SHIP'S LOG:

The Mephitis

choco loni 12/10/2019 9:26pm

zing! zing!

my tuning fork bullets whip around the ship, gaining speed.

ting! ting!

the baby thunderdevil has gotten mighty big. swallow an airship big. but we're hoping--

zing!

that on the inside--

ting!

it's still the little pup it used to be--

zing! ting!

TONG!

the tuning fork bullets converge roughly 400 meters off the port bow and start to resonate. the thunderdevil pauses, and lifts its whirlwind snout out of the dusty earth below and gropes its way through the sky.

"ready with that wunderbottle?" i ask the doctor.

he doesn't hear me, what with the tornado noise, and the chimes.

i pull out my tuning fork and give it a bang against the side of my gun. it's set to the exact pitch to call the bullets back, right into the barrel.

the tuning fork bullets catch the sun as they start to zoom towards us.

the thunderdevil takes the bait, releasing the mephitis from its cyclone, and starts chasing the bullets back to us.

Doctor Argosa 10/24/2019 11:27pm

My pet Thunder Devil has yet to consume us. Whether this is related to its still relatively small size, or some sense of familial gratitude I can not be sure. It was merely a pup when we first released it from its wunderbottle, and it's quite possible it has formed an bond with me as a father, or the ship itself as a mother.

In either case, the Mephitis remains locked in the top of its howling funnel, rotating slowly as the Thunder Devil continues growing in size, feeding on the desert sands below. Apparently this area of the desert was once the floor of an ancient ocean, and the sedimentary rocks are rich with iron--the favorite (and most nutritious!) food for growing Thunder Devils.

While we remain momentarily safe from being sucked into its slowing growing maw, I continue my experiments in communication. @choco loni, @Captain Pirate II, the rest of the crew, and even the Japanese camera team have all assisted in hanging wind chimes of specifically calibrated frequencies all around the ship. I continue to take measurements and study, hoping to find a harmonic method communicating with our gusty young friend.

If I am unsuccessful, the ship will no doubt be crushed by the ensuing maelström.

Captain Pirate II 9/9/2019 11:12pm

"そしてそれは何ですか？ コーヒーとミルクの色です!"

"What? That? Oh it's just some bit of dust, caught up by a whirlwind. Sometimes we see them this high."

We were on the larboard observation deck, the film crew taking some b-roll.

"しかし、顔があります！ そして、角！ 私たちを見ています。 そして私たちに従ってください!"

"Oh, that's just a common perception misperception of people who haven't been airborne for long periods of time before. Objects are closer than they appear, objects appear to have faces and horns, objects appear to the following you. All quite normal for the uninitiated."

Come to think of it, there might have been something about the look of that particular dust devil. I mean, I've seen plenty in my time, but this one seemed especially fresh in my memory. Kind of like the ones I'd see the Doctor working with in Chichen Itza...

"そして、それはこのように向かっています！ 走れ！ 早く!"

Ah, yes, Chichen Itza. It all seems like somebody else's vacation now...

choco loni 8/10/2019 10:03pm

when the captain has the japanese camera crew busy doing his lines, the doctor and i have been letting the little thunderdevil get a bit of exercise off the port bow. generally it stays near the ship, scooping up the iron-enriched dust the doctor tosses out like fish food. when it starts to stray i shoot off a whirlwind bullet that i've notched to give it a full loop trajectory. as it makes its curve, the little devil follows it all the way around back to the observation balcony where i catch the bullet back in the barrel, and the doctor gives the baby thunderdevil a treat. it's starting to get wise and takes off now and then just so it can chase the bullet round and get its reward.

sure is cute. but what happens when it gets bigger?

"no one's tamed one before," says the doctor. "but i suppose we'll need to set it free eventually."

Doctor Argosa 7/11/2019 11:27pm

After barring the camera crew from my lab, I began the delicate process of removing one Thunder Devil from its wunderbottle. Yes, normally such a procedure should only be done in a specially equipped lab, but this particular Thunder Devil had been injured in the process of netting it, and I was concerned it needed attention. Its thrashings in the wunderbottle had become far more faint than the others, and let's be honest none of us really know what happens inside those things, am I right?

So I've rigged up a temporary playpen for it while its little funnel sets and its spiral updraft straightens out. Poor thing.

Captain Pirate II 6/11/2019 10:14pm

"I don't always drink Kahlua in my coffee, but when I do, it's in the morning."

CUT! TAKE 42*

"Being an airship captain means both being alert AND inebriated at the oddest hours."

CUT! TAKE 54*

"Drunk and jittery? Welcome to my life!"

CUT! LET'S TAKE FIVE EVERYBODY!*

*translated from the Japanese

This sounded like some easy publicity, plus a bit of bounty on the side for the Captain. Oh, I would have thrown a party for the crew with most of it. Or a fair amount, anyway. But the point is, this has been a lot more work than it was presented.

Our commercial agent said "Hey CP! I know you're on the coffee & Kahlua run, heading north, and there's this Japanese creative agency that's looking to do a Kahula & Coffee campaign AND give Zephyr Air Transport a big plug in the process. All they ask is that you let them have run of the ship on your way north. You know it's milk run. Ha ha get it? That's my Cappy. What I mean is it's an easy trip, and your crew is going to have trouble keeping busy as it is. So you've got a few extra passengers, who are going to be taking a some shots, some footage, some b-roll, maybe have you read a few lines. It'll be fun! I hear your face will be all over the hot canned coffee and Kahlua machines in Tokyo. Plus, there's a little bit of a bonus for the star, if you know what I mean... All I need is to have you sign here..."

"Ah! Mr. Capitan Piratu! Gomen nasai. We are ready to begin once more. But this time, we wish you to fully show the spirit of the Hikōsen, yes? Here, in your eyes. And also in your heart. Gambate Gokurosan!!"

"Hai! So desu ne."

Hard work.

choco loni 5/12/2019 10:25pm

i've been keeping whirlwind bullets behind my ears, but there's been no need for them as the @Doctor Argosa's net protocols have been sound, neatly bottling up each thunder devil he snares. nothing much else to shoot at given the civilized nature of the natives. the local authorities have nothing to fear, and we keep the tourists happy with our hourly rentals.

so instead i've been using the holiday snaps gun. here's the temple of kukulcan with the mephitis docked nearby.

*snap*

@Captain Pirate II with elote on a stick.

*snap*

me hiding behind a column at the temple of a thousand warriors.

*snap*

(the holiday snaps gun is so safe you can ask strangers to shoot you with it.)

it's a little disconcerting i can't find my memory stick though. it's not like me not to put things back in their places. i feel like i can almost remember putting it somewhere odd... but i can't quite remember. i suppose it will turn up eventually.

in the meantime, the crew has had just about enough shore leave, and the captain has mentioned getting back on the road with a coffee and kahlua run up the coast. we'll take it north and sell it. feels like it's been quite awhile since we've had some honest work.

Doctor Argosa 4/12/2019 11:09pm

Having a wonderful time at Chichen Itza! The weather has been great, and the warm jungle air has been doing wonders for the crew. There's even been a bit of a breeze to keep things on the cooler side. The Mephitis has been riding the updrafts, taking tourists on short spins around the area. The warm weather gives us just the extra lift we need to chase around the little Thunder Devils, and I've been able to snag three in my array of nets and talismans. They give you a bit of fight once you get them on board, but we've been able to secure each one into its own wunderbottle. One of these days I'll go ashore and visit the ruins and figure out if those people are selling balloons or cotton candy or umbrellas or what!

Wish you were here!

Dr. A.

Captain Pirate II 3/12/2019 8:30pm

Ow! @choco loni--no throwing things on the bridge!

Especially at the Captain.

What's everybody staring at? Man your stations! Status report!

Set sail for Chichen Itza. I've always wanted to visit, and I hear it's beautiful this time of year.

choco loni 2/9/2019 5:34pm

this is my memory stick. it’s clear now, see-through like everything else. or reflective of everything else. same images of everything reflecting off everything else, with nothing to reflect but the reflections. there’s still something being reflected—contours, outlines, oily shapes along the crinkle of infinite telescopy...

which is why the memory stick seemed like the perfect weapon. see-through as it is, its size and shape is clear in my hand, and i know what ammunition it holds. will the memories be see-through too? how could they be? i see them in my mind’s eye now, clear as day, full color like any picture in a phone. you can see your memories, right?

so i raise the memory stick to whack the captain in the head, drawing back my arm, when i sense the intruder out of the corner of my eye. i whip the stick across the room, perfectly aimed to richochet against the far wall of the bridge and crack against the head of whatever it is that’s creeping in....