[well, if he didn't see the cranial void fisting...]
That's part of it. She opened his head up and there was nothing inside. It sounds like an insult but it's true. There's an interior void where his soul should be. (Or whatever you'd like to call it. That's his terminology.)
[...then Skulduggery isn't going to say anything. He sends a few up-close shots of the leis components: feathers of an undetermined origin, lotus pods, and smooth white disks. Also, there's a picture of the silk thread holding all of it together.]
I need to know if there's anything special about them. The captain was unaware of their existence. Natusno said you might be the one to ask about it. (It's human bone, by the way. Fun. 💀)
Based on Yuuki's description, it sounds like he's using an entropy field of some kind, though I cannot for the life of me figure out how he is able to put one inside his own skull.
[And he has tried! Even since he finished his conversation with Natsuno, Pal has been trying to construct a theorem that would make an internal entropy field possible. So far, no dice.]
He said it could corrode organic matter--or at the very least, human skin. Did anyone test it?
[A few long seconds pass after he sends the question. Three dots probably appear, and then disappear, and then appear again on Skulduggery's phone]
[Definitely putting a pin in the "entropy field" discussion for later.]
100% positive. 🤞 I thought they had something to do with our resurrections but apparently not? Friday gave them to us, but I don't know if they're from her. Do you think you can look into it and see if there's anything to them?
[and then, quickly after:]
It's caustic to human flesh but didn't affect bone. I did, however, see what he described as "shrimp colors" when I touched it. Yes, I know it was stupid. Yes, when the opportunity arises, I will likely do it again.
[Because Pal will totally understand that reckless need for knowledge, right???]
[All right, we are definitely going to come back to the whole ‘shrimp colors’ thing, but for now, Palamedes is honing in like a laser on this lei business.]
Give me ten minutes.
[It’s probably closer to 20 minutes later when Pal messages Skulduggery again. When he does, he’s breathless with excitement, he’s got tissues stuffed up both his nostrils to stop a nosebleed, and a handkerchief wrapped around a cut on his arm.
Technically, there is no way for Skulduggery to know any of this, though the number of unnecessary exclamation marks in Palamedes’ next few texts probably helps paint a picture.]
Mr. Skulduggery!!!
I must begin by apologizing for my complete and utter idiocy!! Camilla is always warning me not to get cocky, and I’m afraid that’s exactly what I did. Naturally, I conducted a cursory examination of my lei when I first arrived, but I found nothing particularly unusual about it, so I discarded it as irrelevant. AMATEUR mistake.
[side note: the presence of human bones? Pal doesn’t find it worth remarking on! Doesn’t most jewelry involve some amount of human bone?]
One could argue that I didn’t know what I was looking for, but that’s a poor and petty excuse. The cold, hard truth is this: I missed the forest in the trees, and it has taken your prompting for me to see what has been staring me in the face this entire time.
My lei is WARDED.
Yours in shame,
Palamedes.
[As one might guess, this response takes more than one text message to convey. After signing his message, Pal sends one more]
Please bring yours to me at your earliest convenience so that I can conduct a comparative examination.
[It's not so much that there is human bone, as it is where did the bones come from?
Still. Skulduggery is moving from his cabin as soon as he gets one line through Pal's text, knowing exactly what three exclamation points means in the face of scientific-magical discovery. it means a breakthrough!!!]
I've got mine. Tell me where you are and I'll be there in five minutes. Does that mean that
[Nah, can't be Friday's doing, she's just a construct, whoops send instead of delete!]
Origin is difficult to ascertain. My lei and all its materials are precisely 71 days old, which means they were created the day I arrived aboard.
I'm in my cabin. Room 105. See you shortly!!
[When Skulduggery arrives, Pal will call for him to come in from where he sits cross-legged on his bed, scribbling eagerly in his notebook. His lei is around his neck, and he has a handkerchief with a bloody splotch on it tied around his left arm.]
[Skulduggery doesn't sprint for just any old occasion, but obviously, this is special. So he sprints down the hall with his lei carefully around his neck, under the collar of his shirt and pinched up a little uncomfortably around his collarbone. Whatever, it's a short walk and he's in the room before it starts to be a problem.]
Congratulations, gratitude, and possibly drinks are in your future, Palamedes. [He takes off his own lei and holds it up for Pal's inspection and/or confiscation.] Possibly something more bandage-adjacent than a handkerchief, too. You're alright? [Juuuust in case Pal just did something reckless or stupid in his pursuit of information.]
[Ha, ha, ha! Palamedes Sextus, do something reckless in pursuit of information? Never!]
Hmm? [He peers up at his skeleton friend, blinks, and then glances at his arm] Oh! Yes, yes. Not to worry, I'll go down to the infirmary once we're done here. I needed to do some preliminary tests on the protection spell--initial data suggests that it can't do anything to prevent minor injuries, which is interesting.
[See, he's not been reckless. He's being scientific.
Pal takes his own lei off and carefully sets it beside him, then reaches for Skulduggery's. He starts by cupping the carved white circle in his palms and staring at them with an intense expression. Then he repeats the process with each feather, bone, seed, and shell strung on the mysterious necklace. From time to time, Skulduggery might see something like a faint wisp of smoke drifting up through Pal's fingers. By the time he's done, Pal's hairline is pink with blood sweat, but he's grinning triumphantly.]
[That's good enough for Skulduggery, who has gone as far as losing limbs during an investigation. No further questions here!
Questions bleed through his mind as he watches Pal work -- the who, what, why and how's that come normally to him. Somebody created the leis, but who? And why was Friday giving them out, when the captain didn't know about them? Somebody got to her before them, but how? How did they manage to sneak something past the captain at all? What was the point, if they still wound up dying, if they were still stuck under the captain's thumb?
His questions aren't, uh, nearly as literally bleeding through as Pal's is. Skulduggery stares at the other's triumphant expression and deeply wants to ask how all of that works. But! There is a time and a place for canon information dumps, and this sure ain't it, chief.]
From that look on your face, I'd say you've found something?
Consistency! Blessed consistency. [Palamedes leaves both leis on the bed and goes to his dresser, where he takes a handkerchief out of the drawer and mops his brow] You appeared on the Serena Eterna about twenty-five days ago, right? Other than its age, your lei exactly identical to mine, down to and including the protection ward.
[He beams.]
What made you realize the captain knew nothing about them?
Hm. So they're created at the instance of our arrival, then? I wonder if it's an automatic process, or...
[Oh, right.] I was trying to figure out the method of resurrection he uses and asked if the leis were part of it. He expressed confusion at their existence, and so I changed the subject. I don't know how much attention I raised in doing so, but he hasn't brought it up to me since then.
[Just casually admitting to the fact that he's had multiple conversations with the captain, like, no big deal. Everyone talks to that sneaky son of a bitch, right?]
Either that, or Friday makes them special for each of us.
[Palamedes is joking--mostly. The idea that she could create an elaborate protection spell and successfully hide it from the captain seems absurd on its face, by why should it? Gal Friday is still a puzzle to him: something more than a construct, but less than a person. She may have started out as the captain's puppet, but over the innumerable years, she has become something else. Who knows what she's capable of?]
...Since? Goodness, that makes it sound like the two of you are regular dinner companions.
I doubt that. It would be impossible for her to create anything without the captain knowing about it, if not telling her to do it himself. [You can't see it but he is making such a face. Friday? Create wards on her own? Yeah. Right. Ha ha ha. Funny joke.]
As for the captain... I wouldn't say it's anywhere near regular communication. Sometimes, I'll be somewhere, and he'll... [handwave] suddenly be there as well. There was karaoke when I first arrived... then the pool. Then the dinner, of course, but that was different. [Everyone was there. It's not like that counts as a third date. NOT THAT ANY OF THEM WERE DATES. They were... casual bouts of interrogation that led largely nowhere. Completely different!]
[ok sure, Pal can't technically see any faces that Skulduggery is making, but the man's skeleton's skepticism is clear enough.] Improbable, maybe. I am not yet ready to accept impossible. There's evidence that she is inextricably tied to the captain, yes, but also evidence that she is more independent than she seems.
[Palamedes had been joking about the captain, but now he lifts his brows in surprise. Well that's...unsettling. But also potentially useful. He presses his fingertips together.] That gives us an interesting advantage, don't you think?
Not exactly an advantage if he's the one always sneaking up on me, is it? It isn't as though I can call him down any time we've got questions or want to try whacking him with a sword.
[He's not even going to entertain the Friday talk. That's silly. You're silly, Pal.]
[That wasn't quite what Palamedes had meant--he was thinking more that Skulduggery could continue to wheedle information out of the captain when the opportunity arose--but honestly, it isn't the worst idea. He tips his head to the side thoughtfully.] Have you tried? Calling on him, I mean.
[Just... genuinely confused. It's like somebody asking him why he hasn't rung up and wished a happy birthday to the man who tortured him to death.]
I mean... no. I know why, but I don't think that's how it works. And even if it was, I don't know if I want to... encourage that sort of thing. [From the captain, or from other passengers trying to start shit??? Yes.]
[Okay, okay, fair enough. Palamedes wouldn't want to be put in a position to have to befriend the captain, either--or worse. He isn't about to make Skulduggery do it...but he is going to put the idea out there.]
Very well. Only--if he does decide to have another chat with you, and you happen to learn something about our predicament in the process, I would be grateful if you would be willing to share it.
That, I can most certainly promise. I wish I'd brought up the leis sooner, but I wasn't sure who to go to, and I wasn't sure how to broach the topic without potentially tipping our hand.
[He gives a quick mental once-over of his last couple of conversations to see if there's anything he can think of to hand over now.] I remember him telling me that it was our perception of him that mattered, and that he had none of himself. That was likely a load of crap, but it was strange at the time.
[...oh did he not... already mention:] And then there's what I learned from the dinner. I... mentioned that already, didn't I? [Absolutely putting off talking about the cranial void and how he absolutely stuck his hand in it.]
[Palamedes brightens and snaps his fingers, pleased to have been reminded of the topic. As exciting as the matter of the lei might be, the captain's head void is a subject worth returning to.]
Yes! You said something about...seeing shrimp colors?
Yes. [Nods. Yep, totally a normal thing to have said.] At least, that's how he put it. I have no better frame of reference, so...
I only touched the void. No pain, no lasting damage to the nerves or bone. [Wiggles his fingers for Pal to see, just to confirm.] The only effect I noticed was an abrupt change in my visual field. I could no longer see color or detail in objects, while the passengers still in the room at the time appeared as... swirling colors. The captain referred to the colors as emotions, and altogether calls them "souls." The captain himself was simply a black hole where his soul should have been.
[Palamedes presses the tips of his fingers together, his intense, grey-eyed gaze unblinking as he listens to Skulduggery's explanation. Then, all at once, he goes from stillness to movement, grabbing the nearest notebook and beginning to write.]
Hm. That might do away with my initial theory regarding this...head void. [head void sounds extremely stupid, but Pal can't think of a better name. He looks up at Skulduggery.] Is there anything unique about your bones that would make them more difficult than usual to destroy--are they preserved, or do they have regenerating properties?
[He makes an interested 'hmm!' when Skulduggery mentions the captain's mysterious soul vision (again, the name needs some workshopping)] Could you tell if there were souls that did not belong to the living passengers--ones that belonged to, say, the revenants trapped aboard?
[Yeah, the vocabulary really needs some work. Skulduggery hasn't even heard the term "cranial void fisting" yet!]
My bones are, as far as anyone's ever been able to tell, just bone. Usually, when I break something and it can't be repaired by my doctor, I'll replace the bone entirely. So... [He shrugs a little.] That's why I didn't try to punch my way through to the other side. [Easier to replace a few fingertips than a whole arm, right?
...There's another reason he didn't try to do more damage than he did, of course, but he's mildly embarrassed to admit it. At least Pal isn't likely to give him too much trouble...] As far as I could tell, there were the same number of souls in the room as there were people. I... was a little distracted, however. I didn't ask as many questions as I probably should have.
[Which is as close as he's willing to admit that it was a trip for him.]
Oh, certainly [he gives a wave of his hand] it isn’t an ideal situation in which to collect data, is it? [And really, Palamedes doesn’t want Skulduggery losing an arm—or worse. Even if it is for science]
He drums his fingers for a moment in silence] You’ve given me an awful lot to think about Skulduggery, and for that I am grateful. Perhaps we can find a way out of this ridiculous situation after all.
[It isn’t that Pal had entirely given up hope following the battle royale. But it had definitely put a dent in his optimism. So thanks for helping him get some of it back, Skuls!]
[Just one or two fingers wouldn't hurt... too much...]
I'll tell you if anything else comes up. I don't intend to sit idly by while my existence is in jeopardy. [He makes sure he has his lei tucked safely back under his shirt for the walk back to his cabin.] If you find out anything more about the leis, let me know.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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That's part of it. She opened his head up and there was nothing inside.
It sounds like an insult but it's true. There's an interior void where his soul should be. (Or whatever you'd like to call it. That's his terminology.)
[...then Skulduggery isn't going to say anything. He sends a few up-close shots of the leis components: feathers of an undetermined origin, lotus pods, and smooth white disks. Also, there's a picture of the silk thread holding all of it together.]
I need to know if there's anything special about them. The captain was unaware of their existence.
Natusno said you might be the one to ask about it.
(It's human bone, by the way. Fun. 💀)
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[And he has tried! Even since he finished his conversation with Natsuno, Pal has been trying to construct a theorem that would make an internal entropy field possible. So far, no dice.]
He said it could corrode organic matter--or at the very least, human skin. Did anyone test it?
[A few long seconds pass after he sends the question. Three dots probably appear, and then disappear, and then appear again on Skulduggery's phone]
Are you serious? Are you certain??
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100% positive. 🤞
I thought they had something to do with our resurrections but apparently not?
Friday gave them to us, but I don't know if they're from her.
Do you think you can look into it and see if there's anything to them?
[and then, quickly after:]
It's caustic to human flesh but didn't affect bone.
I did, however, see what he described as "shrimp colors" when I touched it.
Yes, I know it was stupid. Yes, when the opportunity arises, I will likely do it again.
[Because Pal will totally understand that reckless need for knowledge, right???]
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Give me ten minutes.
[It’s probably closer to 20 minutes later when Pal messages Skulduggery again. When he does, he’s breathless with excitement, he’s got tissues stuffed up both his nostrils to stop a nosebleed, and a handkerchief wrapped around a cut on his arm.
Technically, there is no way for Skulduggery to know any of this, though the number of unnecessary exclamation marks in Palamedes’ next few texts probably helps paint a picture.]
Mr. Skulduggery!!!
I must begin by apologizing for my complete and utter idiocy!! Camilla is always warning me not to get cocky, and I’m afraid that’s exactly what I did. Naturally, I conducted a cursory examination of my lei when I first arrived, but I found nothing particularly unusual about it, so I discarded it as irrelevant. AMATEUR mistake.
[side note: the presence of human bones? Pal doesn’t find it worth remarking on! Doesn’t most jewelry involve some amount of human bone?]
One could argue that I didn’t know what I was looking for, but that’s a poor and petty excuse. The cold, hard truth is this: I missed the forest in the trees, and it has taken your prompting for me to see what has been staring me in the face this entire time.
My lei is WARDED.
Yours in shame,
Palamedes.
[As one might guess, this response takes more than one text message to convey. After signing his message, Pal sends one more]
Please bring yours to me at your earliest convenience so that I can conduct a comparative examination.
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Still. Skulduggery is moving from his cabin as soon as he gets one line through Pal's text, knowing exactly what three exclamation points means in the face of scientific-magical discovery. it means a breakthrough!!!]
I've got mine. Tell me where you are and I'll be there in five minutes.
Does that mean that
[Nah, can't be Friday's doing, she's just a construct, whoops send instead of delete!]
Sorry. Idea of origin??
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I'm in my cabin. Room 105. See you shortly!!
[When Skulduggery arrives, Pal will call for him to come in from where he sits cross-legged on his bed, scribbling eagerly in his notebook. His lei is around his neck, and he has a handkerchief with a bloody splotch on it tied around his left arm.]
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Congratulations, gratitude, and possibly drinks are in your future, Palamedes. [He takes off his own lei and holds it up for Pal's inspection and/or confiscation.] Possibly something more bandage-adjacent than a handkerchief, too. You're alright? [Juuuust in case Pal just did something reckless or stupid in his pursuit of information.]
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Hmm? [He peers up at his skeleton friend, blinks, and then glances at his arm] Oh! Yes, yes. Not to worry, I'll go down to the infirmary once we're done here. I needed to do some preliminary tests on the protection spell--initial data suggests that it can't do anything to prevent minor injuries, which is interesting.
[See, he's not been reckless. He's being scientific.
Pal takes his own lei off and carefully sets it beside him, then reaches for Skulduggery's. He starts by cupping the carved white circle in his palms and staring at them with an intense expression. Then he repeats the process with each feather, bone, seed, and shell strung on the mysterious necklace. From time to time, Skulduggery might see something like a faint wisp of smoke drifting up through Pal's fingers. By the time he's done, Pal's hairline is pink with blood sweat, but he's grinning triumphantly.]
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Questions bleed through his mind as he watches Pal work -- the who, what, why and how's that come normally to him. Somebody created the leis, but who? And why was Friday giving them out, when the captain didn't know about them? Somebody got to her before them, but how? How did they manage to sneak something past the captain at all? What was the point, if they still wound up dying, if they were still stuck under the captain's thumb?
His questions aren't, uh, nearly as literally bleeding through as Pal's is. Skulduggery stares at the other's triumphant expression and deeply wants to ask how all of that works. But! There is a time and a place for canon information dumps, and this sure ain't it, chief.]
From that look on your face, I'd say you've found something?
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[He beams.]
What made you realize the captain knew nothing about them?
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[Oh, right.] I was trying to figure out the method of resurrection he uses and asked if the leis were part of it. He expressed confusion at their existence, and so I changed the subject. I don't know how much attention I raised in doing so, but he hasn't brought it up to me since then.
[Just casually admitting to the fact that he's had multiple conversations with the captain, like, no big deal. Everyone talks to that sneaky son of a bitch, right?]
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[Palamedes is joking--mostly. The idea that she could create an elaborate protection spell and successfully hide it from the captain seems absurd on its face, by why should it? Gal Friday is still a puzzle to him: something more than a construct, but less than a person. She may have started out as the captain's puppet, but over the innumerable years, she has become something else. Who knows what she's capable of?]
...Since? Goodness, that makes it sound like the two of you are regular dinner companions.
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As for the captain... I wouldn't say it's anywhere near regular communication. Sometimes, I'll be somewhere, and he'll... [handwave] suddenly be there as well. There was karaoke when I first arrived... then the pool. Then the dinner, of course, but that was different. [Everyone was there. It's not like that counts as a third date. NOT THAT ANY OF THEM WERE DATES. They were... casual bouts of interrogation that led largely nowhere. Completely different!]
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man'sskeleton's skepticism is clear enough.] Improbable, maybe. I am not yet ready to accept impossible. There's evidence that she is inextricably tied to the captain, yes, but also evidence that she is more independent than she seems.[Palamedes had been joking about the captain, but now he lifts his brows in surprise. Well that's...unsettling. But also potentially useful. He presses his fingertips together.] That gives us an interesting advantage, don't you think?
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[He's not even going to entertain the Friday talk. That's silly. You're silly, Pal.]
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[Just... genuinely confused. It's like somebody asking him why he hasn't rung up and wished a happy birthday to the man who tortured him to death.]
I mean... no. I know why, but I don't think that's how it works. And even if it was, I don't know if I want to... encourage that sort of thing. [From the captain, or from other passengers trying to start shit??? Yes.]
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Very well. Only--if he does decide to have another chat with you, and you happen to learn something about our predicament in the process, I would be grateful if you would be willing to share it.
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[He gives a quick mental once-over of his last couple of conversations to see if there's anything he can think of to hand over now.] I remember him telling me that it was our perception of him that mattered, and that he had none of himself. That was likely a load of crap, but it was strange at the time.
[...oh did he not... already mention:] And then there's what I learned from the dinner. I... mentioned that already, didn't I? [Absolutely putting off talking about the cranial void and how he absolutely stuck his hand in it.]
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Yes! You said something about...seeing shrimp colors?
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I only touched the void. No pain, no lasting damage to the nerves or bone. [Wiggles his fingers for Pal to see, just to confirm.] The only effect I noticed was an abrupt change in my visual field. I could no longer see color or detail in objects, while the passengers still in the room at the time appeared as... swirling colors. The captain referred to the colors as emotions, and altogether calls them "souls." The captain himself was simply a black hole where his soul should have been.
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Hm. That might do away with my initial theory regarding this...head void. [head void sounds extremely stupid, but Pal can't think of a better name. He looks up at Skulduggery.] Is there anything unique about your bones that would make them more difficult than usual to destroy--are they preserved, or do they have regenerating properties?
[He makes an interested 'hmm!' when Skulduggery mentions the captain's mysterious soul vision (again, the name needs some workshopping)] Could you tell if there were souls that did not belong to the living passengers--ones that belonged to, say, the revenants trapped aboard?
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My bones are, as far as anyone's ever been able to tell, just bone. Usually, when I break something and it can't be repaired by my doctor, I'll replace the bone entirely. So... [He shrugs a little.] That's why I didn't try to punch my way through to the other side. [Easier to replace a few fingertips than a whole arm, right?
...There's another reason he didn't try to do more damage than he did, of course, but he's mildly embarrassed to admit it. At least Pal isn't likely to give him too much trouble...] As far as I could tell, there were the same number of souls in the room as there were people. I... was a little distracted, however. I didn't ask as many questions as I probably should have.
[Which is as close as he's willing to admit that it was a trip for him.]
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He drums his fingers for a moment in silence] You’ve given me an awful lot to think about Skulduggery, and for that I am grateful. Perhaps we can find a way out of this ridiculous situation after all.
[It isn’t that Pal had entirely given up hope following the battle royale. But it had definitely put a dent in his optimism. So thanks for helping him get some of it back, Skuls!]
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I'll tell you if anything else comes up. I don't intend to sit idly by while my existence is in jeopardy. [He makes sure he has his lei tucked safely back under his shirt for the walk back to his cabin.] If you find out anything more about the leis, let me know.
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