Session 87: Kicking Tires With Careful Liars
The planning for the Heist of the Century continues, with Bast and his inexplicably-loyal crew spending a few hours exploring Yinha to learn the lay of the land, investigate the docking and fire control systems, train up the cast and crew for the roles of their lifetimes, and teach Orrey how not to get hustled by billiards sharks.
As they grew more confident in the location layout, with some estimates now shrinking to a mere seventy percent chance they're all horribly killed and dumped in the ocean, the matter of the Seventh Dawn itself grew more pressing.
Linnet's recruitment opportunity did not come with a map to all of their secret belongings, and a tense dinner on the deck did not end with them being given the pleasant request to make themselves at home. The Dawn was too much of a blank space in their map, and so the Captain used his resources for the crew's benefit this time, sending out feelers for intel on the Dawn's construction.
On the first day the Seventh Dawn is due to be in Alterna, the line caught something. The Seventh Dawn was built by Alberich Industries, and as luck would have it, a representative of the Saron-based company would be in the Triad for four days aboard a model ship, eager to show the design off to potential buyers. The reports on the ship's dimensions are too similar to the Seventh Dawn to be coincidence.
Our occasionally-thick thieves have traveled to the Triad to get what information they can, and they most certainly have a plan for it...
**
The Starfall shrinks in Meteor's viewports, leaving the crew behind despite most of their wishes (Jasper is all in favor of not letting the crew spend too much money on overpriced tchotchkes). Celeste's goal of catching one of every known fish in the Dicelan Sea is off to a very slow start, but her characteristic optimism remains intact. There is a betting pool on how many fish she'll catch before she gets distracted and moves onto something else. Smart gil is on "three."
It's officers-only for this journey into the Triad, with Isa piloting, Orrey doodling, Linnet sightseeing, Yves beaming about his recent work on the engines, and Bast fretting about Yves's recent work on the engines. (Linnet has promised to cook Celeste's catch, but has not told her just how much she may need to stretch it. One fish does not a ship-wide dinner make.) There are a few moments before the Airgetlam will dock, giving the officers a moment to discuss the plan, if indeed any more discussion is needed. Isa is at the controls, muttering to herself from time to time as she has to push her hair out of her face. The costume, makeup, and hair department has been hard at work converting her to a flightly overly-moneyed minor noble; her hair is unbound and falling in voluminous waves, and her normal practical clothing has been replaced with snug breeches and a finely cut tailcoat, with high riding boots that have never and will never see a chocobo betwixt them. She's wearing makeup. Linnet has heroically restrained herself from coaching Isa on proper flightiness. Mostly. She's hovering (figuratively) and trying not to offer last-minute advice. Yves did not need any help getting some ink stains on his fingers, or a general air of anxiety, to play the part of the gil-pinching accountant. His current fond looks in the direction of the engine might be out of place, though, unless onlookers assume he's very pleased with what it cost. As soon as the mission concept made its way to the crew, there was a battle over who got to manage Isa's look. Eiri won out, as she usually does, though Lily offered a solid amount of information on what was currently in fashion in Cardian high society. Interestingly enough, none of it is reflected in Isa's outfit. "So," Isa explains, as the shoreline of the Triad comes into view. "after we dock, wait for Yves and I to be on our way and eyes to be off us before you debark." "I wonder if these people have pamphlets on fire suppression systems as well," Yves muses. "Less of a problem with--hm, I suppose it depends on what they're building with, actually." "Consumed with wonder, all innocent touristy questions, ears to the ground, got it. And if the master builder happens to have any cute apprentices ready to be chatted up, well, I've had the practice." Linnet adjusts her face from "here we go again" to eyelash-batting charm. Bast has dialed his own wardrobe to nearly-drab, under the unusually lengthy coat. Ditch it and perhaps the belt, and he could pass for a poor dockhand; as it is, he's probably a poor servant with aspirations, currently lounging against the wall of the bridge. "Right, don't want to steal your spotlight." "I hate you all," Isa says without rancor. "This was your idea, you can hardly blame us," Linnet points out, brushing a stray flower petal from Isa's waistcoat. "And the Alberich people too, don't forget that." Bast seems to be fighting to restrain a grin. "You weren't supposed to take it seriously," Isa replies. Then, "coming in to the dock...." Yves mutters to himself under his breath, "Profit margins. Risk factors. Maintenance costs. Docking fees. Fuel efficiency." It takes only a few minutes to dock the Airgetlam, as the more Isa has flown the commandeered Albarea ship, the more familiar it has become. A few moments after that and Isa and Yves are walking along the dock, heading to the most eye-catching ship in the area, a ship emblazoned with the Alberich logo in a very aggressive marketing technique.
There is no mistaking the design, though. Despite some aesthetic differences in the positioning of the windows and the finer details of the silhouette, this is modeled after the Seventh Dawn.
A tour is just finishing up, a viera couple walking down the ramp to leave as a moogle with a purple pompom and a smart green blazer waves enthusiastically after them. "That must cost a fortune," Yves murmurs. Isa waves that off. "It's magnificent," she says, probably acting. The moogle watches the approaching... noble, definitely, and what must be the personification of anxiety. Her ears twitch in optimistic anticipation. (A few minutes later, Linnet takes a parasol in one hand, loops her other arm through Orrey's arm - mainly to keep him from walking into things as he sketches - and strolls out into the fray.) "Magnificence is all very well, but so much depends on whether it can keep that up at reasonable rates after the new airship smell has worn off." Yves shakes his head, ears swinging. Today they are adorned with only the most respectable, somber, serious-minded piercings. "Hello!" the moogle calls down in her five-coffee soprano. "Have you also come to see the ship?" "Upkeep is bills, and bills are for Father to worry about," Isa says dismissively. Turning to the moogle, her smile widens. "Yes! I was just saying how magnificent she was!"
"Your father might..." Yves frowns, but drifts back a bit, following in the wake of Isa's own magnificence. And velvet. Later still, Bast finishes up a few tidying touches on deck, disembarks, checks the ropes and disappears in the dockside crowd. The moogle unleashes a seven-sun smile and bows theatrically yet respectfully, of course not expecting to shake a hand. "Well, please, allow me to escort you aboard this model ship of the Suri line!" "Yes, thank you," Isa says, and sweeps aboard the gangway, leaving it up to Yves to follow. "Is this the Suri itself then?"
Yves follows, a dark piece of driftwood bobbing anxiously yet judgmentally in her wake. "This is Suri One, our demonstration ship of the new Suri line," the moogle says. She does offer her hand to Yves in greeting, sorting out the social strata. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking today?" she asks the clear assistant to the actual power in the conversation. (Linnet stops in a tiny clearing of space around a lamppost, providing just enough room for herself to gawk and Orrey to sketch the heck out of anything useful he can get from the outside.)
"She's a lot like the...other ship." Orrey mumbles as he sketches, barely catching himself before mentioning the Dawn. There are no other people on the deck of the Suri, and thus far neither Isa nor Yves can hear anyone in the rest of the ship. "May I introduce the Lady Gerda Rentschler, of the Rentschler house," Yves says, while shaking that offered hand. His anxiety suggests a certain concern that this moogle might let on that she doesn't know much about the Rentschlers and thus spark a small, petty war.
"What a fine house!" Miette says in a chipper tone that implies she knows absolutely nothing about politics and will continue to know nothing about politics even as she is told about politics. "An absolute honor to have you aboard, Lady Rentschler. I am more than happy to give you a guided tour or to let you look through the ship yourself. You seem so comfortable here! How many ships do you have?" Bast passes by in the crowd, not looking at the shiny new boat any more than the rest of people going about their business. That doesn't keep him from noting every hatch and porthole visible from the docks. "Well, there's the House fleet," Isa says dismissively, "but I've just graduated and Father says I can have a ship of my own and honestly the designs at home have just become so tiresomely prosaic."
"Mogri Miette," the moogle says to Yves again, introducing herself. "If you have any questions, any at all, please let me know as well. I know there are matters Lady Rentschler will not need to worry about." (Linnet participates in a bit of small talk among others gazing up at the boat, for as far as she lets on, all she knows is 'that's a really big boat' and 'they must be very rich to even be getting on that.' She's keeping her ears peeled, but doesn't expect much so far...) Yves mouths "cost-efficient" grouchily at no one in particular.
"Oh, delightful!" Miette says to the noble. "Well, you certainly won't find a finer ship than this in the air. This is a brand-new ship, a product of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with the finest aeronautic engineer in the world, and the prototype has been such a success we know the full production line is going to be exemplary." "I'd love to hear everything about it," Isa says to Miette, gesturing for the moogle to follow her as she sweeps across the deck.
Miette follows happily, dropping names left and right that might mean something to somebody, somewhere.
Yves appears grimly resigned to hearing all about it, and has not interjected anything about how "brand-new" means "in live beta". Yet. Orrey looks over at Linnet and says "Think we can get in and map this ship out?"
Linnet glares at him (a little) and motions him to keep his voice down, bites her lip nervously, and thinks. The prototype ship, Miette says, was the product of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Franz Alberich, the current Director of Alberich Industries, and Isara Marquez, and she says that name like of course you'd have heard of her. Yves has, in fact; a fashionable rebel of an architect, a 19-year-old with a penchant for glitzy masks, coats with plunging necklines and no shirts underneath, spiked steel-toed boots, and a surplus of patterned belts. She is, by all accounts, an absolutely brilliant engineer, and maybe the only one of any age to be a tabloid sensation. Yves looks anxious at that name, and interjects delicately to ask if, perhaps, a Marquez design might be not quite ready for commercial use, or has it been tested thoroughly? By other clients?
"Erno," Isa says, "that would mean that everyone would have one. Please."
Miette tuts just the right amount over that concern. "The prototype is putting in fantastic work. Why, we just had a team of engineers go over the data from its most recent journey yesterday, and it is excelling in all categories. I assure you, that is a ship that could conquer Alterna!" She laughs at such a fanciful idea. Linnet snaps her parasol shut and delicately suggests that the light's not as good as it could be right here... "With a sufficiently large crew to run a cutting edge ship," Yves says, and sighs, because of course the crew of requisite size will be supplied by that pocketbook he is trying to keep from shrinking too much under the depredations of the current generation. A nervous cough behind Linnet interrupts her thoughts.
"I...beg your pardon. Are you by any chance associated with this fine vessel?" "That's just the thing!" Miette says. A sale is here, and no gil-pinching stress ball is going to knock her out of it. "The ship can be run with a crew as small as 12, though of course you'll want a full crew aboard, especially one of your finest chefs to use the five-star kitchen on the second level." Linnet stifles a swearword, grips her parasol firmly, and turns to Bast. "I am not, merely admiring it. Do you have business aboard?" Isa's eyebrows lift. "Five star? Well, I know where we're going next, then." "Let's do this. Just look totally normal while we walk in nice and easy..." Orrey says, only slightly giving in to the anxiety of the situation. "Oh. Well, it is a matter of business, so to speak..." He pauses for a moment with a glance at the ramp, then charges on through the conversation. "...is there no one in attendance, then?" Miette beams. "My Lady, if you will follow me. We have a selection of pastries and coffees available, prepared earlier today by Master Culinarian Gogomo Polomino. His restaurant Polo here in the Triad is an absolute treasure, and he brought his staff aboard at 5 AM today to prove this kitchen rivals any that has been fortunate enough to host him!"
"Your father does have plenty of chefs to spare," Yves admits. Now there's a place to save a few gil. No need to hire anyone new for this venture. Unlike every other position on the ship, no doubt. "I believe they just went inside on tour; I could see if they've left anyone to take a package, or a message." Linnet approaches the entrance and pokes her head inside, not calling out. Nobody around...better look a little closer... "Erno!" Isa cries, pleased, "It's Polo from Gogo. No more talking until I've had an eclair."
Yves simply looks pained. Especially as he's unlikely to get an eclair out of this. Out of the side of her mouth, Linnet mutters, "Orrey, stop narrating and come with me, and don't pull your head out of your sketchbook. Bast, take point."
Orrey keeps on sketching, letting Linnet guide him around.
The very picture of hesitant but determined business, Linnet ventures just out of sight into the ship. Miette leads her potential customers through a plush carpeted room into a plush carpeted hallway to not-quite-as-plush-yet-still-carpeted stairs leading down to a second floor with an entirely different pattern of plush carpeting. Along the way, she talks about the plush carpeting. "Hm. Well, nothing for it. I'm sure there's someone I can speak with on board." Bast draws himself up, putting on the best image of a minor functionary that he can manage, and walks up the ramp.
"Go ahead and wander off a bit if you see anything that looks useful. My cover might involve tracking you down," Linnet just-above-a-whisper's in Orrey's ear. She continues to look a bit lost and hold her parasol tightly.
"And prepare all the artist-y blather you can possibly manage."
(She softens the tone a bit with a friendly squeeze of Orrey's shoulders and a breeze on his pages.) No one stops Bast on his way up the ramp. No one stops Bast on his way over the deck. No one stops Bast on his way through the door. No one stops Bast from walking on the plush carpeting. The Starfall certainly doesn't have carpeting this plush. Triscuit would be zapping everything. "Can do. I hope." Orrey says, keeping a couple sketches handy to cover up the map he's making. No one other than that salesmoogle and Isa and Yves appear to even be around, and they are heading downstairs, talking about the plush carpeting, apparently. Linnet starts trying to match the map in her head - which is pretty rudimentary - to the path to the Dawn's mask-storage room. Yves is clearly calculating the price of this carpeting in his head, at this level of plushness, and not liking it. Isa admires the carpet. "So, Miette, I have to ask. Who has the prototype? It's not Bielert, is it? I swear, if I bring this lovely creature into port at the City and Lisette Bielert is standing on the deck of her own, I will never forgive you."
The anxious accountant looks up, eyes full of hope. If only it were Lisette Bielert...
Miette chuckles. "Oh, no, no, rest assured of that. The prototype belongs to a dear friend of Alberich Industries, and is currently in use as a research and survey vessel. Not at all how this would serve you!" She says that with absolute conviction that whatever the Lady with the gil would do with this ship would be far, far better. Glorious, even.
Alas, an accountant's dreams are so easily and often crushed. Bast continues down two flights of stairs, the carpet and the small talk muffling his footsteps. He passes no other people as he pokes around for the hold.
Linnet's path through to the Mask Room equivalent is consistent with the Dawn's layout, and the doors to that large room are wide open. Here, it is a concert hall, with a piano and cello securely fastened to the floor, tables with cloth covers more expensive than Linnet's entire college tuition, a wine bar under where the Atomos mask sat in the other ship, and a goddamned fountain in the center of the room, with water flowing and everything. (Linnet is mildly disgusted, but she strolls around the edges of the room, looking for doors leading to other rooms.) Orrey ambles around, mapping things out. Gallery Room, Another Gallery Room, Sculpture Garden, Menagerie (fortunately just crystals in the shapes of chocobos under glass). Bast's frown of "is no one actually keeping an eye on any of this" fortunately doubles quite well as a frown of "is there no one at all to answer my questions" - for the observers who are not there. He keeps descending. The Concert Mask Hall opens up into a narrow hallway full of spare chairs, musical equipment, and other "this is where the servants go" signs. The hallway leads to a set of stairs leading to the second level, heading down. Linnet resists the urge to test their acoustics with a quick solo, and heads down. The hold is on the third level, where the carpet changes to Reasonable, down from Plush. This hold is set up as the world's largest walk-in closet. On one of the forty-eight chests of drawers, there is a little sign saying "Ask Us About Vault Security Today!!"
The second exclamation mark is completely unnecessary.
Linnet's stairs connect to the second kitchen, which in turn connects to the first kitchen, and branches out into multiple food storage areas as well. There is another set of stairs heading further down, this one marked Crew. They are the only people who need signs, it would seem. Either that or the owners of these ships definitely want to know where the crew lives so they can not go there. Bast stops briefly before the helpful drawer and makes a show of Looking Around For Someone To Ask before investigating more closely. Regrettably, the sign, and the drawer, have very little information for Bast. The only thing he's sure about is that the vault and the hold are separate, as the idea is for one's lessers to not have access to one's very nice things. There should be no need to poke into the kitchen on a heist. Linnet ducks between several large crates of...something and tries to commit this layout to memory so Orrey can put it to paper later. Temporarily frustrated in his search for the vault, Bast goes around the hold to see if anything besides the stairs suggests itself as a good point of entry...or exit. Holding her breath because surely someone is on this behemoth besides the realtor, Linnet emerges from Potato Country to float very carefully down the Crew staircase. The hold opens into another hold just like it, but this one has blast doors that close to separate the Finery Hold from the Things We Need On An Airship Hold. This hold opens to the outside for large deliveries, and has another entrance on the starboard side as well, one that goes into the quartermaster's office. That office has another door leading into a hallway that has multiple windows with lovely views of the side of someone else's airship outside.
Orrey continues mapping out the top floor. It is full of rooms for entertainment, if any of this stuff seemed entertaining. There are also rooms marked as the Officers' Rooms, and then an absolutely ludicrous room as the Captain's Quarters. The bed is eleven feet wide. Orrey cannot help but flop down on the bed and sigh out, deeply comfortable. "Maybe I should borrow Bast's hat..." he muses. Linnet continues down onto the third level here near the bow of the ship, into much narrower (but nice) hallways, with crew quarters clearly labeled. She continues to not hear anyone else aboard. In the meantime, Bast - hatless - is getting closely acquainted with whatever keeps the doors out of the Finery Hold secured when not in use. This is too easy. Linnet pokes fairly aggressively between crew rooms, looking for anything besides a possible hint as to how to break Cassiat out of the Dawn eventually. The Captain's bed is very, very comfortable. 800-thread-count sheets, to be sure. Maybe two dozen pillows? The Captain must need a map to even find their way out of it. They'd have an easy time putting one together, with that incredibly fancy desk with the massive picture window looking out over the rear of the ship. After a quick catnap, Orrey will examine the window as a potential entry point, and sketch the clasps that hold it closed. The Crew quarters have an interesting communications setup, with multiple talking tubes connecting various rooms. This ship was designed with the ethos of "do not be seen unless the Captain wants you to be seen," so there are tubes for both written communication and speech woven throughout the ship. The smells of the kitchen drift down into the Crew quarters as well, which is just mean, really. The pastries smell great.
The doors to the Finery Hold aren't anything that would give Bast much trouble if he had at least fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time, or maybe three minutes of very interrupted time if the doors didn't have to close afterwards. After some mental gymnastics to figure out how he'd get at these locks from the outside, Bast goes out through the quartermaster's office to check on that lock and the hallway beyond it. The window seems possible. Not easily handled, especially from the outside, but possible. The clasps aren't accessible from the outside, but with the right tools, one could get through the window. It does open -- it is in four panels, and the inner two panels disengage inward and slide along the outer two to let all the crisp, clean air in (if the Triad had crisp, clean air, which it does not).
The quartermaster's office hallway leads along the outer edge of the ship to the crew quarters, where Bast encounters a perturbed Linnet. Linnet sketches off a quick salute, points out the communication tubes, and then gives an annoyed shrug regarding anything Vault-adjacent. Orrey will examine the walls and furniture of the captain's quarters for anything resembling a sconce or a bookshelf or a button hidden under the nightstand in an attempt to find some kind of secret passage. The captain would likely want a discreet way off of the ship, right? Bast returns a resigned shrug of his own with a vague wave back where he came from. Linnet presses an ear to various listening tubes in turn to try to discern where the moogle and the distraction crew are.
After a moment, Bast joins her by the tubes, looking them over with an engineer's eye. What would it take to make these stop working? "...rates based on usage for a minimally crewed ship, or a fully loaded one?" Yves is asking, in that voice that wavers between officious and filled with dread.
"...why are we settling for minimum?" comes a voice that sounds like Isa. There are a few methods one could use to sever the connections, Bast discovers with minimally invasive experimentation. The right resonance reverberating through the communications tubes would cancel out the transmitted sound, blocking all communication through the ship. Smaller charged devices of the same type, positioned at the seam separating the floors, would cut off communication between the levels, but leave inter-floor communication active. Bast would need access to one of the rooms to be able to insert the first device, though, and four rooms stationed throughout the ship (on the same level) for the latter device.
"This ship as outfitted costs five hundred and thirty-five million gil," the moogle says pleasantly, "though it does have many optional features installed. The base model is only two hundred and seventy-five million."
Those figures are audible to everyone except Orrey, who remains in the Captain's quarters.
There is a small unhappy sound from Yves. An accountant knows what sorts of optional features a lady will want: all of them. Orrey heads out after he finds nothing more of interest, aiming to find his way to another level. The look Bast gives Linnet after that number comes through is...slightly horrified. He backs away from the tube, brows furrowed in thought.
Linnet just looks like she has a headache. She spreads her hands in a where to now? gesture.
Bast outlines the missing captain's hat on his head, following that up with a questioning motion towards the upper decks.
Linnet racks her mental map, shakes her head...and looks mildly panicked, realizing she's lost track of Orrey.
Silently frantic, she floats back upstairs, combing the hallways for the wandering artist. The three spies meet on the landing on the second level, far from the kitchen and any risk of being overheard. "You would not believe how comfy the captain's bed is." Orrey says as soon as he sees the others.
"...we'll bear that in mind should we have a radical change of plans," Linnet replies, looking pained. "Do we have what we came for?"
"No sign of the vault on the cargo deck. Couple of ways in, maybe." Bast blinks slowly as Orrey's words register. "...please tell me that's a joke." The words "Base model" drip from Isa's lips with every single ounce of disdain she can muster. "No joke. Might be able to enter through a large window in there. If the captain isn't at home." Orrey says, showing Bast his window diagram.
Bast sighs quietly. "I'll go check it out. Have you seen everything on this deck? The vault can't be that small..."
"Maybe the vault is an after-market addition?" Orrey asks.
"I mean, we have plenty of places it could be," Linnet says with considerable doubt.
"There was a sign about it. Pretty sure they do vaults too," replies Bast.
"Have you seen any big vents we can crawl through?" Orrey asks. "Of course, if there are concerns about expense, we can ensure that luxury is the top priority, instead of such trivial matters as efficiency," Miette says, starting to think she's figured out her buyers. "This model has the latest in G-Schmidt engines plus our signature MagiVaultTech security, but those could be traded out for, perhaps a special deck off of the Captain's quarters for private sunset tea...?" "Keep looking." Bast heads off towards the captain's quarters. Yves makes a slightly more distinct sound of unhappiness and terror. "It wouldn't do for a lady to be in the skies with inefficient engines," he allows.
"Or to suffer insecurity," Isa adds. "There is a secure hold?"
"This ship has two secure holds," Miette says with gil glittering in her eyes, "and then a vault, for when one wants to be certain that one's most precious belongings are only accessible by the right people." She's really getting into it now.
Isa looks at Yves. "Erno. Even you must admit that it would be worth considering."
"A secure hold is important," Yves allows, with the tiniest sigh. "One can't have the visiting musicians pilfering the jewelry boxes, now, can we." Orrey continues to wander into new places to map out more of the ship.
Bast makes it to the Captain's quarters. There is an Orrey-shaped divet in the bed, but it's not very deep.
Linnet throws up her hands - catching herself before whacking her parasol on anything - and opts for a third as-yet-unseen direction. Might as well get everyone lost... Isa turns a brilliant smile on Miette. "Quick," she says, "while the clerk agrees with us. To the vault!" Lips compressed in a rather grim expression, Bast tugs the covers to hide the traces of Orrey's...adventure before checking on the window locks and the rest of the room. Orrey ambles his way into a large and gaudy dining room just in time to hear a procession of people walk past him down that same hallway, narrowly missing discovering him there. That anxious shuffling could only be Yves.
Linnet finds her way to a fourth stairwell -- Apoc always said they were ladders when they were on a ship, but who gives a shit about what Apoc says -- and this one is marked Bridge, with an arrow pointing up. Anxiously, looking over her shoulder as much as around, Linnet scrambles up the stairladder. Miette leads her buyers along the second floor toward the stern of the ship. "We are just below the bridge here," she says, "just with an extra floor between us. There is actually a full concert hall right above us! You must see the fountain, it is a masterpiece. But here, the vault, is right through this door." She opens a door that looks like all the others, in the center of this hallways, and steps inside.
Linnet's ladderstairs take her past the first level -- the one with the Mask Room Equivalent, and the one level with the deck -- and up to the bridge itself. It is also empty, just like the rest of the ship, and has multiple communications tubes and pipes running down to the rest of the ship. These are labeled: Captain 1, Kitchen 2, QM 3, and Engine 4 are the interesting ones. Linnet looks around for exits.
There are two exits from the bridge -- the path Linnet just took, and then a door leading to the stern. Nice place for a smoke, if one smoked.
(Linnet attempts to check the stern door for conspicuosity from the inside, if possible, before slipping out.) "Inside here," Miette says, "is the vault. It is smaller than the hold, perhaps just room to hold four grand pianos--" an interesting measurement system "--and unlike the hold, the only ones with access to this vault are the officers of your ship." She walks around the room. "Four keys are printed for each Vault, one given to each officer on the ship, and only when all four keys are presented, can one open the lock and get inside. Only your trusted advisors will be able to get access."
"No casual withdrawals," Yves murmurs approvingly. "Not by... anyone."
"How remarkably thorough," Isa adds. "Of course," she continues, as Bast carefully feels around the desk in the Captain's quarters and finds a hidden switch, "there is also a command interface in the captain's quarters that allows the captain to gain access. A physical switch and a typed password, and then a signal is sent out to the four keys to alert the officers. A simple security measure, so the officers can ensure the captain's secured goods are safe."
The accountant's actual brightening in approval returns to anxious contemplation of how many ways this could go wrong in the hands of certain captains. Bast, eyebrows raised, takes a closer look at that switch.
The switch reveals a typewriter-styled interface with a narrow green glass screen above it, built into the desk, waiting for input. A physical lever also slides up into view. Enticingly dangerous. "But the officers... would know, at least," Yves says. "Regardless of who used that command interface. The captain, someone else, the captain under duress... So proper officer transparency. As it were."
"Of course!" Miette beams. "The captain's safety is always our utmost concern." Very interesting. Something like that has to connect to other things, unless it's an extremely odd diary machine. Bast looks for connections. The desk is fastened in place to the wall; potentially to keep it steady during high-adventure maneuvers, but also to hide any connections from casual observers. This heads down deeper into the ship, but where, Bast cannot tell. Perhaps one of the others has found information about this.
The stern area behind the bridge is small and private. Linnet can lean over the edge and see the shimmering reflection of the sun in the window on the captain's quarters, from Orrey's description, just above it here. This could be an entrance that avoids the deck itself. There is absolutely no doubt, between the two people taking this tour, which of them is most concerned about the captain's safety being top priority, and which of them is most concerned about the captain looting her own vault for a sudden wild spending spree. Bast refrains from dismantling the wall connection - for now - and, after a moment's hesitation, leaves the captain's quarters in search of the engine room. For now, Linnet resists the urge to just jump off the bridge and fly the coop; there's probably more useful stuff to do here.
As they grew more confident in the location layout, with some estimates now shrinking to a mere seventy percent chance they're all horribly killed and dumped in the ocean, the matter of the Seventh Dawn itself grew more pressing.
Linnet's recruitment opportunity did not come with a map to all of their secret belongings, and a tense dinner on the deck did not end with them being given the pleasant request to make themselves at home. The Dawn was too much of a blank space in their map, and so the Captain used his resources for the crew's benefit this time, sending out feelers for intel on the Dawn's construction.
On the first day the Seventh Dawn is due to be in Alterna, the line caught something. The Seventh Dawn was built by Alberich Industries, and as luck would have it, a representative of the Saron-based company would be in the Triad for four days aboard a model ship, eager to show the design off to potential buyers. The reports on the ship's dimensions are too similar to the Seventh Dawn to be coincidence.
Our occasionally-thick thieves have traveled to the Triad to get what information they can, and they most certainly have a plan for it...
**
The Starfall shrinks in Meteor's viewports, leaving the crew behind despite most of their wishes (Jasper is all in favor of not letting the crew spend too much money on overpriced tchotchkes). Celeste's goal of catching one of every known fish in the Dicelan Sea is off to a very slow start, but her characteristic optimism remains intact. There is a betting pool on how many fish she'll catch before she gets distracted and moves onto something else. Smart gil is on "three."
It's officers-only for this journey into the Triad, with Isa piloting, Orrey doodling, Linnet sightseeing, Yves beaming about his recent work on the engines, and Bast fretting about Yves's recent work on the engines. (Linnet has promised to cook Celeste's catch, but has not told her just how much she may need to stretch it. One fish does not a ship-wide dinner make.) There are a few moments before the Airgetlam will dock, giving the officers a moment to discuss the plan, if indeed any more discussion is needed. Isa is at the controls, muttering to herself from time to time as she has to push her hair out of her face. The costume, makeup, and hair department has been hard at work converting her to a flightly overly-moneyed minor noble; her hair is unbound and falling in voluminous waves, and her normal practical clothing has been replaced with snug breeches and a finely cut tailcoat, with high riding boots that have never and will never see a chocobo betwixt them. She's wearing makeup. Linnet has heroically restrained herself from coaching Isa on proper flightiness. Mostly. She's hovering (figuratively) and trying not to offer last-minute advice. Yves did not need any help getting some ink stains on his fingers, or a general air of anxiety, to play the part of the gil-pinching accountant. His current fond looks in the direction of the engine might be out of place, though, unless onlookers assume he's very pleased with what it cost. As soon as the mission concept made its way to the crew, there was a battle over who got to manage Isa's look. Eiri won out, as she usually does, though Lily offered a solid amount of information on what was currently in fashion in Cardian high society. Interestingly enough, none of it is reflected in Isa's outfit. "So," Isa explains, as the shoreline of the Triad comes into view. "after we dock, wait for Yves and I to be on our way and eyes to be off us before you debark." "I wonder if these people have pamphlets on fire suppression systems as well," Yves muses. "Less of a problem with--hm, I suppose it depends on what they're building with, actually." "Consumed with wonder, all innocent touristy questions, ears to the ground, got it. And if the master builder happens to have any cute apprentices ready to be chatted up, well, I've had the practice." Linnet adjusts her face from "here we go again" to eyelash-batting charm. Bast has dialed his own wardrobe to nearly-drab, under the unusually lengthy coat. Ditch it and perhaps the belt, and he could pass for a poor dockhand; as it is, he's probably a poor servant with aspirations, currently lounging against the wall of the bridge. "Right, don't want to steal your spotlight." "I hate you all," Isa says without rancor. "This was your idea, you can hardly blame us," Linnet points out, brushing a stray flower petal from Isa's waistcoat. "And the Alberich people too, don't forget that." Bast seems to be fighting to restrain a grin. "You weren't supposed to take it seriously," Isa replies. Then, "coming in to the dock...." Yves mutters to himself under his breath, "Profit margins. Risk factors. Maintenance costs. Docking fees. Fuel efficiency." It takes only a few minutes to dock the Airgetlam, as the more Isa has flown the commandeered Albarea ship, the more familiar it has become. A few moments after that and Isa and Yves are walking along the dock, heading to the most eye-catching ship in the area, a ship emblazoned with the Alberich logo in a very aggressive marketing technique.
There is no mistaking the design, though. Despite some aesthetic differences in the positioning of the windows and the finer details of the silhouette, this is modeled after the Seventh Dawn.
A tour is just finishing up, a viera couple walking down the ramp to leave as a moogle with a purple pompom and a smart green blazer waves enthusiastically after them. "That must cost a fortune," Yves murmurs. Isa waves that off. "It's magnificent," she says, probably acting. The moogle watches the approaching... noble, definitely, and what must be the personification of anxiety. Her ears twitch in optimistic anticipation. (A few minutes later, Linnet takes a parasol in one hand, loops her other arm through Orrey's arm - mainly to keep him from walking into things as he sketches - and strolls out into the fray.) "Magnificence is all very well, but so much depends on whether it can keep that up at reasonable rates after the new airship smell has worn off." Yves shakes his head, ears swinging. Today they are adorned with only the most respectable, somber, serious-minded piercings. "Hello!" the moogle calls down in her five-coffee soprano. "Have you also come to see the ship?" "Upkeep is bills, and bills are for Father to worry about," Isa says dismissively. Turning to the moogle, her smile widens. "Yes! I was just saying how magnificent she was!"
"Your father might..." Yves frowns, but drifts back a bit, following in the wake of Isa's own magnificence. And velvet. Later still, Bast finishes up a few tidying touches on deck, disembarks, checks the ropes and disappears in the dockside crowd. The moogle unleashes a seven-sun smile and bows theatrically yet respectfully, of course not expecting to shake a hand. "Well, please, allow me to escort you aboard this model ship of the Suri line!" "Yes, thank you," Isa says, and sweeps aboard the gangway, leaving it up to Yves to follow. "Is this the Suri itself then?"
Yves follows, a dark piece of driftwood bobbing anxiously yet judgmentally in her wake. "This is Suri One, our demonstration ship of the new Suri line," the moogle says. She does offer her hand to Yves in greeting, sorting out the social strata. "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking today?" she asks the clear assistant to the actual power in the conversation. (Linnet stops in a tiny clearing of space around a lamppost, providing just enough room for herself to gawk and Orrey to sketch the heck out of anything useful he can get from the outside.)
"She's a lot like the...other ship." Orrey mumbles as he sketches, barely catching himself before mentioning the Dawn. There are no other people on the deck of the Suri, and thus far neither Isa nor Yves can hear anyone in the rest of the ship. "May I introduce the Lady Gerda Rentschler, of the Rentschler house," Yves says, while shaking that offered hand. His anxiety suggests a certain concern that this moogle might let on that she doesn't know much about the Rentschlers and thus spark a small, petty war.
"What a fine house!" Miette says in a chipper tone that implies she knows absolutely nothing about politics and will continue to know nothing about politics even as she is told about politics. "An absolute honor to have you aboard, Lady Rentschler. I am more than happy to give you a guided tour or to let you look through the ship yourself. You seem so comfortable here! How many ships do you have?" Bast passes by in the crowd, not looking at the shiny new boat any more than the rest of people going about their business. That doesn't keep him from noting every hatch and porthole visible from the docks. "Well, there's the House fleet," Isa says dismissively, "but I've just graduated and Father says I can have a ship of my own and honestly the designs at home have just become so tiresomely prosaic."
"Mogri Miette," the moogle says to Yves again, introducing herself. "If you have any questions, any at all, please let me know as well. I know there are matters Lady Rentschler will not need to worry about." (Linnet participates in a bit of small talk among others gazing up at the boat, for as far as she lets on, all she knows is 'that's a really big boat' and 'they must be very rich to even be getting on that.' She's keeping her ears peeled, but doesn't expect much so far...) Yves mouths "cost-efficient" grouchily at no one in particular.
"Oh, delightful!" Miette says to the noble. "Well, you certainly won't find a finer ship than this in the air. This is a brand-new ship, a product of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration with the finest aeronautic engineer in the world, and the prototype has been such a success we know the full production line is going to be exemplary." "I'd love to hear everything about it," Isa says to Miette, gesturing for the moogle to follow her as she sweeps across the deck.
Miette follows happily, dropping names left and right that might mean something to somebody, somewhere.
Yves appears grimly resigned to hearing all about it, and has not interjected anything about how "brand-new" means "in live beta". Yet. Orrey looks over at Linnet and says "Think we can get in and map this ship out?"
Linnet glares at him (a little) and motions him to keep his voice down, bites her lip nervously, and thinks. The prototype ship, Miette says, was the product of a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Franz Alberich, the current Director of Alberich Industries, and Isara Marquez, and she says that name like of course you'd have heard of her. Yves has, in fact; a fashionable rebel of an architect, a 19-year-old with a penchant for glitzy masks, coats with plunging necklines and no shirts underneath, spiked steel-toed boots, and a surplus of patterned belts. She is, by all accounts, an absolutely brilliant engineer, and maybe the only one of any age to be a tabloid sensation. Yves looks anxious at that name, and interjects delicately to ask if, perhaps, a Marquez design might be not quite ready for commercial use, or has it been tested thoroughly? By other clients?
"Erno," Isa says, "that would mean that everyone would have one. Please."
Miette tuts just the right amount over that concern. "The prototype is putting in fantastic work. Why, we just had a team of engineers go over the data from its most recent journey yesterday, and it is excelling in all categories. I assure you, that is a ship that could conquer Alterna!" She laughs at such a fanciful idea. Linnet snaps her parasol shut and delicately suggests that the light's not as good as it could be right here... "With a sufficiently large crew to run a cutting edge ship," Yves says, and sighs, because of course the crew of requisite size will be supplied by that pocketbook he is trying to keep from shrinking too much under the depredations of the current generation. A nervous cough behind Linnet interrupts her thoughts.
"I...beg your pardon. Are you by any chance associated with this fine vessel?" "That's just the thing!" Miette says. A sale is here, and no gil-pinching stress ball is going to knock her out of it. "The ship can be run with a crew as small as 12, though of course you'll want a full crew aboard, especially one of your finest chefs to use the five-star kitchen on the second level." Linnet stifles a swearword, grips her parasol firmly, and turns to Bast. "I am not, merely admiring it. Do you have business aboard?" Isa's eyebrows lift. "Five star? Well, I know where we're going next, then." "Let's do this. Just look totally normal while we walk in nice and easy..." Orrey says, only slightly giving in to the anxiety of the situation. "Oh. Well, it is a matter of business, so to speak..." He pauses for a moment with a glance at the ramp, then charges on through the conversation. "...is there no one in attendance, then?" Miette beams. "My Lady, if you will follow me. We have a selection of pastries and coffees available, prepared earlier today by Master Culinarian Gogomo Polomino. His restaurant Polo here in the Triad is an absolute treasure, and he brought his staff aboard at 5 AM today to prove this kitchen rivals any that has been fortunate enough to host him!"
"Your father does have plenty of chefs to spare," Yves admits. Now there's a place to save a few gil. No need to hire anyone new for this venture. Unlike every other position on the ship, no doubt. "I believe they just went inside on tour; I could see if they've left anyone to take a package, or a message." Linnet approaches the entrance and pokes her head inside, not calling out. Nobody around...better look a little closer... "Erno!" Isa cries, pleased, "It's Polo from Gogo. No more talking until I've had an eclair."
Yves simply looks pained. Especially as he's unlikely to get an eclair out of this. Out of the side of her mouth, Linnet mutters, "Orrey, stop narrating and come with me, and don't pull your head out of your sketchbook. Bast, take point."
Orrey keeps on sketching, letting Linnet guide him around.
The very picture of hesitant but determined business, Linnet ventures just out of sight into the ship. Miette leads her potential customers through a plush carpeted room into a plush carpeted hallway to not-quite-as-plush-yet-still-carpeted stairs leading down to a second floor with an entirely different pattern of plush carpeting. Along the way, she talks about the plush carpeting. "Hm. Well, nothing for it. I'm sure there's someone I can speak with on board." Bast draws himself up, putting on the best image of a minor functionary that he can manage, and walks up the ramp.
"Go ahead and wander off a bit if you see anything that looks useful. My cover might involve tracking you down," Linnet just-above-a-whisper's in Orrey's ear. She continues to look a bit lost and hold her parasol tightly.
"And prepare all the artist-y blather you can possibly manage."
(She softens the tone a bit with a friendly squeeze of Orrey's shoulders and a breeze on his pages.) No one stops Bast on his way up the ramp. No one stops Bast on his way over the deck. No one stops Bast on his way through the door. No one stops Bast from walking on the plush carpeting. The Starfall certainly doesn't have carpeting this plush. Triscuit would be zapping everything. "Can do. I hope." Orrey says, keeping a couple sketches handy to cover up the map he's making. No one other than that salesmoogle and Isa and Yves appear to even be around, and they are heading downstairs, talking about the plush carpeting, apparently. Linnet starts trying to match the map in her head - which is pretty rudimentary - to the path to the Dawn's mask-storage room. Yves is clearly calculating the price of this carpeting in his head, at this level of plushness, and not liking it. Isa admires the carpet. "So, Miette, I have to ask. Who has the prototype? It's not Bielert, is it? I swear, if I bring this lovely creature into port at the City and Lisette Bielert is standing on the deck of her own, I will never forgive you."
The anxious accountant looks up, eyes full of hope. If only it were Lisette Bielert...
Miette chuckles. "Oh, no, no, rest assured of that. The prototype belongs to a dear friend of Alberich Industries, and is currently in use as a research and survey vessel. Not at all how this would serve you!" She says that with absolute conviction that whatever the Lady with the gil would do with this ship would be far, far better. Glorious, even.
Alas, an accountant's dreams are so easily and often crushed. Bast continues down two flights of stairs, the carpet and the small talk muffling his footsteps. He passes no other people as he pokes around for the hold.
Linnet's path through to the Mask Room equivalent is consistent with the Dawn's layout, and the doors to that large room are wide open. Here, it is a concert hall, with a piano and cello securely fastened to the floor, tables with cloth covers more expensive than Linnet's entire college tuition, a wine bar under where the Atomos mask sat in the other ship, and a goddamned fountain in the center of the room, with water flowing and everything. (Linnet is mildly disgusted, but she strolls around the edges of the room, looking for doors leading to other rooms.) Orrey ambles around, mapping things out. Gallery Room, Another Gallery Room, Sculpture Garden, Menagerie (fortunately just crystals in the shapes of chocobos under glass). Bast's frown of "is no one actually keeping an eye on any of this" fortunately doubles quite well as a frown of "is there no one at all to answer my questions" - for the observers who are not there. He keeps descending. The Concert Mask Hall opens up into a narrow hallway full of spare chairs, musical equipment, and other "this is where the servants go" signs. The hallway leads to a set of stairs leading to the second level, heading down. Linnet resists the urge to test their acoustics with a quick solo, and heads down. The hold is on the third level, where the carpet changes to Reasonable, down from Plush. This hold is set up as the world's largest walk-in closet. On one of the forty-eight chests of drawers, there is a little sign saying "Ask Us About Vault Security Today!!"
The second exclamation mark is completely unnecessary.
Linnet's stairs connect to the second kitchen, which in turn connects to the first kitchen, and branches out into multiple food storage areas as well. There is another set of stairs heading further down, this one marked Crew. They are the only people who need signs, it would seem. Either that or the owners of these ships definitely want to know where the crew lives so they can not go there. Bast stops briefly before the helpful drawer and makes a show of Looking Around For Someone To Ask before investigating more closely. Regrettably, the sign, and the drawer, have very little information for Bast. The only thing he's sure about is that the vault and the hold are separate, as the idea is for one's lessers to not have access to one's very nice things. There should be no need to poke into the kitchen on a heist. Linnet ducks between several large crates of...something and tries to commit this layout to memory so Orrey can put it to paper later. Temporarily frustrated in his search for the vault, Bast goes around the hold to see if anything besides the stairs suggests itself as a good point of entry...or exit. Holding her breath because surely someone is on this behemoth besides the realtor, Linnet emerges from Potato Country to float very carefully down the Crew staircase. The hold opens into another hold just like it, but this one has blast doors that close to separate the Finery Hold from the Things We Need On An Airship Hold. This hold opens to the outside for large deliveries, and has another entrance on the starboard side as well, one that goes into the quartermaster's office. That office has another door leading into a hallway that has multiple windows with lovely views of the side of someone else's airship outside.
Orrey continues mapping out the top floor. It is full of rooms for entertainment, if any of this stuff seemed entertaining. There are also rooms marked as the Officers' Rooms, and then an absolutely ludicrous room as the Captain's Quarters. The bed is eleven feet wide. Orrey cannot help but flop down on the bed and sigh out, deeply comfortable. "Maybe I should borrow Bast's hat..." he muses. Linnet continues down onto the third level here near the bow of the ship, into much narrower (but nice) hallways, with crew quarters clearly labeled. She continues to not hear anyone else aboard. In the meantime, Bast - hatless - is getting closely acquainted with whatever keeps the doors out of the Finery Hold secured when not in use. This is too easy. Linnet pokes fairly aggressively between crew rooms, looking for anything besides a possible hint as to how to break Cassiat out of the Dawn eventually. The Captain's bed is very, very comfortable. 800-thread-count sheets, to be sure. Maybe two dozen pillows? The Captain must need a map to even find their way out of it. They'd have an easy time putting one together, with that incredibly fancy desk with the massive picture window looking out over the rear of the ship. After a quick catnap, Orrey will examine the window as a potential entry point, and sketch the clasps that hold it closed. The Crew quarters have an interesting communications setup, with multiple talking tubes connecting various rooms. This ship was designed with the ethos of "do not be seen unless the Captain wants you to be seen," so there are tubes for both written communication and speech woven throughout the ship. The smells of the kitchen drift down into the Crew quarters as well, which is just mean, really. The pastries smell great.
The doors to the Finery Hold aren't anything that would give Bast much trouble if he had at least fifteen minutes of uninterrupted time, or maybe three minutes of very interrupted time if the doors didn't have to close afterwards. After some mental gymnastics to figure out how he'd get at these locks from the outside, Bast goes out through the quartermaster's office to check on that lock and the hallway beyond it. The window seems possible. Not easily handled, especially from the outside, but possible. The clasps aren't accessible from the outside, but with the right tools, one could get through the window. It does open -- it is in four panels, and the inner two panels disengage inward and slide along the outer two to let all the crisp, clean air in (if the Triad had crisp, clean air, which it does not).
The quartermaster's office hallway leads along the outer edge of the ship to the crew quarters, where Bast encounters a perturbed Linnet. Linnet sketches off a quick salute, points out the communication tubes, and then gives an annoyed shrug regarding anything Vault-adjacent. Orrey will examine the walls and furniture of the captain's quarters for anything resembling a sconce or a bookshelf or a button hidden under the nightstand in an attempt to find some kind of secret passage. The captain would likely want a discreet way off of the ship, right? Bast returns a resigned shrug of his own with a vague wave back where he came from. Linnet presses an ear to various listening tubes in turn to try to discern where the moogle and the distraction crew are.
After a moment, Bast joins her by the tubes, looking them over with an engineer's eye. What would it take to make these stop working? "...rates based on usage for a minimally crewed ship, or a fully loaded one?" Yves is asking, in that voice that wavers between officious and filled with dread.
"...why are we settling for minimum?" comes a voice that sounds like Isa. There are a few methods one could use to sever the connections, Bast discovers with minimally invasive experimentation. The right resonance reverberating through the communications tubes would cancel out the transmitted sound, blocking all communication through the ship. Smaller charged devices of the same type, positioned at the seam separating the floors, would cut off communication between the levels, but leave inter-floor communication active. Bast would need access to one of the rooms to be able to insert the first device, though, and four rooms stationed throughout the ship (on the same level) for the latter device.
"This ship as outfitted costs five hundred and thirty-five million gil," the moogle says pleasantly, "though it does have many optional features installed. The base model is only two hundred and seventy-five million."
Those figures are audible to everyone except Orrey, who remains in the Captain's quarters.
There is a small unhappy sound from Yves. An accountant knows what sorts of optional features a lady will want: all of them. Orrey heads out after he finds nothing more of interest, aiming to find his way to another level. The look Bast gives Linnet after that number comes through is...slightly horrified. He backs away from the tube, brows furrowed in thought.
Linnet just looks like she has a headache. She spreads her hands in a where to now? gesture.
Bast outlines the missing captain's hat on his head, following that up with a questioning motion towards the upper decks.
Linnet racks her mental map, shakes her head...and looks mildly panicked, realizing she's lost track of Orrey.
Silently frantic, she floats back upstairs, combing the hallways for the wandering artist. The three spies meet on the landing on the second level, far from the kitchen and any risk of being overheard. "You would not believe how comfy the captain's bed is." Orrey says as soon as he sees the others.
"...we'll bear that in mind should we have a radical change of plans," Linnet replies, looking pained. "Do we have what we came for?"
"No sign of the vault on the cargo deck. Couple of ways in, maybe." Bast blinks slowly as Orrey's words register. "...please tell me that's a joke." The words "Base model" drip from Isa's lips with every single ounce of disdain she can muster. "No joke. Might be able to enter through a large window in there. If the captain isn't at home." Orrey says, showing Bast his window diagram.
Bast sighs quietly. "I'll go check it out. Have you seen everything on this deck? The vault can't be that small..."
"Maybe the vault is an after-market addition?" Orrey asks.
"I mean, we have plenty of places it could be," Linnet says with considerable doubt.
"There was a sign about it. Pretty sure they do vaults too," replies Bast.
"Have you seen any big vents we can crawl through?" Orrey asks. "Of course, if there are concerns about expense, we can ensure that luxury is the top priority, instead of such trivial matters as efficiency," Miette says, starting to think she's figured out her buyers. "This model has the latest in G-Schmidt engines plus our signature MagiVaultTech security, but those could be traded out for, perhaps a special deck off of the Captain's quarters for private sunset tea...?" "Keep looking." Bast heads off towards the captain's quarters. Yves makes a slightly more distinct sound of unhappiness and terror. "It wouldn't do for a lady to be in the skies with inefficient engines," he allows.
"Or to suffer insecurity," Isa adds. "There is a secure hold?"
"This ship has two secure holds," Miette says with gil glittering in her eyes, "and then a vault, for when one wants to be certain that one's most precious belongings are only accessible by the right people." She's really getting into it now.
Isa looks at Yves. "Erno. Even you must admit that it would be worth considering."
"A secure hold is important," Yves allows, with the tiniest sigh. "One can't have the visiting musicians pilfering the jewelry boxes, now, can we." Orrey continues to wander into new places to map out more of the ship.
Bast makes it to the Captain's quarters. There is an Orrey-shaped divet in the bed, but it's not very deep.
Linnet throws up her hands - catching herself before whacking her parasol on anything - and opts for a third as-yet-unseen direction. Might as well get everyone lost... Isa turns a brilliant smile on Miette. "Quick," she says, "while the clerk agrees with us. To the vault!" Lips compressed in a rather grim expression, Bast tugs the covers to hide the traces of Orrey's...adventure before checking on the window locks and the rest of the room. Orrey ambles his way into a large and gaudy dining room just in time to hear a procession of people walk past him down that same hallway, narrowly missing discovering him there. That anxious shuffling could only be Yves.
Linnet finds her way to a fourth stairwell -- Apoc always said they were ladders when they were on a ship, but who gives a shit about what Apoc says -- and this one is marked Bridge, with an arrow pointing up. Anxiously, looking over her shoulder as much as around, Linnet scrambles up the stairladder. Miette leads her buyers along the second floor toward the stern of the ship. "We are just below the bridge here," she says, "just with an extra floor between us. There is actually a full concert hall right above us! You must see the fountain, it is a masterpiece. But here, the vault, is right through this door." She opens a door that looks like all the others, in the center of this hallways, and steps inside.
Linnet's ladderstairs take her past the first level -- the one with the Mask Room Equivalent, and the one level with the deck -- and up to the bridge itself. It is also empty, just like the rest of the ship, and has multiple communications tubes and pipes running down to the rest of the ship. These are labeled: Captain 1, Kitchen 2, QM 3, and Engine 4 are the interesting ones. Linnet looks around for exits.
There are two exits from the bridge -- the path Linnet just took, and then a door leading to the stern. Nice place for a smoke, if one smoked.
(Linnet attempts to check the stern door for conspicuosity from the inside, if possible, before slipping out.) "Inside here," Miette says, "is the vault. It is smaller than the hold, perhaps just room to hold four grand pianos--" an interesting measurement system "--and unlike the hold, the only ones with access to this vault are the officers of your ship." She walks around the room. "Four keys are printed for each Vault, one given to each officer on the ship, and only when all four keys are presented, can one open the lock and get inside. Only your trusted advisors will be able to get access."
"No casual withdrawals," Yves murmurs approvingly. "Not by... anyone."
"How remarkably thorough," Isa adds. "Of course," she continues, as Bast carefully feels around the desk in the Captain's quarters and finds a hidden switch, "there is also a command interface in the captain's quarters that allows the captain to gain access. A physical switch and a typed password, and then a signal is sent out to the four keys to alert the officers. A simple security measure, so the officers can ensure the captain's secured goods are safe."
The accountant's actual brightening in approval returns to anxious contemplation of how many ways this could go wrong in the hands of certain captains. Bast, eyebrows raised, takes a closer look at that switch.
The switch reveals a typewriter-styled interface with a narrow green glass screen above it, built into the desk, waiting for input. A physical lever also slides up into view. Enticingly dangerous. "But the officers... would know, at least," Yves says. "Regardless of who used that command interface. The captain, someone else, the captain under duress... So proper officer transparency. As it were."
"Of course!" Miette beams. "The captain's safety is always our utmost concern." Very interesting. Something like that has to connect to other things, unless it's an extremely odd diary machine. Bast looks for connections. The desk is fastened in place to the wall; potentially to keep it steady during high-adventure maneuvers, but also to hide any connections from casual observers. This heads down deeper into the ship, but where, Bast cannot tell. Perhaps one of the others has found information about this.
The stern area behind the bridge is small and private. Linnet can lean over the edge and see the shimmering reflection of the sun in the window on the captain's quarters, from Orrey's description, just above it here. This could be an entrance that avoids the deck itself. There is absolutely no doubt, between the two people taking this tour, which of them is most concerned about the captain's safety being top priority, and which of them is most concerned about the captain looting her own vault for a sudden wild spending spree. Bast refrains from dismantling the wall connection - for now - and, after a moment's hesitation, leaves the captain's quarters in search of the engine room. For now, Linnet resists the urge to just jump off the bridge and fly the coop; there's probably more useful stuff to do here.
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