trans_9 | Far below the rolling tide [Open]

Strangely enough, even after the events of the past few days, Zouichi had not developed an aversion to the ocean. Or axes! Or giant squid! It helped that he, unlike some of the other crew, hadn't been in imminent danger of drowning. He was, however, busying himself with preparing some of the food they'd bought on shore leave, as well as supplies salvaged from the Deepstar 7. No sense letting it go to waste, right?

He'd started work in the early morning, and gotten so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn't quite notice that he was making more than was absolutely necessary. What? Cooking was relaxing. And anyway, he thought as he waited to pull a piece of battered shrimp out of its cooking oil, someone would probably eat it all. For the people living in the inn, he was careful to set aside boxes of prepared food. But there was an increasing amount left over...

Stop by, enjoy your ridiculously overprepared lunch. Or just a simple one, if you're an acquaintance. The front door's open!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"And then we'll be the ones with the unstoppable space insect army. Ha. Ha." Can you hear that sarcasm in his voice, Howard?

"I haven't heard from Science in months. Or Neuropathy, for that matter. You'd think any information they might have gained would be disseminated throughout the ship, though." But no.

"Don't scare me like that, Zou." Howard winks, but yeah, he wouldn't exactly be thrilled to have the Council and-slash-or Command in charge of an insect army either.

"They're either working on something super secretive, or they've installed a hot tub in the science department. My bets are on the latter."

If you thought they were insufferable now...

"Why not both? Maybe they've got a time machine in there, and they've figured out how to combine the two." Yeah. He could totally see that. "But as long as they stay away from virus work, I guess they can fiddle with whatever it as as long as they want."

Because he wouldn't trust most people with viruses as far as he could throw them. Okay, bad example.

"A Hot Tub Time Machine? That's dumb. Why would you want to travel through time in swimming trunks?"

Howard shakes his head. "Or they could actually give Medical a heads up every once in a while. I mean, we've still got all those Galilee machines sitting around as coatracks and coffee tables. It's not like there isn't stuff to do."

"After all the trouble we went to get those things?" That was a distinct scowl Zouichi was wearing. "Right. So much for the Important Medical Technology that we should obviously throw billions of clones onto the train tracks to obtain."

"And I don't know. Maybe you don't fill it with water when you're using it to time travel."

Howard's going to be very careful how he phrases anything regarding clones around Zouichi. "Yeah. Hell of a lot of use it's doing anyone now."

"It just doesn't seem like an aerodynamic design. A hot tub." You know Howard's now considering how to turn a jacuzzi into a vehicle, Zouichi. Thanks for that.

For whatever reason, this time Zouichi didn't even really react to the mention of clones.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't fly. Just travel through time. It's a stationary time machine." You know. Like in the movie adaptation!

~~You mean you were going to invent a portable bath, Howard?~~

Which is good! Howard doesn't want to deal with another handful of awkward.

"What if it travels through time, but in the future someone but a brick wall where it's supposed to materialize?"

~~He's concocting blueprints in his brain.~~

"I suppose it's all in where you choose to build the machine, then. After all, even if you're in a flying machine, you could still run into a building or airplane."

They are putting way too much thought into this.

"Yeah, but there's more stuff taking up space on the ground than in the air." Howard gets up. "You know, I have a spare tub if you want to start trying this out now. Not that I know anything about time travel."

"You have a spare tub?" Now that was just bizarre. "Are you sure you don't want to fill it with cat food or something?"

He didn't think he'd be committing to an actual hot tub time machine project.

"Of course I have a spare tub. I have two of them, actually. One of them has those cool little claw feet." Stealing bathtubs from abandoned buildings is a totally normal teenage activity. "I can fill the one with claws with cat food. That'll be topical."

Possibly it'll just be a tub with a motor. You never know, Zou.

"Claw... feet? Is it a hot tub?" Because clearly this was the important part.

"I suppose all you need then is an understanding of the principles of time travel." Howard wasn't really going to go through with this project, right? ....Right?

"If you put hot water in it, duh."

Well, that's a problem. "Maybe we can just get the tub all set up for flight and turn it over to Science for the time travel. Or give it to the Doctor guy who took my Furby."

Zouichi held up a hand. "'We?' I don't remember agreeing to have my name attached to this. I have a reputation to uphold, you know. Besides, I think I'd rather have a stealth fighter."

In fact, maybe he should write that down. It would be pretty cool having a stealth-capable Variable Fighter. Even if his cover would be blown once he started firing missiles.

"Oh, come on! You don't expect me to make a tubcar alone, do you?" There's a hint of 'why don't you want to spend time with me' whine in his voice that he's trying very hard to scrub out. "But you're out of luck for a stealth-fighter. I'd just tape print-outs of cammo on it."

Zouichi shook his head. "I can come and watch if you like. But even I'm not that a proponent of baths that roll around."

That would mean he could have awkward conversations literally anywhere. Clearly something to be avoided.

"Alright, that works. But I expect input." He waves a finger at Zouichi.

No good deed went unpunished.

Zouichi sighed.

Far below the rolling tide [Open]

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