To All Heroes

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

To Everybody:

Whether we've met or not, I'd appreciate a reply from as many people as are willing, especially if you didn't just come from a version of Earth.

So, let's talk holidays. Christmas, I was willing to let pass as a coincidence. Any civilized planet out there with a winter season ends up with some version of a winter solstice. It doesn't matter the time or the planet or the alien race, they've got some kind of tradition that we would recognize. Celebration for being 'almost out of the dark,' as a friend of mine would put it.

But Valentine's Day? Definitely a product of Earth, of a specific time period of Earth, to be sure. At least, in my experience. And that's where you guys come in. Anybody else, not from Earth, have a custom or a legend like this? Something specifically surrounding a holiday, something that's celebrated. Also, is anybody else reading up on Aqures Ixen legends enough to know if we're going all going to be dealing with rabbits and eggs in two months? If so, I'm calling shenanigans now.

-Captain Jack Harkness

Comments

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"A pet- what?" Jack shakes his head incredulously. "Did it follow you home? Where is it? I mean, if it's okay to use for a test, then sure, let's do it." But, seriously, Chiaki, what?

[line_piece]

A Mech Gunner. They guard the Magitek Facility. Mogomi and I went in to capture one with my Beastmaster class abilities. It's stored away magically most of the time, and I can summon it into battle to help fight. If I had to describe it, it's kind of like an Electric/Steel type.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack looks even more amazed. "Wow. That's incredible. Beastmaster, hunh? And it's a machine, but you can control it now?" It's always a little weird when 'magic' and 'tech' cross over, in Jack's mind. He always ends up looking for an alternate explanation.

[line_piece]

Yup. That's what Beastmasters do. Machines are a lot easier for me to work with than living creatures.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"Neat. Well, if you're sure it's all right? Normally, something feels bad about using a pet for target practice. But if it's just a machine..." Jack nods. "Maybe it's all right?"

[line_piece]

Just a machine...

[Chiaki thoughtfully repeats Jack's words, turning them over for a moment.]

Its programming is very simplistic. It can't feel pain or emotions. All it knows how to do is guard things, because that's what it was created to do. I can recognize a high class AI when I see one, and the machines here don't come close.

[She looks back at him, tilting her head.]

Even knowing that, is it wrong of me to offer it up for something like this?

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Hmm. Jack is not always the best moral compass in the universe, but even he can tell there's something wrong with the suggestion. "If it doesn't feel right, then it's probably not the right thing to do." If Chiaki has even a little hesitation about this, then maybe they shouldn't do it.

"On one hand, it doesn't have awareness, or sentience. But running a test is different than using it in defense or as a guard." Jack shakes his head. "We'll wait. Find something that's actually a danger, try it out on that. Okay?" Feels like the right answer, but Jack still watches to see what Chiaki's reaction will be.

[line_piece]

...You're right. There are plenty of monsters out there. If we go out adventuring together, I'm sure we'll find some that we can try this on.

Even if the Mech Gunner can't feel pain or emotions, it would be wrong of me to use it like this. It's my trusted friend and partner.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

See? Hey, Doc. Jack can get a thing or two right when you're not looking. He smiles a little in encouragement. "Shouldn't feel bad for having the idea. But it's not right to do."

"You tell me, then. Where's a good place to start, if we want to try this out for real? What would you call a beginner area?" If Chiaki is going to couch this in game terms, maybe Jack can do the same.

[line_piece]

Usually in a setup like this, the low level mobs tend to be located just outside the starting town. Which would be here, so all we should need to do is leave the city and wander around for a while.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack chuckles and shakes his head. "Highly scientific methodology. Sounds good to me, anyway. But if we wander outside of town and immediately run into a dinosaur or something, I quit."

[line_piece]

It's a common trope. And I wouldn't worry about dinosaurs this far from a volcano.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Volcano? Maybe Jack doesn't want to know. He starts to lead the way towards the edge of the city, but he decides a tiny explanation is in order.

"I used to have a pet dinosaur. Pterodactyl. A- good friend and I, we caught her with chocolate bars. She was the closest thing we had to a guard dog." Jack ponders. "Guess that's one loose end I left behind at home. There's a candy-addicted dinosaur flying around Cardiff, and nobody that she'll answer to." Jack laughs at the mental image.

When they reach the gates to the city, Jack adjusts his grip on his belted sword. "Any idea, specifically, what's out there? Anything that we'd be better off running away from?"

[line_piece]

So you've already got some Monster Hunter experience. You should try the Beastmaster job sometime too.

[It's almost the same thing. And maybe he'll find a dinosaur to tame.]

Hamsters. Don't try to fight them.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

The double-take that comes out of that piece of information is so bad it makes Jack almost stumble. "Seriously!?" Jack stares at Chiaki incredulously for a second, and then shakes his head. "Hamsters. No no," he holds up his hands. "Run away from hamsters, got it. The more ridiculous the advice sounds, the more likely I should actually listen to it, because the dumber I'm going to feel when I mess it up."

[line_piece]

I've never seen one in the wild, but the old man who runs the Monster Arena told me about them. There's probably no one in Aqures Ixen who can take one on and live to tell the tale.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"How would they even-?" Nope, not asking. And since Jack does not feel like adding 'Face Bitten Off By A Hamster' to his list of deaths, leave the Hamsters alone.

Jack leads the way as they leave the city. There is a dusting of snow covering the open field, Jack and Chiaki's footprints disturb the blank white surface. "At least whatever we're after is gonna be easy to track?" Jack tries to look on the bright side, but he'd be lying if he tried to say he wasn't keeping an eye out for itty bitty paw prints.

[line_piece]

That's true. It shouldn't take us long to find something. Maybe it'll even be something I haven't captured yet. Then we can test your abilities and get a new monster for the arena at the same time.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"Hmm, something new?" Jack looks across the plains, and he can see the Aqurean Forest in the distance. It'll take them quite some time to get there, but he points. "Anybody been in there yet?" He smiles widely, because this has all the markings of a good adventure.

The extra good thing about the snow is that it makes it easier to avoid monsters. Thick tracks through the snow show where various things have been coming and going. For a little while, they're following the giant, distinctive footprints of a chocobo. "Should'a gotten one of these, hunh?" Jack points at the tracks.

[line_piece]

I haven't, at least. Forests usually have different sets of enemies in them than what you can find in the surrounding plains, too. It's a good place to start, probably.

[Chiaki walks along beside Jack through the snow, looking down at the tracks.]

...Maybe. I don't do so well with things like that. I wouldn't know how to ride one.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

"Really?" Jack shrugs, "I mean, I guess it's not for everyone, and I haven't tried it out yet, not on the birds here. But, how hard could it be? They can't even fly."

"Was on this planet, a long long time ago. The 'surface' was really just a bunch of floating platforms surrounding a gas giant. And you got from place to place by riding these big flying lizards, sort of? They didn't quite look like anything you'd see on Earth." Jack is waving his hands as he speaks, trying to illustrate what he's talking about. "We could both give the chocobos a try, later, if you wanted? Who knows, maybe figuring out how to ride those things is another skill we just know from the jobs?"

Jack smiles encouragingly as they reach the treeline. One hand goes to his scabbard, ready to draw, when he needs to. "Let's see what we find."

[line_piece]

It's not that, it's just...

[How to put this.]

...they're so warm. I never really know what to do with that.

[There, that should be crystal clear, right?]

Maybe. Chocobo Knights should know how to do it for sure, but I don't have that class.

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack tilts his head and gets that particular thoughtful but confused look on his face again that seems to come up a lot when talking to Chiaki. "I mean, I guess- that- makes sense? Be-cause it's a living creature, not a vehicle, so you don't feel like you have total control?" He's talking a little slowly, trying to work this through.

Jack is trying to keep them on track to a small path, it's only marked by a bigger gap between the trees, but it's less clear with the snow on the ground, and very easy to accidentally wander.

[line_piece]

Yeah. With living things, you never know what they're gonna do next. It's kind of scary. Numbers and machines are much more predictable.

[Given Chiaki's nature, though - which she has yet to fully share with Jack, it's true - that inclination would make sense.]

[theendiswherewestartfrom]

Jack shakes his head a little. "Nah, I get it. Had a friend or two like that." He doesn't really need to know about Chiaki's nature. The thought process still makes sense, and if it were Toshiko here, she'd probably be saying something similar.

"I-"

Whatever Jack was about to say gets cut off, as what appeared to be a mound of snow ahead of them rumbles and moves. The snow falls away from the slow-rising form in chunks, gradually revealing the form of a Golem. Big and bulky and hard to tell if it's made of stone or steel, but definitely a creature disturbed by their arrival. Jack knows it's time to draw his sword, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Much more predictable, hunh?"