come_sailaway | APRIL OPEN LOG: PIRATE JENNY

APRIL OPEN LOG: PIRATE JENNY

[early risers with odd-numbered rooms might notice that the morning sun doesn't quite come through the curtains as much as it usually does; they can peer out the portholes to see their views blocked by black-painted wood. everyone else won't realize something's off until the morning announcements. there's the chime, and Friday speaks, but...]

Passengers, I'd like for you all to join me in the atrium at your earliest possible convenience! We have a… situation!

[there is no bind on their legs; going is their choice. but, who wouldn't? something interesting is happening, at least. for once.

when they arrive, they will find Friday, and find that she is not alone. a woman - tall, dark, with a flowing coat and a lit cigar hanging from the side of her mouth like an old movie gangster - is standing on the raised area by the stairs; they are having a conversation that's too quiet to hear, and the woman's face is nearly as inscrutable. when enough have gathered, Friday steps forward, her empty hands clasped together in front of her, as the woman puts out the cigar on the heel of her boot and tosses it thoughtlessly to the ground.]

Good morning, everyone! I.. I'd like, I'd like to, well, I'd -

[the woman places a firm hand on Friday's shoulder - spins her, grabs her, dips her low to the ground, and kisses her soundly. at the first touch, Friday freezes; but, at the dip, she squeaks, and throws her arms up to hold herself up. the woman returns her to a normal position, and grins widely.]

Let me handle this, Dajutia. Hm? [Friday nods, and the woman turns to face the passengers.] Tau, everyone! My name is Jenny Storm, but all my friends call me Pirate Jenny! And I'd like to think we're all friends, sí? You could call me an... alumnus of the Serena Eterna; I spent a good five years being a thorn in the side of our good Captain! So, when I heard that he was getting up to his old tricks again, I decided to come around and see the fresh meat! And maybe have a bit of a vacation myself!

[she looks at each of them in turn. her grin widens, showing sharp canines.]

Now, I am sure you are thinking, "Señora Storm? You are a pirate! Are you here to rob us of our valuables?" [she barks out a laugh, then shakes her head.] No, no. First off, we're friends; it's Pirate Jenny! And Pirate Jenny is not interested in such things. In fact, I have valuables for you!

[she makes a quick movement: she sticks her pointer finger in her mouth, and then immediately uses that same finger to make some sort of sketch on her palm. seconds later, that same palm closes around a single white rose, which she extends to Friday. she pauses... then takes it, careful, holding it gentle as a bird.]

I may not be the Captain, but I happen to have a little bit of magic of my own! And, for a very, very low price, I can grant you a few small wishes! Trifles from home, maybe - do you like rocket launchers? I am getting very good at rocket launchers!

Jenny...

Okay, okay, no rocket launchers... Machine guns are as big as I'll go, promise!

[Friday just audibly sighs and shakes her head, but there's a clear sort of fondness in it, and Jenny laughs again.]

So, be sure to chat me up, sí? After breakfast! I may not miss much about this damned ship, but I do miss those little omelets!

[she salutes the audience, and then immediately leaves, taking the stairs down three at a time and needlessly pushing her way through the small crowd on her way to the elevators. Friday merely watches her go; her fingers have worried the rose to shreds that fall at her feet.

the rest of the month, until the 13th, is very much the same, with one exception: Jenny's ship remains at the Serena Eterna's side, a sailing ship somehow keeping pace with a modern engine craft. and Jenny doesn't seem to be keeping an especially close eye on it.]

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[ César looks over at her in confusion, pulling his headphones off his head. He can see her hair is down, but that's just a fact to him at the moment. Especially since he had been engrossed in what he was watching and had barely registered her presence before.] Is there a problem?

( she moves her head over to césar but it's only brief as she looks right back up to the open sky. )

Word of advice? Never have long hair.

[ Pfft, a warm chuckle. ]

Dios mío, I'd never get out of the bathroom if I did. I'm already incredibly exacting enough with my hair as it is. Adding a couple of feet would push to the brink... ah. Your braids?

I can totally do it myself. I have been this whole time. Just...y'know, takes forever.

( she plays catch with herself with the comb; tossing it up in the air every so often. )

— And leaving it down is a no-go. — What if I trip over while shootin'?

[ César thinks and tries to ignore the exact logistics of shooting. He offers a wince. ]

That would be... bad. Is there anything I can do to help or pass the time to make it less excruciating?

( sitting up right, she swings herself over to face him fully. her eyes squint pretty hard as if she's trying to read him -- and she is, in a way. )

How good are you with braiding?

[ The scrutinizing look makes César's smile soften. ]

Honestly? I'm best put to use in the preparatory work for your braids. I don't have much experience braiding directly, but brushing all the knots out and helping you section it is something I'd be skilled enough at to be useful immediately, and it would still save you plenty of time.

Edited (I forget icons exist when I'm half awake lol) 2022-04-09 16:34 (UTC)

Right! —So you're hired...!

( clapping her hands together, she swings in her seat so her back is facing to him. she lifts up the comb up high above her head. )

You now have the privilege to comb through my hair. It's a ONE of a lifetime opportunity!! I oughta take it if I were you.

[ César gives a warm laugh that bubbles up from his chest as he drags over his chair so he has a place to sit. ]

Who would rightly refuse an opportunity like that?

[ He sits down and takes the comb, looking over what he has to work with. Then he slowly starts work on the ends, careful to not pull. ]

I don't have long hair myself, but I've helped people with theirs before....

[ He's helped his mother on occasion because he found it calming when he was little. Also, horses. He loves horses okay. Look at his boots. ]

Oh really? You'd think you'll ever grow out your hair? You miiiiiight look pretty wicked!

[ This is a much better conversation topic than guns. He loves talking about hair. Jinx has already worked through her hair pretty well, but it's always good to double-check. ]

I've considered it before... but I suppose the social aspects back home for why I haven't don't apply here. Perhaps I should revisit the idea, don't you think? Part of me has always wanted to grow my hair out.

[ This place has so many alternative hairstyles that his worry of coming off as even stranger than he already is on top of the general disapproval of men with long hair is kind of a moot point.

Look, Van Kleiss might be a megalomaniac hellbent on taking over the world, but he's the only other man he really met that took care of his hair well. The one literal aspect they could truly agree on. Besides the properties of physics and the principles of computer science and engineering, anyway. ]

Sure! I mean we're all stuck here so why not make the best of it? Go crazy! Smash some stuff, get tattoos and piercings, drink 'till ya pass out...!

( after all, she's been doing a little of that. although, the drinking she did the other night could had went...better. her memory is still fuzzy in a lot of areas but she recalls telling venti a bit too much information about herself than she liked. her only hope is maybe he was too drunk to remember it, too. )

[ Her hair is so long. He's having to gently scoop up parts of her hair as he works so he can even comb the bottom of jt. This is going to take a while. César is chuckling at those ideas, trying to imagine it. ]

Maybe a tattoo. Drinking just makes me dizzy and hate the loss of control. And I'm a builder, not a destroyer—I've always hated extremely loud noises anyway.

.... Maybe I'll go completely hog wild and color a streak of my hair and start a pony tail in the back.

[ he's making sure his tone indicates he's making extreme fun of himself.

Also good luck, Jinx!!! Oh no. ]

But the best part of life is losing control...! Just doin' whatever with no cares.

( although hearing he is a builder definitely perks her interest. )

Oh, yeah? — Whatcha build?

Just things here and there. I just started small repairing things around the house when I was little. Worked myself up to building small robots and machines. Then I got to the point where I was working with microscopic machines, artificial intelligence, artificial wormholes, and I may have a lab back home that's nearly capable of going the speed of light. It's just a fraction of a percentage off from breaking that barrier, and honestly, I really just ran out of time.

... all of what I do requires strict control or else it'll end up in disaster. Dying isn't fun, nor is killing others by accident.

Wow, that's insane!

( he isn't able to see it but she is grinning massively from ear to ear right now just hearing all of that. Just things here and there, he says. he was so being modest!! )

Okayokayokay!! — We totally gotta put our heads together later. Have you made anythin' since being on this ship? 'Cuz I've been dying to make something here and I just can't find any good steel without, y'know, ripping somethin' apart. Aaaaand I know No Face would be yammerin' in my ear if I tried.

I have been called a mad scientist....

[ César can hear the grin in her voice. This idea of his has some small chance of actually working. ]

Nothing physical. Like you said, we don't have the materials. But I've been working on developing some better laws for my AIs for everyone's safety. Boring stuff, but like I said—people can die if I don't keep my projects under control. That's the level I'm working at.

[ He pauses for a moment. ]

I'd be willing to work with you and show you some of what I know, but I do have three conditions. I also will warn you ahead of time that some of what I teach you might be filling in knowledge gaps in science and engineering, or figuring out how our worlds differ, and that will be boring. It sometimes takes time to get to the good stuff.

[ Another pause. ] No Face?

Edited 2022-04-10 00:27 (UTC)

"Mad scientist", huh? You're speakin' more and more my language. I'm sure we can work somethin' out.

( she adjusts herself in her seat; letting her legs hang out as she sways them back and forth. )

I'd love to know about the science-y stuff, honestly. Can't go wrong with some extra knowledge in the ol' noggin. Oh, No Face is Friday, by the way. 'Cuz she got no face.

No Face. I should have guessed.

[ He shakes his head in amusement. ]

I'm less mad than people think. My ideas are just out there.

[ He'll have to try mentioning the conditions again in a bit. There's stuff he can share regardless. ]

Where to start... do you know what the stars and the sun are? And what they are related to us?

Stars are a ball of gas that are mostly hydrogen and helium being held together by its own gravity. Aaand the sun is also a star at the center of the solar system. What about 'em?

[ He's about a third up her hair. Yeah, she was mostly through it already. César's exceedingly careful. For a moment, he pauses, looking towards the sky. He wonders how far ahead or behind his world is to others in terms of technology. Especially compared to hers. ]

Do you want to know more about them? I've always found it fascinating that we rely on a star to not tear itself apart to live but that we wouldn't be alive if the stars before hadn't.

Couldn't hurt to learn more about 'em. Back home, I've never really gotten the time to really wander about it since I had, y'know, other projects in the front line.

((lemme know if she'd interrupt anywhere and I can edit!))

[ Aha. He knew it. Time to start slowly expanding her view beyond just in front of her face. ]

Then I'm going to monologue for a bit if you don't mind. And, I also have pictures of stars. A lot of pictures.

The only reason we're alive is that stars eventually die. Through nuclear fusion, they create the heavier elements that make us. Our bodies are the result of countless of some of the most powerful objects in the universe tearing themselves apart.

The earliest stars were all enormous, at the edge of their limits, and they burned out in a fraction of the lifetime that our suns have. Millions instead of billions of years. The hottest stars are blue, likely five times hotter than the yellow star above us if it's anything like my sun. There are even cooler stars that glow red, and around my world, they're our most common neighbors. But neither of them will likely ever support life. The first burns too hot and too fast. The second are so faint that planets would be so close to it to be habitable that they'd be tidally locked, one side perpetually day, one side perpetually night.

So you have to have the right sun. You have to be on a planet that's just the right distance away from it. The planet has to be big enough to hold onto an atmosphere through gravity and its magnetic field without being so bit it stifles life. But none of that matters unless it has enough water and other elements for life to exist. Then, it takes billions of years to get to complex life, and eventually, us.

Speaking of billions of years... that's how old the light is that's reaching us from some of the stars in the sky. The ones we generally need powerful telescopes to see, because they're so far away. Light can only travel so quickly. Some of the stars in the sky we can see even with our naked eye might already be dead. Like, in my sun's instance, it takes eight minutes and 20 seconds for the light to reach my planet. Our sun could disappear, and we wouldn't know until that time had passed.

WOW! ― And I thought I couldn't meet anyone worse than Silco.

( it's a tease, really. after all, this is information she asked for to know. it just simply reminds her how silco would go on about his lessons; a lot of words and drawn-out. still... it's a nice little memory she holds dear during her time here. )

[ César cracks up, making sure to remove the comb as he laughs so he doesn't pull her hair. ]

To be fair, it's an incredibly broad subject. We're talking about all of creation! Stars, suns, and planets are the main constants in everyone's life here.

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