Chapter 12 Text Transcript
Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
SILVERSPEAK
MHE – PAGE 349
Phineas:
. . . mask supposed to be?
Ulrich:
An owl.
Phineas:
Don’t look like an owl I ever saw.
Ulrich:
Then you’ve been looking at them incorrectly.
Phineas:
. . . pretty.
But it stinks.
Ulrich:
The quiet is what concerns me. I was thinking someone would at least try to keep us out.
Phineas:
Why bother though? Nobody really wanted to fight in the first place.
(There’s nothing written here. . . )
Most of these folks seemed okay I thought.
MHE – PAGE 350
Ray:
(Hah. .)
Phineas:
Well, good news is it shouldn’t be too hard to find Hazard. He-
Ulrich:
If you’re going to play with that
You really should learn to hold it.
Phineas:
(Omfg Ulrich you’re so cold I love you)
(Also what is happening)
Ray:
I don’t know who the hell YOU think you are,
But I got business with this bitch and you’re in the way.
So unless you want your ass beat too you oughta fuck off.
Ulrich:
He speaks the way he shoots.
Phineas:
Pack it in, man. Haven’t you done enough?
Ray:
SHUT UP!!
You ruined everything!
I was finally getting somewhere with Ellie before
Ulrich:
I’m going to kill him before he ruptures something.
Phineas:
You should probably save your shots.
MHE – PAGE 351
Ray:
Stop. . .
STOP
(STOP LAUGHING AT ME!!!)
Ulrich:
(Sigh)
He dodged?!
(Oh, no, he just stopped.)
Uh look, we got places to be dude.
MHE – PAGE 352
Ulrich:
Could you maybe-
Ray:
Why?
MHE – PAGE 353
Phineas:
What the hell is your problem?!
MHE – PAGE 354
Eisse:
Oh what.
Your boy there was just about to do it himself, wasn’t he?
I’ve waited weeks for an excuse.
Phineas:
That was your own guy!!
Eisse:
Please. At best he only happened to be convenient.
Don’t act so righteous, commander.
With a will like yours you could easily conscript anyone you want, but you came into town alone.
You understand how important it is to have standards when it comes to. . . ah,
Estate.
Ulrich:
Wait, Phineas
Phineas:
WHAT DID YOU SAY?!
Ulrich:
You need to find Hazard. I will keep the lady entertained.
Phineas:
A wizard in her own element isn’t a fair fight!
I’m not leaving you here!
Ulrich:
If you can’t handle your suboordinates bleeding for you then you’re not qualified to have them.
Make peace with your position.
Self-doubt at this point is irresponsible.
Go get your ship.
MHE – PAGE 355
Eisse:
So much drama.
I said nothing about fighting with you, she assumes everyone else is as primitive as she is.
I’m not going to get in her way.
Ulrich:
Nope.
Eisse:
Are you still angry with me?
Ulrich I’m flattered.
You’re more sentimental than you let on.
MHE – PAGE 356
Eisse:
No one fixates quite like you do, a girl could get jealous. . .
It’s nice to know you still think of me now and then~
Ulrich:
Of course, darling.
You took a piece of me with you when you left.
Eisse:
God, I forgot how corny you are.
(Sigh)
. . . I did, didn’t I?
You’ve gone through a hell of a lot of trouble for a piece of cheap glass.
If nothing else, you are a man dedicated to his aesthetic.
It’s a shame, the commander was right, you know.
This wouldn’t be a fair fight.
I own every inch of this room.
Your tricks and your toys just can’t stand up to the real thing.
But fortune has again put you right where you belong, at just the right time.
So why don’t you put that gun away.
MHE – PAGE 357
Eisse:
And we can discuss things civilly.
Artemis:
(FINALLY!!)
Phineas:
Wh-?!
Artemis:
(OH-!)
-Oh, sorry kid. I didn’t realize you were. . .
So small.
You look bigger from here.
Phineas:
From where?
Artemis:
Does it matter? You’ve been makin a racket since you showed up.
Not even considerin’ that business with the big guys under the tower earlier. . .
MHE – PAGE 358
Artemis:
Bot THAT was stupid. Making enemies right out of the gate isn’t gonna make things easier.
Phineas:
Wait, you’re the starstone heart!
You’re what I’m here for!
Artemis:
You came here just for me? Why?
Phineas:
I need a ship.
Artemis:
You want ME to go with you to catch the sun? ME?
Phineas:
Yep
Artemis:
(HAHA! HAHAHA!)
Phineas:
What’s funny?!
Artemis:
Not a thing!
Hee hee!
Well we’ll have to negotiate on the ship thing.
But you’re more than welcome to help get me out from under Raven’s thumb, if you’re inclined.
Phineas:
Raven who?
Artemis:
Oh he’s calling himself Hazard now isn’t he? Sorry, old habits.
Phineas:
Are you. . . is he holding you hostage?
Artemis:
Ehh not really? But I’d definitely rather not be here.
He snatched me up right away after everything with Crow went to hell and bound himself to the ship. Or, uh, me. My body.
It’s more of a bad roommate situation.
Phineas:
Oh yeah, I guess all you stone guys know Gideon huh?
Artemis:
Pfft. They’ve heard of him, maybe.
I carrie dhis dumb ass all the way through an apocalypse AND like, seven break-ups.
MHE – PAGE 359
Artemis:
You NEVER seen a guy carry on till you seen Crow Gideon get dumped.
Phineas:
You were Gideon’s ship.
But if Hazard has you now, that must mean he
(NO)
You wanna do something about this?
Artemis:
Oh, sure.
SIGN:
Watch your step
Phineas:
Don’t you even care this place is coming apart??
Artemis:
No??
It’s not my fault Raven brought a bunch of fucked up shit on board.
It’s not worth getting worked up over.
Phineas:
I AM NOT WORKED UP!!
Artemis:
Now I KNOW you ain’t runnin’ around with Jo’s coat and Crow’s commanding and they turned you loose without telling you anythings about starships.
You haven’t even TRIED to adjust yet.
Phineas:
. . . I forgot. About it.
Artemis:
Well un-forget.
You ever had to do it before? Do you know how?
Phineas:
Uh
MHE – PAGE 360
Gideon:
You’re too stiff.
. . . Got it yet?
Phineas:
Um I think
Um, it feels like um
Gideon:
Don’t tense up.
Phineas:
Warm
My teeth are itchy.
Gideon:
Sounds right. Hold it for a sec?
. . . Relax I said, get your shoulders down off your ears.
Phineas:
. . .
(!!!)
(Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee!)
It’s a heartbeat!!
Gideon:
Yep, that’s the biggest one you’ll find.
Anywhere you go, it’s the same one under your feet. Neat huh?
Phineas:
Yeah!!
OH!
Look, the flowers changed again!
Gideon:
So
You know those floaty feelings you get sometimes?
Phineas:
Jo said it was called dissociation, Gideon.
Gideon:
Ah yes, she’s right, sorry.
You know those dissociative feelings you get sometimes?
Phineas:
Uh-huh.
MHE – PAGE 361
Gideon:
Any time you start feeling like that, like you’re floating away, you do what you just did.
No more biting.
Phineas:
I haven’t been!!
Gideon:
I know! You’re doin’ a real good job kiddo.
Just humor me, would ya?
This is a grounding exercise, just like when we count, but you can do this by yourself.
It’s better if you start figuring out how to deal with this stuff without anyone’s help.
Phineas:
How come?
Gideon:
Lots of reasons. Isn’t that why we’re doing this?
Phineas:
Yeah, but
. . . You’ll still be here, right?
I know I’m on a starship, but only in mind.
I need to orient my body with your energy instead of the planet’s, or it will feel like it’s falling out of the sky.
And I’ll get. . . worked up. A little.
Artemis:
So get to it.
Phineas:
I’m trying.
Artemis:
No you’re not you’re running. What are you running for?
Phineas:
I do this while I’m running all the time!
Artemis:
Yeah, your methods clearly leave nothing to be desired.
That’s why you’re all cranky, when’s the last time you meditated? Like, for real, not this slapdash bullshit you’re showing me?
Phineas:
I don’t need to EVERY TIME, that would take forever!
Artemis:
See this kinda thing is what got your ass possessed earlier.
MHE – PAGE 362
Phineas:
Don’t tell me how to
Artemis:
(NO!)
I have been putting up with cocky brats like you longer than you been alive!!
God! You skate by on just a little predisposition and suddenly the rules don’t apply to you? You get to take shortcuts??
Whatever ‘natural talent’ you think you got ain’t gonna do a damn bit of good next to someone who put in the hours,
And Raven’s done nothing BUT put in hours trying to figure out how to kill a commander whose boots you ain’t fit to spit shine.
I can FEEL you, you’re wound up like a watchspring and if you don’t get your head and ass wired together right now then YOU’RE gonna die
And I’M gonna spend another century listening to this guy cry into his fucking scrapbook.
Phineas:
If I’m so useless then why even waste time talking to me?! Get out of my way!
Artemis:
I didn’t say useless, I said you’re not as good as someone who has a few decades more practice.
Look, ego’s good on a commander but there’s a time and a place and this is not it. There’s no reason to think you’re coming out of this alive.
Now it’s too late to turn around, and if you’re gonna have any chance you need to approach this with the right attitude.
Are you really gonna put yourself at a disadvantage –
That could LITERALLY be the difference between life and death –
Because you’re too stubborn to take advice from me?
Phineas:
(Sigh)
Artemis:
You got people following you now what about
Phineas:
Alright!
Alright, Jeez.
MHE – PAGE 363
Phineas:
. . . I won’t be able to fight.
Artemis:
What are you fighting?
The Tain can play their games with the scenery, but I still have the authority here. You’ll be safe.
. . . What, don’t trust me? That’s probably smart.
But if I wanted you dead I could have killed you a thousand different ways by now already.
A corpse can’t help me. Come on.
Yeah, see,
Everyone else is bent out of shape about Crow’s emblems all over you.
But I knew who you learned from as soon as you stepped foot on the deck.
Your balance is always up in your middle, like you’re about to take off running. Crow liked to throw his weight around too.
But your stance looks like it started out as Jo’s, you’re on your toes too often for just Crow teaching you. You think like a commander but you move like a walker.
You’re gonna be a holy terror once you get the hand of this.
Phineas:
You think?
Artemis:
Assumin’ you live long enough.
MHE – PAGE 364
Artemis:
Ooh you are bigger on the inside.
That explains. . . a lot, actually.
MHE – PAGE 365
Phineas:
Oh, there you are. Hi.
Artemis:
Hi! Whenever you’re ready. I won’t bite.
. . . What’s wrong?
Phineas:
Oh uh, nothing. I was just expecting. . .
You’re not cut?
Artemis:
I ain’t letting some human saw off MY edges.
I’m just the same shape I was when I was dug up.
Phineas:
I didn’t know you could make a ship with uncut stone.
Artemis:
You can’t.
MHE – PAGE 366
Artemis:
None of you humans could make conscious starstone do anything we don’t want to, we get too smart and you gotta file us down until there’s not enough left to think right.
But our strength comes from our connection. You guys use us for power but the first thing you do is weaken us. It’s awfully inefficient.
Phineas:
I don’t think I like that much at all.
Artemis:
Neither did Gideon. That’s why we had an agreement.
I can do a lot more than one of your laser-perfect hearts can.
Phineas:
Like totally betray your captain as soon as some commander you don’t even know asks you to?
Artemis:
Yes! Exactly like that!
I’m not interested in wastin’ loyalty on someone who keeps his comrades in chains.
Phineas:
You are comrades then? Or you were?
(. . ?)
You’re sad.
MHE – PAGE 367
Phineas:
I didn’t realize you could get
Artemis:
I can.
Yes, we were friends. But my friend has been gone for a long time.
That husk sitting in Raven’s chair is not the person I was friends with.
Phineas:
I’m sorry.
Artemis:
Yeah me too.
How we feelin’?
Phineas:
Uh, good!
Better. You kinda taste like sawdust.
Artemis:
Sawdust? That’s new.
Phineas:
. . . You decided to clean up?
Artemis:
Things might still get weird once you get closer to our boy, but I don’t mind holding it together if you’re gonna be serious.
Phineas:
(HEE!)
I’m sorry I got mad at you before.
Artemis:
Pfft
You think you’re the first commander to throw a tantrum on this ship?
I would have been real unimpressed if you hadn’t stuck up for yourself.
Phineas:
So I am impressive?
Artemis:
Hahaha. It’s early yet.
Phineas:
. . .
This is a lot easier than I thought it would be.
MHE – PAGE 368
Artemis:
For sure. Commanders always feel good on starships, once they’re settled.
There’s tons less interference between you and me and you and the plant.
Phineas:
No – well, yeah, but –
After dealing with the other stone I didn’t really think you’d be so. . . reasonable.
They don’t think much of you.
Artemis:
God-UH that stuffy old thing’s been bugging me since I got here. What did they tell you?
Phineas:
That you lost your mind, something about being a satellite too long. I guess they meant you’ve worked with humans too long?
Artemis:
HAH! You know why they think that?
We ain’t supposed to be in the ground to begin with. They can gossip about me consorting with savages, or dabbling in weaker faculties like emotions, or whatever shit they’re on about.
But I’ve been out in the sunshine. I’ve been moving, taking in new things. They’re the ones been goin’ nuts sitting in the dark, isolating themselves.
You live like that long enough of course anything else is gonna look crazy.
You listen to me kiddo. Stagnation kills. Entropy is coming after all of us, always. Stars included, even though they won’t admit it.
Alone and in the dark isn’t healthy for anybody.
You gotta keep fighting it, all the time you have to keep moving forward.
Whatever it takes.
A Traveler’s Journal: Starships
A Traveler’s Journal: Starships
A starship is a common but somewhat difficult to acquire classification of air vehicle. They are evidently constant and inexhaustible power sources, able to manifest and support impossibly complex structures at a whim. Thus they are normally used for more stationary aircrafts like buildings, heliocity foundations, and the occasional drift field. They are also very popular with those who conduct lengthy business in neutral airspace, as this method of travel minimizes the dangers of moving through lawless territories.
A quantity of starstone with the proper qualities for powering a ship is referred to as a heart. Technically a lifeform in the way that kudzu is a lifeform, a heart shows certain biological signs of life but possesses no sentience. Capitalizing on the unique organic energy features of starstone in large masses, starships are “grown” rather than constructed, making each ship perfectly suited to its individual purpose. The heart’s owner binds the ship to themself, impressing that individual purpose upon the energy manifest, and the lifeform reacts reflexively by creating a structure reflective of the owner’s intention. The process is fast and cheap (beyond the heart’s cost), but oddly temperamental. A heart takes the form the owner WANTS, not necessarily the form they ASK for. It’s not unheard of for a heart to create a useless structure if the impressed purpose is not focused enough, and once a ship is grown around a heart it must be completely destroyed before another attempt can be made. Depending on the strength of the will that created it, this can be extremely difficult.
This is the first explanation I was given. I know now that a step is omitted,
implied with any commercially marketed starstone, where the stone is “cut” before sale. The procedure, from what I understand, effectively lobotomizes the consciousness that occurs when enough stone is gathered in one place. Seeing as the stone either cannot or refuses to communicate its sentience during processing, it is unclear whether or not the industry is aware this is happening. As far as I am aware, no resistance from the stone has been documented.
T. Day 4. Month 2. Year 1.
MHE – PAGE 369
Eisse:
It doesn’t tell the time, it’s something to do with lunar phases. Isn’t it pretty though?
I thought you might like it, you and your gadgets.
Ulrich:
. . .
Eisse:
Sigh.
You MUST lighten up, Weiss. You should drink your tea before it gets cold.
I know you can’t have had much time to eat in the last day.
You’re not really so paranoid you think I’d poison you with tea sandwiches, are you?
I respect you enough to put a little more effort into my methods of assassination.
. . . Still nothing? I’ve never seen you go so long so quietly.
Where’s that delightfully rhetorical gentleman I met back in Verdantia?
Ulrich:
He sat in a cell for three days and had time to rethink his opinion of you.
MHE – PAGE 370
Eisse:
Don’t be such a baby, it was nothing you couldn’t handle, obviously.
. . .
. . . I really am sorry about that. I just wanted to see what you were made of.
And here you are! On my ship! Do you have any idea how amazing it is that you tracked me down?
My father and I have evaded people and creatures with abilities you couldn’t even fathom for years, and you made it here all on your own!
Well done. I’m thoroughly impressed.
Ulrich:
I couldn’t care less how impressed you are.
If I recall correctly, you were being recruited to come work for me.
Eisse:
Ulrich, sweetheart, you can cling to your affirmations as tightly as you like,
But you and I both know you’re not the type for leadership.
You’re a supporting character. You’ll always be at the beck and call of someone else because that’s all you’ve ever been.
You’re a hound, you’re a dog. You were caught and collared early and you’re going to stay that way for the rest of your life.
The sooner you make peace with it, the better.
You are what you are. Fighting it only makes things difficult.
MHE – PAGE 371
Eisse:
But the people in the back are the foundation of any operation. You worked in the theater. . .
Everyone wants to be center stage, but without someone running the lights none of that charisma gets very far, does it?
You and I are valuable. It’s in our best interest to be picky about who we serve with our talents.
And you do have talents worth bargaining for.
Regardless of what you might think.
Whatever you came from did a good job of crushing your spiritual ability out of you. That blight in your eye isn’t there accidentally, is it?
Someone was very careful to keep you from getting too sure of yourself.
But you got lucky! You still have your voice.
Silverspeak is irreplaceable.
And you can buy your sight back, if you know the right people.
We can help you be so much more than
Ulrich:
Do you think I am unaware of my worth?
Your father has tried this with me already. His offer was dismissive and, frankly, insulting.
If any of you have more attractive incentives than Phineas has I’ve yet to see them.
Eisse:
Mm, sorry. Diplomacy has been in short supply for this family lately.
MHE – PAGE 372
Eisse:
The commander will die here. Dad is far beyond her in ability and experience,
And he has decades of misplaced frustration to keep him going.
Were that not the case already. . .
She is unstable.
The spark of her ambition is already flaring faster than she can feed it, and soon it will devour her.
And everyone around her. Look where you are.
You’ve known her for hardly a day, and she has you charging in and stealing ships from demigods?
Commanders’ manipulative measures are much nastier than anything you could do with that silver tongue.
You’re just something she can put between herself and the death she’s working so hard to keep cheating.
I’ve done it myself, I know what it looks like.
You deserve better. I can’t stand to see you wasted on this careless little upstart.
Ulrich:
Ooh she scares you.
Or she scares whoever you’re borrowing your diatribe from.
That doesn’t lend a lot of credit to your case.
I watched her destroy what I can only describe as divine beings. I felt her. . .
Demand that reality change shape, and reality bent.
I am a skeptic but these are events I witnessed myself.
Everyone who has underestimated her has suffered for it.
MHE – PAGE 373
Ulrich:
I don’t intend to join them.
Eisse:
That’s not such bad logic. She must have seemed like a smart choice, managing to fight off a couple of minor deities.
(By the skin of her teeth. . .)
But what about the side that put those things down there?
I have made some very powerful friends since we last spoke.
I found some people more. . . proactive, than dad is.
Whatever you thought I could help you with would be nothing to them.
They could restore your body, your soul, all the damage you’ve been living with could be gone.
When we met you seemed so tired, you’d been on your own for so long already.
I can’t imagine it’s gotten any easier.
Wouldn’t it be nice to outsource some of that stress?
Let us help you. Just hear me out.
Ulrich:
Um. . .
Rook
Do you think. . . ?
MHE – PAGE 374
Phineas:
Is any of this stuff, like, real?
Artemis:
Real as I am.
Starships are usually sort of reflective of their captain’s psyche.
And Raven’s not doin’ so hot right now.
Like I said, the way he bound us was less symbiotic than Gideon’s method was.
He runs this place pretty manually. Now that he’s losing it so is everything else.
I COULD override it if I really wanted to, but. . . eh. You’re fine.
Phineas:
What. . . happened?
Between him and Jo? Everybody?
Artemis:
If Crow of Jo didn’t tell you then it’s not my place to either.
Phineas:
You’re fine with helping me oust your captain, but the dirty laundry’s asking too much?
Artemis:
Absolutely it is.
I told you, Raven Slight was my friend. And Crow, and Jo, and Maggie too. That story belongs to them.
It’s an awful ship that looses its crew’s secrets.
MHE – PAGE 375
Artemis:
Even if the crew is dead.
Phineas:
That makes sense I guess. . .
Tell me about the Tain, then?
They were so aggressive before, but it’s like they don’t even see me now. I thought they’d still be mad.
Artemis:
Ha! In little groups like this they move instinctively. . .
And you ain’t the baddest thing in the room anymore.
Phineas:
. . . Celestial bodies pull each other in. . .
Artemis:
From here he’s probably going to keep us from talking.
But you should be able to command my energy like normal. Just stay on your feet.
He’s tricky, smoke and mirrors. Like your gunslinger.
(Don’t let him get to you.)