voidtreckernet

[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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?

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...]

[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?]

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.

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?

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...

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.

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!

[...??]

[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.]

Um-

They're things that have more space inside than they look on the outside. So, an 'Arms Band' looks like a bracelet, but you can store a lot of larger things inside. My ghost pouch is the same- since it's an item I found in a ghost room, space works different for it, so I can put more in it than it would have normally held.

[ahem]

Basically, we could probably put a lot of containers of water in one of those!

[More "ghost" things. Does that mean that the room had a memory of a pouch, too? Was there a limit to this? Could the pouch then have the memory of whatever it used to hold?]

[. . .]

[. . . This is confusing. And weird. Probably better just to deal with it on its face. Something that she could store a lot of water in that couldn't be seen sounds very helpful, regardless of the principles behind it.]

. . . Would it be the same weight, putting a lot in it? And how much could it carry?

[Her eyebrows furrow just a little.] Could I just put water in it rather than containers?

[Just smile and nod Lapis. Or maybe just nod. Or-]

Nope- it only weighs as much as the bag. And...I've never really pushed the limits too far? It gets hard to find what I need to pull out if I put too much in there.

[He frowns, thinking about the water.] ...May...be..?

[Lapis does not frequently smile, so he might have to go with nodding.]

I could try.

It's your bag, though . . . wouldn't you want it?

Well...yeah, but I can find another one probably. Ghost objects are formed from anything inanimate that was in the room at the time, so it can't be too hard to find more!

Maybe . . . it's just something I should borrow during missions.

[Though it does beg the question of where the created water gets put if she didn't use it all.]

Well, for now probably- but if I found more, then you could just keep the one I gave you right?

[That's probably better!]

If . . . you want.

[There's a little flush of blue across her cheeks. It seems quite a length for someone to go to for her, and she's not sure what to do with it.]

Thank you . . .

[Hesitation.]

Maybe . . . we should meet and I should learn how to use it?

Of course! [Why wouldn't he!

...Oh!] Yeah, we could do that... ...I could show you that ghost room at the same time if you want?

[He's . . . so enthusiastic. It's mystifying.]

[But . . . it's kind of nice.]

[She gives a little nod.] Where should I meet you?

The Quiet carriage- that's where the ghost room is, so I can meet you there. Does that work?

Yes.

I can be there in a few minutes?

That sounds good!

I'll see you there.

Video

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

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

What? XD;

just fill a hammerspace object with numerous barrels of water lapis its fine

Why didn't you just say so? ;)

fjkghndklfhg

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject