event } the honk is coming from inside the ship

[seeingyou]

WHO: Everyone left behind on Navi.
WHAT: There’s a goose on the loose!
WHERE: Anywhere on Navi.
WHEN: Feb. 20-March 13
WARNINGS: Add these to your comment subject lines as needed! And if the goose pecks through your skull, please make sure to fill out the death page.

Those of you who haven’t been swept off to a hell dimension may find that Navi is … unusually empty. Those links you had with your partner? It’s like they’ve just been shut off with the flick of a switch. Weird, right?

However, Navi’s halls are not exactly quieter for the emptiness. At first, you might think you’re imagining it, but soon enough, it becomes evident that there is something else on board this ship and it honks. The honking is intermittent, but it never truly ends for good. You’ll hear it through the walls, outside your cabin doors, on the next floor - everywhere.

After a few hours of this nonsense, Navi reaches out to the passengers via the mental link and asks them to find the source of this infernal noise and round it up so it can be ejected from the ship. It’s driving Navi nuts, they can’t tell where the honking is coming from, so they can’t take care of it themselves. It won’t be easy, because this goose is wily (and an eldritch being, technically), but it needs to be handled, and there’s no one else around. Good thing you’re still here to help!

Comments

jack } open

[sisterswitch]

Jack is ... not good at dealing with loss. Better to just not form attachments to other people in the first place - that's how she's always functioned, and it's always worked out fine for her, right? She's an outsider anyway, so it's not like she has to work hard at not forming deep connections. In fact, Murmur is the first truly close friend she's ever made, so it's really no surprise she's having a hard time handling his disappearance.

When not in her cabin, she spends most of her time moping in the observation room. Find her seated on the floor and staring out the window at the vastness of space, or maybe playing a silent game of solitaire with her deck of cards. She might also be sprawled across a couple of the chairs, scribbling away in her notebook, thoughts and memories and sometimes a new sigil. Whatever she's up to now, it's definitely not hunting down the goose with the rest of the passengers. She's already done her proverbial college try on that front and found it unpleasant.

[abstrusus]

Aether may or may not have found the source of honk at one point, but clearly if they did the Honk survived. More likely, double the honking occurred for a short stretch of time. Now, they found themselves in the observatory. Simply basking. Marvelling at what they knew most intimately; at what was them, and what they were. Of course, Spirit was everywhere, but here was where it all began. In the nothingness that, so quickly, became everything. It was a destruction, a beautiful and extravagant explosion.

"Troubled?" When the other person enters, the elemental doesn't turn toward them quite yet. They're still enjoying the sense of being, in ways, more free than they've been in many years. Hundreds of them. This honeymoon will not last. For now, its fine. And curious. Aether does love curious.

So now they turn, sickly fingers brushing down clean pressed and slick black. Feet come together with a tap, stomp of their heel. Click. There was a commanding dramatism about this being, but it didn't feel forced or acted. And they have such a smooth, deep baritone voice... wherever it comes from.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" A hand waves absently toward the stars.

[sisterswitch]

She's troubled, yes, but not at all inclined to admit to it. Jack wears the facade of someone who is unbreakable, a strategy for survival in the world she inhabited up until a few years ago. If you don't have feelings, nothing can hurt you, right? So she doesn't feel anything except righteous anger at injustice, or so she's told herself since she was a child. Everything else is shoved down, out of sight and out of mind.

"Yeah ... it really is," she answers, striding silently toward the window and this decidedly strange person. Not human, not Kin - something else, but there are a lot of something elses to be encountered in the multiverse. As unusual as their mannerisms are, they at least seem genuine, not a pretentious affect. Some people are just Like That.

"It kinda reminds me of home," she says, sliding her hands into the front pockets of fraying black jeans as she comes to a halt in front of the window. "The openness of it all. I never thought I'd miss that." She gives the stranger a sideways glance and without skipping a beat, continues: "You're new here. I'm Jack."

[abstrusus]

A slow tilt of their head as Jack closes the distance. Yes, emotions -- you know what's truly incredible about the human experience is the fundamental access to choice. Not, counter to the waning beliefs of some, gifted by God -- although that figure of worship certainly exists. It was their nature, this capacity, this process. To actively choose. And Spirit found this such an incredible happenstance. For all their fragility, they were enormously powerful weren't they?

"Home," a beat. "Yes, it does." Came with a pleasant chime.

Then again, this wasn't strictly a human that they spoke to. Something quite old, they felt. Yet still, their thoughts remained. And for the briefest second, striking blue eyes appeared in the abyss of that darkness, regarding her for a short time before their body turned toward the windows again. The blue was gone.

"A pleasure," horns bowed, hand gesticulating outward before snapping back up straight. "Aether to some, Spirit, Quintessence. Omega," this name punctuated with a tapered point of their finger, "when it behooves me. These the most modern names, at least." If they went through every language, every known adaptation of them, they'd be here forever. Might as well keep it snappy.

[sisterswitch]

"A pleasure indeed." Even if this person is a foot and half taller than her, and looking up at them could very well give her a neck cramp. They're all unusual names, but she recognizes two of them from her dabbling research in alchemy.

"Do you prefer one name more than the others? I have strong feelings about being sure to use someone's preferred name."

[abstrusus]

They are quite tall but they'll gladly take a seat to even the eye-level and aren't too offended by someone not looking up to them when speaking. Oh! How delightful. A finger came to the hook of their chin in thought. Quintessence and Aether were frequent in alchemy, but they had no particular preference.

"Mm," came with a head roll. "Kind to ask, but no. They're all appropriate." A hand waved out toward the seats in suggestion.

[bilocates]

Some might say those are terrible coping mechanisms that are only going to lead to Jack missing out on opportunities and forming bonds that could improve her life. Not Simon, though, Simon wasn't a therapist, and he most certainly wasn't what anyone could call healthy.

After Simon's disappearance he had gone in search of the goose, though getting close was surprisingly difficult. The creature gave him a hell of a headache, which probably wasn't improved when at some point the ship's latest spooky crew member added to the honking. Why won't the honking stop?

It wasn't intentional when he stumbled into the observatory, pinching the bridge of his nose and eventually just coming to settle in an exhausted lean against the wall. Thankfully, he thought, no one was around to witness him having a moment of difficulty with... well honestly everything. Space. Being removed from his purpose. That fucking goose. A psychic ship he was still having something of a mental war with on and off as he was far too excessive and liberal with his efforts to interfere with their ability to watch him.

He's still not completely convinced he hasn't just had a psychotic break, but this definitely didn't feel the same.

[sisterswitch]

Unfortunately for Simon, Jack is here on one of her days when she's spending time writing things in her notebook, booted feet kicked up on the back of a chair. She's quiet and tends to stick to the shadows by nature, so it's not surprising Simon doesn't notice her right away. It happens to Jack pretty frequently, in fact.

But it can get a little awkward, especially if someone is having what they think is a private, troubled moment. Jack decides to make herself known sooner rather than later.

"You're not looking so hot, Lurch. Goose getting to you?"

[bilocates]

Quiet, shadowy, unobtrusive. No wonder he missed her with how overwhelmingly loud everything else was, Jack was a quiet blip on the radar of so much noise. Still Simon jerked, startled by her speaking up and more so by the fact he'd missed her at all. Quick to try to slap his composure back in place his eyes locked on her, though he remained against the wall where he was for now.

Of course he remembered her, though they hadn't exactly spoken directly during their first meeting. Too busy bickering with that other man.

"It isn't a goose."

[sisterswitch]

"If it walks like a goose and honks like a goose ... " She shrugs, and closes her notebook with the pen still inside. Pedantic types are so annoying, but if this guy wants to split hairs, Jack isn't especially busy.

"Then again, I haven't actually seen it, so maybe it doesn't walk like a goose. You're clearly the expert here. If it's not a goose, what is it?"

[bilocates]

It wasn't so much pedanticism as clarification, at least on Simon's part. Richard was so insistent with him that he not harm the creature because Richard didn't realize that it wasn't some harmless animal that happened to get trapped aboard the ship. It was something far more dangerous.

"Something dark. Old." Jack will soon come to realize that Simon talks in cryptic bullshit more often than not. A difficult habit to break for someone who had only begun speaking again within the last... has it only been three years? "It looks like a goose but it isn't a goose. It's chaos." Something she might understand.

[sisterswitch]

Oh, she understands quite well. She's all too aware of the tendency to assign morality to these concepts of which Simon speaks. And in all honesty, Jack's getting a little tired of having this same discussion over and over.

"Dark ... old ... chaos. You say that like it's a bad thing." She kicks her feet down from where they'd been lazily propped up. "There is no light without darkness. Chaos precedes creation. It never ceases to amaze me how you people are so terrified of things that are just part of the natural order."

[bilocates]

Well... she understood somewhat. Although she was quick to jump to several conclusions about Simon in particular. Simon simply fixed her with that odd, unblinking stare of his, expression mostly unreadable. She got it wrong on all fronts; He didn't care about the morality of it, nor the philosophy behind the words or whether or not dark, old, and chaotic could be good.

The goose wasn't, he knew that much, but he now doubted very much that she'd listen.

"No." Came a flat, almost condescending reply. He wasn't even going to entertain her waxing philosophical about her assumptions about him, "you people" as she said. There was something almost faintly amused in the way he looked at her. She couldn't see him for what he was, but he could certainly see her. For a moment he'd hoped he wasn't alone in this.

Disappointing.

"You asked what it was. I answered." The rest? All conjecture on her part.

[sisterswitch]

It's true, she does get a bit defensive from the start when it comes to things like monsters and darkness and chaos and the like, but that's only because she happens to be all of those things, and it's not easy to navigate the sort of dangerous prejudice that comes as part of the package. In Jack's world, it's still more or less universally accepted by the dominant societal narrative that monsters are bad and should be killed, after all. So yeah, she's a little touchy on that topic.

Talking to this kid is a whole new level of brick wall, though, and they seem to be having two entirely different conversations. Or maybe he just doesn't know how to hold a conversation. Jack sighs loudly and rolls her eyes.

"Fine, Merriam-Webster, you've told me what it is. Care to explain why you think it deserves to be senselessly murdered?"

[bilocates]

It is, of course, the same where he's from. The dark is evil, monsters are evil. Truth was nothing could exist without chaos. Even so Simon wasn't one of those destruction worshipping lunatics, his chaos was purposeful. He'd probably be considered a far worse monster than Jack in most circles, considering his history and methods of problem solving. He understood, at least somewhat, of why she was defensive. It didn't make him any more inclined to cooperate.

She was right though, it was both. They were having two entirely different conversations and Simon was really bad at holding one in equal measure.

"Because it wants to senselessly murder us." A simple, straight-forward reason at the very least. How he could possibly know that is an entirely different question.

[sisterswitch]

Sorry, Simon. That answer's not gonna cut it with Jack. She levels a flat, unimpressed stare at him, a silent Seriously? Surely he can recognize that look.

"Citation needed there, buddy."

[bilocates]

Traditionally it wouldn't with most people, then again Simon also didn't really care. He wasn't asking her for help, nor did he expect her to believe him. Should he slather the walls in occult symbols and put out all the lights to make his point? He could, but he won't.

So he just offers a half-shrug, not particularly bothered by her disbelief. It would have been more weird if she did believe him.

"Why does the ship want it gone?"

Navi could probably verify the entity's intent as a more trustworthy source than the weirdo who doesn't blink.

[sisterswitch]

“The ship has a name,” Jack says, pointedly. “It’s Navi. And they said they wanted the goose gone because it was annoying.” She sighs. Why is this so difficult for this guy to grasp?

“Did you completely neglect to pay attention to what Navi said, or is your memory just that bad?”

[bilocates]

Right, Navi, of course. Simon again has to wonder at how quickly Jack becomes defensive and why, but doesn't really wonder enough to ask. He has a headache and doesn't need more, thanks.

"Does Navi often suggest tossing annoying things out of the airlock?"

He asks pointedly. Either there's a better reason, or Navi might be just as likely to toss any one of them. He wasn't entirely awake, actually, having just arrived when Navi was saying anything about the goose or whatever so Simon more or less missed the details. He also didn't care to explain himself. In fact, given that he was quite certain anything he had to say would be twisted into an offense and he genuinely didn't care to engage in that he thinks he might just leave.

[sisterswitch]

Jack shakes her head. "Just the one so far." And since she's been with Navi for months, she's pretty confident in guessing that Navi wouldn't ask for something like that unless it were truly necessary.

"Why? Are you worried they'll ask us to toss you next?" She smiles, saccharine-sweet. Yes, she's being a bit of a brat.

[bilocates]

As expected. Simon just stared at her flatly over her following quip. This one seemed to have a very poor sense of humor, or compartmentalized it hard in conversation. Either way he was absolutely awful at carrying a conversation.

Instead he'll pick up on the unspoken. "Are you expecting it to be necessary?" Yeah, Simon's absolutely rude and just continuing on a conversation that wasn't said out loud. If she can be a brat, so can he.

[sisterswitch]

Jack chuckles quietly at his question. She can appreciate that he's at least making an effort to keep up with her in the brattiness department.

"Sweetie, after several years of hopping around the multiverse, I've learned that the only thing you can ever really expect is the unexpected."

[bilocates]

He's trying! She's not as easy to read as Alex, probably because she's something very different. And that he's not great at humor. It's a learned skill, one Simon missed out on.

However, now she's just being intentionally obtuse. Frustrating. Fine, he'll state it flatly. "They don't have passengers ejected lightly, you know this." So no, he isn't worried it's going to be him next and no he's not worried about the unexpected right now.

[sisterswitch]

Now she's outright grinning. Simon has officially been placed in the fun column of Jack's book.

"Of course I know that - I've been here for a hot minute. You, on the other hand ..." She shrugs, meaning that it's a tossup as to whether Simon would know, since he's so new, and apparently can't even remember Navi's name.

[bilocates]

Uh oh, that may or may not be a good thing. Fortunately Simon was not one who would adhere to strict social rules. If he didn't like a conversation, or was done talking, he'd just up and leave. No manners, this one.

"I can gauge intent just fine," Speaking of, there was a murderous goose on the loose and no one else seemed particularly concerned about it. Well, it's about time he wrap this up before she keeps needling him with more questions he won't answer. He thinks he might just straighten up and walk off. The headache's lessened, time to murder a honk.