Re: Drifting Alone

[Rosetta Ryley]

"Having trouble finding them?" Missing supplies were always a pain in space. On the bright side, it wasn't something too crucial, and she could likely pick the art materials from San Fransokyo anyway. While waiting for Lee to come back, Rose took the time to review the map, partially hoping she'd find something interesting.

Ozone pointed something out, but she didn't say anything, though she was excited about it. Rose took a look at the spot and chuckled. Near the top left corner of the map was a nebula. It had no markings, no labels, and nothing that would suggest anything of interest, except for a rather blurry spot in the middle, suggesting that there was something hidden there, or it may just have been a glitch. Either way, she'd have to visit that place sometime.

Lee soon returned, inquiring whether or not the planet marked with the bridge was the place Rose was talking about. "Hmm... yeah! That's the one." She expanded the display to ensure they were talking about the same thing. "Lovely-looking place, isn't it? I'm thinking of going back there on my next week off and see the sights. I'm just worried of liking the place so much I wouldn't want to leave," she chuckled. It just reminded her so much of home.

"I know it's unlikely, but I hope we'll bump into each other there some time in the future. Then we can meet in person. Sound good?"

[Baldamar Macgowan]

Ryley asked if there was difficulty in finding the supplies, and Annebeth assured her otherwise. "Nothing like that, no! I just... felt like doing it some other time." Being reminded of it made her uneasy, but her answer wasn't a lie, so to speak. Her decision to delay the search was, in fact, deliberate, but she was much more willing to say, "I didn't feel like it" than, "I suddenly developed a fear of the dark and needed my blankey".

There was confirmation that the planet she'd pointed out was the one she was looking for, this 'San Fransokyo' place. Ryley took a moment to reminisce about the idea of going there on vacation, and Annabeth entertained the thought that maybe she was speaking with some sort of space cop at the moment. Of course, she didn't put voice to it. Rather, she kept it as an amusing, silent little nibble of imagination.

The other pilot mentioned the hope of them meeting sometime later on. "Well, I'll have to see if I can fit you into my schedule," Annabeth joked in reply, and couldn't say anything more as she broke into a bit of a snicker. When her breath was back, she continued on a more serious note, "I hope so too. Wish me luck on... whatever it is this little adventure might turn into, okay?" Even then, there was the feeling that she'd need it. She'd launched herself into the middle of not only some alien world, but a macro-community of too many for her to count! Just on the map she'd been given, there were about six, but arrows pointing to the edges implied there was more to see elsewhere.

[Rosetta Ryley]

Like a child, she wanted to ask why, but decided against it and shrugged it off as not wanting to waste time looking for something that was going to turn up eventually. It wasn't like that map was going anywhere, and she could just make her own marks on the digital one.

Hearing the girl snicker placed a smirk on Rose's face. Yep. She was a pleasant person to talk to. Her interruption of Rose and Ozone's aimless exploration was sure worth meeting a new friend. "Good luck on your travels, and stay safe. Perhaps invest in some defensive systems on your ship too when you get the chance. Most worlds here don't have a defense station in orbit, or a planetary defense installation on the surface, so it isn't really the safest place for a single ship to fly around in. The world you're going to however does have these defense systems in place, so you'll be safe near there."

She just wanted to say that since it really was a bit shocking to see a lot of the worlds there being so defenseless. Luckily, no one has yet to bombard an unprepared world from space, and that got her thinking if there was some kind of treaty in place that prevented things like that from happening. She had never really thought about it until now. Maybe the Galactic Council was enforcing those rules? A trip to the archive might be an order, as soon as she returns to the ship...

"I'm guessing this is the point when we part ways. But before we go, did you have any last-minute questions?" She wasn't claiming she knew a lot, but what little information she can give the girl could be useful.Though, she might want to go into the worlds blind to preserve the sense of awe, and not knowing what to expect.

[Baldamar Macgowan]

Before they parted, Ryley asked if there were any more questions. Annabeth leaned back in the pilot's seat and replied, "Oh, I'm sure there are plenty, actually. More than I could even try to ask, but I'm gonna try learning these sorts of things through experience instead of begging for lectures. Again, thanks for all the help- Things'll be a bit easier now."

With that, she shut off the channel and put the headset back in its place, repeating recent events in her mind. Just what was her situation at the moment? From what she could tell, she had gotten this odd combination of the best and worst possible circumstances to start off with, but she was making progress, wasn't she? That had to count for something.

She smiled. Even if Ima wasn't there to experience it with her, she finally had a chance to do what both of them had wanted so badly. That alone was something grand that she would never throw away.

And so, she pulled up her new map once more, letting the ship's built-in nonsense handle the complicated stuff, and took note of where the Venture II was relative to everything else. From the looks of it, her destination just so happened to be the nearest planet at the time.

She turned the ship and, with an eye on the map to track herself, set off on a manual course toward San Fransokyo...


("Drifting Alone" Complete. Obtained Worlds of Peace Map.)

[Sponsored content]