001 - Audio

[oceantier]

[She's not completely convinced that this world and its people aren't malevolent and/or something to avoid yet. The circumstances of this place . . . they're really not her business. It's not the way of her kind to concern themselves with a given planet's inhabitants -- far better to do what Gems need from the planet and have done.]

[Maybe it's Steven's influence still working on her. Maybe it's the fact of watching so many of these people up close, seeing their faces and listening to them in the streets. Maybe it's the couple of individuals that she has met -- barring the one who tried to kill her -- who hint that maybe, maybe there might be more like them.]

[She just knows she has to try.]

[The consoles haven't been hard to figure out. She's watched others using them, not to mention technology far more advanced than them.]

[It's more the resolve that takes work. The conviction to approach. Actually willingly making connection with the other residents of the turtle.]

[As the audio feed actually comes on, her resolve falters. Skitters away. For several moments the Network will be met with silence as Lapis pulls back from the console. Almost flees entirely.]

[But she comes back. Slowly. Hesitates for a few more seconds. Tries again.]

H-Hello? [Her voice wavers. She digs in, forces firmness into it -- as much as she can manage.]

My name is Lapis. Lapis Lazuli.

Someone told me that . . . that this turtle that you're living on, it's sinking.

[More silence. She nibbles at her lower lip, hesitating, before the words surge out.]

Do people breathe underwater here? [Genuine uncertainty on this.] There seems to be a lot here that doesn't. Plants. And animals.

What . . . are people doing about this? [More genuine uncertainty. They might be doing everything in the world about it; she honestly wants to know about the plan.]

[To sum up: Turtle is sinking . . . should Lapis be worried about everyone drowning?]

[More hesitation.]

Also, is . . . there usually not a lot of rain here? I thought the fields on Earth were green . . .





((ooc: I'd love to get Lapis involved in trying to keep the Turtle afloat until someone can heal him if anyone would want to plot. She's an extremely powerful water user, but Asti is also his own continent. --If I've missed someone else's plottings, though, please let me know!))

Comments

[oceantier]

Oh. [Well, that's harder.]

What are they doing about that?

[And . . . a small frown on her end.]

Water isn't a problem. The ocean should be as clean as anything else.

At least for me.

But the other issue is that the pressure will get harder the further it goes down. It should be harder to keep any kind of barrier intact.

It might be best to see if it can be made to float somehow -- the turtle, that is. Then no one has to worry about air at all.

[It strikes her again that she should probably be despairing of all of this -- that a decent into the depths for these people is inevitable.]

[No guarantees that she won't yet. But maybe the last few weeks that she remembers . . . as awful as they've been, maybe they have made a change in her.]

[Just a little.]

[radiantwingedone]

I'm not sure. Matters of the mind are not something I feel I can be helpful with.

[ His magic doesn't work that way.

Duke hums a little in thought. ]

Your magic works differently then. [ He sounds vaguely curious here- ]

Salt water is different from spring water, for me. If I tried specifying spring water as my exclusion, we would be finding a dusting of salt over everything, as that could pass via pressure but the water could not. [ ... Maybe he should look into the projects for turning ocean water into drinkable water. The drought they were having... ]

Agreed. It would be a matching increase of fueling, but I was thinking of a last minute measure so another plan could complete. [ There would always be another last minute plan, as far as Duke was concerned. His had taken a few months, and Brave Vesperia had thrown theirs together in far less.

Hmmm yes floating would work better, except... ]

Then there is the problem of how to float something. [ Levitation would probably also be too costly, with something of this size. ]

If the water is used - the salinity would have to change to increase the buoyancy, which would kill or drive off the creatures in the water about the turtle, which would change how the city feeds itself. [ That's the first thing that came to mind-

It's almost like he's getting lest distant as this conversation goes on... ]

[oceantier]

[He's completely lost her at the discussion of salt water being different from spring water (it's only salt; it doesn't affect water being water) . . . but then again, she realizes, he may be half talking to himself, not just to her.]

I might be able to keep it afloat. But not for days or weeks. You shouldn't change the water, though. It's easier to affect the turtle itself.

[radiantwingedone]

[ There's also different tiny things living in it, and he's not good at water to begin with.

But she is also right, he is half talking to himself. ]

I wouldn't want to. [ It would disrupt too many things, as he half muttered earlier. ]

.. The only way I know of to make the turtle float would also be difficult. It's based on weight, thus... [ huge turtle is huge. ]

[oceantier]

[She doesn't understand this . . . this "wouldn't want to." He seems very determined, this man . . . and ensconced in his own ideas and plans.]

[It makes her wary -- especially the "wouldn't" -- though she couldn't exactly say why.]

[For the time being, she falls silent, leaving him to his thoughts.]

[radiantwingedone]

[ It's a good handful of minutes before he realizes the conversation sort of ended.

And he can't quite figure out why. He shakes off thoughts of half formed plans, and tries to review the conversation.

.... ]

... Did I say something wrong? [ It is probably his fault. You don't just spend a decade with yourself as company and come back with sparkling clean social skills. ]