Forty-Seventh Theory [Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

Filtered to Doc McCoy || Unhackable

Um. About my brother's cat.

[Once that unpleasantness is over, Don will go sit up on the roof for a few hours, in the rain and in view of the river, meditating. He made contact with Sona last week at the hot springs, and is now trying to learn what she has to teach.]

[Later, inside, he'll open his journal and put a question to the village at large.]

Filtered from Shredder and Karai || Unhackable

I've heard some people are trying to build ships. Are any of them likely to be seaworthy by the end of the summer?

Comments

[Filtered]

[markofthewise]

We're almost done with ours. Just needs some paint, some touching up, and she's good to go.

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

Someone's building a ship? An entire ship, not a boat?

[Filtered]

[i_speak_softly]

[Ah yes. A good paint job does make all the difference.]

Will it carry the Shell Bell?

[voice, same filter]

[i_speak_softly]

[... Now he's confused. You make it sound like a boat is some component part of a ship.]

I think it depends what you mean by 'ship' and 'boat'.

[all7seas]

What need you with a ship, Smart Turtle?

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

Ships have three masts at least. It's a bit more work, and requires a bit more of a crew.

[He's sounding pretty deadpan. It is safe to assume this is an understatement.]

[voice, same filter]

[i_speak_softly]

[Masts. Okay. Those are the things that stand up and hold the sails.]

I thought I heard that someone was building... something that floats.

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

Well, yes. Several. [The navy men have yet to get it together and build something, except anything they could reasonably build on their own just wouldn't be big enough to be satisfying after serving together on a 74.] Did you need one?

[i_speak_softly]

I was just curious.

[voice, same filter]

[i_speak_softly]

[Equivocally:] I have a use for one.

[all7seas]

I'm not sure anything like a proper ship could be built, here. You'd need a shipyard. And a proper ropewalk. And sailmakers. And great thick straight trees for the masts, and some way of movin' all that timber down to the sea.

[Filtered]

[markofthewise]

I think it could. You know, a few extra ropes, pulleys, and that kind of thing.... yeah. We could make it work.

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

Do you know Rupert Giles?

[Filtered]

[i_speak_softly]

[He is delighted by this.]

I need to figure out how to get it there.

[voice]

[voropedia.livejournal.com]

[ That is a talking turtle. And he is wearing a mask... But this world's been strange enough already, Vorona barely spares the sight more than a blink. ]

I question the necessity to build a ship when barrier present, so I assume the seafaring is not for escape. What, then? Fishing, recreation, accessing locations enveloped from tidal wave of past shift...

Even if all of these, true possibilities, as a reptile of the order Testudines, do you not swim?

[voice, same filter]

[i_speak_softly]

Yes? [Please explain how this is relevant.]

[i_speak_softly]

[You've lost him. He has very little idea how to build something as large and yet technologically-simple as a sailing ship.]

Why couldn't you build those things first?

[all7seas]

You COULD, were there a proper lumber mill in this place. When I built my Joanna Joyce, I had to plane all the wood by hand. It took a very long time, mate.

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

[Don't be a know-it-all, kid.] I've been helping him with a boat that's coming along nicely. You should speak with him.

[voice]

[i_speak_softly]

[He likes your critical thinking on the subject of ship availability, but then you had to go and make it personal.]

I beg your pardon?

[voice]

[voropedia.livejournal.com]

[ ... She doesn't quite realize she's offended the turtle. :( Or maybe she got her facts mixed up?? ]

... Turtle? Identification, incorrect? ...Tortoise?

[voice, same filter]

[i_speak_softly]

He never told me he was building a boat.

[But he is delighted to hear it.]

[i_speak_softly]

[It vaguely occurs to him that most people don't build their own laboratories from scrap.]

Weren't you working on a ship a year ago?

[voice]

[i_speak_softly]

[He takes pity on this strange person. Sort of.]

Yes, I'm a turtle. What's your point?

[voice, same filter]

[simplestgift]

[There is a pause as Archie tries to determine if he just told someone he shouldn't have. He's pretty sure he was supposed to keep it mum from Jack and no one else, and now even Jack knows, so...]

Is he a friend of yours?