//------------------------------// // Day 3 - Storm: 5/11 // Story: They're... ON HOLIDAY? // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// “Who in Tartarus forgot to cover this properly?” asks an irritated voice, waking 99380 up. A moment later, the wardrobe door opens, revealing a pegasus bartender staring in disbelief at the bleary face of 99380, “AAH?!” he jumps backwards, fanning 99380 with a gust of wind from his wings, “What are you doing here? Which one are you, I mean?” “99380, Mister bartender,” the top half of the drone’s head peeks out of the basket, ears splayed back and listening, “Is the rumbling and flashing over?” it asks carefully. As on cue, the world turns white and 99380 slinks back on the bottom of the basket again. The following thunder, however, is delayed and weak. The hive mind catches on, meaning someone with the knowledge of what’s going on is nearby, and shares the basics of some relevant concepts: > Storm, lightning, thunder, rain. With a sigh, the bartender turns off the radio which is now transmitting only static, and quickly nods his head sideways. “I can’t let you stay in the wardrobe. How did you even get here?” “I woke up, everything was moving when before it wasn’t, there was flashing and loud noises, and I got spooked. I went looking for 10013 who is a very smart drone and in charge of us, and I could sense it being upstairs. When I got here, everything was even louder, flashier, and blowier, so much so that I couldn’t stay on my hooves. I almost drowned like 99111, but then I climbed out of the pool and I saw this place and all I wanted was to hide. So I climbed in here and turned the radio on so that it was talking and then making music,” 99380 hangs its head, “Sorry,” it realizes the radio wasn’t talking anymore before the bartender turned it off, “Did I break it?” The pegasus shakes his head. “If the water got into the wiring there wouldn’t even be static. No, at this time we should be too far from Equestria to catch the Maretime Bay station. In fact, I’m pretty sure that with some gentle work I could catch some griffon station, even though the storm sent us a little off course.” “Oh no,” 99380 covers its mouth with its hooves. “It’s fine. All that means is that we should be docking in the Ataraki resort tonight rather than late afternoon.” The word ‘Ataraki’ remains unexplained and untranslated in 99380’s mind. “What does that Ataraki word mean?” The bartender snickers. “It’s just a name. The island is home to a native tribe -a mix of griffons, ponies, and the resulting hippogriffs, surprisingly- and the word in their language means something along the lines of breath of brimstone or ash or… something,” he shrugs, “The resort has a whole bunch of pamphlets about the whole thing, plus guided tours. There’s an inactive volcano in the center of the island, so that’s where the name came from.” “Oooooh,” 99380’s eyes go wide, contrasting the bright teal with the darkness of the basket. “Now, get out of there,” the bartender nods sideways again, “The storm is supposed to get worse again later and I can’t risk anything getting waterlogged. It’s a bit of a miracle nothing went wrong when you got inside.” Crawling out of the basket and overturning it in the process, 99380 rolls out of the wardrobe. Once the bartender fastens all the tarps and covers everything properly, he turns to leave, only to find patiently waiting 99380 still sitting on the floor and looking at the deck still being whipped with rain from behind the counter. It’s much better than earlier, but still… “Uh, do you want me to escort you back down?” 99380 reaches out to mentally touch 10013 who seems to be resting and at peace. Come to think of it, the weak presence of Smiley’s mind is in the same direction as well. “Your friend could be on the observation platform on top of the entertainment complex,” the pegasus catches 99380’s look upwards and proves the listening skills necessary to bartending, “If you’re looking for the highest spot of the ship. Of course, they can be in the restaurant on the top floor, the casino under it, or the sports center on the level of the main deck. ” 99380 looks up at the three floors, each now filled with ponies visible through the glass walls. It could go look for 10013, but on the other hole, its main reason to go looking were the questions now answered by the friendly bartender, and 10013 doesn’t seem to be in any trouble, so… it should probably get out of the way of the busy ponies. “I think I’ll just head back inside,” 99380 smiles at the pony, “I’ve been asleep for much longer than I expected and I should ask around if anyone doesn’t need any help. Points won’t gather themselves!” The pegasus ponders asking more questions, but this seems like a changeling business and he has his own tasks to deal with. *** That said, as 99380 wanders down towards the drone cabins, the corridors are strangely lacking in ponies and, as such, any inspiration regarding how to gain points.  Where could everyone be? So far, they’ve always been on the top deck at this time of day. Can that ‘entertainment complex’ place really fit so many creatures? Maybe I should just ask… Stopping by the corridor wall and sitting down, 99380 delves into the hive mind. To its surprise, the ship map has grown larger, much larger. It seems that the living quarters and back-end of various establishments like the kitchen that 36658 and 20100 discovered take about two thirds of the ship while the last third -the entertainment complex jutting out of the top deck as well as the three floors underneath- take up the rest, and those are the newly marked and identified areas of the map. Entertainment complex roof: Observation platform. That’s where 10013 and Smiley are! Floor -1: Restaurant. Hive mind, please? [Food place]. Oh, neat! Floor -2: Casino. [Tabletop games]. Like… drone ball? [Roulette, slots, blackjack, chess-] Okay, okay, okay, too many words! Pony games. Got it.  Floor -3, main deck level: Sports and fair attractions. [Air hockey, jump arena-] More games. Alright. Floor -4, royal cabins level: Cinema, lecture halls. Ah, 10013 updated the second one after going to sleep. Floor -5, servant cabins level: Indoor pool. Floor -6, staff cabins level: Hot tub, sauna, jacuzzi, massage parlor. [Hot water, bubbles] Floor -7, maintenance deck level: More maintenance corridors. That’s a LOT of new things… where to even begin? Okay, so if I don’t know where to go to help someone, how do I make things better for us? An image of itself nearly drowning several hours earlier in the rain-filled pool crosses 99380’s mind. 387 meant that not making the high ranks worry about us can help too. 99111 and I have both had trouble in the water, so that seems a threat. What would High Score do? It would buzz its wings so hard all the scary water would be blown away. Ehh, that’s 36658’s High Score. What would 10013’s High Score do? Some pondering later, the bouncing ball screensaver which best describes 99380’s mind stops as the drone concludes: High Score would do its best. That means I have to do my best. The best I can do to help with the scary water problem would be to learn to swim. That means I should head to the indoor pool. Or maybe… a tub is smaller than a pool. It could be easier to learn to swim there. 99380 opens its eyes. Its internal timer states that it’s been sitting, motionless, for 21 minutes. It did come to a conclusion that makes sense from all angles it can think of, though. Something is on its head. With a puzzled raise of an eyebrow, 99380 grabs the plastic cup with a small amount of brown liquid on the bottom in which floats some black powder and a small brown tube seemingly burnt on one end. Did someone give me something to try and improve my goop with? There’s no one nearby. With a shrug, 99380 drinks the stale beer with a cigarette butt floating in it. After a moment, it spits out a chunk of goop, examines it, and swallows it again. Nope. Still nothing special. But I got a hat! Turning the big white cup upside down, it puts it on its head and heads off to the heretic cabin to hide it inside its stash, since it can’t think of a way it could help with swimming. *** The corridors in this section of the ship are covered in beautiful wooden panels, making them seem narrower but also giving them a more homely atmosphere which, coupled with the dimmer, yellow light and even better soundproofing makes 99380 almost at peace despite this unknown territory. Almost. “...no reason to be scared, I’m allowed to go in, I think…” 99380 takes a breath to steady itself before reaching for the handle of a door with a plaque reading ‘Hot Tubs’ nailed to it, “Everyone’s been nice so far,” the drone recalls Sun Hammer’s massive shadow hanging over it like a dark cloud. *Wibble.* “...even she gave me icy cream…” it grits its teeth, puffs out its cheeks, and opens the door, “...spookyspookyspooky!” it steps into a maze of more wooden panels, ready to jump backwards in case of any thrown objects. Nothing bad happens and, aside from extremely muffled voices, 99380 almost feels alone, which does wonders to make the drone ease up. The air is heavy and hot, much like in the egg caverns back home, but with completely different scents. Some exploratory sniffing reveals that the varying sweet scents hang the most near heavy curtains covering sectioned off parts of the ‘hot tub’ place. Experimentally, 99380 pokes its head through the nearest curtain. The whisper of the fabric dragging over its carapace alerts two female zebras sitting in a shallow, steaming pool across from each other to its presence immediately. “I may not be the best at distinguishing changelings from each other, but I doubt this is the baron paying us an unannounced visit,” says the more muscular one looking directly at 99380 in a deadpan tone but with the slightest hint of a smirk on her face. “You must be right,” agrees the one looking backwards with a much more open smile, “Shaking but still all in one piece.” “Stealing a peek at a steamy desert show, peeping tom?” asks the stronger zebra. 99380 sits down, everything aside from its head hidden behind the curtain. “I’m sorry, Miss zebra. I think I understood all the words but I don’t know what you said. I didn’t steal anything,” the drone pokes both forelegs through the gap between the curtain and the wooden frame to show her, “Uhhh, it’s steamy here, true,” it looks at the white mist filling the private area, “Umm, desert, uhh, like food? I…” it slumps and looks down at the floor with a sigh, “I’m confused.” “Awww!” the smiling zebra rises up from the round hot tub with a splash, her wet coat clinging to her body, walks over to 99380 and pulls it into a tight hug, “You’re all kinda samey but that also means you’re all adorable!” 99380 suddenly finds itself being carried under the zebra’s foreleg into the tub. “Meep meep meep!” the drone starts flailing its legs as the water surface gets closer.  “What’s wrong?” the zebra stops and lowers 99380 on the solid edge of the tub instead where the drone quickly pushes itself backwards. “D-D-D-Drown,” stutters out 99380, its voice speeding up but still holding some understandable cadence, “I almost drowned in the big pool upstairs and the same happened to 99111 because we can’t swim and there’s water everywhere and-” “You guys can’t swim?” asks the strong zebra, “The baron can.” “Baron?” 99380 scans the hive mind for any references and earns a record created by 10013. To 99380’s surprise, the hive mind tooltip finally identifies both zebras as well. > Rank 1313, infiltrator, Baron of Northern San Palomino. // friendly to drones, ask someone later what baron means. > Zamira, warrior, 1313’s love source, Baroness of Northern San Palomino. // EXTREMELY friendly to drones, likes Smiley, ask 387 about drone eggs. > Zaida, warrior, 1313’s bodyguard, Zamira’s friend. // Doesn’t kick drones. “Ohhh, 1313,” 99380 rubs its head momentarily overwhelmed by the influx of knowledge, “Sorry, I’m a bit slower than the others and my head just finally caught on. You met with 10013 and Smiley yesterday, right? You’re… Miss Zamira and you’re Miss Zaida,” the drone beams, “I’m 99380.” The sudden confidence of the changeling surprises both zebras, and Zaida looks at Zamira who nods. “Yep. Nice to meet you, 99380. What brings you here?” “Well,” the drone rubs its head hesitantly, “I didn’t know anyone was here and I thought I would try swimming in something smaller than a pool and a tub sounded just right. If I can figure it out, the next time others get into trouble they can quickly learn how to swim from the hive mind and not drown.” “Let me quote Zaida then - you guys can’t swim?” asks Zamira, “I heard a lot about the hive from 1313 and I assumed that basic environmental survival skills would be top priority for you diggers.” 99380 shakes its head. “I heard from the veterans that storing experiences in the hive mind used to be crazy difficult in the old days, so the high ranks didn’t bother with saving swimming for us. If a drone got flushed down an underground river or something then they just hatched a new drone, told it to avoid the hole the previous one fell into, and sent it on its way. Now we’re allowed to store stuff in the hive mind but no one really knows how to do that.” “Then how did you know about us?” asks Zaida with genuine curiosity, “Did 10013 tell you?” “Nope. It’s, uhh, complicated. Back home, the hive mind is like… all wibbly and its own thing,” 99380 waves its forelegs in the air, “But when we’re close it’s different because we just draw directly from each others’ links. I dunno how to explain it, it’s just two different things,” it shrugs, “Sorry. I bet 387 or 93 would know. Or the Queen, of course.” “Let’s not bother them,” Zamira shakes her head and beckons at 99380 to get into the hot tub, “Come in. The water is shallow even for you, and you can practice some swimming, or at least floating. If you slip, we’ll catch you. Don’t worry.” Surrounded by friendlies, 99380 gathers courage and takes the few low steps leading down into the hot tub. Both zebras are now lying in the water, backs propped against the sides of the tub, with only their heads showing. When the drone measures that even if it sits down, the water comes up just under its mouth, it finally truly relaxes and enjoys the warmth of the water seeping through its carapace. “Comfortable, isn’t it?” Zamira winks at it. “We have pools like this back in the hive, but those are bubbling and super hot so we can’t get inside. I heard 99661 slip and fall into one,” the drone shudders, “...it was very loud…” its voice trails off. Zaida winces. “Do all of you have a story like that?” “Yes, Miss. The veterans have tons,” 99380 nods, “They help a lot with avoiding danger, so we listen to them.”   “I like to think about these drone guys as extremely nice, polite, and unbelievably traumatized young adults,” adds Zamira, snatching 99380 into a hug, “And cuddly, I forgot extremely cuddly. Seriously, if you squeeze them just right they’re like happy little stress balls,” she demonstrates. “Eep! Hee hee hee,” 99380 giggles. “And in the next moment they’ll tell you a story about how their buddy died in a way that can make an experienced merc like us throw up,” Zaida snickers. “You like those?” 99380 looks at her skeptically, “I mean I have a few more, like when-” “No, thank you,” Zaida interrupts it, “I’d rather get to the swimming part.”  “Agreed,” Zamira nods and lets 99380 go again. After a round of basic instructions, 99380 takes a deep breath, withdraws its legs, and starts paddling like a dog. It sinks like a rock immediately. Thankfully, the briefest bout of panic ends the moment 99380’s kicking hooves touch the bottom of the tub and it stands up. “Hmmm…” it frowns, sitting down and looking at its forelegs, “Last time, I think it was my wings that helped the most.” “Leg holes,” says Zaida simply, “This won’t work with them.” 99380 gives it another shot. This time it manages to stay afloat for a second or two before sinking again while violently flailing its legs and almost kicking both zebras. “Come to think about it,” muses Zamira, “You guys are heavier than an average pony but still smaller, so your water displacement sucks. Can you do something about that? 1313 said he has to make himself lighter to even have a chance.” To her surprise, 99380 shakes its head. “The more of me I, kinda, make appear or disappear, the more love it eats up. So if I whoosh away a chunk of my carapace, I’ll have less energy to swim. I think it’s much much much easier for infiltrators than for drones.” “Hmmm,” Zamira rubs her chin, “So you need to stay the same mass but somehow float. Tricky…” “Is it?” asks Zaida with a smirk. “You’re thinking of something, you sly mare,” retorts Zamira. “I am, care to take a guess?” Zaida, her forelegs stretched around the edge of the tub, taps meaningfully against the floor. 99380 looks at her hoof, having zero idea what this is about.  “Oooooh!” Zamira’s eyes go wide, “The answer has been staring us in the face all along.” 99380 squints forward but sees nothing that would shed any light on the situation, and admits it. “The… wall?” it hazards a guess. “Yes, in a sense,” Zaida nods, “This ship is crazy heavy, so how does it float, huh?” “Magic?” “Hah! I doubt even Princess Celestia could make that happen,” Zamira laughs, “No, pure engineering ingenuity. Even ponies can float if they take a deep breath. Say, little guy, can you not change but just rearrange your mass to grow some sacks of air inside yourself?” Furrowing its brows and scrunching its nose in the deepest of concentrations, 99380 starts working in the right transformation. “Hnnnngh-!” *WHOOOSH!* “-eep?!” 99380’s barrel suddenly poofs up to nearly twice its size. As the drone starts taking an unnaturally long breath, it begins rising upwards until it ends up bobbing like a buoy on the surface of water, completely unable to sink no matter what and only gently rising up and down as it breathes in and out of its real lungs. “Eeeeeeeeeeeee!” To the surprise of both Zaida and 99380, that excited, high-pitched noise is coming from Zamira staring at the drone. “Say quack,” Zaida nods at the drone. “Quack?” 99380 tilts its head. “I CHANGED MY MIND, I DON’T WANT TO JUST ADOPT ONE, I WANT A POND FULL OF POOFY DRONES BOUNCING OFF OF EACH OTHER!”