85.1 - Relationships For Adults
Orrey walks into where Yves is working on Meteor and waits for Yves to notice anything besides the tangle of wires and parts and bluespirit laid out around what used to be its engines. "How's it going in here?"
Yves doesn't look up, but does have enough awareness to hear the direct question. "Oh, it's... well, it's all very preliminary," he says, one arm shoved into the central drive coil up to his shoulder. "The exploratory stage, right? Because I was thinking about how it went when I did some minor adjustments to that ship of your sister's, you remember the time, and thinking, okay, that was a bit rough, so what I'm thinking is that the acceleration has to be smoother, steadier, and above all else, better controlled. Could you hand me that number sixteen octo-wrench?"
Orrey looks around at the various tools and picks one up at random, handing it to Yves.
"Smoother would be better. As nice as that speed boost was, it was definitely dramatic," Orrey says. "Dramatic is good! But the drama should descend on our foes like when the whole audience flinches at the start of, which show is it that they've been rehearsing, where they come back from intermission and the gongs all hit at once?" Yves accepts the tool without examining it directly, tilting his head slightly to keep a floppy ear from getting caught in the nearest loop of the coil. "And not on us. That's the theory, anyway. So I thought, of course: bluespirit! Obviously! Right?" "Seems like it's used in weapons from what everyone has been saying, but I'm not familiar with how bluespirit could be used in engines. Won't it explode?" Orrey asks. "Not if I do this right." Yves frowns into the depths of the central coil. "I haven't been spending enough hands-on time with this ship. A real oversight on my part, now that I think about it. I've spent so much time being impressed with the Starfall, and of course I can't do anything with its engines, since they're far more advanced and based on principles I don't know and also powered by an outraged deity who probably doesn't deserve this happening to her, even if, based on what we've heard from Principia and elsewhere, she probably deserved to have something happen to her, but--anyway, yeah, the bluespirit will be fine, I just need to be really precise with the design. And placement. And measurements. And system. And controls." He sits back on his heels, pulling his arm out of the coil. "Probably the pilot should be very careful too. I'll put a warning sticker by the controls or something. So are they done asking Apoc questions about things?" "Apoc didn't appreciate me being in the room for some reason." Orrey says with a frown. "Well, some of you are kinda rude to him," Yves says, finally looking up at Orrey. "The way Isa and Bast act around him, sometimes, it's like they think he's a spy or something, instead of the opposite of one. Of course, I understand why Linnet's upset, with how everything went down between Apoc and that astrologer she liked so much." He shakes his head. "I wonder if she ended up with the Seventh Dawn, or what. But I don't spend a lot of time thinking about that kind of thing, when there are masks here to talk with and help out, and so many more people out there who need our help. Like that sword." "I've never really had a problem with Apoc. I mean, we're not friends or anything, but I haven't had trouble working with him before. I think it's got something to do with my connection to the Twelve through the Oracle Job." Orrey sighs. "I'm with you about the sword and all the Guardian Forces. They deserve the same freedom that all of us deserve." "I wonder if..." Yves hesitates a moment, and goes picking through his tools--well, technically, they're not his, but he's using them, close enough, right?--for that octo-wrench he wanted. "I think what you can do with the Oracle Job is really amazing. Especially since it lets you know more about the Twelve. Never saw anything like it before! But, you know, that whole thing about freedom, that you and I want for the Guardian Forces, and I think Apoc wants too? I wonder if that doesn't mesh real well with...you know...the part where you can suddenly get the truth out of people. People have secrets, or just. I don't know. Privacy." Orrey nods thoughfully. "So, let me know if I'm understanding you correctly: you're saying that knowing when someone is lying is a violation of their rights? The rights of sentient beings?" "I don't think so. Not exactly. Maybe it can be in some situations. But it can feel like it? Like... uh..." Yves waves the wrench around vaguely. "Like, getting stabbed is something that happens to people. Including me. It can be a violation of rights if you just jump up and attack people for no reason. It can be the consequence of actions. It can be an accident because you tripped too near a spiked fence. It's not the stabbing, exactly, but the context. People knowing the truth, no matter what you do to hide it? I can see it feeling the same, maybe. Like if someone can see right through your clothes no matter what you wear. But I could be wrong. I'm just guessing. Apoc's great, but I generally don't pry as to what he thinks unless he wants to volunteer." "You like Apoc...do you like, like like Apoc?" Orrey says, not knowing any other way than adolescent methods for describing what he's trying to ask. "Oh. Uh. I mean." It's hard to see a flush on the viera, between the dark fur and dark skin, but it's kinda there. He turns back to the engine to do something no doubt very important and exploratory that requires him to face right into the center of the main coil, where his face is invisible to anyone nearby. "He's great. And he--I think he just flirts the way some people hug or complain or laugh, I don't know that it means anything, and anyway, these things are complicated, like with me and Principia, I don't even know if a book can, like, like like someone the way that... Uh. I don't know. How about you? Not with Apoc, presumably, just, anyone you're, like, interested in these days?" "Principia, too. Yves, I had no idea you were so polyamorous." Orrey smiles but doesn't try to make eye contact, knowing how he'd feel himself if those questions were aimed at him OH BY THE TWELVE THEY'RE AIMED AT HIM.
"I dunno, it's not something I really think about all that much?" Orrey says awkwardly. "Right! I mean, me too!" Yves seizes on this excuse the moment he sees it available. "I'm not spending all my time mooning over anyone, even if I like them in various complicated ways that are hard to express adequately in the terms I learned back in college, where everyone was a mess anyway, wouldn't want those models, anyway I spend a lot of time thinking about water features and engines and masks. But not. In that way." Orrey misses most of what Yves is saying there, and continues "I mean, Celeste is fantastic to hang out with, and Ivy is amazing (that voice!) and was so sweet when she took care of me..." "Celeste is fantastic," Yves agrees. "Isa has great friends and terrifying relatives. So, okay, if you were trying to fly away from a much larger ship with very scary cannons and one terrifying harpoon that's in pursuit, what do you think would be more important? Acceleration or top speed? Because I'm leaning toward acceleration, but that only wins out if you can get out of tracking distance before you hit a top speed that they can actually close on. Right?" Orrey thinks for a second. "Both."
"If you have acceleration without top speed, you get a short time period of a lead, but then they get you."
"If the opposite, you get overtaken before you can get up to speed. So...both."
"Is both not possible?" he adds. "Well, we need both, so..." There's a bang and clank from somewhere deep in the coil. "Oh mold. Uh. Never mind that, it's fine, I can still reach the wrench." Yves is back up to his shoulder in the coil again. "Once in a while the extendable claws are actually useful, and not just hell on gloves. Anyway, the thing is, I only have so much time, so I mean to improve both, but I want to figure out what to focus on more. Could just split my time evenly, I guess. I already took maneuverability off the upgrades list for right now, because I don't think we want to rely on dodging shot, compared to getting out of range fast. Then staying there."
"...oh, and do you know if we have any glitter? In really large quantities? As long as I'm thinking of it." "Top speed first. We'll defend the ship as we slowly increase speed." Orrey says. "Although maybe ask Isa and Bast. They'll know more about airships and combat than me."
"I know we have far more glitter than we should. You know, actors. They love glitter in their costuming and makeup." Orrey says with a smile. "Oh, perfect. The flash-chaff idea I have for confusing aim while we're clearing range might work after all." Yves drags the recovered wrench out of the coils. "And we have all this bluespirit, so between that, a few borrowed parts from my lab, a few borrowed parts from other parts of the Meteor that aren't so important, well, I might have a plan roughed out." "Awesome. Now, which one was the octowrench so I can actually help you out next time we adjust an engine together?" Orrey asks.
"Smoother would be better. As nice as that speed boost was, it was definitely dramatic," Orrey says. "Dramatic is good! But the drama should descend on our foes like when the whole audience flinches at the start of, which show is it that they've been rehearsing, where they come back from intermission and the gongs all hit at once?" Yves accepts the tool without examining it directly, tilting his head slightly to keep a floppy ear from getting caught in the nearest loop of the coil. "And not on us. That's the theory, anyway. So I thought, of course: bluespirit! Obviously! Right?" "Seems like it's used in weapons from what everyone has been saying, but I'm not familiar with how bluespirit could be used in engines. Won't it explode?" Orrey asks. "Not if I do this right." Yves frowns into the depths of the central coil. "I haven't been spending enough hands-on time with this ship. A real oversight on my part, now that I think about it. I've spent so much time being impressed with the Starfall, and of course I can't do anything with its engines, since they're far more advanced and based on principles I don't know and also powered by an outraged deity who probably doesn't deserve this happening to her, even if, based on what we've heard from Principia and elsewhere, she probably deserved to have something happen to her, but--anyway, yeah, the bluespirit will be fine, I just need to be really precise with the design. And placement. And measurements. And system. And controls." He sits back on his heels, pulling his arm out of the coil. "Probably the pilot should be very careful too. I'll put a warning sticker by the controls or something. So are they done asking Apoc questions about things?" "Apoc didn't appreciate me being in the room for some reason." Orrey says with a frown. "Well, some of you are kinda rude to him," Yves says, finally looking up at Orrey. "The way Isa and Bast act around him, sometimes, it's like they think he's a spy or something, instead of the opposite of one. Of course, I understand why Linnet's upset, with how everything went down between Apoc and that astrologer she liked so much." He shakes his head. "I wonder if she ended up with the Seventh Dawn, or what. But I don't spend a lot of time thinking about that kind of thing, when there are masks here to talk with and help out, and so many more people out there who need our help. Like that sword." "I've never really had a problem with Apoc. I mean, we're not friends or anything, but I haven't had trouble working with him before. I think it's got something to do with my connection to the Twelve through the Oracle Job." Orrey sighs. "I'm with you about the sword and all the Guardian Forces. They deserve the same freedom that all of us deserve." "I wonder if..." Yves hesitates a moment, and goes picking through his tools--well, technically, they're not his, but he's using them, close enough, right?--for that octo-wrench he wanted. "I think what you can do with the Oracle Job is really amazing. Especially since it lets you know more about the Twelve. Never saw anything like it before! But, you know, that whole thing about freedom, that you and I want for the Guardian Forces, and I think Apoc wants too? I wonder if that doesn't mesh real well with...you know...the part where you can suddenly get the truth out of people. People have secrets, or just. I don't know. Privacy." Orrey nods thoughfully. "So, let me know if I'm understanding you correctly: you're saying that knowing when someone is lying is a violation of their rights? The rights of sentient beings?" "I don't think so. Not exactly. Maybe it can be in some situations. But it can feel like it? Like... uh..." Yves waves the wrench around vaguely. "Like, getting stabbed is something that happens to people. Including me. It can be a violation of rights if you just jump up and attack people for no reason. It can be the consequence of actions. It can be an accident because you tripped too near a spiked fence. It's not the stabbing, exactly, but the context. People knowing the truth, no matter what you do to hide it? I can see it feeling the same, maybe. Like if someone can see right through your clothes no matter what you wear. But I could be wrong. I'm just guessing. Apoc's great, but I generally don't pry as to what he thinks unless he wants to volunteer." "You like Apoc...do you like, like like Apoc?" Orrey says, not knowing any other way than adolescent methods for describing what he's trying to ask. "Oh. Uh. I mean." It's hard to see a flush on the viera, between the dark fur and dark skin, but it's kinda there. He turns back to the engine to do something no doubt very important and exploratory that requires him to face right into the center of the main coil, where his face is invisible to anyone nearby. "He's great. And he--I think he just flirts the way some people hug or complain or laugh, I don't know that it means anything, and anyway, these things are complicated, like with me and Principia, I don't even know if a book can, like, like like someone the way that... Uh. I don't know. How about you? Not with Apoc, presumably, just, anyone you're, like, interested in these days?" "Principia, too. Yves, I had no idea you were so polyamorous." Orrey smiles but doesn't try to make eye contact, knowing how he'd feel himself if those questions were aimed at him OH BY THE TWELVE THEY'RE AIMED AT HIM.
"I dunno, it's not something I really think about all that much?" Orrey says awkwardly. "Right! I mean, me too!" Yves seizes on this excuse the moment he sees it available. "I'm not spending all my time mooning over anyone, even if I like them in various complicated ways that are hard to express adequately in the terms I learned back in college, where everyone was a mess anyway, wouldn't want those models, anyway I spend a lot of time thinking about water features and engines and masks. But not. In that way." Orrey misses most of what Yves is saying there, and continues "I mean, Celeste is fantastic to hang out with, and Ivy is amazing (that voice!) and was so sweet when she took care of me..." "Celeste is fantastic," Yves agrees. "Isa has great friends and terrifying relatives. So, okay, if you were trying to fly away from a much larger ship with very scary cannons and one terrifying harpoon that's in pursuit, what do you think would be more important? Acceleration or top speed? Because I'm leaning toward acceleration, but that only wins out if you can get out of tracking distance before you hit a top speed that they can actually close on. Right?" Orrey thinks for a second. "Both."
"If you have acceleration without top speed, you get a short time period of a lead, but then they get you."
"If the opposite, you get overtaken before you can get up to speed. So...both."
"Is both not possible?" he adds. "Well, we need both, so..." There's a bang and clank from somewhere deep in the coil. "Oh mold. Uh. Never mind that, it's fine, I can still reach the wrench." Yves is back up to his shoulder in the coil again. "Once in a while the extendable claws are actually useful, and not just hell on gloves. Anyway, the thing is, I only have so much time, so I mean to improve both, but I want to figure out what to focus on more. Could just split my time evenly, I guess. I already took maneuverability off the upgrades list for right now, because I don't think we want to rely on dodging shot, compared to getting out of range fast. Then staying there."
"...oh, and do you know if we have any glitter? In really large quantities? As long as I'm thinking of it." "Top speed first. We'll defend the ship as we slowly increase speed." Orrey says. "Although maybe ask Isa and Bast. They'll know more about airships and combat than me."
"I know we have far more glitter than we should. You know, actors. They love glitter in their costuming and makeup." Orrey says with a smile. "Oh, perfect. The flash-chaff idea I have for confusing aim while we're clearing range might work after all." Yves drags the recovered wrench out of the coils. "And we have all this bluespirit, so between that, a few borrowed parts from my lab, a few borrowed parts from other parts of the Meteor that aren't so important, well, I might have a plan roughed out." "Awesome. Now, which one was the octowrench so I can actually help you out next time we adjust an engine together?" Orrey asks.
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