[Drinking tea in the atrium—the water spell is broken! he can have tea again! hallelujah!—Palamedes reads the texts carefully and thinks for a long time before replying. His first text, though, is rather stating the obvious]
For a god-adjacent being who is at least a myriad old, the Captain is VERY VERY bad at this!!! Emperor’s bones, I’ve seen 7 yr olds with a better grasp on theory. And significantly more self-control. I don’t know a lot about spells and charms, but surely lesson one is DON’T SCRAMBLE YOUR BRAIN. Big yikes.
[After another minute or so, he sends another text.]
In any case.
Thank you for the updates. Given this new evidence, I am inclined to return to my previous theory: that he is a sort of necromancer who requires some something like thanergy to fuel his powers. Thus, the pain and violence. Thus, the slowly disintegrating souls. Thus, Jenny’s own need for the same. Perhaps I am trying too hard to make his powers fit my understanding of the world, but the parallels are striking. Even his obsession with control is…familiar.
[Again, there is a pause. Pal is thinking hard about what to say next.]
I know a theorem that could allow the Captain to maintain his power and his autonomy without having to continually kill people. But it’s tricky. It could make the situation worse, particularly if the captain just wanted to keep killing for fun. Also, I don’t have my notes. Let me think.
[yup, you guessed it, another pause]
I’m sure you are right that some people will die in the month ahead. But there is a difference between preparing for that likelihood and accepting casualties as inevitable. The latter may allow people to begin considering certain individuals worth sacrificing, and that way lies chaos. If we are going to maintain this unsteady alliance among passengers, we must fight for one another as much as for ourselves.
Re: [text] 1st of august
For a god-adjacent being who is at least a myriad old, the Captain is VERY VERY bad at this!!! Emperor’s bones, I’ve seen 7 yr olds with a better grasp on theory. And significantly more self-control. I don’t know a lot about spells and charms, but surely lesson one is DON’T SCRAMBLE YOUR BRAIN. Big yikes.
[After another minute or so, he sends another text.]
In any case.
Thank you for the updates. Given this new evidence, I am inclined to return to my previous theory: that he is a sort of necromancer who requires some something like thanergy to fuel his powers. Thus, the pain and violence. Thus, the slowly disintegrating souls. Thus, Jenny’s own need for the same. Perhaps I am trying too hard to make his powers fit my understanding of the world, but the parallels are striking. Even his obsession with control is…familiar.
[Again, there is a pause. Pal is thinking hard about what to say next.]
I know a theorem that could allow the Captain to maintain his power and his autonomy without having to continually kill people. But it’s tricky. It could make the situation worse, particularly if the captain just wanted to keep killing for fun. Also, I don’t have my notes. Let me think.
[yup, you guessed it, another pause]
I’m sure you are right that some people will die in the month ahead. But there is a difference between preparing for that likelihood and accepting casualties as inevitable. The latter may allow people to begin considering certain individuals worth sacrificing, and that way lies chaos. If we are going to maintain this unsteady alliance among passengers, we must fight for one another as much as for ourselves.