SHIP'S LOG:

The Mephitis

choco loni 4/9/2021 11:23pm

the mind bullet

part of my bullet practice is to know my bullets intimately. and by practice, i mean my discipline. my bullet path. knowing each bullet by feel, being able to select and chamber and fire and retrieve bullets with my eyes closed...

the mind bullet

i practice with eyes shut. i practice with blindflolds, and in dark caves, and underwater. one must know their bullets with such intimacy that they are a part of you...

the mind bullet

through time, this becomes more than metaphor. i know the feel of each one between my fingers to the point where mere memory and real sensation are one. i know the elation they feel as they shoot from the barrel. I know their joy of the hunt. i know their warm reckoning as they return to the gun.

the mind bullet

and here, though my bullets have been taken from my and my body searched, they can not take away from me my bullet practice. my ammunition goes beyond this physical world. there is one more hidden away, one they can not take from me.

the mind bullet

i let my mind bullet fly.

Doctor Argosa 2/25/2021 11:16pm

Well that was a chilly reception if there ever was one.

While no doubt the science here is spectacular and far exceeds anything I've seen, the diplomatic skills and manners of the denizens of Mt. Skell could use a great deal of work. No beverages offered, and none accepted (though the Captain has been quite bare faced in his attempts to add them to our coffee distribution network).

They deny any knowledge of my errant Thunder Devil, or of @choco loni's poor lost bullets. And after what could be deemed more of an interrogation than a discussion, we find ourselves captive in a cell made of ice! Well, while it is a rather well apportioned suite with separate bedrooms, bathrooms, a jacuzzi, and a view of the city, it is in fact constructed entirely of ice. And we are not allowed to leave.

But I just know that Māui, my stray Thunder Devil, is near by. Not just because of the gut feelings a parent has for a child, but also because I am able now to triangulate his whereabouts through my tuning fork astrolabe. He resides somewhere in the direction of the caldera of this extinct volcano. Could the lost bullets be there with him? And how could we break these luxurious ice shackles that bind us?

(That is of course a metaphor, as we are not actually wearing ice shackles.)

Captain Pirate II 1/13/2021 11:25pm

"That's funny. The damage doesn't look as bad from out here," I said, trying to cheer @choco loni up. She was still nursing one of her big bullets back to health, tools sprawled out across the deck.

But it was true. The Ice Zephyrs hadn't been gouging holes in the hull. They'd just been scraping it with their ice blade wings for purchase on the rivets and bands. Once they grappled on, they effectively gained control of the ship, and have been driving us straight for that snow capped volcano. Mt. Skell. There it was, looming massively before us.

"What? Oh, my spyglass. Excellent, uh, ensign, is it? What's your name?"

I forgot it immediately, of course. I'm terrible with names.

"Oooooo! Ow!!! Ice cream headache!!!!"

That eyepiece was mighty cold. I breathed on it a bit.

Mt. Skell. I'd seen images of it on a stereograph, but we always knew those images were doctored. How else would they have put in the little flying saucers, and hairy man bodies? So seeing it in person was really something. It was so... big... and white... and, well, I can't really tell what I'm looking at.

"Captain," said @choco loni.

"What?" I turned.

She pointed up ahead. WOW how did that get there? The spyglass was magnifying things so much, and I guess we were closer than I thought. There, nestled in a valley halfway up the mountain, was a city of magnificent spires. Towers like great white shards, carved from frost. The Ice Zephyrs threaded us through the enormous structures, to a landing field with a mooring post.

And next to the mooring post, a small group of people, bundled in great fur robes.

Guess it was time to meet the welcoming committee.

"Anybody interested in a bottle of iced khalua and cofee?" I called down.

No? No takers?

choco loni 11/30/2020 11:51pm

arktika! sibir! rossiya!

i fired my ice breaker bullets off the port bow, chasing the ice zephyrs into the night. horrid creatures, ice zephyrs. grinding, interlocking jaws made of crystal, shrieking wings of razor sharp shards of frozen death. but they know enough to run from an Ice Breaker. Or three.

fzzzzzzwrrr... fzzzzzzwrr... fzzzzzzwrrrrrr....

it's sibir, spiraling back to the deck to land with a plop at my feet. something's the matter with his fins, they've been shredded.

fwwwoooomp

rossiya lands hard on the deck, breaking a plank. she's been sliced nearly in half, her delicate mechanisms spilling out on the floor.

ffffrreeeeeeeeeeesssssshhhhhh!

rossiya shoots past us, out of control, heading for the surface.

three of the best trained ice breakers i've ever known. chewed up and spit back at me.

"looks like you're up, yamal," i let her know as i gently slide her into the chamber. "guess it's gonna be a hot one tonight!"

Doctor Argosa 10/12/2020 10:17pm

"We're passing over into Paranormal Skyways Authority country," announced the Captain. "I hope you two are happy."

Neither @choco loni nor I were what you'd call "happy." Both of us had lost parts of ourselves, and watched them streak across the sky to Mt. Skell. We knew we were putting the Captain's license in jeopardy. Or at least a few fines. We'd pay him back ourselves if it came to that.

You could feel the ship bump softly over the ley lines--magnetic fences designed to remind you certain airspace is off limits--when suddenly everything went topsy-turvey.

"Ooof! Excuse me, @choco loni." The ship had listed hard larboard and I found myself in her lap. Furthermore, the sky had grown dark and there was a tremendous buffeting of winds around us. Could it be? Dare I hoped?

I rushed to the portal--and saw then screeching against the night--

SCRREEEEEEEEE!

No mere Thunderdevils we these.

They were Ice Zephyrs.

SCREEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKRRCHHHHHHH

And they were tearing the ship apart with their icy spines.

Captain Pirate II 9/1/2020 8:04pm

"Mt. Skell?"

"Yes captain," says @Doctor Argosa.

"Yes captain," says @choco loni.

"Well then let's go! What's the problem?"

"It's the airways, sir," says @Doctor Argosa.

"Paranormal Skyways," says @choco loni.

Dang it! They think of everything!

"Ok. Operation Ramen Throwdown. We continue on course, no change in speed."

"But my bullets sir," says @choco loni.

"My Thunderdevil!" says @Doctor Argosa.

"Cutting our loses." says I.

"Helm, steady as she goes. And whatever you do, don't cross over into Paranormal Skyways Authority country."

choco loni 7/23/2020 10:38pm

i've been having bullet trouble. practicing off the bow of the ship

pull!

i keep missing the mark.

pull!

my boomerang bullet pulls to the north and refuses to return.

pull!

i send my shepard bullet after it, but it doesn't return. it keeps heading north too.

pull!

i send my eat-em-up bullet after them. i keep my eat-em-up bullet half starved so it's hungry when i need it. it always comes back. but not this time. it chases them north and doesn't return.

pull!

i send my last chance, my come home come home bullet -- a nested bullet with a recursive charge that opens up and sends another recovery bullet every time it doesn't come back. forever. and it's still heading north.

towards that big mountain in the distance.

time to let the captain know about by bullet trouble.

Doctor Argosa 6/14/2020 9:29pm

One of the landmarks that lets you know you're entering northern Calafia is the massive feature on southern tip of the western volcanic chain, known as Mt. Skell. Spotters on the bridge noted it this morning, and took the necessary course corrections, since the airspace to this day is restricted by the Paranormal Skyways Authority.

Unfortunately, it was at this same time that I was letting Māui, my stray Thunder Devil, out for his morning ablutions. I've been letting him out just twice a day -- at dawn and late at night after last watch -- in order for his existence on board to remain secret. No reason to implicate more of the crew in my own tiny crime of sentient meteorological entity smuggling! Of course it would be wonderful to give him more "run around time" but I just hadn't been able to risk it.

Well, until this morning, that is. As soon as I opened his wunderbottle, Māui shot off like a bullet to the north. Straight for Mt. Skell.

I guess it's time to let the Captain know about our stowaway.

Captain Pirate II 5/2/2020 12:45pm

Ah, the Calafia Coast. Such luxury, on account of the magical resonance emanating from the crystal formations that underly the region. You can smell it in the air. It fills all living things with a healthy glow, encouraging MPP (Maximum Potential Presence) for flora and fauna alike. Everyone is full of it, but they're not smug. They're happy to share, and you can't help but get filled up on the energizing rays yourself.

"Hot tub party!"

"See you at the beach!"

"Hey drop by for dinner sometime. Vegetarian all right?"

There's a chain of floating coffee roasters along the coast for several hundred miles, who rely on us not just for the beans and Kahlúa, but for supply chain logistics, as it's easy enough for us to deliver to each roaster on the way. You can practically just smell yourself to the next floating roasting platform, the smell working its way into the eucalyptus and sea air.

They do love their coffee in Calafia.

choco loni 3/25/2020 7:27pm

i've got bullets that i hide other bullets in. bullets that open up like a nest of dolls, like a tackle box, like corpse's chest at the mortuary. you can lose yourself in those spaces. they open you up.

i've got bullets you can hide other bullets in. if you shoot them off it doesn't necessarily mean both bullets hit. one may be there, one may not. they are bullets inside of bullets.

i've got bullets inside of bullets, and a change of clothes inside of bullets, and some rainy day money inside a bullet, and a fake ID inside a bullet, and hope for the future inside a bullet. i've got my whole life packed away inside of bullets.

wanna shoot 'em off?