(Fitness Center- Natalie, Junkyo, Miss Loki, Carlotta, Phagora)

"Depends on what sin they're associated with," Phagora responded in answer to Carlotta's question. "My father's the Lord of Gluttony, so he can do it. I can, too, though I've only had cause to do it once, and the poor fool really earned my wrath. Don't ever hurt my friends, or you'll regret it for a very long time."

The half-demon nodded as Carlotta pieced herself together. "Glad to see you're doing better, Carlotta. As for the rest of you, I believe introductions are in order. I'm Phagora, head chef at the restaurant down on Deck 1. It's a pleasure to see so many new faces."

(Pool Deck- Rebecca, Sinstrina, Mina)

<So many necromancers, it's a wonder this pool isn't swarming with ghosts. Then again, I doubt anyone's drowned in this tub.> Rebecca looked at Mina. "Ah, ghosts. An interesting topic. I was about to show Sinistrina here how to perform a Calling when we sensed your presence. If you'd like, you'd be more than welcome to join us." The redhead leaned back a little bit, rather content- she already felt a sense of kinship with Sinistrina, and perhaps Mina would be a fine friend as well.

[Scout (Halberd, Reshk, 'The Zaran')]

Both Reshk and the zaran turned to stare at Halberd. Despite the massive differences in their physiology, in both cases the stare managed to convey the same sentiment: Really?

"Do they... not have malmetal where you're from?" Reshk asked. He ran one membranous 'hand' over the panel in a specific jagged pattern, and several layers of material seemed to simply melt aside, revealing a number of miniature coiling tubes in the same earth tones as most of the Scout's other components. One of them was highlighted by a pinkish alert hologram similar to the one on the outside. "Cable-tool," he told the zaran, which proceeded to open a nearby bulkhead in the same manner.

As the big cyberbeing reached inside, Reshk looked back at Halberd and tapped the top of his head. "Tech advances, but the problems stay the same. This here's a snapped wire shrunk down a bunch of scales to the microfilamental level." His translator unit briefly let out a crackle as he spoke. "But like I was saying earlier, the fix weren't exactly the main reason we brought you aboard. You called yourself a 'pirate' earlier?"

[Comet Cafe (Loki, Sakura, QR)]

It didn't take long for the group to finish their drinks - or at least for the two humanlike women to do so. QR had barely touched her j'qrx-2 water (which looked pretty much identical to Earth bottled water), though she had taken a few sips for the sake of appearances. It wasn't as though it would actually pose a problem.

Rather than engage in further conversation, she had divided her attention between her two tablemates. Inigo - if that was even her real name - had initially been the more interesting, with the hints that she might have been some sort of being only appearing human. Possibly with ties to a particular human mythology, if she speculated accurately. But Sakura had also grown more peculiar as she seemed to display unfamiliarity with a wide variety of concepts and idioms. Had her reality's Earth suffered some disaster?

She let out a slight hiss. Still, I suppose mythology would be more in keeping with my own specialties.

"She did not call you a duck, Norway is a human political entity, and I find it curious that I" - a hand waved briefly up and down emphasized her own nonhuman nature - "am telling you this instead of the reverse."

She ran a hand over the shiny surface of the table, letting her fingertips subtly absorb a bit of the decorative metal, before glancing again in Inigo's direction. The shorter human's garish attire, she reflected, was almost appropriate for this setting. But not quite.

Nor is that a suitable opening conversational gambit. Sss.

"If I might ask, zer, where are you planning on going after this? I might want to come along."

[Deck 1 ~ Arboretum (Minerva; Hadia; Aubrey, Pearl)]

Hadia greeted Minerva with a winning smile and said, "Hadia al-Filasteeni. Nice to meet you. What brings you out here to the stars?" She then realized she hadn't explained what she was up to herself. "I'm officially here on 'recon', but Alice — Alice Winters, our Chief Security Officer — really just told me to treat it like a vacation and jot down anything interesting."

To Aubrey, Hadia then said, "you work in banking? Interesting topic. I know a bit about it; our company does agricultural loans, mostly as a way to keep our main business growing. What's good for farmers is good for Western Amalgamated, see, so we can sacrifice some profit margin on the loans and offer simply a better deal." Plus they wanted to undermine Meadows & Associates, which had come to dominate the financial sector; being practically parasitic nation-states unto themselves, the two corps meant they were becoming rivals despite their theoretically non-overlapping industries. "But I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about work," Hadia added.

edited 1st Jan '18 1:16:16 PM by KillerClowns

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; Sakura; QR)

"Yeah, what she said," Loki told Sakura after the alien had given her explanation to the girl for the things the goddess had said, before pulling up a 2016 geopolitical map of the world on her phone.

"Here's where Norway is in the world," she said, indicating the northwest region of the Scandinavian peninsula, "and this," she took two fingers and used them to zoom in on a certain island archipelago, "is Japan. The reason I asked about Japan is because you look Japanese, your name is Japanese, so I thought, maybe you're from Japan (that's what I meant by the ducks, by the way), or as it seems, what used to be Japan." She tilted her head slightly, before asking the girl, "So, does this look familiar to you?"

She then turned to QR, "I hadn't really planned where I'd be going to next, figured I'd leave that to a group decision. But that might end up leading in circles, all things considered," she said with a frown, before cheering back up, "anyway, this place has got holodecks, an arcade, a small amusement park, all sorts of stuff. I'd be happy going anywhere, I guess. Did you have anything in mind?" she asked.

Loki asked another question of the alien, "So, I take it you're an anthropologist? You seem so very knowledgeable of Earth," she said as she got up from the table and stretched. She then wrapped up all the stuff she hadn't eaten and stuffed into her coat pockets before grabbing her staff, "I myself am a ward of the state."

edited 4th Jan '18 1:30:38 PM by WillDeRegio

Club Pluto

Ryya gave Kittan a wary look along with Kokoro, but quickly dismissed the tar girl's guesses. "Well, no, it's not... necromantic." She replied. "Not like Sinistrina or Rebecca, at least."

She tapped her chin, wondering how to explain it. "It's hard to explain. Especially since I never really learned how to do it. I'm more of a fighter, you know?" As to mark her point, she gave a swing at the empty air.

"My people has learned how to channel their inner lifeforce to the exterior." She explained. "Monks like me use it to power themselves and become much stronger. Mystics can use it to heal wounds and for mild divination, to see the weather and such. They can also commune with spirits, which is what I had said before."

"If we had a mystic around this would be much easier. Or better yet, a Spiritspeaker. They'd know what to do. I think it's more like... Talking to them and waiting for them to answer?" Ryya wondered, scratching her head. She tried to recall what the other Sages had taught her about spiritspeaking. "It's like, we use our lifeforce to enter the realm where spirits rest, and ask them questions."

Ryya sighed, and leaned a little on her staff. "I was told spiritspeaking is dangerous and nigh impossible to achieve without practice or guidance. Normally, I wouldn't be able to do it, buuuut I'm not exactly normal when it comes to it." She gave Kokoro a confident smile. "I don't know if I'll get something or just make a fool of myself, but we don't lose anything if I try, don't you think?"

[Comet Cafe]

Sakura looked at Inigo's map with amazement. "A moving map!" she exclaimed. "This place is incredible!" Eyeing the map intently, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Is this really what the world looks like? But how can that be? There's so much water... and it's so green! I though Southern Kagos was the only place with so much green. And the water, I've never seen so much water!" She leaned back and scratched her head. "I don't recognize those islands... But I've never been beyond Kagos, really, so..." she offered a sheepish shrug. "I don't know why I look Japanese, or why my name's Japanese! I don't know anything about ancient history! Sorry." She blushed and shrank into her seat.

She eyed Hakodate on the map again. "It sure sounds related, though, huh?" she murmured.

She heard about her little friend's status as a "ward of the state" and perked up again. "Oh, that's... does that mean..." she hesitated, trying to phrase her question delicately. "You don't have... I mean, you're... a orphan? I'm so sorry."

Fitness Center (Natalie, Miss Loki, Junko, Carlotta, Phagora)

Carlotta blinked in confusion when Junko talked about yokai. "So they are personifications of things, things inhabited by otherworldly spirits or something? Reminds me a bit of the fairy folk. Oh yes, and I am Carlotta Posset, uh... adviser to the court of Queen Lucina of Solevaille." She reached a ceramic hand up to shake, to a level just barely high enough for Junko to reach down. "I do feel better, if uh... not at my full strength." There was just the slightest tone of worry in her voice toward the end.

And she blinked in confusion again when Phagora told of her one experience with eating someone's soul. "For a very long time? But doesn't someone just cease to exist when their soul disappears? If it were me I'd put their soul in a bottle, add some of the deathly mists, and keep them there for—" She stepped back and blushed. What am I saying?! "....Not that I would actually do that, I don't think I even can. I've seen it happen though. Many times. Even been in a house that tears souls apart and devours them." She gazed at the floor during the last couple of sentences, but then looked up at the half-demon. "That fool must have done something very bad to warrant such an act... and wrath isn't even your sin."

Hangar - The Scout (Reshk, The Zaran, Halberd)

Halberd stepped back and rubbed his goatee, watching intently as Reshk opened the "malmetal" thing with some sort of tactile password, causing the metal to melt away. How does that work? A different elemental variant of quicksilver perhaps, implanted with an electrical signature? "Hmm, interesting, a password-locked touch screen that functions as a melt-away cover," he thought aloud. "Malmetal... never seen anything like it before."

Then he just had to raise an eyebrow at Reshk mentioning an ulterior motive for bringing him along. "A pirate? Aye, so to speak, just like what the zaran called you," he replied, in a hint of a Scottish accent that seemed actually not forced. But he dropped it after that. "Why? Looking to steal, rob, deceive, spy, swindle, infiltrate, or perhaps even hack into something?" He actually counted those items off on his fingers. "You are looking at the leader of the Black Cat Bandits. Not that that means anything of course."

edited 13th Jan '18 1:41:04 AM by ladytanuki

Deck 1 - Arboretum

Pearl smiled as Minerva introduced herself. She recognised the name - the Roman goddess of poetry and wisdom, amongst other things. "Oh, do join us, please. We're just chatting and getting to know each other. It seems to me that there are so many Earths; much more than I had imagined. I'm Pearl, formerly of Earth, lately of Terra Nova."

Aubrey, too, recognised the name as that of a mythological Roman goddess - the one Ovid called 'the goddess of a thousand works'. It was interesting, the names parents bestowed on their children.

Aubrey construed Hadia's statement about being on 'recon' as a contraction 'reconnaissance' or 'reconnoitre' and 'jotting down anything interesting' seemed to fit with that role. He wondered again what it was about people from Wolfe's era and beyond that they felt the need to contract every second or third word and speak almost entirely in diminutives.

He nodded acknowledgement of Hadia's comment, noting that her employers engaged in Investment Banking, and smiled. "I certainly didn't, but it is interesting to learn how others make their living." He turned to Minerva. "Pleased to meet you, Minerva. My name's Aubrey." He didn't bother telling her his surname - moderns tended to go on first-name basis, anyway. "Pearl and I are here on holiday for some rest and recreation." Wolfe and Gwion had called it 'R and R'.

edited 15th Jan '18 12:50:04 AM by Wolf1066

[Moonshine Bar/Lounge] (Nana, Ulf, Teri, Sophia, Wolfe, Gwion)

Ulf blinked at Teri's proposal.

"I...actually haven't reflected on that."\\ He tried to gather his thoughts through another drink, not too great a plan he supposed.

"I've had to live light for so long I do not have much...feel for what a typical life is." He raised a hand to his chin in thought for a moment then chuckled. "Though I suppose one could consider this trip a return to form. And it is nice to not have to hide, I still have bouts of paranoia but adjustment is happening." He shrugged again. "My past is best left behind."

Pool Deck (Mina, Sinistrina, Rebecca)

Mina bit her tongue at the request for clarification.
"More of a..." a stream of words bubbled forth from her lips, an amalgamation of names for various undead entities both known to her and unknown as she fished for the right name. She clicked her jaw shut in surprise.

"That is interesting. Yes, I am still alive, but as far as I can tell physical age does not touch me and the power seems more something to direct rather than draw. The entities in my world describe it similarly but," she sighed in dead-seated weariness. "I can't find a case of similar circumstances."

"A phylactery is..." she tried to clarify again and felt the beginning of her tongue trying to get away again. "An anchor, spiritual or physical. Crystals are common, but some can press their...being into the world so deeply they can linger indefinitely. There are legends that say one being anchored his being into the memories of the populace so as they are remembered, they can never fade. That is scholar territory though. And I am very much "winging it." in regards to that."

She shuddered at the mention of ghosts. She wasn't fond of incorporeal necromancy. But Rebecca seemed excited about the prospect, and she admitted the not-zombie lich was interesting on a fundamental level. The two also seemed to know necromancy rather than feel it, more knowledge on the subject could be very useful.

"I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it. When are you planning?"

Moonshine Bar/Lounge

Sophia was quite taken by Nana's poetic comment about bars and inns being 'candles to the moths of interesting individuals' - and she rather liked the inference. That Nana was so casual about the prospect of being roped into incidents, was quite interesting as well.

Ulf's brief answer was nonetheless enlightening, as was the fact that Gwion nodded understanding of Ulf's words.

Wolfe listened with interest to Nana's description of her own town. What she said about the soldiers' 'unhealthy relationship' with local town people reminded him of stories his father had told him about the behaviour of US soldiers stationed in Wellington during World War II: treating the local women as doxies and treating the Māori population with the same low regard they treated their blacks - which resulted in riots such as the infamous 'Battle of Manners Street' and led to them being derisively nicknamed 'bedroom commandos' and frequently referred to as 'overpaid, oversexed and over here'. Clearly some of them should have been bound and gagged. It seemed that whatever differences there were between Nana's world and his Earth, there were similarities. "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, I suppose." He paused as he realised what he had said then put on the foppish British accent employed by Anthony Andrews. "Sink meh! I am a poet, and you did not know it."

Teri, for whom 1982 was still fairly recent history, recognised the quote and portrayal. "Well, Terra Nova's got some really good points and some fings that are bloody god-awful an' there are fings from Earf I miss, and fings I'm glad to be shot of as well. It's 'ard to pick the 'igh 'n' low points." She made a face. "It's no better or worse 'n Earf, really. Just dif'rent. I miss me old mates an' me fam'ly but I've got great new mates 'oo I trust wiv me life an' they're like a fam'ly t'me."

Wolfe nodded, understanding her sentiment completely. "Yeah. For all it's clear faults like hangings, huge gaps in the technology and people with attitudes towards sex, sexuality and ethnicity that are quite literally relics of less-accepting times, I've got to say that the worst thing about Terra Nova is that my family isn't there with me. It's best point - for me, anyway - is how relatively unspoiled it is. The colonised areas aren't large enough or industrialised enough to have made much impact on the global ecosystem and it's not too difficult to get so far away from 'civilisation' that you can imagine you're back in Europe before the arrival of humans. It hasn't been as royally fucked as the Earth of my time."

Gwion grimaced. "If you wanna see a 'royally fucked' ecosystem, look no further than Earth of my time. We're trying to fix things up 'n' we've stopped a lotta the shit that was the cause of the problems, but we've got years to go before we get back to merely 'as bad as it was at the beginning of the twenty-first century'." He took a hit from his vapouriser. "But I wouldn't call that the 'worst' thing - it's somethin' we're working on, after all. Automation was s'posed to 'free up humans to do what they really want' - and, o'course, certain creative tasks can't be automated or taken over by machines and machines don't own companies - but in reality, not everyone wants to - or has what it takes to - be a great artist or entrepreneur or has the skills or desire to program the machines... or is guaranteed to get one of the limited number of jobs for which they are suited and desire, or even wants to work at all. So in reality, most people just live off their stipend as "paid consumers" to keep the money flowing, bombarded by a glut of poor-to-mediocre 'art' and companies that will never get a millionth of a percent of the market share. Now you can see why my young friend, here, talks of apathy, despair and laziness." He paused to eat a couple of the wedges. "On the other hand, I remember the earlier years of the century and I'm happy to state that gender, sexuality and ethnicity are all finally non-issues. People have finally got to that point where they no longer idly wonder, as they no longer care, about the sex, gender-identity, sexual inclination or ethnicity of those they interact with online. People are finally seeing others as unique people and they only start wondering about the gender and sexuality of someone else if they personally find them interesting and attractive and hope that they'll reciprocate, it's about fucking time, too."

Wolfe nodded agreement with Gwion's sentiment on not being concerned with labels, knowing that the Earth he left hadn't reached that state and the world he now inhabited would not attain it until a very large percentage of the current population died off. At his age, he doubted he would live to see it.

Teri, as the recipient of more than a little judgment - on both Earth and Terra Nova - based on her sex and/or ethnicity, felt a twinge of jealousy and turned to Gwion. "What're the immigration laws like where you're from?"

Sophia took another massive hit of rum-flavoured vapour and exhaled the cloud towards the ceiling. "Looks like it might be my turn for a round. What's everyone wanting to drink?"

Deck 1 ~ Arboretum (Minerva; Hadia; Aubrey, Pearl)

Minerva returned Hadia's smile with a warm one of her own, "I'm also on vacation; some of my company's employees overseas booked this trip, and they invited me for... reasons I'm not entirely sure of, but it was nice of them to do so," she said, before raising an eyebrow, "So, reconnaissance? I do that too, sometimes."

The gynoid gave a polite head nod and smile as she settled in with the group, "Theoretically, there are an infinite number of Earths," she stated, before pursing her lips slightly, "So, “New Earth”; I'm presuming that's a story I missed before joining the conversation?"

Deck 9 ~ Fitness Center (Junko; Miss Loki(?), Natalie(?); Phagora; Carlotta)

The girl knelt down to gently shake Carlotta's hand; "Junko Shibata, magical girl of the AEGIS Special Defense Task Force," she said, "good to know that you're mostly alright." Standing back up, she fidgeted with her hand wraps slightly, "And yeah, yokai are a bit like the fae, with a decent number of counterparts to boot."

Junko attempted to hide the smirk that crept onto her face, "Interesting name for a chef." Her smirk then turned into a frown, "Lord of Gluttony? What do you mean by that?" she asked, slightly perplexed. She then glanced between Carlotta, who she narrowed her eyes at for the rather odd comment of bottling souls, and Phagora, her frown deepening, "I missed out on something, didn't I?"

Fitness Room- Phagora, Carlotta, Junkyo, Miss Loki, Natalie

"Whoever said anything about the souls disappearing?" Phagora asked with a smirk. "He's still there; that's how he's going to spend his afterlife, at least until I die. What happens then, I don't know.

And before you ask how someone could deserve such a fate, he tried to murder the matriarch of my coven. A woman I consider a second mother. He was killed in the ensuing chaos, and I did the deed in an act of haste. I do not regret it, though- let it serve as a warning to the next who tries us."

She then turned to Junkyo. "A pleasure to meet you, Junkyo. It is interesting to see so many witches around, or whatever term they prefer for themselves. As for the Lord of Gluttony... well, each of the Seven Sins has a Demon Lord, a personification, if you will. The Lord of Gluttony happens to be my father. Simple enough, really."

Fitness Center (Natalie, Miss Loki, Junko, Carlotta, Phagora)

Carlotta averted her gaze from Phagora when she clarified what she did to the would-be murderer's soul. "...Oh. So more like a time-out." She thought about elaborating, but she wasn't exactly sure how a soul feels when it's trapped inside something without any other magic affecting it. Plus Junko seemed uncomfortable about the topic.

Speaking of Junko, Carlotta blinked her big spring-green eyes at her. "Magical girl of a task force? You mean there's a magic constabulary where you are from? Dedicated to stopping misbehaving yokey?"^note Carlotta, butchering new terms since 1903...ish.

Pool Deck (Rebecca, Sinistrina, Mina)

Mina's elaboration on what a phylactery was really piqued Sinistrina's interest. It confirmed her suspicion and more. "A spiritual anchor? You mean souls can be tethered to other souls..." She trailed off and shook her head, knowing that that practice was something she ought not pursue. "But an object is so much easier. And not just crystals... in fact I find that an object dear to the person works the best, or perhaps a medium - a frame, a canvas - which can express their memories." Here her eyes closed and her tone seemed more distant. "A memory is a powerful focus for a soul, after all."

After a pause, she returned to the present moment, it seemed. "And this power you speak of... is that what keeps you from aging?" It was a guess; Lucina was able to "heal" the effects of aging with her own magic, but then she also wasn't a necromancer.^note Actually, technically she is, in a way. Her magic works by stimulating and strengthening the soul, and then there are those artificial souls she makes for dolls to bring them to life. Shhhh, don't tell her I said that though. "That field we detected coming from you... it felt like a reanimating force, after all. And it sounds like it is something you share with others, like the water of an ocean. That correct?"

Her gaze wandered over towards Rebecca, as they had just been discussing using such an object to attract souls for a "calling", as she put it. "I suppose we are planning for whenever you are ready," she said to Mina. "In fact I know just the place... the spirit room on the upper deck."

"Does that sound all right, Rebecca?" she asked the other lich. "Seems apt for such a rite. I at least would prefer we not do it here - too many people, noises, and bright lights."

An eavesdropping robot rolled out from behind a chair. "If the lights are too bright you know you could adjust the setting on that panel," it spoke, gesturing to a panel of some sort on a low wall nearby. Sinistrina decided to ignore it; she was still not used to the odd touch screens most such panels used.

edited 17th Jan '18 11:13:18 PM by ladytanuki

[Scout (Halberd, Reshk, 'The Zaran')]

Again, Reshk turned to goggle at Halberd with as many eyes as he could, while the zaran moved its own eyeless head in such a way as to suggest a puzzled stare.

The oquar dropped his first immediate response, however - something along the lines of and you're having yourself a starship? - in favor of something a little more relevant. "Well, you're certainly... remarkably 'onest about the whole thing. Which is good; my boss likes employment interviews to be straightforward-like."

He paused as the zaran handed him a small cylindrical instrument it had retrieved from the bulkhead. He flicked its control and a cyan LED lit up with a humming sound, then held it inside the panel with the damaged filaments.

"To tell the truth, right now we're just interested in making some contacts in these waters. Your 'Black Cat Bandits' - how many of them are there, for starters? And what d'you mean where you say being their leader doesn't mean anything?"

"Presumably it means that human sophont 'Halberd' is the 'leader' in the same way that you are an 'assassin'," the zaran opined. Reshk rippled his face at it again, though he left one eye focused on the repairs.

[Comet Cafe (Loki, Sakura, QR)]

Qrtxians didn't narrow their eyes as a sign of interest, and QR hadn't had normal physiological reactions for a very long time anyway. But she still could not quite keep her posture from tilting slightly to an angle of 'intrigue' as Sakura spoke. Not so much at the description of her world (which merely added support to her previous theories), but at the question she had asked Inigo. How old are you, I wonder? I somehow doubt an actual child.

But that question might be better asked later. "Honestly," she told the short (?) human (?), "I do not have a particular preference. I was just thinking it would be nice to compare notes further, as your reality's Earth seems to resemble mine more closely than Sakura's Kagos. Though it's obvious that one difference is a lack of qrtxian contact. I'm not an anthropologist; our species have simply picked up quite a lot of knowledge of each other over five centuries."

(Which, as a response, was very true, merely somewhat incomplete.)

(Pool Deck- Rebecca, Sinistrina, Mina)

"Oh, it's honestly no trouble. This is easier than you'd think. It can be done anywhere as long as you have something to use as a connection to the deceased, and doesn't require that much power. But I will turn down the light for you, Sinistrina." Rebecca went over to the light dials, and after a little fiddling, adjusted them to an dim evening. Then she started drawing symbols, much as she had in Club Pluto, but these were very different. They spoke of searching, of doorways. Finally, the lich opened her locket and placed a single strand of hair from her locket in the center of her work.

"Salissa, come back to us. The living have need of you yet." Sinistrina and Mina would feel a calm, steady flow of necromantic energy flow into the symbols, powering them and creating a gate to the afterlife.

Slowly, a figure would appear. It was a translucent girl, about nine years old, with a homespun brown dress, curly brown hair, and green eyes that twinkled with youthful mischief. "I'm glad to see you, Rebecca. Though this place is different from our normal meetings. And I see you have made some new friends as well."

"Salissa, this is Sinistrina and Mina. They're necromancers, like me."

"Glad to meet both of you."

Hangar - The Scout (Reshk, The Zaran, Halberd)

By now it might be evident to everyone else that Halberd's hand had a serious addiction to his goatee... and just now it needed another fix. Perhaps he was pondering, perhaps he was just listening, but at the end of it all he removed his hand only to reply. "There are five of us, and all of us are on this larger ship in fact - should be getting settled in the suite right about now." He quickly glanced at an ordinary-looking phone rather than the odd device he initially presented, and raised his eyebrows as he put it away. "...Well, except for one who decided to stargaze. And while I am often called their leader, we all contribute approximately equally, so that title does not mean much. Mostly I say that for modesty's sake anyway, but fortunately, you two don't look like cops."

He glanced over at the zaran, who was handing Reshk an odd cylinder. "An assassin eh?" Now, most Earthlings might consider the concept of a walking killer fish odd indeed, but fortunately, Halberd was used to seeing odd-looking creatures with deadly powers. "Interesting. My crew and I favor more clandestine operations, but are also involved with infiltrating the local mafia, so occasionally all of us have to be assassins of a sort." As he said this, his hand moved over to the pouch where he kept his Scanner, the aforementioned odd device. "But other than that we have all the bases save for crude thuggery covered."

"So who do you work for, out of curiosity? It seems like you have quite a web of scoundrels scattered throughout the galaxy. And is your entire crew here too?"

Deck 2 ~ Moonshine Bar and Lounge (Nana; Ulf; Gwion, Sophia, Teri, Wolfe)

Nina raised an eyebrow in Wolfe's direction, "I beg your pardon, I didn't quite catch that. Ploosa shawn? Is that... Vargan? Wait— you probably don't know what I'm talking about, and vice versa. Cross world difficulties, I suppose," she muttered dryly, crossing her arms. Her eyebrow threatened to secede from her face as she then watched Teri and Wolfe delve into their apparent impersonations of something completely alien to her.

"Aria is very much similar to your own Terra Nova, it seems. Travel far enough from industrialized areas, and there is plenty of pristine wilderness, all across the world," she said, eyeing her drink, but not wanting to uncross her arms.

She gave Gwion an inquisitive look, "I see you have automatons, too," she said, "and either you haven't been using aether cores, or you haven't noticed that they're people, too. Of course, there are plenty who still don't view them as people, so I guess it really doesn't matter either way," she muttered darkly. She gave up keeping her arms crossed, and leaned in to take her drink. From the way these folks were talking, they seemed very accepting, unlike many from her own world. She sighed softly, but didn't speak up about it.

"I'll take regular coffee this time, black," she said when Sophia asked about the next round of drinks.

Deck 9 ~ Fitness Center (Junko; Miss Loki(?), Natalie(?); Phagora; Carlotta)

Junko sighed, holding a clenched hand to her mouth. The mention of eating a soul disturbed her; however, when Phagora explained it, the course of action seemed reasonable at the time, if a bit harsh. It still rubbed her the wrong way, but it wouldn't get a hostile response from her. "I suppose that is one way of punishing wrongdoing; the afterlife can be... finicky," she said, subdued.

"A demon, huh?" she said with an air of mild curiosity, "A simple enough explanation, I suppose." Junko wasn't phased by Phagora's demonic nature; her teammates included a ghost-turned-yokai, an oni, and whatever the hell Tsubaki was supposed to be.

Keeping a wary eye on the service bots, Junko held out her hand and conjured a ball of flame in the palm of her hand. "I suppose our magical nature acts as a magnet," she said. As if to further the point home, a stray moth decided to flutter dangerously around the flame, prompting Junko to put the flame out before the small creature inadvertently immolate itself.

The magical girl nodded at what Carlotta said, "Yokai, and yes, I guess you could call AEGIS that. They're called into situations that couldn't be reasonably handled by the police, but but either don't warrant military action or can't allow it."

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; Sakura; QR)

Loki stifled a laugh as she whisked the phone away to one of her pockets, "Yes, the Earth I live on is quite green; used to be a bit greener, though. I suppose a few hundred years on the course humanity is on, and you end up with barren wastes and little girls who've never seen an ocean before."

She folded her arms, "I suppose some names might be related; many cities in Europe have had their names for at least two thousand years or more, and others aren't much different now-a-days," she said

Loki then shook her head at her energetic companion, "No, my parents are still alive, it's just relations with my extended family have become... strained," she said, putting it lightly, "I've been entrusted to the care of a rather nice gentleman by the name of Liam Walters, and it's much, much more comfortable than my previous arrangements."

[Scout (Halberd, Reshk, 'The Zaran')]

I will admit, oquar Reshk, you may have discerned this human's nature better than I had expected, the zaran sent to Reshk.

Reshk didn't bother to reply, instead sending a quick message to the Scout's SI to begin bringing the ship's XM generator online; the repairs were just about done and he'd finally had enough of the Carpe Noctem's unsuitable grav. That done, he looked back at Halberd with multiple eyes.

"D'you - could you stop doing that, that thing with your facial hair?" he said. "It looks... sllrrrr." The membrane-fin on his back twitched. "Sorry, just had to say it. As for your inquiries: well, you've heard that line about 'if I told you I'd have to kill you?' If I could tell you who I worked for, it's probable I would have to kill you, but I can't, so that's a spot of luck. See, I don't know his real name, or even if he's a 'he'. Nobody does, officially. Generally he goes by the Fat Man. Runs a pretty broad network of general-purpose scoundrel types all over known space; this here is not what I would call even close to a sliver of our association."

The cable-tool stopped humming and Reshk stood up, letting the panel seal itself as he backed off. "Also lucky for you and your chums, we don't need crude thuggery. Actually that's not quite as easy to find as one would think, but like I said earlier, right now I'm just networking. Now that the quangle's up and working again, I can set you up for a parley with the Fat Man if you'd like more details."

Deck 1 - Arboretum

[Hadia, Pearl, Aubrey, Minerva]

Hadia introduced herself, this time relatively less formally. "Hadia al-Filasteeni, also of Earth. Though I'm getting the impression there's a lot of Earths." She paused, then mused, half to herself, "I wonder if there's one where the Captain Galactic movie wasn't awful? That's the one we really need to find." An attempt at a joke, never mind that both the Captain Galactic comics (at least as she knew and loved them them) and their truly awful adaptation were among the things unique to her universe.

Regarding "New Earth", Hadia decided the others could explain their own world.

Deck 1 - Arboretum

An infinite number of Earths... Aubrey found the idea hard to accept - after all, why would God create so many? And what of Salvation? Did Christ's sacrifice cover all worlds, or was such a sacrifice made on each? It posed questions far more troubling than those posed by the existence of Terra Nova.

To turn his mind away from the worrisome questions, he directed his attention to Minerva's question. "Yes, it was already covered. Long story short, we - which is to say Pearl and I - were born on Earth decades apart and suddenly found ourselves mysteriously transported to another world that seems to have been entirely populated by plants, animals and people that arrived from different eras of Earth in the same inexplicable manner. It was named 'Terra Nova' by some of the early arrivals and the name has stuck."

Hadia's comment about really needing to find an Earth where a particular movie wasn't awful just had to be a joke, so Pearl gave a polite chuckle, even though she had no idea who 'Captain Galactic' was. She had heard enough people comment on how particular films weren't, in their opinion, anywhere near as good as the books on which they were based, so it seem that this was a common complaint. "I've heard a friend of mine voice similar sentiments about movie adaptations of The War of the Worlds."

She turned to Minerva. "And what about your world? What's it like?"

Deck 1 ~ Arboretum (Minerva; Hadia; Aubrey, Pearl)

Minerva blinked slightly before smiling, "Captain Galactic? Sounds... sci-fi pulp fictiony. I suppose an Earth without a Captain Galactic movie would be better than one with a terrible one?"

She then turned back towards Aubrey and Pearl. The gynoid nodded, "I see, it must have been quite a shock for you," she said.

Directing her attention to Pearl, Minerva was at a momentary loss for words. "It's... still habitable," she awkwardly started, "approximate human population is almost eight billion and growing, spread across seven continents; over two hundred countries, both officially and unofficially recognized; relatively few major space-time anomalies to speak of, I suppose. I really don't have much of a comparison to compare it to, so I'd say it's, optimistically speaking, mostly nice, but hazardous."

[Comet Cafe]

"Oh, that's good to hear," Sakura said with a relieved breath. "Anyway, I'll be right back, okay?" She got up from her seat. "Please excuse me... and don't leave without me!" she added, with a smile.

With that, she scampered off to see the nearest server-bot, and asked where the bathroom was...

[Comet Cafe (Loki, QR)]

As soon as Sakura was out of earshot, QR turned to Inigo - if that was indeed her name - and did her best to provide a level stare given the difference in their height. "It's likely she'll be back soon, so as much as I genuinely regret it I think I'll have to forego the normal politer ways of gradually leading to this and just ask: one secretive entity to another, could you tell me who exactly you are?"

She tilted her head. "From the pieces so far I'm guessing it has something to do with, to use the accepted term, Norse mythology among humans, but I'm not sure what. In my reality I'm reasonably certain that's just mythology, no external influences or special origins." Her head tipped back the other way. "If you'd rather not say that's perfectly all right - I just think it might be more engaging if at some point we could converse on a more open level."

She let the mimetic scaling go back to its true form for a moment on a patch of her face, which darkened to a black so absolute that it almost seemed to eat light, then let the grayness slowly fade back in. "I mean, I am certainly not quite what I appear to be either."

Deck 10 ~ Comet Cafe (Loki; QR)

Loki sighed softly before repressing her urge to back away slowly. Instead, she lifted her head to meet QR's gaze. "You'd be accurate about that; I am one of those spoken of in legend. While playing twenty questions with you to discern my identity could be fun," she said with a smirk, "it would also be quite tedious, and you'd probably guess who I was fairly quickly, especially since I'm not one of my lesser known "adoptive" family members."

Legs apart and head cocked back, the goddess stamped her staff on the floor, throwing caution to the wind and announcing with all the subtleties of a stage actor, "I am Loki Laufeyjarson, trickster god, formerly of Asgard."

Moonshine Bar/Lounge

Wolfe gave Nana a grin. "It was French, a language from my own world. The expression means 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' - as different as our respective worlds are, there are certain similarities. I was thinking of what you said about soldiers on leave and what I had heard of some soldiers on our own world. They're not all bad, but it only takes a few arseholes to ruin everyone's day. Good to hear that your world has lots of undamaged wilderness areas."

Gwion shook his head. "I've never heard of aether cores, so I'd say that we don't use them. We haven't achieved true artificial intelligence, yet; our robots just follow programs of varying sophistication - from following a set of movements aided by rudimentary sensors to paint a car or assemble a toaster to sophisticated visual recognition and programming to simulate the appearance of intelligence - without actually achieving it. We're nowhere near building machines with human-level intelligence and, in the interests of keeping the construction complexity and costs down, we tend to build them only just sophisticated enough to perform the jobs for which they are intended - no need for complex visual processing or social cues for a fixed car-painting robot, but a robot porter for a hotel would need to be mobile and have the ability to remember faces and details about clients, including what language to greet them in."

Sophia looked up. "In a way, that's a large part of the problem for a lot of people - the fact that what they did could be replaced by something that hasn't got the intelligence or creative capacity of a cat or a dog. Reducing people's jobs to a finite number of simple decisions and 'insert-variable-here' presets has had a negative effect on the population, I think." She turned to Nana. "In theory, with the 'simple' jobs relegated to machines, people are supposed to be free for the really good jobs, the ones that actually require thought, creativity and innovation. In reality, most jobs turned out to be 'simple' enough to reduce to equations and simple decisions and there are precious-few of the other kind of job available."

Gwion, who had been alive long enough to watch the jobs slowly vanish in favour of automation, could see Sophia's point - but, on the other hand... "And how satisfied would you truly be, in a job where your biggest decision is whether or not the brand name and logo are facing towards the aisle or you're carrying a heavy bag for someone who's probably going to treat you like you're less than human regardless of whether or not you remember his name and room number?"

Teri nodded, her mouth set in a grim line. "Sounds like what Kris was sayin' 'bout Earf of 'er time. Glad I didn't stick 'round t'see it - they even replaced couriers wiv automated vehicles... I loved that job, man! Chance t'get out on me bike and ride around the city 'n' get paid t'do it. Now it's bein' done by machines what can't even enjoy it."

"I do some courier work," said Gwion, "but it's a niche market and not very much in demand. Most people just use automated services such as you desccribe."

Sophia shot Teri a sympathetic look then turned back to the table. "So that's one black coffee, what does everyone else want?"

Wolfe had no desire to get drunk this early in the voyage and was about to ask for a black coffee as well when he was startled by the unexpected chiming and vibrating of his smartphone. It had been so long since he was able to connect to any network that he had got used to it remaining inert and silent.

He took out his phone, knowing that few people would have the capability of contacting him, let alone the need. Sure enough, the message was from Sir Archibald. He read the message in disbelief then re-read it to be sure he wasn't misunderstanding it.

Teri, also having no desire to get drunk, ordered a large orange juice then looked at Wolfe. "What?"

Silently, Wolfe passed her the phone so she could read the message while he turned to Sophia. "Short black espresso, please, and I'm afraid it's gonna be our last drink. Teri and I have been called away."

Teri looked up from the screen. "Says 'ere that Archie wants us t'go to some place what's full of old ruins 'n' stuff. Possibly dangerous, so 'e wants the Mad Bastards t'go adventurin' again."

Gwion arched an eyebrow in interest, recalling the joys of exploring various abandoned and not-so-abandoned places when he was younger - not much younger, if you counted the tunnel between the water tower and the fort. "Y'want some company for that? Extra set of eyes..."

Sophia gave a small smirk, completely unsurprised at Gwion's reaction. "Count me in."

Wolfe shrugged. "I don't mind, but that'd mean leaving Aubrey and Pearl here by themselves."

Gwion raised his hands to take in the room. "What can happen to 'em here? They'll be fine."

Wolfe turned his attention to Ulf and Nana. "Well, it looks like we'll have to leave soon, which is a pity as I was enjoying your company."

Teri nodded. "Yeah. Wish we could stay 'n' enjoy some quiet time, but we've got to go back to work."

Sophia placed the order for the drinks, adding coffees for herself and Gwion.