Private Edge of the Abyss

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral looked at her. "The Protectorate has been gone for a long time, most of its worlds it protected and helped have forgotten them and its leaders like Cira are gone or missing... but they were a nice light before a lot more empire began to appear and governments fractured." He said it but was finishing up for the moment as there were some reusable cups. He started pouring it and Aya spoke. "And we had equipment, good equipment... beautiful equipment and then.... someone crashed us into a mountain." She said it and Seastone was there looking as she got aa cup of caf. "We should have totally exchanged insurance information."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana accepted the cup with both hands and took another sip, finding that the powdered caf was somehow better than expected. Or perhaps her standards had simply collapsed somewhere between the fortress, the storm, and the possibility of being eaten by cannibals. Either explanation seemed reasonable. Aya's comment about the equipment earned a glance over the rim of her cup. "To be fair," she said thoughtfully, "the mountain appeared to be winning that encounter regardless."

Her attention shifted toward Seastone, and she shook her head slightly. "And I'm fairly certain exchanging insurance information requires both parties to survive long enough to fill out paperwork." The image of Seastone attempting to explain a collision report was somehow more alarming than the crash itself. "Though I would pay good credits to read the claim." A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Cause of damage: mountain. Contributing factors: gravity, weather, explosions, questionable decision-making, and Seastone."

Settling back against the side of the boat, Ana looked down into her cup for a moment, enjoying the simple comfort of warmth and caffeine. The sea was calm, the morning was quiet, and for the first time in what felt like forever, nobody appeared to be actively trying to kill them. It was such a rare state of affairs that she wasn't entirely sure she trusted it.

Her gaze swept across the boat, the supplies, and the small group gathered aboard before settling on Mistral. "Honestly, considering where we started and where we are now, I think we're doing surprisingly well." She lifted the cup slightly. "Everyone's alive. We have caf. We have transportation. Nobody is shooting at us." A brief pause followed before she took another drink. "I've learned not to expect perfection. At this point, I'll happily settle for functional."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

The twi'lek looked at her and spoke. "Ha you laugh but I am a multiplier on an insurance claim. Aya has it in our company claim that should I die somewhere in a boat that isn't on the ocean the pay out is two hundred times more. Convinced him cause it isn't going to happen she said... I am totally going to aim for deep space near a sun for maximum payout. Instead of the standard two hundred thousand credit pay out we are going to be rich." Aya looked at her and then at Mistral. "For legal reasons that is a joke, we in no way support or recommend insurance fraud." Mistral gave a nod of his head. "Of course, never had a doubt."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana stared at Seastone over the rim of her caf cup for several long seconds, trying to determine whether the Twi'lek understood how insurance worked. The longer she thought about it, the less confident she became. "The fact that there is apparently a clause specifically addressing your death location raises a number of questions that I am no longer certain I want answered," she said before taking another sip. Her gaze shifted from Seastone to Aya and back again. "Actually, no. The fact that you both signed paperwork acknowledging this possibility suggests those questions already had answers, and I missed an entire conversation."

The mention of aiming for deep space near a sun earned a slow blink. Ana lowered her cup and regarded Seastone with the weary patience of someone attempting to debug a particularly stubborn program. "You know, most people hear 'two hundred times payout' and think about financial security for their loved ones." She gestured vaguely with the mug. "You immediately started optimizing the conditions of your hypothetical death for maximum return on investment."

For a moment, she considered the statement seriously before shaking her head. "Which is either horrifying or impressively entrepreneurial." At this point, she genuinely wasn't sure which category Seastone belonged in. Every attempt to classify the Twi'lek inevitably resulted in a new category being invented specifically for her. The fact that Aya and Mistral appeared completely unfazed by the discussion only reinforced that conclusion.

Settling back against the side of the boat, Ana looked toward Mistral before returning her attention to Seastone. "And the fact that neither of you seemed surprised by any of that is probably the most concerning part." A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she lifted the caf again. "For the record, if you ever announce you're taking a vacation near a star, I am immediately assuming criminal intent."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Seastone looked at her and gave a look. "It is in the fineprint, you know how they throw some stuff in there for legal reasons that would never ever happen except in the most rare circumstances.... That is what we were able to get them to do. The highest payout for the most unlikely of scenarios but that could entirely be possible." She said it like it made complete sense and Mistral hung his head. "Those line scenarios are usually just for legal reasons not a challenge." THe twi'lek looked at him. "ANd I accepted it to prove the non-challenge could be completed." She said it with a really big grin on her face though like she had said the smartest thing in the worlds.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana stared at Seastone for several seconds in complete silence. Her eyes shifted toward Mistral, then back to the Twi'lek, as though hoping someone would explain that this was an elaborate joke. Nobody did. "You read a legal disclaimer," Ana began carefully, "saw a statistically impossible scenario included solely because an attorney was being thorough, and interpreted it as a personal challenge." She took a slow sip of caf. "Not a warning. Not an example. A challenge."

The fact that Seastone looked proud of this achievement only made it worse. Ana lowered her cup and rubbed at her forehead. "I think I finally understand why all of your plans sound insane." There was genuine revelation in her voice now. "Most people look at the fine print and think about liability. You look at it and think about achievements."

A faint smile finally appeared despite herself as she pointed lightly with the cup. "You don't accidentally find trouble, do you?" she asked. "You actively hunt for optional objectives. You're living your life like it has bonus missions." The realization settled heavily. "Honestly, that explains far more about you than I was prepared for this early in the morning."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"Achievement farming is important, if you aren't doing that and maximizing that aura farm. You ain't livin or stylin." Seastone looked at Ana with a grin that was wider and getting wider. "I be stylin and relaxin, aura farmin all day to impress the people passing by and still have style points." Mistral was just looking at her and then at Aya and then at Ana... and then back to Seastone. "Those were words right?" The wookiee roared behind him and he looked. "I am older yes but that was like hearing a hutt try to speak in ewok." Aya was laughing though while she took a drink. "Seastone I am going to have to lock out some of the channels again."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana lowered her caf cup and stared at Seastone for a long moment, trying to process the sentence she had just heard. The effort proved largely unsuccessful. Somewhere between "achievement farming," "aura," and "style points," the conversation had wandered so far away from anything resembling reality that she wasn't entirely certain it could find its way back. "I thought that only counted in video games," she admitted at last. "My mistake."

The corner of her mouth twitched as she took another sip of caf and nodded solemnly, as though she had just been presented with important life advice. "I will begin farming tech achievements immediately." She held up a finger. "Install a network without anyone breaking it for six months. Rare achievement." Another finger followed. "Convince users to read instructions before clicking things. Legendary achievement."

A third finger joined the others as she considered her own recent experiences. "Get through an entire investigation without being shot at, chased, stranded, or nearly eaten." Ana paused and looked down into her cup. "Currently unobtainable." Given the trajectory of the last few days, she suspected that particular achievement had been removed from the game entirely.

Looking toward Mistral, she gave a small shrug before glancing back at Seastone. "For what it's worth, I understood every word individually." Her expression remained perfectly serious. "The problem occurred when they were assembled into a sentence." That, more than anything, seemed to summarize most conversations involving Seastone.

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Seastone looked at Ana and pointed for a moment. "Hey if someone tries to shoot you, you shoot them right back and do it with a quippy one liner." She said it while Aya buried her face in her hand and Mistral just drank the caf while being very interested in the bottom of the cup. Seastone looked at all of them. "Ah come on, we can totally have fun with it. Life is a game, you want to get all fo the achievements before your one life is up... and then you want to be able to go into overtime... or get extra lives by raiding a cloning facility that will give you plenty of information." Mistral shook his head and was walking as he went to go and look with a nod.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana watched Mistral quietly retreat with his caf, deciding that his sudden fascination with the bottom of the cup was perhaps the healthiest response anyone had demonstrated all morning. She couldn't even blame him. Every time Seastone explained her philosophy on life, Ana felt as though she'd accidentally skipped several chapters of a book everyone else had apparently read.

"I don't think my first priority after being shot at would be coming up with a memorable one-liner," she admitted, taking another sip of caf. "I'd probably be too busy wondering why someone was shooting at me in the first place." She considered it for a moment before adding, "And then I'd spend the next week replaying the conversation to think of something clever I could have said."

The cloning facility idea earned another long look from Ana, though by now it was less disbelief and more resigned acceptance that this was simply how Seastone's mind worked. "See, that's where you lose me," she said with a faint smile. "Most people hear 'one life' and decide to make good decisions. You hear 'one life' and immediately start looking for downloadable content."

She shook her head, unable to suppress a quiet laugh this time. "I don't think life is a game." Her gaze drifted toward Mistral and Aya before returning to Seastone. "But if it is, you've somehow convinced yourself you're playing with developer mode enabled."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"No I am playing with the romance nods downloaded." She said it while she was moving towards the controls and Aya looked at the woman and then at Ana. "We'll start going, this has been an enlightening conversation." She said it and Mistral was looking at them more while he had a grin finishing the caf. The fish was prepared and some of it cooked into somethings for all of them to be able to eat with one hand. Aya was looking at the sea as she checked on much more of it. We'll be able to get back and we didn't get attacked so there is that benefit to us. We may have to go near the maze but we should be fine."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana accepted one of the pieces of fish with a quiet word of thanks before eyeing Seastone with renewed suspicion. She was beginning to suspect the Twi'lek's worldview had been assembled entirely from action holovids, video games, and whatever happened to cross her mind first. Somehow, against all probability, it seemed to work for her. "Romance mods?" Ana repeated, lifting an eyebrow. "Who, exactly, is romancing whom here?" She looked slowly around the boat, first at Aya, then Mistral, then the Wookiee, before finally returning her attention to Seastone.

"Because from where I'm sitting, we've spent the last twenty-four hours being chased, shot at, stranded, nearly drowned, and debating insurance fraud." She took a thoughtful bite of the fish before continuing. "If this is your idea of a romance storyline, I'd hate to see what your action campaign looks like." At this point, she was no longer entirely convinced Seastone could distinguish between genres.

The morning breeze carried across the water as Aya turned the boat toward the open sea, and Ana found herself looking out over the calmer waters ahead. "Though I will happily accept the part where we make it back without being attacked," she said, a faint smile crossing her face. "That would be a nice change of pace."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral looked at Aya who looked at Ana. "Stoiac." The two of them spoke together with a nod and walked to the side as the large shark looked up from the fish with a toothy grin. Mistral looked at Ana though when he found a place as Seastone was bringing them around. "So what is the maze?" He said it and Aya looked at him with a nod. "It is well like it sounds, only made from thick colonies of seaweed, enough that in some places it has grown into a wall. that ships would get stuck in and overgrown. Easier to avoid now but it also serves as a place where pirates and thieves hide out to capture vessels." She was speaking and Mistral looked at it.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana looked out across the calm water ahead, trying to picture an entire maze made from seaweed. The mental image was oddly unsettling. She was used to digital mazes, layers of encryption, firewalls, and networks designed to trap people who wandered where they shouldn't. Nature constructing one of its own felt considerably less polite.

"So instead of walls and corridors, it's vegetation," she said thoughtfully. "That somehow feels more intimidating." She rested an elbow against the side of the boat as she looked toward the horizon. "At least with a normal maze, someone had the decency to design it. Nature tends to improvise."

The mention of pirates hiding within it earned a small sigh.

"Of course it does," she muttered. "I was beginning to wonder when we'd encounter the obligatory pirate ambush." A faint smile crossed her face despite herself. "Let's see if we can break tradition and simply sail past it without adding another story to Seastone's collection of improbable achievements."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Aya looked at her. "I wouldn't recommend going through it, it was attempted to be navigated long ago before flying vessels but it was mostly channels in the water weeds filled with water and they had to cut through but it was learned that it grows quickly and more so when it manages to latch onto something. The weeds will feed on ocean life and it is why most fish avoid it. Boats trapped within are overgrown and it will leech the blood from the body." Aya was saying it while Seastone was going. "Yeah but it is said in the center of it is a grand palace with riches from around the universe and with the growth it is almost impossible to see from above if you are flying."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana listened to Aya's explanation in growing disbelief, her gaze drifting toward the open water ahead as though expecting the sea itself to apologize for existing. Blood-draining weeds. Overgrown ships. Hidden pirate routes. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Seastone had apparently decided the important detail was the possibility of buried treasure.

She sighed.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm," she said, glancing toward Seastone, "but I am not interested in looking for the palace." Her tone was calm, but carried the unmistakable weariness of someone whose appetite for adventure had been thoroughly exhausted. "If the weeds consume boats, drain blood, and grow faster the more they have to climb on..." She gestured vaguely toward the horizon. "...then I feel perfectly comfortable letting whatever riches are in there remain undiscovered."

Resting her arms on the side of the boat, Ana looked out over the water for a long moment before speaking again.

"I'd really just like to go home."

There was no dramatic longing in her voice, only simple honesty.

"Back to a desk. A terminal. Problems that stay inside computers instead of trying to eat me."

A faint smile finally surfaced.

"I'm beginning to think my natural habitat involves climate control and reliable Wi-Fi."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"But but but, computers have bytes and cookie's how can you say they don't eat." Seastone said it and Mistral chuckled a little to that but Aya spoke. "I don't plan on going to it but it is a danger we are passing, the alternative is to cross a lot more islands in the storms and hope the weather holds when we already have to move through the storm to get out of here. We have a heading, we can make it towards the Port of Eblain. The city there has speeders and transports that can get back to the mainland and home." She said it while she was going. "ANd Seastone, we get baack I'll buy you the equipment so you can come out here and find your treasure."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana couldn't help smiling into her cup at Seastone's objection. It was ridiculous. Entirely ridiculous. Yet after everything she'd seen over the last few days, she had stopped trying to predict which conversations would somehow make perfect sense to the Twi'lek.

"The old computers didn't have bytes or cookies," she replied with mock seriousness. "They had switches, vacuum tubes, and enough heat to qualify as small space heaters. Much less appetizing."

As Aya continued explaining the route, Ana found herself relaxing almost despite herself. They had a destination now. A port. Transportation. Home. The simple certainty of a plan, combined with the warmth of the morning sun and the steady rocking of the boat, eased away a tension she hadn't realized she'd been carrying. Without thinking, she leaned sideways until her shoulder rested lightly against Mistral's, more an unconscious search for comfort than anything deliberate.

throat as a hint of color touched her cheeks. "Sorry," she said quietly, offering Mistral an apologetic smile. "I think I'm more tired than I realized." Grateful for the distraction, she turned her attention back toward Aya. "The Port of Eblain sounds wonderful," she admitted before glancing toward Seastone with a faint grin. "You can have the treasure. I'll happily settle for a shower, a real bed, and a week where nothing tries to turn me into part of the food chain."

Mistral

 

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

"WOOT WOOT, you heard her I get her share. she can't take it back. As laid down by the court of the brethren in nine seventy three before the battle of Yavin. The No Take Backs accord is sacred on par with the international dibs protocol." Seastone said it and Mistral was just leaning there as he brought an arm but and wrapped it around her shoulders. "It is alright, for the moment at least we have a chance to get back and the goal is done. At least it will be, I am going to have a lot that I have to try and explain for everything else." He said it but Aya was directing them as she found a place to be and Seastone was brringing the boat around.

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana couldn't help smiling as Seastone triumphantly declared victory before anyone had even reached the mythical treasure. There was an impressive confidence to claiming ownership of riches that almost certainly didn't exist based entirely on a fictional legal precedent and the universal principle of "no take backs." She decided not to question it. At this point, it was probably best for everyone's sanity.

"I'll remember that next time I'm negotiating a contract," she said dryly. "Apparently I need fewer lawyers and more ancient pirate case law." The corner of her mouth lifted a little further. "Though if you do find the palace one day, I'll graciously allow you to keep my share. I'm sure you'll put it toward something perfectly sensible."

When Mistral's arm settled around her shoulders, Ana stiffened for only the briefest moment before relaxing again. The gesture was reassuring rather than awkward, and after everything they'd endured together over the past few days, she found herself appreciating it more than she'd expected. She looked up at him with a tired smile. "I'm not envious of the report you're going to have to write," she admitted. "I'm fairly certain no one is going to believe half of it."

Her gaze drifted forward as Aya guided the boat through calmer waters, the shoreline slowly giving way to open sea once more. "Still," she said quietly, "we're heading home. I think that's the part worth remembering." The words carried a quiet contentment that had been missing since the mission began. For the first time in what felt like forever, home no longer seemed impossibly far away.

Mistral