Lieutenant Ari Tayrey (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
astrogator) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
come_sailaway2022-11-23 06:04 pm
astrogator) wrote in come_sailaway2022-11-23 06:04 pm
To infinity...and beyond? (Semi-open)
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 :) )
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 :) )
no subject
[A nod about the agreement.]
[And his brow furrows. Trust Klaus???]
[Ugh the idea also almost gives him a panic attack.]
[If Klaus wanted to stab him in the back... Well he did, right? He took Nobunaga's corpse out with his own sword. Which is somehow really sexy. (Nobunaga has issues.) What then would count as a "betrayal?" A failure?]
[Maeve mentioned the idea that if he had to choose between Klaus and Japan, he would choose Klaus.]
[Would he really? That certainly wasn't true while he was in Japan. He had to rescue everyone, not just himself. Even here, even if Klaus said Nobunaga didn't make him stay at the party, hadn't he? Played "big damn hero" as Klaus put it, and it was completely useless.]
[There's more words though, so he puts it on the backburner to focus.]
[Don't trust the Captain. But don't trust anyone.]
That's pretty Christian. [In... Nobunaga's extremely fucked up interpretation.] Standing strong against the stick and ignoring the carrot.
Why aren't we the same? [Genuine question. No one else has tried this tactic with Nobunaga so far, so he's just listening.]
no subject
[It's obvious to her that Nobunaga and the captain aren't the same. Her opinions of the two men couldn't be more different. He seems genuinely curious, though, so she'll explain.]
You've done some harsh things in your life. I know that. But your values are sound, and your vision is one of freedom. Where people can decide things for themselves and they won't be restricted. Where war is over and there's peace and prosperity and flourishing. You know that you'll have to do difficult things to make that happen, but even then you don't force people. If people reject your contract, you don't really kill them, they just aren't your responsibility. You don't help them, but you want to help everyone who stands with you.
The captain is selfish. I don't mean healthy self-interest, I mean he'll use people for his own personal gain, and nothing else. His values are twisted, and his vision is just about power for himself, and he forces all of us to stay here no matter what we want.
[Ari bites her lip.] The contract I wanted to offer him. It was before we had ours. I would have said that I'd do whatever he wanted for a year, willingly. All the murder games or dangerous excursions, dying all the time, pretending I was happy about all of it, anything. And then when it was over, he'd send me home. Properly. I felt very hopeless, and I thought it didn't matter how damaged I would be at the end of it, if only I got home. I thought it was the sort of contract he'd like. All that suffering. Sacrificing what I valued.
I think if I'd offered that to him, he might have taken it. I think if I'd offered it to you, even in Japan, you'd have hated it, and been worried for me that I'd even suggest it. Not the same. Not at all.
[Quickly, as an afterthought:] You don't have to worry, I don't feel hopeless like that now. I have friends now, and I have our contract, and that matters.
1/2 Nobunaga plz stop fanboying Christianity in the most fucked up way possible it's weird T_T
They brought down the Roman Empire, probably the strongest human civilization ever up to my point, just by refusing to bow. Literally, they said they only bend the knee to God. It was a huge deal in Japan, because our kneeling stance is the position you take in court. And when they first accidentally arrived, they refused to kneel, just kept standing.
2/2
He refused it, right? Or, you didn't offer it, because he wouldn't negotiate? I would have slapped you if you'd proposed that to me in Japan. It's an insult. To think you are only valuable as a source of torture. That I would let you go after a time and let you pick the time. Or that I would want fake smiles. True sadists don't want fake smiles. They want the exquisite twist of expressions of pain and the acknowledgement of defeat. If Kichou said he would do that with me to amuse me, I might have truly killed him.
The Captain wouldn't have taken it, Ari. Teyrey. [Blame Klaus.] Skulduggery says the magic the Captain uses doesn't require torture or dark emotions to feed it. Just any. And the Captain uses dark ones, because they're easiest. Fastest. He doesn't think he's capable of generating others. Or if he is, it's so much more work. We're trying to convince him, the Captain, that the other ways aren't that much harder. That he can just facilitate easier things. I say "We," but obviously, I'm still not in talks with the Captain, and likely never will be. Ryan, Min-Gi, Jeff, Diana, Eddie, and the other musicians though... I think they can best prove that they can generate emotions the ship can use for power, stronger ones than fear and sorrow from dying, and that makes them valuable and stronger than just killers and torturers like me.
[Sigh.] This is why... thinking of it like prison is a mistake. You're thinking if you just do your time, you can suffer through this and focus on the way out. I might be wrong Teyrey, but try thinking of it, for a moment, like I'm saying. That we're loose souls, scooped up randomly in the ether, because other gods didn't have a strong hold on us, and the Captain uses us for fuel. Not even death is a way out. And even the dead are trapped here as power, too weak to have their own bodies. What then?
[Takes a gulp of green tea, caps it, puts it back into his camping bag from home, and holds both hands up.] And if I'm wrong, if this is just prison and getting back is a matter of trying the solution no one else has yet, then that's easy enough. It's easier to do. I promise. It's just a matter of time and trying, and not losing yourself in the process. So focus on the other one for me, just for a few minutes, all right?
no subject
He wouldn't even come out to speak to me. No negotiations, no offers. So neither of us can be sure of what he'd have done. It's good that you'd have slapped me, for offering you that. I'd have deserved it. You're not understanding the offer, though. It wasn't for a smile. It was for whatever he wanted. If he just wanted pain, then that. Consider that I came up with the idea before I tried to talk to him. You know what I think now? He'd have agreed, because to him I'm not worth anything but as a source of torture, and he'd have hurt me - made me do awful things - and then when the time was up he'd have just broken contract and watched as that broke me.
When you are feeling despondent it is a very bad idea to negotiate. I've learned that now. You think you're being rational when you aren't.
[Then there's talk of Skulduggery and his theories, and that damned magic, and if Ari Tayrey were a petty person she'd have shut down the conversation as soon as she heard the word, but instead it's just unimportant. Oda knows she doesn't believe in any of this. He's entitled to believe in it if he wants, but it's an irritation to her.
And that would be the end, she'd just ignore it, if not for that last request.
Ari's very still for a moment, and then her knees come up towards her chest, and she leans forward, hiding her face. Just for a moment. And when she looks over at him again it's clear that she's disturbed. Rattled. Perilously close to losing her composure. She'd tried - for him she'd tried - and what was there to consider, when you looked at it and pretended it was true? Absolute existential terror.]
No. No, that's how he tries to get in your head, with that nonsense. Make you afraid. More afraid than of death. Too afraid to try to escape. It's not real. It's religion.
no subject
You're making the Captain to be more powerful than he actually is. He doesn't know what he wants. It's like me and Klaus. I think I want to torture him a little here and there, but then he offers me something better I couldn't think of at all.
But... yeah I guess he'd have broken contract, maybe. But I don't think he'd have bothered entering it. Um. Even gods have rules they must abide by. Talk to them. If he DID enter a contract, you would have more capacity to control him than you think. It's dangerous. I told you... repeatedly. Don't join contracts with demons, okay? Only me. And keep me on my toes.
Why would anyone fear escape, Teyrey? Use your head. People fear the unknown. Not the known. They know their past. They don't know the future. You're being afraid of it right now. You're trying to fill in what he might do, what tortures might come, and you're letting it lead you astray. But I know you're stronger than that. Come here. [Stands up grabs her by the wrist and tugs her in a rough hug around the shoulders.] I'll protect you. So you just gotta hold on. Don't give up, and don't give in to the fears. I'm teaching you to fight so you'll be even stronger than any pirate. Stronger than even me, which will make you stronger than any Demon King. Right? So don't be afraid. Not of the Captain, not of anyone.
no subject
[She stands readily enough when he pulls on her wrist, but she's trembling, and she doesn't hug him so much as cling to him. This is absolutely not proper Tradeliner behavior, but it looks like Ari Tayrey's past caring.]
You know how I am with pirates. You're making me strong for that, but still I hate to think about it. What they'd do. The torture.
Whatever pirates could do, it ends when you die. This...if what you said was true, it would be infinite torture. Can you think of infinity? And I wouldn't be myself, I'd be some worthless soul copy made to torture, trapped forever, even without a body. You couldn't protect me from that. Nobody could.
[She takes a deep breath, and what starts to calm her is the thought that it isn't true, it's the captain trying to frighten and control them, and that Nobunaga, despite all the regard she has for him, doesn't get to ask that of her. She doesn't have to take it seriously. It's horrific. Ari Tayrey's mind is her own, she doesn't have to think of a thing just because he wants her to.
Another breath.]
They fear escape because they've been told that escaping means destroying the universe, or some nonsense. Maybe they're not sure they believe it. Still it's made into an unknown for them. With no evidence.
[Her tight grip on him relaxes, just a little.] Nobody else is getting another contract like yours. Can't have two captains. The Tradeline way is to see the best - trust people until you have reason not to. Lots of people here I don't trust now. How do you know who is a demon?
no subject
[Ugh maybe he pushed her way too hard, way too fast. She is still pretty young after all. Thinking that they might be truly stuck here...]
No one fears escape. [He holds her oh so close, and debates sending a text to Klaus to ask for help. For not he just gently strokes her hair.] It's not infinite torture. I won't let it be. Okay? Remember I said I'll find a way to free us, and I will. I absolutely will, count on it. Leave it to me. Sorry for making you think in a different direction. Just know that fact, and leave it to me. That's my job as Demon King of 6th Heaven.
[How does Nobunaga know who is a demon...]
Demons want power. They'll do anything to get it. Corrupting souls, yeah. Most demons just want to drag others down, to make them like themselves. They don't want anyone to surpass them, so they are like crabs in a bucket. I know bad analogy, but I don't have another. When you put crabs in a bucket, they could get out, but instead, they pull anyone who tries down. Out of fear, like you said. Fear, or other petty emotions. Because they fear the unknown. So they convince themselves the bucket is safety. Demons --
Valdis isn't a demon, for the record. She's just used to dealing with them. She's something else. In between all worlds. She's just used to demons, so I'll talk to her, but for her, contracts is the same with gods. When you make a contract with gods, they abide by it. I couldn't tell you why, honestly. I genuinely don't understand. But every religion is clear about this. Jesus followers, or Shinto or Buddhists, or Taoists. All of them. That's the other reason she'd be... run away from such a thing. Because anything that is religious; Earth religion anyway, we, her and me shy from. But Demons won't shy from contracts, necessarily, just only if they know for sure they can get the better of you. If they aren't sure of it, if you're as experienced as you are, they wouldn't dare. I think the Captain is a demon king, so... he wouldn't. Not with you. Maybe with someone he thought was a total idiot. But he knows you're not, so he wouldn't try it.
Like I said, I fall into Fool of Owari when I'm flustered, because it's easier if people underestimate me. It gives me enough time to figure out a better plan.
[Tucks his chin over her head.] Demons aren't always oathbreakers. Breaking an oath is a more human thing. I think demons aren't even capable of it, it would destroy them, and put them on the bottom of demon caste. So they're very careful about lying. Pretending to follow it, but twisting it. I test people as carelessly as breathing. I said earlier, even here I was holding back so I let you prove yourself, yes? That's because... I have to. I don't know how to live any other way. I do it without even thinking about it sometimes. I do it to my generals constantly. It drives them crazy. I don't always mean to. And you needn't worry about failing, sometimes I just like to see what happens, because it teaches me something. [Sighs and gently squeezes the hug.] Demons are smarter than your space pirates. They can bide their time, but most of them don't have any grand vision. Sometimes the torture is the point.
If you ever, ever worry about anyone, tell me about them and I'll help you figure it out, all right? And it doesn't matter what time of the day or night it is. Call me, call Klaus. We'll come running. And I'll help you learn how to spot them yourself, and deal with them. So you're stronger. Most demons, any of them without a great bigger vision like mine that stretches far beyond death, are just scavengers. Opportunists. So they only go after easy meals. So I will teach you how to be stronger than them. And then you'll be able to protect everyone you want to, too, okay?
Don't be afraid General, you're much stronger than this. I can tell.
no subject
Probably not. If all those things were true, Oda Nobunaga would be as powerless as she was, and if anything, enjoying the luxuries on the ship and being happy there would make it worse for him when he became some sort of disembodied suffering soul later. Infinite torture. He couldn't stop it. It was like she was a child and he was promising he could defeat the monsters she thought lurked in dark corners of her room, not realising that she knew that the horrors her mind was conjuring up would tear him to pieces.
Ari's stared down L-space, and there aren't many with that courage, even if Savitskaya had to hold her steady and make her keep looking the first time. She knows that the universe is vast, and bordering on incomprehensible in some ways, because of how human minds work.
But she also knows that the monsters in the dark aren't real.
She listens to the talk of demons, relaxing herself, coming back to where she should be, and when he's finished speaking, she pulls back, slowly. She's fine. A little bit of a faraway look in her eyes, but other than that? It's as if it never happened.]
Let me apologise. That wasn't right of me. [It doesn't matter if he thinks badly of her for it or not. She lost control. She needs to be stronger than that.]
I'm not afraid of demons. You asked me not to make contract with them, so I wanted to know who not to make contract with, but maybe it's safer if I flip things. Treat everyone as a no-contract enemy unless they give me reason to think they know how to deal fairly. Keep my distance, no friendliness, no protection. When I make a contract, I abide by it. [It isn't a bad thing. How could it be? It's only bad if you never intended to keep your word.] I expect exactly that from others if they want to be on good terms. No matter who they are.
[She stands a little straighter.] And I won't be tested like that again. [For once, it doesn't matter if he thinks she failed. She knows there was no way to win, even if she's not sure that he does.] You can set me all the challenges you like, in training or study or our work here, and I'll do my level best no matter how tough I think they are, but I won't take a terrible thing for true and run analysis round it. [It's those genetic enhancements. Analytical capacity. Vivid imagination. It can be a great strength, unless it's set in the wrong direction, and then you end up with the theories she'd developed at Cardalek before she left, or... this. It was more than just considering another point of view.] I shouldn't have gone along with it at all, but that's not your fault, it's mine.
[So now she tries to sound positive.] I'm going to be so much stronger than I was before I met you, and we'll find a way out, so that people can leave whenever they decide to. We'll do it together, no matter how long it takes.
no subject
[He did make a mistake. He thought Teyrey was more like himself.]
No, don't treat everyone like a threat. That's what I do. Usually. [There are some. Teyrey, Valdis, and Ieyasu he lets his guard down around. That's about it. And even then... they're still tested.] It won't ensure safety. It will keep you awake at nights, and put you into a mode where you might stab Klaus if he comes close at the wrong time. Just be yourself.
[He squints at her firm stance on no more taking terrible things as true etc.]
[Isn't she doing so anyway? He cannot comment on it. Maybe Mitsuhide could navigate it. His other true genius.] It is not your fault. [A growl!] You're in my command. I didn't order it, but I did request it. Therefore it is still on me. Anything I ask always is. No arguments.
We will find a way out yes. [Or to use the Captain to fly back to her sector, conquer Delos, whatever else he wants.]
no subject
Being myself is going to get me hurt. [See, she does listen! Eventually.] You always say I'm too trusting, and you're right. That's Tradeliners. Treat everyone like an ally, like a trading partner, and hope they live up to your expectations. I've got to remember that I don't have a big ship with a laser array behind me now. [Her negotiating position is so much weaker.] I let Valdis hurt me, because I played friendly Tradeliner, offered help. If I'd taken her for an enemy, I wouldn't have offered, and if I had, I wouldn't have cared when she insulted me. Like I didn't care when the captain did it. [Not much. Not the devastating, self-blaming amount she would have cared if she hadn't been prepared for it.]
[She's very surprised that he's so adamant it wasn't her fault. Savitskaya would have told Ari to take personal responsibility for things. But then Savitskaya would have ignored the upset, not because she didn't care about Ari, but because caring meant not acknowledging the weakness, suggesting that she thought highly of Ari, trusted her to get it under control.
Nobunaga is not a Tradeliner. It isn't the same. She's glad that he comforted her.
She just nods her agreement. No arguments from her.] Copy that. It's fine. We're fine. [She has a little smile for him then.]
no subject
And I told you I was going to hurt you every day, right? The difference isn't in avoiding the pain, it's how you move past it.
[An annoyed growl.] This is why I don't trust. Because no matter what people will fail you, even if they are trying their damnedest. If you let them. [His eyes narrow. She got hurt. That bothers him only slightly less than when Klaus was attacked over mistaken identity.] I don't want you to get hurt. But like I said, you will get hurt. This the first process of learning katana. To get cut. Why I cannot, will not ever teach it. If you fear the katana, then you cannot use it.
Tell me of your hurt. I know it is not the Tradeliner way, but it the only way I know to understand.
no subject
[She sighs.] You're different. You can hurt me because I let you see where I'm weak. Which I allow because I trust you to use that knowledge to help me grow stronger, not to do me harm. I don't care about bruises from training. I don't care if I get it wrong, if it's just us and Klaus there. I don't think there's much utility in me learning to use a katana, but if there was, I wouldn't be afraid of it. Not now. [And that's a significant change from when they first met, and she'd been hopelessly squeamish about any fighting that didn't involve guns.]
You mustn't worry about hurting me. Cardalek genetics. I heal well. I've only been ill once in my life, and near enough the whole ship was, that time, and I still recovered first and helped to take care of the others. I'm not so afraid of pain as I was. I dragged myself through the corridors here after the explosion, and I lived. And I know that someday I'll die here, and I've accepted that, too. I'll say it's like out on the lines. If I die doing my duty, it's fine.
If anyone else had asked me that question you just did, I'd have told them to stop talking unproven nonsense about souls, which I don't believe in. I wouldn't have taken it seriously at all, not even to pretend. I might have been rude. [She shrugs.] You don't let outsiders see where you're weak. They'll use it against you, or disregard your privacy and tell other people. I didn't show weakness to Valdis, it was more like being... soft. Too much kindness. I'd tell you all of it, but I'm concerned for her privacy. Even if I shouldn't be, after how she rejected me- rejected contract.
no subject
[That's fine then.]
[He tugs her into a hug, to shock her.] I don't mean physically.
Remember how I hate that you trust me? Well, now I'm going to abuse it. Like I told you I would. Trust me. I will talk to Valdis, and settle her mind favorably in your direction.
Sometimes the strongest thing isn't walking away from contracts, but letting someone go, and then they realize how much they need you, and when they have to come crawling back, you will be in a much stronger position.
I have done this... dozens of times. It's dangerous. Very very dangerous, because they can grow to resent it, so you must be very careful not to abuse it, never to gloat, and still keep it on good terms. But you refused my offer the first time, remember? [Gentle smile!] And you worked out for yourself how you could find a loophole, and I'm very proud of you for it.
You might think you overbargained your position, but remember Sun Tzu? Always strike with excessive force right away if you can! That way you stun your foe into compliance.
I will let you in on a secret. [Finger over his lips. Please remember his secret telling record is abysmal. Things he thinks are secrets are just obvious facts to most.] Remember when I said I revert to my fool ways when flustered to buy time? The thing is, everything people say still lingers in my head. I tumble it over and over and try to get it right. Do not think you didn't make an impact. I bet she is thinking a lot about it and worried about her next move. This was actually a good strategy of yours. If you were playing Go I would say it is a master-class move!
no subject
[Ari shakes her head.] I declined your first offer in the politest terms, Oda. I didn't say I'd have no contract with you and walk off. It isn't the same.
[She doubts that'll be enough to convince him. She has to escalate. Well, Valdis would have no regard for her, no contract, so:] You know she can transform into a hound, don't you? Do you know how she does it?
no subject
I assumed her transformation was akin to Siffleur's and Ylva's.
[Eyes narrow.] Did you give her part of your soul? Life force?
no subject
It's culture clash? What does it mean on her homeworld, then, to say you won't have contract and walk away from the table?
[She won't be drawn into more soul talk. Enough for one day.]
It's an energy transfer. She can use it to fuel her abilities. She was drained; she didn't look well. [Ari's perception. In truth Valdis' difficulty on that day was likely more emotional than physical.] She showed me how it worked. It was strange, but not bad. So my offer was going to be that I'd let her do it, provided it didn't make me too tired, and in return she'd fight beside me if I needed it. Which she'd be doing anyway because we'd both be fighting beside you. But I didn't mention that part. I wanted to help her, but I didn't want it to feel like offering charity, with nothing in return. So a contract, instead. Like I said, it wouldn't have mattered if she'd just declined the offer like I did yours.
no subject
[If she'd said yes to the soul thing, Nobunaga would have flicked her forehead. Energy comes back at least.]
You said yourself she turns into a hel-- wolf. It means she doesn't want to be leashed or in a contest of wills and worrying about hurting you, since you did something that, no matter how you phrase it, was obviously generous.
I understand why you're hurt, but I've had my messengers offering peace had their heads sent back on pikes, and still managed to avoid escalating the war. I will talk to her. I won't tell her to negotiate, but I want to hear her understanding and see if I understand it as well as I think. A test on myself.
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If it were war? Her generous offer would be suspicious. Instantly. A contract to be endlessly scrutinised for damaging loopholes, because why else would it have been made? And walking away from all contract in a hostile negotiation could be a breakdown, but it could also be a power play.
Suddenly, Ari's feelings are a whole lot less important.]
She did take me for an enemy. Not after the offer. Long before it. She treated it like wartime negotiation. That's what you're saying, isn't it?
That's completely different.
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That's what Hell means. Hell is all wars. Inescapable. Everywhere. Permanently. There is literally no such things as peace. It has not been in my lands for millennia, lieutenant. Not my grandfather's lifetime, or even most of my ancestors. It means not trusting anyone, not family, not having friends. Although she's not from the same Hell as me, she is still used to dealing with the same culture and people. Separate from Earth. I wanted to return us to Earth via peace. And that was so crazy, so impossible, that people feared even trying it would make things worse for everyone.
She saw it as wartime negotiation. It was in her first week here, no? If you had met Samurai Pratt or one of the pirates instead of me, first, how would you see this ship and everyone here differently?
I ran into a pirate first. But I was fortunate enough to meet Crichton soon after, and Amaterasu.
She saw your offer as a trap, and a total surrender. Neutrality then, would be her best option to understand the situation better, don't you think?
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It's possible that she and I saw the entire conversation differently. I told her about the Tradelines, and what I thought was good-natured debate she might have thought was aggression. She said horribly prejudiced things about humans, and I stayed calm and asked her to reconsider. I was pleased with that, but maybe she was lying, and still saw me that way. Then it wouldn't have made any sense that I was trusting. A trap.
[The first time she'd met Nobunaga, she'd told him that she had no obligation to anyone on this ship, hadn't she? If he'd suggested contract that first day, she - no, she still wouldn't have been rude. But it would have been a less complimentary refusal.]
I... have a lot more experience in peaceful trade negotiation.
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Don't be so hard on yourself. Give it a little more time and space.
Remember instead of trusting me, I said judge from my actions. She only saw one very reckless generous action. That's definitely a trap where I'm from. So hold true and steadfast to yourself.
You're being uncannily like Hideyoshi. For the record.
[Now how does he protect his sneaky Mitsuhude while still letting them be sneaky? Tough question!]
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Where I'm from, most humans are good people. With their faults, but not the kind that trample over other people's rights.
I think I need to treat this place differently. Imagine it's constant war, and take contract from that point.
[This is good, in that she'll tolerate a lot more of what she'll see as breaches of etiquette or even common decency before she'll shut things down, and if she has to, she won't take it so personally. The trade-off is much less trust, more paranoia.]
Do you think I just let it be? Go our separate ways, and learn from it so I can do better with the next person?
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My apologies Teyrey, this is... normal for me. No, it is... not even as bad for me. I have been less at war here, not killed anyone in record months, and not had assassination attempts in just as long. My first week here I thiught even a brain freeze was a poisoning or assassin's arrow. So I did not think to tell you before. Again.
I think you should let her come to you. This expedition she will see how brilliant you are, and will want to be your ally and have an unprecedented bargain. That is what I think. If you do your best, it will be the same as Hideyoshi. People will respond to it when they understand how to let him save them from the wars. This is his strength, even more than mine.
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[Another shrug.] She thinks very little of me, and I don't expect that to change on account of a simple expedition. I'm doing my best here because it's the right thing to do. She can think what she likes.
For your sake, if she comes to me, I'll hear her out. It's not right that you should be caught in the middle between us.
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cw: suicide mention
Re: cw: suicide mention
cw: suicide
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