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[LB] In the Deep (NB Refresh 04, Sn 03)
It's been almost an hour since the tussle with the Hand of Despair and you're still in the Lower Depths, in the "loving" embrace of a mammoth sky squid.
We pick up with the pair of you in the cockpit of The Owl. Snargle, what's the first part of the ship that will go in the corrosive mists of the lower depths?
Naomi, tell us about the last time you were in the Lower Depths. Was that for a fight, or something else?
Comments
No one comes to the lower depths unless they absolutely have to -- and the last time I was here was under pretty similar circumstances, actually. Except, back then, we were just hiding -- trying to hide, anyway. Things might've gone a bit better if we might've been able to communicate with them squids like the lady. Kind of funny that the depths are the last place I visited a free woman, and here I am again with the Imperials somewhere above us. Just like old times.
"How long can we stay down here?" Not that we got much of a choice right now...
Snargle ponders. "About three more hours before we take too much damage. Hull's treated for that long. The first things to go, after, will be the antennas and then the air intake system for the steam engine. Then it cascades." Snargle is not too concerned. Three hours is a long time, and Kale is really good in a pinch.
Three hours. That's a long time. Even if them squids weren't attacking the Hand, that would be a long time for them to wait us out.
Except I hate waiting.
I rock back on my heels and make a show of looking over all the buttons and knobs and things in front of Snargle. Some of them have a pretty apparent use -- and some of them not so much. I grow tired of this game quickly and prompt the pilot with another question.
"And what'll we do if the Squid don't want to let us be on our merry way?"
Snargle gives Naomi a lopsided grin. "Lady Freckles can sing it to sleep, yes? Hard to pilot a ship out of a squid-hug."
My lips curl into a bit of a smirk, and I nod slightly in response. True enough. I've got faith in the lady and all, but this does seem a touch ominous, so I can't help but wonder what we'll do if singing it to sleep don't work.
Squids, this silence isn't helping...
"You ever been down here before, Snargle?"
Snargle nods. "The Owl has had to hide sometimes, but usually not for long. Snargle has never seen a Sky Squid before, though." Snargle checks some gauges, taps one, just to be doing something. Naomi seems unsettled, and frankly, Snargle is, too. "Would you like Snargle to show you some things about The Owl, Naomi? It might pass the time."
A wide grin splits my face. I'm not usually a grinner. I'm not even usually much of a smiler. But something about the situation strikes me funny -- the goblin trying to calm the nerves of the big, bad pit-fighter by talking about bells and whistles on this contraption. "That obvious, huh?"
I suppose it is. I've never been one that's hard to figure out.
"Yeah, sure, Snargle. Keeping our mind off what's going on out there's bound to be a good thing. You been flying her long?"
Snargle points out the rudder control pedals, the pitch and yaw levers, explains some of the gauges and dials. "This one shows the richness of the oxygen/aether mix in the steam engine, gives fine control from the cockpit. Kale wired that up special. These control the dorsal thoron matrices, of course, and this one here?" Snargle points to a big shiny red candy-like button that has the word "NO!" printed on it. "Don't ever push this one."
Snargle's talking, and I understand the words -- most of them -- but when they're all strung together like that, she might as well be singing to the squids. I give a few half-hearted nods, but I'm pretty sure I'm wearing my confusion pretty plainly on my face.
The "NO!" button is sure eye-catching, though. I consider it a minute, imagining all the things it might possibly do. "Alright, I'll bite," I say with a grin. I wanted to say something witty, but I've got nothing. "What's it do?"
Snargle glances at Naomi sidelong, trying to dare her. In that look is all the "C'mon, you know you want to! DOOOO EEEEET!" Snargle can muster.
"All Snargle can say is that Naomi must never, under any circumstances, push the shiny, red 'No!' button. Unless she is willing to face the consequences, of course."
I feel my grin widen at the warning, and I give the button a long, hard look. Funny how those few words make it seem that much brighter and more tempting, ain't it? "Yeah? What kind of consequences are we talking here? I ain't ever been one to shy away from a challenge." My finger hovers just over the button, caressing the surface so softly, teasing, just a bit.
Channeling Granny Oonk, the best storyteller in the village when Snargle was growing up, Snargle makes a dramatic face, and in a spoooooky voice says, "Dire. The consequences are... dire." Then Snargle looks Naomi right in the eyes. "But you have to ask yourself, Naomi. If it's so bad, why is the button soooo pretty?"
Visual references make everything so much better!
"S'that so?" Dire consequences. A dare. A very shiny button. It's got all the trappings of a bad decision, don't it? I settle my gaze on Snargle and smooth out my features into a serious expression. I can't quite squash the smile playing over my lips or the sparkle of mischief in my eye, however. "So if I push it just a little bit?" I apply pressure to the button, enough to make it shift downwards but not enough for it to click into it's backing. "Do I get a pardon?"
Probably not.
The button clicks softly as it settles into its fitting. "Oops."
Naomi, when you push the button, this sound rings out through the entire ship. Snargle paid an actor to record it for moments just like this.
Snargle falls out of the chair and rolls around on the floor, laughing.
I can feel my mouth twitch, like it's trying to smile, but it's being held back by the expression of bewilderment I'm clearly wearing now. I'm not so easily flustered, but I can hear it bouncing around the ship, and it makes me withdraw my fingers quickly.
Snargle, though... It's her reaction that makes it funny. It's honest joy -- the best kind of laughter -- the kind that makes you want to join in no matter how bad the joke is. And this one, well...
So I give it a few beats, let Snargle have a good laugh, and wait patiently until she's about out of breath. And then, with a chuckle myself, I hit it again.