Freedom's the answer, what is the question?

[astrogator]

Who: Arilanna Tayrey + You (plus closed prompts for CR)
What: Astrophysics, plotting, swimming
Where: Various places
When: Early/mid February



i. Gifts from home (Closed to Crichton)

[Ari Tayrey has had some interesting packages from Sundries before, but none that meant as much to her as the latest arrivals. It's doubtful that anyone has ever been so excited over astrophysics textbooks as the young astrogator was when she unwrapped them. There's only one problem. She's knowledgeable. She could certainly pass an advanced degree on Earth in the subject, despite her age - but Ari has her limits, and in what is a rare occurrence for her, she's struggling to understand the very advanced material she has been given.

There's only one person she thinks might be able to help. She seeks out Crichton, in the lounge. There's a large, spiral-bound book under her arm. Its pages are thin plastic, not paper.]

Commander Crichton? I have something from home. I have quite a lot from home, really - [She's smiling broadly at this] - but I want to ask your help with this. If you don't mind.

ii. The beginnings of an idea (Closed to CR)

[[This is for existing CR who Ari is certain support her efforts to escape from the ship and won't betray plans to the Captain or his supporters. If she likes you but isn't sure, you're not invited. If you're an acquaintance but she is sure, you are. Characters will have been invited via text.

See starter in top comment below. I'm going to try doing this as a single conversation thread, no tag order, but if it naturally breaks into separate conversations at some point that's fine.]]

iii. Friendly competition (Open)

[When she came aboard the ship, Ari didn't know how to swim. She's now a strong, confident swimmer, having put plenty of effort into practicing. She's also slightly more at ease with being seen in her Tommy Bahama swimwear. It still feels a little like standing about in her underwear, but others wear less, and nobody seems to care about any of it.

Always looking for a challenge, she has moved onto diving - in particular, retrieving objects from the bottom of the pool. Often she's alone, but today there's someone else there, and they've noticed what she's up to. An idea occurs to her, and she waves in their direction.]

You interested in a competition? I've got a handful of coins here. Say I throw them in and we see who can pick the most up? One at a time, swim over and put it on the side before we go for the next.

iv. A disappointment (Open, February 9)

[When the fair visit had been announced, Ari had expected they would be travelling by tender, and that between them, she and the other would-be escapees would be able to carry out the necessary recon to make their escape possible on the next trip. Alas, it was not to be.

Here she is, standing and staring at the metal detector as if it's some alien object - which, to her, it may well be. She's seen a person step through and simply disappear. Ari's hand goes to the energy weapon at her belt, as if for security.]

Well. I'm not going near that.

[The words are addressed to whomever happens to be nearby.]

v. Fun with printers (Open)

[Are you passing by Ari's cabin at the end of the corridor? You may hear a loud sound. It's not entirely unlike this.

The door is ajar, so she might not mind a visitor. The door also looks to have a little sign on it. It's made of a thin plastic, and has Lieutenant Arilanna Tayrey printed on it in solid letters. Want your own door sign? Or anything else printed? She may be able to help...]

x. Wildcard! (Open)

[Find Ari in any of her usual places. She's had deliveries from home and is wearing a new lapis lazuli bracelet and may offer you a cinnamon biscuit. She's also now training with a practice sword. Other ideas are welcome - PM, message on Plurk, or just throw up a surprise starter!]

Comments

[astrogator]

[There's undisguised relief on her face when he reappears. She listens to his description and is about to protest that it sounds like entertainment for small children when she realises that half of it is likely appealing to Nobunaga himself.

Ari is... probably never going to get used to that.]

None of that sounds very productive.

[She does step forward and take his hand, but it's to give it a little squeeze. She clearly has no intention of going any further. That's the end of it, unless he wants to risk her wrath again - proving the danger of hand-holding by dragging her through.]

What do you mean, headache? Are you unwell? [She's looking him over carefully - in particular checking to see if his tattoo or any other markings have vanished.]

[konpeito_aji]

[Yeah. He 100% is into the childishness of it.]

[He won't drag her! She's clear about her misconceptions so he can either dispel her fears, or fail trying.]

It is the demon in me threatening to unleash and go on a rampage. [He says with a half smile. Clearly it's not that big a deal. It mostly just means he wants to run around playing the games and eating candy.]

[And he holds his hand up to explain that without grand metaphors:] Likely an untrained person trying to adjust to the jump of one universe going into another. That said, I do not know enough about future medicine to say for certain it isn't something more sinister. [The other reason he won't try to drag her.]

[astrogator]

[She knows him well enough now to have absolutely no concerns at the prospect of his demonic rampage. It's going to be harmless and probably involve lots of silly games.]

I wish I could help, but I'm no medic, and the equipment here... well, maybe Ensign Tendi could give you a brain scan, if you're worried. If it's some kind of inter-universe space sickness, then I'd probably be fine. [There's a slight temptation to prove it, but Ari holds back.]

You know what this is going to be, Oda? Harmless games and fun until the slaughter starts. That's how it works here.

[konpeito_aji]

[100%!]

That's my theory. That it's the kind of thing you're immune, or at least well-adjusted, to. And if not, that would be a helpful indicator to the exact mechanics behind us being brought and tied here beyond the "soul" label.

[A blank stare.] That sounds like a good reason for you to join, not avoid it. Are you scared?

[astrogator]

[Ari gives him an uncertain look. Is he trying to call her a coward?]

What's the reason to join a pointless fight we know nothing about except that we will make absolutely no difference? It's not strategically sound. I am not playing more twisted games. I refuse. I tried everything within my power last time, and gained nothing by it.

[She'd always been reluctant to involve herself. He'd convinced her last time, said he wanted her at his side. Not that it had helped, ultimately.]

You know I'm not afraid to die for a good reason. These games don't qualify.

[It's as close as she's come to admitting how much she'd been hurt by it all. She'd focused on others before - looking after them, or being angry with them. Either way, it made it easy to avoid personal reflection.]

[konpeito_aji]

Absolutely no difference? Do you really think that?

[Head tilt. Nobunaga would argue they had accomplished a LOT, and he'd have been utterly broken if she hadn't been there.]

[He thinks about it. He's still so bad at giving hugs except to think of it as an attack, but gently holds her in close and rests his head on top of hers.]

You didn't just save my life last time. You saved me. We learned even more about what the Captain fears and why, the ways in which he restricts himself. We overcame some of our own worst obstacles and uncovered our -- well my weaknesses. We know how things get corrupted, and what the Captain isn't capable of.

I won't push you. You were right about the voting thing, and you won our bet about karaoke, so far my track record is nil. But Sun Tzu, remember? [He pokes a finger to her forehead as if trying to touch the knowledge from inside her mind itself.] The largest part of war is just putting yourself into the best position to take advantage of the environment.

If you want, I will stand between you and anything you wish. We can map everything and then tomorrow stay in and play games. And day 3 I'll go see if the slaughter has started and the rides are all deathtraps.

I expect it will be more like the gameshow, we'll expect a shark filled pool and dagger throwing wheels of chance and they won't appear. But refusing to enjoy such things won't bother him, it would just make him think death and torture are stronger, because they last longer and people get traumatized beyond repair. I think the truly strongest thing to do is not attribute this to him at all. Nothing he can do is comparable to what i do to myself without even trying. [He manages to say with a smug smirk. This fucking lunatic.] Do what you want either way, no matter what he does. And if you have to stay here for that, so be it, but he'll just think you're scared that having fun would lessen your conviction, even though we both know that's impossible.

[Secretly, he thinks he needs a Mitsuhide after all. Hideyoshi wouldn't go for this either. At worst to stop Nobunaga and that's about it. Probably a personality thing, right? Ieyasu neither. Not for anything. Ranmaru would go without suggestion, but sure, Nobunaga knows Klaus will too. Still, he's told Teyrey to be as stubborn as she feels on things, so maybe this is that. He never can tell until it's tested out.]

[astrogator]

[She's stubborn because it seems as if there's little to gain. Unlike Nobunaga, she doesn't often let her guard down enough to really have fun, and not much about this appeals. He'd have had a much better chance if he'd asked her to patrol the fairground looking for danger, she'd have seen that as a duty to attend to... but maybe that isn't what he wants.

Still, she does listen. It's rare that she doesn't take him seriously. And it's comforting that he holds her close. She stays there, with his arms around her.]

I'm not sure what Sun Tzu would say about territory literally created by someone else this morning. It seems like an automatic disadvantage to me. Our best position might be well clear of it all. The ship is familiar ground.

But Oda... I'm glad I was there for you. I just... I wish that we'd been able to change the outcome. I'm not afraid. I'm frustrated, at not having any real power. I worry because I don't know how much someone can lose before they really are damaged beyond repair, and if this is another stupid trap where people are killed and we can't save anyone, I'll be angry with myself for walking right into it, when there's nothing to gain by it.

It feels like we're being enticed. Aren't you at all suspicious?

[konpeito_aji]

I doubt he created it only in a day. Even the Jesus-God took a week to create the universe and everything in it. [Joking!]

[But his smirk fades slightly at her words. She's so serious, so genuine. Precious. He always worries she'd be so hurt in his time, completely massacred.]

Of course I'm suspicious. I'm not enticed either. I don't let my guard down for anyone. You've come closer to getting inside my peripheral than anyone in my whole life, Klaus included. I spring traps. If you don't, then your enemies can see your fears and make it worse. [Growing up in near absolute peace. It's still an anathema to him, who has only ever experienced his first taste of it here, where she experienced the opposite: her first real taste of war.]

Speculatively: [Both hands up, because he knows with Teyrey to draw clear lines when it comes to the Captain, what is certain, what is thinking and guesses.] I don't think he likes his toys completely breaking. It's boring. He doesn't like repetition. And he is trying something new.

If I was truly completely genuinely sure that he's going to do something dangerous that could get us killed, I'd demand you come with me. Noncompliance won't save anyone. Only by fighting back can we find the weaknesses to strike. You might find your aircraft on the other side, and he doesn't really understand humans well enough to prevent all the things we can do and improvise that he's incapable of thinking of.

Teyrey, I'm going to tell you something no one here other than Klaus might suspect, but have you ever used the elevators here?

[astrogator]

[She can't help a little smile at his comment about creating the universe, but she soon turns serious again.]

Noncompliance might not save people, but it does prove the point that I'm not a toy, to be played with. Manipulated. [Ari sighs, softly.] You know what flying means to me. I'd sooner never go up in a shuttle again than have it used as a means to control my behavior.

You know I'm not afraid to fight. If there's danger here, I'll be the first to face it. But I'm not going to go looking for it. That's not about fear, it's common sense. You told me that I shouldn't give that man such importance in my life, so I won't. I'll avoid him, and all his stupid games, and work on more important things.

[Ad yet Ari already knows that if Nobunaga did demand it, she'd go - but that's because she trusts him enough that she doesn't think he'd make that demand without a very good reason. Which she'd be sure to ask for.]

I've been in the elevator. I prefer the stairs, though. Better for keeping fit. Why do you ask?

[konpeito_aji]

Don't think of it as a bribe, or an attempt to lure you into complacency. We both know you're strong enough such a thing could never work. Rather it is an expression both of his attempts to ensure a true reality, and the force of your own will and personality that bring such opportunities here. To ignore the chances as they are doesn't benefit anyone. It's merely zen. - That is that philosophy that rather than mutually beneficial arrangements, one should try to keep everything at a balance in which no side gains territory either way. It's very annoying. I hate zen. It is a monk thinking. "Don't enjoy life, nor long too much for death, just try to achieve pure neutral balance." Very pointless.

What will you work on instead? This is a rare window of opportunity to gain information on either side of the gate, of course.

I cannot handle the elevator. Even if someone could illustrate for me the exact blueprints for how it's designed and works, I will always see the ways it could be a death trap. Reasonably, I know that it's more effective for the ship to not use it like that, just use it as a normal future human elevator, but I can only think of the ways things would break down. If the elevator is going to break down, surely the stairs aren't safer, the same problems could exist on either end. But I know how to counter the problems with stairs. I can still fight my way through them. The unknowns of the elevator are the ones that put me more on edge.

Do you see how this applies to going through the gate?

[astrogator]

We already know there are no mutually beneficial arrangements between me and him. No contract. So my refusal to comply is, as I said, a statement that I'm not some toy to be manipulated. I'm strong enough for that, and perception matters. If there's a way to take metaphorical territory, I'll do it, but I'm not ceding any.

I'm going to spend my time training, and studying the physics of wormholes. [Normal Ari routine, in other words. She's been studying a lot lately.]

I see what you're trying to say, about the elevator. Here's the trouble. I could tell you that I lived on the 284th floor of Cardalek Tower and never had any elevator problems, but that wouldn't matter. Your concerns wouldn't go away - and the stairs are safer, objectively, and you don't lose anything by choosing the stairs instead. The only issue would be if the stairs were unusable and you really needed to get to a higher level. Could you overcome your misgivings and use the elevator? If you could, then it doesn't matter that you choose not to use it the rest of the time.