuffleboard cue and a stolen knife. How many weapons does one man need? All of them. All the weapons.

Every 2000 paces (he's counting, and no matter what is sung, he doesn't lose track, though occasionally he does accidentally slip the count into the song instead of the right lyrics) he makes a small paint marker, always at different racks. He KNOWS it doesn't work, will reset the second they're out of sight, probably, but it has to be done!

There's a small laugh one of the times, "It's been years since I wasn't doing this on horse, actually. You always have to scout how long it takes you by foot for infantry and gunners, but I did it so much in my youth, I haven't needed to since before the Mt. Hiei siege." But he's clearly enjoying himself!

On the rare off chance he gets bored, or (far more likely:) fidgety, Nobunaga is whistling 90s pop (blame Klaus) and spinning the makeshift naginta (spear) and maybe testing it's telescoping sliding capacity in a fight.

Relaxing:

Nobunaga will definitely join in card games, and even though he's staying on target despite Klaus' presence generally having one hell of an effect on his concentration 90% of the time, this the 10% where he stops caring as much, even though they're in more danger sitting still. "We'll need watch guards," for sure. Getting eaten by clothing monsters is definitely more embarrassing than other ways to die. "Two truths and a lie?"

But Nobunaga's eyes light up as he spots a certain display and pops open the football "Let's play!" He is going to tackle the hell out of everyone. YAY!

There is also a foraged bean bag toss set that Nobunaga ignores the rules on. "Whoever can throw it the furthest WINS. If you get it to go so far it's missing, that's an automatic win, and if multiple people do it, you all tie." Now if only he had a cannon launcher!

He also has a Lovecraft book: At the Mountains of Madness because that's what you want when you are an expedition to conquer infinity and fighting possible monsters made of clothes. A book about being driven insane on the exploration of the extreme conditions. Obviously.

Exploring

[astrogator]

[Ari approves of the paint markers, both for loop testing and so they'll have some idea of just how far they've travelled. She isn't pressing the pace quite as much as she would do on a planetary expedition; they aren't under the same time constraints, and Nobunaga had made a good point earlier about too much exertion being inefficient. Still, all seems to be going well so far. She's in a good mood - people actually agreed to this! And they might discover useful things! Having a sense of purpose does wonders for her, even if they're just passing the same displays over and over.]

It'd be much quicker on horses. [She chuckles.] We did planetary expeditions on foot, but we'd usually have an antigrav sled to pile all the heavy gear on. Not that we're carrying big weapons or machinery today.

[She has her gun, like always, and her multitool which has a little blade attached, even though it's unlikely they're going to have to hack through jungles of Tommy Bahamas clothing.

Her gaze is drawn towards his arm, not for the first time today. That purple marking.]

Is that paint, or ink?

[konpeito_aji]

Anti-grav sling. [Red eyes light up like whenever he's talking about new technology and vocabulary!]

The Portuguese would have loved that. Although, only Luiz Frois really had the kind of balls to try going inland. The missionaries are zealots, so it gives them great determination. [The sense of purpose, much like him and Teyrey, and this expedition.]

This is ink. It's a tattoo. In Japan we mark criminals with this. A permanent brand to make them visibly inescapably untouchable. It's reserved for the worst of the worst. The religions are very strictly against it. Doing anything to mark your body permanently. Klaus had several before his father's machine reset their universe. Hello and Goodbye on his hands -- not for the Beatles song, I asked. "It is an ouija board thing," he says. This toy the future uses to talk to ghosts. And a flying tiger tattoo on his back for his division in the army. Oh, and umbrella from his father when he was a teen.

I once told Blackbeard it would be like an exorcism in Hell. It is. Demon Kings are supposed to hide their demonic nature, pretend to be human, no horns, blend in. Getting tattooed would be -- it is very extreme. I could no longer be in the Imperial Court. It might dissolve my political status, entirely. It would make me the most untouchable man in the world. [Eyegleam! Bring it on!!!]

Hideyoshi would try to spin it. He knows I have my vision, and trusts me too much, as I've said before. Mitsuhide would be furious, might threaten to cut it off. [Laughs! Giddy with the very idea of it!]

Ah, the 4 is extra especially the case! 4 means death. Same word. People hate it so much, they changed the way to write it. So not only have I cast myself as a criminal, but I took the most untouchable superstition they all fear and chose to put that on!

This is my gamble. That this is the me who will be free of all of it. Travel beyond the stars, conquer infinity. An exorcism of my Hellish past, so it only affects me as much as I allow, no more.

[astrogator]

Anti-grav sled. [It's a gentle correction, because she knows he's interested in these things.] It's like - imagine a little cart, but instead of having wheels, it hovers, the way Klaus can, so you can take it with you even over bumpy terrain. It doesn't take any effort to pull it along, either.

[She nods as he explains about the tattoo. They'd discussed it before, but in truth she hadn't believed he'd really do it, to the point where she'd have guessed the 4 was painted on.]

I'm all in favor of you travelling the stars, but in your position you can do whatever you want, really. If you unified your country, and then you wanted to go to court, you could declare that nobody without a tattoo was allowed to be there. Turn everything upside-down. [She laughs.] As you said. You're free.

[Then Ari starts unbuttoning her jacket, and she lifts up the shirt beneath, to show him her bare midriff. Above her navel, slightly to her left, there's an eight-pointed star in shades of blue, outlined in silver. It's sophisticated work, finely shaded, and seems to shimmer in the light as she walks.]

That's my astrogator's mark, that I told you about.

[She pulls the shirt down again, quickly, before anyone else can take notice.]

[konpeito_aji]

Neat. Anti-grav sled.

No, I couldn't back on Earth, in my time, or even afterwards. It isn't just that I'm responsible for everyone else's dreams and ambitions, not just my own, but in the end, if I didn't change people's hearts and minds, it wouldn't be enough. I might do such a radical thing, but I already pushed everyone to the absolute limits of what they would accept, I think. It's the hardest part of my fight. I can't just jump ahead, have things be the way I want, I have to incrementally get them there so that the backlash doesn't result in them doing the opposite of what I want. Ah, it is politics as much as you hate.

You should Klaus, he'll love it.

Another reason you should avoid Hell, Teyrey. If anyone ever saw that, they might kill you. Usually untouchables don't get killed, only because doing so isn't considered worth the bother. Like getting your hands dirty just by interacting with them at all.

[astrogator]

[Ari walks on in silence. It's true, she hates politics, and she hates when she thinks she's understood something about him but it turns out that she really hasn't. It's inevitable, given the cultural divide, the massive gulf in time and space between them - but it's still difficult for her.

She'd shown him because she'd thought he'd like it, and because he disregarded the conventions of his homeworld himself, so she didn't think they'd matter to him. Part of her discomfort isn't to do with Nobunaga at all; it's the idea that people might treat her poorly, even kill her, over such an unimportant thing.

After a moment:]

If I were going there, I'd remove it first. I wouldn't be that careless! You're the only one here who has seen it, and only because I wanted to show you, and if I were going, I wouldn't even take that risk.

[konpeito_aji]

[He grabs her into a one-armed hug around the shoulders, an instant glomp of extreme affection, the kind even Crichton and Klaus do not get from him.]

Okay. I know you won't under contract with me anyway. [He doesn't kiss the top of her head, but he does lean his head down to hers briefly before finally letting go.]

It's gorgeous, I love it. When did you have it done?

[astrogator]

[The hug takes Ari by surprise, but she leans in. It's comforting. It's enough to tell her that whatever she's misunderstood, it can't matter all that much. She smiles, softly.]

Of course I won't. [Said in a low voice, reassuring. She might have been trying to prove a point about her ability to survive in such places, but the truth of it is that Ari Tayrey would never break contract.]

It was two parts. The first four points were after my first L-space test. I think I was just as worried about how much the tattoo would hurt as I was about the test. [A little laughter. She'd been young then.] It was fine, I had my friends there. Lilah Montero told me all these silly stories to distract me. Second half was after I passed for lieutenant. Properly qualified astrogator. [She grins. Still very proud of that.]

[konpeito_aji]

Will you get more added to it back home when you rank up more? Turn into a total sun?

I'm surprised they don't give you local pain lotions in the future. Or your sector. With the advanced technology.

[astrogator]

You know, I'm not sure. I've never seen one of these on a captain who is a former astrogator, and the other departments have different designs.

[She shakes her head.] There are numbing creams in our infirmary, but this was - it's sort of an initiation, if that makes sense? [That's going to sound odd to an outsider, she guesses, but it's the truth. There were a lot of spacer customs that seemed strange to planetsiders.]

[konpeito_aji]

[A nod!] It does. Though usually that's more for monks, in the army, you get pain in other ways, but I understand. I believe that Klaus' flying tiger was the same way.

[astrogator]

For monks? [She's amused by this, because she doesn't picture herself as being monk-like in any way.] But the monks can't have had tattoos! [Not after what he'd told her about them.]

[konpeito_aji]

That's very true! [Laughs.] I meant their other initiation rituals. Oh! And karaoke is like that. It's Japanese, did you know? Mutual humiliation ritual. Very Japanese. It seems in the future since the current things are gone, the corporate world adapts to that instead. Definitely preferable.

Exploring

[busball]

Klaus is definitely far too aware of that whip, but he's doing his best at behaving.

Do not say anything about save a horse, ride a cowboy.

"Horses would probably be useful, but in here??? Definitely not at all useful. Probably very awkward." He laughs before still humming Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy. But it's fine, cause he's not singing the lyrics, right? This is totally the finest thing they have ever done in their entire life.

[konpeito_aji]

"Horses aren't very fond of ships, it's true," Nobunaga nods.

"What are you humming Lucky Four?"

[busball]

Klaus looks down, biting his lower lip. "It's just a dumb song. You wouldn't like it." Yes, he would. Nobunaga would love it.

"Okay, you would totally love it, but also we're supposed to be behaving."

1/2

[konpeito_aji]

"Liar," Nobunaga starts to lean in with an evil smirk before Klaus fixes that and --

Yeah, okay!

Fair! Very fair.

2/2

[konpeito_aji]

And then he just laughs, leaning right back on his heels. "Okay, tell me when we stop. Know any songs that won't get us into trouble?"

That might be hard to do.

[busball]

Klaus grins widely. "I will tell you when we stop. And like maybe when we're a little bit away from others." This is all before very obviously talking about their sex life to a group of people. Oops.

"Hmmmmm..." They consider the possibilities. Not Genie in a Bottle and not Barbie Girl...and definitely not a lot of the songs his brain is conjuring up right now. Okay. They are settling on Dancing Queen because that seems safe enough.

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga bops his head along cheerfully. Yes. Why not.

He has the worst time not corrupting this though.

"Oh!" when Klaus finishes. "You've heard Stairway to Heaven, right? Have you listened to much metal ever? Eddie's a fan of it." So is Nobunaga.

[busball]

"Yeah. I think everyone and their mom has heard Stairway to Heaven." Klaus pauses for a moment, squinting at Nobunaga. Is this going where they think it's going or is this just like...a coincidence?

"I don't really do metal? It's not my music genre of choice, but..." He pauses. "If you wanna sing something, then...that's okay. I'll listen to it."

[konpeito_aji]

Definitely not a coincidence, but he is trying not to get TOO on point. "I was thinking of Number of the Beast. It's 666, by the way. In the Bible. Just like 6 heavens. Ah, but it's a little hard to sing without the musical accompaniment. I will sing Beatles." A firm nod.

"Good day sunshine~!
I need to laugh
And when the sun is out
I've got something to laugh about!
I feel good, in a special way,
I'm in love, and it's a sunny day!"

It's funny because there's NO SUN.

"Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine!
We take a walk, the sun is shining down, burns my feet as they touch the ground!" Extra funny because Klaus isn't walking.

"Then we lie beneath a shady tree, I love him and he's loving me~! He feels good, he knows he's looking fine, I'm so proud to know he is mine!"

[busball]

"Ah. Yes." Klaus can't help the smirk forming as he looks over. "The six heavens, yes. And you are the sixth." If his gaze flickers for a brief moment where it's not supposed to, no it didn't. You didn't see shit.

Klaus hums along softly as he sings, a little blush starting to creep across his cheeks as they get to the last little bit of song. "You're far too cute." Oops. The words he's not meant to say.

"I'm proud to be yours, too."

[konpeito_aji]

"You know the punishment for that," tugs Klaus' on the leash tie and bites his wrist gently.

"Be good or I'll purposely sing things to freak you out. So more Beatles?"

[busball]

Klaus makes a soft, surprised noise as he’s yanked over. “Oops.” His brain has fallen right into the gutter, but he’s trying to behave himself anyway.

“Cannot decide if I want to be good and never know or be bad and find out.” Kind of both.