trans_9 | Skeleton

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Skeleton

Death has been keeping to himself mostly, ever since he emerged from his pod. He's been spending a lot of time wandering around the ship, and thinking. And trying to walk through walls, but that didn't turn out so well for him.

So now the obs deck has aquired a skeleton in a plantsuit, lying on one of the meat couches near the Bleed-view window, staring at the sand running through a gothic looking houseglass that he is resting on his chest.

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"You don't have to wear that plantsuit, you know. There's a mechanism you can use to retract it into a bracelet."

For Zouichi, skeletons aren't too much more surprising than zombies on the spectrum of weird things that can be found on the ship.

Well, this was an interesting-looking person. Transparent flesh? No, their suit showed great divots at waist and neck, suggesting there was nothing under it but bone. Perhaps this was a mollusk-person, trying to grow a humanoid framework out of their shell that would be clad in flesh later? That might make sense.

She was unfamiliar enough with Earth mythology that she did not immediately think that a moving skeleton equaled Death.

She sat down on a nearby couch and looked out at the Bleed, one eye cocked to the side to see if the skeleton would like to talk.

Sure. Why wouldn't there be a skeleton in a plantsuit just lounging around on the couch like he'd rather be playing videogames? In fact, Howard's probably adopted that same bored pose at Skinny Bones Jones over there, just, you know. With skin.

"So, uh. Where's the Monster Mash at?"

REALLY? Death asks curiously, vanishing the lifetimer and sitting up, the better to turn and regard Zouichi.

HELLO Yes, Death would like to talk. THE WEATHER IS MISSING FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR

He's not quite got the hang of small talk though.

Howard, you are now being eyeballed by an eyeless skull.

WHAT IS A MONSTER MASH?

Oh, hello, that was a little odd.

"Yes, there should be a crystal-shaped interface on one of your wrists with the controls. Several of the animal crew members don't bother wearing them, either."

And in his opinion, skeletons kind of looked better without them.

"We're missing a lot of things on this ship, unfortunately. Although you can sometimes get a sprinkling of rain down in the City, apparently."

Mollusk or not, he certainly had a nice smile.

"Have you been on the ship long?"

"The way you talk? Totally creepy." Being eyeballed? Also super-creepy. Howard just got very well-acquainted with the term 'heebiejeebies'. "It's a song, you know, monster mash?"

Death raises first one arm, and then the other, looking for something more than usually out of the ordinary.

ARE THERE CAT'S? Death asks hopefully. Surely there have to be cats.

He's now prodding at his left wrist with a bony forefinger.

TO GIVE HUMANS SOMETHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT? Death wonders. IT SEEMS TO BE TRADITIONAL.

He turns and sits slightly more upright, the better to talk.

TIME DOES NOT WANT TO WORK HERE, I CANNOT TELL. BUT THERE IS ONLY A LITTLE TIME GONE. and he holds up the hourglass for her inspection.

Death is skilled at inducing heebiejeebies, albeit unintentionally.

HUMANS SING ABOUT MONSTERS? I THOUGHT BIRDS WERE MORE TRADITIONAL. OR HEDGEHOGS?

"Who the hell sings about hedgehogs?"

Howard figures he'd probably be better off asking 'who are you?', 'what's your name?', 'did you consider quitting your current weight loss plan because I think you already reached your goal skeletalness?' or anything besides about the hedgehogs, but really, the hedgehogs throw him.

Well, of course there were cats, Death. And Zouichi was in a unique position to keep track of them. He liked cats.

"There are two crew members who are sentient cats. I've also seen an orange tom running around. And one of my friends owns one. Er, do you need some help with that?"

"This ship was not designed by humans. In fact...I'm not certain who it was designed for. It was supposedly a prison ship, originally, but," she looks at the tentacled walls, the distressingly odd statues, "I think it had a very non-human staff."

Or it was designed for prisoners with very odd tastes.

She stares at the little glass bubbles, one leaking into the other. "I'm afraid I don't know what that is, or how it is calibrated. Does the disturbance of time here actually affect it?"

I LIKE CATS If Death wasn't already grinning, he would be now. He's still checking the plantsuit, until with an odd sound, it finally retracts.

Death looks at himself. IS THIS BETTER?

PERHAPS EVERYTHING COMPLAINS ABOUT THE WEATHER? EVEN THOSE WITH TENTACLES.

He holds the lifetimer out for Anwei to look at, balancing it on his palm. IT IS MY...LIFE. IT TELLS ME THAT I WILL DIE.

Yes, hedgehogs can be very disturbing. Especially when you combine them with the traditional gestures. Be grateful Death isn't demonstrating.

PEOPLE WHO ARE HOLDING ALCOHOL Death explains. OR THOSE WHO ARE ALREADY DRUNK.

"Ah," Howard says sagely, with the wisdom of someone who has spent waaaaay too much time around intoxicated people. "But generally, their lyrics are pretty lazy."

Zouichi smiled. "Same here. I'd get one, but I already have a bird, and I'm not sure how they'd get along with each other."

He blinked as the plantsuit retracted. "Yeah, I'd say you look better without it. So, what's your story?"

"The weather might have been designed to give people something to complain about," she agrees. "Considering how high the ship's overall humidity is, it wouldn't be that hard to arrange: just went some of the hot, wet air down into the City, and let condensation take its course. Then again, it would probably be more appropriate to complain about the ship that controls all the weather, and everything else for that matter."

Which would not be so much of a problem, if Stacy would only tell them exactly what she was doing, and what her orders were, and what the rules controlling them all were.

A religious artifact, maybe? But there was something very matter-of-fact about the way the slender (bony) hand presented the object. Of course plenty of people were very businesslike about their faith. "Were you not expecting to die until you came here?"

Some mollusks were very long-lived, but she didn't think they were immortal.

Death is actually wondering if he's managed to pick up 'modesty' during his interactions, as he's wishing for his usual robe back again.

STORY? Death asks.

Death considers this for a moment.

SUCH AS GOLD, GOLD, GOLD, GOLD?

THE SHIP CONTROLS EVERYTHING? Death questions. He already heard that, but he likes other opinions on things. WE ARE THE TOOLS?

In all his experiences of seeing people controlled or influenced by things, it usually goes all wrong. And he's the one who has to do the clean up.

He watches the sand still falling for a moment.

NO is his simple answer. I DO NOT DIE

"Yeah or 'gonna have a house party in my house'," Howard says flatly. "'Gonna pour booze down my mouth'. They don't think too hard about things."

"What's your name, and what were you doing before you ended up on the ship?"

"The ship controls herself. We are inside her body. I suppose you could call us her tools. I haven't seen her take direct action that I know of, for things outside of her, except via the crew."

Of course for all they knew, an Ohm warship came by every day, and Stacy just gobbled it up. So long as the cruiser didn't occlude one of the Obs Deck windows, how would they even know?

She looked at the little glass bubbles again. "Is that a sadness? Not dying?"

She would certainly be sad if her body died and her soul did not go on.

Well, that's plainer.

I AM DEATH

This is usually the point where most people start to feel a little uncomfortable, so Death doesn't elaborate. He hopes that Zouichi doesn't, Death likes this person that also likes cats.

INSIDE HER BODY Death echoes, his skull tilting in consideration. DO YOU GROW CALMER ABOUT THIS AS TIME PASSES?

THERE IS NO SADNESS. I HAVE MY DUTY. and there might be just the slightest tinge of pride in the macabre, unvoiced tones. BUT KNOWING THAT DEATH WILL DIE...IS THIS HOW HUMANS FEEL?

He doesn't remember feeling like this when he was the Reaper Man. And the fact that he is feeling is something new as well.

BUT WHERE ELSE WOULD THEY HAVE A HOUSE PARTY? And now you've confused him. IT WOULDN'T BE A HOUSE PARTY. A BARN PARTY PERHAPS? OR A FIELD PARTY? OR IS ACCURACY NOT REQUIRED IN A SONG?

Death is actually not the weirdest name Zouichi has heard on this ship. But there is the small matter of him being an anthropomorphic skeleton. Still, capital-D Death isn't really a big story element in the area he's from, so he has to ask --

"As in a god of death? Or death itself? I'm surprised the ship managed to kisnap you."

She considers. "I am used to the equivalent, really. Of being aboard a ship where the AI installed as part of the ship's systems monitored everything. The only organic ship I've ever been on before Stacy was more of an organic layer over a metal framework. Stacy is far more impressive;" that with a look of slightly covetous interest around the Obs Deck.

The other organic ship had been terrified of open flame, she recalled. Which made sense, since it was furry.

"True duty is true strength," she replies, and then her mouth sags open and she grins, wide, too wide, the corners of her mouth suddenly flush with her ears and her forty teeth gleaming in a smile that is an ivory echo of the skeleton's.

"I don't know how humans feel, personally. But if you are Death - may I say, I am very glad to meet you here." She touches her eight fingertips to her forehead and bows her head, and then just drops her hands and beams at him.

"Exactly! Like I said, dumb lyrics." He tilts his head. "Although a field party sounds like it could get pretty wild."

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