YOU'RE THE NEXT CONTESTANT

[sictransitgloriamundi]

WHO: the Captain + You
WHAT: contractually obligated price is right game
WHEN: 11/18, like nightish?
WHERE: Bellona Theater
WARNINGS: N/A, currently

[you've heard the announcement, the sound of Friday's cautious optimism as she spoke it. you've waited all day. now, it's time for the game.

the amount of effort that has gone into this production at Bellona can be safely defined as “minimal.” there are three podiums, with three slate boards and three pieces of chalk. there is another podium, currently empty, next to a plain folding table. there is a tablecloth draped over the table, covering a lumpy, inscrutable shape.

the most remarkable thing is the giant wheel set up on the other side of the empty podium. the slices of the giant circle are colorful, but also completely blank. the Captain actually spends 30 minutes prior to the start of the event simply sitting in front of it, back to the audience, and spinning it, listening to the loud clacking noise pick up and then die down again, before spinning it once more.

clackclackclack clack clack. clack. clackclackclackclackclack.

it's gonna be a long night.]

Comments

[astrogator]

[Ari's surprised that he remembers so little, but she accepts it with a nod.]

I think I understand. A new name for the transition points in your life. It wasn't just the name that changed, everything else did too. That must have made it easier to discard the old ones. A part of you is still Kipposhi, but it's an old part; you're long past it now. It's such an interesting custom!

Do you think you'll ever gain any more names, in future?

[konpeito_aji]

Yes.

[To the last...] I am nearly at the end of my life now. Men in my time don't live long past fifty, unless they are exceptionally rare and manage the fabled peace that does not exist in Hell yet.

At home... no, certainly not. It would require something bigger than marriage or setting sail. I'd have to actually become religious, probably. "The first unifier of Japan" I suppose, but that's more of a title than a name.

Here... it would be on others I suppose. To give me a name or title, or nickname. I can't imagine what that could be for, but it's less unlikely, I suppose.

[astrogator]

I was only curious about how it worked. I like your name; I don't think you need a new one. Definitely not if you would have to be religious to get one. [Her nose wrinkles in disdain. No, she doesn't want him to become a monk, what a terrible idea.]

[But now something else is troubling her.] Fifty? Such a short life? On Cardalek some people have close to three times as long, with the right medicines. Is it...inevitable? [She's very worried. He doesn't look elderly to her at all.]

[konpeito_aji]

I'm fond of my name too. Though it meant Trust the Length; of my vision, my ambition, the long term goals of Japan's longevity past my lifespan or what anyone could see in our time. A name change for here wouldn't be inappropriate, considering. But the formality of such a thing... [A headshake, and he grins all amusement at accidentally turning her against monks. Oops.]

It's not inevitable, no. It's cut short by war, famine, and disease. Perhaps Nobunaga can mean the trust the length of my individual lifespan now. To persevere and not become a ghost. To do the impossible here as well.

[astrogator]

[Trust the Length? That sounds very odd to Ari, but she supposes it's no worse than carrying a string of family names, or one for Stanley Lorentzen.]

Yes, formalities are difficult when there's nobody else around to understand the nuance. I still think you could be Nobunaga for your ambition. A longer lifespan, too, but we're going to get you up on a starship someday, one way or another. That's a long way to go.

[konpeito_aji]

I like it. Then that is what Nobunaga means now. Thank you General. [Gives her a salute! She's a Lt. in Tradelines, but one of his generals fufufu.]

[astrogator]

[Ari grins. There might not be generals on the Tradelines, but she could definitely get used to this.]

You're welcome!

[And she salutes back, because she thinks it's a nice little custom of his.]