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[oceantier]

[There's a blue lady on the comm's screen, not looking like she completely trusts it -- or that she quite likes being so visible. She has something to ask, though (as much as it feels like an exploitable vulnerability to ask) so she stays. And it's fair that others should see who's talking.]

Hello.

[. . . Knowing how to start is harder than anticipated, and considering the last time she was on the comm was to apologize, it feels even more awkward. She swears she can feel eyes looking at her. Unconsciously, her arms tuck into a cross.]

I heard there are "missions" every month. Where we're supposed to infiltrate, or something attacks.

. . . This time there was water in the city. In the pipes. And the sewers. But people say it's not always a city. Locations are different every time.

I need to be able to access some when it isn't there naturally.

I need . . . help.

[Silence for a moment. That was extremely uncomfortable to say, and the next question isn't much better for her.]

Also . . . I'd like to know what people do to find their own space. Where they can sometimes be alone. When . . . they need to.

. . . Thank you.

Comments

[irrationally]

You mean here on the train? [ For that last part, she means.

And while there are plenty of suggestions Alice could make for carriages that tend to have less people in them than others, there's never a true guarantee that you're entirely alone there when they're all crammed into a train together. So.. ]

I think this train is of the opinion that solitude and privacy are luxuries we don't necessarily need.

[seacub]

Would rainwater work?

[This could be the start of a very strong, very dangerous partnership if all goes well.]

Um...I guess technically there's the quiet rooms, but...

Technically there's...a hidden one..? I've shown a few people, but that's still less than the whole train, and I don't think most of them use it...

[oceantier]

[Lapis eases slightly at the sight of Alice.]

On the train, yes.

[Quietly, flatly:] And if that's true, it's wrong.

[oceantier]

Any water will work.

[She's used sewage before in a pinch -- disgusting, but highly effective. Rainwater is wonderful by comparison.]

[He has her attention with the second part.] A hidden room?

[seacub]

Oh, good! I could probably make a pretty good amount using Weather Report then, so I guess that works! [Yayyyyyyy.

Ahem.] It's a ghost room- in the quiet carriage, where the rooms were destroyed to make the lab, they left ghost rooms behind. To get in, I have to show people where the entrance is first- after that, they can come and go.

So it's...pretty isolated. Technically there's two, but I've only really used the one, mostly... [Since it took two quiet rooms to make the lab...]

[oceantier]

[A blink.]

Thank you . . . but then how would I carry it?

[She technically could in one big sphere, perhaps, but a large, floating sphere isn't exactly subtle for infiltration missions, and it's more vulnerable during a fight.]

A ghost room . . . ?

[What is this?]

[seacub]

Oh.

[Shoot.] Hmmm... ...maybe I can try condensing it into ice, or...

[He seems to be muttering a bit to himself now.

Well, here's something he can explain a bit more easily at least.] Right! It's like a memory- any building that was ever destroyed, and then built back over, has a memory of the first one there- I have the ability to interact with those.

[oceantier]

Ice . . . would be too hard to access easily.

[She can; it's still water. But it takes time to vibrate the molecules enough to melt, and the overall ice may melt before she can use it to its fullest. Ice itself is possible to use, but it's rigid and harder to manipulate.]

[As far as the ghost room, it's an interesting concept, but it seems bizarre.] . . . Why would a room have a memory?

[irrationally]

Of course it is.

[ There's not a moment of hesitation before she responds with that. After all, even though they were considered luxuries where Alice came from as well, she already knew back there that it's wrong.

And it's wrong here too. ]

The best you might be able to do is suggest to the train that it should give us spaces where we can be alone, but then again.. its way of deciding whether or not to cater to people's wishes seems whimsical at best.

voice;

[adropofsunlight]

I guess you like being able to be alone?

{She can at least understand people wanting that now and again.]

I admit it's not easy considering the number of people around and how many places we have, but maybe try the Quiet Carriage?

Voice

[oceantier]

I . . . need to. Sometimes.

[There's a flicker of discomfort in her voice, but it's quiet statement of fact. It's not something she's sure she wants to explain -- or that anyone else will understand. How do you explain a small eternity of absolute solitude and stillness colliding with a constant thrum of movement and activity?]

[And the reason that solitude existed . . . that she's not sure she's ready to give to anyone.]

That carriage is all right sometimes. But . . . it can feel like a cell, too. I was hoping there were other options.

I've been using the pools in the spa and going underneath the water. So far that's been best. But sometimes people want to use the pools.

[oceantier]

[It's a small relief to be understood. Her shoulders ease a little more, even as her voice retains that flat skepticism.]

. . . Does it really care?

[gathersnomoss]

Does the train provide waterskins if we're going on a mission where there won't be drinkable water? Is that enough water?

[oceantier]

I don't know. That was my first mission. If it provided clothes for us this time, though, when the goal was to infiltrate, maybe?

Something like that . . . I could make it work, but I can do more with the more that I have.

[She's had to make do with small amounts of water before. She can be effective, but . . . it's limited. More limited than she would ultimately feel comfortable with.]

[Also, he appears to be another blue person . . . embedded with rocks? He doesn't look like any Gem she recognizes, but it's enough to draw some measure of curiosity.]

[irrationally]

[ Alice lets out a breath of air, more a huff than anything else. ]

That would depend on who you ask. I'd say there is no way it actually cares about us. [ Which means asking for a quiet alone space wouldn't really help, huh. ]

.. if you need a way to cheat the system and have a true quiet place, find someone who's willing to share a double room with you, and make sure they are someone who'd give you space. That is what I am doing.

[gathersnomoss]

[It certainly does look like rock, and his hair is metallic in ways human hair isn't].

It was mine too, but we'd be in a lot of trouble if there wasn't water, beyond just your abilities.

[seacub]

Technically, it's the world having a memory of the room. Or I guess in this case the train?

[Anyway. This ice problem...] Hmm...I guess that makes it the same for water vapor then...

[oceantier]

[In her view, the train is not to be readily trusted. She doesn't think it cares, but even if it does, it doesn't matter. It takes care of them for its own purposes -- because it wants for them to do these missions, not out of any sense of altruism.]

If it cared, it wouldn't have taken us. It has its own agenda.

[She gives a small nod at the room suggestion.] Thank you. Even if there was someone like that, though, right now the rooms are full. Unless the train adds more, I'll have to wait.

[oceantier]

Why would the world -- or the train have a memory of the room? They aren't . . . alive.

[She's genuinely curious at this point.]

And water vapor is a little easier, but it's just as hard -- if not harder -- to carry.

me realizing the properties of hammerspace combined with large tanks: oh god

[seacub]

They're sort of alive. I know the train definitely has thoughts- it just doesn't really have thoughts in the way a lot of us do I guess. But the world is definitely alive- even if it's not alive in the way we think, there's something there, that brings 'life'.

[Well, a lot of that came out kind of confusing, so he just sort of ducks under his hat.] ...Or...something like that I guess.

Hmmm...the best idea I have then is-

Oh!!

[Abruptly, he beams.] I wonder...I wonder if I could put tanks of water in a ghost pouch, or one of those 'arms band' things!

[...??]

[oceantier]

I think the train must at least want us alive, or it wouldn't feed and house everyone now. It wouldn't have provided clothing if it didn't want to prevent us from being seen. If there was no drinkable water for those who needed it, it wouldn't be safeguarding its investment.

But that still doesn't mean there would be water -- or enough water -- for those who use it to fight. Or a way to carry it.

[She definitely is intrigued by his appearance.]

Are . . . you made of stone?

[And in true Lapis form, the question is put out there, bare, with nothing to cushion it.]

What? XD;

[oceantier]

[Lapis can acknowledge that the train has intention. That much is plain. But though she can acknowledge some level of sentience, she's unwilling to grant it the privilege of the word "life." It hasn't earned that; it has no respect for the lives that it's taken and continues to hold.]

[She has no interest in debating that, though. A number of people on this train seem to have grown fond of it in some measure -- a fondness she's wary of contradicting at this point.]

[The rest of what Emporio says is enough to absorb anyway. She blinks.]

. . . What?

[She has no idea what a "ghost pouch" or an "arms band" are.]

[irrationally]

[ It hasn't added more yet?

Figures. The train probably thinks even a room you have to share with less than three people is a luxury, Alice figures. She feels rather glad that Rich suggested the thing in time then. ]

I guess you could use the time you have to spend waiting anyway to see if you can find someone like that. I found one, even though I did not think I would.

[schrodingersghost]

[Oh hey, it was the water girl who'd tried to flatten him and beat him up with clones that one time. But lots of people had tried that. Danny didn't hold a grudge.]

Well, I mean, I can create ghost ice anywhere. Would that help? Or does it have to be liquid?

Voice

[adropofsunlight]

I think honestly, the whole train can feel like a cell to me.

[Sure the only difference between the train and her tower was the fact there were people and more things she could actually do. But she still felt that sense of being trapped when not on missions... and she wasn't on the last mission so it's been a while since she last stepped off it.]

But yeah...it's hard to find areas of quiet but... the train has taken requests before, so that's always an option. Might not be right away, but you never know. I can even ask too if that helps? More voices the better.