Move 6 (Chapter 1.6)

[yhlee]

Time: 361
Place: out-rift near Station Moongray

The Wasp's cockpit/command center
The Naxorian Rosemallow ship continues to hold position. Kaliyan notices it's now scanning the Wasp with some primitive [handwave] scan technology, focusing especially on the mothdrive.

The Wasp's Engineering room
Presuming a short interval of time has passed while Alaric consults as to moths' feelings about the hexarchate, the Wasp's moth repeats its query: the six hexarchate emblems in space ASCII, followed by the "1 / 0" for "???" Then after another short pause, it adds the Liozh emblem, followed by "1 / 0" for "???"

Meanwhile, Sasha's luck and guesswork regarding the Naxarat ship's encryption bear fruit. It appears that the Naxorians are discussing navigational difficulties. They've been trying to get information out of the Nirai station so they can find their way back home, but the Nirai are being closemouthed about what they've discovered about the rifts so far. There's also a brief mention of personnel shortages.

The Wasp's airlock, welcoming party
Andan Bokali still hasn't touched any of the edible fidget spinners, although Pavn is munching away on a third. "If you're ready, we'd like to invite you back to Station Moongray. Rii, you and your assistants"--Bokali's eyes flicker as they try to figure out just which people are "assistants"--"can see the space we have available for artistic displays, and as for the rest of you, surely we can offer you the conveniences of station while you dock with us. Honored inquisitors, I'm sure our station administrator would like to meet you as soon as convenient."

Bokali coughs delicately, then adds, with a glance at Ankat for being the only one in the airlock with a remotely military bearing, "The station will insist that all firearms be left behind."

[The GM would like to note in Ankat's direction that a calendrical sword is sufficiently future-tech that it probably will only show up as "weird device" on Moongray's scanners, not as "lightsabre-alike weapon."]

[Tentatively, I'd like to get y'all onto the station next turn (Move 7) unless something happens to cause y'all to abort. :p ]

Comments

Engineering

[slybrarian]

Alaric starts by defining the word (or rather collection of symbols) for 'moth' using the general physical characteristics of the beasts, and then using the specific characteristics of the ship to define 'Wasp'. He then sends a Euler diagram indicating that, while the general set of 'moths' is mostly contained within a big box along with the hexarchate symbols, the Wasp is outside that box. Instead it is in a box with several humans - long story short, ugly bags of mostly water - representing the crew. After a moment, he then indicates their travel through the rift, including that this means going through time from the hexarchate period to the heptarchate.

That done, and the Wasp's moth hopefully either satisfied or confused, Alaric calls up to the cockpit. Hopefully a Kel will know a thing or two about moths and their behaviors.

"I just thought I should let someone know that the moth is talking to me," he says, "and I think it's asking about what factions we're part of. I implied we're not technically part of any of them."

[I swear I will rejoin all y'all when we dock, assuming the space monster doesn't eat us for being heretics.]

Re: Engineering [paging Kaliyan above, probably]

[yhlee]

The moth trips up for a bit on the use of boxes to indicate sets, then seems to get the idea. It sends a bag-of-water human diagram, then goes through the entire set of seven faction emblems, with a "0" after each one. It then sends a box containing "1 / 0" and follows that with a "1 / 0"--perhaps asking if its passengers are a member of some other set.

Re: Engineering [paging Alaric]

[zuhrovet]

Sasha uncurls from the corner of Engineering where she's been hacking away to peer over Alaric's shoulder. "Humans divide by zero?" she asks. "Oh, that's your question! Does the rebellion have a logo?"

Re: Engineering [paging Alaric]

[slybrarian]

"I don't know, do we?" Alaric replies. "I have to admit I was hitting page down quite a bit through some of the social briefings. If not maybe we should invent one. It's a shame the voidmoth is already taken."

Re: Engineering [paging Alaric]

[zuhrovet]

"Yeah, I'm awful with graphic design. Should we just tell it we're the Wasp, do you think? Or should I dig through the classified files and find something official?"

[Perhaps it's fortunate that Sasha's from far too early to propose the deuce of gears.]

[a logo for the Rebellion?]

[yhlee]

Per below, the GM would be pleased if y'all came up with something, as the GM has no idea and also sucks at graphic design. :)

(The existing heptarchate faction logos were done by someone at Solaris Books.) ]

[a logo for the Rebellion?]

[yhlee]

[Sorry I've been out of touch most of today, will catch up after I get some work done--I did not have a logo/emblem in mind for The Rebellion and would be charmed if y'all came up with one for it.]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[pengwern]

[It does feel like there should be one with the level of organization we've seen so far/prevalence of calendrical foci, but...the easiest emblem is one that only Ankat could know, if I have my character bios straight? Maybe if Yehan or Alaric had come across news of Cheris during their time with the rebellion.]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[yhlee]

[I legit used to have a very bad icon made from a raven hand-puppet representing Cheris and her rebellion that was a photo of the raven puppet and a square root sign: a raven radical.

...I know, it's a terrible math pun.]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[pengwern]

[what, NO, the BEST PUN.
--Maybe that could work if Sasha had also hacked Ankat's files to find mentions of unrest near the central marches?]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[zuhrovet]

[I CONCUR.

Sasha is staying far away from Kel files unless she has plot reasons, mostly because she has a huge crush on Kaliyan (after_almsivi, do please let me know if this becomes annoying!) and it has been her experience that if you grid-stalk people you're attracted to, they don't return the sentiment.]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[venndaai]

How about something involving a clock face? It would relate to the rpg title, and the numbers/hands could be heretical or symbolize freedom from the calendar?

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[zuhrovet]

[An hourglass might make a nice motif? Or we could do something with the Doors suit of the jeng-zai deck?]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[venndaai]

These all sound like great ideas. I'm hanging out with smokedetective today, I'm sure we'll get a chance to draw some different things based on all the ideas so far.

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[smokedetective]

[hey y'all. sorry i'm late to the party. this sounds super cool. i'm gonna sketch a couple of things up based on what y'all talked about.]

Re: [a logo for the Rebellion?]

[venndaai]

I've started a thread in the art post for this.

Re: Engineering

[after_almsivi]

Kaliyan needs a moment to parse Alaric's words. Does he actually believes he's talking to the ship ?

"Alaric, I don't know what you think you're doing but get out of engineering before you break anything."

[i feel like Kaliyan's hope of keeping Alaric alive decreases every time he talks]

Re: Engineering

[pengwern]

[is Kaliyan making a list of the crew in order of easiest to hardest to keep watered/out of space wells]

Re: Engineering

[zuhrovet]

"It's all right," Sasha cuts in. "This is an area where Alaric actually HAS more expertise than the rest of us."

[If Kaliyan has a list, Alaric's not going to be alone at the bottom . . .]

Re: Engineering

[slybrarian]

"Well, I suppose that's true in the most technical sense," Alaric says, "since I understand the propulsion theory and biomechanical interface and so on. With that said, I was not under the impression that the giant space monster at the ship's heart was actually capable of having a conversation or, just as an example, holding opinions about the hexarchate and its factions. I'm sure we'll make the best of it, though!"

Re: Engineering

[zuhrovet]

Sasha closes the channel to Kaliyan.

"If I ever notice you looking genuinely afraid of something," she tells Alaric, "I'm going to surrender at once and hope it eats me quickly. On the logo front, though . . . I think I did see one in the teenager's records?"

She pulls up the relevant file, and copies just the image to Alaric's screen. [Holding off on details for possible sketches!]

Re: Engineering

[slybrarian]

"I'm professionally required to be afraid of the sea," Alaric comments off-handedly as he types. "Lakes are a bit of a fuzzy area, but if you can't see the other side it's definitely unsafe and wants to eat me. It's a... calendrical thing, more or less. Consensus mechanics at any rate."

His next message to the Wasp indicates that the crew is in fact members of a separate set of humans, using the rebel logo, although he doesn't try to explain the exact relationship to the hexarchate. Trying to translate words like 'revolutionary' or 'rebel' can be a complicated enough matter between human languages, especially as far as the distinction between those as 'traitor' or 'heretic' went. Until there was a more mutually understandable set of cultural references were established, best to stay to just to the facts.

Re: Engineering

[zuhrovet]

"Have you seen an ocean?" Sasha asks. "What was it like? Aside from horrifying, I mean. Were there birds?"